Chapter 444 - Not Over Yet

As the large construct began rising above the sand, Cecil and everyone else who were scattered across the desert's surface of the fifth stage braced themselves for what was about to happen.

They didn't know whether this new development was a good or bad thing but they prepared themselves for the worst.

Thanks to Cecil, mana had returned to the stage and it was a lifesaver for those who were on the brink of exhaustion and dehydration. With the illusion array also gone, the scattered people began to reunite together since some of them were only moving in circles around the area where they were previously at or were just a few kilometers away from but still within visible distance of each other.

"We really were caught in the illusion array after Cecil left...thank goodness the people who disappeared didn't die or go missing... Celes, we need some water here!" Karen called out after finding one of their people collapsed on the sand just a few meters away from where they were.

"Gather everyone over here! My mana is still recovering so it's better for me to just cast one large spell than deal with everyone separately!" Celestina replied as she was moving a few others in the area and gathering them in one place.

Karen complied with her words and began helping her out, but the two didn't take their eyes off of the metal spike that had appeared in the distance. The rumbling under the sand was also a cause for concern but they could only wait to see what happens.

The rumbling intensified as time passed but the two women were able to gather everyone around in the same spot and Celestina had already given everyone some water and had provided some first aid to the ones who were injured.

With the sand shaking and overturning in some places, the monsters from underground also became restless and began to burst out from under the sand. Cecil who was flying in the air saw the numerous monsters bursting out and traces of mana fluctuation appeared within his Mana Sense's range.

"I bet the others are fighting right now. I should go help, but..."

Cecil hesitated for a bit and decided to just send over 2 of his clones to go help the others. Right now, he would focus his attention on the thing that was trying to rise from under the sand. He was worried that the guardian of this floor was going to be as powerful, or even more powerful than the one from the previous floor.

The monster from the previous floor was able to almost push him over the edge but luckily, he was able to escape from the fourth floor so he didn't have to deal with the monster any longer. It was clearly much more powerful than him and trying to fight it would be foolish and reckless.

Now that he was on the fifth floor, he was worried if he and his teammates were able to even clear this stage of the trial. It was much harder than he had expected it to be but this was only because the administrator was meddling in the trials just to make things difficult for him and the people associated with him.

The other humans currently still on the second and third floors didn't experience any of the difficulties that he had to go through and they received the clear rewards of the trial as per normal.

A few moments passed as Cecil continued to wait and by now, the construct that was trying to rise into the sky from under the sand was partially visible now.

It was like the entire stage had suddenly risen together with it. Cecil could make out the rusty but clearly modern roadways, the semi-broken buildings, and the highly developed structures that began emerging from under the sand.

"Th-this...what is this?!" Cecil exclaimed in shock.

What came out from under the sand was clearly a sky fortress, but unlike the typical sky fortresses he saw in the Machina Reggio Empire or the previous one on the fourth floor, this one was massive.

It spanned the entirety of the fifth floor as it slowly rose from under the sand. The sky fortress was buried far beneath all of the sand, but after it rose, it covered the entirety of the trial's fifth floor.

The fifth floor of the trials was relatively smaller compared to the rest only being a fraction of the size of the fourth floor, but even still, the sky fortress covered the entire area of the fifth floor once it completely surfaced from under the sand.

Cecil was amazed and the other people on this stage were similarly shocked by the sudden change. Buildings of foreign designs had suddenly popped up from under the sand and they were all now standing on a paved road that sprung up under them after the sand fell and cleared away.

A whirring noise like that of an airplane engine was finally heard as the massive sky fortress finally emerged from underneath all of the sand. This massive sky fortress alone exceeded the size of the Silvaria Kingdom's valley territory and then some.

While Cecil was spreading out his Mana Sense as far as he could, he picked up 3 familiar mana signatures to the southeast.

"It's Gabriel, Angelia, and Kira!" Cecil exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

*****

Back at the power station where Gabriel, Angelia, and the rest were, the group had all walked out of the power station and observed the surroundings.

Gabriel was immensely surprised when he saw that the factory district he was in was only a fraction of the entire sky fortress that they were on.

Also, the factory district was at the center of the sky fortress and seemed to be located at a crucial spot on the flying fortress since the large energy shield that encapsulated the inner area of the sky fortress was covering the factory as well.

Because of the energy field overhead, they didn't need to worry about the falling sand and debris. It was all pushed away by the energy field and kept them safe from being crushed under the sand.

Angelia was looking around in fascination when the whole sky fortress surfaced from under the desert and she couldn't help but notice that there were people in the distance, and if her eyes didn't deceive her, she thought she saw Ren.

"Is that—no way, it really is him!" Angelia cried out happily.

"What's up, Angie?" Gabriel asked from beside the now happy little girl.

"I see Ren, big brother! Look, he's over there!" Angelia answered while pointing over to a distant building's rooftop.

The factory district that they were on seemed to be built on a level of land much higher than the rest of the areas on the sky fortress so she was able to look down on the building that had appeared once the sky fortress surfaced from under the desert and could see the people looking around in bewilderment at the sudden change to their surroundings.

On a particular building's rooftop, Angelia was able to see the bewildered people and quickly notice that Ren and a few of her friends were among the group of people.

"I see Xin and the others down there as well! How did they get in here?"

"Careful, Angie, those could just be an illusion or a monster that could imitate people..." Gabriel warned while holding Angelia back from rushing over.

He glanced at Hana and the automaton immediately stepped forward and looked down on the group below.

"Scanning... 8 life forms detected! 5 humans and 3 high humans."

"High humans? What are—"

"So they aren't illusions?!" Angelia quickly cut in before Gabriel could ask.

"Yes. They are not illusions," Hana quickly replied before immediately turning to Gabriel and asked, "Yes, Commander?"

"Never mind, well, since they're not illusions or monsters, let's go to them then."

"Commander, are they not hostiles?"

"No, designate all humans as friendlies. Unless they try to attack you, leave them alone," Gabriel clarified and ordered.

"Yes, Commander!" The automata replied in unison.

Gabriel nodded at them and went to chase after Angelia who had already rushed over to Ren's location. Only Hana, Pollux, and Helen followed them. The rest of the automata stayed behind at the power station as per Gabriel's orders.

However, those orders would be revoked in the next moment when suddenly, the building that Ren and the others were on suddenly began to crumble and break apart.

Underground Sandworms had made a nest inside the building and after being exposed to the sunlight of the fifth stage, they began to grow active and rampage about.

"B-big brother, we have to help them!" Angelia called out before she rushed forward on Mao. She had finally noticed that the manaless state of the fifth stage had disappeared so she was able to use her mana again.

She quickly tried to summon Nessie and thankfully, the monster had recovered enough from its injuries received on the previous floor to transform into its battle form.

"Nessie go! Target all of the monsters and try to keep the people on the rooftop safe!"

Nessie released a loud cry before it began firing water magic at the building.

"All automata, heed my orders. Engage the worms inside of the building and keep them away from the rooftop! All flight-capable automata are tasked with the retrieval and evacuation of the humans from the building's rooftop!" Gabriel commanded.

Even from afar, the automata were able to receive his orders and they quickly began mobilizing. Unfortunately, the building that Ren and the others were on wasn't the only monster nests around.

Almost every other building in the area was a monster nest and because of the commotion happening outside, they had all awakened. Once they smelled the delicious human meat nearby, the monsters began to stir and take action.

The windows of a few high-rise buildings in the area shattered simultaneously as swarms of earthworm, scorpion, centipede, and other types of monsters began storming out and heading over to the location of the fresh human meat.

Gabriel immediately noticed this and he quickly changed his orders. He had Pollux and Agenor go rescue Ren and the other humans from the rooftop while he commanded the rest to intercept the incoming monsters that were charging at them.

"Crap! Just when I thought the trial was already within finishing distance, this had to happen, dammit!" Gabriel cursed.