Only after a full ten minutes of interstellar missile bombardment from the Hell-Angel ace fleet group had the interstellar missiles at last all been fired off.
And in the distance great clouds of smoke and dust had still not cleared.
But every one of those watching this held a shock in their heart.
"So this is the fighting power of the Owl Dragon Empire's Hell-Angel ace fleet group." Though the Flame Elf Queen was watching through a video window, she still felt that sense of awe.
On the other side, the elf commander Xavier opened his mouth, but there were hardly any words now that could express the shock in his heart.
The elf adjutant beside him had still less to say; he only stood there dazed, looking at the Devourer Civilization invading fleets' positions, swept as clean as a floor by the fire of the interstellar missile swarms.
"Has anyone tallied the enemy casualties caused by the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's attack this time?" The Flame Elf Queen was the first to recover her composure, and turned her attention to the battlefield information that truly mattered.
"It's being tallied now; the moment there are figures, we'll tell you, my lady the Elf Queen," the elf commander Xavier said at once.
The Flame Elf Queen nodded; she stared intently at the area covered by the dust of the explosions.
She knew it was far from over.
This round of fire from the Hell-Angel ace fleet group was only a step in the process; to see the real result, one had to look at those three Soul Altars!
Very soon the smoke and dust had all but cleared,
and the scene within it could be seen.
The area once wholly held by the Devourer Civilization's invading fleets had been forcibly emptied over a great stretch.
And in this stretch could be seen the wake of the Emperor's Guard Fleet, and close behind it the interstellar fleets of the Sacred Elf Thirtieth Legion Fleet Group.
Their task was to build the route for this attack, so that once the attack was done they could withdraw smoothly and safely.
"No starships hit by friendly fire?" the elf commander Xavier asked the elf adjutant beside him in a low voice.
The elf adjutant made some inquiries, then said excitedly, "From what we've asked, not one of our interstellar warships was hit by mistake by the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's interstellar missiles! Some even say the Dragon Emperor told the interstellar warships that would be affected where the interstellar missiles would land and explode, ahead of time. Because of your dressing-down earlier, our interstellar warships carried out the Dragon Emperor's orders to the letter; they didn't dare change even a single digit of their speed or course. And the points where those interstellar missiles landed and exploded were all very precise! The coordinates, the time of the explosion, the extent of the blast vortex at the center! All very precise. So long as you sailed within the bounds the Dragon Emperor allowed, you'd never be hit by mistake!"
Hearing the elf adjutant say this,
the elf commander Xavier's eyes went wide; he looked at that T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship with something like disbelief.
He did not know whether to say the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's attack was precise, or that the Dragon Emperor's skill at handling data was finer still.
But as to the result, it was enough to show the Owl Dragon Legion's fighting ability in this respect, and its unspoken understanding.
They dared trust their friendly ships completely, and dared attack straight through their own fleet's fire,
without the least worry of being hit by mistake. That was a kind of trust!
And if such trust could exist in an interstellar fleet, it was beyond doubt an enormous boost to that fleet's fighting power.
Ask yourself: could your own legion fleet have such understanding in a situation like this?
The answer was already plain.
"The Owl Dragon legion fleets really do give us surprise after surprise." The Flame Elf Queen had naturally heard what they said as well; she praised them from the heart.
The elf commander Xavier nodded in agreement.
Anyone who was a soldier, even a proud high elf, would admit this undeniable fact.
"Report: the first round of results tallied after the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's fire strike just now is in. It isn't very precise, but the rough figures won't be far off." The elf adjutant at this point looked excitedly at a set of figures that had been sent over.
The Flame Elf Queen and the elf commander Xavier came alert at once.
The elf adjutant said at once, "In the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's attack just now, under ten minutes of fire, a total of 200,000 Devourer Civilization interstellar warships were destroyed! Among them were nearly fifty T6-grade interstellar warships and nearly 10,000 T5 interstellar warships; the rest were all T4-grade interstellar warships. Besides that, nearly 100,000 more Devourer Civilization interstellar warships were affected to differing degrees in this round of attack."
When they heard these figures, the Flame Elf Queen and the elf commander Xavier were astonished, and at the same time thought it a very reasonable number.
For they had seen the whole thing with their own eyes; they had felt for themselves how terrifying these interstellar missile ships were.
Naturally they knew how real these figures were.
"In a mere ten minutes, 200,000 enemy interstellar warships destroyed on the battlefield, the size of two legion fleets. Before this I had never heard of so terrifying a battlefield weapon!" the elf commander Xavier said with feeling.
"Xavier, tell me: if it were our Sacred Elf Empire facing these interstellar warships, what would the result be?"
The question the Flame Elf Queen suddenly put took the elf commander Xavier somewhat by surprise.
But as a soldier, he knew very well that one had to be ready to fight any enemy.
He paused, then said gravely, "If we fought a legion fleet that had such a body of interstellar missile ships, then the result would only be a difference in how many interstellar warships we lost. Even if we were prepared in advance, we'd lose at least 50,000 Sacred Elf interstellar warships under one round of fire like this."
The Flame Elf Queen said nothing; she knew very well that in reality the figure would be more terrifying still.
For this was the Owl Dragon Empire's ace, an ace that could be sent out at any time.
So long as these interstellar missile ships' missiles had not been fired, they were a guillotine blade hanging over the heads of their enemies.
You could not be thinking of these interstellar missile ships every moment, everywhere; if you were, then even if you gave them no opening,
in a way these interstellar missile ships' task was done all the same: they had served as a deterrent, and at the same time, to some degree, tied down your combat dispositions.
That was what was terrifying about an ace weapon like this.
Whether it was used or not, it made people guard against its existence.
"But…… these interstellar missile ships are very weak in their own defense. If you could just find the right moment for a surprise strike……" the elf adjutant muttered beside them.
The elf commander Xavier gave him a look as if at a fool. "Do you think the Owl Dragon officers and that Owl Dragon Emperor don't know the combat characteristics of interstellar missile ships? Would they let you get near this Owl Dragon ace fleet group that easily? Use your head and think: if it were you, how would you use an ace fleet group like this?"
The elf adjutant thought it over; that was indeed so.
So powerful a weapon would naturally have the most thorough protection, and it would be very hard to find an opening.
"As for dealing with interstellar missile ships, in truth everyone knows very well what their weakness is. The weakness lies there plain to see, but the trouble is that your sword simply can't reach it. Then the weakness might as well not exist," the Flame Elf Queen said, giving her own judgment, and went on, "Before this I already knew that the Owl Dragon Empire had long been known for its skill with interstellar missile ship tactics. On earlier battlefields they often used this tactic of blanketing fire from interstellar missile ships. Their opponents naturally knew these interstellar missile ships' weakness too. But so far, not a single enemy has truly broken through to threaten these interstellar missile ships!"
The elf commander Xavier and the elf adjutant fell silent.
Their feelings were very mixed.
They were glad to be able to deal the Devourer Civilization's invading fleets a heavy blow, but that their own "neighbor," the Owl Dragon Empire, actually had such powerful means
could not help but leave a certain unease in their hearts.
"Stop thinking about all that. At least we're comrades-in-arms now; everything else can wait until this war is fought." The Flame Elf Queen stopped them from thinking any further.
Some thoughts ought to exist, but one must not be trapped by them, or it would lead to bad results.
At this moment there was a change on the battlefield too.
Their eyes turned to it.
Under the Hell-Angel ace fleet group's fire just now, a great stretch of the distance between the three Soul Altars and the Emperor's Guard Fleet had been cleared.
And at this very moment that T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought had already reached the foremost area.
And before it were the Pitch-Black Legion fleets made in the meantime.
For lack of time, only a hundred thousand-odd Pitch-Black Legion ships had been made so far.
And these ten-odd[1] Pitch-Black Legion interstellar warships were the last line of defense of those three Soul Altars.
For though Devourer Civilization invading fleets had been hastily pulled back from other directions, there was no longer time.
"The Rakshasa-Hades's main weapon, the Dreadnought Cannon · Demon King mode, is ready!" A crew member looked at Marshal Charlotte on the command platform.
Marshal Charlotte looked at a red line on the interstellar holo-table, fired from the Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought.
It passed through the positions of two Soul Altars in a row.
But it still fell a little short of the third Soul Altar, passing it by a hair.
"Ready to start up the Dreadnought Cannon · Demon King mode. At the same time, order the starship's navigation department: hard to port at once! Even while the main weapon is firing, don't stop!" Marshal Charlotte said in a deep voice.
"Marshal, we've never tried turning the bow while the Dreadnought Cannon · Demon King mode is firing. Won't there be risks in that?" the deputy captain said beside her, somewhat worried.
"Time waits for no one. Every minute we lose now puts more shields in front of those three Soul Altars. So we have to attack in the shortest possible time. At once! Fire now!" Marshal Charlotte said, unshakable.
Seeing that his advice was useless, the deputy captain could only carry out the order.
Light appeared at the bow of the T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought.
Then, as a beam shot out, it lit up this stretch of the universe in an instant.
Nearly everyone on the battlefield could see this blazing pillar of light.
And any interstellar warship standing in the path of this pillar of light was reduced to nothing in an instant.
Whether the Devourer Civilization's interstellar warships or those newborn Pitch-Black Legion fleets,
every one went down at a single stroke!
But very soon this beam stopped at the position of the first Soul Altar.
An energy shield could be seen appearing over that Soul Altar!
In the clash of shield and spear, it was as dazzling as a comet striking the earth.
"That's a grade-five Soul Altar's energy shield…… They say its strength is already at the level of a T6-grade interstellar warship." The elf adjutant covered his mouth tensely.
The elf commander Xavier muttered, "Now it all depends on how much fighting power this T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought has. If it were only an ordinary interstellar battleship, even turning all its guns on it, I doubt it could destroy a defensive shield of this grade."
In this moment, everyone knew very well
that the turning point of this battlefield was this moment.
It lay with this T6 Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought.
At last!
A few seconds later the energy shield of that Soul Altar suddenly burst, and then that terrifying beam pierced straight through that Soul Altar.
The Soul Altar exploded!
But the beam was still going, rushing straight at the second Soul Altar.
The same scene played out again.
"Come on! Come on! If only two Soul Altars can be destroyed, things on our battlefield will look a great deal better!" The elf adjutant could not help praying for this Owl Dragon interstellar warship now.
On the far side of the video window, the Flame Elf Queen too had clenched her fists without knowing it, biting her lip.
"Zhao Chen…… Zhao Chen…… don't let us down!"
This blow really would be the turning point of the war.
It might even let her use it to win a greater voice on the High Council.
If such a great victory came to pass, it would be enough to shake the old views of more members of the High Council, and win more support for the Owl Dragon Empire.
The second Soul Altar's energy shield shattered!
"Oh yeah, wonderful!" the elf adjutant cheered excitedly.
But the beam still did not stop.
It went on.
"Holy hell, just how far does this thing reach! Even our Sacred Elf Empire's most advanced T6-grade cluster laser cannon doesn't reach this far!" the elf commander Xavier could not help exclaiming in admiration.
"Wait…… something's wrong…… The line of attack is drifting a little. It may graze past the third Soul Altar!" The elf adjutant had noticed something, and cried out loudly!