38. And the Battle Continues

Emergency report! The ocean races are on the move again. And this time, it's big. Requesting backup at the port—Nik.

Anaya stared at the urgent message from Nik on the Black Market coastline with narrowed eyes. Her fingers swiftly danced over the keyboard as she connected with Aarav and the other officials. "I'll let them stress over this one."

"Guys, we've got an emergency. Nik reports that the ocean races are attacking, and it's a massive wave this time. So, what do you guys think?"

"Damn it! And right when we're in the middle of this mess." Aarav cursed under his breath, his gaze locked onto the battlefield ahead.

"Hmph... That damned coward. I'll head back as backup; you all continue handling things here." The old man's voice was gruff, his irritation clear at Nik's inability to manage the situation.

"No, that giant wouldn't call the situation big if it was something that just the two of you could handle alone. Splitting our forces now would only weaken us on both sides," Aarav countered, dismissing the old man's suggestion.

"So what? Why don't you suggest something better then?" Being overruled caused the old man's frustration to flare up.

"Let's ask Miss President. We'll do it according to her orders."

"Hmph, fine."

"Anaya, if you would please connect us to the President ASAP," Aarav asked, urgency clear in his voice.

"Sure–sure, on it."

.

.

.

"Hello, Miss President! It's an emergency and blah blah blah... so that's the situation, everyone's waiting for your orders."

"Hmm..." There was only silence on the other side as everyone waited for her to make the decision.

"Let's return! Protecting our territory takes priority."

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone responded in unison as the team reached a consensus.

"Err... Miss President..." Anaya spoke in somewhat of a nervous tone.

"What?"

"Hehehe, can I blast those? Can I—can I? Please..."

"It's fine."

"Yay..."

"Alrighty, you guys prepare for retreat. Let's give those city folks a parting gift. Hehehe..."

"Hey Anaya, isn't that a huge loss? Maybe we should reconsider..." Aarav wavered at the thought of the huge monetary loss.

"Hmph... What? Do you want to leave the battlefield empty-handed and let those scums from the city have it all?" The old man seemed quite irritable at Aarav's remark, or maybe he was just irritable at how the situation wasn't progressing in their favor.

"Ya–ya! Oldie is right, it's no time to be a coward! And there's the lady president's permission too. Besides, we haven't tested their output yet, have we?" Anaya was rather enthusiastic about the whole prospect.

"Hmph... Who's oldie? And you just want to test the weapons you developed. Don't call it an act of chivalry," the old man grumbled.

"Alright, fine! Do as you guys want." Aarav could only raise his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Alright, you guys get ready to retreat! I'll handle the rest." With that said, Anaya cut off the connection line and started to get busy deploying the said weaponry.

.....

Black Mummy kept mumbling the incomprehensible spell for some time. His aura surveyed the surroundings for any potential intervention, only to be surprised by the fact that there was none.

But his surprise soon overturned as his aura locked onto an object falling from the skies from an unknown location. He lifted his head to look above, only for his eyes to widen in horror.

Although it carried no aura with it, Black Mummy could still sense a fatal threat from it, causing his incantation to be disrupted midway. He readied a protection spell as quickly as he could muster, casting it in multiple layers. Yet, for some reason, he felt the preparations were still incomplete.

He picked up his cell, contacting the monitor room for assessment results. "Lock onto the target above and check what it is."

"Yes si...r?... Why are the enemies running away all of a sudden?"

"Huh? What do you mea... Ugh, connect me to the president, immediately!" Before Black Mummy could figure out the origin of that ridiculous contraption closing in from above, the retreating Black Market soldiers further solidified his suspicions.

"President Morgan, Sir Black Mummy is requesting contact!" There was a distant shout on the phone.

President Morgan looked at the monitor screen displaying the data of the approaching object. "What do you think?" He asked for Black Mummy's opinion over the call.

"Sir, let's activate the highest degree of defensive systems. From the Black Market's reaction, the situation could be the worst-case scenario," Black Mummy said, sternly looking at the strange object closing in. "We don't have much time; protecting the base is of utmost importance."

"Hmm... We'll protect ourselves. Good luck!" President Morgan said, disconnecting the call. Then he turned to face the control room staff. "Activate the level 10 defensive array formation."

"Sir!"

A deep-blue energy spread across the main city military base, forming a shield that completely enveloped it.

Meanwhile, the slums camp had started to retreat steadily.

"Tch, it's annoying when the enemy is prepared in advance," Anaya grumbled in irritation at the main city's defensive stance.

"See, as I said, it's not cost-effective to use it at such a time. And... what the hell is up with its design?" Aarav gritted his teeth at the losses this time around.

"Hehehe, isn't it just beautiful? Well, that's a given since it's my own face and all. And just look at that cute smile." Anaya chimed in at the compliments.

Aarav: (-_-) 'What's cute about that? That's just a creepy smirk!'

"Why don't we save it for when we return. I think we should focus on the task at hand." The old man grumbled in irritation. 'What a bunch of lousy coworkers I have, sigh...'

.....

On the Battlefield:

As the tiny dot increased in size, it came into everyone's view, along with the retreating Black Market people. Everyone could basically make out what was happening. The soldiers of Main City started to panic, fleeing frantically as they tried to return to the base.

The tiny dot kept increasing in size until it finally became clear enough for the naked eye to see. Everyone looked above, their eyes popping out at the sight; it was... a chibi female face that looked like Anaya's, the annoying smirk included.

Everyone: (0×0)??? Huh?...

"What is that? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Black Mummy muttered to himself, bewildered by the sight. "Did I judge wrongly? But that sense of danger is still there... whatever, it's still best to prepare rather than not."

He still dared not relax his vigilance, piling over a few extra layers of defense.

The contraption descended on the battlefield, disintegrating into nothingness as an invisible wave was liberated from within.

But to everyone's surprise, the grand explosion they were expecting did not occur; rather, the energy wave that erupted seemed harmless.

Only the true masters knew what exactly was going on. Black Mummy, President Morgan, and others' expressions changed drastically as they felt the energy wave brush past them. The aura surrounding them started to riot, the greater the aura, the stronger the reaction.

Black Mummy tried to disperse the energy shields surrounding him as soon as possible, but it was clearly too late; he was already trapped in the turbulent aura.

Since the military base was quite large, it was lucky enough to completely disperse the aura shield surrounding it before the wave caused much harm.

'What the? When did that little gremlin develop this? I thought it was just another bomb or something. Hehehe, guess it's not totally our loss this time.' Looking ahead, Aarav was rather surprised at this latest contraption.

"Aim, fire!" Not wanting to waste this precious chance, he decisively ordered the retreating army to attack.

Soldiers from the military base looked at the sky in horror at the barrage of bombshells descending from the sky. "F*ck!" They couldn't help but curse at the vicious scheming of the Black Market.

Although they wanted to relaunch the energy shield to protect the base, it was impossible due to the turbulent energy still gathered around.

"Fire!" In a desperate attempt, the Main City camp could only hope to suppress fire with fire as they launched a desperate attack at the barrage descending upon them.

The able soldiers gathered within the base activated their own defensive abilities to protect themselves, while others could only pray that the base's gamble to stop the fire succeeded.

Disrupting the fire was possible, but clearly, stopping it completely was just wishful thinking. And this time, Main City fired in emergency without even aiming; the bombshells that were missed still descended on the camp.

*Boom, boom, boom...*

"Hahaha, look—look it's so beautiful. By the way, Aarav, thanks for the assist." Anaya laughed heartily at the art of her creation.

"Don't mention it! It's so good to give these bastards what they deserve, hahaha..." Aarav too laughed out loud, contrary to his strict, stoic character, surprising the soldiers around.

'It was definitely not a loss for the slums this time.' Everyone thought in high spirits as they advanced forward—back to the Black Market; the battle had yet to end.