A statue lost in the desert

On the 12th of march of the year 2026, an anomaly was detected in the desert of Gento near the capital of Germany, Turm. What began as a low rumble felt by the rare people who still dared to venture in that no man's land, soon turned into an earthquake that shook the entire nation.

However no one could pinpoint where it came from. And no one was really dumb enough to enter the desert to try and find out. It was common sense to the people of this era, an area such as the desert of Gento was no place for anyone to go to, even the military.

And yet, the source of that earthquake was quickly found by a group of four teenagers, all dressed in prim looking purple suits. They all wore black visor caps with an owl crest. Two days after the beginning of the earthquake, the situation still hadn't changed, and the group remained there, searching the area for the source.

One of them cursed as he threw his cap on the sand.

"For God's sake ! We ain't gonna find anything ! I bet you this is some sort of hidden experimentation again ! I'm tired of running around like a dog to reassure those damn dumbasses." He said as he dropped on the ground, droplets of sweat visible on his forehead. The temperature was insanely high that day and those teenagers didn't seem to be prepared for something like that. All of them were sweating, except their apparent leader, the only one wearing a cape which had that same owl crest on it.

"Mills, stop complaining and keep searching. This cannot possibly be an experiment, or I would have been told so and I never lie to you guys. I haven't received any specific orders for this. This is a genuine situation." The leader said as a girl who was kicking sand behind him shrieked.

"W-What if we encountered some monster ? Or an alien ?!" She yelled as the others deadpanned at her.

"Remind me why we brought Habane with us again ? You know the japanese gets stressed easily in situations like those. "Mills complained to his leader who merely sighed.

This continued as such until the only silent member of their squad suddenly yelled.

"Get your asses over there ! I found something." She exclaimed while looking at a strange set of stair that just appeared out of nowhere and seemed to lead deep underground.

"This just appeared right in front of you ? And you didn't freak out ? Yup I knew it, you don't have a soul." Mills said as he descended down the stairs without waiting for his superior's orders. But no one complained, they were all too used to this.

"Mills, try not to trip. These stairs look like they'll get you directly in hell if you do." Habane said with previous stutter gone. Her curiosity took over when she saw the stairs and she had stopped freaking out.

"Ain't that something that would put a smile on your face ?" Mills asked with a frown as Habane nodded without a sliver of shame. Mills clicked his tongue while the leader chuckled.

"Okay okay, now stop bickering. These stairs are a bit too well made for my tastes, so be on your guard. There shouldn't be anything left in this area and yet these stairs look old as hell, so they weren't made by the rare crazies who stayed around the area. " The leader said as his subordinates nodded. Mills and Habane readied their handguns as they descended down the stairs, while the silent girl with auburn hair and black eyes took out a combat knife.

They arrived, after a few minutes of walking down the stairs in silence, right in front of a set of huge doors. They were made out of metal, that much was obvious, but they looked generic. They didn't have the look ancient metal doors made at least hundred of years prior should have, at least Mills thought so as he approached the doors.

"Alright, and now ? Do we go ' Sesame open ' ?" Habane asked as Mills snorted.

"It's the other way dumbass, it's 'Open, sesame'." He said, getting a glare from the girl. As the two bickered, the leader and the silent girl ran their hands over the door.

"Hmm...I don't recall this place being recorded in the old books. And I've read most of them." The girl said as the leader nodded.

"Indeed. I'll call the captain, just in case. Don't want to make the same mistake as the Vehrans and open a gate to hell or something like that." The leader chuckled dryly as he reached for his phone. He left the room and went up the stairs to call his superior while the silent girl glanced at the doors.

"Mills ! Habane ! Come over there." The girl yelled at the two children who were still fighting.

They quickly ran to her, as if afraid she would chew them out if they didn't, and waited for her orders.

" Barbatos went to contact the captain, better be safe than sorry, but I want to make sure you won't do anything dumb. So stay away from the gates." She said, before sending a cold glare to Mills who was about to say something, most likely something dumb.

However he still said what was on his mind, and it wasn't what the girl was expecting.

"I mean sure....But the gates are opening on their own, ya know ?" He said, pointing at the gates who were indeed opening. They were silent, which wasn't supposed to be the case for gates as massive as those. However it was the case, and so the squad had to act on the spot.

"Barbatos, get your ass here quickly !" The silent girl yelled as she readied her knife, while Mills and Habane pointed their guns at the gates. They were prepared for anything that could be coming from behind those doors. However nothing came. The room that laid behind the gates was empty, save for a massive statue.

The squad members glanced at each other, until the silent girl gave the signal to move on. They needed to clear out the room now and make sure nothing dangerous was there.

They could hear Barbatos running down the stairs, so if anything tried to leave the room, he would be there to stop it, whatever it may be.

Mills, Habane and the silent girl spread out across the room and went through every nook and cranny of it. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just an old room filled with dust and a massive statue in the middle of it.

Said statue quickly became the focus of the teenagers as they examined it. If they were to overlook the statue gigantic's size, and that was difficult due to how ridiculously big it was, it would still be weird. It depicted an humanoid creature with three pairs of arm, a cirle ressembling a burning sun on it's back....And that was enough to scare the crap out of Mills.

"Wait wait wait ! Isn't that circle on it's back floating ?! I don't see anything supporting it !" He yelled while pointing at the statue with a trembling finger. Habane also started to freak out, while the silent girl maintained a calm facade.

She had seen her fair share of weird things in her life, and this statue wasn't even in the top 20. However it still intrigued her. Unfortunately the questions that formed in her minds weren't about to be answered, and the situation took a turn for the worse when the squad members heard a pitiful cry from their leader who was standing at the entrance.

"Barbatos ! " Habane yelled as she and Mills pointed their guns at the newcomer who was holding their leader. Said newcomer was wearing a tattered cape and had a face mask that only allowed for his blue eyes to shine in the darkness of the place. They couldn't see his face and neither could he see theirs. But given how he was holding their leader at knife's point, the team didn't really care about the guy's face.

"Well, if it ain't the good ole Barbatos' team. Been a while, dumbasses !" The man yelled as they all recognized the voice. Before they could yell his name, the man took out a gun and shot at the ceiling.

Now silenced, the team watched as the man threw Barbatos to the ground. Their leader massaged his throat before glaring at the man.

"You didn't have to do that, you know that right ? " He asked. The man merely snorted and put his knife back in his belt, through he still held on his gun.

"You guys just randomly took out that mission as soon as it was given out, and here I am wondering why. But then again, you always were desperate. That and you really love stealing people's missions, huh ? Well it doesn't matter. This mission will be handled by my team now. Get your asses out of there before I gun you down. And don't even try to threaten me. I can shoot you faster than your low brains can process." The man as he ran his fingers over the barrel of his gun, a Colt Python revolver.

"You really had to ruin this, huh ?" Barbatos said as he grabbed the handle of his sword and took it out of it's sheath. It being the first time they ever saw the sword, the squad members were all stunned into silence. It was the finest looking rapier they had ever seen in their life. It was rather simple, but it was made out of a certain blue metal they happened to have heard of but rarely ever saw. It shone like the eyes of the newcomer and it became a beacon of light in the dark cave.

"So, are we about to fight over this random statue ? We don't even know what it is, Barbatos. Quite dumb to lose your life for such an unknown variable, huh ?" The newcomer as everyone paled. They finally realized that he was much more serious then they thought. Had it been a century ago, they wouldn't have believed his claim. However this was the 21th century, and as such...They knew all too well just how serious the man was.

The 21th century was the beginning of a new era, one that changed human's society for the worse....Everything was possible, in the Era of Powers and Monsters !

And they were about to be reminded of that fact rather harshly.

A rumble came from the statue, the earthquake came back even stronger than before, and as everyone lost their footing....A growl was heard from the statue.