Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 251
Chapter Title: Ep. 251
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Captain Baltagei, formerly of the Red Tail Fleet—8th Fleet of the 12th Fleet—and now temporarily assigned to the reconnaissance unit, was brimming with excitement.
Was it tension from the impending battle? Or thrill at the massive operation involving four elite fleets?
No, nothing like that. He was a veteran soldier who had survived countless skirmishes. He wasn't some green rookie who would get worked up over trivialities.
The reason for his excitement was something far greater: the Grand Leader himself was participating in this battle.
Star Union’s supreme authority rarely took the field personally. Even elite cyborgs superior to Baltagei had scarcely shared a battlefield with the Grand Leader.
Yet today, he had earned the honor of charging into combat alongside that legendary figure.
Today’s the best damn day of my life.
｢Planetary encirclement in progress.｣
“Good. Activate the warp finder first and bring the stellar radar online. Report any anomalies immediately.”
｢Confirmed.｣
His chest swelled with emotion, but his mind remained ice-cold. With the Grand Leader personally involved, failure was not an option.
Synced with the ship’s computer, he began the reconnaissance duties.
As he parsed incoming data streams and issued orders via neural cable, something odd caught his eye.
Two unfamiliar red markers had appeared on the 3D stellar map.
What the hell?
He blinked, but they were still there. One hovered motionless, far from the target planet.
The other...
“Enemy attack! Enemy inbound! All recon units, battle stations!”
｢Confirmed. Orders relayed.｣
A red blip was closing fast on the encirclement formation.
Then it began splitting into multiples.
｢Worry｣ ｢Unnecessary｣ ｢Kin｣ ｢Strong｣
Adhai, hovering by my side, fired off a psionic pulse of pride. The other Gallerons trailing behind echoed agreement in a spray of thoughts.
｢Yes｣
｢Ship Ort｣ ｢Remembers｣
I was slicing through the void alongside fifteen Gallerons.
The lineup was the same as when I fought Pyra Eleven: Adhai empowered by Red Galleron strength, Black Galleron Ort, and thirteen White Gallerons following me.
Dead ahead, in the direction my maw was pointed, lay the enemy ships.
Thirty-three massive vessels, ringed by countless patrol craft. Less a recon force and more a full fleet.
They spotted us and swiftly formed up for battle.
Amid the black canvas speckled with stars, lights flickered to life. Torpedoes and drones streaked toward us.
The Gallerons, including Adhai, shifted behind me without a word. My new body couldn’t conceal fifteen Gallerons in normal mode—but this wasn’t normal.
My form gliding through the weightless expanse dwarfed my usual size.
After hunting the Ice Horror, I’d gained the fusion trait ‘Bone Beast’ tied to body mods. It transformed me into a colossal kaiju for sixty minutes.
During my fight with Jason, combining Bone Beast and ‘Organic Evolution’s’ special state ‘King of Monsters’ had ballooned me to nearly 300 meters.
Not quite that big now—Organic Evolution was still on cooldown.
Still, 80 meters long is plenty.
Unlike the Jason fight, I had wings now. Wingspan over 100 meters—wider than I was long.
Black carapace overlaid with white bone plates from Bone Beast. To onlookers, I’d look like I’d donned the skeleton of some Ice Horror-sized behemoth.
Time to get started.
I unfurled my vast wings to shield the Gallerons and aimed my jaws at the incoming torpedoes and drones.
No wind in vacuum, yet the monster tentacles around my neck swayed lazily. Psychic waves from within animated them.
Then came the mightiest psychic breath yet, unleashing on the projectiles.
Purple beams carved fireworks across the void. Star Union torpedoes were helpless against psychic flames amplified by Bone Beast and ‘Dragon’s Heart.’
APD anti-psi weapons held, but couldn’t dodge the blasts. Drones caught in explosions malfunctioned and tumbled into space.
Nullifying the first wave, I charged the enemy ships. Waves from my wing membranes granted uncanny agility in vacuum.
The Gallerons followed, propelled by their own psychic power.
They tried a second barrage, but I was already weaving among their scattered formation.
Patrol ships around a destroyer unleashed vibro-torpedoes—useless. Vibrations diffused harmlessly against layered plating.
Trusting my defenses, I mounted one patrol ship. Chaos inside, no doubt—a monster bigger than their vessel clutching it like a toy.
I hurled it at another firing torpedoes. It spun wildly, smashing into its target.
Death rays flashed from the wreckage. The sheltered X10-class destroyer tried to retreat.
Where do you think you’re going?
Corrosion tentacles erupted—Bone Beast-scaled to match my wings and torso—snaring the destroyer’s rear.
Its guns, five times my length, swiveled toward me and the tentacles. I yanked, slamming my body against it.
Bridge around here?
I shoved my head into the protruding upper section. Dozens of tiny cameras captured my maw amid the alloy hull.
I gaped wide. A green tide surged from my throat, drenching the exterior.
Star Union ships boasted heavy armor, but sheer volume of acidic spores rendered it moot. Bigger body meant bigger output.
The hull melted in seconds, exposing the half-wrecked bridge ops room. Cyborgs inside thrashed—panic at me or vacuum exposure, hard to tell.
To end their misery quick, I blasted enhanced psychic breath inside.
A ten-meter bubble of doom seeped in. Desperate cyborgs became fodder for its hunger.
They dissolved screaming silently. Reminded me of those old American SF creature flicks—pink slime alien wiping out a town. Eerily similar to the destroyer’s fate.
Next up...
With ops crippled, I gripped the destroyer and flung it at reinforcements.
Incoming destroyers collided with it. Psychic breath inside hopped to fresh prey. The crashed ships couldn’t fight back, invaded from within.
A standard psychic breath finished the flailing survivors.
Nice—one down.
One warp finder secured—from a destroyer turned breath-fodder.
PS-111 said five total: three on XAX 5-class speedsters, two on destroyers.
One smashed—four left.
I fended off gnashing patrol ships while checking the others.
Far off, crimson, ebony, and ivory star clusters danced across the starlit sea.
A red meteor at the meteor shower’s tip plunged into patrol ships. Pierced hulls erupted, painting the black canvas.
Tiny patrols fired torpedoes and drones to snare it—futile against such speed. ‘Meteor’ earned its name as it shredded them.
Destroyers swung guns to eliminate the rampaging red—trap sprung. A black star with void-dark scales pounced.
Like a feral hound throttling prey, it clung and exhaled purple breath.
No armor withstands dragon breath point-blank. The slender destroyer split in two.
Cyborgs and androids spilled out, flailing into infinity before stilling.
Others scattered to encircle the pair, but the thirteen snow-white vassals serving the great meteor’s daughter wouldn’t allow it. White dragons harried them with psychic breath.
They’re fighting well.
Ort’s kill had a warp finder—two down.
Three to go...
Then a colossal torpedo dwarfed all prior—straight at me.
I lashed corrosion tentacles around drifting destroyer debris and lobbed it as a shield. Smart AI warhead never expected an enemy hull as cover. The blast rocked empty space.
Perfect timing.
Beyond the fireball: a formation. Bigger than destroyers, escorted by patrols, gunning for me.
That ship—the XAX 5-class with a warp finder.
Sensing my gaze, it reloaded and fired again.
A gut-chilling monster of a torpedo screamed in. Even I’d take heavy damage.
If I weren’t using Bone Beast.
Just before impact, I headbutted it with cranial plating. Shock and flames engulfed me.
“Ha, haha, hahahaha! It’s dead! We killed that insane monster!”
Baltagei whooped at the ship cam feed. He’d recoiled in horror watching the ‘operation target’ hurl a destroyer at allies. Even a vet like him had never seen such absurdity. Especially when it eyed them after shrugging first salvo—chilling. But now? Obliterated by the battleship’s main gun.
“Keep warp finders active on remaining ships, and those monsters too...” ｢Warning. ‘Operation target’ survival confirmed.｣ “What?”
Baltagei’s eyes bulged at the urgent alert. Live feeds piped to his optics via cable. N-No way?! From black inferno rose elongated arms. Membranes flapped, billowing flames and smoke. Then a long maw and massive horns materialized faintly. Direct hit, yet only minor cranial damage. Dull, dead-fish eyes—demonic—locked on Baltagei.
“R-Recharge main gun NOW! Kill it!” ｢Confirmed.｣ As he bellowed, the target surged. Void-swallowing black wings beat; it ballooned in size from sheer speed, like zooming in. Escort patrols and destroyers interposed for time. Fatal mistake. Six tentacles from its back snagged approaching patrols. It clubbed them aside like toys. Destroyers kept distance to fire—pointless. Purple beams from neck-tentacles shredded them. Re-Retreat...! Orders: stall till main force arrived. Still time needed.
“Fire main gun then full reverse—” The ship lurched violently—battleship-caliber impact. Sprawled before his chair, Baltagei saw its head filling the cam, maw agape.
“H-Hiiik!”
Terror didn’t last. Purple flames melted the bridge—and the frail cyborg’s flesh—with it.