CRASH AND BURN

"Two minutes til impact! Brace yourselves!"

The airship was nowhere near resembling the untouched beauty it was when it began its journey. The firing cabins were trailing smoke and flames, dozens of areas on the ship were patched up with materials that weren't matching, and the elevation of it was considerably lower.

Now that the group had flown out of the snowy storm and into clear skies, the apostles had a clear shot of their target. Without mercy they sent flurries of disintegration rays that allowed no room for evasion.

Even if Ivan could evade them, he wouldn't. Turning so suddenly to dodge a couple of lasers would result in the ship slowing down, and the ship slowing down would result in getting bombarded even harder.

"We just gotta roll with the punches… thankfully, Yue is out there holding them back…"

When the apostles gained clear vision the first thing they struck were the firing pods Felis and Canis occupied. That along with several offensive mechanics meant the ship had no means of holding the apostles back.

So with her patented instantaneous regeneration, Yue volunteered to stand on top of the ship and defend it from disintegration rays.

Ivan's protests were pretty much quelled when he realized it'd be the safest way to make it home without abandoning the ship and risking flying in open air.

"Hallowed Ground!" After having spent several minutes using spatial spells to cancel out enemy attacks, Yue used her strongest defense magic in her repertoire For as long as her mana allowed her, the barrier was nigh-invincible,

Though it did seem the disintegration rays were having some effect on it..

"Tch…!" She glared at the cracks in her barrier before whipping out a vial from her stachel, in it deep crimson blood that shimmered under the sun.

"*Gulp*!" She downed it without a moment of hesitation, and thus another layer of Hallowed Ground appeared within the first. Two layers made it more costly, but it was a price she was willing to pay to keep those within the ship safe.

'Two minutes until impact…' Generally Hallowed Ground had a limit of one minute, but that only applied to general mages, Yue was, as they say, simply built differently.

She was risking it all, with Felis and Canis moving to the cockpit of the ship they stood on standby to eliminate apostles that may enter the barrier once it was deactivated. They'd be able to take her position at Ivan's side until she recovered from the damage she was about to sustain.

'It'll probably hurt…' First would come the force of colliding into the earth, no doubt she'd be flung off if her mana was low. Second would be the expected explosion, the ship has sustained enough damage, nose diving into the ground would certainly cause the end of it. And finally, the rubble, she'd be buried alive under the wreckage.

"Everyone… please protect Ivan…" Those were her last words as the sight of the manor and the shop came swiftly into view. The thick purple barrier that had been erected around both structures dissipated only a mili-second before the ship collided with it.

And in her eyes, Yue was also able to see the barrier close again as the tail of the ship entered its range.

𝙆𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙈

Yue Korei has temporarily left the stage…

=====================================================================

Smoke and ash as far as the eye could see, the crash landing hadn't nearly been as graceful as Ivan was anticipating.

Thankfully the shop was closed, otherwise who knows how many lives would have been ended in the impact.

'Yue…'

Ivan called out somberly before transmuting his way out of the rubble, behind him five figures each in combat mode ready to face invaders. 'You've done your duty perfectly, leave the rest to us!'

The purple barrier in the sky showed signs of rippling, the ground rumbled upon each impact and the deafened explosions were heard by all within. Including the several foreign lifeforms Ivan detected.

A press on the gauntlet he wore and all around the base several platforms rose from the earth. Metal doors marred their faces, slowly lifting up to reveal a single automatron within. But as those single automatron exited their station, dozens followed behind them.

Dozens, tens, eventually hundreds of droids littered the compound. Each on their left hand was a staff-like weapon made entirely of mechanical parts.

"Alright you filthy maggots, let's shoot these fuckin pidgeons out of the sky! Anyone who kills less than 20 of these bastards is stuck with laundry duty for the next two months!"

A gruff mechanical voice resonated from a particular droid donning a general's outfit, a thick hairy mustache posed where its lips would be if it had some. In its aged voice it spoke out ot the army behind it.

"Did I stutter…?"

"No, sir! No!"

"Then what the hell are you lot waitin' for!? FIRE—!"

𝙆𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙈

The apostles had no choice but to back away from the barrier as hundreds of yellow beams shot out at them simultaneously. Their strength is significantly weaker than their disintegration beams but nonetheless lethal enough to wreck their wings.

Things escalated from there and the whole plaine looked as though several laser light shows were taking place on it. Though things stagnated as the droids were unable to harm the apostles and the apostles were unable to pierce the barrier.

"Tio, I'll leave them at your command!"

"Yes, master! Leave the rest to us~!" Tio took the controller Ivan handed to her before sliding it down into the crevice of her kimono, her breasts perfectly hiding the device.

"Men, lead me to the lab." Ivan garnered the attention of two droids on standby, ordering them to escort him so that they may stand as bodyguards while he was out of commission.

=====================================================================

"Six apostles…" Tio surveyed the battlefield as the controller she was given indicated that the number of droids were dropping crazily. Along with that information were six red dots flying around the barrier at breakneck speed.

If nothing was done to them quickly, every droid would be eliminated and the other apostles would have no trouble teaming up to destroy the barrier.

Or even the worst possible scenario could occur… the invading apostles may locate the safe room in which the main droids operated the defenses.

"I won't allow that to happen!" Transforming into a dragon, Tio took to the sky and headed for the nearest apostle, the remainder of the group following her into battle.

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...I'll be honest... I totally forgot about the core I wrote Ivan stealing until the last chapter I wrote. And it is also a total coincidence that it happens to be the perfect thing Ivan needs to solve Ars Magna's consumption... Hm, maybe I should have kept that a secret and probably kept the impression of being a somewhat competent writer in the eyes of some of you guys... oh well~!

What's done is done, and what's done is this chapter. Thank you all so much for reading, and we are finally in the climax. I'm still reading Volume 11, and then I shall read Volume 12, so I'm quite busy! Have a great evening, and I'll see you all soon~!

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