As soon as Howard gave them the signal, the leader of the group prompted everyone to move accordingly to their plans.

"Now!" The specialist shouted to tell them that it was now ready.

With the help of the various enhancements that they've cast a moment ago, the three seconds gap was more than enough to let them enter the territory swiftly.

'Ho~ This place has thicker mana than I expected...'

Not only the leader but everyone noticed that the concentration of mana in this place was higher than what they were used to... This ignites their curiosity even more than before...

"Alright, investigate this place and-"

Whooosshh!

As the leader was about to remind his team about their mission, they suddenly realized that several mana-less figures were nearing them and about ten floating figures with a little bit of mana were also flying around them.

"This..."

The leader quickly glanced at the specialists together with them. Their main task here was to ensure that they would enter and leave this place without being noticed.

However, it obviously failed.

He also realized that these six people who call themselves "mana formation specialists" were also dumbfounded at the sight. It seems that they were thinking that they should have successfully completed the job without being noticed by the magicians who place the defenses...

'They failed terribly, huh... This young man was too mysterious.'

As a response to the sudden entrapment, they also cast a quick defense shield on everyone and made several enhancements in case there was a need to battle.

"Welcome to my place, mysterious visitors..."

They heard the menacing voice coming from a certain direction and had a quick glance at it. It was an armored individual and they couldn't properly tell whether it was a magician or not probably due to some kind of interference. Anyway, for someone to confront a group of twelve adept mages, they were sure that this was a magician.

"I'm sorry for intruding your place, we'll leave now..."

The leader suddenly said which dumbfounded not only Ace but also his teammates. They can see that the figures surrounding them where only automatons with original designs.

Although there was a threat from the floating ones, they were confident that they can handle them in a few moments.

"Leader..."

"I know what I'm doing..."

The members of the group can only sigh as they have to follow his words.

"I'm sorry as well... I can't let you leave just yet..."

Ace raised his hands to signal that he was about to attack. They realized that as soon as he waved it down, these automatons were surely going to start attacking them.

However, the leader of the group didn't order them to prepare to attack and instead faced the armored being.

"I know that you're Wallace Ravencroft... I'm Falcon from the Lucent Force. I would like to speak--"

Maybe his voice wasn't that loud as before he finished his words, Ace already ordered the automatons to fire at will.

Boom!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A series of spells rained down on the group and several high-powered guns carried by the floating automatons tried to breach their defenses.

"Eh?"

Ace suddenly realized what did the man just said.

"Lucent Force? Sounds familiar."

"..."

Baam!

Another explosion was heard as the automatons realized that the opponents this time were tougher than expected. They used earth-related spells to control the ground and created a wall to lighten the damage on their shields and mana shells. This prompted Avalon to use concentrated mana spells to cause an explosion to the surroundings.

Ace had also realized that a powerful spell, probably a Grade 4 spell, was accumulating in their midst. It seems that they were about to counter-attack.

"Wait... Stop!"

Ace already remembered the familiar words as he instructed Avalon to halt their movements.

"Falcon! Prove to me that you're truly from the Lucent Force! I'll give you ten seconds!"

He wasn't too familiar with that organization but he had heard of them before as it was taught in the class as part of the government's military forces.

Wallace still doubted them as he believes that an organization backed by the government would not just enter his property without his permission...

'Err... They might actually do just that... Are they planning to secretly investigate what I've done here?'

After thinking about it, it may be true!

However, it doesn't mean that he'll tolerate their unwelcomed visit here.

As the automatons stopped their attack, the group had also dropped their defenses but remained cautious to the armored being.

Their hooded robes were now long gone as Ace can see their light gears. They wore simple bracers, enchanted armors, and a short blade on their backs. They looked more like an assassin than a soldier.

However, it may be their suit to avoid being recognized.

"Haaa~ Thank you for listening. We really meant no harm against you... Again, let me introduce myself. You can call me Falcon and I'm part of the Lucent Force..."

The man was a head taller than him and his face seems to be familiar to Ace.

The young man squinted his eyes as he tries to remember where he had seen him before...

'Oh, right! He's the one in the video that the president showed!'*

Ace was surprised to see this person again. He remembers that the people in the video that was shown to him was unrecognizable at the beginning of the fight but when it neared its end, after part of their hat and robe were torn to pieces, he managed to have a quick glance at their faces.

He didn't think too much about it before but it seems to be useful now.

'So he's from Lucent Force, huh... Right, President Aaron was also part of the Force as Veda mentioned so this actually makes sense...'

"I'm counting! Ace said to remind him about the ten seconds."

"I'm not sure how to prove it to you... I can show you the membership token but I doubt that you've seen one and you may consider it a fake identity..."

"Let me see... I'll decide whether it is fake or not..."

"Very well..."

Falcon threw a black token made of metal to Ace. It has the size of standard gold coins they have.

The young man caught it swiftly and observed the moon pattern engraved on the token as he also noticed that a falcon was drawn on the other side.

Well, it was his first time seeing them but he was sure that with Avalon and Veda's database, they should have records about this to confirm its authenticity.

[ 100% match to the recorded token used by the members of the Lucent Force to identify themselves. ]

'Lucent moon on one side, their code name on the other side... Very well...'

Ace acknowledge Avalon's report.

"What's your purpose in coming here?"

"To investigate the reports that you have plans to overthrow the government..."

The leader replied which stunned Ace after hearing him...

He wasn't even able to reply as he was too shocked by this man's accusations.

"Overthrow? How am I supposed to do that?!"

"Let's say... by secretly creating weapons that could result in mass destruction..." Falcon said as he glanced at the surroundings.

It seems that he was trying to see what are the other changes that have occurred in this mountain.

Ace didn't know where to start explaining as he was truly surprised at his words.

Anyway, they said that they meant no harm...

It doesn't seem to be a lie as they were probably only tasked to look for evidence of his destructive weapons at this time.

After thinking for a moment.

"Alright... I'll explain the situation... In the meantime, I'll be capturing you guys. Do not resist."