Chapter 33: The Line Must Hold

“What is your condition?” Once Victoria was done treating Michael’s injury, she asked the others.

“Hmph! I am perfectly fine!” Ava pouted, jealous that she wasn’t the one to treat Michael’s wound instead.

“These old bones have carried me for so long. What is one more battle before them?” Bryce said joyfully, ruffling his overgrown beard.

“Never been better!” Leo proclaimed from the driver’s seat.

Victoria nodded. “This is good. From the looks of it, the invasion isn’t going to be easy to push back.”

Her blue eyes focused on the army of aliens that was slowly following their tail.

Wanting to make sure that the other bases were okay, she made several calls.

Meanwhile, Michael opened the vehicle hatch, gripping a sniper in his hands. He used the scope to see further.

Just as planned, the aliens that were following them didn’t know that Leo had been driving around a minefield. Once an alien stepped on a mine, a chain explosion occurred.

BOOM!

’This should have killed a few hundred at least.’ Michael sighed before proceeding to pick off the weaker-looking aliens.

He had wanted to do more, but being of the Early Adept realm and a faction that still didn’t have much influence, he couldn’t go to the leaders of top factions or the Emperor and request assistance. Even if he were to claim that he had gone back in time when he witnessed Earth being destroyed and humanity being exterminated, no one would believe him. At most they would lock him up in an asylum, wondering what was wrong with him.

’The biggest obstacles are the spaceships.’ He thought, glancing at only one he could see with his eyes. Despite not being the main one, its length was still over 50 kilometers, dropping thousands of alien pods every second.

Of course the spaceship was under the assault of several human spaceships, albeit they were smaller. They were supported by several mechas as well as the artillery that was on the ground.

’It’s just a matter of time until it fails.’ He guessed. ’Our priority should be to stop the aliens that came out of the pods before they can deal any irreversible damage.’

Once the sniper ran out of bullets, he entered the vehicle again. Without an energy weapon, he could not fire endlessly as he wished to.

Seeing that Victoria was done with her calls, he pressed her for answers.

“All bases are still operational.” She said, seemingly relieved.

“For now they have managed to keep the aliens at bay, though they have yet to engage with the stronger Elite monsters. As for their spaceships, ten have been verified, with one much larger than the others. It’s believed that it serves as their command center.”

Michael frowned. This number was two times bigger than in his prior life. Not to mention that they hadn’t come with a command spaceship initially.

“What do we know about the so-called command spaceship?” He asked, anticipating the worst.

Victoria shook her head. “Not much. Its width is over 400 kilometers, and it houses formidable defenses that we have yet to penetrate.”

For a moment she bit her lower lip in frustration before adding.

“And the only pods it has released until now are all Elite ones… Thousands in number. The top factions have banded together to keep them in line, and it’s working… For now.”

Michael’s frown only deepened. They were barely able to deal with one Elite, and it would be a nightmare to get rid of the dozens on their tail. He couldn’t imagine a realistic scenario where he slaughters thousands of them.

’Not to mention, to have such a large concentration of them in one spaceship, there must be something even stronger keeping them all together.’ Michael thought bitterly, realizing now why the system had categorized the mission as impossible.

For a second he wondered if all he had done until now had been for naught. But he disregarded the idea a moment later. Even if the enemies were stronger, so were the human forces. Originally Triton was supposed to fall. There wasn’t a much worse outcome than that.

“We are approaching the outer line!” Leo called out, interrupting the heavy mood that had begun to settle.

“Lady Victoria!” The collective personnel saluted when they saw her exit from the vehicle. She had fixed her appearance after the battle with the Elite monster. So the moment her subordinates saw her looking graceful as ever despite coming from a dire battle, they felt their hearts calm down and their spirits burn brighter.

“How are our ammunitions?” Once Victoria reached the stationed captains, she began questioning them to grasp their situation better.

“We have used up about 10% of our reserves. Thanks to the Heavenly Pact contribution, we will be able to last for quite a while.” Amelia, one of the captains, reported.

Once they realized that the aliens would be assaulting from one side only, they focused their main power there.

“Good, we are about to face an army of Higher tier aliens with dozens of Elites in their ranks. The common troops are to focus on the Higher aliens, keeping them busy. The captains will be divided into teams, each tasked with slaying the Elites.”

The gathered captains frowned. Even when working in teams, they knew they would struggle against an Elite. Not to mention, even if the common troops kept the Higher tier enemies at bay, some would inevitably escape their grasp and interfere.

However, no one there complained. All of them had faith in their strength and were ready to risk their lives for humanity’s sake.

“Please let me join your team, Lady Victoria.” Enzo called out. Despite his hot temper, he still wanted to leave a good impression. With Victoria being a member of the strongest faction, he was bound to benefit.

Victoria shook her head without hesitation. “Since I am the only Master, I will be the main weapon against the Elite tier aliens. For someone to follow me, I need to have faith in their strength and loyalty. If they can’t protect themselves and listen to my orders, they will only slow me down.”

Ignoring Enzo, who clicked his tongue in displeasure, Victoria turned to Amelia.

“I am willing. It would be an honor to fight side by side with you, Lady Victoria.” She nodded instantly, guessing her leader’s intention.

“What do you say, little junior?” Seeing Amelia agree, Victoria turned to Ava.

“It’s good that you recognize the best when you see them!” She said, puffing her chest in pride.

“But I will only agree if—”

“If Michael also comes, right?” Victoria interrupted with a smile, sensing Ava’s next words.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take him.”

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