Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Suspicious Bounty
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"Steel Forge."
Fire Fox stared at him with a bewildered look on her face.
Only one person could have sent that message.
It was Freddy, the founder and chairman of the special department handling dimensional species.
And beneath the names Abraksas and Kaal hung wanted posters.
Seeing the text, Fire Fox was understandably thrown into panic.
She knew exactly how Freddy usually felt about Abraksas.
He regarded him as a benefactor, if nothing else.
There was no way he'd order his execution.
"Is this really a message from the chairman? There's no way he'd send something like this..."
"Enough, Fire Fox. Don't presume to interpret the chairman's intentions."
As she denied the chairman's motives, Steel Forge cut her off.
At the same time, he held up his communicator to show her the message.
The moment she read it, Fire Fox's face hardened.
She had sensed the presence just a beat too late herself.
Something ominous was unfolding.
Hearing Steel Forge's next words, Fire Fox's lips parted in shock.
She wanted to say who could possibly take down a zero-grade agent like Freddy.
But with no information to go on, doubting him was pointless.
Freddy would never order Abraksas's death.
All the zero-grade agents knew what he'd done.
So Fire Fox nodded in agreement.
This was Freddy's way of telling them to protect Abraksas.
Fire Fox looked at Steel Forge.
She was asking how to handle whatever trouble had befallen Freddy.
Steel Forge patted his chest twice.
It meant he'd go check it out himself.
Fire Fox nodded.
"Got it. I'll head to Zone 1."
She replied in a crisp tone and stepped out of the building.
As she left, the pursuing gaze gradually faded into the distance.
They must have figured they'd be spotted if they followed any closer.
'Someone skilled enough in stealth that even I couldn't detect them right away.'
In truth, Fire Fox had only sensed it thanks to Steel Forge.
She had no idea where they were.
Stealth like that meant at least a first-grade agent.
'What the hell is going on?'
She scowled deeply and hurried toward Zone 1.
At the same time, one person came to mind—the one who'd acted alone ahead of her.
White Swallow.
One of the fools who took everything at face value.
"Right, that idiot's out there!"
Fire Fox's face drained of color.
White Swallow would have taken Freddy's message at face value.
And she'd definitely attack Abraksas on sight.
Her pace quickened.
She had to catch up to White Swallow before things blew up.
After dealing with the Meris horde.
Havel and Kaal picked up their pace even more.
Especially Kaal—ever since the colony lord had taken notice of them.
He'd been activating short-range spatial jumps without hesitation.
He'd have preferred long-range jumps, but.
It was as if the colony lord had prepared for him specifically.
The spaces in Zone 1 were twisted and tangled every which way.
One wrong move, and he'd get sliced apart in the spatial rifts.
So even Kaal couldn't risk long-range travel.
"Sorry. I asked for your help, but I can't do much."
"Doesn't matter."
Havel didn't care much about losing Kaal's spatial jumps.
He was smashing through everything in sight anyway.
This way was cleaner, without any loose ends.
"Skipping steps in life just makes things more annoying later."
"This the step you're talking about?"
Kaal let out a dry chuckle at the devastated Zone 1 around them.
No matter what dimensional species showed up, Havel obliterated them without pause.
He hadn't even had anything to do.
"How the hell did you get so strong?"
"Still a long way to go."
That was when Havel said it.
His head snapped toward the sky.
Kaal followed suit, looking up a moment later.
There, a single white dot hung in the sky.
The instant Kaal eyed it curiously.
Havel suddenly raised his fist.
Dawn light began to gather on his knuckles.
"Ah!"
Kaal realized what the white dot was too late and tried to stop him.
But Havel had already swung.
The dawn light shooting from his fist rocketed toward the sky.
Just before it struck the white dot.
The dot veered off course and plummeted to the ground.
Boom!
As the smoke cleared, the white dot's outline emerged.
A man in a white robe stood there.
Two awl-like sword hilts poked out from within the robe.
Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground and charged.
"White Swallow."
Kaal recognized him and muttered the name.
Zero-grade agent, White Swallow.
He had no idea why she was here.
But the awls in her hands thrust forward.
In that instant, the length of White Swallow's awl swords exploded outward.
They shot straight for Kaal's head.
As the startled Kaal tried to warp space.
Clang!
Havel's hand blade struck first, deflecting the awl sword's path.
The deviated awl ripped through a building's outer wall and tore up the asphalt.
But there was another awl.
This one aimed at Havel even as he deflected the first.
The parried awl morphed into a blade form and lunged at him.
Caught between attacks from both sides.
Havel bizarrely kicked off the ground and leaped upward.
White Swallow's eyes widened beneath the robe.
She hadn't expected him to charge straight at her.
It was suicidal.
But Havel's speed far exceeded her imagination.
The moment lightspeed gathered in his steps.
His figure was already in front of her.
By the time White Swallow realized it, Havel's fist had already smashed into her face.
Crack!
Her head snapped back, neck wrenching violently.
Blood burst from her nose, splattering the air.
But White Swallow was no ordinary foe.
Her awls shifted into scissor-like forms.
And as the scissor blades crossed to slice Havel.
Clang!
Havel's hands clamped down, crushing the scissor swords with raw force.
They should have severed his hands clean off.
But they couldn't pierce Havel's diamond-hard body.
"No idea what your deal is."
As White Swallow recoiled in shock, Havel's knee shot out.
"But you seem to know Kaal, so I won't kill you."
The knee slammed into her jaw.
Splutch!
Her jaw shattered with the impact rocking her skull.
Even a zero-grade agent like White Swallow couldn't withstand a fist to the face followed by a knee to the jaw.
"Gurgle..."
She finally foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
Havel shook out his hands over her prone form.
Then he turned to Kaal.
"See? Told you skipping steps is a bad idea."
This was how variables popped up out of nowhere.
Kaal stared at him in disbelief.
Then his eyes caught the communicator in White Swallow's hand.
He warped over and picked it up.
His face hardened as he read it.
"...Havel, you might be right after all."
Kaal looked gravely at the message.
"Freddy's parasite has started moving."
Knowing the truth, his assessment differed from the other zero-grade agents'.
"Now the agents are enemies too."
The colony lord had decided to eliminate Kaal and Havel.
White Swallow came to a few minutes later.
"Gasp!"
"You're awake."
Cold sweat beaded on White Swallow's face.
She had glimpsed death in a dream moments ago.
Havel's doing, forcing her mind awake with his brutal alarm.
"Ugh!"
She flinched in terror at the sight of him.
Even as a zero-grade agent.
The fear etched into her very being reacted without mercy.
"White Swallow, right?"
Havel mentioned her codename and showed her the communicator.
"Is what's written here true?"
White Swallow's gaze shifted to it.
It was her own communicator.
Her eyes landed on Kaal.
He had pulled a hat from spatial storage and was sighing as he wore it.
Up close, he really was just an eleven-year-old boy.
But his calm demeanor in Zone 1 gave away that he was Abraksas.
"Not the time to be staring."
At that moment, Havel gripped her jaw firmly.
She was currently bound tight by Kaal's spatial shackles.
Unable to even spread her prized wings.
So she nodded slowly.
"It's true."
"You came here to kill Kaal?"
"That wasn't the original goal. There was a disturbance in Zone 1, so I came to check it out first."
Kaal glanced at Havel.
The source of the disturbance was none other than Havel.
'So even the zero-grade agents picked up on it.'
Makes sense, after the chaos he'd wrought.
No way the zero-grade agents—far from fools—would sit idle.
"Getting back to the city just got a lot harder."
Kaal gave a bitter smile at his public wanted status.
He'd half-expected this.
But for someone trying to help humanity to end up hunted by them instead.
It was disheartening.
Regardless, Havel stroked his chin as he eyed the communicator.
He'd met and spoken with Freddy in person.
The man wouldn't issue a bounty lightly like this.
'Unless he was being extra careful.'
This screamed emergency alert to Kaal and the other zero-grade agents.
Havel hadn't known Freddy long.
So he couldn't be certain, but he turned to Kaal anyway.
"Kaal, among the agents, is there anyone else who might have resisted the parasite's control like you?"
"Like me?"
Kaal looked puzzled for a moment.
There were precedents like his own case.
So it wasn't impossible.
"Honestly, I don't think anyone else pulled it off."
He couldn't confidently vouch for the others.
Havel decided not to hold out much hope.
"Then let's test one."
Instead, he stepped in front of White Swallow.
As she blinked up at him blankly, he raised his hand.
"Whether I can remove that parasite thing or not."
A perfect test subject had conveniently appeared.