"Well, you do have a way with words, especially when it comes to toying with people's beliefs." Benedict quickly responded. "You may as well give it a try, Ves. It would be best if you can negotiate a deal with the enemy, but that is unlikely to succeed. Therefore, try to unbalance the phase lord as much as possible. The more irrational he becomes, the more he is prone to making a mistake."
"Okay."
Ves transmitted his response on the same open channels utilized by his adversary.
"This is Patriarch Ves Larkinson, Journeyman Mech Designer and leader of the Larkinson Clan." Ves spoke in his official tone though he doubted that the powerful nunser could appreciate this nuance. "I am the human you are referring to. The 'phase whale' that you are witnessing is our friend and ally. Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Trampler?"
The phase lord had resumed his struggle by now as he wasn't stupid enough to suspend hostilities while he was in the middle of the battlefield.
The powerful alien no longer bothered to chase after the fleeing Minerva. Compared to taking down the command mech, the nunser much preferred to confront the Amaranto, as it was the only expert mech that had managed to breach his defenses!
That wasn't the only reason why the phase lord wanted to chase after the Amaranto.
The angry alien strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with another translated message!
[BLASPHEMER! YOU INVADERS HAVE GONE TOO FAR NOW. IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU TO TAKE OUR STARS. CAPTURING A GOD AND ENSLAVING HIM FOR YOUR OWN PURPOSES IS ONE OF THE MOST UNFORGIVABLE CRIMES YOU CAN COMMIT! I SHALL NOT PERMIT THIS GRIEVOUS ERROR AND CORRECT THIS TRAGEDY. GODS MUST NEVER SUBMIT TO HUMANS! THIS GALAXY IS NOT YOUR HOME!]
Ves blinked when he heard the reason why the phase lord became so aggressive all of a sudden.
"Did you enslave a phase whale, Ves?"
"No! This is a misunderstanding!" Ves defended himself. "The Phase King is not an enslaved phase whale! He's not really a member of this species to begin with. I have formed a mutually beneficial agreement with the design spirit. If he wasn't willing to cooperate with us, then he would have never empowered the Instrument of Doom."
Sure, the Larkinsons originally killed him to begin with, but the Phase King eventually got over it. The design spirit enjoyed his new life a lot better now that he became exposed to the wider cosmos. He also occupied himself by building his own private kingdom in his own corner in the imaginary realm.
In short, Ves did not coerce the Phase King into using his powers to the benefit of the Larkinson Clan.
Such deals tended to be rather suboptimal to Ves as the collaborator rarely did his best under these circumstances.
It was too bad that the phase lord didn't see it that way. In the powerful nunser's mindset, no phase whale willingly lent his power to the destructive human invaders that were in the process of devouring their home galaxy. This was such an inconceivable idea that the only viable explanation was that the evil humans were exploiting an unwilling phase whale!
[FREE OUR GOD!]
The Amaranto fired another fully-charged shot as a response!
This time, the phase lord made sure to turn his body around so that the incoming shot did not target the same damaged section of his suit of armor.
It was a pity that the Instrument of Doom did not contain any Opticonium. This was the resonating exotic that was responsible for allowing the Instrument of Vengeance to bend its energy beams.
Even so, the second ultra-penetrating shot managed to punch through the phase lord's spatial barrier a bit better. The phase lord's armor incurred significantly greater damage this time. Parts of the alien powerhouse's body had become exposed!
"Damn it, he's rearing up again!"
The phase lord performed this classic movement again, but nobody blindly assumed that he was about to unleash an omnidirectional spatial shockwave.
Ves closely observed the sensor readings and saw that the phase lord did not repeat his previous techniques.
"Careful! The phase lord is attempting to pull off another technique this time."
"What is he doing, sir?!"
"I don't know, but we'll find out in the coming seconds!"
Once the phase lord accumulated enough energy, the nunser's armored forehoofs struck the space in front, producing a terrifying spatial fissure that rapidly cracked forward as if it was creating a tear in the fabric of space!
It turned out that the phase lord did possessed a means to attack at range because the spatial fissure followed an irregular path that led straight towards the Amaranto!
Venerable Stark aborted her next attack attempt and tried to push the Amaranto away from the path of the growing fissure, but the unusual attack method continued to track towards the retreating expert mech!