Silencers, the Fourth Wave.
Once the first three waves had wiped out most of the population, general attacks like those were no longer effective. After all, the few survivors, hardened by training and experience, had become true survival experts.
That's why the fourth wave is completely different. The Silencers are human… and at the same time, they are not. They are brainwashed humans serving "The Others." Their purpose is to find any survivor and kill them.
This plan is extremely strategic: if humans don't know about the Silencers, they will trust easily and end up being killed by them. But if they do discover them, they'll become distrustful and unable to rely on anyone, leading to disunity among the few survivors left on Earth. And in the end, once again… death.
Although the Silencers shouldn't have appeared this early according to the original story, Kaito didn't question it. It was the logical decision if they wanted to get rid of them.
Despite appearances, "The Others" didn't just randomly invade a planet. They had been planning the invasion of Earth for millions of years, the only planet they found suitable for them. That meant every step had been prepared in advance. Even the Silencers had been asleep for thousands of years, waiting for this moment. That's why Kaito understood their desire to eliminate a variable like him, who was messing up their plans.
Looking around, Kaito observed the Silencers. All of them armed. After a quick count, he concluded there were about one hundred and fifty men.
"Keep doing your thing, I'll handle things here."
"But…"
"Don't worry, I can take care of them."
After hearing that, Mashiro spread her wings again and flew into the sky, casting her magic against the flocks of birds.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Kaito started running.
Despite being Silencers trained as elite agents, their senses were still within human limits. That's why, the moment Kaito moved, he basically vanished from their sight.
He approached one and, using his strength, hurled him away. Though it might have seemed harmless, Kaito's speed—sixteen thousand kilometers per hour—combined with his strength of over five tons, launched each person he touched kilometers away with staggering force, resulting in instant death.
As for why Kaito chose this method, it was simple: with his power, a single strike would not only kill them instantly but also tear their bodies apart, leaving behind a horrible mess. And if he held back to avoid the mess, they wouldn't die immediately, which would be a waste of time. Although Kaito wasn't a picky person, if there was a cleaner way to do things, there was no reason to get dirty.
Shouldn't touching someone at that speed and with that strength completely destroy them, making it impossible to throw them? Don't think too hard. Simply: speedforce.
After throwing his problems away, Kaito returned to normal perception.
In normal time, only 2.5 seconds had passed. Watching his problems fly off into the distance, Kaito couldn't help but sigh.
"Yeah, this is way too boring. Now I understand why they always nerf Flash."
Though, by tossing them so far, he forgot one detail.
Mashiro, in the air, had just reached altitude and was preparing an area-of-effect spell. But she was abruptly distracted.
KRA-BOOMMM—THUD—CRAAASH—THOOM!
While the dome around her shook, Mashiro heard an unpleasant noise. A normal person wouldn't have noticed anything, but she realized it wasn't a single sound—it was countless booms packed tightly together, forming an explosion that lasted two seconds.
"What was that?"
She wondered, but had no time to think: the birds, tired of being attacked and now even more violent after being modified by "The Others," flew straight at her.
Mashiro didn't take it seriously. She simply raised her hand. From it burst a massive torrent of flames, like a flamethrower, lighting up the dark city for a few seconds. She didn't stop until every bird in front of her had been reduced to ashes.
After that, the birds no longer attacked her directly, so she had to chase them down to finish them off.
On the ground, Kaito gazed at the sky in awe.
Since Mashiro wanted to wipe out an entire horde, the most effective magic was fire, so she unleashed multiple fire spells. At one point, the sky rumbled as enormous meteors fell, only to explode before touching the ground.
As if in a competition, fire tornadoes spun and collided, burning everything in their path.
Whenever she noticed birds hiding somewhere, Mashiro created a wall of fire. A spell originally designed for defense, in her hands it became a brutal attack: she hurled the blazing walls to ensure every enemy was consumed at once.
Kaito simply watched. Since meeting Mashiro, he had almost forgotten how powerful she was. Not only was she one of the strongest rankers in the world, but she also belonged to the fairy queen race, the unique race, absolute masters of magic.
Although Kaito was far above her and could kill her before she even had time to cast a spell, he couldn't help but feel jealous of her flamboyant display.
After a while, Mashiro descended and landed beside him. Though sweat covered her forehead, her breathing was completely steady. She wasn't tired—she had only sweated from the heat of the fire magic.
"Do you have mana left?"
"I still have more than half," Mashiro replied as if it were nothing.
Kaito sighed and decided, for his own sake, to stop thinking about it.
"What do we do now?"
Mashiro looked at him in confusion, so he explained:
"The system notified me when I killed the Silencers. Even though they're not fully aliens, they still counted toward the mission."
Mashiro's eyes widened with excitement. Even for her, spending weeks without advancing in the mission felt like a waste of time.
"So we look for more?" she asked, ready to fly again with a predatory glint in her eyes.
But Kaito stopped her.
"Hold it. We just took care of this, let's rest for today."
Although reluctantly, Mashiro followed him, and they rested until noon. Then Mashiro took flight and soon found a camp of people.
Discreetly, they returned to the ground and approached a group. But when Mashiro was about to attack, she noticed something. She leaned toward Kaito and whispered in his ear, making sure the people didn't hear:
"Is that a Silencer?"
Kaito suppressed a laugh and shook his head. Mashiro sighed in disappointment, turned around, and was about to fly off again, but Kaito stopped her.
"You don't know who's normal and who isn't. What's the point of searching?"
Mashiro's expression collapsed in shock. Kaito observed her in silence.
"Excuse me..."
The sudden voice reminded them they weren't alone.
The man in front of them spoke. Although he addressed Kaito and Mashiro, he placed himself in front of the two others in his group, making it clear he didn't trust them.
"Who are you? I don't remember seeing you at the camp before."
"I'm Kaito, I'm new here. She's..."
"Mashiro."
Mashiro's reply was short and dry as always, so the atmosphere grew a little uncomfortable.
Kaito smiled kindly and spoke to ease the tension.
"Sorry about her, she doesn't talk much."
Maybe because of how strange they looked as a pair, maybe because of their appearances, or maybe because they seemed harmless, the man seemed to lower his guard before speaking again.
"Well, nice to meet you, Kaito and Mashiro. We were just heading back, do you want to come with us?"
Mashiro wanted to refuse, but Kaito didn't let her and accepted.
Once relaxed, the man talked the entire way as if he were reunited with his children.
"Haha, it's rare to see foreigners these days. You're Asian, right?"
"We're from Japan, we were on an exchange program when everything happened."
"That's a shame. Not being able to see your family must be horrible… But look on the bright side: at least you have each other, you seem close, are you?"
"She's my friend," Kaito answered.
"Kaito is my boyfriend."
At Mashiro's words, the man smiled and gave Kaito a few pats on the back.
"Haha, looks like you're the shy type. That's fine, don't worry."
Soon they joined the rest of the group and chatted until they reached the camp. Once there, they parted ways.
Although Kaito and Mashiro had no house in that place, due to the current situation there were many empty homes, so they picked one at random.
Inside, Kaito thought about the group that had accompanied them.
'In a few weeks, trusting someone that much would probably become impossible.'
"Kaito."
Mashiro called him. He understood what she wanted to ask: why they were there. However, he couldn't tell her the truth without revealing that he knew the future. So he simply deflected.
"Don't worry about it. Just trust me."
Though that excuse wouldn't have worked with anyone else, Mashiro wasn't an ordinary person. She simply nodded and trusted him.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)