After a few minutes of hard thinking, he still didn't get any answers. Despite a quick scan, he saw nothing changing on the battlefield; everything remained the same as it was moments ago. Raj's Avenger was still on the Minotaur's forward left flank, taking down ships at the same pace. Damien's squadron was doing the same, though a bit slower.

Black Wing sighed, a sound of pure helplessness. "Sometimes, I really do wonder just how someone with this sort of brain can possess such a level of talent—and naturally, at that. It would be understandable if the talent was cultivated, like that of those few chosen from the Earth Lineage."

"I truly wonder what Imperial Commander Kallus sees in you, other than this stupidly high, nonsensical talent of yours. Calling you a walnut-head would be an insult to walnuts. Yes, thanks to your top-level talent, your comprehension is good—but only for that. Battle intent is something you excel at. Otherwise? Everything about you is dumb."

"Hey! Are you really calling me dumb and an idiot?" Damien asked his companion, furious and utterly embarrassed. To be so insulted—and with a straight face, no less—was unbearable. Even if there was a semblance of truth to it, which he wouldn't admit, it felt as false as could be.

"Of course. Who else would I be calling dumb? You missed an obvious opportunity that you yourself created. Now your rival, Raj, is taking advantage of it—and he's been doing so from the start!

What does that tell us? It tells us he's reading you like a book. And why can he read you so easily? Because you are dumb when it comes to these things! Yes, you are dumb by definition.

And please, don't call yourself an idiot. Just as it's an embarrassment for the walnut, it's the same for the term 'idiot'—you are definitely above them." Black Wing refuted with an even more direct and frontal attack.

Black Wing's words pierced Damien's heart like a sharp awrrow . He almost sputtered blood, truly feeling the attack—it wasn't the reply he was expecting, certainly not one so brutal and direct.

Clutching his heart as if suffering an injury from that sharp awrrow launched by Black Wing, Damien began to doubt if this was truly his mech spirit and not some treacherous stranger.

Had anyone ever treated him like this? Thinking of it, Damien sniffed, wiping away imaginary tears from his eyes. He looked as if he was in agonizing pain, betrayed by someone he trusted completely.

Any ordinary person seeing this would feel pity for Damien, despite not knowing the reason for his expression. He was usually good at acting, but this time, he was not faking the depth of his feelings.

"Damnit!" Damien finally muttered in frustration, a hint of sadness and helplessness in his voice. Despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to think of anything to counter

Black Wing's claims and clear his embarrassment. For a moment, he truly realized there was actually nothing wrong with what Black Wing had said upon thinking about it more deeply.

But that momentary lapse quickly passed. He destroyed such clouds of thought. He was a super genius, above everyone in his universe! How could he, a top talent, possibly be dumb or an idiot?

With that sudden realization, he branded Black Wing as either being jealous of him (though he couldn't imagine why his spirit would be jealous) or simply speaking rubbish to rub salt on his face and to hide its own embarrassment for having found something that Raj had hidden even from him.

After all, Black Wing's intelligence was something nurtured by him when he formed the spiritual bond; it was an extension of himself. How could he be dumb if it wasn't? Because of that, he liked the second reason more and more and felt this was likely what had happened, and the reason he was being roasted like this.

"You bird, shut up! Don't think I don't know what you're doing—just distracting me when you yourself don't have any idea what Raj just talked about," Damien snapped, pointing his finger at the manifestation of Black Wing that had appeared in the cockpit just a moment ago.

Black Wing looked back at him with a triumphant smile on its bird-like face.

But that smile vanished thanks to Damien's counter. "Dammit!" Black Wing cursed in its mind. "Wasn't I supposed to win and come out on top of my master this time, and use the distraction to analyze what Captain Raj meant, so I, a top-level weapon spirit, could have all the answers my clueless master wants?"

But somehow, Damien—his idiot master—had found the right answer. This was unexpected.

But Black Wing, possessing the same stubbornness it inherited from Damien, wouldn't allow itself to accept what Damien had said. After all, it was all speculation on Damien's part, just as it was on Black Wing's.

But Black Wing had been the first to twist the facts, and that gave it the advantage, even if Damien had guessed correctly. And it certainly wouldn't admit that Damien's guess was right, as Damien couldn't prove his claim.

But just as Black Wing was about to rebut Damien, it suddenly stopped. Its equipment detected an anomaly on its sensor.

The anomaly was not far from the Minotaur Clan's main battle line, near their primary battleship—a Dreadnought-class vessel surrounded by six smaller, less powerful Dreadnoughts. This secondary command flagship had a weaker energy signature than the Minotaur's massive Taurus-class main battleship.

The anomaly carried the signature of several stealth-class frigates and a dozen more corvettes. These were following the hidden squad of mechs, which were already halfway through the enemy main battle line and approaching the Minotaur's secondary flagship.

But the strange thing was that the other anomaly signature—clearly part of Captain Raj's team—was almost closer to the seven targets.

Black Wing was stunned for a moment. He quickly burst out after realizing what Raj had been hinting at. "Damn!"