Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Beholder's Counterattack
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“Gah...!”
As it absorbed the aftermath, the Beholder's entire body grew brighter by the second.
Then, as if it could no longer hold out, its body split open to either side, revealing a gaping maw.
And in the next instant.
“Deploy barriers at maximum!”
It spat out exactly what it had absorbed.
An attack identical in nature to the main guns slammed into the lead battleship.
The intense impact shoved the hull backward, shattering the barrier.
The remaining force struck the hull, triggering an explosion.
It hadn't sunk completely.
Thanks to the barrier neutralizing most of the energy, the damage wasn't severe.
‘Too early to relax...!’
Unfortunately, the Beholder's assault didn't end there.
Closing its regurgitating mouth and shuddering all over, the Beholder opened wide once more and vomited up the absorbed energy again.
The battleship tried to repair its already-breached barrier, but that was impossible in such a short time.
Taking the attack head-on, the battleship exploded.
“Aaagh...!”
The shockwave engulfed the ship.
Still in tight formation, they were swept up entirely in the blast.
The hull shook violently under the immense pressure.
Fortunately, everyone had braced themselves fully after the previous incident, so no crew were injured.
“Snap out of it and report damage!”
Reports came in that a few regular crew had been hurt.
The combat crew were all martial arts masters; this wouldn't faze them.
The barrier had taken damage but recovered quickly since it wasn't a direct hit.
‘Dodging like that, huh.’
He recalled the Beholder's response.
In that brief moment, it hadn't fully evaded but had instead tricked them and turned it to its advantage.
This meant the thing wasn't low-intelligence.
“The Beholder is fleeing!”
“...Does it know its turn's over?”
It was clear from its actions now, too.
Realizing the flyers were gone and the odds unfavorable, it pulled back immediately.
The fleet fired after it belatedly, but there was no catching the thing at that speed.
And its escape route led straight toward the Hive Nest. “How do we break through that combo?”
“What a nightmare.”
The Hive Nest, a mighty mobile fortress, paired with the Beholder.
The main guns were the only way to pierce the Hive Nest's barrier, but the Beholder made firing them recklessly impossible.
It was like having a powerful counter in play.
In the end, they couldn't target the vital Hive Nest and focused on the surrounding flyers.
After about two hours of back-and-forth, they managed to thin out a good chunk of the flyers blanketing the planet's orbit.
“They're pulling back.”
The Hive Nest and Beholder slowly retreated toward where another Hive Nest had taken root.
The flyers stopped charging at them, too.
The reason: the arrival of the final reinforcement fleet.
Now all forces dispatched by Major General Rebel had arrived.
Their total strength amounted to one and a half regular fleets.
The alliance fleet, perhaps for repairs, didn't pursue and the situation calmed for the moment.
“Haah...”
A crew member's quiet sigh reached his ears.
* The allied fleet, now clustered together, immediately held a strategy meeting alongside repairs.
Losing two battleships hurt badly.
In a short skirmish, they'd sacrificed about 7% of the fleet's strength.
The math worked out like this.
A regular fleet totaled around 3 million tons of displacement.
The reinforcements brought the overall size to one and a half regular fleets, roughly 4.5 million tons.
About 20% served non-combat roles, so combat ships made up 80%—3.6 million tons.
The two sunk battleships displaced 80,000 and 170,000 tons, totaling 250,000 tons.
That came to about 7% of 3.6 million tons gone.
‘Way too much damage.’
This battle for the alliance was far from over.
They had to think ahead.
Every ship was precious.
‘The first one I can chalk up to bad luck with the AD Drive ejection point, but the Beholder one stings extra.’
The initial loss could be dismissed as misfortune from the Drive Out hitting an unlucky spot.
But the second could've been prevented by not firing the main guns at the Beholder.
He'd even voiced opposition to it.
-What the hell happened?
-I've got nothing to say.
-We should've listened to Division Commander Leonard...
The video conference began in a somber mood.
Major General Lunger, commander of the last-arriving fleet, voiced his doubts, while the other two couldn't meet his gaze.
-...Hoo, we can sort blame later. Let's assess the current situation first.
-Agreed.
Most crucially, the Drive Gate was intact.
The garrison fleet had pulled back early after failing to repel the air raid and was now guarding it.
The aliens hadn't bothered targeting the Drive Gate, distant from the planet anyway.
But they'd taken heavy damage themselves and couldn't assist here.
-The top priority is regaining air superiority.
It had been about 20 hours since the air raids began.
Half the planet was already under alien control.
The other half faced fierce assaults from dropped aliens.
Securing stable footholds required stopping that now.
To that end, the alliance fleet had moved to the planet's far side, providing orbital bombardment support.
-We've split the planet with them down the middle.
-Lucky they're not attacking right away.
-Once rooted, they figure they've got the edge.
The retreating Hive Nest with the Beholder had positioned itself above another rooted Hive Nest.
With their forces nothing to sneeze at, it seemed the enemy planned to drag things out.
-Shouldn't we strike now?
-The Hive Nest has already regained power. Plus plenty of whale ships.
-Waiting around picking off small fry just gives them breathing room.
-They still need time to fully root. Better to eliminate other threats and reduce variables.
The mood leaned toward playing it safe.
He agreed.
‘Protecting the remaining cities comes first.’
Their fleet was formidable.
A few days' grace, and they could wipe out the aliens across the planet.
Hive Nests needed time to produce new ones, even unrooted—self-sustaining output without sucking planetary energy was limited.
‘Expand territory gradually, isolate them—that could work.’
Especially with the Beholder in mind.
-What about the Beholder?
The commanders had picked up his naming convention.
-...A thing main guns can't touch. Real headache.
-But it's alone. Use our numbers, spread formation—it can't handle that.
-Sound strategy.
-Division Commander, your thoughts?
The commanders all turned to him.
They'd been chatting among themselves and only now remembered.
“I agree.”
He answered simply.
Their discussion was solid; nothing to add.
-Hm, with the division commander's approval...
-Proceed as planned.
After assigning sectors, the video feed cut.
He stared out at the quiet front, lost in thought. ‘Now the real fight begins.’
The next three days belonged to the alliance.
The three commanders would lead their fleets in reclaiming the planet.
No place for superhumans there.
But the final battle after that would be different.
‘Hatchery colony and the Beholder.’ Far riskier than anything so far.
Purely on difficulty, like the Infected Lord.
This time, though, it was all on their own forces.
‘To earn official superhuman unit status, we have to nail it.’
No need to quake at uncharted territory.
Such scenarios were routine on the front lines.
Planets split with aliens, high-grade ones popping up out of nowhere.
An 8th-grade like this was rare even there, but same ballpark.
‘Time to prep.’
He left the captain's quarters.
*
Bzzzt!
A massive bolt of lightning swept the surface.
The ground swarming with aliens charred black in an instant. “Not... over yet.”
Suddenly, dirt erupted everywhere, revealing burrows.
Hordes of aliens poured out from the tunnels.
Merdi irritably unleashed her power again.
“Come at me all at once, why don't you!” Lightning orbs formed on her outstretched fingertips, one per finger.
With a flick, they launched at their targets.
Bzzzt!
On contact, the compressed bolts exploded.
They didn't stop at the target, chaining through the aliens behind until spent.
“Hm...?”
Merdi's eyes twitched.
A newcomer had withstood her attack.
It resembled a mammoth.
Top-tier defense among 3rd-grade threats.
Yet it shook off the shock just by shuddering—more than skin deep.
“Hmph. Let's see you tank this.”
Another orb formed on her fingertip.
The difference: size.
Concentrated on one finger, it ballooned to tennis-ball girth before firing.
Even a mammoth couldn't shrug this off.
The sheer output pierced its hide despite the mismatch.
The one that closed to 10 meters in front of Merdi charred like the rest.
Rumble!
Then the ground beneath her shook.
Sensing it, Merdi leaped away—just as a massive hand burst up to grab her.
“Not today!” Lightning erupted from her body, searing the arm.
But arms weren't singular.
Another shot out at her landing spot, slamming her.
“Guh...!”
Merdi crashed down, barrier deployed.
The attacking arm was ruined beyond repair.
But annoyed at taking the hit, as she rose, the ground quaked again.
“Again...?”
This one was bigger.
Something huge lurked below; the earth caved, dirt pouring in.
Even as Merdi backpedaled, the sinkhole widened.
First came the maw.
Then arms and torso.
“...Arms for days.”
Like a long-legged centipede.
The main body kept emerging.
Already over 30 meters exposed, and no end in sight.
It didn't fully emerge, instead rearing up tall.
Screeech!
Scraping noise issued as it suddenly spat something.
Merdi walled it with lightning and eyed the splatter.
“Spit? You spit on me?”
Technically gastric juices, but same difference to her.
After getting caught off-guard by this new type, power surged through her.
“You're dead...!”
Crunch!!
But mid-strike, something rocketed in, snapping the alien's waist.
The bisected upper half thrashed, screeching.
Roze stomped its head flat and waved at Merdi.
“Hey! I'm here.”
“That was my kill!”
“...Oh, right? Still twitching though—here...”
Roze stepped back.
Head crushed, it still writhed.
Insectoid vitality.
“Whatever, finish the rest.”
“The rest?”
Roze turned to see the stump burrowing back underground.
“No you don't!”
She charged, grabbing a digging leg and yanking.
The alien self-amputated to flee.
“Whoa, neat!”
It had already burrowed the severed part.
Seemed like it'd escape, but Roze stayed chill.
Grinning like it was fun, she dove after it.
Moments later.
Boom!
The ground erupted.
Amid flying dirt, the alien's bulk launched skyward.
Still alive-ish, but all limbs wrecked—couldn't even twitch properly.
“Gotcha!”
“All clear over there?”
Merdi approached, dusting off.
“Yeah. This was the last one.”
Roze showed her radar.
No signals left, as promised.