Retreat

Seeing that Ailan was completely under control, Tolon's desire to retreat was temporarily extinguished, and he commanded everyone to launch a full-scale attack.

In an instant, all-out war officially broke out.

"All warships, prepare to charge! Targets: Kavin and Hoffman!"

A suppressed command voice boomed through the main fleet channel.

In an instant, the gun muzzles of the Federation warships lit up with a blinding purple light, and dozens of neutron cannons bombarded the space, turning it into a white incandescent light.

Kavin, standing in front of everyone, calmly raised his mechanical arm in the face of this situation.

But before he could even make a move, Hoffman chuckled again.

"Don't rush."

As he spoke, he waved his arm.

Ailan mimicked his movements again, immediately gripping the staff that had been detached from her hand and was now suspended in mid-air.

The next moment, the staff lit up with a blinding white light.

An invisible spatial fluctuation arose.

Just as the neutron cannon was about to strike them, they were suddenly severed from their bodies in mid-air.

Instead, several spatial portals lit up on the side, from which neutron cannons blasted towards the Quasi-Hegemon and the Federation Military District's own warships.

"Boom!"

An explosion was heard.

In just one round of fighting, the Federation fleet had already suffered heavy losses.

The higher the level of the battle, especially S-class and above, the less effective the warships become.

Extreme individual skill and unparalleled mobility.

The essence of combat is to return to the individual.

At this moment, Ailan was covered in sweat, his face was complicated, and he was showing his emotions less and less.

More often than not, he wore a strange smile, much like Hoffman's.

Taking advantage of the brief lull in the explosion, Tolon led several Quasi-Hegemon in a swarm of attacks.

The battlefield quickly split into two groups, one heading towards Kavin and the other towards Hoffman.

Countless self-destructing robots surged forward from Tolon's side, but unfortunately, these usually invincible tricks all failed against Kavin.

Both are mechanical professions, Kavin is equally proficient in most of the skills he possesses, even surpassing him in some aspects.

The wave of self-destructing robots had barely approached Kavin when it seemed to be blocked and interfered with, changing direction and heading towards Tolon.

The electromagnetic barrier that had subconsciously risen in front of him disappeared at the same moment.

"This... is impossible!"

Tolon's pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly retreated, muttering in disbelief.

Even though I had considered the possibility of a gap between myself and Kavin, this was a basic understanding I had before the recruitment mission began.

But after facing Kavin- on, especially after these few brief encounters, Tolon realized just how vast the gap was between them.

His mechanical skills were child's play compared to Kavin's!

It was either being deconstructed or blocked, and even the energy patterns of the mechanical armor on its body were currently somewhat disordered.

The stable energy shield system collapsed instantly after the blast waves from some of the self-destructing robots reached their destination.

As for the other two Quasi-Hegemon, they fared even worse. Before they could even exchange a single blow, they were already left barely alive by Kavin's blast.

Even in a 9-to-6 situation, the battle is still one-sided.

As expected, the battle between World-Ending Level and Overlord Tier is not even on the same level; it's a complete crushing defeat.

Tolon's expression was extremely grave; the battle had now completely slipped out of his control.

They planned to use their numerical advantage to rescue Ailan and then retreat.

Now, after this collision, the situation is completely different.

Their own vulnerability has been completely exposed, and whether they can retreat now depends entirely on the enemy's decision.

Just as Tolon was at his wit's end, a massive killing intent suddenly rose up behind him.

That pure and suffocating killing intent instantly swept across the entire battlefield, dispersing the oppressive aura of Kavin and Hoffman.

Everyone's expression froze, assuming that Kavin had received reinforcements again.

The already struggling crowd couldn't resist any longer, and faced with this third, increasingly powerful aura, despair inevitably welled up in their hearts.

However, when everyone actually looked back and used their senses to investigate, their expressions were extremely shocked, and the next moment they couldn't help but feel relieved.

A black-haired man was seen silently hovering behind Tolon.

He wore a standard Federation Military District combat uniform and held a black and silver patterned Shadowless Blade in his hand.

With his full power unleashed, he immediately pulled everyone into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, forcing them to confront the killing intent and death directly.

"Li... Lister?"

It was Tolon, who was closest to them, who spoke first, his face showing both confusion and surprise.

On the one hand, they couldn't believe in Lister's strength, but on the other hand, they were filled with new hope for today's unexpected battle.

Regardless, in terms of the extreme killing intent emanating from him at that moment, he himself was inferior.

"You and they all leave, don't get in the way!"

The voice was indifferent, and although it sounded polite, the actual attitude was intriguing, suggesting that he was not taken seriously.

At the moment, Tolon didn't care at all; strength determined everything.

They immediately communicated in a private channel, while simultaneously signaling for the others to retreat.

The next moment, Lister pressed down on him.

The surrounding area immediately turned cold and gloomy. With a horizontal slash, countless Saber Soul faintly roared along with the sword's edge.

The self-destructing robot in front of him was instantly annihilated by a single strike, not even having time to explode.

The blade's power remained undiminished as it struck directly at Kavin.

"Truth Barrier."

Kavin stretched out his left hand, and an invisible barrier rose in front of him.

The blade's edge collided with the barrier, but instead of the expected sound, it created a ripple effect, like water merging together.

The sharpness of the blade's edge gradually disappeared, and the extreme energy fluctuations also decreased continuously. Finally, as if melted away by the shield, the entire blade's edge vanished.

To everyone else, it seemed that Lister's attack had been blocked by Kavin.

The next moment, a gaping wound appeared out of nowhere on Kavin's chest, piercing through his armor and flesh.

Attack: Deals 0 damage, deals 0 defensive damage, deals -413998 true damage.

With a single, decisive strike, Lister remained calm, though inwardly he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

This was his first time fighting against Kavin, and even though they had a tacit understanding beforehand, they both held back in their attacks.

But battles don't lie; in a fight World-Ending Level forces, his blade couldn't stop them.

No matter how strong the damage reduction is, it cannot avoid being judged for true damage at the soul level.

At the same time, Tolon and the other Quasi-Hegemon couldn't help but show excitement.

Tolon, in particular, was beaming with joy, his expression one of delight!

He had heard of Lister before.

However, he was more focused on becoming the newest eighteenth-tier Quasi-Hegemon in the Galactic Federation over the past century, and his strength was not a major factor in his rise to power.

After all, he has only reached the eighteenth level, and he still has a long way to go before becoming a true Hegemon.

Although he was one of the important combat forces in this recruitment, the top combat forces he truly valued and recognized were himself and Ailan.

Who knew that once the battle began, they would discover that the seasoned Quasi-Hegemon Ailan was not only impulsive but also incredibly weak.

At least when facing another veteran Quasi-Hegemon, Hoffman, he was utterly crushed.

He himself truly realized that Kavin's strength, capable of single-handedly taking down the entire Ninth Central Army Fleet, was indeed ridiculously strong.

Just as one of the generals who came before him said, Kavin may have stepped into a new level of combat power, so everything should be done with utmost caution.

Now, I never expected that my side would also have such a genius with such combat power.

The fact that a single strike could injure Kavin so badly suggests the attacker is even stronger than Kavin.

After Lister truly joined the battle, the entire battlefield descended into complete chaos.

While Roland and a few others engaged the mechanical guards in battle, Tolon, along with several other Quasi-Hegemon, began to counter and interfere with Hoffman.

Lister and Kavin exchanged glances briefly, understanding each other without words, but their attacks grew increasingly aggressive.

An endless army of machines surged forth from in front of Kavin.

Both in terms of the number of emergences and the quality of individual emergences, they far surpass Tolon.

[Target: Kavin's Type B Mech (Blessed by the Truth Mechanic)]

[Level: LV130→LV160 (Blessed)]

[Overall Rating: B→A (Blessed State)]

Although it is not a mechanical life form, but simply a combat machine, its combat power is considerable.

Meanwhile, Kavin's Truth Mechanic is indeed quite impressive.

Not only can it directly elevate the combat power of these mechanical entities to a higher rank, but it can also improve their overall combat strength.

The entire star sea was quickly filled with these endless combat machines.

Lister's Shadowless Blade was slashing in all directions.

A silver-black arc of light, the blade wreathed in killing intent.

Almost every strike resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of combat machines.

However, compared to Kavin's summoning, Lister's elimination speed was far inferior.

This was also the first time Lister truly experienced how difficult a top-tier mechanical engineering class could be.

Their numbers are endless, making them a formidable force in the fight against necromancers.

At the same time, the necromancer can also overwhelm others by virtue of his Robust Soul.

But even after these machines are destroyed, they can be summoned endlessly.

It's no wonder that the two strongest systems in the late game are the Martial Arts system and the Mechanical system.

"Attacked: Attacked -1883 points, Resolute Heart... Dizziness and Stun have been disabled."

He was already surrounded by a torrent of machinery, and no matter how fast Lister attacked, he was still affected by some of the self-destructing attacks.

Seeing this, Lister dodged.

The spatial limitations imposed on Ailan on this battlefield were utterly useless to him.

With a single Flash, he was already close to Kavin.

Despite being a mechanical type, Kavin's close-combat skills are in no way inferior to his.

Lister's swordsmanship was fierce, each strike landing precisely on Kavin's Truth Barrier, while Kavin's body inevitably suffered wounds.

Kavin then launched a perfectly timed counterattack, unleashing an energy cannon from his mechanical arm that blasted Lister's side, shattering the entire space and giving Lister no chance to dodge.

The exchange between the two intensified rapidly.

To outsiders, every move they made was a fight where they both suffered heavy losses, trading their lives for each other.

Only the two of them knew that the current battle was just an act.

Although both sides' health points continued to decrease, their bodies were covered in wounds, and their auras were inevitably weakening, neither of them entered the second stage.

It just makes the battle more realistic.

Meanwhile, the battle on the other side was truly one-sided.

While controlling Ailan, Hoffman crushed several Quasi-Hegemon in battle.

All attacks were distorted by Ailan's spatial Twist.

One of the Quasi-Hegemon was caught off guard and almost suffered a devastating attack from Ailan.

Fortunately, Tolon rescued him in time, saving him from certain death.

At a certain point, when Ailan's face became completely numb and his breathing suddenly changed, the group slowed their attack.

Then, the wound on Hoffman's temple began to close.

The mental deconstruction was now complete; Ailan's gaze was vacant, as if he had become a new puppet.

They don't even need Hoffman to control them; they can launch an attack directly.

The situation was completely beyond saving, and Tolon's initial desire to rescue them was extinguished.

After much deliberation during the battle, he finally focused his gaze and made up his mind.

"All ships cover! Withdraw!"

At a command, A73, located at the farthest point, seemed to have been prepared in advance and immediately turned around and drove away.

The next instant, the surviving warships also changed course.

The several Quasi-Hegemon who were fighting the mechanical guards also stopped fighting and retreated together when they found an opportunity.

"Lister! Let's retreat!"

Tolon dared not approach the battle; it was far too fierce and intense. He could only shout from afar.

Seeing this, Lister calmly delivered a Knee Strike to Kavin.

Seeing Kavin being knocked away with a surprised expression, he finally Flash to retreat to Tolon's side.

With another swift and precise strike, he separated the battle between the soldiers and the mechanical lifeforms below, giving everyone a real chance to retreat before leaving with Tolon and the other two.

Of course, Tolon's senses and aura were still locked onto Kavin and Hoffman was not far away.

The two exchanged a glance, nodded silently, and then did not pursue the pursuer.

This relieved Tolon, who watched as all the soldiers boarded the ship before finally leaving.

The atmosphere inside the holographic conference room was extremely solemn.

All the officers looked grim, especially Tolon.

This sudden, all-out battle resulted in losses far exceeding his original operational expectations.

"Colonel Tolon, what's the next step?"

"Even Councilor Ailan is gone... do we still need to continue?"

"They let us go this time, but next time... I'm afraid they won't be able to next time, will they?"

Roland spoke at this moment, breaking the silence in the conference room.

This also tore away the fig leaf covering up the fact that everyone was fighting.

That's right!

In the end, this battle was less a retreat and more a matter of being spared.

At least that's what Tolon thought too; in his mind, it was more like Hoffman was considering their past relationship, which is why he let him off the hook this time.

If it were the next battle, this wouldn't happen again.

Only Lister knew that this battle had come too suddenly.

Seeing that the battle was over, Kavin and Hoffman did not continue the pursuit, purely to buy time.

In order to allow Kavin to teleport the Mechanical Civilization away.

Otherwise, if the entire army were wiped out and such a huge commotion were caused, the intensity of the next round of pursuit and punitive expedition would be different.

"Of course we must continue!"

"What is the price to pay for abandoning a conscription mission? Which unit here can afford it?"

Hearing Tolon's words, Lister glanced silently at Roland.

It was clear that the battle would continue, and the two needed to gather further information from Kavin.

"Continue!?"

"Colonel Tolon, have you come to terms with reality?"

"Failure of the mission, however severe, will only result in punishment, but if we launch another attack, everyone will die!"

"Even Senator Ailan is like this... how can we continue? With just Lister alone?"

"Colonel Lister, are you still willing to continue?"

Before Lister could even speak, the other captains couldn't sit still any longer and asked questions first.

Compared to the punishment for failing the mission, everyone was more concerned about their own lives.

Of course, after he said that, everyone else's attention turned to Lister.

After all, with the current battle underway, the true strength of these Quasi-Hegemon has been revealed.

Only Lister was capable of fighting the enemy.

The power dynamics of the entire fleet shifted imperceptibly from Tolon to Lister.