Chapter 3 - The Infamous Squad 0

"No! Please!"

"H-Help! N-No! S-Stop!"

The smell of blood filled the air as fearful screams echoed out in all directions into the darkness of the night.

With only a couple of minutes passing, silence had once again filled the air, leaving only the corpses of villagers littered around in the streets of the desolate village.

Larn. A common villager lay cuddled up in a small compacted corner of a hidden pantry within the only bakery the village had. Hiding behind the giant bags of flour, he shivered as he heard the front door swing wide open and the sound of footsteps enter the building. He closed his eyes, holding his hands over his mouth. Wishing for the monster to pass by. As each second passed, the small relaxed thumping of boots could be heard walking around the bakery.

A small familiar squeak sounded out nearby. The sound of the drink cabinet door opening. A small rustling. Then a slam.

The footsteps once again thudded around the old floorboard.

"Please go away. Please go away." Larn continuously thought, hoping for his one and only wish to come true.

However, as if fate was purposely playing a joke on him, the pantry door open swung wide open, revealing a man seemingly to be in his early 20s with short black hair, holding a long katana-like sword staring straight back at him. His crimson eyes seemed to be staring straight into the deepest part of his soul. His lips slowly arched upwards as a deep chuckle could be heard.

"31,"

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"I've got 31!" Seilon cried out, dragging the body of a middle-aged baker out the building with a sword stabbed between his eyes.

He carelessly tossed the body into the pre-made pile in the middle of the road and swung the sword around, getting rid of all the blood.

"Hehehe~ 42! You'll have to try better if you want to keep your position, Vice-Commander!" A cheerful voice called out from a distance as a dark olive-colored ponytail came into view.

"Len," Another voice sighed from a nearby rooftop, "Stop fooling around. Just hurry up and finish the mission so we can go back already."

"Tonia's such a spoil sport~," the cheerful voice grumbled back, tossing her catch into the pile.

"D-did we get everyone?" A young boy with dark brown hair suddenly interrupted them, dragging the corpse of an old man and a child behind him.

"[Scan]" a mature looking young lady with dark crimson hair chanted, "There's three more hidden in that building over there,"

She pointed at the house a few hundred meters away.

"A-Ah, I think I saw Leon and Enga heading over there a few moments ago," The young boy gave a quick thought, dusting off his hand after throwing the bodies into the pile.

"Hey Jyn, You want this bottle of…" Seilon frowned as he glanced down at the bottle he was holding, reading the words written on it, "Grape juice?"

"When did you get the time to get that?" The mature lady interrupted, looking over at their direction and raising an eyebrow.

"That bakery was fully stocked with these." Seilon shrugged, pulling another three bottles from within his sleeve. "Didn't want to let it go to waste."

"I'm not gonna even ask how that fitted in there." She muttered, turning back and began talking with Len and Tonia.

"Jyn. Take it." Seilon threw the bottle over at the young boy, who caught it whilst fumbling it in his hands slightly.

Opening the cap, Seilon quickly chugged it like beer, instantly emptying it. "Oh, that's way too sweet. How much sugar was put in this?" He cringed as he poked his tongue out slightly,

Jyn hesitantly opened up the bottle, taking a sip.

By the time he emptied the bottle, a rough-looking beast-man wearing the same black and gold uniform with rolled-up sleeves appeared from beyond the darkness, dragging the corpse of a young man behind him. Following close behind him was what looked like a normal human around the age of 27, only that he was also wearing the matching uniform. He was also dragging behind him the bodies of two young girls.

"Got the last of the humans here." The beast-man exclaimed, throwing it onto the pile.

"[Scan]" the mature lady chanted, quickly giving a second check. "That"s everyone." She confirmed.

Suddenly, the sound of soft rhythmic tapping footsteps could be heard making its way towards the group.

"Commander!" The lady looked towards the sound.

Emerging from the shadow, was the silhouette of a tall long pale blond-haired male, wearing the black uniform with the gold lining rope starting from his left shoulder and ending at his right hip. Equipped on his left waist was a sword, dark as the night sky.

Following close behind him were two young twins around the age of 8, one boy with black hair and the other, a girl with hair white as snow. They both had a horn sticking out their forehead as they held each other"s hand, quickly running to catch up with the pace of the commander.

"Commander! All the villagers and witnesses are in that pile." Len called out, running over at high speeds alongside Tonia, a demonic elf.

The commander nodded, "The twins have installed the sound and visual barriers." He explained, "We"ll now complete the last step of the mission. By the order of His Majesty. Squad 0 will erase this village from history. Leave behind no traces."

"Understood!" All the members of the squad replied, their eyes glowing a bright crimson red.

With a jump, all members of Squad 0, except the commander disappeared from their spots, reappearing a few meters back.

Making his way towards the pile, the commander pointed his sword and activated his demonic aura, his pupils turned from his previous blue into a bloody red. With a quick swing, the pile of bodies, instantly disintegrated in a purple flame, leaving behind a small pile of ashes which was instantly blown away by the wind.

He gracefully sheathed his sword back and glanced around. All the buildings within the village had already fallen down as fire enveloped the debris.

Within the next 5 minutes, all traces of the village had been burned to pieces or disintegrated entirely, only leaving behind an unusually large patch of plain land.

"Reisa. Cast an instant grow spell in the patch of land," the commander ordered, stepping back.

"Understood." The mature lady stood forward, planting her staff on the ground. "[Grow],"

In an instant, the ground began sprouting greenery as within a few seconds, the small saplings which rose from the dirt became as big as the surrounding trees.

"Mission Complete." The commander stated, "Squad 0, return to the palace."

"Understood!" The squad chanted as they all instantly disappeared from the scene.