“First, who are you?” asks me.

  “M-My name is Salami. I am a commander selected specifically for this operation. In the army, I was just a normal cadet, but they somehow entrusted me with this daunting task, promising me a rank promotion if this operation turned successful.”

  “A normal cadet?” asks Diva.

  “You have no leading experience?” asks Robert.

  “N-No. . .” answers the guy in a quiet volume.

  “What the hell? What is going on here?” asks Martina.

  “Back in the army, I was given a thorough explanation of codes and signals that I can use to command my army in accomplishing this task. But as you can see, I am very inadequate at this. I let the entire army get slaughtered by a bunch of teenagers.”

  “. . .”

  “(Now I understand why he didn’t signal the tank to immediately attack us. He was saving it for the worst-case scenario. Though thanks to that, the worst-case scenario for him happened instead.)”

  “What was the goal of this operation?” asks me.

  “. . .Its. . .I-It’s. . .”

  *DAHK*

  I punch the ground near him hard with my fist.

  “ANSWER PROPERLY!!” said me in an angry and impatient tone.

  “HIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I’M SORRY!!!”

  The man was startled and shrieked.

  “T-The goal of this operation was the complete obliteration of six teenage ‘soldiers’ while they were on their missions in this mansion.”

  *!!!*

  All of us were startled by what he just said.

  “W-What?” said Raven.

  “They knew we were all coming here at the same time?” said Raiya.

  “. . .”

  Robert is thinking silently to himself.

  “I remember Anna-san saying that this was a mission given by the government.” said me.

  *!!!*

  Everyone except me and Diva was shocked at what I said.

  “D-Did I say something wrong?” asks me.

  “Y-Yeah! The one who gave us our missions said that they have a personal grudge against the mansion’s owner.” explains Martina.

  “We didn’t ask any further questions as per the rules of the Underworld.” adds Raiya.

  “We were told that the mansion’s owner has a bounty on his head, and the reward would be immense, so we took the job.” explains Robert.

  “I was thinking of finally buying a house with the reward. . .” says Raven.

  “So, in other words, we all came here for different reasons, yet the army knew all of us would be here today?” said Diva.

  “Diva-chan, are you suggesting. . .”

  “Exactly! Their soldier outfits are the same ones as the national military. No difference there as I’ve seen them up close.”

  “. . .I can confirm that. I was taken into a prison in the past by one of those soldiers.” adds me.

  I turn towards the commander again.

  “You, who was the one who chose you as the commander of this operation?”

  “I. . .I can’t say.”

  *?!*

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “I can’t tell you why either. . .”

  “*Sigh* So do I have to torture you for this information or something?”

  “N-NO!! IT’S NOT THAT I CAN’T TELL YOU!! IT’S MORE LIKE. . .”

  He was shouting in panic, hearing me say the word torture, but he immediately went quiet at the end of his sentence.

  “I. . .I just don’t wanna die. . .”

  *!*

  The commander started crying.

  “I *sobs sobs* still want to live *sobs sobs* I haven’t done anything significant in my life. *sobs sobs* I haven’t accomplished any of my life goals. Not one of them. *sobs sobs*”

  I am so confused right now.

  First, this commander was a fake from the beginning. Second, the army knew, not just about me and Diva, but that we all were coming to this location at this exact date and hour. Third, and now this commander is crying like an average, everyday, pathetic man.

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  “Uh, guys?! Can I ask a question?”

  Robert suddenly raises his hand to gain our attention.

  “This was on my mind for a while, but since we were in the middle of a mission, I ignored the thought. All of us are wearing similar bodysuits right now, despite never meeting each other beforehand. Can any of you explain where you first got it?” asks Robert.

  *!!*

  His question makes all of us look at one another. And we all quickly realized the truth that he presented to us. Basically, all of our bodysuits have the same designs down to a T, where all of the differing colored body lines are all in the same place.

  I have noticed this since I saw Diva first wear it back then, but I pay no attention to it since I thought this was meant for the two of us, since we’re a team. But now four other people I have never met before have the exact same bodysuits as us. This feels. . . weird. Or, for the lack of a better word, weirdly orchestrated. Is someone behind all of this?

  “As for me and Diva-chan, we lived inside an underground laboratory. There was a lead scientist woman there who took care of us like a foster parent. She was the one who gave these to us before our first mission today.”

  The other four seem surprised by my story.

  “For me and Raiya-chan. Before we accepted this bounty mission, we were tasked to wear these bodysuits, or else we would be disqualified from the mission, even if we killed our target successfully.”

  “For our case, me and Raven here were also required to wear these bodysuits. They say that they’ll cancel the reward even if we did the job properly if we ever take off these bodysuits for a second during the mission.”

  “Okay, it’s confirmed now. Someone is orchestrating this whole thing!” said Diva.

  “But who?” asks Raven.

  “I think it’s pretty obvious.”

  All of us turned our heads towards the commander, who was still crying by himself on the ground.

  “Whoever appointed this guy as the commander is also the one planning all of this!”

  “But wait!”

  Robert raises his hand once again.

  “What would his goal possibly be? We have no connection or similarities with each other!”

  “That. . . is true. Why would he want us six specifically?”

  “The only thing I can think of is the fact that we’re all from the Underworld, and that we’re all citizens of this country.” said Robert.

  “. . .That makes sense, but at the same time, not really. I am sorry for confusing you all, but there are a lot of people from this country in the Underworld who are far more experienced and mature than the six of us.” explains me.

  “That makes sense. . .” says Raiya.

  *BANG*

  *ZRAASSHH*

  *!!!*

  But all of a sudden, there was a bullet shot towards the commander, who was still crying on the ground. His head was shot through, and some of his brains fell outside to the ground.

  *THUD*

  His body falls motionless to the ground, and he dies instantly.

  “W-WHAT?” said Raiya.

  “SNIPER?” said Diva.

  “TCH!! OUR DANGER SENSE DIDN’T REACT, AS WE WERE NOT THE TARGET!!” said Raven.

  “DIVA-CHAN!!”

  Before I even instructed her, Diva had already summoned her sniper rifle and was already in position to search for the sniper in the forest.

  The rest of us summon our Armaments, and we are completely combat-ready.

  *BANG BANG BANG*

  Diva shoots three times in the same direction.

  “Alright, I’m going!!”

  *BANG*

  I immediately shot my pistol in the same direction as Diva’s bullet and warp away multiple times until I find the sniper deep in the woods.

  “Man, that guy is so fast!” says Robert.

  “Has he always been like this, Diva-san?”

  “Yeah, he is!” says Diva with a smile.

  The rest of them followed quickly after me into the woods. They run as fast as they possibly can based on the physical capabilities of their Vein armors. The one in the front is Raven by quite a margin. The next ones in order are Raiya, Martina, Robert, and Diva, who is in the far back.

  *ZRSH ZRSH ZRSH*

  “UUAARRGGHH!!”

  *THUD*

  *!*

  I heard someone groan in pain, and they seemed to have fallen to the ground. Diva hit all three shots on the sniper’s body. I warp 10 meters ahead, and I finally see the sniper on the ground.

  *BANG*

  *!*

  “Don’t move or I’ll slit your throat!”

  I warp and immediately crouch near the sniper, positioning my knife against their neck.

  Upon closer look, this sniper is wearing a black balaclava, only revealing their pair of blue eyes. The sniper is 170cm tall and weighs around 72kg. Their body seems muscular, and the sniper seems to be a male from the lack of breasts on the chest. He is wearing an all-black outfit, a pair of black gloves, a black long-sleeved turtleneck, a pair of black trousers, and a pair of black shoes. He is also carrying a black backpack behind. His sniper rifle fell to the side on the ground.

  I move my pistol and place it against his head.

  “Who are you? Explain yourself and the one who hired you!”

  “. . .Urgh.”

  The sniper was shot in three different places by Diva. On his right shoulder, on his left forearm, and on his right ankle. He’s trying to endure the pain as much as he possibly can.

  *TCHLAK*

  I put my finger on the trigger, signalling him that I have no qualms about killing him.

  “I’m gonna ask you one more time, and you are going to answer. Who are you, and where do you come from? Who was the guy who tasked you with this mission?”

  “Sorry, I’m not in the mood for conversation!”

  *!!!*

  At that moment, right after his sentence ends, my danger sense immediately pops off.

  *BWOOOOSSHHH*

  *FWOOOOOMMMM*

  And I immediately jump as far away as possible from him. I land around 10 meters away in the woods.

  I look to my front and see that a pillar of fire has suddenly erupted where he was lying, consuming his entire body in flames. The pillar of fire was five meters in diameter, and it reached 100m high towards the sky. Every tree near him was burnt and disintegrated into nothing, while all the trees near the flame were set on fire. This may result in total deforestation at this rate.

  “Tch! Suicide, huh? Does this mean the guy who’s behind all this is someone very important that he has no problem disposing of people left and right without a care in the world?”

  “Eh? Possibly? I didn’t really care about all of that when I accepted his request.”

  *!!!*

  But then I heard someone talking from the inside of the pillar of fire.

  *FWOOOSSHH*

  The pillar of fire immediately disappears, and the sniper emerges from it. He looks completely fine and unburnt despite his location. None of his clothes catches fire, not even the black balaclava on his face.

  *!*

  *FWOOMMM*

  He pointed his right open palm, and his glove burned brightly.

  “A Believer? Why didn’t you use your Faith power to kill that guy? Using a sniper rifle seems really inconvenient in comparison.”

  “I was trying to conceal my identity, duh! We are inside a deep forest, and a slight mishap might burn this entire forest to the ground.”

  “Quite contradictory considering that is exactly what you just did!”

  “Well, you threatened to kill me, so I had no choice. All I can do now is to burn the ‘evidence’ instead!”

  “I was expecting you to be an Armament type, considering your sniper rifle, but it seems like I’m wrong. Elemental type, correct?”

  “Heee! Good guess! How’d you know?”

  “My comrade shot you in three different spots across your body, and you are bleeding. That means you are not a Transformation type. You created fire, so Elemental type is the only plausible answer.”

  “That’s correct, though that was kinda obvious. . . Even a preschooler could’ve figured that out, huh?”

  “Well, excuse me, this is the first time I’ve seen other Believers outside of Armament types!”

  “Alright, alright! Enough talking. Can I kill you now?” said the sniper as he pointed his burning palm towards me.

  “Only if you promised to tell me everything if I won!!”

  I requested a consolation prize with a confident smile on my face.

  “DEAL!! NOW DIE!!”

  *FWOOOOOMM*

  The sniper shoots out a flamethrower at me, and it moves at 100km/h towards my face.

  *BANG*

  I warp and appear slightly above him. I immediately do my spinning axe kick towards his head.

  *!!!*

  But then, as I was spinning vertically, I saw him grinning while locking his eyes with mine.

  *FWOOOOOMMMM*

  *FWOOOOSSHHH*

  He suddenly erupted yet another giant pillar of fire, this time 10 meters in diameter, and it is 100m in height.