Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 134: AMAT (4)

Chapter 134: AMAT (4)

The soft, fine sand under their feet suddenly morphed into a thick, muddy mess, with pits forming one after another.

At the bottom of each pit, huge gaping mouths waited, ready to devour anything that fell into them.

The moment Adela shouted her warning, Lyra was already in action. She quickly distanced herself from the danger.

After making sure there were no pits forming under her own feet, Lyra turned back and tossed out a light band, managing to pull the rest of the team to safety.

Everyone made it out — except one.

"Help..." Milo’s voice was cut off as a beast lunged from the pit below and swallowed him whole.

The group froze, stunned by the sight. Kolan, who had been arguing with Milo moments earlier, felt a wave of guilt hit him hard.

The sting of the wind and sand snapped Kolan out of his daze. Wiping his face, he asked quietly, "Is he... dead?"

Elsie stayed silent, her eyes scanning the pit, but none of them had any idea what kind of creature had taken Milo.

"No, he’s not dead," Lyra’s calm tone brought a shred of hope to the group. "We need to move quickly."

Nicholas hesitated, "But we’re only at the second stage. If Milo isn’t dead, the organizers should step in and rescue him soon, right?"

His words weren’t careless—he was just conflicted. As a third-year student, this was their last shot at AMAT before they’d have to face a much more dangerous field internship on the battlefield next year. Falling behind now could cost them that coveted legion invitation.

"But the organizers need to be able to reach us first," Lyra said, pointing to the sky. A faint, blue hexagonal shield shimmered above them. "Didn’t anyone notice? The Aegis Shield is up."

The realization hit everyone like a punch.

"Maybe... the organizers activated it?" Nicholas asked, though his voice was already filled with doubt.

Elsie’s frown deepened. "Why would they activate the Aegis Shield? The Carniflora showing up in the first stage was already suspicious. Now this?"

It was becoming clear—something was very wrong with this competition.

Outside the island, chaos had already taken over. The reconnaissance team was scrambling, unable to break through the Aegis Shield, and quickly reported back to the command room.

"The Aegis Shield has activated, and all our chips and equipment are unresponsive!"

The chips were crucial for controlling the plants and beasts on the island. With them out of commission, the fate of the students was uncertain, but it was bound to be grim—especially with a much bigger threat lurking inside the shield.

Vice Admiral Myer’s sense of unease deepened. "Shut down the broadcast. Now!"

But before they could move, panicked tech staff rushed in. "We can’t! The broadcast has been hijacked by an external satellite!"

Ansel, standing nearby, gripped his cane tightly. Vice Admiral Myer turned to him and asked, "What do you make of this, Vice Admiral Shedd?"

Ansel’s expression darkened. "An external network? Could it be... an imperial spy?"

The words hung in the air, heavy and unsettling.

Vice Admiral Myer shot up from his seat, his commanding presence silencing the room. "Alert the Admiral immediately!"

He then turned to Ansel with a determined look. "Vice Admiral Shedd, I think we need to head there ourselves. Those kids might not have much time."

The idea of an imperial spy infiltrating the Alliance’s AMAT competition was an unthinkable scandal. It couldn’t be allowed to stand.

Just then, a shout came from the team monitoring the broadcast. "Some of the students have realized something’s wrong!"

Both Vice Admirals turned back to the screens, where they saw the NMA team chasing after the beast that had swallowed Milo, veering off the official competition route.

"Good," Myer said, his voice sharp with purpose. "Contact them. We need their help."

With communication down, the students on the island were the only ones who might be able to provide insight into what was happening. Right now, they were the best shot at figuring this out before things spiraled even further.

"Understood! We’ll stay locked on their broadcast feed," one of the techs replied.

Time was running out, and every second mattered.

Ansel’s gaze stayed locked on the screen, his attention focused on Lyra, now the leader of the NMA team. His expression was hard to read, a mix of deep thought and quiet intensity.

Myer, noticing Ansel’s distraction, gave him a glance before turning back to the unfolding chaos on-screen. "Vice Admiral Shedd, we should move out now."

Outside the command center, a storm had begun to brew. Even the audience, watching from the stands and across the nation, was starting to pick up on the unsettling mood surrounding the tournament.

"What’s going on with this year’s competition? First, students are getting swallowed, now they’re being eaten alive!"

"It’s insane! The Rocky Military Academy and the North Point both got wiped out in seconds. It’s like the organizers don’t even want anyone to finish this thing!"

"At this rate, it’ll just be the top three schools left fighting it out by the end."

"Fighting? The third-ranked Royal Military Academy already lost two members! What’s left for them to fight with?"

"Wait, look! NMA’s gone off the official route. What are they even doing?"

Meanwhile, Lyra led her team in hot pursuit of the creature that had swallowed Milo.

They were moving quickly, following the shifting bulge in the sand as the beast tunneled beneath it.

When they finally exited the desert zone, the creature’s full form came into view—a massive Twistmaw, native to desert regions.

The spider was named for the gaping mouth on its back, which could manipulate space using its Spatiokinesis abilities, meaning space-twisting.

Without pausing, the spider scurried straight into a dense forest.

The island’s beasts and plants had all been modified with control chips in their brains, turning them into half-mechanical creatures without any trace of psychokinetic abilities or real awareness.

"It doesn’t seem out of the ordinary," Nicholas muttered, still trying to convince the group to turn back. "Past competitors have said that when someone gets taken by a beast, they’re usually rescued at a recovery point."

A wave of uncertainty took over the group, especially Elsie.

But Lyra came to a halt suddenly, her senses on high alert. "Someone’s coming."

"Other teams?" someone asked.

"Get covered," Elsie ordered, swiftly leading the team into the thick underbrush.

Lyra, always quick on her feet, scaled a nearby tree and concealed herself within the branches.

The rustling of leaves grew louder, and soon, shadowy figures emerged. What they saw made everyone’s blood run cold—these weren’t fellow competitors, and they didn’t look like any event organizers either.

The strangers wore rugged camouflage uniforms, loaded with ammunition and weapons. Their eyes, filled with hostility, swept the area like predators on the hunt.

"Didn’t the broadcast say some military academy students were heading this way? Where are they?" one of the men growled.

"Doesn’t matter. They can’t run far. Let’s find them and capture them before anyone else does."

The intruders spread out, combing the area for the NMA team.

As Lyra’s team processed the situation, she acted. Without a moment’s hesitation, she fired two beams of light, swift and deadly.

The thud of bodies hitting the ground echoed through the forest, stunning her own teammates, let alone the audience watching the live broadcast.

"What the hell just happened? Did she just KILL them?"

"That first-year... She didn’t even hesitate. What is going on?"

Elsie and the others broke cover, their expressions a mix of confusion and disbelief.

Nicholas, paling, looked like he was about to faint. "Lyra, you just killed someone! This is still a competition!"

Lyra didn’t flinch. Picking up one of the fallen soldiers’ weapons, she replied coolly, "Competition? Those were imperial spies."

Her words struck like a bombshell.

"You said IMPERIAL?!" Elsie’s voice shook with shock and anger, her eyes flashing with fury.

Lyra tossed her a handgun she’d grabbed off one of the bodies. "This isn’t Alliance-made."

Lyra had spent enough time at Voidstar No.2 to recognize the designs of both Alliance and Imperial tech.

The weapons these men carried were unmistakably of imperial origin, their distinct materials and structure standing out in ways the others couldn’t miss.

"Take what you can. Forget the competition—this is about survival now."

The team’s mood shifted in an instant. What had once been an intense, prestigious tournament had suddenly become something far more dangerous—a covert battlefield where imperial spies had infiltrated Alliance territory.