First Failure

Huh? What's that?

I squint to focus on something, or someone, leaving a large trail of dust in their wake. Every tree in their path is destroyed, and even the ground shakes like an earthquake.

Something, or rather someone, leaps from afar, creating a huge hole in the ground and destroying everything within a huge radius. I see them approaching me.

He's a huge, old orc with white hair. He holds no weapons other than his fists. Before I can react, he grabs my face and drags me with his body toward a mountain that was kilometers away the last time I checked.

Before I have a chance to defend myself, he slams my head into the mountain, going through it and out the other side, until I lose consciousness.

???: "Five..."

I wake up in the sky, but not near the village. In fact, I'm watching the explosion Nebula made when we were training.

Huh? What am I doing here?

I fly down to the island and meet my sister.

Sun: "Nebula, what happened?"

She breathes slowly, clearly tired.

Nebula: "Is the training over? Because I used a little too much mana. But I'll be okay if we finish it here."

Sun: "Training? What happened to the village?"

Nebula: "Village?"

She tilts her head, confused.

Sun: "Yeah, the one that was being attacked by the orcs. Did you win while I was sleeping?"

Nebula: "I'm not sure I understand, brother."

D comes to meet us.

D: "Sun, Nebula, are you alright?"

Nebula: "Yeah, I just need a little rest."

Sun: "D, are you okay? Did that orc leader hurt you?"

D: "Thanks for your concern, Sun, but I'm perfectly fine. By 'orc leader', do you mean that kick you gave me while we were under the island?"

Sun: "No, I'm not much for metaphors. I'm talking about the orc attack on the village where we were fighting."

D: "When did it happen? I can't recall such an event."

Sun: "You tell me. I woke up in the sky, just a few moments ago. I don't know how long I was unconscious."

Nebula: "Sun, are you okay? Did my explosion knock you out?"

Sun: "No, I was... knocked out by an old orc."

D: "Are you sure? You were in the sky for less than a minute, Sun. I didn't see any orcs around."

Sun: "Wait, something's wrong. Oh, let's check out the village! There might be survivors!"

I jump and begin to fly away.

Nebula: "Sun, where are you going?"

Sun: "Just follow me! I'll show you the way."

We arrive close to the village, still in the sky to observe everything.

Sun: "You gotta be kidding me..."

Nebula: "Did something happen here? It looks like a normal village."

Did they have time to fix all the buildings before I woke up? What about...

I look at the mountain that the orc and I pierced through.

Sun: "It's intact..."

D: "Did you experience something here, Sun?"

Wait, that voice I heard over and over after I fell unconscious... it sounded like a countdown. First it was eight, when I woke up in the coffin, then...

Nebula: "Is something wrong, brother? You can trust us with any of your issues."

But why after I fell unconscious? Did someone kidnap me, make everyone forget the incidents, and whisper a number in my ear? No, that sounds unreasonable.

Sun: "Nebula, is our guild, Red Moon, closed as of now?"

Nebula: "Yes, we haven't been doing any quests in a while, so the guild has closed it until we reopen it."

Sun: "You two said we were training right before coming here, right?"

Nebula: "Yes, a few minutes ago."

D: "Correct."

Does this mean... the attack hasn't happened yet?

Sun: "Alright, can we see the ninja family for a second?"

Nebula: "What do you plan to do?"

Sun: "We're reopening our guild. I want to recruit their daughter."

D: "Shizuru?"

Sun: "Yeah. We're out of time, so we'll have to get there without notice."

D: "Are you sure they won't try to kill us?"

Sun: "I have a plan."

We go to their island. I wave my hands in the air.

Sun: "Hey, we're not here to fight! Can we talk for a moment?"

A girl becomes visible before us. She's wearing all black, including the face mask. Her hair is straight and short, with blunt bangs.

Shizuru: "How did you know I was here?"

Sun: "Your specialty is stealth, right? Of course you can turn invisible."

Shizuru: "What do you want?"

Sun: "Shizuru... I mean, Kagehara-san, I want your help."

Shizuru: "With what? What do you have to offer?"

Sun: "You don't have a guild, do you? You can join ours. We'll split the money and rewards."

Shizuru: "No."

Huh? Well, she can be a little blunt sometimes.

Sun: "Are you afraid of secrecy? The association can hide your name."

Shizuru: "No."

She becomes invisible.

Sun: "Wait, please. Do you know the Merchant? He has equipment for all classes, including ninja. His arsenal is the best, and he has all prices."

Shizuru: "Did you come here to advertise him?"

Sun: "No, I'm sorry if it seemed that way. Your skills are perfect for an upcoming mission, and they pay well. Of course, I have a plan, and I would never let any of my allies die."

Nebula: "Please, Kagehara-san. We need you. You can be invisible all the time if you want."

Nebula... Thank you for trusting me.

D: "My masters are trustworthy, I can guarantee that."

She becomes visible again, looking at the ground and holding her other arm shyly.

Shizuru: "It's a promise."

We fly over the city, me holding Shizuru since she can't fly.

I didn't think she would accept so easily...

I stop in midair, looking for someone.

There she is.

I land in front of the nurse.

Sun: "Don't worry, we're not your enemies. I saw a village on fire nearby. Do you want us to take care of the intruders?"

She nods, startled. We head to the village's surroundings and stay behind a hill.

Sun: "Kagehara-san, can you infiltrate the buildings, find the leader, and kill him? He holds a huge trumpet that can call for reinforcements. I could, but your power is perfect for this."

Shizuru: "Call me just Shizuru. What is his weakness?"

Sun: "Really? Okay, Shizuru. I don't know what his weakness is, but don't let him use the trumpet. You have a dagger, right? I'm sure it's strong enough to kill them if you catch them by surprise."

Shizuru: "Correct."

Nebula: "We'll be watching from here. And I've also opened a telepathy channel for you, so ask for help if needed."

Shizuru nods, becomes invisible and enters the buildings, while Nebula examines all the enemies in the village. After a while, she finds the leader.

Nebula: "Shizuru, we found him. Please ignore the other orcs, we'll deal with them after you leave."

She infiltrates the building and goes behind the orc. We see what's happening in the room through a small portal.

There's an old man kneeling, being held down by an orc. He wears beige clothes and a hat, and his long beard is white. Another hostage wears all red, including his cap, except for his white apron. He smirks, even though he's coated in blood.

Shizuru slits the leader's throat and severs the hand holding the trumpet. She takes it with her, makes it invisible like herself, and runs out of the building, crashing through the wall before anyone can react.

The archer fires an arrow at the hole in the wall. Shizuru counterattacks with her trumpet, shooting the arrow at another orc and killing him. The armored beast rushes toward her, as she was walking straight ahead. He begins to reach her when D breathes fire at him, which he blocks with his massive shield.

D flies into the building and rips off the head of the orc holding one of the hostages. He then spits the head at the other, killing him. The leader punches D in the head and throws him off the building. Then he runs and leaps into the sky. He spots me and Nebula and heads our way. I stand up.

Sun: "Nebula, focus on his guards."

I jump and kick the leader in the head. He bites my leg, which explodes. I lose my leg, but the leader dies.

Nebula fires an air slash at the armored orc, cutting him in half, along with his shield. He throws the top half of his shield at Nebula. The archer fires an arrow at me, which I catch with my hand and throw back at the shield, exploding it. D grabs the archer's body with his mouth and brings him to me. I punch him in the head.