Ch.28Lone Wolf vs Troll (6)

Meanwhile, as Icarus’s remaining patrol ships were buying time with extreme deep-dives…

True to gaming tradition, our Ignis and Berial had infiltrated the ship to engage in hand-to-hand combat—something that apparently still exists even in the SF era.

The two were going all out, thoroughly ransacking the interior of the Overseer.

“Hyaah!”

*Slash! Thud!*

Of course, assault pods from the patrol ships had deployed androids reminiscent of Terminator to support them.

*Ratatatatata!*

*Vrrrrrrrrrr!*

…But there was an obvious limit to what could be transported in just 10 pods.

Against the defense drones and turrets deployed throughout the cruiser’s interior—which stretched over 1km—they were being hopelessly swept away.

One assault pod even managed to destroy just an antenna on the cruiser instead of properly boarding, then drifted off into the distant reaches of space like a complete failure.

But despite all this, there was a good reason they were deployed.

“Foothold!”

The androids Icarus deployed served as platforms for Ignis’s smooth spatial maneuvers, or…

“I’d better control them directly.”

Using her unique ability of “Doll Manipulation,” Berial incorporated the androids into her forces, quickly taking control of various sections within the cruiser.

Of course, what mattered was that their presence was tremendously helpful to Ignis and Berial who had boarded the ship.

In other words, this created immense pressure for Barbatos—the S-rank character left behind on Melon’s orders to protect the cruiser’s control system, Melon’s only close-combat superhuman who hadn’t had the opportunity to level up and had only just reached level 12.

Of course, separate from Melon’s mindless aggro-pulling, he wasn’t completely brainless.

To compensate for Barbatos’s insufficient level, he had prepared various equipment and added defensive system support—doing everything he could to prepare, but…

“Surrender, Barbatos!”

“The cruiser’s defensive forces you were relying on are already decimated. Just give up and hand over control.”

“…So it comes to this after all.”

Unfortunately, the defenses Melon had set up could only withstand characters slightly stronger than Barbatos.

The two women standing before Barbatos now—Ignis, a near-SSS rank, and Berial, a clear SSS rank—were not opponents he could hold off.

Sighing, Barbatos showed a look of lament for the stupidity of his lord and commander, Melon.

But right after expressing that lament—

*Thud!*

“I, Barbatos, by the command of my lord Melon, will absolutely protect this cruiser’s control system!”

“…So that’s how it’s going to be.”

“We have no choice. We need to finish this quickly since we’re short on time.”

With determination to protect the cruiser his lord had entrusted to him, he slammed the end of his massive warhammer on the floor and immediately charged at Ignis and Berial, unleashing the power supplied to his enhancement suit.

Despite the significant stat difference due to his insufficient level and rank, with the additional equipment from his commander and support from defense turrets and reinforcement drones installed in the control room…

Barbatos, merely an S-rank, displayed remarkable martial prowess against two essentially SSS-rank opponents.

He fought with his life on the line, trying somehow to buy time.

But no matter how much equipment he piled on, being only mid-tier within the S-rank, he quickly reached his limit.

The enhancement suit compensating for his insufficient stats was shattered by Ignis’s consecutive attacks.

Seizing that moment, Berial’s fluid attack swept across the floor and struck his chin, lifting his body into the air.

“Now, it’s over!”

Ignis’s full-power Hectopascal Kick, boasting SS+ attack power, struck Barbatos directly in the stomach.

Without even getting the chance to choose to resist with indomitable will, Barbatos ended his sorrowful life and once again embarked on a long journey to the distant world of gacha.

After thus burying Barbatos, the two women looked at the cruiser’s control system—now protected by only a thin barrier, with no defense turrets, drones, or even superhumans left.

They quietly licked their lips in anticipation.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time, our Commander Melon was…

“Damn it, wasting time on mere patrol fleets!”

“All ships advance at maximum speed! Prepare for boarding combat inside the Overseer!”

Perhaps due to losing precious 5 minutes because of Icarus’s patrol fleet that had charged in disregarding sacrifices, his already terrible mental state was deteriorating further, with his nerves becoming increasingly frayed to a concerning degree.

But even considering that, Commander Melon’s scolding was at a more serious level than usual.

Of course, from Melon’s perspective, there was a reasonable explanation for this.

“Damn it, why can’t we contact the Overseer?!”

“I’m sorry Commander, we’re continuously attempting communication… Eek!”

“Don’t just say you’re trying! Fucking do it faster! Connect quickly and show me that fucking thing is still intact! You fucking bitch!”

Not satisfied with just physically striking Maya who was only giving her report, he was also hurling all kinds of verbal abuse.

In Melon’s eyes, there was panic because he hadn’t received any status messages from the SSS-rank cruiser “Overseer”—the only thing that had kept him alive despite all his troublemaking.

Of course, the Overseer’s connection being cut was merely the result of Icarus’s assault pod destroying only the communication antenna before becoming a star in space.

It was something neither Melon nor Icarus had anticipated.

To Melon, it appeared that the situation inside the Overseer was so dire they couldn’t even send communications.

That’s why he was busy moving his fleet, which had just finished battle, toward the Overseer without proper formation or maintenance.

Of course, seeing that the Overseer was still in place, Melon felt his mind rapidly stabilizing.

He derived a miraculous formula in his head: ‘Overseer still in place = battle ongoing inside, or our side has already succeeded in defense!’

And fearing that his rapidly advancing fleet might collide with the Overseer and damage the precious SSS-rank cruiser…

“Ah… reduce fleet speed! We’ll crash into the Overseer!”

“Understood. All ships reducing speed.”

He lowered the speed of his fleet that had been advancing at maximum velocity, deciding to approach the Overseer as carefully as possible.

And at that very moment—

*Beep beep beep! Beep beep!*

“?!”

“Commander, enemy fleet appearing at 10 o’clock!”

Seeing that Icarus, who had already sacrificed all his patrol ships, was now deploying 6 destroyers—not transport types but properly armed vessels—Melon thought that the bastard was trying to somehow sink the Overseer.

He immediately ordered his fleet to escort the Overseer and engage Icarus.

Melon’s loyal fleet promptly gathered at the front and rear of the Overseer, forming a defensive formation to prevent it from being hit by Icarus’s fleet’s attacks.

And despite still being unable to establish communication, Melon smiled with satisfaction as he saw “his” Overseer moving its massive main guns to face forward.

“See that, Maya! I told you we won the defense!”

“…”

Despite Melon’s words, his adjutant Maya narrowed her cat-like eyes as she stared at the screen.

Eventually, as if noticing something, she urgently approached her commander to offer advice.

“Commander! We’ve been deceived!”

“Huh?”

“The Overseer has already fallen to the enemy! If we continue like this, we’ll be attacked from both sides!”

“Haha, stop lying. There’s no way the Overseer could fall.”

However, such sincere advice didn’t reach Melon, who was blinded by the perfect opportunity to crush Icarus who had caused him so much trouble.

And just as Melon confirmed that Icarus’s fleet had entered firing range and gave the order to fire—

*KABOOOOM!!!!*

*KABOOM!*

*BANG! BOOM!*

“…Huh?”

Melon could only make a stupid sound as he watched the Overseer, just as Maya had warned, firing its main guns and missiles at his fleet right before his eyes.