Chapter 338: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (56)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 338: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (56)
It was a pain, but I deliberately kept provoking the Arsenos forces. It was obvious they would redeploy their troops to Planet Erutus as soon as we left.
So I drew all of their attention to us. In the end, we became the target instead of Erutus, and now we were the ones being chased.
“Being chased… are we, though?”
To be precise, we weren't being chased; we were toying with them. In fact, after getting crushed a few times, the Arsenos bastards rarely attacked first anymore. They just trailed us, keeping an annoying watch.
Of course, there were still some who were reckless enough to charge in. Like now.
“Hmm, I wish they’d stop coming at me already.”
Beyond my field of view, I could see debris floating in space. Just moments ago, they were units piloted by Arsenos soldiers, but now they were just unrecognizable lumps of metal.
All of it was my doing. There were no survivors.
Just then, the comms crackled.
[Seo-yun, that's enough. Come back.]
It was Elena's voice. Her quiet tone was tinged with fatigue.
Probably because she'd been on edge for so long.
“Acknowledged.”
I pulled back on the controls, turning the Requiem's nose. Leaving the debris-strewn battlefield behind, I slowly returned to the battleship.
As soon as I arrived, I headed for the bridge. When the door opened, Brol’s familiar jest flew my way.
“Well, well, the Knight of the Apocalypse graces us with his presence.”
His words made me frown.
“I thought I told you not to use that cheesy name.”
“Why? I think it's cool. Doesn't it just mean you've struck that much fear into the enemy?”
Brol took a sip of coffee from the mug beside his monitor and grinned.
“You should be more proud.”
“Haa… Whatever. What's the situation?”
I let out a short breath and sat down. At that moment, Elena quietly handed me a cup of coffee and stood beside me.
“It looks like Arsenos is about to give up the chase. Their losses have been too great. I thought they’d follow us to the end at first.”
Brol muttered as he continued.
“Well, they probably want to avoid any more losses. Dealing with the Federation is more urgent for them right now.”
I nodded.
“What about the Federation? Any new intel?”
At that, Brol’s expression changed. The playful look on his face turned serious for the first time in a while.
“A few things. First, the Federation's civil war is over. And… it ended peacefully.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Is that even possible?”
“I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard it, either. They’d had brief ceasefires, but they were constantly clashing. Then suddenly, without any warning, they announced the end of the civil war.”
Brol swiped through the screen of the terminal in his hand and continued.
“Second, the Federation is already invading Arsenos territory. That Federation force we ran into a while back? They might have just been a reconnaissance team.”
His voice grew lower.
“And last. There's intel that some faction is waging a guerrilla war against the Federation.”
My expression shifted at his words.
“…A new rebel group?”
“That's still unclear. But there have been sightings of ‘Eclipse’ near that group.”
“…Eclipse, huh.”
I closed my eyes. An image of a face surfaced in my mind.
Adele.
There was a high chance she was somewhere nearby.
“…Brol.”
I slowly raised my head and spoke.
“Can you ask your informant to track Eclipse?”
Brol shrugged.
“That's the problem. They move like ghosts. Even the guys feeding me info are having a hard time finding them. It seems the Federation is struggling to track them, too.”
“Ask them to at least look for a trail.”
Brol nodded.
“Got it. I'll put out some feelers.”
“Thanks.”
A brief silence fell. Breaking it, Elena, who had been standing beside me, spoke quietly.
“So, where… are we heading now?”
I stared at the monitor and gave a short reply.
“We're heading into Earth Federation territory.”
My words sent a subtle tremor through the bridge.
A momentary tension appeared on everyone's faces.
“Hoo… I expected it, but it's still scary.”
Brol scratched his head.
The Earth Federation may not have the military power it once did, but the name ‘Federation’ was still a symbol of intimidation.
Elena turned her head.
“Brol, do you know any routes that are relatively safe?”
Brol shook his head and sighed.
“That's old news. As the war intensified, the Federation took over most of the routes we used to use. There is one secret route I used to use myself, but…”
He trailed off, fiddling with his terminal.
“To be honest, I wouldn't exactly call it safe. It overlaps with an asteroid field and cosmic turbulence, so there's a chance the ship could be damaged. In short, it's very dangerous.”
Just then, Lillian, who had been silent, raised her head.
“I don't know if it's still there, but… there's a route I used to use.”
All eyes turned to her.
“It was an unregistered transport route back then, and it was never detected by outsiders. If it's still viable… a ship of this size should be able to pass through.”
I looked at Lillian.
“Do you remember the exact coordinates?”
“Not precisely. But I still have the coordinates.”
Brol crossed his arms and nodded.
“That route sounds much better than ours.”
“Alright. Lillian. We'll take the route you mentioned.”
The decision was made, and we immediately corrected our course and set off.
*
“Trash. Your movements are too wide.”
Eclipse's sword grazed the shoulder of Oh Hyun's unit. A sharp, cold warning. As if his head would fly off if he hesitated.
“Kugh… I'm sorry…!”
Oh Hyun gritted his teeth and corrected his stance. It was a sparring match between Eclipse and Exile. Sheryl Mortimer was personally training Oh Hyun.
Nearby, Lisa and Mason sat a short distance away, cooling down. Both had just finished sparring with Sheryl, and their faces were etched with exhaustion.
Sheryl swung her sword lightly and spoke with cold detachment.
“You have talent. But your fundamentals are weak.”
Oh Hyun's shoulders flinched.
“And you've relied too much on your unit's performance.”
She spun her blade, glancing at the unit Oh Hyun was piloting.
“You've survived this long by gaining experience, but you'll be taken down in an instant if you meet an opponent stronger than you.”
Oh Hyun quietly nodded.
Watching them, Lisa shook her head and muttered.
“Seriously… that woman is a monster every time I see her.”
Mason also sighed and nodded.
“If Adele hadn't told her to 'keep us alive' back then, we would've been torn to pieces.”
“Yeah, probably. We would've been instantly killed.”
He took a swig from his water bottle and said.
“Still, that guy Oh Hyun seems to be in much better spirits lately. And so is Adele... Su-hyeon and Hina look much brighter, too.”
Lisa smiled faintly.
“Yeah. It's a relief.”
Mason gestured with his eyes and whispered.
“But hey… don't you think Oh Hyun's been pretty interested in Adele lately?”
At his words, Lisa's hand froze over her water bottle. Her eyes trembled slightly.
“…Is that so?”
The corner of Lisa's mouth tightened slightly. Mason glanced at her reaction and chuckled.
“If you keep hesitating like that, you're gonna lose him.”
“Wh-what… What nonsense are you talking about, you idiot!”
Lisa flusteredly turned her head away. Mason shrugged and grinned.
“So make your move already. Opportunity doesn't wait around forever.”
“……Shut up.”
Lisa averted her gaze and chugged her water.
“Look at you, getting all shy. Besides, he's a bad guy too. Ignoring the loyal wife by his side to chase after the pink-haired princess.”
At that, Lisa's lips jutted out in a slight pout.
“…What's so great about that woman, anyway…”
“Honestly, she's pretty. Plus, she's got wealth and skill. And lately, she and Oh Hyun seem pretty natural talking about unit technology, don't they?”
“…Tch.”
Mason watched her quietly for a moment, then shrugged.
“Well, the princess herself… doesn't seem to have a shred of interest in him, though.”
“…She had a lover who died, right?”
Lisa's voice was lower than usual.
“Yeah. That's the rumor. They said he died on Nemesis…”
For a moment, a quiet silence hung between them. A soft voice broke through it.
“Looks like you're still training.”
Turning around, they saw Adele Licencia. Her face had become noticeably brighter lately. The natural smile she wore suited her far better than her expression when they first met.
Lisa found herself staring at her, subconsciously comparing herself.
She really is pretty…
Vibrant pink hair, calm eyes, a graceful voice. Just then, Adele tilted her head toward Lisa.
“Hm? Miss Lisa, is there… something you wanted to say?”
Lisa flinched and shook her head. The moment their eyes met, she instinctively looked away.
“…No. Nothing.”
Adele didn't press for meaning at Lisa's reaction. Instead, she raised the corners of her mouth in a serene smile.
“Hehe… I see.”
Then she raised a microphone and spoke calmly toward the training area where Sheryl and Oh Hyun were.
“Both of you, that's enough. Come on down.”
At Adele's single command, the training session came to a halt. Soon, everyone was gathered on the battleship's bridge.
A strategic map was displayed on the wall. Adele quietly operated the holographic control panel.
“In the nearby ruins… there's a top-secret experimental facility operated by the Earth Federation.”
All eyes were focused on her.
Adele calmly swiped the screen with her fingertips. Soon, a project name appeared on the display. Along with a red warning light, the name was printed out.
PROJECT: ZERO-LUX
“…It's a weapon the Earth Federation is currently developing. It's based on the existing 'Xeno Cyclone,' but… it's far more cruel and destructive.”
Lisa's eyebrow twitched.
“Stronger than that damn weapon? That just sounds like they plan on grinding a whole planet to dust.”
“That's very likely the objective.”
Adele nodded and continued.
“The problem is that the test is imminent. The exact location hasn't been pinpointed yet, but a communication signal unique to the Federation has been detected from a small satellite base in the outskirts nearby.”
Sheryl muttered.
“Hoo… A facility of that scale must have some pretty heavy defenses.”
“That's right. We don't know what kind of defenses are in place, and the weapon itself might even be partially complete. It's dangerous, but we have to stop it, no matter what.”
A moment of silence passed. Then, Adele quietly added one more thing.
“And… once this operation is over, I plan to head toward Arsenos.”
Tension once again filled the bridge. Lisa slowly raised her head.
“Arsenos? Why there?”
At Lisa's question, Adele quietly averted her gaze. A complex, unexplainable emotion flickered in her eyes.
“There's something I need to find.”
“The reason… you can't tell us?”
At Mason's question, Adele was silent for a moment before giving a gentle nod.
“I'll tell you later. For now… this comes first.”
Then she turned back to address everyone.
“More importantly, I'll be recalibrating your units. If any of you need specific adjustments or changes to your armaments, please request them now.”
Adele quietly turned off the monitor and stepped back. With that, the meeting was adjourned.