Ch.332Ouroboros (1)

But there was one very critical problem here.

In my power calculations, I had accidentally completely omitted the “Neranjara-class” from the equation.

As a result, the actual power of the NPC fleet we would face boasted an incredibly vicious difficulty level beyond what we had anticipated.

However, at that time, we hadn’t yet noticed this fact.

—————————————-

<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[How about sending scout ships ahead to encounter the NPC fleet?](Icarus)

-[Good idea](Arcadia)

—————————————-

With a vague “this should be about right” mindset, we sent scout ships ahead as the vanguard of our main force.

Then we continued advancing our fleet at a very leisurely pace.

Of course, as always, Neranjara had already gone into submersion mode and moved far away.

It surfaced while hiding among nearby debris to charge its subspace submersion battery.

And when we realized the above fact and learned what the enemy NPC fleet’s actual power was…

-“Commander, enemy ship signals detected nearby.”

“Huh? Already?”

-“It appears to be a scout ship, but there’s only one.”

“Ah, our position’s been exposed already… can’t be helped. Tell the main force’s destroyers to eliminate it.”

-“Understood.”

As we continued our leisurely advance, we received surveillance information that one enemy fleet scout ship had crossed our scout network and detected our main force.

Since we didn’t want to experience being followed around with our position information being updated in real-time…

Just as we were about to quickly intercept that reconnaissance ship using the destroyers from my and Arcadia’s joint fleet…

-Beeeeeeeep!!!!

-“Ultra-high energy reaction approaching from the front at superluminal speed!”

“What.”

-“Evade, all ships emergency evasion!”

-“All thrusters, full power!”

-“Rudder 90 degrees starboard! I don’t care if it breaks—”

-KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

It was after I saw a massive stream of energy, coming from much farther than the detection range of our advance scout ships, cutting across the joint fleet.

And of all places, right through the center of my fleet.

Of course, if this was some kind of “ultra-long-range area weapon” with low energy density…

At the very least, the monster-type medium cruisers with battleship-grade frontal armor…

And the massive battle cruisers might have somehow withstood it based on their class…

-KWAAANG! PUEONG!

-“W-what’s happening!”

-“The armor plating can’t withstand—”

-CRACKLE!

But such hopes of mine were completely unfounded.

Among the ships caught in that insane bombardment, light cruisers and smaller vessels melted down and exploded as soon as they were exposed.

-“Don’t panic!”

-“The frontal armor of our ‘Wyvern-class medium cruiser’ monster is battleship-grade!”

-“Wyvern-class entering defensive posture!”

-“If the Wyvern’s armor combines with our battle cruiser’s armor…!”

While our NPC crew members aboard the Wyvern-class medium cruisers (monster-grade) were spouting cliché lines…

Among my precious battle cruisers 1, 2, and 3, excluding No. 1 which wasn’t in range to begin with…

Unlike No. 2 which narrowly avoided a direct hit, No. 3 tried to engage head-on, trusting in the Wyvern-class…

-KWAAAANG!

“…”

The frontal armor of the Wyvern-class that the NPC crew members had so much faith in only bought about 5 seconds of time.

And naturally, after those 5 seconds passed, the Wyverns’ thick frontal armor melted, followed by their entire bodies disintegrating at the cellular level and exploding.

Battle cruiser No. 3 behind them was exposed to the energy flow, and in less than 5 seconds, all its armor plates melted.

-“C-Commander! The armor plating can’t hold!”

-“Save us!”

-“Abandon ship!”

-“External cooling systems at their lim—”

-KWAAAAAAANG!!!!

“This is insane.”

As the thermal energy of thousands to tens of thousands of degrees rushed into the battle cruiser’s interior through the holes in the melted armor plating…

My precious battle cruiser No. 3, including the 7 seconds bought by the Wyvern-class…

Melted like iron thrown into a furnace just 20 seconds after being exposed to the energy, before finally exploding.

But what was even more shocking was that ships like No. 3 that exploded at least had the excuse of being “directly hit.”

Among the remaining ships that successfully avoided the energy bombardment, those that were too “close” to it, including No. 2…

-“Lower hull armor plating melting!”

-“Rudder inoperable! Rudder inoperable!”

-“Aaaaargh”

The massive heat radiating from the beam of bombardment melted external armor plating and various facilities at minimum.

Some ships had their propulsion systems or protruding “bridges” evaporate, rendering them immobile.

In severe cases, ships that avoided the bombardment too “narrowly”…

Ships that were too close… for example, battle cruiser No. 2…

-“External side armor plating melting!”

-“External deck temperature exceeding 10,000 degrees!”

-“Cooling systems can’t keep up!”

-“R-reporting! Battle cruiser No. 2’s left hull is half gone, all weapons installed on the left side are inoperable!”

-“Main turrets 3 and 4 completely melted, turret 2’s turret ring motor and internal computing systems are all burned out, making it unusable for the time being.”

-“The main keel has completely melted and fallen off with the lost lower section, and all auxiliary keels have melted as well.”

“…Uuuuuugh.”

It literally just “survived.”

With mobility lost, half its weapons gone, and most of its armor plating melted, the left side that had been grazed by the bombardment exposed even the internal framework.

‘My battle cruiser turning into fish bones? Really?’

It created a rare and extraordinary scene that made me feel tremendous anger and sadness simultaneously.

==========

Anyway, our fleet, which had been advancing proudly and leisurely just minutes ago, suffered a catastrophe with one-third of its power vanishing in an instant.

But we couldn’t just give up and retreat here…

First, we destroyed the scout ship that had detected our fleet to eliminate the risk of additional bombardment.

Then battle cruiser No. 1 salvaged and towed the immobilized battle cruiser No. 2.

After spending about a minute restoring the fleet’s organization, I hurriedly opened the chat window.

I responded to Arcadia, who was frantically sending messages asking if I was okay, saying that I could manage.

—————————————–

<Event-exclusive Chat Room>

-[Icarus]

-[Icarus]

-[Icarus]

-[Sir]

-[Are you okay?]

-[Did you take a direct hit from what just came?](Arcadia)

-[Yes]

-[Lost one battle cruiser, one medium cruiser, and two destroyers right from the start.](Icarus)

-[Oh no](Arcadia)

-[Another battle cruiser is beyond half-destroyed, nearly totaled… but I think we can still use it somehow](Icarus)

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Of course, it’s easy to say.

In a situation where the power ratio was already 1:2.5, finding out that one-third of my fleet’s power had melted away without accomplishing anything from the start…

“Commander, are you alright?”

-“Savior, perhaps you should take a brief rest first.”

“Siiiiigh…”

Jessica placed her hand on my shoulder with a worried expression, and even Partia showed concern for me.

But contrary to their assumption that my mental state had “melted down like our forces”…

In my mind, more than the melting fleet, my curiosity about what had caused that attack was exploding.

“…By the way, Jessica.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“What exactly attacked us? It seems similar to an annihilation ship… but the firepower is too strong.”

“Y-yes, that’s certainly true.”

-Beep!

“Ah, Commander Arcadia’s advance reconnaissance team has just discovered a ship presumed to have fired the previous bombardment.”

“Oh?”

“They’ve transmitted images. Should I display them on screen right away?”

“Yes, please do.”

Upon hearing that they had captured images of the ship’s exterior…

I wanted to see the face of whoever dared to fire fresh milk… no, a big-fucking-energy beam at me… I mean, our fleet.

And when the ship’s exterior appeared on the base’s large screen…

“…What is that?”

“I wonder too.”

As a ship with an appearance I’d never seen before, presumably “a ship released when I wasn’t playing,” appeared…

I felt anger rising inside me at the thought that they must have released awesome updates only when I quit the game.