The Metra and Dimension Ships shared many similarities.
A metal outer shell, organic matter circulating within, electrical signals traveling along fixed paths, and the Mana Engine, which served as the heart.
Because of this, the Metra were excellent at building Dimension Ships.
The internal configurations were efficient, and the sturdy structures provided outstanding survivability and defensive power.
Survivors were frequently found even within Metra Dimension Ships that had fallen into the dimensions.
If there was one flaw, it was their monotonous appearance.
Metra Dimension Ships only came in two shapes: cylindrical or rectangular.
They were so unattractive that even Orcs considered them ugly.
This was the result of a severe pursuit of efficiency.
Their armaments consisted of Mana Guns and Mana Missiles. The Mana Guns were short-range weapons, while the Mana Missiles were expensive but possessed long ranges and immense power.
If they had enough of them, they could defeat an enemy without a single scratch appearing on their own hull. However, they couldn’t fire indefinitely, and the missiles were easily intercepted.
Therefore, if they fought against Elves, the side with the higher numbers held an absolute advantage.
If the Elves were more numerous, the Metra would be helpless once all their Mana Missiles were intercepted.
If the Metra were more numerous, the Elves would eventually face defeat after doing nothing but intercepting.
“We are certainly few in number,” Iselin said.
There were 100 Elf Dimension Ships. The Apocalid’s Titan and Supertitan Classes numbered thirty-five. It was less than half of the Clesence Fleet.
“Even so, they’re just Metra.”
Dielka took the arrows she received from Sierra and placed them in the quiver attached to her thigh. Next were the daggers. She secured them tightly to her ankles, waist, and forearms.
While Metra Dimension Ships were famous for being sturdy, they had a fatal weakness: boarding actions.
The combination of their efficient internal structure and the Metra’s pathetic combat ability meant that once a boarding party intruded, the bridge was seized in no time. Moreover, the Apocalids were famous as a boarding race even during the Dimension War.
“Don’t underestimate them. The enemy has far more numbers.”
“Oh, come on. What’s there to worry about when we’re with Lord Outer? Just get Sierra and me inside one of those, and I’ll have the captain’s head off in a second.”
Dielka pointed toward the flagship positioned in the center of the Clesence Fleet. It was a massive battleship measuring 1 kilometer in length.
“What is up with the way Metra Dimension Ships look? They look exactly like floating coffins. Right, Sierra?”
“They do look similar to the coffins used for a funeral at sea.”
“Similar? They’re identical!”
Light flashed from the Clesence Fleet. Mana Missiles had been launched. Thousands of iron pillars embedded with explosion Magic approached.
The Elves standing on the deck intercepted them by firing arrows. Although Dark Elves were less skilled than Elves, they did not fall behind in terms of spirit.
The Mana Missiles exploded. None of them managed to reach the Elf Dimension Ships. However, the Metra ships poured out another volley of Mana Missiles.
“I should go. Return to the Divine Arrow,” Choi Kangjoong said.
The two Elves and two Dark Elves flew back to the Divine Arrow.
‘The Metra tasted good because they’re like crustaceans, so would their ships taste the same?’
Choi Kangjoong liked crabs, shrimp, and lobsters. Since becoming an Outer Mind, he didn’t need to pick the meat out of shells anymore, so he had to restrain his appetite for fear of driving them to extinction.
‘There are plenty of Metra, so they won’t go extinct just because I eat those.’
The Apocalids in the dimension boarded the Light Titans, Titans, and Supertitans. Battle Titans also clung to the backs of the Supertitans.
“Let’s go.”
The biggest problem with a boarding action was, without a doubt, the need to close the distance. They had to get close to board the enemy ship, and the enemy was unlikely to just stand still. The enemy would try to reduce their numbers as much as possible while moving.
For a boarding action to succeed, at least one condition—such as being in an ambush or having vastly superior numbers—was necessary.
The Clesence Fleet was in an optimal position to prevent such an action. It was an open area with nothing nearby. If they sent small Apocalids there, they were destined to be intercepted just like Mana Missiles. Even if the sturdy Titans went along, it was clear they wouldn’t survive the baptism of Mana Missiles.
Because of this, Admiral Tanu, who commanded the Clesence Fleet, grew careless.
Or rather, it wasn’t so much carelessness as it was common sense.
Even if the enemy possessed a Gate Stone, it was difficult to miss the process of opening a Gate and moving right before one’s eyes.
“Any word from Serad or the Elf Princess?”
“None, sir,” the adjutant replied to Admiral Tanu’s question.
“It’s just a bluff. Keep attacking. If we keep pushing, they’ll realize they’re just like Goblins swimming in the Dimensional Sea.”
Numerous explosions obscured the Elf Dimension Ships. Even if the black Dimension Ships seen occasionally disappeared, he assumed they had simply moved elsewhere.
“Massive Mana response detected!”
“Location and distance?”
“Directly above us!”
“You must have misread it.”
Admiral Tanu dismissed it as nothing serious. However, when even the lookouts began to shout clamorously, he finally went out onto the deck to check for himself.
“Just what on earth appeared? If it’s nothing, all of you will—”
Admiral Tanu, who had jerked his head up, lost his words. A pillar of pure white light was approaching. It was Kuongi’s breath.
Though he knew it was too late to dodge, he tried to jump off the Dimension Ship to save himself.
But before he could even reach the railing, the Lightning Breath pierced through the Dimension Ship Admiral Tanu was aboard.
*Kabaam!*
The armory where the Mana Missiles were stored exploded, and the Clesence Fleet’s flagship was blown into pieces.
The fleet, having lost its head in an instant, fell into a panic.
Caught between the enemy charging in and the Elves in front, they were unable to make any choice and milled about in confusion, eventually allowing the Apocalids to close in.
Kuongi, who had pushed through the Metra Dimension Ships and entered the heart of the Clesence Fleet, unleashed a Giant Mana Storm.
The Mana Storm expanded explosively. The Mana Engines of the roughly 100 ships caught within its range were ruined. Inside that range, it was the world of the Apocalids.
To the Apocalids, the Metra—whose Dimension Ships were both their shells and their weapons—were nothing but delicious meat.
*Crunch!*
A Giant that had latched onto a Metra Dimension Ship drove its Abyssal Claw into the outer wall. The sturdy metal armor was ruthlessly pierced by the chitin weapon coated in a Psionic blade.
*Screeech.*
The Giant exerted its strength. Its Predatory Muscle of Origin bulged, and the outer wall the Metra had painstakingly crafted was torn open.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The Metra waiting in the cabin fired their Mana Guns.
These were weapons effective for defense using Mana.
But even so, they were only personal firearms.
A Giant covered in Level 6 Psionic Chitin Armor required ship-grade weaponry to take damage.
The Giant passed through the breach and dropped inside.
The internal corridors of the Metra Dimension Ships were large and wide, providing more than enough room for a Giant to move.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Mana bullets hammered against the Giant’s chitin armor. The Giant ignored the attacks that posed no threat and swung its Abyssal Claw. Five Metra were sliced at the waist and collapsed.
Apocalids poured through the hole the Giant had made.
The Dimension Ships entered by only Workers, Scouts, and Warriors were actually better off, as their end was merely physical crushing.
The Dimension Ships entered by Central Command Warriors were different.
The Apocalid Field covered the entire ship.
The Apocalids, who had become stronger, more persistent, and more sensitive, found even the Metra hiding between bundles of wires.
The noise made by the chitin armor as it scraped against the interior of the ship terrified the Metra. But that wasn’t all.
The Metra, granted a glimpse of the infinite hunger through the Apocalid Field, melted away while suffering terrible mental agony.
Screams that sounded like they could only be heard in hell spread even outside the Mana Storm.
The Metra captains, struggling to grasp the situation, were consumed by fear and ordered an attack.
It was an act that could involve shooting their own allies, but the ordnance officers had no choice but to fire Mana Missiles under coercion.
Mana Missiles flew into the Mana Storm and exploded.
Now, that was the only sound that could be heard.
The screeching sounds of Dimension Ships bending or breaking and the screams of the Metra also ceased.
That silence, in turn, unsettled the Metra outside the Mana Storm.
*Boom!*
Several Dimension Ships were pierced simultaneously by a breath extending from the Mana Storm. As Kuongi moved, the Mana Storm shifted as well.
100 ships that had been standing still, unable to do anything, were swallowed by the Mana Storm.
The same thing repeated there, and the place where the Mana Storm had originally been was left with nothing, as if erased by an eraser.
Two-thirds of the once-mighty Clesence Fleet were devoured in an instant.
The remaining one-third couldn’t even flee.
Behind them, a monster was devouring entire Dimension Ships, and from the front, the Elves were approaching.
At this distance, it was impossible to outrun the faster Elf Dimension Ships. Only one option remained.
The Metra raised the white flag, hoping the monster possessed intelligence or would follow the Elves’ control.
Choi Kangjoong considered ignoring the surrender and swallowing them all, but he decided against it.
If he were going to do that, why would he have saved the slaves in the Kraken Sea instead of swallowing them too?
The emotion he felt when he saw the interview with the captain who had barely returned to Earth after being captured by the Blacktree Pirates suppressed the desires of the Outer Mind.
Kuongi withdrew the Mana Storm.
As the blurred, giant silhouette within the lightning revealed itself, the Metra trembled. The Metra who had come with Serad on the Dimension Ships disarmed them.
“Gratitude for assistance. Sincerity 1,000%.”
Serad flew onto Kuongi’s back and made a fuss.
Choi Kangjoong found it fascinating.
A Metra who had been flailing like a metal chicken after being caught by Iselin was now fighting for control over an entire world like M2721.
It was a sight he wouldn’t have seen if he had eaten them all. He was curious what the future Serad would be like.
“Will build the best Dimension Ship for the Outer Mind in the future. Please look forward to it.”
“If you’re the one who makes it, it’ll probably taste better, right?”
“The purpose of my ship is navigation! But if you wish to eat it, no intention to stop you.”
“Try to make something delicious.”
“Assumption that for the Outer Mind, delicious means strong. Accuracy: 76%. Planning to build the strongest Dimension Ship above all else.”
Since strong things gave many Evolution Points, his words weren’t entirely wrong.
The cleanup of the battlefield ended, and all the surrendered Dimension Ships became Serad’s property. The Serad Restorationists used that as a base to rapidly regain their sphere of influence. It was much faster than when they had lost it.
Even regions far from the territories occupied by the Serad Restorationists submitted to Serad on their own. This was because Serad’s name had spread throughout M2721 alongside the Outer Mind and Iselin, who had stopped the Orc invasion. His reputation rose as a royal who tried to protect M2721 even when faced with immediate danger.
In contrast, Clessence’s reputation plummeted to the ground.
He was branded as an opportunist who attacked his own kin during the Orc invasion and couldn’t even step outside.
Desertions among his inner circle were also severe, and his influence dwindled as time passed.
In less than one month, Clessence’s sphere of influence was reduced to nothing but the capital. Even that was precarious.
*Crash!*
Not a day passed where Clessence’s room remained intact.
Whenever news arrived that a certain region was lost, a certain unit had surrendered, or an important shipyard had fallen into Serad’s hands, something would be broken or thrown out the window.
“A logically incomprehensible situation. My decision was logically valid. The probability that my past self would have predicted the appearance of the problem sources, the Outer Mind and Iselin, was less than 1%.”
Clessence took a cube out of the safe. A brilliant light swirled within it. At a glance, it looked similar to a Gate Stone.
“I refrained because I feared other races would harm M2721, but Serad foolishly requested support from another race.”
Clessence couldn’t just keep taking hits. If Serad had the help of the Elves, he had his own methods.
*Clang!*
Clessence crushed the cube with his fist. Mana gathered and formed a mouth.
—Clessence! I was wondering when you would contact me.
It was Eleanor’s voice.
“Does the concept of initiating contact not exist in Elven brain neurons?”
—That’s not it. This is a matter of protocol. If it were something truly urgent, I might have contacted you first.
Clessence tapped the desk at Eleanor’s leisurely tone. He wanted to vent his anger directly, but he was the one in need.
“Need the Prince’s strength.”
—Are you sure? If you’re not careful, all of M2721 could be swallowed.
“Losing it is more valid than having it taken by Serad, who brought in other races.”
—If that’s the case… just wait a moment. My subordinates will go.
“Request a precise time.”
—Ten minutes.
Eleanor, having anticipated Clessence’s contact, had been keeping them on standby. Clessence waved his hand, clearing away the Mana particles.
“Monsters for monsters. Demons for demons.”
Clessence waited for his new strength in the ruined room.
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