After Altherion entered the ship, his body fell onto the ground, and he rolled, impacting against one of the walls. With trembling arms, he propped up his body, but before he could do anything, an urge overcame him, and he started coughing.
Blood splattered on the ground with each cough, showing how terrible his injuries truly were. His eyes moved toward the system page.
***
Phoer Body Stars: 2.31/8.24 (824,496) (82,449,571,978)
***
'I lost over 70% of my Phoer reserves, and we fought for less than one hour.'
Honestly, he was still dazed. The last image he remembered before waking up in the middle of a collapsed mountain was the World Tree "punching" him.
His eyes moved toward the system, and he noticed the absurdly high damage number showing one complete
"One
Altherion tried to calm his breathing, but the collapsed lungs made it hard to take air in. Even then, with his steel-like willpower, Altherion managed to stand up and rush toward the control room.
Everyone who saw him on the way there almost couldn't believe their eyes. To think that the high and mighty Star Lord now looked half-dead. It was a result they never would've expected, even in a thousand years.
After he arrived at the command cabin, he noticed the other
"Lord Altherion! Thankfully, you made it. Did our signal reach you?"
Altherion walked toward the main seat and nodded, his face indifferent and cold. "It did. What is the, cough, situation?"
He used a hand to block the cough, but a small patch of red blood appeared on his hand, startling those paying attention to him. No one brought it up, though. Draevin spoke up, his tone slightly weary. He had been fighting against one of the envoys, and it was anything but a pleasant experience.
"Honestly, it is not good. Lord Vaarn was intelligent, and he quickly called for a retreat after Tianlian Liu Shu's attack."
"Which one?" Altherion frowned. He was half-passed out in the collapsed mountain, so he missed everything after that.
Draevin seemed to have noticed, being one of the most veteran subordinates, so he explained. "After Tianlian Liu Shu… struck Star Lord Altherion, Lord Vaarn quickly concluded that fighting more was not ideal. Hence, he called for a retreat. We are, after all, not under a war order."
Marisella, holding her bleeding chest, spoke bitterly. "We should've retreated when we lost the first Moon-Type."
Draevin squinted. "It is easy to speak in retrospect, but we are not here for that. Our current situation is not optimistic." He looked at Altherion and explained. "The shields of our two World-Types are at a little over 50% capacity. The attacks from our pursuers are too relentless. Moreover, because of the accumulated damage we carry since Nualis, we can't activate our peak speed until we stop being bothered."
"Pursuers?" Altherion frowned. "Even if there were some strong people, I didn't see any strong enough to give chase."
Draevin explained with a wry smile. "Arboreal Winged Serpents, Lord."
"...What did you say?" Altherion's expression changed, gaining a touch of shock.
Draevin nodded and looked to someone at the side. The person understood and propped up a screen that showed what was following them.
Right behind the remaining ships, 152 Arboreal Winged serpents streaked across the void at ridiculous speeds. Five of the serpents, their bodies gleaming with translucent lights, seem to have control over space itself, increasing the flying speed of the group.
"Where did these Arboreal Winged Serpents come from?"
Altherion couldn't believe it. Arboreal Winged Serpents were creatures that people would try to avoid at all costs. He didn't know the details, even as a Star Lord, but the background of these beings was so terrifying that even the top lords of the Abyssal Void Nexus Empire would not dare touch them recklessly.
From what some superiors told Altherion in the past, it was clear that the best course of action when facing these beasts was not to fight them.
"Those two at the front… What monster tier are they?"
Draevin spoke with a solemn tone. "The World-Type ship's radar and analysis say that they could be S- Tier. However, it's impossible that beasts of their Tier would appear here, so they must be strong A+ Tier ones."
Altherion was silent. As he thought, he heard Draevin shout. "Protect Moon-Type 7!"
Altherion looked and saw a few of the white-colored Arboreal Winged Serpents open their giant mouths, white beams streaking through the void right after and targeting Moon-Type 7.
The World-Type ship moved to intercept the attacks. Otherwise, Moon-Type 7 would've been destroyed.
"Lord, we lost 0.3 percent of our shields!"
Altherion was stunned. "How can that be? They are
Two hundred sounded like a lot, but with days to go until they left Liu Shu's domain, that number sounded nightmarishly low. Not to mention, that effect was done by just a small part of the entire army of Arboreal Winged Serpents.
Once more, Draevin smiled wryly. "Everything is odd, Star Lord. How were those Covenant envoys so strong? No one from our side could even hope to win a one-on-one with those of their same level. Usually, this tells us that their
Marisella finished his sentence. "That should be impossible. Even when we are not fully armed, since we are not under war orders, almost all our soldiers have two pieces of World-Grade equipment. Not to mention, a planet in this corner of the universe can't have more high-tiered people than our army, composed of various different origins all across the Nexus star-field."
Draevin nodded, and Altherion turned silent. After reclining into the metallic chair with comfortable cushions, Altherion sighed internally. Outwardly, he asked, his tone calm. "How many Moon-Types are left? How is Vaarn's World-Type doing?"
Draevin glanced at a few monitors and spoke. "After losing another 5 Moon-Types, we have 10 left. Lord Vaarn's World-Type is healthier than ours. Their shields are at 64%, eleven percent higher compared to our 53%."
Altherion nodded and suddenly saw a giant root manifest from nowhere. He ordered reflexively. "Evading maneuvers."
Draevin's face changed. "No! Tackle it!"
But the pilot in charge was not someone with much experience. After so many deaths, the one piloting the World-Type was a third-in-line pilot. So, he couldn't keep up with the quick change in commands.
The World-Type dodged the root relatively comfortably. Even when it was a 10-kilometer-long ship, in the void of space, it was very agile. However, right behind them, a Moon-Type that the World-Type was previously guarding ran out of luck.
After being bombarded by the
BOOM!
A muted explosion followed, Liu Shu's root denting badly while the Moon-Type collapsed. Then, a bright sun manifested, engulfing the Moon-Type. Altherion's face changed, and he showed regret. "Sorry, I ordered reflexively without knowing the overall situation."
Draevin smiled weakly. "Do not mind it, Star Lord. It was my fault for not warning you beforehand. Leave the ordering to me for now until you get an image of the entire field."
Altherion nodded and sighed.
In the meantime, he connected with Vaarn. A hologram of Vaarn appeared in front of him, the undead looking pissed off. "Altherion, be prepared. I do not want to start now since we still have years until we return. However, you'd better use these few decades to prepare mentally."
Altherion spoke with a solemn look. "Vaarn, now is not the time for us to go at each other's throats. We must report this so that the Nexus takes it seriously. You know that we can't let her grow!"
Vaarn laughed. "We can't let her grow? And what will we do? The Covenant already has their eyes on her! Otherwise, why would there be Sixth Energy Cycle people!? Altherion, admit it, you still haven't let go of your pitiful revenge, even after losing over half of the people and vessels we came with."
Altherion didn't speak; he knew that Vaarn's mind was currently closed. So, instead of focusing on fruitless conversation, he focused on something much more important. "Vaarn, we must protect the remaining Moon-Types. Use the World-Type's durability for that. The Arboreal Winged Serpents will eventually become tired."
"Ha! Of course, one of the best hunter species in the universe will become tired while following their prey. You do make a convincing argument, Altherion."
The sarcasm dripping from his tone was so jarring that even Altherion frowned. "Are you going to act like that? Be more mature, Vaarn."
"HA!" Vaarn laughed once before his face turned furious. "I've lost too many people, Altherion. Many of those had enough potential to outshine many geniuses. Yet, they are all dead now. The future of my army is crippled; the hard-earned achievements and confidence I tried so hard to win will be damaged. Altherion, unlike you, who rose in the core of the Nexus and always had a strong connection, I am basically an outlier."
Altherion wanted to speak, but Vaarn interrupted with a loud shout. "It's over, Altherion! How dare you tell me to calm myself!? You are lucky we are not in a secure place, or I would've ripped your head off for what you did! Do you really think that those with higher positions will be understanding!? You are delusional! What do they care about this fucking remote place!? They will use this to destroy you and me!"
Altherion's face was dark. Vaarn's words were not out of the ordinary. Losing Moon-Types was a shame, but most people didn't really treat it as a super-serious matter. 'If at least one of the World-Types or one
Altherion's face changed when he thought that. He looked around and noticed that all the attacks were directed at the Moon-Types. Even when some landed on the World-Types, that was because they actively got in the way of those they couldn't blast with the secondary cannons.
Liu Shu's root appeared, aiming for a Moon-Type, but Draevin ordered to get in the way. The giant World-Type ship collided, ripping the root into pieces and blasting through it.
'...Have they aimed for this result since the very beginning?'
Altherion couldn't think otherwise. A sense of heaviness enveloped his mind, forcing him to support his forehead. Seeing his face, Vaarn snorted. "Altherion, just pray to whatever you believe in during our journey back. Pray that those power-starved people get enlightened once in their miserable lives and listen to our stories."