“We can't make a move like this! We need more reinforcements!”
Having ascended to a safe orbit, Adian connected to the communication channel and told the Archbishop that things absolutely could not go on like this, demanding reinforcements.
Of course, he didn't just complain for no reason; he shared his network of contacts with the Archbishop, urging him to win them over.
Even so, if they could form a fleet with their allies, they would surely find a way to break through, even if the Great Devourer now possessed a defense system against ship bombardment.
“Whew. At times like this, we really need to be extremely cautious.”
“You're right, Captain. Let's take a break.”
Adian glanced at the empty, clean radar screen and sighed in relief, and the surrounding crew members murmured in agreement.
Adian headed to his quarters to rest, comforting himself with the thought that they had already done quite well.
“Damn it... It's happening again!”
Unlike Adian, the anxious Goddess Hestia bit her lip.
Memories of her past defeats at the hands of the Great Devourer forced their way into her mind, giving her goosebumps.
She was utterly sick of how the special measures she took to crush the Great Devourer only ended up serving as learning tools for them, accelerating their growth and leading to her own defeat.
“Therefore, we must eradicate them before that happens! Burn all those creatures trapped in the Second Pioneering Zone to ashes!”
Goddess Hestia personally handed down an oracle, issuing directives to her servants.
Gaia's body on Planet Cadia was constantly collapsing, and all of Cadia's energy and nutrients were being funneled into her repair.
The same was true for Terra. Under Elise's orders, most of the available energy was being poured into the design and experimentation of new variants, cutting off support for Kerrigan's migratory colony, which was attacking the Second Pioneering Zone.
“Those guys who have been playing defense this whole time are making a massive move.”
After Begrun shared the reports sent back by the scouts from all directions, Yuno said, “They know we're trapped.”
The mere movement of the enemy felt like the manifestation of the Goddess's wrathful desire for vengeance against the Great Devourer.
“Once again, war.”
However, Kerrigan simply grinned as she looked at Gaia's trunk, which was rooted in the Second Pioneering Zone and almost fully grown.
To Kerrigan, none of this mattered.
If those cowards hiding in their fortresses and defensive structures decided to come out and attack, it was actually a good thing.
As long as she could satisfy her insatiable thirst through more combat and slaughter, that was enough.
【Elise instructs Kerrigan to hold her ground at all costs.】
However, regardless of Kerrigan's mindset, the migratory colony was carrying a heavy burden.
With Cadia suffering from airstrikes and its most critical facilities destroyed, they were currently on high alert, not knowing when the enemy might open a Stargate to launch an invasion.
The resources of their first main base, Terra, were also tied up with other matters.
Under these circumstances, if the migratory colony were defeated and lost even a portion of the hard-won Second Pioneering Zone, the strength of the entire colony would take a massive hit.
If the newly emboldened Church of the Goddess of Light launched a counteroffensive against Cadia, the survival of the entire colony could be at stake.
“Useless worrying.”
“...I believe in you.”
Kerrigan scoffed at these worries and raised her blade.
Elise also trusted her sister.
Because from the moment Kerrigan was born until now, her life had been about nothing but combat.
“Attack! Destroy all of their nests! Our ultimate goal is to destroy that terrifying, cursed tree!”
After receiving all the reports through his communication orb, Governor Belard commanded the assembled forces of the Church of the Goddess of Light to launch a massive counteroffensive.
Their target was, naturally, Gaia's main body, which the Great Devourer was desperately defending.
The migratory colony had to protect it while simultaneously defeating the Church of the Goddess of Light forces pressing in from all sides to secure victory.
“Heavenly Thunderbolt, fire!”
While troop reinforcements were difficult to send, equipment support was still feasible.
Recently, the "Heavenly Thunderbolt," a holy power ballistic missile transported from their home planet through the Stargate, was launched.
This massive spear of judgment, consuming amplified holy power continuously, tore through the void. It flew precisely along its designated trajectory toward its target, about to rain down upon the densely packed Great Devourers.
If it were Elise's main nest colony where Celia was located, they would have deployed a massive formula to block it.
They would have certainly incorporated the astral formulas of the holy civilization they had recently absorbed, forming a powerful, perfect defense barrier to withstand the enemy's ballistic missile.
But Kerrigan did not do that.
Although she had magic-type Lictors under her command, Kerrigan took a different approach.
At the projected impact point within the nest, the Spore Beasts waiting in standby opened their back carapaces in unison and launched a massive volley of spore bombs.
The living spore bombs flew into the air like buckshot, detonating on their own to create a dense barrage.
The Heavenly Thunderbolt reacted to this.
By design, the Heavenly Thunderbolt used condensed and amplified holy power to purify opposing energies. Thus, it could not ignore the power of the spore bombs scattered in the air, detonating earlier than expected and dispersing its shockwave.
Of course, even this method could not fully deplete the Heavenly Thunderbolt's power.
On the ground, the worker ants and spider ants moved as one, hastily weaving a massive shield from spider silk and bodily fluids to erect in front of the nest.
The power of the Heavenly Thunderbolt was holy power. Instead of destroying physical terrain and structures, it operated by spreading widely to purify and incinerate any opposing forces.
These crudely and hastily crafted shields unexpectedly served as effective barriers, protecting them from the holy power during the Heavenly Thunderbolt's massive explosion.
“Attack!”
While the Church of the Goddess of Light was thrown into confusion, never expecting the Great Devourer to counter in such a way, Kerrigan ordered her forces to strike first.
Being unilaterally cornered and bombarded was disadvantageous for the migratory colony.
And just taking hits and enduring passively was something Kerrigan could never tolerate.
Kerrigan would rather fight, seeking opportunities through active combat.
...
“What on earth is that monster?!”
“Don't let that thing scare you! Move, now!”
A giant heavy-armored ant charged through the intense gunfire, dragging its characteristically bulky body forward and swinging its massive, horn-like head.
If they were careless, the soldiers of the Church of the Goddess of Light could be wiped out in a single sweep. Before that could happen, however, a massive white stone statue grabbed its horns, blocking its attack.
The holy golem, possessing only an upper body with a holy core embedded in its chest, floated in the air. Clenching its fist, it smashed the heavy-armored ant's head with a single blow.
In its place, the soldiers on the ground had to face other small and medium-sized mutants swarming from behind the heavy-armored ant.
The riflemen desperately raised their weapons loaded with holy power bullets to fire, while paladins and priests guarded their front and rear, battling the countless Great Devourers that surged like a tide.
The migratory colony led by Kerrigan, with its characteristic aggressiveness and mobility, utilized mutants specialized in combat. Their sharp venomous stingers and jaws mercilessly tore into the knights' flesh and impaled the soldiers' bodies.
On the ground, mountains of corpses from both sides piled up.
“Retreat, everyone!”
Right then, the commander of the 45th Paladin Order cried out in a panic.
The moment the words left his mouth, a massive greatsword enveloped in a dark-blue energy flew through the air, slashing fiercely toward the commander's body.
“Ugh!”
The commander grit his teeth, raising his sword to barely block the blow.
The one who unleashed such a powerful strike—one that made even a Commander-grade knight tremble—was none other than the hulking black knight standing tall in the center of the surging, terrifying mutants.
“You bastard...”
Looking up at the black helmet that resembled the face of the Great Devourer, its eyes gleaming with a fierce light, the commander couldn't help but take a step back.
Begrun said nothing. He simply raised his sword toward the commander as his power surged.
By now, a life-and-death struggle was already raging fiercely all around them.
“Those beasts are trying to bypass us from the air to launch a surprise attack on the Heavenly Thunderbolt artillery!”
Fierce battles raged not only on the ground but also in the skies.
To stop the flying species, the Church of the Goddess of Light deployed their own aerial forces.
Those dragon-like golems, known as Heavenly Wyverns, were aerial weapons that spread their wings and flew with a holy core at their center.
Priests or paladins rode atop them, controlling the golems as they fought.
They were closely followed by small golem weapons centered around energy-releasing holy cores—the so-called aerial artillery squads.
“Quite a complete lineup they've got.”
Yuno recognized them. Spreading her wings, she glided down alongside the flying species and drew her long spear.
While the light cannons of the aerial artillery squads fired in rapid succession and the holy magic of the priests rained down,
Yuno instantly breached the net of fire amidst the gruesome sight of other flying species being torn apart. Her spear pierced the heart of a terrified knight and shattered the core of a Heavenly Wyvern.
Immediately after, the flying species that broke through the barrage clashed head-on with the enemy. Explosions echoed all around, and screams and roars whipped past their ears.
The Great Devourers' exoskeletons burned like fireballs or were shattered into pieces, falling to the ground.
Yet, beyond them, even more individuals than those destroyed were flying toward this location.
It was endless. A faint prayer escaped the lips of a paladin.
“O Goddess...”
The prayer cut off abruptly.
A thick forelimb snatched his body, lifting him into the air. Then, a venomous stinger protruding from a curved tail pierced through his armor, impaling the knight's body as blood splattered everywhere.
“Their sacrifices will not be in vain.”
However, the most critical battlefield lay elsewhere.
The main force of the Church of the Goddess of Light had finally breached the Great Devourer's defensive lines to attack the first nest, where Gaia's body was located, and had arrived right in front of it.
“As long as we destroy that, we will win the holy war commanded by the Goddess!”
The newly appointed commander, Charlotte, who had been dispatched here after the late General Parr, pointed at the colossal nest in the distance and Gaia's towering body.
As they began their charge with the holy golems as their vanguard, one of the predatory ants gathered to protect the nest clicked its massive jaws at the very front.
Venomous bio-bombs flew back and forth as both sides traded spells and holy magic in long-range exchanges.
Finally, the moment the ground forces clashed, the predatory ants tore the leading heavy-armored knights to shreds, while countless golden spears erupted from the ground.
This was a formation activated by the priests.
Explosive holy power erupted from the earth, instantly incinerating dozens of Great Devourers.
Vaporized exoskeletons and internal organs splattered in the air.
Yet, even on the burning ground, some creatures stepped over the severed flesh and exoskeletons of their fallen kin, rising to charge once more.
The individuals that survived the holy power had their exoskeletons turned a burning crimson, charging madly at the enemy.
“Do not back down! They know that if we win here, they will lose everything!”
Charlotte bellowed into her communication orb, desperately urging her subordinates forward.
“...”
Looking at the enemy, Kerrigan raised her blade and leapt high into the air.
There was only one path anyway: to fight.
If that was the case, Kerrigan and the migratory colony would fight without a single shred of hesitation.
“It's highly unfavorable.”
Yet, just as Elise had noted, the strength of the migratory colony, which had been advancing with such fierce momentum, was slowly but surely beginning to wane.
Rate on N.U.
