94 Start of the Infiltration

In the present, his alternate account has reached the Apex Rank and entered the Top 30. It was quite easy for him, reaching Consummate-Rank on all superhumans he has used.

In between recording, Hayden was messaging both Eun-ha and Sayuri. They even created a freaking group message with him. That's where they messaged each other. It was bizarre for Hayden. When he voiced that out, they teased him for it.

He couldn't deny that he's growing to accept this reality as time passed. In his defense, it was useless to deny Sayuri's advances. She was persistent in spite of him articulating his disinterest in having a second girlfriend in his life.

To reject his rejection, Sayuri delivered a message to Hayden. A video message. She gave Hayden an extreme aegyo in that video. Her words, verbatim, were: "No. I reject your rejection, Hayden-kun! You will fall for me, and there will be no way out."

When Hayden watched that video, he couldn't take it and clutched his heart in pain. She was too damn cute for her own sake. From that video alone, he was second-guessing his own decision.

Ultimately, he steeled himself, reminding him of his own weakness. He stood by his choice and would not betray it as long as he was a pitiful Level 2 wielder.

At 5:00, Hayden had ceased his recording. That's when he became a bit uncomfortable. As a precaution, he activated Divine Perception. There was nothing except the wings of bird flapping in a distance.

Birds were not that rare, which is why he didn't think anything of this. He changed into a plain black shirt, black denim jacket, black slim-cut jeans, and black boots. In the present, he can be regarded as the epitome of coolness.

In the car, Hayden examined his progress. So far, his power grew faster. Currently, he can lift up to 450 kilograms, run up to 90 kilometers per hour, and withstand more or less 1,800 psi. That's enough to allow Hayden to barely withstand the chomp of a hippopotamus, which is at 1,800 psi as well.

Keep in mind that this was his unenhanced strength. With the enhancement of his physical attributes with essence energy, he can lift 1,350 kilograms, move at 270 kilometers per hour, and withstand 5,400 psi, which will virtually make him invincible against anything in the world.

Apply the multiplicative enhancement of Indestructible Devil to this, he'll be able to lift an astonishing 9,450 kilograms, run at 1,890 kilometers per hour, and withstand 37,800 psi, which will confer him the power to go 25 kilometers under the sea without a problem.

In addition, it was not only Hayden's physique that grew, it was also his senses and mental functions. In fact, without the power of his Divine Perception, Hayden can slow down time in his perception. When combined with Divine Perception, he can make time stand still. However, in that state, his actions are so slow it was unbearable.

"I guess, in a sense, my mental powers are mightier than my physical strength." Hayden mumbled to himself. "Oh wait… If I wanted to go to space, I can… I wonder what Mars actually looks like…"

…..

Back in Caloocan City.

Discord and Comedy was back in a private room. Witnessing the brutal death of Iron Bull, in the hands of a Level 2 wielder no less, really did a number on them. They were reminded of how dangerous being a member of Dark Haven was.

"I suggest this will be our last mission." Comedy proposed. "And that Level 4 wielder. She was in there, for what, two seconds? She killed three Level 3 wielders within two seconds. She's probably one of those freakish Level 4 wielders…"

"I… I won't stop." Discord shook his head. "I have nothing else in my life. I can't possibly stop the one thing that keeps me going."

"Suit yourself. You're a Level 3 wielder." Comedy shrugged. In Dark Haven, you can form alliances, you can betray people, kill your own co-members. The one thing you can't do is tell people what they should do. "This mission is the end of the line for me. When we kill Hayden, and with the two of us combined, Daniel, I'm set for life."

"Indeed." Discord bobbed his head. "2.5 million credits is enough money for us low-lives to be set for life."

In the present, the cost of rent for an average 10 square meter studio apartment was 200 credits a month. With the depreciation of the cost of electricity and water costs, living in said apartment would be, at most, 300,000 credits in 50 years.

If you take sustenance into account, one million was enough to be set on life. The 2.5 million credits was definitely enough for you to enjoy little pleasures in life, such as gaming, or watching movies. Of course, that is if you are satisfied with that kind of life.

"Last partnership, huh?" Comedy sounded nostalgic. "Wouldn't it be funny if Hayden was that guy who killed Iron Bull?"

Little did they know that they were on point. They easily dismissed this due to Daniel overshadowing Hayden in retrospect. Daniel's powers were too flashy to be ignored, while Hayden's was simply feats of 'intelligence.'

"Impossible." Discord shrugged. "Someone that powerful will surely be protected. I scoped out the periphery of his house last night, and there was no one. It was all regular non-wielder humans. Except for Daniel. Can you believe it? Those two are neighbors."

"What?" Comedy reacted in surprise. "How can we kill Hayden without Daniel noticing then? I doubt he's going to take the freeway soon. He's been attacked there."

"I've overheard something while I was doing reconnaissance." Discord leaned on the table.

"Huh, usually I do these things." Comedy's tone was that of perplexity. "How come you scouted them on your own?"

"Uh… I-I was too excited by the thought of money." Discord seemed agitated. Comedy was left even more confused. It was a harmless question. "Let me continue. Daniel is a talkative one. He's been singing something about going out on a Friday night. He literally mentioned January 11, 2058. Like, the entire thing."

Comedy felt bizarre. "What an optimistic dude…"

"I know." This time, Discord's voice indicated that he was getting giddy. "So… For the meantime, shall we take a break and move this assassination Friday night?"

Comedy signaled her agreement by nodding. On that note, the two exited and parted ways. Comedy didn't exit Dark Haven. Instead, she went for a shop named 'Slaves Just For You'.

Inside was a counter with a few cages behind. In those cages were rather attractive women in rags and men with bulking or athletic bodies. Most of them were sitting there listlessly. Their eyes were blank, as if their souls left their bodies.

Behind the counter was a fat man in a red vest, white dress shirt, and black slacks. His mask was a black comedy mask with a straight white line going down on each eyes.

"Back again, Comedy?" The shrewd voice of the fat man can be heard. "Have you gathered the money, or are you here to just see her?"

"I'm just here to see her, Gustav. Soon, I'll have the money." Comedy impassively spoke. "As long as you don't sell her, I'll give you the money."

"Don't worry, hon." Gustav responded. "I'm not that bad of a guy. I'm a man of my word. You promised to pay off her debts in her stead, I sell. As long as you show up at least once a week, I won't sell."

Comedy didn't speak as Gustav opened the counter for her. In Dark Haven, she had a bit of a reputation as one of the cold-blooded killers. Her record of being able to pick off bounties in short amount of timeframes got the attention of Maestro of Death.

She had such great potential that the Dark Haven guild issued out an order that she was instated as a Resident. Residents are talented individuals that cannot be offended within the premises of the underground city of Dark Haven, or else Maestro of Death will be the one to kill you personally.

You see how it is mentioned that it is in the premises of the underground city? That's because outside of it, it is all fair play. Residents can be killed without repercussions.

As a Level 2 wielder Resident, Comedy was, as expected, targeted by many people. Once, she nearly died. That was when she stumbled upon Discord, who helped her for a year already. She was grateful to Discord. Unfortunately, that was their sole connection as it was tantamount to suicide if you revealed your identity in Dark Haven.

Comedy walked inside the counter, going to the back. She descended the staircase and was met by a humongous dungeon-like place. The place was filled with one-person cages. Inside were people covered in dirty rags.

Comedy maneuvered through the cages as if she had the place committed to memory. A few seconds later, she stopped in front of a cage in the corner. Contained in it was a young woman, approximately 20 or so. Unlike the other slaves, she donned dirty ripped jeans and a white blouse that became gray from the dirtiness of the place.

One side of her face was covered by her unkempt hair. The visible part was that of beauty. Her blue eyes were titillating. Her luscious lips were desirable. Even in the midst of all that grime.

As for her living conditions, in comparison to the other slaves, she was treated akin to a queen. She was well-fed, evidenced by the empty plate not far from her. On top of that, she was well-hydrated, backed by the fact that there was an empty water bottle close to her.

"Hey." Comedy crouched as she spoke. Her voice was gentle. She placed her right hand on the bar. "I have one mission left, and I can get you out of here. Hang in there, okay?"

The woman didn't move one bit. Comedy sighed. "Just why did you have to borrow some money from this goon, sister?"

She remained unmoving. Comedy left without gaining anything at all.

…..

Rain Sanctuary Hotel, in the roof. Eun-ha and Hayden was there. Both of Hayden's hands were on Eun-ha's waist. Eun-ha's hands were around Hayden's neck.

"Are you going to be okay?" Eun-ha worriedly asked.

"Of course." Hayden caressed Eun-ha's cheek with his left hand. "My convoy are two strong women. I'd be safe at most places in the Philippines."

"Yeah, yeah." Eun-ha pulled Hayden's face to her own. Their two lips touched. "Don't die on me, okay? Nobody else can replace you."

"Wow, that's a heavy burden on me." Hayden joked hugging Eun-ha tightly. "Do you not want to come with us?"

"I'm good." Eun-ha chuckled. "Sayuri sternly told me to not join. She said that I'll steal all of your attention."

Hayden wryly smiled. How come the one not in the relationship is the one ordering the one in the relationship around? Shouldn't it be the reverse?

"See you later, Gonjunim." Expressing their love for each other, Hayden departed with Sayuri and Chung-hee in tow. The two were wearing their black and orange hanboks. In their hands were their wolf and tiger masks.

Reaching the basement, Sayuri suddenly shouted, "Shotgun!"

Chung-hee merely clicked her tongue. Nevertheless, when Hayden rotated his head to look at her, a glimmer of disappointment was in her eyes.

Boarding his car, Hayden started it up. He switched it to automatic drive mode when they were out of the basement. Their destination was the Grande Mall in Quezon City.

"Hayden-kun." An ambush was initiated by Sayuri. She latched onto Hayden's arm and kissed him on the cheek. Her aegyo made Hayden's heart skip a beat. "I curse you to not be able to resist my charms."

Hayden took a deep breath. 'Oh, boy. This will be a long ride to Quezon City.'

In the back, Hayden noticed Chung-hee frowning at him. Her gaze stated, 'talk to me, and your dead.'

Hayden disregarded that. "Chung-hee noona. How does your Ability work? Does it allow you to summon those three tigers specifically, or do you have a choice?"

Chung-hee 'kindly' explained what her Tiger's Calling does. The basis of it was that there were six types of tigers, each with their own specialty.

There was the fire tiger that specialized in powerful attacks that can cut through steel as if it was hot butter. Each attack of the fire tiger inflicted a burning effect. There was the water tiger that specialized in large-scale attacks with its sharp water slashes and can asphyxiate wielders by transferring water into their bloodstream through its fangs.

There was the light tiger that can heal a person by purring on them and can blind people with a flash of light. There was the shadow tiger that specialized in ambushing, able to move around nary a sound, and can become invisible.

There was the air tiger that specialized in speed and can cut from afar. There was the earth tiger that specialized in defense and can raise walls of earthen materials.

Whenever a tiger dies, it needs at least 24 hours prior summoning

As a Level 3, she can summon three of these tigers at once. Her Level 2 power was that she can summon tigers up to 50 meters away and switch places with them. The switching places has a cooldown of 10 minutes. Her Level 3 power was that she can amalgamate with one of them to gain their powers.

When Chung-hee finished with her explanation, Hayden perceived Sayuri to have those bubbly eyes. As a result… "What about you, Sayuri-san? What does your Lunar Alpha exactly do?"

Apparently, Lunar Alpha was the origin of a race called Lunar Wolves. Her Level 1 power was that she can become a half-wolf half-human. Her strength, agility, and senses are heightened considerably, but not her toughness. Also, she was stronger when it's night.

Her Level 2 power was that she can become a true Lunar Wolf. Additionally, her howl can disorient people, and her claws are absurdly sharp.

As a Level 3, her Lunar Wolf form underwent through an evolution, where her fur became clean white instead of the dirty white. Her base strength, agility, and senses experienced a powerful boost. Her Level 3 power was that she can imbue lunar energy into her claws and teeth, sharpening it and freezes anything it touches. This prevents them from healing. This power, while usable at day, is substantially stronger at night.

At Level 4, she can enter a berserk mode, doubling her already mighty strength, agility, senses, and drastically strengthens her healing factor.

When she enters berserk mode, it's not that she loses control, it's just that she experiences intense bloodlust. Consequently, prior to reverting back, she has to kill someone or something in a grotesque manner. Until then, she can't go back to her normal form. This power is naturally fiercer at night.

"How about you, Hayden-kun?" Sayuri inquired of Hayden's Ability. "You're a dual wielder, right? What's your two Abilities?"

Hayden expounded his two Abilities to the two. When they heard the conflicting natures and the harmonization of the two Abilities, the two was immensely shocked.

"S-so… In your fully powered state, you can lift up to roughly 10 tons, significantly break the sound barrier, definitely withstand a powerful sniper rifle shot if you're shot in the head, and process information at such a speed that time slows down in your perception?" Sayuri blinked, confounded. "To boot, you can fly faster than your run speed?"

"More or less." By that point in time, the trio arrived at the Grande Mall.

"Do you know how powerful you really are?" Chung-hee was likewise shocked, ignoring her 'hate' for Hayden. "Your Divine Perception is definitely, in the least, B-Class. Perhaps reaching A-Class. As for your Indestructible Devil, that's irrefutably an S-Class Ability."

"Huh?" Hayden was muddled of this A-Class and S-class talk. "We'll talk later about that. For now, Ayesha's coming."

Hayden detected Ayesha. She donned a black hoodie, simple skinny jeans, and black boots. Not the best attire for stealth, but Hayden can make do. He opened the door behind him with his phone. Ayesha stepped in. "You ready?"

"Yes." Ayesha reeked of determination. Hayden admired that. A recently awakened wielder standing up against a group of hooligans take a lot of courage.

"Here's the plan." Hayden drove out of the basement of Grande Mall. "You follow us and will not make unnecessary moves. Unless I, or they, tell you, you won't fight. You got it?"

"Y-yes." Ayesha eyed the surroundings of the car. "Are we the only ones who will trespass the Concepcions' Mansion?"

"Yep." Hayden answered, switching the car to drive mode. As Hayden ordered Sayuri and Chung-hee to be silent, they didn't utter a single word. "Is there any problem?"

"A-aren't we going to be killed with this few a number?" Ayesha verbalized her concern. Hearing this, Sayuri and Chung-hee stared at her. They were quite offended as the two of them outclasses those of their own ranks.

Needless to say, Hayden sensed this. "No need to worry, Ms. Ayesha. These two are stronger than you might think. As for security, leave that to me."

The rest of the drive to Manila was spent in silence. Ayesha was nervous as this was her first big fight. If she ever gets to fight, that is.

Somewhere far away from the house, Hayden stopped the car. From that distance, with his Divine Perception, Hayden observed everything.

The mansion was as Ayesha described. It was imposing. Hayden removed his seatbelt. "You guys wait here for a sec."

Alighting the car, a dragon-like breathing sound can be heard. From the inside, Sayuri, Chung-hee, and Ayesha all peered. They watched as Hayden was obscured by white mist and actually disappeared.

Ayesha was astounded. So was Chung-hee and Sayuri. Chung-hee and Sayuri locked eyes and noticed that they were both confused. They were clueless of what's going on.

In this invisible state, Hayden couldn't see that well. Regardless, as the wielder of Divine Perception, Hayden has learned to trust his four senses, eyesight removed. In the present, he can see with his feet, ears, nose, and even taste.

He walked to the mansion without much. There were no guards outside of the mansion. Hayden presumed that this was a front to not attract any attention to the mansion.

Hayden snapped. From the vibration caused by the soundwaves hitting the fence, he learnt that it was electrified. 'No problemo.'

Crouching slightly, Hayden jumped upwards. Hayden has always been light on his feet, hence, he landed without a sound. Irrespective of that, his landing produced vibrations from all around.

This allowed him to see the layout of the ground with 100% precision. With his Heavenly Sense, he can sense that there was not that much people in the house.

Utilizing his breathing technique, albeit at a snail's pace to not make a sound, Hayden slowly released energy to create vibrations in the air that has a mere frequency of 1 microhertz. That is a frequency that isn't even possible, hence Hayden couldn't hear that frequency, nor would anyone.

Anyhow, this disturbance in the air was enough for his sense of touch to perfectly scope the surroundings. It was as if Hayden had eyes all over the place. In this manner, Hayden scanned for everything in the periphery of the house.

He detected three cameras outside the house. With a tablet, Hayden's right hand moved fast, his fingers flying all over the on-screen keyboard. He connected to those cameras, breached the program, and rewrote it so that it would show a gif instead.

It was all basic hacking. Hayden was an advanced-level hacker, learning all the modern-day computer language within weeks. Those few weeks were quite invigorating for him.