“Bombard them quickly! We don't have much time!” the anxious commander urgently ordered.
They had been full of confidence when they broke through the orbital defense line, but once they landed on the planet, the strength the enemy displayed was even greater than expected.
To avoid a counterattack, they wanted to seize the opportunity of this surprise attack to plunder as much as they could and retreat quickly.
Their primary objective was to bombard and clear the pre-detected mining areas, then plunder all of the mineral resources.
In the distance, a massive black cloud detected through observation magic was confirmed by the assault formation to be a massive flying species colony consisting of hundreds of thousands of individuals, and they immediately began an emergency bombardment.
Colossal bombs loaded with grand magic capable of instantly vaporizing the impact zone fell toward the ground in unison.
“Several spells are stacked together; the power is quite astounding,” muttered Celia, her eyes gleaming as she recognized the advanced magic while sharing everything through the hive mind.
High-tier wind magic and high-tier fire magic stacked and amplified each other. The magic bombs were powerful enough to instantly vaporize an entire nest or wipe out a massive number of ground forces.
“Mom, my arm!” The crux of the matter was that their indiscriminate bombardment was not aimed solely at the Great Devourer's nests.
Under the direction of the Great Devourer, many local survivors who were teaching methods for mining special resources in the mines were also caught in this bombardment.
Massive waves of fire covering the mountains and fields indiscriminately devoured both the Great Devourers and the survivors.
“This is...!” Elise was furious.
Mining various resources across different worlds usually required highly efficient and unique methods that had to be learned and utilized.
Those survivors who knew the mining or refining methods were high-quality, top-tier resources according to Elise's evaluation scale.
Now that these resources were being damaged, it was only natural for Elise to feel enraged.
The enemy had dared to touch her property.
An intolerable, intense wave of greed and anger surged within Elise.
“The enemy's interference spell is very strong. We cannot warp to the designated coordinates immediately.”
“Shut up and go.” Elise ignored Gaia's warning.
Attempting to warp while affected by an interference spell could damage the warp engines.
However, Elise judged that protecting that place and eradicating the invaders now was far more efficient than repairing damaged warp engines later.
“I want to go too.”
“No.” Elise rejected Kerrigan's request to go along.
This showed that even though Elise was burning with rage, her mind remained completely calm.
No one knew what issues might arise during the warp process under the influence of the interference spell. Elise had no intention of letting an important individual like Kerrigan take such a risk.
“It's enough anyway.” In her view, there was absolutely no need to deploy an individual of Kerrigan's level.
The enemy fleet attacking Planet Dorag was, at best, merely a fortress-class mothership and its escorts.
Even if a Chronos was similar in size to those escorts, what if they had the numbers?
According to universally accepted space fleet doctrines, provoking an opponent with superior size and firepower by relying solely on numbers was nothing short of suicide, but the Great Devourer knew nothing of such common sense, and even if they did, they would dismiss it with disdain.
For they firmly believed that their path was the only correct answer.
“Commander, we have a massive number of warp signatures! Right in front of us!”
“Impossible! The interference spell is clearly still active?!”
This was an order from the Great Queen, the pinnacle of a hive mind that had truly reached the level of a high-tier civilization.
The Chronos formations of all colonies scattered across dozens of planets immediately ceased all actions and, along with their embarked troops and escort forces, initiated their warps in unison.
The panicked Ionian commander rubbed his temples upon hearing his subordinate's report.
This behavior was baffling.
Even beasts should have the common sense to know not to proceed if something went wrong during a warp.
“As long as the d-defense spells are operating normally, there is nothing to fear! Hold this position until the assault formation on the surface completes its mission and returns!” Therefore, the commander decided to hold their ground first.
They put their faith in the interference spell. If the interference spell could block ninety percent of the forces attempting to warp, they would only have to deal with the remaining ten percent that successfully made it through, allowing them to hold out for a while.
Moreover, the space fortress-class vessel where the commander was currently stationed was Ionia's third-largest space fortress.
This meant that even if a massive swarm of small enemies rushed them, it could withstand the onslaught.
“Enemy warp signatures detected. Currently, five ships have successfully warped in.”
“Only five? That's nothing.”
“W-warp signatures are increasing. There are fifteen so far.”
“...What?”
“T-they're coming again, this time from behind! Twenty-five ships!”
However, as the warps truly got underway, those expectations were gradually shattered.
In front, behind, and to their sides, dozens of massive space monsters resembling pill bugs began to materialize and emerge one after another.
Their sizes were roughly equivalent to the smallest escorts brought by the enemy.
“A total of 125 enemy ships have been identified!”
‘This is impossible.’ By the time all the warps finally concluded, the commander's mind went completely blank.
At this moment, 125 enemies had appeared right before their eyes.
This meant that in order to tear them apart, at least nearly 1,300 monsters across the universe had attempted to warp.
“Didn't they say they had no spare forces because they had to deal with the Goddess...” the commander murmured to himself unconsciously as he stared at the light cannon of the massive monster flying toward him.
Rate on N.U.
