Chapter 224

Chapter 224. This is tr-ue loooove.

Finally, as we warped out into the 8th battle zone, I quickly began scanning the surrounding fleets with my eyes.

And, well, what can I say?

“Hmm, it’s true that by the 8th round, the fleet sizes have definitely shrunk.”

“There are hardly any Commanders left with small ships.”

While the large ships, especially battleships and aircraft carriers, were all clenched tightly in everyone’s grasp.

For cruisers and below, maybe one or two per user?

No, even that’s a lot. Out of the nine people here, six had no patrol ships left, their fleets composed solely of large ships.

And one of those six was, well, me.

“…What ships do we have left now?”

“Excluding the Naranjara-class that went into stealth mode when the battle map loaded… we have Hreðsvelgr, Kraken, three regular cruiser battleships… oh, and the Overseer, totaling seven ships!”

“Hmm.”

Somehow, the Overseer, once the largest ship in our fleet, had become the smallest ship in the fleet.

Of course, the Naranjara’s size is barely that of a destroyer… no, even smaller than that.

Our Jessica flailed her arms wildly, trying to tell me that we still had small ships left.

“But Commander! We still have the Naranjara-class, so it’s not like we’re completely out of small ships!”

“…The ship that eats more points than a battleship?”

“Ah.”

Even so, isn’t it a bit too much for that tiny thing to gobble up 50 points all by itself?

Anyway, with my small ships completely depleted for the role of evasion tanks.

This time, I was determined to go full-on long-range sniping as a true sniper.

But just as I was thinking that and discussing with other users in the chat about where to go and what to do.

A new fleet appeared from the rear of our fleet, trying to join the battle.

-*Bzzzt*…

-“Oh… isn’t that Icarus?”

“Arcadia, meeting you three times in a row is quite the coincidence.”

-“Y-yeah! What a huge coincidence, right?!”

The fact that Arcadia had appeared three times in a row made me think that the world is full of mysteries.

But considering that the number of users is halved every round, by the 7th win streak, the number of users would have significantly decreased…

In a way, it was only natural, so I nodded and greeted her warmly.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time.

On the bridge of the ‘Hood,’ the flagship leading Arcadia’s fleet…

-“Let’s stick together this time too. It’s better to move with someone who’s a good match rather than wandering around with people who don’t even sync well.”

“Uh, ah, yes! Of course!”

-“Then let’s keep the communication channel open like before after the battle starts…”

-*Beep*

“…Hehe, hehehe.”

“Are you that happy, Commander?”

Arcadia, the president (and sole member) of Icarus’s fan club (?) and also the leader of the massive faction ‘Justice.’

As soon as the communication with Icarus ended, she started giggling like a love-struck high school girl.

No, with her cheeks flushed and excited, Arcadia grabbed the shoulders of her adjutant ‘Clione’ and shook her vigorously…

It wasn’t just that she seemed to be in love, but that she was already head over heels.

“What should I do, what should I do?”

“Hmm.”

“Not only have I been paired with Icarus three times, but now I get to hear that we should move together directly!”

“Ugh… ughhh.”

“This is fate! The red thread of fate ordained by the heavens!”

“Ah, I get it, but let’s calm down a bit, Commander.”

Of course, Clione, feeling like her shoulder was about to dislocate, tried her best to calm Arcadia down.

And the fortunate thing for Clione was that Arcadia, even in love, didn’t turn into a crazy, irrational lunatic.

“Commander, the battle is about to start soon. Are you going to keep acting like this when it does?”

“…Huh?!”

“If this continues, you might end up showing only an embarrassing side to the Commander you admire so much, Icarus.”

“You’re right, Clione… I need to get my act together.”

Arcadia, patting her soft cheeks, quickly snapped out of her love-struck high school girl mode.

Where did the appearance go?

In an instant, showing the demeanor of a cool and composed commander, immediately engaging in battle.

Cleone felt her tongue tied as she watched her commander display pure, unwavering devotion.

‘Love has truly taken over, huh? Must be the first love.’

Especially after teaming up with Icarus, abandoning the previous attitude of cautiously seeking minimal losses for maximum gains.

Claiming it as the ‘power of love,’ charging into battle with a truly reckless attitude, showing unyielding bravery.

Cleone couldn’t help but shake her head at the sight.

The superhuman ‘Mahiro,’ who was on the bridge with her for the flagship ‘Hood’s’ defense, placed a hand on Cleone’s shoulder and said.

“Don’t worry too much. Just because our commander is blinded by love doesn’t mean they’ll abandon us.”

“…Well, I wasn’t really worried about that.”

In the midst of this, Mahiro picking the wrong thing to worry about caused a brief awkward atmosphere on the bridge.

But that was just a moment.

Seeing their commander, as if possessed by the god of war, continuing to pour overwhelming attacks while receiving support fire from Icarus’s fleet.

Cleone, Mahiro, and the superhumans of Arcadia waiting in the wings could all nod in unison.

“The power of love is amazing.”

“Do you know why the power of love is strong?”

“Because it’s amazing.”

“The power of love is amazing!!”

Even though that love was directed at another commander, not them.

From the start, it was their commander’s first love they worshipped, so what could they do?

As first love’s pure affection was the truth, most of the superhumans remaining in Arcadia’s fleet nodded and cheered for their commander’s first love.

But unlike Arcadia fighting hard and securing the 8th victory for Icarus.

After the 8th battle ended, our Icarus…

==========

After the battle, the moment I finally saw the battle results before my eyes.

—————————————-

<'Capital of the Ancient Empire' 8th Battle Results>

<Victory>

<Player's Lost Ships>

<1 Cruiser Battleship, 1 Heavy Cruiser>

—————————————-

“Ah, no! Overseer! Oh no, my ship!!”

“Wow… seeing the sunk cruiser battleship makes me want to cry.”

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and my blood pressure skyrocketed instantly.

Caressing the wreckage of the sunk Overseer, I couldn’t hold back my tears.

Of course, the sinking of the Overseer and the cruiser battleship wasn’t due to Arcadia failing to do their job.

Simply, unlike before, it was impossible for top-rankers like me and Arcadia to physically overpower.

The problem was the simple fact that the players’ brain skills had improved.

“Who would have thought they’d bypass the bypass maneuver to ambush the main force.”

“Thanks to that, Hreðsvelgr almost exploded, and we all nearly died.”

Although the enemy’s fleet was indeed reduced.

This made it easier to break through the early warning systems of Kraken and the light aircraft carrier, which were already tight on aircraft.

Relying on the efforts of Arcadia and other allied players, while holed up in the rear with only carriers and battleships left.

“Who would have thought stealth destroyers would suddenly appear, firing torpedoes and ramming.”

“Exactly.”

When the enemy’s detachment suddenly appeared with destroyers loaded with torpedoes and launched a surprise attack.

Not only me, but the ships of the allies in the rear were blown up one by one, leading to a great disaster.