Missing in Action

30: Seconds from Disaster

The day had come. The atmosphere was tense all over Hallyu. The anxiousness was so thick that one could cut it with a knife. All magical squads were already prepared; ready to face whatever the Source had brought with him and quite possibly, face what fate awaited them by the end of the day.

Finally, the break of dawn was upon them. However, not even the sunlight could chase away the shadows of doubt and fear inside everyone. Nevertheless, they were ready to fight, to defend the kingdom and their homes. They will put everything on the line here – their reputation, their skills, their lives.

As the morning progressed, the tension was doubling by the minute. The peace was uncomfortable. It was the kind of peace where you know that something was lurking in the shadows. As the sun continued to rise up across the sky, so did the uneasiness felt by the kingdom.

By lunch, everything in the Kingdom of Hallyu was in a standstill. On the positive note, there was not yet an attack; but on the negative side of things, there was no attack yet. That meant that this was going to be a long day for everyone. And while the sun began its descent toward the horizon, everyone's nerves were still skyrocketing.

Five-Sided Polygon, Newest-W, In-City, Gots-Even, Icon, Wheener, Ex-Monster, and Angels Ace as well as Nayoung, Sejeong, Chaeyeon, Kyulkyung, Yeonjung, Yoojung, Mina and Doyeon were all on standby in front of Wannable, Wanna One's current work headquarters and the seat of power for the Chosen. Just as planned, the interim Supreme Six and Twilight Triad were in charge of protecting Swing Province.

"Is he even planning to attack today?" Jay rhetorically asked.

"It's psychological warfare. He is stalling for us to lower our defenses," Taeyong claimed. "We did use similar tactics to SVT before."

"Did it even work?" Shownu inquired.

"Trust me, it didn't work even a single bit. After they survived through our trump cards, they chased us off after hitting us with four consecutive X-Con techniques," Taeil reminisced. The other members, minus Shotaro and Sungchan, either shook their heads, giggled or hid their faces as they recalled the event during the Big 4 Provinces invasion seventeen years ago.

"Four X-Con techniques in just one battle? I personally know both our group and SVT-seonbaenim have several X-Con techniques due to our group structure but seven techniques in just a single battle? That's just... wow," Sungchan mumbled out of shock.

"That's nothing compared to what I've heard," Jinu mumbled. "According to Plackbink, during the final battle between Wanna One and then-Five Pillars, they activated their X-Cons a total of sixteen times. Wanna One activated their techniques a cumulative six times, Bulletproof Scouts, X-O, Plackbink and Velvety Red all activated their techniques twice while Two-Times only activated their X-Con once. The last remaining X-Con was the Big 4 rulers' modified X-Con technique."

"Sixteen times? That's an insane amount of magical power involved!" Shotaro gasped.

"Incredible indeed. That is why they are the consistent members of the Supreme Six," Mark from Gots-Even stated. "Those six are unbeatable; only to be challenged by the Twilight Triad."

"But aren't you part of the Twilight Triad before?" Sungchan asked, addressing his question to Gots-Even, Wheener and Icon.

"Well, we were and we were extremely fortunate to have been a member. You do how the member selection works, right? All three of us just managed to edge Geefreend by just a slight margin during those respective times," Jay of Icon explained.

"So when you were part of the Twilight Triad, did you challenge them?" Shotaro was curious.

"No, we did not challenge them. Who in their right mind would challenge those six?" Mino denied.

"But didn't you say, seonbaenim, that only the Triad can challenge the Six?" Shotaro follow-upped.

"Ah, what Mark meant by that was during the Fandom War. The original Twilight Triad - namely SVT, Mommymoo and Geefreend – were able to go head-to-head against the Five Pillars. Naturally, only those three could pose as a challenge to the Six," JB elaborated. "The three of us might have been a Triad member but we won't dare challenge those Six. We don't have a death wish."

"Ex-Monster, though, kicked our butts quite harshly that day. They have no mercy," Bobby fake-cried; the rest of Icon acted hurt as well.

"Oh, shush. Like you haven't almost decapitated me and I.M.," Jooheoney spat back.

"Yeah, we're still feeling guilty against Troas though," Jinyoung of Gots-Even muttered.

"Us as well. We seriously injured the BNM Boys that time," Hoony sounded apologetic.

"But one of the greatest surprises out of that war was IOI," Hyejeong giggled.

"Hey! How did we end up in the conversation? We are just silently listening here," Nayoung protested. "We were even missing for the majority of the Fandom War!"

"That's the point. You showed up when everyone thought you were all dead," Hui pointed out.

"It was not our fault everyone jumped into conclusions," Sejeong defended. "And besides, our disappearance was out of our control."

"Yeah. Yeah. Cosmic Void, prophecy and all that," Yugyeom dismissed. Yeonjung splashed Yugyeom with water.

"What was that for?" Yugyeom pouted.

"That is for pissing us off," Doyeon flashed a playful tongue to Yugyeom.

"Let me just say, you are the best Chosen this kingdom has ever had," Yugyeom acted cute.

Yeonjung threw a water ball; this time, on Yugyeom's face, "Liar! We all know everyone agrees it's Wanna One, even us."

The rest giggled at Yugyeom's futile attempt to appease IOI.

"Hyung, I'm so jealous. They have so much memories about the Fandom War and here we are, with nothing to share whatsoever," Sungchan told Shotaro like a whine.

"It's okay, the two of you. At least this time, you are part of the action?" Kun sarcastically said while patting their heads.

"But it would have been better if it was a completely different experience and memory," Jinho said.

"Agree."

"Look at us, at the verge of another war yet here we are, looking back on our last major battle," Aron chuckled.

"This is better than just waiting around anxiously," Minhyuk reasoned.

"And it's nice to look back to the past, especially with how rich this kingdom's history is," Kihyun added.

However, their light and pleasant conversation was immediately cut-off by the sounds in the background. The nine group fell silent to listen to the faint noises intently. However, that was unnecessary as another one erupted near from their location. It was the sound of an explosion.

"It has begun," Chaeyeon mumbled.