[Alright!]

It was Rea’s reply before the explosion happened.

A few minutes after the explosion, in some parts of the city, people were screaming for help. Some buildings fell down and some were on fire. Smoke rose towards the clouds, turning the citizens into a state of panic.

After receiving a call from his men, Chief Henderson immediately ordered his soldiers to respond immediately. In the next hour, gunfire could be heard in various parts of the city. The people were running in panic. Other soldiers arrived with some medics to secure the security of civilians and the injured people.

In the southeastern part of the city, Fifteen Peon Birds landed on the rooftop of a building.

A high-ranking military officer climbed down a Peon Bird along with several soldiers. The Peon Bird was a carrier bird like the Hell Chaser Bird. Because there were no mechanical vehicles in this world, so only Beast Mounts and chariots pulled by various animals or beasts were their source of transportation.

The soldiers wore black grey camouflage military uniforms. And on the chest of their uniform could be seen the insignia of the country they represent. The sun with eagle wings. This is the insignia of the P-country.

When he saw the officer, a soldier immediately greeted him. “Captain Salmon!” The soldier immediately made a military salute upon arriving in front of the captain. The captain just nodded and immediately asked for a summary of the current situation without beating around the bush.

“Give me a quick summary of the situation. But before that, let’s go to a safe room first.”

“Aye, sir! Please follow me!”

They went down and went inside one of the rooms in the building. The other soldiers waited outside while the soldier who greeted them entered the room with the captain and some crew.

After entering the room, the soldier immediately laid a map on top of a rectangular table with a glass surface and a metal frame. The map shows the layout of the buildings in the area where they are located.

After the map was laid out, the soldier immediately gave a brief report. “We haven’t confirmed yet if the enemies are members of a terrorize group or a rebel group. But according to our intel, there are currently 20-30 hostile men hiding in this building here…” he pointed to a specific square in the map with his finger. “And here … this is the building where we are currently at.”

Captain Salmon noticed that the building where the opponents were hiding was just across the street. As the soldier gave the report, they also heard a series of exchanges of gunfire.

Pewpewpew! Pewpewpew!

“As you can hear, sir, our troops are currently exchanging attacks with the enemy. In our analysis of the situation, we learned that the opponents are trying to secure this road.”

The soldier’s index finger was pressed against the straight line in the map that the captain thought represented the main road. The captain narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm…” Captain Salmon made a thinking gesture. “So it seems their main target is in this area, huh.” The captain said while at the same time, drawing a red circle on the part of the map on the other end of the straight line.

Suddenly, the expression on the captain’s face turned bitter. “C-Could it be… their main target are the VIPs?” The captain speculated. Upon realizing it, “Ugh! Dammit! This is even more critical than I initially suspected.” The captain groaned.

He faced one of the soldiers beside him and said, “Faster! Contact the chief and relay my message. The rest of you! Go help the others and purge the enemies. We need to take over this area no matter what happens!” The soldiers hastily ran out of the room.

Inside Chief Henderson’s office, his communication device rang one after another. His men relaid reports consistently.

One of the reports came from Captain Salmon’s group. The chief found out that the opponent seemed to be trying to prevent the soldiers from entering the area where the competition was taking place. VIPs from Outerworld were also in this area. Other than that, all three main roads connecting the area were currently besieged by opponents. So there was no doubt that their target was in that area.

Chief Henderson quickly made an outline so he could quickly see the position of all the opponents and his men.

On the southeast main road, there was Captain Salmon’s group. On the northeast main road, Captain Seaman’s group was there. And on the west side, Captain Fisher’s group was currently heading in that area.

At this time, they still do not have clear information about the real objective of their opponents. But he had a suspicion that it was the VIPs.

What he didn’t understand was how the opponents got through the city’s security without getting found out by his men who he sent to observe the whole area.

At the highest Skyscraper, there was currently an ongoing exchange of gunfire.

“What’s that?!” The VIPs were shocked when they heard it.

Feeling something wasn’t right, Principal Mar Mari stood up and shouted. “Soldiers!”

From outside the room, two soldiers entered and gave a report.

“Principal Mar, some suspicious people have attacked the city. I also received a call that the guards on the ground floor were currently exchanging attacks with some individuals in black attire.

“What? What did you say?” So it seems the principal did not hear his report or maybe he just could not believe what he heard.

Nonetheless, The soldier repeated his report.

When they heard what the soldier said, the VIPs immediately stood up. They took their devices to contact their respective bodyguards.

Principal Mar’s face could be seen frowning. “Why is this happening now when the competition is about to end?” He said while holding his forehead.

In the plaza, where the competition was held, there was also chaos. Suddenly the people in black attacked the people around.

“Try to do something against our wishes and we will definitely break these people’s skulls.”

The man in black clothing said to the other people around them. Along with his men, each of them pointed their portable Magic-based gun at the head of some people around them. One of them pointed his gun directly at Bob’s head. Bob clenched his teeth as he felt a chill run down his spine. He was scared, of course. After all, it was a real gun. Also, a dead body of a person was already lying not far from where he was. It was when one of these people in black tried to warn the guy, but the guy ignored their warning and attacked one of them. In the next moment, his skull was pierced by a beam.

These people suddenly pulled out a gun after the explosion. Even Instructor Goki could do nothing to fight back because the opponents had hostages. Or more specifically to say, they hostage all those around them.

“Dammit! Who are these people?!” Goki gritted his teeth as he mumbled those words. Like him, the other Instructors also could do nothing in the current situation.

Almina and Maena had already stopped fighting when they noticed the commotion. But even so, the two of them didn’t know what to do at these times.

“All of you! Go back to your seat. Do not try to make any move that is not in accordance with our wishes. You know what will happen if you disobey us!” Command of one of the people in black.

There was nothing they could do. Even the magicians around could do nothing but follow their commands. Even mercenaries like Ultima and Vortex could do nothing as well.

Even though it was against the will of most of the people there, they followed what the people in black said. They returned to their seats like gentle puppies.

They could do nothing because their guns were pointed at some people’s heads. If they try to fight back, it might be the cause of the death of the hostages. Well, in their situation now, they were all hostages. No different from the others.

“Tell me! What is your purpose in doing this?!” Goki couldn’t stop himself from asking. But, instead of answering, he was shot in the shoulder.

Bwam!

“Guh!”

The seeming beam bullet of the magic-based gun penetrated his shoulder. Goki groaned and backed away before kneeling. Blood flowed from his wound. Goki frowned as he held his shoulder.

“You do not need to know. You better just shut up your mouth!” The voice of the man in black was cold. Based on the way he speaks, it was obvious that he was accustomed to killing.

Goki could do nothing but keep quiet and try to stop the blood from gushing out of his wound.

“Hey, boss!” One of the people in black shouted and approached the person who shot Goki. Upon arriving beside his boss, he whispered in his ear.

“Blah blah blah….” Whispered the guy.

The person who shot Goki, who was called boss with that other person, grinned after hearing his companion’s whispers.

“Heh~ your suggestion is good,” replied the boss.

Almina’s eyes widened at what had happened. But, like others there, she could do nothing to help and retaliate. Other than that, they were inside the Invisible Barrier. So they also couldn’t help the people around them unless the barrier was canceled. She and Maena just stood on the stage not knowing what to do. Suddenly, she heard Maena’s faint call to her.

“Psst! Amulet “

She turned around and looked at her. “Why?” She asked.

Maena signaled that they had to leave. Almina seemed to understand what Maena meant. If they could get out of here, they could come up with a plan to try to save everyone.

But, before they could move,

“Hey! You two beautiful young ladies on stage! If you don’t want us to kill the people here one by one, start your fight again!” Suddenly the man who shot Goki shouted.

“What!”

Almina and Maena exclaimed.