n

n

nYumi wasn't exactly sure what's happening but she determined that Wallace had most likely escaped at some point.

n'He's aware of tonight's danger?' She immediately made conjecture on her own but hadn't thought too deeply about it.

nYumi gathered her mind as she still has to deal with the man in front of her. She only needed to delay him as Troy's presence was getting near.

nThe middle-aged man was similarly thinking the same thing.

n'Did someone leaked our operation? How come they seem prepared and hidden Wallace ahead of time?' The man quickly assessed the situation and after he couldn't find other Wallace in his effective range of scan, he ordered to stop the mission temporarily.

n

"Mark, don't play around anymore. We need to regroup for now.

"

nMark, after hearing the man's order, was no longer struggling on the chains that were binding him and instead relaxed his body.

nAside from this, the hidden Adept had also increased the density of his attacks. Not only was he aiming for the students on the lower floors but also included the students on the 14th floor. It must be remembered that the hidden Adept had also attacked the other students from Maja and Virgan on different floors. He must be using a peak Mana Artifact to assist him in his assault.

nIncluding Yumi and Troy, the Zairus team had 4 Adepts on their side. Unlike Maja and Virgan who only had two Adepts each in their company. In short, the hidden controller of this shadow-like magic spells were aiming simultaneously in almost all floors of the building.

nYumi, Troy, and other Adepts didn't entertain a thought that there's several more Adepts attacking because of the same unique mana fluctuation coming from the spells.

n

"You two! Careful!

"

nYumi shouted after sensing Mark's abnormality. She trusted the two artifacts capable of binding Mark to stop him from escaping but the latter may have secrets allowing him to be capable of attacking even if he was bounded by the chains. Adepts, especially mutated at that, was hard to deal with.

nThe two didn't ignore Yumi and braced themselves. They didn't stop manipulating the chains to bind Mark and they also cast defensive spells at the same time to provide them more protection. Their Mana Shell may not last long in case they were attacked by an Adept.

nYumi wasn't sure at first but her worries were soon proven to be correct. As soon as Mark resumed in his struggle to escape the chains, his eyes radiated a crimson light stunning Lucian and Max. It was as if they were frozen as soon as Mark gazed at them.

n'Is that Petrification? But that crimson light doesn't seem to be under earth element...'

nYumi thought at first but immediately changed her mind upon realizing something.

n'Oh, no! That's Death Gaze!'

nYumi immediately cast a spell to help Lucian and Max ignoring the middle-aged man in the room who easily retreated after she lost her focus on him. If Yumi was only concentrated in trapping the man, she would be capable of doing so until Troy arrived on the floor.

nUnfortunately, Death Gaze is more lethal than the Petrification Spell. The latter can be dispelled by an appropriate magic skill but Death Gaze was said to eat away a part of the victim's soul. Unless it was removed immediately, it may cause permanent damage to the victimized Magician.

nSoul was still a vague topic that even Aeolia failed to expound but the Death Gaze spell was an unusual Magic Spell that affects any human's 'Breath of Life' in exchange for the caster's own 'Breath of Life'. Only the crazy mutated magicians would use this kind of attack.

nThis is the signature spell of the mutated magicians that have appeared decades ago.

nThis revelation almost guaranteed now that the previous underground organization that was supposedly purged had survivors and continued their research relentlessly. They might have even perfected these mutated magicians.

nVacuum Shield.

nYumi was able to save the two on time as the Death Gaze wasn't able to lock on its target due to the sudden appearance of a small black hole in between Mark and the two Battle Mage.

nAt the same time that this occurred, Troy who came late noticed the situation and immediately tried to apprehend Mark who freed himself from the chains due to the disruption.

n

"You stay here!

"

nTroy waved his hand as a thin string made of mana tried to tie Mark. He was unable to quickly dodge as the latter was a bit injured due to the failed magic spell he just used. Although he created space for him to unbound the chains, it seems that he will be captured again.

n

"Tsk! Then come at me.

" He was about to activate his berserk magic spell but as soon as the string tied on Mark's left foot, the middle-aged man appeared next to him and use his hand to forcefully cut the string that Troy created.

n

"Hmph! It's not up to you.

"

nThe man took Mark in his arms and slowly vanished. The two Adepts didn't just let them escape, as they were preoccupied with the sudden attack of the third hidden Adept who hid his attacks from the darkness of the shadows.

n

"Seriously?! We haven't captured even one?

" Yumi exclaimed annoyed at the successful escape of the enemies.

n

"No worries, we've captured some suspicious Battle Mages around the building.

" Troy had a real-time communications from the security personnel outside the building.

n

"Also... you should have an idea who were those people. Isn't that the reason you are here?

" The man asked the female Adept.

n

"I'm only here to guard someone. It's not what you think.

" Yumi answered. She was still pondering why Mark would reveal himself. After all, he was an important individual and a direct descendant of the Prime Minister himself. His actions would affect the politician and would lead to the latter's downfall. 'Is he acting on his own and wasn't under his father's instructions?'

nYumi wasn't able to think further as he was interrupted by Troy.

n

"Oh? But it seems he didn't want to be surrounded by guards?

" The man picked up a paper that was thrown from somewhere and read it to Yumi. The place was a mess but the letter caught his attention.

nIt was the message that Wallace left as an apology for his escape.

n

"This...

" Yumi realized that Wallace had truly escaped and didn't just hide for a while to avoid the attackers. She felt having a headache with all these events she had to deal with.

nLucian noticed what was happening and he immediately tried to locate the whistle he handed to Wallace. But as expected, it was included in the mess within Wallace's room.

n

"He shouldn't have gone too far. I'll try to find and convince him to stay.

" Yumi finally decided and left the building to try searching for Wallace. She's confident in her ability to trace someone as she let Troy handle the aftermath of the battle.

n***

nWallace arrived in a secluded place just at the edge of the Bluefields City. He took out a map and confirmed his current location. The suspected place of the spaceship was marked as 'X' and the city he's currently at wasn't too far from the marked location. It was only a few cities away.

nHe pressed his hand on the suitcase containing the armor tech he prepared. It is a black and silver exoskeleton armor used to improve his mobility, defense, and even offensive power. Right now, he needed its flight ability to arrive at his destination as quickly as possible.

nWallace was currently in a black full-body skinsuit and as soon as he activated the armor within the suitcase, the armor moved as if havings its own life as it covered Wallace's whole body.

nIt only took a few seconds to completely fit Wallace's body. The armor wasn't too bulky compared to his senior's design in their project but it can still be considered as thick armor. He designed the armor with the advanced bio-armor suit in his mind, so the aesthetics look somehow similar but he was still unable to create a body fit armor without sacrificing its main purpose.

nThe armor's outer shell is composed of a multilayer arcane alloy of remarkable strength and has been augmented with a refractive coating that was also capable of dispersing a limited amount of Mana-powered attacks.

nThe suit also contains a gel-filled layer underneath. The gel layer can regulate temperature and can reactively change its density. Aside from this, the inner skinsuit was made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to a magic structure that allows Wallace to easily control the armor with his own body.

nUnlike the bio-armor suit, he was still unable to create something that can be controlled using the neural network. In any case, he didn't have to create one, he only needed to take the bio-armor suit in the spaceship.

nWallace picked up the other metal suitcase looking as if it was his weapon.

nLooking at the armor, small letters were written on its left chest that read as Amplified Assault Armor. It was the name he came up with after making this first version of the armor.

n

"Please, be safe.

" Wallace muttered under his breath.

nHe activated the armor's cloak mode and flight system as he started his adventure in locating his spaceship.

n