Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Red Emerges
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The first shot wasn't the end.
Energy cannons, mainly used on battleships, rained down like hail, sweeping away the ones trying to cling to the Academy.
"Reinforcements!"
"Isn't that the defense fleet? What affiliation is it?"
What appeared was a fleet consisting of three mid-to-small battleships and support vessels assisting them.
Cadets busily tapped at panels to check the identification codes.
A place that used as its symbol a white comet spewing bright light and the field reflecting that light.
The Mohaim Royal House.
'They came!'
I turned my head to look at Sahim.
He smiled and nodded once.
One of the insurances I'd prepared in advance had paid off.
And the insurance I'd prepared wasn't just one.
Boom!!
From a different direction than where the Mohaim fleet had appeared, the main guns flew in and struck the aliens.
The Whale Ship that took direct hits couldn't withstand even three shots before oxidizing in open space.
Looking back, this fleet was slightly larger in scale than the Mohaim one.
Near the bows of the battleships, ornate golden butterflies were engraved one on each, clearly marking them as belonging to the Monarch Family.
'Both came right on time.'
Both had granted my unreasonable request.
Even if it was the minimal composition, hauling around a fleet of battleship-scale spacecraft was quite a dangerous move.
Why?
Because all military actions within humanity's allied airspace were strictly restricted for the security of planets and Drive Gates.
There had actually been such an incident.
One of the Purists had harbored a grudge and led a fleet to Earth to attack a Drive Gate, and after that, ships built for combat purposes beyond a certain number were restricted in movement.
'If the air raid had passed without incident today, it might have caused a fuss.'
No matter how quietly they'd moved, it was near Terra Planet.
They'd probably been lurking nearby for days already—if they'd been discovered in advance, it might have already blown up into a huge issue.
Both sides had granted my request despite such risks.
'Now I have to worry about something else.'
At the time, I'd brushed it off, but if they asked how I knew an alien raid was coming, I needed to think up an answer.
"Those are Mohaim Royal House and Monarch Family fleets, right? You guys connected to them?"
"No way. We're just as puzzled."
The instructor eyed us suspiciously.
But there was no way I could explain.
"...Anyway, thanks to you, we survived. We'll repay this big time later."
"With that level of firepower, it should be enough until the raid ends, right?"
"You think so? Unless there's something special, it should be fine."
The two fleets' forces were certainly insufficient compared to the planetary defense fleet.
However, their purpose was singular.
Namely, protecting the Academy.
While the defense fleet had to guard all of Terra Planet, the two fleets focused solely on defending the Academy.
Having just joined the fray, they had plenty of munitions loaded.
They could flaunt their firepower for quite a while longer.
That would buy time, and the Academy's main defense system's generator would recover from overload and resume smooth energy supply.
"They're doing great. Sweep them all away!"
The instructor shouted excitedly.
Thanks to the two fleets' support, the aliens clinging to the main building were completely cleared.
The soldiers who'd been huddled together reformed ranks and began reconstructing defense positions.
'Good. If it keeps going like this......'
It was hopeful.
I definitely thought so.
Right up until the moment before my eyes took in the scene that unfolded next.
Flash!
A sudden light extended from the rift.
A pillar of dark, blood-red light.
"Wha—!"
What was hit was a Monarch Family Shilla-class small battleship.
Even though its barrier was fully deployed, it couldn't hold for 10 seconds before being pierced.
It belatedly tried evasive maneuvers to dodge the attack, but by then, the bridge section had already completely melted.
The battleship, having lost its head, flipped backward and slowly plummeted toward the ground.
The vibration from the impact shook the bunker loudly.
"What the...!"
"What is that?"
It felt like every movement on the battlefield halted for a moment.
All eyes focused on the rift.
There was the alien main force just emerging from the rift.
And at the forefront of that main force was a named entity so famous even civilians knew of it.
The 'Red' was there.
'No way!'
Why on earth was the Red here?
There had definitely been reports of it vanishing from the front lines.
It had even briefly become an issue during Real Time Alien Tactics class.
After that, with no further news, it had naturally faded from attention.
'This means......!'
The Red's appearance threw my predictions way off.
I hurriedly calculated our allied forces.
The 'Red' was a danger level 8 named entity that had appeared only a few times in humanity's 100-year war history with the aliens.
It was evaluated as an even higher grade than the Land Crawler.
Even the Land Crawler alone wielded massive influence over the front lines.
Then what about the even higher Red?
No need to say.
'...No. We can still take it down. We just have to hold out.'
But Terra Planet was above the 2nd defense line where humanity's power was strong.
News of the raid would already have spread to surrounding planets.
If we held out just a few more hours following the joint response manual for such crises, reinforcements would arrive one after another.
Then what?
No matter how great the Red was, it couldn't hold out against continuously reinforced forces.
The longer we dragged it out, the stronger our side would get, and eventually, the Red would have no choice but to kneel.
The problem was whether the Red would fight us 'head-on.'
'No way it's that stupid.'
The Red was a veteran entity with over 60 years of activity.
Moreover, aliens tended to have higher intelligence the higher the danger level, especially if smaller.
As expected.
The Red responded to my prediction with devastating perfection.
"It's coming this way!"
After the first bombardment, instead of preparing the next shot, the Red's action was to approach the Academy.
Both fleets, which had narrowed their spacing in caution of the next attack, unleashed a barrage like mad, but most missed.
Incredible speed in flight, yet direction changes that ignored inertia.
It was the Red's second trademark after its bombardment.
When energy cannon fire proved ineffective, they unleashed firepower weapons that struck space itself.
It was chaos—searing, exploding everywhere.
The unintended aliens caught in it were reduced to powder by the sheer destructive power.
Yet the Red, piercing through the smoke and descending into the atmosphere, appeared unscratched and pristine.
"That tiny thing endured that?"
"It avoided all the high-damage impact points. The rest it shrugged off with its energy barrier."
Even granting that, it was still impressive.
In terms of outward appearance, the Red wasn't much larger than a human.
About 2.7 meters in height.
The rest just looked big because of those wings larger than its body—it was far too small for its danger rating.
'In our current state, even stopping it will be tough.'
Moreover, the fleets couldn't focus solely on the Red.
The main force that appeared with it.
Those things larger than Whale Ships were very slow and had poor transport capacity, but they were tough and equipped with long-range bombardment like battleships.
If left to approach freely, they could turn the half-destroyed Academy into rubble in short order—powerful siege weapons.
In the end, the Red arrived in the skies above the Academy.
The moment it arrived, it fired a shot that struck the dome's surface, where the barrier had regenerated.
Boom! Rumble!!
"It's collapsing!"
Part of the dome crumbled.
Soldiers who had been setting up new defense positions inside and firing back were buried en masse under the dome's debris.
Considering armor suit performance, most would survive, but getting out quickly seemed difficult.
Aliens poured in again through the new gap.
The fierce exchange of blows restarted.
Watching that, I unwittingly opened my mouth.
"We have to go out."
"What?"
"I said we have to go out."
"Are you insane? You want to go out there in that mess?"
The instructor blocked my path.
His voice was so loud that everyone in the bunker seemed to hear.
I ignored it and kept insisting.
"If we stay here, we'll just die like dogs. You think that thing will leave this place alone?"
"You think it's safer outside? You'll die if you go out."
Still firm.
His determination to somehow prevent us from leaving the bunker came through clearly.
I gave up trying to convince the instructor.
Instead, I changed targets.
"What do you think, sunbae?"
I asked, looking past the instructor toward the bunker entrance.
The superhuman, who had been standing ramrod straight until now, lifted his head at my question and spoke lowly.
"I think the same."
"Quadro!"
I'd thought he'd agree.
A superhuman who had fought enough battles to retire was truly a hero of reversals.
He clearly understood that huddling in a confined space like this bunker meant we could all be wiped out in one shot the moment the Red broke in.
"The Red is targeting this place. The moment it breaks through, we're all dead."
"But if you hold it off...!"
"We're retired old men. Against the Red, with our current condition and this gear, we won't last a minute."
"......Damn it! Hell!"
The instructor spat curses and kicked the bunker wall several times.
"Instructor. Don't worry too much. These kids will become superhumans soon too. They have to take responsibility for their own lives."
The superhuman finished, looking at me.
As if asking, 'Right?'
I nodded and turned my head to the side.
Ridiculously, even in this situation, being with them made me feel no anxiety at all.
"Heh heh. We're really fighting that thing?"
"Holding it back is on me and Roze."
"It won't be easy to restrict its movements. Still, we'll give it a shot."
"What? Why me watching? Aren't you gonna poke out my eyes?"
Unity was a bit off.
Well, couldn't be helped.
"Captain?"
But just as we were about to head out, the others looked at me as if urging me on.
Caught off guard, I hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Uh... I'll make the plan?"
Anyway, two thousand cadets in reinforced armor suits moved to the surface.
"Sahim."
On the way up, I spoke to Sahim and got the Mohaim fleet's comm code.
The Monarch side was already connected, so I just needed to link both.
"I'll trust you."
As the exit opened, light seeped into the underground passage.
The lead cadets ran toward the light.
"Don't stop! Keep moving! Out! Out!"
If they dawdled up front, all two thousand behind would be blocked.
I kept shouting and prodding them.
The soldiers, in the midst of chaos, spotted us and were greatly startled but quickly adapted.
'No hands to spare right now.'
We could sort out rights and wrongs later.
Giz and a few other martial artists under my orders cleared rubble from the collapsed dome and rescued the buried soldiers.
"Can I use this?"
"You asking that now? Do whatever!"
Cadets intermingled with soldiers, flaunting their abilities and freely wielding the available weapons.
The variety of weapons was no issue at all.
Everything they'd learned at the Academy was like that.
"F Sector is short on manpower. Send more help!"
"Don't overuse your abilities! Remember what you learned in actual combat martial training!"
The cadets' power was truly remarkable.
More impressive than soldiers slathering on expensive weapons and firing them off nonstop.
Each ability user matched the output of an entire platoon.
"Where you going!"
"Not a single one gets through!"
Runshin and the other martial artists weren't flashy but performed plenty well.
They quickly handled the ones poking heads through the dome's hole and pushed them back out.
In an instant, peace returned.
"It's coming!"
At that moment, a shot from the Red's hand fell toward the central area.
With the main generator already on the brink, the barrier couldn't do its job.
If it hit directly, massive damage was expected—then, with a sudden chill, enormous snowflakes bloomed.