He desperately wanted to dive deeper to discern how this was achieved, despite knowing he didn't have the time to spare.

But suddenly, his spiritual sense sent a warning that made a shiver run down his spine. He instantly diverted his focus toward the right flank and made a hasty announcement through the comms: "Pull back! Quick, pull back from there!"

But he was already too late.

He saw the mech raising its big right arm, which held a sword even bigger than the mech's entire body. Mana around it began to rage at an increasingly intense rate.

That raging mana began to be swallowed by the sword, and a faint glow began to appear around the blade's edge. This intensified with each passing millisecond until the entire sword was covered by a pure reddish-purple energy.

Every Minotaur, especially those in the right flank fleet, felt a common, sudden thought: "If the grim reaper carried a sword, it would look like this."

It was as if their consciousness was bound to the sword; they couldn't pull away, even though many were shivering aboard their own ships. They ignored the command to pull back their ships from the weapon's impending range.

But was escape that easy, now that the mech was so close?

These Minotaurs were held in such an unusual state of paralysis that they couldn't extract themselves, merely by looking at the now crimson-colored and glowing sword that had painted the dark space nearby with its hue.

In but two or three seconds at most, the crimson sword's glow reached its peak. It was now held just above the black mecha, still gripped with only one hand.

Within the mech, Damien looked ahead at the Minotaur fleet—more than a hundred ships and a few dozen fighters racing toward him.

"They're likely trying to disrupt his attack," he thought, a smirk forming on his face as he looked at a closing Minotaur space fighter.

He raised the mech's other hand from its side and opened the palm. He began channeling raw energy, which was instantly enhanced by the mech to another notch. This power, composed of pure blue ethereal mana, focused into a rapidly forming ball of light in his palm.

Damien then looked at the closest space fighter, his Divine Sense—once again strengthened by his mech and other high-tech equipment to a new level—locking onto the target.

Willing the attack, the blue sphere instantly transformed into a beam of light and raced toward the fighter jet, striking itin less than a millisecond.

The pilot, along with the fighter jet, hadn't even registered that they were locked onto, let alone struck. The moment the blue beam made contact, the fighter burst into flames without a hint of defense.

The Minotaur pilot within had no idea what happened until the very end. One moment he was desperately closing in on the enemy mecha, hoping to intercept it, halt its attack, or even destroy it—that was the plan he held.

Not this: turning into a ball of flame in an instant, with no idea what had transpired. Just like that, he was gone, and with him, his plan.

Damien targeted the other close space fighters; he wanted to eliminate them quickly so they wouldn't cause a hassle. After eliminating no fewer than six targets, he spoke to the now-dead Minotaur pilots. "Don't you worry. Your comrades will soon join you all."

With that, the energy on the mech's left hand began to wane and immediately rose up toward the sword, gripping the hilt just below the right hand.

Once again, the mana around the mecha flared up, this time with even greater intensity. Damien took one last look at the still-closing Minotaur fighter jets, paid them no more mind, and initiated the move he was preparing for: [Crimson Destruction Sword Series: First Move: Sword Wave].

As if on cue, a hundred swords, composed of the same crimson energy that enveloped the main blade, materialized and floated on the mech's back, poised like a Gatling gun waiting to be fired.

Gripped by both hands, the main sword—held just above the mech's right shoulder—swung downward. The swing caused the space to ripple like water, and a torrent of crimson sword energy flowed from the blade, surging toward the Minotaur's frontal right flank.

The sword energy raced through space at an astonishing speed, closing on the few ships in the front in a swift manner. Their shields rippled against the crimson torrent but collapsed before they could offer any resistance. The lead ship was swallowed whole by the sword energy, and the ship behind it instantly followed suit.

They tried to defend and even counter-attack the crimson sword energy, but they failed to achieve anything meaningful before they were all swallowed by the torrent, losing the light of life altogether.

A few ships, lucky enough not to be within range of the main attack, tried to make an escape and fall back on the main battle line of their forces. But they too were intercepted by the smaller, though equally deadly, sword projectiles—the same ones that floated behind the mecha.

Like the others, they lacked the time or ability to protect themselves. Their ship burst into a crimson blast, but then, like an implosion, all the blast energy suddenly reversed and disappeared as if it had never happened.

But it in fact had happened. This sudden implosion and energy collapse left nothing in its wake—not even a single scrap of wreckage was left. The space was as empty as it should be.

This was no exception. Across the entire battlefield—wherever the Minotaur Clan's right forward flank had been, wherever the crimson sword energy had passed through, or where the projectiles had struck—all ships and their wreckage were gone. They were completely and totally erased from the face of the galaxy.

"And there you have it," Damien said with a casual smile.

A voice immediately cut in over his comms: "Are you sick in your head, Damien? Why the hell are you talking to the dead, and what is this condoning I'm hearing in your voice, hmm?" a certain someone commented.

The smile on Damien's face only grew wider. He laughed and asked, "Oh, Black Wing, why am I hearing scorn in your voice, huh?"

"You are hearing right, Damien," Black Wing admitted. "After all, you're the one who is killing them, and now you're the one also condoning the dead? I mean, what the hell?" The sarcasm in its voice only grew.

"Haha," Damien laughed awkwardly. "Well, this is a trait I gained after having a bit of comprehension in the Law of Death."

"Whatever. You're just sick in the brain. Get yourself checked with the internal doctor soon. Better do it after this battle; I don't want to be affected by such a sick master, as well."

"Ugh," Damien coughed, hearing what his mecha said. "You are just unbelievable, Black Wing," he said, his mouth twitching.

"Whatever, go away! Don't ruin this moment of celebration for me, okay?" Damien smirked once again, then opened his comms to address his forty-plus subordinates.

"Charge toward the enemy mainline! They should be more than distracted right now. Activate your stealth equipment and proceed with caution. Don't get arrogant, and don't let yourselves be visible.

You're all getting deeper into enemy lines; it could turn dangerous if you aren't playing at the peak of your game. Get going now,"Damien commanded.

He had executed this entire sequence for a different motive entirely. Now that he had likely achieved what he wanted, and most likely all the Minotaurs still had their consciousnesses pulled into the realm of delusion, it was only right for him to utilize this moment to proceed with his mission.

"Yes, Captain!" came the unified reply of the forty-plus elite mech pilots.

He cut the comm, opened a new channel, and spoke with a smile and a hint of arrogance: "Well, well, well, Captain Raj, it looks like this time it's my win, don't you think?"

On the other side, the confident voice of Raj replied: "You really have gone all out this time, huh, Damien?"

"Huh? What 'all out'? That was the plan from the start! Why is it so hard to accept you've lost, and why are you trying to change the topic?" Damien retorted.

"Well, if that's what you believe, then do so," Raj quickly replied. He continued, "But thanks for the help, though. That was what I was waiting for! Hahaha."

Confused, Damien asked, "What in the hell are you talking about, Raj?"

"Quite clueless you are, Damien! Hahaha. Well, it's up to you to figure out. I have the advantage now to take over and out." With that, Raj cut the comm channel, leaving Damien stunned and speechless, and immediately doubtful of what Raj had told him.

Hey, Black Wing, got any idea what nonsense he just talked about and then cut out? If you do, tell me, please. This is quite confusing," Damien asked.