Ch.234The Final Blow Makes a Masterpiece…! (6)

The result of Melon and the regular-rank battleship’s sacrifice.

Without even time to mourn the death(?) of Hresvelgr, what was deployed to the battlefield was…

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-<Indefatigable’s Abukuma-class defensive light cruiser has been sunk by Icarus’s Kraken-class assault aircraft carrier.>

-[Ugh my god](Indefatigable)

-[Damn that Kraken](Menaldu)

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The Kraken was gobbling up yet another light cruiser into its maw.

But no matter how massive the satellite-sized Kraken was, its opponents weren’t just in the top 0.1%, but rather the elite users within the top 0.002%.

They managed to evade the dozens of lush Kraken’s hair… no, tentacle bundles with their controls, and succeeded in either pulling them out or destroying them.

Naturally, the Kraken realized it had suddenly been reduced to something like a hair loss gallery user, but it didn’t choose suicide out of despair…

Instead, with its main guns destroyed, it charged at one of Laura’s battleships with its large and beautiful maw, successfully biting and sinking it, but…

Right after that.

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-[Now’s our chance]

-[Quick, hit the Kraken in the belly while it’s busy eating that battleship](Laura)

-[What](Betelgeuse)

-[Belly punch is the only answer, go go](Menaldu)

-[Let’s go straight for that legendary belly punch](Indefatigable)

-[W-wh-what](Betelgeuse)

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With word choices actively triggering Betelgeuse’s PTSD, the remaining ships concentrated their fire on the belly of the Kraken as it was biting into the battleship.

With all the escort cruisers that could have defended against such concentrated attacks long since sunk, the Kraken took direct hits from various shells, beams, missiles, and more to its plump belly.

-KWAAAAAANG!!!!

-PUHWAAAAK!

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-[Wow, what a show](Koenig)

-[Oh shit](Menaldu)

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The belly that had swollen from gobbling up various things burst like a balloon pricked with a needle, showing horrific results in all directions.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time the Kraken was being sunk, the situation wasn’t looking good for the 100-person (or not) suicide squad in the rear.

That was because they had mobilized about 80 superhumans and all available assault forces through the Kraken’s teleport function, throwing them in all at once.

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-<Monalisa’s regular-grade light aircraft carrier has been captured by Icarus’s ‘Griyanar’ and Phoenicia’s ‘Demiurgos’!>

-<Koenig’s regular-grade cruiser has been captured by Icarus’s ‘Oxianor’ and ‘Ignis’!>

-<Betelgeuse’s Jupiter-class electronic warfare cruiser has been captured by Pampakampam’s ‘August’!>

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At first, they showed their prowess by using their overwhelming superhuman forces to quickly seize all surrounding ships.

They forced the All-Star team to open a new front between separate fleets, apart from the superhuman forces.

But that didn’t last long.

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-[If I cannot protect my fleet, I will rather reduce it to ashes](Koenig)

-<Koenig’s Koenigstiger-class battleship has sunk Koenig’s regular-grade cruiser (captured)!>

-[What](Laura)

-[???](Antares)

-[Why is he destroying his own ship!](Monalisa)

-[Thanks to that, we lost three superhumans, cheers](Betelgeuse)

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With Koenig’s strategy of self-destructing his ships as soon as they were captured, and with other users’ superhuman forces arriving one after another to provide support.

Despite Icarus’s side having the advantage in terms of superhuman “quantity,” they were gradually being pushed back.

Of course, this was ultimately due to the issue of superhuman “ranks” being a major factor in reversing the situation.

While the All-Star friends basically had 3-4 SSS-rank superhumans each, the users on Icarus’s team typically had only 1-2 SSS-ranks.

So even though Icarus’s team had more in numbers, the fact that all the superhumans supporting the All-Stars were SSS-rank meant:

To face just one of them required at least 3 S-rank superhumans.

For A-rank and below, as many as 10 had to gang up on one opponent, which actually put Icarus’s team at a disadvantage.

Moreover, if there was one mistake the Icarus team members made, it was targeting Monalisa’s “Anomalocaris-class” ship—a “too large” vessel—resulting in:

A full third of their already insufficient superhuman forces had to be deployed just to occupy a single ship.

Add to that Koenig’s self-sinking strategy, which eliminated several superhumans at the cost of just a few ships.

Most of the captured ships were sunk by surprise attacks before they could be properly operated.

The superhuman corps, including the SSS-ranks from Icarus and the other eight users, were finding themselves increasingly cornered as time passed.

==========

And at the same time, on another front.

Specifically, Icarus team’s allied fleet, which held the peculiar position of being both a distraction and the main force…

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<Global Chat>

-[Why can’t we break through]

-[This defense is ridiculous]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL](Betelgeuse)

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Betelgeuse laughing at them… but no.

Proving that his top ranking wasn’t just from playing Go-Stop, Antares was showing exquisite defense, minimizing their own damage while maximizing the enemy’s.

Arcadia’s thorough mobile defense covering Antares’s iron-wall defense.

And the ships they had sent ahead while other users were responding to the superhuman assault corps…

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-[We’re here](Indefatigable)

-[You arrived at just the right time](Arcadia)

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Finally, with about 10 ships that survived after sinking the Kraken joining the front.

The enemy personnel, who had deployed all their superhumans except non-combat personnel and thus weren’t receiving proper command buffs, were simply unable to break through the line and were struggling.

Moreover, another unfavorable situation was developing for them.

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-<Raksha’s Shimakaze-class destroyer has sunk Chuchu’s regular-grade battleship!>

-[Oh god please](Chuchu)

-[This is driving me crazy lol](Pampakampam)

-[Someone please do something about that guy](Great Wolf)

-[Damn it](Raizengan)

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Raksha, whose very existence served as a plot device, had annihilated Icarus’s flanking force and then,

Instead of returning to the main force, had begun attacking the enemy’s rear with a single ship, bombarding them.

If there was one fortunate thing for them in this unfortunate situation…

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<Global Chat>

-<Antares’s Griffin-class heavy battleship has sunk Raizengan’s Gongo-class battle cruiser!>

-<Raksha’s Shimakaze-class destroyer has been destroyed by the ammunition explosion of Raizengan’s Gongo-class battle cruiser!>

-[???]

-[What happened](Raksha)

-[Sorry, didn’t mean to](Antares)

-[LOLOLOLOLOL](Chuchu)

-[My ship exploded but this is funny lol](Raizengan)

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Was it divine providence?

Incredibly, when Antares’s heavy battleship fired and sank another user’s battle cruiser,

Raksha’s destroyer happened to be passing nearby and got caught in the ammunition explosion, causing the paper-thin armored destroyer to blow up.