Chapter 358 - Empire's Descent ( Part 6 )

The soldiers of the State of Kazan were astounded by the sudden beam of light that hit one of the Alien's Spacesh.i.p.s...

They saw that the aliens used some kind of barrier to defend against it but they were still heavily hit by that shot. 

They can see smoke and fire coming out from one of the large spacesh.i.p.s.

"Awesome! Is that one of our weapons?"

"Perhaps… Wait--- Maybe our Grand Sage started it?"

"I hope so… A few more of those shots and we can easily destroy them…"

"Haha… This is good… They're probably scared by now. We just have to be firm and wait for the reinforcements from Seiji and we'll surely clean them up…"

The soldiers of Kazan celebrated for a moment after seeing the power of that beam of light. They were unsure about the origin of the attack but since it hit the enemy, they can conclude that the perpetrator of the unannounced attack is one of their allies.

They have received information from their higher-ups and learned the class or names of these spacesh.i.p.s...

If they were not mistaken, the one that the light hit was the Conveyor Spaceship of the aliens. 

This spaceship doesn't have that strong firepower but they are carrying powerful machines that they can use to fight on the surface. It was also noted that this spaceship carries various supplies for their entire fleet... It means that this is indeed a good target to cut off the supplies of the enemies.

However, they waited for another one of those shots but it no longer happened… The spacesh.i.p.s descended near an active volcano in their region.

'Tsk… This is going to be difficult…'

The commander of the army remained silent throughout the time since he's the only one who's fully aware of the lacking of preparation of this country about the alien invasion.

He knows that the powerful magic that hit the spaceship just now wasn't their doing… 

They do not have such Mana Artifact or technology with them…

Even their Grand Sage's most powerful attack can only affect the enemies that are within his 500-meter radius… There was no way for him to affect those spacesh.i.p.s that are still so high in the sky…

Perhaps, their Grand Arcanist has Mana Artifact that could hit those spacesh.i.p.s above but it is still questionable whether they are that effective. 

After all, they were already old and the Mana Spells they've made were only effective against fellow magicians…

If he is not mistaken, even a Steel Knight might perhaps overpower their Sages or Arcanists within this island…

They have been in a very peaceful era and barely participated in any war… There was no way that they'll find themselves creating destructive mana spells…

Most of their Magic Structures, Secret Arts, Mana Artifacts, and Mana Practitioners were focusing on improving their living conditions…

After all, the Sea Creatures living at the Southern Kazan Sea weren't that aggressive… As long as they control their sea activities like fishing outside their territory, these intelligent creatures wouldn't bother on them. 

***

Vedran saw everything from the very beginning… 

The spacesh.i.p.s have successfully landed in their region! Their menacing presence could send anything a chill on their bodies…

Especially that Conqueror Starship… It looks like a floating island with a city on its top…

'This is bad… I have to escape… No, I need to inform the others…'

His students were the elites of their town and their families must be informed about the situation. 

He can't let them die like this.

'If the information I received from the virtual world is correct, these spacesh.i.p.s would send out smaller flying vehicles and even humanoid machines or Mech Frames to launch an assault against the natives or us… I have to assume that they're more unforgiving than the Dorssian Empire in the game…'

Verdan hurriedly contacted the families of his students and told them his plans to escape… He's not telling them to escape with him but he wanted them to act immediately before it's too late…

"There's no way our small town can stop a couple or more Mech Frames from the enemy… We need to run away from this place!"

He doesn't have time to explain the situation but he mentioned that he has an access to Veda, a secretive information network used by privileged people, and that he learned the danger of this situation from this.

Finally, he also did his best to inform the other people near him to escape as fast as they can…

After doing all of this, he quickly went to his rented house to take his important belongings especially his Mana Artifacts…

Although he learned many combat techniques in the virtual world, his presence alone wouldn't affect the whole situation of the country or perhaps even just this town.

Of course, if he has a Steel Knight or Mech Knight similar to the one in the game, he might have the courage to fight the aliens…

Unfortunately, he doesn't have that level of weapons with him and can only trust his Grade A Mana Artifacts to protect himself.

He fled away from the opposite direction of the Spacesh.i.p.s… The alien's fleet was only about 4 kilometers away from their town and only Mount Flux, an active volcano, is blocking them…

Luckily, the spacesh.i.p.s didn't mobilize any of their Mech Frames, Destroyers, or even Marauders yet… It appears that they were also shaken by that beam of light…

'Tsk… Are they seriously not leaving yet?' 

He glanced back at the town and didn't see anyone fleeing other than him… Aside from the families of his students, he doesn't really know anyone within the town as he was just sent here to tutor those children…

Then, after a few more seconds, he noticed a group of people going outside as they seem to be starting to flee as well…

He realized that they've boarded their vehicles and carried a lot of things with them which was why it took them some time.

'Alright… I can focus on running now…'

Verdan didn't bring any vehicles with him as he's more confident with his Mana Artifact that could enhance his speed and even allow him to use stealth or many other escape techniques in case he was chased by the aliens.

***

Wallace has been observing everything from afar thanks to his satellites. 

He saw that the settlements, towns, and a city within the 10-kilometer radius of the Empire's Fleet started their Defensive Phase.

They've sent various magicians and readied their best Mana Artifacts to fight against the empire… Although Wallace doesn't think that they'll last long, it was still a good response and it would surely trouble the Empire's forces as well.

"Mhmm… Are they immune to mana suffocation?"

He can't see what's going on inside their spaceship right now… Perhaps they are dealing with the Mana Suffocation, or maybe they realized that the strange energy of this world blocks nuclear fission… 

After all, even though they have Aether as a source of their energy, it doesn't mean that they are not using other forms of energy at all.

Nevertheless, he found out that they've increased their defenses and sent out several androids to try fixing the damaged part of the Conveyor Spaceship…

Wallace smiled wryly at this… He realized that they are being careful with his Super Mesospheric Altitude Gun after hitting them once.

The enemy is not aware that he can only fire it at a certain distance above the island due to their distance… 

Of course, if he really wants to fire another shot of a Satellite-Class weapon, he can ask Ace to mobilize one of his small-sized spacesh.i.p.s to bring the weapon near the orbit of the planet and fire at the enemies on the ground from their spot…

However, that would certainly attract the attention of the Imperial Flagship that is still orbiting the planet…

'Ah… They're moving…'

He saw the single Conqueror Starship send out a hundred Mech Frames at once together with more than 200 marauder gears…

It seems that they've already settled the issue about mana suffocation…

At the very least, he noticed that there are still a lot of people who were trying to escape instead of blindly trusting the soldiers to protect them.

"Avalon, can we do something for them? Our floating islands would still take some time before they arrive…"

[ You can always use your Void Phase to reach the place quickly. ] 

"I'm saving my Astral Energy for our counter-attack… I can't use it yet, Avalon… or should I use it now?"

Wallace's problem is that the Empire decided to send out only a part of their fleet… If he showed everything that he got, his plans to destroy the Imperial Flagship might be thwarted.

Aside from that, even if he used his Void Phase, he can only save one city or human settlement. The others would still be attacked and destroyed by the Empire.

[ We can also wait for the Seiji's army to arrive, Veda's Experimental Soldiers from that country is also included in the forces that are about to arrive. ]