Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

'Boom!'

'Rumble!'

'Roooarr!'

Explosions erupted from inside the maze, coloring the sky in a mix of orange, red, and smokey gray. Although it must've been scary for those that got caught up, it looked pretty entertaining for me, the one who caused all of this.

"Doesn't it feel like watching a movie?" I laughed while I sat on the grassy ground, just right beside the one and only white-haired general.

"You know what, it kinda does~ I prefer this kind of 'movie' than the ones we have on our cinemas." He chuckled and leaned back, joining me in watching the disastrous moment happening just a few kilometers away from us.

"You guys have cinemas back home? Wow, didn't expect that…" I gaped upon hearing his statement.

"Why are you so shocked? Haven't you been to a cinema before?" He tilted his head, asking me back.

"I… I actually haven't," I sheepishly answered, scratching my cheek, "but that's not my point. I'm just still not sure how far your, um, civilization has progressed. So I assumed that you guys don't have that kind of stuff yet."

"You haven't? Wow, you really need to try out a lot of things," he raised an eyebrow in shock, "after all, you never know when something might pop up and take everything away from you."

I stared at him while I crossed my arms on my knees, resting my head on top of it. Had he experienced that before, I wonder?

"I plan to one day, if I can." I answered while flying my gaze over to the maze. From the hill where we sat, most of the maze was visible, and we could see the explosions that popped up from time to time.

I guess letting those foxes run loose really did have its benefit. By using them to trigger all kinds of traps, we wouldn't have so much trouble when we rush in. At least, that was the plan.

In all honesty, we still had no idea how many traps were left, but it should be way less than before, seeing that the explosions and rumbling hadn't stopped until now. Ah, was that another boulder I saw rolling?

"Should we start heading in now?" General Zhang suddenly asked, making me snap out of my daydream.

"Ah, yes. The minotaurs should be in panic mode right now," I got up and straightened my outfit, "let me call big brother out, then."

"Hmm, is calling him necessary?" He pouted.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's necessary. He has poisonous hair, or something like that, I don't really remember. In any case, he's the perfect fit for a stealth mission." I frowned, what had gotten into him?

"I can also do zappy zaps and knock them out in one second." He shrugged.

"Yeah, but will you?" I deadpanned, to which he responded by grinning and avoiding my gaze, "I thought so. Sometimes I think you have a tendency to seek trouble." I sighed.

"Hmm, what can I say, trouble is necessary for growth," he chuckled, "and right now, you still have a lot of growing to do, little cub." He replied while ruffling my head.

"Uh-huh, there you go with your weird plans again," I chuckled, "alright. Luke, come out, please."

As a puff of smoke slowly emerged from my hand until it materialized into a pissed, but striking young man with dark blue hair, a smile appeared on my face.

"Oi, sleepyhead. You've gotten enough slacking time, right? Now get your ass moving, big brother." I snickered.

"Ugh, you always call me at an inconvenient time, kid." He grumbled.

"You act like you're busy, when you're probably just spending all day in bed." I retorted back. There wasn't any entertainment available there, anyway. Wait, wasn't that torturous, though? Spending a lot of time alone, without any form of entertainment… I should let him out more frequently from now on.

"Tch. Who said I wasn't doing anything? I was working out for the majority of my time there." He sulked.

"Huh? You worked out? But why? I mean… You're, uh, do you even have a physical body?" I spouted out without thinking. Ack, was that inappropriate?

"Of course. Have you ever heard a case where someone just lazes around for years and suddenly they have this ripped body? Nah, not naturally." He sighed, as if he had just heard a stupid question.

"To be honest, I just knew that." I stared at him and examined his body from top to bottom. Only then did I realize that he was indeed sweating, presumably from his workout session.

I understood what he meant, though. I haven't skipped a day of working out ever since I left the army. On days where I was extremely busy, I would still force a few sets of sit-ups and push-ups, or I would do some weight-lifting while doing chores. After all, regular maintenance was the key. Those who think that it was possible to have a ripped body while doing nothing but getting into dramas and mental breakdowns like in the movies, must be delusional.

"Well, big bro, we'll be going in there, and then out. Fast. You think it's possible?" I asked while pointing at the maze that was still in an uproar. General Emilio and the others must be so shocked when they arrived. Too bad I wouldn't be there to witness their funny reactions.

"The minotaurs' maze? Oh, we're here already? Sure. But why is it, uh… In shambles?" He raised an eyebrow looking at the state the maze was in.

"Aww, don't worry. It's just a little preparation. We're going to go on a stealth mission, so we needed a distraction. Simple as that." I gleefully explained while pushing him lightly to urge him to walk.

"Huh? I don't get it, but alright," he complied while we walked down the hill, "is he also coming?"

I looked over where he pointed, and saw general Zhang that was following us from behind.

"Ah, yes. He's currently the strongest one in our group, so he's necessary." I explained to Luke.

"Yo, what's up, snakey boy?" General Zhang greeted Luke with a snicker.

"I'm older than you, so you shouldn't call me a boy," Luke frowned, and turned towards me again, "I should be enough for a stealth mission."

"How can you get along so badly, and yet both of you said the same thing?" I sighed, "whatever, let's go. Both of you can do whatever you want." I grumbled and immediately sped up down the hill. Ugh, I swear, one day I would get a headache from babysitting them.

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'Fwoop!'

'Thud!'

"Whoa, that's amazing, big brother Luke…" I stared in awe when another unsuspecting minotaur fell on the floor even before it managed to scream.

"Of course, I'm capable of so much more, too." He proudly stated while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Same here." General Zhang responded.

"Whatever." I grumbled yet again, while stepping over the fifth minotaur that they've taken down ever since we've infiltrated the maze.

As expected, there weren't many minotaurs around here. If my hearing was still okay, most of them should be gathered waaaay over at the main entrance. After the fox spirits disappeared, our troops arrived shortly after, which immediately alarmed the minotaurs.

Perhaps they thought that our troops were the main cause of all of the traps triggering, so they flocked over to the main gate. And when our troops did better than expected, they sent even more minotaurs over there to guard their village.

Alas, they didn't leave other areas completely unguarded, that's why sometimes we spotted a few minotaurs here and there. If possible, we just snuck past them without them noticing. But in cases like these, where the only way was to go through them, either big brother Luke or general Zhang would take them down quietly.

Kinda felt nice to not have to do the hard work. Hehe.

"Little cub, how are we going to find the right way around this maze, though?" General Zhang piped up, hopping over the dead minotaur's body.

"Isn't it a bit too late to ask that?" Big brother Luke snickered.

"Shush. Don't fight. You guys are being annoying," I shot them a deathly glare, "the answer to that question is, I don't know."

"Huh??" General Zhang gasped in surprise.

"Kid, are you dumb or something?" Luke stared at me with a mix of shock and amazement. Maybe he was amazed at my stupidity, I dunno.

"No, no. That's not the point. We all know that this maze was built to protect the village, right?" I quickly held my hands up, making a 'calm down' motion.

"Uh, yes. So where have we been going until now? I thought you were leading us there." Luke questioned while he cracked his neck.

"Exactly, so the village is 100% in the middle, right? You guys catch me?" I looked at both of them in succession.

"Yeah, we all knew that." General Zhang scratched his head in confusion.

"Great. So we just need to walk for a bit, and then climb up the wall every so often to check our position. I'm pretty sure we can figure it out from there." I explained while tapping the maze wall in front of us. Dang, it sure was tall. Pretty intimidating when seen up close like this.

"That wouldn't work, since they monitor the air even tighter than they do the ground. They also realized that air attacks are their weakness." General Zhang tilted his head.

"Uh-huh. I know. But it won't be a problem if we're invisible, right?" I smirked.

"Invisible?"

"Hmm-hmm," I turned around, facing the wall, "shop."