The Cult and the StarUnion.
A race that has evolved civilization with psychic abilities and a race of machines that emerged as mechanical engineering reached its extreme peak.
There’s hardly any resemblance between them, but at this moment, they seemed somewhat alike.
Because they are pouring all their strength into killing each other.
Spear-like torpedoes resembling thermometers flew wildly, controlled by androids, forming a chaotic swarm like a school of fish underwater.
As the swarm of torpedoes rushed towards their prey, the Cult ships retaliated. Ships, shifting from a diamond formation to a hexagonal one, unleashed violet psychic power.
Just as fishermen catch fish with nets, the nets of psychic power engulfed the torpedoes, triggering powerful explosions one after another.
Amidst the silent fireworks, the mechanical fleets maneuvered to flank the Cult warships. The Cult, not letting their guard down, intercepted the approaching cyborg ships swiftly.
And I find myself in the midst of the battlefield.
Dodging remote-controlled torpedoes and psychic power heat rays narrowly.
My loyal aide, the auxiliary organ, alerted me to the danger. Connected to the ship, I swiftly maneuvered the hull to evade the torpedo coming from the right.
Four cyborg warships are targeting me.
‘Activate psychic cannons.’
While maintaining speed, I activated the psychic cannons of the escort ship I used for preemptive strikes against the StarUnion fleet. Six psychic cannons spewed fire towards the enemies.
One of the cyborg ships trailing closely behind me didn’t anticipate my six-gun salvo and got shot down. Witnessing this, the remaining three ships each evaded my attack in their own way.
Two ships evaded through evasive maneuvers, but one slowed down, deflecting my attack trajectory. It might have been a decent tactic if I were alone, but blind attacks are prevalent here.
As I anticipated, a heat ray from somewhere penetrated the slowed cyborg ship. Flames erupted from a gaping hole in the hull, oxidizing in a chain reaction.
‘Good. Things are going smoothly.’
Provoking both sides to clash was my intention, but I hadn’t expected the skirmish to escalate this quickly. It’s an unexpected stroke of luck.
‘With this atmosphere, we can easily move to the next phase.’
My ultimate goal is to shake off pursuit and safely escape this star system.
While it’s possible to escape amidst the enemies fighting each other, there’s one issue. If pursuit resumes after the battle ends, it will be troublesome.
Given the immense damage caused because of me, the StarUnion will never forgive me. Not until they are certain that I’m “dead”.
So, I intend to show them that I am indeed “dead”.
I’ll demonstrate by blowing up the ship we’ve already abandoned.
‘Let’s wait a little longer for the right opportunity.’
I tilted the rapidly flying hull upward. While the strain on the hull wouldn’t be light for a regular aircraft, this ship is practically an extension of myself.
Seeing my abnormal movement, the torpedoes following me momentarily lost their target and collided with the debris of other ships or floating wreckage.
The cyborgs also tried to follow my upward direction, but they’re significantly slower than me. As they attempted to turn, I fired the psychic cannons while maneuvering behind them.
Chunks of short psychic power, resembling bullets, struck the mechanical warships. A ship hit by six energy rounds simultaneously was torn into four pieces. From within, numerous androids and cyborgs were seen scrambling out into space.
True to the fading consciousness typical of the StarUnion, there were no ships rushing to rescue them. The lone remaining cyborg ship fired torpedoes at me, leaving their dying comrades floating in zero gravity.
‘The distance is too short to dodge them all.’
I swiftly angled the hull upwards again. As the torpedoes approached for collision, I tilted the hull diagonally, narrowly avoiding the torpedoes meant to destroy me.
The failed torpedoes hastily tried to alter their trajectories, but I wouldn’t let them. With five psychic cannon portals already aimed at the torpedoes, they vanished amidst violet flames.
‘All that’s left is you.’
The last remaining cannon was for the cyborg ship that fired torpedoes at me. A violet energy round collided with the ship’s side. The fusion of violet and crimson flames erupted at the impact point, causing the cyborg ship to twist significantly.
The finishing blow was delivered not by me, but by another Cult ship. Heat rays from afar swept away the remaining enemies.
｢Your skills in the game haven’t diminished, it seems.｣
“Of course not. With this many enemies…”
In the game, I’ve fought countless battles with fleets. I’ve fought against rankers and engaged in bloody battles countless times.
‘Come to think of it, I seem to have more experience with fleet battles.’
In addition to races like MegaCorp and Space Dogs that encourage mercenaries and ship operations, races like the StarUnion and Outspacers often operate large fleets as they progress. While the Cult, with its unique system, allows individuals to become extremely powerful, it’s slightly different.
As someone in a hostile relationship with them, I had no choice but to fight with fleets. I remember the struggle to gather these attributes.
‘Space battles are completely different from ground battles.’
Attributes that were highly useful on land are often useless in space.
‘Even I’m no exception now.’
Many of the physical-related attributes are useless to me, and the same goes for parasitic or nest-related attributes.
Since there will undoubtedly be more battles in space, it’s necessary to gather attributes useful for space battles, not just those related to the Horizon of Nightmare.
‘There’s still much to be done.’
When you go to the Gallagon’s Nest, you can acquire attributes necessary for fighting in space.
The planet where the Gallagons reside are inhabited by various beasts and predators. There are also many organisms with traits like space flight, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to clean them up first upon arrival to gather traits.
As I was contemplating this, Adhai called me.
｢Big Adult｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Combat｣ ｢Participate｣ ｢Desire.｣
The little one urged me to let her go out. Seeing the ships exploding constantly outside, she seems to want to fight alongside.
｢Me｣ ｢Flight｣ ｢Fast｣ ｢Enemy｣ ｢Slow.｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (I’m sorry, but not this time.)]
Adhai, being smaller and more agile than your typical Gallagons, would fight well if she went out, but it’s too dangerous here. One mistake could be irreversible.
‘And it will be a big trouble if she doesn’t return before we abandon the ship.’
She can detect the psychic power flowing through me, so even if I move to another ship, she’ll easily be able to find me. The problem is that the enemy shouldn’t know I’m abandoning this ship.
If Adhai boarding another ship is seen by the enemy, it might raise suspicions.
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (I will allow you to play next time.)]
I continued to comfort Adhai, whose wings drooped, and kept moving the ship.
The situation changed as StarUnion ships successfully approached the Cult ships. This was because the high-risk black hole shells of the Imperial battleship were sealed.
Cyborg ships fired torpedoes at close range or rammed into Cult ships.
Cloaking tactics in the era of space warfare may seem primitive, but they’re quite effective when fighting against the Cult. Provided one is well-prepared.
The exceptional defense of Cult ships is thanks to shields composed of psychic power. If we neutralize those shields?
The fronts of cyborg ships that approached the Cult were all stained white. These were APD drones, defensive equipment used to defend against psychic power.
By sticking many of those to Cult ships, we could temporarily nullify the shields in those areas.
‘After all, the durability of Cult ships is lower than that of the StarUnion.’
Whenever cyborg ships collided with Cult ships, flashes of violet light followed by darkness occurred. Cult ships with nullified shields could only be torn to shreds by thorn-like emplacements.
Cult ships seemed to be in a state of confusion at the sight, but there were no ships rushing in recklessly. Unlike cyborgs with almost no consciousness, the Cult feared getting entangled with their own and refrained from shooting indiscriminately.
While fighter jets came forward to counter, other Cult ships quickly distanced themselves. Those that couldn’t were reduced to cosmic dust by the cyborgs.
Finally, an Imperial battleship appeared at the forefront, witnessing the sight of their own kin dying.
I retreated amidst the advancing Cult ships mixed with my own.
The beautiful ultimate weapon resembling a diamond is equipped with hundreds of psychic cannons. Then, numerous violet energy rounds flew towards the massive number of cyborgs.
Even if the front is protected by APD, the sides and rear are not. Cyborg ships hit by dozens of energy rounds were shattered.
Some reckless cyborgs attempted collision tactics against the Imperial battleship.
The Imperial battleship not only had stronger shields but also extremely tough armor, making it difficult to destroy with tactics .
As I expected, all their attempts were futile. Later, some ships seemed to try again but quickly halted.
‘The commander is blocking them.’
After the cyborg fleet split into multiple directions, each headed towards the rear of the Cult fleet. The plan was to start clearing out the other ships assisting the Imperial battleship first.
Cyborgs charging relentlessly, Cult trying to keep their distance for long-range combat.
It might seem like both sides are evenly matched, but in reality, it’s not the case. Cyborgs haven’t yet used their ultimate weapons.
‘It’s about time to switch ships.’
When the cyborg comes crashing towards me, it’s the opportunity to switch ships.
I abandoned my evasion-centric movement strategy and actively engaged in attacks, pouring energy rounds regardless of whether it was Cult or cyborg.
After destroying several ships in this manner, I felt the cyborgs were paying attention to me. Along with it, Number 26 sent a message to me.
｢Big guy, looks like that big ugly one over there is up to something.｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ (Oh, really?)]
｢Should we put a stop to it?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (No, leave it be.)]
What Number 26 said was probably an attempt at precise scanning towards me from the enemy battleship. By now, they must know.
About the cyborg aboard this organic ship sending strange signals to themselves. And that this ship is the culprit behind this situation.
A faint wave lightly brushed past my body. The precise scanning must be complete.
Subsequently, the enemy’s attacks intensified compared to before. As many as 10 ships began tailing me to mark me.
‘Come on, I’m right here, so come at me quickly.’
Deliberately dodging torpedoes by a hair’s breadth seemed to have really provoked the cyborg ships. It was evident from their ignoring of the Cult fighter jets restraining them and solely pursuing me.
And finally, the opportunity I had been waiting for arrived. I sensed a cyborg ship rushing towards me from afar.
‘We have less than 2 minutes left.’
Urgently, I shifted our position to a nearby spot that wasn’t the atomic core. Except for MacF, who had been holding on since earlier.
His final shout was lost as he buried himself in the moving wall.
Having completed the move safely, I quickly released the “Horizon of Nightmares.” As my metal and alloyed body separated and fell to the ground, I activated the “Organic Evolution” trait.
This time, the special transformation I aimed for was…
As the trait activated, my body rapidly shrunk.
At the same time, the ship shook violently.