"……"

A pain in the ass arrived.

He got up to shake off the dark smoking blood, then looked at a woman in her early 20s, gently stepping away from the pool of black smoking blood while the wind swirled around her in a protective barrier. She walked in front of Darius, and with a confident smile, she laughed while announcing joyfully.

"Good job, soldier! You held on well until we came. But now you can rest since I, the Mage Dia, am here."

"Yeah… thank you for your assistance."

Darius sighed tiredly, but then a strong killing intent struck him from the back, making him roar furiously.

"Watch yourself!"

""?!?""

Everyone twitched at his sudden roar, especially Dia, who just wanted to reach out for a handshake.

"S-sir soldier? Is there something wrong?"

"… Miss Dia. You are aware that we’re part of the Main Army’s elite soldiers, yes?"

She tilted her head confused after Darius asked with a visible frown. But her confusion only deepened as she answered, unsure.

"Yes…? We are aware of that, since we’re also from the Main Army."

"….."

If you’re also from the same power, then how the fuck are you not aware of the elite’s hatred for superhumans?

Darius’ shout just now was aimed at the members of the 1st squad together with Jack, since all that killing intent would've alarmed her if not for his timely warning.

One thing that every elite soldier had in common was their hatred for superhumans. It wasn’t because they were stronger than them; it was because of how much they were disregarded and used as cannon fodder so the superhumans could shine brighter. And this was no secret. While training, the generals would often use comments such as Be sure to make yourselves useful enough so to at least lower the superhumans burdens, you damn insects! Be good tools and get used by them as much as possible! It should be your honor!

Because of such comments and because of just how differently the superhumans were treated in comparison to them, the elites, it made for a collective hate to grow within the elites rounds, making everyone release killing intent almost unconsciously the moment they saw a superhuman.

What was even more annoying was the fact that superhumans were entities that appeared from within the void. They appeared just like the monsters the elites have such a hard time against. They are just normal humans that got stuck inside the void, later to be released into this world once again and wake up with incredible powers. The way the elites saw it was: "They gained incredible powers without working for them, without spilling blood, tears, and sweat. They were just lucky, and now they’re suddenly gods among humans. While we, who worked to the brink of death, are still treated like slaves even after reaching the peak of human physical capabilities."

By how she looks, this girl was most probably just a simple student before she got sucked in. The amount of training she had was minimal, so her mind might as well be that of a simple brat with great powers… Sigh~ I better calm the boys down.

As an elite, there was nothing Darius or anyone else could do. No matter how much they trained and no matter what they’d do, they would never gain such incredible powers, and they would never be recognized by their superiors as anything more than tools, mere disposable objects.

"Ms. Dia, was it? We will give out a full report at a later time. For now, please secure the group of civilians from the tourist resort at the top. My squad's defending it right now, so everything should be fine."

"A-alright… Thank you for your work."

"You too."

She then flew away with a complicated look on her face and just rushed towards the peak, the other elites clenching onto their weapons with trembling hands.

[Darius here. Back-up has arrived at the landing point, and a wind-type mage is on her way towards the resort. Squad 7, everything alright there?]

[Andrew here. Everything’s fine, but… What do you mean by wind type? A battle-mage? We requested a medic, damn it!]

[I know, but just keep it to yourself. Don’t disturb the mages, and let them do their job. After she secures the area, start searching the forest for any possible spiders left behind. Also, be sure to not release any killing intent like some idiots did.]

Darius glanced at Squad 1, and they snorted while avoiding his gaze, feeling wronged and irritated.

[Tsk, fine… The moment we see whoever's coming, we’ll give a quick report, then start sweeping the area. Happy?]

[Sigh~… Alright. That’s good enough. Over.]

[Good. Over.]

The aircraft landed without a problem, and then another group of three superhumans appeared from inside, checking on the survivors. Darius turned to the others and commanded,

"Whoever’s wounded, go there to get treated. The rest from Squad 1 return to the village and continue searching for any possible survivors or monsters. We still have about 20 hours until our aircraft comes back."

"… We’re fine."

Are you, really?

The one who got slammed on the tree was barely standing but would rather get first aid from his comrade than ask for help from a mage. The same was true of the other person, who most probably got a few ribs busted after a spider slammed him for not paying attention. They were in rags, but still wouldn’t ask for help from a healer mage.

Shaking his head, Darius signaled to Jack to wait for him while he went to the aircraft to give his report.

.

"You mean to say that you and your squad stopped a total of more than 30 monsters on your own, of which 6 were mid-ranked? Then you also assisted Squad nr. 1 against a high-ranked monster and even dealt damage to it?"

"We were lucky."

The captain of the aircraft stared baffled at Darius while he answered back calmly. Obviously, they were able to tell if one was lying about such things or not after looking through the video camera in their masks, so the captain was visibly shocked to see no spark of a lie in Darius’ eyes. However, he was still very skeptical.

"So what you’re saying is, the report of there being around only 20 spider-type monsters with ranks between lowest and mid… was false."

"It was indeed wrong. You can ask the civilians for further details if my words sound too exaggerated. You can also check the cameras for definite proof."

Rather than exaggerated. The report was so systematic that it would make it even harder not to believe it. His report was cold and precise, without adding any personal feelings into it whatsoever.

"Hmm… Also, you said that squad nr. 2 was wiped out by the mid- and high-ranked monsters, while the captain of Squad nr. 1 was also killed by the high-ranked monster?"

"Yes sir."

"Bad Luck I guess. Well, you guys did well for some tools either way. Keep it up with the hard work, and you might get a raise."

"…."

I simply can’t get mad anymore. I just find it amusing at this point.

Darius sighed with a light chuckle and then got up, excusing himself since he still had something to do.

As they cleaned up the area and brought more survivors to the landing spot of the rescuing resort, 20 more hours finally passed, and their aircraft arrived to bring them home. Other rescuing squads came to clean the area and gather the dead, but at this point, it had no longer anything to do with Darius and his squad.

Later that day, everyone was exhausted. They couldn’t sleep for about 38 hours at this point, but the captains didn’t care since they summoned everyone outside the barracks for another morning run.

"That fucking cock-sucker... Not letting us sleep even 7 hours…"

"Just do what you have to do and go to sleep in pauses."

"….. Really, I’m starting to recognize you less and less lately. Since when were you so cool about how we’re being treated?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"By accepting it, you start to not care anymore, and then it no longer affects you. Try it; it’s good for your mental health, and it also strengthens your mind."

"What bullshit…"

While taking laps, Andrew was complaining about their treatment like always, while Darius simply listened or gave some advice now and then, not really minding him while just doing as instructed.

The week finally ended, but on Saturday they still had training to do, with Sunday being the only actual free day for them.

Everything was going just like before, but only one individual was doing things differently from before.

"…."

With a notebook in his hand, Darius observed the notes he wrote throughout the week in great detail.

Spies discovered till now, nine. Well, four of them already died, so now it’s five. Starting this week, it’s time to start cleaning.

His eyes exuded killing intent while multiple plans were forming in his head.

After a while, Monday started, and just like always, everyone woke up to start the morning training.

As everyone was running, a group from the medical department quickly came to the general and whispered something in his ear.

"What!?"

With a loud shout of disbelief, he glanced at the doctors and quickly followed them towards the infirmary.

"I wonder what happened."

"Who knows? Maybe another general sprained his leg."

"Kekeke, I’d wish."

Everyone who saw him so flustered thought that maybe something fun happened, starting to chuckle on their own, while Darius also smirked, but for another reason.

Late that night, Darius sneaked inside the infirmary, where one of the spies from Squad 1 was resting. He was the one who got slammed by a mid-ranking spider onto the tree, severely damaging his insides. Darius then added some coagulant inside the antibodies that were connected to his perfusion and quickly left the area. For a few hours, coagulant was slowly introduced inside his system, making his blood thicken to the point where he risked a heart attack.

And by the looks of it, I guess he already died since the dose was quite concentrated.

The day then continued, and after finishing lunch, they all went to train with the heavy weaponry and explosives.

"Alright. Let’s see… Do I remember how to use these?"

Darius grabbed a rocket launcher and aimed at a wooden barrack made in a hurry for testing. With killing intent, he aimed at it and pressed the trigger.

-BOOM!-

Through the debris and smoke, if one were to look clearly, they could see something red flying as well, falling heavy and getting buried in the sand right after.

The second spy from Squad 1, eliminated.

Yesterday, on Sunday, Darius brought more people outside for a drink. After making sure that everyone was wasted and passed out, he brought the guy from Squad 1 and placed him inside a testing barrack. He cut his neck to have him bleed slowly, then blew him up completely to erase any other possible clues.

Being late at night, nobody saw him in the dark bringing the member of Squad 1 into the testing barrack, as he evaded any possible cameras.

Shortly after, another explosion made everyone stop what they were doing. It wasn’t because it was strange to hear explosion noises at a heavy-weaponry training session; it was because the place it came from was the mines area.

"W-what the fuck? Did a mine just explode?"

"Weren’t those just for training purposes? How the fuck did they explode like that?!"

The training mines would normally just release a smoking spark once they were triggered. The training was to find and defuse mines. But it seems someone failed to defuse the mine, and it exploded, killing them instantly.

"D-Darius! That’s Dave!"

Andrew quickly came to Darius with a pale face and looked in fear at the cloud of dust that was rising in the air.

"What the hell is going on?! We barely survived a ridiculous mission, but we’re dying in training! General, what the fuck?!"

"C-calm down, you bastards! We’ll see what happened and find out the truth as quickly as possible!"

"You fuckers are being careless to the point where you don’t give a fuck about us anymore! That’s the truth! Just what the fuck are we fighting for here? Only to end up killed by our superiors?!"

Darius also interfered, and after hearing his words, the others also started shouting, annoyed.

"S-silence! Quiet down, I said! You dare turn against your general?! Are you not afraid of punishment!?"

"Yeah? Well, I want to see you punish us all! You motherfucker!"

"We request compensation for our services! We’re risking our lives for nothing!"

"If you have the guts, then kill us all now!"

Darius continued to instigate and demand while the others followed as they also shouted annoyed in fear and anger, a riot beginning at the most dangerous place: the testing grounds for heavy weaponry and explosives.

The general understood that with a wrong move, he could risk having this mob of angry elite soldiers rise up and destroy everything after taking over the weaponry.

"We’re not leaving this place until further news! Who knows what might kill us later!"

"Yeah!"

"Fuck you, general!"

"Bring us the compensations, or we’ll blow up your fucking house!"

The protest continued, and Darius slowly retreated as he observed snipers taking positions in multiple places.

They gathered the defense unit to start counterattacking in case things escalated beyond control. They won’t do the first step because we can start wreaking havoc at the first sign of aggression from their parts. The wisest idea would be to have them retreat now.

Just as Darius thought, the snipers lowered their weapons but still remained in position, waiting for further orders. After a bit, the chef of the camp appeared before them and asked for details from the general.

After getting filled in with what happened, he roared at the general furiously.

"And why the fuck are you guys not verifying the weapons before using them, huh?! Must I tell you what to do every fucking time?!"

"F-forgive me, sir!"

After the chef scolded the general, he walked in front of everyone and announced simply,

"This was a fault on our part, and I promise, as the chef of one of the Main Military Camps, that it will never happen again."

The chef bowed his head, and everyone was left baffled. Nobody expected the big boss to actually lower his head to simple tools like them. They were firmly trained soldiers who wouldn’t be surprised even if a grenade suddenly exploded by their side. And just the fact that they froze in place at this mere action showed just how unnatural the event in front of them was.

Not leaving any time for the soldiers to recover from the shock, the chef continued on.

"And I know that a simple apology won’t mean much. Because of that, I made sure to raise everyone’s salary by two times, to also give you Saturdays free, and, since I heard some unpleasant news, the reports for the future missions will be more precise and with a lower chance of misinformation. I wish this could lower your dissatisfaction for just a bit in the memory of our fallen brother, Mr. Dave."

""…………..""

Everyone calmed down and couldn’t say anything more to protest. Their general was also changed, and they got an offer better than they could ever dream of. The only one unimpressed was Darius.

Pfft, double the salary? So basically, from 1 gram to 2 grams? What’s 1 gram more? It’s insignificant. And free Saturdays with better reports? This motherfucker… That’s still less than the minimum required for soldiers, you bitch. We’re still having it ridiculously bad if we were to compare it with the Blue Spark Army or the Dark Fortress Forces. He bowed not to show his sincerity; he did so only to calm the spirits. That old fox knows how to manipulate.

However, Darius was the only one who knew that. The others still saw all of this as a great advantage, agreeing to the chef’s words and accepting his bow.

The day ended without further training, and many decided to take the first bus to Sin City for a drink to celebrate the good changes and to drink in Dave’s memory.

Sin City was the nickname of the nearest city to the military base, with the soldiers going there to relieve stress with prostitutes, drink till the next day, or do other things that they normally couldn’t do inside the military base.

"Oh? Darius, you’re coming too?"

"That’s new. You would barely even buy a drink, wishing to keep the money so you could buy a car."

"Have you woken up from your crazy dream? Just fuck that car and let’s go drinking, man. Or even better, let’s meet some girls."

Andrew and the others were all laughing with tired faces, saddened by the death of their brother.

Darius on the other side smiled calmly and shrugged his shoulders while waiting for the bus with the others.

"Today’s different. I’ll go wherever you guys are going. So let’s not be stingy."

"That’s our brother!"

They all patted his shoulder, and after the bus arrived, they went inside and waited for about an hour to reach Sin City.

.

"Hey, pretty boy~."

Just as he got off the bus, a prostitute called him out, giggling with two others by a bar.

Cigarettes; we have cheap cigarettes…"

An old man whispered while walking around other people to sell stolen cigarettes.

"Cheap weapons! We give one box of ammos as a bonus!"

A man shouted from a stall where he exposed more weapons, himself having a shotgun in hand just in case anyone had a crazy idea to try and rob him in broad daylight.

"We got dopamine for normal humans, mages, and even Spirit Wielders. Cheap dopamine."

"Spirit pills, from a quarter to half full. Take one and have your life saved!"

Right opposite the first one, another two stalls were sitting one beside the other, selling their own drugs and elixirs for cheap, as they were most probably robbed from others or found on those killed by monsters.

"……."

Just like a bazaar or an open market, prostitutes were flirting for a customer, young kids or old men were going around selling cigarettes or other stolen products, and vendors shouted out selling guns, explosives, dopamine for replenishing stamina, and spirit pills that accelerated the regenerative abilities.

"This place looks like crap."

He chuckled as if to himself while looking around at the taverns. The city was surrounded by large walls to prevent any possible monsters from invading the area or from bandits going wild as they pleased. Although it was a place where bandits, mercenaries, and soldiers alike were having fun or were doing business together, there was an unspoken rule that said that if you try to play the king of the mountain, then expect to be bitten by the mountain itself. That means no one was pardoned for starting trouble inside Sin City. You either have fun or do business. But don’t you dare burden others’ businesses with whatever reason you might have. That means any fight must happen outside of any bar or building. Whatever product's sold, even if it’s stolen goods, you either buy it or piss off; you can’t fight for it with the seller. If you’re being ripped off, then that’s your problem for not being careful, and if you start whining or cause trouble, expect to be removed by force.

It was a lawless place. But because it was lawless, nobody was obliged to swallow anyone’s crap.

-BOOM!-