The adjutant said helplessly, "We did try gathering a batch of interstellar cruisers to give chase, and they can just about keep up in speed. But we don't have many interstellar cruisers, and they can't begin to match the firepower of the enemy's eight Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts; they've even cost us no small losses. With that gap in ship class, if the enemy is set on leaving, we… really can't stop them."
The Black-God Fifth Commander clenched his fists and swore, "That useless Troll. If he'd held these eight Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts here a little longer, we might well have destroyed a few of the enemy's Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts!"
The adjutant said nothing more.
To tell the truth, as things stood on the battlefield in the Troll Monarch's star system, even if they had really had the chance to fight those eight Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts,
the outcome would have been truly hard to say.
After all, those Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts alone had made a mess of this place.
"My lord, what do we do next?" the adjutant asked.
Now that they had taken over affairs in the Troll Monarch's star system, they had to think about what came next.
"Contact the hundred thousand interstellar warships coming in support after us; they needn't come here anymore. Have them support the battlefield at the star system's star gate, and get in touch with that side as soon as they can. The task the Lord Black-God Sovereign gave us is to take control of the Troll Monarch's star system; as for anything else he didn't charge us with, we needn't think about it for now. As for those eight Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts still on the run, keep chasing them, until we really can't catch them at all, or they've escaped the bounds of the Troll Monarch's star system."
"Understood," the adjutant answered.
Then the Black-God Fifth Commander reported the state of battle in the Troll Monarch's star system upward; the Black-God Fifth Commander was still rather dissatisfied at not having had a real contest with the Owl Dragon legion fleets,
so when he reported the battlefield intelligence,
he asked again to fight, wanting to go and support the fighting on the battlefield in the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's star system.
But it was refused.
The Black-God Sovereign's order was for him to take the Black-God Fifth Legion and the hundred thousand regular legion fleet ships and handle affairs in the Troll Monarch's star system.
After all, this was the Troll Monarch's lair; taking it over would prepare the way for taking over the whole of the Troll Monarch's territory and old forces afterward.
……
"Report: those Black-God Fifth Legion fellows are still chasing us. Should we turn back and hit them?" the deputy captain asked, looking at Major General Tabitha the angel.
Major General Tabitha the angel glanced at the positions on the star map; the eight Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts were withdrawing,
but their battle formation was not the least bit disordered, which was why the enemy fleet giving chase gained nothing even when it caught up.
"Don't linger in the fight. All eight of our Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts are badly worn down; getting out of the fight as soon as we can is what matters most. And how is the fighting at the star system's star gate? Did No. 7 and No. 13 get away safely?" Major General Tabitha the angel asked with concern.
The task at the star system's star gate had been, from the start, to tie the enemy down.
Now that their own combat task here was done, there was no more need to attack the star system's star gate to tie the enemy down.
If those two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts kept fighting there, it might well cost needless losses.
"When we withdrew, we contacted Major General Winnie at once. Major General Winnie and the captain of No. 13 both ordered a withdrawal from that battlefield straight away. They didn't do the enemy's star-system star gate any real damage, but the two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts didn't come to much harm either. After some simple maintenance and resupply, they could even go into a new fight," the deputy captain answered.
"A new fight… It seems Winnie hopes for a chance to make a showing somewhere else too." Major General Tabitha the angel looked out through the viewport at the stars.
She herself was here, but like Major General Winnie, her heart had long since drifted off to another battlefield.
After all, compared with the "skirmishing" here,
that battlefield was the real main one.
"Report our battle intelligence here to the Dragon Emperor. Request our next stage of combat tasks," Major General Tabitha the angel said.
"Yes." The deputy captain went at once to see to it.
……
The Drought-Fiend Sovereign's battlefield
The Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
"Report: this is the summary combat report from the battlefield in the Troll Monarch's star system." A subordinate sent an electronic file to Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen glanced it over and more or less grasped the gist.
"So things went smoothly over there too?" Secretary Lilith said beside him.
Zhao Chen nodded, closed the file, and said as he did so, "The ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts more or less completed this surprise strike. The Troll Monarch's home planet has been destroyed. Pity the Troll Monarch's flagship, the quasi-T7-grade Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship, wasn't destroyed outright. But according to the intelligence sent back, this Troll Monarch Interstellar Fortress Ship is badly damaged too; with the Devourer Civilization's industry, it can't possibly be repaired and back on the battlefield in under a year or so. That counts as a heavy blow to the Devourer Civilization's military strength. And the ten Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts that carried out this combat task aren't badly damaged; three of them still have their star shields. The seven Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts that used up their star shields in the fighting have very hopeful hull damage. The worst of them has only a dozen-odd close-in guns and three main guns wrecked by the enemy in the fighting and out of use. Otherwise there's basically no harm. They're withdrawing from the Troll Monarch's star system now; the Black-God legion fleet the Black-God Sovereign sent is chasing them, but there's basically no danger."
When she had heard this, Secretary Lilith looked at the interstellar war holo-table to one side. "So, as it stands, only our battlefield here is left."
"That's right. Word from the Phantom Scouts is that the Black-God Sovereign has a large body of legion fleets moving toward us. Most likely they're coming for me," Zhao Chen said with a slight smile.
At this Secretary Lilith glared at Zhao Chen crossly. "And isn't that because a certain someone made himself the bait? An emperor of an empire, no less; naturally they won't let such a good chance slip."
Zhao Chen did not take up what Lilith said.
For this was his own arrangement.
"Of the star-system battlefields still fighting, only six are left." Zhao Chen looked at another interstellar war holo-table before him, holding the whole map of the Devourer Civilization's universe, with every area still at war marked on it.
Because of Grand Marshal Charlotte's earlier orders, the Owl Dragon legion fleets on twenty-four of those thirty star-system battlefields had pulled out, in two waves.
And the star-system garrisons had not tried to hold them, so they had pulled out very fast.
Of the original thirty star-system battlefields, only six were still at war now:
Battlefields Five, Seven and Eight, with twelve legion fleets each, six hundred thousand Owl Dragon interstellar warships apiece, along with mixed ace fleet groups;
Battlefield Thirteen, with eleven legion fleets, five hundred fifty thousand Owl Dragon interstellar warships; Battlefield Twenty-Three, with ten legion fleets, five hundred thousand interstellar warships;
and Battlefield Thirty, with twelve legion fleets, six hundred thousand interstellar warships.
These were the star-system battlefields still in the fight now.
They tied up sixty-nine of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's legion fleets and four ace fleet groups.
At present over two million six hundred thousand of these interstellar warships were still fighting on these star-system battlefields.
"As things look now, the enemy's intent to hold these six star-system battlefields to the death is plain. They won't give up these six star systems whatever happens. And we can hardly hope to break through on these six star-system battlefields. More than half our fighting time this time is gone, and the intensity of the fighting has far outrun what we expected. We planned to fight for a month; the way it looks now, never mind a month, at the intensity we're fighting, even twenty days will be a stretch." Zhao Chen shook his head helplessly.
Their own reserves were still rather shallow; nowhere near enough for them to burn through.
"That's why Grand Marshal Charlotte decided to bring the curtain down on this battle here," Secretary Lilith said, looking at Zhao Chen with a smile.
Zhao Chen glanced at the interstellar war holo-table of the battlefield in the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's star system as it stood.
The Black-God Sovereign's legion fleets had joined the battlefield one after another; with the Black-God legions, those elite fleets, in support, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's side had been able to catch its breath.
And the pressure on the Emperor's Guard Fleet had grown a great deal.
"The guests will all be here soon. It looks as if it's time we served the main course too."
On the battlefield here now, the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's legion fleet, together with the reinforcements that had hurried in from around, still had fifty thousand interstellar warships.
But there were now also two elite legion fleets from the Black-God Sovereign, a hundred thousand interstellar warships in all.
Besides that, three million Devourer Civilization interstellar warships were on their way in support.
By the latest word, they were expected to reach the battlefield here in twenty hours.
Because they were traveling by warp, it would not be easy for Zhao Chen and the others to intercept or stop them either.
And the Black-God Sovereign's aim was very plain too: to pin Zhao Chen, the Owl Dragon Emperor, down here,
and make this the place of the final decisive battle; even if they could not kill Zhao Chen, the Owl Dragon Emperor, in the end, they would make the Owl Dragon legion fleets pay some price.
Time passed bit by bit.
Very soon, on the surface, the scales of the war began to tip toward the Devourer Civilization's side.
For the Black-God Sovereign's first batch of regular legion fleets, a million interstellar warships, had reached the battlefield!
A star system that had been reasonably roomy looked a little "crowded" with a million interstellar warships in it.
At this moment the two sides' forces were wildly unequal.
One side had over a million interstellar warships, while the other had fewer than ten thousand.
And of those ten thousand interstellar warships, over seventy percent were interstellar stealth bombers, a ship type unfit for frontal fighting.
Naturally this brought about some enormous changes on the battlefield!
The Black-God Second Legion fleet · the flagship's bridge
The Black-God Second Commander stared at the interstellar war holo-table before her, looking at the super-giant ship in the opposing camp. "As things stand now, if the Owl Dragon Emperor opposite doesn't make another move, this game will be a dead end for him!"
On the other side of a video window beside her was the Black-God Third Commander, on this mission with her.
The Black-God Third Commander said coldly, "The other side is sure to make a move. That fellow the Troll Monarch wasn't very able, but he wasn't completely useless either. To have beaten him in the first campaign, this Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire and this Owl Dragon Emperor must have real ability. Knowing perfectly well that we keep sending reinforcements and still making no move: that's the most suspicious thing of all."
"Then tell me: what move can the Owl Dragon legion fleets still make now?" As the Black-God Second Commander said this, there was no worry on her face, but rather excitement.
It was as if she were hoping the Owl Dragon Emperor opposite would bring her more surprises, rather than a dull ending.
"I'm not the Owl Dragon Emperor; naturally I don't know what they'll do. But I feel it won't be long now."
So the Black-God Third Commander said calmly.
Just as they were speaking, something sudden happened!
On the Owl Dragon legion fleets' end, behind those Owl Dragon interstellar warships, a huge blue crack suddenly appeared!
The blue crack was very plain to see, so plain they could see it with the naked eye.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Abnormal spatial fluctuation ahead, abnormal spatial fluctuation ahead!"
The subordinates of the Black-God Second Commander and the Black-God Third Commander each reported this news, and the two of them looked at each other.
They naturally knew this was probably what the Owl Dragon Emperor had prepared.
They did not give orders in a hurry, but chose to wait and see how it would change.
They would naturally respond, but first they had to know what move the Owl Dragon legion fleets were really making!
They watched the blue crack, as if it would split the very vault of the universe, sending ripples out to both sides bit by bit.
Then the blue crack grew bigger and bigger, bigger and bigger.
Gradually, in everyone's eyes, it no longer seemed a crack, but more like a door!
And just then, someone soon noticed traces of interstellar warships appearing behind this huge blue door.
Dimly, it seemed one could see interstellar warships packed thick on the other side.
"Could that be some kind of space-transport technology?" the Black-God Third Commander muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Very soon, interstellar warship after interstellar warship appeared one after another before the huge blue door, as if rising out of thin air from beneath the surface of a lake.
At first it was only a reflection, but in the blink of an eye the reflection was there before you, real and solid!
And the interstellar warships that appeared were, naturally, every one of them Owl Dragon-line interstellar warships of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
The Black-God Second Commander sprang to her feet; shock had come into her eyes.
That the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had reinforcements, she could have foreseen.
But the number of reinforcements appearing now had already passed a hundred thousand interstellar warships, and was still growing.
This was a number beyond what she had expected.
Long before the war, they had made an estimate of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's military strength.
They had all thought the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had five million interstellar warships at most, but so far it had gone past that,
and was heading for six million.
But nearly all of those had already appeared on the various battlefields, and still Owl Dragon interstellar legion fleets' warships kept pouring out here.
Could the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire still have a great many interstellar warships hidden away?
About half an hour later,
the Owl Dragon interstellar warships pouring out on this end had passed three hundred thousand, and were still coming.
These Owl Dragon reinforcements, once they appeared, went straight to the front lines in support, which greatly raised the fighting power on the Owl Dragon legion fleets' side.
And it let the Shadow Hunter ace fleet group's interstellar stealth bombers pull back from the frontal fighting positions they were not suited for.
"Something's off! These Owl Dragon interstellar warships all have battle marks on their hulls." The Black-God Third Commander, watching closely, soon spotted something odd in several high-resolution images they had captured.
"Battle marks?" The Black-God Second Commander knit her brows slightly.
The Black-God Third Commander seemed to think of something; he began working the controls on his side, as if calling up some material.
Very soon he showed the Black-God Second Commander some photographs.
The photographs showed the same interstellar warship class, and some details in them were very alike.
"This is one of the enemy's T5-grade interstellar destroyer classes; from these points we can be sure this is the very same interstellar warship. And these two images: this one we've just taken. And the other was recorded five days ago, on another star-system battlefield!" the Black-God Third Commander said seriously.
"So these Owl Dragon interstellar warships are the ones withdrawn from those earlier interstellar battlefields." The Black-God Second Commander looked as if she could not believe it.
"How can that be? Between where we are now and where that star system is, unless they used space-transport devices, they could never have made it here in time by warp!"
"A space-transport device: isn't that light-door opposite one?" the Black-God Third Commander said coldly.
That did sound like a foolish question indeed.
The Black-God Second Commander paused, looked at that blue light-door, and still said in disbelief, "But… but so far, in a short half hour, this… whatever space-transport device has already sent over three hundred thousand interstellar warships without stopping! Even our largest space-transport devices couldn't run at a rate like that! And it shows no sign of stopping!"
The Black-God Third Commander did not answer this question.
For it truly went beyond all the data on every space-transport device known now; it did not look like a product of T6-grade space technology at all!
"Wait… do you remember one more piece of information recorded about the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire!" the Black-God Third Commander said suddenly.
"What?" the Black-God Second Commander asked, puzzled.
The Black-God Third Commander said, remembering, "In everyone's eyes, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire has four super-flagships in service now: the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship opposite, the Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought, the Demon Emperor Carrier Starship, and the Gluttony Demon King Starship."
The Black-God Second Commander nodded. "That's right."
"But for a time, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire seemed to have one more super-flagship. Because there were no detailed intelligence records, it was never confirmed. And the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire never used it in the first campaign either, so that piece of intelligence was more or less forgotten," the Black-God Third Commander said gravely.
"You mean this power to send legion fleets across space in so short a time comes from some super-flagship of the enemy's?" The Black-God Second Commander looked across, finding it past belief.
"It's the only explanation that makes sense now. It probably uses some quasi-T7-grade technology, like the Owl Dragon's other super-flagships!" the Black-God Third Commander said.
Quasi-T7-grade space technology…
Had anyone said some other interstellar civilization had mastered it, they would not have believed it.
But when it happened with the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, they did not even think to doubt it.
After all, the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire had worked too many miracles.
By now, perhaps, even had the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire brought out T7-grade technology, they would not have doubted it.
The Black-God Second Commander raised another question: "Even if this is some quasi-T7-grade super-flagship of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's with super space-transport powers, their Owl Dragon interstellar fleets are spread over several battlefields. Can this super-flagship set up several transport points at once?"
On this point the Black-God Third Commander could not easily explain either; after all, this was a matter of technology.
He thought a moment, then shook his head and said, "Whatever it is, we have to prepare our response first. Let's report the intelligence here to the Lord Sovereign."
"Mm." The Black-God Second Commander could only agree now.
Elsewhere,
the Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge.
Zhao Chen looked at the blue door standing open behind them, a confident smile on his face.
"It's been a long while since we used this starship of ours. Its conditions for use are a bit extravagant, but put to real use, its strategic value is very great," Zhao Chen said with some pride.
In that moment his gaze seemed to pass through the blue door before him, able to see the scene on the far side of it.