Wace ran as fast as he could and was about to take Yumi inside the spaceship but he suddenly felt an impending danger. He immediately ceased his step and an attack from above blocked his path.


    Just a little three meters were left. One leap was more than enough to reach his spaceship but the attack came so fast that he had to jump back instead to avoid crashing on those things that blocked his path. The attacks weren''t from Magic Spells but came from tenrge and sharp des that came from above.


    His Magic Jammer would be useless against these physical objects. Wace looked above and sure enough, he met a familiar person looking down on him again.


    "Good thing that I arrived on time. I won''t let you escape this time."


    The voiceing from above was having a good feeling after being sessful in stopping the armored Wace from stepping inside the ck spaceship again. The four Adepts were even more d at this.


    Wace just understood why could someone just suddenly follow his movements and even used several sharp des to block his path. The man seems to have prepared for this event and learned how to act.


    ''Tsk, you deserve to be the head of this ce.'' Wace thought and felt disappointed at this man''s fast reaction. He no longer bothered at the two Lucent Force he was dealing with and came here as soon as he came out of the spaceship.


    Although Chalice doesn''t look to be in his peak condition, his face revealed his excitement and confidence upon seeing Wace.


    "I know you have something that could block Mana Spells. I prepared this just for you."


    Chalice chuckled upon seeing Wace stunned at his appearance. Though he couldn''t see his face, he believed that Wace was panicking and now within his grasp. He was floating just above Wace and holding a short sword that was leaking a red aura as if this sword was soaked in boilingva. That''s a high-level Mana Artifact but Wace had to know his priorities.


    He nced at the ten sharp des in front of him and used his Divine Sense to immediately scan them.


    ''So that''s why it felt so dangerous. Those des and handles contain a well-hidden maism, rust solutions... it was even coated by special thermites and some highly enhanced auxiliary Mana Spells. It can erode this armor once gotten closer. Well, they''ve been trying to erode that bio-armor, so they were prepared in their materials.'' Wace took note of the characteristics of the des.


    ''Hmph... If you want to sabotage my current armor and stop me, you have to do better than that.''


    Wace did not hesitate to put his attention on his Fervor Timepiece but as he about topletely send his Mana to activate the timepiece he noticed that Yumi was groaning and was about to wake up, he was reminded and a bit worried if her body would be affected after he activated his Physical Burst and run through the entrance.


    ''Tsk, she should be fine. After all, she''s still an Adept.'' Wace finally thought and decided to go all out.


    But he was interrupted again by a heavy pressure that came down to his body. Even if he was prepared at this kind of Mana Pressure he really couldn''t do much about it. After all, there''s still a limitation on what his Magic Jammer could bear.


    Wace realized that it felt different from before where he knelt for the first time upon experiencing this with Chalice''s power. It seems to be bearable at the moment but it is maybe due to Chalice being injured as well.


    "What do you want?"


    Wace asked to buy some time and to also gather information.


    "Where do did youe from? What''s this aircraft? Are you from the northern continent?"


    Chalice asked as he descended in front of the spaceship and blocked Wace. The four Adepts positioned themselves in a way where they could easily act but not to be in the way of Chalice''s attack range.


    "Heh. Why would you like to know?" Wace asked teasing Chalice.


    "Just answer my question." Chalice replied as he tried not to be impatient.


    "Well, it''s a long story. Would you like to listen?"


    "Hmph... I''ll just capture you and we''ll have a longer time chat." He was done talking with Wace as he released his domain magic.


    But Wace seems to be prepared as he threw his remaining bomb at the ten sharp des blocking his way. The bomb had a different effect where instead of a destructive forceing out of the explosion. There''s only a loud sound that came out with it and a powerful force of wind came from its center. The des were thrown away but not enough to throw the four Adepts especially Chalice who had an abnormal Mana Shell.


    "Urgh..."


    ***


    Probably due to the disturbance, Yumi on his arms woke up. She immediately tried to understand the current situation and noticed her current predicament.


    She''s being carried by an armored being that seems to be going in the direction of the opened spaceship. Arge explosion of wind seems to have urred as dust, dirt, and shattered sses flew away from the center of the dome leaving them at the sides. She, of course, noticed Chalice blocking the armored being''s path to the spaceship.


    As she understood the situation, she immediately used a secretmunication method where a low-frequency sound came from one of her Mana Artifacts. This sent an order to the members of Lucent Force outside the dome.


    All of her actions didn''t remain unnoticed in front of Wace who had maximized his Divine Sense.


    ***


    "Is that your final struggle?" Chalice''s deep voice caught Wace''s attention.


    But as soon as Wace heard those words and confirmed the path was cleared except for Chalice, he utilized again his Fervor Timepiece. The world seems to slow down as some dust and sand floating in the air remained unmoving.


    He then felt his body being unrestricted and full of strength. This was the Physical Burst that came together with the activation of the Fervor Timepiece.


    He used this strength to carry Yumi and bring themselves inside the cover of the spaceship. He was tempted to give a jab on Chalice''s Mana Shell and deal a bit of damage to see his improvement but there are only ten seconds in every single usage of his timepiece. He couldn''t waste his time on that, especially if he wasn''t sure if he could even deal damage on Chalice.


    He still remembered the first time he used the Fervor Timepiece just to deal with an injury on his opponent''s thigh. In truth, it had only been possible after using two out of his five chances in his timepiece to barely destroy a part of Chalice''s Mana Shell and stab it on the man''s thigh then used the remaining second to jump away from the scene.


    Of course, Wace didn''t forget to grab his previous body wearing the bio armor near Chalice. He was hoping for something unexpected once the body within was revealed.


    ''Well, it should be skeleton by now if everything follows the standard way of life.'' Wace said in his mind as he couldn''t understand the expectation he was feeling right now.


    Seconds had passed as Wace sessfully brought Yumi within his spaceship. He bypassed Chalice and quickly ordered the A.I. to close the spaceship. The spaceship still has more than enough Aether Force that they could use to defend the ce so he was quite confident.


    Anyway, he was expecting more changes or rewards once the Pathfinder and the Cube hadpleted their merge.


    As soon as the effect of Fervor Timepiece went off, only the sound of a closing spaceship was heard.


    "W-what? Again?!" Chalice was surprised but he quickly reacted. He attempted to stop the hatch from being closed using his full mana force but he was forced back and was even thrown away after losing some of his strength. The strange energy was leaking again that weakens the people or magicians close to this technology.


    The spherical ss was able to contain it before but now that it was shattered, the energy was freely leaking within the whole area.


    He was very disappointed that even with all his preparation to trap the armored being, it was still deemed useless. He had already felt this before when Wace had first escaped within his grasp outside the dome. Even though he felt that he''s more powerful than his opponent, it seems that thetter had some tricks to just suddenly vanish or escape his vision and senses. Now that a simr event urred, he couldn''t help but mock himself for being too sure of himself.


    If he had probably coordinated his ns with the four Adepts, he might have a better chance of capturing Wace but it''s toote for regret now. He could only sigh and move forward.