Level Up Legacy

“These people are coming this way too fast for us to run away,” frowned Selena before looking at the screen. “It seems they are flying as well. If they are a part of the invading army, what reason do they have to….”

“Warning: highly-condensed mana is gathering outside the given parameters. Please take caution,” warned the monitor as the screen suddenly turned red. The two women frowned before watching countless lines appear on the screen, heading toward Avarice Dungeon.

“It must be the army,” said Aunt Sarah without surprise. “I never thought these worthless nuisances would be so quick to do something. This might be more than just a dungeon break,” she continued while lighting a cigarette.

Selena glanced at her aunty with slight fear. The change in her character was almost too much to handle, and she never thought a person could fake their behavior so much for their kids. She hid so much to make her children less worried and avoid dungeons.

“This should take care of the threat, right?” asked Selena with hope, as the countless lines on the screen looked threatening. But then, the ground began to shake due to the attack, and the lines met in a single dot. “A single target?”

“It seems to be the leader of the invasion,” the smoke blew from Aunt Sarah’s lips as she said. “This should take care of it.”

Selena nodded in agreement, but the next scene couldn’t prove them more wrong. First, the mana lines disappeared from the screen and gathered in a single point near Avarice. Then, the countless mana beams reappeared, but their direction was the opposite.

“Duck!”

Aunt Sarah jumped and pulled her to the ground, and the two were beside the bed in a second. The attack arrived a second later, as the windows exploded from the sheer air pressure. The explosions of countless mana beams deafened their ears for several seconds before they stopped.

“…it seems we were lucky, and no direct attack landed. However, was it luck or design?” frowned Aunt Sarah as she pulled away from Selena. “Since the invaders are already here, it might be that they missed our street on purpose.”

“They are here?” asked Selena, confused, before looking at the screen. It showed five blue dots standing outside their house. “How can this be… we had more time….”

“It does not matter,” frowned Aunt Sarah as she prepared her rifle. “We never had a chance to escape. These five have been targeting us from the beginning.”

***

“Is this the house, Captain Mino?” asked a swordsman who had a straw in his mouth. “I can’t sense a powerful presence. Have we been dispatched into another world for a weakling?”

“Do not underestimate the mission, or the queen will make your head roll,” said Captain Mino behind him, with a bald head and tattoos covering his face. “The signal is coming from this place. The target is here.”

“I agree with Kino, Captain,” said a woman with oversized robes that dragged behind her. “We don’t need the five of us to be here just to kidnap a single woman. Jono and Bono would have been enough!”

“We are the Brave Five, and giving less than our all is a sin!” said a giant that was almost four meters tall. “But I agree that just I, Bono, would have been enough!”

“Please don’t bring up my name so suddenly,” said a man sleeping on a cloud as he rubbed his eyes. “I thought I had to fight again.”

“That is our job, Jono…” said the woman with a speechless face. “How long are you going to sleep? Come down and let us talk.”

“I know that you just want to eat my cloud again, Tinto,” said Jono on top of the cloud as he rose higher. “My job is transportation, not fighting….”

“This is a heaven-grade mission, regardless of the difficulty. The Queen will be mad if we mess this up,” said Captain Mino from the back. “Do not let your guard down. As you all know, this person is related to the sorcerer.”

The five of them trembled at the mention of the sorcerer. It was the legendary monster who could do anything and brought wind and fire on a whim. If they did encounter that man, there would be no one who could stand up to him.

“There is a barrier around this place,” said Captain Mino as he stared at the spherical light surrounding the house. “Tinto, eat it.”

“Yessir!” said Tinto as she ran toward the barrier and opened her mouth. Then, she munched on the barrier as if it was cotton candy, devouring it piece by piece. The barrier began to grow unstable before it broke down. “Thanks for the meal!” said Tinto as her body began to grow fatter.

“Jono, fill it with clouds!” said Captain Mino from the back, and Jono groaned before his clouds began to enter the window. “Kino cut down the foundation!”

The swordsman touched his sword, and there was a flash of light. Then, the house rose with the clouds beneath it, rubbles falling from its different sides. Then, Kino took a step back as his job was done.

“Captain, the house is empty!” said Bono with his eyes scanning the place from above. “Are you sure the target is inside?”

“The signal is coming from this place, so be careful…” said Captain Mino before an object landed between the five of them. It was a small cylindrical object rolled between them. “…this is…”

BOOM!

A blinding light covered the street with the five soldiers in the center. The explosion shook the ground as the deafening sound traveled several blocks away. After the explosion, two figures emerged from the rubbles.

“Are they dead, Aunty?” asked one of the women, standing up. “That was a bomb that can rival an Astra-ranker attack. It must have cost you a fortune to obtain it.”

“It did, and there are no others,” said the other woman as she lit a cigarette with sweat rolling down her face. “However, it wasn’t enough.”

“Bono!” shouted Captain Mino as the giant fell face-first to the ground, his body charcoal from the explosion. However, the rest of the soldiers were left unharmed. “Bono, answer me!”

“Ugh,” the giant man groaned as he tried to stand up. “Bono will… never die….”

“That would be bad for us,” said the woman inside the house as she raised her rifle. “After all, our ultimate attack should at least take down one of you.”

“You wench!” shouted Tinto as she darted forward, the fat she gained disappearing rapidly. The woman fired her rifle, sending a streak of ancient fire toward the woman. The fire turned into a winged monster that struck the woman in the chest, pushing her back.

“Is this truly just a rei-ranker?” muttered Captain Mino as he stared at the woman smoking her cigarette. “Our intel is far from being right!”

“You had that information right, don’t worry,” said the woman as she aimed her rifle at them. “However, you did underestimate the technology of our world. This is how we survived the dungeons for thousands of years!”

“Don’t get arrogant, lousy woman,” said Tinto as she removed her burning robes. “I will eat you like a steak of cheap meat!”

“Calm down, Tinto,” said Kino as he advanced and crouched beside Bono, breathing his last. “Your sacrifice made this mission a success, Bono. You can now rest in peace.”

The swordsman removed his bamboo hat and placed it on top of the giant’s face, covering it as Bono breathed his last. Then, the swordsman’s sharp glare turned toward the woman. “

“Those who kill should expect to be killed,” said Kino with a sharp glint in his eyes. “Are you ready to place your life on the line, woman?”

“You should have been prepared to be killed the moment you stepped into our world,” said the woman as she flung her cigarette at them, and it landed in front of them. “I don’t expect that all of you are here for a chat.”

“Captain,” muttered the swordsman. “Let me unsheathe my sword.”

“Sever their wills to resist, Kino,” said Captain Mino as he stared at the corpse of his comrade. “Jono, take Bono back to his family. We are leaving this world since we found the target.”

Kino unsheathed his sword, and it was ethereal. The swordsman stared at the two women before one fired her rifle, and the other rushed forward to attack. Then, his sword stretched and slashed the two of them, passing through their bodies.

“Ah!”

The two women fell to the ground as Kino sheathed his sword. His rage was unmasked in his eyes, seeming to have wanted more than just cutting their wills to resist. Then, he walked toward the woman who killed his friend.

“What… have you done…” muttered the woman at him with her tired, weary eyes. “I have no energy to resist….”

“I am the swordsman who can sever anything, including the intangible,” said Kino as he stared down at her. “You no longer have the will to resist us.”

“Is that so?” said the woman as she raised her rifle again and fired, sending the swordsman burning through the air and landing beside the corpse.