The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Chapter 79: Lethal Action

Chapter 79: Lethal Action

Nothing happened immediately after the second pulse, which I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. 

The area above the second segment was a messy warzone. There were ships firing haphazardly, others holding fire until they figured out who to shoot, and there were a few who were in close combat with each other.

The barrier above the second segment could allow ships to fly through it, but after the first ship flew down, the people in control strengthened the barrier, and now nothing was flying into the second segment’s space.

Mechs with large rifles were taking pot shots, and ships exploding were creating fireworks in the above space.

I could tell the barrier around the first segment had also strengthened, and no new ships had entered it yet. On the ground of the second segment, panic of course ensued. People were running about, but thankfully most were headed inside into reinforced areas under the surface.

Espr, be honest, do you know anything about what that pulse was?

(" I could’ve been a skill, an item, a monster, a yawn ”)

If you don’t want to, you know you can just say that.

(" Correct. You are so smart ”)

Ah, thanks.

With no information gained, I couldn’t do much about figuring out what the pulse was. I wasn’t going to run around like a headless chicken searching for something when a more important goal was right in front of me.

Killing the invaders.

It was why I was here after all.

The only reason I came to Jellannax was to stab and burn Dominous Hood goons and help rip their plan apart. Though I was certainly less motivated compared to the two previous times, of course, it would still be an enjoyable endeavour to destroy any Dominous Hood pest I came across. The fact that ‘my side’ contained competent combat forces meant I personally didn’t need to involve myself too much, My family not being in potential danger was also a great difference, as it meant I could enjoy the process much more.

(" Are you certain you don’t want to try and capture anyone? ”)

One hundred percent.

There was a very high chance that multiple very important Dominous Hood members had shown up for this mission, and so capturing at least some of them meant there was a chance someone could learn about their operations and, more importantly, where their base was.

But I wasn’t going to try doing that, my skill set was very much about simply murdering my foes. If I was next to someone who did want to capture them and the Dominous Hood person was still alive, sure, I would allow them to take the person, but I wasn’t going to go on my own to try and make that happen.

Time to move.

I jumped off the building and made my way to the closest docks. There was no fighting or suspicious behaviour in the second segment, so I might as well join in the space fight and hopefully hitch a ride to the first segment.

The closest docks was the eastern dock, the third dock, which, similar to all docks, contained a large number of ships that should be ready to fly.

On the way to the docks, I noticed something strange.

Another crashed ship?

I only noticed one ship falling past the barrier, so seeing another crashed ship was curious. It was clearly one of the invader ships, but there was no one around it this time. 

I used [Star Mapping] for a second picture of the surrounding area. Afterwards, I found another two individuals in the white camouflage armour, but idiotically, they didn’t have them turned on.

The two guys were standing on a small, heightened platform above a few shops. From where I was, it was east diagonally downwards from me.

After a few jumps, I said hello, “Good morning.” 

I dove from above and stabbed both in the back, pushing both to the ground in the process. They squirmed a little bit, but I raised my arms up and stabbed them again to finish the job.

More weak armour.

These people were certainly not from Dominous Hood. Camouflage did tend to be weaker than reinforced armour, but when comparing standard, average-quality armour, specialised camouflage wasn’t really weaker. There was an exception at the extreme end of stealth equipment, but at that point, they weren’t even considered armour anymore.

It wasn’t much further to the docks and I could see security starting to move nearby so I kept moving. 

(" What’s your plan? ”)

For?

(" Fighting obviously ”)

That wasn’t obvious.

(" I know ”)

Sigh, just go to the docks and shoot? If there are people who haven’t taken off yet, I will ask them for a lift. And if I don’t seem suspicious, they will allow me on; otherwise, I guess I will fly up.

After I answered Espoiramissa's question, I jumped to the ground and made my way to the entrance of the docks.

As I was about to enter the docks, I paused, not expecting the shape of the entrance.

Wait… how am I here?

(" Something strange? You were headed to the docks after all ”)

Quiet, you know I was headed for the third dock, but this is the entrance to the fourth?! 

(" Wow, your sense of direction is that bad? How did I never notice? ”)

Before I said anything back, my eyes were drawn to a woman in plain clothing rushing into the docks. There was nothing strange about her movement, and there was a bunker in that direction, but something external was telling me something was wrong with that woman.

I fired a wave of soul pressure at the person.

Instead of recoiling in fear or fainting, a dangerous glint flashed in her eyes and a thin longsword appeared in one hand and a gun in the other. 

This reaction was only enough to tell the person had a storage skill and was at a decent level, but I knew what this person was somehow.

There was also no one else around so I made my move.

I attacked from her blind spot, but moments before contact, she managed to turn around and counter.

She blocked my right blade with her sword and caught my left hand. However, the starlight blade left some scratches on her hand.

Good senses and definitely tougher.

(" No hellos this time? ”)

Espr decided to continue their commentary.

Yeah, no quips, but–

“Hi, Hoody.” A check for confirmation.

The woman’s eyes widened for a second and black armour started to appear in segments around her limbs. 

While it was still forming she pulled the sword back and let go of me with a small push, slid back, and then swung down hard from the same angle, a bright red glow covering the speedy motion.

My left blade morphed into a gauntlet and I caught the blade that swung at me but she fired her pistol at me now that I was the one holding onto her.

I jumped to the side to dodge the bullets, still holding the sword hoping to twist it out of her hand but the glowing blue blade slid out of my grasp as if my grip did nothing to hold the blade. 

With that not working, I punched the woman in the face with my other hand. Using [Burst] on my elbow to fire the quick jab and make a second fist on Starlight in the process.

No armour was covering her centre yet but it did start to form.

I rapidly summoned a small thin arrow of Starlight in front of me and launched it at the person’s heart. 

One down.

A small bloody hole was left from the Starlight arrow as the rest of the armour stopped being summoned. 

(" Post battle interview here, how was it? ”)

A couple of strong skills, but weaker than I thought.

(" A pretty middling Dominous Hood member ”)

So they were indeed one.

(" You weren’t sure? ”)

You know exactly what I was feeling.

It was a combination of confusion but after the first exchange and my hello, then I knew. My first attack wasn’t a killing blow so I wouldn’t make a mistake but she decided to not hide her alignment.

I walked into the docks while debating what happened.

Was it because of the pulse? Who caused it? Dominous Hood? No, they can’t be… One of Craftalot’s items? None of the ones who showed off did anything like that, but there were likely a few more. They didn’t announce that the last one shown was the last item and there is a chance Craftalot provided a defensive item…

(" Debating the answer isn’t going to get you anywhere ”)

Maybe, but you could just tell me because you definitely know.

(" True ”)

Thanks so much.

I entered the dock ignoring all the security equipment and looked around to see mechs aimed at the sky and ships ready for take off. The barrier was opened over the docks allowing people here to move out.

After my first step into the area I was welcomed by a, “WHO ARE YOU!” 

“Hello, nice to meet you too, I’m here to blow up some invaders. Shall we help create more fireworks?”

The man was confused about my casual reply back. I didn’t care though, once this was done, it would finally be time to return home. I spent enough time worrying my family.