Ahmed persistently: "Who is your commander that you talked about earlier then? If you were a spaceship commander, who brought you here and why?"

Omar looked at Ahmed with contempt and said: "This question of yours confirms that you are more trivial than you imagine. You use weapons of mass destruction as if you were children playing with sticks. You are... the silliest generation of King's Gear users. Look at yourselves, you need five people just to hold down one person!"

Omar's tone changed and was mixed with some real fear: "The man you are asking about... I am even afraid to look him in the eye so he doesn't get angry. I was sent here only to pave the way... to pave the way for the event that will terrify your whole world. The spaceship that fell is nothing but one of his fleet... And the commander will arrive in a few days."

Omar went silent for a moment then said with a malicious smile: "I won't tell you his name... I will make knowing his name your prize... if you get out of here alive today."

At that exact moment, a small sound rang in the earpiece hidden under Sekhmat's mask.

It was Ali's voice shouting: "now quickly!!"

And suddenly... without any warnings, a giant black sphere emerged from nowhere... it expanded at a crazy speed to devour the whole place... the walls, the ceiling, and even the air... leaving behind a giant hole in the ground in the shape of a perfect hemisphere.

Ahmed and his friends fell hard to the ground... panting and looking around in amazement... They survived miraculously, and the black void didn't pull them in with what it swallowed.

Maryam stood panting a little and wiping the sweat from her forehead, and said out loud: "This way we have covered Plan A, and Plan B... I wish from the core of my heart that we won't need Plan C."

A full minute of heavy silence passed, interrupted only by the sound of their troubled breaths. Suddenly, a small black crack appeared from nowhere in mid-air, and two strong hands came out expanding it with difficulty, so "Omar" came out of it with his exhausted body and his eyes sparking with evil.

Omar shouted at them angrily: "You scoundrels! Did you know I was tricking you the whole time? Or am I imagining it?"

Ahmed replied with provocative coldness: "I didn't know you were stupid enough to need to ask us."

Omar with extreme contempt: "When will you understand that I don't even see you?"

At that moment, Youssef and Ali rolled up their sleeves, looked at each other with a sly smile and said in the same breath: "We were waiting for Plan C."

Their memory took them back a few moments... to the long training nights in the desert...

Maryam was asking worriedly: "What if Omar tricks us before we even catch him? If he can really use his power from a distance, he might control us before we realize his presence and make us catch a copy of him or something like that."

Ahmed thought a little then said: "This is a loophole in the plan, but Nader and Sekhmat's talk about the Devil's Gear gave me an idea. We can use the (explosion) as a threat, or as a last resort in case of emergency. If he tries to trick us, it means he might be hiding anywhere, so... we will destroy (anywhere)."

Ali mockingly: "And will he be patient until we find the Devil's Gear? Why wouldn't he kill us from behind if we are only seeing a copy of him?"

Ahmed: "We can give him a reason to wait. We will try to delay him in any way. We will convince him through our phone calls and general talk to wait until Maryam finds the gear and takes it out, because he will think that it's easier for him than searching himself... But he won't know that he is walking right into the trap."

Sekhmat intervened in the conversation objecting: "I'll let you say what you want, but does your plan rely on leaving the Devil's Gear with Omar alone far away from us in space?"

Ahmed: "This is the backup plan. And also, if he was far enough from it, he mostly won't be able to reach it because of the maze, and because he will be in space anyway."

Sekhmat sharply: "If we make him follow Maryam, he won't be far. And if he succeeds in getting the gear and uses it quickly, we will be in big trouble. He will return to us with three parts of the Devil's Gear, in addition to the part he stole from you."

Ahmed insistently: "If he returns, he will be weak, and then we will be ready with Plan C. And if he doesn't return... we will have saved ourselves."

Sekhmat sarcastically: "Saved ourselves? Are we doing all this just to barely make it out alive?"

Nader replied with a calm and convincing voice: "We lived for years in the shadows catching small gangs because the risk was low. Maybe it's time to increase the risk... if the reward is big."

Sekhmat's voice echoed in Nader's head: "Fine, as you wish. But if we fail, I will separate from them immediately. I won't wait with them anymore, these guys are constantly playing with our thoughts."

Maryam asked: "Alright... And what will we do in Plan C?"

Ali smiled and said: "I think this is the most suitable time to use our secret weapon."

Ahmed in surprise: "Your secret weapon?"

Ali: "How do you think we managed to touch the Master?"

Youssef took a gun out of his pocket and handed it to Ahmed saying: "You can consider it your last line of defense. You are only good at using your power in fixed directions currently... A good improvement, but it's not useful in direct combat."

Ali in wonder: "Wasn't it supposed to have melted in the lava you created?"

Youssef: "I kept it away from me before going underground."

Ali with fake shock: "Does this mean you knew you were going to melt the ground, you scoundrel!"

Youssef ignored him and said to Ahmed: "Be careful... the gun's magazine has one or two bullets at most, I emptied the rest of the bullets in your head... And if you lose the gun, I will kill you myself."

Ahmed whispered to himself at the time: "As if I would have done anything useful with it if it was full..."

Reality returned to impose itself strongly...

Youssef and Ali moved with lightning speed in different directions to distract Omar. Ali pounced on him, but Omar was faster. He pulled out black spikes from the ground that pierced Ali's body and suspended him in the air.

Maryam screamed in fear for Ali, while Youssef took advantage of the opportunity, focused his powers in his arms and legs, and attacked Omar. Omar blocked the attack using the Devil's Gear he stole from Ahmed, forming a cylindrical wall around himself.

At the same moment, Maryam attacked from the opposite direction with a strong shockwave. The double pressure from Youssef and Maryam created a big crack in Omar's shield, and it almost shattered.

Omar didn't hesitate, and changed the shape of the shield to a half-cylinder to focus the gear's defense on the cracked areas and support it. He looked around quickly looking for Sekhmat, and found him standing far away watching quietly.

Omar whispered to himself: "This is illogical... If he attacked with them, he would have exploited this gap in my back."

Suddenly... and in a fraction of a second... he felt a movement behind him.

Ali's body formed out of nowhere right behind Omar's back! Ali focused all his power in his arm to target Omar's exposed chest from behind.

Omar almost turned around to block the strike himself, but at that moment, the unexpected happened.

The sound of a single gunshot rang out. A bullet came from the sky, fired by Ahmed who had lifted himself with an air current and taken advantage of Omar's lack of interest in him to fire a "delaying" bullet... He, more than anyone, knows how annoying a bullet in the head can be.

The bullet pierced Omar's head, causing him a very slight delay... but it was enough for Ali to pierce his chest.

In that critical moment, Omar's consciousness transferred to his own "System World". A dark, gloomy place, centered by a black man resembling a shadow, laughing hysterically, almost dying of laughter.

The System mockingly: "I don't understand... how did you underestimate them this time? True, the advantage was yours, but the gap between you wasn't as wide as you imagined."

Omar was kneeling, trying to justify, but the System interrupted him shouting: "You know how old they are, and you know your own age! Your nature is submission! You had enough time to become way better than them, at least in thinking!"

The creature approached Omar's face and said: "Allow me, Mr. (Military Commander), to explain the trap you fell into at the hands of a group of kids. You didn't notice, but as soon as the spikes hit Ali, he pretended to be severely injured and hung himself on them to distract your focus from him for a few moments... And that time was enough to make a quick and risky move."

The system continued with gloating: "He pierced his chest with his hand quickly, ripped out his heart, and threw it towards his friend whom you don't even see... Ahmed. And Ahmed threw the heart behind you at the right moment. And because the heart is small in size, and with the noise of Maryam and Youssef's attack, even while you were in focus mode, you didn't feel it... And here he exploited the weak point in your shield with total malice."

Then he added seriously: "The only problem is that he was a fraction of a second late regenerating his body behind you... And here came the finishing blow from the (pawn) that you dropped from your calculations... He hit you from above. You are not like him, you won't lose consciousness and your focus will return quickly, but the delay was enough... You lost."

The System pointed towards Sekhmat in Omar's imagination: "Oh right... their friend standing quietly over there is there for two reasons: First, if you tried to use the teleportation gear to escape, he would try to catch you. Second, he is ready to fix any mistake in the plan."

The System concluded his words with a terrifying look: "But unfortunately you were below his expectations, and you fell into the trap like a fool. You deserve to die now and they deserve the loot... But unfortunately, your death will cause me a headache."

The System smiled a demonic smile: "What do you think about playing their game? I liked their crazy move. I can't teleport all of you in the remaining fractions of a second... But how about I teleport only your heart? This will be a very unexpected change for them... I can't wait to see their reaction!"

And the System did it.

In reality, Ali's hand pierced Omar's chest... but it grabbed the air!

Ali froze in his place, and began hitting inside the open rib cage crazily looking for the heart, but he found nothing. The heart disappeared!

Sekhmat understood what happened immediately, and explained the disaster to them in a calm and frustrated voice.

As soon as Ali realized that they failed at the last moment, he curled up on the ground and said in a voice choked with shame: "Cover me with anything... I don't want anyone to look at me."

As for Ahmed, he completely lost his temper. He started hitting the ground and pulling his hair hard until blood flowed, screaming in a breakdown: "Everything was going according to plan... How did this happen?! Why am I always destined to fail?!"

His screams and despair were interrupted by the sound of a group of people sliding on the sand.

People wearing partially armored black uniforms, with glowing blue lines slightly resembling those on Omar's suit, and on their backs a logo of a circle containing a trident glowing with blue light. They descended into the pit with high skill.

They were led by a man who looked in his thirties, wearing the same uniform but with a different circle on his chest... a circle containing a (falcon's claw). He had a light beard and a distinctive scar on his cheek.

The man looked at the collapsed team and said with a calm smile: "Well done, guys... You really impressed me."

Everyone jumped up preparing for a new fight, but the man raised his hand calming them down: "Calm down... I'm with you."

Sekhmat whispered in amazement: "Damn... he really looks like him."

Sekhmat transformed into (Nader)'s form, approached the man slowly and asked him: "You... do you know me?"

The man's smile widened and he said in a warm tone: "I didn't expect you to recognize me this easily... my old friend."