Ability Wielders 31 Who's This?

Standing in front of her was the man wearing the black dopo and gat the night that Hayden fought the raven cognizant.

"Mistress, you've returned," the man kneeled down, his tone full of respect. "I have a report regarding a wielder that has appeared in our territory that is not part of the Lunar a.s.sembly or ours."

"Speak," the 'mistress' spoke a single word, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with arrogance and coldness.

"This wielder wears the same mask as k.u.miho, but is a man," the man stood up as he reported the matter of Hayden fighting the raven. "I would've not reported it if not for his outstanding sheer potential, being a mere Level 2 wielder yet can fly significantly faster than the speed of sound, his physical abilities were able to match that of a Level 2 cognizant, and his combat capabilities are top-notch, from the looks of it, the man even held back a little when fighting against the raven."

On the man's finger, a black ring can be seen. This ring was a s.p.a.ce Ring. Abruptly, a black tablet appeared in the man's hands, and tapping on it, the man showed pictures of Hayden in his White Fox ident.i.ty.

"Interesting," the 'mistress' spoke. "Have you investigated this matter? Do you know of his ident.i.ty or not?"

"That's also one of the reasons I'm reporting this," the man truthfully spoke. "As aforementioned, this man has never appeared in our territory prior to this, and seemingly, even Lunar a.s.sembly isn't familiar with this guy as they were similarly spectating the fight between the raven and him. Most likely, this man is a foreign wielder that was sent to defeat this cognizant, and from his mask, either a j.a.panese or a Chinese. Of course, the less probable a.s.sumption is still a possibility, and that is that this guy was simply too good at hiding, or a tourist who just happens to be at the right place at the right time. We have no way of proving any of these."

"I see." The 'mistress'' face turned serious. "This is indeed troublesome. Good job, now, dispatch people on all the cities all around Gyeonggi province, find this person and bring him to me, alive. You are dismissed."

"Yes, mistress," with that, the man flickered and disappeared in the mistress' view.

…..

Meanwhile, in the car, Hayden and Eun-ha were still flirting, here and there. Hayden was all over cloud nine as he laughed with Eun-ha.

Arriving at Eun-ha's house she gave Hayden a peck on the cheek and said, "Text you later, Hayden-ah~."

Shocked, Hayden froze, not responding to Eun-ha. Seeing this, Eun-ha laughed, waving her hand in front of Hayden's face. "Hey, I'm going now."

Waking from his daze, Hayden took a breather, smiled, then nodded, "Yes, yes, I'll text you when I get home."

Alighting the car, Eun-ha waved Hayden goodbye. While waving, she muttered under her breath, "That fellow… A Level 2 wielder, can't be a coincidence, right?"

Seeing Hayden drive far enough, she finally went inside. That was when she was confronted by her mother aggressively. "So who's the guy?"

"What guy?" Shamelessly, Eun-ha smiled slyly as she made a beeline towards the stairs and her bedroom. Shouting, she laughed, "I don't know any guy!"

"This kid…" Her mother let it go as she chuckled. Shaking her head, "I can't believe she's keeping secrets from me now."

...

Reaching the gate of his home, Hayden was hesitant on whether he should go inside or not. "My mom would definitely interrogate me, tease me, and squeeze the answers out of me…"

Remembering his mother's att.i.tude whenever he mentions a girl, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Hayden's face as his body involuntarily shook. Ultimately, Hayden opened the gate, drove the car into the garage, closed the gate, and went inside the house, but not before he steeled himself of what's to come.

As he expected, the second he opened the door, his mom was staring at him with a fierce burning glare, while his dad was behind him, shrugging, a smile embedded on his face, clearly taking 'enjoyment' out of his 'plight.'

"Who's the woman?" His mom had a death stare as he removed his coat and shoes. If he was not his mom, Hayden would have mistaken the vibe his mom was giving off as killing intent. "Hayden, tell me."

Sucking in a breath of cold air, Hayden put his hands up in the air and meekly said, "It's just a date, we aren't even in a relations.h.i.+p yet, isn't it too much to reveal the secret this early?"

"I-" His mom was unable to retort Hayden, and before she could utter something, his father came to his rescue, putting his hands on his mom's shoulder as he shook his head.

"Honey, let him date anyone he wants," his dad reasoned with his mom. "It's not like he's a kid anymore, when the time comes, he'll let us meet her anyways."

"You…" His mom was defeated, rolling her eyes at his father as she went upstairs. "Since you two are so adamant on teaming up on me, no dinner for you!"

Hayden and his father stared at each other for a good long while. Subsequently, they cackled, his dad giving him a thumbs up. "You go, son, I'll cook."

Nodding, Hayden went up his room to change. That was when he heard a notification from his phone. It was from Eun-ha.

"You home yet?" It was a simple text, yet, one that made Hayden feel so surreal. It was not that he was doubting that this was a dream anymore, it was simply that he doubted why was the universe being so kind to him.

"Yeah, I'm home, have you eaten?" Hayden responded with a text, threw his phone on his bed, and changed clothes. He whistled then muttered, "The night is going to be a long one…"

Returning to his bed, he laid down and opened his phone. There was a reply from Eun-ha again, "No, not yet, I think my mom saw you."

"So your mom also questioned you incessantly?" Hayden sighed.

"No, not really, I escaped to my room before she had the chance to ask me anything." An emoji sticking out its tongue was beside it.

"Ahh, my mom was waiting for me by the door." He sent a crying emoji.

"Really? What did she say?"

"Well…"

The two talked to each other all night, stopping only when they were called to eat dinner. The conversation came to a halt when Hayden expressed his desire to sleep, with the excuse 'it has been an unbelievably long day, mentally exhausted of keeping my calm at the sight of your beauty.'

When Eun-ha read this, she laughed. "What a flirtatious person!"

Putting her phone down, Eun-ha stared out of her window into the night sky. "Are you that guy? There's really no way that such a coincidence occurs, right?"

Eun-ha's expression transformed into that of a concerned one. "I hope that you are as good as you appear…"

This was the first time she had a good impression of a man, a person that she genuinely liked. As one of the most beautiful women in the world, there were many men that pursued her, along with the other ten members of CHORUS. Hayden was the first that made her feel this way, and the fact that he appeared as a Level 2 wielder the same time a mysterious and absurdly strong Level 2 wielder appears, so how could she not be concerned?

Walking back to her bed, she sat. Afterwards, she fiddled with her phone a bit, sending a message to a group chat with the name 'CHORUS.'

Her message? "I think I've found our mysterious white fox."

Streams of messages followed this one message, voicing out their questions, the group chat became lively in an instant. The members of CHORUS were asking how, where, and who was the wielder.

"It's only a suspicion, and I wouldn't dare to ask him of this as we just met. As for his ident.i.ty, I'm having a date with him tomorrow!" Eun-ha sent a message that made the lively group quiet.

"What did you say?" Jin-ae was the first to break the still atmosphere of the chat. "You're having a date tomorrow?"

Utter chaos ensued when Jin-ae sent this. As the group chat was in chaos, Sayuri sent her a private message. "You're really going out with this 'white fox?'"

Closing the group chat, Eun-ha talked with Sayuri instead. "First, I'm not sure if he's that person. Second, well, I met him today… Wait, actually, we met him at Nanlo…"

"WHAT!?" On the other side, in j.a.pan, Sayuri on a bed exclaimed, her jaw wide open. Typing, "Don't tell me… That guy…? Who was he again?"

"Hayden Emperador." Eun-ha answered. "I told you guys, it's simply a possibility. Truth be told, I never would've antic.i.p.ated the guy's a wielder!"

"And he's Level 2?" Sayuri asked, disbelief imprinted on her face. "No way this kind of a coincidence can happen, right? How did you even meet him?"

In that instant, her name was mentioned in the group chat of CHORUS, Sayuri already catching them up.

"Well, apparently, he bought a house here in my village…" Eun-ha answered truthfully. She narrated how the two of them met It's all one big happenstance. "An hour I got home, my mother dragged me and my brother out of the house to the grocery. Craving for chocolate, I wandered into the sweets section. There, I found a guy staring at me, who, in turn, approached me, asked me to establish a communication link, and one thing led to another… We had a coffee date earlier, I gave him a picture with a signature, and then he asked me on a second date."

"And you agreed!?" Chung-hee was surprised. "You agreed this easily?"

On that note, the topic strayed further and further away, becoming a regular conversation between women about men. The conclusion was that Eun-ha would not reveal of their matters to Hayden as long as his ident.i.ty and stance is not confirmed.

Turning off her phone, the moonlight was the last source of light that entered Eun-ha's bedroom. Closing her eyes, she was close to drifting asleep when her instincts tingled.

Abruptly, she opened her eyes and looked out of the window. She saw two people wearing white hanboks below blue dopos, one was male, one was a woman. "Fourth Sector… What are they doing here? Seongnam isn't in their sphere of influence!"

Squinting her eyes, Eun-ha ducked, with the two people suddenly turning their heads in the direction of her window. "G.o.ddammit, are they searching for the White Fox too?"

A few seconds pa.s.sed, she peeked out of the window once more and checked her surroundings. Closing the blinds on her window, Eun-ha took a deep breath before attempting to sleep.

…..

In the morning, at 3:00 AM, Hayden woke up, overflowing with vigor. The first thing he did was stretch and went out to the balcony. Watching the moon, he was in no mood to exercise at all.

Resting his arms on the guardrail, he was watching the star-filled night sky with a blooming sense of peace in his heart. Well, that was until he noticed a peculiar cloud in the corner of his eyes.

Cautiously, Hayden activated Divine Perception. With the help of Divine Perception, whether it was in his direct line of sight, or his peripheral vision, Hayden could a.n.a.lyze every single information as long as he could see it. In fact, his direct line of sight was absolutely wide, with his peripheral vision virtually nonexistent as he could see everything with total clarity as if it was in his actual line of sight.

Acting as if he was enjoying the sight of the moon, Hayden observed the peculiar cloud. 'What the f.u.c.k is that? Are those… bolts of electricity?'

Internally, Hayden was confused. Aren't thunderclouds the only ones that have blue arcs of electricity inside? He saw the news and knew that there were no thunderstorms. As disaster prediction technologies has already been perfected long ago, including once thought to be impossible-to-predict powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcano eruptions, at least 24 hours of its occurrence, what more weather forecasts?

Hence, Hayden was sure that there would be no snow and thunderstorms, with the forecast being a clear day today, why the h.e.l.l would there be a thunderstorm in Seongnam?

'No, it's too suspicious to be a simple phenomenon,' Hayden shook his head with a smile. With the world of wielders opening up to him, he thought that nothing was impossible, including people possibly being able to manipulate lightning, or worse, ride or become lightning themselves.

He dared not to let his guard down, his paranoia acting up, his gut feeling screaming danger. With that, Hayden couldn't let this go, rotating his head here and there 'to check the stars.'

While he did this, he pushed Divine Perception to the limits. His Divine Perception didn't fail him at all. Through this, Hayden was able to tell that… There was a f.u.c.king G.o.dd.a.m.n human inside the cloud, jumping around on a lightning bolt! What's worse is that the man was staring at him with a curious expression!

'I guess my Divine Perception is still trustworthy…' Hayden regained his broken faith in the Divine Perception, an Ability that failed him in front of the most beautiful girl he met.

Acting elated, making one last gaze to the stars, and snorting, Hayden went back inside. Once inside, he went to the bathroom, peed, and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Is that another a.s.sa.s.sin?" Hayden was in a state of numbness, his face becoming sullen. If Kidlat was in here, he would have jumped in fright as he will sense the thick and refined killing intent Hayden was emitting. "I came here to take a vacation, yet I'm still being followed by my enemies… Just what the h.e.l.l did I do to offend people?"

His voice emitted unsettling nonchalance. "If my family becomes a collateral because of this… No, that won't do, I have to formulate a plan to draw that guy out!"

Shaking his head, Hayden understood he had to fight this guy far away from here, otherwise, his family would definitely become an easy target. What if the person cannot defeat him and resorted to taking his family as hostage? That would be the worst!

"I can't do it in broad daylight, I can't do it here…" Whispering to himself, Hayden's eyes lit up as an idea popped up in his mind. "That's it!"

A relieved smile appeared on his face. Summarizing the simple plan in his mind, Hayden's relief became deeper, "This is enough! I'll just deal with things whatever comes my way."

…...

Meanwhile, while Hayden was creating a plan to draw out Kidlat out of his house in South Korea, back in the Philippines, Mindanao, Metro Davao, in an underground facility…

There was a large room with a vast area and a tall ceiling. In it, there were thousands of people standing in a formation, divided into four groups.

In front of these formations were Crimson Enchantress, Blood King, Graybeard, and Earthquake. In place of their usual clothing, they were wearing black soldier uniforms, on the left part of the chest was the emblem of the Kamay ng Lagim, a b.l.o.o.d.y handprint.

On the middle of this b.l.o.o.d.y handprint were black numbers, with Earthquake having number two, Graybeard three, Blood King four, and Crimson Enchantress five. All the people behind them were wearing the same uniforms, albeit, without the numbers.

Upfront, there was a large platform with a mic on the middle. Precipitously, a black hole emerged in front of the mic, and out walked Black Devil in a matching uniform, with the number one on his b.l.o.o.d.y handprint.

"I have gathered you all here today for one specific reason," Black Devil started his speech. "As you all know, we've been planning for months to besiege the main headquarters of Crimson Cloud in Indonesia, the roots of the Indonesian world of wielders. Why are we doing this? Well, because we want to. Now that we are sufficient in numbers, with all of you Level 2 wielders, while some of the stronger ones Level 3, all of us are enough to befall destruction upon this Crimson Cloud! It is time to put our plan into action. It's time to kill."

Finis.h.i.+ng his speech, Black Devil snapped his fingers, conjuring large portals in front of the four platoons of people. Black Devil roared, "Let's give them h.e.l.l!"

The other four members of Limang Daliri led the charge into the black portal.

…..

Headquarters of Crimson Cloud, a place of truly epic proportions, its outer walls were based on the walls of a fortress, sporting red-colored seemingly stone walls instead of regular stone walls, and had a towering height of five kilometers. It occupied over 10 hectares of land in total, invisible in plain sight of non-wielders with the help of wielder technology. It was located in Indonesia, somewhere in Bekasi Regency. In contrast to its external medieval appearance, within the walls, it was riddled with modern buildings, research inst.i.tutes, factories of guns, malls, and many more. In its four corners were turrets higher than the wall, people atop it monitoring the vast expanse of land that the Crimson Cloud occupies and its periphery.

Below the fortress' walls were tens of people in a red shawl, black pants, and simple white s.h.i.+rts, carrying various weapons, swords of different shapes, guns, and many others. This fortress was the Vermillion City, the very center of the world of wielders in Indonesia.

It was thanks to this behemoth of a fortress that allowed Crimson Cloud and its founders to control the entirety of the world of wielders in Indonesia, making it peaceful.

That was until this day… In the distance, gigantic black portals appeared. Two of the guards were alarmed when they saw this, quickly pressing the earpiece in his ear. "Code Red, Code Red, black portals appearing in…"

Unable to finish his words, he witnessed thousands of wielders marching out of these portals. Shocked, he swallowed his saliva before muttering, "Code Black, thousands of wielders have appeared on our doorsteps… Evacuate as soon as possible…"

On the other side of the communication system, the staff was stunned. Checking the satellite cameras, they also saw the huge army outside their base, scaring them out of their wits. The guard was right to call Code Black in this situation, a code for when a huge invasion that may possibly bring calamity on the Vermillion City.

"Holy s.h.i.+t, those are all Level 2 and Level 3 wielders!" On top of one of the turrets, a man was speechless of the monstrous army in front of him. "We're doomed…"

A few seconds later, all of the wielders exited the portal at last. A single portal materialized in the very front of the army, and out came Black Devil.

"Charge!" Black Devil smiled underneath his mask, bellowing. "Do not leave anyone alive!"