Kael moved Dark Blade sideways and effortlessly dodged Lion’s claws before slashing at them!!

Slash!!

One of Lion’s law-infused tiger claws was severed clean off, causing him to roar in pain!! He quickly tried to retreat while firing a beam attack from his mouth.

Kael simply blinked away and reappeared behind Lion before slashing again!!

Ting!! Roarrr!!

A massive gash was carved across Lion’s back, forcing an even louder roar of agony from him. Desperate, Lion attempted another attack toward Kael—only to receive another slash head-on, this time losing his other paw!!

Kael then appeared directly in front of Lion face-to-face and spoke calmly—

"It’s time for you to walk away..."

The next instant, he slashed downward, aiming to decapitate Lion in a single strike!!

Seeing this, both Hawk and Bell shouted in horror—

"Nooo!! Stop this instant, human!!"

Hawk desperately struggled against the binding ropes, trying to break free, but instead suffered violent backlash from the artifact!!

Bell transformed into a streak of light and rushed toward Kael at full speed—but he was too slow...

To the despair of both Hawk and Bell, they watched as Kael effortlessly dispatched Lion—severing his head from his body before instantly stabbing into the alchemy mech core and destroying it completely.

Lion died then and there, with absolutely no possibility of resurrection...

For the alchemy mech core was not only the fused source connecting the being and mech together—it also housed the very soul of the fused being itself.

"NOOOOOOOO!! Wh-what have you done?!" Bell shouted in grief as he continued rushing toward the enemy who had just killed his longtime friend...

Kael, seeing this, merely let out a faint "heh" before disappearing from his place and appearing near Hawk, who was still desperately trying to break free from the bindings!!

Yet no matter what Hawk tried, everything failed without the slightest effect whatsoever.

Just then, Hawk felt a chilling gaze lock onto him.

"HAWK, WATCH OUT!! HE’S COMING FOR YOU!!" Bell’s urgent and terrified voice rang out.

Confused but instantly understanding the danger, Hawk turned toward his left—

And saw Kael standing there.

His face immediately lost all color.

Kael had no intention of wasting words or dialogue. He simply slashed downward!!

Hawk helplessly watched as the blade coated in destructive energy rushed toward his head. Under his unwilling gaze, the blade passed straight through him—

Slash!!

His vision instantly descended into darkness.

At first, he could still feel his strength remaining within him... but moments later even that quickly vanished, consumed completely by the endless darkness and the embrace of the void...

At that moment, countless memories passed through Hawk’s mind...

Filled with guilt... then happiness from having a family... then the endless greed that had eventually led to his downfall at the hands of the Association, forcing him into servitude. He remembered meeting his brother Lion there as well—and the bond they had formed together.

He remembered all of it...

Sighing for some things, feeling sadness for others, Hawk softly muttered—

"I’m coming to you, Brother Lion... Let the next life be more eventful..."

Kael, controlling his mech Dark Blade, pulled out his weapon before storing away the merged alchemy mech. Thinking for a moment, he figured he could hand it over to the mad scientists later—perhaps they could create some major upgrade for his flagship from it.

Then he turned to look at the final remaining opponent.

Bell had completely stopped moving. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He simply stood there blankly, staring at Kael...

Kael sighed.

"Well... looks like his spirit broke completely. And here I thought I could chat a bit more and even strike a cool pose at the end like in the novels... damn, missed it unfortunately..."

Talking casually, Kael moved.

And in the very next instant, he appeared directly behind the completely unprepared Bell and slashed down without hesitation—

Slash!!

Bell’s body was cleaved cleanly into two, his life ending instantly and completely.

"Well, you were easier to take down than the others. That’s why I left you for the end... and look, I wasn’t wrong," Kael muttered toward Bell’s split body.

Then he casually released a ball of flame.

The fire instantly consumed Bell’s remains entirely—erasing his existence altogether.

"Finally done with these pieces of crap!!" Huffing out a breath, Kael looked at the now empty space before turning toward the collapsing array...

Interested in it, he scanned it with his divine senses, wanting to take it back and study it to see if he could come up with something useful for himself. Who knew? Even if he couldn’t use it personally, he could still post it within the Tower of Knowledge and likely be rewarded for it...

Thinking that, he immediately got to work while at the same time passing on information about him taking care of the three Genesis Law Realm beings. He also told Crown to become bolder and move faster with the attack...

"If some losses are suffered, then that’s that... Anyway, at most it will cost equipment damage, which can be recovered. As for our pilots, you know it already—with the emergency teleportation systems installed, they can instantly return to their designated ships!!"

"So be bolder and finish this quickly. Otherwise, we’ll likely end up surrounded, and then there will be real losses," he told her.

Crown sighed before nodding with a serious expression, feeling reassured.

"I just wanted to confirm it with you, Kael..." she replied.

"After all, that is your place to make decisions, not mine," she added.

Kael nodded his head with a simple "hmm" before cutting off the communication.

"You all heard the commander!!" Crown said while looking toward her subordinates, all of whom nodded with serious expressions.

"Good. Then pass down my orders to the fleet. Start closing the gap!! Let the mech divisions charge into the Hegemony fleet lines along with support from the starfighter corps!!"

"Tell the Shadow Division that whatever they have already captured—or are currently in the process of capturing—are the only missions they are allowed to continue operating on. As for all other missions, they are to be halted immediately!!"

"Instead, begin the Destruction Protocol and covertly plant large amounts of timed antimatter bombs throughout the Hegemony fleet. Set the timers to exactly one and a half hours from now..."

"Deploy all World Build Realm experts separately to lead the mech and starfighter corps operations so as to minimize losses of our assets!!"

"Tell the ships that if their shields are down and their outer armor has suffered serious damage, they are to fall back, take cover, and not continue fighting recklessly!!"

"Yes, Commander!!" the officers shouted before rapidly passing down the orders with practiced efficiency.

Quickly, the orders reached the ears of every officer—and from there, every soldier!!

Excited to finally be given a free hand, they began massacring the Hegemony fleet forces without backing off or fearing the losses they previously would have worried about!!

Not because they feared injury or death, but because they feared their otherwise extremely expensive equipment being destroyed. If something like that happened too often within their fleet, it would become an embarrassing matter when compared with other fleets...

But now, knowing the mission was just that important—and that even if a few assets were destroyed, then so be it...

Above all, if High Command itself had no worries and had even given them freedom to fight however they wished... then what was there left to worry about anymore?

Very quickly, the already disadvantaged Hegemony fleet soldiers found themselves in an even more desperate and perilous situation as the ferocity of the 4th Battle Fleet suddenly increased by several folds!!

"Damn it!! What’s going on with these human madmen?! How have they suddenly become this furious?!" one pilot shouted after his mech was thrown away by his opponent and slammed directly into another allied mech!!

"Ughhh!!"

The impact sent shockwaves through both machines, injuring the pilots within.

"What is wrong with these people?! Why are they charging in so openly now?! Weren’t they hiding behind their shields and acting all cautious before?!" another pilot said in shock as he struggled against an opponent who had suddenly shifted from a reserved defensive style into an overwhelmingly aggressive assault.

And he wasn’t the only one...

Others felt the same as well.

The pressure on them, which had already been immense, had now increased several times over.

"Aahhhh damnit! Help! These human trash or drugs have broken through the Fourth Wing and are rushing towards our fleet!! Quickly bac—" before the person could even finish, his voice was cut off, followed by immediate silence...

The mech squadron of the Hegemony fleet near the Fourth Wing, the Third Wing, looked toward the Fourth Wing, and indeed a gaping hole had been created, with the central movable mechanical defense bases even destroyed and still erupting into flames...

"Fuck!" swore the commander of the Third Wing. "That jackass can’t even hold his line and ended up—damnit!!"

Before quickly calming down, he barked, "9th, 2nd, 12th Division, charge