Chapter 251: Beloved Disciple

I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! The latest book version, Volume 11, will be released on July 25th.

This volume contains an original story exclusive to the book version, not published on Shousetsuka ni Narou, so please take this opportunity to check out the book.

A single flash fired towards the Imperial fleet wipes out the surrounding enemies.

Dozens of warships were destroyed.

In terms of mobile knights, it’s likely over a hundred units were destroyed, but the enemy was gradually getting a grasp of my range.

“They’re keeping their distance from Avid, huh?”

When I get close, the warships hastily pull back, and the mobile knights turn and flee as if to scatter.

But they aren’t fleeing in a disorderly fashion.

The enemy was skillfully maneuvering to avoid colliding with their allies.

Their thinking must be that if they can’t stop Avid, they should just keep their distance and sink the Argos… my mothership.

As I checked the simple 3D display in Avid’s cockpit, I saw their fleet management was superb.

“They split their main force in two? To think they’d commit a hundred thousand ships just to surround us. Are they cowards, or just decisive…?”

The enemy commander had split their main force in two to ensure they wouldn’t be interfered with by the Banfield family’s main fleet.

This ruins my plan.

“I guess I have no choice but to break through this encirclement… I think they’ll crumble if I can just take out their commander.”

It would be easy to spot if they had a flashy-looking super-dreadnought, but it seems the command ship leading this hundred-thousand-ship encirclement is nowhere to be found.

“They’re not getting close to Avid, are they?”

They must be commanding while on the run.

It seems they’re wary of tactics aimed at hunting the commander.

“Whoa!?”

The enemy ships began their bombardment, keeping their distance from Avid.

The mobile knights had also switched to sniper weapons and were targeting Avid.

Avid’s defensive field continuously blocked the attacks from the optical weapons, glowing with each impact.

“I guess I’ll have to force my way through.”

If I take too long, I’ll start to worry about the mothership.

Just as I was about to forcibly close the distance with Avid, a communication channel opened.

“Master, I’ve come to help—”

“Lord Liam, this is Knight Number 4! Emma Rodman! I’ve come to assist!”

Emma opened her own communication channel, cutting in before Ellen could finish.

Ellen’s expression hardened slightly.

Looking around, I saw a detached force led by the two of them had broken away from the main fleet and was attacking the Imperial army.

Even in this situation, the Imperial forces were calmly reforming their lines, the very picture of composure.

Still, the situation was beginning to turn in our favor.

“You both did well. Your judgment was not mistaken.”

Ellen, determined not to be outdone this time, made her proposal to me.

“Thank you for your kind words. However, while we have inflicted damage on the Imperial army, their command structure remains intact. I will now proceed to destroy the enemy command ship.”

Hearing Ellen’s words, Emma looked like she wanted to say something.

“I was about to suggest that too…”

I’m not too familiar with their relationship, but it seems Ellen harbors a sense of rivalry towards Emma.

Or is it both of them?

I let out a small sigh at their exchange, but I was also a little happy that Ellen had someone to compete with.

However, it seems that won’t be necessary.

“I’m glad you’re both so competent. …But it looks like Klaus beat you to it.”

“By Lord Klaus?”

While Ellen was still surprised, the enemy fleet’s coordination began to fall apart.

The enemy fleet, which had been responding so calmly just moments ago, was starting to crumble.

A communication came in from the Argos. It was Klaus.

“Lord Liam, Chengshi and her unit have destroyed the battleship carrying the enemy fleet commander.”

“I knew you’d pull it off, Klaus!”

“No, the credit goes to Chengshi. She accomplished this great task despite losing many of her subordinates. Chengshi is the one who deserves praise.”

Klaus was as calm as ever, which was almost a relief.

“…I’ll thank her myself. If any of the fallen had families, I’ll see they are rewarded.”

“Thank you.”

That said, the troops Chengshi led were what you might call heretics among knights.

They were the type of people who could only live through battle, and few of them had families.

Thanks to Klaus, who had already made his move, the enemy fleet was beginning to fall apart.

It seems command is being transferred to the second-in-command, but an opening has been created nonetheless.

Hearing this, Ellen wore a frustrated expression, but she immediately issued orders to the fleet under her command.

“We’ll strike before the enemy fleet can recover! All ships, do not let up on the attack!”

As Ellen’s fleet descended upon the enemy, the fleet led by Emma made a different move.

Emma said.

“Send escorts to the flagship Argos! Just tell them to follow the orders of the Knight Commander—His Excellency Klaus. We’ll move to support the allied fleet!”

I thought they would both attack the enemy fleet together, but they assessed the situation and made their own decisions.

Even Klaus showed a faint smile at this.

“…You’ve become quite respectable. I thank you.”

When the faces of the three disappeared from the monitor, I let out a deep breath.

And as the enemy ships were destroyed one after another, I spoke to the enemy’s supreme commander in the distance.

“Now then, what will you do, now that you’ve been outflanked? One wrong move and you’ll be caught in a pincer attack.”

What kind of move will they make next? I’m starting to look forward to it.

◇

Ellen, launching a fierce assault on the enemy fleet, was commanding from the bridge of her super-dreadnought-class battleship.

Ellen didn’t have a strong attachment to any particular battleship, switching ships according to the scale of the battle.

For up to about twenty thousand ships, she’d use a battleship; for anything more, a super-dreadnought.

Because of this, the bridge didn’t reflect any of Ellen’s personal tastes.

A commander leading a fleet of this size would normally customize everything from the bridge to the ship’s exterior and interior, but she didn’t.

The only personal touch was a holder for her katana on her dedicated command seat.

Even on such a bridge, Ellen’s own characteristics were apparent.

Excluding the bridge crew, the knights and soldiers who supported Ellen at her side… the ones she took with her when changing ships, were all women.

This was, in a way, an appeal to Liam.

It was the result of her trying to convey that she kept no men close to her.

Naturally, Ellen’s adjutant was also a female knight.

She was a person selected by Ellen not for her skill in close-quarters combat or piloting a mobile knight, but for her talent in fleet command and administrative work.

“Lady Ellen, this is a great achievement. It will be a feat of arms worthy of your title as Knight Number 3.”

Klaus, Tia, Marie.

Compared to the knights who had long supported Liam, Ellen lacked experience.

The military had been concerned about this, but when it came to a knight who was Liam’s own beloved disciple, they had no choice but to accept her, albeit skeptically.

Ellen was aware of this and knew she had no choice but to prove her abilities in actual combat.

However.

“Number 4 made the same move instantly. Not only that, she assessed the situation and even provided follow-up support.”

Seeing Ellen dissatisfied with her performance, the female adjutant looked a little troubled.

“You’re asking for too much. If you hadn’t attacked the enemy, Lady Ellen, Number 4 would have done it instead. This time, your judgment was simply faster.”

“…I hope that’s the case.”

The reason Ellen was so concerned about Emma was that Emma was a knight raised within the Banfield household.

Ellen was also from the Banfield family’s home planet, but what made her decisively different from Emma was the path to her promotion.

If Ellen was the elite of the elite, raised by Liam himself, then Emma was a self-made knight who had steadily risen through the ranks from a common soldier.

The military, which had shown reluctance towards Ellen, had readily accepted Emma.

It was only natural for her to feel competitive.

The adjutant said.

“Lady Ellen, you worry too much about Number 4. You are a knight acknowledged by Lord Liam.”

“That’s not it. What Master acknowledged was me as a swordswoman. As a knight, I haven’t been acknowledged yet. That’s why I must achieve a feat that Master—Lord Liam—will recognize. I can’t let my guard down until he says that choosing me as Number 3 was the right decision.”

Ellen was straightforwardly trying to live up to Liam’s expectations.

She believed that was how she could repay Liam for raising her.

“We will annihilate the enemy fleet as is. Then, we will reform our lines behind the enemy’s main force and prepare for a pincer attack with our own main fleet.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The adjutant replied with a deadpan expression and began issuing orders to carry out Ellen’s command.

◇

Meanwhile, Cornelius, who had been outflanked by the Banfield army, turned around on the bridge of his flagship.

There were no monitors or anything there, but he felt as if someone had provoked him.

“…It seems some brat not even two hundred years old is getting cocky.”

Cornelius’s strange words didn’t seem to surprise those around him, as if they were used to it.

The knight serving as his adjutant asked Cornelius.

“We have already engaged the enemy fleet before us in a fleet battle. We have no forces to spare for the allies at our rear. What are your orders?”

Despite the critical situation, neither the adjutant nor anyone else showed any signs of panic.

Cornelius pondered for a few seconds before speaking.

“The enemy fleet is truly formidable.”

“Yes. They are not an opponent we can take lightly. I must say, awakening us was a wise decision. They are without a doubt the strongest fleet of this era.”

When his adjutant praised the enemy, Cornelius grinned.

“…I’ve reached my limit. Prepare my machine. I’m leaving command of the fleet to you.”

“Yes, as you wish, Your Excellency Cornelius.”

Even though Cornelius himself said he was sortieing, no one tried to stop him.

Coincidentally, Cornelius was the same type of knight as Liam.

Despite being outflanked, Cornelius kept a smile on his face.

“Liam Sera Banfield… and Klaus Sera Mont… It seems they are both worthy opponents for me.”

Cornelius stood from his seat and started walking towards the hangar.

“…Fighting the strongest of the current Empire isn’t so bad. No, in fact, they excite me more than any of the others who have claimed to be the strongest.”

Cornelius had been awakened from cold sleep several times.

It was to fight the strongest knights of those eras.

However, no one had been able to satisfy Cornelius.

When Cornelius reached the hangar, he looked up at his machine.

The Imperial Arsenal had poured a lavish budget into completing a machine to his liking.

It was a large mobile knight, classified as a 24-meter class, with wings folded on its back that looked like a row of greatswords.

“Liam’s favorite machine is Avid… was it? He has good taste in mobile knights. I feel more of a kinship with him than with those who skillfully pilot smaller units.”

Cornelius kicked off the ground and jumped into the cockpit, where a cockpit similar to Avid’s was waiting.

The machine Cornelius piloted was built with a design philosophy similar to Avid’s.

In the first place, the mobile knight that Cornelius had piloted before being put into cold sleep was the very machine that led to the later development of Avid.

In other words, Cornelius had piloted Avid’s ancestor.

After that, various mobile knights were developed from Cornelius’s machine.

But in the modern era, the mainstays are the 18-meter and 15-meter classes.

One after another, the lineages died out, and the last one remaining was Avid.

In a sense, both Liam and Cornelius were knights who handled similar machines.

“To make me feel a sense of destiny… what a hateful thing to do. I, Cornelius, shall crush you myself!”

In an instant, Cornelius’s knight uniform transformed into a pilot suit, and he gripped the control stick of his new machine, the [Shining].

The machine’s twin eyes emitted a red glow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep