Chapter 141 – The Enemy Within (Part Three)

In a conference room with a long table.

Thirteen of Aegis’s team leaders, excluding those currently dealing with Gates, were seated in a row.

Normally, it would be difficult for so many team leaders to gather in one place unless it was a designated safety period, but this weekend was an exception.

Ahead of a hellish schedule packed with missions next week, the number of Gates that had activated over the weekend had been remarkably low.

Thanks to that, I was able to see several faces besides the main team leaders I’d already met multiple times.

First, in the left corner, a woman with her arms crossed and sharp eyes was Seong In-ha, the leader of Aegis’s G-Team.

Famous for her ability to control powerful waves, Seong In-ha primarily handled high-grade monsters that had been missed within controlled sites and had escaped into the sea or deep water.

The prevailing opinion was that in the water, no A-Rank Awakened could ever hope to defeat her.

Across from her sat a brown-haired man who looked to be in his early twenties.

Though he was actually over forty, Gong Min-gyu, the leader of F-Team, looked the youngest of them all—a result of his famous ‘Ageless’ ability, which drew intense interest even from the general public.

Every one of them was a powerhouse, incomparable even among the top-ranking Awakened.

And among them sat Il-hyeon, newly appointed as a team leader.

He was already feeling a considerable sense of awkwardness just being in such a place.

“So, D-Team will take the four A-Class Gates that have appeared in Europe? The activation times are back-to-back, so it might be a bit tough.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s better to get the big jobs out of the way early.”

At Yoon In-hye’s reply, Han Sang-jin nodded and moved on.

Handling that many high-level Gates in a single day was something to be avoided if possible, but no one questioned her skill, so the matter passed without objection.

“After moving the teams currently in the field to standby… it looks like the nine teams with open schedules will have to handle the S-Class Gates. Three S-Rank ones have popped up.”

“You think you’ll be okay?”

Lee Soo-yeon, sitting next to him, nudged him with her elbow and asked.

Her whispering during the meeting suggested she was worried about Il-hyeon, who had never experienced an S-Class Gate before.

But contrary to her concerns, Il-hyeon simply nodded, silently indicating he was fine.

If he had to face a Gate alone, it might be a different story, but with Hyeon-seo and the rest of his team, he wasn’t worried at all.

*Bang!*

Oh Ji-seok, arriving later than the scheduled time, kicked the door open.

When he saw Il-hyeon confidently occupying a seat in the conference room, his expression soured completely.

“What took you so long to…”

“Forget that. Someone better explain what the hell *he’s* doing here.”

As all eyes turned in one direction, Oh Ji-seok pointed at Il-hyeon.

Il-hyeon had to suppress a scoff of disbelief.

*Is he out of his goddamn mind?*

He never imagined that Ji-seok, no matter how much their feelings had soured, would throw a tantrum in a setting like this, rather than when they were alone.

Just as Il-hyeon was about to speak in the brief moment of silence, Lee Soo-yeon stepped forward.

She tilted her head and spoke to Oh Ji-seok.

“Haven’t you heard? He’s the new team leader who just got promoted, so you should probably say hello. And for your information, he’s a full team leader, not a temporary one.”

Her words were the final nail in the coffin for Oh Ji-seok’s already frayed temper.

“Ah… what am I supposed to do with this fucking bastard.”

“You’re late. Stop causing a scene and take your seat.”

“Bullshit. Before I sit down, that bastard needs to be thrown out of here first.”

“Ha? Are you kidding me?”

“Kidding? This whole situation is the joke! That a piece of trash like him gets to be a team leader alongside us! Promoting a guy who’s been here less than half a year? And what’s the name, Alpha Team? Fucking hell, that’s not even funny!”

*Crash!*

Oh Ji-seok grabbed a glass from the table and hurled it against the wall, shattering it.

His explosive temper, which no one could stop, had been ignited.

The problem, however, was that unlike usual, he was currently throwing this tantrum at the table where a team leader-level meeting was being held.

“Where the hell do you think you are, throwing a tantrum?”

Seong In-ha said stiffly, her eyes sharp.

The people here were not the type to meekly listen to his outburst.

Even with his anger management issues, it would be difficult for him to push things further here.

But Oh Ji-seok took another step forward.

“You all stay out of this.”

His raised finger pointed in Seong In-ha’s direction.

It seemed Oh Ji-seok intended to see this through to the end.

Given his personality, it was only natural that he wouldn’t let go of the humiliation he’d suffered at the hands of a mere low-level team member.

“Hey, Oh Ji-seok.”

This time, it wasn’t another team leader who spoke.

Il-hyeon interjected before anyone else could react. Oh Ji-seok unleashed a murderous aura, furious that a young punk dared to call him by his name so casually.

Ignoring it completely, Il-hyeon brushed the glass shards off his clothes, turned his head, and spoke.

“Think you can handle the consequences of this?”

“Consequences? Puhahaha!”

Oh Ji-seok clutched his face and burst out laughing.

Consequences. The very words he had once said to Il-hyeon.

“You adorable little bastard. Fine, let’s see this through to the end.”

Oh Ji-seok drew the sword from his hip.

It was a brutal-looking weapon, like a saw, with multiple sharp grooves carved into one edge.

It was the signature weapon of a man who fought as a martial artist without a special ability.

Seeing this, Il-hyeon immediately stood and drew his own weapon, and the other team leaders rose to their feet as well.

“Both of you, put your weapons away!”

“Hey, let’s take this outside. We need to finish what we started last time, don’t we?”

“Oh Ji-seok, stop it. If you take this any further, we’ll have no choice but to silence you ourselves.”

“Then go ahead and try. I’ve had enough.”

Despite the warnings, Oh Ji-seok didn’t back down.

He was long past the point where rational words could reach him.

Sighing deeply at the sight, Gong Min-gyu spoke up.

“What’s your problem? That he’s not up to par? His entire team is composed of A-Rank Awakened. This isn’t a level where you can argue about career or experience. Besides, he recruited every one of them himself.”

“Sorry, but I’m pretty sure our team is twice as strong as yours.”

Lee Soo-yeon, who was standing in front of Il-hyeon as if to protect him, chimed in.

“The strongest? Haha, right. I hear three S-Class Gates just appeared? Then why don’t you let the oh-so-great Alpha Team handle one of them alone. If they can do that, I’ll acknowledge it cleanly and step down from my position as team leader.”

Oh Ji-seok said.

It seemed unlikely he could drag Il-hyeon outside for a sword fight in this situation, so he threw out the challenge to corner him.

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

“Why not? You all keep boasting about having five A-Rank Awakened, so they should be able to handle a single S-Class Gate, shouldn’t they? If you’re worried, I’ll even let you pick the easiest one.”

It was a twisted argument.

His logic was that since the recent S-Class Gate was successfully handled by Lee Soo-yeon, Jo Yoon, and Han Sang-jin working together, Il-hyeon’s team of five A-Rank Awakened should be able to handle one with ease.

But skill levels varied wildly even within A-Rank, and comparing a new team to Aegis’s top team leaders was absurd.

Naturally, no one agreed to let a single team handle an S-Class Gate.

Except for one person.

Il-hyeon made a choice that no one in the room could have predicted.

“That won’t be necessary. The S-Rank Gates this time… we’ll take all three.”

***

“You… you monster.”

The bleeding man managed to choke out the words.

Aside from him, who was slammed against a wall, all of the hundreds of organization members were already dead.

*Squelch!*

A large blade flew through the air and pierced the man’s abdomen.

Nearly a third of his torso was blown away, and his breath ceased instantly.

Bloody corpses and hundreds of blades stuck in them.

In the midst of it all stood Oh Yoon-ha, her long, dark black hair flowing down her back.

Currently an executive at Aegis, she had been the only active S-Rank Awakened leading Raven until this incident broke out.

Holding a position within Aegis second only to Ryu Jin-tae, she was a former colleague who had stood shoulder to shoulder with the three legends of the past. Having served as an active S-Rank Awakened for so long, her skills were beyond question.

“It’s clear there’s something in the basement here.”

Oh Yoon-ha muttered quietly.

Proof of this was the presence of four figures surrounding her.

They possessed an aura clearly different from the small fry she had just dealt with.

*Swoosh! Crack!*

A blade thrown from Oh Yoon-ha’s hand embedded itself deep into the right wall.

At that, the four Awakened who had been hiding revealed themselves.

The figures in white coats were all unknown Awakened whose faces had never been seen before.

Judging by their skill at concealing their presence, they were clearly not people who should be unknown, and Oh Yoon-ha, her interest piqued, posed a question.

“And who might you all be?”

But no answer came.

Of the four surrounding her, the man on the left was the first to speak.

“We had hoped to avoid a confrontation with you, but… you’re going to have to take a little rest.”

“Hoped to avoid a confrontation? Then why step forward now? Could it be because of the strange energy I feel coming from the basement below?”

Her words hit the mark.

The man’s expression twisted.

“Haha, amateurs who can’t even control their expressions. I was just trying to clean up some of the smaller organizations while I had the chance, but I never expected such an unexpected prize.”

“Regardless, you’ve been far too active.”

The man said stiffly, his face flushed.

The number of organizations Oh Yoon-ha had completely annihilated today alone was over ten.

Moreover, she had specifically targeted major organizations of a certain scale, causing them considerable losses. They could no longer stand by and watch.

“So you all stepped up to kill me?”

“We won’t kill you. But you won’t be waking up for a few months.”

“I must look like a real pushover.”

Oh Yoon-ha couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

With a flick of her wrists, swords suddenly appeared in both her hands.

She twirled the newly formed swords and gripped them properly.

“One of you will survive. I only need one for the interrogation.”