Chapter 198 Operation Minesweeper
"Leianne. Behind you."
I warned the pilot of the sky-blue Metagen that was currently brandishing her dazzling sapphire-blue rapier as it cut and stabbed its path through a dense number of Darkgens.
The New Haven Mine is enclosed in a 10-meter tall wall that was also constructed from combining regenium with other components such as concrete.
It\'s sturdy enough that it would take at least 5 minutes to completely break it open by a group of Specialized Metagen that was specialized in destruction.
Well, that was according to Leianne. We opened it in one.
Once inside, we were welcomed by a huge number of Darkgens and Metagens. Even if they were only the standard builds, their weapons could only cut down two or three at a time. Fortunately, my buffs were more than enough to supplement the trouble their numbers caused.
"Got it."
Leianne acknowledged as she skillfully turned her Metagen around to deliver a well-timed thrust to the Darkgen that was attempting to sneak behind her. It accurately hit the cockpit which immediately resulted in the Pilot\'s death.
When she pulled her rapier out, the cockpit started to be covered by ice which expanded until it completely covered the whole Darkgen.
In that one swift thrust, Leianne also activated one of her skills borne from her awakened ability.
Her Metagen, the Ice Sylphid, made use of her own self-created sword style which mainly focused on the feature of the thin, sharp-pointed rapier. Watching her fight in front of my eyes was giving me inspiration about the creation of my own Sword Skill.
Surprisingly, Leianne also managed to conjure the blue-colored Swordforce plus it even has an ice-attribute, courtesy of her awakened ability.
I know my Swordforce isn\'t unique. Anyone can attain that state of being One with a Sword as long as their Sword Mastery reached a certain level. With or without a system. Even Zerina has attained the Advanced Mastery of her short swords and managed to conjure her own Swordforce. Yuko also has her own version with her saber, the Saberforce.
Well, who knows? As long as one was proficient enough at their weapon, they\'ll also reach that point.
"Great. Move to Point A and help Lunaria. Nell, have you tracked down their Commander?"
Leianne nodded her head and turned her Metagen towards the direction of Point A where Lunaria was being ganged up by both Darkgen and Empire loyalists.
Her Metagen opened its Energy Wings and burst from her position to where I directed her in a blink. Upon leaving, she activated a skill which generated sharp icicles in the shape of a sword from her back, piercing through the Darkgens trying to chase after her.
Each icicle hit was embedded deep before exploding inside. Just like my Energy Explosion.
"Yes! He\'s near Point C giving out orders to stall us for time. He also talked about the upcoming reinforcements from the Empire."
Nell responded. I had her stay behind me to use her ability to scan the surroundings and locate the objectives. She\'s already a great fighter but with 10 of them at almost the same level, it\'s best to use her ability like this.
"Alright. Minowa Sisters. Take him down. The rest, open up a path and clean the surroundings. Take the entrance and hold that position."
"Roger!"
Sounds of acknowledgement simultaneously rang out. All of these soldiers had a smile on their faces. Being this dominating due to the difference in strength, it would always feel invigorating.
It\'s been 10 minutes since the start of our assault to this mine and apart from breaking into from the entrance, we\'ve already pushed halfway through the location of the entrance of the literal mine.
Leianne\'s knowledge about the ins and outs of this location gave us objectives which were taken down one by one.
As long as they don\'t get surrounded, the Pilots I brought with me would be able to easily clean this place even without me lifting a finger.
A distance away from me, Lunaria and Leianne are moving together. Their backs are turned towards each other. As Legend-ranks, they both have a domain-type of skill that further increased their advantage against the Darkgens and other Metagens which only relied on their high Brain Capacity to stand before them.
Leianne opened an ice field where a blizzard was continuously blowing. Freezing the area as well as the enemies. Fighting against it would require them to expand more of their Meta Energy to expel the cold and defrost their Darkgen and Metagen.
Lunaria conjured a miniature luminescent moon which hovered above her head. The moonlight emitted by it could cause disarray in five senses of every enemy it perceived and illuminated. Also, under that moonlight, Lunaria can conceal herself which added to the dilemma of those struggling to keep their senses straight.
With the two overlapping domains, only those who could conjure their own domain could withstand it. And that resulted with the two women dominating that area.
Tens of Darkgens and Metagens continuously dropped to the ground. Even if they try to fly away, their distorted sense of direction and the blizzard would hinder them from successfully escaping the domains.
Once they cleaned up the enemies, the two women started taking down the objectives assigned to them.
"Sir Daisuke, what\'s next?"
Lunaria\'s face showed up on my screen followed by Leianne after they were done with their objectives. Seeing that bright faces, both of them didn\'t even sweat from what they did and now they\'re eager to do more.
"Wait a bit. Their reinforcements are coming. This time, I\'ll be joining you."
I smiled and commanded the Purple Haze to fly up to the sky to welcome the group of Metagens coming in as reinforcements.
Though we made it swift. It\'s inevitable that someone could still report it.
In any case, in a short span of time, most of our objectives were already taken down.
As the Purple Haze slowly flew up from the ground, I could see the Minowa Triplets finishing the Guard Commander with their teamwork.
Ah. With the buffs on them, they could fight against that Commander one versus one. But yeah. By being under me, the Aegis Battalion had my fighting style ingrained to them. If they determined that they can defeat the opponent easily, make it swift. If not then stall for time and wait for the opportune moment to finish the opponent.
At least their training in that Training Camp paid off that they\'re considered to be stronger than the other Rank S in my military unit.
The other Pilots also managed to take the entrance and hold it. Those unaware Metagen and Darkgen inside the mine were dealt with easily as soon as they emerged from it to check the situation outside.
With this, Operation Minesweeper could be said to be more or less completed.
From the direction of the Empire\'s capital, that striking All-black Metagen of the Emperor was carefreely flying followed by a group of Specialized Metagens which looked imposing from their blood-red and dark color theme. Behind them were a few more Darkgens and Metagens.
The lineup of blood-red Metagens behind the Emperor included the former delegate, The Blood Executioner, Imperial Advisor Kreed.
"Sir Daisuke, some of those Specialized Metagens are from the same camp where we trained in."
Ella, the Pilot of the silver Metagen among the triplets said. Her two sisters; Mila, the golden-winged Metagen Pilot and Lila, the ice-blue Metagen Pilot backed up her words.
It\'s a good thing that they put up different hairstyles, otherwise, it\'s hard to determine who\'s who whenever they\'re side by side like that.
In any case, those camp guys were not that important anymore. If they wanted to remain controlled by the Emperor then they are just a small addition to our enemies.
I nodded at them before opening everyone\'s communication channel.
"Two of you remain there at the entrance and be alert. Nell, contact the troops that were on standby to start moving to occupy this place. Leianne, Lunaria and Minowa Sisters, you\'re with me. The rest, deal with those Standard Metagens and Darkgens behind them. Only leave my buff zone for 4 minutes, go back inside to reset the timer."
After giving out orders, the channels closed again to carry it out.
However, one of the screens remained open, Leianne could be seen from it and a complicated look was plastered on her face.
Ah. It\'s easy to guess what\'s on her mind.
"Leianne. Are you conflicted at fighting your father?"
That\'s still her biological father. Even old man Liam felt conflicted fighting against his own son, what more this girl to her own father?
"A… a bit."
She had difficulty answering but nodded in the end.
I guess this is her way for me to continue trusting her.
"Good. I like your honesty. You can sit this one out. Help those two at guarding the entrance to the mine."
It will just be detrimental to the others if she forces herself when she\'s clearly conflicted. She might have a relapse in her judgement.
"No. I can do this Sir Daisuke!"
"You don\'t have to push yourself. And this will not lower my view of you so don\'t worry."
I smiled at her to ease her up. After a while, she nodded and flew down to join the two Pilots guarding the entrance to the mine.
"What do you think, wife?"
I turned my head sideways and asked the person beside me after the screen became clear again.
Right. All this time, Nysia is together with me inside the Purple Haze, watching everything from my side.