757 A Battle That Cannot Be Won
Even if a Sovereign was extremely powerful than any peak level 9, they weren't invincible.
If too many peak level 9s ganged up on a Sovereign, then the Sovereign would also lose.
The 'too many' understated the difference. To put things into perspective, it's like a child fighting an adult.
Even an adult can't keep fighting if too many children gang up on him. They'd eventually be exhausted and lose. But how many amounted to too many?
Even though it's less extreme than in an adult vs a kid since the attack of peak level 9s could injure Sovereigns, their gap wasn't small.
Skad knew this. So did his fifty officers.
No matter how bravely they fought, they wouldn't be enough to kill Mirage Queen.
However, if it's only stalling her, then—
The space shook violently as two humans fought against each other.
Their bodies blurred as they disappeared from one place and appeared in another, moving tens of miles each time.
"Samus, I didn't want to say it since you're sensitive, but man, I hate your jokes!" An injured level 9 laughed boisterously as he punched his comrade.
"…" His brother-in-arms, Samus, returned lethal attacks with expressionless eyes.
Like quite a few others, Mirage Queen 'controlled' Samus and pushed him against his own people.
She would make them fight each other and bleed each other till death. Her tactics seemed simple.
"I'll send you off, brother!" The injured officer raised his fist and punched Samus' heart.
But they weren't. Because when they're about to kill each other, she would—
"Hor?" Samus blinked as his eyes shone with focus.
"Samus!" Hor's pupils shrunk as he realized he couldn't take back his attack. But he tried his best to hold back.
But in that small period, Samus' eyes turned vacant and his fingers reached Hor's neck in a piercing motion. Right after, Samus' eyes returned to normal and he realized what he was doing.
"NO!"
But it was already too late.
The two brothers died in their own hands under the expert manipulation of the Mirage Queen.
A couple of such battles were occurring simultaneously as the Mirage Queen controlled awakeners abruptly, but with very good timing.
Thankfully, she couldn't control too many high level 9s at once. So, the majority of the fighters, that now amounted to nearly thirty, could focus on attacking her spaceship and stalling her.
At least, that was the plan.
Even though the fighting force would always be facing one or two members of their own group as enemies with Mirage Queen controlling them, they still had a lot of spares to attack her.
But mind control wasn't the only thing Mirage Queen could do.
"Arghhh!" A lightning awakener that was fighting the puppet warrior suddenly clutched his head as a terrifying pain assaulted his body.
The human warrior under control cut off his comrade's head with a single slash.
"Hiss!"
She could use mental attacks.
"Sila!" A man, who was under an intense battle, suddenly closed his eyes and wailed.
The human warrior under the control of the queen didn't miss the opportunity and finished him off.
"Loni!"
She could use illusions.
Assuming that her power only depended on the people she was controlling was foolish.
As a result, the numbers started to dwindle rather quickly.
A flurry of attacks landed on the queen's ship. Elemental discharges, great physical attacks, space blades, and more.
But the spaceship merely shook violently. However, there were tiny cracks in some places.
Realizing that she was actually taking damage, Mirage Queen's heart burned with rage.
"Kill them!"
The humans under mind control gave up on defending altogether and went for the kill.
"Damn it!" Skad, the one leading the team's attack on Mirage Queen's spaceship cursed.
An intense mental force was attacking him for the past few seconds and he was barely fighting it.
If not for their numbers, he doubted Mirage Queen would've roasted his brain by now.
But even now, his ability to lead the team and attack was severely limited. Besides, he had to watch his back for any potential backstabs.
"Come on! Pour out your strength! If we can break her spaceship, it's the best outcome for us!"
Even though it's only a proposal, Varian told him a while ago that if Mirage Queen was spaceship-less, he could 'capture' her and keep her imprisoned.
Skad desperately wanted that possibility to become a reality.
So, even though his head hurt like someone was poking long needles through his ears, he kept fighting.
His comrades didn't shrink either.
"Oh boy, I'm not dying and I'm not letting you die." An old man said as he clashed against his friend and rival.
Space cracked and exploded as the two space awakeners pushed themselves to the very limit.
In just ten minutes, their bodies were filled with terrible injuries.
The two old friends were about to launch a mutual destructive attack when a ship appeared out of nowhere.
"Woah!"
It sucked them in without warning.
The old man under Mirage Queen's control suddenly yelled and wanted to attack.
But before he could even attempt that, he was thrown into a special room.
The old man stopped his roar in the middle and looked at his hands in confusion. "W-What happened?"
Several bots appeared and put him in one of the many special glass tubes.
"W-Wamad?"
The old man found his best friend in the glass tube next to him.
"Just close your eyes for now." A young but mature voice reached his ears. Recognizing the voice, the old man allowed himself to close his eyes and lose consciousness.
"Boo, ultra-heal."
The glass tubes released high-grade healing potions and the six warriors in the ghost ship started to heal.
After ten minutes, an old woman regained consciousness.
The first thing she saw was a hologram depicting the situation outside and the exit to the room.
Perhaps she understood everything or perhaps she didn't, but without a word, she rushed out of the ghost ship.
Ten more minutes later, the old men also rejoined the battlefield.
"Tch! Undying cockroaches!" Mirage Queen cursed.
Whenever she tried to control the people who were taken into the ghost ship for healing, she failed.
Even though the warriors returning weren't perfectly healed, they were in a much better condition.
So, the battle that was originally supposed to end soon was dragged on for much longer.
Even though he couldn't directly participate in the battle, Varian was making a difference.
