Countless spears of light fired by gigantic ships lit up the void of space and inundated the crystal lifeforms, causing them to flare brightly in their final death throes as they burst into nothingness. Even more projectiles were launched out from the bodies of the ships and left light trails in their wake as they rained down on the crystal lifeform swarm. The moment they hit their targets, they caused a gigantic conflagration to erupt, lighting up the void’s darkness even further.
And finally, the ships unleashed a barrage of anti-ship reactive torpedoes that the crystal lifeforms couldn’t possibly hope to withstand. The resulting cataclysmic heat and shockwaves from the simultaneous blasts of the reactive torpedoes obliterated the entire vanguard of the crystal lifeforms.
“Don’t they seem a lot more powerful than the reactive torpedoes Krishna uses?”
“It’s the difference in the amount of explosive ingredients put in them. Theirs has a lot more than ours.”
“I see.”
Actually, the thing that’s stuffed inside anti-ship reactive torpedoes is even more dangerous than simple explosives. Their missiles were also larger, so it makes sense that they have more destructive force than the torpedoes Krishna has.
This applies to laser weapons as well. The high-caliber laser cannons equipped on Krishna are mostly the same types equipped on imperial heavy cruisers. It’s just that the ones equipped on imperial cruisers have a comparably higher caliber, so their maximum range is much higher than Krishna’s. This also applies to normal missiles. Anyway, there’s an obvious difference in firepower.
“Even so, those things are probably going to get through huh.”
Elma sighed as she kept an eye on the radar. Well, of course, they would. There are thousands of those things out there after all. It would be impossible to wipe them all out in just a couple of volleys. It can’t be helped.
“That’s about it for spectator mode. Let’s go, guys. Generator output, set to combat mode.”
“Aye, aye, sir. Don’t stumble when it counts, alright?”
“Of course.”
And so, a long, grueling battle has begun.
『Dammit! There’s too many of them!』
『They’re coming from above! Careful!』
『Argh! John Ray got done in!』
As I listened to the frenetic exchange between my fellow mercenaries echoing out the comms, I continued to bring down small-type crystal lifeforms one after another.
Each of the four heavy laser cannons pierced a different enemy, and the ones coming directly from the front were taken care of by the shotgun cannons. I kept avoiding the crystal lifeforms that attacked my blind spots. I kept the 3D radar in my line of sight at all times in order to monitor enemy positions constantly. It’s one of the basics of high-speed dogfights.
『Just look at those maneuvers. Does the guy have eyeballs behind his head or something?』
『If I had a high-performance ship like that, then even I can……』
『Nah, that’s impossible. That ain’t just due to the ship’s specs, man.』
“To think I’d really get to witness someone capable of avoiding the indiscriminate ramming attacks of countless crystal lifeforms in such a chaotic melee like this. Seriously, my hat’s off to you, Hiro.”
“I wonder how high Hiro-sama’s spatial awareness ability is?”
Man. It wasn’t just from the comms. Even the ladies seated together in the cockpit with me were getting in on the action. I can only say the current me is a result of tens of hundreds of times experiencing bitter defeat and exploding in-game and hours upon hours of bitter practice runs. And as a result of that, I’ve trained my battle awareness to the max. The maneuvers have already seeped deep into my bones and have become close to instinctual. In other words, my current skills are a result of a heck of a lot of experience and effort.
I earned money and got fragged to pieces. I earned some more money, bought a new ship, and got fragged to pieces again. I sold my previous ship in order to earn enough funds to buy a direct upgrade and used the remaining money as a cushion to pay for future repairs. I exploded, exploded, and exploded some more… I heard later on that I had a relatively easier time compared to the other SOL players, but I also had my fair share of extremely frustrating experiences. In fact, they almost made me want– Ugh, let’s just stop. I’m just gonna feel depressed thinking about it.
Anyway, I’m just a simple guy who really hated to lose and didn’t know when to give up. So I practiced like mad. I came up with personalized strategies. I also scoured both domestic and international forums and watched in-game videos until the wee hours of the morning for reference. And the result of all that hard work and effort is the present me.
I didn’t really think that effort would end up benefiting me quite like this, but I guess all’s well that ends well.
“What’s the current battle situation?”
As I concentrated on performing evasive maneuvers, I asked Mimi about the situation on the entire battlefield.
“Small-type crystal lifeforms are pouring in from other areas, but it seems the rear guards are still able to hold them off. 70% of the Guardian Crystals have been eliminated. The elimination phase should be done soon.”
“The lesser their numbers are, the faster the elimination rate, huh.”
Fewer enemies meant we could focus fire more easily. In other words, it was only a matter of time until we won this battle.
“Just a little bit more to go.”
I was a bit concerned by the fact that about half of the shotgun cannon ammo has been used up. But I guess it should be okay as long as I didn’t push it too much. But if I became too lax, the ally casualties could increase, so it was a little tricky to find a good balance.
“Hiro-sama! An enemy group is closing in from port-side!”
“Roger that.”
Mimi constantly reported the readings captured by the long-range radar to me. It looks like they ended up going for the neighboring area since we pushed ahead. I had Krishna reverse course and caught the enemies in my sights.
“The elimination of the Guardian Crystals should be complete soon.”
“Move to the planned coordinates as soon as the elimination phase is completed. Begin a concentrated siege against the main target afterward.”
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