===================

Several minutes earlier

===================

“Alright, my little verde compadre, we got this. We definitely got this.”

Even after being backed up by the reinforcements sent by Kuvali, Chris and Green were having a hard time. There was no crazy guy willing to kill his comrades here. There was over five Ability Users here! Thankfully, the shield Green was using was really powerful. If it wasn’t, they would have already been blown to bits!

Unfortunately, the shield had become useless after someone threw some sort of sticky bomb at them. It attached itself to the shield but Green and Chris were only thrown back. The Skeletons and Undead stayed back and gave them cover fire. Luckily, by now, the regular guys had all been killed off by a stray bullet or arrow.

Unfortunately, they were about to run out of ammunition. Of course, the other side was growing tired as well, but that bomb user was definitely being a hassle. He was the guy Green was going to kill, Chris made sure of it. The others were simple, with one having a plant Spell or something while another guy could throw things really fast.

Chris decided it was about time to try out his new Skills. He had managed to take out the turret guy, earning himself a good Skill called Bullet Biter. It allowed the User to fire exploding rounds whenever someone died to his shots.

Using his AK and wearing his sandy yellow outfit that looked like it would belong in a Bollywood film, he had actually caused the death of two of those regular guys using this Skill. However, this wasn’t the one he was talking about.

He had turned into a Sealed Demon. He didn’t have wings or a tail, but he did have some power over blood, or something. It gave him the use of Blood Magic. Yet, his last Skill was something he really wanted to try. He just had to wait for the right moment.

There! Just when the bomber guy reached into his bag!

Chris jumped out from behind cover and flicked a little red something at the bomber’s feet.

BANG!

Sort of like Reese’s Explode, Fire Cracker allowed him to designate an object as a firecracker. After he activated it, it would explode at a level that depended on the item’s size. He had thrown a small ketchup packet. He giggled when he heard the screams come from a guy who thought he was bleeding everywhere. Chris and Green took advantage of the moment and rushed forward, knocking the men unconscious for the others to kill.

When their leader had lost their cool, they all turned to see what was going on. Seeing the leader covered in red, one of the guy’s moral hit rock bottom in an instant. These guys weren’t trained soldiers, they were just killers. Even then, they had come to terms with their situation. They still had a chance, but knew that if their leader had died, it was all over for them.

Even Chris didn’t foresee this outcome. He was definitely surprised at the diversion. He also grinned at the thought of the pranks he could play. Keeping him cooped up at home all the time was a stupid thing to do to a growing boy. He had developed a sense of wanting to be noticed by his father who worked all the time.

Thus, the pranks and the clowning around. However, this only further showed off his complex. He yearned for interactions and friends, so when he went to the party, Chris had automatically grown attached to these guys he instantly referred to as his brothers. He may not have been as commanding as his actual brother, but at least he was alive.

Somewhat.

Several alerts appeared, showing off Kuvali and Red Amigo’s easy success.

“Welp, now it’s our turn!”

That was when another shadow appeared from the gas station. This was the true leader here! Chris didn’t even notice him! Before Green could kill the bomber, a flash of light blinded Chris and the other Undead so they jumped back to protect themselves.

A few seconds later, a young boy with a pair of headphones on his head stood between them and the knocked out men.

The boy refused to talk, only choosing to stand back with his arm stretched off to his side, ready to strike. Chris began using his Blood Magic. Unlike normal magic, his required blood. Any blood, not just his own. It required MP to control it, though. Chris used the blood seeping out of the dead guys to fashion a makeshift club and slammed it into the boy’s head and sent him to the ground.

Green rushed forward and quickly cut off the bomber’s head. The alert came up, warning of Green becoming a Mid BOSS. He transformed just like the Amigos before him, his clothes becoming a full body armor and a long scarf wrapped around his neck. The powered up Green worked together with Chris to keep the boy busy so the Skeletons and Undead could kill the other four Ability Users.

A Skeleton Gunner shot one, becoming a Magic Gunner that had a rifle. A Skeleton Warrior killed another, becoming an Einherjar with an axe and rusted Iron armor and shield. One Zombie killed a guy, becoming a Brute, while a Skeleton Archer killed the last and become a Skeleton Hunter. It now had a crossbow and looked more nimble.

The boy, upon seeing the dead men, promptly began to cry instead of fighting back. The boy rushed to the body of the man the Skeleton Warrior had killed. The boy sat there and cried until Kuvali and Blue Amigo walked up.

“Hey, I thought you would be in trouble.”

“Naw, fool, we had it.”

The two Amigos somehow fist bumped each other and saluted themselves before returning to their respective groups. Finally, Chris walked towards the kid and asked him a question.

“Hey, Niño, do you want to see him alive again?”

“No.”

Wow…that usually works. Who is this kid?”

“I know what you guys do! I will not have my dad become a zombie!”

Oh, that’s right. These guys were probably forced to view things in one perspective since their Boss was an asshole.

“Hey, Niño, I used to be dead, but now look. I am stronger and still remember everything! Well…that’s not all that great…”

“Leave me alone.”

Standing up, Chris patted his pants, getting rid of the dust on them.

“Alright then, Niño, just head in that direction. There will be a nice lady there to protect you.”

Sniffing and wiping his snot covered face on his sleeve, the boy somehow picked up the body of his father and walked towards the military compound.

“Damn, weren’t we lucky? If we had to actually fight that kid, I think we might have lost someone.”

The domineering figures of the Corrupted and the Sealed filled the air with a strange sort of tension, unnerving even the Undead. These two were taboos, things that weren’t supposed to be alive.

Soon, a notification was sent to them.

‘Hey, since you guys are both done, bring the corpses. Spot said we can have them for the Boss to raise and increase our strength.’

“Alright, ese.”

“Will do.”

The two began ordering the Skeletons and Undead to pick up the corpses. Kuvali stared back at the direction of the child and muttered at a level Chris could barely hear.

“We were lucky to not lose any before this point. It is only a matter of time. Back home, we lost a good strong man once a week for nothing more than disease or a failed hunting. Right now we are participating in war and no one is lost? Not even the Units? Something is going on.”

They had already approached Reese and Brandon at this point. Chris had just shrugged it off but Reese had something to add.

“It must be our Guardian Angel, Lucy. She has a Luck Skill. I’m sure that must be it.”

Chris instantly agreed, but Kuvali was still unsure. This sounded like they were being blessed by ancient spirits. There were tales of warriors that came back from a successful hunt and didn’t lose anyone. Each time, they had apparently prayed to a certain deity. Could they be under the watchful eye of some deity of war? Kuvali could only question the situation. Eventually, he returned to his familiar work of dealing with the dead.

==============

Back at the base

==============

“Lushy, why are you tired?”

“I just need some sleep, that’s all.”

“When will the othersh come back? Are they coming back?”

“Oh they will be back soon, don’t worry. I’ll make sure of it.”

As the two little girls tried to do other things to keep Lucy awake, two voices were talking to each other on her monitor.

“Navi, seriously. You could have told him that you had no ability to interfere in the world that you are more like a projection! It would have been a lie, but then you could have gone with him!”

“I don’t want to hear it, Catherine. He asked me to watch over these girls so I will.”

“But you don’t have to waste your energy for that!”

“It’s not like it is permanent or anything. I will be fine tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, yeah. With some extra bags under your eyes. You are so dumb sometimes.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, airhead!”

As the two girls played Monopoly, they were unaware of the ruckus going on between a Pixie and a Fairy in Lucy’s monitor.

But the night was not over.