Life didn't get easier, even in another world

131 Flames

He hadn’t realized it until a few seconds ago.

He didn’t even sense the upcoming danger.

He just realized it when it was too late. Just when it was already happening. When there was no time to even move back.

But there was someone who had reacted to the danger before him. His new subordinate had suddenly created a shield around everyone just a little bit prior to the explosion.

“Uh?”

Before he knew what was happening, he was pushed away by the impact of the unexpected explosion.

Team leader Dains twisted his body and safely landed on the ground. He raised his head as soon as the tips of his feet touched the ground and looked forward.

Everything was on fire.

It was then-

.....

“AAAAHHHH!!!”

SWOOSH

A big object flew towards him.

“....”

The team leader jumped back to avoid getting hit by the big, screaming, flying object.

“FUUUCKKK YOUUU!”

The object cursed him while it was passing right before his face and continued to fly backward.

“....”

He felt that the object, or maybe person, was kinda familiar, but he didn’t care.

He had to make sure about his subordinates’ safety first.

Checking his communication device, he made sure that it was still working properly so he sent a message to the others.

“Can you hear me? Retreat. Gather in one place. Make sure that you keep your distance from that building.”

An answer came after a few seconds.

-SHH... Sir. We are fine. Everyone in the first team that was with me is fine. We’ll come to where you are right away after I make sure about the other team’s safety.

It was unit 6’s deputy team leader’s voice. He sighed with relief after hearing those words and answered back.

“No need. Just make sure that you are all safe.”

-Yes, sir.

That was good for now. All he had to do was to search for his own unit members. He grabbed his guns and took one step forward.

“....”

But he stopped moving after sensing something.

The team leader jerked his head and looked up. Someone was staring at him.

He looked towards where he had sensed the gaze. Past through the flames, on the top of the building, he could see a man looking back at him.

. . . . .

She stood back and dusted her clothes.

“What the hell! I thought I got burnt to a crisp!”

Serria picked up her sword and looked around.

“So, where are the others?”

She looked around in search of people.

Sniff Sniff

“.....”

She heard a weird sound after looking around for a few seconds.

Sniff Sniff

‘Is someone there?’

She couldn’t see clearly because of the dust, but it felt like someone was somewhere near her. That was why she grabbed her sword and cautiously walked towards the source of the sound.

After taking a few steps, she could see someone sitting on the ground.

There was a ‘K. S’ printed on his uniform.

Sniff Sniff

And he was sniffing.

“Kairen?”

He raised his head and looked at her.

“Sniff... Ah? Serria!”

She couldn’t see his face, but she was sure that he had landed on the ground pretty badly and rolled on the ground a few times looking at his appearance.

And he was sniffing!!!!!

“W-wait! Are you crying?”

She hurriedly ran towards his friend with a bewildered face.

“What the fuck! I got a nosebleed!”

“Ah!”

She sat down beside him and examined his body. There didn’t seem to be any injuries, that was fortunate.

“Did you use your mana a lot?”

The mask was intact but he got a nosebleed.

“I guess so. Sniff.”

Serria took out a mana potion and a tissue and handed them to Kairen.

‘Ah! Why do I always forget to buy these?’

Kairen took off the mask for a moment, cleaning the blood on his face and drinking the potion.

“Hey! How did you do that? That shield? How did you know this would happen?”

Kairen looked at Serria without answering for a moment.

“I don’t know.”

He shrugged his shoulders and wore his mask again.

“Where are the others?”

Kairen stood up and looked around. Following him, Serria also stood up.

“I don’t know.”

She shook her head and looked around. She turned towards the building that was surrounded by flames and scoffed.

“Shit! Those guys are crazy!”

It was at that moment that they both heard a voice in their ears.

-Can you hear me? Retreat. Gather in one place. Make sure that you keep your distance from that building.

It was their team leader’s voice.

“Oh! He is fine!”

Then came another voice.

-SHH... Sir. We are fine. Everyone in the first team that was with me is fine. We’ll come to where you are right away after I make sure about the other team’s safety.

Kairen sighed with relief after hearing Kain’s voice. He seemed to be fine, Nah, maybe not totally fine, but he was at least alive. That was good.

-No need. Just make sure that you are all safe.

-Yes, sir.

.....

The conversation finished after that and they didn’t hear another voice.

“I guess we should find the others first.”

swoosh

Just when they were about to walk around in search of the others, they sensed a breeze.

swoosh

The breeze passed through their faces, pushing back the dust a little bit.

“Oh, it’s Rai... And him!”

They could now see Rai and Reyan standing in a little bit of distance. Upon seeing Kairen and Serria, the two of them walked towards them.

“Kairen!”

Well, ran towards them.

“Kairen!”

Reyan stood right before Kairen and examined him.

“Are you fine? What was that? Did you sense the attack? Are you fine after using so much mana? You didn’t break your bones, did you?”

“Um...”

“Did you sense the attack before it happened? How? And you created a shield? You didn’t stand there looking blankly at the scene and seriously did something??? Kairen??? Is that really you? KAIREN? IS THAT YOU????”

“....”

Kairen took one step back.

‘Did he hit his head or something?’

Kairen looked away from Reyan and turned towards Rai.

“Can’t you clear the dust so that we can find the others?”

“No. I’m afraid it might make things worst. There is a giant fire there so it isn’t really a good idea to create winds.”

“Ah! Right!”

Kairen nodded his head.

“Hey! We have to go to where the team leader is!”

Serria was right. They didn’t have the time to stand there and talk.

. . . . .

“Sir! The building is greatly damaged due to the explosion!”

The man, who had run up the stairs to the rooftop, panted heavily while reporting the situation to his higher up.

“We lost a few of our people and some are seriously injured.”

The man who was staring at something on the rooftop turned towards him.

His black hair was fluttering in the air. The cloak he was wearing, which usually covered his face, has moved back a little bit due to all of the wind and the shakings. The small scar on the man’s cheek was seen in the light of the fire.

“I’m surprised.”

He turned away and looked down again. The mark on the back of his cloak was shining even more under the light of the fire. It was Philomns mark with a small 5 inside it.

The Fifth could see people who were desperately running around while trying to avoid the flames.

“They are all still alive.”

“What?”

The man stopped panting and looked up with his eyes wide open.

“B-but how?”

The Fifth chuckled.

“Right. How?”

He took his eyes off of the people on the ground and looked at the other people who were with him on the rooftop.

“Did you also see that? Something collided with the flames and stopped them from burning the others...”

He looked at the other man who was also wearing a cloak. Unlike him, his cloak had no marks on it. Not even the Philomns mark. The man’s face was also hidden under the hood of the cloak.

The man nodded his head after hearing that question.

“Make sure to distract their sight as much as you can with your soil.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man nodded his head.

“Ah, girl. Your power is quite awesome!”

The girl that was blankly staring at the flames gulped, looking at The Fifth with shaky eyes.

“T-thank you, sir.”

“Oh! Is it your first time? Don’t be so scared. It wasn’t something I could avoid. They would die anyway.”

The girl took one step back, almost hiding behind the other man.

“Y-yes. I understand.”

She lowered her head. She didn’t want to look at that man called The Fifth.

Her whole body was still shaking.

‘What just happened?’

She wanted to open a portal and leave this place with her partner as soon as the SMF agents showed up, but someone grabbed her hand, preventing her from running away.

The Fifth stopped her from moving and ‘ordered’ her to create a portal to the rooftop.

She didn’t understand the reason behind it.

But she soon saw why they had to go to the rooftop.

It happened just after they entered the portal and she was about to close it.

She saw it with her two eyes before the portal was completely closed.

The whole place turned to hell in a second.

The ground shook. The walls cracked. Windows broke down. Things fell to the ground.

Flames devoured everyone on the first floor.

It was only for a few seconds but she saw everything clearly.

She saw the dying people. She heard their screams. She felt the hot flames.

It was horrible.

She would have turned to ash if she hadn’t moved right in time.

She nearly died.

Her whole body was shaking.

She was scared.

And the one who started those flames was staring at them as if he was enjoying the situation.

He had just killed his own people, and he said it was something that he couldn’t avoid.

‘He is scary.’

She bit her lips and closed her eyes. She was scared, really scared, of that man called The Fifth.