"I did it!" Ferdie shouted after seeing the result of his surprise attack.

The Arcanist Phase truly lives up to its reputation. When he first heard of this Mech Knight's function, he didn't think too much of it since it has a huge backlash that could put his Knight's Mana Reserves at a dangerous level.

However, if he used it right, they can easily gain momentum and help the other Mech Knights lessen their burden… This would increase their morale which is one of the most important things in this type of battle…

Beep!

[ 3 Warrior and 4 Marauder Mech Frames are approaching ]

Ferdie was not comfortable facing a lot of enemy Mech but he has no choice at the moment, as long as the Excellence reaches them, the situation will surely turn around. They just have to hold on until that time.

Archon – Mana Drill!

Boom!

The Mana Drill hit another Mech Frame as Ferdie decided to get close to them. He needed to maximize his Arcanist Phase and cast as many Magic Spells as he can while it lasts.

Archon – Focus Shot!

The magic spell created a mana-formed arrow that boasts extreme sharpness… A single cast can create 10 arrows and it is perfect when fighting against multiple enemies. With the help of his Mech Knight's calculating ability, he can easily target the enemies and avoid wasting his mana.

Arcane Grip!

Ferdie noticed that the Mech Frames were only dodging him and they were seemingly observing the unusual spells he was throwing even if they have to sacrifice their fellow pilots…

He didn't feel good about this so he immediately used the Arcane Grip… It is out of the Archon Series and part of his Mana Artifact's Exclusive Skill…

This ability is meant to bind his opponents that are within his 300 meters range…

Boom! Boom!

Unfortunately, the Mech Frames have enough power to break through the binding he made… At the very least, Ferdie managed to weaken their assault… Ray Penber and the other pilots were now starting their counter-attack…

They can do it! The enemy Mech wasn't as strong as they thought they are…

Their Mech Knight Division uses the Archon Series as Wallace has partnered with the Vector Organization for this. Other Series, like the Prime, Enchant, and Royal doesn't sit well with their Mech Knights so it was decided to have this Spell Series instead.

On the other hand, Wallace's Traceless Series does not have enough offensive magic spells to fight against the large Mech Frames. Most of his spells were meant for people or magicians and they could barely affect the machines except for its Traceless Oscillation.

Beep!

[ Arcanist Phase: 60 seconds remaining ]

As soon as Ferdie heard this, he rushed towards the enemy and showed them everything he got…

***

Ace has been observing the battle near Providence's coordinates while also keeping an eye on the immobilized 5 Conqueror Starship.

The latter's captains had perhaps realized the disruption within its internal structure already… However, they shouldn't have a way to fight against the properly utilized Celestial Blood.

Even if there is, it should buy them enough time to deal with the two Black Sovereign with a suspected Sacred Relic.

Ace then noticed the activation of the Arcanist Phase from Ferdie… It was followed by other units from Hilda's team.

Hilda, although has the same function in her Radiant Mech, decided to save it for now but she still used her Radiance…

It is the same skill she used during the exam but it's a stronger version.

'Mhmm… Something doesn't seem right…'

He can see that the Knights Division is winning the fight… It is worth a celebration but he finds it weird that the Mech Frames aren't using the special feature of their machines.

His Lotus Mech has Radiant Wave Technology, the Serpent Mech has Twilight Armor Technology, the Dragon Mech has Subspace Blaster Technology and the Wolf Mech has the Psionic Pulse Technology.

If Ace would rate the danger level of those techs against their current Mech Knights, he would rate the Psionic Pulse as the highest… As a matter of fact, he assigned Avalon to monitor the activation of the mentioned technology and have the Mech Knights retreat as quickly as possible if there are any signs of it…

The Twilight Armor, on the other hand, can be quite scary since whenever it is activated, it can probably blast through a spaceship leaving a hole on it and still undamaged.

As per the information he read, it uses an extremely rare rock mined from a specific type of asteroid…

They must also watch out for that.

For the Subspace Blaster of any Dragon Mech, it can also become extremely troublesome if the Exclusive Skills of their installed Mana Artifact is not quickly activated. They have prepared for this but coordination and skills were still required to defend against it.

This blaster is a beam weapon that requires a special crystal. A crystal that could only be found on one particular planet owned by a minor race under the Empire's rule…

By streaming the Aether through this crystal, visible radiation would be directed as a beam towards a target…

This radiation contains sub-atomic particles and it has a variety of effects when it comes into contact with any materials.

All of these technologies are extremely deadly and there was no way that they wouldn't use them here!

As he thought of this, Ace suddenly had an idea…

'Are they using these Mech Knights to see our limit?'

He then chuckled a little after realizing this. It is similar to what happened in his dream where they would curiously watch the Magicians fight for their lives before killing them as soon as they gathered enough data…

Ace could either use this as an opportunity to attack or perhaps decide to run away now while they haven't seen all their Arcane Technology and Mana Spells yet.

The young man sighed as he looked at the two spaceships seriously.

"Avalon… We'll use all our cannons to destroy at least one Black Sovereign. We'll use everything we got… Locate the Cube of Paradox and let the Mech Knights retrieve them…"

[ Affirmative. ]

Ace really wanted to know whether it is the Cube or not as it may affect their future strategies… So if Avalon did not detect the same frequency of the Cube of Paradox, he can consider backing away instead and retreat to the next line of defense…

'Mhmm… However, if we manage to get their Cube, we may be able to increase Wallace's Access Level…'

Ace smirked at the thought.

That's right… This is what he immediately consider after realizing that there is a Cube of Paradox nearby…

If Wallace received this and manage to increase his Access Level, who knows whether he can get another Life Guarantee?

It must be remembered that a broken cube from before had managed to increase his access to a Knight Level… What if it's a complete cube this time?

He might even be able to store a corvette-class spacecraft within the 'space' he can use to store inanimate objects…

That would be really awesome. However, before he can even think of that possibility, they have to deal with the Black Sovereign first!

***

The Arians stationed at the Omen IV were also watching the battle unfold. Although they are concerned with the Arians remaining on the planet not too far from them, they were more concerned about the stench of death coming their way.

Shreguc Stoutsnarl, the previous captain of the warship, was flustered after seeing the massive enemy fleet…

All of the spaceships are familiar to him except for the Imperial Flagship… This is the first time that he had seen one and he truly felt that it is very special.

He can even imagine that a part of the royalty is inside this spacecraft watching Wallace struggle his way to them.

'Haa~ This is a disaster… Look at the number of their spacecraft… Even if only half of them fight seriously, I don't think that we'll have a chance to survive.'

He didn't want to admit it but he's scared of the annihilation of his race if they lose their battle.

"Leader, what do we do?" One of the elders asked.

Shreguc looked at the Excellence readying its super cannons before giving his orders.

"There is no choice… Prepare the second line of defense… Coordinate with the 3rd and 4th Mech Knight Division!"

"Yes, leader!"

He knows that Ace has prepared for this fight and created many strategies depending on the Empire's actions… He admires this part of him so he would do his part and achieve a victory against the Empire…

Although he's unsure whether they are effective, since Wallace has planned it with confidence, he'll just follow then… After all, their group was defeated almost instantly with his tricks and proper use of their Mana Spells.

He can still remember how their Omen was occupied so easily and how they were captured in few minutes.

"Veda… We'll need your help on this…"

[ Of course… Just do what Wallace is telling you. I know when I should act. ]