A moment before the missile landed on Mr. Ace, blowing up entire kilometers of land in a blink—
Back when Mr. Ace was confronting the terrorists, they weren't the only ones hearing him.
Unnoticed on the ground, a handheld transceiver lay beside one of the terrorists. Its signal was still active.
On the other end, someone had been listening from the very beginning—every word, every sound.
That someone was none other than Commander Armin of V-201 Blackfire.
After the terrorists were defeated by Mr. Ace and he had extracted all the intel from their minds using The Playtime...
The handheld transceiver lay crushed beneath Mr. Ace's boot. He hadn't realized that someone was still listening on the other side, nor did he know the transceiver's true status. It seemed like the best course of action to destroy it, given he had never encountered such a device before.
---
Meanwhile, on the other end, Commander Armin sat back in his chair, rubbing his forehead with a deep sigh. The conversation he had just overheard had left him with an unsettling feeling.
Mr. Ace, an assassin with an ability unlike any other. One who, if left unchecked, could conquer the world, given the right circumstances. History had shown that assassins—many with powers far beyond ordinary men—had tried to seize control of the world, but all had failed. The reason was always the same: they never understood the cost of their power. The cost of losing oneself. But that man, he feels as though he already possesses multiple selves.
"Mr. Ace..." Armin muttered to himself. "That man, with his unique ability, his 'mad magician' persona, and whatever he calls himself—tasteless... He's a potential threat. Not necessarily on a global scale, but if he aligns with Russia, then it's a problem. For now, though, my duty is to report to the General."
Armin leaned back in his chair, his thoughts momentarily drifting as he prepared to make his report.
He picked up his handheld transceiver and adjusted the frequency, trying to reach an active line of the German military.
Bzzz—ktt
The signal clicked into place.
"Commander of V-201 Blackfire is in report, sir."
A voice responded from the other side, firm and official. "What's the report?"
"I have something to share with the General. Can you connect me with him?"
A pause. Then came the answer. "Alright, but keep it short and meaningful. The General doesn't tolerate unnecessary words."
"Understood," Armin replied.
A few mechanical clicks echoed through the receiver, followed by a brief silence. Then a line connected.
"This is the General," came a calm, steady voice. "Proceed."
Armin straightened his back unconsciously. "Commander Armin, sir. I intercepted a full conversation through a terrorist's transceiver. An assassin named Mr. Ace—he defeated the terrorists and extracted intel using his ability. His behavior is unpredictable, He calls himself the Mad Magician and the Tasteless Musician. He's quite a strange person, but I believe he's potentially dangerous, especially if aligned with Russia."
The General listened without interruption. When Armin finished, there was a pause. Then:
"We're already blowing up Petrogard," the General said coldly. "Start with him."
"...By blowing him up?" Armin asked, voice faltering.
"Exactly."
The call cut off.
Armin stared at the device in his hand, sighing heavily. It was his first time speaking directly to the General. He had seen the man before—tall, unreadable, commanding—but never faced his voice like this.
He lowered the transceiver, eyes narrowing.
"One order. One target," he muttered. "Mr. Ace…"
The V-201 Blackfire team, positioned at an advanced outpost miles away, tracked the movements of Mr. Ace and Anastasia through high-tech spyglasses. Their sharp eyes, trained for precision, locked onto their targets.
One of the men, stationed with a spyglass, gave a subtle signal to the others, indicating that the targets were within missile range.
"We've got them in range," the observer said, his voice steady as he marked the location on a digital map.
A professional missile specialist, older and more experienced, began working on the terminal, coding the exact coordinates where the missile would strike. "Missile is ready, Commander. We will launch on your command."
Commander Armin stood, eyes narrowing as he observed Mr. Ace from his vantage point. His fingers hovered above the control panel, his mind working through the consequences of the strike. He raised his hand in a decisive motion, signaling that the launch was ready.
The missile specialist's hand hovered over the launch button. A final confirmation.
"FIRE!!" Armin commanded, his voice unwavering.
As the commander's hand descended, the missile shot out from its platform with a deafening roar. The sound sliced through the air with an intensity that threatened to rupture eardrums. However, all the men around the console were shielded from the sound by noise-reducing headphones, designed to mute the worst of it, though not to perfection.
The missile streaked through the air with speed, its trajectory locked onto Mr. Ace's position. A moment of cold calculation hung in the air, and the team could only wait for the explosion that would follow.
And as the missile landed where Mr. Ace stood, the only thing V-201 Blackfire saw from afar was a flash of blinding light—no sound, just a bright eruption in the distance.
But after 3–4 seconds...
BOUMM!!
The delayed shockwave struck them hard. The force of the wind pressure knocked Commander Armin and the others off balance for a moment, their coats flaring as they steadied themselves again.
At the site of the missile's impact, the destruction was catastrophic.
Kilometers of ground were scorched. Buildings lay in molten rubble. Fire and smoke swallowed the sky. There was no sign of life—no trace of survival. Mr. Ace and Anastasia were presumed gone, consumed by the blast.
But deep within the heart of the impact zone, where the missile had struck directly—there was something strange.
A glowing yellow magic circle shimmered in the smoke.
Inside it, untouched by the blast, stood two figures.
Anastasia, collapsed to the ground, trembling. Her mind went blank—she'd thought she was dead. Her ears rang. Her eyes refused to believe.
Mr. Ace stood still beside her.
Behind his mask, his eyes shook.
He had never witnessed this kind of destruction before. Not in all his life. Not even as an assassin.
He thought, So this... is a nuclear weapon?
Here is your scene, rewritten in standard novel format with clear structure and preserved intensity:
---
But that wasn't the reason Mr. Ace's eyes were trembling.
Anastasia, her voice shaking, managed to speak, "Y-You saved... us, Mr. Ace?"
Her legs gave way beneath her, and she collapsed onto the scorched ground. The sight of her homeland—Petrogard—devastated in the blink of an eye was enough to scar her soul. Her hands were trembling violently, her eyes unable to focus.
But Mr. Ace remained standing, stiff and silent. His hand was clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and his breath was uneven.
"No," he said. "It wasn't me."
Anastasia's expression faltered. "What...?"
"It's not me," he repeated. "I didn't save us."
His voice was low—haunted. Something had happened that even he couldn't explain.
---
Just seconds earlier.
The missile had been seconds from impact when Mr. Ace felt it—the warning, the trigger. The Playtime activated, freezing time in place.
He stood alone in the suspended moment. Nothing moved. No sound. No wind.
But unlike all the times before, he didn't move either.
Even if I teleport, I can't escape the radius... The thought hit him like a weight. I'm not fast enough. I'm not strong enough.
This was different. This wasn't a bullet. It wasn't a blade or a punch.
It was annihilation.
The Playtime—his so-called untouchable gift—couldn't help him now.
And for the first time since he'd gained that cursed ability… Mr. Ace felt truly helpless.
Time resumed.
But before the missile made contact—before the devastation could erase them—a golden circle ignited around him and Anastasia. A divine yellow glow shimmered in the shape of an ancient symbol, pulsing with power unlike anything he had ever seen.
It absorbed the entire blast.
The world burned around them, but the two remained untouched.
Inside the circle, Mr. Ace stood frozen. His heart raced. His mind raced faster.
What was that? Who did this?
And most importantly...
Why?