Why the hell would he make a demand like that?
Frozen in place, I scread internally.
I could be wearing a quarantine mask!
This place had all kinds of bizarre equipnt lying around. Demanding that soone remove a protective mask just because it was a restricted area was completely unreasonable.
And from the look of it, Gregory seed to genuinely believe I was so outside contractor.
But speaking that aggressively to soone you’ve just t?
It wasn’t surprising—but it was disappointing. Of course, I didn’t have ti to complain about it.
Trevain was starting to suspect sothing.
“What’s taking so long?”
Gregory urged impatiently.
San turned to him with a startled expression. She looked completely thrown off by the sudden aggression.
People in the lobby began glancing in our direction.
But ominously enough, Jason Trevain rely narrowed his eyes. He didn’t stop Gregory.
I wasn’t close with Trevain’s group, but I knew at least one thing: Trevain usually kept Chen and Gregory under control.
Normally he would’ve cut this off.
“Sordi.”
No.
“What is this?”
Gregory’s arrow turned toward the unlucky second-generation seniors.
If Ricardo or Jonathan tried to cover this up with so lie and got caught, they’d be dragged into the ss too.
Panicking, I lowered my voice and answered.
“I was just about to leave.”
The two seniors’ heads snapped toward .
I thought I heard Ricardo sigh and take a step back, but I ignored it.
Second generation or not—they were still outranked by the first generation.
No matter what Ric or Jonathan said, Gregory wouldn’t listen.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave imdia—”
“He still won’t take off the mask?”
Gregory frowned.
“Huh? He still won’t take it off. You think a restricted zone is a joke?”
“Well, I don’t think you need to go this far, but it is kind of weird that he won’t remove it.”
Chen Koenig leaned forward and joined the conversation.
“Isn’t wearing it more uncomfortable anyway?”
I should just leave without answering.
I decided that and straightened my knees—
But Trevain walked over.
What’s with that smile?
“Just leave him alone, idiots.”
Chuckling quietly, Trevain approached .
Then, in a way that sent chills down my spine, he placed one hand on my shoulder and crouched to match my eye level.
What?
What...?
“Maybe he just doesn’t want to show you his face.”
The blond senior said that casually—and then brought his free hand to my mask.
I didn’t even have ti to react.
He was faster.
Just as I was about to decide whether running or slapping his hand away would be the lesser act of insubordination—
Jason Trevain pulled off the mask.
Click.
My vision opened.
Trevain froze.
He was large, and we were standing extrely close. Ricardo and Jonathan were blocking the side where people were passing through.
So the only ones who saw my face imdiately after the gas mask ca off were Trevain and the two second-generation seniors.
How did I know?
Because behind us, San, Chen, and Gregory each expressed confusion in their own way.
“Hey! I can’t see his face!”
Chen even shouted it.
“Who is it? Soone from General Affairs? Or wait—Inspection Departnt?”
“Did you co to clean up the morial space?”
San asked in a trembling voice.
“We’ve been removing so of the really old bouquets little by little...”
I was the first one to recover.
I slowly raised both hands and carefully took the gas mask from Trevain.
Then I gently placed it back over my face.
As if nothing had happened.
......
And then—
I ran.
“You motherfucker!”
The mont Trevain reached out to grab my collar, I sprang to my feet and bolted backward.
“Stop!”
Aaaah!
Why now?! Why of all tis?!
“There’s a limit to how much you can deceive people!”
Fine—just don’t shout my na!
Screaming internally, I sprinted straight toward the stairwell at the far end of headquarters.
“What the hell?!”
Chen’s confused voice echoed behind .
“What is it?! Who is it?!”
Trevain didn’t answer.
That gave a small sense of relief—but the situation was anything but calm.
For the first ti in a while, I felt my life was in danger as I raced up the ergency stairs.
“You bastard! Stop!”
Trevain roared like an enraged lion.
“Stop, you piece of shit!”
I frantically pulled out my phone.
Still running up the stairs, I pushed open a random door at so unknown floor and burst into a corridor.
A long hallway stretched ahead.
Thankfully, there was no one around.
I ran through the corridor and made the call.
BANG!
“So you’re going to resist, huh?”
Why are you chasing ?!
Clutching my phone tightly, I sped up at the ominous mutter behind .
Please answer.
Why won’t you pick up?!
He answered.
“Erich!”
[I’m busy. Hanging up.]
I shouted his na with hope in my voice—but the reply was icy.
His tone sounded irritated, like I had interrupted sothing important.
[I’m in the middle of work.]
Click.
The call ended rcilessly.
I had hoped—foolishly—that they might have already captured Yekaterina.
They must be talking about the operation against her.
I needed to know how far things had progressed before I could make a decision...
BANG!
What the hell?!
“Let’s see how far you can run.”
Sothing slamd into the spot my heel had just left.
I didn’t have ti to check whether it was a live round, a tranquilizer, or sothing else.
All I knew was that Jason Trevain had pulled out a gun.
Suddenly, a mory surfaced.
Sothing Samuel had told after Jonathan Kudo beat the hell out of .
The doctor had asked if I knew that Trevain once beat a junior half to death for crossing the line.
“You’re not the type to cross the line,” Samuel had muttered back then.
Right now—
I had crossed it.
Probably by a lot.
BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
If he caught , I’d be beaten senseless before I even had the chance to explain.
I knew n like Jason Trevain well.
The outco was obvious.
He wouldn’t care if I begged him to wait until after the final battle.
I sprinted at full speed and threw myself down the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» stairwell at the end of the corridor.
Then I ran upward again.
I didn’t even count how many floors.
BANG BANG BANG!
Bullets ricocheted off railings and steps.
CLANG! CLANG!
Please!
Taking three stairs at a ti, I heard Trevain toss away his empty magazine.
At that exact mont, I burst through the door on the next floor.
A space lined with glass-walled conference rooms appeared.
Luckily, it felt mostly empty.
I dashed between the rooms.
BANG!
“What the—?”
Just as Trevain fired again, a conference room door at the far end of the hallway flew open.
Ska Owen stepped out.
I imdiately slowed down to avoid crashing into him.
“What’s going—”
Then Yehyeon suddenly stepped out behind him.
I nearly collided with him.
“Whoa.”
I barely stopped in front of him, bracing myself against the opaque conference room door.
But I still had forward montum, so I flailed my arms trying not to crash into him.
The wind rushing past startled Yehyeon, making him let out his usual drained sound.
Yehyeon and Ska both stared at us wide-eyed.
“Ah.”
That mont was all Trevain needed.
He caught up.
The silence was even scarier.
His hand clamped down on my shoulder like a vise.
It felt like he was going to crush it.
It’s over...
Just as I resigned myself, Ska and Yehyeon grasped the situation.
“You got caught?”
Yehyeon blinked and asked.
BOOOOM!
Before anyone could answer—
Jason Trevain suddenly let go of my shoulder, grabbed Yehyeon by the collar, and slamd him into the conference room wall.
CRACK!
The glass panel fractured.
I jerked my head around in shock—but Yehyeon rely blinked calmly, showing no sign of pain.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Trevain growled at him.
...What?
“If you’re not going to help, keep your mouth shut.”
Trevain seed angrier at Yehyeon than at .
Pure rage poured from his voice and movents.
I quickly grabbed Trevain’s right arm, the one holding Yehyeon’s collar.
But I couldn’t intervene recklessly—I didn’t fully understand the situation.
Ska simply watched with an amused expression.
Which made it even harder to say anything.
What the hell is going on?
“You knew about it, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know then.”
Yehyeon answered calmly.
“I only t him a few hours ago. I’m angry too.”
“You think it’s fun ssing with people?”
A vein bulged on Trevain’s forehead.
“You enjoy making everyone look like idiots? You think everyone except you is a moron?”
“Sunbae.”
At that point, I gave up on many things.
Without lowering my voice, I spoke awkwardly.
“I’m sorry. But this was really my decision alone. Nobody knew on that day. I—”
“Did I ask you anything?”
Trevain cut off.
He didn’t shout.
That made it even scarier.
Still gripping Yehyeon’s collar, he slowly turned his head toward .
His eyes were on the verge of exploding.
“I don’t need to hear anything from you. Just stand there quietly and wait to get beaten.”
...Speaking further would only make things worse.
Realizing that, I let go of his arm and stepped back.
When Trevain heard about my death, I thought he’d just snort and say sothing like—
That creepy Creature bastard finally died.
I never expected this kind of reaction.
I...
“You’re not my superior anymore.”
Trevain shook Yehyeon’s collar violently.
“Good. Let’s talk privately. I’ve got a lot to say.”
“You never believe what I say anyway.”
Yehyeon remained calm even as I felt the blood drain from my face.
He simply stared at Trevain’s blazing blue eyes while being shaken.
“I was going to yell at him too. But you cut in line.”
“Bullshit...”
“Alright.”
Just as Trevain opened his mouth to explode again—
Ska finally intervened.
He walked past and placed a hand on Trevain’s shoulder.
“Both of you calm down. We don’t have ti for this.”
Before Trevain could reply, Ska continued wisely.
“And this isn’t the place for it.”
The aide gestured behind his shoulder with his thumb.
“What kind of disgrace is this in front of the Commander-in-Chief?”
Commander-in-Chief?
Trevain and I both turned our heads.
A dark silhouette flickered inside the conference room.
As I stared blankly at it, another person slowly stepped out from where Yehyeon and Ska had co.
A cautious entrance.
Inside the gas mask, my mouth opened slightly as I saw the man Colton Wiseman had placed in the seat.
The leftover remnant of soone I had already removed from this world.
The new Commander-in-Chief was short.
His eyes rolled around nervously, filled with doubt and anxiety.
This is bad.
I knew imdiately.
This man would never make bold decisions.
He probably knew his support line had been cut—but he wouldn’t retreat, nor would he willingly follow the judgnt of those beneath him.
Whenever a coward obsessed with rank gains power, disaster follows.
Even though I had never seen him before, I could sll the fear pouring off him.
I hoped all these thoughts were just prejudice.
“Commander, please return to your office.”
Ska quickly squeezed Trevain’s shoulder and released it.
“You’ve likely received a report from the dia Bureau.”
“Who is that?”
The Commander pointed at .
“Why is soone dressed like that inside headquarters? And why is he causing a scene? Is that the humanoid enemy you ntioned earlier?”
“No.”
Ska answered smoothly.
“I apologize for my subordinates causing a disturbance. I will handle their punishnt later.”
“How would you know? You can’t even see his face through the gas mask.”
The Commander replied irritably and jerked his chin at Trevain.
“You should answer.”
Apparently that irritated Trevain.
He released Yehyeon’s collar and turned toward the Commander with an eerie blank expression.
For the first ti, Yehyeon seed cautious of Trevain.
Jason Trevain answered slowly and calmly.
“I was disciplining a junior. Since you’re busy with urgent matters, we’ll take our leave.”
“Good grief. Badgers really are barbaric.”
The small man adjusted the collar of his suit with both hands and frowned.
“Is this how you educate juniors here? Even if your job doesn’t require brains, a person should still have basic manners.”
“Commander, the presidential office has sent a reply.”
This ti Yehyeon stepped in quickly, cutting off the conversation.
At so point he had changed into a suit.
Standing in front of the Commander and blocking our view, he spoke politely.
“It’s urgent. Please co upstairs.”
Thanks to the cover provided by those two seniors, Jason Trevain and I were spared the Commander’s long lecture.
It was just past noon.
Even by that ti, Kyle’s side had shown no movent at all.
Because of that, the leadership spent the entire day persuading both the Commander-in-Chief and the governnt to secure additional troops and funding.
The power struggle among the Elders hadn’t fully settled yet, which made things even harder.
In the end, the leadership postponed the expected start of battle by one day.
***
Sunset.
Darkness beginning to settle.
“Let’s go.”
Kyle said.
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