Chapter 53

Burning ruins

Those are the two words Himeko would use to describe what she saw

After experiencing the torrent of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes the fleet did not have a single area that could be called intact

But compared with other destroyed towns, there is one decisive difference.

Himeko's pupils reflected the fleet engulfed in flames, and said softly

"...That's your fleet?"

"Yeah." The man in the suit nodded sullenly.

Himeko took a deep breath, turned her eyes to the side profile of Olga, and asked with suppressed disbelief

"Since your fleet has been destroyed, what are we facing now?"

"..."

"Seeing this situation, do you think there are other possibilities?"

The man in the suit smiled wryly.

"You should also know that the warships belonging to Fire all use the most advanced construction technology in the world today. Even if they suffer from an earthquake of this magnitude their performance will not be hindered."

"So, the moment we realized that the earthquake and Honkai outbreak were occurring, the members of my team rushed to the warship immediately."

As he spoke, a bitter voice could be heard, filled with a trace of uncontrollable fear and hatred.

"But at the moment when my people sat in the cockpit—it was exactly the same time as when your fifth squadron was attacked. A fleet that was the same as the first squadron's fleet suddenly appeared in the sky."

"The garrison fleet launched an indiscriminate bombing, while completely destroying my fleet, Killing most of the members sitting in the cockpit."

After listening to the hoarse statement of the man in the suit, Himeko was silent for a long time and swallowed softly

"...So, Dr. Mobius's theory is correct. If the fluctuation of the Honkai outbreak exceeds a certain threshold it will create something completely superior to a Honkai beast"

"That's right." The man in the suit gritted his teeth

"The problem now is that we can't see the enemy. What exactly is that thing and what abilities does it possess? It seems that the ability it has is to copy what it sees but if there's no weakness to this ability how should we deal with it?"

"..." Himeko didn't reply as she stared at the two fleets that were fighting fiercely.

Her face suddenly became a little ugly.

The Anti-Honkai troops of Fire Moth can be said to be the most elite troops in the world, that also includes their pilots as well.

Due to the influence of the Honkai energy, the pilots belonging to the Fire Moth have a unique advantage in terms of physically compared to ordinary pilots.

The pressure that ordinary human pilots can withstand is about 9 Gs, and even under special circumstances, it will not exceed 20 Gs.

However, under the influence of Honkai energy, Fire Moth Warriors can withstand G Force that reaches three digits.

It is also for this reason that the fleets of Fire Moth were not designed for ordinary people to drive.

Driven by miniature Nuclear Fusion Thrusters, the fleets of Fire Moths travel at speeds reaching Mach 5

If there is a strategic need, it can use the anti-gravity engine to break through the barrier between the atmosphere and gravity, forming space-based weapons in the Earth's orbit.

In terms of individual combat capabilities alone, these aerospace warships can completely replace all types of ordinary fighter jets owned by the armies of countries in all aspects.

Himeko is of course aware of the performance of these warships, and because of this, she felt a sense of indescribable fear after seeing the black spots appearing out of thin air one after another in the distance.

"Hurry up and send us to the center of the battle!"

"Don't worry" The man in the suit sighed helplessly

"This kind of enemy is bound to pose an immeasurable threat to the human world, but in this situation...do you think we still have a chance?"

"..."

Boom!

A warship belonging to the fifth team turned into pieces of flying iron.

—The pilots of the fifth team are indeed ace pilots.

Since the two sides began to exchange fire, they have already shot down more than a dozen enemy warships through their proficiency and superb aerial combat skills.

But... in front of the enemy fleet that kept increasing even if you were to shoot it down, this effort is futile. The number of warships has already reached 200 and even if you shot down dozens of enemy warships, it's equivalent to a drop of blood

Although the fleet group of the Fifth Squadron is superior in terms of quality and technology, in terms of quantity, the basic combat power of the two sides is very different.

The speed at which they shot down enemy ships was not even as fast as the speed at which the opponent's fleet was formed.

Even if both Olga and Himeko are unwilling to retreat, if they continue to fight here it will only turn into meaningless consumption of resources.

But at this moment, an indifferent childish voice suddenly rang in their ears without warning.

"Since there's no chance for victory I will help you create an opportunity."

Himeko and Olga were startled at the same time.

One of them jumped up from the driver's seat, and the other quickly turned around on the spot, making preparations for a fight with this unknown assailant.

But seeing Shirou with a flat face, the two experienced fighters were dumbfounded at the same time.

The man in the suit opened his mouth and subconsciously asked

"You...how did you get in?"

"Is this important?" Shirou glanced at the man in the suit lightly

"It can copy things it's seen before. In short, if the thing has this kind of ability then no matter what, we must keep that thing in this place forever."

"Do you have a plan?"

Himeko asked after regaining her composure, although she was still curious about how this kid came inside the completely airtight spaceship without a sound, but that was not important when discussing this issue

"You should have seen that the number of enemy warships is too large. Even if you really have a way to defeat the opponent, we haven't even seen the enemy's location."

Himeko let out a long breath

"Where is the enemy? What is it? Although retreating here is annoying, I have to admit that continuing to go deep into the enemy's line is just a meaningless act of death."

"These two issues, I will help you solve them." Shirou glanced at the fire from the distance sky

"You're a professional force dealing with Honkai disasters. Before entering this area, you should have already prepared yourself for losing contact with the outside world so you should have made corresponding plans, right?"

" ..." Himeko was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I know what you are worried about. Judging from the current situation, the enemy this time is completely different from the irrational Honkai beasts and Zombies in the past."

"Although I don't know what intellectual level this thing is, there's no doubt that within a few minutes after the Honkai outbreak occurred the opponent found the First Squadron's fleet station and copied what it wanted before destroying the First Squadron's fleets. From a strategic standpoint, that thing has a clear goal."

"Because your enemy tracking system has lost its usual effectiveness under the influence of Honkai. If you fail to kill it in one blow, it will become difficult to find the next chance to behead it. So this is a one-time action that will only allow success."

"...Yes, this is also my concern." On the face of Olga, there was a trace of obvious fatigue

"Usually when the moment a Honkai outbreak occurs Fire Moth would adjust the orbit of satellites to the area where the outbreak erupts. Although Honkai can interfere with satellite signals, it cannot interfere with the internal circuits."

"If the satellite can accurately locate the attack in a certain period of time, Fire Moth can set up following operations in advance before the flight trajectory of space-based weapons reaches this area."

"If the enemy this time is irrational the First and Fifth Squadron can lure the enemy to the target location and wipe it out. No matter how powerful the opponent is, as long as it can be destroyed by existing weapons it can work."

"But this time it's different. First of all, the enemies this time is different from the past, and secondly..."

The man in the suit turned his gaze toward the devastated land and sighed

"...due to the changes in the Earth's crust caused by Honkai, Fire Moth can't even throw an overpowered weapon at the target location."

"...I can see it." Following the man's line of sight, Shirou glanced at the cracked Earth that still had a faint vibrating sound

"So, what we need is to be able to precisely locate the enemy's position and at the same time deal with it while leaving little to no impact on the environment, right?"

"If it's just these two things, I can do it." A calm voice full of absolute confidence.

After hearing Shirou's indifferent voice, Himeko, and Olga couldn't help but frown.

"Are you sure?" Olga asked, his voice was as heavy as a rock.

"Sure." Shirou nodded.

"Well, what do you want us to do." Olga didn't ask Shirou's specific means but asked directly.

To this, Shirou answered concisely-

"Rush in."

"Rush in?" Himeko repeated the words of Shirou, "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Shirou turned his body around,

In the suddenly shrinking sight of Olga and Himeko, fluorescent lights scattered in all directions without warning.

"As for the rest, just leave it to me."

The undeniably immature voice echoed faintly in the airtight cockpit.

Hearing the somewhat illusory voice, the man in the suit couldn't help swallowing, and muttering in a low voice:

"Who the hell is this weird guy...?"

"..."

Compared to the man in the suit, it was not the first time Himeko had seen the outlandishness of Shirou. So she came back to her senses after a short period of time.

She looked at the man in the suit and asked

"So, what are you going to do?"

"..." The man in the suit was silent for a moment, and quietly held his hand on the steering column.

—For all the pilots of the fifth team, when they saw the main ship of the first team suddenly dive into the enemy fleet, almost all of them subconsciously thought that the pilot was crazy

Due to the effect of Honkai, the long-distance communication of the fleet group was all cutoff.

So they could only rely on their vision and the most primitive ultrasonic radar to barely judge the situation of other warships.

Despite such a bad situation, for pilots with rich combat experience and enhanced senses, it was not difficult to figure out what happened the moment their main ship was destroyed.

They all saw the scene where their captain was rescued by the main ship of the first team, so when they saw the main ship of the first team make a suicide attack on the enemy fleet, all Fifth Squadron pilots were shocked.

—The moment the main ship rushed into the enemy line, the treatment it received was not at all beyond the expectations of these pilots.

All kinds of anti-aircraft missiles shot from all directions toward the warship that was courting death.

However, at the moment when everyone including Himeko and Olga believed that the main ship would be destroyed under fire from the enemy—

"I am the bone of my sword—(The sword is made by nature)"

Accompanied by the words filled with huge magic power a bright flower that looked like a work of art suddenly bloomed.

When the artillery fire was about to destroy the main warship, the warship was completely wrapped inside the flower

"Rho Aias—! (The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heavens)"