Chapter 269

Chapter 269. The Siege of Avalon (5)

Meanwhile, as newbies in the gallery were having their epiphanies…

Unaware of such things, I gave Tiamat the order to deploy the aircraft. Soon after, a massive barrage of interceptor missiles was launched from ships, including Hreðsvelgr.

As about 500,000 interceptor missiles clashed with hundreds of thousands of enemy interceptors, creating a spectacular fireworks display…

-“All aircraft, launch! Launch!”

-“Oh, is it finally our time?”

Following Tiamat’s orders, a large number of aircraft took off from the Kraken, our carriers, and the mercenary carriers. I directed 90% of them to engage the enemy interceptors and attack the fortress, while the remaining 10% were gathered in front of the fleet.

Using the Kraken’s teleportation device, I ordered the 10% of aircraft to strike the fortress directly, taking advantage of the distance and the enemy’s likely complacency.

Of course, even with all our forces combined, we only had about 20 carriers and 10 light carriers, amounting to roughly 120,000 aircraft. And from that, only 10%—or actually, due to teleportation limitations, about 8-9%, or around 10,000 aircraft—wouldn’t be enough to deal significant damage to the massive Level 5 fortress base.

“Commander, even if we teleport the aircraft to attack…”

“Hmm?”

“It might be difficult to deal effective damage to the fortress, don’t you think?”

Jessica, who was beside me, made that point, and I nodded, acknowledging that it did seem that way.

But only for a moment.

I explained that I had a plan and continued giving orders while playfully tugging at Jessica’s ear.

“What’s the success rate of Hreðsvelgr and the other ships’ interceptions?”

“About 56%. The rest either missed or intercepted the enemy’s missiles.”

“Then leave the rest to the advancing aircraft and focus all firepower on the fortress.”

“Understood, I’ll relay the orders immediately.”

The close-quarters combat between small ships made it difficult for the large ships, including the mercenaries, to join the attack. So, I had the idle large ships advance to the front and pour all their firepower onto the fortress.

Of course, it was only natural that the fortress’s leadership saw their guard fleet turning into… well, not much of a guard fleet anymore.

And as the interceptors were being turned into… well, “intercepted,” the full-scale airstrike by the teleported aircraft began pounding the fortress.

-*Beep beep beep!*

-“Commander! The fortress’s spaceport gate is opening!”

-“Oppa, it looks like the fortress’s main combat fleet is preparing to launch.”

“Finally.”

As the tightly sealed spaceport gate of Avalon Fortress opened, it seemed they were about to deploy a main force with over 10 battleships in a single fleet.

But the moment they opened the gate to deploy their main force was exactly the moment I had been waiting for.

“Jessica, did I mention earlier that Nerañzara was the key to this operation?”

“Ah, yes, you did say that.”

“Immediately focus all firepower on the opening spaceport gates. Use everything except spatial torpedoes.”

“Aha, yes, Commander!”

After submerging naturally right after the battle began, Nerañzara had been lurking near the fortress gate, waiting for hours. Now, its indiscriminate barrage of torpedoes and missiles poured forth.

The fortress’s overloaded interception system, busy dealing with the teleported aircraft, failed to detect Nerañzara’s attack in time.

As a result…

-*KABOOM! BOOM!*

-*RUMBLE RUMBLE… BOOM!*

The gates that the main fleet was supposed to exit through were damaged, leaving the hatches stuck halfway open.

-“Did those bastards just block the path with battleships?”

-“Wow, that’s some determination.”

-“…That’s not it, you idiots.”

In some places, a battleship that had just exited the gate collided with the gate’s passage due to the explosion’s shockwave, its bow and stern getting stuck in the entrance, effectively blocking it.

In other places, a battleship that was about to depart exploded, taking down several ships and the gate with it.

It was utter chaos.

Of course, even though Nerañzara had unleashed all its firepower at the perfect moment…

Given its size and…

The auxiliary firepower was so busy that even the aircraft meant to provide support were overwhelmed.

Some gates only suffered minor damage and held up, so if things continued like this, the main fleet might end up being blocked and forced to come through that route…

But I had prepared for exactly this situation. I had already ordered Hreðsvelgr and other ships to focus their firepower on the fortress.

At the perfect moment, hundreds of thousands of missiles, beams, and bullets rained down…

In an instant, the once-intact fortress gates were turned into piles of scrap metal, showcasing their devastating power.

While the main fleet was busy enjoying the “you can’t leave unless you do XX” gate play…

The poor Guard Fleet, who had naively come out first…

Tried their hardest to form a defensive line and protect the fortress, showing what true effort looks like.

But no matter how hard each ship tried, they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the superior performance of the enemy ships.

They were utterly crushed, and even the battleships they relied on exploded one after another under the overwhelming firepower.

Not long after…

-“Their center has been breached!”

-“Push forward!”

-“Waaaaah!”

The mercenary group pushed through, splitting the defensive formation like the miracle of Moses, leaving the remnants to be hunted down.

And as the large ships, from Kraken to standard heavy cruisers, moved into the now-empty center and formed a bombardment formation…

-“All fleets, commence bombardment!”

-“Fire!”

They began mercilessly pounding the defenseless fortress, offering a thrilling live show of artillery fire.

Even Pashtra’s full-power beam, which occasionally hit the fortress directly, was downright satisfying to watch.

And just like that, after less than 30 minutes of one-sided bombardment…

—————————————-

[Event]

[Avalon Fortress’ anti-air defense systems annihilated!]

[Content]

[All anti-air defense systems of ‘Avalon Fortress’ have been destroyed.]

[You can now deploy direct assault pods onto the fortress.]

[Success rate of assault pods landing on ‘Avalon Fortress’: 100%]

—————————————-

When the event message about the fortress’s anti-air systems being completely destroyed appeared before my eyes…

I mobilized all ships except those needed to finish off the massacred Guard Fleet.

Through tens of thousands of assault pods, mercenaries, monster forces…

And our superhuman-like large-scale superhuman forces, including Gryanarr’s Chimera unit, were deployed.

About 5 hours later…

—————————————-

[Event]

[The command center of the stronghold ‘Avalon Fortress’ has been captured!]

[Content]

[You are the first among all Commanders to successfully capture a Level 5 stronghold solo.]

[Rewards]

[You can now receive additional weekly rewards from ‘Avalon Fortress’.]

˪[100,000 Minerals, 20,000 Rare Resources, 3,000 Gold]

˪[The docking system between ‘Avalon Fortress’ and your base has been unlocked!]

<<[You are the first among all Commanders to achieve this feat, congratulations!]>>

—————————————-

“Oh.”

“You did it, Commander!”

Through the sacrifices (?) of the mercenaries, I finally became the first among hundreds of thousands of users…

To earn the title of “Solo Conqueror of a Level 5 Stronghold,” feeling a full dopamine rush in my brain.