"Reporting — the lane ahead is cleared.
"Our starships may enter the mechanical royal court's forward field."
"Sail in."
"Reporting — the Hades requests leave to fight independently."
"Granted."
Zhao Chen, aboard the Dragon Emperor, one of the two flagships, heard these reports; but his eyes went to the space beyond the viewport.
He saw sheet upon sheet of Machine Race warships, startling in number.
But of these Machine Race warships very nearly not one hull was whole and unhurt; all had taken their wounds.
By the look of it they have been through hard fighting.
And that so-called mechanical royal court.
Zhao Chen may be said to have seen its true face at last.[1]
It is a vast sphere — or to speak exactly, more like a giant work built up of numberless layers of spiderweb-like structure, overlapping from every quarter.
Within it there should be several planets and satellites.
Beyond that, nothing out of the way can be seen.
Nor can that so-called gate be seen.
"Can it be that the Gate of Gaia the mission spoke of is inside this great black ball?" Zhao Chen looked doubtfully at that mysterious great black ball.
That he should come himself with the Guard Fleet in support is, upon the one hand, from a wish to end this main field as early as may be, that he may open his counter-stroke upon the Demon Race with all his strength.
And upon the other, that he would see with his own eyes what in the end this mysterious mechanical royal court is.
Only that the look of it is truly something of a great disappointment.
Never mind; let us first settle this crew of Demon Race fleets before us.
These bare few hundred warships came slowly to the field's forward position, and stood before that last line of defense, now very nearly broken to pieces.
"Once every Owl Dragon Guard Fleet warship is in its fighting position, it may enter the fighting at any time.
"The task of battle is very simple: destroy as many of these Demon Race warships before us as may be," Zhao Chen ordered.
The T5 King-of-the-Hill-class Heavy Interstellar Comprehensive Strategic Escorts, having entered their fighting positions, spread out their defensive fields, and barred outright every assault of the Demon Race warships.
Which not only let the Owl Dragon Eighth Legion draw breath, but brought those Machine Race warships safety along with them.
Thirty T5 Spear-of-Sin-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ships lay across the line of battle in even order, their muzzles all aimed toward one quarter.
For the denseness of the Demon Race warships opposite, they had no need even to take aim; they needed only to avoid striking their own warships by mistake.
The next second a bombardment like a tempest of rain fell upon the Demon Race warships' formation.
These are no common interstellar gunships, but thirty T5 interstellar heavy-artillery ships!
This mighty attack, coming so of a sudden, was as though a natural chasm had been thrown up outright before that herd of maddened wild horses that is the Demon Race fleet.
Beneath this gunfire, interstellar fighters and drones numbered in the tens of thousands were loosed from the hangars of the T5 Fire-Qilin-class Heavy Carrier Starships.
Set expressly to deal with those enemy ships not destroyed outright in the attack before, and reaping them one by one with exactness.
Thereafter a line of advance made up of T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleships and T5 Chaos-Knight-class Heavy Assault Interstellar Destroyers began little by little to strike back.
Eating away at the Demon Race warships opposite.
And at this time certain thorns stood out very plainly.
Such as the quasi-T6 Destroyer-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship.
All at once a vast fireball appeared upon the star-shield of a T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship, and the mighty shock of it reached even the warships beside her.
The smoke and dust the burst raised covered over this T5 Holy Redeemer's hull.
But before long this T5 Holy-Redeemer came charging out of the smoke.
"Hmph. You can blast a Machine Race battleship dead at one shot.
"But it must be remembered that within this universe there is a kind of interstellar battleship called the Owl Dragon's interstellar battleship." Zhao Chen said it with a savage laugh.
The second after this T5 Holy Redeemer took the attack of a quasi-T6 Destroyer.
That quasi-T6 Destroyer's position was locked; for since she can attack, there is naturally a line by which she may be attacked.
The mightiest weapon carried aboard a T5 Holy-Redeemer-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Heavy-Artillery Battleship — the Redeemer-class 300 mm-bore super electromagnetic railgun — locked upon its target.
Thereafter a vast shell went out at a startling speed.
This is a Redeemer impact-type shell.
This shell struck upon that quasi-T6 Destroyer's star-shield, and the sight of it was as glittering as a comet's striking.
And yet it could not blast the shield open.
But Zhao Chen was not anxious.
For he has not one T5 Holy Redeemer only in his hand.
And at this moment it was not one T5 Holy Redeemer alone that had locked upon this quarry.
It was only a matter of letting the shells fly a little longer.
And with two more scenes like the striking of meteors, one upon another.
This quasi-T6 Destroyer's star-shield was at last blasted to pieces; and thereafter three vast solid shells, spending the last of their speed, struck upon the target.
One of those solid shells knocked this quasi-T6 Destroyer's main gun askew outright.
The remaining two left two great pits upon her hull.
Not a killing stroke; but it had lost her her shield, and her mightiest means of attack.
"Within the district of fire.
"Ten quasi-T6 Destroyer-class Heavy Interstellar Battleships will join the fighting," said the Little Dragon Girl, the Dragon Emperor's artificial intelligence, floating above Zhao Chen's head.
"Hades, advance." Zhao Chen gave the order without a word.
For dealing with quasi-T6 Destroyers there is a fitter part to play here in the Owl Dragon Legion.
The T5 Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought quickened her speed, and stood out of the formation as one warship alone, exceedingly plain to see.
"Reporting — the Hades has fixed upon ten targets of attack."
"Reckon the shortest line of attack; open the Sword of Hades."
"Yes!"
"The line of attack is reckoned; it may cover seven quasi-T6 Destroyer-class Heavy Interstellar Battleships at the most."
"The Sword of Hades — start it."
At the bow-cannon position of the T5 Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought a dazzling light shone out, like a keen sword piercing the dark, and passed straight through the many Demon Race warships opposite.
And fell with exactness upon the hull of a quasi-T6 Destroyer-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship.
And with the falling of the first quasi-T6 Destroyer.
This Sword of Hades began to move.
Hunting its next quarry.
Until!
Seven stars in a row!
Seven fireballs bursting one after another proved the terrible fighting strength of the Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought.