A shell detonated above them, its temperature surging past five thousand degrees Celsius. In that fractional moment between life and death, time itself hung suspended.

  Ciel activated his time-slowing Aura—the Sovereign Factor—gained from Nuan's Celestial Bride contract. The transferring heat energy crawled to a halt as time itself bent to his will. As the inferno slowed to a gcial pace, Xia seized the Lord of Union and pulled them clear.

  "What exactly is attacking us now?" Xia asked as they hit the sand.

  Ciel rose, not daring to answer what he didn't know; instead, he scanned for the attack's source. Sunlight, glinting off the metal above, provided an answer which sent chill racing down his spine. He seized his companion's hand and lunged away as a second artillery shell transformed their previous position into roaring fmes and scorching light.

  "The attack is coming from the roof. Someone is operating machinery there, possibly artillery."

  "Got it." White Force surged through Xia's form as she bounded skyward, ascending like an angelic padin. As she cleared the building's edge, she froze at the sight of their attacker: a mechanical hound, its artillery barrel rising from its metallic back.

  The steel canine locked onto her. It pivoted, an artillery uncher melding into its hide; metal jaws split wide, revealing six gun barrels bound as one, spinning faster and faster until they glowed like molten steel.

  Xia cursed and burst into motion the instant her feet touched down. Bullets shattered the air behind her, splintering wood in their wake. She gathered White Force, preparing her counter.

  WHITE MAGIC RANK IV: SMITE

  A beam of burning light burst from her palm, disintegrating its way toward the automaton. Bathed in devastation, the dog was knocked off the roof; its various magical protections glowing but failing to dull the First Bride's overwhelming attack. With a thud, it nded on the dirt for Ciel to investigate.

  He knelt beside the twitching wreck, took a gnce, and with expert knowledge yanked out the power source from under its belly. He watched the whirling Ether reactor die in his hand, sounds of its sliding gears haunting; sounds of clicks which followed dreadful; and sounds of silence deafening. It felt like the counting down of a bomb.

  Xia, feeling accomplished, nded beside him; but upon seeing the concern written on his face, her cheer immediately faded.

  What's wrong?" she asked.

  "I recognize this model," he said.

  "I based most of my drone designs on it." "You mean someone you know invented it?"

  "You know her too," came the reply with utmost certainty. "It is Etaceh."

  Xia paused, her face scrunched. "You mean the head of the Magic Tower?"

  "Her true identity is another one of my siblings: The Lord of Mechanical Magic. If I have to guess, she is likely trying to take your country from the inside. As a matter of fact, I had confirmed with Mandrake not long ago—"

  "I have talked to him, Ciel," she said grimly. "I know my father asked for his aid to stop Etaceh. Do you think she is sending these spies here to keep tabs on Yulong?"

  "That's likely," he replied, lifting up the cylinder which sealed the message they had taken from their assaint. "But there is only one way to know." He rose and gnced at the port, at the row of ships waiting to depart. "Before we discover the truth, we must ensure it doesn't slip from our grasp."

  ---

  Meanwhile—outside the Gongsan Port perimeter—a truce convened inside a hastily constructed tent, around an equally hastily assembled table. None of the attendees, noteworthy to say, felt happy about this meeting beneath their stoic mask.

  The Yulong Empire's delegation, led by Yi Tong and Nuan, faced the combined forces of the Searcher Association and Mercenary Port Eleanor across the makeshift negotiation space. Part of them wanted to rightfully bst these intruders into the early grave, but international decorum dissuaded otherwise.

  But it didn’t change Yi Tong’s opinion as he sat, aghast at the unfolding story.

  Su, hovering at her half-brother's shoulder, stated with stern precision, "Let me straighten this out. It began as an all-out brawl."

  "Yes," replied Eleanor's representative: a bald man with a toothbrush mustache, whom Hikari introduced as Clooney.

  "Then Curtis started deploying combat golems that decimated your forces," she continued, each word measured and exact.

  "Exactly," confirmed Vain, a tomboyish woman in gsses and close-cropped hair representing Luminary Academy's Searcher Association.

  Yi Tong observed the negotiators: Clooney sweating profusely, while Vain attempted to posture herself as a hardened operative through gritted teeth. He mentally groaned. The mystery of how this Great Spy War spiraled out of control had been answered by just watching these two comedians.

  "Then Montgomery led these new 'Dark Knights' against the automata," the Dragon Scion continued. "And they outgunned you."

  "We were caught by surprise!" Vain attempted to defend her pride.

  Yi Tong stared at her, his gaze ftter than a board. He doubted these sorry crews in bck, wrapped in bandages and misery, could defeat Montgomery and Curtis's forces even with weeks to prepare.

  Su ignored them and finished the story. "So, being the two most battered sides in the four-way war, you formed a temporary alliance—only to run into the Bckwings." She whistled. "Wow, you're the unluckiest bunch I've ever seen."

  Vain growled like an angry puppy. Her men shifted nervously behind her, unsure of their position. Being caught spying on a foreign nation, while losing to other agencies—also spying on that foreign nation—left a few things more humiliating. They found themselves boxed in, directionless.

  Clooney, despite his timid appearance, seemed more composed; partly because Hikari had secured a deal with the Grand Marshall, giving them a clearer perspective on their situation, and partly because he sensed their odds improving with this additional backup.

  "So what happens to us now?" Clooney asked Yi Tong, who gnced behind him, seeking crity from the highest-ranking members of this expedition.

  Nuan waited at the tent's fpping entrance, studying the smoking port town in the distance and the direction of blowing winds. Since losing contact with Ciel, she had become the highest-ranking person here. As she gazed outward, she wondered what he would do in her position.

  "Heh." The Second Bride ughed, knowing he would probably do whatever he wanted. The Dragon’s Marshall understood his way might not necessarily be her way of doing things; thus, she opted to pick the most fitting method in her opinion.

  She returned to face the intense meeting with a thin smile and a decration: "Your fate can be discussed ter. Tell me who is the greatest threat."

  "What are you pnning?" asked Yi Tong.

  "Take out the problem first and let Ciel worry about how to fix it ter," Nuan said. "So tell me who I should go after?"

  Vain and Clooney gnced at each other, surprised by Nuan's direct approach.

  "Look, my mission is to win this conflict," she crified, shilling at the entrance like a cool drink in a hot summer. "And the best way to end it is to take everyone into custody. We've already accounted for both of you; this means we need to bring in Montgomery and Curtis and eliminate Bckwing. Who should I go after first?"

  "Bckwing," Vain answered immediately, cutting her counterpart off with a harsh gre. "They sent two of their top officers here. You've already taken out Hexto, which leaves Octo. My st report said she's making a base somewhere in Southeast Gongsan Port."

  The Dragon Marshall nodded. She stepped outside the tent; her internal compasses calcuting her briefest path Southeast and any potential hiding spot. "Very well. I hope your information is accurate."

  "She is strong," Clooney pointed out. "Our intelligence suggests she's some kind of spider-hybrid. Should you take some of us with you?"

  Nuan squinted and shared a gnce with her half-brother. "Your men won't be needed. Don't worry, I'll be back in a jiffy—"

  A boom resounded; orange fmes accompanied by bckened acrid smoke rose into the sky.

  "What is that?" Hikari gaped as the rest of the tent's occupants emerged to get a proper look at the commotion.

  Nuan had already guessed. "That's the Grand Marshall burning up all the ships in the Port to prevent any escape."

  The revetion caught everyone by surprise. While Luminary Academy's agents sported panic-stricken faces, Clooney maintained his composure amidst his masked intelligence personnel's emotionally stunted reactions.

  "How did he manage it?" Clooney called out to Nuan. "Our reports indicated that location is crawling with Curtis's drones and war golems."

  Nuan debated telling them about Ciel's methods: his drone technology and misdirection techniques. For him, pnting self-moving explosives on those ships would be child's py, making a clean getaway even simpler. Now with this move, the chance of any hidden cohorts escaping had drastically diminished.

  "You all stay here," she commanded, focusing her massive Aura into her legs before unching herself above the Port's skyline in a windy wake. Her visage shrank, growing as small as a bird heading to the horizon and vanished into the smoking battlefield.

  With their overseer gone, Hikari crept to Clooney's side and whispered in his ear.

  "Why didn't you tell her about the Archangel? I heard one of them was here."

  "You mean Bruno?" He gulped. "You know how powerful Montgomery's Archangels are. Do you want those two to csh here while we're trying to escape?"

  Hikari gritted her teeth. She should have expected this. Vain and Clooney had likely made an unspoken agreement to salvage their careers. This Great Spy War was already a massive scandal, but they could reduce the punishments if it didn't escate further; so they'd lied about the greatest threat in the region, hoping Hikari would target someone less dangerous. Had they revealed the truth—the presence of one of Montgomery's top five military commanders in Gongsan Port—this conflict would have exploded into the diplomatic incident of the century. The Yulong Empire would have no choice but to sanction the West for smuggling a war asset inside their borders.

  Hikari Seyfert bit down hard, stifling the urge to scream for Nuan's return. Montgomery, the Papal State, maintained its security between the economically prosperous Eleanor and the magically advanced Curtis through its occult might. Their elite force, the Five Archangels, ranked among their greatest military assets: their strength second only to the God-Emperor himself.

  And now one of them lurked here, too close for comfort. Worse still, it was the most ruthless among them: Bruno, the Bck Archangel.