n

n

nChalice could no longer manage this island alone. An extremely organized ambush within their base could not be coming from everyday pirates in the sea who just know how to find some treasures and rob people in the sea. After he fought with two powerful magicians, he realized that they were holding back to avoid revealing their true identities. Aside from that, he hadn't discovered any nearby vessel where they could have come from.

n'Did they swim here?' Chalice absurdly thought but didn't entertain them since it shouldn't be possible to reach here through swimming with all their arrays and formation placed. For now, he had to further increase the defenses of this island especially now that their infrastructures were damaged due to the bombardments of the enemy. Some guards or magicians were even severely injured due to the chaos that has occurred outside.

n

"Take him to the infirmary.

" He said after glancing at Rashid's arm. He realized that the man would probably be one of the weakest Adept Magicians from now on. Missing an arm would affect their mana control and they had to practice for a long time to get used to it.

nEven with the help of Adepts he still failed to protect the place. He realized that it would be better to have a deal with the other faction.

nNow that the being has retreated within his turtle shell, he might as well let the higher council decide on what's the next plan.

nHe then instructed the three remaining Adepts to go outside, deal with the remaining intruders and handle the aftermath.

n

"Also, tell those guys in the ship to lend us manpower here.

" He coldly said as he remembered the members of the other faction loitering at the dock.

nHe noticed that the little girl sent a signal that reached outside a while ago but ignored it due to the situation. Now that he calmed down, he noticed that the intruders were trying to escape.

n

"So it was an order to retreat?

"

nAs he calculated the distance, there was no way they could reach them. They seem to have heavily prepared for their escape route.

n'Anyway, I won't be able to know much with those low-level magicians. They should be able to handle it. As long as we know a bit about their background, it should be enough.'

nHe hated it when he wasn't aware of his opponent's identity. But due to his weakened state at the moment, he had to let his people handle some important matters.

nHe let the Adepts do the chase and he guarded the spaceship.

n'Why did he take that little girl? Who are these people intruding anyway?'

nNow that he had time to analyze the whole situation, he felt that there were too many coincidences that have occurred.

n'Looking at it, I can assume that they were all somehow related. Only when this armored being appeared here that all this bad lucks appeared, a little girl with a unique physique, two powerful adepts hiding their strengths, and those abnormal bombardments coming from flying magicians. Are they here to retrieve this spaceship we've been protecting for decades?'

nChalice was, in fact, aware within his heart that the armored being is related to this aircraft but something was telling him not to give up on this treasure. He couldn't accept that someone will just take this technology out of his reach.

nNow that it is still within his grasp he won't let other people take it from him.

n***

nWallace wasn't thinking much when he saved Yumi outside. He just can't let her die outside and he'll be needing her assistance at some point since she's a high ranking official of NMTI.

nBut Wallace doesn't have any plans to reveal his identity yet. There were still about 20 hours remaining for the merge, he had to at least wait for his Pathfinder. He still hadn't received his reward anyway.

nYumi, on the other hand, was also quite nervous. She wasn't sure who this armored being is, she only felt a familiar aura from him. Also, this person saved her from the enemies a while ago so she felt safe around him but not to the point where she'll let her guard off.

nWallace noticed she was silent and not moving. He put her down and as he was about to ask questions, Yumi beat him to it.

n

"Thank you for saving me there. May I know how to address you?

"

n'Should I introduce myself for real?' Wallace thought but immediately denied the idea.

n'No... it would be better if I can gain her trust even without revealing that I'm Wallace she was looking for.'

nSo instead of answering her question, he decided to ask in return.

n

"Why are you people here?

"

n

"Eh? We're just looking for someone and it leads us to this place.

" Yumi answered but deep in her mind, she was extremely excited with the discovery of this technologically advanced aircraft.

nShe couldn't contain her internal magic engineer traits as it was showing up in her eyes. But due to her current situation and being in front of an unknown person, she had to compose herself and focus on this armored man for now.

nIt has been a dangerous mission. Especially with the problem in their intelligence report that kept changing. At first, what they received was a piece of information that the five magicians that left the amphibious assault ship only consisted of 4 magicians and a single Adept. But later on, the 4 magicians they ignored turned out to be 4 Adepts that were tasked to guard the main treasure here within the dome. The single Adept's presence that they identified and thought to be the leader before was actually a new Adept that came from a different branch of Z-company and even went back to the ship docked on the shore.

n

"Are you telling me that the magicians stationed here aren't your enemies?

" Wallace wanted to know their stance against these magicians stationed on the place.

n

"We don't intend to fight against the organization stationed here. It's just that the person we are looking for is extremely important. We aren't really native to this country so we had to be extremely careful

"

n

"Alright.

"

n

"Are you aware where did he go? Oh, wait...

" Yumi remembered something and took out a photo of the person they are looking for. It was the face of Wallace and not Nortrom which he used as a disguise.

nWallace wouldn't know how to explain himself and this spaceship if he revealed his identity now.

nHe only nodded as an answer. Soon enough, Yumi lost her consciousness again and almost dropped to the ground.

n

"Whew~ That took a while to take effect.

"

n***

nWallace had already prepared beforehand on how to handle Yumi. He had to avoid revealing everything about him so he could only try to do so until he had the ability to protect himself even if they learned that he possesses otherwordly knowledge, technology, and mystical items.

nHe had already placed Yumi in a makeshift bed near the Mech Frame's container.

n

"Five more hours.

" Wallace said upon noticing the timer of the merging.

nDuring the time spent, he had contemplated the words that Chalice had said. It was about him being from the mysterious northern continent.

nHis research about that place was extremely limited and was only heard through words of other people. It really couldn't be trusted.

nThe textbook that mentions the northern continent only vaguely described how there were strong mutated magicians and magical beasts located there but full of natural treasures.

nIt was like a story that would be told to children in a nighttime story.

n

"Why did he asked if I'm from the northern continent? Was my armor looked like something that exists in that place as well? Or maybe they have seen similar spacecraft on that place? Haha... That's impossible.

"

nWallace went silent at this point. If that was true, then it would be difficult to contain his desire and explore that place soon.

nIf there were predecessors from the non-magic world that has descended in this place, it may lead him to find something new. After all, even his Avalon could not discover the star system where this planet was located at. Maybe he could find a chance with the help of other's knowledge.

nAll of this was only in his thought since he was still unaware of what his Pathfinder and Cube would give him as a reward later.

nA few more hours had passed and Wallace received notification within his mind.

n***

n

"Do you think she's truly safe at that place?

"

nEagle asked after they have settled in a town located at the mainland of the country. Almost a day had passed when they were instructed by Yumi to immediately retreat on their base.

n

"She's trickier than us. I know that she has plans and we should just trust her.

" Owl answered as he prepared to leave the headquarters of their Lucent Force and back to his other identity in this place as a disguise.

"Remember what she told us in her last message.

" He added in which Eagle nodded in response.

n

"Retreat. Leave me here. I've found treasure.

" The latter imitated Yumi's voice on the message she left.

n

"That's right, what kind of treasure did you think she found there?

"

n

"Who knows, as long as I completed that dangerous mission I'm already satisfied.

"

n