He almost made it through!
If his Cleansing Light could just strike at L'Koi's raiment and burn through the armor plating, the Lionheart would have been able to inflict real harm on the phase lord's body!
Even if the damage ended up fairly superficial, the symbolic value of such a strike could not be overstated.
It was a powerful sign that the expert mechs posed a fatal threat against the relatively young and inexperienced phase lord!
As long as the Tireless Engine and his son weren't stupid, the best and most logical decision they could make was to back off and allow the raiding human mechs to retreat without any further incident.
Yet all of that became moot because General Ark failed to inflict the decisive blow that could frighten the phase lords into giving way!
