Eldrak stared wide-eyed at the incoming missile. Since the senator already dodged, he was now the only one left in the missile's path.
The Zrathras' thoughts churned. What was going on? Lokorak fired a planet missile? Was he insane?
Eldrak quickly tried to figure out what his rival's plan was. He thought of multiple scenarios.
If he held the senator in place, the missile would heavily injure or kill the old man. But Eldrak wouldn't escape unscathed either while Lokorak could even argue that it was him who killed an overlord warrior.
But now the senator already dodged. Eldrak could simply evade the missile as well, letting if fly off into space. Since they were some distance away from the defense station Lokorak might still have enough time to readjust the missile's path, destroying the defense station and taking credit once again.
Eldrak thought about ordering Haroktok to fire their own planet missile. If they destroyed the defense station first, the elders might scold them for wasting resources but that was it. Planet missiles were already strategic resources, but they could still be used since Eldrak was only here because of the distress call.
Cursing Lokorak in his heart, more and more possible situations came to Eldrak's mind. His rage had never cooled down. He even had the urge to grab the missile and teleport it in front of Lokorak's mothership. But the sinister piece of sh*t might have even taken this possibility into account! F*ck!
In the end the genius Zrathras decided to choose an option that would at least align with the clan's interests. Although Lokorak would benefit as well.
Having sorted his thoughts in only a moment, Eldrak suppressed his emotions. His face turned solemn. He flexed his four remaining arms.
Suddenly a golden spectacle bloomed within his body as dense runic lines lit up. Even on his wings a few lines could be seen. Pushing his mind to its limits, boosting his mana control, Eldrak gathered a massive amount of mana around him.
Space shook. A dark portal slowly formed. Eldrak's wounds bled as his body was under immense pressure.
A good distance away within the battlefield. Vicious attacks were still exchanged between the station and Eldrak's mothership. The defense station hoped to repair their weapon systems while the ship was working hard to deplete their enemy's shield.
Meanwhile everyone observed the fight between Eldrak and Tuv. If a winner emerged among them, his enemies would be under great pressure.
Suddenly, however, both temporary commanders stared at their monitors in shock. An anomaly had appeared out of nowhere. As a black portal formed not far from the defense station, everyone's eyes bulged. The experienced veterans quickly understood what had happened.
Haroktok turned towards Eldrak with complicated emotions. The genius warrior was already so advanced in spatial magic. One had to understand that even Eldrak's short distance teleportation earlier was a lot more complicated than it looked. In order to do this, a warrior had to create a temporary spatial path.
Those paths were highly unstable. It was still alright if only oneself traveled on them, but if one brought a foreign object or person with them, the path might just implode. Especially if this foreign object contained a lot of energy… like a planet missile for example.
Even the senator stared at Eldrak like he was a madman. The old man took a second to break out of his stupor. With this delay the missile was already right before Eldrak. Tuv's heartbeat stocked for a second.
"NOOO!"
He shouted loudly, not even remembering that he was in space and could only transmission his voice with his mind.
In haste the senator formed a smaller spell. Three swords formed in the air, shooting towards Eldrak at unbelievable speeds.
The Zrathras warrior's body kept shaking. His mind was overdrawn. He produced an enormous spatial path as his eyes focused on the incoming missile.
The behemoth of a missile capable of destroying planets traveled comparatively slowly. It brought unprecedented, life-threatening danger for Eldrak. He felt like a normal human facing a prehistoric predator. His mind told him that he could only wait and die.
But Eldrak suppressed the sensation. He was focused on keeping the spatial path stable. He knew that the missile would be before him any second now. 3… 2… 1…
Under everyone's disbelieving eyes the planet missile suddenly vanished as soon as it touched the dark portal. Eldrak felt the path twisting and turning but he held on. Knowing that he wasn't in the condition to receive the senator's attack right now, Eldrak hastily entered the portal as well. The three swords narrowly missed him.
Even for the powerful warrior the sped within a spatial path was too fast to register anything. One moment Eldrak was still near Lokorak's mothership. The next moment he was already close to the defense station, staring at the planet missile's rare.
Eldrak couldn't stop a small grin from forming on his face. He had just achieved a great feat, which would surely raise his reputation. But for now he still had to make sure that he wouldn't die from his own actions.
While the spatial path abruptly faded away, Eldrak turned around, flying at his highest speed. He quickly had to increase the distance before…
Only two seconds later a scalding heat reached Eldrak's back. A massive shockwave pushed him away, letting him uncontrollably glide through space. His legs were mangled as his wings torn.
Everyone's shocked eyes focused on the space station. Sophia's stomach churned as she observed the enormous explosion. Haroktok watched the defense station falling apart bit by bit as dread spread to his mind. Lokorak's face didn't show any emotion.
Meanwhile the senator stared in shock and anger at their space station. With no shields and only a single ring left it was only a matter of time until the station was completely destroyed. From what he knew about the Zrathras every single human here would die.
A struggle spread through the old man's mind. If he fought on, he might be able to save a few people. But with two motherships here his own safety wasn't guaranteed. It only took a moment for Tuv to make up his mind.
While everyone was concentrating on the explosion, he silently took out a spaceship from his own storage. He took a deep look at the station and Eldrak before entering his ship and flying away.
Meanwhile none of the Zrathras paid much attention to the old man. The mothership began to bombard the defense station again, trying to distract it from Eldrak.
Pain spreading throughout his whole body, Eldrak dragged himself forward. His injured wings didn't allow him to fly at top speeds anymore. It took multiple minutes until he finally entered his mothership again.
Sophia mechanically turned her head as the door besides her opened. Eldrak slowly flew onto the bridge under everyone's gazes. His legs were destroyed, his skin burned, two arms missing, and his wings torn.
Blood dripped down onto the floor. But despite or rather because of his injuries he looked terrifyingly dangerous. He radiated the determination of someone who would fight to the death with everything he had.
Gasping slightly, Sophia lowered her head when Eldrak looked at her. Somehow, she didn't want him to see her pale face and shaking body.
Luckily the genius warrior didn't say anything as he focused on Haroktok.
"Report the situation."
"Sir, yes, sir. Our ship is basically undamaged. Our weapon and energy storage shrank by 30%.
The enemy station has lost their shields, and their structural integrity is at 20% at best. A few more attacks will fully destroy it.
Captain Lokorak arrived with his ship to reinforce us. They are in perfect condition to eradicate those humans in our way."
It was uncertain what Haroktok tried to achieve by reminding Eldrak of Lokorak. It only served to let the genius warrior's rage rise again as his eyes narrowed.
"Officer Haroktok, why wasn't I informed when another mothership appeared?"
Not losing his calm the officer answered:
"Sir, Lokorak didn't appear on our radar. I'm not sure why. I will investigate immediately."
Eldrak didn't buy this excuse, but he also couldn't tell what really happened. His eyes scanned the room, only looking into innocent faces.
"Haroktok, investigate! Meanwhile Talinak will take over your position!"
Slightly relieved despite his degradation, Haroktok stepped to the side. Keeping up his act he just wanted to grumble in displeasure when he suddenly felt a bone freezing cold creeping up his legs.
"What?! NO!"
Under everyone's shocked eyes the Zrathras officer could only let out a despairing shout before he was completely encased in ice. His horrified face could still be seen while Mouranek's voice drifted through the ship:
"For manipulating information, Haroktok will be sent to headquarters for punishment!"
While everyone drew a sharp breath upon hearing those words, which were the same as a death sentence, Eldrak punched out in anger.
"Bastard!"
Fortunately, he stopped right before his fist splintered Haroktok's face into a thousand pieces. He couldn't interfere in the elder's punishment.