Chapter 164 – Taking the Initiative (Part Two)

“……”

In the suffocating silence, Jo Nam-seok gulped.

The two Awakened exuding a menacing aura right in front of him made it tense just to stand still.

The two Awakened leaning against the wall before him were none other than Astrid and Marco.

They weren’t overtly radiating killing intent; it was a restrained aura, yet its power was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat.

He had heard they were Awakened from the Alpha Team who, like him, followed Il-hyeon as their leader, but this was the first time he’d seen them in person.

Their completely white hair, making them look like twins, was so strange that he found himself staring blankly until he was caught, at which point he quickly looked away.

But that moment was brief. A drunkard stumbled into the dim alley where they were positioned.

The man, barely conscious, approached and bumped right into Marco’s back, who was blocking the alley.

With glazed eyes, the man let out a string of curses almost as a reflex, then turned and grabbed Marco by the collar.

But when he looked up and saw the build and impression of the people blocking his way, and felt the aura they were emitting, it was enough to sober up even the heavily intoxicated intruder.

“Ugh… Aaaah!”

The man stumbled, nearly falling a few times, before scrambling out of the alley.

For the past ten minutes since they had taken their positions, they had been continuously driving away anyone who tried to enter the alley.

He wondered if this was really okay, but before he could dwell on it, Astrid and Marco started to move, and Jo Nam-seok followed.

They hadn’t set a specific time or given any particular sign, yet they moved simultaneously, with perfect timing.

Astrid, heading deeper into the corner, was the first to turn at a fork, veering right.

Just as she did, she came face to face with a group of men rounding the corner from the right, and her hand immediately shot forward.

*Whoosh! Kwang!*

The unlucky man walking at the front was grabbed by the collar and slammed into the wall before he could even react, passing out and collapsing.

Seeing one of their comrades taken down in an instant, the men flinched back in alarm.

Dressed in plain clothes, they were Awakened from Eclipse who had just gathered for an upcoming operation; they never dreamed they would be ambushed.

However, the distinctive faces of Astrid and Marco had been widely exposed in the media, and the organization’s members recognized them quickly.

“Kang Il-hyeon’s lackeys. How did you find us?”

“We came to retrieve the tracking device we left on you.”

Astrid said with a slight tilt of her head.

Among them was Jang Se-ho, who had once been caught by Il-hyeon and escaped.

He was the very reason this tracking was possible, thanks to Astrid’s ability to continuously know the location of anyone she had seen once.

“What…?”

The members, naturally, had no idea what she was talking about. They scowled and drew their weapons.

But Astrid didn’t even give them a chance to fight.

*Crackle! Kwang!*

A powerful bolt of lightning fell from the sky, filling the alley and sweeping over all the men.

Without Defensive Coats, none of them could withstand such a blow. The charred members writhed on the ground, their mouths gasping.

“Guh-heok…!”

“Jo Nam-seok, it’s your turn now.”

“Ah…! Yes, yes! I’m on it!”

As Astrid stepped back and called to him, Jo Nam-seok, who had been staring blankly, snapped to his senses and ran over.

Approaching the fallen members, Jo Nam-seok lifted their heads one by one to identify them.

Thanks to his ability, it wasn’t difficult to find out detailed personal information, including their names and special powers.

As long as they were still breathing, he could read the information like text without any major restrictions. Astrid, knowing this, had moderated the lightning strike just enough to keep them from dying.

“I’ve confirmed everything.”

When he gave the okay, Astrid nodded and drew the sword from her waist.

Seeing her unhesitating movement, Marco, who had been silent, spoke up.

“Are you going to kill them all?”

“We have to. You know we don’t have the luxury of taking them alive, don’t you?”

Astrid said coolly.

As long as their enemy had the world’s strongest psychic on their side, hiding these men somewhere was impossible, and imprisoning them was obviously pointless.

Of course, Marco knew this as well, but he still looked displeased.

However, he didn’t refute her point and simply complied without another word.

*Shunk!*

***

“Kuhk… Damn it.”

Seok Pil-joon cursed, his entire body creaking in pain.

He too was a high-ranking Awakened, so his condition had improved from the initial injury, but in his current state, rejoining Il-hyeon to help was impossible.

In this state, he would only be a burden in a fight.

*Kwoong!*

He could hear the sounds of a battle from within the thick fog, and Seok Pil-joon looked in that direction with concern.

He knew better than anyone the strength of Kim Yoo-jin, his former master, and was well aware that he was no easy opponent.

He knew it would be late, but he reached into his coat for his communicator to contact Aegis anyway.

But at that moment, he felt the faint presence of someone approaching.

His nerves on edge, Seok Pil-joon quickly turned around, and there was an unexpectedly familiar face… no, a mask.

“Ghost…?”

“Ugh… You’re in bad shape. How did you, of all people, end up like this?”

Ghost hurried over and helped him up.

Wincing in pain, Seok Pil-joon stared at Ghost in disbelief and asked.

“How did you know to come here?”

“I was heading home when I got an urgent call, so I rushed over. Alright, let’s get you up.”

“Ugh. A call…? What call… No, that’s not important. Forget about me, go help over there.”

Seok Pil-joon said, pointing in the direction swallowed by the thick fog.

But Ghost just shook his head and hoisted him onto his back.

Seok Pil-joon’s arms and legs were too damaged; simply supporting him wasn’t enough.

“It’ll be fine over there. It’s practically over already.”

“What’s that supposed to mean…?”

“Let’s get out of here first.”

***

*Crash!*

The Basilisk charged, tearing up the ground, its massive jaws opening to swallow a chunk of the floor.

But Kim Yoo-jin, who had dodged the attack, swung his sword wide, unleashing a wave of sword energy.

Dozens of sharp blades of energy shot out towards Il-hyeon.

*Clang!*

The Valkyrie blocked their path, deflecting all the energy blades with her spear of light, while Il-hyeon, who was behind her, stepped forward and launched a slash attack.

As the powerful slash rushed forward, the warped ground seized his ankle.

But Kim Yoo-jin countered even that with his own sword energy, holding his ground.

Unable to finish it this time either, Il-hyeon frowned slightly.

‘I wish he’d just go down already…’

He had unleashed a fierce onslaught in this place overflowing with poison, but the fight dragged on tenaciously.

He had cut down dozens of Il-hyeon’s summons and evaded the Basilisk, continuing to endure.

And amidst it all, he even managed to counter-attack, creating situations so threatening they made Il-hyeon’s heart sink.

He was confident he could win if he dragged it out into a long battle and wore him down slowly, but that alone wasn’t enough.

At this rate, reinforcements from Eclipse could arrive before he could even take down Kim Yoo-jin.

Yet, rushing in recklessly to end it now was risky, given his opponent’s experience.

It was then, in the midst of their fierce battle, that the space above their heads suddenly began to distort.

*Whoosh!*

A man in a green mask emerged from the distorted space and landed softly on the ground.

Seeing the white coat and the mask, there was no need to ask who he was.

“…The great Kim Yoo-jin called for help, so I was wondering what was up. I never imagined you’d be pushed this far. Impressive.”

“There’s no time for chatter. Kang Il-hyeon has the Peacemaker.”

“The Peacemaker…?”

At Kim Yoo-jin’s words, even the man in the green mask reacted with a startled flinch.

‘Damn it, so they finally showed up…’

Seeing him, Il-hyeon’s expression darkened slightly.

It wasn’t because he felt threatened by the appearance of a new masked figure.

Having challenged Kim Yoo-jin again after his crushing defeat, he had wanted to finish this perfectly on his own, but it seemed that was no longer possible.

“Well, that’s not what’s important.”

The man in the green mask tilted his head at Il-hyeon’s mutterings.

His attitude was far too relaxed for someone now facing two opponents.

And his incomprehensible actions didn’t stop there.

*Drrrr!*

The Basilisk surrounding them was unsummoned and vanished, and naturally, the poison it had been emitting thinned out noticeably.

“What’s he doing? Has he given up?”

“There’s no harm in conserving energy. Even for me, a summon of that level consumes a fair bit of mental power.”

“You’ll die without being able to do a thing if you do that.”

“Stop bluffing. You can’t kill me anyway, right? Because of that plan of yours.”

Il-hyeon said with a smirk.

The man in the green mask paused, then glanced back.

“…How does he know about that?”

“Just hurry up and take the sword.”

Kim Yoo-jin sighed, then bit his lip and growled.

The man, having been chided, scratched his head for a moment before nodding and drawing his sword.

But just then.

Two powerful presences, which hadn’t been there moments before, appeared from the front and back.

And piercing through the thick fog that enveloped the area, two Awakened revealed themselves.

Long black coats and the clearly written word ‘Aegis’.

The one who appeared in front was the leader of Aegis’s A-Team, Jeong Jin-seong.

“It’s been a while, you two.”

“Don’t you dare call us that. You’re not worthy of the word ‘senior’.”

And from the back, it was a furious-looking Lee Soo-yeon.