Chapter 56: Trying to hide

The room held six people, all waiting for the seventh, the one who was supposed to deliver an important report today.

"Hasn’t she already been warned about being late?" Clara asked, not directing the question at anyone in particular. Hannah gave a small nod in response.

Along with the two of them, their team leader was also present, seated beside Clara.

If he had a choice, though, he would have preferred to sit elsewhere. More precisely, next to the girl sitting off to the side with an indifferent expression.

She was none other than Layena, the strongest cadet of their batch. She had come after hearing about yesterday’s incident, curious to listen to Amanda’s report herself.

Besides the four of them, two more individuals occupied the room, the ones who ran the headquarters.

One was a short-haired man with a rigid build, Vice-Commander Timothy.

The other stood facing everyone, unmistakably the head of the base, Commander Veronica.

"Sorry for being late." The door finally opened, revealing a breathless Amanda, as if she had run all the way here.

"Cadet Amanda, you do realize the commander has many responsibilities to attend to, right?" Timothy said, his eyes narrowing as his stern voice cut through the room.

Amanda gave a brief nod. "Yes, and I apologize for the delay, Commander. If it weren’t urgent, I wouldn’t have responded so late to your call."

Veronica said nothing. She was already aware of the situation that had caused the delay. Though there were things she wanted to say, words she might later regret, she chose to remain silent.

"Can we get started?" Layena asked, her tone edged with impatience.

It was clear she was eager to learn more about the anomaly that had humiliated her a few nights ago, the same one that had stained her record with her first failure.

Her fierce curiosity made two people in the room tense.

Amanda took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts as she recalled everything she had seen the previous day. "When I reached the site, everything seemed normal. But then something shifted. A massive clash between Absence and Genesis erupted, and the building began to collapse."

The deputy spoke up, "We suspected the rift’s grade might have been misjudged, that perhaps a ghoul had emerged. But Amanda, the explosion Ethan described couldn’t have been caused by anything a ghoul is capable of producing."

Amanda clicked her tongue inwardly. She had no intention of emphasizing just how overwhelming that surge had been, not after realizing that, for some absurd and unbelievable reason, the rogue Nightwalker was none other than Kyle.

Veronica hummed softly. "Hmm, Ethan. Are you certain you didn’t exaggerate your report because of how the conflict ended?" She crossed her arms. "After all, it’s not every day you see a four-storey building collapse."

The deputy briefly narrowed his eyes at his superior before the blond man spoke. "No, Commander. Judging by the distance from which I felt it, I can say one thing for certain, whoever was inside that building was not a regular Nightwalker."

Layena spoke next, her voice thoughtful. "A burst of Genesis... that sounds familiar." During her own battle, when Majin had appeared out of nowhere, the rogue had hurled something at it, an attack that exploded with Genesis upon impact.

"So, we know this rogue Nightwalker has a ridiculous amount of Genesis at his disposal, and he’s hunting stray rifts for some reason," Hannah said, voicing the conclusion she had reached since entering the room.

A brief silence followed before Layena asked, "What about today, Amanda? You were close to where the explosion occurred."

"It wasn’t an explosion," Amanda corrected with a groan. "More like a flashbang. It left me stunned and blinded."

"But you were still close, weren’t you? Tell us what you saw," Veronica said. She couldn’t afford to sound too dismissive about the situation just because she didn’t want others making a bigger issue out of it.

The deputy was already starting to suspect her. She needed to handle this carefully.

Amanda hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "I... was stalking my ex."

Her confession earned a grin from Hannah and a scoff from Clara. Ethan’s expression darkened, though he made sure Layena didn’t notice.

(A/N:- She doesn’t even look at you bro...)

"I thought I saw him heading to the third floor, so I followed, searching for him. But then I got a text from my friend, Megan. She said she saw him leaving through the back route. I figured I should take the stairs on the other side to reach the backdoor quickly when, all of a sudden, a burst of Genesis blinded everything around me."

Veronica was amazed. If she could, she would have nodded in appreciation at how smoothly Amanda had woven the story.

But not everyone in the room was convinced.

"I saw you standing idle on the third floor for quite some time, Amanda. Why was that?" Ethan asked.

Amanda narrowed her eyes. "And how exactly did you see me, Ethan?"

The blond man froze.

She pressed further, "You showed up right after me, even though no one was supposed to be on a floor under renovation. So should I assume you broke protocol and tracked me?"

Ethan clenched his fist. "I just wanted to make sure you reported to this meeting on time."

"Oh? And that was enough reason to stalk me?" Amanda shot back. "Why didn’t you show the same concern when Clara went missing for two days? We later found out she was stuck in a situation where she could have used your help, team captain."

The mention of that incident made Clara’s heart tremble, while Ethan fell silent.

There was no denying it. He had misused his authority because of personal feelings.

Amanda turned to the commander. "As I said, I didn’t see who cast that blinding spell. When I searched the floor, there was no one there."

Veronica nodded thoughtfully before offering her view. "A burst of raw Genesis and a blinding spell are two separate phenomena. We might be overthinking things by linking them together."

This time, Timothy agreed. "You’re right, Commander. But if it wasn’t the rogue Nightwalker, then who could have used that spell?"

The question lingered in the air like a falling ball. Everyone saw it coming, yet with no answer to offer, they remained still instead of reaching out to catch it.

Then Layena spoke, her voice cutting through the silence. "I’m going to be part of this trip, Commander."

Veronica frowned. "You’re injured. You’re still recovering." Ethan was in agreement to that statement.

Layena nodded. "Yes, and I won’t be participating in the raid with the others. I’ll stay on lookout for that rogue. I have a strong feeling he’ll show up."

Her gaze sharpened, turning predatory as the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"And if he does," she murmured, "I’ll capture him, dead or alive, with my own hands."

Veronica and Amanda shared the same thought upon hearing those words.

Kyle shouldn’t go on this trip.

°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been enjoying the story so far, please drop a comment and let me know your thoughts.