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nAs we got reassigned to a new team, we moved from the now-destroyed storeroom to an even smaller one. Like, don’t they have tents or something? Those would be better than this.

nAs soon as we checked the location of the 13th attack squad, I realized that it was at least bigger than the area of the 35th battalion. Even though the squad only had eight members, they were treated way better compared to the 35th. They even had more mercenaries as support, with us being the 10th group.

n“Attention, everyone!”

nA man, who looks to be in his late twenties, called. Looking at his badge, he seemed to be a lieutenant. The other members quickly gathered in front of his podium before they all saluted the man.

nSome mercenaries followed along, while others just sat by the side and listened to him talk.

n“We’ve received dispatch orders. We’ll be heading northwest toward the Black Iron Desert. Our mission is to clear the insect-type demons that made their lair there.”

nWhen he reached this point, the mercenaries started talking amongst themselves. I, who knew nothing about the said desert, could only nod my head along.

n“We’ll be leaving in 15 minutes. Finish your preparation before then!”

nAs the man went down the podium, I gathered the three girls as we entered the small room assigned to us. There, Fang used a sound-blocking barrier, ensuring that our talks wouldn’t get heard by others.

n“Okay, this time we would be heading to the frontlines not to just pick up crystals from corpses but to actually fight.”

nAs we were now part of an “attack” squad, we were basically being told to fight against the demons. I guess the General wasn’t entirely convinced that we didn’t have anything to do with the death of the Duke of Insatiable Hunger and wished to check our strength using this.

n“Ember and I can’t use our usual fighting styles, as they’re pretty much unique to us. So, we would be supporting you two from behind instead.”

n“Well, Leader’s gun is unique, so it’ll be quite noticeable.”

nFang supported my suggestion. Igni, too, chipped in.

n“Ember’s weird contraptions are eye-catching too. I suggest we go with this plan too.”

nSince most of Ember’s Polymorph targets are from my memory, they were more or less out of this world. Even Igni, who saw the slime suit and heard about other things like planes, helicopters, and drones, was claiming that Ember’s creations are unique to this world.

n“Then, what should I be doing…?”

nEmber tilted her head.

nAfter her specialization, her interpersonal combat prowess dropped by about two levels, making her drop to the same combat ability she had during the newbie tournament. Although, since we are forced to seal her Cloning and Polymorph combo, it’s hard to say she’s even useful in battle anymore.

n“You should use all your clones, shrink them to their smallest size, and spread them around us. They can be our remote ears and eyes.”

nI suggested. The concept would be similar to using radar, but instead of a machine, Ember would receive and process all the information she receives from her clones.

n“I, on the other hand, would stay in the middle and be the command tower.”

nHonestly, other than that, I don’t have anything I could fill.

nEmber is to scout, Fang and Igni are the fighters, and I am the commander and support. It’s a pretty balanced configuration, if I do say so myself.

n“Ah, right. Igni, fill these with your fire and wind energy while we still have time.”

nI said this as I passed a small box of empty shells to her. They were larger than the previous 7.62 mm NATO. These ones were more cylindrical than pointed, with a higher gauge.

n“These are shotgun shells and should need more energy compared to the previous ones.”

nI explained. The shells were as large as a normal 12-gauge. Inside, it is packed with smaller balls of the same material as the shell, which would be sent flying when it is fired.

nWe arranged the items inside the storage rings while Igni was busy filling up the ammunition with energy. I and Ember decided to take one storage ring each. We split all the support items, like potions and such, equally.

nBefore the 15-minute buffer time was up, we were already standing in line, waiting for the command to set off.

n“It looks like everyone’s here already.”

nThe captain came back; however, he didn’t go towards the podium but instead to the wide open space nearby.

n“Then, we’ll be setting off. Time is ten hundred hours, everyone, forward!”

nAs he shouted, a large, eagle-like monster came and picked him up. It was a pretty badass way to go, making me click my tongue involuntarily.

nThe others mounted their large ground beasts or flying beasts. And just like usual, the four of us ran on the ground at top speed, trying to keep up with the others.

nStill, no matter how hard we tried to catch up, the speed of a 5th and 6th levels is greatly different from the speed of a 3rd stage. In just a minute, all of our allies had already vanished beyond the horizon.

nWe traveled slowly since Ember had spread her slimes around to monitor about a kilometer before us. When she found some 5th- or 6th-level demons nearby, we would quickly make a detour. We could fight them if their numbers are small, but it would take time. Although the 13th attack squad’s captain looked like a good guy, I don’t want to go and try out his limits on just the first mission.

nAs we were running, however, something happened.

nEmber noticed it, too, but it was already way too late. Right above us, an unbelievably large tornado sprung to life in an instant. It spans several kilometers in diameter, so even if we wanted to escape from its range, we wouldn’t make it in time.

n“Grab on to something!”

nI quickly shouted as I tried to keep my profile low to the earth. I grabbed a protruding rock, trying to fix myself to the ground. However, it was useless. The tornado wasn’t your regular tornado that has a wide vacant space in the middle. Instead, everything inside it was chaotic, like we were thrown in the middle of a blender turned to max speed.

n“Master!”

nThe first one to get hit by the tornado was Ember. With her grip strength, she almost instantly got sucked up and vanished within the mass of darkness.

n“M-My lord!”

nIgni soon followed. Her wide wings, which had too much air resistance, caused her to get dragged by the raging winds. Just like Ember, she similarly vanished within the darkness of the tornado.

n“Argh, darn!” .

nThe next was me, who was grabbing onto a rock. To my surprise, the rock I was holding onto got plucked off the ground along with me. I flailed around as I tried to regain my footing but failed.

nI was quickly sucked into the middle of the tornado, spinning around at great speeds. Without even knowing what happened afterward, my consciousness got cut off.

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