Chapter 233

Chapter 233. Pushing the Limits is What Makes a Masterpiece…! (5)

The problem is where Hreðsvelgr appeared.

-[Oh sh*t]

-[Hrevel next to it, breaking through the asteroids] (Menaldu)

-[Oh] (Laura)

-[It’s just brute-forcing its way through like that?] (Antares)

Surprisingly, when they first set the terrain, they thought the ‘Large Ships’ of the opposing users, including Icarus, would never come through the asteroid belt. But here it is, bursting out from there.

Of course, likely due to colliding with various obstacles and asteroids in the belt, Hreðsvelgr’s armor is crumpled like thin aluminum foil, dented and crushed all over. At least a third of the VLS launchers seem to have been hit by meteors or asteroids, with their armored covers blown off, exposing the missile tubes inside. Some covers are deeply dented, as if telling the meteors to “shut up!”

Naturally, with the armored covers in such a state, the rest of Hreðsvelgr—its wings, external antennas, etc.—are twisted and shattered, giving it the appearance of a ghost ship at first glance.

But the important thing is, despite its outwardly terrible condition…

-[Is that thing charging straight at us?] (Laura)

-[Oh] (Menaldu)

-[Oh] (Indipatickable)

-[Ah] (Antares)

As it emitted an intense flash from its rear propulsion engines and charged at full speed toward the center of the fleet, Melon and Mona Lisa, seeing Hreðsvelgr attempting a ramming attack like Kraken, were baffled and expressed the need to intercept it.

Of course, unlike them, the others didn’t seem to think it was that urgent.

-[It looks like it’s trying to ram the fleet like Kraken, isn’t that dangerous?] (Mona Lisa)

-[Hreðsvelgr’s armor is weaker compared to a typical battleship, so we can focus fire on it.] (Laura)

-[Ah, I see.] (Mona Lisa)

As they said, and as its appearance suggests, Hreðsvelgr is ultimately a ship designed to safely launch missile swarms from long distances.

For it to attempt close-quarters combat in such a damaged state? It’s clear that particle beams would reach Hreðsvelgr’s hull faster than its missiles could hit enemy ships.

They were just shocked by the visual of a “large battleship brute-forcing through an asteroid belt and charging head-on.”

Believing Hreðsvelgr’s charge itself wasn’t a major issue, they quickly calmed down and focused more on the other ships.

As mentioned earlier, Hreðsvelgr’s ghostly, derelict-like appearance only fueled their confidence.

Of course, they couldn’t just ignore it entirely. While Hreðsvelgr’s armor might be weak, its mass certainly wasn’t low.

To avoid being rammed by its mindless charge, they repositioned the fleet facing Kraken and deployed two or three ships separately to intercept the massive Hreðsvelgr.

But while they were busy setting up…

-[…Why is that thing sparkling like that?] (Mona Lisa)

-[What’s sparkling?] (Laura)

-[Our officer says the launchers and other things next to Hrevel are glowing red inside.] (Mona Lisa)

-[What?] (Laura)

-[Oh sh*t, it’s a self-destruct attack.] (Menaldu)

-[LMAO, this is hilarious.]

-[This is why I said not to overdo the t-bagging.] (Indipatickable)

What Mona Lisa’s officer accidentally discovered were the dazzling red lights inside Hreðsvelgr’s “launchers”—strategic missiles and warheads reaching critical states, ready to self-destruct.

Realizing that Hreðsvelgr wasn’t just angrily charging but had transformed into a massive bomb to blow up the center of the fleet, they were utterly horrified.

-[Intercept it, quick!] (Betelgeuse)

-[What, you’re back now?] (Laura)

-[Stop talking and hurry!]

-[If that fleet hits us, we’re 100% done for](Betelgeuse)

And in the midst of this, Betelgeuse, who had been silent due to poor condition(?), returned and immediately gave orders.

Everyone was shocked by Icarus’s decision to use precious strategic resources as suicide bombs to destroy the fleet, but they still tried to respond to Hreðsvelgr’s suicide charge as per Betelgeuse’s orders.

However, there was a serious problem here…

-[No ships]

-[The three ships firing wildly in interception mode are all the spare ships we have](Indipatical)

-[Wow, really?]

-[We’re screwed](Betelgeuse)

That’s right.

Most of the ship’s forces were concentrated on the front lines, where at least 8 users were swarming.

With no spare forces, it was nearly impossible to stop Hreðsvelgr, which was five times larger than them, with just the firepower of 2 heavy cruisers and 1 destroyer.

-[No matter how much we hit it, we can’t deal damage to the vital parts, so it’s meaningless](Laura)

-[Can’t we just aim for the launchers?](Mona Lisa)

-[If you can’t accurately target the warhead inside the cover of a super-large battleship charging at 6.5 km per second, then you’re out of luck](Menaldu)

-[We have no choice, let’s try to block it with a destroyer’s ramming attack](Laura)

-[What about the heavy cruiser?](Mona Lisa)

–<Icarus's Kraken-Class Assault Battle Carrier has sunk Laura's standard-class heavy cruiser!>

–<Icarus's Pashtira has sunk Menaldu's standard-class heavy cruiser!>

-[Hehe, damn it](Menaldu)

-[…We have to stop the Kraken](Laura)

In the end, as a last resort, Laura tried to charge the destroyer in interception mode to block Hreðsvelgr, but unfortunately, the size difference was too great.

Even though the destroyer fired 3 torpedoes and rammed at full speed, Hreðsvelgr’s surviving anti-air defense system intercepted all the torpedoes, and the destroyer was crushed like a tin can.

At this rate, it seemed like they would fall victim to Icarus’s vicious(?) scheme, and the top-ranked users, including Betelgeuse, realized that they needed to stop at an appropriate level of trolling.

-[Hmm, trolling should indeed be done in moderation](Betelgeuse)

-[When cornered, even a mouse bites a cat, why did you do that](Indipatical)

-[Why? Because… it’s fun](Betelgeuse)

-[What](Menaldu)

But just as they were half-giving up…

-[Remember me!!!!!!](Melon)

-[???](Betelgeuse)

-[What are you doing with a battleship, wait a minute](Antares)

–<Melon's standard-class battleship has self-destructed with Icarus's Hreðsvelgr-class strategic missile platform-equipped battleship.>

Sometimes pointed out in the chat, but otherwise unnoticed in battle, Melon, whose superhumans were barely defending the engine room and bridge, and even the bridge was already being fought over by the enemy’s superhumans as seen through the windows, charged the damaged battleship at full speed into Hreðsvelgr, performing a grand self-destruction.

The top-ranked users, who had been ignoring someone they barely noticed, decided to stand up and give a standing ovation for the brilliant choice shown.

-[I’ll remember you!](Indipatical)

-[I’ll remember you!](Menaldu)

-[You were pathetic, Melon, absolutely pathetic!!](Betelgeuse)