Even so, these Devourer Civilization interstellar warships still went forward one after another, wave on wave, guarding the Soul Altars behind them.
For they knew very well this was their duty; if anything happened to the Soul Altars behind them, all of them would bear enormous consequences.
Whether you were a captain or some platoon commander,
you would suffer for it!
Everyone knew that in the Devourer Civilization these Soul Altars were worth as much as a T6-grade interstellar warship, or even somewhat more.
But even so, under such fierce saturation fire from interstellar missiles, there were still losses.
Around one or two grade-four Soul Altars, once the last line of defense, the pitch-black legion fleets they had gathered, was destroyed by interstellar missiles,
those two grade-four Soul Altars faced the interstellar missiles' attack head-on, and very soon these two grade-four Soul Altars were destroyed, becoming two "torches" in the universe.
And this was far from over; while the rain of interstellar missiles beat coldly on the Devourer Civilization interstellar warships opposite without stop,
the swarms of interstellar drones and interstellar fighters by the tens of thousands had not been idle either, and had quietly taken control of interstellar air supremacy.
The Devourer Civilization carrier starships opposite sent out interstellar fighters and swarms of interstellar drones too, but once they took off they were live targets, with no room at all to strike back.
Before the interstellar air supremacy of the Owl Dragon interstellar legion fleets' three great axe-strokes, no one could say a word against it.
And under the pressure of these interstellar fighters and swarms of interstellar drones, the interstellar warships that had just been through the baptism of interstellar missiles naturally fared badly.
But it was still not over.
The battle formation made up of the Reverse Scale ace fleet group and the Blizzard ace fleet group charged straight at the enemy's battle positions.
These were T6- and T5-grade interstellar warships through and through,
and interstellar battleships, interstellar battlecruisers and interstellar cruisers through and through at that!
Under these interstellar warships' fire, the Devourer Civilization's interstellar warships could hardly parry; the line of defense collapsed with a speed that could hardly be faster.
"Why does it feel like the enemy's Soul Altars aren't doing much?" Shen Bing muttered.
Su Lan, on the other side of the video window, said, "A Soul Altar works by taking in the souls and minds on the battlefield and turning them as fuel into pitch-black legion fleets. But on this star-system battlefield, the intensity of our fighting before was held back. So in this star system there simply isn't that much fuel for the Soul Altars opposite to use, and the number and strength of the pitch-black legion fleets they make are naturally much reduced."
Su Lan's explanation was very much to the point.
The Devourer Civilization commanders opposite realized this too; in the three star systems, almost one after another, they called on the three Sovereigns for help!
…………
The Three Sovereigns' Conference
"The Owl Dragon Emperor's real target has shown itself. It's these three star systems!" the Troll Monarch said with some excitement.
"Several of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's ace legion fleet groups have all come out, and three super-flagships have appeared on the battlefield too. You could say the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has shown its hand. And its offensive against these three star systems is extremely strong. In a short time it's already destroyed five of our grade-four Soul Altars. Because the strength of souls in the star systems isn't high, these Soul Altars can't work at full power, and aren't doing well. If we don't send more interstellar legion fleets in support, these three star systems are doomed!" When the Drought-Fiend Sovereign had said this in a low voice, he looked at the Black-God Sovereign.
Now that the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had played its trump card, it was their side's turn to answer.
Whatever happened, they could not accept all three of these star systems falling and being wrecked, all the more since there were now three grade-five Soul Altars and a dozen-odd grade-four Soul Altars in these three star systems.
Losing grade-four Soul Altars was one thing; if the grade-five Soul Altars were destroyed too, that was a result they could not accept.
The Black-God Sovereign looked at the interstellar war holo-table before him and said in a low voice, "No. The Owl Dragon Emperor still has cards he hasn't played. That quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship, and a Shadow Hunter ace fleet group, and another super-flagship, the T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship, and his own Emperor's Guard Fleet."
The Black-God Sovereign's words showed how well he now knew the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
He paused and went on, "About that quasi-T7 Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought, the information we have is very slight. All we know is that at their Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's New Year ceremony some time ago, the Owl Dragon Emperor toured the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire with five of these interstellar warships. How many of these interstellar warships there truly are, we have no way of knowing. Nor do we know what this interstellar warship's combat figures truly are, or whether it really is a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship. Besides that, don't forget the super-bomb in the Owl Dragon Emperor's hands that can destroy a star system. We don't know how many more of these weapons the Owl Dragon Emperor has."
Hearing the Black-God Sovereign's hesitant words,
the Troll Monarch could not help saying, "Black-God, I know you're always careful. And what you just said is right. But what matters most right now is those three star-system battlefields. Are we to give up those three star-system battlefields just because we're wary of these interstellar warships the Owl Dragon Emperor hasn't sent out yet? And that super-bomb. I don't deny how powerful it is, but we've already prepared a set of contingency plans to deal with that weapon. For every important star system we've placed monitoring devices; once the high-intensity energy signature of this weapon is detected within a star system, it will be destroyed in the shortest time, so it can't finish running and release the terrifying energy inside it. So the most the Owl Dragon Emperor can do is use these weapons to wreck some star systems that don't matter to us. Fighting a T6 interstellar civilization, losing some unimportant star systems and using up the enemy's important strategic weapons: isn't that a fitting bargain? So long as we make sure the star systems that matter to us are kept from harm, isn't that enough!"
In that moment, for once, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign took the Troll Monarch's side and backed his idea: "For once, Troll has used his brain when he talks. Black-God, I think we should make up our minds. You said yourself before that we should set bait, to draw the Owl Dragon interstellar legion fleets into sending more legion fleets into it. Now, in these three star systems, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has sent thirty-six legion fleets in all, a million eight hundred thousand interstellar warships. Counting the interstellar warships of those ace legion fleets too, the number is nearing two million three hundred thousand interstellar warships. And all of them the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's elite. If we can wipe them out here, then for us, even if we lose a few more unimportant star systems afterward, we can fully accept that result. After that, with some preparation, we can perfectly well take the chance to strike back at the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire!"
Hearing the Troll Monarch's and the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's persuasion,
the Black-God Sovereign wavered after all; he drew a deep breath and said in a low voice, "There's sense in what you say. In that case, send reinforcements to support these three star systems; be sure to hold the initiative on these three star-system battlefields, and destroy the over two million Owl Dragon interstellar warships on these three star-system battlefields."
"Then how many reinforcements do we send?" the Drought-Fiend Sovereign asked at once, and added, "If need be, I can even lead my legion fleets to the battlefield in person!"
The Black-God Sovereign thought a moment; the number of reinforcements to send mattered a great deal.
On one hand, the defensive strength of the Devourer Civilization's few important star systems now had to be kept up, and at the same time the Holy Elf Empire's possible meddling had to be guarded against.
But to keep to the earlier upper limit of sixty million interstellar warships was very hard.
After all, over fifty-six million interstellar warships had already been used now.
If they only supported these three star-system battlefields with four million interstellar warships, it would come nowhere near their strategic aim of swallowing the whole of the Owl Dragon legion fleets on these three star-system battlefields.
The Black-God Sovereign thought a moment, then said in a low voice, "We break the limit we set ourselves before. This time we send nine million more interstellar warships to these three star-system battlefields, three million interstellar warships to each star-system battlefield. Drought-Fiend, as you see fit, lead your guard legion fleet in support of any one of these three star-system battlefields, as the point of breakthrough!"
"No problem." The Drought-Fiend Sovereign, hearing he could take the field himself, was delighted beyond words.
The three strongest legion fleets in the Devourer Civilization were naturally the three Sovereigns' own.
The Troll Monarch's legion had suffered no small losses in the first campaign before, and was still under repair now, his own flagship included.
And the Black-God Sovereign's legion fleet, as the ace of aces, could naturally not be used except at the crucial moment.
So the only one that could be used now was the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet!
"Black-God, and me? My Troll Monarch legion fleet, after its rest and refit, isn't what it was at its full strength, but in the present situation, fighting on home ground, it's more than enough!" How could the Troll Monarch be willing to miss this chance to take his revenge with his own hands?
But the Black-God Sovereign shook his head now and said, "No; your legion fleet must be kept back. Don't forget: besides what I just said, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire still has an interstellar hive-race it can move."
"In the last campaign, that Owl Dragon hive-race fleet already lost at least a hundred million hive motherships. In a short half year and more, even the interstellar hive-race, with all its power to breed, can't possibly have recovered in so short a half year," the Troll Monarch said, guessing.