Chapter 138 – The Chase (Part Three)

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have ordered this.”

“Really? Mine’s delicious. The coffee aroma is great.”

“Ugh… Can’t we trade just this once?”

“Nope, no way.”

On the terrace of a café with a clear view of the beautiful coastline.

While Il-hyeon, in a low-brimmed hat, and Astrid chatted and admired the exotic South American scenery, Marco approached them in a simple short-sleeved shirt.

Looking at his face, Il-hyeon noticed a strange difference.

“Hmm? Looks like one side of your face is a little burnt.”

“The boss of the organization I dealt with the day before yesterday was a B-Rank flame user, and he had a lot of subordinates. It was a bit of a struggle.”

“Ah… sorry. Good work.”

Il-hyeon said sheepishly.

It made sense. There was no way skin that could chew through steel would get a simple sunburn, so the slight darkening of his skin had seemed odd.

Without a word, Marco spread the documents he brought across the table and sat down in the opposite chair.

Il-hyeon and Astrid’s gazes immediately fixed on them.

Among the papers was a photo of a middle-aged man with a very impressive mustache.

“Is this man our target?”

“That’s right. He’s an executive in the IRC, the organization that orchestrated this. Publicly, he holds no special title, but he’s said to be Gullart’s left-hand man.”

While Astrid acted as Il-hyeon’s nurse and bodyguard, Marco had been tracking down the members of the organization behind the incident.

In just a few days, he had single-handedly annihilated over thirteen organizations, large and small, and in the process, incidentally obtained crucial information about an IRC executive.

“He definitely… must know where Gullart is holed up.”

Looking at the information on the executive, there wasn’t a single aspect of the organization’s affairs he wasn’t involved in.

It seemed certain that if they captured him, they could find out the whereabouts of Gullart, who hadn’t been seen since his appearance in that propaganda piece.

“He will be passing through here shortly.”

Marco said confidently.

And not long after, just as he’d said, a man in a straw hat appeared on the street below the terrace.

From his strange mustache, it was unmistakably the executive from the photo.

“Hmm…”

Astrid, resting her chin on her hand, stared directly at the man with an amused look.

The executive didn’t notice, but her red eyes clearly pierced through him.

“Alright, let’s follow him.”

Il-hyeon shot up from his seat.

The target was an ordinary person, not an Awakened.

It would take some time, but they could tail him without being detected.

But Astrid suddenly grabbed Il-hyeon’s arm.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s take our time.”

“What? We’re going to lose him.”

Il-hyeon said, dumbfounded.

“Even if we let him go first, I can still find out exactly where he went.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Il-hyeon asked in response to Astrid’s incredibly relaxed tone.

Looking momentarily puzzled, Astrid and Marco realized their mistake and began to explain to Il-hyeon.

It was about the two special powers they possessed.

Il-hyeon had assumed they had the same powers as Asu and Marka—flight, telekinesis, and lightning—but that wasn’t the whole story.

Their unique eyes each held a distinct ability.

First, Marco possessed the ability of Insight, which allowed him to determine the truthfulness of a person’s words.

Thanks to this, he had been able to dismantle numerous organizations during his investigation and obtain meaningful information.

On the other hand, Astrid, with her red eyes, had a tracking ability that allowed her to know the location of anyone she had seen directly.

A useful power that could pinpoint anyone she had ever laid eyes on, no matter where they were hiding. The IRC executive who had just appeared was no exception.

“…Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“You never asked. I thought you already knew.”

“Give me a break…”

As his anxiety about tailing the executive vanished, Il-hyeon stretched and leaned back in his chair.

He had naturally assumed the abilities he’d seen back then were all they had, but they possessed powers beyond his expectations.

It seemed that since both abilities were useless in a direct fight against him, they had never been revealed.

“So… can I order another drink?”

“Ah, get me one too.”

Marco chimed in as Astrid stood up abruptly.

* * *

“Push them harder! Is this any time to hold back and preserve your strength?”

The executive in the straw hat reprimanded someone in an irritated voice.

He was continuously on the phone as he walked down the street.

But as he reached his destination on the outskirts of the city, a man who appeared to be a subordinate hurried over and spoke to him.

“An important guest has arrived.”

“Could it be…”

“Yes, it is him.”

“Understood. Tell him I’ll be right down.”

The executive quickly ended the call and quickened his pace, descending into the entrance of an underground parking lot that was currently restricted.

*Thud!*

Il-hyeon landed on the building above the underground parking lot the executive had just entered.

The black wings that Astrid and Marco had unfurled scattered into the air.

“He said an important guest?”

“Don’t tell me it’s Gullart?”

Il-hyeon muttered.

Considering the executive’s standing within the organization, the only man who would be referred to as ‘him’ with such reverence would be the boss himself.

‘I came here looking for a clue, and I might end up catching the big fish himself?’

Intrigued by the conversation, Il-hyeon’s eyes gleamed.

After a quick exchange of glances, they leaped down from the building in an instant and simultaneously took out the three subordinates guarding the entrance.

They then mercilessly dragged the unconscious men inside and hid them in a convenient blind spot.

There were no CCTV cameras in sight yet, and they proceeded deeper without hesitation, taking down subordinates as they went.

With three A-Rank Awakened present, any subordinate they encountered, Awakened or not, was slammed face-first into the ground before they could even scream.

They could do nothing but curse their bad luck for running into Il-hyeon’s party.

Passing through the densely packed parking lot and heading further down, a massive facility greeted Il-hyeon.

“This place is…”

Machines relentlessly producing something, patrolling subordinates, and a warehouse to the side filled to the brim with cores of various grades and equipment that seemed to be used for manufacturing.

It was identical to the explosives manufacturing process he had heard about from Jeong Jin-seong.

The level of automation was incredibly high for a criminal organization, and the scale of this underground facility was substantial.

It made sense that they could produce enough Ether bombs for terrorist attacks all over the world if they had multiple factories like this one.

“Hmm… they’ve laid out quite a feast.”

“Focus on the mission.”

As Astrid licked her lips, Marco, who was beside her, chided her.

The entire place was teeming with Ether and cores, so even Il-hyeon couldn’t help but be distracted.

But for now, finding out the identity of the “important guest” was the priority, so they kept low and moved quickly through the blind spots.

Astrid continuously updated them on the executive’s location, and since no one there could detect the presence of such high-ranking Awakened, they found him with ease.

“He’s over there.”

Astrid whispered, having spotted the executive.

‘Wait, that guy is…?’

Il-hyeon’s brow furrowed when he saw the “important guest” facing the executive.

Black hair and a lean, muscular body, rather slender for an Awakened.

Judging by his build and hair, the man’s back was definitely not Gullart’s.

However, it was clear he had stumbled upon an even bigger prize than Gullart.

The man was wearing a white Defensive Coat.

It was identical to the one worn by the Woman in the White Mask.

‘That bastard…’

Memories of his crushing defeat resurfaced, and Il-hyeon momentarily gritted his teeth.

Unlike the woman he’d encountered, the man before him wasn’t wearing a mask, but his face was completely unknown to the public.

“How about we give him a preliminary roast with some lightning?”

“No, if he dies instantly, we’ll lose the information…”

Knowing the formidable power of the lightning Astrid could create, Il-hyeon instinctively started to refuse.

But in that moment, he realized the white Defensive Coat the man was wearing was not something that would shatter so easily, and he nodded.

“No… it should be fine. Go ahead and hit him.”

“Here I go. Lightn—!”

* * *

*BOOM!*

Amidst the explosive sounds echoing across the battlefield.

Astrid, who had been abruptly pulled across space, ducked to avoid the grotesque teeth of a monster.

“What is the meaning of this all of a sudden!”

An enraged Astrid shouted.

Hyeon-seo, who had brought her here with her spatial jump ability, apologized with an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry, I need a hand. At this rate, this won’t end with just one city.”

*Slice!*

Hyeon-seo’s sword bisected a monster that had lunged for Astrid’s back.

Monsters continued to attack even as they exchanged a few words, and Astrid had no choice but to whip her silver hair around and join the fight.

“This is insane!”

“Ah, is this the new team member you mentioned? She seems more like an older sister than you, Hyeon-seo.”

Ghost said, phasing through a nearby wall.

Caught in the sudden chaos, Astrid retorted sharply.

“I’m hundreds of times younger than you, you know?”

“Haha, a prickly one, aren’t you. Like Hyeon-seo said, give us a hand. Things are getting seriously intense here.”

Looking up, she saw a swarm of monsters blackening the city sky.

The A-Team was already split due to their busy schedule, and now they had run into an incredibly tricky, top-tier surprise Gate.

When Astrid spotted Marco standing beside her with his sword drawn, she said in shock.

“What, you’re here too?”

“So it seems.”

Marco replied with a disbelieving chuckle.

She wasn’t the only one who had been abruptly dragged to the other side of the planet.

“Hey, are you crazy? We were right in front of the enemy, what were you thinking bringing us both here? Now he’s over there all alone…”

“Well… Il-hyeon told me to, so I had no choice.”

“What?”

* * *

“That’s right, I told her to take them.”

Il-hyeon drew his sword and muttered as he stepped forward.

Hyeon-seo hadn’t brought them to the other side of the world on her own whim.

He’d seen that her situation looked dire, so he had readily given his permission via telepathy.

Besides, from this point on, he needed no interruptions.

*Crackle! Sizzle!*

Light streamed in through the destroyed, gaping hole in the ceiling, and the gaze of the man in the white coat was now fixed on the revealed Il-hyeon.

Astrid and Marco had been pulled away mid-action, but the lightning she was casting had already struck the underground facility.

The bolt, which had obliterated the organization’s empty front building, blew the lid off the underground factory and struck its target directly.

The executive, who took the brunt of the lightning, was vaporized without a trace, and the man next to him had the defensive function of his coat half-destroyed, causing it to spark and fizzle.

“Kang Il-hyeon… Why are you here…”

The black-haired man said with a grim expression.

He was in no mood to be pleasant after being hit with such a ridiculously powerful surprise attack.

“Then again… I did hear you’ve been stirring up trouble all over the place, not knowing your place.”

“That’s strange. Isn’t that a perfect description of you guys?”

Il-hyeon said, lightly mocking him.

The man, now thoroughly incensed, clenched his fists tightly.

“You son of a bitch…! To think a whelp who’s only alive because he was lucky enough not to be on the list could be so arrogant. I’ll beat you into a living corpse, just short of killing you.”

*THOOM!*

The man rushed forward at incredible speed and threw a punch straight at Il-hyeon’s face.

He intended to pulp him without even bothering to use the sword at his hip.

But to his surprise, his fist was easily blocked by Il-hyeon’s single hand.

“Just as I thought…”

In contrast to the man’s shocked expression, Il-hyeon smiled.

He had gauged his strength from the moment he saw him, but taking the punch confirmed it.

The man was undoubtedly a very strong Awakened, at least B-Rank or higher.

But even so, he was nothing compared to the Woman in the White Mask he had faced in the international prison.

*CRUNCH!*

Il-hyeon’s grip tightened around the fist, and the man’s expression momentarily contorted in pain.

“I once got my ass handed to me by a woman who seemed to be with you guys. So, you’re going to have to take a beating in her place.”

“You… you bastard…!”

The man desperately tried to pull his arm free, but his captured fist wouldn’t budge.

“I’m only going to hit you three times, so don’t you dare die on me.”

Il-hyeon raised his other arm.

“I just need to knock you out so I can drag you away.”