March 1st, 1998… New Nigeria, formerly Chad Republic south of the Saharan desert.
The battlefront had now been shifted to the abandoned city near Lake Chad. Teams from New Nigeria, a coalition of Nigeria and the Country of Chad due to the mounting pressure of the Evo-Beasts and the main stay Gate DOB-1154. An S-tier gate that spawned monsters so powerful, one was strong enough to destroy an entire city.
The city and its few high rise buildings were in abject destruction and ruin. Two years prior to the signing of the 'Loba Summit' that made Chad a state under Nigeria, Chad had one of the worst disasters since its inception as a country. An Evo-Beast nearby evolved to an S-class strong enough that it wiped half the city before it was stopped. Then an S-tier gate opened a few months after, turning Chad into a perpetual warzone.
Every month, a new S-class monster would emerge from the gate, which was then stopped by a hunting party of Elite Ascendants. This month remained the same.
"Commander Abdullahi, The First and Eight Battalion have found an engaged enemy Evo-Beasts!"
"Mhmm, very good. What about the hit squad that was promised us?"
Two men in military green camouflage uniform and a beret stood in a dimly lit tent, a table with a map of the city between them. The difference between them was one was badged with a military cane, whilst the other dressed in plain military attire
"Sir, you would have to ask the General" the lower ranked soldier replied.
"Nawa oh!(an exclamation meaning something like 'Oh my Goodness')" he sighed under his breath. Giving a curt nod, he walked out of the tent into the dense outside air. The sky was red, signaling the arrival of a gate around the vicinity. Sounds of gunfire and mortar shelling echoed just north of where he stood, announcing to the world that a military operation was in full swing.
He walked right towards a guarded tent, greeting the men on guard with a wave, the responded with a salute. He pushed the flap of the tent to reveal another room, this time with three other soldiers, two clad in the same uniform as his, whilst one had an extra badge and wore a military ranger hat.
"Musa, how market? (How are things)?"
"I heard you've met the Hit squad of Ascendants sir, have they being deployed?"
"Yes. They left about ten minutes prior to all your arrivals" the General replied, taking a seat ear the strategy table. The melancholic air in the room almost felt tangible at this point. Nobody knew if this hit squad could actually kill this particular Evo-beast, a recurrent one.
Recurrents were Evo-beasts that always escaped during a defense and returned stronger afterwards. This particular one was originally an A-tier Evo that survived the siege of two A-class Hit Squads and escaped back to the gate. On its return a month later, it was able to take out both squads and wreak havoc to the frontlines unhindered.
"There's no need for anxiety, the Hit squad this time has a Demigod ascendant amongst them"
"Demigod? You mean an S-class?" one of the commanders with three whisker-like tribal marks gasped, his eyes darting straight towards the general. The general smiled, pulling up a file from the table that the others seemed to have noticed and waved it at them. Then he slightly flung it across, revealing a pair of four files with names and passports, as well as grades. All ascendants on the list were at least A-class, with one S-class amongst them. Their eyes were fixed on this file.
Lawrence A. Ugo
Male
S-Class (Upper Bracket Ascendant)
Kill count: 45 S-class
129 A-class
Styles: African wrestling (Mgba Style) Chinese Boxing (Black Belt)
Quather Level: 20
Seeing these stats, the soldiers couldn't help but draw air through their mouths. This was an actual Demigod, a Nigerian Demigod; in fact a West African demigod. It felt almost unreal.
"S-s-s-since when Oga? (boss) just where did we get such senior man (powerhouse) for this our country (in this country)?" the other commander who hadn't spoken jumped to his feet from the chair he was seating on.
"If you ask me, na who I go ask? (I don't know)" the general's reply was followed with a shrug of his shoulders. Even he had almost no idea an S-class was available until he marched himself into his office a week ago with his team.
"Sir what are the chances this Evo-beast would die this time. We definitely do not want another recurrence."
"No fear! (do not fear). He should be able to handle this. He even assured me that without him, the team has another S-Class that hasn't updated her license" the General replied, as he pulled a lighter and cigarette from his breast pocket. The commanders left with a face filled with hope, hoping that this gate would be properly subdued once and for all. All that they could do was hope and pray.
Ruins of Main city… Baga...
The glorious capital city was left in tattered ruins. Evo-beasts had taken their abode in the crevices of abandoned cement houses and areas overgrown with weeds. Just on the edge of a junction near a ruined high rise building stood a team of four, all Africans, three male and one female, in a circle hovering over a paper map.
The man in charge, who was also the tallest of the team was Lawrence, aka Iron Law or Golden Lion. He stood at a whopping 6 feet and 5 inches, heftily built and emitting an aura of power around him. His hair was cut short, revealing a small receding hairline. He wore a grey military vest with baggy trousers and a pair of open sandals. On his waist were a pair of boxing gloves that gleamed golden, with the figure of a lion's head on the knuckles.
Next to Him on his right was his younger brother, Obi. A spitting image of his brother, except for the lack of receding hairline, more body fat and shorter. He had a giant claymore made of the jawbone of some giant beast strapped right on his back. He didn't wear his military vest, instead a singlet, his vest wrapped around his waist.
On Lawrence's left was Azeez; an indigene that worked with Lawrence abroad. A close friend of his, Azeez wore his vest with a large machine gun and a ring of bullets strapped around him. Amongst the team, he was the stockiest and shortest; but when it came to fire power, very few were his opponents.
As for the woman who was bent over the map, she wore a set of cornrow braids, a military vest with a short jacket over them, and a pair of black gloves, baggy trousers and rugged black boots. On her back was a mechanical bow strapped with a quiver of arrows.
"Benny, what do we need to do to guarantee this Umbara Scorpion doesn't get to run again?" Lawrence asked the woman bent over on the map as she marked out spots of interest. His eyes gleamed in interest to what she had in store to say.
The woman slightly huffed and looked up at her three teammates.
"Can you assure me that you can keep it busy for at least fifteen minutes? Oh and Zeez, Borrow me some of the C4's you brought". Her tone gave an air of confidence in her abilities. Lawrence smirked as he looked at Azeez, who wringed his face due to the request. One thing Azeez always loved more than himself, were his explosives.
"How much you go pay?(How much will you pay?)" Azeez spoke in a fluent Hausa accent. His had held out a bag filled with explosives next to his left leg.
"No wahala, four K (four thousand) and nothing more."
"Five K, or I no gree (I don't agree)"
"Nawaoo, you no wan work commot here? (my goodness, you don't want us to work and leave here?)"
"It has do now, Biko no nu (It's Ok! Please I'm Begging). Let's work quickly and go home" Obi quipped in, knowing full well how petty Azeez could get. As a team they were very cohesive with each other; Most of the time.
Lawrence chuckled under his breath, getting the attention of the rest of the team. Azeez snorted, rolling his eyes as he knew he would have to compromise, since Iron Law and Benny were engaged to be wed after the mission.
"How much time do you need to prepare?" Obi put in, rubbing his Ezenmuo, his giant jawbone blade. Benny let her grey eyes look towards the battlefield not far away, contemplating on her preparations and the behavior of the Umbara scorpion. Known for their tyrannical defenses and mediocre attack power, Umbara's had evolved in a very different way. They were good escapists. Once and Umbara saw itself in great danger, their instinct for flight would overshadow them, causing them to try by all means, to escape, at all costs.
"I'd say fifteen minutes. If you can hold it in this spot…" Benny pointed at the town square near the center of the map, a few kilometres away from the gate. "Then I can assure you it dies before it can escape".
Benny's eyes looked at Lawrence knowingly, before she took a deep breath and asked
"Can I trust you would at least reduce your power level to that of an A class, at least, you wouldn't scare our prey witless for it to run too soon?"
Lawrence grabbed a roll of linen bandages from his back pocket and began to wrap them around his open right palm. He looked at his other team members with a glint in his eye and smiled.
"As long as the sky is above, the sun must shine"
Benny nodded and replied in response
"Tonight… We hunt"