The signal from the stealth fighter piloted by 'Noah' of the Bravers vanished. The army that had lent the fighter to the Bravers passed this information onto the special forces members who were on standby, surrounding the Eighth Guidance's base, and it was devastating news for them.

To the ordinary people, the Bravers were heroes, but to soldiers, they were more than just that. To the soldiers, Amemiya Hiroto and the others were cheats... 'unfair' beings.

One hundred geniuses that normally appeared very rarely were all born in the same generation, and most of them had been born on an island nation to the far east. And all of them possessed at least one non-magic 'ability' that worked on unknown principles.

Partially due to these 'abilities,' each of them had the power to shake entire nations.

The 'fallen hero' Kanata had possessed Gungnir, which allowed him to snipe and kill any target through any obstacles.

The 'Metamorph' Shihouin Mari, who had killed Kanata, was a master of disguise beyond what was seen in spy movies. She could change her race and physique instantly, rendering scanners for fingerprints, retinas, and voice signatures useless, and there was a high possibility that she could fool sensors that identified the Mana wavelengths of individuals as well.

The Oracle Endou Kouya, Machida Aran with Calculation, Shimada Izumi with Inspection. All of them broke the rules.

The most fearsome of the Bravers was Amemiya Hiroto. If he had been born before the World War, it would likely have been the eastern island nation, not the American-European alliance, that ruled the world.

"So, did the stealth fighter's signal disappear because of an attack by the Eighth Guidance? Are the Bravers still alive?" asked a commanding officer of the special forces of one of the nations.

"Unknown," his subordinate immediately replied. "However, the vital signals of 'Noah,' Mao Smith, have ceased."

"I see, so that troublesome woman has disappeared."

Mao had been marked among the Bravers as someone who needed to be under significant surveillance. That wasn't because her behavior was often problematic, but because her Noah ability was troublesome.

Things stored inside Noah could never be detected from the outside. Precious metals, firearms, drugs, she could transport them as she liked. Of course, that included people.

What if she were to transport a dangerous biological weapon inside Noah? The thought was enough to terrify the high officials in every nation.

The Bravers had possessed society's trust up until now, but there were Murakami Junpei and the others who were now working with the Eighth Guidance.

No matter how noble they were, there was no saying for sure that they would never stain their hands with crime.

That was why it wasn't bad if the Bravers died. It would be best if they were to work for the nation and find permanent employment, but them dying was far better than them joining other nations or criminal organizations.

"First, we should confirm how many losses the Bravers have sustained, and wait for contact from them to hear whether they're in a state to participate in the operation. In theory, we would take this option. However, it's highly likely that the Eighth Guidance has already detected our operation," the commanding officer said.

If that wasn't the case, there was no way a latest-model stealth fighter would go missing with its young and healthy pilot dead.

How had the Eighth Guidance, who shouldn't have been in possession of any radar equipment, detected the approach of a stealth fighter? It was possible that it was the doing of Murakami Junpei or one of the others with their abilities, but it was a known fact that all of the members of the Eighth Guidance were able to use one death-attribute spell in exchange for not being able to use magic of the normal attributes.

Both possibilities were feasible.

"Commanding officer, there are none among Murakami Junpei and the others who possess a suitable ability for this," said the subordinate. "Is it not the doing of the Eighth Guidance?"

The abilities of Murakami Junpei and his followers were already well-known.

Murakami had Chronos, an ability that delayed the activation of other Bravers' abilities and magic cast by others that were nearby. He also had incredible Mana regeneration that was always active.

His companion Tsuchiya Kanako had Venus, which charmed others. However, this didn't work on other Bravers.

There was Death Scythe that caused instant death by looking at the target's face, Super Sense that strengthened the user's five senses, Sylphid that transformed the user's body into gas, Marionette that allowed the manipulation of others by touching them, Hecatoncheir that was telekinesis... they were users of all kinds of abilities.

Gazer, who could see the future, had been a particularly problematic one, but she had apparently been in a mostly vegetative state when Murakami kidnapped her, so it was unclear whether she could use her ability.

However, the commanding officer did not trust this information. The source of this information was the Bravers, after all. Sometimes the information from his own nation's intelligence service was wrong; he couldn't just blindly accept information from outside sources.

"If the ability-users work together, they may be able to use their abilities in ways that aren't in our intel. And there is no saying that they won't have a trump card hidden up their sleeves. Don't let your guard down," he said. "We have been given top-secret orders. As we have been ordered, we will begin our operation!"

And then, without knowing the fate of the Bravers, and without making any communications to the other squads, the squad began moving.

"We will definitely acquire the members of the Eighth Guidance, whose bodies contain death-attribute Mana, for our nation! It doesn't matter if they're corpses, kill them and take them with us!" the commanding officer shouted.

"Yes, sir!" his men responded.

Knowing how much the military nation had benefited after discovering the death attribute, the high officials of every nation couldn't help but to want that glory for their own nations.

Most importantly, that magic would allow the realization of humanity's dream, immortality, would it not? Considering that, and considering that the other nations would think the same, they couldn't help themselves.

The members of the Eighth Guidance, who could only use one type of death-attribute magic each, wielded this much power. If one nation monopolized the death attribute, how powerful would it become? Thus, it was justice for our nation to 'control' it.

This squad was not the only one to have received special orders from the upper echelons of their nation that had these thoughts.

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The soldiers of the special forces possessed carefully-trained bodies and were studied users of advanced magic. In addition, they were outfitted with the latest equipment.

Active camouflage Magic Items that used light-attribute magic, the thermal sensor Magic Items that used fire-attribute magic, and the anti-infrared Magic Items were flawless as well.

And they were equipped with firearms, knives, all kinds of chemicals, state-of-the-art internal 'staff' gloves and communications equipment that could communicate both technologically and magically.

Each individual soldier was a superhuman with more fighting power than a tank. Squads of sizes varying from a dozen to thirty men had been sent by ten different nations.

They had confidence that they would fulfil their mission. They were also conceited in themselves for being highly-trained soldiers.

They certainly wouldn't lose to amateurs who relied on unknown powers... the Bravers who couldn't escape their image of seeming like civilians, and guinea pigs who hadn't undergone any training, as long as the situation was kept under control. They couldn't lose.

That was what they thought.

Amemiya Hiroto had deliberately made the Bravers' abilities open knowledge so that they wouldn't be persecuted by others. However, no matter what he did, he had not been able to reduce the number of people opposing them to zero.

Anti-personnel landmines and booby traps. The work of an amateur, the commanding officer thought.

The soldiers of the special forces proceeded through the subway tunnels that were the Eighth Guidance's base, disarming the traps that had been set one after another. Things might have been different if they were normal police officers or soldiers that were sent on ordinary missions, but for these men, this was no different from going on a stroll.

Is this the Eighth Guidance? They're quite –

As the commanding officer heard consecutive gunshots, his thoughts stopped permanently.

Dozens of gun barrels had appeared out of thin air and opened fire on the special forces.

"An enemy attack?!"

"Let there be a stone wall!" the commanding officer shouted immediately, conjuring a stone wall with earth-attribute magic to hide his body behind.

The commanding officer of this squad thought that this was a surprise attack by the special forces of another nation to dispose of a competitor.

If that wasn't the case, the enemies wouldn't be using the latest active camouflage.

"Eizam, use Napalm! Beck, Tyler, oxygen!" the commanding officer ordered, knowing that the stone wall would be broken through by magic within the next ten seconds and deciding that the all of the special forces members from the other nation should be exterminated.

Under his orders, his subordinates recited incantations for an advanced fire-attribute spell and a wind-attribute spell that produced a membrane of breathable air to protect their allies.

"Delivery!"

With this signal, a hole opened in a part of the stone wall, and the fire-attribute spell was fired through that hole. At the same time, the defensive membrane of air enveloped all of the soldiers.

There was a thunderous roar. It was likely that all of the oxygen on the other side of the wall had been combusted by now, leaving the enemy unable to breathe and suffering in the burning air.

"Life signals?" the commanding officer asked.

"None. Enemy casualties confirmed," said one of his subordinates, confirming the enemies' annihilation with a sensor that contained a life-attribute Magic Item.

Just as the men were checking that everyone was accounted for and began moving to quickly administer first-aid treatment... the stone wall crumbled to pieces.

"Impossible! The enemy should have been dead!"

As a rain of bullets descended upon him and his men once more, the commanding officer figured out who the enemy was.

The enemy were armed Undead soldiers with loose, burnt faces, letting out harsh groans. Lifeless, dead soldiers that didn't need oxygen.

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"HAHAHAHAHA! Overwhelming, aren't they, my brave warriors!" Valkyrie, the tall, beautiful woman with waist-long silver-blonde hair, laughed loudly as she watched the special forces soldiers fall one by one to the Undead under her command.

TLN: This is a reference to a famous line from Gundam, "Overwhelming, isn't it, my army!" This line is very commonly referred to, actually, I've seen similar references numerous times.

"You're right about that," said the 'Death Scythe,' Konoe Miyaji, as he looked on. "Aren't Zombies normally small fries?"

"How rude, calling them small fries! My brave warriors are true heroes who fight on without fearing even death!" Valkyrie protested.

"Well, they're already dead, so there's no need for them to be scared of it now."

Undead existed in Origin, but they were just treated as a kind of monster, corpses that moved on their own because of Mana that had remained in the body for whatever reason. In many cases, they simply rampaged like beasts; they did not possess the intelligence or skills that they had in life. The only exception was the 'Undead' who had used magic.

That was why the special forces soldiers would never be defeated no matter how many Zombies tried to swarm them. The most they would be able to do was buy some time.

However, the brave Zombie warriors that Valkyrie commanded could handle firearms as they had done while alive, and they could even cast simple spells.

"Of course, it's thanks to our comrades who gathered all of the corpses for me, and Isis's power. I'm only giving them commands, nothing else," Valkyrie said.

The brave Zombie warriors could exhibit the same abilities that they had possessed while alive due to the power of Isis, the black woman with dreadlocks.

Just like the goddess who once joined together the separated remains of her husband to resurrect him, Isis was able to turn corpses into Undead that possessed the same abilities they had while alive. She needed between an hour to half a day to create a single one, so she couldn't add the currently-dying special forces soldiers to her Undead, however.

And Valkyrie's power was manipulating Undead, who were normally impossible to control. That was all.

"Therefore, my brave warriors and I will not accept criticism! We shall make full use of the equipment that we have been capturing from research facilities and criminal organizations up until now!" Valkyrie declared.

"I don't want to go along with this, but..."

"Konoe, to your right, there are some guys trying to blow up the subway system with high explosive devices. Kill them," ordered a voice coming from Konoe's communications device.

"Yes sir, Murakami-danna." Obeying these orders, Konoe released ultrasonic waves with wind-attribute magic. Sensors picked up the ultrasonic waves and projected the faces of his targets. "Death Scythe."

With just that, the targeted soldiers went into cardiac arrest, convulsing a few times before dying.

"Did you think that you could feel at ease because you're wearing helmets?"

It was true that Death Scythe could only cause instant death... cardiac arrest, in targets that he had seen with his bare eyes. However, he had embedded sensors into his eyeballs and could see the faces of his targets with the echoes of the ultrasonic waves that went through helmets and masks, and he could kill his targets using this method.

It was a method developed after he had accepted Murakami's offer, so the special forces, who had acquired their information from the Bravers, were unaware of this trump card.

"Are you done? If you are, we're marching forward! The appetizer will be devoured by I, Valkyrie, and Izanami and Berserker as well, before the fake heroes arrive!" the beautiful, brave-looking Valkyrie declared to the men.

Konoe made a displeasured expression. "Why are you going out of your way to go on the frontlines? The commander is usually at the back, right?"

"It's because my power is only effective within a one-kilometer radius from me! If the brave warriors march alone, they will stop obeying my orders once they are out of range. You can just hide behind me!"

"Yeah, yeah."

In a place separate from Valkyrie and Konoe, Izanami's fury was being unleashed on the elite soldiers.

"GYAAAAH!"

"A-a monster! It's a monster! Why doesn't light-attribute magic work?!"

"Silver bullets, holy water, salt, anti-Undead equipment, nothing works! We never heard about this!"

The Eighth Guidance had crushed several top-secret death-attribute research facilities in the nation that had dispatched this squad of special forces, and the nation had been aware that the Eighth Guidance had been taking away the corpses of the guards at these facilities.

Thus, the nation had provided their soldiers with large quantities of anti-Undead equipment, having guessed that the Eighth Guidance might turn these corpses into Undead and use them to guard their base.

However, the one stationed there was not the Undead under Valkyrie's command, but Izanami.

Ferocious roars filled the air.

Yomotsushikome, masses of flesh about the size of medium-sized dogs, each with four short limbs with sharp claws and a mouth filled with fangs that looked as if it had been pasted onto the body. And Yomotsuikusa, which had the appearances of apes that had their muscle fibers exposed.

TLN: Yomotsushikome are demonesses of the underworld in Japanese mythology; Izanami sent them after Izanagi who broke the contract between them. Yomotsuikusa are demons that inhabit the underworld.

Izanami's ability created these two types of monsters, whose heads were filled with nothing but a desire to feed.

"Ugufuh! ... Go, go and eat, then come back." Izanami used a knife to cut out one of the protuberances that covered his body, right from the base. The tumor made graphic-sounding noises as it transformed into a monster.

At the same time, the wound left behind on Izanami's body closed rapidly.

"Kufuh, now then, kill them. They are not the ones who killed the 'Undead,' the one who gave meaning to this unsightly monster, but they are the allies of those who killed him. Now, dig in," Izanami murmured.

All of the cells in Izanami's body, not just the protuberances but its internal organs as well, had transformed into something resembling cancer cells that repeatedly underwent endless cell division. Thus, it was suspected that Izanami would not die unless over 70% of its brain was destroyed.

However, in the military nation's research facility, Izanami had been nothing more than a useless guinea pig that simply didn't die. But thanks to the death-attribute Mana gained when the Undead rescued it, due to the size of the protuberances, it had become able to create two types of monsters from the tumors cut away from its main body.

Right before Izanami's eyes, these two types of monsters, Yomotsushikome and Yomotsuikusa, were forcing the special forces, who were supposed to be elite soldiers, into a disadvantageous situation.

But the price that Izanami paid was that its tumors expanded rapidly. Its cells were on a rampage to try and recover from the repeated injuries its body had sustained within a short period of time.

"Kukuh, at this rate, the pressure from the tumors will crush my organs... my brain." Now that Izanami had become unable to even walk due to the size and weight of the tumors, it had started to see the finish line, and whispered into its communications device. "I'm going to make my body light now," it said.

"Won't you last any longer?" asked the voice of Baba Yaga, who was waiting for her own turn to step up.

A bitter smile appeared on Izanami's face. "I'll probably last another few minutes, but soon, I won't even be able to speak."

"I see... Then leave the rest to me. Good night, Izanami," said Baba Yaga.

"Let us meet again, comrade!" said Valkyrie's voice.

"I'll go soon as well, so wait for me," said Pluto.

Izanami listened to the farewells from Pluto and the others. "Yeah, I'll be waiting on the other side," it replied, and then took out the switch that it had received from Isis.

Now that Izanami thought about it, Isis hadn't said farewell, but... it was probably because of Murakami and the others, so it was fine.

"This body of mine, devour as many of them as possible." Izanami pressed the switch, and an explosive Magic Item implanted inside its skull