Five Miles Away - The Bunker

The battlefield still burned behind them, but none of them looked back.

Zayan ran a hand through his messy hair, exhaustion creeping into his cocky smirk. "Well, that was fun. When's the afterparty?"

Rudra scoffed, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "You're still thinking about parties? We almost got our heads blown off."

Zayan grinned. "Exactly why we need to celebrate."

Karan shook his head, checking his wristwatch. "We don't have time. The mission isn't over yet." His tone was light, almost lazy, but his sharp eyes flickered with calculation.

They all turned toward Veer.

The king of their world. The man whose single command could change the fate of anyone who crossed his path.

Veer's gaze remained fixed on the burning wreckage. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his black suit still pristine, as if war couldn't touch him.

"The girls," he said finally, his voice smooth but cold. "Where are they?"

A heavy silence settled.

Karan was the first to break it, pulling out a sleek tablet from inside his jacket. His fingers danced over the screen, hacking into the nearest satellite system with ease. The glow from the screen reflected off his face, making him look almost angelic—a deceptive image for a man who could bring down entire governments with a few keystrokes.

"Got it." He zoomed in on a grainy security feed. "The shipment of trafficked girls was split into two locations. We took down one facility, but the second group is still being held in an underground bunker five miles from here."

Veer's expression didn't change. "How heavily guarded?"

Karan smirked. "A fortress."

Rudra cracked his knuckles. "Good. I was getting bored."

Zayan groaned. "More fighting? Can't we just send a nice email and ask them to let the girls go?"

No one entertained his joke.

Veer finally turned, his dark eyes landing on each of them one by one. "We leave now. No mistakes."

No one argued. They never did.

Because when Veer spoke, the world listened.

The place was a goddamn fortress.

A steel-reinforced structure, buried deep beneath an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by motion sensors, sniper nests, and enough security to guard a world leader.

But none of that mattered.

Because the Four Shadows of War had arrived.

High above, hidden in the shadows of an old factory rooftop, Karan perched like a ghost, his sniper scope trained on the enemy. "We've got fifteen men outside, heavily armed. Thermal scans show another twenty inside."

He smirked. "Want me to crash their security system?"

Veer didn't glance up. "No need. Let them think they're in control."

Zayan twirled a knife between his fingers, bored. "So what's the plan, fearless leader?"

Veer exhaled slowly. "We go in silent. We kill loud."

Rudra's lips curved into a rare smirk. "My kind of plan."

The first guard never saw it coming.

Veer moved like a shadow, slipping past security with an almost unnatural grace. A single twist of his wrist—a knife to the throat, a body dropping silently into the dark.

At the same time, Rudra crept behind another, his movements fluid and precise. He grabbed the man in a chokehold, squeezing the life out of him before dragging the body into the shadows.

Meanwhile, Zayan was anything but silent.

He walked straight toward a pair of guards near the main door, hands raised in mock surrender. "Hey, fellas. Listen, I'm lost. Any chance you could—"

The first guard raised his gun.

Bang.

A bullet tore through his skull before he could blink.

The second guard barely had time to react before Zayan spun, kicking the man's gun away and slamming a knife into his ribcage.

He grinned. "Oops."

Up above, Karan chuckled in his earpiece. "You are such a show-off."

Zayan blew a kiss toward the rooftop. "You love me for it."

Rudra rolled his eyes. "Focus."

With the outer guards eliminated, Veer gave a single nod.

The real battle was about to begin.

They stormed the bunker. Bullets. Blood. Chaos.

No one could stop them.

Because they weren't just four men.

They were legends.

And tonight, hell belonged to them.

The moment the bunker doors burst open, chaos erupted.

Gunfire tore through the silence, muzzles flashing in the darkness like bursts of lightning.

The guards inside barely had time to register what was happening before their men started dropping like flies.

Veer moved first.

His gun was an extension of his body, each shot calculated, each kill efficient. No wasted movement, no hesitation. The man never missed.

A bullet came straight for him—he tilted his head, narrowly dodging it like he had all the time in the world. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he fired back.

One shot.

Straight between the enemy's eyes.

Rudra followed right behind him. A beast in battle, he had no patience for games. He took the direct approach—a bullet to the knee to bring them down, a second one to end them.

A man lunged at him with a knife. Bad mistake.

Rudra twisted the attacker's arm and shoved his own blade deep into his stomach. The guard gasped, blood pooling from his mouth, but Rudra didn't even blink. He yanked the knife free and let the body hit the floor.

Zayan was the storm.

Unlike Veer's precision and Rudra's brutality, Zayan fought like a madman, unpredictable and reckless. He laughed as he dodged bullets, leaping onto crates to get a better angle before firing two quick shots, dropping two men in an instant.

"Come on, boys! Is that all you've got?" he taunted, flipping his gun and shooting another without looking.

Karan was their ghost.

While the others fought upfront, he disappeared into the shadows, his fingers flying over a small tablet. In seconds, the entire bunker's security system collapsed under his control.

Lights flickered. Doors unlocked. Surveillance cameras went black.

And then, his voice crackled through the earpiece, a smirk in his tone.

"Gentlemen, I just made us invisible."

A second later, the emergency sirens blared.

Panic spread through the enemies as the bunker's own defense systems turned against them—turrets malfunctioned, doors slammed shut, gas vents opened, releasing clouds of smoke.

They were losing.

They just didn't know it yet.

The last line of defense was waiting for them at the farthest end of the bunker—a thick, steel-reinforced door guarded by the remaining elite soldiers.

Zayan wiped blood off his jaw, his grin widening. "I love when they think they still have a chance."

Veer barely spared him a glance. He had already decided how this would end.

With a silent signal, Rudra moved first, tossing a grenade into the middle of the group.

Boom.

The explosion sent bodies flying, flames licking at the walls. Those who survived staggered, disoriented.

And that was all the opening Veer needed.

In a blur of motion, he advanced. A gunshot to the left. A knife to the right. A clean snap of the neck in the center.

Every movement was precise, swift, deadly.

Karan, standing safely in the background, let out a low whistle. "Watching Veer fight is like watching a horror movie. Except he's the monster."

Zayan laughed. "And we're his demons."

Rudra didn't waste words. He pulled out his rifle, firing the last few rounds into the remaining men, ensuring not a single one survived.

And then—silence.

The battle was over.

Veer exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders back. His suit was still pristine, though now stained with drops of blood.

He turned toward the steel door. The final barrier.

Behind it, the kidnapped girls. The mission. The reason they had painted the bunker in blood tonight.

Karan stepped forward, pulling out a small device. He pressed a few buttons, and with a soft beep—

The locks disengaged.

The door creaked open.

Veer stepped inside first.

The room was freezing. Dark. The air smelled of fear and damp metal.

And there they were.

The girls.

Some huddled together, eyes wide with terror. Others flinched at the sight of armed men entering. Some had bruises, some had tears dried on their faces, and some... some were too numb to react at all.

They had been here for too long.

One of the girls—a young woman with hollow eyes—stared up at Veer, her lips trembling.

"W-Who are you?" she whispered.

Veer didn't answer.

Because he didn't need to.

Instead, he did something far more powerful.

He reached out a hand.

She hesitated, her fingers trembling as they hovered over his.

Then—finally—she took it.

And just like that, the nightmare was over.

The war was won.

But for Veer, Rudra, Zayan, and Karan—this was just another night in their world.