Ch.76The Lord of War (8)

# Chapter 76: Lord of War (8)

And as time flowed on, half a year had already passed.

The decisive battle between the returned Warlord and the Southern Alliance Fleet was now imminent.

Everyone present had at least a faint sense that whoever emerged victorious from this battle would control the future of the galaxy.

“Phew.”

“God, please protect our fleet.”

While some sought divine intervention to ease their burden in this situation…

“Look, this is a picture of my child.”

“…What?”

“So you see… when this war is over, I’m going back home to propose to her.”

“!”

“Get off our ship!!”

Others were boldly planting dozens of death flags. The chaos before battle had intensified considerably.

But this confusion would soon disappear in an instant.

“Warlord’s forces confirmed at 670 light-seconds ahead!”

“So it begins.”

“Please, just get off our ship!”

With hopes that this would be the final battle, all the Alliance fleets stationed in the south began opening fire.

—————————————-

As is typical of warfare in this world, a head-on, straightforward assault would inevitably result in a brutal test of strength, but…

“Retreat, retreat!”

Perhaps they couldn’t withstand the ruthless offensive led personally by the Warlord.

The vanguard of the Alliance fleet displayed a desperate retreat that looked almost pathetic.

“Look, they’re turning their backs and fleeing from the Lord of War!”

“Attack! Continue the pursuit!”

As the entire front line began to collapse, the Warlord’s fleet, sensing an opportunity, started pouring through the breach.

However…

“Did you think we couldn’t use the same tactics you’ve been using?”

“Oh.”

The Warlord’s fleet, pursuing the retreating Alliance ships, was met with the Holy Seveli Empire’s pre-deployed ultimate weapon.

They melted away under the overwhelming firepower of Count Ash THE Grey Nightmare.

“Now! All ships, 180-degree turn!”

“Seveli technology is the beeeest in the world!!!!”

With the mighty Ash at the forefront, the Alliance fleet crushed the Warlord’s forces and began pushing the front line once again.

“W-what the hell is that?!”

“It seems to be a new flagship deployed by Seveli… it’s too large and powerful!”

Suddenly confronted with what appeared to be a top-tier vessel even by game standards, unrest spread increasingly through the Warlord’s forces.

“Fire! Concentrate your firepower!”

“Boss, we definitely penetrated the shields, but there’s not even a scratch on the armor plating.”

“What.”

Moreover, being composed of ancient civilization’s nanomachines…

It recovered instantly from moderate damage, so even troops with fanatical loyalty to the Warlord couldn’t avoid the psychological shock.

But…

“Except for that giant vessel, we can handle the rest!”

“All fleets except those facing the front—go around and strike their flanks!”

“Waaaaaah!!”

“In the name of the Lord of War!”

Proving that he hadn’t named himself the “Lord of War” for nothing, the Warlord quickly regained control over his panicking forces.

Using the remaining fleets not engaged with Ash, he began attacking both flanks of the Alliance fleet.

And not with cowardly, conventional two-dimensional maneuvers, but with three-dimensional spatial tactics.

“Hahaha, you fools!”

“T-this is a war crime!”

True to their pirate nature, they disregarded the rules, even reversing their ships and employing all manner of bizarre strategies against the weakened flanks of the Alliance fleet. Just as they were about to crash into them…

“Move aside, everyone move!”

Suddenly, a patrol ship moving at ultra-high speed darted through the midst of the Warlord’s forces.

Of course, the forces ignored it as just a single patrol ship and continued their advance, but…

“L-look up!”

“Space monsters! Space monsters are attacking!”

The Warlord’s fleet, which had been maneuvering to attack the flanks, fell into chaos as they were suddenly assaulted by a swarm of space monsters.

From space jellyfish that tore patrol ships in half with enormous tentacles, to space slimes that spewed strong alkaline solutions melting entire armor plates.

Stone-like monsters that infiltrated through ship nozzles to drain energy.

Space whales that broke destroyer keels with their headbutts.

All sorts of bizarre space monsters swarmed in, causing sudden damage to the Warlord’s fleet.

“Could that small patrol ship from earlier have led these monsters here?”

Realizing the truth, the Warlord’s fleet, furious at having fallen into a trap, turned their guns toward the space monsters.

“These damn monsters… Fire! Kill them all!”

“They’re nothing more than sashimi!”

No matter how fearsome space monsters might be, to a full-scale battle fleet, they were no different than a herd of zebras on the African savanna.

In less than an hour, the space monsters that had attacked the Warlord’s forces were reduced to countless chunks of flesh drifting through space.

But the monster attacks didn’t end there.

“They’re coming again!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

Led by small, fast patrol ships, dozens—no, hundreds of space monsters continued to swarm in, causing extreme confusion among the Warlord’s fleet.

“Don’t forget about us!”

“Ah, damn it.”

The Alliance fleet wasn’t about to miss this opportunity.

“Now’s our chance while they’re being attacked by space monsters, as planned. All forces, advance!”

The Roirakan Republic, which had lost its heavy battleships but still had everything else intact.

“Attach to their fleet, become part of the glorious feathers!”

The Riksi Council Territory, which had been working diligently despite its lack of presence.

The nations responsible for the flanks of the Alliance fleet, in place of the Seveli Empire tanking at the front, began engaging in full-scale combat.

Even in this situation, the Warlord’s dignity remained unshakable.

-BUUUUUUNG!!!

With his distinctive horn sound, the Warlord maneuvered across the battlefield with his direct command fleet, immediately supporting his forces in crisis.

He was demonstrating in practice what mobile defense truly meant, teaching his opponents through action.

But no matter how impressively the Warlord led his fleet in combat…

In this precarious situation, he was merely holding on like a single ray of hope.

The Warlord is crushing them.

Except for where the Alliance had their massive flagship…

If they could just deal with these space monster bastards, they could handle the rest quickly—or so they hoped.

But…

“We have arrived!!!!”

“Urgent communication from fleet headquarters! Mekt-Fuks’s fleet has begun an offensive from behind the Warlord’s fleet!”

“Oh shit.”

“Grmmzktzhrnzzsbrv”

From behind the vulnerable Warlord fleet came Mekt-Fuks, whom they thought they had destroyed, now with blades of vengeance sharpened.

And not with the mobile squadrons of fast cruisers that Mekt-Fuks had favored as a lesson from this war…

“Communication from fleet headquarters: Mekt-Fuks’s fleet consists entirely of patrol ships and torpedo boats…?”

“Wow.”

If Arto had seen it, he would have exclaimed, “Wow! Patrol ship and torpedo spam!” It was such an abnormal fleet composition.

Of course, since no one in this world engaged in such madness,

Mekt-Fuks’s approach was a bizarre tactic never before seen by those observing the situation.

And it was the same for the Warlord’s fleet.

“Whatever they’re thinking, fire! Don’t let them approach!”

“Fighter squadrons, launch! Destroy their engines first to stop them!”

Despite the confusion of the ongoing battle, the Warlord’s fleet responded remarkably quickly.

-BOOM! CRASH!

Since all the ships were patrol vessels or torpedo boats, Mekt-Fuks’s fleet suffered severe losses while approaching, but…

“Now! Fire!”

Mekt-Fuks’s torpedo spam, which had approached at the cost of all those casualties, inflicted devastating damage on the rear of the Warlord’s fleet.

“Ah, ahhh.”

“The carrier is sinking! We can’t hold this position any longer!”

The damage that began at the rear spread like mold throughout the Warlord’s forces in an instant.

With the sacrifice of Mekt-Fuks’s fleet and the intensifying offensive from Ash’s forces at the front, the Warlord’s forces were finally split in two…

In this situation, the portion of the fleet without the Warlord lost their will to fight.

“…Run, let’s run!”

“It’s over, Warlord or not! If we want to live, we need to escape!”

Amid the insane collaboration of space monsters and the Alliance fleet, they repeated a disorderly retreat, each seeking their own survival.

That moment marked the decisive fall of the Warlord who had plunged the eastern galaxy into the flames of war.