Chapter 300

Episode 300. The Approaching Storm. (1)

And not long after, as I grasped the situation, I could feel a surge of anger rising within me.

‘They’ve crossed the line…’

And for good reason. Based on the damage reports and messages I’d received, the number of attackers coming at me was at least 5 to 6 clans, even on the low estimate.

Of course, this was just a rough estimate.

—

“Anything on the gravity radar?”

“No, nothing has entered the radar range yet.”

“…Hmm.”

—

Whoever these guys were, they had only attacked the forward base and distant resource zones, staying just outside the detection range where I could assess their strength.

‘Ugh, these jerks.’

Thanks to that, I had to focus on repairing the resource fleet that had been wrecked first. Then, I ordered Lephan and Aquarias to lead the Rhodes Mercenary Group and the Avalonia Security Fleet into action.

—

“Commander, what about the Monster Force… I mean, Princess Luka’s escort fleet?”

“Oh, of course, I’ve already talked to them. We need every hand we can get in a situation like this.”

“Understood.”

—

And on top of that, I also blocked the Guard Fleet from sortieing toward the area just because the forward base had been destroyed.

In a situation where we don’t even know how many enemies there are, there’s no reason to waste precious defense power.

Of course, judging by the fact that there were already about 6 clans showing up on my messages… and considering that this update allows ‘friendly neutral’ users to dock at bases, there are probably even more clans not showing up on the messages.

If I had to guess, the number of clans pushing toward me would be at least 10 or more.

With that many, if I combined my fleet’s strength with the base’s defense power, I could not only hold out but even counterattack…

I felt a growing confidence that I could somehow repel this invasion force without wasting the resources I’d been gathering for the Tanhoizer.

…The problem was about an hour later.

—

“Commander, enemy fleets have been detected on the gravity radar!”

“Finally, how many are there?”

“…”

“Why are you staying silent like that? It’s making me nervous.”

—

Jessica’s uneasy silence made my heart race in all sorts of ways as I pressed her for an answer again.

At my words, Jessica let out a deep sigh and reported to me in the calmest tone she could muster…

—

“To be honest, Commander.”

“Hearing that makes me suddenly not want to hear the report.”

“There are at least 500 fleets, similar in size or slightly smaller than your main force, heading our way.”

“…What?”

“And there are over 50 clan marks.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAT?!”

—

The moment I heard that report, I felt my mind go blank, unable to process the sudden shift in the situation.

—

==========

And at the same time Icarus was screaming like a 15-year-old middle school girl…

The forward base near Avalon Fortress had been casually crushed, and the flagship of the Walpurgis Alliance Clan, the Odin-class battleship, was leisurely advancing.

Inside the bridge, clan leaders from about 50 clans were gathered, continuing their strategy meeting.

Of course, they weren’t physically together—they were just chatting in a chat window.

—

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Is the forward base destroyed?]

-[Yep.]

-[Hannibal Clan is the last one. Everyone should be moving to the operation zone soon.]

-[Got it, confirmed.]

-[The full-scale attack will begin once everyone gathers near Avalon.]

-[What if Icarus tries to intercept us preemptively?]

-[If one clan can handle it, engage. But if there are fewer than 5, retreat.]

-[Don’t forget, Icarus once fought 1 vs 5 without mercenaries and almost tied.]

-[Got it, understood.]

—

—————————————-

This so-called strategy meeting was basically like a Discord call from a past life, minus the actual voice chat.

But since they were taking it seriously, no one pointed out how casual it all seemed.

Smoothly and without a hitch, they continued their invasion toward Avalon Fortress.

And unlike the concerns raised in the alliance chat, Icarus’ fleet hadn’t shown even a single hair.

The tension that had been present when they destroyed the forward base was slowly fading away.

—

—————————————-

<Mint Chocolate Meeting Room>

-[Icarus seems scared, huh?]

-[For real, can’t even see a glimpse of the fleet.]

-[But realistically speaking, that’s kinda normal.]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL so lucky]

-[Maybe they’ll just surrender LOL how are they gonna stop this?]

—————————————-

And in that moment, a sense of arrogance and victory tried to take root.

But against their arrogance, the more level-headed users drew a clear line.

—————————————-

<Mint Choco Meeting Room>

-[If even the Guard Fleet is nowhere to be seen, it’s more likely that Icarus is trying to go for a space defense strategy.]

-[Ah, damn it.]

-[Originally, we were supposed to quickly destroy the forward base and the Guard Fleet to weaken their forces, then charge in.]

-[Since we couldn’t destroy the Guard Fleet, now we have to deal with not just the Combat Fleet but also the small ships from the Guard Fleet in the siege.]

-[Ah, that’s true.]

—————————————-

If you add up all the Guard Fleet points from Avalon Fortress, it’s at least 40,000 to 50,000.

Meaning, we failed to wipe out a force equivalent to 50 to 60 level 8 users early on.

The users, who were soaked in a sense of victory just moments ago, quickly snapped back to reality and, though slightly, regained their seriousness as they continued their advance.

But while they were focusing on the Guard Fleet, they had forgotten one cold, hard fact that hit them like a ton of bricks.

And that fact was…

—————————————-

<Mint Choco Meeting Room>

-[Ah, damn it, teleport!]

-[Teleport, damn it!]

-[Strategic Missile teleport just popped up, what the hell!]

-[We’re screwed.]

-[What’s going on?]

-[What’s happening, guys?]

-[We’re screwed, our Clan Leader’s Cruiser Battleship is the only one left, all the other large ships are gone.]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL damn Kraken, that bastard LOLOLOL]

—————————————-

A tactic that, though usable only once a day, drives every user into a rage every time it’s used.

Currently, it’s Icarus’s exclusive patent: the Kraken-Hreðsvelgr combo’s Strategic Missile short-range teleport.

And because they forgot about it, one of the allied Clan Leaders literally had all their main ships blown to smithereens…

—————————————-

<Mint Choco Meeting Room>

-[Thank you, Midori, we won’t forget your sacrifice.]

-[Live strong, even in space.]

-[It’s okay, we still have plenty of shields!]

-[Thanks to that Clan Leader’s personal sacrifice, there won’t be any more teleport spam today.]

-[Huuuuh, is this what they call self-sacrifice or something?]

-[You bastards.]

-[Lucky Vicky, huh?]

-[The Clan Leader’s sacrifice saved the rest of us, so it’s totally Lucky Vicky!]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

—————————————-

If you look at it positively, his spirit of sacrifice (?) gave the rest of the main ships a day of protection.

The members of the Walpurgis Union Clan, displaying extreme positive thinking, decided to push forward even harder.

Of course, the Clan Leader who got beaten up in the process was left crying tears of blood, but…

Just less than 5 minutes later…

—————————————-

<Mint Choco Meeting Room>

-[Oh damn, teleport again!]

-[5 battleships gone, damn it.]

-[I lost 3 cruisers.]

-[What, already off cooldown?]

-[It’s once a day, and a day just passed.]

-[The timing, damn it, it’s legendary.]

-[Wait, but if you think about when the teleport started, it shouldn’t be a full day yet, right?]

-[Must be a margin of error or something.]

—————————————-

With the cooldown reset as a new day began, another user’s fleet main ships were blown to pieces.

The Clan Leader, who was no longer the only one getting screwed over, experienced the miracle of their tears of blood turning into regular tears.