Ch.24411th Committee Member (3)

I and Adhigh Orr flew upward, avoiding the falling ice fragments.

I’m worried about PS-111 who isn’t here, but I can’t afford to lose Pyrrha Eleven. If I do, my secret tactics will be exposed to enemy players.

Determined to finish this quickly, I emerged from the ravine.

In the sky, a battle was raging between Gallergorn and warships hundreds of meters in size.

The night sky, normally dark, was anything but at this moment. The breath of space dragons, flames from weapons manufactured by machines, and eerily glowing clouds.

Just like in the game, the battlefield in this world was incredibly flashy and chaotic.

‘Except here, death is final.’

I flapped my wing-arms forcefully to increase my speed. Adhigh Orr, carrying the Sky Mother, followed closely beside me.

The ship cannons that had been firing at the Gallergorn now turned toward me. Soon, flashes of light burst like fireworks.

Hundreds of torpedoes fired from the cannons on Pyrrha Eleven’s ship came flying to pulverize me and Adhigh Orr.

Adhigh Orr, who had been flying close to me, prepared evasive maneuvers. As I was also preparing for the rain of torpedoes, something unexpected happened in the ominously glowing clouds.

The cloud, which had been swirling majestically like a typhoon, discharged purple lightning.

The lightning made of psychic power split like claws and spread over the torpedoes. As the thin energy tendrils touched the torpedoes, chain explosions occurred.

Through the smoke billowing with the explosion, I could see the figure who created the lightning.

Ham Oort, a Gallergorn with black scales and second-in-command of Adhigh Orr’s group, briefly met my gaze. He also glanced at Adhigh Orr flying beside me, then resumed his attack on the ship.

Ham Oort spread his wings and glided toward the ground to avoid the torpedoes. Other Gallergorn followed in formation behind him. After avoiding the torpedoes, they scattered in two directions and gained altitude.

‘They’re moving like when they fought the Sky Whale.’

Adult Sky Whales are larger than any Gallergorn. They’re fighting while maintaining an encirclement formation, just like when hunting prey larger than themselves.

The Gallergorn approaching the bottom of the ship simultaneously breathed fire. The dragon’s breath heated the ship’s outer wall and burned the cannons underneath. The cannons that were firing torpedoes exploded when stimulated by psychic power.

Amid the barrage from the Gallergorn, Pyrrha Eleven began to counterattack.

Numerous APDs were launched from inside the ship and rushed at the Gallergorn. There were far more than just those hiding in the ravine—an enormous quantity, almost like a swarm of locusts bursting out from inside the ship.

Waves that nullified psychic power emanated from the APD swarm. Adult Gallergorn including Ham Oort quickly retreated beyond the APDs’ attack range, but some weren’t so fortunate.

The flight speed of the green Gallergorn hit by the APDs dropped dramatically. Being still young and not proficient with psychic power, they could barely stay airborne by flapping their wings. And the ship’s cannons were targeting these weakened green Gallergorn.

‘Not so fast!’

While Pyrrha Eleven was engaged in battle with the Gallergorn, I closed the distance to the ship and opened my mouth wide. A green fungal mass rose from deep in my throat and flew through the air, landing on the cannons.

Acidic fungi that consider solid alloys a meal quickly ate away at the muzzles. The torpedoes about to be fired exploded as their exits were blocked. The impact stopped the cannons from firing, and during this pause, the green Gallergorn who had lost their psychic power hastily retreated from the battlefield.

‘Four of them were hit by the APDs.’

Now four white Gallergorn, five green Gallergorn, and Ham Oort remained. After confirming that the green Gallergorn had safely landed on the snow, I prepared a psychic breath.

Torpedoes flew toward me, but this time I wasn’t caught off guard like before. No. 26 stepped in, knowing I was preparing a major attack.

The torpedoes, each as large as 3 or 4 adult men combined, stopped in mid-air. As No. 26 waved its tentacles, the numerous torpedoes trembled and began plummeting to the ground.

While No. 26 bought time, the tentacles of my monster form, having quickly completed charging, emitted light. Massive energy erupted like a volcano and struck the ship.

Pyrrha Eleven’s ship lurched violently, and a large hole was blown in its side. Some internal facilities must have been damaged as well, as localized explosions occurred in areas other than where it was hit.

The APDs quickly gathered to protect their master. The cloud of drones continuously emitted waves to counteract psychic power.

The energy gathering in my tentacles kept dispersing due to the APD’s interference waves, but it didn’t matter. Thanks to the “Dragon’s Heart,” psychic power was being generated faster than it was disappearing.

‘And I have reinforcements.’

White Gallergorn, including Adhigh Orr, gathered around me and fired their breaths together. Adhigh Orr’s energy bolts and the heat rays of ordinary Gallergorn blended with my breath to strike the APDs.

Above our heads, Ham Oort was coordinating the “Maelstrom.” Torpedoes fired from the ship got caught in lightning and storms, losing their targets and exploding in mid-air.

The APDs continued to spray waves that blocked psychic power, but they could no longer withstand the continuous psychic attacks.

APDs are vulnerable to time-differential attacks, and with the Gallergorn’s overwhelming firepower on top of that, they had no way to defend.

If the enemy had been a fleet rather than a single ship, they could have deployed many more APDs to block us, but such assumptions are meaningless in this situation.

The barrier built with expensive drones collapsed, and our breath scorched the front of the ship. The flames unleashed by the enraged Gallergorn were so powerful that they melted through the thick outer walls.

Perhaps judging that further damage would affect escape as well.

Pyrrha Eleven’s ship fired a volley of torpedoes and then began accelerating above the clouds. It was likely attempting FTL travel directly from the atmosphere.

[Zzzzz zzz (We can’t let it escape)]

“Children of Adhigh Orr!” “Here!” “Revenge!” “Now!”

The Gallergorn launched an offensive at Adhigh Orr’s command, disregarding defense.

Despite being bloodied in the barrage, they didn’t retreat and continued firing dragon’s breath. I also joined their attack, crushing the remaining APDs with my bare hands.

But I could see the ship’s hull already glowing with a faint blue light. It was a signal that FTL travel was imminent.

Even in the midst of the storm and hull damage, it was attempting to jump to a distant point in space far from the frozen planet below us.

‘This isn’t good.’

This was unexpected.

Entering FTL travel with severe ship damage could result in the ship splitting apart during transit or coordinates misaligning, causing it to crash into a star.

I thought Pyrrha Eleven, being a machine, wouldn’t attempt something so reckless, but I was wrong. It preferred a slim chance of survival over certain death here.

I stopped firing my breath and accelerated toward it. Landing on the rear of the hull, I poured acidic fungi onto the outer wall.

The only options were to damage the FTL engine to prevent the jump, or to enter FTL travel with it.

‘I can always return anyway…’

Just as I was about to melt through the outer wall and enter, small anti-aircraft turrets on the rear fired something at me. It was so small it could hardly be considered anti-aircraft ammunition, but it stuck to my body.

The moment I felt the impact, strength drained from my body. Extreme lethargy and helplessness washed over me, and I nearly fell off the ship.

Beyond mere pain, this feeling of life force being stolen—I’ve felt it once before.

‘Blood River!’

I thought it didn’t have any since it hadn’t used them until now, but I was wrong.

The Blood River hidden on the ship was Pyrrha Eleven’s final card.

When fighting Muriel, I had “Gremlin Moss” attached to my body to damage mechanical equipment, but this isn’t that situation.

Moreover, it used far more Blood River on me than Muriel did. Just from what I could feel with my dimming physical senses, there were at least 15. This amount could turn even Odd Grad or Ice Horror into a mummy in an instant.

Indeed, my hard exoskeleton was losing vitality and shriveling. I was barely holding on by focusing all my attention on the hand gripping the ship.

‘What should I do?’

With my weakened exoskeleton, falling could be fatal. But staying attached to the ship promised nothing but a miserable future.

‘I need to choose quickly… huh?’

At that moment, the feeling of life force draining from my body weakened considerably. Along with that, my body slowly began to recover.

With my auxiliary organs regaining some strength, I could understand what was happening to my body.

‘No. 26!’

When I suddenly became weak, No. 26, who had been above my head, came to help. It was using psychic power to remove the Blood River attached all over my body and throw them away.

With some strength returned, I used my combat arms to enter the ship.

[Zzzzz (Thank you)]

“I’ll punish anything that hurts big baby.”

Thanks to it, I could escape from the Blood River, but problems remained. My eyes could clearly see the ship’s hull covered in blue light.

In a few seconds, this ship would depart from this frozen planet to a place far away.

‘Too late.’

There’s nothing I can do now. I’ll have to find a way to fight or escape after arrival.

That’s what I thought.

Until I heard a broadcast that shouldn’t be heard here.

“Hijacking of FTL engine control completed through physical contact. Canceling FTL travel.”

A familiar voice came from a speaker somewhere inside the ship. Along with it, the blue light covering the entire ship faded away as if it had never been there.

“Wow! Friend! Big baby, there’s a friend here!”

[Zzzz (Yes)]

After the familiar voice, the mechanical voice of the ship’s original owner was heard.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Incomprehensible. PS Model 111. Obey immediately.”

“I cannot. Former Main Controller. As long as I’m here, this ship isn’t going anywhere.”

“Pyrrha Eleven. Attempting to regain ship control. PS Model 111. I order you again. Obey and fulfill your duty.”

Pyrrha Eleven’s voice seemed very urgent, unlike what I’d heard before.

That’s inevitable. Below, Gallergorn are flying up to tear the ship apart, and inside the ship is a giant creature hostile to it.

On top of that, an unexpected traitor is also threatening its life.

Even if there are any Screamers left on board, it’s impossible for them to subdue us. It has no moves left.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Control over FTL engine recovered.”

But Pyrrha Eleven, befitting its status as a High Commissioner, quickly regained control. Right after its voice was heard through the speaker, a faint blue light began to spread in the corridor again.

‘Still, we bought time.’

PS-111 has done its part sufficiently. Now it’s our turn to act.

As I moved to find Pyrrha Eleven who controlled the ship, the argument continued over the speakers.

“PS Model 111. It’s not too late. Obey.”

To Pyrrha Eleven’s urging, the traitor, PS-111, answered briefly.

“I am a special entity. No one can control me.”

As always, its voice remained calm.