Location: Barcelona, Spain.

Date: 6th of September, 2598.

"Sir, will we burn in hell for this?"

Two men in white coats were observing the data they just received.

"Good and evil have always been subjective. And so is the belief of the existence of a higher being that oversees humanity. But... if God truly exists, I believe that He will agree that this was necessary."

Out of ten thousand war refugees that accepted the deal of undergoing the Special M.O. Operation, only four hundred successfully survived the deadly baptism.

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Toaru Addenda

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Months had passed since their arrival to this world.

Hikigaya Hachiman

Age: 17 - Male - Level: 48 - Job: Alchemist

Strength: 251 (?)

Vitality: 303 (?)

Defense: 247 (?)

Agility: 318 (?)

Magic: 589 (?)

Magic Defense: 600 (?)

Skills:

Transmute [+Instant Casting] [+Improved Mana Efficiency] - Elemental Affinity - Language Comprehension

Thanks to his diligent training, his stats now officially crowned him as one of the strongest humans in existence. Even so, the knowledge that the general populace had of him was scarce at best. Since the beginning of his collaboration with the synergists, both Ishtar and the royal family had been using all their power to keep under wraps his existence and the mass production of military mines.

To the point of excluding him from the public appearances that the heroes had to make every once in a while. His name was hidden from the list of heroes that was presented to the public, making Hachiman an invisible citizen in this world. They had gone as far as to make everyone that he met swear a magical oath of secrecy.

It was a reasonable course of action. He was the only one capable of producing the raw materials for the explosives in the exponential quantities needed. Even if the war was pretty much won, anything could happen to change that perception. Wars were very nasty clusterfucks.

For that reason, Hachiman had several contingency plans. He had been practicing and perfecting biological transmutations whenever he could. While it wasn't much more than patchwork compared to real healing magic, it could be a useful trump card.

He also memorized the blueprints of several successful high-calibre weapon projects but Hachiman hoped to not use them.

The people entrusted with different parts of the project were in charge of very specific components of the guns so he didn't have to worry about silencing them either.

All in all, Hachiman felt that everything went too smoothly for his own liking.

---

Toaru Addenda

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Sounds of battle filled the dimly lit underground room. Explosions and the steel of swords were illuminated by the faint green light. The fighting was so fierce that it shook the walls around them. At times, the reverberations could even be felt by those far out of the sight of the combatants.

Silver blades of light, fireballs, flaming spears, wind blades, and water jets flew in every direction, a never-ending barrage of projectiles. Frantic yelling, the sounds of bodies slamming against bodies, and battle cries all mingled together into a chaotic cacophony.

"Light that tears through all creation, Wind that erodes time itself, rage like a thousand flower petals and coalesce into a blinding storm- Heavenrend!" In the middle of all the fighting stood Hayama Hayato, the hero. With a flick of his wrist, countless blades of light shot out of his holy sword. A dozen of the bat-like creatures flying at him were shredded to pieces. They were reduced to chunks of flesh in a flash, without even a chance to defend themselves.

"Vanguard, ten more seconds!"

"Roger!" The party was facing off an army of huge ant-monsters, giant bats, and sea anemone-like things with wriggling tentacles. All in a circular room only thirty meters in diameter. Eight tunnels led into the room. It was from there that the monsters continued pouring in.

The hero's party was currently exploring the 89th floor of the Great Orcus Labyrinth. As the difficulty of the new floors kept increasing, the group of mages joined the one of Hayama under Captain Meld. The reason behind this decision was because Hayama was able to perfect his detecting magic. His detecting skills had upgraded into sensing skills recently, hence being able to detect any sort of traps they may encounter.

The highly trained vanguard expertly repelled the wave of monsters, keeping the more vulnerable rearguard safe. Meanwhile, the rearguard called out a count for how much longer it would take for their next magical barrage to be ready.

A few of the bats managed to fly past the vanguard, but the ever-reliable Archmage, Yukinoshita Yukino, kept them at bay with a magical wall.

"O momentary squall, form an impassable, invisible wall! Rebuff all who approach- Storm Bulwark!" Yukinoshita summoned an offensive barrier to shield the backline. But as the wall of raging wind was invisible, the bats didn't notice it. Heedless of her magic, they charged at the rearguard, thinking only of how they would tear these puny humans to shreds.

Just before they reached the group, they ran into the wind wall. As they did so, the wall began to bulge outward. Dozens of them rammed into the wall, none of them able to pass through the swirling gusts.

Once all of the bats were trapped the bulge reached a breaking point and exploded outward. The resulting blast of wind sent the bats flying back.

The impact was powerful enough to obliterate a few of the bats on the spot. Those that survived the blast died a few seconds later when they slammed into the walls with bone-shattering force.

Just then, the members of the vanguard unleashed some of their strongest attacks. Their goal wasn't to defeat the enemies in front of them, but to immobilize them long enough that they could get out of the way.

"Fall back!" At Hayama's command, the vanguard retreated a few steps.

A second later, the rearguard's magic hit the crowd of monsters. Their timing was perfect. A massive fireball slammed into the monsters, throwing them in disarray. At the same time, a tornado sprouted from the ground, tearing through their ranks. Stone spires jutted out from the floor, impaling those unlucky enough to still be on the ground. Icicles with points as sharp as knives rained down on the battlefield, skewering everything.

They tore through the army of monsters, leaving no survivors in its wake. The whole attack lasted only a few seconds. But in those scant few seconds, over 90% of the monsters had been killed or mortally wounded.

"Perfect! Let's mop up the rest of them!" The vanguard surged forward once more, thoroughly eliminating the few survivors. It didn't even take five minutes to finish off the weakened enemies. Even after the last monster was dealt with, they didn't let their guard down. The party remained vigilant for enemy attacks while congratulating each other on a battle well fought.

"Phew, the 90th floor's up next... We've gotten strong enough to kill the monsters here without too much trouble... Looks like our training mission's almost over."

Soon they were going to face the demons.

"But that doesn't mean we can take it easy. There's no telling what kinds of monsters and traps are waiting for us on the next floor."

"You worry too much, Yumiko. We've easily cleared floors no one else has ever made it to. We'll wipe the floor with anything that comes at us, even if it's demons." Ebina smiled confidently as she brushed Yumiko's worries aside.

Yukinoshita, who was listening, sighed. Stress was slowly building up as they were clearing the dungeon. Their grace period was running out of time.

"Hayato, Yamato, I've finished healing you two... How do you feel?" Yuigahama started doing her job while the rest of the party was talking to each other. Namely, healing all of the injured members. She was the group's Priest after all.

Among their labyrinth conquest party there was one other healer in the group. She split the work with Clive Hayden, and they set about healing everyone.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt at all. Thanks, Yui."

As Hayama and his party's stats had long since eclipsed that of Captain Meld, he and his knights were waiting on standby on the 40th floor. They remained to guard the magic circle they'd discovered that connected to the 70th floor. As of now, they ranked among Tortus' strongest humans. Their stats were:

Hayama Hayato

Age: 17 - Male - Level: 73 - Job: Hero

Strength: 990

Vitality: 990

Defense: 990

Agility: 990

Magic: 990

Magic Defense: 990

Skills:

All Elemental Aptitude [+Light Element Proficiency] [+Speed Casting] - All Elemental Resistance [+Increased Light Resistance] - Physical Resistance [+Improved Healing] [+Impact Mitigation] - Composite Casting - Sword Mastery - Herculean Strength - Supersonic Step - Foresight - High Speed Mana Recovery - Sense Presence - Sense Magic - Limit Break - Language Comprehension

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Yukinoshita Yukino

Age: 17 - Female - Level: 70 - Job: Archmage

Strength: 200

Vitality: 220

Defense: 230

Agility: 220

Magic: 1250

Magic Defense: 1250

Skills:

All Elemental Aptitude [+Instant Casting] [+AoE Proficiency] [+Reduced Mana Consumption] [+Improved Mana Efficiency] [+Increased Spell Duration] [+Chain Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Spell Retention] [+Improved Proficiency] - High Speed Mana Recovery [+Meditation] - Language Comprehension

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Yuigahama Yui

Age: 17 - Female - Level: 67 - Job: Priest

Strength: 210

Vitality: 370

Defense: 340

Agility: 260

Magic: 1050

Magic Defense: 1050

Skills:

Recovery Magic Affinity [+Improved Proficiency] [+Increased Casting Speed] [+Image Supplementation] [+Piercing Spells] [+AoE Proficiency] [+Remote Healing] [+Improved Status Effect Recovery] [+Reduced Mana Consumption] [+Improved Mana Efficiency] [+Chain Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Spell Retention] [+Effect Multiplication] - Light Magic Affinity [+Speed Casting] [+Improved Proficiency] [+Increased Spell Duration] [+Chain Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Spell Retention] - High Speed Mana Recovery [+Meditation] - Language Comprehension

Moments later, Hayama started gathering the rest of the party up. They'd already explored most of the 89th floor. The passage they were heading down now was the only place they hadn't mapped.

After ten minutes of walking, the party discovered the stairs leading to the 90th floor. The group descended down the dim spiral staircase, warily examining their surroundings for traps. Ten meters worth of steps later, they found themselves on the 90th floor.

Every ten floors usually marked a turning point, so the party remained extremely vigilant as they stepped into the passageway. However, as far as everyone could tell, the 90th floor was no different from the 89th. They quickly started mapping out the area. Even if the overall structure of the labyrinth hadn't changed, they were bound to meet stronger monsters. They couldn't let their guard down.

At first the party's search progressed smoothly. Despite that, one by one, the party members began to grow suspicious.

"What the heck is going on?" The party arrived in a large empty room, and Hayama finally voiced the suspicions that had been growing in the back of his mind. Everyone else stopped and nodded. Confused expressions flitted over everyone's faces.

"How have we not seen a single monster even after exploring so much of the floor?" Excluding a few side paths, the party must have covered half of the floor already.

So far, they'd always run into monsters strong enough to at least slow them down on each floor. Normally it took them around two days to map out half of a floor.

This floor they'd managed to get through half of in just three hours.

At first Hayama had assumed they were lying low and observing the party from afar, but no matter how many times he tried to use Sense Presence and Sense Magic, he didn't find anything. Something strange was afoot.

"This is really starting to creep me out. Does this floor just not have monsters?" The others started muttering to each other, but no one could come up with a plausible explanation. Their confusion only grew.

"Hayama. Maybe we should head back for now. I have a bad feeling about this. And it's possible Captain Meld might know something that'll help." Yuigahama was clearly worried.

Hayama hesitated for a few seconds. He too had misgivings about continuing on like this. If they were intent on proceeding cautiously, the best course of action would indeed be to go back.

As Hayama was waffling, Tobe started scouting out the room. Spotting something, he stooped down and called out to the group in a nervous voice.

"Guys... this is... blood, right?" He ran his finger across the ground and held it up for everyone to see. Hayama started scrutinizing the walls and floor. As he did so, he noticed something.

"It's kind of dark so it's hard to tell, but... there's definitely blood splattered all over this room."

"Man, this is... a lot of blood..."

They stared grimly at the blood plastered over the walls. Both of them were now on high alert. Everyone's faces paled.

"Judging by the amount of blood here, whatever monster it was that did this killed every other monster on the floor..."

"Whoever attacked these monsters was trying to hide their tracks?"

Realizing what that meant, Hayama stretched out his Sense Presence as far as it would go, cautiously searching for enemies. He wasn't able to detect anything out of place.

"It's possible there are monsters that intelligent down here, but... it seems more likely this was the work of a person. And the fact that the bloodstains here haven't been wiped away means they didn't manage to cover their tracks in time or that-"

"This is the place we wanted to lure you to." An unfamiliar woman's voice echoed throughout the room. It was a husky, hoarse voice. Everyone drew their weapons and turned to face the voice at once.

Footsteps rang out on the stone floor as a young woman with fiery red hair walked into the room from the other side. Her skin was swarthy, and her ears tapered to fine points.

The students' eyes opened wide in surprise. They recognized those particular characteristics, if not the person. They'd never seen one in person before, but they knew from Ishtar's lectures what race she belonged to. According to the Holy Church, she was mankind's greatest enemy. In other words...

"A demon..." One of the students muttered quietly. A cold smile formed on the demon lady's face.

She looked over the shocked party of students. Her eyes were the same fiery crimson as her hair. She was dressed in something that resembled the biking suits that motorcyclists wore. The black suit hugged her body, emphasizing her ample curves, even in the dim light.

Some students blushed but they knew that now was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts.

"You, the one in the stupid shining armor. How about joining our side?" The demon flippantly asked Hayama to join their side.

"I'm inviting you to join us, the demons. I promise we'll treat you better than the humans have." The students were so stunned by the offer that it took them a second to comprehend it.

"...I refuse."

She didn't seem too perturbed by his refusal. In fact, she tried offering even more favorable conditions.

"What if I said you could bring your comrades with you? Do you still refuse?"

"The answer stays the same."

"I see. Well then, I have no need of you. I'll have you know, my orders weren't to bring you over no matter what. They were simply to convert you if it seemed possible. If the situation calls for it, we're allowed to eliminate you. Don't think we're soft enough to leave our opponents alive. Lutos, Habel, Enki. It's time to hunt!"

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Toaru Addenda

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Meanwhile, in the royal palace, news from an envoy was raising chaos.

"Your majesty! The city of Ur has fallen!"

"So it has begun..."

With a cold expression on his face, the king closed his eyes for a moment before starting to give orders.