Ch.445″I’ll carry you”

As I watched stories emerge about users breaking down in tears while facing fleets that had “copy-pasted” my fleet in the gallery.

I felt a peculiar sensation when I realized one of them wasn’t an NPC but an actual user who had fought me directly.

And for good reason—looking at that user’s verification post, unlike other N-caruses, attacks from ranged superhumans like Pashtra and Dornia were clearly visible.

Since NPCs tend to avoid using “superhumans” by nature, it immediately caught my eye.

Well, anyway, maybe it’s because so many people get thrashed by my fleet.

Some users were desperately trying to develop strategies to counter my fleet among themselves, but…

—————————————–

<Round 1 – Solo Match>

<Battle Result: Victory>

<Remaining Mode Options: Battle Royale, Team Match>

—————————————–

“Ah, the juicy taste of first victory.”

“Well done, Commander.”

“Good work everyone, and Dornia, you performed excellently despite not having been in actual combat for a while.”

“Thank you!”

Regardless.

Since I had cleanly demolished the solo match without a single ship taking damage.

I was simply enjoying the pleasant dilemma of choosing which mode to select next.

Of course, that deliberation didn’t last long.

“Commander, what are you pondering about?”

“Ah, Jessica, I’m wondering whether to choose team match or battle royale.”

“If I had to choose, wouldn’t team match be better? Honestly, our fleet is designed as a support style that assumes there are additional fleets to tank and attack for us.”

“…Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Jessica was correct.

The structure of this “main fleet” I’m leading, though not exactly what I had intended…

When all was said and done, “regular fleet battles” were handled by direct subordinates or hired mercenary groups.

While the main fleet I personally commanded had become focused on thoroughly supporting those main combat units or guiding the battle situation.

Given my fleet’s characteristics, choosing “team match” first would definitely be advantageous.

Following that decision, I pressed the event-specific status window to select the mode, and then.

—————————————–

<Round 2 – Team Match Selection Complete>

<Proceed with this mode?>

<Y/N>

—————————————–

I naturally pressed Y on the confirmation window that appeared and began entering the event map.

And the moment I entered the event map.

—————————————–

<Event-Exclusive Chat Window>

-[Oh]

-[Wow, it’s a ranker]

-[Hi hi]

-[The Kraken is really huge]

-[Can I move to your sector later?]

—————————————–

I could see users welcoming me with great enthusiasm.

Looking at the nine users greeting me so warmly, I nodded and calmly continued chatting from within Ouroboros’s bridge.

—————————————–

<Event-Exclusive Chat Window>

-[Guys](Icarus)

-[I’ll carry this match, will you follow my orders?](Icarus)

-[Awesome]

-[What’s your plan?]

-[I’ll tell you once the battle starts and we spot enemy fleets](Icarus)

-[Well, honestly, with those things behind us, we’d have an advantage no matter what comes]

-[Agreed]

-[OK I’ll follow your lead]

-[Good]

—————————————–

And as the team match officially began, there was the exciting, fun, and frustrating search battle with the enemy fleet.

Or the indiscriminate bombardment that was “roughly estimated” without even being visible.

After all the intense work and tricks from both sides—tracking such random bombardments to confirm or be confirmed of the enemy fleet’s location…

The moment both our team and the enemy team successfully located each other’s positions.

Starting with Ouroboros’s quadruple superhuman buff combination of Pashtra-Dornia-Berial-Griyanar at 140% overcharge full-power concentrated mode to snipe the enemy team’s dreadnought and surrounding ships.

When the front upper section of the dreadnought hit by that bombardment melted and collapsed, turning into a “—eadnought” and causing a massive explosion.

Using that as my cue, I immediately drove all of Hresvelgr’s missiles into the left side of the fleet via Kraken Unit 1’s teleport to create confusion.

Then I promptly ordered the users on my team to annihilate the enemy fleet.

—————————————–

<Event-Exclusive Chat Window>

-[Go now gogogogo](Icarus)

-[Ohhhh]

-[Damn, Ouroboros full charge is insane]

-[Let’s go collect the spoils of victory]

-[Hahaha this is sweet]

—————————————–

Of course, in response to our allied users’ full-scale offensive, the enemies—except those who had been hit—immediately began to counter the allied attack.

Not long after our allied fleets began advancing, allies and enemies showed a scene of exchanging fierce bombardment with battle formations like old battleships.

Perhaps because one user had been removed from combat from the start due to my actions.

Their notably defensive posture seemed unavoidable in many ways.

And on top of that…

—————————————–

<Event-Exclusive Chat Window>

-[<Specific space coordinates>](Icarus)

-[Additional bombardment coming from Ouroboros, be careful not to get hit](Icarus)

-[Oh good]

-[Nice, that’s solid]

-[<Another set of space coordinates>]

-[Please bombard here too, dreadnought appearing]

-[OK](Icarus)

-[That’s already prepared](Icarus)

—————————————–

Additional bombardment from Ouroboros, firing its main guns without giving the cooling plates a chance to close, as cooldowns and margins allowed.

Hresvelgr’s merciless missile swarm, with firepower alone comparable to or greater than 5-6 ships of the same class, hammering the enemy fleet’s battle line.

Then as soon as Hresvelgr’s strategic missile charging cooldown completed…

Unit 2, which had been on standby, ruthlessly launched a surprise attack with strategic missiles and various firepower on the rear of the enemy battle line.

Before long, since the enemy fleet needed to prepare for the next round as well.

—————————————–

<Event-Exclusive Chat Window>

-[Oh the enemy team surrendered]

-[GG]

-[Damn, this carry is sweet]

-[This is what a carry is, this is the romance]

-[Thank you]

-[Thanks everyone]

-[Good work everyone, hope to see you all again]

-[Yeah]

-[The orders were sweet, right? Yeah, agreed]

-[Agreed]

—————————————–

Fortunately, the team match users didn’t try anything foolish like team-killing.

They appropriately followed my orders while also exercising proper discretion for victory.

—————————————–

<Round 2 – Team Match>

<Battle Result: Victory>

<Remaining Mode Option: Battle Royale>

—————————————–

‘Mmm, this is it.’

I felt joy as I experienced the sweetness of victory in the second round as well, and with an even happier mood, I proceeded to enter the third round.

But the moment I entered the third round.

Contrary to expectations, due to my fleet’s “structure,” it drew too much aggro.

Unlike solo or team matches, there were too many ways and directions to bypass or counter my fleet’s rampaging Kraken.

I could see temporary alliances forming among enemy users who only wanted to take me down.

And since not only the Kraken, but also Hresvelgr and Ouroboros had issues with taking hits.

I tried to protect the fleet with just the Bayern-class, Anchorage, regular Dreadnought Unit 2, and normal ships…

But except for the gacha ships, the rest of the ships were immediately massacred due to leveling and basic performance issues.

Before long, I found myself in an astonishing 1 vs 9 battle.

And all 9 were top-tier rankers in the top 1%.

Despite my desperate struggle, I somehow managed to take 4 of them down with me, but…

—————————————–

<Round 3 – Battle Royale>

<Battle Result: Defeat>

<Remaining Mode Options: None>

<‘Raid Mode’ will open shortly.>

—————————————–

It seems the odds were simply too overwhelming, so the third and final battle unfortunately ended in defeat.