Roaring loudly, the Imperial airships that were on standby soared into the sky.
"The enemy ship is coming from high altitude! Intercept it!"
While directing boarding, Rayna shouted out her commands.
"We must stop them at all costs! Right now in the palace, there is..."
Rayna's gaze fleetingly shifted towards the palace.
The palace with its line of black spires, the Thorn Palace, was there. Rayna, shivering with rage, cried out.
"Emperor Fernandez is in the final stages of preparing the 'Ark'! We cannot let them interfere!"
Fernandez was currently connected directly to Everblack, preparing the final phase of his plan.
"We cannot let them sabotage this at the very last moment."
"Share the thermal scan results with all airships in real-time! All ships, follow the heat source and spread out a barrier along its anticipated path!"
"But, Rayna! The enemy is invisible!"
An airship mage nearby shouted in urgency.
"The enemy ship is in stealth! We have limitations in tracking with thermal detection..."
Scan magic is always a beat slower than visual observation.
And in aerial combat, where the situation changes in moments, a beat is as good as an eternity.
Geronimo's stealth capability was frustratingly formidable.
"...I'll lead the way."
Rayna, clenching her teeth, boarded the Alcatraz, and the imperial flagship lifted its massive body into the air with a deep engine rumble.
"Just match the first strike, and the stealth will be deactivated. Then, open fire."
"But how will you manage the first strike?"
"Shut up and get ready!"
"Understood!"
The Alcatraz shot up into the sky rapidly.
"Urgh...!"
The sudden movement of the airship exerted enormous pressure. Gritting her teeth, Rayna kept her gaze fixed on the sky.
Invisible to the naked eye.
But for an old mage who had lived her life on the battlefield.
For a veteran who had always returned alive from the battlefield where if you don't kill first, you're killed.
She had a transcendent intuition, akin to a sixth sense.
"...!"
Far away in the sky, a faint glimmer of magic power flashed for an instant.
Rayna, reaching out her arm through the half-open hatch, rapidly conjured a spell like a gust of wind.
"There!"
Boom!
A wind bullet was shot.
Just one shot.
Though a simple attack that could easily penetrate human flesh but was hardly effective against solid machinery.
That magic bullet unmistakably grazed the side of the stealth enemy airship and-
Whoosh!
Deactivated its cloaking field.
Suddenly, a massive airship appeared in the sky.
An airship with a rough exterior and two propellers, completely different from the Imperial style - Geronimo.
Screaming through the air, Geronimo plummeted from the sky like a meteor, its trajectory undeniably aimed at the Imperial Palace.
"The enemy ship has been revealed!"
"Fire!"
"Shoot it down!"
The Imperial airships, in a rush, opened fire to block Geronimo's path.
A barrage of red bullets covered the sky like a torrential rain. However, even amidst the storm of bullets, Geronimo did not slow down.
Armed with the unbreakable siren statue - [Iron Myth] as a shield, Geronimo braved the onslaught of bullets with its thick armor and protective magic, charging like a bolt of lightning.
As Geronimo continued its relentless assault unfazed by the bullet storm, Rayna was forced to make a decision.
"All ships, listen! Block its path with your bodies! Stop it!"
"Understood!"
The Imperial airships ceased firing, raised their barriers, and positioned themselves in the air to block the way.
The defensive capabilities of the airships in standby mode were comparable to fortress walls. A normal ship would explode upon impact.
However, Rayna recalled yesterday's ramming attempt by Geronimo. Geronimo might have a way to breach their defense.
'Can we withstand it?'
Staring at the enemy ship plummeting with terrifying momentum, Rayna clenched her teeth.
But if it indeed managed to break through.
At the very least, they could aim for mutual destruction.
Rayna began casting wind magic. As Geronimo charged, she planned to unleash an ultra-close-range tornado upon it.
Screaming through the air, Geronimo suddenly changed course, blasting flames from its side thrusters.
It sharply altered its trajectory, smoothly diverting its course and bypassing the Imperial air fleet from a distance.
"...?"
Geronimo slowed down, aligning parallel to the horizon, and changed its course away from the palace, leisurely maneuvering out of the city's airspace as if its fierce charge was a mere feint.
"What's that?"
Rayna, watching Geronimo's retreating path, muttered incredulously.
"...Is it running away?"
Indeed, Geronimo was fleeing, as if its previous death-defying charge was a lie.
Rayna stood dumbfounded, unable to grasp the situation.
What's happening now?
"Rayna! The enemy ship is escaping! Shall we pursue?"
"No, wait..."
"We must track and destroy it now that it's visible!"
"Kite One, Kite Two, follow that ship!"
"Feather One, Feather Two, join in!"
One by one, the airships that were forming a blockade followed Geronimo out of the city's airspace.
Watching this unfold, Rayna didn't intervene but felt uneasy.
Certainly, Geronimo is dangerous. Pursuing and finishing it off now is the right call.
But this nagging sense of foreboding... what was it?
'Prince Ash...'
Rubbing her troubled forehead, Rayna gritted her teeth.
'What are you planning? What's your next move?'
Rayna looked down at the cityscape of the capital.
Amidst precarious calmness lay the city she vowed to protect.
"I have a bad feeling..."
Rayna, still grinding her teeth, turned to the cockpit.
"Bring Alcatraz down! We're going to the capital... I need to inspect the city myself."
***
Meanwhile, in the capital's outskirts.
In the desolate streets of the slum, five people dressed in Imperial military uniforms stealthily moved about.
They were the Gambler's Club, who successfully infiltrated the capital as spies just yesterday.
"What is this..."
They surveyed the eerily empty streets of the capital in confusion.
"Is this really New Terra?"
"Although there were rumors about street closures and curfews..."
"But to have no sign of people at all..."
The city seemed haunted, chillingly silent without a soul in sight.
Their footsteps echoed as the five gamblers cautiously moved deeper into the slum.
Apart from the lack of people, there were numerous oddities.
"...The doors are barred from the outside."
In every house along the street, doors were boarded up and nailed shut from the outside. The windows were the same.
It was as if someone was forcibly preventing people from leaving...
'Why?'
Without understanding the reason, the five gamblers reached the center of the slum. There stood a particularly large and lavish pub, the headquarters of the organization they originally intended to deal with for the 'backdoor' access.
Initially, the Gambler's Club sought to enter New Terra, having heard rumors that only those in the Final Ark could survive. However, by that time, New Terra was tightly sealed, and no entry was possible.
That's when they connected with this organization. Operating smuggling through the sewers of the capital, they were one of the few means to move in and out of the locked-down city.
The organization made a fortune by charging exorbitant fees to those desperate to enter or exit the capital.
In just a few months, the organization grew immensely, thriving in its business...
"..."
Whistling winds blew through the pub, deserted like the rest of the area, with doors and windows nailed shut.
Reluctantly, the gamblers knew they had no other choice.
"Break it down."
"Damn, I have a bad feeling about this..."
Creak! Crack!
Struggling, the five gamblers pried open the barred entrance. Not used to physical labor, it took them a while.
Finally removing the boards, they revealed an intact door. Violet, the party leader, gulped and grabbed the doorknob.
"Fuck, at this point, I wouldn't even be scared if a ghost or two popped out..."
In the belly of the beast, there was nothing left to fear.
Violet slowly opened the door.
Creak-
The door, unused for a long time, creaked noisily, revealing...
"...?!"
Inside the largest pub in the slum were people.
Leaning against the bar, sitting at tables, holding shriveled glasses. All with blank stares, motionless, sitting still as if they were stuffed dolls.
"Why are they all like this, like stuffed dolls?"
"Hey, hey! Can you hear me?"
"They are breathing. What exactly is going on here?"
Inspecting the people closely, the gamblers quickly came to a conclusion.
"They all seem to be under hypnosis."
"All these people? Is that even possible?"
"What can't the Emperor of the Empire do?"
"Let's try to break the hypnosis."
Being specialists in their field, the gamblers found a way to do so.
Using Lime's Clairvoyance, Orange's Heart Reading, Violet's Illusion, and other skills, they managed to break the hypnosis.
"Ugh?!"
The first man to snap out of the hypnosis jerked awake in terror.
"Please save me, Your Majesty! I don't want to die!"
The man panicked and stumbled, but soon collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Approaching him, Violet demanded answers.
"Listen, we came from outside the capital. What exactly happened here?"
"Huff... huff... What, Your Majesty was just here...?"
Still disoriented from the hypnosis, the man seemed confused.
Interrogating the bewildered man, they managed to gather a rough idea of what had happened in the capital.
Long-standing lockdowns had bred widespread dissatisfaction across the capital. Citizens were seething, and suppressing this unrest with military force was increasingly untenable.
Signs of uprising and rebellion began to surface, with frequent clashes between the military and citizens.
That's when Fernandez employed his specialty.
He cast a city-wide illusion, using hypnosis and mind control.
Utilizing thousands of mana amplification artifacts, he hypnotized the citizens, injecting messages directly into their minds.
And to ensure no one could escape, he had every house sealed shut.
So, that was why the streets were deserted. All the citizens of the capital were trapped in their homes, under hypnosis.
"What message did Emperor Fernandez send you?"
"We're heading to paradise now..."
The man mumbled blankly.
"And there, we will gain eternal life..."
"..."
"Just wait a little longer, quietly..."
Astonished, the gamblers were at a loss for words.
"This is insane... Fooling the entire nation with nonsense about eternal life, turning them into a state worse than death?"
Scratching her purple hair in frustration, Violet grumbled.
"I'd bet my entire fortune that this kind of lunacy is unique to this place. Unbelievable."