Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1058: The key
The group communicated with the star vessel, and after a couple of hours, they were picked up by them. Usually, it would take only several minutes for that to happen, but the area was filled with the debris of the chaos that followed the battle. Everyone on the vessel saw the terrain and saw the planets colliding, so they were quite curious to hear what had happened.
Thousands of people assembled around the meeting hall to hear from Rain and the others.
"We are glad that you are safe, still, it doesn't look like you are happy for succeeding on the mission," Esmeralda said. "What exactly happened?"
Rain gave everyone a detailed summary of what had happened. At the same time, while they were waiting for the vessel, they secured some parts of the enemies that they fought to prove that they weren't saying nonsense, and as one would expect, everyone's reactions to that had been quite of absolute shock.
"Machine monsters that relied on the power of mana… automatized enemies," Branden said while squinting his eyes. "That isn't something you can do, right, Rain?"
"Of course not, I can't even begin to understand yet how they subjugated four planets worth of species and forced them to produce mana for them," Rain said. "Anyway, Sakaki learned a few other things. We know where they sent the parts of that base, so we know where their next base is. However, it seems to be just a warehouse."
"... We are in a dangerous predicament, aren't we?" Branden asked.
"We are, Sakaki learned about their protocols. Their guards and giant robots worked like that, following some protocols to preserve as many resources as possible, but they also had protocols to recover the base and even the means to make those planets theirs again," Rain said. "We are fighting an enemy that outscales us in all senses."
Rain's tone echoed through the meeting hall as he continued to share the information. The group now faced an adversary whose civilization surpassed their own by possibly many times, perhaps even predating Earth in its ancient history. The gravity of these words fell heavily on everyone present.
The sheer age and advanced nature of this civilization meant that any misstep in their conflict could result in total annihilation, leaving no trace of their existence.
The possibility of fighting back wasn't entirely ruled out, but it was clear that the odds were stacked against them. A single mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences. Rain considered the idea of retreating and regrouping, allowing future generations to grow and develop before confronting this formidable enemy again.
However, the harsh reality was that their exposure had made Earth vulnerable. Returning home risked making the planet a target for advanced civilization, posing a significant threat to the safety of everyone on Earth.
The weight of the situation hung heavily in the air as the group considered the enormity of the challenges ahead. Esmeralda, Branden, and the others exchanged concerned glances, realizing the magnitude of the enemy they now faced.
"We can't fall back now," Sealyn said. "We weren't the ones who started the conflict, after all. Besides, making the enemies think that we are pushovers will be the same as asking them to come and bother us as much as they can."
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"You have a point, but we still will have to be extra careful since the enemies know what we can do now," Esmeralda said. "Do you think that they received all the information about this battle?"
"Absolutely," Rain said. "The protocols that I mentioned show how much experience they have in fighting enemies on this scale, so they should have gathered data over many years. Even possibly from the battles that they lost. Sakaki didn't confirm that, but it should be pretty obvious."
"In that case, we should prepare to find them once again and fight them. We can't show weakness," Esmeralda said. "What do you think, Regis?"
"I agree with all of that, but we will have to improve things a bit more to avoid facing the same problems," Regis said. "Before heading straight to the enemy's next base, we should try to disappear from their sight in order to approach them safely."
"Agreed… we need to make some experiments on that while Rain runs the calculations to tell the best route toward the enemy's base and how much time we will have," Esmeralda said. "Who are the best people for that kind of job?"
"Someone who has a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to barriers and the magic words," Regis said. "Isa should be the person for the job, but if it were easy, she would have made such a discovery a long time ago."
"I know how to do that, in theory, but it is impractical," Isa said. "Rain can do the same thing, but even with his power, he can't hide the entire vessel. He would need to get stronger for centuries to be able to create a domain that can erase our traces and maintain it without the help of constant potions."
"At the same time, I wouldn't be able to do anything else, not leave the vessel or use my magic to do anything else…" Rain said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"It seems that you understand how things work," Isa said. "We have a solution to this problem, but it is rather questionable, and we need the cooperation of one individual."
Rain and Isa looked at Esmeralda, and she wondered if she was the person for that kind of job, but soon she recalled that she didn't know much about magic circles… eventually, she connected the dots. Her brother was the solution to that issue…
"Iori, huh…" Esmeralda said. "He has been rather quiet lately, hasn't he?"
"He just watches things quietly in the corner of my mental landscape," Rain said. "I bet that things are just moving too fast, and he tries to keep his cool in order to make himself look imposing."
