Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 147: Last Ship Through

"Load the warheads, stat!"

I practically shouted, cold sweat already beading down my forehead. A few more seconds, and I had no doubt our ship would be reduced to thinly sliced or completely crushed scraps of metal.

Thankfully, the twenty ships equipped with the new warheads didn't break formation. They continued flying parallel to the urchin, maintaining lockstep with the enemy. There was no need for them to catch up—they were already in position.

As soon as I gave the command, all twenty began activating their payloads, locking them in and initiating launch protocols.

"All weapons loaded!"

As Eva gave the signal, I wasted no time.

"FIRE!"

In the very next moment, twenty glowing warheads launched from their ships, arcing toward the enemy like falling stars, splitting across both flanks of the monstrous creature.

It had already been confirmed—hitting the urchin anywhere would register the same effect, not just the hub. But with its absurd rotation speed, only the hub had a consistent chance of allowing a strike to land on its actual surface, not its spinning spikes.

The warheads followed unpredictable, spiraling paths—erratic, but all aiming for one destination.

*CRASH!*

But just a heartbeat before impact, a deafening boom rocked our vessel—followed by violent tremors. The cockpit flashed crimson with warnings as the hull display blinked erratically.

"We're hit!" Eva shouted.

"You don't need to say the obvious!"

The urchin's rotating spikes had finally caught up to us—grazing the stern and tearing through the rear-right bay like a blender through fabric. A massive breach opened up, systems destabilized, and we partially decelerated under the blow.

And it wasn't stopping. The creature was grinding against us, widening the damage with every passing moment.

In just a few seconds more, we'd be sliced apart like paper in a high-speed shredder!

But then—just as despair threatened to take hold—a brilliant flash of radiation lit up the monitors.

It was the light of salvation.

The warheads had made contact, striking the creature's body and embedding themselves deep into its hide. Each warhead had a titanium tip, sharpened and reinforced with a drill-like mechanism that spun rapidly upon impact. This allowed them to penetrate several dozen meters into the monster's armor-like skin.

Once lodged inside, the warheads deployed a spreader mechanism, burrowing laterally and dispersing randomly through the creature's tissues—before finally triggering their true payload.

Within seconds, the urchin's momentum faltered. Its spinning slowed. It almost came to a full stop.

The reason? In the middle of its body—or rather, across its grotesque surface—numerous singularities started to appear.

That's right.

The warheads weren't just reinforced titanium shells.

They each carried a secondary payload: micro-blackhole rounds, compact singularities designed for extreme internal destruction. They were activated by a timed fuse, triggered after the drills completed their burrowing sequence.

Each warhead held dozens of these singularities—multiplied by twenty of them, it made well past a hundred.

The micro-blackholes started forming simultaneously, expanding in bursts and swallowing everything nearby—muscle, needles, carapace, sinew, and armor. Flesh and structure alike were pulled in.

If we could hear the creature now, it would probably be shrieking in pure agony. Its body was being pierced and consumed from within, whole chunks vanishing into collapsing pits of darkness.

"Now! Everyone, head to the rift!"

Of course, this wasn't enough to kill it. The urchin's metaphorical HP bar probably barely ticked down. But the pain—the damage—was enough to break its guard, give us a narrow window to escape.

The other ships had already reached the rift, holding their ground and forming a defense line against incoming alien waves. A temporary bastion—a narrow safe zone we needed to reach before we could make a proper escape.

"Clear the aliens in our path! Slight friendly fire is permitted—as long as it doesn't result in casualties!"

It would've been impossible to clear a perfect lane for us without risking some stray shots.

This command gave our forces the green light to go all-in, without hesitating because of the collars strapped to their necks.

With the defense line's support and our own concentrated firepower, the path cleared rapidly. A clean gap opened—a direct line to the rift. All we needed to do now was surge through.

"Arthur, the creature's on us again!"

"Oh, Great...!"

The urchin, despite everything, had snapped out of its stunned daze far quicker than expected. Barely ten seconds had passed since the blackholes triggered, and it was already moving again—already accelerating to give chase.

Its speed returned almost instantly to initial levels—though not quite fully—and that meant we were just barely ahead for now.

"Shit! Main thruster output's dropped to 95%! And it's falling fast!" Eva cried, panic in her voice.

Her tone chilled me. I processed the implications immediately.

"Don't tell me...!"

The earlier hit—did the creature's rotating spines damage the main thruster? Were we leaking power?!

This was very bad.

With our maximum thrust power degrading, our speed would drop even further. At the moment, we were still ahead of the urchin. But the more we fire turrets and support the fleet, the slower we became—and the faster the enemy would catch up.

After suffering damage, the creature seemed utterly enraged. Furious. Its glowing red eyes locked onto us with sheer hatred, pulsing with lethal intent.

If it caught us now, we wouldn't survive. We'd be crushed in an instant.

"But there's no way we're dying out here!" I growled.

I shut down the turrets, rerouting every available watt of energy to the thrusters—maximizing propulsion.

Fortunately, we were in a void region of space now—no gas clouds, no debris fields, nothing to slow us down. Just the endless dark, and a few aliens ahead. If we could hold this speed—even slightly below the urchin's—we might just survive long enough.

We might just make it!

The twenty ships who attacked the urchin earlier moved to surround our ship, acting as our turrets instead. With their support, the path ahead was steadily cleared.

"C'mon…!"

I watched the smaller ships enter the rift ahead, one after another, ensuring everyone got out in time. The space was limited, after all—we couldn't all just squeeze through it simultaneously.

We were now about 30 seconds away from the rift, and the urchin was gaining on us—fast.

My heart pounded relentlessly, a mix of nerves and anticipation swirling inside me.

The warning sirens blared on. At this point, they were just irritating noise.

Twenty seconds left—the larger ships began retreating toward the rift. They had to; if they didn't move now, they'd be the ones to get skewered by the massive alien beast chasing after us.

It was the logical move—but at the same time, their retreat meant—

"Shit, more aliens!"

—we'd be left to clear our own path forward without support.

Only one ship lingered behind, firing steadily at the aliens and moving slowly, maintaining a thinning corridor for us. A vessel I recognized more than just a little.

{Hurry up, I can't hold on for long either...!}

"Nyssra…!"

Her ship, while of higher spec and had better armament compared to the rest of the pirate junkers, still wasn't designed to hold off an entire alien swarm solo. At best, she could last another five seconds.

But even those five seconds helped tremendously.

"Everyone, go ahead!" I ordered the remaining ships flying alongside us. "Move out, and escort Nyssra through safely too!"

I was genuinely grateful she was willing to risk her ship—her life—for us. But still, I'd rather she didn't. If something happened to her here... I didn't want to even think about the outcome.

"Uhm, hello, Mr. Arthur?" Eva piped up, clearly exasperated. "Aren't we the ones that need more help right now?!"

"I know!" I barked back, struggling to keep the ship stable as aliens slammed into our weakening shields. "But I've got a plan!"

With a swift wave of my hand, I redirected all automated turrets—turning them completely around.

"If firing forward slows us down, what would shooting backward do?!"

Without waiting for a reply, I pulled the trigger.

Lasers, ion blasts, everything we had—all fired in unison. The massive recoil from our turrets was no joke either, giving our ship a small but much-needed push forward.

Ten seconds away.

Then, disaster struck.

The beams made contact with the urchin, but its reflective powers bounced the attacks right back at us. The turrets exploded under the backlash, sending shockwaves through the ship.

"Shit!"

Our hull took roughly 20% more damage from the reflected blasts, crashing our shields. And with the shields gone, the smaller aliens began making direct contact—latching onto our ship's exposed body.

My pulse raced as we slowed further, unable to keep momentum while being dragged down.

"Just a bit more...!" Eva pleaded under her breath. freёnovelkiss.com

The urchin caught up, shredding through everything in its path. Its spinning spikes vaporized surrounding aliens in an instant. But those already attached—particularly the Kryllos Wretchers—stuck to the hull and clawed their way through, drilling madly.

Three seconds away. Each moment stretched endlessly, time slowing to a crawl.

Every heartbeat echoed like thunder in my ears. I watched helplessly as the urchin's rotating spikes reached us again, landing squarely on the same spot it hit earlier—visibly damaging the main thruster even more. It kept biting deeper, shredding its way in, inching closer—

"Hah!" I suddenly laughed, grinning wide. "So long, motherfuckers…!"

Before the urchin even managed to tear halfway through our stern, our ship's bow crossed the rift's threshold. The main thruster was completely busted by then, but the momentum we built was just enough.

We slipped into the rift—smoothly, without a tremor or jolt. It was a clean transition.

{FIRE!}

The moment we emerged on the other side, a voice cracked through the speakers.

Lasers surged toward us, and my heart seized. There was no time to maneuver—nowhere to run—

"…!"

But the worst didn't happen.

The blasts weren't meant for us.

They struck the aliens that followed behind, frying them mid-pursuit. A few weakened beams did graze us—but our reinforced hull held up. More importantly, the Wretchers stuck to the exterior were roasted clean off.

{Arthur, Eva, you both alright?!}

Nyssra's voice. The tension in her words melted the pressure I didn't realize I was still carrying.

The danger was finally gone.

I slumped into my chair, everything in my body aching and drained.

"Still alive…" I muttered, just barely.

For a moment, I truly believed we wouldn't make it out.