Chapter 170: The Third Force (5)
Before the Rebel Alliance could prepare themselves, Eve launched simultaneous attacks on three planets, successfully taking complete control of two of them and achieving full Nestification.
The civilization of humanity, which once covered the Earth, was entirely destroyed, and all living beings became prey for the Legion.
Until Eve succeeded in stabilizing the situation, she took a moment to gather her breath and preserved the main force while probing the Alliance’s pioneering territories.
“Jakob? Anyway, we need a new way to counter that fortress-class spaceship. We absolutely cannot match it in simple scale.”
Leading the main fleet in space, Liam quickly made a judgment upon receiving the information from Eve.
As an expert in fleet battles and currently serving as the Legion’s Submind, he had the knowledge to make such a decision.
‘What other methods aside from scale?’
“We have to go with what you do best. But from what I see, that won’t be easy either.”
There was a limit to the size of living organisms like spaceship bodies. While it wasn’t impossible to grow them larger, the efficiency in relation to the resources invested was poor, so Eve immediately discarded that plan.
Liam mentioned the advantages of the Legion, but they were not without their flaws.
“Their firepower is too strong even for an internal infiltration. To be honest, I never imagined they would possess such firepower. No matter how superior the species, unless the output exceeds that of a spaceship, even a near miss from a laser cannon will shatter the barrier and burn the body.”
‘What a nuisance.’
There was no immediate sharp idea at hand.
While there were ad-hoc strategies like overwhelming them from multiple sides with sheer volume or using non-living invasion fortresses to counter, that was not what Eve wanted.
“But if such imagined superweapons were to appear, it wouldn’t just be us in a hurry.”
‘I don’t like that. It means they have the luxury to look elsewhere while fighting me.’
“Using that well is also a strategy. What’s the problem with enemies fighting each other?”
Liam sighed, unable to comprehend Eve’s mindset. Regardless, Eve could not bear to see the Alliance or the rebels neglecting her, their eyes wide open, and merely keeping watch over each other.
Eve wanted to be the true villain, the disaster, and she wished to be the object of fear and anger for the victims.
‘For now, prepare the fleet for movement. I don’t know if the rebels have heard the news from the Alliance or what, but it seems they’re starting to move.’
At that moment, Eve instructed Liam to get the troops ready for movement.
Currently, in the target area of Lattice, where they had already captured over half of the land and were pushing the humans back, the newly organized Rebel Alliance sent a new army there.
*
“Honestly, I don’t like this much. In the end, the warriors of our proud land are just acting as mere mercenaries… Ugh!”
“Shut up, Yulu.”
Inside the slowly sailing spaceship. While the large warrior grumbled looking at the vastness of space, a colleague, keeping an eye on him, slapped him hard.
He glared at the colleague, asking why he hit him, but he glanced back. The warrior named Yulu then made an ‘ah’ expression, realizing.
“Of course, it’s true that our tribe has fought alongside them and gained various things in return. But at least, don’t talk about that in front of the war chief. The war chief now fights to avenge his brother.”
“Ahem. Fine, fine.”
Yulu nodded while staring at the back of the war chief Gar, who was blankly looking outside.
War Chief Gar had participated in an attack aimed at the monsters’ stronghold during the last defense and lost his younger brother there.
Negligence. It could certainly be said that way. When he first joined the fight, he was merely amazed by the view of space, and the monsters he had to face were just seen as beasts.
‘Therefore, this time, for sure!’
The eyes of War Chief Gar, gazing out the window, sparkled.
Having already lost once, he was determined not to be negligent again. It wasn’t just a personal vendetta but a war that involved the destiny of his tribe as well.
“Soon! We are arriving at the Lattice region, our destination. Everyone, gather up!”
The resolve was not just Gar’s. Fundamentally, the army of the Rebel Alliance that was currently mobilized was also composed mainly of survivors who had lost their homes and families to the attacks, from lowly workers to high-ranking commanders.
A captain from the completely occupied planet Valen gathered all his forces.
“The objective is simple. We cannot allow them to lay their eggs on our land any longer. Our primary goal is to drive them out and clean that Nest.”
“Can’t we just smash everything?”
“That’s not it.”
The captain began to explain the plan in more detail to Gar, who led the warriors of the Gaisha tribe.
Soon, a large holographic screen appeared on one side of the command room. Various materials were displayed on the screen. All of them were information gathered and analyzed about the Legion.
“The core of their Nest is this organ that looks like a tree. The Hell Tree, the Hell Wood… It plays a crucial role in supplying nutrients to the Nest and providing a barrier.”
The captain pointed to the Legion’s Sacred Trees that filled the screen. Their analysis was remarkably accurate. In fact, when Eve created the Nest, the first thing she planted and nurtured was the Sacred Tree, and it was true that without them, the operations of the nearby Nest would come to a halt.
The reason they made such accurate judgments was none other than that the fairies currently belonging to a different fleet had expertise regarding the World Tree.
“The fleet and the army should prioritize eliminating these trees.”
“Then! Should we just cut down those trees!?”
“Please handle the enemies that the ground troops cannot deal with or face.”
The captain brought up new materials. Several photos showcased various types and forms of Legionnaires.
“High-tier species equipped with dozens of power devices exceeding that of laser tanks or aircraft. Type Warrior, Spear, Wizard.”
He differentiated and explained the forms and armaments of the high-tier species according to their categorized appearances. As the fight against the Legion grew more intense and prolonged, the analysis that had been steadily progressing accelerated rapidly.
“And the Type Bison and Death Worm classified as super large species.”
“We will take care of those.”
The captain thoroughly divided the roles and missions. Gar nodded seriously. Now they were genuinely comrades who had to fight together against the same enemy.
“Lastly, caution should be exercised regarding the special species.”
Then a last wave of screens appeared. Everyone’s faces hardened at what they saw. Gar’s was no different.
“These beings alone engage spaceships and have inflicted tremendous damage with greater outputs than high-tier species. They are deemed the top command entities, so if they appear… please be sure to contact me.”
Although there were many discussions, ultimately, what were categorized as special species shared one commonality: they had humanoid forms like humans but wore masks.
Gar’s eyes were fixated on one of them, glimmering. It was also masked. A being with a contoured feminine body and long, dark hair reaching her waist. The murderer of his younger brother.
‘I will make sure to find you.’
While the others hoped that the special species would not appear before them, Gar was different. He was determined to take revenge with his own hands.
“Now! We are entering their firing range!”
“The meeting is over! Everyone, return to your stations!”
Just in time, the fleet reached its destination. Gar led the warriors he commanded to their positions within the spaceship and waited.
The large-scale fleet battle unfolding in space was not their stage.
“Coming directly like this means they definitely have something to rely on.”
‘It doesn’t matter.’
To Liam’s cautious words, Eve scoffed.
In the quiet expanse of space, the spaceship bodies that had been waiting by warping in advance began to move in unison and started to form a formation against the approaching enemy fleet according to Liam’s orders.
The size dispatched to protect the Nest was 50,000, incomparable to the hundred ships sent to the Alliance’s pioneering territories. This was only half of what they had brought.
The human fleet members were wide-eyed at the sight of such scale. From their perspective, it was an unprecedentedly enormous fleet that could not be imagined by any historical standard. Moreover, there were invasion fortresses nearby for fire support and energy resupply.
“Indeed. If you think normally, the sheer number disparity is overwhelmingly large.”
This was a scale so tremendous that even cautious Liam could readily acknowledge.
“They know that too. They must have some means to be so brazenly confident.”
Of course, he did not let his guard down as he was the one that had to face them. The fact that the human side, which didn’t even reach 1/100 of their scale, was approaching so openly, rather than surprise warping, meant they were definitely up to something.
“Let’s get ready.”
And his expectations were proven correct.
Among the capital-class ships lined up at regular intervals in the fleet, the fairies standing firmly on the ground with both feet raised their slender ears as they began to draw up their magical power.
“…This is insane.”
‘…’
Liam let out a ridiculous laugh upon witnessing this spectacle. Even Eve was left speechless. Huge amounts of magical energy began to move around the enemy fleet charging towards them.
