Chapter 306: ch The confusion of elves

“Heh, forget about leaving”? Are you going to capture me?! Are you… are you sent by THEM?!

She paused for a moment, her mind racing. No, that can’t be right. Her expression wasn’t like that of someone hiding a secret. Besides, humans aren’t part of those “dogs” after all—how could such a weak species ever be part of them?

But just then, the holographic figure of that woman suddenly vanished as the communication was cut from her side. Vivian’s eyes widened as she stared at the now-empty space where the hologram had been. Unconsciously, she stammered, “Go—gone? What the—?!”

She was perplexed, stunned, and completely speechless. “Dammit! How can she excuse me like that when the conversation hasn’t even finished?! Now what should I do? What do I do?!” Vivian cried out, acting like a woman driven mad, looking as if she wanted to tear at her hair in pure frustration.

Celeste, who was standing behind her, had remained silent while Vivian spoke with the opposing party—those who referred to themselves as the “Void Fleet.” Throughout the conversation, Celeste had been listening intently and calculating everything. She had even begun sifting through massive amounts of data, desperately trying to find anything about this human faction that had suddenly appeared out of thin air—or rather, out of the very fabric of space in this quadrant.

From the look of the information she had collected, it appeared they were currently witnessing a full-scale invasion of the Minotaur race. What their motivation or ultimate purpose was, she had no idea, but she was certain of a few things from the moment the alarms had blared in the space station.

Based on the timing of their arrival and the relentless, desperate counter-attacks the Minotaurs were currently throwing at the enemy ships, she realized this wasn’t an isolated skirmish. From the data she had gathered, she knew this enemy had already struck other Minotaur planets and had even decimated their space stations. Though she didn’t know the full extent of the damage, the scale was clearly massive.

A few things were undeniable: the Minotaurs were in a state of total panic. It was plain for all to see, indicating that something catastrophic had already occurred. If that weren’t the case, how could information like this leak so quickly to everyone on the space station and the planet below? It was causing a level of chaos that offered no benefit to the Minotaurs themselves.

After all, in the grand scheme of things, the Minotaurs usually would have taken other species hostage to use as bargaining chips. No power, no matter how great, would typically choose to offend so many different races just to satisfy their desire to attack the Minotaurs.

Another point of concern was that the defensive fleet, which was supposed to be guarding this star system, was nowhere to be found. How could they have failed to detect the presence of an attack this large? If information could travel from Planet B-01 to this location, it surely should have reached them as well. Unless… but that shouldn’t be possible, right?

Yet, the sheer panic of the Minotaurs hinted that something catastrophic had indeed happened to their defensive fleet as well.

There was another problem: even if that fleet were being held back by these human forces, the Minotaurs should still have had a free hand to provide support to their homeworld. But that wasn’t happening. Furthermore, even if they were locked in a desperate battle with the human faction and couldn’t break away, they should have at least alerted their homeworld to prepare for the worst.

Instead, looking at how panicked they were, how they were fruitlessly throwing everything they had at this small human fleet, and the complete chaos unfolding on the space station… it painted a terrifying picture.

This clearly indicated that they had no idea about the invasion whatsoever; they only realized what was happening when their other homeworld space station was likely destroyed by this same force!

If that was correct, it meant that these human forces were incredibly capable, possessing power at least a notch above the Minotaur forces. Celeste could prove this with a few key points: first, they were able to maintain a complete blackout of information—something not impossible, but certainly not easy to achieve across an entire star system. Second, there was the way they casually brushed off the maddening, continuous attacks launched by the Minotaurs.

And then, there were the eyes of that leading woman…

As Celeste looked toward Vivian, she thought, She clearly saw something. That woman is aware of the uniqueness that Vivian possesses! But how could that be possible? How could she sense it from a single look—not even face-to-face, but through a screen across the vacuum of space? Above all, Athena clearly knew nothing about them, just as Celeste knew nothing about her. There had been no prior meetings between this human faction and the Yggdrasil Guild.

I’m clearly not mistaken about the eyes of that human woman; they were lit up with genuine interest.

The way she spoke made it even clearer: she has no intention of letting us go. Once she takes care of the Minotaurs here—and from her confident expression, it’s likely they won’t survive for long—she will definitely turn her focus toward us. I am almost certain of it!

I’m just not sure if this situation is better or worse. Simply running away from the agents of the Great Elven Clan has already exhausted us. Now, we are faced with another force that is neither friend nor foe yet, but they are somehow interested in Vivian’s uniqueness!

Celeste couldn’t help but feel bitter. It felt as if they had just jumped out of one cage only to land in another. The only difference was that she had no idea if this new cage was full of venom like the last one.

Perhaps I could take advantage of the chaos and try to leave? she wondered. We could make a run for it and hope those humans don’t decide to fire on us!

Celeste quickly shook her head, crushing the idea of escape as soon as it had formed. It was a reckless thought, and she felt a cold shiver down her spine—acting on it would likely be disastrous.

She berated herself internally. How could you take such a gamble based on a simple look of interest from that human woman? Do you really think she would let us escape just because she’s curious about Vivian? That she wouldn’t fire on us because she doesn’t want to risk killing her?

It was a flawed thought process. What did “interest” really matter to a commander waging a war of annihilation? Celeste had no way of knowing the depth of Athena’s curiosity. For all she knew, that interest wouldn’t stop Athena from disabling their ship—or destroying it entirely—just to prove a point or eliminate a variable.

So, what should I do? I can’t escape, but I have no idea what will happen if I stay!

Finally, she let out a long, weary sigh. No matter what, these humans can’t be worse than the Great Elven Clan. Those people only want Vivian for their own benefit; they don’t care if she lives or dies as long as they get what they want. She looked at the back of Vivian’s head and tightened her grip on her console. Looks like for now, I can only go with the flow. There is nothing else to be done… we are at the mercy of the Void Fleet.

Back with the fleet of forty ships, every weapon system was locked onto its target, primed and ready to be unleashed. Athena had already granted the captains the authority to fire upon their assigned targets at will while she prepared to speak with the Grand Admiral.

Then, they opened fire.

The first to launch their assault were the Phantom-class Frigates, followed by the Titan-class Destroyers. Next, the two Barracuda-class Battlecruisers unleashed their payload, and finally, the Antares-class Battleships joined the chorus of destruction.

The primary objective for the first round of the attack was simple: neutralize every weapon system that had been relentlessly firing upon them.

Grace, overseeing the tactical coordination, spoke with a voice like cold iron. “FIRE!”

Her order echoed through every ship. Despite still being under fire from the Minotaur defenses, the Void Fleet didn’t flinch. Hundreds of laser arrays and railguns ignited simultaneously. The projectiles and beams connected in a matter of seconds, giving the enemy no time to react.

The strikes landed with surgical precision on the orbital weapon platforms—massive structures the size of frigates, roughly 100 meters in length and 40 meters wide. These platforms looked like gigantic, futuristic rifles floating in the void. Green laser beams pierced through the barrels of these massive guns, melting the outer protective layers in an instant. The beams then drove deep into the main bodies of the weapons, causing them to erupt into violent, spectacular balls of flame.

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