"Open fire with our primary and secondary armaments! Teleport 5 antimatter bombs in its trajectory!"
The Dominion of Man responded so fast that it had to be automated. Many formidable primary cannons opened fire at the phoenix, only for half of the shots to miss due to the phoenix's elegant dance through space as if it was playing a game.
It took a huge amount of effort and processing by the Brain Trust to predict the creature's trajectory and to form optimal targeting solutions for each unique weapon system.
The fact that the Dominion of Man still managed to land half of her shots on a nimble target at this range was impressive.
Unfortunately, it was not enough!
The attacks that were on the verge of striking the fast and nimble phoenix encountered resistance in the form of a fire shield.
Energy beams disappeared into the fire without producing any noticeable results. Kinetic projectiles slowed down and burned into ash. Missiles only produce short-lasting disturbances. Plasma bolts only seemed to feed the flames!
Just because the phoenix was relatively small did not mean it was fragile!
"The phoenix has closed the distance and has begun to circle around our hull at a rapid pace."
"Our primary turrets are unable to track the phoenix. They are too slow. The god beast is circling around us with many variations in her flight pattern."
"Our secondary turrets are unable to track the phoenix as well most of the time. The only armaments that are effective under the circumstances are explosives."
"Teleport and detonate three antimatter bombs in her trajectory."
"Sir, the phoenix is circling too close to our hull! Our ship will get affected by the explosions."
"Then strengthen our azure energy shields and reinforce our hull as much as possible. We cannot allow this firebird to continue to circle so close."
The phoenix had yet to launch a proper attack, but its blazing heat was already starting to take a toll on the Dominion of Man.
More importantly, the proximity of the god beast also suppressed Caramond and Furia's domain!
Neither of the two True Gods possessed the raw strength to push back the phoenix's aura completely, so their only way out was to develop stronger techniques.
This was like the last two waves all over again, but now with a much greater disparity in strength!
The surrounding bridge officers suddenly had to address a lot of crises as the passive heat and flames generated by the phoenix already started to take a toll on the dreadnought.
Furia struggled to push back the phoenix's encouraging fire domain. This battle pretty much took place completely outside ordinary reality.
That was what made it difficult for Ves and the others to intervene.
While the Dominion of Man began to employ her firepower increasingly more intelligently by organizing her turrets better, many of the hits ended up inconveniencing the phoenix at beast.
The powerful creature's control was too strong. It had a much better command oer its own domain and greater runes.
The disparity started to get so bad that the azure energy shields themselves started to catch on fire!
"Furia! Have you gained any access to any greater runes?"
"NO. AS I HAVE INFORMED YOU, THAT KNOWLEDGE IS LOCKED OR MISSING. I FEAR THAT UNLOCKING IT WILL BE THE END OF MY PRESENT EXISTENCE. I DO NOT HAVE ANY GREATER RUNES AT MY DISPOSAL ASIDE FROM MY PERSONAL RUNE. I AM RELUCTANT TO USE THE LATTER BECAUSE I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN."
"This was really bad. While it was still possible for Furia to overcome greater runes with lesser runes, the demands were far too great this time!