Episode 187: Nemesis (7)
Both on Earth and on the continent occupied by Lucy, forces come together to deal with their respective enemies. In the process, Lucy herself also became a target for overthrow.
Lucy saw it as a desirable phenomenon. For Lucy, competition is everything. It was believed that competition was absolutely necessary to evolve to get ahead.
However, the nemesis that Lucy had to do everything in her power to defeat rarely appeared. I judged that it would take some time, but even that expectation was exceeded.
[Could it be that they abandoned their people?]
Lucy was so confused. After defeating the National Guard, they no longer had the means to stop Lucy’s forces.
By mobilizing more troops, they attacked several cities at the same time, preying on countless people, including Carthus employees and dark elves, and turning those lands into nests.
However, the deliberate rampage that led to the formation of the National Guard and its destruction, as well as the subsequent slow raids on cities that had lost their ability to defend, were all just a plan to draw out the true enemy behind them and prey on them.
Since the enemies are silent, there is no other hand to clap to make a sound.
“It’s a little hard to understand that it was thrown away. Did something go wrong in the middle? “They didn’t hear the request for support that I sent.”
[That’s not it. We have already confirmed that we have communicated properly. They already know that our forces attacked their employees.]
Changhyun, who received this report, wondered if the contact had been cut off midway, but Lucy had already secured testimony regarding that.
The ‘real enemy’ already knows of Lucy’s existence. What did you do? And yet it is so late.
* * *
“A lot of time has already passed. Requests for support keep coming from there! “Senator!”
“That’s right.”
Of course, I wasn’t late because I wanted to be late.
Rubran, the faction to which Carthus belongs. At this very moment, on one of the planets under their control, persuasion efforts are continuing to sway the members of the council that controls that enormous power.
“It’s not every day or two that an accident occurs in the development and exploration of an unknown planet, Dennis.”
“Of course that’s true, but didn’t you show me the data? This is not a simple friction or accident with the locals. “It means war.”
“I know it’s been very difficult due to the recent shareholding dispute, but we have to resolve this on our own. “How can the federal army move in that corner of the border?”
“I’m not doing this because of the shares, Senator!”
The middle-aged man who was sitting on a chair and dealing with a young man sighed and shook his head.
The young man called Dennis rolled his eyes when he heard that it was a dispute over shares. Obviously, the struggle between successors for the company’s shares has intensified recently, but in any case, this was a real crisis that had nothing to do with that.
“I will take action. In any case, damage has occurred to the company’s property and the lives of its employees, so it cannot be left idly by. “I will make sure there are no legal problems, so you will be able to gather weapons and mercenaries in the name of Carthus.”
“Ha, I understand. “Thank you.”
As if he were being generous, he told Dennis what he could do. This meant that he would not be allowed to send an army, but would instead be allowed to spend money to recruit and dispatch mercenaries.
Of course Dennis was angry, but it was the best thing he could do. Without making precise calculations, just thinking about it in my head, I realized that gathering mercenaries was cheaper than blowing up an entire colony.
Moreover, it wasn’t just money at stake. As he mentioned, this frontier project had a lot to do with the fight for shares.
“Please gather the mercenaries right now.”
Dennis, who left the office, made a communication that way and gave instructions to those waiting for him. If you add mercenaries gathered from all over in addition to the troops from the company that Carthus directly hired, the assortment could be sufficiently similar to that of an army.
* * *
“24 ships, two of which are large flagship-class ships. The remaining 22 ships have undergone various modifications, but they can all be called battleships.”
“That doesn’t matter. “You can win, right?”
“… … “What creature in the world can defeat a battleship?”
Dennis met the commander who would lead the improvised army.
Dennis showed photos and video footage of the Demon King’s army and asked if he could win, but as a retired soldier, he was confident of victory.
The limitations of living things are natural. No matter how strong or how hard a living organism made of organic matter is, it cannot overcome steel and gunpowder.
“You can be strong, right? “There are also superhumans who manipulate the ether with their own bodies.”
“But even those guardians can’t defeat the fleet on their own. “Then I’ll see you again with news of victory.”
Commander Edmund reassured his young employer not to worry and left. Dennis wasn’t the only one who was in a hurry; he also needed a major that would help him improve his performance.
“Sena, are the fleet preparations ready for sortie?”
[Yes, Commander. Everyone will gather within the promised time.]
“We will sortie immediately after the meeting.”
While he was walking, he communicated with someone through a communicator. The voice that answers his question is that of a young woman.
However, it was not a being somewhere else. Sena, a military AI he trusts that can exist anywhere through a connected network.
This was his adjutant who would be with him during this operation.
[We have analyzed all the data provided.]
“okay? How did it turn out? “What, a bunch of common space monsters?”
Sena, using the super computer on board the ship as her brain, analyzed all the data that Edmund had not seen in a split second.
It was none other than all the materials related to Lucy and the Demon King’s Army provided by Dennis.
[As a result of the analysis, the risk level is level 10. Details cannot be analyzed. They are literally unknown creatures.]
“hmm?”
And, as expected from artificial intelligence, it presented analysis results more cool-headedly and clearly than humans. When he heard the results, he stopped walking.
“What does that mean?”
[The calculation results are clear. Although we cannot guarantee accuracy due to the small amount of data, if we analyze their combat patterns, habits, and power, we cannot accurately determine their specifications.]
Sena assessed the Demon King’s Army as an immeasurably dangerous force. Since this had never been the case, even Edmund, who had accumulated countless experiences as a soldier, was speechless.
“Those black monsters are that great?”
He scratched his head. According to the data, the Demon King’s army was just a bunch of beasts.
A super giant species and a flying ship? In fact, he had experience fighting such giant monsters.
“I want to hear more details.”
He returned to his ship. After roughly receiving a salute from his subordinates, he hurried to the command room where Senna was, where Senna, a blue hologram, was waiting for him.
“The patterns they showed were not individual-level behaviors at all.”
Sena, who had the face of a beautiful woman matching her voice, moved her hands and raised a screen in the air.
The video that appears there is a video that analyzes the appearance of the Demon King’s army. Through the video cut by frame, Sena analyzed the Demon King’s behavior patterns at once and discovered a subtle unity in the process.
“I don’t know what it means to not be an individual action.”
“There is a possibility that there is at least a commanding entity and obeys it, or that it is a colony organism where each entity moves as one body.”
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“Hive creatures? “There are so many and huge ones?”
The results of the analysis were quite accurate. Edmund’s eyes widened at Senna’s report that the Demon Lord’s army was likely a colony of countless people.
Sena, an advanced AI, succeeded in analyzing the truth about the Demon Lord’s army, which no one had been able to reach until now, by watching only a few videos.
“Therefore, it is believed that tactics tailored to the enemy’s characteristics will be necessary. “If you fight them thinking they are just a bunch of monsters, there is a 95% chance that you will suffer unexpected damage.”
“Once I figured it out. “Please call a meeting.”
He was depressed and called a meeting in that state. The troops belonging to the company were loyal people who followed his orders, but it was necessary to place the mercenaries gathered by Dennis under his command and make them listen to his commands.
“Commander, everyone is gathered.”
Soon, several holographic faces appeared in front of him. These were the captains and commanders of each ship who would lead their respective ships and join them.
* * *
“I’m saying this just in case you don’t know, but I want you to know that the enemies we have to deal with aren’t just space monsters.”
“You mean it’s not just an enemy? What, are they like Pallas, a level 8 hazard? “Of all the people I’ve seen, none were as terrible as those parasites.”
Edmund, who had heard a somewhat shocking story about the identity of the Demon Lord’s army from Senna just before, carefully brought up the story. A man with a rough look smiled and opened his mouth. He was one of the leaders of the recruited mercenary group that joined his ship.
“It is not easy to judge accurately due to lack of data, but nevertheless, the measured grade is an estimated grade of 10.”
“… … yes?”
When he saw that, he clicked his tongue and told me about the results of Sena’s analysis. No matter how excellent the artificial intelligence was, it was impossible to deny it because it couldn’t match Sena, which was the latest model built for military use and used an entire warship as its own brain.
“B-but Commander. It’s level 10. “In the case of Pallas, which is level 8, we succeeded in suppressing it only after federal forces were mobilized and incinerated half the planet and several stations.”
“It’s just an estimate, so we should at least confirm the reality. Our purpose is to protect the facilities of the settlement and protect human life, including local residents.”
The captains were perplexed and asked if this was correct. The question was whether it was possible to recruit mercenaries to the security force hired by the company and fight back with an improvised army.
He insisted to those who were so anxious that Sena’s analysis was not accurate and that they should go and check for more data and results.
“The longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes for the people there. “Let’s get there as quickly as possible.”
He launched his entire fleet. As they begin to traverse outer space, they head to Raviz, the planet of the Dark Elves, a planet occupied by the Demon King’s army.
They had no idea that they were the ‘real’ enemies that Lucy had been waiting for so long.