Ch.231A Very Old Plan (4)

# Chapter 231: A Very Old Plan (4)

Meanwhile, as if it wasn’t enough that the majestic space fortress was being turned into a mass tentacle NTR scene by cosmic monsters…

About 5 minutes before the space fortress, now filled with tentacle monsters, was about to perform a deep-dive plunge toward the planetary defense shield that the monsters couldn’t penetrate on their own…

Near the capital city of Eternia, on the satellite “Harmony,” the Saint was utterly shocked by the news her escort had brought.

“What did you just say?”

“Exactly as I reported, Your Holiness.”

“Do you think that even makes sense?”

“Nevertheless, it is the truth.”

The Saint, abandoning her usual manner of speech and questioning her escort in vulgar terms, would normally have drawn all kinds of disapproving glances from those around her…

Unfortunately, the current situation was so dire that the Eternians around her and even the escorts who usually criticized her casual attitude had no capacity to care about such trivial matters.

“Impossible! Eternia’s shield falling in less than 30 minutes!”

In her field of vision, despite being pummeled by massive artillery fire, energy blasts, and missiles from the orbital defense batteries of the satellite she was on…

“KUUUUUUU!!!”

“The monsters keep pushing forward! At this rate, our defense line will be breached!”

She could see cosmic monsters, identical to those that had attacked the capital, swarming toward their satellite base.

And through the rain of artillery fire, between the massive bodies of the monsters, she witnessed a horrifying sight.

‘…’

She had just watched Eternia’s proud shield fall, and simultaneously, the beautiful and noble surface of their motherworld become completely covered by monsters.

——————————————-

About 5 minutes later.

“KWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

The Saint of Eternia, Maria, transformed into her true form—an Ether Dragon.

She was literally slaughtering or dissolving the cosmic monsters that had attacked the satellite base.

“The Saint has appeared on the battlefield!”

“Fight! The Saint protects us!”

The sight of the Saint inspired the Eternians at the satellite base, igniting their fighting spirit.

The immense energy breath expelled from the massive dragon’s mouth—the so-called “breath” beam—not only melted all cosmic monsters in its path but vaporized them completely.

Special biological organs between her scales released synthesized chemical “beams” shooting in all directions.

Gravitational waves emitted from the giant fins on her arms and legs compressed any monsters they touched into the equivalent of crushed cans.

For monsters that dodged her breath and charged forward, taking the biological beams on their hard carapaces, she used her powerful jaws to crush them, shell and all.

Meanwhile, she herself was protected like a fortress by the countless scales covering the Ether Dragon’s skin surface.

In just five minutes since entering the battlefield, she had sent tens of thousands of cosmic monsters to their deaths as she advanced toward the capital city.

————————————-

But no matter how powerful an Ether Dragon might be…

“KUWAAAK!”

“KIEEEEEK!”

It was obvious to anyone that victory against an estimated “over ten million” cosmic monsters still pouring through the open subspace portal was impossible.

From the beginning, the Saint herself never thought such a feat was possible.

While she had successfully annihilated tens of thousands of cosmic monsters in just five minutes, there were still hundreds of thousands, even millions of monsters remaining.

And despite her immense power, she was ultimately alone.

“KWAAAAAAAA!!!”

As she continued firing her breath, melting monsters, the Saint eventually began to be bitten and torn at from all sides by the cosmic monsters surrounding her body.

Although the dragon scales covering her skin were so hard that most cosmic monsters couldn’t even scratch them…

The diversity of cosmic monster species, incomparable to anything like PCs, included some with attack methods that could overcome even the mighty dragon scales.

Before long, the Saint’s Ether Dragon form was covered in all manner of wounds inflicted by the monsters.

Especially her fins, which had been beautifully fluttering like silk while emitting gravitational waves to push back monsters, were now torn to shreds like tattered rags.

Her massive body of shining scales was now covered in unsightly wounds where monsters had targeted the gaps between scales.

“Saint!”

“We must support the Saint! What are you all doing?!”

Unable to bear the sight, the Eternians at the satellite base attempted suicide charges using shuttles and unmanned transport ships to help her.

But no matter what they did, their actions created no more impact than throwing pebbles into a river.

Yet even in this disadvantageous and miserable situation, one ray of hope remained for the Saint.

‘If I can just hold out a little longer, the other royal family members will surely awaken from hibernation…!’

That hope lay in the royal family of Eternia, all of whom except herself were in hibernation.

Since the planetary defense shield was still intact despite being surrounded by monsters, it seemed the surface of the capital had not fallen.

If her family in the imperial palace noticed the situation and joined the fight…

She was confident they could repel the cosmic monsters no matter how many millions came.

But just as the Saint was thinking this, while crushing the head of another giant cosmic monster with her powerful jaws…

“KUUUUUUUNG…!!!”

A sudden massive explosion occurred on the opposite side of the capital, outside her field of vision.

“CRACK…RUMBLE!”

The defense shield that had protected the Eternians’ homeworld and mother planet for hundreds of thousands of years shattered into pieces along with the millions of cosmic monsters piled on top of it.

And immediately after…

Through the gaps between the hundreds of thousands—no, enough cosmic monsters to cover the entire planetary surface and more—falling due to the planet’s gravity…

The Saint could see several beams of light, the same color as the breath used by her fellow royals in their humanoid forms, being fired.

And her super-intelligence as an Ether Dragon forced her to recognize the painful truth that these few beams were the last desperate struggle of the Eternian royal family, descendants of the great Ether Dragon’s blood.

Of course, no matter how intelligent she was…

The fact that the royal family of the great Eternian Holy Empire, who were also her family,

Had met a miserable end, buried alive by cosmic monsters—beings so incomparably inferior and insignificant compared to themselves—without even being able to return to their true forms (polymorph)…

And the fact that she had to witness it all in real-time before her very eyes…

“…”

The Saint’s emotions were about to collapse under grief and shock.

But her powerful super-intelligence prevented her from charging at the monsters in a rage with her wounded body.

Instead, it made her retreat temporarily from this situation to recover and wait for the next opportunity.

————————————

Of course, even though she managed to return to the satellite base by following her rational judgment…

“Y-Your Holiness…”

“…”

Her wounded body, coupled with the fact that her entire family had been massacred through live burial…

This would normally have been too much to bear even for the Saint’s powerful mind.

“Your Holiness.”

“…What.”

“You are now the only one who can lead us Eternians.”

“…”

Saint Maria nodded slightly, still in her Ether Dragon form, at the escort who was communicating with her.

“…You are right. I cannot show such weakness in times like these.”

With those words, Maria somehow pulled herself together and decided to stand up.

‘…But where do I even begin?’

Of course, Maria’s mental recovery did nothing to undo the catastrophic damage Eternia had suffered.