Thud!
The shield caused a reverberation but was able to prevent the Chief from any harm she could have suffered from the fall.
"Whoa… if not for the Grand Technician's device, I could have been seriously injured there." Getting up, the woman looked at the ship and prepared to run back up through the stairs. But she momentarily paused as she saw several individuals at the ship's door holding the two sons of the Grand Technician at the edge of the staircase.
"Take one more step forward and we'll drop these guys down!" shouted Marian loudly.
"These bastards!" The furious Chief hesitated to move forward. Just then, she heard the familiar voice of a soldier who normally held the ship's communicator. Looking around, she saw the source of the voice—a speaker—and beside it lay the man who usually held it. The unfortunate officer had fallen onto a sharp edge of the rooftop, which pierced through his back.
"Grand Technician!" she quickly moved and grabbed the speaker.
"What's going on? What was that sound?" asked the Grand Technician.
"We were fooled. The group holding the young masters turned out to be traitors," said the Chief.
"What about my children?"
"They're holding them hostage."
"keep them safe no matter what"
At the Grand Technician's order, the Chief confronted Henry and the group to inquire about their demands, but Henry and the others showed no response. They stood in silence, which only made the Chief more confused.
"What are they planning?"
. . . . . . . .
Inside the ship, Auran moved quickly with the help of a basic air spell. Although he encountered officers with mana blasters, thanks to his powerful spells, he faced no difficulty bypassing them.
"Where's the control room?"
He pressed one of the officers against the wall and asked while pointing a mana blaster at the man's face.
"I swear, if you lie to me, I'll kill you right here. And yes, I already know where the control room is—I'm only asking because I'm deciding whether or not to let you live," said Auran coldly.
Hearing this, the man quickly gave an answer. But contrary to Auran's words, he triggered the mana blaster and turned the man into an ice statue. The frozen figure fell and shattered into countless pieces upon hitting the ground.
"It's a good thing all the sons of the Mackley family undergo a coming-of-age ceremony before going to the academy—one that exposes us to the cruelty of society and the gore it brings.
If not for that, I don't think I could have come to terms with all the lives I've taken up to now," Auran thought to himself as he moved, following the directions the officer had given.
It was a lie that Auran already knew where the control room was—but the officer believed it and gave the directions, thinking it would save his life. However, Auran couldn't afford to make the mistake of letting an enemy live who could potentially become an unpredictable threat to his plan.
"That should be it." Seeing the literal words
However, what he saw inside was unexpected.
The main operating system appeared to be damaged. A giant hole had been blown into it, and fire was erupting from the wreckage.
"Shit... those guys blew up the operator system and escaped using a sub-ship," Auran muttered.
The front area of the operating room was a giant glass wall from which the entire ship could be seen. Auran spotted one of the emergency sub-ships already departing, while another was preparing for launch.
Auran acted quickly and searched for a way to prevent the last sub-ship from escaping. Amid his thoughts, a basic structural layout of the operating room suddenly flashed in his mind.
"Perfect timing," he muttered.
But just as he tried to move, he was suddenly brought to his knees by a sharp, intense pain in his head.
"Ugh!"
Clutching his skull, he screamed in agony. The familiar pain came from deep within—the time rift. It was sudden and unbearable, but after a few moments, Auran managed to lift his hand and pull out a circuit from the operating system.
"Ugh…" he groaned again, ending the pain as he stood up. He then grabbed the mic used to announce important messages to the ship's staff.
"The ship is about to shut down. Quickly, follow the trail of dead officers to the operating room!" His voice echoed loudly throughout the ship—clearly heard by Henry and the rest of the group.
Without further delay, they threw the two twins out of the ship and ran, following the trail of dead soldiers as Auran had instructed.
From the top roof of the prison, Chief Officer Lemantine saw the two sons of the Grand Technician falling through the air.
"Shit!"
She acted quickly and grabbed a badge attached to her belt. Taking aim, she threw it toward one of the sons before rushing to the place where she estimated the other one would fall.
The badge she threw latched onto Alric, and the moment he collided with the air pressure from the fall, the same shield that once protected Lemantine activated around him.
But Galric was falling from a higher altitude and at greater speed. Watching him get closer and closer to the ground, Lemantine sighed.
"Sigh… I really didn't want to use this here."
Then she pressed a few buttons on the suit she wore. Right after, a mechanical sound emerged from her armor as it tightened, and colorful liquid flowed through it, enhancing her mobility and strength.
Using her enhanced momentum, Lemantine jumped up and caught Galric just before he could hit the ground. With him in her arms, the two fell together, but Lemantine managed to land on her feet and stood completely fine—uninjured by the impact.
A few minutes later, the mysterious strength granted by the suit faded, and an emptied chemical cartridge fell from it onto the ground.