Back in time, it's midnight Pandor continental time on November 1st. It is 6:00 p.m. on Penglai Island.

Jin has returned to the command center on Horai Island. Reiko is with him.

He was taking some countermeasures after he heard from the old man that Guillermo Marchitas had attacked the continent of Pandor.

"What's the situation, Mr. Mere Old Man?

>

The old man summarized the main points and explained them to Jin.

"I see. You still think he might be hiding something, don't you?"

.

"Actually, I was thinking that too. And I imagined one of the worst ...... possibilities."

<>

A massive Aether Stampede.

<

If something of the same magnitude or greater were to occur, the population of Ars would once again plummet. No, Jin himself is in danger.

It would also be in line with Markitas's ambition to destroy the human race."

In the past, <> also caused a localized one and massacred the northern peoples ...... who at that time were called demons.

"So, hemispheric warding."

This is something that Jin had proposed before, but had only made but had not yet put into practice.

The idea is to generate two hemispherical separately and trap the object inside.

It would be easier to understand if you compare it to holding two bowls in your hands and trying to trap an insect or something.

"Now, with the help of Reiko and the craftsmen (Smith), we have just installed it in the spaceship."

The plan was to operate it with a or .

Since the spaceship was deposited on the moon, even the old man could not grasp what Jin was doing.

"I attached <> and <> and we came here together. I'm <> and I'm in Pandor ...... right now on the >. I think I'll head that way."

<<<< Adriana is equipped with <>, isn't it?　Have you checked it works? >>

"Yes, it works fine. <> check it and I checked it twice on the way from the moon to Ars. Both the shield and the sphere are fine."

The <> used to be deployable only as a disc-shaped shield, but with subsequent research and improvements, it can now be deployed as a sphere covering the spaceship, just like a normal <>.

This is partly due to the research of <>.

Hearing this, the old man reluctantly gave his OK.

<<>

In the first place, if a large scale <> were to occur, even if we were in Horai Island, we would not be exempted from the effects of it. Rather, it might be safer to stay in , where there is also a magical shield.

"Ah. If Guillermo Malkitas is planning to make an etheric stampede, we must do everything we can to prevent it.

We must avoid a situation in which all the people of the North, their descendants on the island of Onogoro, and the human race on Ars will perish.

"Yes, you can count on me."

It is a great advantage to know about the small-scale "Aether Stampede" caused by the "Negador" 400 years ago.

< is not something that can be caused instantly, but there is a time lag of about 2 seconds between the activation of the magic and the time it takes for it to take effect.

Reiko and the old man can put up a barrier in those two seconds, and can also release a magic canceller that they have developed to prevent it.

The magic tools that Jin makes basically have a very small time lag, which is why he can do these things.

"Okay, I'm off then."

Jin and Reiko boarded the <>.

"Adriana, launch!

Three spheres, one large and one small, float into the dark night sky.

"Rise to an altitude of 10,000 meters and deploy Aegis. We are heading for the site at top speed.

Jin's order flew, and the three ships quickly disappeared from sight.

<

The old lord uses his "peepers" to follow Jin and the others from Horai Island.

* * * * * *

By the way, the maximum speed mentioned by Jin is a fluke.

By the way, the maximum speed mentioned by Jin is a bit of a stretch, because with the size of Ars, even < would reach her destination before she reaches the maximum speed. That is the extent of Jin's enthusiasm.

Be that as it may, the three ships carrying Jin, < and <, reach a position 10,000 meters above the Pandor continent in less than 10 minutes.

<

"Please do this."

<

"Oh?"

Just as Guillermo Marchitas's fleet of flying boats began to spray dissolving fluid.

"Is that ...... dissolver!　That's a pretty nasty thing to do!"

But before Jin could give the order, the <> side nullified the dissolver.

"...... I see...it's the dissolver of the <>..."

Jin remembered fondly the old <>, Saki and Goose.

"Oops, now is not the time.

But Jin reconsiders his resolve when he remembers the urgency of the situation.

"Old man, which one is the airship of MARQUITAS?

Jin calls the old man.

Jin guessed that Guillermo Marchitas must be on one of the two 100-meter class airships.

"Is that him? Can you look inside ......?"

<

Two seconds later, the sub-magic screen showed the inside of the building.

Is that Guillermo Marchitas?

I'll have to work on that in the future, I thought,

<

The old man said.

"Yes, please."

There is such a thing as lip-reading. With his excellent processing skills, the old man reproduced Guillermo Marchitas' lines almost in real time.

And then, he wrote the following.

<<<< Prepare for the Aether Stampede!

The line was uttered.

Jin heard this and acted quickly.

"<>!　<>!　Contain the flagship of Malquitas with hemispherical wards!"

This is exactly what happened.

<

and <> dive from an altitude of 10,000 meters.

Within two seconds, they stopped at the same altitude as the flagship of Guillermo Marchitas and released a hemispherical field while maintaining a distance of 10 kilometers.

<>

With a countdown echoing, the warding was completed with one second to spare. Two hemispherical wards, like a pair of bowls, trapped the flagship of Guillermo Marchitas.

At the same time, also deployed a barrier.

This was one second before the <> was to be triggered.