The general's voice was amplified, echoing throughout the area.

The few soldiers left were scrambling to form a 'V' pattern around the general's tank.

Another tank approached the Freya group from the side, but grandpa destroyed it with his Carthia gun. The tank then ruptured and breathed flames into the sky.

My body swayed a bit from the explosion.

"That girl with the cap . . ." Luca pointed out.

It was Beatrice. I was unsure whether to tell Luca exactly that, or not. She would panic or something and rushed to her side after that.

"What about her?" I said instead.

"Her hair's green. I remember Hope did mention about Beatrice's hair being green."

She looked at me.

"It is Beatrice. I think she's the Beatrice that you mentioned before."

Luca narrowed her eyes.

"Hope knew this too," said Luca softly.

I was silent for a moment.

"Yes. Are you sure that's the same Beatrice?" I prompted.

"I'm not sure, she's very far from here. I could only tell her hair color. Her face is hidden under that cap."

While the both of us were watching, the Freya group decimated the general's leftover soldiers as quickly as they came. However, the red tank withstood the group's a.s.sault with barely a dent to its hull.

"The general is just inside that tank. We must not let this opportunity slip away from us," Grandpa yelled.

He aimed his Carthia gun at the red tank and fired.

However, a huge figure suddenly appeared and took the shot instead. Its chest was destroyed, and it fell to the ground with a noticeable quake.

It was a Vasquez.

"W-What took you guys so long?! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!" shouted the general.

I felt a familiar feeling somehow after he said those words. Some form of presence was lurking on the streets.

Suddenly. two members of Freya were shot down and a few others followed suit. The remaining members nimbly grasped that situation and took cover behind their trucks.

It was no mistake. There were Teria soldiers joining the fight right then. As expected, they couldn't be seen and their attacks were unpredictable.

Jeremy was the only one who did not take cover. He stood in the middle of the road, wielding a Carthia gun in one hand, and some form of a customized machete in the other. He was also wearing his Teria suit, but he was visible. His rainbow Mohawk made his presence all the more vibrant on the battlefield.

His machete split itself further into multiple layers in a circular motion until it became a large metal s.h.i.+eld, and Jeremy used it to protect himself from the bullets spraying onto him.

"Beatrice," called Jeremy.

In a flash, Beatrice moved into the open from her cover and shot the red tank with a Carthia gun. The red tank took the shot, and its front exploded.

"No, no, not here. I'm not going to d-die here!" said the general.

He scrambled from the hatch and dropped onto the road before the red tank exploded. Due to the impact, his body bounced off the ground. He glared at Beatrice as he struggled to stand up.

"VASQUEZ!" he shouted from the top of his lungs.

Three Vasquez dropped from the sky and cornered Jeremy.

I looked up and saw a large, black aircraft had filled the sky above, casting its shadow onto the road. It was not there before.

"I suppose I have to use this," said Jeremy.

He moved his hand over his chest, and his Teria suit s.h.i.+fted and expanded into a bulkier version.

I a.s.sumed Jeremy had pressed some form of a b.u.t.ton on his suit since I could only saw his back from my spot.

Bullets that came out of nowhere continued to shoot Jeremy, but his machete s.h.i.+eld and newly formed body armor prevented him from suffering any injury. Two sleek, metal fragments popped out from his shoulders and a.s.sembled itself to form a protective mask over his face.

Beatrice was long gone after she had shot the tank when I cast a glance at her previous spot. She could've used her own Teria suit to become invisible.

"Hmm. What happened to his suit?" questioned Luca.

"I don't know. I thought that suit is a Teria, which allows its wearer to become invisible."

"You think it's custom made?" Luca glanced at me.

I reluctantly nodded, despite my uncertainty.

Suddenly, a figure appeared from behind Jeremy and punched his face. The machete and gun he had in his hands dropped to the ground.

Jeremy stumbled but got back up on his feet quick. The mask he had equipped before shattered, and his right cheek was bleeding.

His a.s.sailant had the same Teria suit as Jeremy, equipped with the armor.

"That's. . . Sergeant Campbell," I said.

"You know him?"

"He and his team took me to their base a few days ago."

That was the only answer I could give Luca. My whole attention was focused on Campbell and Jeremy.

Campbell proceeded to punch him again, but Jeremy avoided it and kicked him in the chest. The force pushed him backward. He then raised his arms to guard against Jeremy's volley of punches.

Those punches of his were fast, too fast for my eyes to follow.

Pieces of armor slowly came off from Campbell's arms as he took Jeremy's attack head-on. Each punch pushed Campbell bit by bit as he refused to give up. I could tell his arms were severely injured.

Jeremy's metal arms were not to be underestimated.

"Why are the soldiers just sitting there doing nothing?" asked Luca.

"Perhaps because of Campbell. And I don't think their guns work on the armor."

Jeremy pounded his right fist to Campbell's side and did a kick to his head.

"Sergeant," shouted one of the invisible soldiers.

"No, I'm fine. You guys take care of the other rebels," said Campbell.

He wiped a streak of blood coming out of his mouth and rubbed his spiky, dark hair.

"You're tough," mumbled Campbell.

One of the three Vasquez started to move, raising his fist towards Jeremy. "Sorry, Sergeant! I'll join your fight!"

Jeremy dodged it, but another Vasquez kicked him from the back, sending his body cras.h.i.+ng into a concrete building.

From the corner of my eye, a member of Freya fired a missile from a launcher he shouldered and it hit that same Vasquez. His body stumbled but he got to this knee. Another missile was launched from a different person, however, it was directed towards the black aircraft hovering over us. It exploded upon impact.

The aircraft spun down to the ground and crashed not too far from the battlefield, causing a very mild earthquake throughout the area.

"They're winning," said Luca.

"I don't know. . . "

I wanted to help grandfather's group, but it was only due to the urge to help people. I hated him, although the members of his group were slowly getting killed by the Teria soldiers as the time pa.s.sed.

The person launching the missile from before fell to the ground as bullets struck his body.

Instantly, I remembered the first time I activated Aegis, where my spikes pierced the invisible Teria soldiers on its own without me doing anything.

"Luca, get back to the mine," I said.

"Wait, where are you going?"

I came out of the bushes and whipped a long, red blade from my right arm.

A few of members of Freya had fixated their eyes on me.

"Ava?!" exclaimed Beatrice.

'I hope this works,' I thought.

I stood in the center of all the fighting, literally exposing myself to the invisible Teria soldiers.

"I know you're there. Shoot me!" I shouted.

Back then in the army's base, my only thought was to keep living, in order to search for Mommy and Daddy. It was a feeling of not wanting to die.

And so, I focused solely on that one thought, repeating it over and over in my mind.

In a blink of an eye, numerous icicle-like objects emerged from my back and pierced through the area in every direction. A moment later, about eight soldiers appeared from thin air, their bodies were hanging far up in the sky. My red icicles clearly went through their stomachs and I winced.

It was the same as before. The urge to defend myself guided the Aegis to protect me at all cost, and my a.s.sumption of it being able to move by itself was proven.

Everyone was looking at me.

"The Aegis kid. The one who had escaped," said a Vasquez that went behind me.

He raised his leg and stomped, only to be blocked by my red s.h.i.+eld from my right arm.

The familiar pain shot up again. Creating two different objects appeared to have a toll on me.

"You kill innocent people. I don't like you," I growled.