Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 297
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 297
62. Crossing the Line (7)
The alliance's departure took place on Earth.
The reason was that while Rondel's forces could easily come to Earth on their own, the reverse was difficult.
The departure ceremony was held amid a solemn atmosphere at the Gulf of Mexico.
Surrounded by America, Mexico, and Cuba, it could be called a massive natural harbor.
Within that vast gulf, Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and Rondel's support craft filled the space so densely that even America's large aircraft carriers looked like tiny toys.
Additionally, some of the Heaven-Piercing Fortresses had flight decks installed, and on those decks, Earth's fighter jets were lined up in neat rows.
A Heaven-Piercing Fortress with a flight deck installed was essentially an aircraft carrier traversing the sky and space.
The departure forces were as follows.
-3,250 Heaven-Piercing Fortresses
-182,000 Vanguards
-4,000 fighter jets
-5,500 combat support craft (Rondel)
Instances of over 1,000 Heaven-Piercing Fortresses gathering in one place could be counted on one hand, so with 3,250 gathered together, there was no way to describe it other than as a magnificent sight.
The wave of colossal metal weapons was awe-inspiring to the point of inducing shudders.
-Whoooosh!
-Oooooooh!
And when all forces simultaneously soared into the sky at my departure order, the people gathered on the coast praying for the alliance's victory let out exclamations of admiration without realizing it.
A scene like this would probably never be seen again.
It was a sight that would adorn a page of history.
[Chairman Lawrence nominated as Supreme Commander of the World Unified Forces.]
[Chairman Lawrence of the World Peace Organization is a very famous military commander before being a Mage. He is also a hero who once overturned a threefold power difference solely through his command ability, elevating his homeland to the ranks of the Empire.]
[Supreme Commander Lawrence: What matters in this war is speed. If the war drags on, Rondel and Earth will suffer great damage, so we must swiftly sweep the enemy in outer space.]
[The first war fought in space. Real-time broadcast will be conducted via Rondel's drones.]
The Supreme Commander of the alliance is none other than me.
Regarding this, Earth's media published quite negative articles because of my young age.
Asking whether personal combat power and military command ability shouldn't be viewed separately.
However, in Rondel, my achievements that could quell such arguments were widely known, and now I am in a state of receiving everyone's expectations as a commander with abundant combat experience.
-Wow, the scale of this army is insane
-My heart is swelling with grandeur
-Compared to Rondel's army, aren't Earth's fighter jets too shabby?
-Earth's forces don't have fighter jets as the main thing, it's nuclear warheads with Teleport Magic cast on them
-Whoa, they actually made that?
-There's no oxygen in space, how do the fighter jets plan to fly?
-I heard they cast air generation and injection magic to enable propulsion and directional turning. Missiles reportedly had the same measures applied up to the warhead.
-I heard they also added air generation and pressure/temperature control functions to the cockpit. So it's apparently very comfortable
-Magic is truly convenient
-Adrian, brother! Please win! If you do, I'll serve you as my brother for life!
I watched both the people waving their hands toward the expeditionary force and the online reactions, wearing a satisfied expression.
The atmosphere had fully ripened.
It was the situation I had wanted.
It meant there was no more need to delay, so I commanded the army bearing the hopes of two worlds.
"Assume formation."
My order was quickly relayed to each vessel.
-Go go go go.
As the Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and support craft clustered so tightly they seemed to touch, I erased all expression from my face and spoke as if declaring.
"Commencing teleportation."
"Executing teleportation!"
"Teleportation commencing!"
Everyone on the command bridge repeated my words back.
At that, I drew up my energy to the fullest.
-Go go go go go!
Then Mana spread rapidly, and its range became enough to envelop the entire expeditionary force.
Subsequently, when I clenched my fist, along with a pure white light, the massive force with enormous mass teleported in one instant.
-Fwoooosh!
"All forces teleportation successful!"
"It appears there are no stragglers, sir."
In an instant, the scenery before my eyes changed.
From the blue Gulf of Mexico to the pitch-black expanse of outer space.
If we had led our forces and flown after the Heavenly Tribe and demon race appeared, it would have been too late.
So we had been waiting while organizing our forces until they appeared.
And when the time came, we teleported to the target area in one instant.
It was a deployment carried out immediately after the appearance of the Heavenly Tribe and demon race.
"We have spotted the Heavenly Tribe and demon race!"
"We have spotted equipment and facilities that appear to be the enemy's military weapons!"
Upon reaching outer space, fighter jets launched all at once from the modified Heaven-Piercing Fortress, and the Vanguards riding Hoverboards quickly scattered.
The Heaven-Piercing Fortress, the Vanguards, and Earth's fighter jets and support weapons were all modified by every Mage Tower of Rondel to suit the space environment.
Even the fighter jets greatly improved their evasion capabilities with blink magic, and extended their operational time by enlarging their fuel tanks with spatial expansion magic.
Having been enhanced with magic, they should be more than a match against ordinary Heavenly Tribe and demon race members.
Our destination, advancing together with the scattered forces, was a blue ring.
It was the Warp Gate that Aea had created and the Heavenly Demon race had drilled open.
"As expected, it seems they didn't charge in without any countermeasures either, did they?"
In front of the Warp Gate, the Heavenly Tribe and demon race had established a stronghold, and it was clearly an artificial planet that seemed to possess high defensive power and special attack capabilities.
Its size was enough to make the Heaven-Piercing Fortress look like a pebble.
It was not called an artificial planet for nothing.
The two races proved that they possessed not only individual martial power but also high-level technology.
That was why the artificial planets could not help but look threatening.
However, I responded calmly.
"Then let's just give them a light greeting."
"If you call it a greeting."
"Send 100 nuclear warheads to the artificial planet."
"Gulp...."
A greeting that was by no means light in anyone's eyes.
What would happen if 100 nuclear warheads, made impossible to intercept with the addition of Teleport Magic, all detonated at once?
I was quite curious about that.
"It seems they've noticed our appearance."
"It doesn't matter."
The staff officers swallowed dryly, and soon my plan was set into motion.
The nuclear missiles mounted on the Heaven-Piercing Fortress activated all at once and leaped through space.
And they exploded right in front of the artificial planet simultaneously.
-Kukung kukung kung!
A light as if a second sun was rising swallowed the camp of the Heavenly Tribe and demon race.
The artifacts mounted on the missiles generated a massive amount of air that covered the area, and then a nuclear reaction occurred and swept the surroundings.
The effect created by 100 nuclear missiles detonating all at once easily surpassed a dragon's breath.
As expected, nuclear missiles are efficient weapons.
Moreover, in outer space there's no need to worry about radiation, making them perfect in every way.
However, the enemy was not to be underestimated.
"Huh? The enemy's artificial planet is still intact."
I know.
I had already realized the moment they exploded that they wouldn't be able to deal a blow.
However, the only thing unharmed is the artificial planet itself.
Around the artificial planet, various facilities, support ships, and numerous Heavenly Demon race members were visible, but all of them had been vaporized.
In other words, it meant the damage was not zero.
Wouldn't this be enough for a greeting?
"The enemy's artificial planets are advancing!"
They showed movement as if expressing their rage.
But then, behind the artificial planet, new artificial planets appeared, and yet another artificial planet appeared.
The number of artificial planets, multiplied like a cloning technique, was 10.
They had merely appeared as one because they were lined up in a single row.
I had known from the start that there were 10, but the others had not, so every one of them swallowed dryly and tensed up.
These were weapons that had withstood the explosion of 100 nuclear warheads.
It was only natural to be tense.
I don't know for certain, but those artificial planets clearly seemed to be the Heavenly Tribe and demon race's trump card.
'They're not fools either, so they must have prepared thoroughly in their own way.'
Who would be satisfied with the fate of being a chess piece?
It was clear they had steeled themselves firmly.
"All forces, prepare for battle."
I gave the command while looking at the enemies, and soon heralded the start of all-out war.
* * *
Even before the war had begun, Aea and the Heavenly Tribe and demon race had to feel as though they were already half defeated.
The reason was that Adrian, despite knowing their plan, had released them in order to use them as chess pieces for the unity of Rondel and Earth.
It was an expression of confidence that no matter what they did, he could suppress them.
It was utterly humiliating and a situation that aroused rage.
So they prepared various plans to twist Adrian's thinking, even if only slightly.
First, the main battlefield would likely be the outer space where the Warp Gate was installed.
Therefore, they planned to create a separate special forces unit to wipe out the national leadership of Earth and Rondel.
They judged that if their homeland was placed in danger, Adrian would not be able to focus on the frontal battle.
And the second plan was to capture Adrian's family.
This was a cowardly act far too undignified for the highest-ranking races, the Heavenly Tribe and the demon race, to carry out but what wouldn't one do to survive?
Now was not the time to quibble over means and methods.
The third and final plan was to expose Adrian's true nature and intentions.
It was to dilute his purpose.
If doubt about Adrian took root in the minds of Earth's people, that alone would be success.
The fusion of the two worlds would be derailed.
"Then let's proceed right away. Terrorism team, kidnapping team, move out."
[Don't.]
[Understood.]
There was no need to dress up their actions with fine rhetoric to justify them.
So the Heavenly Tribe and demon race teams participating in the plan were bluntly named the terrorism team and the kidnapping team.
The terrorism team included three Heavenly Kings and dragon-class highest-ranking Heavenly Tribe members, and the kidnapping team was likewise composed of demon race members of similar combat strength.
Unless Adrian and Arcia intervened directly, it was a force difficult to suppress.
Therefore, they had no doubt the plan would succeed.
And as soon as the two teams moved, Aea personally manipulated the computer and began exposing Adrian's plan online.
They posted prepared materials indiscriminately on SNS, video platforms, and blogs, and the information was sent to each media outlet.
However...
"Huh?"
Aea soon noticed something was off.
[Transmission complete]
[No sent mail exists.]
[Transmission complete]
[No sent mail exists.]
They emailed the prepared materials to each news outlet, and no sooner were they sent than the emails were deleted.
Even the posts and videos uploaded to SNS and video platforms, and the blogs, had their accounts deleted.
Not only that.
[SGHHERH$@#$^GHRA$h]
Aea's computer began to malfunction.
As if infected with ransomware, the desktop icons and screen warped bizarrely.
But he was a being capable of acquiring and utilizing technology in a short time.
He swiftly responded to the external hack.
-Boom!
However, before he could do anything, the computer broke down with a 'bang' and the screen went black.
"Heh heh."
Aea let out a hollow laugh.
There was no room for doubt.
He didn't know how it was done, but this was clearly Adrian's countermeasure.
"It's a PC and IP that have never been exposed, so how did he find it right away?"
"No way did he really read through the materials, confirm their contents, and delete them in that short a time?"
"That's absurd! Do you have any idea how much people use the internet right now?!"
Aea was flustered, muttering questions and answers to himself.
For him, who could not possibly know of Sicily, the artificial intelligence evolved to match Earth's online environment, this situation could only be shocking.
"I'd heard Adrian was connecting Rondel and Earth's online environments, but to think he'd even prepared measures like this...."
They had used Earth's internet as the stage for the exposure precisely because they judged Adrian's swift response would be difficult.
Yet it had all turned out to be useless.
In the end, it meant they were in the palm of Adrian's hand.
"Ah...."
The third plan, the exposure, had been blocked all too easily.
Then a cold sweat ran down his spine, and an uneasy suspicion rose in his mind.
"No way does that mean he anticipated and prepared countermeasures for the first and second plans as well...."
He hurriedly tried to contact the terrorism team and kidnapping team.
-...
But neither team answered his call.
Things were going wrong from the very start.