Ch.300Approaching Storm (1)

After assessing the situation, I could feel my anger rising considerably.

‘They’re crossing the line…’

And for good reason. Based on the various damage reports I’d received, the number of attackers coming at me was at minimum five or six clans.

Of course, this was just an estimate.

“Is anything showing up on the gravity radar?”

“No, nothing has entered the detection range yet.”

“…Hmm.”

Whoever these attackers were, they had only targeted the forward base and distant resource areas.

They were deliberately staying outside our detection range to prevent us from assessing their forces.

‘Damn it.’

For now, I ordered repairs on the devastated resource fleet, then issued deployment orders to the Rhodos Mercenary Corps led by Lephan and the Avalonia Security Fleet led by Aquerias.

“Commander, what about the Monster forces… I mean Princess Luca’s royal guard fleet?”

“Oh, of course talk to them too. In a situation like this, we need all the help we can get.”

“Understood.”

Additionally, I blocked the security fleet from heading toward the sector where the forward base had been destroyed.

There was no reason to waste valuable defensive forces when we didn’t know how many enemies we were facing.

Of course, judging by the six clans mentioned in my messages… with the new update allowing “friendly neutral” users to dock at outposts, there were likely more clans not mentioned in the messages. I estimated at least ten clans were pushing toward me.

With that many, if I combined my fleet with the base defense forces, I could not only hold out but potentially launch a counterattack…

I felt increasingly confident that I could somehow repel the invasion force without wasting resources I’d been gathering for the Tannhäuser operation.

…The problem came about an hour later.

“Commander, enemy fleet detected on the gravity radar!”

“Finally! How many are there?”

“…”

“Why are you nervously silent like that?”

Seeing Jessica’s anxious silence, I tried to calm my racing heart and pressed her for an answer.

With a deep sigh, Jessica reported to me in the most composed tone she could manage…

“I’ll be honest with you, Commander.”

“Hearing that makes me suddenly not want to hear the report.”

“There are at least 500 fleets approaching, each similar to or slightly smaller than your main fleet.”

“…Eh?”

“And they’re flying more than 50 clan marks.”

“Whaaaaaaaat?!”

Upon hearing this report, I felt my mind go blank, unable to process the sudden change in situation.

==========

At the same time Icarus was screaming like a 15-year-old middle school girl…

After effortlessly crushing the forward base near Avalon Fortress, the flagship “Odin-class Battleship” of the Walpurgis Alliance Clans continued its steady advance. Inside the bridge, clan leaders from over 50 clans were holding a strategy meeting.

To be precise, they weren’t physically gathered but were continuing their conversation through a chat window.

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Did we destroy all the forward bases?]

-[Yep]

-[Hannibal Clan is the last one, they’ll complete their move to the operation area soon]

-[OK confirmed]

-[We’ll launch the full-scale attack once everyone gathers near Avalon]

-[What if Icarus jumps out to intercept us preemptively?]

-[If a whole clan can engage, fight, but if there are fewer than 5 people, retreat instead]

-[Don’t forget Icarus nearly tied in a 1:5 battle even without his mercenary corps]

-[OK understood]

—————————————-

Their so-called strategy meeting resembled something like Discord orders from a past life, but that aside.

Since they were all taking the situation seriously in their own way, no one pointed this out.

They were smoothly and steadily continuing their invasion toward Avalon Fortress.

Moreover, contrary to the concerns expressed in the alliance clan chat, not a single hair of Icarus’s fleet was visible.

The tension that had existed when they destroyed the forward base was gradually fading away.

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Looks like Icarus is scared]

-[For real, can’t see his fleet anywhere]

-[Realistically speaking, that’s normal]

-[LOLOLOLOL sweet!]

-[He might just surrender LOLOL how could he possibly stop this?]

—————————————-

And in that place, a sense of arrogance and victory was trying to take hold.

But users with relatively level heads sharply drew the line against such arrogance.

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Judging by the absence of security fleets, it’s more likely Icarus is planning space defense]

-[Ah shit]

-[Originally we should have quickly destroyed the forward base and security fleet to weaken their forces, then charged in]

-[Since we couldn’t destroy the security fleet, we’ll have to face not just combat ships but also small vessels from the security fleet during the siege]

-[Oh right]

—————————————-

If you added up all the security fleet points of Avalon Fortress, it would be at least 40,000-50,000.

In other words, they had failed to eliminate forces equivalent to about 50-60 level 8 users in the early stages.

Reminded of this, the users who had been basking in the feeling of victory quickly came to their senses and continued their advance with a somewhat more serious attitude.

But while they were focusing on the security fleet at this point, one cold fact they had forgotten struck them harshly.

That was none other than…

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Oh shit teleport]

-[Teleport damn it!]

-[Strategic missile teleport appeared shit’s happening!]

-[We’re screwed]

-[What happened?]

-[What’s going on guys?]

-[We’re screwed, all our clan leader’s capital ships are gone except one cruiser]

-[LOLOLOLOL damn Kraken]

—————————————-

A tactic that could only be used once a day, but made all users extremely angry whenever it was used.

It was the strategic missile long-range teleport combination of Kraken-Hresvelgr, currently Icarus’s trademark move.

And as the price for forgetting about this, one of the alliance clan leaders had literally all their capital ships destroyed…

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Thanks Midori, we won’t forget your sacrifice]

-[Live strong even in space]

-[It’s okay, we still have plenty of shields!]

-[Thanks to the clan leader’s personal sacrifice, there won’t be any more teleport spam today]

-[Wow, is this what they call self-sacrifice or whatever?]

-[You bastards]

-[Lucky Vicky!]

-[The clan leader’s sacrifice saved the rest, that’s totally Lucky Vicky!]

-[LOLOLOLOL]

—————————————-

Looking on the bright side, his “sacrifice” protected the remaining capital ships for a day.

The members of the Walpurgis Alliance Clan decided to push forward with even more determination, demonstrating extreme positive thinking.

Of course, the clan leader who took the beating was on the verge of tears of blood, feeling he’d been unfairly targeted.

But less than 5 minutes later…

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Ugh shit another teleport]

-[Lost 5 battleships damn it]

-[I lost 3 cruisers]

-[What? Did the cooldown reset already?]

-[It’s once per day, and a day just passed]

-[The timing is legendary damn it]

-[But thinking about when the teleport started, wasn’t it before a full day?]

-[Must be a margin of error or something]

—————————————-

As the cooldown reset with the passing of a day, another user’s fleet had its capital ships completely destroyed.

The clan leader who had suffered alone earlier experienced the miracle of his tears of blood turning into just tears, now that he wasn’t the only one suffering unfairly.