"You must be here because of your faction, most likely under the orders of your King." The hidden Lord mused.

At a certain level all of the influential people knew each other. It was obvious that the Lord would know that Victoria was the granddaughter of King Arthur.

"If I had to guess, you are here to observe. Quite surprising, I was under the assumption that your King does not plan to spoon-feed his descendants."

Elina's smile didn't leave her face. Other than overseeing Victoria, she was also here to see how Michael could have his family targeted by Grandmasters.

'It will be better if I don't correct this misunderstanding.'

"Pretty much. Since I am here only to observe, I will not act even if she is about to die. As long as I don't meddle in your business, things will be fine, right?"

In reality, Azura… heck, the whole Neptune, was experiencing a surge in alien resistance. But a Lord would never stoop so low as to ask for help from another, even in the face of death.

"I expect you to uphold that promise."

Outside of the room, unaware of the conversation the two Lords were having, the Indomitable Alliance could finally take a breather.

"G—God, what a monster. I felt like I was about to die!" Ava stuttered, her whole body trembling.

Usually Victoria would have teased her, but she too found herself feeling the same way.

When a person faced a power many times above them, it often messed up their mind.

Michael observed the others with caution. He was the only one that didn't display any kind of anxiety. After all, in his prior life he had faced impossible odds countless times only to win in the end.

'A measly Lord's aura will not faze me.'

Wanting to spike the mood of his teammates, he took hold of a neon chip and gave it to Ava.

"Is that?" Her eyes widened in surprise. This was the Rare cybernetic that Michael had won in the base's competition.

"Shit!" Enzo cursed bitterly; he wanted to argue that he was more deserving of the cybernetic, but knowing how far Ava had pushed herself, he couldn't do so.

"Stop looking like that; she deserves it more than all of us." Amelia said, seeing his twisted face.

"You don't have to remind me!" He replied, looking to the other side.

A large smile spread over Ava's face. Forgetting about the horror she had experienced earlier, she inserted the chip in her neural link.

By now she had managed to comprehend the technique that allowed her to change the weight of objects. A testament to how talented she really was.

Even better, this chip was going to give her the technique to create explosions at points where her weapon struck.

"Your weapon is slowly becoming akin to a nuke." Michael chuckled, patting her on the head.

Just when they were about to go and explore the city, they were contacted with the communication devices strapped on their wrists.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Lord of the city. First they were assigned to their positions. Since every member of the Indomitable Alliance had managed to cover more than five steps, they weren't going to be stationed at the walls.

"It seems that the Lord knew about our bond." Leo pointed out. All of them were stationed to support Michael and Victoria on the upcoming mission.

"Escort mission? This sounds boring!" Enzo exclaimed. He felt that it was more exciting to go toward the battle rather than protecting.

"Boring? Are you really that dumb?" Amelia raised an eyebrow.

"If we are tasked with protecting something, it must mean that there is a high likelihood of it being attacked. To make matters worse, in battle you can retreat and recover, but here you have to stay with the convoy no matter what."

"Putting it that way, it does sound good!" Enzo proclaimed with a smile. He saw it as the perfect opportunity to get stronger and surpass Michael.

"I would have preferred it if I were the one driving, but I can't operate a train." Leo sighed in dejection.

Since the start of the operation was set to begin after two days, the squad went to get their quarters in order.

Michael would have liked to use the free time to chat with his family. But because of the powerful storms on Neptune, contacting the outside was almost impossible.

'It's good that I warned them about that. Otherwise I can imagine how my sister would react.'

Most of the free time was spent preparing for the mission. Michael thought about exploring the city but decided against it. He was certain that in the outskirts of the city the living conditions of the civilians were far from satisfactory with the current threat of the aliens.

When going to war, he preferred to keep his mind clear of distractions. Going to the outskirts would be useless at the moment since he didn't have the authority or the power to help them.

In a flash, the two days passed, and it was time to board the train. Unlike the ordinary trains back on Earth, this one looked more like a moving fortress. Standing over ten meters tall and seven meters wide, its thick metal plating and multiple anti-air turrets made it nearly unstoppable.

Yet the soldiers knew that this was far from enough. With the planet being an active war zone, there were numerous unaccounted General tier aliens running amok.

"Hopefully we don't encounter any on our journey." Leo prayed.

Before boarding, they made themselves familiar with their teammates. Because such trips were few and far between, it was important to ensure that the train was well protected.

"Hey, did you hear? Recruits have already arrived at our destination, and we are meant to pick them up."

"Yeah, if the rumor is true, they are from the Heavenly Pact!"

'Have Bryce and Claire made it?' Michael wondered, the more people he could trust at his side, the better.

The soldiers' chatter was quickly silenced once the overseer of the operation appeared. She was a tall woman with red hair that fell down to her waist.

"My name is Alice. From now on you will answer to me until the operation concludes." She said in a chilling voice.

Michael's senses immediately sharpened when he saw her.

He instantly knew that he was looking at Late Grandmaster.

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