Chapter 160 – Their Identity (Part Eleven)

The corpse of the Leviathan, falling from the sky, created a massive aftershock as it was buried at sea.

As it plummeted, fragments of the Leviathan’s body were sent flying in all directions. Hyeon-seo’s force field provided the first line of defense, blocking them all, and Marco retrieved them with his psychokinesis, completely preventing what seemed like inevitable damage.

With Marco’s power, the massive, decaying chunks of the corpse were all gathered in one place. As Aegis’s backup team began the cleanup, a huge crowd, including broadcasting companies and reporters, swarmed the area.

The monster this time had roamed the skies.

It was a location impossible to control, and the creature’s size was absurdly large, so it was inevitably exposed to the media, whose leash had been loosened by a recent exposé.

The entire world watched the Leviathan’s appearance and its subsequent defeat live.

The S-rank monster, always kept under wraps and now revealed for the first time, was a sight that transcended common sense—something far beyond what humans could comprehend.

Moreover, in some regions, the colossal monster was visible just by looking up, and people trembled with an indescribable fear.

But just as they were gripped by terror, the image of their savior shone all the brighter.

The sight of the Leviathan collapsing as its body disintegrated after losing its core was vividly captured on screen, and the news that not a single casualty had occurred astonished them even more.

This was the second S-rank Gate cleared by a single team.

It was a huge story, so countless reporters flocked to the scene. But unlike the more relaxed past, the situation was different now; high-rank Awakened like them had no time to deal with the press.

They couldn’t even get a glimpse of Il-hyeon, the leader of Aegis’s Alpha Team, let alone secure a single interview with the famously private team members.

The reporters, swarming outside the control line, desperately tried to peer inside. It was then that they spotted a man with distinctively white hair and a contrasting black coat, who stood out at a glance.

“There… He’s over there!”

“Just one word, please!”

“How did you manage to complete the mission?”

When they saw Marco and even Seong-won inside the control line set up for the cleanup, the reporters’ shutters flashed as they fired off a torrent of questions.

With so many gathered, it was the first time they had spotted a member of the Alpha Team, so they rushed forward with all their might.

But as their fervor grew excessive and they started to push down the fences, staff members ran in to hold them back. Seong-won and Marco simply walked past.

“How’s the situation down below?”

“The toxins are potent. It seems best to pull out as much as we can.”

Marco answered.

A look into the Mediterranean Sea, where the Leviathan’s corpse had fallen, revealed a dangerously lethal poison emanating from within.

Naturally, cleanup would be much more difficult underwater than on land. The plan was to have Marco use his psychokinesis to break the creature’s body into pieces and lift as many as possible out of the water.

“Looks like I’ll have to handle the next Gate alone, then.”

Seong-won said, scratching his head.

Il-hyeon, the team leader, had been summoned to Aegis HQ to handle some business. Hyeon-seo and Astrid had already left for the next site, and now Marco was tied up here. Contrary to their original plan, he was the only one left who could move.

Of course, the Gate he had to handle alone was a B-rank one where a previously encountered monster would appear, so he could deal with it by himself without any issues.

In fact, it wasn’t just “without any issues”; with his super-regeneration ability, there were practically no monsters capable of inflicting a dangerous wound on him.

“The next site after that is an A-rank Gate, right?”

“Yeah, in the Chongqing area by 1 o’clock. Let’s meet there.”

***

“Hah!”

A rough gasp echoed through the quiet women’s restroom, occupied by only one person.

Inside, a neatly dressed woman in a shirt and jeans was washing her face, her head bowed low. The Defensive Coat hanging beside her was caked with thick, red blood.

“Hoo…”

Yoon In-hye, Aegis’s D-Team Leader, lifted her head and stared into the mirror with hollow eyes.

It was a look rarely seen on her.

With a troubled expression, she shook her head once, dried her face with a towel, and briskly tied back her loose, chestnut-brown hair.

The reason for her agitation was her recent encounter with Hong In-hwa, the returnee from A-Team.

When they had accidentally met in the hallway, Hong In-hwa had reflexively read Yoon In-hye’s past the moment their eyes met, and Yoon In-hye, in turn, had read Hong In-hwa’s thoughts.

As their pasts and thoughts became uncontrollably entangled, Yoon In-hye saw something and could no longer remain idle as before.

“You’ve finally done it.”

Yoon In-hye muttered, glancing behind her.

Inside a spacious bathroom stall lay the corpse of a horribly murdered woman, with pools of blood drying all around.

The brutal stench of blood filled the restroom. She hurriedly put on her blood-stained black coat and began to move.

“I have to make contact outside, somehow…”

Yoon In-hye took an elevator, left the basement, and entered the main headquarters building.

Without even thinking of concealing the body, she intended to leave this place as quickly as possible and find someone.

But contrary to her expectations, she ran right into Il-hyeon in the middle of the hallway.

“Il-hyeon…?”

“Ah, Team Leader Yoon.”

He had just arrived at headquarters after successfully taking down the S-rank monster.

The moment Yoon In-hye saw Il-hyeon, she read all of his thoughts. She vividly saw everything he had experienced in her absence and all the things he had been doing.

When she confirmed that he had obtained the Peacemaker and even killed the man in the red mask, her face turned pale.

“Why on earth did you come here?”

Yoon In-hye strode forward, cornering Il-hyeon almost angrily. He asked, bewildered.

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

“There’s no time to explain.”

Looking around anxiously, Yoon In-hye reached out with both arms and grabbed Il-hyeon’s head.

Il-hyeon reacted instantly, trying to push her away, but the speed at which she activated her ability was far faster.

“Master!”

Peacemaker shouted, sensing Yoon In-hye’s mental interference aimed at Il-hyeon.

Reacting immediately, the Peacemaker shot out of its scabbard on its own, without Il-hyeon’s hand, intending to slice Yoon In-hye in half at the waist.

*Click!*

“Stop.”

“M-Master!”

But it was Il-hyeon who reached out, pushed the half-drawn Peacemaker back into its scabbard, and shook his head at the weapon.

“Go now. As quickly as possible.”

Yoon In-hye said. Il-hyeon nodded silently and left the building.

He would likely never return to Aegis headquarters again. With this, the immediate crisis had been averted.

“Haa…”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Yoon In-hye paused for a moment and ran a hand through her disheveled hair.

Even in that instant, her complex mind was spinning furiously.

“This should be enough… probably.”

Having made a decision, Yoon In-hye raised her left hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.

After drawing on her power to take some kind of measure, she turned her gaze and began to hurry down the corridor.

Yoon In-hye headed for the most deserted area within the headquarters and was about to turn the right corner.

*Thwack!*

“Keuk?!”

But at that very moment, a figure appeared without any presence and grabbed her by the throat.

Reacting instinctively, Yoon In-hye twisted her body in an instant, broke the hand gripping her throat, and retreated.

“You’re here already…”

Yoon In-hye grimaced, rubbing her stinging neck.

To appear without any presence and exert such force on an Aegis team leader, this was definitely no ordinary Awakened.

More importantly, Yoon In-hye already knew her opponent’s identity.

“But since you came to me directly, it seems you missed Il-hyeon, Reporter Park So-yeon.”

Calm eyes, a brown bob, and the characteristic white Defensive Coat of their kind.

It was the female reporter who had appeared before Il-hyeon several times, Park So-yeon.

“Or should I say ‘Hwayeon’ of Eclipse?”

“Where did you send Kang Il-hyeon?”

Hwayeon asked, her brow furrowing slightly as she approached menacingly.

Yoon In-hye, one of Aegis’s strongest Awakened, had no choice but to step back from her pressure.

But even so, she didn’t lose the hint of a smile on one side of her face as she gave a vague reply.

“Well now…”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I expected a real answer. I’ll just pull it out of you myself.”

“Heuk… Keuuup!”

Hwayeon’s ability ripped through Yoon In-hye’s mind, and her consciousness was instantly seized, leaving her unable to move a single finger.

Yoon In-hye, known as one of the world’s most powerful mental ability users, was completely overwhelmed.

Smiling faintly, Hwayeon gripped her neck, brought her face close, and said in a sweet voice.

“You killed another one of my clones that I planted in Aegis, didn’t you? You’ve always been the most troublesome one. Even the strongest suggestions I placed on you kept breaking… It was quite a hassle. It was especially irritating when you played dumb behind my back after you first saw Kang Il-hyeon.”

*Crack!*

As her hand tightened around her neck, Yoon In-hye’s mind was being torn apart to completely suppress any resistance. She gritted her teeth against the horrific pain.

“I’m curious why you struggle so much when you’re not even on the list. You must have known about our plan, and you know better than anyone that it can’t be stopped…”

“Even if there’s no chance… keuk… it’s better than… doing nothing…”

Yoon In-hye managed to force out the words, her face turning crimson.

And she began her final, prepared act of defiance.

*Fwoosh!*

“Ugh… Keuk…!”

A powerful force struck back, shaking the mind of an unguarded Hwayeon who had been trying to take control. For a moment, her body staggered.

But Hwayeon immediately drew upon her ability again, crushing Yoon In-hye with the sheer difference in their power.

With that, Yoon In-hye’s remaining mental energy was completely depleted, and her body went limp.

“Such a meaningless act… wait.”

Hwayeon, who had been looking at her with contempt, suddenly froze.

She had found something strange while reading Yoon In-hye’s completely dominated mind.

Hwayeon’s voice trembled as she spoke.

“You… you erased your memories.”

“Your power may be greater, but you can’t peer into the subconscious.”

Yoon In-hye gazed at Hwayeon with a faint smile.

The monster before her was also a mental ability user and far surpassed her, but the scope of their abilities was different.

Yoon In-hye could see even the subconscious within memories, but her opponent’s case was different.

“What are you trying to hide when things have already come this far…”

Hwayeon’s voice trembled slightly.

It was the first time since becoming an Awakened that she had been so completely outplayed, and she found it difficult to suppress the anger welling up inside her.

*CRASH!*

“Keuk!”

Yoon In-hye groaned as she was slammed against a wall.

Hwayeon paid her no mind, gripping her neck even tighter and speaking in a furious voice.

“Fine… I can’t let you ruin our stage any longer, so it’s time for you to exit. Of course, I won’t kill you here. And when the new world we bring forth arrives, you will watch the changed world with your own two eyes. You will bitterly regret the choice you made today…”