"Are you one of the esteemed researchers?" one of the guards on top of Aegis' headquarters asked.
A thin blonde man nodded with a smile. "Indeed. I am supposed to come here."
"The others are already waiting over there," one of the guards said, pointing to a group of four people. "I must apologize, but this mission has been deemed as very important, and I must ask you to identify yourself. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"Oh, not at all," the blonde man said with a nervous smile. "I understand. Security is important."
The next moment, the blonde man activated his Barrier.
The guard's Barrier also activated, and the guard nodded. "Thank you for identifying yourself, Mr. Silver."
Mr. Silver just nodded before awkwardly pointing to the group of researchers. "So, that means I can walk over now?"
"Of course, sir," the guard said politely.
"Thanks," Mr. Silver said as he walked over to the group.
The older man was Ghosty.
Michael Silver nodded with an excited smile.
Ghosty was an amazing researcher, and he always wanted to work together with him.
And now, he had the opportunity!
"Look at your number one fan, Ghosty," another older man said with a smirk. "The way he's always looking at you, I'm thinking that he wants a piece of you."
Michael became red in the face and looked at the man with a mix of embarrassment and fear.
"Let the poor kid be, Horatio," a younger woman with black hair said. "He's new. I would really appreciate it if you could keep your joking attitude in check during the mission."
Ghosty just silently watched as his team of researchers squabbled amongst each other.
The five researchers were going to travel to Crimson City to take a look at the ruins there.
According to Aegis, a lot of technology from the Enlightened Ones was buried there.
The group consisted of five Specialists, and Ghosty was the leader of the team.
Depending on the value of the ruins,they were potentially going to stay in Crimson City for several years.
This was quite a long mission, and they needed to be able to cooperate.
Everyone on the team knew each other, but some parties hadn't had much contact with each other.
For some reason, the team was constructed from people who used to be in different departments.
Cross-department missions happened, but they were generally shorter ones.
"I'm already getting a headache," Ghosty whispered to Michael.
Michael looked with shock at Ghosty.
"I'm just kidding," Ghosty added with a smile.
"Oh, ha ha," Michael answered with an awkward chuckle.
"Don't be so tense," Ghosty said. "We will be together for a while. You'll see, in just a couple of days, we will be working with each other like we've been friends for years." 𝙧Ἀ𝐍ỖβÊs̈
"Of course! You're right!" Michael answered with a loud voice, eliciting a couple of glances from the others.
Ghosty just chuckled a bit while the others went back to bickering.
The group that had been gathered here was filled with researchers with quite some renown.
While they were not part of the select few top researchers, they had the potential to join these ranks.
There were less than ten top researchers in the world, and they were almost all Protectors.
These researchers were brilliant, and their centuries of experience granted them incredibly advanced knowledge.
All of them had managed to absorb a Mid Elder when they were advancing to the fifth level, which meant that they had the foundation to become Protectors themselves.
Well, everyone except for Ghosty.
Sadly, while Ghosty was an amazing researcher, he had only absorbed an Early Elder.
He had no shot at becoming a Protector.
However, Ghosty was also the only Specialist who managed to join the top researchers.
Ghosty was one of the most brilliant minds in this era, and all the other researchers knew that.
Michael and Ghosty watched the others bicker.
When Michael saw that,he became a bit worried.
This team seemed quite dysfunctional.
He really couldn't see how they were supposed to work together with such different personalities.
"Don't worry," Ghosty said, noticing Michael's concern, "while we all have different personalities, we all share the same goal. None of us would put our personal feelings above humanity."
"Was that what the screening was about?" Michael asked.
"Quite smart," Ghosty answered. "Yes, it was."
Michael wanted to ask more about the peculiar method Ghosty had used to screen the team.
A couple of days ago, Michael had been asked to enter an isolated room on his own.
After waiting for a while, all the lights were deactivated, and Michael was assaulted by the Nightmare's influence.
However, the influence was different than usual.
There was no real pain.
He was just confronted with many different faces and situations.
When he saw the image of his dead wife again, he almost cried.
His wife had been attacked by a Specter.
The two of them had lived in a pretty safe part of a city, where nothing like this should happen.
And yet, it had happened anyway.
Naturally, Michael had been distraught, and he had coped with his wife's loss by burying his head in learning things.
When he was learning things, he felt like he was growing.
He felt like his life had purpose again.
Years later, Aegis arrived and got rid of the leadership of the city.
Apparently, the city had been under Wrath's influence.
Aegis also took note of Michael's capabilities, and that was how he ended up in the research and development department.
He finally had a new goal.
He wanted to get rid of all Specters.
"Sir, I don't want to rush you, but…" one of the guards spoke quietly to Ghosty.
A clock appeared on Ghosty's Barrier. "That late already? Sure, we can go," Ghosty said to the guard.
"Alright, simmer down," Ghosty said to his team, and everyone became quiet. "It's about time to leave.Try to keep the chatter at a minimum during the journey. You'll have enough time to talk when we're there."
The others nodded.
Ghosty pulled something out of his Space Bag and placed it on the ground.
It was a big disk, and without being asked to, the team stepped onto the disk.
Ghosty also stepped onto the disk and turned to one of the guards. "If you would."
"Thank you, sir," the guard said as he very carefully lifted the disk.
The other guard stepped in front of the disk and took to the sky.
The next moment, the first guard also took to the sky, holding the disk carefully above his head.
This was how Aegis usually transported people who couldn't fly.
Protectors could just lift people with their mind, but the guards were not very good at Zephyx Manipulation, which was why they had to resort to such a method.
The group flew across the Great Triangle, and the researchers looked at the continent and cities with interest.
They rarely got to leave their lab, and seeing the world was still exciting to them.
Eventually, the group entered the airspace above the great ocean to the west of the Great Triangle.
"Everyone," Ghosty spoke to his group. "Whatever happens now, I ask you to stay calm. Do not do anything reckless. This is supposed to happen."
The group became confused and concerned.
The guards furrowed their brows.
What was that guy talking about?
CRACK!
Everyone's eyes widened when they heard the sound of a Barrier being broken from their front.
They looked over and saw the leading guard falling into two pieces.
However, before they could react, everything became white, and they lost their vision.
The next moment, the disk began to fall as the guard below them readied for combat.
CRACK!
Yet, not even 0.2 seconds later, everyone heard the sound of another breaking Barrier.
"Do not move," Ghosty spoke calmly with a smile as he took out a device.
Everyone watched in shocked horror as Ghosty pressed a button on the device.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Suddenly, all their Barriers exploded, and they all lost their Zephyx.
Their Zephosis stopped working, and they felt like they were asphyxiating.
But then, a cloud of Zephyx rose on the disk and covered everyone.
Their Zephosis reactivated, and they could finally move again.
"Don't do anything!" Ghosty shouted, his voice no longer calm. The reason was that he had also lost his Zephyx, and he was still affected by the emotional impact of having one's lifeline severed for a moment.
The man who had embarrassed Michael earlier ignored Ghosty's command and jumped over the edge.
The next moment, his shoes started to burn, and he stopped falling.
Then, he shot towards the direction of the Great Triangle.
It seemed like the man had built a flying device.
Everyone watched as the man flew away.
Nothing was happening to him.
They just looked at Ghosty, who had regained his calm by now.
None of them moved for three seconds, just looking at Ghosty.
"Good," Ghosty said.
"He's not trustworthy. Please…" Ghosty said to no one in particular.
The next moment, a white beam of light shot out from below the disk and hit the distant flying man.
The distant figure spiraled out of control and fell towards the ocean beneath them.
"As you might have noticed, we have stopped falling, and our course has changed," Ghosty said calmly.
Everyone's eyes opened.
They hadn't even noticed that!
Well, these were researchers, not soldiers.
They were not used to being in fights.
"I have been lying about the nature of your mission," Ghosty said as he looked at the three remaining researchers.
The researchers were terrified.
What was going on?!
Kill_the_Sun_fastes