The five of us shift our appearances as we float in a circle around the Vice Region's director.

It's a clear morning on the Dark Continent, with barely a cloud in the sky. With my advanced perception, I have a crystal-clear view of the entire Crimson City to my left and the slowly retracting abyss leading to an enormous black tower to my right.

The director is held up by my telekinesis, but his face contorts in confusion as we've all come to a stop.

The complete change in appearance from the man he knew as Mr. Freeman, and the distortion of the four guards sent here to greet him, only adds to his questions about the situation.

"What's all this about? Did I say something wrong? Is the Flame Emperor's origin a taboo subject? Am I not supposed to know?"

I shrug, looking the man in the eyes, then slowly spin him around in a circle so that he can get a good look at each of us while I continue to speak.

"No, of course you haven't said anything wrong. Out of any of the Regional Directors, I think you actually know more than even Mr. Freeman himself."

I can feel his heart rate speeding up as he takes in the new appearances of everyone, feeling the increase in pressure, realizing something is wrong here but not understanding what it is just yet. All he manages to reply once a full rotation brings him back to me is one line.

"You're... not Mr. Freeman?"

His face has returned to its pale state, as he's now positive something is terribly wrong, but I reply in a slow and calming tone, completely ignoring his last question.

"The Flame Emperor's origins? That is quite a long story... One that starts far back in the Vice Region, actually, if you look back far enough..."

I sigh, then grin and continue.

"However, I think it's best we start at a point that we can connect on. Earlier this year, there were some terrible surges that came out from the abyss and struck the Dark Continent pretty hard, especially in Sector 4. In fact, there was a labyrinth on the verge of collapse in Solara. Are you aware of this event?"

Brutus' mind wanders back in time, but as his face grows more pale and his heartbeat pounds out from his chest, all he can muster are a few more words.

"I—uh—yes, I do remember this..."

He gulps loudly as I use telekinesis to turn him slowly around in a circle again to get a good look at each of us for a second time.

"I don't know if you recall, there was a team of four new elites and a duo of seasoned elites tasked to handle this mission for you, yet betrayed on a whim for nothing more than a little business transaction with the current Sector 4 leader."

His face pales more, and sweat starts to trickle down his forehead as his eyes meet with each of ours, and he finally begins to recognize who is in front of him.

After multiple rank-ups, thousands of levels, trillions of mana control gained, and even multiple tiers of divine cores earned, all of us look far older, stronger, and more mature than we did the last time we met face-to-face.

I add to the point, looking off into the abyss, then back toward the director as he finishes his spin to look at me again, so I can set my point in stone.

"It's a shame only five of us could make it to our reunion. I'm sure Arie will meet you in some shape or form one day."

I let out a chuckle as I turn, unable to hold back my delight in seeing the psyche of this man crack once he hears me say one of my teammate's names.

He coughs, trying to murmur something out, but no words escape his lips.

The man shivers and shakes, while more sweat trickles down his temples, and I enjoy every second of this moment.

"It's me, Jay, the Flame Emperor."

With one hand, I create a small ball of black flames, and with the other, open a spatial magic portal to let the burnt remains of Mr. Freeman float out beside me.

"If it wasn't for you, I never would have had the extra push to become stronger. Exiled to the Dark Continent, forced to fake my own death, with the only path available to me being to rise through the ranks of the black markets rather than follow the simple rules of the Eight Great Regions..."

His pupils dilate, and he looks at my flames, then the charred bones and half-melted, barely recognizable gear that the Apex Region's director used to wear, and finally back into my eyes.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"This is all thanks to you. I took over each sector one by one and gained control of the trade industry on this continent. It was my only way to make connections with the powers back on the mainland, and eventually find my way into the Apex Region and kill your boss when he least expected it. I've got to say, without you, the downfall of the Eight Great Regions wouldn't have been possible."

I don't fully mean the words I say, but there is an underlying truth to it.

If I was never cut off from the association when I was, there's no telling where I would have ended up.

Back then, I was still naive to the world and the simple hierarchies of power and control that shape our everyday lives. It really was a blessing in disguise that I was thrown away from the structure that almost chained me to the Eight Great Regions, but it still feels awfully good to get revenge on the one who wronged me.

I extinguish the flames in my right hand and let Mr. Freeman's remains fall back into my storage, then rotate Brutus again in his shocked state.

Fisher is to my left, and he's the first to speak up next, with a similarly arrogant look on his face.

"Not so tough now, are ya, Mr. Director? I moved on to better things, but if Jay brings me an old enemy to vent my pent-up stress after a long day of work, who am I to refuse the chance to rub it in your face? Over four years of loyal work, and all you did was throw me away like a worthless tool..."

He shakes his head in disgust.

"Jay does have a point. If I wasn't thrown out to die, I probably wouldn't even be a B-Class hunter yet. Crazy how life works, isn't it?"

The director looks as if his soul has left his body as he stutters out a few words.

"N-No... You were all dead—there's no way—"

Lydia sends a kick flying into the director's stomach before he can finish his words.

He spits up an immense amount of blood and falls into a coughing fit.

Even though the kick used hardly a hundredth of her full power, just making physical contact with the man leaves divine threads in his blood-bonded armor and flesh that ripple through his body and instantly begin eating away at him.

The white-haired ice mage curses at the old man with an angry tone I've never heard from her before.

Abby creates a restoration circle beneath the old man to keep him from dying in the next few seconds, and this only gives Lydia more punches and kicks to let out her frustration.

For almost a full minute, the man is repeatedly beaten within an inch of his life and healed back to normal.

It's quite grotesque, but out of all of us, Lydia suffered the worst from the director's actions. She was captured and tortured for days, yet never gave up any information about us and believed wholeheartedly we would come to rescue her. She never even brought it up, or blamed anyone afterward.

It's only right I keep the director floating, and we all watch with straight faces as blood splatters through the air.

As all the life in the director's eyes fades away, and he's nothing but a husk of his former self from just minutes ago, Lydia finally lets out a sigh, and Fisher summons water magic for her to wash the blood from her fists and boots.

"That is all... I'm satisfied. It was nice meeting you again, Brutus. This will be our last encounter."

I continue turning him in mid-air, straightening his bowed head and slumped shoulders to look Abby in the eyes next.

She shrugs too and shakes her head.

"You know... At first I was mad at you, really mad. In my eyes, the Association was honorable, helping new hunters become strong and protecting citizens of the world from the monsters that escaped from dungeons. The day you let us die in the Dark Continent is the day I realized you're nothing more than a cog in a bigger system. This is all business to you, and every other higher-up in the Association is the same. Humans are just your tools to get tasks done. We're numbers and nothing more, so that's how I'll treat you now. It's a shame your territory is being taken over, but it's just business, right?"

She smirks, then nods to me to continue the rotation.

Maria's sharp blue eyes pierce through the director.

Deep down within her gaze, the carefree, bubbly, oblivious Maria is still present, but it's clear that countless battles and the betrayal that put her own life and those she cared about on the line has played a major role in shaping her new reality. It was one of the catalysts that allowed her to begin reaching into this endless pit of power she's been granted, and become ruthless.

"I wanted to show up to the Vice Region's headquarters and freeze that entire building to ice... Many times I considered it, but Jay always has a plan so I waited it out... I knew this time would come. A man who sacrifices his subordinates with no rhyme or reason, not even warning us that our mission was dangerous, selling us out for a partnership with Sector 4 just to make a little extra profit..."

She shakes her head, and her eyes glow blue while orange divine threads circulate around her body, ready for use.

She looks toward me, and I nod.

"I have no further questions for this man. All I wanted to do was show him how far we've come, and how big of a mistake he really made. I think Abby said it best: this is merely business. You decided to kill and replace us on a whim, so I guess we're just doing the same."

I smile, and we all activate our elemental magic to summon identical manifestations of handheld spears imbued with our soul energy.

Mine is dark red, Fisher's is cyan, Lydia's is white, Abby's is green, and Maria's is royal blue.

Simultaneously, we throw our spears forward, aimed at the man's heart. Some fly toward his chest, while others fly toward his back, but they're all aimed to kill.

The sky is lit up with colors as the five spears move toward their target.

Simultaneously, Abby activates her area of restoration and restore skill, and imbues her divine threads deep inside the skill and buff. Maria also activates her ice age buff and uses her royal blue soul energy to create a wave of ice, all imbued with divine threads as well.

The two waves of magic freeze the entire moment in time.

The director is hit in the heart by five spears, yelling out in pain as he realizes the world-ending error he's made. Yet, he's frozen solid milliseconds before he's killed. The man's mind and body are being constantly restored, while in constant pain on the edge of darkness, not allowing him to feel the bliss of death.

His yells cease as he's trapped inside the eternal prison of ice glowing with orange, blue, and green light.

All of us stare ahead at the scene and have a moment of silence, appreciating how far we've come.