Chapter 342 - Omen

Ace understands that their previous assault against the Empire could no longer be repeated. 

Their usage of Mana Waves, Modified Traceless Oscillation, and various Mana Spells would not be as effective as it is today…

After all, their Super AIs would certainly work overtime to find the best way to handle such circ.u.mstances and most likely, the main forces would no longer just watch or observe them. Perhaps, they would be greeted by the Subspace Blaster and Psionic Pulse upon meeting them…

There was no way they would be able to freely land their Mana Spells at that time.

"Avalon… Continue retreating to the second line of defense…"

[ Affirmative. ] 

"Right, give me the casualty report…" 

Avalon complied as it provided him full details about the result of the recent battle. 

Aside from the 10 Mech Knights that had to self-destruct, 6 other more are destroyed due to the explosion inside the Black Sovereign and due to the stray bullets during the battle… 

It means that only 4 Mech Knights managed to return to the hangar and these four weren't even in a good condition.

However, their ambush is still a success. They managed to destroy a Black Sovereign Spaceship and deal internal damage from the five Conqueror Starsh.i.p.s acting as the fleet's vanguard.

This is all thanks to the existence of the unknown Mana… It must've surprised them a lot and wanted to take as much information as they could… That is why they mostly remained passive in that battle.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but recall his dream about a single Conqueror Starship who managed to easily destroy their region and the vessel had even barely taken any damage...

But this time, he managed to fight them head-on and didn't lose that much.

"This is not a bad result… Although we've shown a lot of our secrets, they've taken huge damage… And only two mid-size spacesh.i.p.s fought against them. They must be really infuriated by now."

Ace muttered as he straightened his seat and relaxed for a bit.

"Right… We need to resupply… Complete the arrangements with Omen IV."

[ Affirmative. ]

They only have 18% left in their Mana Reserves which is still quite acceptable considering the result of the battle.

'Mhmm… We should expect an even more intense battle since they'll be ready with our Mana Spells this time… They didn't use the Psionic Pulse or even Subspace Blaster… They must be thinking of making it a surprise… They have perhaps improved these technologies to a higher level… We must be careful.'

Since Wallace is keeping a trump card, it is safe to assume that the Empire is similar. 

[ Should we end the live broadcast now? ] 

"Ahh… Yes---Wait… What's being shown right now?"

Ace asked quickly. He has forgotten about the live broadcast due to the intense battle.

Avalon answered by showing the live feed being broadcasted to the people on the planet. 

It shows that the Empire's fleet had started moving without any constraints as they remained cautious by sending out various smaller spacecraft and Mech Frames…

The battlefield also has some scavengers, they are unusual humanoid Mech Frames and they appear to be interested in his Mech Knight's parts.

However, there is no way they will see anything valuable in that… After all, the Mech Knights mostly rely on its core followed by the Magic Structure placed inside.

As a matter of fact, even if his fellow Magicians decided to analyze his creation, they would find it difficult to understand… Ace had used a completely different principle behind it as he copied some of the notes left by Prince Zaimphail. 

This is why he is not worrying about the broken part of Mech Knights they left on the battlefield.

"Alright… The Conqueror Starsh.i.p.s seems to be having internal issues as we expected. This should buy us enough time for our plans in the second line of defense. You can cut the broadcast now."

[ Affirmative. ] 

Avalon complied and gave a message to the public, warning them that a Space Empire is arriving. The A.I. also reminded them not to panic as there are already preparations made to fight against these aliens. 

Then, as they have coordinated with Yumi, the top officials of the government had also made announcements to calm the citizens.

***

"Haa~"

Elaine and Chase sighed in relief after seeing the battle ended. Although the Empire is still there, it is a good thing that their son has a breather from that intense fight.

"Those aliens look so strong… I thought that my son's creation is already at the peak of Magic Engineering…"

Chase Ravencroft couldn't help but be amazed after watching the broadcast. 

As an engineer himself, he became extremely fascinated by the creations of his son. It hasn't been that long when the latter was still struggling on making a berserk potion, but this time, he's already influencing the world with his machines and vessels.

"But look at those gigantic spacesh.i.p.s… I'm sure that they haven't shown everything they've got. It's a good thing that he retreated quickly." He added.

"Yes… But our son is really amazing… I'm sure that he put a lot of considerations into that quick battle… They've dealt a significant loss to the enemy's fleet while leaving almost unharmed. It would surely destroy their morale and increase Ace's momentum." Elaine said after analyzing their son's actions.

They were unsure about Ace's clear objective but he definitely performed really well and lead his army magnificently. They are hoping that they could somehow help but there nothing much they can do in this large-scale battle.

"I guess even if we use the Forbidden Light Dusts, we won't be able to help him that much."

Elaine softly said but Chase heard it clearly. He only laughed at it but he understood what she was saying. The taboo spell may be able to help them kill any Magicians in the world but it is not meant to be used in a battle of this scale.

***

Lacus and Yumi sighed in relief after seeing that the battle has ended for now… 

"His last maneuver was so reckless… I wonder what he was thinking that time…"

"He must've been infuriated by that spaceship, so he didn't leave until it's destroyed. However, I agree with you, that was too dangerous… He doesn't have any supports there."

Yumi was really worried for Ace at that time.

Nevertheless, the two continued with their work and proceeded to advertise the Mt. Raven where the Traceless Hand's Factory and the Hangar are located. 

They are recruiting talented Mages around the world. Now that the broadcast was seen by almost everyone. There would be a lot of people who would willingly participate to save their planet.

Some of them may not be Alien Invasion players but even if they are not, Wallace still has a use for them.

"Wait… Why did Wallace assign this to us anyway?" Yumi suddenly asked.

They just visited the man here to ask some questions but they suddenly ended up having some workload.

Only Clarice, his sister, ended going back home to accompany their parents.

"Well, it is not like this is difficult… We'll just have to assign these people to work. Whether it is fabrication or combat training… As long as they can help once the Empire descended here, that's all that matters."

Lacus explained.

Wallace is fully aware of how these magicians think. That is the reason why he set up a particular job for them in his factory. This would lighten the work of their automatons and improve their workforce.

As for Miya, she continued playing the Alien Invasion game after watching the battle within the virtual world.

There's nothing much for her to contribute now that the battle is ongoing… The most that she could do is to learn more about the aliens and perhaps learn how to pilot a Mech Knight.

At this time, she's looking at a pink Mech Knight that has a cool sword and shield. It is like a female warrior of ancient times and it really looks awesome for her…

There are models like these holding cannon or guns but she prefers having a sword and shield for some reason.

'If I master this Mech Knights, I'll request to have this in real life…'

Miya visualized herself riding this in the real world… she couldn't help but feel excited. 

***

Ace finally arrived at Lagrange Point, their second line of defense. 

The Omen IV's engine is active… The 3rd and 4th Mech Knights Divisions are also in place… 

On the other hand, the Providence is docked at the asteroid turned into their temporary base. The Excellence docked beside it as the automatons did their job to resupply and fix any damages from the spaceship.

They were also followed by a group of Technicians overseeing the repair.

"We left some trail for them to follow… and they should be expecting an ambush but they will surely continue their path here. They will take their revenge but we're ready…" 

Ace then closed his eyes as he recalled the Imperial Flagship's movement a while ago…

'There's definitely a member of the Royal Family there…' 

The young man speculated as his face turned solemn.