There are 23 Magicians floating in space with their full-body space combat suit.

They also have their Magic Nodes activated as it hasn't depleted the device's Mana Reserves yet.

As soon as they stabilized themselves after their Mech Knights were destroyed, they deactivated their Nodes to save some energy for later use.

However, they were suddenly notified that a group of Mech Frames is moving in their direction…

They quickly looked for the nearest spaceship but Excellence and Providence were on the left and right flank of the battlefield. It is due to the massive explosion of the Omen and the Black Sovereign as well.

'What do we do now… We should have a minute or two before the enemy arrives…'

One of the magicians tried to think of a solution.

His name is Tetsuo and was previously ranked 50 within the Alien Invasion Game…

He wasn't panicking at the situation since he can see that the Excellence has deployed Mech Knights to save them and their Magic Node was also a very reliable mana artifact.

Its ability to defend against the enemy's suicide attack is more than enough to prove that it is the real deal…

"Everyone… Don't scatter around. We need to stay together. Don't use your mana recklessly we can do this…"

He wanted to reassure his teammates. Although they know that they are in a bad position, they were already trained by Avalon in this type of situation. As long as they can calmly think and act, there is nothing they should be afraid of…

"Do we have to hold until sir Wallace's rescue team arrives? Or perhaps we should just move this up to the Moon Base…"

"That's impossible… Don't worry, as long as a Mech Knight managed to arrive here, even if it's alone… There will be hope for us… Just ready your Magic Nodes and Mana Artifact to defend yourself."

"Alright, Sir…"

Tetsuo is just a normal Adept Mage but he is currently leading a team filled with uncommon Adept Mages...

They are Adepts who used the Cryptic Link Serum to advance and forcefully establish an Arcane Link.

He has nothing against them and as a matter of fact, he envied them a bit since he can see how successful they are and he even heard that they are capable of using forbidden mana spells without any backlash.

He wouldn't want to be enemies with any of them.

Speaking of which, they should be capable of blocking the enemy Mech Frames, right?

"Guys, do you have any abilities effective against the Mech Frames?"

Their spacesuit is equipped with their own Mana Artifact they've brought here in space. Aside from that, Ace had also equipped them with a lethal laser gun and two Energy Blades. Both of which were made of advanced tech with advanced mana structure...

Although they are powerful, it questionable whether they would work effectively against the Mech Frames.

"We can use Shadow Embrace… Though we haven't tried using it against Mech Frames, it should buy as a minute—No, perhaps 30 seconds…"

This statement was agreed upon by the other Adept Mages who were capable of executing the same skill…

Tetsuo was actually quite clueless about this ability but he can guess that it is a restrictive mana spell based on its name.

"Is that something similar to the Mana Chain?"

"Yes…"

"Good… Just do it once they get near…"

The Mana Chain can be a Grade 3 Spell depending on the Artifact used or the caster themselves…

In the meantime, Tetsuo decided to use one of Mana Spells… As long as the other Adepts managed to restrict the movement of the Mech Frames, he would have a chance to throw and hit their machines with his spell…

"Don't be afraid, let them come to us!"

Tetsuo yelled to increase the morale of his team…

Eight Warrior Mechs are going their way while carrying bulky devices on their backs… They assume that it is related to their method to perhaps cancel their Mana Waves or Burst and to remain unaffected…

Nevertheless, they were about to use a forbidden spell and they shouldn't treat it the same with their previous Mana Spells…

"Ready your Magic Nodes… Make sure to activate it on time… It's the only thing that would guarantee your life…"

"Yes, Sir…"

The group of magicians exploded with Mana as this is a matter of life and death… There is no point in saving mana when their life is in danger.

***

Ace saw that the surviving pilots were not giving up…

They have a good mindset and that is something he wanted to commend them for. This should be every magician's mentality in this war…

As long as you have mana to use, you have to utilize them and be confident with it…

A magician shouldn't be someone who can be easily killed…

"Avalon… We only sent 5 Mech Frames to rescue them… Don't we have any more available units?"

[ If we will retreat now and cancel our plans with the 3rd and 4th Mech Division, we can send more Mech Knights to help them. ]

The A.I. replied immediately…

That's right, those two divisions were still waiting somewhere within the battlefield…

Although the empire dispatched several small spacecraft to scout the surroundings, there was no way for them to sense the mech knights division that has been waiting in their place for two days now… They didn't move and stayed in place as they coated themselves and slowly moved like a celestial body.

This is their trump card from this fight aside from the Omen's Non-Relic Destroyer…

The Empire would surely look for the ambusher in stealth mode… However, they can move everywhere or plant as many traps as they can but they will not easily suspect a rock as Mech Knight unless they have seen it before…

Since they instilled in the enemy's minds that they have stealth Mech Knights, they would surely look for them and create a net that would capture any invisible objects…

"I understand, there's no other choice… We'll go ahead with our plans… We can't let the Arian's sacrifice go in vain…"

The death of the Arians, a Minor Race in the galaxy, is a huge blow to their current forces… Just the disappearance of the Omen itself is already a great decrease to their power.

Nevertheless, the Arians were quite lucky as there are still other Arians who were currently living on Earth and others that were also about to descend there.

"Dive down…"

[ Affirmative… ]

The Excellence was, in fact, being pressured by the Invader Spaceship for a while now… They've only managed to last this long because of the improved radiant wave technology that they've installed throughout the whole ship and their impressive supply of mana.

Perhaps, only the enemy's Subspace Blaster can easily penetrate his defense like it is nothing… But that blaster is a weapon meant for Mech Frames as it doesn't have a very long range… Only the mobile Mech can normally carry it as their deadliest weapon…

"Are they following?"

[ Five Invader Spaceship just started chasing. ]

"Good… Just continue with it… Use our turrets to keep our current distance.

[ Affirmative. ]

***

The crowd watching the broadcast was devastated upon seeing the Omen being destroyed after the Black Sovereign crashed to it and self-destructed.

They were unsure how many personnel or perhaps magicians are present in that ship but this must've spoiled Wallace's plan to deal a huge blow against the Empire.

They can see that they are the ones suffering instead.

"Don't give up… You can do this…"

"Look, there are survivors! They have to retreat and make another plan!"

"This is dangerous!"

As they started worrying for the magicians, they saw that Excellence has sent out five fast-moving Mech Knights to save the injured….

This made them relieved as they observed the current battles of the two spacecraft…

Whoom~

They saw the Excellence and the Providence dive down at the same time…

The enemy team was alerted by their actions but they didn't find any accumulating power that was about to ambush them.

So the empire decided to send a total of 5 Invader spaceships to see what the man is planning this time.

However, as soon as the five chased them, the crowd noticed a light that has suddenly appeared in front of the Imperial Flagship!

"What is that?"

"Something blew up!"

The light they saw was indeed a part of the third and fourth Mech Knight Division's attack…

Finally, the Mech Knights that were camouflaged as a huge rock have revealed themselves! Of course, they wouldn't appear like this if their attack hasn't been successful!

That's right! The light they saw just now wasn't because the Flagship managed to defend against it but because it is part of their huge plan.

"What's going on?! They left those tiny Mech Knights in front of the huge fleet?"

"T-that's true… This is a reckless strategy…"

They couldn't understand what's really going on but they know that the Mech pilots are about to do something against the Imperial Fleet.