Mr. Abrams finally managed to gather the information he needed. Team 4 is their main Fighting force, while Teams 5, 6, and 7 are coming from the western, eastern and southern routes respectively. They seem to have ‘detected’ Mr. Abrams’s students, as well as classes 2 – B and 1 - A from within the depths of Dormitory #2; along with two teachers.

…

Which is completely impossible since they’re all at the 3rd Dorm building.

If that is so, then what exactly were the 43 ‘Pings’ or energy signatures, that these people picked up?

Well. The simplest explanation for this is...Mr. Abrams’s Creation magic. As a matter of fact, 43 energy signatures WERE quietly sitting in the basement of Dormitory 2…

Or rather floating. This misunderstanding came about the very instance Mr. Abrams began casting magic all throughout the unused Dormitory.

First, he started with the lobby. He set up an anti-detection barrier of his own, but this one was far more advanced than what the likes of Team 3 put into effect. Mr. Abrams created a barrier that could ward off enemy senses completely, or selectively. When activated selectively, specified areas designated would be completely protected and others others would be ignored. This method ALSO applied to people. It can work to ward off nearly ALL detection-based powers by concentrating on specific individuals or things, and not just rooms or buildings. The reason its ‘selective’ is because it can work to mask the presence of one single person in a room of 300, but still leave the remaining 299 detectable. It’s not limited to one person though, being capable of also masking multiple select individuals throughout a specified range while they all are at completely varied distances. It does the job of anti-detection equipment, but better.

Normally, rather than holding so many options, these aoe machines work based on inputted commands that are extremely generalized.

For example, the kind Team 3 chose to put up only prevents detection of anything ‘out of the ordinary’ by forcing them to witness a repeat of recorded events. It does this by taking a scan of the location and recording how it looks BEFORE the mission begins. Afterwards, the contraption applies it over the territory like a ‘film’ covering the school. Anything not originated from that day, such as people or events, are also masked from outsiders. This is why they stationed a whole entire team to prevent anyone from entering or leaving – it’s a kind of wonky method that was only utilized for today due to its cost effectiveness compared to the amount of people involved.

Normally, during devastatingly dangerous times of invasion and war, higher - level methods would be applied. Like having every coalition member register their dna samples with a powerful anti-detection device that can then act from a remote location and continue to mask their presences and actions, should they leave the targeted area. Such things however, were deemed as wasteful. This job mainly prioritizes speed and timing over precise detail and range. After all, they’re just killing some kids at night – enough contingency plans have been made.

…

If he ever felt it necessary for whatever reason to activate the barrier completely, then it would, without a doubt, completely erase his presence from those with less magical prowess then him.

The next thing he did was cast a spell on an eloquent and expansive dining room located deep in the center of Dormitory number 2. The first Dorm was shaped like an ‘H’, the second one is designed like an ‘E’ with similar splits for boys and girls at the top and bottom lines. The center held similar shared facilities like the gym, dining hall, etc. He chose the dining hall room to cast a massive spell on, by making use of his order magic. Order magic was powerful creation – based magic that can be used effectively for many different types of situations. Here, Mr. Abrams used the power of order to create another word infused with its human-intended properties: sleep. Unlike before though, he wasn’t casting this mana - condensed gathering of letters on someone specific. Instead, he was using it to enchant the entire dining room with its effects! Going to such lengths would be important because of the plan he is, at this very moment, putting into action.

The third and final thing he did, well, after casting a few miscellaneous detection spells around the place to keep an eye out for any hidden assassins, was to create a large amount of energy puppets. These puppets work like a remote control or bluetooth function. He left them in the ‘sleep room’ where they remained stationary until the very first victims were forcefully brought in via teleportation: the whole team of scouts. And every single scout immediately fell asleep due to the room’s effects. When they teleported in, Mr. Abrams overlapped their confused bodies with the unmoving energy puppets. As the humans closed their eyes; the energy puppets opened theirs.

And that’s when…

…after making sure to first remove their heads…

a *Vwish!* noise signified their descent onto the battlefield.

...Or what will SOON become their battlefield.

And right after, was the moment when he brought Calabria over for questioning.

…

Simultaneously, as Calabria was struggling to fully wake herself up, strange movements began stirring among Team Four’s men and women.

Too many were starting to break out into smaller groups and hunt for the sneaky thing that attacked them all and stole their right arms. Too many began to turn on one another, after it became painfully clear that there was no ‘enemy’ in sight. And even with the elites in charge, such as Quin and Ergio, validating there is absolutely no traitors among their main attacking team and urging everybody to remember what their reason for joining on this mission was, some still wished to move about on their own. Whether they truly believed an enemy was lurking in the shadows elsewhere, or within Team 4 disguised as a coalition member, seeds of doubt embedded themselves into the very backs of everyone’s minds.

Thankfully however, the two rounded their massive company of five thousand and organized them back into formation. Unfortunately, they were lacking the leading scouts, forcing many eyes to focus their attention on the decapitated corpses sprawled on the ground.

…

Right as Weston took a breather as his two accompanied mercenary elite Coalition members made efforts to convince the massive army, and just before Dawan could muster up a plan of action, his second in command, Vice, offered a suggestion.

Vice: “Dawan, sir. Everyone seems to be contemplating their own circumstances and whether or not the risk is worth their eventual reward. They seem to have seen a reflection of themselves in the deaths of those scouts. Luckily, we can verify ONE piece of good news with that recent encounter-”

Dawan: “Good news? Great, speak up, then. Because right now, we can all use some good news to focus on.”

Vice: “It’s simple: This isn’t the work of a hero. Heroes would never break their vow and kill, not like this, anyway. This makes me believe it’s most likely just a trap we ‘stumbled’ upon.”

Dawan: “Ah! You’re completely right!”

Weston: “Yeah, but even should that be the case, isn’t taking out our scouts a little too intelligent? I tried healing my own arm, but it just won’t heal no matter what I do. It’s like the wound is unhealable, or something.”

Vice: “Didn’t the blood immediately stop dripping after a bit of time as well? It honestly feels as if I’ve had this stump forever or something, like, my missing limb doesn’t hurt at the source or anything.”

Dawan: “...What if we try alerting the others about this fact? Not the arm refusing to heal, but the other thing. The possibility this is all a trap, sincce Heroes don’t kill. As it stands, they’ve been glaring hatefully at an imaginary enemy that simply doesn’t, or may not, exist.”

Vice: “...Well if we do, we should expect to receive backlash from--”

…

Yet, at this timing, it happened. The very moment Quin and Ergio finally managed to get all of the Team 4 mercenary soldiers under control, three men quietly approached the scout corpses without permission.

Coalition member # 21: “One of… *Sniff* One of these was going to be my wife. She was… *Sniff*”

Coalition member # 22: “Pfff – hahaha! Your wife?! Hah! Fat chance of that happening when you got turned down! How many times was it, again? 12? Thirteen…?”

Coalition member # 23: “It was Fourteen, actually. And she even threatened to complain to Captain Darz if this goes on.”

Coalition member # 21: “…

...You ass – faces don’t even know what love is! Love is eternal! Love is trying a fifteenth or even a sixteenth time! Love is-”

Coalition member # 22: “--Is turning you down and threatening to call your boss over to beat you up? Having your boss deal with you is true love… heeheehee~ You aren’t thinking about love there, man.”

Coalition member # 23: “Hmph! I bet you don’t even know which body is hers.”

Coalition member # 21: “…I – I...I think it’s...this one…”

Coalition member # 23: “...I thought so. Can you even call it true love at this point?”

Coalition member # 21: “Well, um…

.

.

.

...Fuck it. She’s better off dead, then!”

A round of laughter echoed sharply, as this trio moved close to the headless ‘corpses’. One reached his gloved palm out for a feminine figure’s coat – curious about invading her privacy. After all, what use does the dead have for privacy?

They would never find out – because as soon as the man’s one good arm reached out…

*SLASH!*

…

*SPLURT!*

Coalition member # 23: “Aa- AAAHH! My...MY arm! My remaining good arm!

…

Wha-? What in the- What’s this light…?

*Vwish!*”

Coalition member # 21: “Wha- Oh shi-

.

.

*SPLURT!*

Aaah!

*Vwish*”

Coalition member # 22: “No...Stay – stay back ...ALL OF YOU!

…

*SLASH!*

Aaah! Help! Hel-

*Vwish!*”

...

...They came to life. The ‘corpses’ reached out and slashed at the unsuspecting trio with the hidden daggers each body hid, and along with a severe, bloody injury to the living men, came a bright, enveloping light. The guys were teleported simultaneously to overlap with energy figures, and just like before, had their appearances copied, right as they were put to sleep. The new ‘trio’ now silently stared at the decapitated corpses as men came rushing over to their screams. The first victims, have already been claimed.

---