Mist swirled through the narrow alleys of West Grimoir, clinging to the ground like faded memories. The night air carried a quiet chill, the kind that slipped beneath jackets and into bones.
Outside a popular noodle shop, a tired man rubbed his sore shoulders and began stacking chairs. Business had been good—too good, maybe. But just as he reached to pull down the shutters, his eyes caught an unusual figure across the street.
A girl stood alone in the open field, her military jacket stiff in the wind, face lit by the glow of a strange device in her hand.
What the hell is she doing out there?
"Hey miss, what brings you here at this hour?"
The girl with short hairs turned around and smiled. "Oh? there is still survey work in this area, sir. Consider it as a research."
"Research? Survey?"
The man became more confused as he looked at her. In addition to wearing military attire, she also used sophisticated tools that were very unfamiliar to him.
"What is that? I've never seen technology like that before," he asked.
"Oh, This? Just a standard military equipment nowadays," she smiled and patiently explained about the futuristic devices attached to her attire.
While they were still chatting, suddenly two men appeared and headed towards the field. Like her, they were also wearing military attire and carrying sophisticated equipment.
"Yo, Nimi—status check. You're taking forever."
"Udin, how many times do I have to say it? Not-My-Real-Name. Especially when we're on mission."
"Yeah-yeah, whatever."
"Alright, it's your turn to work. I want to eat noodles first."
"What? That's not fair!" Udin said.
"Sir, I'll have one bowl of the spiciest yamie soup, please."
Nimi escorted the man back to his shop because protocol required secrecy for their operation and not allowing anyone else to interfere. She wanted to eat at a well-known noodle shop in the Grimoir area, Soedirman restaurant.
The man finally agreed since there was only one customer, and he still had several portions of noodles left. Although he was still confused about the presence of these mysterious people.
"Well then Panji, shall we start now?" Udin asked.
Both of them looked serious and focused on preparing themselves to carry out their task, with two objects like small cabinets installed diagonally following the shape of the field.
While installing the two objects in the middle of the field at an oblique angle, Panji requested approval to carry out the operation. Udin nodded, indicating that everything was ready.
Meanwhile, from a distance of about 1.5 km from the field where Panji and Udin were located, a woman who was the team leader was already prepared with a sniper rifle from the top of one of the tall buildings.
"Hey Panji..."
"Hmm?"
"Sometimes it feels strange, why do we have to work like this? Our company should only sell alcoholic beverages."
"What can we do? We were recruited specifically because our background is from the military. It's already known that the job will be like this."
"The public wouldn't believe it. An alcohol company producing weird weapons, blablabla." Udin said sarcastically.
"People will definitely be more confused as to why an alcohol company has a sub-department like a Ghostbusters."
"Hahaha..."
They joked around while carrying out their work. But it's okay, because after this, maybe they will start getting serious.
Lisa listened to the entire conversation through her headphones. Occasionally, she sighed at the behavior of her team members who did not reflect professionalism.
"How is it, Leader?"
"Are you guys done talking?"
"Uh... Sorry ma'am~" Udin replied.
A shotgun emerged from Panji's back, Udin prepared with his strange spray paint, while Nimi monitored the movements and progress of the operation through a tablet.
The device was activated, forming an electromagnetic wave bond, spreading and gradually forming something surreal. A buzzing sound grew louder and louder, while the two men were getting more prepared. A thunder-like explosion sounded as a brief moment ended.
*Zryuungg!
The humanoid giant gradually appeared through the goggles. It was stunned and writhing in pain from the electrostatic shock earlier, letting out a roar of agony that could only be heard through their respective headphones.
'Khaaahh!!'
"Astral entity category: Level 2.8, Quantity: one, UF level: 10.9%," Nimi said.
"Wow, the UF level is over 10%?" Udin was stunned.
"Any other information?" asked Lisa, who was still observing the creature through her sniper scope.
"Positive hollow realm portal with a size of 2m."
The shop owner became suspicious again with the sound of the explosion that was heard. Mr. Soedirman became more curious about their activities and hoped that everything would go well without anyone getting hurt. He observed Nimi who was eating leisurely, talking to his colleagues from afar, and busy with his tablet.
"Is everything okay missy?"
"Relax, sir. Everything is still under control, you don't have to worry about us."
"But... what about the sound of the explosion earlier?"
To silence any further questions, the girl took out an SLR camera from her pocket and immediately took a photo.
*FLASH!
A very bright flash went off, and then in an instant... The man immediately fainted.
"I'm sorry, sir. We will help you to close your shop after this."
"Hey Nimi! Don't just use the camera recklessly!" Lisa scolded.
Of course, she realized that the noodle seller had been incapacitated. After all, she heard the sound of the camera shutter and someone falling from her headphones.
"Hehehe, sorry ma'am."
Meanwhile, Panji and Udin looked at each other in disbelief with what they saw. The giant creature looked in pain and helpless, while behind it was a newly formed gate.
They both decided to approach the creature cautiously. When they arrived at the side of the giant creature, they saw that it was actually a human with an incredibly large size. Its face was not visible, and its body was covered by a large cloak made of an unfamiliar material.
One of Udin's eyebrows then raised in curiosity. "This creature should be so strong according to the information from the headquarters... but it is already lying down like this just from the exposure to the gamma ray explosion."
"Well, it's called a gamma ray explosion, what do you expect?" Panji retorted, annoyed.
The creature growled again as it found its two enemies standing in front of it. It intended to attack, aiming its punch directly at the two of them.
*BRAGGH!
On the radar, the two personnel in the field managed to dodge the attack.
"Don't underestimate it," Nimi said as he observed the enemy's data. "This is the first time we have to prepare a solid strategy before carrying out the operation."
Without hesitation, Panji finally inserted the red glowing chip into the slot available on his shotgun. He immediately fired directly at the creature's face.
*Bang~ Bangg!
All four shots hit the target, causing the giant to be severely wounded and emitting particles of light from its wounds. These particles were then absorbed into the spray paint can held by Udin.
From the top of the building, Lisa was ready to fire her gun. When she saw her two comrades approaching the giant creature, she felt that it was the perfect moment for covering fire. However, she hesitated a bit to shoot.
"Where should I aim this bullet, Nimi?" Lisa asked.
"Its form is humanoid, unfortunately, it doesn't have perfectly functioning legs. Most likely, the vital points it has are the same as a human body," Nimi replied.
"Got it."
The woman implanted a glowing red chip, causing her gun to emit a strange aura. She took off her black sunglasses and aimed, preparing to shoot while calculating the shooting distance from the top of the building towards the target.
*BANG!
One bullet successfully hit, injuring it deeply. Lisa knew that one bullet was not enough, especially considering the target's large size. As a result, she fired again, up to 5 times and all were aimed directly at the head.
*BANG... BANG...
"As expected from one of the best snipers in our country," said Panji.
A combination of close-range and long-range attacks that can be considered successful.
But it's certain that this monster is still alive. Its ugly face became even uglier after being hit. As if still clinging to shreds of consciousness, it intended to attack the two humans in front of it again.
"Here, hold this."
"Huh? Why?" Udin became confused when entrusted with the shotgun.
Panji stepped forward alone, approaching. He activated something in both of his hands that he had been wearing since the beginning of the mission. A strange skeletal glove studded with a colored stone on both sides, now glowing dimly in the darkness of the night.
"Hey, isn't that only supposed to be used in emergency situations?"
"This is the right moment to test this device."
* * * *