Chapter 285: ch

“Charge your weapons. Target the Minotaur vanguard—and the vanguard only. Fire up your propulsion engines. Concentrate shield power to the front. We move in and crush this thing once and for all. Our target is to push straight toward the Minotaur main battleship and its escorts.”

His voice rose with mounting excitement.

“Now listen up. Ten seconds. In ten seconds, I want every damn ship in formation moving—together. When ready, fire at will. The countdown starts now. Let’s go. Let’s test the true power of these beauties this time! Hahaha!”

On the command bridge, several officers almost stumbled at the sound of his laughter. For a brief moment, some even imagined him as a devil with horns and dark wings, rubbing his hands in anticipation as if his deepest wish was about to be fulfilled. Sweat formed on more than a few brows, and the same unease spread throughout the vanguard.

But they were trained professionals. They quickly cast those thoughts aside and began issuing orders of their own.

“Charge the main batteries.””Lock targets—those ships.””Fire up propulsion engines.””We move in… eight seconds—no, seven—make it six—no, four!”

But they were trained professionals. They quickly cast those thoughts aside and began issuing orders of their own.

“Charge the main batteries.””Lock targets—those ships.””Fire up propulsion engines.””We move in… eight seconds—no, seven—make it six—no, four!”

And just like that, within ten seconds, nearly three thousand five hundred ships broke away from the main battle formation, surging forward toward the Minotaur fleet ahead.

At the same time, they unleashed a devastating variety of attacks. Main and secondary batteries fired in unison. Missile salvos streaked forward. Beams, kinetic rounds, and energy weapons tore through the darkness of space, hurling themselves toward the Minotaur frontline.

Many of the enemy ships were already damaged. Some were barely holding together.

Then the bombardment truly began.

A spectacular barrage lit up the void, expanding the horizon of destruction in every direction. Turbo-lasers tore through Minotaur shields—frigates, destroyers, even battlecruisers—before slamming into their hulls. Energy and kinetic strikes followed, bending metal under overwhelming force, cracking armor, and ripping into internal systems.

Moments later, missiles struck.

Ships exploded into countless fragments, and the Minotaurs inside never even had time to scream before their world went dark, as if consciousness itself had been erased.

The same scene played out across the Minotaur’s three-layer battle line. Countless ships were obliterated instantly, while others suffered catastrophic damage before being finished off by follow-up strikes. Untold numbers of Minotaur crew died inside their vessels, erased in waves of destruction.

The sudden, overwhelming assault drew the attention of every remaining Minotaur. Those arguing among themselves froze. Even those attempting to flee couldn’t ignore it.

They all shivered as they witnessed the slaughter begin.

It began once again, and this time the intensity was off the roof. In the blink of an eye, they had lost nearly—if not more than—two hundred ships, and the destruction was still continuing.

“Is this… is this the might of these foes of ours?” one Minotaur cried out over the comms, his voice heard by almost all of their forces—except those already laughing moments earlier on the forward line.

“Is this… is this the might of these foes of ours?” one Minotaur cried out over the comms, his voice heard by almost all of their forces—except those already laughing moments earlier on the forward line.

“Were they… were they playing with us before?” another added, swallowing hard.

Then a third voice cut in, filled with urgency and far greater fear. His voice trembled as he struggled to finish his words, barely managing to make himself understood.

“Lo—look… look at the left and right flanks of the enemy. Th-they’re moving as well!”

Upon hearing this, all the Minotaurs within the core and rear of their formation—including those aboard the battleship Taurus Prime, its seven guarding battleships, and the massive star fortress—turned their gazes toward the enemy’s left and right flanks.

What they saw made their blood run cold.

Thousands of ships were breaking away from the enemy’s original formation, surging toward them from both sides. As they advanced, entire lines of vessels began to glow with gathering energy. Then, in the next instant, countless torrents of energy beams and missile weapons were fired all at once.

The Minotaurs thought they understood the target. They believed those pitiful fools who had charged forward earlier—now reduced to fewer than a hundred ships—were the ones about to be finished off.

They were wrong. Very wrong.

In just a few seconds, their own left and right flanks lit up with violent explosions. Ship after ship burst apart like firecrackers, each second claiming more lives as multiple attacks struck simultaneously. Their shields were obliterated instantly, unable to mount any effective defense—unable even to delay the assault long enough to drain a fraction of the enemy’s energy.

In previous engagements, a few unlucky ships had been lost immediately, but most had survived with heavy damage and managed to fall back.

This time, there was no such mercy.

Their shields were torn apart like paper. Hulls forged from the finest Tier-Three and Tier-Two materials, reinforced with military-grade armor, bent inward under the sheer force of kinetic shells. In other places, the armor melted outright, allowing energy to pierce deep into the ship, killing countless crew in an instant.

Missiles followed after the Kinetic Energy wepons attacks.

They struck already-complete destryoed hulls and triggered catastrophic explosions, swallowing the few remaining survivors in blazing fire and intense heat at once. All who watched felt helpless and terrified. Once again, nearly two hundred ships—if not more—had fallen.

And this time, it happened in an instant. They hadn’t even been given the chance to react. They hadn’t known when they were targeted. They hadn’t known when they died.

These thoughts echoed through the minds of nearly every Minotaur—including Admiral Thorax himself.

He collapsed from his command seat as he stared at the display of light and destruction before him. He knew, with absolute certainty, that neither he nor the forces under his command could match this power.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep