Aaron was peacefully playing the Adventure Mode: Alien Invasion on his VR Pod. It was his routine to play at least 12 hours a day and today wasn't an exception.

As he played longer than the average, he learned that many people he knows were also playing the game and they even partied for some time.

But after playing with them for a while, he decided to be a solo player and make his own adventure within the vast virtual world.

He was very impressed by the creativeness of the maker and how realistic the game was. Not only due to the almost perfect simulation of the real world but also due to the fact that everything that was happening doesn't look like a game at all. He had a subtle feeling that this might actually happen.

When he was younger, he had some point in time where he was also curious if there are other planets living in the stars above. This is the very reason why he was so interested in this expensive game. The cinematic introduction caught his interest and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He was at first scolded by his mother since he no longer focuses on improving his Mana Study and makes preparation for his license examination.

That was normal, they are not aware of how impressive the game was.

"Let me show you what I learned inside the game!"

He proudly announced after getting fed up by his mother's scolding.

Soon, without using his signature magic spell, he fought and defeated an automaton using a palm technique he learned inside the game.

Apparently, the Dorssian Empire's soldiers wear thick armors covering their whole body and not leaving any gaps.

It was like a humanoid automaton that has powerful defenses against magic attacks. The super A.I. Freya had taught them that to fight against such enemies, they had to learn an attack capable of bypassing their thick armors.

It was an amazing experience.

Due to the complete set of training within the game, he easily learned the Ten-Fold Palm, a technique utilizing vibration to fight against armored opponents.

He was aware that all gamers had a chance of learning this if they worked hard enough so he wasn't too smug after learning it. But this was enough for him to tell his mother that he had a reason for taking the game seriously.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[ The emergency call button was triggered from the outside. Please, logout on the game to avoid forceful disconnection. ]

[ The emergency call button was... ]

The message was being repeated until he decided to either "Ignore" it or "Logout".

As soon as he came out of the VR pod, Vulture, one of the powerful members of the Lucent Force, reported the current siege happening at the border of the city and about the attack that hit the municipal hall from the enemy organization's detachment force.

"This... Who are they? Is it from the Black Knight?"

"Yes, young master."

"They acted earlier than expected... Make sure that nothing happens to the City Mayor. I'll contact the other branches to send some help here. Move."

"Yes."

Vulture answered as he no longer said any unnecessary words and vanished from the room.

***

Ever since Wallace had gifted her a unique bracelet of unknown origin, she had been attentive to Wallace's actions inside the academy.

She analyzed the red bracelet before but it didn't bore fruit. This made her a bit curious but she didn't put too much effort into finding out.

Although she wanted to ask him about how it was made, she felt that it wasn't that important so she carries on with her daily life.

"Instructor Elaine... I understand your concern but it is Wallace we are talking about. That guy isn't as simple as we think."

"H-how can you say that? You are the headmaster! We should be worrying about the safety of our students. Didn't you see that red cloud? Only that Sealed Mana Artifact is capable of doing that!"

"I know, that's why you have to stay here... What if you encounter its wielder, your ability is not a good match against that..."

"But we should still do something about it!"

"Of course... A group of eight instructors being led by Eve Luxford was dispatched a few minutes ago. They should be able to handle the safety of our students outside. All the remaining instructors must stay here to protect the students..."

"Fine..."

A frowning expression can be seen on Elaine's beautiful face as she decided not to bother the headmaster anymore.

As soon as she left, the headmaster immediately contacted some relevant individuals to ensure the safety of the academy.

"Aaron? I need to leave the academy. Can you make some arrangements to leave one or two members of the Lucent Force here?"

"Oh, headmaster. Sure... I will be sending Crow and Falcon there. Would that be enough?"

"It is. Thank you!"

"Alright. Are you going to the frontline?"

"No... I just want to visit a certain place..."

As the call ended, the headmaster reminded the teachers and students to remain calm and collected in the situation they are in and left the place using a secret underground tunnel.

The tunnel had many turns and paths but Percival's movement shows that he was very familiar in this tunnel.

He even used Haste Magic to himself so he quickly arrived at the end of the tunnel.

Percival was now standing near the edge of the city. Here, he could observe the battle going on against the terrorists.

"They have the latest weapons and vehicles. They numbered around 400 but there should be more of them waiting for a chance...

"It felt more like they were buying time..."

Percival saw the terrorists utilizing their advantage on the terrain as they launch magic spells against the soldiers stationed at the City.

"They were trained as soldiers and even protected by this black miasma... It's really that guy, huh. He even has a helper..."

Percival looked at the red clouds on the sky as he worriedly glances at the magic barrier that was about to collapse due to the bombardment from the terrorists scattered around the city.

Although there were more than two thousand soldiers dispatched to protect the city, they were spread out and thinned in some sectors. They couldn't concentrate their forces in a single location.

It can't be helped since they had to ensure that the terrorists would no longer sneak any more detachment forces who were capable of making another round of attack to the City Mayor.

"Kenneth! Do you have an idea of what's happening?"

Gilbert asked as everyone can see the red clouds hanging from the sky. They couldn't help but feel nervous seeing such a large cloud that could cover almost the whole city and stay like that without being removed by the soldiers garrisoned around the city.

Tanza City has several powerful Adepts that should be capable of affecting the clouds above but since it is not being removed, this thing seems to be a really serious matter. After all, they could feel the sinister aura coming from that cloud.

"Red clouds... I'm not truly sure but I have a guess..."

"Oh! As expected of the seven nobles!"

"Stop that..."

"Sorry... Please, continue. I just want to know what that is. Even the headmaster's voice sounds so serious just now. Instructor Elaine also left after she saw that cloud. She had only left a few words before she went to meet the headmaster and looking so worried..."

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you what I know but I can't guarantee you if it is real...

The red cloud you see was most likely a result of a magic spell using a Sealed Mana Artifact."

"What? Really? Do you know what Sealed Artifact was used?" Erica asked as she only knows two Sealed Mana Artifacts. The Hallowed Eye and the Faded Skull Staff.

"It should be the Heart's Grimoire..."

***

Avery Marshall was holding a crimson book as she monitors the diversion caused by Avarice's soldiers.

She was pretty interested in wielding the Hallowed Eye as she found it interesting to control such powerful miasma. Unfortunately, she felt so disgusted at the current owner.

He smelled like a rotten corpse. Even though he attempts to hide the smell to normal people or to even some weak magicians, she could always smell him with her heightened sensitivity.

Soon, she was reminded that the Red Clouds was about to reach its limit.

Avery grinned at this and put her right hand on top of the grimoire as she connected to the Sealed Mana Artifact.

"Corrosive Blood Rain!"

Soon, a few drops of crimson liquid came down from the red cloud. It doesn't seem to possess a powerful or penetrative force but the Magic Barrier activated. This only meant one thing, it recognized that the liquid was harmful and dangerous to the people living within its protective cover.

As soon as this happened, a small force made of six powerful magicians were sneakily surrounding the Main Headquarters of the Golden Trident Group.