High School Soldier
Target 4: offer

“He really is the dumbest of the dumbest in the world. What does the Commander think?!”

Hassan groans as the attacking order he gets from Candranala – starts the fight against the Hero Fury – and gets back apart as Team 12, the Silent Killer, and the girls face thousands of Rio subordinates. On the other hand, another wave of Alliance attacks was facing additional troops.

Even though the day had turned night, and in the forest was very dark and gloomy, the invasion of the enemy added to the gripping effect. Hassan can't ignore Candranala's careless orders, he won't let the team's journey end in this forest of death. Unlike the TNI Expeditionary Force less than 2 years ago.

Candranala said that she would keep her new subordinates – Team 12 – from the thing that befell her previous unit, and Hassan argued it was no light task. There was no way to help Candranala, or she and her subordinates would end up like a fellow Candranala in Explorer Squad 1, according to Hassan personally. So, there was nothing else, the most he could do was fight alongside the team members, the Candranala girls, the Silent Killer, and the Arevelk special platoon, ensure the struggles of the young soldiers last longer and destroy all obstacles. That is all that can give Candranala and the country she wants to protect

This is the heroic struggle that Team 12 finally got.

“What do you mean Mr Candranala is stupid? He was just doing his job, as a good boss,” Sigiz responded to Hassan's words while gathering magical energy. He had been doing this important thing for quite a while, the flow of magical energy in this area of the forest was extremely thin.

“I mean, because he's too reckless, it might affect us. Look, the damn opponents who surrounded us, he should have helped us first, right?”

“Oh, do you think it would be better if Mr Candranala let the Angry Hero – traitors from the country of Indonesia – roam the battlefield, killing many valuable soldiers? What do you think of that?”

Hevaz's reply silenced Hassan, and left the members of Team 12 bowed, imagining the worst possibility of the Guild's greatest enemy freely slaughtering their comrades. It weighed on the brain even more, so they briefly thought about what Candranala would do if she were among them. He had given his subordinates direction in the face of things, including fighting. It was the result of predictions, and imagined a suitable course of action to be used for young combat units such as Team 12.

Hevaz and Sigiz are like class treasurers who charge cash to unpaid boys for a year.

“Pray the God you believe in, and I don't care if Mr. Candranala's tactics will fail! What would the bosses say if he failed? You will not be killed just for his mistake! We, the girls of Mr. Candranala will fight with you, so don't worry!”

Edera's shout made the male members of Team 12 collapse his confidence, making them envious and excited. Same with the girls, especially Zefanya.

Gasping for breath at the thought of his commander getting pleasure from the otherworldly girls in front of him, Hendra for the first time shouted that had not been heard before.

“Center and government headquarters will not understand the difficulty of obtaining common sense in battle. We don't have time to fight according to their rules, and those bastards can criticize the strange tactics of Lieutenant Candranala that bear fruit of victory ... We should have from the beginning done the thing ‘itu’.”

His voice was filled with the confidence typical of a freedom-ridden teenager, and regret shortly after taking too long to think about the condition of his commander. Hendra knew Candranala would not lose, no matter how strong his enemy was. Putting aside the shock of his friends who first heard him nag by putting on a daunted face, Hendra took off his protective vest.

“You're right, Hendra. If a force of this magnitude defeats our defenses, the entire Guild members will be in danger. We fight for protecting our beloved life, country, and family.”

Delivering those words in a gentle tone, Zefanya smiled in this gloomy night. His comrades did not see any flaws in his physique, which seemed to be just the expression of a young girl who wanted to fight like a princess in a fairy tale.

Huvu jumped from one of the trees, relaying the results of his patrol, “Sorry to disturb, but I saw a hundred heavy infantry Alliance backed rifle cavalry with equal numbers approaching us. The Silent Assassins' power will not be enough, and will not guarantee that they will retreat in order for you to open a clean-up shot, so do not expect any help. I'm sorry, but you may have to face most of the soldiers under the Hero's Angry army.”

The eyes of the Demihumans of the cat race have a much better vision quality than those of trained warriors who even wear the most excellent night vision goggles.

“After the Silent Assassins move in the face of the Alliance's rifle cavalry, Queen Sigiz's special platoon will hold off the heavy infantry. We will split in all directions, giving a supporting shot to destroy the opponent's strongest unit.”

“Yes, it doesn't matter, vice-mister Mr. Candranala. It was like a normal task for us,” said one of Arevelk's elite soldiers in response to Hassan's proposal.

‘Life’ is still in the effort of dodging the relentless shot of the Angry Hero, making the eyes of his subordinates stare expectantly without response. All the people felt was the cold aura and ferocious fighting spirit of the man.

**

Candranala peeked out from behind a large tree, struggling to find an opportunity to land a shot or two in return as Rio fired his relentless Eternal Bullet which made Candranala agitated.

Candranala's consciousness is focused only on the only opponent before her, her former best friend, forgetting the line between life and death that has almost disappeared, and imagining death that is never wrong. He could see nothing but his enemy, and could hear nothing but gunshots and the screams of battle, leaving Candranala unaware that time was approaching midnight.

Rio directed his shots in all directions, regardless of the Eternal Bullet and the projectiles from his SS2 banyangan would probably scorch some of this forest. The goal is to find Candranala hiding somewhere. She has no grudge against anyone, but the power gained makes Rio feel able to do all the things he wants, even though it makes many people hold a grudge against him.

Perhaps Candranala had that feeling, yet Rio did not care at all.

Defeating Candranala, taking her before the Alliance's top brass, brainwashing her and giving her a new identity, utilizing her as a weapon for the great war of the future, and, all of that is the duty of the Hero in exchange for honor and a return to the home world.

Candranala did not even believe Rio was actually supporting the Alliance from his country, even though both sides suffered countless losses due to the war.

Seeing Rio only 60 meters away from his spot, Candranala bent her left knee, then leaped sideways with a shotgun aimed at the Hero of Anger. Four shots were fired, and Rio instantly realized, making the Hero point his left palm at Candranala.

In front of his palm appeared a white-colored magic circle with an intricate pattern, then a path of light emerged from it after Rio chanted a short spell.

Candranala accidentally slipped while landing, in order to avoid a javelin-shaped light path from Rio. The magic breaks and burns the bush with that spark of light, making Candranala realize she is struggling in a fantasy world. If this was in the home world, the attack had the equivalent effect of a phosphorus bomb being exposed to the human body in large quantities.

(olog note: phosphorus bombs are chemical weapons commonly found in cleaning products, and rat poison. Phosphorus is capable of causing burns if it comes into contact with open skin, and a large phosphorus bomb attack will result in death)

If Candranala dodged the attack with a directional motion, Candranala would not only be fired upon with Rio's magic rifle, but also by the battle magic that the Furious Hero was mastering.

Rio fired his rifle, unleashing ten Immortal Bullets. The magical projectile barely hit Candranala. Upon seeing his entire attack miss, the magic circle on his left palm let out two javelins of light. The two shadow hands were still aiming their respective rifles at the fast-running and unguided Candranala. When the fight against Candranala began, both of those shadow hands and his SS2-shaped shadow had not shown any function at all.

Although the shallow abyss was minimal, Candranala who was great at escaping and hiding managed to avoid Rio's entire attack, at the expense of having her left shoulder scratched the lesion of an Eternal Bullet, creates lightning-shaped scars. He deliberately chose the shallow abyss not only to dodge the shots and reduce Rio's firepower, also pulling himself in to find another way to avenge the attack.

After he returned to the surface, Rio immediately found himself. Behind the Hero of Anger there were about ten heavy infantry of the Alliance, and ran with its master. Seeing Rio pointing his rifle at her, Candranala immediately fired several projectiles towards the man without needing to aim. He was a few milliseconds faster than Rio in shooting.

Two bullets hit the sturdy armor of the two heavy infantrymen of the Alliance who happened to be behind Rio who was late in ordering his subordinates to dodge, and instantly killed them.

Rio immediately got up after almost failing to dodge Candranala's shot, even he had to protect himself with the Shield Magic. The red-colored transparent lid slowly disappeared as she aimed at Candranala who was about to escape back. As the figure of Candranala disappeared among the dense undergrowth, Rio lowered his rifle.

“Follow me!” Rio instantly ran in the same direction as Candranala after giving the order to the three remaining infantry soldiers.

The three warriors seemed silent without responding, then one of them said, “Is he really a Hero? Why doesn't he protect us with his Shield Magic?”

Two of his comrades nodded in agreement, then looked at the two of their comrades who had died from failing to dodge the opponent's shot. In addition to personal negligence, the three warriors felt this was one of the Angry Heroes as well.

After throwing a grunt at each other, the three Alliance soldiers immediately caught up with Rio chasing his target.

**

Candranala made use of her place now which was overgrown with thick shrubs to ambush Rio. Candranala took aim in a prone manner, propping her rifle with her left hand. He changed the height of the shot when he heard the sound of footsteps that Rio could confirm. He directed a gaze upwards, aiming at Rio's head.

Candranala hoped that the remaining 60 rounds of ammunition would be able to penetrate the defenses of Rio and his subordinates. Then, the best choice after defeating the subordinates of the Amarah Pahlawam was to continue attacking, hoping Rio retreated because of the desperate – like a fight in the capital of the Arevelk Kingdom half a year ago.

Candranala pressed the trigger, and the gun barrel blasted a 7.62mm projectile that would explode as it pierced through the thick armour of the Alliance's heavy infantry. The only eyes he had made him suck in night battles, thus forcing Candranala to launch stealth attacks with a low degree of accuracy. Only luck would Candranala expect, other than bringing out her entire combat ability to fight Rio.

But, one of the shadowy hands on Rio's back changed shape into a shield, fending off the projectile Candranala fired, like a real metal shield.

“Ap-“ Candranala immediately shut her mouth, almost making a sound that made her discoverable by Rio and his subordinates.

Candranala's left eye glared at Rio's magic ability, like she was witnessing a real nightmare. The shadow hand suffered no effects from the shot, then re-formed SS2 and directed it to where Candranala was.

Candranala could feel both of Rio's shadow hands were aiming at her. Candranala leapt back, and the shrub she had been hiding in was burned by the slingshot of several bullets from the shadow gun and the javelin of the Hero of Anger.

The second batch of shots came, then the third one that came from the Rio Immortal Bullet. Candranala can evade all attacks released by the Hero of Anger, but makes himself out of range. Rio confidently walked towards Candranala, after raining down Candranala hideout to scorch.

Rio was forced to use most of his magical energy to fight against Candranala on the operation to destroy Girinhi Fortress in order to gain control of the surrounding territory. It was done by him so that Candranala could not retaliate against the attack, so he continued to run and was cornered. Along the border with Girinhi Fortress, the Alliance had prepared 50,000 soldiers and various siege weapons to destroy the Arevelk fortress, and besieged Candranala if the man crossed the border unknowingly.

Candranala was scared, and her entire body was exhausted, but her face showed confidence.

Rio's remaining subordinates might think of cornered Candranala like a weak rat child, but the Enraged Hero told them to join the main force, and report the course of the battle to her, it was as if they were now forbidden to interfere.

The sight of Rio and his subordinates fighting over made Candranala smile at her shelter.

Rio's words upon meeting back at this battle, made Candranala feel death always chasing after him, insisting on taking him to the Alliance, yet she could also kill him if necessary.

Candranala muttered in her heart, “I will do the same to you, Rio..”.

On the other hand, Rio did not know what his purpose was to fight, even during his first day of fighting as a Student Army. Once his enlistment as a TRIP soldier was opened, he simply followed Candranala and Jonathan assembling the record files, not knowing what he wanted to protect after graduating as an amateur soldier. According to him, fighting with friends for the oppressed is a tense and noble fight (at that time Indonesia was the embattled party).

Everything changed after the war in the origin world was over, then Rio was summoned to another world as a Hero.

The great power gained as an Angry Hero makes him feel able to do anything freely, and threatens anyone who tries to prevent him from using force. Unfortunately, he still suffers after fighting Candranala during the raid mission of the capital Arevelk.

Then, when he sees the girl he likes realizing a dream that is to establish a relationship with his best friend, Rio increasingly has no purpose as a soldier, except for the core tasks given by his superiors. He doesn't know what his differences are with Candranala, and whatever it is won't make a difference. Then, it was time for him to get a second chance as the strongest warrior in the Alliance. That's good, and now he feels very powerful, that's all that matters.

The night sky is dotted with beautiful meteor showers.

After a while of searching, Rio finally found Candranala without the help of his subordinates. She knows Candranala is very good at hiding. Rio could feel the air of Candranala's existence through the aura that the man emitted, but mixed with the gloomy aura of the soldier who died in battle, breaking Rio's concentration.

Even though he had lost a fight before, Rio still had the desire to meet Candranala again, fight, and then defeat her for the first time.

The two of them then looked at the sky with a rain of shooting stars, without forgetting their respective goals.

Although her best friend was already much stronger, yet Candranala now felt something sort of determination rushing through her body. He knew, once Rio came on the battlefield, that Enraged Hero would kill him with joy.

Then, Candranala heard Rio shout saying, “If you fight with the Alliance, you don't have to fight for those bastards! Leave those who will not praise you after winning! Me and the Alliance will protect you, and will give you everything you want. You're happy pretty sister type girls, right? Your sister and Beautiful will always be with you, and we will keep you safe! So, join the Alliance, Candranala.”

The two shadow arms on Rio's back aimed their weapons at Candranala's shelter, aiming at the surrounding trees instead of targeting the young man. SS2 shadow turned into the head of a shadow dragon, and was opening its jaws like it was about to spurt fire from its mouth.

After hearing the ravings of the Hero, Candranala retaliated by spitting to her left side.

“So the Alliance has a lot of purpose on this war. But, why is one of their goals being me?”

Although he was a living war machine, yet he did not want to be overused. Rio's whole talk was so sweet, that Candranala was surprised when the Angry Hero said her favorite type of woman. The offer was tempting, but it was less important than achieving the goal even if it meant he would fight like a machine.

And now, finally, Candranala was facing each other again with Rio.

Candranala saw her best friend wearing her own version of the jungle camouflage outfit, with the addition of the Alliance emblem on her left chest instead of one of the 3 TNI matras. The hero carries an SS-19 that has been transformed into a magical version, with the Eternal Bullet ammunition that will never run out. The two shadow arms on Rio's back again formed SS2, and led to Candranala.

Then, Rio looked at Candranala who was sought after by the Alliance after the announcement of the appointment of an Indonesian soldier as the Hero of Hope was spread. The man stood firm, with half of his face wrapped around a bandage, and his eyes stared coldly at him. The self-protection worn by Candranala is very fragile, although it is able to withstand the lesion of arrows fired from a distance of 10 meters.

Rio placed the tip of his index finger on the trigger, with the position of the body ready to shoot.

Then, Candranala ran eastward, but both Rio shadow hands extended – to catch Candranala – without Candranala guessing.

However, Candranala's running rate was faster than Rio's eyes' observation, and she rained down on Candranala with the Eternal Bullet to stop her target.

Rio shot without aiming at the vital area. He tries his luck, hoping one or her Eternal Bullet hits Candranala. He could have shot with a javelin that would have produced the effect of a phosphorus bomb. Candranala will not be able to avoid the splinters that shot in all directions after the javelin of light exploded, and will soon be paralyzed if the splinters hit it.

Is Rio playing Candranala?

No, Rio did not want Candranala to die, or the Alliance would curse her. Rio's shadow hands continued to extend to grab Candranala, wriggling away from the obstructing tree trunks.

Seeing both of Rio's shadowy hands chasing after him, Candranala ran in all directions through the dense trees. The large number of trees in this forest was in his favor, and his distance with both arms of Rio's shadow made him not to be easily caught. Every now and then Candranala fired two shots at Rio chasing after her, hoping that the attack would break down her opponent's morale.

Candranala immediately changed direction as Rio's two shadow arms changed shape into a giant thorny truncheon, and swung towards him.

“What?!”

The attack hit Candranala from behind, leaving Candranala bouncing and unconscious after her back hit a tree trunk.

**

(illustration of Rio, image source pinterest)