Chapter 1024: Mutual Damage

After defeating Stralentcus, Reputation and Counterattack completely became free agents on the battlefield.

From time to time they fired a shot at Hermes, or otherwise at Tova, forcing the arbitrators, whose own few battles were already very tense, to have to divert attention to notice their offensives.

And this situation allowed more of the remnants to find an opportunity.

After all, compared to the few people of the arbitration agency combining together, it's equivalent to one plus one being far greater than two. And the remnants, these battlefield-experienced warriors combining together, are not simply one plus one equals two.

Moreover, in this situation, the remnants' numbers are clearly greater than the arbitration agency's, and they also have continuous support from the Qin Ge Fleet's artillery and carrier aircraft.

The fact that the arbitration agency can hold out and maintain a certain initiative under these circumstances already demonstrates their strong combat power and ability to intervene in the battlefield.

But no matter what battle, in the end there will be a result, whether victory or defeat, or ultimately a stalemate; the battle now taking place on the sea surface is no exception.

Just as Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were preparing to exploit Hermes's attack gap, imitating the previous way they bound her.

Unexpectedly, Hermes's body suddenly rose with blue ghostly flames, then exploded in an instant. As the ghostly flames exploded, they did not cause much damage to the remnants surrounding her, merely causing everyone's expressions to become dazed for a moment.

Hermes's ability is to use ghostly flames to create illusions, tugging at the deepest emotions in people's hearts. Initially, when in the sea area, it caused great disturbance to the fleet led by Bismarck and others.

This forced them to use training shells to fire on their comrades, using shock and pain to awaken the ships fallen into hallucination.

The remnants having fought Hermes many times naturally knew her ability well. Although they had taken precautions, however, under the bolstering of everyone present, the ghostly flames that Hermes erupted were still somewhat stronger than before, exceeding the remnants' expectations.

And just in that moment, several chief combat arbitrators exerted their power, broke free from the crowd's encirclement, and poured all their firepower onto the people dazed by the ghostly flames.

A huge explosion sound rang out in the sea area, and gorgeous fireworks almost completely illuminated the dark red sea surface.

And following the explosion, the remnants that became visible were each in a sorry state. Especially Gneisenau, whose ship equipment was already incomplete, was hit by shells without any defense, causing her ship equipment to break into two sections, leaving her completely unable to fight.

Others' conditions were also not good; Scharnhorst was covered in scorch marks, and a gun turret was completely destroyed. However, when they turned around the first moment, they did not tend to their own injuries, but instead turned back to continue attacking Hermes.

"Reputation, Counterattack, support Scharnhorst and them, cover Gneisenau's retreat from battle!" Enterprise coldly gave the order; even though she was usually calm and composed, her tone now had some fluctuation.

"Understood!" Reputation and Counterattack's speed was not slow at all; before Enterprise gave the order, they had already taken corresponding actions, quickly joining the few people's battlefield, shielding the wounded Gneisenau out of the battle.

On another side, Bismarck naturally also saw this scene, and she immediately gave the order.

"Ou Gen, Egir, you two go fetch Gneisenau out; all aircraft carriers and capital ships, provide fire suppression support!"

"Understood!"

Ou Gen Prince and Egir both responded, immediately sliding out from their position, swiftly gliding toward the direction Gneisenau retreated.

Although the handover process went smoothly, it was still unavoidable to be disturbed by the arbitrators' gunfire. However, these gunfires were all blocked by Ou Gen Prince and Egir raising their shields, although it took some effort, it did not cause much damage.

This is also why Bismarck sent them two; if it were others, lacking sufficient protective measures, the resulting damage and loss would be greater.

As Gneisenau was sent back to base, the Hearth Goddess who had long been waiting here hurriedly performed emergency treatment on her.

"How is she?" Bismarck and Gneisenau's relationship is still not bad, especially since earlier she joined the fleet for her sake, that initial impression was good, and after experiencing so many things afterward, Gneisenau etc. are her very strong aides.

"The damage is quite severe, even much worse than the damage Biyu suffered before. Now she can no longer continue fighting; as for whether she can continue fighting later, that's a big question mark." The Hearth Goddess frowned, but her subordinates' actions did not slow down at all.

"Do your best; if really impossible, even arranging a small team to escort her out of this sea area to the base for treatment." Bismarck said.

"It hasn't reached that emergency situation; given her current condition, her life can be saved; as for the specific treatment later, let's talk about it after the battle ends." The Hearth Goddess said.

"Hmm."

After a quick discussion, Bismarck refocused her attention on the battlefield; although Gneisenau's current situation made her somewhat worried, the immediate situation was even more critical.

Especially after experiencing the previous events, both sides seemed to have gone berserk; this already somewhat heated battle thus became even more brutal.

And this was especially clear to Qin Ge observing the battle from the sky; both sides had long since stopped treating this trial as a drill, but rather as a genuine fight to the death.

The ultimate goal is not to resolve hatred, but to exert one's full effort to complete one's own ultimate battle!

As the arbitrator Stralentcus and Gneisenau fell, the ensuing battle became even bloodier; almost a moment's inattention would result in someone being focused fire. Both the arbitrators' side and the remnants' side continually suffered new damage.

Whether it be the people on the field or Qin Ge as an observer, everyone broke into a cold sweat. This battle having progressed to this point is no longer something that schemes and tactics can decide victory or defeat.

This is a pure comparison of strength; if I am stronger than you and can seize opportunities better than you, then I can inflict casualties on you—this is the true portrayal of this battlefield!

As time passed, the arbitrators fell one after another, and the remnants also suffered massive damage, even including cases of sinking.

But the people on the battlefield basically had no time to worry about all that, because to seize the immediate victory they had to eliminate these interferences!

"What an exciting battle! Suddenly I feel that being in a high position is not necessarily a good thing; now wanting to find an opponent who can go all out is extremely difficult." Song Qingge's Akagi, looking down at the battlefield below, said leisurely.

"Alright, the battle will soon end; if you want an opponent, later I can take you to other dimensions."

"Hehe, thank you, my love."