The Nebula's Civilization

Chapter 283: Destroying the Moon

On the surface of the second moon, Loom, the front foot of a strong, hardy, and massive Drake appeared out of thin air. As the front foot touched the void, the owner of the foot stretched in shape before contracting back to its original form.

Lakrak shouted, "Manun!"

Dragon Manun lightly wagged his tail at the call.

"There's a strong one over there!"

Lakrak pointed at the giant Walking Armor standing tall on Loom's surface with the tip of his spear. Manun's eyes sparkled with a surge of vitality. It was immediately clear what that giant thing was.

'Such a tough one!'

Since transforming into a Dragon, perhaps even before that, Manun had come to feel that everything in the world was soft and weak. Manun harbored overflowing power within his body, but there were hardly any capable of withstanding it. The world was too fragile, and a mere twist of Manun's body would cause chaos. But not in this land, and not this opponent, Manun was sure.

Manun leaped toward the giant Walking Armor. Under his shadow, the Lizardmen let out a battle cry.

"Go! Manun!"

The giant Walking Armor of Loom was not startled by the sudden appearance of the massive Dragon. The same was true of Dide, who was assisting in controlling it.

-...A Dragon! This machine is made to confront Dragons! Its very name is Dragon Catcher.

The Dragon Catcher had a history. It was a machine of the gods that had broken the necks of many Dragons opposing them, and it was stored in Loom, recognized for its value.

The Dragon Catcher adjusted its stance, waiting for Manun to mindlessly charge at it. But Manun was no fool.

"Grrr!”

The moment the Dragon Catcher tried to capture him, Manun stopped right in front of it. The Dragon Catcher momentarily lost its balance and teetered forward. Manun didn't miss the opportunity. With a pre-prepared motion, he spun half around and slammed his thick tail into the Dragon Catcher's legs.

-Thump!

The electromagnetic field tethering its feet to the ground so that it could maneuver its 300-meter mass in zero gravity collapsed under a more powerful force. The Dragon Catcher, entangled in its own tremendous mass, toppled over.

The tough thing’s current state seemed good to Manun; meaning, it was in a state good for playing with. Manun powerfully rammed his head into the Dragon Catcher. Once again, Loom’s cried out from the collision of overwhelming masses.

The moment Manun propelled forward and delivered the full force of his headbutt...

Thud!

The Dragon Catcher, struck by the headbutt, flew nearly 1 kilometer away, tumbling and entangling with various modules, causing Loom to wail.

Dide was becoming accustomed to constantly adjusting for unexpected situations.

-No, not yet...

While waiting for the Dragon Catcher to regain its stance, Dide operated other modules of Loom. A partial tactical failure shouldn’t lead to a strategic defeat. However, Dide couldn’t help but witness, through Loom's eyes, the events unfolding on the surface.

The Dragon’s chest grew larger and thicker.

"Manun! No one here will stop you!"

Manun, standing on all fours on the ground of Loom, stretched his neck and inflated his cheeks. His gaze was fixed on the large Walking Armor, the Dragon Catcher, now struggling to get up.

-Krrrrr!

Light erupted. A blue flash was visible not only to the other Lizardmen warriors on Loom, but also to the astronauts regaining consciousness in the spacecraft, to Starkeeper closest to the moon, and even broadcast through satellites to continents, lighting up every screen.

A stream of blue light poured onto the Dragon Catcher. The moment the high-pressure, high-temperature wave of light engulfed it, the exterior armor bulged and burst, unable to withstand the impact, and its internal organs spilled out, before it was twisted and crushed by the Dragon's breath.

-Grrr!

Manun, having expelled all his breath, snorted out the residue.

Then the energy conversion organs inside the Dragon Catcher could no longer withstand the shock and exploded a second time.

"Excellent, Manun!"

At Lakrak's praise, Manun turned his head and perked up his tail.

Anakse, seeing Manun's massive head approaching, tensely screeched at the corner of Manun's mouth. To Manun, the small monstrous bird seemed affectionate and was nothing but cute.

Yur shouted to Lakrak, "It seems there's an enemy unit beneath us!"

"Right, I can hear footsteps coming from below." Lakrak got off Anakse and placed his hand on the ground. "There's quite a number of them."

"But they won't be a match for us,” replied Yur.

"Complacency has become a habit, huh?"

Yur laughed heartily. "When I’m with you, it's inevitable."

Lakrak joined in the laughter.

After the warriors came to the pantheon, they still performed rituals to determine the most elite warrior. Over the long years, Yur remained the best warrior. To him, arrogance, confidence, and courage were indistinguishable.

From a distance, Tatar shouted, "Thanks to Manun, the upper levels are almost cleared!"

Around Tatar, warriors in golden armor fought without any formation, but as one organic life, moving in unison and crushing the enemies.

Lakrak shouted, "Our enemy lies in the depths."

"Let's advance straight away!"

Lakrak looked around. "But there's no need to face all the enemies. It's a waste of time for both sides."

Lakrak walked toward Manun. Anakse looked at Lakrak, puzzled, as he didn't mount it again.

Yur said, "Are you going to ride Manun?"

"Yes."

"Then let me prepare you for a moment. I brought something."

Yur whistled. Yur's warriors, carrying backpacks several times bigger than themselves, climbed onto Manun. As the packs were unloaded, luxurious golden ornaments and supports spilled out. In no time, a saddle was created on Manun's back, and Manun was covered in golden armor and even a helmet.

Lakrak teased, "All this formality for what!"

"It's about matching your stature."

"That's what I was talking about."

"Beauty is good."

"That's true."

Manun only glanced back at what was happening on his neck and back. He still remembered when Lizardmen rode on his back to battles. Then and now, it was no different.

Lakrak stroked Manun's chin as Manun looked at him and said, "Manun, I need to borrow your back."

"Kr!"

Lakrak leaped onto Manun's neck. Then Yur and the warriors climbed up.

Lakrak, mounted on Manun's neck, shouted, "Manun! Let's dig the ground for a change!"

Manun didn't hesitate one bit. Gathering its forelegs, it lifted its upper body and made a powerful blow at the ground. The Lizardmen on Manun were momentarily lifted and then settled down, absorbing the shock, but all of them laughed.

Lakrak slightly lifted the corner of his eyes.

"Tougher than I thought. Manun!"

"Kr!"

"A loud cry is needed."

Manun inflated its lungs and cheeks again, inhaling the artificially created atmosphere, a non-existent falsehood. Once again, a blue light struck the second moon. The surface of Loom, which had not budged, sizzled and melted, burning and creating a huge hole.

"Let's go!"

Manun leaped down to the next level, followed by the Lizardmen warriors. The second floor seemed utterly unprepared, entirely empty.

Lakrak shouted, "Once more!"

Excited, Manun left scars on Loom. Somewhere inside the damaged second moon, an explosion occurred due to the Dragon's breath spell. Another Bee Swarm, trying to block the Dragon and Lizardmen through the torn gaps, was annihilated under a barrage of arrows and spears.

Jumping to the next level, Lakrak said, "More floors than I thought!"

From behind, Yur shouted, "It seems they are waiting for us below!"

"Then we can't disappoint them."

This time, the Dragon and Lizardmen used the passageway. It was a wide circular corridor that even the Dragon could slide through easily. The Dragon fearlessly jumped down, followed by the Lizardmen. Despite all the noises they made in the process, they were so fast that Dide's children had no time to prepare.

"There they are!"

Lakrak pointed his spear tip at Dide's children.

[Species name: Grey.]

Lakrak glanced at the information provided on one side of his vision. Although it was a new species to him, he knew how to fight them based on their appearance alone.

The Greys were all in tight-fitting white Walking Armors, armed with heavy weaponry. An entire squad supported by the full force of the Empire's army would be needed to counter just one of them.

About 300 Greys were present, not just simple infantry but also tanks and larger Walking Armors. The heavy caliber muzzles slowly turned toward the Lizardmen.

"Pity, you aren't facing a mortal army."

At a distance of about 1 kilometer, the snipers among the Greys had already started firing.

Clang!

A bullet grazed Lakrak's helmet. He didn't flinch. The Lizardmen unleashed a volley of arrows.

The Greys hurriedly set up covers and hid behind them. However, that wasn't enough. The warriors' arrows flew the 1 kilometer distance, piercing the covers, embedding into the heads of the Greys hiding behind, and then sticking into Loom's floor. As soon as the Greys realized their shields were useless, they stepped out with their firearms.

"Charge!"

Dragon Manun, with his tongue lolling out, thundered across the ground and charged. He didn’t breathe out a spell again. Even for a Dragon, continuously using breath spells was an exhausting task.

'Besides, there's no need for it.'

Suddenly, an enemy cannon struck the Dragon's head directly.

'That hurts!'

The Dragon was startled by this unfamiliar sensation, the nerves throughout his entire body frayed. Then he became more agitated. Increasing his charging speed, the Dragon burst into the enemy formation before a second round of shots could be fired. Just the impact of his body was enough to demolish tanks, large Walking Armors, and Greys, tearing off limbs and scattering them.

With the Lizardmen's attack, one Grey unit was completely annihilated.

-Shit...

In the depths of Loom, Dide checked the situation. Dide didn't stop operating Loom. They believed they had enough experience with such battles from old wars. As the enemy's offense intensified, they created stronger forces.

However, Lakrak's warriors never faced an enemy in the same way twice. If they thought their tactics had been predicted, they threw it away. If Dide opted for direct attacks over surprising them, they charged as if they were waiting for it. From the enemy's perspective, every loss was worse than the last.

-How can this be...

Dide had fought tiresome battles with the old gods. There had been defeats, but ultimately, they survived. Things would be no different this time—that was what Dide had believed. However, as the Lizardmen advanced, Dide’s belief was proven false bit by bit. Faith alone couldn’t secure victory.

-This can’t be...

Dide realized all objective circumstances and factors pointed to doom. Everything indicated one inevitable future—Defeat.