Benny cheered excitedly with the other spectators, as Leo boxed in his 4th goal. The feeling of happiness was palpable in the atmosphere, as sincere expressions of joy appeared on all the spectator’s faces. Making use of this short opportunity of distraction, the strange man in black finally acted. His grasp of timing was immaculate, as he pretended to cheer while pushing Benny from where he sat, down. Benny sat at the very top row of the stadium seats, and some other spectators also sat below him. He was thrown off guard from the sudden push as he directly fell down, but as a high-grade soldier, he reflexively balanced himself by doing a backflip in mid-air. Bam!! He landed with a loud sound, in a row below the one a group of girls sat. The girls were startled, as they all jumped in fright and shock at the sight of someone suddenly flying over them to land on their front. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it”. He quickly apologized, before he turned to glare at the man who pushed him. “I’m sorry, it was a mistake”. The man apologized by simply taking his line, before turning around to leave immediately. He felt confused about seeing this, but the game was still on. He quickly forgot about it as he continued his cheering. After a 2 hours long, action-packed football game, they finally stopped to rest and go back home. The game finally ended, as the day already started getting dark. After having some idle talks with his old childhood friends, Leo finally came as they quickly left. Clark already booked a hotel before they came here, that was where they parked the car. After quickly getting back to the hotel, they had their bath, ordered food, ate, and slept peacefully after watching a movie. The day was a fulfilled one to them; they slept like newborn babies. … The next day, they just walked around the town throughout the day to visit some peculiar sights before going back to the stadium around 400 pm to play another round of football. Despite the town being backward and underdeveloped, there were still sights that were worth seeing. No matter how bad something is, it must have a midget of good, even if it’s small. It was now the 3rd day since they came, as they continued touring around. They were having a good time of their life. They were prepared to enjoy themselves as much as possible, as after they resume duty as soldiers, they would not have this luxury. 2 days ago, the terrorist commander already knew that Benny was a high-grade soldier, so he altered his plans a little. He didn’t want to encounter any unexpected mishaps, so he was ready to plan as much as required. The 3rd day’s football game was far more exciting and exhilarating, as Clark broke his record, scoring a hat-trick. This was the definition of complete joy to him, as for the first time, they gave him a nickname on the spot which they started chanting. After a long day of playing, they finally started going as he continually blabbered about how Messi-like he was, scoring goals here and there. He really played like Messi today, as he finally got the hang of it again, after playing repeatedly for the past 2 days. He was able to release all his pent-up energy in this unforgettable football match. Leo and Benny laughed his talks off with jokes that were not funny, as they continued walking forward. As they moved cheerfully, unknowing to them, some pairs of eyes watched them stealthily from the dark. After getting them in the perfect ambush position that they decided on, the assaulters finally started their assassination. Boom!! The air suddenly shook sharply; spreading ripples like water waves, as Clark suddenly noticed a sharp-looking sword stabbing at his head. He felt goosebumps erupt all over his body, as he quickly dodged while his armor activated instantly. Clang!! The unpleasant sound of metal scraping metal reverberated loudly, as he fell back after narrowly surviving this while his 2 friends became alert, their armor also instantly activating. Before they could observe clearly, another 2 soldiers jumped out of a nearby building as they both quickly attacked Leo and Benny to clearly separate the group of 3 soldier friends. “I thought they aimed at me first, but now they are suddenly attacking Leo and Benny”. Clark was confused; he could not comprehend these people’s thought process at all. Despite this, he immediately entered high alert mode. “Where did all these high-grade soldiers come from?” Leo and Benny questioned inwardly, with surprised expressions on their faces. This assault was so random to them, that their brains could not phantom what caused it. They were originally peacefully enjoying their vacation, but now this? What made them more resentful was that they couldn’t fight properly as their weapons were kept in their bags in the car. Only their daggers and other small weapons which could be kept in their armor were with them. Clark wasn’t allowed to think further, as a 3rd soldier quickly appeared on the battlefield, wielding 2 swords. The soldier attacked him without hesitation, advancing to meet him momentously. As he prepared to fight this soldier, he was startled as he suddenly heard a gunshot sound above his head. “It’s a sniper. What can 1 sniper bullet do when I’m in my armor?” He soliloquized in a perplexed tone, but he still tried to locate the sniper’s position despite his confusion. He didn’t dodge as he let his armor tank the bullet, he focused on the soldier directly before him as he rolled back quickly, dodging the first sword strike from him. After dodging the first blow, he became astonished the next second as this soldier moved faster than he did. Whoosh!! Blood flowed plentifully in waves, as the soldier quickly slashed at him again with his other sword, carving a deep injury on his abdomen. Awnn!! He groaned in pain with a twisted expression on his face, as he jumped back in horror. He was shocked, as recognition became written clearly on his face the next second. “It’s you?” He asked in an intimidated, fearful, and surprised tone. “You should have expected it”. The commander replied coldly, as he prepared to continue his attack the next second. Clark would’ve still fought on bravely in a fair battle situation; at least he still had a chance then. But he recognized the battle art that this hidden shooter just used, the dead’s echo. It was the same battle art that Benny bought and was now learning. The battle art was used to mainly decapitate strong opponents, and to restrain them. The bullet shot at him was an armor nullifying bullet, which could render his armor ineffective for 5 seconds. Fighting a higher-ranked soldier head-on was already a disadvantage on its own; the addition of this exponentially increased the difficulty of his survival. His armor already recovered, as he brought out his 2 exotic daggers. Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! He retaliated fiercely, as shockwaves from the fast strikes swept the nearby sand and dust away. He steadily moved backward, while trying to block the commander’s assault. His brain quickly geared into overdrive, he entered a calm state as he thought of ways to prevent the ranged specialist from aiming at him. Bam!! Another bullet hit his armor as he jumped back in panic, a bullet was simply too fast for him to dodge, and till now he had not discovered the sniper’s position. The shooter was clearly an elite soldier, he thought trepidatiously. He jumped back, but the commander was faster as he gave him another cut to his chest. A combination of this kind of sniper with a melee fighter was clearly a cheat combination; his armor was basically being rendered useless. Ahh!! He screamed involuntarily as the pain felt unbearable, he had never felt so much pain from injuries. Tu!! Tu!! He hastily dodged despite the pain, as the shooter released another two bullets at his location. They were normal sniper bullets this time, which came as a relief, as well as a disaster to him. He prevented the bullets from hitting his vital organs, but he still flew back from the momentum as the extreme force carrying them incapacitated his left hand. Leo and Benny finally realized the severity of the situation as they started taking drastic measures, they could not process it quickly before as the battle was too fast-paced. Leo suddenly bashed his opponent carelessly with his body, to try rushing forward to help his friend, but his opponent was too experienced as he calmly restrained him like he was just a kid throwing a tantrum. Ahh!! Clark cried out again in pain, as the commander stabbed his abdomen ruthlessly. He was now fed up with the pain, as he finally made a decision. He summoned his strength, as he jumped back while giving a command inwardly through his implant. Now he was completely bloodied all over, his life was clearly in danger. Somewhere in the hotel, where his car was parked. The originally still and quiet parking lot suddenly vibrated, like something was coming to life. Zoom!! The car suddenly started on its own, as its lights lit up shortly after. “Master is in danger…, master requires assistance”. The emotionless voice of the A. I sounded out ominously, as the car reversed with speed before accelerating towards the gate. It looked like the car was planning to bash the gate open, but the A. I already took extreme measures. It directly hacked the hotel’s A. I security firewall. Kwang!! The gates opened obediently, as the car drove off with speed, going directly to inside the town. The security man was shocked, as he finally realized that something was wrong before he ran outside. “Who opened the gate?” He asked in a surprised and shocked tone, as he dumbly looked forward. He received no reply, as he coughed instead, which was a consequence caused by the dust left by the car. He finally glanced forward again, and all he could see was a red light that became fainter by the second. The light finally left his vision completely, as the car disappeared from his view.