Mago, with a troubled expression, gave several instructions to the approaching guild member. Having heard Chertan’s criticism, Yoon Tae-ha roughly rubbed her cheek with the back of her dry hand and then tried to relax her stiff face as much as possible.

“I’m sorry.”

She apologized. Chertan went to the cockpit without making any attempt to return the atmosphere to normal. Yoon Tae-ha reflected her face on the smooth metal plate attached to the wall. It was terrible. Like someone who had just been slapped. She spoke with more force in her voice than before.

“So, where were we?”

“Chertan and I go to the Small Hive, and you and Mago go to the Green Hive. That’s as far as I heard,”

Lev accepted her effort to lighten the mood.

“The chimeras residing in the Green Hive are assigned different grades depending on the hatchery they are born in. And there are a total of twelve chimeras born in the most outstanding hatcheries.”

At Mago’s busy gestures, strangely shaped holographic creatures appeared in a row.

“Crow Prince, according to Knox’s information, six out of the current twelve chimeras are staying in the Green Hive. Three are in the Small Hive, and the remaining three are said to not currently exist in the Green Sea.”

“You said all the chimeras that left here have self-awareness, right?”

“Yeah. Honestly, catching them probably won’t be easy either… But let’s focus on the lab in front of us for now. There are currently two chimeras with self-awareness in the Green Hive. Crow Prince warned us that this one is very strong.”

“That man was quite strong. Each of his crow familiars had a body equivalent to a high-ranking monster.”

“They’re the three strongest in Orca. Even I’m not confident if I had to fight them one-on-one. Lev almost got eaten by a crow last time, and he’s supposed to be a cat.”

Annoyed by those words, Lev retorted sharply.

“Eaten?! My claws are strong enough to tear apart those bastards’ feathers!”

Mago chuckled lightly at the boy’s protest and enlarged the three chimeras even more. After taking a closer look at their grotesque appearance, Lev grumbled that he had lost his appetite.

“This time, it’s the chimeras that exist in the Small Hive. One out of the three has self-awareness, and the other two don’t. One of the two without self-awareness is said to use a very strong poison.”

“So that’s why Chertan is going. He’s immune to poison.”

Yoon Tae-ha said nonchalantly. Mago lightly tapped the desk with her pen, suppressing the words she wanted to say. While they were talking, the aircraft crossed the canyon and entered the border of the forested land.

Lev, muttering that he wished there were beast-kin like him in the lab, disappeared to get his weapons. Since the Small Hive was closer to Cocytus, the assault team led by Lev and Chertan decided to descend first. Yoon Tae-ha asked Mago for her understanding and briefly left her seat.

Moving to the cargo hold, she found Chertan next to the exit used for parachuting.

He was communicating with the combat support team that had departed from the ground a day earlier. As she approached, Chertan’s communication ended just in time. He took off the equipment plugged into his ear and opened his mouth.

“Why?”

“I received the weapon well. Thank you for getting it for me.”

“Ah, that. For your information, it’s an item that has never been put up for auction. We entrusted an artisan with an exclusive contract with the Black Lizard with an item our guys brought from an unreleased dungeon. It’s an item no one outside has seen.”

“Watch-type weapons are quite expensive. If you had polished it well and put it up for auction, it would have been worth a considerable amount.”

“I figured you must have been really desperate to ask me for something like that.”

Vibrations began to resonate from the floor and walls. Yoon Tae-ha could feel the aircraft slowing down. Soon, the assault team commanded by Chertan would open the exit and descend. The surroundings became busy.

“Say what you need to say quickly. The door will open in seven minutes. You shouldn’t be here then.”

“An organization whose name and purpose I don’t know is aware of the Small Hive’s existence. They’ve infiltrated Arc.”

Chertan, his face indicating that this wasn’t even a significant variable, handed her a safety tether connected to the wall. As soon as Yoon Tae-ha grabbed it, the aircraft shook slightly. Chertan stood skillfully, maintaining his balance without holding onto the safety tether.

“Is it a private organization or a government organization?”

“I think it’s related to the South Korean government. It’s a place I don’t know accurately either, honestly. I can bet my father on it.”

One of his stiff cheeks twitched. Chertan didn’t even try to hide his displeased expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“You really borrow your parents’ names so casually.”

“What’s wrong with borrowing a name? If he’s anything like me, my father would have overlooked it generously.”

“There are many things to point out, but let’s move on for now. Are they our enemies?”

“If it’s a government organization, they’d be enemies, right? The Black Lizard isn’t a legitimate business. But they’re also enemies with Orca. That’s for sure.”

“Do they know we’re attacking here?”

“They have no idea about the existence of the Green Hive. Nor that the Black Lizard is hitting two hives simultaneously. But they probably anticipate that something will happen within 48 hours.”

“Is the organization currently in the Green Sea?”

“……I said, no.”

Chertan sent a piercing gaze at her.

“It’s difficult to persuade others with words you don’t even believe yourself.”

“I do believe it!”

An answer shot out from her like a bullet. It was a self-defensive voice.

“It’s a man problem.”

Yoon Tae-ha witnessed the sight of the worry she had been dragging on since summer being compressed into four letters. She frowned severely.

“It is a man problem. The person who received the watch and your handsome partner are the same person. That man is probably the cause of the problem. Don’t misunderstand. Lev went to Korea and has been going around singing praises about how handsome your partner is, so any lion with ears would know all about it.”

Chertan comically pulled on both of his ears. Despite creating a rather funny scene, Yoon Tae-ha didn’t even let out a dry laugh.

“Chertan, I trust that person. He will absolutely not get in the way of our work. He might even become a good wrapping paper for this case. We need a speaker. A speaker within the bounds of legality, other than Lee Hae-kyung. The center director is ultimately affiliated with Arc and will undergo thorough verification as a whistleblower. In the meantime, Orca can escape.”

“Three minutes have passed.”

“Don’t you believe me?”

“I believe that you’re sincere. I’m even sure that you wouldn’t sell our information to a handsome partner. The other side probably has no idea who you might be talking to right now. I can even bet my daughter’s honor on it.”

Yoon Tae-ha hesitated at the sudden mention of a daughter. She hesitated, not knowing how to approach the topic of family. It was natural that she wouldn’t know how to handle something she didn’t have, but she was still ashamed of it.

“Don’t feel unnecessary guilt. Even if you gave the information two days ago, we would still be passing through these coordinates at the same time. Moving while being aware that a third party might appear is basic.”

Another minute passed. Chertan instructed Yoon Tae-ha to leave the cargo hold. Before taking a step, Yoon Tae-ha confessed with a choked feeling.

“I’m not sure I’m right!”

The sound of rough wind began to be heard from somewhere. Guild members who had finished their preparations stood in a row in front of the exit. Lev appeared last and joined the end of the line.

A slight tension and grim determination lingered on all of their faces. Contrary to his subordinates, Chertan raised the corners of his mouth and smiled gently.

“That’s how everyone is.”

It was an unfamiliar face to her.

“If people only stood up when they had perfect certainty, the world would stop tomorrow.”

The aircraft shook. Yoon Tae-ha grabbed the safety tether and staggered slightly backwards. Chertan chased her away with a dignified voice.

“Now go and work!”

\*

Chertan and Lev landed safely near the Small Hive. After confirming that they had joined the ground combat support team, the aircraft flew at full speed and arrived near the Green Hive.

Yoon Tae-ha was tasked with infiltrating a heavily defended area to draw attention. Once the first ground combat support team signaled that they had disabled communications, she would enter the lab. And she had to open the entrance to the passage through which Mago and the assault team would enter from the inside.

While the S-class caused a commotion and concentrated the enemy forces on herself, the assault team led by Mago would look for one person. Dr. James Palmer. The chief of the Green Hive and a brilliant intelligence-type esper.

According to Knox’s information, he had memorized the details of all the experiments conducted at the lab. Mago’s goal was to safely abduct James Palmer to the Black Lizard’s aircraft.

Yoon Tae-ha’s attack had to come first so that the powerful chimeras wouldn’t hear the Small Hive’s request for help and flock there.

That was why her shoulders felt particularly heavy. Wearing a disguise mask made her even more suffocated. Having stuck the temporary weapon she would use only today behind her back, she lightly bounced in place to relieve tension.

Mago, who had finished preparing, approached.

“I can’t recognize you because of the disguise.”

“Wearing a helmet over the mask feels like I’m in a hot spring. Even with gloves on……”

Mago grabbed Yoon Tae-ha’s wrist and blew a cool breeze into her body. Just then, contact came from the ground. It was time to jump. Yoon Tae-ha took a deep breath, surveying the landing point with her special goggles. Since the lab was heavily shielded, she had to enter through the underground passage connected to the guard post.

It was a night with thick fog, so nothing was visible. Mago joked to ease Yoon Tae-ha’s tension.

“Should I count for you if you’re scared?”

Even joking, the esper’s eyes, which had even put on blue lenses in case of an emergency, slightly curved. She jumped into the hazy fog without hesitation.

The first sensation was the feeling of her skin being scraped by the wind blowing from below.

Soon, a roar in her ears. Cold night air. A fleeting fear dominated her mind. Yoon Tae-ha tried not to bite her lip and balanced her spinning body.

Deploying the parachute as close to the ground as possible, her body shot upwards. Adjusting her direction and moving towards the target point, she then cut her parachute cords herself. After that, she teleported quickly to the target point before hitting the ground and breaking her bones.

As soon as she landed, her body triggered the intruder detection devices that were running 24 hours a day. Unless one was an ant or a bee, there was no way to avoid being caught here.

At the same time as she simultaneously destroyed the surveillance cameras and lights with psychokinesis, the door of the guard post burst open. Six fully armed men poured out of the narrow door.

Having spotted a blurry figure of an intruder in the darkness, they opened fire without prior warning. Moving through teleportation to right in front of the post, she silently twisted her wrist in the air. With a final scream, the bodies of the fully armed men slumped down. One of their rifles fell into the intruder’s hand.

“Initiating entry.”

She plunged into the long and dark underground passage.