Song Chen saw smoke rising from Zephar's right arm, the runes on its surface dimming. He had knocked out the enemy's third wave of core attacks, but it had cost him.
At that very moment, the enemy's rear formation moved.
Countless small biological ships surged out from behind the three enormous vessels. Song Chen sensed them through his Star Core, but all he found was an endless red tide.
They skirted the front, enveloped both flanks, passed through the already-rent net of gunfire, and slammed into the city's outskirts.
The defenders' close-range guns were still firing, but their barrels glowed red-hot. Some turrets had even melted from continuous fire.
The allied warships charged desperately to intercept them, but the disparity in numbers was too great.
Song Chen saw a Rockiron heavy warship ram straight into the biological fleet, smashing through more than a dozen vessels before sheer numbers brought it to a halt. Biological tissue crawled across its hull, and it began disintegrating from within.
The gray-blue shield above the city finally gave out as well. Like a sheet of thin ice crushed under pressure, it slowly fell from overhead.
Energy fragments crashed into the streets and struck the metal buildings with deafening booms.
The outer defense line had been breached.
Song Chen stood at the edge of the observation platform, watching the dark-red canopy of sky descend.
He felt his breathing slow as the Star Core spun furiously inside him, his blood qi and mental power both pushed to their limits.
The Silver Radiance Battle Armor hugged his skin, cool and steady.
He held the Falling Star Blade in his hand, the city's flames reflected on its ink-black surface.
"So this is war in the universe..."
Everything before him told him that Blue Star was too small-too small to