Ch.41[Chapter 41] Battle of Annihilation

Sir Dominic re-entered Stage 3 and respawned at what appeared to be the Giant of Hundread Hands faction’s base.

The reason for uncertainty was that it looked completely different from the base he remembered.

“What on earth… is this…”

The base Sir Dominic remembered was nothing more than a crude palisade with carelessly stacked boxes.

But now?

“Move those shells immediately! Is the large-caliber tectonic shell research not finished yet?”

“30 seconds! Just wait 30 more seconds! We’re still collecting the resources provided by the Star!”

A massive headquarters so tall it would hurt your neck to look up.

Flags and emblems adorned with a hundred palm prints, seemingly symbolizing the Giant of Hundread Hands.

The tall spire connected to the headquarters was covered with operating communication devices, and beyond them were factories belching smoke so hot that snow from the sky couldn’t reach the ground.

In front of the factories stood buildings with turning gears, and Sir Dominic had never seen cannons as large as those mounted on these structures.

One cannon recoiled with tremendous smoke and noise before returning to position.

Sir Dominic dazedly followed the trajectory of the elongated shell it had fired.

An explosion occurred on one of the hills barely visible beyond the horizon.

Following that initial explosion, shells continued to rain down like precipitation, turning the earth inside out.

Sir Dominic was left speechless at this spectacle.

[(ALL) Star The Tentacle Explorer uses divine power [Ascension]. Some members of The Tentacle Explorer’s side gain mythical power and walk between dimensions!]

[(ALL) Star Giant of Hundread Hands uses divine power [Gigantomachia]. Occult powers and the glory of the mythical age are temporarily sealed!]

Even the divine powers were different from what he knew.

While the meteor shower had certainly been an astonishing divine power, the power struggle between Stars who could now use even stronger powers through war expansion contained enough force to easily destroy an entire kingdom with a casual strike.

Faced with a battlefield situation beyond his comprehension, Sir Dominic couldn’t even think about igniting his fighting spirit.

The current battlefield had transcended the bounds of normalcy to that extent.

“Already at total annihilation warfare.”

Sir Dominic came to his senses at the sound of a sigh beside him.

“Victory is already predetermined, Lieutenant Stacy.”

Sir Dominic turned his head toward the voice.

There stood an elegant tea table with mugs and a whiskey bottle, quite out of place on the battlefield.

Two people were seated on either side of the table, with Strelch standing straight behind them.

On one side was Stacy, a face Sir Dominic recognized, and on the opposite side sat someone he’d never seen before, though Sir Dominic thought the two resembled each other.

“Well, with Dad as commander, we can’t lose.”

“Lieutenant Stacy, this is wartime. Address me as Commander.”

“Yes, yes. Commander.”

The soldier with slightly darker red hair than Stacy’s, pale rough skin, pulled up the coat draped over his shoulders and raised his mug.

After drinking the contents of the mug with restrained movements, the soldier, apparently displeased with Stacy’s seemingly sarcastic remark, casually addressed Strelch, who was standing tensely beside them.

“Are all kids like this these days, or is my daughter uniquely late to puberty? What do you think, Sergeant Strelch?”

“You just respawned, sir. People naturally get irritable after dying and coming back to life, Commander.”

“Is that so?”

The wind on the battlefield grew fierce, but the sound of shells flying through the air was clearly audible above it.

Seemingly displeased with Strelch’s response, the one called Commander sipped from his mug while staring at Stacy.

Stacy was also engaged in a tense battle of wills, staring back at her father—no, the Commander.

“Well, let’s leave it at that. Family matters aren’t important right now. Victory. That’s the important point.”

“Yes, Commander.”

The man carefully set down his mug without making a sound.

Then he stood up, glanced once at Stacy, and continued coldly.

“The synergy will activate soon. When the synergy triggers, that’s when the offensive begins. Remember that, Lieutenant Stacy.”

“…Understood.”

The Commander rose from his seat, tightened the coat draped over his shoulders, and entered the headquarters.

Strelch watched the Commander’s retreating figure and only let out a sigh of relief after he disappeared. Stacy leaned back in her chair, endlessly staring at the now-empty table while sighing.

“I wonder if Father dislikes me.”

It was relatively better now, but her father was typically the epitome of a stoic and cold-hearted person.

He had never once said “I love you” in his entire life, nor had he ever given an affectionate hug.

A man who knew nothing but work and victory. That’s how Stacy thought of her father.

Stacy raised her upper body as she spoke.

In the process, her hair got caught in the gap between the chair, becoming disheveled, but Stacy didn’t notice as she poured out her complaints to Strelch.

“I became a soldier because I admired Father, but once I entered the military, he treats me so coldly.”

As if she couldn’t bring herself to directly criticize her father, she used a euphemism.

“That’s not true.”

Strelch thought about the Commander’s mug that had been on the table until just now.

Earlier, while standing behind the Commander, Strelch had seen the inscription on the mug.

On the mug, which had a drawing of an animal that could have been a bear, lion, or cat, was written, “Parent’s Day Thank You Gift, Stacy.”

Strelch wanted to say that the Commander was simply a man who had lived through war his entire life and was poor at expressing himself, not that he disliked her.

That is, until Sir Dominic interrupted.

“What exactly is synergy?”

Strelch and Stacy turned to Sir Dominic with a start.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Sir Dominic scratched his cheek and said:

“I was just too curious.”

In the atmosphere that had grown as cold as the blizzard outside, Sir Dominic bravely asked what he was curious about with knightly courage.

Sighing at his brazenness, Stacy thought it would be better to just answer Sir Dominic’s question and send him on his way, since the mood was already broken.

“Synergy refers to when similar characteristics within the same clan, or characteristics that complement each other, come together to produce a greater effect.”

Stacy said as she rose from her chair.

As she stood up, her hair caught in the chair nearly snapped her neck backward, but Stacy calmly extracted her hair and continued coolly.

“The synergy Father mentioned is probably commander synergy. It could also be clan synergy. Or both.”

Stacy continued her explanation, but for Sir Dominic, who had not yet joined a clan, there were parts that were incomprehensible just from verbal explanation.

Sir Dominic simply nodded, thinking that joining a clan must enhance one’s abilities.

[(BLUE) All commanders from Stages 1 through 6 of Star Giant of Hundread Hands’ side are on the battlefield. Synergy [Orchestra of the Battlefield] activates! All Blue team members gain 25% shooting resistance and 10% movement speed increase when charging.]

[(BLUE) All commanders of Star Giant of Hundread Hands’ side belong to the ‘Stacy IV Clan’. [Command System Unification] synergy activates. From now on, respawn locations expand beyond the base to the entire region.]

“Perfect timing, there’s the synergy. That’s exactly what synergy is. Ours is commander synergy so it’s a team-wide buff, but effects vary depending on the synergy, so just keep that in mind.”

Sir Dominic seemed to have grasped the concept of synergy somewhat as he looked at the system window visible to allies.

Stacy sighed as she watched Sir Dominic curiously examining the synergy window.

“Since Dad… I mean, the Commander said the offensive begins as soon as the synergy activates, we should get going now. I need to issue orders from the communication tower as well. Strelch, head to the front with Sir Dominic.”

“Understood, Stacy.”

Stacy gave a slight bow and headed toward the communication tower next to the headquarters.

As soon as Stacy disappeared, Strelch’s shoulders dropped as if the tension had left him.

After taking a deep breath in and out, Strelch gestured for Sir Dominic to follow and began walking toward the hill.

Then, as if he had much to say about Sir Dominic’s behavior, he grinned mischievously and teased him.

“You really have no tact. Is it because you only have one eye?”

“On the battlefield, keen sight matters more than tact,” Sir Dominic replied proudly.

“Fair enough. You were a knight after all. A freelancer with no affiliation.”

“Though I don’t use a lance,” Sir Dominic replied.

Sir Dominic and Strelch continued walking past the base’s walls.

Suddenly, Strelch looked at Sir Dominic with envious eyes.

“Come to think of it, a rookie who doesn’t even know about clans or synergy has accomplished so much—your future looks bright.”

“Well, I still have much to learn, so I’m not sure. Is it a good thing?”

“Stop the pretense, you deceiver.”

The two had crossed the base’s walls and were walking toward the assembly point established below.

Once all forces had assembled, the final offensive toward enemy territory would begin.

And at that time, the ultimate victor would be determined.