103 Left Behind

That went for CHORUS too, except that they were also attempting to find Hayden.

"Over there." Sayuri shouted. They saw a man in a starting running position faced away from the entrance of the alleyway. "What is he doing?"

"Observing the cognizants. With his hearing, touch, and smell." Eun-ha expounded. "He can technically see through these three senses. Actually, even with his taste, he can. He told me he put in an absurd amount of effort to train that as he hated being robbed of the human's main source of information. The eyes."

"He's a living weapon, isn't he?" Sayuri exclaimed. "His potential is limitless. His Abilities are both top-notch."

"I wonder what triggered his reawakening?" Eun-ha wondered. "But since he isn't talking about it. I guess we shouldn't snoop on that matter, huh?"

"Agreed." The ten people atop Jae-hwa nodded their heads and said in chorus. Shu-Ching surprisingly added, "That might be his deepest darkest secret. We've got to respect his space on that."

…..

The bear was the first to attack. Naturally, the canid with longer legs had higher agility, hence, it evaded easily. It appeared to have learned its lesson from when it was pushing back earlier.

The second it it landed, the canid pounced on the bear. The bear blocked it with its hulking right arm. The canid gladly bit it.

The bear growled in extreme pain. At the same time, it thrashed the canid stuck in its arm around. The canid didn't let go at all.

Realizing that the canid would persist to bite its arm, the bear forcefully yanked it off of its arm. The bear threw the canid closer to Hayden's location.

As the canid was flying away, the bear got down on all fours. It galloped towards the canid at such a speed that it practically vanished on Hayden's radar.

The canid landed squarely on its paws. Seeing that the bear was pouncing on it with its front paw, the canid's fur all stood up. The demonic aura surrounding it intensified, its size enlarging. Its claws started seething with red flames.

In response to this, the bear ceased its charge, stood up and raised its right arm, paw facing the sky. It growled as a golden ray of light struck it. When the light faded, in place of its white fur was golden fur.

The light faded in time for the canid's attack. Its claw was slashing downwards with extreme speed that, in Hayden's sense of touch, the paws virtually teleported.

The bear crossed its arms to block the claw. The arms and claw clashed, an immense shockwave was sent outwards. Good thing that the buildings in modern days wasn't made of regular concrete.

In addition, the framing of all the buildings in all major cities were replaced with those of Shojin Steel and an Adamant Alloy core. Basically, all high-rise buildings were unshakable and nigh-indestructible.

'The thing to worry about is if they touch the building directly.' From Hayden's estimations, the force of that shockwave from that clash alone was enough to kill a regular human being and send tanks flying in the air. 'I am in no shape or form to reassure this. All I can hope for is that they don't do so.'

Hayden wasn't the hero-type. He will save his own ass prior to saving strangers' lives. Moreover, blindly charging in this particular fight was suicide. Literally.

…..

Puting Araw. Anthony's office. Anthony was at his office, his hands typing something on the computer with immense speed.

"Why does a Lagusang Itim have to open now?" Anthony muttered in annoyance. "And no agent at all is in the area. Well, there is one… But he is uncontactable."

Naturally, the one agent that Anthony referred to was Hayden. Anthony clicked his tongue, "Why does he have to be uncontactable at this time? And why do these tunnels to the Kabilang Mundo have to open when there's no one on patrol? Fucking goddammit..."

A group of people, three women and two men, wearing the Puting Araw uniform entered the door of Anthony's office. All of their Puting Araw insignias have seven rays, signifying that they were all Seventh Rank Special Agents. The sole exception to this was the man on the middle, possessing an insignia with eight rays.

The man in the middle had a laidback and confident dashing smile. He was rather handsome, although not as handsome as Hayden. To be fair, nobody was as handsome as Hayden.

His body was a bit on the thinner side, nevertheless, still muscular. His tanned skin tone was magnetizing. On his messy chin-length hair was goggles. This was Magiting (Heroic) Advincula, one of the strongest wielders in the main branch.

The woman by Magiting's left side was nothing short of beautiful with a body on the muscular side. Her hair was short, resembling your typical man's hair, and was strawberry-blonde in color. This was Ligaya (Joy) Calix, the second strongest in the group.

The man by his right side was bulking and enormous. He had a bald head and a strong jaw. He had no eyebrows. His skin was perfectly bronze. His expression was that of utter seriousness. This was Lakas (Strength) Manahan.

On the far right is a woman of tall stature with an elegant feel to her. She kind of resembled Shu-Ching, albeit lesser in terms of beauty. She wore glasses that complemented her flowing black hair reaching her waist. She was rather young compared to the rest of the group, at 22 years old. This was Corina Herrera.

On the far left was a woman with a short stature, at least in contrast to the group. She had a petite body and long legs. Her hair was tied in a pigtail and was blue in color. She had a weak aura in comparison to her group. This was Abby Esperanza.

Together, they are the mightiest group of wielders in Puting Araw. Regardless, they didn't band together in this manner all the time. They have their own squadrons.

At the end of the day, it was forbidden for these insanely strong people to band together. The reason? Rose said that power should be distributed amongst the members to minimize the loss of life.

This time was an exception as Engkanto was in Mindanao, alongside the Walong Sinag ng Araw.

As might be expected, Engkanto didn't state any sort of reason to Anthony as for why his presence was needed there. Well, his status was much higher than Anthony, therefore not needing to.

"You five, please go investigate the Lagusang Itim in Manila." Anthony stood up and briefed the five. "I have a feeling that this Lagusang Itim is more dangerous than the previous one. Individually, you don't have the strength of Engkanto. Howbeit, together, you may be on par. You guys are our best bet. Move out."

"Yes, sir." The five people did the salute of Puting Araw members: Tracing two fingers with their right hand on the Puting Araw insignia.

They all departed without a word. After all, as Puting Araw agents, they were tied with a heavy sense of responsibility to Puting Araw. Otherwise, they wouldn't have joined in the first place.

Aside from this, the greatest among the five, Magiting, had a hero complex. They couldn't possibly deny their superior's orders.

…..

The jumble between the bear and the canid was ongoing. The two was too fast for Hayden and CHORUS' perceptions. This solidified the notion of cognizants outclassing their own wielder counterparts as they weren't human at all.

However, Hayden had one observation. 'It appears that their Abilities are inferior to that of wielder humans? That's something.'

Wherever the two fought, there would be cracks produced on the road. Thankfully, the two's brawl stayed around the periphery of the Lagusang Itim.

Meanwhile, the two offspring were similarly quarreling with each other. Well, it appeared to be more of a vicious play fight than an actual fight.

The bear cub chased the canid pup, going to Hayden's direction. Luckily, the two cognizants stopped 30 meters away from him.

The canid pup ran circles around the bear cub and bites it at times. As for the bear, it would, time and time again, smash its paw on the canid pup. It was quite a cute scene for the CHORUS spectators.

Irrespective of their own feeling, they understood full well that a cognizant was a cognizant. It was too dangerous to be left alive no matter how cute it is. Unless you can tame the two offspring, there was no way they'd let it go rampant.

Back to the two parent cognizant's fight.

By this point in time, the bear's body was riddled with deep claw marks and burn marks. On the other hand, when the canid stopped with its back behind the Lagusang Itim, Hayden could sense that it was exhausted and that its insides were damaged.

Hayden determined the two was on equal footing judging by the staring contest that the two initiated. Both of their muscles were ready to move at any time. The canid was snarling. The bear had its eyes into slits.

The bear grasped that there was no way to win over the canid. The canid realized this likewise. It was clear that the two had, in the least, human level of intelligence.

As if gaining a wave of confidence, the bear rushed over. The canid didn't back down either, pouncing at the bear. With the bear being superior in physical power, it accidentally pushed the canid back inside the Lagusang Itim.

The two young discovered this. They stopped their fighting and ran towards the Lagusang Itim in a hurry. As they charged over, the Lagusang Itim was visibly getting smaller at an inordinately fast rate.

Unfortunately for the two, the Lagusang Itim has closed over them. The two was left behind by their parents. They both sat in front of where the Lagusang Itim was dejectedly.

The canid roared… or barked, Hayden still couldn't distinguish. The bear made a cry of wanting to come back to their mother or father. The two didn't continue to fight at all.

Abruptly, a humongous bird appeared and descended from the sky. It was Jae-hwa in her Winged Nightmare form. As the road wasn't that wide, the CHORUS members dropped down from Jae-hwa at the height of a tall building.

They all ran alongside a building with powerful and grounded footsteps. From their steps, it was evident that they have trained this maneuver.

When the CHORUS members all got off of Jae-hwa's back, Jae-hwa herself shifted into a smaller bird. In that form, she could fit through the spaces between the buildings.

The two young easily perceived the presence of the CHORUS members, turning back at full alert. The two seems to have reached a tacit agreement that they were in a foreign world without their parents, thus, they should have each other's back.

The bear cub stood up on its hind legs. It raised its paw as a similar to its parent's, but much smaller, ray of light bathed it from the skies. The canid pup on its side activated its fiery paws. The aura they emitted was enough to make the Level 3 wielders of the group feel powerless.

Seeing this, the four Level 4 wielders of the group, Mi-sun, Sayuri, Mieko, and Eun-ha, all stepped forward.

"I think all of you guys should go further backwards." Mi-sun was in front of the group. "I'm confident that I can handle these two all by myself. You all should preserve your powers in case people from Philippine wielder organizations swoop in."

"Okay." Eun-ha, Mieko, and Sayuri, all stepped off. Sayuri shouted, "Be careful, eonni. We can't afford to lose a Level 4 wielder!"

"Don't worry." Mi-sun, alike Sayuri when she transformed to a werewolf, threw her mask, albeit at Eun-ha and not at Hayden. As she transformed, her voice became multiple, resonating with the surroundings. "I don't plan on dying."

She took off her hanbok and underwear, throwing it to Eun-ha. Eun-ha stored the hanbok and mask in the Space Ring that Hayden gifted her.

Without her disguise, Hayden saw the full glory of Mi-sun's Ability, the Night Hare. Every bit of her body had black fur. Her stature grew taller, but her slim figure stayed.

Her legs were unbelievably slender and packed quite the muscle underneath all that fur. Her arms were the same, slender with muscle. She had two rabbit ears sticking out of her head. The black hair on her stayed.

Her face was not that of an exact hare though, instead, it was more of a cute bunny's. Well, it would have been cute if not for the black fur. Lastly, she had a round bunny tail.

The transformation was not done however. Mi-sun's stature grew even taller. Her entire body bulked up with muscles. Her fur became completely jet-black. Her eyes glowed red. Her flowing black hair lengthened.

The round bunny tail was converted into that of a more prominent one. Imagine a fox's tail, but entirely jet-black, was long, and much bushier. That was Mi-sun's tail.

In the present, her height had surpassed 10 feet, or 3.05 meters. She matched the size of the two cognizants on all fours, with the bear slightly taller than her.

Mi-sun didn't lead this on any longer. She charged. The two cognizants reacted by charging too.

Mi-sun's figure stopped in front of the two. The two cognizants didn't falter to attack Mi-sun jointly. The canid pounced on her. The bear stood up and was going to crash its paws at Mi-sun.

As Hayden peered around in desire to personally see Mi-sun fight, he was confused as to why Mi-sun stood there frozen. She didn't move at all, letting the two creatures attack her.

He only understood when the two's attacks passed through her. Externally, Hayden's surprise wasn't expressed. Internally, he was absolutely shocked.

'What the fuck is that?' Hayden thought. 'That's overpowered as fuck. Perfect intangibility? That's…. Holy shit.'

Hayden could solely curse in his head. Intangibility was one of the few powers that Hayden considered as truly monstrous. It was the best counter for his physical power and mental processing advantage.

'Good thing she's an ally.' Hayden continued to watch Mi-sun, finding that there was no use pondering over this matter. 'Anyways, Mi-sun noona's a Level 4 wielder. Without necessarily using the full extent of her Ability, she would still defeat me.'

The two felt that they hit air. They were confounded of this. Nonetheless, they continued to hit Mi-sun with all they've got, to no avail. It was a pitiful sight.

Without a warning, Mi-sun jumped. She twirled her body and sent a huge kick at the canid's head without mercy. The canid was sent flying back with a yelp.

Landing, Mi-sun used her full power to punch the bear in the gut. It suffered a parallel fate with the canid. The two cognizants laid down adjacent to one another in pain.

'Well, she is a Level 4 wielder.' Hayden dryly coughed inside his mask. As the weakest among the current present wielders, he didn't want to be singled out by the cognizants. Accordingly, it was just at this instance that he chose to get out of his hiding place.

He stood shoulder to shoulder with Chung-hee. Chung-hee muttered under her breath, "Finally had the courage to come out, coward?"

"Ah, noona, why so cold?" Hayden chuckled at the tsundere act of Chung-hee. For some reason, he was compelled to tease her instead of push her away. Maybe it was the instinctive reaction for the 'hard to get' women?

Chung-hee simply clicked her tongue at that remark. Hayden didn't pursue this any further, silently watching Mi-sun approach the two cognizants.

The two cognizants struggled to their feet. Hayden could see the fear in their eyes. He didn't blame them. Currently, Hayden was also brimming with fear due to that intangibility.

There were a few reasons for this. First, one of the worst feelings in the world was punching with all you've got only to hit nothing. It was frustrating. Second, having the opponent in sight, yet not being able to hit them was utterly dreadful. This was the wielder version of a ghost.

The two creatures stepped back as Mi-sun menacingly stepped forward. Mi-sun brandished her claws. Analogous to her fur, her claws were black, adding fuel to the raging fire that is the two cognizants' fear.

Precipitously, the two's legs wobbled and gave up on them. They both cried out for their parents. It was an astonishing and heartbreaking sight to behold. Alas, Mi-sun compartmentalized her own emotions. The two was too dangerous to be left alive.

As such, Mi-sun persisted to walk forward. Hayden could tell that she was wavering in front of the distressed cries of the two beasts. Yet, she soldiered on. Hayden admired her resolution and sense of responsibility.

When Mi-sun was directly in front of them, the two lost hope. As a result, the two seemingly decided to go out with dignity instead. They stood up with their heads held high, staring at the setting sun.

That was when they made eye contact with Hayden. Locking eyes with the two, a wave of familiarity washed over him. It was bizarre.

A small glint of hope shone over their gazes. They regained a bit of color. Hayden noticed that the two gazed upon Hayden expectantly.

'Shit…' As an animal lover by nature, Hayden gulped. You see, prior to his awakening, Hayden already wanted a tiger for a pet. Hayden wanted to see if he can befriend a tiger without any help at all. It was one of his dreams. 'Well, shit.'

He was in an ethical conundrum. If he saves these two right now, will there be any guarantee that they'll want to serve him? What if they didn't?

On the other hand, he'd be betraying his gut that pushed him to desire to save the two cognizants. 'It's not possible… Be that as it may, just because it hasn't been done, doesn't mean it's possible. There's always a precedent for everything.'

Mi-sun raised her claws. The two cognizant children's eyes were pleading with Hayden. It was bubbly, somehow synonymous with Sayuri's own bubbly eyes. 'Ah, fuck it.'

"Stop!" Hayden shouted in dismay. 'I better not regret this.'

Mi-sun turned her head around in confusion. She spoke in Korean, "What do you mean, Hayden-ah? Why are you stopping me?"

Hayden didn't explain. As if aware of what occurred, the two cognizants hurtled to Hayden's direction. The CHORUS members were going to attack when Hayden raised his right hand as a signal to stop.

"What are you doing, honey?" Eun-ha exclaimed. She couldn't understand at all why Hayden was doing this. It was too out of character. She stopped when she perceived that something was being brewed by Hayden.

The next events were a rollercoaster of emotions for the eleven members of CHORUS.