"How boring, don't you have anything else?" the Director says as he mimics a yawn. I raise a middle finger as the penetrators smash against his unarmored body. I bet that the Hammer combined with Mary's fire will be enough to-

"It was a nice try, I guess." My opponent says with a disinterested voice.

My jaw drops when the smoke clears; no one in his group was harmed. The only signs that the Hammer ever fired are the surrounding destruction and the pile of desiccated corpses that appeared out of nowhere.

"However, I won't let you kill my men any further. They are quite annoying to replace." He says before a blade of air almost cleaves me in half.

"You're enduring well for a mage, but we both know that its a futile endeavor." The Director continues taunting me.

"You piece of shit! Die!" Mary shouts as she unleashed her dragon breath.

"How fascinating!" the Director says as he teleports out of the way in an instant. "I am definitely taking you back with me. A charming lady like yourself has no reason to stay with a wannabe rebel like-"

"SHUT UP!" Mary, who is now completely enraged, unleashes her full power onto the ever-smirking bastard.

"However, your personality is a bit lacking. But don't worry, that's not anything I can't fix!" he shouts as Mary is sent flying into a boulder.

I grit my teeth as unbridled rage boils inside me. My aura increases in intensity as I teleport near the target and raise my shotgun towards him.

"How unsightly." He says before one of his goons appears out of nowhere and kicks me with the strength of a freight train. I smash head first into a large tree that breaks under the sudden pressure.

"We will NoT gIvE uP!" the voice and I say in unison as we raise the shotgun, thus obliterating the soldier that just appeared in front of me.

"Fuck, I think there's blood on my suit." He says as he brushes off a bit of brain matter off his sleeve. "Have some respect, don't you know how expensive it is to have my clothes cleaned!"

This cunt is insufferable.

I fire again, but this time he teleported away before the blast of raw mana could hit him.

"Why do you even try? You can't win." He says.

He's interrupted by a massive beam of fire coming from Mary.

"Thank you for the light!" he says as he takes a puff from a cigarette. He doesn't even react as he pushes away a breathless kid who appeared out of nowhere before disappearing from the battlefield. "Now, could you kindly stop resisting? It's only delaying the inevitable."

I crack my neck and teleport near the bastard.

"ThErE's OnLy OnE iNeViTaBlE tHiNg iN tHiS uNiVeRsE, mE!" I shout as I fire my shotgun as fast as I can.

For the first time, the Director's constant smirk disappears from his face.

"Who do you think you are?" he says as an invisible force picks me up and throws me into the ground.

I don't feel anything as my body breaks on impact. It's healed in the next instant, and I go back into the fray. This bastard mentioned an automated defense system earlier, so I bet it's how he's teleporting all those people to create barriers to protect him. It resembles the Portal Station, and I should investigate him further down the line.

But I neEd to KiLl him a few TiMeS before ThAt!

Let's see how his shitty system holds up against mine!

I freeze the timeline and memorize specific coordinates before configuring the laser pointer as fast as I can. It takes a few tries to get it right, but soon a massive array of portals surrounds us.

Worry forms on his face for the first time.

A myriad of projectiles appears through the portals. MH Shells, Carter Bombs, various Hammer projectiles... There's a lot of ordinances been thrown around.

The cacophony caused by the mighty destruction I unleashed makes my ear bleed, and I lose my hearing more than once.

A minute pass and the bombardment finally stops. I am almost expecting the mysterious Director to insult me before the smoke clears, but there's nothing.

The smoke finally clears, and the destruction is unparalleled. The area where the enemy group was standing is now a bottomless crater. I can barely see the bottom of the crevice I created.

However, I cannot rejoice. There's nothing that tells me that he didn't teleport away, and we wasted a lot of ammunition.

In fact, this barely feels like a victory.

A sigh escapes my mouth as I survey the destruction. Mary appears to my side and breathes heavily; she must be exhausted by the battle.

I almost feel sorry for her; all her efforts are going to be erased.

This battle taught me a lot about this Organization, but I need more information. I have to interrogate Carla's squad leader. And, if I can do it, I should try to get these people on my side. The way the Director treated his soldiers like disposable puppets enrages me.

These people have incredible abilities, but this dumbass Director wastes them.

Carla's description of the Organization makes me chuckle; she said that their goal was to protect Earth.

I highly doubt it.

What have they done to protect the planet? The Enforcers are still here; the Empire is still gaining power. And did they intervene when an ancient demon was resurrected?

They didn't; I fought it with all I had and barely won.

Nobody can blame me for taking matters in my own hands. I accomplished far more with the Order than anyone else, my rebellion is the only real opponent of the Enforcer system, and to other extraordinary threats like the Oracle.

What would the bickering Enforcers do if the Oracle decides to glass the planet?

They would not be able to do anything. They don't have the firepower to defeat her, and uniting them all under a common banner is a lost cause. I've seen where that leads to, and I have to prevent it at all costs.

This Organization has some power at its disposal, but they are comparable to the warlords created by the dissolutions of major Families. They have a bit of strength and might be able to hold onto some small territory, but they are not match to any big players.

I Rewind to before the appearance of the initial Organization soldiers. This time, I Rewind until I memorize the coordinates of the new arrivals.

"Terrence, prepare the necessary for an interrogation. And large-scale shields too." I ask the Commander an hour before the arrival of Carla and her squad.

"On it." The Commander says. "Where are we going to hold the interrogations?"

I rack my brain for a good location. Sending them to the Shard isn't an option if they can be tracked across dimensions. But where can I find a secure site that is far from-

An idea suddenly pops up in my head.

"Go to Krognar's old shop; it should still be there," I order. The myriad of security measures in that unsuspecting building should ensure that we aren't disturbed and that we aren't going to run into a gang of squatters.

I then stare at the screen while fiddling with my Portal Gun.

The enemy finally arrives, and I use my Portal Gun as soon as their figures appear. I entered the landing coordinates into the device, so the familiar blue circles appear beneath their feet. They were clearly not expecting something like this, so they are unable to react in time.

Each member of this squad, asides from the leader, has been transported to another world for the time being. I chose Hisako's home planet since they will not be able to contact anyone able to bring them back; they should only be able to leave if they can teleport across worlds. I half expect them to be able to do so, but I'll just have to Rewind if this particular plan doesn't work out.

Alison, who is the squad leader according to Carla, has been transported to the hidden secure room in Krognar's shop. The Goblin assured me that his building could endure anything, so it should save us the materials and time to prepare a fitting cell for the mysterious fire-wielder.

I crack my neck as I ready my Portal Gun. I gave specific instructions to my men; they should not enter the room no matter what. I have a hunch that tells me that the power of this woman is limited by her sight, so she should not be able to burn my soldiers alive.

Of course, I know that she will try to destroy the building. I trust Krognar, but I don't think he's fully aware of the capabilities of the squad leader. It's always better to be safe than sorry in this situation, so the Legionaries can flood the room with essence of frost if she goes out of control.

A grin creeps on my face as I arrive in the shop. The Legionaries already stationed there salute me as I head towards the prisoner's impromptu cell.