"Everyone here is a pro, I know that, but I have my own position too, so let me brief you one more time."
Arthur, the team leader of the city's security agency, gathered his team.
Before starting the operation, he added parts to his Golem prosthetic arm, which had grown so large it made his enormous body look small.
It looked somewhat slow. However, it promised powerful firepower.
‘The inherent mana is tremendous….'
Oliver, using his warlock's vision, peered into the mana within the prosthetic and thought.
Meanwhile, Arthur continued his explanation.
"This mission is officially a security agency's mission. We will conduct a surprise raid on Landa's crime organization, find evidence, and clean them up…. In other words, this is a legal and clean mission."
It was an excuse, but not a false one.
The ultimate goal of this raid was to poke at ABC's weakness, eliminate their source of income, and secure their internal information, but officially, it was to clear out a crime organization disguised as a security company.
This meant that even the upper echelons of Landa would find it difficult to exert pressure.
"So forget about ABC or Shamus for now and focus on the task at hand. This is a legitimate act for the sake of Landa's peace."
Oliver looked around at the people.
Not only Arthur's security agency staff but also the Net Navigators from the Moirai School calmly accepted his words.
They were all experienced veterans.
Arthur was satisfied with their reaction and explained about the enemies in the McClusky Security Company.
He had heard it from Carver already, but it didn't hurt to double-check.
"McClusky Security Company… although they claim to be a security company, in reality, most of their staff are thugs off the streets. However, they have about a hundred people on standby at all times, armed with everything from rifles to heavy weapons. Among them, there are also street wizards and warlocks… There's no need to be scared, but everyone should be careful."
He wasn't wrong. Street wizards could generate power equivalent to standard heavy weapons, and if the warlocks were skilled enough to be hired by Shamus, they were likely to have lethal abilities.
Working with a large number of gangsters could be quite annoying.
Oliver asked, "Where are they?"
By ‘they', he meant the druids directly under Shamus.
Carver had warned him that these five were particularly powerful.
‘Jeffrey, Catal, Conor, Finley, Carlin… these five. Jeffrey, Catal, and Conor are druids with the specialty of natural empathy and had made a name for themselves as solvers in their regions before joining Shamus. Finley and Carlin are criminals with the specialty of anthropomorphism, who thanks to Shamus, have gained new identities and come to Landa. As the name anthropomorphism suggest, they can transform parts of their bodies like beasts. Simple, yet powerful individuals. They are formidable enough to make it difficult to confront them using conventional methods.'
Oliver recalled Carver's briefing.
They were all strong enough to stand on their own anywhere, and right now, they were even more dangerous.
Druids were beings who grew stronger in the forest.
"If you're talking about the druids directly under Shamus, all but Conor have vacated their posts. They've gone to support other paper company's deals."
"Oh… Is that so?"
"Yes, it is. Mr. Dave."
Albert Hunt, a Net Navigator from the Moirai School, chimed in.
This was the first time he and Oliver had spoken, but unlike typical wizards, he was quite friendly.
"We found that out from our side."
"Mr. Wizard’s side?"
"You can just call me Albert… and to be precise, it wasn't me, but our Moirai School who found out. We hacked the trade schedule of the paper company via the world tree. You can trust this."
He was sincere, and Arthur added,
"That's right, the Moirai School gave us support. We compared their information with our security agency's and it matched. Four out of the five druids are not present and won't be able to return for an hour or two. So, it's like we're robbing an empty house."
Arthur's words were sincere. It was quite fortunate.
Oliver had yet to fight multiple druids in the forest, but instinctively, he knew it would be dangerous. He was curious to know what it would be like, but since it was a mission, he wanted to proceed safely if possible.
"Is there anything else you're curious about?"
Arthur asked Oliver.
Oliver shook his head to signify he had no more questions.
Then, Arthur, along with Richard who was armed with skeletal gloves, sniper Donna, and magic equipment specialist McBore, among other security agency staff, stood up from their seats or grabbed their weapons.
"Okay, let's get started."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
In the forest adjacent to Landa's development-prohibited area.
A building stood tall in the midst of it.
Surrounded by iron fences and barricades, the building was solid and sturdy like a small fortress.
In fact, it had emplacements with machine guns set up around the building, and armed forces patrolling with guns.
It was undeniably excessive armament, even for a security company in Landa.
To such an extent that the city recommended to lower the armament level.
However, that did not happen.
It was a remote forest, and they had used the universal language of Landa, bribery.
But on the contrary, it also meant that they were so isolated that they could not get help from outside if they were attacked.
[Targeting]
In the dark forest, Oliver quietly chanted, and the emotions held in Oliver's hand moved in wave-like patterns like sentient smoke, each flying towards the distant target.
The target was none other than the emplacements with machine guns set up around the building, and there were as many as twenty-five.
‘They didn't just put machine guns in places good for surveillance, they also placed them in spots where they can trap enemies and annihilate them all at once. The defense is tougher than I thought.'
Oliver, who had figured out the level of building defense with the eyes of a warlock and mana detection ability, made a judgement.
The vice president of McClusky Security Company was said to be a former military officer, and it seemed that he wasn't just lending his name.
Well, that was irrelevant.
Oliver threw dozens of black darts filled with bombs of rage into the sky.
Sha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!
A sharp sound of cutting the air resounded, and the black blades hid in the darkened sky.
Thanks to this, the majority of the enemies did not notice the existence of the black darts.
The black blades flying freely in the sky reached their peak and suddenly changed direction as if being pulled by a magnet, plummeting from above to below, and bombarded with the machine gun defenses of the McClusky Security Company.
Shyaaaai-ah – Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Explosions occurred in the not-so-distant building along with a blast sound.
The ground and leaves quivered slightly from the shock of the explosion, and the troops inside the McClusky Security Company woke up in surprise.
"Richard!"
"Okay-!"
Richard, who had worked with Arthur since his solver days, shouted, donning the latest model of skeletal gloves.
Fwoosh-! Fwoosh-! Fwoosh-! Weeeing-!!
As he responded, the engine of the gear rotated and the output of mana increased. With that, Richard turned himself into a shield and rushed towards the McClusky Security Company.
"Follow!"
Arthur and the entry team formed a large group and closely chased after Richard.
By the way, Albert from the Moirai School was in the middle of the formation.
The reason why a net navigator, who is not a combatant, was here was to hack the world tree in the security company directly.
Some parts of the security of the world tree were too high and could only be penetrated with physical hacking.
‘And I'm here to escort this person.'
"Intruders!!"
An explosion caused a cloud of dust to rise around the McClusky Security Company, and a gang member yelled out.
He was not just any gang member. The considerable amount of mana emanating from his body was the proof.
He had experience, as he was able to cast a shield to avoid the blast and was giving commands to the disoriented gang members when he spotted the intruders.
Even more astonishing was the fact that, without being flustered, he ordered the gang members and drew upon his mana to shoot a high-density fireball.
‘He's calm, and his mana level is high. He's formidable, even if he's just a wizard who's only in charge of bombardment.'
In a way, it was efficient. If there was someone to play the role of the shield, it was most effective for the wizard to focus solely on firepower.
However, Oliver was not the only one who thought so.
Richard, who was acting as the spearhead, saw the wizard's excellent response, became wary, and aimed his shield-machine gun at the wizard who was preparing magic, and pulled the trigger.
Bangbangbangbangbangbang———!!!
The shield-machine gun attached to the thick mechanical arm spat out thick lead bullets, making a dull sound appropriate for its appearance.
Its firing rate was somewhat lacking, but its power was real, and the gang members around the wizard had their heads exploded, chests shattered, and were rendered unrecognizable.
The wizard, proving he was not ordinary, converted the mana he was preparing into a defensive spell and blocked the lead bullets head-on.
‘Mr. Arthur was right to warn us about this opponent. He's outstanding… of course, so are we.'
At the moment the wizard relaxed, thinking he had blocked the barrage with his high-density magic shield, a fast-flying object that was hard to follow with eyes quickly caught up to him and shot a laser.
Ziiiiiiing——!!
It was none other than one of Arthur's golem prosthetics. The quite skillful wizard was pierced through before he could even fully exhibit his capabilities.
"……!!"
The wizard died without even being able to scream. In that brief moment, he radiated emotions such as shock, terror, and frustration.
However, it couldn't be helped.
This was just the nature of the business.
Skill was important, but it wasn't everything.
A moment's carelessness, a cunning ambush, or just plain luck could result in death, regardless of skill.
‘Mr. Forrest used to say that even that was a part of skill.'
Vrum————Crackcrack!!
In sync with Arthur, Richard who had defeated the wizard, held up his machine gun shield to block the sparse bullets flying at him, and then swung his massive sword, effortlessly tearing through the iron mesh fence surrounding the building.
[Lightning Chain]
As soon as the iron mesh was torn, one of Arthur's wizard agents quickly squeezed through the mesh and shot a blue lightning bolt.
The blue lightning stretched out into five sharp tendrils, slashing from top to bottom at the gang members hidden behind cover.
Zapzapzapzapzap!!!!
With a deafening noise echoing around, the lightning not only fried its targets, but also those standing next to them.
“……!!!"
“Argh…!!"
"Ugh!"
The gang members couldn’t even scream properly as the electricity caused their muscles to stiffen, and one by one, they turned into charred husks. The scattered gang members were taken aback at the sight and hesitated.
Arthur's group had seized control of the battle.
As if to drive the point home, Arthur aimed his golem prosthetic like a cannon and fired mana. A blue laser drew across, sweeping away the scattered gang members like a broom.
"Sweep them off!!"
"Everyone here is a pro, I know that, but I have my own position too, so let me brief you one more time."
Arthur, the team leader of the city's security agency, gathered his team.
Before starting the operation, he added parts to his Golem prosthetic arm, which had grown so large it made his enormous body look small.
It looked somewhat slow. However, it promised powerful firepower.
‘The inherent mana is tremendous….'
Oliver, using his warlock's vision, peered into the mana within the prosthetic and thought.
Meanwhile, Arthur continued his explanation.
"This mission is officially a security agency's mission. We will conduct a surprise raid on Landa's crime organization, find evidence, and clean them up…. In other words, this is a legal and clean mission."
It was an excuse, but not a false one.
The ultimate goal of this raid was to poke at ABC's weakness, eliminate their source of income, and secure their internal information, but officially, it was to clear out a crime organization disguised as a security company.
This meant that even the upper echelons of Landa would find it difficult to exert pressure.
"So forget about ABC or Shamus for now and focus on the task at hand. This is a legitimate act for the sake of Landa's peace."
Oliver looked around at the people.
Not only Arthur's security agency staff but also the Net Navigators from the Moirai School calmly accepted his words.
They were all experienced veterans.
Arthur was satisfied with their reaction and explained about the enemies in the McClusky Security Company.
He had heard it from Carver already, but it didn't hurt to double-check.
"McClusky Security Company… although they claim to be a security company, in reality, most of their staff are thugs off the streets. However, they have about a hundred people on standby at all times, armed with everything from rifles to heavy weapons. Among them, there are also street wizards and warlocks… There's no need to be scared, but everyone should be careful."
He wasn't wrong. Street wizards could generate power equivalent to standard heavy weapons, and if the warlocks were skilled enough to be hired by Shamus, they were likely to have lethal abilities.
Working with a large number of gangsters could be quite annoying.
Oliver asked, "Where are they?"
By ‘they', he meant the druids directly under Shamus.
Carver had warned him that these five were particularly powerful.
‘Jeffrey, Catal, Conor, Finley, Carlin… these five. Jeffrey, Catal, and Conor are druids with the specialty of natural empathy and had made a name for themselves as solvers in their regions before joining Shamus. Finley and Carlin are criminals with the specialty of anthropomorphism, who thanks to Shamus, have gained new identities and come to Landa. As the name anthropomorphism suggest, they can transform parts of their bodies like beasts. Simple, yet powerful individuals. They are formidable enough to make it difficult to confront them using conventional methods.'
Oliver recalled Carver's briefing.
They were all strong enough to stand on their own anywhere, and right now, they were even more dangerous.
Druids were beings who grew stronger in the forest.
"If you're talking about the druids directly under Shamus, all but Conor have vacated their posts. They've gone to support other paper company's deals."
"Oh… Is that so?"
"Yes, it is. Mr. Dave."
Albert Hunt, a Net Navigator from the Moirai School, chimed in.
This was the first time he and Oliver had spoken, but unlike typical wizards, he was quite friendly.
"We found that out from our side."
"Mr. Wizard’s side?"
"You can just call me Albert… and to be precise, it wasn't me, but our Moirai School who found out. We hacked the trade schedule of the paper company via the world tree. You can trust this."
He was sincere, and Arthur added,
"That's right, the Moirai School gave us support. We compared their information with our security agency's and it matched. Four out of the five druids are not present and won't be able to return for an hour or two. So, it's like we're robbing an empty house."
Arthur's words were sincere. It was quite fortunate.
Oliver had yet to fight multiple druids in the forest, but instinctively, he knew it would be dangerous. He was curious to know what it would be like, but since it was a mission, he wanted to proceed safely if possible.
"Is there anything else you're curious about?"
Arthur asked Oliver.
Oliver shook his head to signify he had no more questions.
Then, Arthur, along with Richard who was armed with skeletal gloves, sniper Donna, and magic equipment specialist McBore, among other security agency staff, stood up from their seats or grabbed their weapons.
"Okay, let's get started."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
In the forest adjacent to Landa's development-prohibited area.
A building stood tall in the midst of it.
Surrounded by iron fences and barricades, the building was solid and sturdy like a small fortress.
In fact, it had emplacements with machine guns set up around the building, and armed forces patrolling with guns.
It was undeniably excessive armament, even for a security company in Landa.
To such an extent that the city recommended to lower the armament level.
However, that did not happen.
It was a remote forest, and they had used the universal language of Landa, bribery.
But on the contrary, it also meant that they were so isolated that they could not get help from outside if they were attacked.
[Targeting]
In the dark forest, Oliver quietly chanted, and the emotions held in Oliver's hand moved in wave-like patterns like sentient smoke, each flying towards the distant target.
The target was none other than the emplacements with machine guns set up around the building, and there were as many as twenty-five.
‘They didn't just put machine guns in places good for surveillance, they also placed them in spots where they can trap enemies and annihilate them all at once. The defense is tougher than I thought.'
Oliver, who had figured out the level of building defense with the eyes of a warlock and mana detection ability, made a judgement.
The vice president of McClusky Security Company was said to be a former military officer, and it seemed that he wasn't just lending his name.
Well, that was irrelevant.
Oliver threw dozens of black darts filled with bombs of rage into the sky.
Sha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!
A sharp sound of cutting the air resounded, and the black blades hid in the darkened sky.
Thanks to this, the majority of the enemies did not notice the existence of the black darts.
The black blades flying freely in the sky reached their peak and suddenly changed direction as if being pulled by a magnet, plummeting from above to below, and bombarded with the machine gun defenses of the McClusky Security Company.
Shyaaaai-ah – Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Explosions occurred in the not-so-distant building along with a blast sound.
The ground and leaves quivered slightly from the shock of the explosion, and the troops inside the McClusky Security Company woke up in surprise.
"Richard!"
"Okay-!"
Richard, who had worked with Arthur since his solver days, shouted, donning the latest model of skeletal gloves.
Fwoosh-! Fwoosh-! Fwoosh-! Weeeing-!!
As he responded, the engine of the gear rotated and the output of mana increased. With that, Richard turned himself into a shield and rushed towards the McClusky Security Company.
"Follow!"
Arthur and the entry team formed a large group and closely chased after Richard.
By the way, Albert from the Moirai School was in the middle of the formation.
The reason why a net navigator, who is not a combatant, was here was to hack the world tree in the security company directly.
Some parts of the security of the world tree were too high and could only be penetrated with physical hacking.
‘And I'm here to escort this person.'
"Intruders!!"
An explosion caused a cloud of dust to rise around the McClusky Security Company, and a gang member yelled out.
He was not just any gang member. The considerable amount of mana emanating from his body was the proof.
He had experience, as he was able to cast a shield to avoid the blast and was giving commands to the disoriented gang members when he spotted the intruders.
Even more astonishing was the fact that, without being flustered, he ordered the gang members and drew upon his mana to shoot a high-density fireball.
‘He's calm, and his mana level is high. He's formidable, even if he's just a wizard who's only in charge of bombardment.'
In a way, it was efficient. If there was someone to play the role of the shield, it was most effective for the wizard to focus solely on firepower.
However, Oliver was not the only one who thought so.
Richard, who was acting as the spearhead, saw the wizard's excellent response, became wary, and aimed his shield-machine gun at the wizard who was preparing magic, and pulled the trigger.
Bangbangbangbangbangbang———!!!
The shield-machine gun attached to the thick mechanical arm spat out thick lead bullets, making a dull sound appropriate for its appearance.
Its firing rate was somewhat lacking, but its power was real, and the gang members around the wizard had their heads exploded, chests shattered, and were rendered unrecognizable.
The wizard, proving he was not ordinary, converted the mana he was preparing into a defensive spell and blocked the lead bullets head-on.
‘Mr. Arthur was right to warn us about this opponent. He's outstanding… of course, so are we.'
At the moment the wizard relaxed, thinking he had blocked the barrage with his high-density magic shield, a fast-flying object that was hard to follow with eyes quickly caught up to him and shot a laser.
Ziiiiiiing——!!
It was none other than one of Arthur's golem prosthetics. The quite skillful wizard was pierced through before he could even fully exhibit his capabilities.
"……!!"
The wizard died without even being able to scream. In that brief moment, he radiated emotions such as shock, terror, and frustration.
However, it couldn't be helped.
This was just the nature of the business.
Skill was important, but it wasn't everything.
A moment's carelessness, a cunning ambush, or just plain luck could result in death, regardless of skill.
‘Mr. Forrest used to say that even that was a part of skill.'
Vrum————Crackcrack!!
In sync with Arthur, Richard who had defeated the wizard, held up his machine gun shield to block the sparse bullets flying at him, and then swung his massive sword, effortlessly tearing through the iron mesh fence surrounding the building.
[Lightning Chain]
As soon as the iron mesh was torn, one of Arthur's wizard agents quickly squeezed through the mesh and shot a blue lightning bolt.
The blue lightning stretched out into five sharp tendrils, slashing from top to bottom at the gang members hidden behind cover.
Zapzapzapzapzap!!!!
With a deafening noise echoing around, the lightning not only fried its targets, but also those standing next to them.
“……!!!"
“Argh…!!"
"Ugh!"
The gang members couldn’t even scream properly as the electricity caused their muscles to stiffen, and one by one, they turned into charred husks. The scattered gang members were taken aback at the sight and hesitated.
Arthur's group had seized control of the battle.
As if to drive the point home, Arthur aimed his golem prosthetic like a cannon and fired mana. A blue laser drew across, sweeping away the scattered gang members like a broom.
"Sweep them off!!"
