"Ugh… where am I?"
Alric's eyes opened as he awakened, and at the same time, Galric also stirred in the hands of Lemantine.
The first thing he saw was the giant ship in the sky.
"Young master, you're awake," came a female voice near his ear. Turning his head, he saw the person holding him.
"Chief Lemantine? What's actually happening?" he asked, though it took him a moment to recall everything.
"That bastard… he hit me! Where's Alric?"
Getting out of Lemantine's hold, Galric looked around and saw Alric lying on the ground, but his eyes were open.
"Alric!" Galric ran to him, and hearing his voice, Alric lifted his head.
"Galric… isn't that our ship up there?" Alric asked.
Looking up, Galric also confirmed his brother's words.
"I need to know what happened." Getting up, Alric looked around and saw Chief Lemantine.
Soon, she informed the two of them about what had actually happened.
Thud!
Galric's fist slammed into his thigh in frustration.
"I can't believe we got tricked."
"Indeed… but that's not even the worst part," said Alric, who was gazing at the prison, now engulfed in a warlike atmosphere.
"How could something like this happen when the mana suppression coller prevents them from using mana?" Galric asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Someone bypassed the mana suppression. And I'm pretty sure whoever managed to do that is up there," Alric said, as he looked at the gigantic ship floating in the sky.
"About time," said Auran, gazing at the group that had arrived.
"That doesn't look like a proper operating system," Henry muttered as he looked at the damaged control console with a hole in the middle.
"It is damaged, and soon this ship will fall. However, I managed to stop one of the sub-ships—go and get on it," said Auran.
Henry spotted a few individuals standing close to the sub-ship in the distance. They looked frustrated and were trying their hardest to start it.
"Does the ship need to be started manually from here?" he asked, to which Auran nodded.
"Obviously. That means I won't be able to get to the ground in the same ship. But don't worry—I found another sub-ship that's in perfect condition. However, it can't hold many passengers. So you all get on the other one, and I'll follow in mine."
After that, Marina jumped forward, breaking the window and rushing directly toward the ship where a few people were gathered.
"Quickly, get it started!" Seeing someone rushing toward them, the people inside the sub-ship panicked.
"The ship definitely lost its self-launching ability. Seeing that she rushed here from the operating room, I think someone must've planned this," said one of the figures among them.
At that moment, Marina arrived and forcefully opened the door, frightening those inside. However, one of them, who seemed to be the leader, did not panic. Instead, he pulled a mana blaster from the sub-ship's locker.
"Mana blaster? That might've worked when I was under suppression, but now I'm confident I can endure it," said Marina as she stepped inside.
However, the man didn't aim at Marina—instead, he aimed at the sub-ship's piloting system.
"No!"
Realizing the man's intention, Marina rushed forward, but it was a moment too late. The man triggered the mana blaster.
{Negative Sensation}
Suddenly, the man changed direction mid-action and aimed the mana blaster elsewhere. But halfway through his movement, the magical spell from the blaster was released and collided with the ship's floor instead.
"Although the damage is still done, let's be glad I was able to minimize it," said Henry, standing behind Marian. He was somewhat sweaty, as he had just cast one of the most advanced spells he could manage at his current level.
"I'm ashamed I couldn't prevent that," said Marian. Afterward, she threw everyone out of the sub-ship.
"The damage to the floor has messed with the ship's balance. I don't think it'll be able to hold all your weight during flight. So one of you must stay. I suggest it should be Octo, as he's the heaviest among the group," came Auran's voice from the speaker inside the ship.
"Huh? Are you seriously all leaving me here?" said Octo in a heartbroken tone.
"You can go with me," came Auran's voice again from the speaker.
"Oh, then it's okay."
Afterward, Henry, Nimuk, and Marian boarded the first sub-ship and departed. Soon after, Auran and Octo got onto the second sub-ship, which was a little smaller, and they too departed from the main ship.
Boom!
An explosion occurred on the main ship, and smoke rose into the sky.
"Take cover!"
Debris from the ship rained down, and Chief Lamantine quickly dragged Alric and Galric to safety.
"Seems things didn't go as they planned," said Alric as he saw an emergency sub-ship departing from the main ship and floating in their direction.
"Those must be the staff from the operating system. Once they saw you had been thrown out of the ship, they must've acted quickly to escape and destroy the ship after realizing they couldn't win against the intruding enemy," said Galric as the ship gradually got closer to landing.
Moments later, they saw another ship departing from the main ship, but unlike the previous one, it flew in the opposite direction.
"Obviously, there was another emergency sub-ship inside, and whoever invaded must be using that one to escape," muttered Alric. But right after he spoke, they saw yet another ship—much smaller—departing from the main ship and following behind the sub-ship that fled in the opposite direction.
"It's the emergency sub-ship for the captain," muttered Chief Lamantine, recognizing the uniquely short model.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm not letting them get away. Not only did they use me and Galric as decoys, but they also managed to break free from the mana suppression device we spent years developing. I want to catch whoever is responsible for this and analyze his brain," said Alric as he made his way toward the sub-ship that had landed on the roof.
Galric followed behind him, and Chief Lamantine chased after them to stop them because she worried about there safety. But she stopped halfway through her action as she remembered how the escaped prisoners had pushed her down from the top, trying to kill her.
"Let's follow them and try to catch them, but I want the young masters to stay away from battle as much as possible. If something happens to the two of you, the Grand Technician would not let me live," she said as she joined the two twins.
Getting on the ship, the two twins quickly set it up to fly again, but at that moment, a group of officers rushed onto the rooftop and surrounded the sub-ship.
"Please excuse us, but can you explain what happened here?" asked the warden, who had just arrived at the top. Looking at each other, Alric and Galric nodded.
"It'll be easier if we have more people to work with."
Soon after a brief explanation of the events, a group of officers, including the warden, got on the sub-ship and departed, following the two ships that had flown out of the prison.
Another group rushed to the top floor and started the prison's main ship to follow behind them.
As they were leaving, the warden gazed back at the prison, which was engulfed in chaos, and at the ship caught in an explosion.
Boom!
Another large explosion occurred inside the ship, and at the same time, a blast erupted from deep underground in the prison's mine, engulfing the entire prison in a wave of fire.
"Uh…" the warden was at a loss for words. The other ships that were preparing to follow all momentarily stopped.
"Warden, what are your orders?" asked an officer, seeing the warden standing like a statue.
"It's over, but we need to hold on at least until the reinforcements arrive. Tell the others not to follow us and continue guarding the prison. Do not engage in hand-to-hand combat. Simply try to prevent them from leaving," said Chief Lamantine in place of the warden, and the officers instantly obeyed her command.
The ships that had prepared to follow them stopped and turned back. Meanwhile, the sub-ship with the twins and officers soon left the protective shield, following behind the two other ships that had escaped.