Global Hero Federation HQ, Germany. Belinha was inside a boarding room, standing in front of a table with several silhouettes sitting around it.
"That was my report for everything that happened with the Calamities earlier."
Belinha wore a frown on her face and her tone carried anxiety.
"As usual, the Calamities don't follow logic."
The silhouette at the head of the table sighed.
"They're basically training them just to make things more interesting."
"Who even does that?"
"A group of monsters at their core."
"Psychopaths."
Several silhouettes spoke up one after the other.
"Belinha, are you certain they said only Sinvula and Alala will fight Kismet?"
The Head Silhouette asked.
"Yes, sir. They said their subordinates will watch from the sidelines."
"What about Mishma? Are they taking part in this little game?"
"As far as I can see, no. Mishma spoke and acted as if she were a spectator in all of this."
"Then all is not lost."
"Sir?"
Belinha showed a confused expression.
"Don't get me wrong, Kismet is in an extremely dangerous situation. However, there's still hope as long as Mishma doesn't get involved."
"….Are you saying we can get lucky against Sinvula and Alala but not against Mishma?"
"Exactly. While we don't know what their true powers are, Sinvula and Alala's abilities seem to follow the laws of this world…Mishma's doesn't."
Belinha couldn't help but silently agree.
"Belinha, your team needs to develop as fast as possible in order to survive. You need to give it your all to survive this game. Don't think about going on the defensive for 10 minutes; it will only anger them. Give them what they want, a death battle with a time limit. In those 20 minutes a week, give your all to slay the gods who knocked on your door."
A few hours later, Belinha had returned to the Cook Islands.
"They say all that, but still haven't given us any reinforcements."
"Well, if they did, the Calamities might get upset and throw out the game entirely."
She and Batu were sitting on the beach while in the shade of a palm tree.
"So they'll just come and kill us if we add anybody else to the game?"
"Pretty much."
The wind blew Belinha's dark hair in her face.
"Great."
She flung herself back and laid in the sand.
"Where are the others anyway?"
"Fishing for Tuna."
"What?"
Belinha looked at Batu with obvious confusion.
"Mira and Kira were talking about how they heard tuna was extremely delicious when freshly caught. Mikel mentioned that there were tuna near the islands. Celso shouted he wanted to catch some and the twins agreed, the rest was history."
"How carefree."
Belinha sat up and clenched her fists.
"Maybe I wasn't harsh enough with training?"
Batu saw the flames of hell burning in her eyes.
(Changing out of my fishing gear was the right choice!)
Somewhere in the world, Bellum Company Secret Island. In the mansion where the top brass of the Company lived, Hiraya was sleeping in her room on the second floor. The door to her room silently opened and someone entered the room.
"As I thought, she still hasn't woken up. It's almost noon too."
Scarlett, who was in her military uniform, approached Hiraya's bed after letting out a sigh.
"Raya, wake up. It's time to get up."
Hiraya mumbled something incomprehensible in her sleep and rolled over. Scarlett grabbed her shoulder and started to shake her. Hiraya didn't respond so Scarlett lifted her by leg and threw her across the room. Hiraya slammed into the wall and cracked it. She lay on the floor for a bit before a yawn escaped her mouth. She opened her eyes and looked around.
"What time is it?"
"It's time to get up. Every one of your soldiers has already begun training. As the Supreme Commander, you should've been up before them."
Hiraya sat up and stretched her body while Scarlett lectured her.
"Also, can you please fix your deep sleeping? I don't like throwing you across the room every morning."
"My body is conditioned to protect itself even in my sleep, so I don't take damage from that. Attacking me will make me wake up faster."
Hiraya sprang to her feet. She was in a koala-themed pyjama onesie
"Thanks for waking me up. I'll freshen up and be down in a minute."
Scarlett nodded.
"We'll be waiting in the kitchen."
She left soon after.
"Alright."
A smirk crawled on Hiraya's face.
"Let's see what Alala's new life is gonna be like."
Nearly 30 minutes later, Alala was sitting in the dining room eating an English breakfast while operating a tablet.
"You're looking at a list of countries that our espionage division confirmed turned against us after the incident with Kismet."
Phobos placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of her as he spoke.
"I say we have some troops from Deimos' army infiltrate these countries just in case they forget their place."
"Killing the politicians and military leaders in one swoop to paralyse the country, right?"
Phobos nodded. She bit into her toast as she scrolled the list.
"To think this many countries are being led by shortsighted fools."
"That is normally the case. That's why we always have wars to fight in."
Eris handed her another tablet.
"This is a list of jobs we've been commissioned during our vacation."
"How many countries are on both lists?"
"Around 3, Commander."
Alala wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"So three countries have sprung traps for us?"
"Or they could be trying to use us one final time before they turn against us?"
Deimos asked while looking at the list.
"Your orders, Supreme Commander?"
Alala drank some of her hot chocolate before answering with a smile.
"Humour them."
"Roger."
Deimos exited the dining room while mumbling.
"Where should I bury the bodies? Or would it be better to display the corpses for everyone to see?"
Alala looked at Eris and Phobos.
"You two pick the jobs you want from the rest. Be sure to be extra careful since both the clients and their enemies will be wondering if we're weakening."
"We will only use our soldiers and won't cooperate with outsiders."
She nodded at Phobos and stood from her seat.
"Are you going to collect the new recruits?"
Eris asked while handing Alala her sabre.
"Yeah, gotta make sure we get our money's worth."
Santiago, Panama. The night was illuminated by the flames of burning buildings while the sounds of explosions echoed. People dressed in punk-style clothes chased thugs who were desperately trying to escape. The insignia of black clouds behind a red skull struck fear in these thugs. A bald and muscular man watched as these thugs were caught and dragged kicking and pleading. Some of these thugs were dropped at his feet.
"B-Bastion! Please, it's all a misunderstanding!"
"That's right! We didn't do anything to disrespect Iron Rain in anywa—"
Bastion silenced one of the thugs with a stomp to the face.
"The rambling and excuses of lowlife thugs mean nothing to me."
He forced the thug head into the ground until the asphalt cracked.
"I'll ask once. Where is your boss and his executives?"
"W-We don't know! The boss—"
Bastion crushed the thug's head under his feet staining his boot with flesh and blood.
"Kill them all and burn all their business associates to the ground."
"Yes, boss!"
Bastion turned his back, and the sounds of gunshots and screams created a medley behind him.
(Kiara's plan seems to be going without a cinch.)
He looked around at the city.
"Too bad this beautiful city had to be sacrificed."
A ballad of violence entered his ears as he walked away.
"Well, considering I'm the one destroying it I must sound like a hypocritical maniac....The Boss's madness must be rubbing off on me."
Enugu, Nigeria. Sinvula was sitting on a bench in a park in civilian attire.
"Why does it feel like someone is complimenting me?"
"Maybe they were talking bad about you."
Kiara approached him dressed in a business suit.
"Then it must be Bastion cursing me again."
Sinvula laughed as Kiara sat beside him.
"So how did it go? Did your grandmother throw a fit?"
Sinvula shook his head.
"She took the news surprisingly well. I thought she would be against it, but she
said as long as I'm having fun then I can do as I like. I'm just not allowed to dishonour my Igbo blood by appearing weak. Also, I must be the winner at the end. Otherwise, I'm excommunicated from the Igwe Tribe."
"That's taking it well?"
"Compared to how she was when she found out I took the name Sinvula, a rain god from a different tribe, this was nothing. My mother had to stop her from trying to execute me."
"...Yeah. I'm okay never meeting her."
Sinvula laughed. Kiara looked at him before speaking with a little hesitation.
"And your grandfather? Did you speak with Lord Christoph about your plans?"
The smile dropped from Sinvula's face.
"Only my maternal family deserves answers from me."
His voice lacked compassion or emotions.
"Besides, Christoph is already aware."
He smiled once again but this smile was one of mockery.
"I'm sure it's causing him quite the headache."
Kismet's Base, Cook Islands. It was late in the evening and Impactor was walking along the beach with a bunch of bananas for some reason. As he was walking, he spotted someone sitting on the beach facing the ocean.
"Belinha?"
He approached Belinha while continuing to eat bananas. He called out to her once he reached her.
"What's up?"
Belinha looked up at him and he noticed a piece of paper in her hands along with a pen.
"What are you doing?"
"Writing my will."
"Seriously?"
"What would you say if I said yes?"
"Then I would call you an idiot."
Impactor sat next to her.
"Because I gave up before the fight even started?"
"That's right....Banana?"
Belinha looked at the banana he handed her and took it after a while.
"Well, I was just joking."
She took a bite.
"That's great, because I can't put my life in the hands of someone who already gave up before the fight."
"So what? You would fight the Calamities on your own?"
"That's right."
"You really don't fear death huh?"
"It's more like I don't worry about it too much. I'm just focused on surviving. What I need to do to survive doesn't matter because I'm gonna do it."
"What if you had to bow down and beg for your life."
"Then I'd rip my heart out of my chest."
"....You're serious, aren't you?"
Impactor nodded. Belinha sighed.
"Once again you've proved that you're like a barbarian."
"I think I'm a warrior though."
"They're the same thing in my eyes."
Belinha flung herself back and laid on the sand.
"I'm different. I too want to survive but I have no problem begging for my life if needed. I mean, death is scary."
"Even though you're immortal?"
"There's no such thing as true immortality. I'm just harder to kill than the average person. However, I can be killed."
"Nah, you're immortal."
"I just told I'm—"
"You're immortal, Belinha."
Impactor looked down on her with a smile.
"Because I won't let you die."
His smile shone brightly even as the sun began to set.
"As along as I'm alive, I won't let you die; not you or anyone in Kismet."
"...You sound quite confident. Do you think you're the strongest in the world?"
Impactor shook his head.
"It has nothing to do with that."
"Then why are you certain?"
"Because I just promised you that I will."
"That's all?"
"Do I need more than that?"
Impactor's confident face reflected in Belinha's eyes. For some reason his face put her at ease.
"Surprisingly no. Your word is all I need."
She smiled.
"I see, so I'm immortal?"
Impactor nodded.
"That's right."
Belinha pressed his chest with her finger.
"Then the same goes for you. As long as I'm alive I won't let you die."
"Then Kismet is an immortal team?"
"The Immortal Sovereigns...It has a nice ring to it."
Belinha stretched her hand towards the sky as night slowly fell and the stars peeked through the darkness. She clenched her fist with a wide grin.
"Bring it on, Calamities! Kismet won't die even if you kill us!"
She burst out laughing. Impactor silently sat beside her eating his bananas with a smile. He looked towards the sky and mumbled.
"Tomorrow is gonna be fun."