Kevin, Nina-san, and Tatiana moved into position while we remained in the waiting room for the time being.
The Space Locusts were likely trying to slip through the gaps in the hulls to self-destruct—the same tactic we used with our spiders to take out enemy officers. If it were me, I would have targeted the wiring or destroyed the power sources. Disrupting sensors, cameras, and the facilities needed for long-distance travel would be enough to stall a ship. There was also the option of infiltrating the interior to assassinate the Colonel; if that happened, our justification for capturing the Capital Planet would be cut in half.
We trusted the Colonel, but we didn't trust the Chronos politicians. After all, the first city council member I met had been absolute garbage. The others were probably better, but in my experience, the decent people were always the first to die. That was just how it went.
“This is Kevin. I’m in position. Intercepting the locusts with drones now.”
“This is~ Nina. Tatiana-chan and I are in position.”
Now then, it was time for our new weapon. I’d put off deciphering the mysterious power behind the Saint Barrier for now, but I’d made progress on the software analysis and figured out the controls. Specifically, I understood the mechanism for expanding the field, along with the register addresses for input and output values... but explaining all that would be tedious and granular, so I’ll skip the lecture. The bottom line was that we could now modify both the output and the shape.
In other words, we could finally let it rip.
It was time for the Saint Beam.
Kevin’s drones and Latarnia’s missiles set upon the locusts, but something else was weighing on my mind.
“Those locusts... how are they even flying through the vacuum of space?”
“Leo, stay!”
“Woof!”
Claire scolded me instantly. But I was curious!
“Apparently, Zork used to circulate aerated water through his body to breathe with gills,” Melissa added with a laugh.
Hmm. Locusts are supposed to be land-based creatures, though. Well, I suppose I could just catch one later.
“Requesting permission to begin Barrier Cannon preparations!” Tatiana called out, seeking my authorization.
Since it was a new weapon based on unknown principles, the responsibility for firing it fell on me and Wifey. Leave the political fallout to me!
“Saint Beam firing preparations authorized!” Wifey’s voice rang out from the bridge.
“Saint Beam firing preparations are authorized, indeed!”
“It’s the Barrier Cannon!” Tatiana barked. She was still grumbling about the name.
A heavy hum resonated through Wifey’s warship.
“Ten seconds until the Barrier Cannon reaches firing capacity!”
Since these things had a habit of getting stuck at 99%, we skipped the formal countdown. Once it fully charged, the humming grew into a roar. Early prototypes were always like this.
“Output charging complete. Requesting permission to fire.”
“Fire authorized.”
“Fire authorized, indeed!”
With a heavy thud, the Barrier Cannon fired. The ship bucked, sending everyone stumbling. Isono slammed his head right into a wall. Serves him right!
“Gahhh, that hurts!”
“Bwahahaha!” I pointed my finger at him and laughed. “Hey, hey! Isono-ku~n!”
Zashiki-warashi-chan was already there, pressing a hand towel to Isono’s head. What a good girl.
“Barrier Cannon has reached the locusts.”
“Now, Tatiana!”
“Disperse!”
Tatiana clapped her hands. On that signal, the barrier diffused, and a shroud of light enveloped the locusts. Even the Ghoul Battleships were caught within its range.
“Locusts! Activity halted! ...N-No! Thermal reaction detected! All ships, withdraw!”
Whoa, I had a bad feeling about this. The next moment, the locusts began to detonate. The swarm exploded in a chain reaction, one after another. The Chronos Army’s humanoid fighters were caught in the blast, their armor plates shattering. Arms and legs were torn away, sent spinning into the void.
“Report the damage status of the Chronos forces!”
The Fairy gave a hurried report. “Many injured! The number of deceased is unknown!”
“Rescue them! All forces, begin rescue operations!”
What was with that power? When they were clustered together, the result was catastrophic. Was it like the Heat-killing Bee Ball that Japanese honey bees used? What was even more terrifying was that the attack had completely disregarded our allies. Now, only our allies remained in the area. Latarnia and the Taikyoku Nation reported numerous injuries as well. We spent the next two hours focused entirely on rescue.
As the dust settled, the extent of the damage became clear. The Chronos warships on the front lines were crippled and unnavigable, and there were many casualties among the militia. It couldn't be helped, I suppose. Even among our own, we had an idiot who walked away with a massive lump on his head despite being an Ace Pilot.
“Right, Isono?!”
“Shut up, you moron!”
One Chronos pilot had died. If you looked at the raw numbers, it was a staggering achievement—a complete victory. And yet, something didn't feel right. I had no idea what the Ghouls were thinking, acting this way after being so one-sidedly beaten. Were they ordered by the Zen God Race? Could they even follow orders? You couldn't even have a conversation with them. I didn't think they were capable of following complex instructions. If you were going to use a tool, the Proone or Zork would be much easier to handle than Ghouls. Ghouls were just... troublesome. We were operating in a void where the enemy's intentions were invisible.
“Leo! Rescue is complete!” Eddy called out.
I decided to ask for advice from the most sensible man I knew.
“You see, I just don't get what the Ghouls are thinking.”
“Isn't it simple?” Eddy replied. “They were rampaging without a thought, a natural enemy appeared, and they were wiped out before they could react.”
“No way... A group that gave us that much trouble couldn't be that simple.”
Tatiana, who had returned to rest, patted my shoulder. “Big Brother Leo. Listen up. There isn't a force in the universe that can actually go head-to-head with a monster like you.”
“I think the monsters are on the other side, actually.”
“Ghouls are idiots who breed fast, right? Those idiots got kicked around by me and chased all the way to Chronos. What do you think idiots do in that situation?”
“Assassinate you, Tatiana?”
“Wrong. That’s how smart people think.”
“Harassment?”
“Their intelligence is about three levels lower than that.”
“Rampage?”
“Bingo. The real question is, who’s using the Ghouls to buy time?”
Tatiana was a Yankee, so her IQ skyrocketed whenever a fight was involved. She was likely correct. It seemed my Wild Instinct had grown dull because I had been dealing with nothing but calculating nations.
“The smart ones... in other words, the Zen God Race is buying time, and Chronos just got caught in the crossfire?”
“It’s just a hunch,” she said.
“What the hell! It’s like some hostess at a club stole a customer’s wallet and then lied about being hit just to buy time?!”
That would only make more people resent you and tighten the noose around your own neck...
“Ah, Big Sister Veronica! Big Brother is talking about naughty shops again!”
“Why did you report me without a second's delay?! I said I heard it from chatting with the soldiers!”
Good grief, I didn't understand anything anymore!