The moment the Pilgrim began its final charge, the ancient warship from another era easily left its course.
The Silent was barely any shorter than the slender Abyssal Dragon in the distance. It looked like a giant whale gliding through space, yet now it was as nimble as a storm petrel.
A faint halo, almost impossible to detect, flared around the entire silver-white hull, and the massive vessel abruptly began to shift. In the next instant, it turned at an angle that nearly defied the laws of physics, veering away from its original collision course with lightness and speed.
By the time the Imperial soldiers at the fortress command center finally came to their senses, she had already drifted far away.
"S-she's out of the yellow zone? She's retreating?"
An officer staring intently at the screen aboard the Abyssal Dragon blurted out.
"Why? Is she afraid?"
"...I'd like to think so, but that can't be it."
Perhaps because of the interference from the mass signals and the visual misdirection, the crew of the Abyssal Dragon hadn't noticed that the ghost had launched a dragon ship. They had only seen her maneuver.
They had clearly watched the ancient giant ship that had given the entire Empire nightmares for half a year complete an elegant turn that upended everything they knew.
"It's like watching a deity dance!"
"As expected of a sacred relic of the Enlighteners! I hope she really does stay away from all danger zones!"
"Yes. We just want to hold our ground!"
The officers and crew aboard the fleet exchanged sentiments like these. They sounded especially spineless and demoralized; if they'd been proper Imperial Guards, their superiors would have punished them for those words alone. But the people present were all proper Imperial Navy personnel. They were perfectly normal,