General Braga narrowed his eyes at the Varigans below before turning to the Machina scientist at the side and speaking in a gruff voice.

"Has the array been implemented?"

The scientist was looking at a holographic screen with a 3-D image of the Giverna valley on it, and he nodded to the General. Implementing this rune array was going to cost them close to a million gold coins as well as a significant amount of mana stones, but for someone like Jason, this was the bare minimum they had to do! The scientist made sure everything was in place before speaking calmly.

"Yes, sir. The runes are in place. No one will be able to leave this Valley."

"Good. Activate the rune array, kill everyone here, and bring me the head of Jason Marc."

A sudden pulse of mana surged across the entire valley, and Jason felt his eyes narrow when he felt it! A strange mark spread out across the floor of the valley, and Jason immediately realised that this was a wide-area rune! Jason's skill [Rune Analysis] immediately activated, and Jason was able to figure out exactly what this rune was for!

——

Rune Analysis

Rune Name: Domain Lock

Rune Grade: Third Grade

Class Required: Yellow Class Runecrafter or Higher.

MP Required: 1,500,000 MP

Description: A weaker version of the Second Class rune crafted by the great Machina runecrafter, Gerald Vox, more than three hundred years ago. The rune works by restricting all forms of magical or physical travel in or out of a certain region through the use of specific rune matrices. The original version of this rune is a far more powerful Second Grade rune, but even the current Third Grade rune is considered one of the most difficult enslavement runes to break out from.

——

'These fuckers really don't want me to reach Riyad. If they're willing to go this far to stop me, that means there's something really important over there. At least I know I'm going in the right direction.'

Jason felt shocked after reading the rune information from his system! Jason knew how difficult it was to draw even low-level runes! Jason would have to use up a lot of mana stones and energy to make even a fourth-grade rune, and Jason was sure that even the lowest level runes would cost millions, so he knew that this rune must've cost them a lot of money! Jason needed to figure out a way to get out of this!

'Azrael, I need you to—'

TWOONN!!

Jason's thoughts were cut short as one of the air carriers immediately unleashed a blast of pure energy towards the Varigans, and the Varigans were so shocked at the sudden attack that most of them didn't even have time to get out of the way!

[Time Dilation] has been activated

But before the attack could hit, Jason suddenly appeared in front of the army and he raised his hand to summon a defensive artefact!

[Aegis of Ninefold Will]!

The SS-Rank artefact blossomed to life, and a purple shield made up of nine petals folded together formed like a blanket around the Varigan army! Thankfully, most of the army was gathered together, and this allowed the artefact to easily form like a protective dome around them! This was a defensive artefact that Jason had gotten from an Orange Gate a long time ago, and since it was an SS-Rank, Jason was sure that it would be able to protect the army against most attacks here!

BOOM!!

The light beam from the air carrier slammed into the Aegis and was immediately blocked by the shield! The Aegis shimmered and shook from the attack, and the other air carriers began to unleash their own attacks! The attacks were aimed at Jason, but since the Varigans were right in the middle of the battlefield, they ended up getting caught in the crossfire, and it was only the defensive artefact that protected them! But Jason knew that it was only a matter of time before the artefact loses its durability and breaks! Jason slapped away one of the beams that had been aimed at him, and he spoke to Azrael again!

'Azrael, I need you to get out here and analyse this rune. Find a way to get through it quickly.'

Azrael immediately appeared from Jason's Alternate Dimension, and he moved away from the battlefield and moved towards the edge of the large rune so that he could properly analyse it, and Jason heard Azrael speak to him.

'Try to preserve your mana as much as possible, my King. I have a feeling we will need a significant amount of it to break this rune.'

Jason hummed at that suggestion, and he glanced at his mana before deciding that he would leave most of the actual fighting to his subordinates. Jason knew that he could kill all the giant robots easily if he wanted to, but even if he got rid of all the bright lights, it would still be impossible for him to leave this world due to the Rune, so the best thing to do was to first focus on getting rid of the rune. Jason stood calmly on top of the defensive dome protecting the Varigans and spoke loudly towards the Machina.

"The Varigans have no part in this fight. This is between you and me, so let's allow them to leave so we can continue what you came here for."

Jason was looking towards the largest air carrier as he said all this, and he waited calmly for an answer, but the answer he got just made him frown.

"The Varigans have declared their allegiance to you, and therefore, every person here has been branded as a conspirator and criminal. The Varigan civilians will face punishment according to the Primordial Treaty, but since we are in the middle of a battle, we are allowed to kill the soldiers for interfering in this arrest. I can only assure you that their death will be swift if you decide to come quietly!"

It was General Braga of the Machina army who had spoken and Jason grit his teeth as he felt an intense anger fill his body! Yeah, Jason shouldn't be surprised at all, should he? It wasn't like he didn't already know exactly what sort of people these were. The Machina were meant to watch over this domain and its inhabitants, but they were nothing but power-hungry bastards. They were willing to do anything to make sure they got their way, and they would cover up any crimes they committed by claiming it was within their rights as the head of this domain. Jason took in a deep breath and sighed calmly to release all the tension in his body, and at that moment, he made a personal declaration. Jason now knew that the Machians were irredeemable.

"I'm going to eradicate you bastards. I swear it."

Doom!

Jason suddenly released all the restraints on his power, and a massive pressure slammed down over the entire battlefield! Every single Machina felt a shiver of fear shoot down their spines, and the closest Machina on the ground even took steps back! Most of the Machina here were in the S-Rank or SS-Rank, so even though they were powerful warriors, it was impossible for them to ignore a threat from someone as powerful as Jason! Even the General of the Machina Army, Braga, who was already a high-level SSS-Rank, felt a shiver go down his spine! Braga was shocked by the amount of fear Jaosn just put in him! What the hell was this!? General Braga had read the file on Jason, and from what he read, he knew that Jason was only an SSS-Rank, but this mana was completely different from what any SSS-Rank could produce! Did Jason already surpass that level!? No, that wasn't possible! It doesn't even make any fucking sense for someone to cross into the realm of the immortals so easily!

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