106 The Twilight War (1/2)

Scorched and battered, the fleets struggled against the onslaught of Infested that had crawled out from the abyssal chasm.

Even with the additional help of the Western Fleet, who'd finally arrived after the delay, things weren't looking too good out on the battlefield.

It was clear as day to Haydn that they had reached an impasse that couldn't be removed with mere force alone. The Infested Pupa had finally gotten serious and had ordered for all of its forces to attack.

In the span of less than a couple of minutes, nearly six million Infested had poured out the abyssal chasm along with a host of gigantic tendrils that reached for the crimson skies.

Hordes of Infested latched on the massive tendrils that had arisen from the chasm. The Fleet-masters immediately understood the situation and had ordered their ships to retreat, but it'd been too late for some of them.

Enormous tendrils made of rotten, pulsating flesh extended toward the heavens and coiled around several unfortunate cruisers who'd been too close to the chasm at the time.

It was a horrific sight to behold — the way the warships were slowly torn apart by the Infested. The tendrils easily broke the cruisers' hulls as they tightened their grasp on them.

Astor's face went white in horror as he watched everything unfold from the surface. To him, it seemed like the warships' heavy armor plating were made out of eggshells, rather than reinforced titanium and altinium.

A-Ah…! Is this what a real battle against the Infested is like?!!

The warships broke open with a swift and resounding crack, revealing their contents. The Infested cheered with piercing screeches of delight and then begun their terrible, bloody work. Tens of thousands of Infested poured into the cracks in the hull without end, flooding the ship inside.

Goddess have mercy upon us all...

It was a quick and brutal way to go, suffice to say. Astor could not even begin to imagine what was happening inside of the captured warships, nor did he want to. The idea was too dreadful to contemplate.

And as if to inspire an inescapable dread in their enemy's hearts, the tendrils started to pull the warships down into the enormous chasm. The warships were dragged into the abyss, never to be seen again…

”W-We've lost four cruisers in total, Your Majesty! The two of the Southern Fleet's supercruisers have sustained critical damage during their escape maneuvers! They are reporting a sixty percent decrease in reactor output and loss of their weapon systems!” said the Chief of Communications of the Silver Winter.

Haydn grit his teeth and said, ”Hail the other Fleet-masters and get them on my private channel now!”

The fleets had taken a heavy hit, but the beginning of their suffering had only just begun.

Powerful beams of concentrated energy pierced through the fleets with the ease unlike before, crippling a handful of cruisers and frigates in an instant. They had all been struck where it hurt them the most — their Anima reactors.

It'd been done on purpose, without a doubt. The Infested Pupa was not interested in destroying the warships outright, even though it easily could have. No — it was going to make them suffer, make them experience despair in all of its glorious forms…

The warships burst into flames and fell from the sky like birds who'd been clipped of their wings. They crashed into the scarred ground below, no longer capable of moving. Infested on the ground screeched in joy as they rushed toward the crashed warship en masse with great fervor.

The Infested Pupa would crush whatever Hope they possessed into dust. Make sure that not even a single mote of it remained by the time it was done with them.

Only then would it be satisfied with itself. Simply killing and collecting them was not enough for it. What it desired was to break their spirit, above all else.

Violett clenched her fists in pure anger as she watched Infested swarm over one of the warships in the distance. It was all too obvious to her what was happening… and it made her blood boil in frustration.

It's playing with us now… Treating us like we're nothing to it, trying to destroy our morale!