Dies Irae (1)
Just as Baekdu locked onto the Apostle Raven, a radio transmission reached the bridge of the Golgotha Baekdu.
{This is Bongrae! Requesting rescue! We're on the verge of being shot down by two Advents!}
The captain looked back and forth between the front monitor and the communication panel.
The Southern Cross's reinforcements were supposed to be just the reserve forces carried on a single transport plane.
"Stay calm, Bongrae. What happened to the 7 Advents you took as escorts?"
{The green, the green Advent is sniping from our blind spot—!!! That pale bastard is toying with our allied Advents! It's currently— Hit again! Aaaargh! Help me!!!}
It was a scream devoid of even a shred of dignity.
And that scream was unnaturally cut short.
{Bongrae? Bongrae, respond. Explain the situation in detail...}
All that returned was static.
An awkward silence settled over the bridge.
Then, one of the crew members snorted.
"Those Bongrae bastards have always had rotten guts, that's why."
"That's right. To end up like that against only two, with seven Advents in tow."
Laughs of agreement leaked out from here and there on the bridge.
About half were genuine, conscious of their rival Golgotha, Bongrae, but the other half were laughs meant to barely cover up their own anxiety.
"Captain. They are still our comrades on the same ship, aren't they?"
The first mate opened his mouth cautiously.
"Let's just take care of that guy rushing in like a moth to a flame, and hurry to provide support."
The captain looked at the front monitor. The black angel, shooting forward at Mach 20, was approaching in a straight line. The distance was still significant, so it wouldn't reach the range of the missiles or secondary guns.
"Haa... for now, let's go with that."
The captain gave the order.
"Open fire ports! Main guns, begin charging!"
The hull hummed low, and the main guns on the deck aimed at the horizon.
Gunners shoved their bodies into every main gun cockpit.
The Golgotha's main guns, capable of destroying an Advent's Sanctuary Field.
Those who could operate these main guns were considered the top-tier forces even within the Kyungdanryeon, and the shoulders of those holding the triggers carried a sense of pride that would make even most Apostles envious.
The first barrage tore through the night. However, it did not hit the Advent.
Neither the second. Nor the third. Just before reaching the high-speed approaching Advent, the bastard changed its trajectory every single time. Without even decelerating, it slipped through the barrage as if swimming, slowly closing the distance to Baekdu.
"Gunner! What are you doing!"
{The aim is accurate! It, it reads the trajectory before we fire and dodges!}
With the continued failures, the gunner's voice began to mix with tears. The air on the bridge grew heavy.
"...Phew, it's alright. The closer the distance, the higher the accuracy."
The captain barely held onto his crumbling composure. The Golgotha's main guns could easily tear through an Advent's Sanctuary Field. So, if they just hit it two or three times, they would win.
"Don't panic, keep firing!"
And finally, it entered the guaranteed-hit range. At this distance, there is no room for evasive maneuvers. It is a realm where projectile speed outpaces reaction speed. At this distance, even an Apostle chosen by God could never dodge it.
The entire main battery erupted in fire simultaneously.
At that moment, the shining dot split into two. A massive propellant went straight into the middle of the barrage and oxidized, while the main body used that explosion as a shield and made a sharp turn. Outside the firing angle of the main guns.
It had thrown away the purged DPM as bait. Entering the guaranteed-hit range on its own, at that very moment when everyone was certain of victory.
Had it calculated everything from the start?
But even so... the speed was too fast. Even the captain, who had seen countless battles between Advents, had never seen an existence that drew such fast and graceful lines of movement.
"Even for an Advent that breaks the sound barrier like it's walking through its own front door, how does it achieve such mobility..."
The captain's voice cracked. The black machine lightly dodged the barrage and landed on the deck as if a bird were perching. And the majestic Golgotha, Baekdu, the executioner's platform for Advents, had allowed it to happen.
"Commence counter-fire!"
Missile silos opened, and the batteries on the deck simultaneously locked onto that black Advent. The machine name appeared on the observation panel.
Logos.
And it began to run. Cold sweat ran down the captain's back as he saw the direction it was heading. It was the bridge where they were.
Logos, heading straight for that place.
On the upper part of Baekdu, there are over a dozen protruding structures for camouflage. It was designed so that one couldn't tell from the outside where the command center was, and it had been classified since the design stage; even most of the crew didn't know. Yet that thing was coming straight for this exact spot without hesitation.
'How on earth did it know?'
'A mole?'
'No, there are only a handful of people in the home country who know this layout. It hasn't fought this Baekdu before either... then what on earth is that thing—'
"Captain! Your orders!"
"Shoot that thing down immediately!!!"
The fire lines of all batteries converged on the single black machine. The machine slid across the deck. It squeezed through the wall of barrage and slowly closed the distance.
One step became two, and two steps became three. With every step, the remaining distance to the bridge decreased. By half, and then by half again.
The captain gripped the armrests of his chair without realizing it.
Just then, a few shots from the secondary guns struck Logos's back.
The black machine lost its balance and rolled off the edge of the deck.
"...Did we get it?"
A silence flowed over the bridge for a moment. The moment someone was about to let out a sigh of relief.
"Enemy Advent, approaching the main gun sector!"
Along with the crew member's report, the external video switched. Everyone on the bridge watched that screen. The black machine was kicking the side of the main gun, the sector where the gunners were boarded.
Once. Twice. Eventually, the armor folded like paper, and blood dripped down from the crumpled gap. The gunners, who had been puffing out their chests with pride just moments ago, had met their end along with the main gun, turned into pulp.
No one on the bridge could continue speaking.
I had tried to aim for the bridge and end it in one go, but I failed. Unlike the game where everything moves as predetermined, it seemed the reality of Golgotha didn't allow for luck. Even though I knew the location of the real bridge, to think it ended up like this.
Still, it was fortunate that I had finished off the main gun.
Now, excluding the Light Wings, there was nothing on this ship capable of piercing my Sanctuary Field in one shot. I couldn't stop. With missiles and batteries aiming for my life in real-time, stopping meant becoming a target. Even a Sanctuary Field couldn't block Golgotha's continuous attacks indefinitely.
I told Jack that the weakness of this Golgotha was the lower section, but I couldn't tell him the truth for fear of being suspected as a real spy; the biggest weakness was the externally exposed bridge. If you hit that, all of Golgotha's functions stop.
Judging by the resistance earlier, aiming for the bridge right now is suicide. However, if I silence the enemy's anti-air defense systems one by one and continue to evade, it will gradually become easier to approach.
I can take down the bridge after that.
I accelerated Logos again. Shaking off the pouring fire, I went up to the upper section and silenced the batteries one by one. I raked them with the rifle, struck them with the shield while passing by, and selected the next target while reloading.
The incoming barrage was deflected with Quick Thrust. Very briefly, minimally, and exactly as much as needed. Honestly, my neural terminals were tingling. Still, my body could hold out for now.
There was still a long way to go, but I had received sufficient supplies while receiving the DPM. Ammunition and additional armaments were plentiful.
I could hold out.
"Hngh... haa..."
I heard Earl Grey's irregular breathing from behind me.
"Earl Grey-nim?"
"I... I am fine."
She didn't look fine. It was only natural. It was a chaotic battle immediately after a sudden acceleration to Mach 20. Since it hadn't been long since she boarded an Advent, the strain was pouring onto Earl Grey's fragile body.
She must have accumulated fatigue while using Divine Power to protect my already breaking body. I was only calculating for my own body. Leaving behind her, who was holding on for me even at this very moment.
This won't do.
"I'll end this as quickly as possible."
The path aiming for the bridge is the easiest path, but it's not the path to end it quickly. Looking at Earl Grey's physical condition right now, there is no time to be breaking turrets on the upper section.
And this Golgotha has hundreds of batteries alone. If I keep performing evasive maneuvers to avoid the attacks they spew out, Earl Grey's stamina will reach its limit.
Then I should aim for the enemy's weakness, which is somewhat slower but certain. What fits that is the lower section.
Because the structural weakness is located there, and considering the slow Light Wings on the lower section and the stored conventional weapons, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with. I turned Logos's direction and slid down under the hull.
While descending.
First, the lower conventional weapon storage sector. The rifle pierced the hangar hatches one after another. The conventional weapons that were waiting to drop inside collapsed along with the hangar.
Next is the skeleton. The main keel stress concentration point of Baekdu.
The cooling system of the Afterglow Reactor. The connecting joints of the attitude control ballast.
I hammered the locations of the structural weaknesses I had memorized while hunting Baekdu in the game, in order. I could feel each shot gnawing away at the fortress's lifespan. The hull vibrated as if groaning slowly. I didn't bother counting how many times I had changed magazines.
That was when it happened.
"...Evan! The enemy's attack is coming!"
Earl Grey, who had been looking like death, shouted in surprise. Her complexion was pale. If it's a means to hit me from the lower section, is it using the Light Wings now?
"No problem. I'll take care of it."
Before I could finish speaking, a red Halo rose above the enemy ship.
And. It lifted the wings that were already deployed.
Kkyaaaaaaaahhh—!!!
Something inside Baekdu cried out. A metallic scream filled the night sky. The cannon fire and explosions created by me and Baekdu were buried in that sound.
"It's a scream. That."
Earl Grey muttered in a trembling voice. I knew. Where the wings of light created by Golgotha come from. A blasphemy that forcibly activates God's miracle by squeezing a Saint, who has only a brain left, to her limit.
The heresy of heresies, where humans steal God's things and use them as they please. I knew it as knowledge, but seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears like this, goosebumps ran down my spine. The owner of that scream must have also had a name once, just like Earl Grey.
I could feel her behind me holding her breath. If only I could take away Earl Grey's fear.
The raised wings disappeared, and a ring of light formed on the lower part of the hull. And along the ring, wings sprouted one by one, then two. Dozens of Light Wings filled the circle, and red wings began to dominate the sky.
I thought it would deploy one or two first, but to bring out all the wings from the start.
"So, they are serious too."
If that finishes deploying, this land will be wiped out entirely.
Of course, evasion would be possible. But Earl Grey wouldn't be able to hold out while evading. So, I give up on evasion.
I will face it head-on. I had Logos check the surrounding terrain.
No civilian facilities. No allies. No civilians within the radius.
I can bypass all of the Canberra Council's prohibition requirements. Today, we will return alive. Because I promised to go out and have fun with just Earl Grey.
"Dies Irae."
A red Halo rose above Logos's head.
And the Sanctuary Field began to contract inward around us.
[Authorization Complete— Dies Irae]****
Because one must counter a miracle with a miracle.