The Lagrange Point is quite far from the coordinates where they completed the ambush… It would take approximately two days with the speed of their Mid-Size Battleship…

However, the preparation required to complete the second line of defense would also take some time for the Mech Knights and the Omen IV. This is the reason why Shreguc did not hesitate to start the Defense Phase of the Lagrange Point as soon as Wallace's forces started retreating to their coordinates…

After all, it would be real trouble if even a couple of those gigantic starships chased them.

[ The leader of the Arians wanted to speak with you. ]

A genderless voice from a floating metal ball spoke.

"Oh? Do I have to meet them?" Ace asked. He's about to speak with the Providence's Mech pilots when the A.I. informed him.

[ No. ]

Avalon replied.

"Alright… Just connect me through their channel."

Ace finally said as he seated at the captain's seat within the bridge.

Since he can't speak their language, he will be using Avalon's translation system to communicate with them.

[ We wish to speak with the leader of your race… ]

Avalon started relaying their words.

"Ehem… Hello? This is me… What do you want?" Ace said as they appeared on each other's devices.

[ Oh… Leader, we wish to send some of our young ones to your planet. Please, allow us to give them a chance to live. ]

"Ho~ What made you think that they'll survive on our planet… What's with the sudden request?"

Ace wanted to know what going on with their minds right now.

[ It's impossible to beat the Empire's Fleet here in space. You've seen their Flagship… I know that you are aware that they haven't shown a tenth of their power. Please, understand us. The old ones like us are willing to sacrifice our life to fight them, but please let the other member of my race live on your planet. ]

"I understand your words. But wouldn't it be the same if we can't defeat them here in space? The Empire would just go straight to the planet anyway…"

[ However, there is still a chance to live. The Arians are highly adaptive to the environment, as long as the Empire isn't here to destroy the planet, we will find ways to live. ]

Shreguc answered. The old and wrinkled Arian appears to be convinced that they'll be killed in outer space once the Empire has arrived, so the guy is just hoping to let the others survive…

Well, he's probably aware of how scary the Empire can be. He wouldn't blame the old man for that. Wallace had also limited the information he presented to them so they weren't that clear about their forces...

Nevertheless, he is right... He is not expecting that they'll defeat the Empire with their meager forces. He didn't have enough time to establish a grand space fleet or even make a gigantic spaceship... Aside from that, his shipyard is also lacking...

"Very well, I'll make arrangements with Avalon…"

[ Thank you for your grace, Lord Wallace… ] Shreguc suddenly called him with such esteem.

Ace then ended his conversation with him and headed to the pilots of the first and second Knights Divisions. He wanted to see for himself the mental conditions of these Magicians…

Although he readied them for this day, he wanted to make sure that everyone's state of mind is clear and try to remind them of their objective here in space.

"How's everyone?" Wallace greeted the pilots who are now gathered within the room and talking about their recent battle.

It is important to have discussions like these as the pilots would discover better methods of fighting or perhaps learn their mistakes by listening to the genius pilots... Sharing their experience would help them improve one another...

Their most controversial topic is the Arcanist Phase and Wallace arrived at the same time they are arguing about it...

"Sir Wallace! You're here..."

"We are all fine, Sir... It is an intense battle but our element of surprise worked really well..."

"That's true. Though I doubt that we can repeat the same tactic, I'm sure that they'll be wary of our Mana Spells next time."

Hilda greeted him first followed by the other Mech Pilots. They are already used to Wallace's presence so they are quite relaxed when receiving him.

"I see... Are there any issues with the Mech Knights? You should've felt the difference between their Mech Frames and our Knights... How was it?"

Ace asked. He's sincere with the question.

Hearing their opinion about the comparison of their Mech Knights and the enemy Mech Frames would allow him to improve them as well. Although they haven't tried to pilot those Frames yet, fighting against them would surely give them an idea about its capabilities.

"Mhmm... I can say that our Mech Knights are superior in terms of firepower... However, the enemy pilots have good coordination. They can hold formations and react really well..."

"Well, we can work that out too if we hold more joint practices with our Divisions..."

"Yes. I also noticed that their pilots are also quite patient. They only used the Twilight Armor Tech at a crucial time. Their Mech Frames are impressive but they seem to be restricting themselves for some reason…"

They discussed a little more about the behavior of the enemy and the powers of their machines… After this, Wallace decided to leave them and visit the other magicians…

"Sir Wallace… Wait, can I ask something about the Arcanist Phase?"

Ferdie suddenly raised his hand to ask a question.

"Arcanist Phase? Go ahead, I'll answer if I can..."

"Thank you... I just want to know whether we can install them in all of the Mech Knights that we have. That Phase would really provide a huge help to any pilots whenever they're in a tough spot."

Ferdie knows how valuable this function is and he's also aware of its backlash... However, he felt that there would be a lot more benefit to their Division if all the Mech Knights are capable of doing this...

They can just plan a rotation for the Arcanist Phase to be activated.

Wallace didn't think too long for an answer as he also considered this before.

"That's true, but the Arcanist Phase is inefficient here on space... Anyway, don't worry... I'm planning on placing this feature in all of the Mech Knights meant for our planet. After all, there wouldn't be a problem with the supply of mana on the surface..."

After the pilots heard this, they all became excited.

He is right, the Arcanist Phase spends a lot of their Mana Reserves which is extremely valuable here on space. They have no ways of resupplying them unless the Mana Stones from the surface were delivered.

However, if they can use it freely on their planet, then just like what he said, it would become more efficient for them.

Ace spent his time confirming that all the Magicians are in good condition.

He also made sure that the 3rd and 4th Mech Knights Division waiting for the Empire's arrival has no issues whatsoever.

Then, a small-size spaceship was sent out to bring the young Arians to Earth... He also contacted Yumi to help him make arrangements for their arrival. Apparently, Wallace is busy doing something else with Aeolia and found out that he passed most of the administrative works to Lacus and Yumi...

***

Beep!

[ The Empire's Fleet has reached the effective range of the Omen IV's Hadron Cannon ]

Ace opened his eyes after hearing Avalon's reminder. Time has quickly passed and as expected, the Empire is not afraid of following their trail.

Of course, this is what he expected from them already…

He also noticed that the severely damaged Black Sovereign wasn't left behind as it is being pushed by some machines with strong boosters behind it...

As for the five Conqueror Starship that has been affected by the Celestial's Solidified Blood, they were missing in front of the fleet as they stayed in the place where Wallace left them…

'Why would they bring the broken Black Sovereign and leave those five behind?' Wallace was a bit confused about their actions.

Nevertheless, they have to continue with their plan.

"Avalon… Help the Arians as much as you can."

[ Affirmative. ]

For the second line of defense that they have prepared, the core unit would be the Omen IV while the two mid-size battleships, Excellence and Providence, would act as support…

The 3rd and 4th Mech Knights Division, on the other hand, was sortied earlier on as they needed to hide somewhere with their special devices…

They know that the previous ambush they did would perhaps no longer work so they have a different job compared to Hilda and Ray's previous tasks.

[ All Systems: Ready ] Avalon reported.

They would no longer bother sending communications to them as they would let the Omen IV initiate the attack.

"Give the signal to the Arians…" Ace gave his command to Avalon.

[ Affirmative. ]