Ch.230The Final Blow Makes a Masterpiece…! (2)

Naturally, for Betelgeuse who always suffered belly pokes whenever she met Marian, it wasn’t enough that her precious gacha starship was destroyed in one hit.

Perhaps it was because she witnessed in real-time what would be equivalent to having a massive strategic missile pierce her “lower abdomen” before sinking.

“WHY!!! EVEN MY STARSHIP GETS PUNCHED IN THE GUT!!!!!!!!!!!”

“C-Commander, please calm down first!”

Her PTSD(?) relapsed, causing her to throw all kinds of fits on the bridge.

And while Betelgeuse was spewing profanities, the remaining strategic missile that hadn’t been used yet flew toward an “Griffin”-class medium battleship belonging to Antares’ fleet…

-“Strategic missile approaching from the front!”

“Intercept with CIWS while evading simultaneously, activate boosters!”

Unlike Betelgeuse’s Odin-class that was hit while advancing to the frontline for artillery battles against enemy battleships, Antares’ medium battleship was relatively positioned at the rear, giving it a few seconds of leeway.

Thanks to Antares’ quick judgment and evasive maneuvers…

-Whoooosh!

-“Missile warhead passing right above the ship!”

The Griffin-class medium battleship managed to avoid being skewered by the large and beautiful strategic missile, sparing it from becoming a Griffin shish kebab.

However, no matter how quickly it moved, there were limitations to the maneuverability of a “medium battleship” as the name suggested.

And the Griffin-class had the design flaw of a bridge that protruded “slightly” from the hull, which added to those limitations.

-“Uh-oh.”

-“AAAAARGH!!!”

-CRUNCH! CRACK! BOOM!

Ironically, while the medium battleship barely managed to avoid the missile itself, the “bridge” of the medium battleship was crushed by the body of the cruiser-sized strategic missile, resulting in its complete destruction.

Of course, since reality wasn’t an anime, the destruction of the bridge didn’t cause the entire hull to explode.

Similarly, for the strategic missile, the collision with the bridge was merely a “contact accident.”

The contact between the two only resulted in the annihilation of the bridge crew with their unfortunate design and the temporary loss of steering control for the medium battleship.

But the problem was that while the medium battleship’s CIC/secondary bridge (which existed according to specifications) was quickly acquiring steering authority…

The “missed” strategic missile continued to advance smoothly and hit Laura’s regular-grade cruiser battleship right behind it.

The cruiser battleship, with its firing angle naturally restricted by the medium battleship, was pierced through the hull without any resistance and exploded massively like the Odin-class…

This created an additional butterfly effect where the shockwave and debris from the explosion directly hit the propulsion system of the Griffin-class medium battleship right in front of it.

The Griffin-class, already moving forward without steering control, continued to suffer from steering failure even after the secondary bridge acquired authority.

As a result.

-BOOM! CRUNCH…KABOOM!

—————————————-

-<Antares’ Griffin-class medium battleship has sunk Menaldo’s Guardian-class defensive cruiser by ramming.>

-[WTF?](Menaldo)

-[haha;;sorry…LOL!!!](Antares)

—————————————-

After smashing Menaldo’s Guardian-class that had been forming an anti-air defense network to block enemy carrier-based aircraft and missiles with a hit-and-run…

On top of that, it moved forward in a half-destroyed state.

It was now being concentrated on by Icarus team’s carrier-based aircraft, missiles, and artillery fire, quickly turning into something resembling tattered foil.

==========

But even in such chaotic situations, the nameless user who was treated as an underdog with only one battleship from the beginning, or the remaining users except for Raksha who wasn’t present in the first place…

Everyone was consistently vigilant against Kraken’s “teleport assault” that could come at any time.

Of course, the spears… no, the strategic missiles had “probably” all been used up in the previous attack.

But that didn’t mean regular missiles and torpedoes wouldn’t hurt.

They had to maintain vigilance in case missile bombardments hit the carrier fleet’s deck at the rear, led by Monalisa’s Anomalocaris-class battle carrier.

Or in case bombardments or carrier-based aircraft suddenly attacked from above the forward fleet engaged in battle.

Whether they liked it or not, they had no choice but to maintain their vigilance.

The fortunate thing was that not long after Antares’ medium battleship had rammed Menaldo’s cruiser…

—————————————-

-[Telepo is here]

-[Tlepo]

-[Telpo!](Laura)

-[Oh please](Monalisa)

—————————————-

Along with these desperate typos revealing their anxious state in the team chat, Laura’s warning came through.

Simultaneously, Kraken’s characteristic matter transfer teleport reaction occurred right behind Monalisa’s Anomalocaris-class.

The problem was that what came through the teleport wasn’t a swarm of carrier-based aircraft or missiles…

—————————————-

-[We’re screwed](Laura)

-[Oh shit those are all assault pods]

-[Help](Monalisa)

-[What?](König)

—————————————-

As evident from the terrified reactions in the chat, surprisingly, what appeared through Kraken’s once-a-day teleport was a large number of “assault pods” accompanied by some missiles.

Naturally, since assault pods were designed to crash into ships with troops inside, they had durability incomparable to ordinary carrier-based aircraft or missiles.

When they suddenly appeared at point-blank range through teleportation, giving no time for interception…

The carriers of each user that had been handling carrier-based aircraft at the rear, as well as Monalisa, whose entire fleet was treated as accessories due to her outstanding Anomalocaris-class, and König’s fleet, which was always responsible for flanking and carrier fleet defense at the very rear, all found themselves being pummeled by thousands of missiles and assault pods.

Of course, this was a strategy that existed as a possibility in the minds of the rankers, albeit with low probability.

—————————————-

-[OK I’ve got superhumans on standby](König)

-[Icarus has 6 or 7 superhumans, all SSS-rank, so plan to assign at least 2 superhumans per enemy](Betelgeuse)

-[OK](Monalisa)]

-[We’ve also placed one each, so defense shouldn’t be a problem?](Laura)

-[Let me know if you need support, I’ll deploy superhumans from the carrier](Menaldo)

-[Thanks](Monalisa)

—————————————-

From Monalisa and König who had superhumans on standby in their fleets from the beginning, to Betelgeuse, Laura, and Menaldo who had similarly stationed one superhuman each on their carriers at the rear…

Everyone nodded at the thought that they were facing Icarus’s 6-7 SSS-rank superhumans, feeling reassured that the total of 20 superhumans possessed by Monalisa and König would be sufficient.

But that didn’t last long.

There was also a nameless user with only one battleship at the rear.

He quietly maintained his position at the rear without presence, immediately sending his 3 superhumans to respond to Icarus’s(?) superhuman who had rushed into his ship.

Right after that.

He discovered not 1 but 3 superhumans just like his own.

And they were each from different users.

He broke his silence and hurriedly opened the chat to alert his teammates of this news.

—————————————-

-[shit wait help]

-[HELP]

-[guys we’re screwed]

-[It’s not just Icarus who sent assault pods, ALL the enemy team’s superhumans came here!!!!!](Melon)

—————————————-

But by the time the other team members checked the urgent chat from the nameless user—no, from Melon, who was the sacrificial lamb of Icarus’s first PVP, and who had reformed after losing his Overseer and being pushed around…

—————————————-

-<Betelgeuse’s regular large aircraft carrier has been captured by Asparagus’s ‘Sasha’ and Choo Choo’s ‘Venice’!>

-<Monalisa’s Seraphias-class electronic warfare cruiser has been captured by Elance’s ‘Organ’, Choo Choo’s ‘Lama’, and Long Fei’s ‘Chen’!>

-<Laura’s Izumo-class light aircraft carrier has been captured by Icarus’s ‘Griyanar’ and Raizengan’s ‘Arcturus’!>

-[haha we’re screwed](Betelgeuse)

-[Damn](Indefatigable)

-[Oh shit](Laura)

—————————————-

About 90 superhumans who emerged from the assault pods were moving throughout the fleet, instantly starting a reconquista.