Another movement created openings for the next coordinated follow-up attack, which nearby allies instantly exploited to carve deeper through the enemy lines!!

Among them stood one especially terrifying mech—

A heavily armed spider-type mech covered in massive weapon systems.

Perched atop a destroyed Hegemony destroyer ship, it planted its six mechanical legs directly into the broken hull and unleashed nonstop suppressive fire from:

Dual super railguns

Two mech-grade supercharged pulse and plasma cannons

Four additional support weapon systems

Every shot from its primary weapons tore through one Hegemony mech after another!!

Meanwhile, the secondary support weapons continuously weakened and destabilised enemy shields, creating openings that nearby allied mechs immediately exploited to break apart enemy formations and cut through the battlefield even further.

The Hegemony forces tried swarming from every blind spot they could find, but they were quickly detected by the 4th Fleet's targeting systems, which accounted for the entire battlefield and could register even the slightest movements within milliseconds…

Those forces were then rapidly taken down by back-mounted laser cannons that fired repeatedly, destroying them before they could even react!!

And as the battle continued unfolding, the Hegemony fleet began losing its numerical advantage faster than they were able to destroy human forces.

They slowly realized that while they were indeed now capable of dealing real damage to the human fleet…

It wasn't actually helping them at all.

Instead, they were steadily losing their foothold on the battlefield as their casualties continued mounting!!

"Commander Pact!! Our frontline has suffered catastrophic casualties!! The main line has been broken, and our efforts seem to be accomplishing nothing!! The human forces are charging straight at us!!" one officer shouted in terror.

Quickly, another officer cried out—

"The 4th Wing has been completely wiped out!! Our forces there have been annihilated!!"

"The 3rd and 2nd Wings have fallen as well, sire!!"

"The 5th Wing is about to collapse!! The mech commander there is requesting immediate support, Commander!!"

One devastating report after another arrived.

The smile on Pact's face instantly vanished.

Just moments earlier, he had been relishing the sight of his forces finally managing to inflict heavy damage upon the human fleet—destroying nearly a hundred human mechs, even at the cost of suffering twenty to thirty times more losses on his own side.

But to him, that hadn't mattered.

His logic had been simple:

If overwhelming numbers could achieve success… then he was willing to throw everything into the battle to obtain it.

But who knew… who knew that his happiness would be so short-lived?!

Before he could even fully realize it or react properly, the seemingly stable battle lines suddenly collapsed beneath the aggressive charge of the human fleet!!

"Fuck!!" Pact cursed violently before immediately shouting—

"Push the destroyers and frigates forward!! Provide support fire to the mech forces!!"

Hearing this, strange gleams appeared in the eyes of several officers. One of them even stepped forward and cautiously asked—

"Are we retreating, Commander…?"

Several question marks practically appeared over Pact's head as he looked toward the officer. But seeing the strange gleam within the man's eyes, he quickly understood and shook his head.

"What are you thinking? Why would we retreat when reinforcements are practically at our doorstep and we still have three Genesis Law Realm beings who can protect us from harm until those reinforcements arrive?!"

"With such an advantage, why would we retreat?" Pact asked while folding his arms and staring directly at the officer before him.

"Then why talk about retreating formations at all?" the same officer asked again, this time with visible confusion and even anger in his tone.

Pact naturally noticed the dissatisfaction hidden within his subordinate's voice, but he chose to ignore it and calmly explained—

"Because our lines there have already collapsed. With the human fleet advancing, leaving our forces there would be no different from sending them directly into a slaughterhouse. At that point, that battlefield sector has already become one."

"What's better instead is to pull them back and regroup with the rest of our fleet to form another defensive line capable of holding out for several more tens of minutes until reinforcements arrive."

Pact spoke calmly, as if everything were still under control.

"Oh…" the officer simply replied before returning to his station.

But Pact's eyes never left him. He had already memorised that face.

And deep inside, the officer was already awaiting the punishment he would receive later…

Assuming they survived this battle at all.

The others also returned to their stations and quickly passed down the retreat orders to the forces ahead while simultaneously repositioning their ships to form a new defensive line.

The formation consisted of frigates, destroyers, and the last remaining mechanical fortresses under the lead of the heavily damaged dreadnought Dawn, which hid behind four destroyers that shielded its bow, port, and starboard sections—all of which had already suffered severe damage.

Around it floated multiple additional destroyers and frigates trying desperately to maintain formation…

The mech forces of the 4th Battle Fleet, however, seeing the Hegemony fleet retreat and attempt to establish another defensive line, immediately took full advantage of the situation the moment the enemy exposed their backs!!

Beta Squad, together with Alpha Squad and the Shadow Division, suppressed the Hegemony forces attempting to cover the retreat.

Meanwhile, Gamma Squad directly charged toward the retreating enemy forces!!

At the same time, Crown herself, seeing the new defensive formation the Hegemony fleet was trying to establish, gave them absolutely no chance to stabilize.

She immediately began charging the fleet's main weapon systems while simultaneously ordering continuous suppressive bombardment across the battlefield, preventing the Hegemony fleet from achieving what they wanted…

"Commander!! The enemy is launching suppressive fire at every angle of the new defensive line!! We've already lost six frigates and three destroyers just like that!!"

"More ships are suffering severe shield damage as well!! Their shield integrity is rapidly collapsing, and they're being forced to retreat and take cover behind the battleships!!" one officer shouted urgently.

"Damnit…" Pact muttered while frowning deeply at the battlefield map before him.

He could also see that the retreat of his mech forces was not proceeding according to plan either.

Instead, they were suffering setback after setback continuously…

Seeing this, a painful headache surged through him, veins bulging across his forehead.

"Contact Elder Bell and the others!! Ask them when they plan to arrive and support us!! What are they waiting for—until there's nothing left?!"

"Yes, Commander." The officer responsible for contacting the three elders nodded before taking out a green jade-like communication artifact.

Closing his eyes, he poured mana into it, causing the jade to glow brightly.

But only a few seconds later, the officer opened his eyes again and frowned.

He had failed to reach Elder Bell.

Something Pact immediately noticed.

Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, the officer closed his eyes again and repeated the process—this time trying to contact another elder.

But once again, when he opened his eyes, there was no connection…

And a bad premonition began forming inside him.

Still, there was one elder left.

This time… it has to work…

Closing his eyes once more, he carefully guided his mana into the jade. The artifact glowed brighter than before—

And this time, the connection succeeded!!

The officer's face immediately lit up with relief, which also caused Pact to quietly sigh in relief as well after sensing something deeply wrong from the officer's earlier expressions…

But who could have expected what happened next?

As if struck by an invisible force, the officer was suddenly blasted backward!!

Blood burst from all seven orifices of his face as terror filled his eyes.

"H-How… how is this possible…?" he muttered weakly.

The next moment, he collapsed into a coma.

Pact, who had no time to react, stood stunned for a moment before immediately rushing toward the fallen officer and trying to shake him awake.

But there was no response at all.

Pact had no idea what had just happened…

Yet remembering the officer's final words, he suddenly felt a chilling darkness creeping around him.

Looking toward the slightly cracked special communication jade, he hesitated briefly before mustering the courage to pick it up himself and pour mana into it…

And soon—

He saw exactly what the officer had seen moments earlier.

Within the projection stood the human mech that the three elders had struggled so hard to suppress.

It stood there like a supreme being looking directly toward him.

And behind it…

Floated the severed and half-cut corpses of Hawk and Lion—their bodies lifeless in space.

Elder Bell's corpse drifted nearby as well, completely motionless…

"Ohh… another one?" the human mech spoke as if it had discovered his gaze, turning its blood-red eyes toward Pact curiously.

Those crimson eyes terrified Pact to no end…

"Hmmm? Aren't you the commander of this fleet?" the human mech continued calmly.

"Hmmm… quite a weak spirit you possess for a commander. Shaking beneath my gaze alone—and that too without me even releasing killing intent…"