CHAPTER 219: CHAPTER 219: THE HUNTER BECOMES THE HUNTED

The combined barrage hit the smoke cloud. Then, slowly, the Dragon arose. Its golden scales were charred, smoking, and deeply gouged. The wound on its shoulder was a gaping, festering hole, leaking golden ichor. One of its massive wings was torn, shredded at the membrane, dripping a thick, glowing substance into the void. It roared, a sound of pure, unadulterated rage and agony, a sound that spoke of ancient power brought low.

Mainu’s internal thoughts were a maelstrom of fury and disbelief. That crazy insect! That suicidal ship! My energy is running low from all that body enhancement and the absorption of that blast! If I hadn’t absorbed Terralia’s essence, I would’ve died from that blast! These bastards! They can actually hurt me! Its ancient pride was wounded, its invincibility shattered. It had been hurt by primitives, by mere insects.

I must regenerate my wounds and energy. Mainu knew it couldn’t fight in this state. Its psionic reserves were dangerously depleted. I have no time. I must land somewhere they can’t disturb me. Somewhere deep. Somewhere safe.

The Dragon then flew. Not a warp jump, but an instant, impossible burst of speed, leaving a golden afterimage. It disappeared in beams of light, a golden streak vanishing towards the inner system.

Admiral Yamada, seeing the Dragon flee, his initial triumph turning to renewed panic. "Comms officer! Inform Command! The target escaped! It’s heading towards the inner rims! Send to all ships: chase that goddamn lizard! Full pursuit! If that’s the only way to kill that damn lizard, we have a great opportunity! Do not let it land on a planet! Not on Earth!"

The remaining human fleet, battered but unbroken, turned. Their engines flared, pushing their ships to their absolute limits. The hunt was on. They had made a god bleed. Now, they had to finish the job.

At the Mars Command Center, the grim reality of the battle at the Oort Cloud played out on the main holographic display. Marshals, admirals, and generals from both UEDCC and TRC stood in stunned silence, their faces illuminated by the flickering images of ships being torn apart. Prime Minister Franz Müller, his usual composure strained, watched in horror as the USS Rising Sun detonated, a blinding blue star in the void. The Dragon, Mainu, was more powerful than they had anticipated, a force of nature that defied all conventional warfare. If it wasn’t for Captain Nagamoto’s incredible sacrifice, they wouldn’t have had any way to even scratch the creature, let alone understand its defenses.

The air was thick with the scent of burnt coffee and unspoken fear. An officer, face pale, rushed into the chamber. "Prime Minister! The Dragon has altered course! It’s heading towards Uranus! Estimated arrival in T-minus six minutes!"

A murmur rippled through the room. Uranus. A gas giant. A perfect place for a creature of that scale to hide, to regenerate.

Admiral Andreev, a grizzled UEDCC veteran known for his unconventional tactics, slammed a fist on the table. "We need to slow it down! Rig the asteroid belt with nuclear mines! Massive yield! If it tries to phase through, the sheer energy might overload its shield!"

Admiral Moore, a TRC strategist, countered, "Too slow, Andreev. And too indiscriminate. We need precision. Any ship produced by the TRC has a feature that can modify a torpedo warhead’s frequency to temporarily disrupt phase shields at a specific speed. Our engineers know of that feature. We can use that temporarily to fight off that lizard until we can develop and distribute a weapon specialized for phase shields. We’ll have to make do with what we have."

Marshall Feliciano Dela Cruz, his gaze fixed on the fleeing Dragon’s trajectory, nodded slowly. "Admiral Moore is correct. Our standard torpedoes, when modified by a skilled engineer, can briefly disrupt a phase shield, creating a window for kinetic impact. It’s a temporary measure, a desperate one, but it’s our best shot at maintaining pressure." He swiped a datapad, bringing up new schematics. "Prime Minister, I’ve just received data from the higher-ups. We can use the ANV fleets as disposable assets."

Prime Minister Müller raised an eyebrow. "ANV? You mean... use them as missiles?"

Feliciano nodded, his expression grim. "Precisely, Prime Minister. We have three hundred total ANV ships ready for deployment. Built with stealth technology, they can execute the same tactic Captain Nagamoto used. We can also use the ANVs for a vanguard assault, while all human fleets will take a distance, aiming toward the target. It’s a kamikaze tactic, yes, and I bet the Dragon is aware of it already after the Rising Sun’s surprise. But our ANVs are disposable fleets. We use their explosions on its shield to drain its energy. Each ANV is a mobile fusion reactor. A hundred of them detonating simultaneously on its shield... that will take a toll."

Prime Minister Müller leaned back, a weary sigh escaping him. We depended too much on the TRC already, he thought, the weight of his decision heavy on his shoulders. But I admit, we have no choice but to rely on them at this moment in time. He looked at the faces around the table—fear, grim determination, but no surrender. "That’s good, Marshall. Everyone, do what you can. Ensure that monster won’t reach our home and our people. This is a planetary defense. Every resource, every life, is on the line."

The admirals and generals acknowledged, their voices a unified chorus of resolve. The war room, once filled with horror, now hummed with a renewed, desperate purpose.

Meanwhile, Mainu streaked through the void, a golden comet heading straight for Uranus. The pain from the Rising Sun’s blast was a burning agony in its entire body and wing, a sensation it hadn’t felt in millennia. Its psionic shield, though regenerating, was still unstable, flickering. It needed power. Vast, raw power.

Uranus, a swirling orb of blue-green gas, beckoned. Mainu plunged into its turbulent atmosphere, ignoring the crushing pressures and freezing temperatures that would obliterate any human vessel. It descended, deeper and deeper, until it reached the planet’s mantle, a realm of unimaginable heat and wild, untamed energy. Here, it began to regenerate its wounds and replenish its depleted psionic reserves, absorbing the planet’s raw, untamed energy directly from its core.

Mainu smirked, a predatory satisfaction spreading through its vast consciousness. Hmmm... as expected. They can’t go through. These simple creatures can’t follow me into such depths. This world is a perfect, undisturbed wellspring of power. It felt the planet’s wild energy surge into its very being, knitting torn scales, mending shredded muscle, and rebuilding its psionic reserves.

Hours passed. The golden light emanating from within Uranus intensified, a faint glow visible even from the outer atmosphere. Mainu then began using its absorbed energy to replace the lost scales. Not with mere golden scales, but with crystalline diamond scales, harder, more brilliant, infused with pure condensed energy. Its body slowly transformed, a mosaic of golden scales and shimmering crystalline diamonds, covering its form in an almost impenetrable armor. Perfect. Let them try to scratch me now.

Then suddenly, a shot came. It missed by a few meters, a bright blue streak cutting through the dense atmosphere. It was that same, distinct energy signature that had first hit him, the FTL kinetic slug. Mainu’s golden eyes narrowed. It glanced towards the outer atmosphere. Several silver-colored ships, devoid of life and energy signatures, struggled through the upper layers of Uranus’s atmosphere. They were ANVs, Android Naval Vessels, automated drones, battered by the atmospheric pressure, but relentlessly firing on Mainu’s general location, guided by remote targeting.

Mainu sneered. Disposable insects. They learned a trick. It then used its mouth to fire a beam, a focused torrent of energy that incinerated the approaching vessels, turning them into expanding clouds of superheated gas. But in their sacrifice, they served their purpose.

Now, the UEDCC and TRC fleets, having traced the ANV’s final trajectory and Mainu’s energy signature, knew its exact location. From orbit, a concentrated barrage of warp cannons erupted. Dozens of massive energy blasts lanced through Uranus’s atmosphere, precisely aimed to avoid hitting the planet’s core, but converging on Mainu.

Mainu was hit. The newly formed crystalline scales on its chest instantly cracked, spiderwebbing with fractures. The impact sent a jolt of pain through its regenerated body. It sneered, a guttural sound of frustration. This is the problem with using crystals as scales. They are highly conductive against energy weapons, but are weak to kinetic. A tactical miscalculation. As it spoke, it materialized its psionic shield, the golden barrier shimmering into existence, deflecting the subsequent volley.

Mainu realized it had no choice. It couldn’t regenerate here if they kept finding him. He then had an idea. A smirk touched its vast maw. They’re not foolish enough if I held their planet and their people hostage. The thought of Earth, now brimming with amplified psionic energy, was too tempting. HAHAHAHAHA! I can absorb all of that ripe energy while they rack their insect brains on how to keep me off their planet and I’m not that far before I can absorb an entire star! A true cosmic feast!

As it then flew, leaving a trail of golden light, streaking like a comet heading for Earth. Its hunger was now laced with a desperate urgency, but also a renewed, terrifying glee. The planet was now even brimming with more energy than it had anticipated. It was lucky, this time around. The ultimate prize awaited.

The human fleet, watching from the Uranus orbit, saw the Dragon’s sudden, rapid departure from Uranus. Its trajectory was unmistakable: a direct line for Earth.

On the bridge of the Apocalypse, Admiral Lewis slammed his fist. "It’s heading for Earth! All pursuit units, full power! Do not lose visual!"

On the USS Da Vinci, Admiral Greenert’s voice was grim. "It’s faster than before! Its regeneration is complete, and it’s learned from our attacks! Track its energy patterns! Predict its movements! Channel all available power to warp cannons! We need hits!"

The flagships, Apocalypse and Da Vinci, along with the remaining battleships and cruisers, began tracking and predicting Mainu’s erratic energy patterns. Their massive warp cannons charged, glowing with lethal intent. Each ship pushed its engines to their breaking point, a desperate, high-stakes chase across the solar system.

Mainu, now streaking like a comet, was a golden blur against the blackness of space. Its ancient hunger, amplified by the energy of Uranus and the perceived ripeness of Earth, drove it forward.