Chapter 11
[I’ll tell you where the child you’re looking for is.]
Pale stared at the words on his wrist terminal for a long while. His gaze remained fixed on that brief sentence alone.
The phrase “the child you’re looking for” bothered him.
‘How did they know I was looking for a child?’
The operation’s stated purpose was to apprehend illegal ACU users. The pretext was that they were dealing with people possessing mana responses who had gone into hiding in the underground levels, while cracking down on illegal clinics and organ markets. It was nothing more than a plausible excuse.
He had given his subordinates instructions accordingly, and only a very limited number of people had been told the child’s name.
Even then, they had not been given the child’s actual name, merely told that the target possessed the unique circuit residue of Seraph.
Yet this anonymous sender knew that Pale was looking for ‘someone.’
‘A trap.’
That possibility had occurred to him first.
If so, who?
Someone inside Seraph trying to keep him in check?
The remnants of the old executives who wanted to keep the child alive, or an agent from the other megacorp that had sent him the offer?
Or perhaps a mercenary hiding in the underground levels.
If not….
Pale’s eyes narrowed.
For some reason, he thought of the young man he had seen in front of the stall.
Purely on instinct.
‘Could it be him?’
It was possible, but he couldn’t be certain. There were more rats lurking in the underground levels than one might expect.
Pale manipulated his wrist terminal and traced the message’s transmission route.
[Route tracing failed.]
[Multiple relay networks used.]
[Transmission point unknown.]
But the attempt was quickly thwarted.
“Not bad.”
One of his subordinates cautiously asked as he watched him.
“Lord Pale. What will you do?”
Pale did not answer, silently staring at his terminal.
Soon, the wrist terminal chimed again.
[Underground Level 15. Closed Residential District C-9.]
A short set of map coordinates was transmitted afterward, and Pale checked them.
Underground Level 15.
It was a closed residential district where the mana supply was unstable. More than half of the surveillance network was down, and there were virtually no civilian residency records.
It was a good place for illegal residents and criminals to hide, and not a bad place to lure someone, either.
A rather obvious trap.
However.
Pale knew his own strength.
Sixth tier.
It was not a title the upper levels handed out easily. Merely being able to operate an ACU of that caliber could bring considerable wealth and power.
Up to fifth tier, one might somehow climb through money and luck.
But from sixth tier onward, things were different. No, more precisely, one’s entire standing was different.
From that point on, they began to be evaluated less as ‘people’ and more as a single ‘strategic asset.’
They were forces capable of subduing an entire lower district of a city, as well as the core weapons of a corporate security division.
And they were magic users important enough for high-ranking figures in the upper levels to memorize their names personally.
Pale was one such person.
So even if it was a trap, he could simply walk into it and crush everything in his path.
However, he was no dullard.
“Prepare yourselves.”
His subordinates moved immediately.
Pale brought up a structural map of Underground Level 15 on his wrist terminal. It was a drawing that had been left untouched for so long that it had never been updated, so many parts would likely differ from the actual layout. Still, the major passageways, wastewater pipes, ventilation shafts, and transport routes probably had not changed much. That was enough for now.
Tapping several points with his finger, he began rapidly positioning his subordinates at key locations.
“Unit One, the northern entrance to C-9. Unit Two, the wastewater junction. Unit Three, block the southern stairs and the emergency lift.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t deploy drones. If they went to the trouble of routing around the transmission path, they can probably trace surveillance drones.”
“Understood.”
“Run the mana detectors manually. Turn off the automatic scan, and don’t move in immediately even if you pick up a response.”
One subordinate asked at that point.
“What are our engagement orders?”
Pale gave a short answer.
“Do not take anyone presumed to be the target alive.”
A momentary silence fell among the subordinates, and they looked at one another in turn.
Pale swept his gaze over them, checking their condition.
“Confirming the corpse takes priority. If the target is alive, eliminate them immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about everyone else?”
When the subordinate asked again, Pale answered as he tightened his gloves.
“Kill them if they interfere.”
“Yes, sir.”
Finally, as he looked toward Sector C-9 on Underground Level 15, he began proceeding on the assumption that it was a trap.
It could be false information, or bait meant to lure him in.
But it didn’t matter.
At the very least, whoever was there had to be connected to the target.
“I’ll enter through the central corridor.”
At that, one subordinate cautiously spoke.
“Are you going in yourself?”
Pale turned and glared sharply at him.
“Do I have any reason to hide behind you?”
“No, sir.”
“You block the outside. Don’t enter until I give the signal.”
“Yes, sir.”
The coordinates displayed on the terminal glimmered faintly above his wrist.
[Underground Level 15, Closed Residential District C-9.]
Whoever or whatever was there, he would settle the matter today.
..
..
Pale headed toward the central corridor while checking his terminal.
The mana residue was faint, but its traces were unmistakably there.
Traces very close to the residue of Seraph’s unique circuit that he had been seeking.
“Report your positions.”
When Pale spoke into the radio, a reply came immediately.
-Unit One, northern entrance secured.
“Stand by.”
-Unit Two, arrived at the wastewater junction. No abnormal thermal signatures. Mana response also….
Unit Two’s briefing cut off mid-sentence, and he stopped walking.
“Unit Two.”
He realized the situation was taking a strange turn.
“Unit Two, respond.”
A moment later, Unit Three began reporting its situation over the same channel.
-Unit Three, securing the southern stairs. Approaching the emergency lift… wait, what was that just now….
Crackle.
Static burst from the radio, and communication was cut off.
“Unit Three.”
When no answer came, he manipulated his terminal and checked the biometric signals of each unit.
[Unit One communications unstable]
[Unit Two signal lost]
[Unit Three signal lost]
The last remaining Unit One soon turned red as well.
[Unit One signal lost]
Pale stared down at the radio for a while, then muttered to himself.
“Useless bastards.”
For a moment, he was irritated by his subordinates’ incompetence, but he did not panic.
He had always made a habit of considering the worst-case scenario. Of course, that did not mean the situation was easy to accept.
Pale maintained his composure and walked deeper into the central corridor.
Then it happened.
Blink.
The magilight in the ceiling went out, then came back on.
In that brief darkness, a small shadow appeared deeper in the corridor.
Once he confirmed the shadow’s identity, the corners of Pale’s mouth slowly lifted.
White hair, a small frame, and blue eyes visible beneath a worn hood.
It was undoubtedly the target.
She looked at Pale from the end of the corridor, then turned and began to run.
Pale laughed inwardly as he watched her.
“Found you at last.”
She was running slowly, so he made no effort to hurry.
Pale approached the girl at a slow… and leisurely pace.
“There’s no point in running.”
His voice echoed through the corridor.
“Wherever you go, wherever you hide… everything comes to light once enough time passes.”
The small shadow ahead began running faster, but Pale followed at his leisure.
“It would have made things so much easier if you’d just died on your own.”
He wanted to savor this moment after all the stress he had endured.
“A lot of people have been needlessly worn out because you survived.”
The girl did not answer him and continued running.
However.
Eventually, she reached a dead end.
Pale slowly approached the girl.
“It’s over now.”
There was nowhere left to run.
Pale lightly raised a finger and formed a thread from blue mana.
“Since the corpse needs to be left as intact as possible, I’ll make the pain brief.”
At that moment.
She turned around.
“…?”
Pale sensed something strange and stopped his hand for a moment.
Although the girl had been running continuously until just now, she wasn’t even slightly out of breath.
More than anything, she didn’t look like someone cornered at a dead end.
“You seem awfully relaxed.”
Pale’s eyes narrowed.
“…?”
The small figure before him wavered faintly, and its appearance changed.
Into a young man with black hair and black eyes.
That bastard he had seen in the scrap market on Underground Level 19.
The young man removed his hood and let it fall to the floor.
“If you can’t even see through such a basic disguise.”