Bab 1570: -1551- I'll gladly take them
The brilliant night sky dimmed, as though veiled by a thin mist.
A dusk-colored barrier took over the entire sky of the Ninth Artificial Sky Island, turning the night both dangerous and hazy.
Surely, those who saw this scene were in shock?
Surely, those who realized something was wrong were in chaos?
But inside the central control tower, the humanoid Armored Beetles gazing at this scene all displayed gleaming eyes, like warriors about to head into battle, their faces brimming with life.
Unfortunately...
"Now it's my turn. Yamier, make sure you hide obediently, okay?"
Leysritt laughed like a joyful little bird.
"…Understood."
Yamier's expression was filled with displeasure.
For a battle-hungry person like Yamier, being told to hide instead of fight was the most frustrating order possible.
But this was Zeth's plan.
The mission for Yamier and the others was not to eliminate the human forces' enemies but to showcase the power of humanoid Armored Beetles during the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival, to declare their existence to humanity and make humans fear their might, eventually forcing them to submit.
For this, they only needed to meet the victory conditions of the survival competition.
Their real stage was the round-robin tournament, where they would perform before the entire world.
It was in this tournament that they would demonstrate overwhelming power—that was their true mission.
Thus, Yamier and her group could not recklessly slaughter humans and lose their qualification for the competition.
Even though the drones were almost completely controlled by their side, and no one would know what happened here, there was always the possibility of an unforeseen incident. Their task in the survival competition was over; from now on, they had to quietly pass the remaining time.
Of course, the human forces gathered here were tempting targets, and Zeth wouldn't just sit idly by.
That's why Zeth sent Leysritt to interfere with the survival competition as an outsider and conduct a real hunt here to weaken the human forces.
"Haha!"
Leysritt spread her arms, mimicking the posture of a plane in flight, and cheerfully ran out of the control room to the outside of the central control tower.
There, unknown when it happened, gray creatures had gathered from all directions. They lined up neatly, their eyes glowing red, full of killing intent.
Above the array of gray creatures, three terrifyingly powerful Armored Beetles hovered in the air.
Leysritt looked at this scene and, with a cheerful voice, spoke.
"Let's go, everyone. Clear all the prey first, complete Lord Zeth's mission, and then let's hunt down that annoying big brother together!"
As Leysritt's words rang out, countless Asmod and the three Variants roared toward the sky.
Soon after, the people in Vebel realized that they could no longer see the live broadcast of the drones from the Ninth Artificial Sky Island, nor could they contact anyone on the island.
Meanwhile, on the Ninth Artificial Sky Island, the sky wizards were being violently attacked by a swarm of monsters under the moonlit night.
Tonight was destined to be a night of bloodshed.
The Ninth Artificial Sky Island would become a living hell.
...….
Elsewhere, in a cave stronghold...
"What... what is that?"
Yuri exclaimed in shock as she gazed at the sudden appearance of the dusk-colored barrier in the night sky.
Kanata, Chloe, and Mena gathered around, all wearing solemn expressions as they looked up at the sky, now tinted with the colors of dusk.
Because each of them could sense the nearly invincible power flowing within that barrier.
That was...
"Collapse Force..."
Rozen narrowed his eyes.
The dusk-colored barrier enveloping the entire Ninth Artificial Sky Island was essentially a barrier formed by Collapse Force.
Much like magic barriers or jutsuryoku barriers, a Collapse Force barrier, as the name implied, was a defensive barrier created using Collapse Force. Its defensive power likely far surpassed barriers formed by magic or jutsuryoku.
At the very least, it would be almost impossible for sky wizards using magic to break through it, and Armored Beetles using jutsuryoku would likely face the same difficulty.
As such, it was one of the strongest barriers in the world.
Everyone immediately understood the situation.
"Could it be..."
"Are the humanoid Armored Beetles attacking us?"
"Tsk..."
Kanata, Chloe, and Mena each clicked their tongues.
"Senpai..."
Yuri looked at Rozen, her eyes full of worry.
"Don't worry."
Seeing Yuri's gaze, Rozen spoke.
"That barrier is probably meant to isolate the Ninth Artificial Sky Island, preventing the sky wizards here from escaping and keeping anyone from outside from coming in."
The reason for this was obvious to everyone.
"It seems that the esteemed chairman intends to strike at the human sky wizards here."
Kanata swiftly drew his magic sword.
"These sky wizards are elite teams from floating academies worldwide. If they're wiped out here, humanity will suffer a significant blow."
Chloe also immediately brandished her magic staff.
"Moreover, according to Rozen, this Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival is a proxy war between humanity and the Armored Beetles. There must be representatives from the Pope's faction here."
Mena had already gripped her heavy magic battle axe.
"So, the enemy's goal is likely to exterminate the sky wizards, both weakening human forces and eliminating the Pope's representatives. That's why they organized this operation, right?"
Yuri quickly regained her composure and tightly gripped the magic spear that had unfolded in her hand at some point.
The members of Special Task Force S128 instantly grasped the situation. It was clear that they were all highly intelligent, with deeply ingrained tactical awareness, making them exceptional sky wizards.
As for Rozen, it went without saying that he had already discovered that the communication crystals were no longer functioning, and that the miasma of humanoid Armored Beetles was appearing from all directions.
"Asmod, huh?"
Rozen muttered under his breath.
"You moved faster than I expected, Zeth."
Rozen had thought that even if Zeth made a move against the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival, given how unusual this event was, he wouldn't act so openly.
But to his surprise, Zeth had resorted to such a direct approach.
Although this method would undoubtedly yield results, the people Zeth sent were not likely to fare well.
"Another group of pawns, huh?"
Rozen hadn't expected Zeth to be so willing to sacrifice valuable Collapse Force users repeatedly.
It was well-known that Collapse Force users were exceedingly rare. Even among humanoid Armored Beetles, there were probably only a dozen or so at most.
Therefore, Rozen had thought Zeth would keep them hidden rather than send them out to die so easily.
Who knew, Rozen had underestimated Zeth's cruelty and ruthlessness.
In that case...
"The pawns you sent, I'll gladly take them."
Rozen grinned suddenly, his eyes gleaming with sharpness.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone