A cloudless horizon, stars adorning the vast night sky…
Atop a building, caressed by the cold breeze, a figure observed movements through the scope of the rifle in front of her.
"Starting report: Targets are inside the 'Innovations & Gadgets' building, twenty-three individuals. Firepower…"
Adjusting the zoom, she examined what the men were carrying in their hands.
"High-pressure rifles, AKs, and some are carrying shotguns, but the models appear modified."
"Report received, Vosegus. Prepare to provide cover fire as needed."
"Understood, Onikuma."
"Priestess, switch mental channel. Channels: Onikuma to Apollyon & Coulobre."
"Heheh, okie-dokie Captain~"
Meanwhile, in the back alley of 'Innovations & Gadgets', two figures were leaning against the building's wall.
One was crouched down, muffling coughs into his fist, while the other was surrounded by smoke.
"Coulobre…! I already told you to stop smoking near me!"
"Hmmm… You're way too serious, Apollyon. It's just a drag to relax a bit. Want one?"
"I'm 17, you bastard!"
"Apollyon, Coulobre. Attention."
Before he could reach out to grab his partner by the collar, a deep, rough voice reached directly into both of their heads.
"Ah! Captain, Coulobre is smoking on the job again!"
"Heee~ Apollyon-yon, you wound me with such baseless slander…"
"Silence. Vosegus has passed the report: twenty-three individuals, moderate firepower."
"Tsk… hostages?"
"None reported."
"Hmmm… Then what's the modus operandi for this situation, Captain?"
"Controlled frontal assault. You'll be the vanguard, Coulobre."
"Oui."
"Apollyon?"
"Yes?"
"Provide support as needed."
"Seriously…? Okay, since you asked, Captain…"
"Good. Good luck to both of you. I'm on my way to the location, you may begin the operation up front."
"Understood." / "trèsbien~"
A few seconds later, the communication cut off. Taking a deep breath, Apollyon adjusted a mask over his face.
"Let's get this over with, baguette."
"Haha, I'm counting on you like always, Apollyon."
"Yeah, yeah. Do me a favor and put in some effort today, 'Mr. Vice-Captain.' "
"Since my adorable subordinate asked so nicely… I'll do my best."
Adjusting his own mask with a smile, the two exchanged a fist bump before starting the operation.
"Haaah~ I'm so sleepy… how long are we staying here anyway?"
One of the intruders yawned as he patrolled the hallway with his partner.
"No idea… they said until they contact the client. Or something like that."
"Got it… huh?"
"What' up, man?"
"Don't you smell that?"
"Smell what?"
"Phosphorus… almost like—"
Before the sentence could finish, the building's fire alarms blared to life.
Running in, nearly out of breath, another intruder shouted into his communicator.
"We're under atta —"
He was dropped before finishing the sentence. A clean shot to the neck.
"Whatthe —"
Likewise, the uninterested intruder collapsed after a clean shot to the chest.
"F-Fred?!"
Panicked and shocked, the sleepy intruder's legs gave out and he fell.
"Phew, Vosegus really doesn't waste shots, huh?"
Walking past the bodies on the floor, Apollyon and Coulobre moved toward him.
"Coulobre, there's one on this side."
"Already saw him."
With a brief raise of his hand, the confused intruder was swallowed by a sudden combustion explosion.
"Done."
Coulobre flashed a victory 'V' with his free hand at Apollyon.
"You… haa… huh?"
Letting out a heavy sigh as he watched his partner's lack of concern, Apollyon heard muffled sounds rapidly approaching their position.
"There! Open fire, NOW!"
Without even a second to breathe, a barrage of bullets was unleashed at the two of them, however—
"Haa… how useless. 'Break' "
Apollyon's voice carried a strange, almost tangible weight, making even the shooters hesitate.
Still midair, the bullets lost momentum, began to fall, and shattered upon hitting the ground.
"E-espers?! "
"Adieu ~"
With a theatrical snap of his fingers toward the shooters, they were instantly engulfed in intense flames.
"Thanks for saving our asses, Apollyon."
Turning toward the boy, the man with the theatrical mask lightly ruffled his hair while laughing.
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Priestess? "
"yeeees? ~"
"Open a mental channel with Vosegus for me."
"What's the magic word, Apollyon-yon? ~"
A few seconds of silence followed before the boy let out a defeated sigh.
"… Please."
"Haha, right away~ "
A brief sensation of ringing rose through the young man's ears.
"Vosegus? "
"Apollyon. "
"Current report. "
"Let me see… out of twenty-three, twelve are down. Looks like the rest are near the upper floors. "
Apollyon rested a hand on his chin, thoughtful.
"Any sudden changes after they noticed the counter-invasion? "
"Hmmm… "
"Vosegus…?"
Concern emerged from the his voice, driven by a small gap of silence in the reply until—
"Hunger. "
Even beneath the mask, his rapid, incredulous blinking was obvious.
"… What?
"
"I'm already hungry… but I forgot my cereal bars back at base… "
"What does that have to do with—"
"Oh wait, I found one in my coat pocket, lucky ♪ "
Apollyon's shoulders twitched as irritation seeped into his voice.
"Vosegus! "
"Ah, right, we're talking mid-operation, Apollyon. They're gathering in the meeting room on the top floor. "
Letting out a slight sigh, the boy listened attentively while rubbing his temples over the mask.
"Meeting room? "
"Meeting room. Spacious. Big oval table in the center with several chairs. You can see it clearly through the glass windows. "
"Okay, thanks. "
"Anytime. "
"Priestess? "
"What do you need now, Apollyon-yon? "
"How long until the Captain arrives? "
"He's at the intersection of Seventh Street and the main avenue leading to 'Innovations & Gadgets', maybe about 8 minutes? "
"Alright, thanks. "
After ending the mental communication, Coulobre nudged his colleague shoulder lightly.
"So, Apollyon? "
"We're heading to the top floor. They're in the meeting room. "
"Trying to consolidate their remaining numbers? "
"Probably. "
"Heh, makes it easier to burn them all at once. "
"Don't celebrate yet. "
"Roger that, 'Vice-Captain' of the Vice-Captain! "
Heading toward the emergency stairs, climbing with muffled steps.
Each step filled with that familiar feeling of uncertainty.
Reaching their destination, a single long hallway now stood between them and the meeting room.
"These pre-ending of operation chills never fail to give you goosebumps, right, Apollyon? "
Stretching with his hands behind his head while yawning, Coulobre took the lead.
"Yeah… I can agree with that. "
His voice carried a calm, slightly nostalgic, but clearly content tone.
"Okay… who does the honors? "
"What a stupid question, Coulobre…"
"Heh, true. "
"Hey, we're safe, right? I mean, most of the team's radios are dead silent… "
"Stop being a crybaby. There's only one entrance here, we pop whoever comes through, easy. "
"Yeah, besides… we've got our ace in the hole too. "
As the intruders tried to calm their nerves, a small knocking sound came from the door.
They raised their weapons in a hurry, fingers on the triggers, but were caught off guard by what followed.
The door gave way under a synchronized kick from Apollyon and Coulobre, who calmly entered the room.
"By the authority of the UN Public Security Committee, we of the Human-Esper Coexistence Threat Containment Unit will be taking you with us! "
Puffing out his chest with pride after saying this, Coulobre quickly noticed something was wrong, turning his head between the intruders and Apollyon.
"Apollyon, hey. "
"What? "
"This mission is elimination, you know? We already killed some of them on the way here. "
"… Iforgot. "
"No, you definitely just memorized that line from the manual, didn't you? "
"Oh come on, I memorized it because I thought it was cool, okay?! Happynow?!"
" … "
Watching the almost childish exchange between the intruders, the criminals hesitated for a moment.
However, without thinking twice, they quickly opened fire.
"BREAK."
Once again, the bullets lost force midair and shattered into the floor.
"Can't you see we're in the middle of a conversation?! "
"Yeah, so rude… someone should deal with them. Oh wait, that's our job, isn't it? "
"Ugh… just barbecue them already, Coulobre. I totally lost the vibe. "
"Letting your off-work mode slip, Apollyon~ "
"Silence! Just do your part! "
"Your wish is my command! "
Coulobre gave a quick bow to Apollyon and, with an elegant slide, turned toward the invaders, unleashing a wave of fire.
"Heh… that's it? I'd give it a B2… no, B3 for those lukewarm flames. "
A powerful wave of wind shattered the windows, extinguishing the flames in its wake.
"Phew… thanks, boss. "
"Heh… you should be ashamed of almost dying to a fifth-rate esper. "
Heavy footsteps followed as a bulky figure stepped forward, imposing himself before Apollyon and Coulobre.
"Acheap pyrokine and a kid with fifth-rate telekinesis? I was paid a high price for such a pathetic challenge… "
In response, Coulobre merely whistled briefly before making an ironic remark.
"Well, who would've thought the invaders had a boss esper, huh… "
On the other hand, the invader leader analyzed them from head to toe.
"Masks… black uniforms… so you're the infamous UN esper squad? Pathetic. "
Cracking his knuckles, the man flashed a nasty grin.
"Wow, someone's really full of himself, huh? "
"Patience, Coulobre. "
Yet neither of them seemed particularly intimidated.
" … "
"H-hey, they're not scared of the boss…? "
"No…? "
Even the other invaders were baffled, as veins bulged on their bald leader's forehead.
"You… pieces of shit! "
In a burst of rage, intense winds surged into the meeting room through the shattered windows.
"Oops, we made him cry. "
"We did? You did. "
"Details. Now if you would, Apollyon. "
Letting out a sigh, the boy raised his hand toward the incoming wind blast.
"Break. "
"Huh…?! "
And before the intense wave carrying shards of glass could reach them… it dissolved into a gentle breeze.
"What was that?! "
"Coulobre."
"Onit."
Taking advantage of the criminals' confusion, Coulobre quickly engulfed them in flames.
Only the leader managed to narrowly escape, shielding himself with a small wind vortex.
(What… was that? That wasn't telekinesis just now, right? Telekinesis can't affect something intangible, can it?)
His initial arrogance was replaced by concern and uncertainty, as his comrades' screams filled the room.
"Hey, hey, Apollyon-yon, that guy's cutting through my flames. "
Opposite the enemy, the two were casually chatting amid the chaos.
"And what do you want me to do? "
"Can't you do the same to the wind around him? "
"Idiot, that vortex is too tightly wrapped around his body. "
Apollyon gave Coulobre a light chop on the head and sighed.
"But what's the problem? I mean, we came here to eliminate them anyway. "
"Eliminate them, not bring the buildingdown. "
(…They're not focusing on me. Perfect. That works in my favor.)
Taking advantage of their distraction, the enemy esper prepared to launch another wind blast, but—
"… Apollyon, pattern 02/Coral. "
A deep, rough voice approached from outside.
"…!Roger, Captain. "
Immediately responding to the command—
"Break! "
Both the incoming wind blast and the vortex around the esper were undone in seconds.
"Butwh— "
Right after, someone leapt through the shattered window and, with a swift strike, severed the enemy's head.
"Hm… 7 minutes and 55 seconds. Could've been better, I guess. "
"Oh, yo Captain, you showed up right on time like always. "
"… How many traffic laws did you break this time? "
Ignoring the corpses on the floor, Coulobre casually greeted the Captain while Apollyon let out a tired sigh.
"… "
"Ah, you looked away from Apollyon's eyes, Captain~ "
"This report is going to be exhausting, isn't it… "
The Captain covered his mouth with his fist before regaining composure.
"Ahem. Anyway… operation complete. Priestess, relay withdrawal orders to Vosegus. "
"Gotit~ ! "
"Good. Apollyon, Coulobre, we're leaving."
"Roger. " / "oui. "
Nodding at their responses, the Captain turned toward the broken window and ran toward it.
"MASKUnitout. "
Followed by Coulobre and Apollyon, the three leapt out into the night.
However…
"MASK Unit… just as interesting as the rumors say. And that boy… I have no doubts, he must be one of them… "
A shadow-covered figure appeared at the edge of the broken window, watching where the three had gone.
"Things will progress fully now… "
Under a faint glow of moonlight, all that could be seen was a small, unsettling smile on the shadowy figure's face…