n

n

nWallace ran as fast as he could and was about to take Yumi inside the spaceship but he suddenly felt an impending danger. He immediately ceased his step and an attack from above blocked his path.

nJust a little three meters were left. One leap was more than enough to reach his spaceship but the attack came so fast that he had to jump back instead to avoid crashing on those things that blocked his path. The attacks weren't from Magic Spells but came from ten large and sharp blades that came from above.

nHis Magic Jammer would be useless against these physical objects. Wallace looked above and sure enough, he met a familiar person looking down on him again.

n

"Good thing that I arrived on time. I won't let you escape this time.

"

nThe voice coming from above was having a good feeling after being successful in stopping the armored Wallace from stepping inside the black spaceship again. The four Adepts were even more glad at this.

nWallace just understood why could someone just suddenly follow his movements and even used several sharp blades to block his path. The man seems to have prepared for this event and learned how to act.

n'Tsk, you deserve to be the head of this place.' Wallace thought and felt disappointed at this man's fast reaction. He no longer bothered at the two Lucent Force he was dealing with and came here as soon as he came out of the spaceship.

nAlthough Chalice doesn't look to be in his peak condition, his face revealed his excitement and confidence upon seeing Wallace.

n

"I know you have something that could block Mana Spells. I prepared this just for you.

"

nChalice chuckled upon seeing Wallace stunned at his appearance. Though he couldn't see his face, he believed that Wallace was panicking and now within his grasp. He was floating just above Wallace and holding a short sword that was leaking a red aura as if this sword was soaked in boiling lava. That's a high-level Mana Artifact but Wallace had to know his priorities.

nHe glanced at the ten sharp blades in front of him and used his Divine Sense to immediately scan them.

n'So that's why it felt so dangerous. Those blades and handles contain a well-hidden magnetism, rust solutions... it was even coated by special thermites and some highly enhanced auxiliary Mana Spells. It can erode this armor once gotten closer. Well, they've been trying to erode that bio-armor, so they were prepared in their materials.' Wallace took note of the characteristics of the blades.

n'Hmph... If you want to sabotage my current armor and stop me, you have to do better than that.'

nWallace did not hesitate to put his attention on his Fervor Timepiece but as he about to completely send his Mana to activate the timepiece he noticed that Yumi was groaning and was about to wake up, he was reminded and a bit worried if her body would be affected after he activated his Physical Burst and run through the entrance.

n'Tsk, she should be fine. After all, she's still an Adept.' Wallace finally thought and decided to go all out.

nBut he was interrupted again by a heavy pressure that came down to his body. Even if he was prepared at this kind of Mana Pressure he really couldn't do much about it. After all, there's still a limitation on what his Magic Jammer could bear.

nWallace realized that it felt different from before where he knelt for the first time upon experiencing this with Chalice's power. It seems to be bearable at the moment but it is maybe due to Chalice being injured as well.

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"What do you want?

"

nWallace asked to buy some time and to also gather information.

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"Where do did you come from? What's this aircraft? Are you from the northern continent?

"

nChalice asked as he descended in front of the spaceship and blocked Wallace. The four Adepts positioned themselves in a way where they could easily act but not to be in the way of Chalice's attack range.

n

"Heh. Why would you like to know?

" Wallace asked teasing Chalice.

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"Just answer my question.

" Chalice replied as he tried not to be impatient.

n

"Well, it's a long story. Would you like to listen?

"

n

"Hmph... I'll just capture you and we'll have a longer time chat.

" He was done talking with Wallace as he released his domain magic.

nBut Wallace seems to be prepared as he threw his remaining bomb at the ten sharp blades blocking his way. The bomb had a different effect where instead of a destructive force coming out of the explosion. There's only a loud sound that came out with it and a powerful force of wind came from its center. The blades were thrown away but not enough to throw the four Adepts especially Chalice who had an abnormal Mana Shell.

n

"Urgh...

"

n***

nProbably due to the disturbance, Yumi on his arms woke up. She immediately tried to understand the current situation and noticed her current predicament.

nShe's being carried by an armored being that seems to be going in the direction of the opened spaceship. A large explosion of wind seems to have occurred as dust, dirt, and shattered glasses flew away from the center of the dome leaving them at the sides. She, of course, noticed Chalice blocking the armored being's path to the spaceship.

nAs she understood the situation, she immediately used a secret communication method where a low-frequency sound came from one of her Mana Artifacts. This sent an order to the members of Lucent Force outside the dome.

nAll of her actions didn't remain unnoticed in front of Wallace who had maximized his Divine Sense.

n***

n

"Is that your final struggle?

" Chalice's deep voice caught Wallace's attention.

nBut as soon as Wallace heard those words and confirmed the path was cleared except for Chalice, he utilized again his Fervor Timepiece. The world seems to slow down as some dust and sand floating in the air remained unmoving.

nHe then felt his body being unrestricted and full of strength. This was the Physical Burst that came together with the activation of the Fervor Timepiece.

nHe used this strength to carry Yumi and bring themselves inside the cover of the spaceship. He was tempted to give a jab on Chalice's Mana Shell and deal a bit of damage to see his improvement but there are only ten seconds in every single usage of his timepiece. He couldn't waste his time on that, especially if he wasn't sure if he could even deal damage on Chalice.

nHe still remembered the first time he used the Fervor Timepiece just to deal with an injury on his opponent's thigh. In truth, it had only been possible after using two out of his five chances in his timepiece to barely destroy a part of Chalice's Mana Shell and stab it on the man's thigh then used the remaining second to jump away from the scene.

nOf course, Wallace didn't forget to grab his previous body wearing the bio armor near Chalice. He was hoping for something unexpected once the body within was revealed.

n'Well, it should be skeleton by now if everything follows the standard way of life.' Wallace said in his mind as he couldn't understand the expectation he was feeling right now.

nSeconds had passed as Wallace successfully brought Yumi within his spaceship. He bypassed Chalice and quickly ordered the A.I. to close the spaceship. The spaceship still has more than enough Aether Force that they could use to defend the place so he was quite confident.

nAnyway, he was expecting more changes or rewards once the Pathfinder and the Cube had completed their merge.

nAs soon as the effect of Fervor Timepiece went off, only the sound of a closing spaceship was heard.

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"W-what? Again?!

" Chalice was surprised but he quickly reacted. He attempted to stop the hatch from being closed using his full mana force but he was forced back and was even thrown away after losing some of his strength. The strange energy was leaking again that weakens the people or magicians close to this technology.

nThe spherical glass was able to contain it before but now that it was shattered, the energy was freely leaking within the whole area.

nHe was very disappointed that even with all his preparation to trap the armored being, it was still deemed useless. He had already felt this before when Wallace had first escaped within his grasp outside the dome. Even though he felt that he's more powerful than his opponent, it seems that the latter had some tricks to just suddenly vanish or escape his vision and senses. Now that a similar event occurred, he couldn't help but mock himself for being too sure of himself.

nIf he had probably coordinated his plans with the four Adepts, he might have a better chance of capturing Wallace but it's too late for regret now. He could only sigh and move forward.

n