Chapter 335: Ch

Just as it was about to continue, the AI stopped as if it had noticed something. “Something is wrong with one of the Minotaur star fortresses. I am now detecting an overflow of energy out there,” Dark Blade said immediately.

Kael reacted with genuine surprise. “What?”

“What is this stupid race doing now? Do they think they can take me down with their measly weapons? Heh!” Kael thought, recovering from his surprise very quickly. It mattered not what they tried to do. If they wanted to target him and attack him, he welcomed it—but he would also tell the Minotaurs not to have too much hope. Nothing they threw at him would get past Dark Blade’s shields, let alone do any physical harm.

This was Kael’s first thought after processing what Dark Blade had informed him about. After all, Kael knew he was the most obvious target. His own fleet had already left and was far away; only by removing him from their path could the Minotaurs have a chance to escape, right?

Well, he was wrong. Kael never in his dreams would have thought that the Minotaurs, foolish as they were, were still an intelligent race with common sense. As a beast race, they possessed great instincts when it came to making an escape.

They knew—partially because Mimosa was now in control and making others do as he wished—that they didn’t possess the ability to take him down. Nor could they slow him down, as trying to do so was only sabotaging their own efforts. Grand Admiral Agnaros had learned that firsthand—something Mimosa had realized while paying close attention when he finally arrived on the command bridge.

But even before then, Mimosa had already confirmed what he would be doing. Indeed, things proved that he could only go with the last chance he had.

Mimosa knew he had guessed one thing right: natural habitable planets were vital, and they were something the Void Humans definitely wanted to have. Call it whatever you want, this was definitely an invasion—a fact Mimosa had accepted after contemplating many things.

The sudden appearance of the Void Human fleet, and the few seconds they “wasted” when they clearly had a perfect chance to take advantage of their undetected arrival, told him everything. They hadn’t hesitated because of the presence of Tier 1 powers; their target was, and always had been, the Minotaurs.

Those few seconds of hesitation gave Mimosa a lot of room to contemplate and reach this conclusion. The other reason was how the human fleet allowed the Tier 1 powers to leave the star system. All along, their attacks never truly focused on the Tier 1 powers; even when they did attack, it was in small numbers—something that could be easily countered by the Tier 1 fleets’ own shields. This was something Mimosa knew the Void Humans were aware of.

Clearly, this also told him—and further cemented his thought—that the Void Humans had truly come to invade his clan.

The final clue was the event that had taken place in the Rigid star system; this was the nail in the coffin for Mimosa. Such a power—though clearly humans had inherited it, meaning it wasn’t their own power but a borrowed one—would definitely want to expand. After all, the Holy Region (or Soul Region) is only so big. Knowing that for millions of years there was no presence of mana there, high-grade alloys and resources would obviously be hard to find as of now (even if the complete opposite would happen in the future).

They definitely wanted to expand to secure those resources, and the most important resource would be those natural habitable planets. Mimosa knew the Void Humans didn’t possess the ability to terraform a planet, and even if they did, it generally takes a long time and isn’t an instantaneous process. What better way to expand than to conquer a race they see as their enemy—his own clan?

Mimosa knew there was a high chance that if he targeted those natural habitable planets, that weirdly powerful mech and the pilot within would have to prioritize: either the fleet or the planets.

Kael would have to choose one. If he chose to pursue the fleet, the humans would lose a great resource—one Mimosa knew they definitely needed. Mimosa could only hope the mech pilot wouldn’t take that path. If the pilot chose to save the habitable planet instead, it would give the Minotaurs the perfect window to escape. This was exactly what Mimosa hoped to achieve, and he prayed the human mech would take the bait.

Kael had no idea about the plan yet. But even if he had, he wouldn’t be surprised by what the Minotaurs were trying to achieve. What would surprise him, however, was how far someone would go just to save their own life.

Even then, his answer to such an attack would be the most obvious one. Yes, habitable planets were the key reason the Void Fleet was searching and in need. He would save the planet and let the Minotaurs leave. After all, taking care of them later would be easier—a trade-off he could easily accept. The opposite, however, was not something he could do; letting a planet be destroyed was not a worthy trade-off at all.

“Have you analyzed what this foolish race is trying to do now, Dark Blade?” Kael asked. He kept dodging the continuous attacks coming after him, dealing with a few space fighters and mechs in between as he moved toward his next major targets.

It was becoming a bit of a problem for him; though the Minotaurs were foolish, they were adapting to the battle situation. Well, at least someone with a bit of a brain is doing something, Kael thought as he again avoided another attack. The shot landed on a frigate, which was quickly destroyed by the friendly fire.

“Well, that wasn’t bad, huh?” Kael smirked, continuing his run. Then came Dark Blade’s reply—the one he had been waiting for. It had taken much longer than he expected.

“I made a big discovery, Kael, and I think you should now take things a bit more seriously.”

“Oh? Interested,” Kael said, wanting to know what had made Dark Blade so grave. “What is it that made you so serious? This is unlike you, Dark Blade.”

“What the Minotaurs are about to do has reached a point beyond even the realms of madness,” the AI replied. “That is what has made me serious. Something very important to us is about to be harmed… and we don’t have a way to remedy it.”

“It looks like our games have put us in a corner where we now have to decide whether to keep attacking the Minotaurs or to safeguard those things…”

“What are you talking about?” Kael had become serious at this point, but he was still a bit confused by Dark Blade’s vagueness. He wasn’t yet able to grasp what the AI was even referring to.

But he didn’t have to think hard for long. A flash of blinding white light erupted just in front of him—and it wasn’t far away. He saw a beam of concentrated energy launched from the “mouth” of the giant Minotaur space fortress. It wasn’t aimed at his fleet, nor was it aimed at him. It was heading toward a habitable planet nearby. His interface flashed, highlighting the trajectory of the attack.

Seeing that, Kael finally realized the point Dark Blade had made about being “put in a corner.”

“Damn those Minotaur bitches! What the hell are they doing?” Kael roared. “Attacking neither me nor my fleet, but their own planet? Where who knows how many billions of their own people live?”

Kael spoke with a sense of urgency, letting a few attacks hit him as he watched the beam of heavy, destructive energy racing toward the planet, unobstructed.

“Make a choice, and be quick, Master Kael, or you won’t have the last laugh—the Minotaurs will,” Dark Blade intruded. The AI forced Kael to look at the Minotaur fleet again; he saw a couple of them jumping into warp space, followed quickly by many others.

“Damn Minotaurs! How dare you be so bold as to run right in front of me!” Kael said furiously. But he didn’t make his move yet. With a sigh, he muttered, “You Minotaurs played a good game indeed. You played me well.” There was a look of resignation and helplessness on his face.

Time seemed to slow down around him as he moved through the lines of ships, destroying those in his way at lightning speed. He quickly intercepted the trajectory of the large destructive beam and positioned himself right in front of the planet.

Watching the attack coming at him while the Minotaur ships slowly disappeared into warp, he shook his head. “Really… I should have been more serious from the start.”

Reaching out into space with one arm, a massive, futuristic rifle manifested—nearly double the size of Dark Blade’s body.

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