"Report! Torpedo hit confirmed!" the fire-control officer shouted excitedly.
More than thirty warships, including a Gloriana-class, had all launched torpedoes at a single target, yet in the end, only the Remilia's torpedo had connected.
That was a massive achievement.
That one torpedo had not only interrupted the enemy ship's attempt to flee through the Warp, it had also left it temporarily immobilized.
And once it could no longer move, taking it down was only a matter of time.
"Beautifully done!" Bruce let out a long breath as he watched the battle unfold.
He was no psyker, but from the way the Hand of Destiny had behaved, it had clearly come within a hair's breadth of tearing open the veil between the Warp and realspace and escaping.
I knew that bastard Erebus was hiding something filthy!
Hiding behind his status as a Dark Apostle and being this good at surviving was truly disgusting.
But filthy tricks or not, we have a primarch!
"Acting Commander! Something's wrong with that ship!"
Alfred was sweating cold bullets. "I can feel it. That ship is radiating an extremely dangerous Chaos aura!"
Only now did Alfred finally understand why this mission had called for using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
So the enemy wasn't just some Imperial traitor.
He had deep ties to Chaos.
That explained it.
"Doesn't matter! Keep firing! Blow the bastard to pieces!" Bruce snapped.
All fear came from insufficient firepower.
The combined firepower of our two fleets is enough to blast an entire star system to dust, and you're telling me we can't deal with one lousy battle barge?
What, don't tell me it's running some kind of invincibility cheat?!
And yet, to Bruce's utter disbelief—and to everyone else's—that battle barge really had turned on goddamn invincibility mode.
Every salvo fired at it was canceled out by some strange energy fluctuation that didn't resemble void shields at all. The Invincible Reason could still punch through that bizarre protective layer, but the problem was that the target was simply too agile.
As the risk of the Hand of Destiny slipping away grew, Bruce finally lost his patience.
"Prepare a boarding craft! I'm going in for a boarding assault!" he barked, immediately summoning his men.
And he was not the only one thinking that way. On several other ships, allied forces reached the same conclusion: since long-range attacks weren't doing the job, they would just board the damned thing directly.
If ranged attacks can't kill you, then let's see how you like a boarding action.
But when many of the assault craft approached that strange energy field surrounding the ship, their speed began to slow. Getting close became incredibly difficult.
The aura radiating from the still-moving Hand of Destiny grew more and more ominous. Even from far away, just looking at it was nauseating.
It was like a drifting pile of cosmic shit.
Because friendly troops were now attempting boarding actions, the frequency of artillery barrages began to drop, giving the Hand of Destiny breathing room.
"What about the teleport beacon? Can we lock onto it?!" Bruce shouted anxiously, staring at the battle barge's port side.
For the first time in his life, he felt a fierce urge to ram his way in by force and board the ship no matter what.
"Report! Interference detected! Unable to lock on! Teleportation impossible!"
"Damn it! Is this Chaos sorcery?" Bruce immediately turned to Alfred. "Librarian! Fix this!"
"I'm trying!" Alfred's eyes glowed as sweat poured from his forehead.
He was coming to realize that the enemy vessel was even more horrifying than he had imagined.
Was that thing really something that should exist in realspace?
One careless mistake, and he could end up being turned against them instead.
In the end, Alfred had to give up. All he could do was apologize to Bruce.
"I'm sorry, Acting Commander… that ship simply can't be locked onto."
"It's fine. This isn't your fault." Bruce racked his brains for a way to break the stalemate.
As the Hand of Destiny continued its escape, its agility had already taken it beyond the firing arcs of quite a few ships. If this kept up, it really might get away.
Just then, a private call came through.
More precisely, the paper cup Bruce had been keeping on his desk suddenly started ringing.
At once, he knew who it had to be.
It had to be Lion.
"Bruce, can you hear me?" Lion asked lightly, not sounding remotely like someone calling for help.
That only made Bruce more wary. In fact, he immediately regretted answering.
"Uh… what is it?" Bruce asked nervously.
"I want to play a game with you," Lion said with a smile.
"Huh? At a time like this? You want to play a game now?" Bruce was genuinely alarmed by the bizarre request.
"Let's see who boards that battle barge first. My assault team is ready."
"Can I refuse?" Bruce replied with utmost seriousness. "We're in the middle of a battle here! Be serious!"
"The loser has to grant the winner one condition!"
"Wait, I never agreed to that—"
"Done, then!" Having successfully acted cute, Lion cheerfully hung up.
The paper cup fell silent.
Bruce turned to stone on the spot.
He had no idea what the hell had just happened, but one thing was certain.
He absolutely had to board the Hand of Destiny before Lion did—and preferably kill Erebus first.
Otherwise…
He would definitely be dragged aboard the Invincible Reason and tormented all over again.
That could not happen. Absolutely not.
Perhaps because the sense of crisis had finally hit him, Bruce suddenly thought of something.
If the Remilia's torpedoes could get close to that wreck of a ship, then couldn't he…
Couldn't he use torpedoes as boarding craft?!
"Gunnery officer! How many torpedoes do we have left? And if we fire now, can they still get close to the target ship?"
"Evaluating!"
The fire-control officer immediately checked the ship's ordnance reserves. After a rapid count, he reported back:
"Eight remaining!"
"That's enough!" Bruce's eyes lit up. He immediately gave orders. "You, and you, with me! Alfred, find me three reliable assault troopers to come along."
"Yes, sir!"
"Warfarin, you too!"
"Huh? Me too?" Warfarin, who had been slurping instant noodles, froze on the spot.
Wait, I'm an Apothecary—why am I getting dragged into a frontline assault? How is that fair?
"Yes. At worst, we die gloriously!"
"I'm going to die too?!"
"Yes! Death is not to be feared—death is a cool summer night, a peaceful sleep free of worry." Bruce nodded solemnly and even quoted a line of ancient Terran poetry.
Very quickly, seven assault troopers selected by Bruce assembled before him.
Then they learned of a plan so insane it made their heads spin.
"What? We're riding torpedoes straight into the battle barge?!" Warfarin screamed, clutching her head.
"Yes. What, are you scared?"
"That's not the point! If they explode, won't we die too?!"
"It's fine. I prepared these." Bruce took out the Barrier Balls and handed one to each of them.
"These can withstand the blast from the torpedoes. They're one-use only, but that's enough!"
Wait—you're actually serious about this?!
Seeing that their acting commander had truly gone off the deep end, the selected Astartes glanced at one another. But the arrow was already on the string. There was no turning back now.
"If any of you want to drop out, you can. I'll go by myself. The choice is yours," Bruce said seriously.
The plan was insane, yes.
But it could work.
All that mattered now was whether they had the nerve.
"I'm in!"
"Me too!"
The two Atramentar answered without hesitation.
"I will follow you to the death, Acting Commander," Alfred said, showing no sign of retreat.
The three assault troopers Alfred had chosen likewise declared that they would follow.
"Well… what else can I say?" With all the pressure now falling on her, Warfarin could only force out a smile and agree.
If everyone else was going, refusing would just make her look like she was abandoning the team.
Besides, who could refuse the sacred joy of a boarding action?
Really, she ought to be thanking the Acting Commander for this!
"Then move out! Load the torpedoes!" Bruce ordered, pulling on his tactical helmet.
Damn it! I have to board the Hand of Destiny before Lion does!
Meanwhile, Erebus was in an excellent mood. He was practically ready to pop champagne. Under Chaos's protection, he was on the verge of breaking out of the encirclement. As long as he could reach the weakest point in realspace—
—he could once again try to tear open the boundary between the Warp and reality and flee this cursed battlefield.
Just one final step remained!
"Warning! Warning! Enemy torpedoes detected approaching from the flank!"
As the alarm blared, Erebus frowned, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine.
"My lord! This is bad! Eight guided torpedoes are about to strike our port side!"
"They're just torpedoes! What, you think they can actually hit us?!" Erebus shouted furiously.
Guided or not, once they got close enough, they'd just become scrap.
"But… my lord, look for yourself!"
As his subordinate brought up a flickering, broken hololithic image, Erebus's smug smile froze instantly. Then the corners of his mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
Wh-what the hell is that?!
When Erebus saw eight lunatics either sitting or standing on top of torpedoes and flying straight toward him, his mind went completely blank.
He had seen crazy before.
He had never seen crazy on this level.
Do you really want me dead that badly?!
What the hell did I do to deserve this?!
I can't handle this kind of guided torpedo at all!
"Brace for impact!!!" Erebus howled in despair.
"Yes, my lord!"
When the enemy had gone this completely insane, all Erebus could do was pray.
At the same time, those Astartes—so obviously Night Lords—left a deep psychological scar on him.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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