Slam!

The mech swatted its shield at this mage.

With a hop, that mage jumped above the shield. With a stomp on the shield, that mage leaped towards the mech.

In air, the mage's wand brightened up with a purplish glow.

Thrusting his wand forward like a dagger, the mage stabbed the dagger at the mech's head.

Boom!

A fiery explosion.

The mech was sent flying towards the river. Like a skipping rock, this burning mech bounced off the river surface.

Wearing a smirk, the void mage shot towards Alice. Running on the water surface like the ground, that mage quickly closed in the distance.

While travelling, the mage's wand liquefied and sank into the mage's hand. His withered arm quickly puffed up in size.

Stomp!

The mage suddenly appeared above the giant mech.

Punch!

The mech shot into the water like a cannonball.

In Alice's view, the bright river surface quickly distanced away. An enormous force was dragging her down into the dark and cold depth.

"Jeff? Jeff!" This burning Mech struggled around in the water.

Even under water, the purplish flames continued to burn.

BAM!

Another hit!

The mech sank lower into the waters.

Holding its shield up, the mech curled up.

[Alert!]

[Alert!]

[Shield: 15%...]

[Pilot Assistance Program Activating...]

The curled up mech opened up again.

At this moment, the presence of this mech totally changed!

Even being battered up, even with lower energy, it still presented a whole new level of threat!

In an instance, the mech transformed from a cowering newbie, to a cold and calculating warrior.

Turning around, raising its shield, the mech blocked out a punch with ease.

[Enemy Analysis Completed...]

Being knocked back, the mech kept its gaze onto its enemy.

[Energy source switched to Backup Mana Block A...]

Pop!

An explosion of mana.

The water around the mech churned. The sticky purplish flames on this mech shot into the water.

Seeing this result, the mage's careless expression became serious, and a little flustered?

In this dark waters, like a torpedo, that mage shot towards Alice's mech.

Yet, travelling halfway forward, the mage quickly slowed down. Looking closely, he was entangled in something now.

A net made out of thin metal chains gradually exited its camouflaged mode.

The mage widened his eyes. He was genuienly surprised this time. WHEN?!

In this dark world, the mech raised its hand at the mage. Like a noontime sun, the mech became blindingly bright with a golden light.

Pouring energy into its hand without holding back, an sphere of golden energy appeared before the mech's palm.

Under this death threat, the cloaked mage widened his eyes and clenched his teeth. Without further doubt, the dude stabbed a syringe into his arm.

Open fire!

A beam of golden light blasted towards that entangled mage.

The water in the beam's path instantly vaporized, leaving a trail of cloudy bubbles.

Across the river, a blinding light flashed!

The waters churned and trembled.

Looking from above...

On the other side of the river bank, a fiery cloud shot up from the ground. Mud, water, and silt blasted into the air. At this instance, under this blast, the waters near that location receded.

As the dirty waters fell down, water gradually filled that 35 meters radius crater...

[Energy source switched to Backup Mana Block B...]

Under water, the dimming mech brightened up again. Leaving a trail of bubbles, the mech quickly ascended.

Bring out a pillar of water, the mech broke through the river surface.

Standing in the muddy rainfall, the void mage looked at the Mech in frustration.

"Ugh." The dude's large arm popped off. As the arm fell, it bursted into purplish flames. Before it hit the water surface, it had already been cremated.

"This upgrade was reserved for you, Ms. Finley!" The mage grumbled.

"Now look at what you've forced me to do! AHHHH!"

A new arm quickly grew out of the mage's shoulder. The dude's hair quickly grew in length. In a moment, it was already at waist-length. As if being molded by an invisible force, the dude's body quickly became taller and slender. The dude's face became feminine. A droplet-shaped tattoo appeared on his forehead. His withered skin became smooth and tender.

In a blink, the transformation was already completed. The dude looked like a flat beauty now. Overall, the dude gave off a sense of otherworldly beauty. Lethal yet alluring.

The dude clenched his fist.

PAM!

An explosion of mana...

The air surrounding the dude became dense like a liquid.

"Now Ms. Finley..." The mage maliciously smiled.

[Hostile Energy Level: SSS-rank!]

[Likelihood of Escape: negligible...]

[Final Backup Protocol Initiating...]

Pop!

The gem on the mech's head cracked and shuttered. From the broken gem, a glowing energy flowed out, covering this mech.

In a blink, this blob of energy had already reached 50 meters tall.

Seeing this, the mage widened his eyes and held his breath.

This was just a trace of sage-tier mana. Yet, this was not something an SSS-rank could stand against.

Inside the glowing energy, Jeff's upper body appeared as an apparition. Inside Jeff's body, the mech was covered and protected.

(Apparition: a ghost or ghostlike image of a person.)

Jeff's apparition turned his cold gaze towards the frozen mage. Raising a finger, Jeff pressed down at this tiny enemy.

Under this pressure, the mage simply didn't have the strength to move. It's as if this space itself had been locked up.

In the mage's view, Jeff's finger quickly expanded in size.

"To think I lost to a rich man's toy..." The mage bitterly sighed in unreconciliation. "Jeff Norman..."

With a press and smear, the world was silent and peaceful again.

In the breeze, Jeff's apparition faded away.

The mech rose its head at Jeff's image. In the cockpit, Alice wore a blessed smile.

...

...

[ The sanctuary storage ]

15 minutes prior to Jeff's return...

Atlas's cold gaze brushed through the scared workers. "Pile the materials at the shipping zone."

"What materials do you need sir?"

"Everything." Atlas took a glance at the guy asking this question.

"Yes sir!" Avoiding Atlas' gaze, that guy nodded.

"Hmm..." Atlas looked down at his electronic tablet. Using keyholder clearance, Atlas punched in commands.

"I've removed all restrictions in this building. You three, grab the crates out of the black zone."

"But only the keyholder is-"

"Follow your orders."

"... Yes sir."

Atlas turned his gaze towards the cloaked figure.

That cloaked dude placed a black disk onto the ground. Like streams of ink, black stripes extended out of that disk.

"The altar will be ready in 10 minutes Sire."

Atlas nodded at this reply.

With a light hop, Atlas jumped 7 meters into air, easily arriving the upper platform. Looking out the window, squads were streaming in now. Some were already setting up defenses.

In a moment, this place would become the most densely protected location in Berrystone.

All according to plan...