Chapter 229

Episode 229. Pushing the End to the Limit is the Mark of a Masterpiece…! (1)

Meanwhile, our Ranker All-Star team, who were busy trolling Icarus while he was pulling off a solo… no, “solo team” move…

To be precise, right after the real battle began.

Except for Raksha, who had modified her ship, ditched the armor, and went all-in on mobility and firepower, disappearing with just one destroyer, the rest of the team started to wonder…

Had they pushed Icarus too hard?

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-[Wait, but that guy just survived a 1v5. Did we provoke him too much?] (Menaldu)

-[If we mess this up, we might just end up annoying ourselves while sweating in this game.] (Indypatible)

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The fact that voices of concern were already popping up in the team chat said a lot.

Of course, even in those concerned voices, the only thought was, “This might get annoying.”

And for good reason. No matter how strong Icarus was…

Thanks to testimonies from Betelgeuse and Königs on the same team, they knew that the remaining combat ships numbered at least six or fewer.

That’s why Betelgeuse, who had testified to this fact, sent out another morale-boosting message to the rest of the rankers and users who were expressing concern.

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-[Are you scared?] (Betelgeuse)

-[Hell yeah, I’m pumped!] (Menaldu)

-[This is getting intense, but I’m actually loving it.] (Laura)

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Of course, the remaining ships were outliers like the Kraken-Class and Hreðsvelgr-Class.

Plus, there was the information Betelgeuse mentioned about the “mysterious stealth ship(?)”.

And finally, the widely known “Kraken’s surprise teleportation assault” that had already spread among the gallery and rankers.

If that overlapped with Arcadia, Königs, and Betelgeuse’s mention of Hreðsvelgr’s strategic missiles, the synergy could be devastating.

And if they allowed that to hit their fleet directly, their main ships could be destroyed, instantly turning the tide of battle against them.

So, the heated atmosphere from the trolling quickly cooled down, and they started strategizing and preparing countermeasures as if nothing had happened.

Especially regarding one of the issues Betelgeuse pointed out—the “mysterious stealth ship”…

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-[We have stealth ships too, right? Can’t we just form a squadron to counter it?] (Menaldu)

-[Using invisible ships to fight invisible ships? What’s the point?] (Indypatible)

-[Idk man, lol.] (Menaldu)

-[Oh, I think I can handle that with the ships I brought.] (Mona Lisa)

-[Nice.] (Antares)

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Mona Lisa was confident that her “Seraphias-Class Electronic Warfare Cruiser” and the electronic warfare support aircraft from her “Anomalocaris-Class Combat Aircraft Carrier” would make it impossible for even the highest-grade stealth ship(?) to approach the fleet.

As for the second issue—teleportation and strategic missiles…

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-[Wait, now that I think about it, that guy used to carry around a transport destroyer, but it’s gone now, right?] (Königs)

-[Oh? For real?] (Betelgeuse)

-[Yeah.] (Königs)

-[So that means we only need to block one strategic missile strike, no matter where it comes from.] (Antares)

-[Exactly. Whether they use teleportation for strategic missiles or launch an aircraft assault, the countermeasure is simple—just set up an anti-air formation.]

-[If possible, it’d be best to find terrain like a gas giant or asteroid belt nearby, where we can hold out without having to defend one side.] (Betelgeuse)

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Similarly, as information kept leaking out, countermeasures were quickly put in place.

Of course, after trolling the opponent like that, it might seem unfair for the other rankers to see them going on the defensive.

But if they charged in aggressively and got hit by a teleportation backstab, losing their engines and becoming sitting ducks, that would be truly embarrassing.

At the same time, while drawing aggro in the global chat, they secretly sent out stealth reconnaissance drones to…

After scouting, it turns out that one of the opposing users has nothing but an “aircraft cruiser,” which is utterly meaningless in the current region, and is therefore completely irrelevant in terms of combat power.

Surprisingly, they found that if they were to engage in a straightforward head-on battle, they would actually be pushed back.

So instead of recklessly charging in, they decided to prepare a solid defense by forming a fleet air defense formation to counter the most threatening elements.

And just as their defensive preparations were almost complete…

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-[Oh, look, aircraft ahead!](Mona Lisa)

-[…They’re swarming like bees.](Menaldu)

-[We need to intercept them.](Laura)

-[What are you doing? Launch the aircraft quickly!](Antares)

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The opposing team, which included Icarus, attempted a large-scale air raid with 70,000 to 80,000 aircraft against the All-Star team head-on.

Convinced their judgment was correct, they immediately mobilized all anti-aircraft weapons from each ship to intercept the incoming aircraft.

Not long after, the enemy team appeared from the direction of the incoming aircraft, leading their entire fleet.

They unleashed all their firepower, not only with additional aircraft but also with bombardment and missile support, relentlessly charging at the All-Star team’s air defense formation.

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-[Energy reaction confirmed.]

-[Strategic missile, ahead… strategic missile!](Antares)

-[Wow, they’re just charging straight in without hesitation.](Menaldu)

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As the top-ranked players had feared, around 100,000 missiles, including “strategic missiles” and “heavy torpedoes,” flew toward the fleet formation that was already being pummeled by aircraft.

At this point, Betelgeuse and Antares, the brains of the All-Star team, could somewhat guess the mental state of the protagonist.

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-[I think Icarus just threw everything at us.](Antares)

-[I think so too.](Betelgeuse)

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Though they couldn’t be sure, it seemed like Icarus had snapped due to frustration and decided to unleash all their firepower and aircraft in a “full salvo” to blow off steam, possibly planning to surrender afterward.

Just in case of any additional flanking attacks, they abandoned their plan to break formation and instead launched aircraft from the fleet’s carriers, including Mona Lisa’s Anomalocaris, to engage in an air battle to protect the fleet from the massive onslaught.

The problem was, despite Antares and Betelgeuse’s suspicions, the 70,000+ aircraft and the 100,000 missiles being fired by the charging fleet far exceeded the fleet’s interception capabilities, which had significantly diminished after nine consecutive battles.

Thanks to the Anomalocaris, an outstanding super-large combat carrier, they were steadily winning the air battle, but the fleet’s air defense formation only achieved a 70-80% interception success rate.

Even though the strategic missiles, as previously mentioned, were as large as a “cruiser” and slower than other missiles, allowing most to be intercepted, two strategic missiles managed to survive and flew in unimpeded.

One of them hit the lower center of Betelgeuse’s “Odin”-class battleship, which was attempting evasive maneuvers.

In a display befitting its owner’s reputation (?), the ship showcased what it means to take a direct hit, setting the surprising new record of being the first battleship sunk in the All-Star team.