It had been days since Kai left Nirvana to complete the mission at hand. Even though they had yet to encounter any enemies, the journey had not been easy, with Keane opting to take the path less travelled.

Kai really missed home and a nice, warm bath, for this had been the longest time he had spent out in the field, not to mention the frequent bashings into the thick forest on Keane's orders. Kai really didn't get it. Why bash when there's a proper road to traverse on?

Keane rationalised it as a form of cover and concealment, so that they wouldn't be easily tracked by enemies. However, if Jean, their team sensor, couldn't pick out any enemies within a 50 m radius, why worry so much about imaginary foes?

After trekking through the forest for several days, they had finally found a town along their journey. Kai relished the thought of having a nice bath and having a proper roof over his head as shelter.

However, when they got nearer to the town, they realised that the town was devoid of people. On closer look, the town seemed to be in poor shape, with damaged roofs and cracked walls. Kai's dreams were instantly shattered by this sight as he realised they had merely discovered some abandoned ruins.

Keane placed his hand on one of the walls and lightly tapped it. He remarked, "I expected it to be rather hollow, but it's actually quite sturdy. We should be careful around here, this is the perfect place to spring an ambush. To speed up the reconnaissance process, I suggest splitting up into 5 groups."

Keane continued, "One group would remain here as a command centre and support base while the other 4 groups would conduct the search. The groupings are Jean and Shen, to remain here as the command centre. Julian and Julia, recce party A. Kai and Adeline, recce party B. Rachel and Jonathan, recce party C. I would go alone because if we really get contacted, the enemy might choose to swarm me first, endangering any who accompany me. Any questions?"

Seeing that there were none, Keane reminded, "Jean, link us all up with you so that we can exchange information with one another. Remember, kids, this is not a game, we're in the middle of a war right here. Never fail to be vigilant. When you're ready, you can set off."

Once Jean was done linking everyone in the search team with herself using the communication devices they brought along, everybody headed off in separate directions to comb the town and ensure security of the perimeter of their base camp.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, on the second floor of a building, a man dressed in a thick shaggy coat with a skull mask went down on one knee and reported, "Boss, they're here. All our guys are already in position to intercept those kids and hammer them so hard they won't even realise what happened."

The shadows in the room parted to reveal a toned man seated and dressed in a tight fitting singlet and sweatpants. He wore shoulder pads with spikes and had a large tattoo of a skull on his right arm. He had dishevelled black hair, and a nose ring added the final icing to the cake that is his delinquent appearance.

This man was Cold Steel, executive of the Chaos Legion and leader of the gang, Metal Skull. Cold Steel calmly replied, "Good work. Katilyn and Bone, you guys ready to go out there and have some fun?" Katilyn cocked her sniper rifle and cheered, "Of course, the hunt awaits!"

Unlike Katilyn who was dressed in rather skimpy clothing that revealed a tad too much, Bone was dressed similar to the other gang members of the Metal Skull, with a thick baggy jacket and tattered jeans. The only difference was his mask, which was of a different design as compared to the other henchmen.

Though Bone's mask was scarred with multiple cracks which made him look intimidating, Bone replied gently, "Anything you request, Boss." Cold Steel leapt off his sofa as he shouted, "Alright! Let's get this party started! Disperse! I don't want any of you spoiling my fun!"

Kai and Adeline walked together stealthily, as they paid close attention to their surroundings. So far, their search had not yielded any results, and due to their added caution, their search was taking longer than Kai expected.

Just as Kai was about to open his mouth, Adeline suddenly froze in her tracks. She whispered, "I sense something hostile up ahead, hidden among the houses. Looks like they've been waiting for us." Kai asked quietly, "You think they are aware of our presence already?"

Adeline replied calmly, "They would have engaged us if they did. I'm using my Luminos to detect their mana signatures, that's why with my superior sensory range, we've detected them before they notice us."

Kai pressed on, "What's the plan? We try to sneak up on them and take them out, or do we send a powerful ranged attack at them? I prefer the former, since it won't draw too much attention to ourselves."

Adeline nodded and added, "It won't be easy though. From what I can detect, there are 5 of them in total, each with rather large mana capacities. This renders your Enigma Ability inefficient, so don't waste it here. To launch an ambush, I'm pretty sure they would have a sensor on their end too. He probably won't be isolated, so the best we can do is to close as much distance as possible between us and them before going full force."

Kai nodded his head in agreement as the pair began to make a detour in an attempt to sneak up on their foes.

The twins were busy checking out their surroundings to notice that a few figures were encroaching surreptitiously towards them. It was only when one of the figures swung his metal bat towards Julian's head did he realise that they were being ambushed.

Julian barely avoided the attack and turned sharply, coming face to face with a group of 5, all adorning skull masks and dressed in baggy coats. Julia rushed to her brother's side and demanded, "Who are you guys? What do you want with us?"

The assailant simply replied, "Your lives." as he leapt towards them, weapon in hand. The twins quickly drew their swords and activated their respective elemental enchantments before attempting to counterattack.

To their surprise, the assailant actually managed to withstand their combined effort to break his weapon. They were horrified to see his weapon coated in earth, which implied that he was a Spell Knight as well!

The assailant continued battering them with his Earth-empowered bat, occasionally flinging some rocks at them. His companions weren't idle and they soon joined in, hurling spells at the twins whenever they had the opportunity.

Julian commented, "Judging by the attacks so far, I can estimate that this big oaf is the strongest among them, probably Master tier while the rest are merely high Expert tiers. Nonetheless, fighting them all at once is pretty tough! Reminds me of the pinch we were in when we fought those hobgoblins a few months ago!"

Julia shrieked, "Oh shut up and focus! This is war!" as the twins continued to parry and block the incessant attacks by their adversaries.

Keane had just taken a step outside the house he was exploring when his instincts kicked in. He quickly tumbled forward, dodging an [Earth Spike] spell that emerged from the ground. Before he could counterattack, Keane was forced to jump to the side as a [Lightning Surge] spell crashed against the wall where he once was.

Even though he was blind, Keane was not dumb. He knew he was surrounded by 5 foes, all whom he failed to detect earlier, which meant that they had cloaked their presence well. Or that he was getting rusty.

Keane slowly drew [Twilight] from its scabbard on his back as he spoke calmly, "Identify yourselves. Surely an old blind man deserves to know who attacked him?" One of his pursuers remarked, "We're the Metal Skull and we know who exactly you are, old man, or should I say, Killer? You'll regret being alone, for you're just an easy picking like this!"

Keane exclaimed incredulously, "Ho? You guys are pretty confident in your abilities. Let's play hide and seek then. Bye!" as he quickly threw a smoke grenade on the ground. Startled, the pursuers started hurling spells towards the smoke, but when the smoke cleared, Keane was nowhere to be found.

One grunt shouted, "Find him! We've orders to dispose of every last one of them!" Keane hid in a corner as he contemplated his current predicament. "These guys are not pushovers. To be able to sneak so close to me without me detecting them, they got to be at least Master tier. Got to wrap this up fast and link up with the rest, I'm worried about their safety." Keane thought.

The hunted has now become the hunter as he set out to dispose of his assailants, one by one.

Jonathan pushed open a door as quietly as he could. Seeing that there was no one around, Jonathan cautiously entered the room to explore its contents. He observed that this room had proper furniture unlike the other rooms he'd explored so far, and noticed that the candle in the lamp appeared newly burnt.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut and a manic laugh could be heard. Jonathan, in surprise, sharply turned around to face a man donning a singlet with spiked shoulder pads. It was Cold Steel, the leader of the Metal Skull.

Cold Steel flashed a wide grin as he cackled, "Can't believe they're sending children on secret missions like this! You guys must be pretty talented to be chosen. I hope you and your friends enjoy the welcome party I'm giving you all! Oh, where are my manners? I'm Cold Steel-"

Before Cold Steel could continue, Jonathan quickly threw a mana charged punch straight at his midriff, hoping to knock him out. The punch was so strong that it created a gentle breeze. Jonathan instantly winced as he felt that his left knuckle was slightly fractured, as though he had just punched a steel wall.

To Jonathan's horror, metal started coating Cold Steel's body as he explained, "This is my Enigma Ability, [Steel Body], it turns my skin into impenetrable steel. How do you like it, hahaha!"

Jonathan quickly adopted his [Scalpel Palm] stance as his opponent continued his frenzied laughter, albeit while releasing an aura of death. Things were not looking good for a close combat specialist like him…

At the command centre, Jean could tell that all the search parties had been engaged by the enemy, and that they were all outnumbered. Jean quickly reported the areas where the enemy had been sighted to Shen, who started to formulate a counterattack plan.

Shen remarked, "These buildings are blocking both my line of sight and fire, I can't risk putting our friends in the line of friendly fire just because I can't accurately locate our enemies."

Jean, who was marking the rough coordinates of the locations of both friends and foes on her map, suggested, "We could actually use the buildings to our advantage. All we have to do is to coordinate with our people on the ground to lure our enemies to large buildings, visible even from here. Subsequently, you can launch one of your powerful shots to bring down these buildings on our enemies while our allies stay clear from the wreckage."

Shen nodded in agreement and replied, "Let's proceed with your plan. You decide who to assist first and the target to be destroyed." Jean looked out of the window and observed a prominent red building which Shen had a direct line of fire to. She knew that the twins were nearby, retreating as their 5 enemies were hot on their tail.

Through her communication device, Jean informed the twins to lure their pursuers towards the red building in their proximity and to stay clear once they have successfully lured the enemies there. The twins acknowledged the orders and Jean relayed the same information to Shen, who set his sights towards the red building, steadying his rifle.

The twins rushed into the desolate red building, which their enemies followed into without hesitation. Even though the interior of the building was like a maze, the twins deftly navigated through the corridors before finding an open window to jump out from.

The twins quickly leaped out of the building onto the roof of a shorter building nearby. Julia ordered, "3rd floor, fire!" as she tapped Shen's shoulder. Shen quickly fired a mana-enhanced shot towards his designated target and within seconds, an explosion could be observed as the building started to collapse.

The twins turned sharply to realise that one of their enemies had escaped the wreckage. It was the Spell Knight with the Earth affinity. He was closing in fast on them, his bat ready to swing and smash into Julia's head.

Just before he could launch his attack, the sound of rifle fire cracked the air as the assailant collapsed onto the floor, dead with a bullet in his skull. Julia heaved a sigh of relief as Shen beamed with joy for his achievement.

However, the joy was short-lived as a bullet whistled through the air and lodged itself into Shen's left shoulder without warning…