Now, Alpha considered himself quite the gentleman. And usually, when a gentleman's lady friend is suddenly abducted right in front of him, it's a gentleman's job to come to the rescue. Unfortunately, this particular gentleman was having some... complications, at the moment. It seemed that the TAWP's structural damage was more significant than the initial readings had suggested. Maybe some sensors had become damaged, or perhaps some unknown element had accelerated the degradation. Or it was even possible that Jīshí's last "love tap" had knocked juuuust the right thing in juuuust the wrong way.

Because Alpha couldn't move.

Or rather, he could, but if the readings he was getting were anything to go by, his mobility was down 78.4%. If he tried pushing it anywhere past that, he might cause irreparable damage to the TAWP frame. Alpha laughed nervously to himself. Jīshí was a big girl; she could take care of herself. Surely, right? Right?

Still, maybe it would be a good idea to send a drone after them, just to keep an eye on things.

As he was constructing the Nano-drone, Alpha noticed a moment from the front of the room.

"Just great..." Alpha thought, "I guess it's true what they say, 'When the adults are away, the children will wreak the place'..."

Alpha scanned the group and noticed the 10 who'd entered the throne room before had swelled to 25. Unlike the look of reverence and humility from before, the group entered the room with a brazen sense of purpose. They obviously weren't here to house sit while the two powerhouses were on their date.

The older man Jīshí has called Wu Song barked out a few orders to the group in their archaic language. A young man approached Wu Song and said something to him, his nervous eyes never leaving Alpha's still form. Wu Song looked up at Alpha and squinted before shouting out more orders. Two of the original ten stopped what they were doing, then stood at opposite sides of the room, forming a line with Wu Song in the middle. The three focused their attention on Alpha, not even blinking, as the others milled around them, clearing the area and breaking down the walls.

Once the rubble was cleared, a group of six older looking people carrying small, jade boxes surrounded Alpha. Alpha knew they were up to something, and the smart thing would be to move out of the way. But he had to admit that his curiosity was peaked; other than Jīshí moving some rocks and the man named Yeom Ki's inhuman speed, Alpha had let to see much of this so-called "Cultivation." Yeom Ki and Jīshí were obviously outliers in this world; what did the more common "Cultivators" look like?.

Besides that, he was already heavily damaged. No point in engaging until he saw what exactly he was up against. True, risky on his part, but Alpha had found over the years that risk and reward often went hand in hand... sometimes.

Other times, it came with a hefty repair bill and a scolding from the General.

But hey, C'est la vie, and all that.

The six strange men began walking around him in a circle, slowly pouring out strange glinting sand into tight and surprisingly precise geometric shapes and patterns. They would often remove a jet black stake intricately carved with strange patterns and place them at points where the sand lines met.

Suddenly, Alpha's systems began blaring out a warning.

[WARNING! HIGH LEVELS OF UNKNOWN RADIATION DETECTED]

[WARNING! SPATIAL DISTORTIONS DETECTED, ADVISED TO TAKE COVER]

Oooookay. Now that was something to be worried about. Alpha might not have understood what they were doing, but he wasn't foolish enough to let them finish. In the next moment, all of his optical sensors flashed open, swirling around as they tracked and marked each enemy target. However, the moment his sensors began moving, Wu Song barked out an order, and the six men surrounding him stopped what they were doing. Their forms flickered, and they disappeared, reappearing behind Wu Song and the other two.

Wu Song and his two Companions raised both of their arms into the air, as if in surrender. In the next moment, a strange, rainbow curtain stretched itself from the three men acting as focal points, cutting off Alpha from the rest of the group.

All of Alpha's optical sensors swerved to focus on the three men and the curtain of light as he scanned it. It didn't appear to be any kind of attack, but rather some kind of Barrier. How they were generating it, however, Alpha didn't have a clue. Well, it didn't matter much; they weren't the only ones with toys.

With a mental command, the nanobots that made up most of his body began to bubble and shift.

[ACTIVATING TAWP SIEGE MODE, STAND-BY]

Several metal anchoring rods shot out from his legs, burying themselves deep into the ground. At the same time, the tops expanded into several multilayered shells.

[SHIFTING ARMAMENT TO POINT DEFENSE CONFIGURATION]

Most of the turrets and more sophisticated equipment and sensors dotting the TAWP melted away, replaced by dozens of small, low caliber anti-infantry rail-turrets, covering all angles. His sensors took on a more simplistic and direct design, focusing on tracking movement and energy signals.

[ACTIVATING CLASS-V ENERGY BARRIER]

Hundreds of tiny metal balls shot into the air, spinning around Alpha as they levitated by some unknown means. The air around Alpha flicked for a moment before dozens of interlocking hexagonal energy plates materialized in a dome around the TAWP. Each point of contact was one of the small metal balls. The Class-V Energy Barrier, powered by Alpha's fancy new Power Core, was one of the newer additions to his kit. Unfortunately, its massive energy drain meant that Energy Weapons couldn't be used at the same time.

[DEPLOYING MUNITION COMPRESSION DRILLS]

A large chunk of Nanobots broke off and formed a sizeable silo-like structure. The bottom of the structure began spinning at high speeds and buried itself underground. Unseen by those on the surface, dozens of "roots" erupted from the drill, spreading out for hundreds of meters as they continuously drew in soil and rocks, super compressing them around tiny metal cores, and feeding the resulting makeshift bullet into Alpha's weapon systems. The MCD was Alpha's own contribution to the TAWP system and asked the question, "What if I just had ALL of the Bullets?" Granted, the compressed soil bullets were not as high quality or reliable as properly manufactured ones.

But then again, when you were sending a 10-oz, super compressed projectile towards a Biological at Mach 4 and 10,000 rounds a minute, it didn't really matter much.

Although his "transformation" only took a matter of seconds, the Cultivators behind the Barrier weren't merely standing around and doing nothing. As soon as the AI had started to change, they began forming up into ranks, with several groups splitting off to the side, attempting to flank him.

If Alpha had a mouth, he would have grinned as he pointed his guns towards the radiant rainbow barrier... and fired.

As soon as the Sect Leader made his move, Wu Song broke into action. If there was one thing that made the Origin Sect a cut above the rest, it was their discipline. Every member (excluding certain thick-headed disciples) was trained from their youth to be steadfast in their resolve, ordered in the execution, and thoughtful in their actions. This mentality is was turned the Four Great Pillars into the Five in just a few short centuries.

And as expected from such a group of people, their actions were akin to a well-trained army. Each member knew exactly what their job and position were. As they prepared the Teleportation Formation, Lin Weiyua approached Wu Song and whispered in a soft voice;

[Lin Weiyua] - "Elder Wu Song. I... something doesn't sit well with me. I don't understand why an Elemental like Senior Jīshí would want a Fallen Star, no matter how powerful. Their people, while not pacifists, do not concern themselves with mortal affairs. Nor are they the type to so severely injure another being for such a treasure. They would be more apt to bargain or trade for it..."

Wu Song paused in thought and nodded at the young man's reasoning.

[Wu Song] - "... I see your point. But what does that mean for us?"

Lin Weiyua hesitated, then said in a low voice,

[Lin Weiyua] - "Senior Jīshí ... may not have been the one to attack Elder Chang Xiuron..."

Wu Song raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy,

[Wu Song] - "You believe there is a third party involved? Who? While the Sect Leader is not the most powerful, he is still a {Firmament Breaker- Pure Soul}, the number of people on this Continent who could escape his notice, could be counted on my hands."

Lin Weiyua didn't say anything, only stared hard in the direction of the Fallen Star. Wu Song followed his gaze and squinted his eyes in thought before finally speaking.

[Wu Song] - "... I see... Lai Yuan!! Zhu Fu!! To me! Bulwark formation!"

The two who were called out stood and saluted before moving into position, acting as the focal points for the Aurora Bulwark, a high tier barrier said to stop the assault of multiple {Divine Awakening} level attacks. As the Barrier flickered into existence, the Formation Masters the Sect Leader had brought along started their work.

Several tense moments passed as they worked, when, a moment before its completion, there was movement from the Fallen Star.

Wu Song didn't hesitate to give the order;

[Wu Song] - "Battle ranks!"

The Origin Sect members dropped what they were doing and instantly formed up in ranks.

As they did so, Wu Song's eyes never left the Fallen Star. He stared in horror as the strange crab-like Metal beast stood on its four legs and turned its many strange eyes towards them. Then it began to change.

The strange creature (or was it a puppet of some kind?) began to bubble and shift, dozens of spikes exploding out from it and burying themselves into the ground like the roots of a tree. The four legs shifted and became four massive shields, covering all angles but the top, as a strange structure rose, then sunk into the ground behind it.

Finally, dozens of those strange horns popped out of the beast's bubbling skin and pointed towards them.

Wu Song stared at the horns and swallowed, remembering clearly what they had done to his disciple.

Still, he steeled his will and called out;

[Wu Song] - "Brace!"

In the next moment, the sound of thunder erupted from the Fallen Star. Not the single strike from before, but a continuous stream of chaotic sound the likes the 500-year-old man had never heard. The Bulwark was pummeled by thousands upon thousands of tiny objects, traveling faster than Wu Song could even sense with his spiritual energy. Each attack didn't hold even 1/5 the power of the Fallen Star's attack on his disciple. However, the sheer number of them was quickly pushing the three to their Limit.

It had only been a few seconds, and Wu Song could already feel control of the Bulwark quickly slipping away. With a frown, the old man shouted out to the group behind him.

[Wu Song] - "READY!... SCATTER!"

The group broke into random directions just as the Bulwark cracked and shattered, unleashing the seemingly unending torrent of projectiles into their midst.

Wu Song's form flickered and moved in seemingly random patterns, using both his speed and Earth Element to either dodge or deflect the thousands of tiny stone projectiles from as many people as he could. Even still, the sound of thunder was soon mixed with the screams of those too slow to get away, as the Fallen Star's horns moved and swerved, tracking their movements with eerie precision.

Those few higher-level Cultivators who could afford to do so tried to throw whatever attacks they could towards the Fallen Star, but to little effect. Solid attacks or items were quickly targeted and obliterated before they drew close due to concentrated fire from the horns. Energy or more amorphous abilities were absorbed by the flickering Barrier that covered the Fallen Star.

He had to do something; the Sect Leader was returning, but he was still a ways away; if things continued like this, there wouldn't be anyone left to save.

Steeling his heart, Wu Song stood up, defiance in his eyes, as he made a small slit in his thumb and raised his hand into the air. A small amount of Heart Blood rose from the wound, causing the Elder to pale, but he pressed on. The blood quickly formed a small, sparking, blood-red Gem that floated in the air above him. There was a pulse of Spiritual energy. Blood-red Sword energy erupted from the gem, quickly forming into a massive Sword.

The Fallen Star, seeming to sense something wrong, stopped its firing and turned its attention to him. Wu Song's heart fell as he could tell that the Blood Lord Sword Array would not finish in time. But at the last moment, just as the Fallen Star opened fire, a large black and white, 8 sided barrier popped into existence in front of him.

Looking around, Wu Song found Qi Mingxi, a still wounded Fang Peng, Lin Weiyua, and several other stronger Cultivators surrounding him as they poured everything they had into the 8-Trigram Barrier that protected him. The Barrier was powerful, true, but it also ate away at the user's Cultivation at the same time. To see his disciples and peers making such a sacrifice without thought to themselves left Wu Song both speechless and, at the same time, very, very proud.

He's heart swelling, Wu Song gave a yell and finished the Blood Lord Sword Array and threw it towards the Fallen Star.

The Fallen Star reacted instantly, pulling in the two massive shield legs to block the Array, and the Energy Barrier seemed to fold in on itself, shrinking to cover only the point of contact.

In the next moment, the Blood Lord Sword Array made contact with the condensed Energy Barrier, and the World went white.