755 We'll Hold Her Back

For the first time in history, a planetoid was conquered without sending a single enemy troop.

The abyssals on the planetoid cheered as they occupied the lands on the other side of the border.

Without the slightest respect for the dead, the abyssals kicked the corpses of their nemeses, punched the dead, and spat on their remains.

Abyssals a few hundred years ago wouldn't have stooped so low. However, after being beaten by Zions, then by fairies, and struggling against even humans, their frustrations were long pent up.

Adding to that was the grave situation of their homeland. Fairies were currently attacking the Abyss Empire and there was nothing they could do about it.

They could only do their duty—conquer the solar system.

And now, this was a small but wonderful step in that direction.

As a symbol of victory, the abyssals began to collect these corpses and throw them into fire pits.

The fire crackled as it struggled to burn the strong bodies of the warriors. The fire awakeners from the abyssals cackled and did their job.

The smoke reached the clouds and in a matter of minutes, only ashes remained as the memory of the soldiers.

Then the abyssals didn't even glance at the ashes and began to take over the military bases.

They'd quickly plan an invasion on the nearby planetoid with similar powers. The soldiers believed they could break the balance and conquer the planetoid in three days.

Their commander, however, had an entirely different perspective.

"May victory be yours, Queen." Kneeling on the barren ground, he prayed to the abyss ruler's spaceship could no longer be seen.

— — —

"M-25 planetoid is gone!"

The supreme commander of the mars forces, high-general Skad, frowned at his agent's news.

Along with him, the high-ranking military officers in the conference room also fell silent.

Mirage Queen took an hour to end a planetoid.

If she did the same and they're willing to sacrifice planetoids, then they could stall her.

But no one voiced out that thought.

It's naive to think she'd take that long for each planetoid. The reason she spent that long on M-25 was to ensure the complete destruction of the human army.

She also ordered the stand down of abyssals and did everything on her own.

But would she do the same?

Mirage Queen could take down the strongest humans based on a planetoid in minutes and the abyssal army could use that vacuum to destroy the human army.

Abyss army would certainly take way more time to conquer the planetoids, but Mirage Queen would be able to 'win' each planetoid in mere minutes.

In less than a day, she'd be able to conquer all the planetoids of mars!

And in less than a day, mars would lose most of its high awakeners!

When that happened, and not if, Mars would be utterly defenseless against Mirage Abyss, whether Mirage Queen participated in the offensive or not.

"Should we send reinforcements and stop her spaceship?" An adviser in the conference room said in a rushed tone. "Ghostship would be the vanguard and we can help Varian from the rear."

His children were stationed on a planetoid nearby and the old man wanted to save them at any cost.

Skad gave a bitter smile. "Are you growing old, Houd? Or are you being desperate?"

"…" Houd, the advisor, realized his mistake and lowered his head.

They didn't know how Varian was safe after attacking the ghost ship, but if any human awakener, even a level 9, attacked the queen's spaceship, they'd be attacked by her psychic powers.

Forget dying, they might even be used as pawns against their own comrades.

"Then what do we do? At least ask the soldiers on the planetoid to retreat. Staying there, they'll just die!" Houd asked through gritted teeth.

Skad sighed.

While it seemed like a good choice, they couldn't even do that.

"The moment our forces try to pull back, the abyssals would launch an attack. Let's say they even successfully pulled back, the planetoids would fall under abyssals' control. We can forget regaining them and would have to start preparing mars to face an invasion from the planetoids."

Houd clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. "B-But it's better than letting them all die."

"Yes," Skad said, but shook his head. "But which planetoids should we evacuate?"

Houd quickly raised his head to glance at the hologram depicting the planetoids and Mirage Queen's position.

He wanted to point out the planetoids near her when he realized something.

Mirage Queen wasn't attacking all the planetoids she passed by. She was moving in a random pattern and abruptly picking a planetoid.

If they hastily ordered a retreat, then they'd definitely be ambushed by the high-ranking abyssals from the planetoids where humans already lost.

But it's not like they could stay silent.

In the planetoids she picked, Mirage Queen quickly killed the high awakeners and let the abyssals start a war.

It had been only a single hour after M-25 fell, but Mirage Queen decided the fate of four more planetoids.

Dozens of level 9s, and hundreds of level 8s lost their lives just like that.

As Houd looked at the map with anxiety, another planetoid turned red.

…It's the one with his children.

Houd's eyes turned red and his chest grew heavy. His heart was in a mess but his head did what it was accustomed to. It continued to think. Like an emotionless machine doing its job.

'If we call back the high awakeners from all planetoids, then high-ranking abyssals would start  wars and conquer the planetoids. Millions of soldiers would die.

Even if we're willing to do that and lose the planetoids for a long time, pulling them back would cause Mirage Queen to reach Mars faster.'

A bitter chuckle escaped Houd's lips as he realized their dire situation.

There was no solution, no strategy, no tactic they could use to salvage themselves.

In front of absolute strength, his decades-long experience was powerless.

"I'm sorry, commander." Houd lowered his head as tears slipped from the corner of his eyes. "We have no other choice."

A choice he desperately wanted to avoid.

Skad patted Houd's shoulders and looked at the people in the conference room.

The highest ranking military officers of Mars—the men and women at the top of were staring at the hologram with lifeless eyes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Skad addressed the officers whom he had known for decades.

Out of pure instinct, they shifted their gazes to meet the eyes of the commander.

When they saw the burning determination in the eyes of their commander, a surge of current passed through their body. They straightened their backs and their despairing hearts thumped with a brilliant light.

"It's been an honor working with you." Skad's eyes flashed with nostalgia. "I hope I can work with you in our next life and the next."

"Yes, Sir!"

Skad took a breath and ordered. "Star the planet evacuation plan. Pull back the army from the planetoids."

The highest-level emergency was declared on mars.

Billions of bots rose into the sky in an instant and swarmed the populace.

Millions of spaceships rose into the sky and headed for the highly populated districts.

Skad's figure flashed as he left with the words.

"Until they get to safety, we'll hold her back."