I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! - Chapter 14 - Banfield Family Territorial Defense Part 9

Facing an enemy fleet of 120,000 ships, the Banfield Family’s fleet proceeds to calmly change its formation.

It quickly responds to the enemy fleet’s movement, as an elite fleet should.

From the bridge of Argos, I watch as our fleet moves about, listening to the voices of the officers around us.

“The enemies that have dispersed are beginning to assume a spherical formation.”

“It appears we’re facing a fleet with strong coordination.”

“They intend to surround us before launching an attack.”

We’re currently outnumbered four-to-one.

The pirate fleet that we’re up against gives off the impression of being pretty well-trained. It seems they really did receive military training.

“A four-fold difference? Sounds easy enough.”

I say my honest opinion, which earns me a stare from Eulisia, my adjutant.

Standing next to me, she looks upon me with exasperation. However, it seems she’s resigned herself to her fate.

“Something like this must be nothing to Lord Liam. After all, he’s always fought and won at a numerical disadvantage.”

“Don’t give me that attitude. I’m your employer.”

“I think the scolding can wait until we survive this battle. The ones before us are the Imperial Army’s elites.”

A fleet composed of former pirates that have received education and training comparable to that of military officers.

They’re equipped with the newest weapons as well.

They’ve also brought with them a small fragment of the Empire’s regular army, along with stores of mobile knights that make up the bulk of their forces.

This isn’t like the random pirates we faced in the past; the enemies aren’t lacking in either quantity or quality.

I guess what Eulisia wants to point out is that this battle won’t be like the pirate hunting expeditions that I enjoy going on.

“Doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, I’ll be the victor.”

“I wonder where his confidence stems from.”

A simplified version of the battlefield is being displayed on the monitor, showing information about our forces and the enemies, as well as our respective formations.

I start reminiscing about the past.

“-Brian, I’ve upheld my promise.”

“Pardon?”

Eulisia seems confused as to why I brought up our butler, so I tell her a story from the past.

“Do you know that I disarmed most of our forces when I first took over the territory?”

I thought she would, but to my surprise, Eulisia shakes her head.

“First time hearing about it.”

“–Well, I did. Our private army used to be of the lowest quality, only meant to show off and serve as deterrence. And since our budget was tight, we tried to secure some funds by reducing the size of our military. Brian objected to this plan, saying we’d be looked down upon if we reduce our army.”

Eulisia nods in agreement when she hears this.

“He’s got a point..”

“That’s why I promised Brian that one day, I’ll prepare a fleet that fully matches my status, even if that meant temporarily reducing the size of our military. Looking at the 30,000 ships in front of me, it feels like I’ve finally fulfilled my promise.”

I’m knee-deep in emotions.

Eulisia, however, doesn’t share this sentiment as she narrows her eyes.

“What, got a problem?”

“There’s a time and place for old stories. Lord Liam, you appear awfully relaxed.”

“That’s because I am.”

Putting her hand on her waist, Eulisia lets out a small sigh.

I swear, if she wasn’t my adjutant, I would’ve had her executed for lese-majeste.

◇

Cosmo, who had to face the Banfield Family’s fleet, was looking restlessly at the monitor with his arms crossed.

His face was crunched up as he stared at the simplified map of the battlefield.

The beauties that had been serving him until now had withdrawn, and only his beautiful lieutenant was by his side.

“Just my luck. We have to take back the supply base from Banfield of all people.”

He didn’t hide his displeasure at being forced to fight Liam, which puzzled his lieutenant.

“Aren’t our forces four times as great as theirs?”

“He has a history of overcoming minor numerical disadvantages. You’ve seen his records, right?”

Although he was a former space pirate, Cosmo wasn’t incompetent. If he was, he would’ve been filtered out, unable to withstand the Imperial Army’s training and education.

The fact that he was able to rise to the rank of general was proof of his competency.

He had drilled Liam’s information into his head, which was why he agreed to Hampson’s plan of avoiding Liam on the battlefield.

In fact, if the initial plan had been for him to attack Liam, he would’ve opted to flee instead.

Even if his evaluation went down, it would’ve been far better than dying.

Unconvinced, his lieutenant compared the size of their army with the Banfield Family’s.

“We are miles ahead both in terms of our numbers and our equipment.”

“If that was enough to win, Goaz and Berkeley wouldn’t have lost.”

“–What a trip down memory lane.”

“Their pirate groups were active ever since I was still a young man. Goaz may have been a pirate, but he was undoubtedly the leader of tens of thousands. He used to be my goal, someone I wished to surpass one day.”

He had mixed feelings about his former target being defeated by Liam so easily.

His lieutenant seemed troubled.

“Goaz aside, the Berkeley’s was a baronial household.”

Cosmo began talking about the Berkeley Family, which met its end at the hands of Liam.

“They may have been an aristocratic household, but their actual identity was that of space pirates. They had hundreds of thousands of ships at their disposal, but they were still destroyed by Liam. You see, when I was young, my dream was to become as big a household name as them.”

His lieutenant let out a small sigh, as if she had had enough of the old stories.

“Your Excellency has grown to be a splendid man, surpassing both Goaz and Berkeley.”

“–You’re right. Well, that’s all from me. Now, let’s quickly reclaim the supply base for His Highness and his useless followers.”

“Can’t we just run away?”

“Think with that brain of yours! Imagine what would happen if we ran away now. The subjugation force would suffer a terrible loss, and we’d be executed after being held accountable. –We have no choice but to advance.”

Determined, Cosmo put on his pirate hat and stretched his arm forward.

“We’ll surround the Banfield Family’s fleet before attacking from all sides! Don’t let your guard down just because we outnumber the enemies, or they’ll get you before you know it!”

Heeding his orders, the subjugation force began to move.

◇

The enemy fleet begins moving in an attempt to surround us.

Standing up from my seat, I issue orders to my subordinates.

“This seems interesting. I shall take command from here. Charge at their weakest link!”

We aren’t under any obligation to wait until we’re surrounded.

Hence, I order our men to target the weakest-looking group among the space pirates.

Receiving my command, the head officer hands out detailed orders.

“Yes, sir! All forces, take aim! Target, the space pirates!”

The staff members on board get to work communicating and giving instructions to the entire army.

Normally, the job of an aristocrat is to stay quiet in their seat, belittling the enemies while making sure not to interfere with the works of their commanding officers.

Soldiers hate it when aristocrats like me speak out.

But what can they do about it? This is my army, and I’m their employer.

“Slaughter those obnoxious space pirates.”

Our fleet begins to charge at the enemy fleet’s weakest link.

Shots are fired from long-range optical weapons, and as both sides are charging straight ahead, flashes appear all around us.

The energy field protecting Argos keeps emitting light, deflecting the shots fired at us.

The staff on the bridge hastily issue instructions to the rest of the crew.

“Bring the shield ships forward!”

“Prepare for medium-to-close range combat!”

“Have the mobile knight units on standby!”

The pirate ships approaching directly in front of us are on a head-on collision course with Argos.

Eulisia, despite seeing this coming, lets out a shriek.

“Hiiii!!”

“–Shred them to pieces.”

The enemies were probably expecting Argos to move aside at one point.

Seeing us advance undeterred, the enemies try to dodge by veering the bow of their ship to the right.

“Rookie mistake. You shouldn’t show your backs to your opponents.”

Argos pierces through the enemy ship’s hull, tearing it apart.

An explosion naturally occurs, but the energy field blocks it off, not affecting Argos at all.

This ship’s made purely of rare metals after all. Something like this will hardly leave a scratch.

Argos starts employing its optical weapons and aiming its cannons at the enemies.

A large lens appears from the deck, and the lasers emitted from it pierce the pirate ships around Argos.

The lasers effortlessly penetrate their energy fields, and the areas that are hit by them glow red before dissipating.

The attack results in a cacophony of explosions.

“Fragile, too fragile. Where did they find the nerve to stand before us with such fragile pieces of junk?”

The situation isn’t much different with the rest of the fleet.

Pirate ships are being shot down without putting up much of a resistance, and despite colliding head on, our fleet manages to pass through while maintaining our formation.

The pirates, on the other hand, crumble and scatter in all directions.

After breaking out of the encirclement, our fleet assumes an assault formation and sets its sights on the next target.

“Next, we’ll go for the regular army.”

◇

Cosmo jumped up from his seat as he watched the Banfield Family fight.

“Are they crazy? They charged the moment they saw a group of weaker opponents! They’re even more aggressive than the rumors say!”

Even though his allies had just been destroyed, Cosmo was busy laughing while covering his face with his right hand.

The Banfield Family’s fleet maintained its frightening momentum as it headed toward the army that Hampson had provided.

The regular army was in the midst of trying to set up a defensive formation in order to intercept the Banfield Family.

However, they had been caught off guard, and they were struggling to adapt to the sudden change.

Cosmo’s lieutenant felt irritated when she saw this.

“Useless scum.”

The pirates that were easily defeated by the Banfield Family sought help from Cosmo and his fleet, but he ignored their pleas and instructed his subordinates to change formation.

“The fleet that Hampson provided us won’t be of any use. We’ll attack our formation and attack the Banfield Family.”

New orders were issued one after another under Cosmo’s command.

Cosmo’s lieutenant, who had a rough understanding of her superior’s thought process, seemed impressed.

“So we’re going for a pincer attack. It’ll be effective with the regular fleet holding the line.”

A strategy to strike the Banfield Family from the back while they were busy fighting the regular army.

However, Cosmo shook his head.

“No, we’ll be attacking with the intent to bury both the Banfield Family and the regular army.”

“!?”

His lieutenant was shocked and dumbfounded by the plan, but Cosmo was experiencing a sense of crisis that he had never felt before in his life.

“I’ve tricked Death many times before, but this is my first time getting goosebumps like this. My third sense is telling me that they’re dangerous, real dangerous. We must be prepared to make sacrifices. If we don’t, we might find ourselves in hot water too.”

And the sacrifices just happened to be the regular fleet dispatched by Hampson.

His lieutenant was also a former space pirate, and she trusted her captain’s intuition.

“How unlucky of them.”

Cosmo laughed, seeing that his lieutenant was on board with the plan.

“They have no one but themselves to blame for being unlucky.”

The operator notified them of the Banfield Family entering fighting distance with the regular army.

“Both fleets are within fighting distance! –But the enemies aren’t stopping!”

Unable to respond in time, the regular army’s defense was easily penetrated by the Banfield Family’s fleet which had assumed a conical formation.

Cosmo brought his right hand forward.

“Now’s our chance! Send them all to hell along with our allies!”

—————————————————————————————————————-

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): “He kept his promise with his grampa! What a tear-jerking story.”

Brian (´；ω；｀): “As delighted as I am that Lord Liam hasn’t forgotten his promise with Brian–”

Brian (´・ω・｀): “I never asked him to increase his military force to this extent!”

Wakagi-chan (・∀・): “Volume 5 of ‘I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!’ is currently on sale, and the reviews are great! No idea what criteria we’re basing it off of, but who cares as long as it sells!”

Brain (；・`ω・´): “It really does have good reviews!”