288 Vanguard Part 1

The Steel Knight's color suddenly turned black but it only lasted for half a second as it was immediately covered by a golden light. 

Its brilliance blinded everyone in the vicinity and gave cover to the automatons fighting at the front. It seems that these creations were unaffected by the light. 

However, the receiving enemy Mech Frames weren't just blinded but also hit by powerful pressure as they were unable to properly control their machines. 

The other four Steel Knights who were together with Hilda activated their protection system and adjusted their visions from the bright light... 

They had also noticed that the enemies were affected by binding magic and they decided to use their Steel Knight's special abilities to fire at the nearest war machines and destroy them.

"Good... We just have to hold on a bit more and we can also retreat, I guess..."

Hilda muttered softly after seeing the result of their sudden burst attacks. 

"Hello?! Are you also one of the simulators?"

A nervous male voice was suddenly heard on their communication devices. It seems that one of the five examiners managed to learn how to operate the device they're using. 

'Oh... It should be here...' Hilda looks for the option to reply back to the friendly unit.

The IFF signal was very clear and she was aware that there were only 5 Steel Knights defending the mountain and about 300 automatons flying around to delay the Mech Frames. 

"Yes! I'm here... I heard that the pro pilots were unable to make it in time so it should be five of us on the Steel Knights..."

"That's right..."

"Don't be too nervous... Although it's not a game, we're not in the frontlines... Speaking of which, get back here, Radiant! You're advancing too much. Let them come..." 

"Right... Yes, I pushed my flight too hard."

Hilda answered and noticed that the IFF signal has also noted the names of the other four Steel Knights.

The magician who spoke to her was the one piloting the bulkiest automaton named Prominence and she can see that it only moved for several feet ever since the start of the battle.

It was only using all its powerful long-ranged weapons to assist the automatons and monitor the evacuating magicians. 

The one who first communicated with them asking whether they were also the simulators was piloting a green Steel Knight called Jade Rain that has a patterned scale as armor and its main weapon was surprisingly a huge staff. 

That's right... It seems that this Steel Knight didn't take the high-tech route but opted for the high-grade magician route. 

Hilda wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly casts a Grade 4 or even a Grade 5 spell considering the abundant mana inside the machine.

The group has now about 300 Mech Frames and the five young magicians felt that it was impossible to defend here. 

They have to retreat or if it's possible, surrender...

"Sigh~ I thought that this was still a simulation... But if the four of you were real... Then it doesn't make sense that we'll take the exam together... If I'm not mistaken, Wallace wanted to test our individual skill, so it is impossible to group us like this..."

The man said it aloud for everyone to hear. This made them ponder. 

"Simulation?"

They suddenly asked themselves if this is reality or not. However, they remembered their friends, seniors, and juniors during the evacuation process. It looks so real and their actions match their attitude. 

They even saw them bringing out the life-saving mana artifacts that they kept hidden until now. Wallace shouldn't be capable of replicating those unknown mana artifacts. 

How would they know if its the virtual world? Should they even try to test it? What if this is the reality and they made something that could no longer be changed? Wouldn't it be better to treat this as a reality and not worry about its authenticity for now?

It didn't take long for them to decide on what to do. Reality or not, they will act according to their hearts. 

"The reinforcements were here... We have to change the battlefield to a different location. The numbers of the enemy were a bit too much. It would be a problem if the people at the shelters were affected."

The voice from the command center suddenly advises them. It seems that they couldn't really rest this time. 

The five young magicians noticed a group of 20 magicians coming to the mountain and based on their mana fluctuations, the group can be said to be very powerful. 

There were surely three Sages or even more as they couldn't just probe them accurately since they were clustered.

However, the weakest mana fluctuation they felt was a peak Adept Mage.

The battle continues...

They have been requested to continuously support the front lines and they were getting adept with controlling their Steel Knights as they continuously fire from the distance. They learned how to help magicians that were in a pinch and save them from dying. 

It happened so many times as the five Steel Knights learned to coordinate their movements as they steadily shifted the battlefield to a different location. 

"We can do this..." 

Hilda encouraged herself as she looks at the time. Twenty-four minutes had already passed and if this is a virtual simulation, it should only last half an hour as per the first batch. 

The five of them also believe that if this is a virtual world and its part of the simulation exam for the Pilot Selection event, then there should be something more that was about to happen. 

***

Avalon had sent out the mini-investigator and it was now getting closer to the asteroid.

By getting closer, it means that there were no longer any celestial bodies that could block the investigator's detection ability or magic.

[ Illumination Sensor. ] 

This is a Grade 5 Magic Spell and only Adept Mages or above could cast them at the cost of a huge chunk of their Mana. 

In other words, even the magicians who had higher purity of mana wouldn't take this magic lightly. 

Soon, the image of the asteroid kept zooming from the mini-investigator and immediately had a perfect frontal view of this celestial body. 

There seem to be no problems at all as it looks just like how a normal asteroid should be. 

However, the magic didn't end there and Ace was indeed correct!

The asteroid wasn't simple and it must be a vanguard sent by the empire to investigate. 

This wasn't good news!

Beep!

[ Investigation Complete. ] 

[ Anomalies with the unnamed asteroid were found. ] 

[ Taking more action with caution. ] 

[ Sending complete report to Earth Base. ] 

[ Requesting to continue investigating. ] 

[ Mana Reserves: 23% ] 

[ Recovery Rate: 0.5% / hr ] 

Avalon was dedicated to its job and as it realizes the danger that this vanguard has to its user, it needs to either eliminate it or learn everything about it to make an appropriate response for later. 

Ace, who just received the report, froze as he realized that it was happening too fast. 

"This... Where are you, Wallace?!"