Chapter 57: The Mastermind

“Hurry!”

“Yes!”

I shouted toward Deneb. The Gate was closing soon. We had to get out before we got trapped.

“What, you had a backpack?”

“Yes.”

Deneb quickly stuffed the egg into the backpack. She slipped the egg, which was as big as she was, right into the pack and then hoisted it onto her shoulders.

…He’s really strong.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

After checking one last time that we hadn’t forgotten anything, it was the moment I stepped into the Gate with Deneb.

A chill ran down my spine—

‘…It’s been a while since I felt this.’

Maybe it was because I’d been in the dungeon longer than usual.

For the first time in a while, I really had to go to the bathroom.

* * *

A space thick with darkness, where not a single ray of light seeped in.

In that place, a passage resembling a rectangular door appeared.

The identity of the figure that emerged from that passage—the only source of light in the darkness—was…

“Shit…”

The S-Rank Hunter, Vasquez.

His face was deeply etched with fatigue. He’d fought seriously for the first time in a long while, but in the end, it was a draw.

…No, not a draw—it was practically a defeat.

Not only had his ability, Dominator’s Thread—which was everything to him—failed to work, but he also couldn’t settle the fight with pure skill, even excluding his ability.

Vasquez was not just a master of his awakened power; he was a peak-level expert in the thief class, specifically an assassin. For someone like him to fight evenly with a mage-class Hunter—a disadvantageous matchup—inside a mere D-Rank Gate was a huge humiliation.

Of course, anyone who had seen that girl’s skill firsthand would never call her a D-Rank Hunter.

The ability to re-manifest a destroyed Mana Shield in less than an instant.

Incantations so absurdly fast they made you mistake them for Incantationless Casting, and chants that couldn’t be heard even with his developed hearing.

She was undoubtedly a powerhouse on par with an S-Rank Hunter.

However…

In terms of appearance, that girl was at best in her mid-teens. If she had that level of skill at that age, she should be quite famous, but Vasquez had never heard of her or seen her before.

If time passed and she honed her skills further, what kind of monster would be born…

Perhaps a second Moonlight might emerge.

‘The problem is that she took the egg from me…’

In the end, to retrieve the egg, Vasquez had no choice but to clash with that girl again.

Vasquez had been dispatched to the D-Rank Gate because of a request from his business partner.

The Earth Dragon he had dominated was also brought in by that partner, and he only learned the dragon had been taken down because the partner tipped him off.

‘I can’t help but be suspicious.’

At this point, it felt like his partner had known that girl’s skill from the start and sent him anyway.

Either way, the mission was a failure. Even as an S-Rank Hunter, Vasquez felt a slight tension when he thought about who he’d be meeting soon.

That egg was also a crucial item for his partner’s plan. His partner must have trusted his skill when sending him, so what kind of scolding would he get for failing?

Just as Vasquez let out a low sigh about the coming future—

Zing—

A rectangular space, identical to the passage Vasquez had just come through, formed in front of him.

Emerging from it was a woman of beautiful features, with pale skin contrasted by long, flowing black hair.

Vasquez’s business partner, the leader of the ‘group’ he belonged to, and a mage called the Transfer Mage among them.

Karelin.

She appeared directly before Vasquez.

“…Karelin?”

Vasquez glanced at Karelin warily, then carefully called her name.

“What are you doing? Everyone’s waiting.”

Karelin spoke to the tense Vasquez with a nonchalant attitude.

“Waiting?”

Vasquez had thought he was the first to arrive.

Without answering Vasquez’s question, Karelin began walking down the corridor first.

Vasquez quickly followed behind her.

After walking through the pitch-black corridor for about five minutes—

Light began to appear in the distance. Then, the sound of boisterous voices, presumably belonging to people, could be heard.

The moment the two stepped into that space—

“You’re here?”

“You’re late.”

“Vasquez, I heard you failed!”

Around a large round table, those seated greeted the two.

‘…The news already got out?’

At the mention of failure, Vasquez made a sour face and sat down in his seat.

Meanwhile, Karelin took the seat to the right of the empty chair at the very center of this round table.

“I’ll call the 17th meeting to order.”

Karelin began the meeting with one seat still empty.

“Whoa, already the 17th?”

“Have we really had that many meetings?”

“Does the number matter?”

“Why is that seat in the middle always empty?”

At first glance, her words carried an air of charisma, but noisy voices rang out from all over. It seemed her charisma didn’t easily work on them.

And that made sense — including the empty seat, all eleven members of this group were S-Rank Hunters, or beings of equivalent standing, the very pinnacle of the current era. A gathering of prodigies and disasters.

“…”

Just then, a man in black martial arts robes with a ponytail, seated next to Karelin, shot them a sharp glare. At that, their mouths, which seemed incapable of closing, finally shut.

“Thanks.”

Karelin thanked the man in a small voice.

However, the ponytailed man simply turned his head without a word. But Karelin, as if his attitude didn’t bother her at all, let out a small snicker and turned her head back toward everyone.

“I believe you all already know why we’ve gathered.”

“It’s about Vasquez’s business, isn’t it.”

At Karelin’s words, one of the members spoke up.

“Hold on, can I ask a question?”

The one who said that was none other than Vasquez himself.

Karelin nodded as if to say, go ahead.

“How did you all already know about what just happened?”

“Well, because we were all watching.”

“Watching?”

“It’s my ability.”

Just as Vasquez’s doubts continued to rise, a man spoke up. When Vasquez turned his head toward him, a large man in white robes was looking at him with a smile.

Vasquez found that smile unpleasant. The muscular frame was so massive it felt oppressive, and since he was gathered here, he couldn’t be normal either — yet the way he wore a benevolent smile, as if insisting he was a good person, rubbed Vasquez the wrong way.

“Sir Vasquez, the one you met is undoubtedly a saintess sent down by the gods to guide us.”

His name was Mateo Kvachi. He was an Awakened One, but not a Hunter. However, he possessed skill rivaling an S-Rank Hunter, and that was why he was here.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Mateo had a habit of saying strange things sometimes. From what he had heard, he held the position of archbishop in some religious organization, and that seemed to be the influence.

Besides, calling that arrogant girl a saintess — Vasquez remembered what she had said to him. She’d clearly called him a scrub. There was no way a real saintess would use such low-grade language.

More than that, that wasn’t what Vasquez was concerned about right now.

“What ability did you use? Did you plant some kind of micro-surveillance camera in my body?”

Vasquez felt a chill. Everyone here was either his equal in skill or monsters beyond it. Unlike a guild, this was a group temporarily gathered to pursue their own gains. So for Vasquez, who still didn’t know their abilities well, it was only natural to feel uneasy.

What if Mateo’s ability was to implant something like a parasite, letting him know every move he made, and eventually dominate the host like his own ability?

If that were the case, Vasquez would be as good as finished. On the surface, he was acting like nothing was wrong, but he was deeply unsettled.

“It’s Clairvoyance.”

Mateo revealed his ability, still smiling.

“Clairvoyance?”

“Yes. I was in the dungeon as well, you see. Thanks to Lady Karelin’s teleportation magic. I was also the one who first reported to Lady Karelin that the Earth Dragon you had dominated was slain.”

“So… that’s how it was.”

Vasquez let out a sigh of relief internally. Clairvoyance — just hearing the name gave him a rough idea of what the ability was. Probably the power to see things no matter how far away they were. Vasquez wasn’t thrilled about being watched, but at least it wasn’t some parasite-like ability. That alone was a huge relief.

“Still, it feels kind of unpleasant. Like you’ve shown all our cards.”

“What’s the problem? We’re all comrades here, aren’t we?”

At Vasquez’s words, Mateo replied. At first glance, it might even sound moving.

‘Comrades, my ass.’

Vasquez felt like spitting at that. He wanted to say, how dare you talk like that when we all gathered here for our own selfish reasons.

Of course, doing that would mean making the dangerous choice of turning everyone here into enemies, so he didn’t.

“I’ll apologize for observing you with Clairvoyance without saying anything. It was my order.”

Karelin said to Vasquez, who was showing his displeasure.

“I wanted to show you.”

“You wanted to show me?”

“Yeah. I don’t understand what Mateo says a lot of the time, but this time I got it.”

You understood what that religious fanatic said? So does that mean you’re becoming one too?

Vasquez felt like asking that, but he swallowed the words. Because Karelin’s mood was quite serious.

“Vasquez, as the one who controlled the Earth Dragon, let me ask you. Do you think it was pure coincidence that the egg the Earth Dragon was hiding ended up inside that kid?”

At her question, Vasquez thought for a moment, chin in hand, then answered.

“…Wasn’t it a coincidence? To begin with, that girl entering that Gate was a coincidence piled on top of coincidences, and meeting the Earth Dragon could have been a coincidence too.”

That girl didn’t seem to know about the egg. It didn’t add up that she killed the Earth Dragon targeting the egg. Unless she was the god of acting.

“But what if all of it was inevitable?”

“Inevitable?”

“This is just a hypothesis I’ve come up with.”

Karelin stood up from her seat as she spoke.

“What if the egg found that girl?”