Chapter 369: Finding the Mole (2)

As soon as a hand touched her shoulder, the world suddenly tilted.

A sharp, ringing sound gradually grew louder inside her ears, along with her senses becoming hyper-sensitive. She could hear her own breaths loudly and feel her pounding heart that was rapidly picking up pace.

Just seconds ago, she was relieved to walk past the Red Prince and then the gate.

Now, her world crumbled.

She looked ahead at the warehouse gate.

Behind it was her safe haven. Just a hundred yards away. Yet it felt so out of reach right now.

Despite her rigid muscles, she forced her body to turn and flashed a big smile as if somehow the Red Prince was able to see through her mask. She wanted to run or fight her way out right now, but she kept her cool.

"Yes? Is there something wrong?" She asked, though her voice was slightly trembling.

Even in this panic haze, her eyes focused on the Red Prince’s eyes.

Reading his mind through them.

His eyes scanned the area, noticing the people were now looking at him in confusion.

Just then, he straightened his back and infused his hand with mana.

"Don’t be afraid," the Red Prince said assuringly.

For a moment there, she wanted to pull away in fright, but then realized the mana was slowly dissolving the dirt on her arms and mask. He wasn’t doing something bad to her—but simply removed the dirt she smeared on herself earlier.

"Even though life here is hard, you should still take care of yourself."

"Ah—Yes, I’ll keep that in mind."

Once the dirt disappeared, the Red Prince pulled his hand away.

Around, the other workers began to surround him.

"Such a good lad."

"You reminded me of my son. Are you also a freshman?"

"It is good to see there are still kids nowadays like you. Most of them only play games on those damn phones and consoles. They can’t even take care of themselves properly, much less think for others."

"Yeah... Kids nowadays are brats."

"That’s because of their phones. Back in my day—"

For a second, the woman stared as the Red Prince was being crowded by the others.

She was entranced for a second—not expecting to see the workers to view him in a good light simply because of what he did. Back in her academy’s own hive, the people there were simply too tired to even banter,

It was nice to see a sight like this once in a while.

Just then, she snapped out of her trance and turned around.

’What am I doing?’ She thought inside as she quickly walked away, heading for her safe place.

Even as the workers behind her laughed, she kept going without looking back.

Despite her best attempt to seem casual, like another worker who was completely exhausted, she could feel the Red Prince’s eyes on her back. A physical weight that threatened to buckle her knees, so she quickened her pace.

Just from his eyes earlier, she knew that his remark was nothing more than a fa?ade.

He knew she was the mole.

And that realization struck her with icy, suffocating clarity.

Somehow, he knew she was the mole and hadn’t acted simply because there were far too many eyewitnesses in the street. As she neared the warehouse’s entrance, her heart pounded hard against her ribs like a trapped bird.

Swoosh—!

She snapped to look over her shoulder, startled by a loud, howling wind.

It was purely instinct, one that she regretted for the first few seconds, but quickly calmed down when she saw the massive Griffin soaring skyward again. A deep frown crept onto her face as doubt began to gnaw at her.

’Am I looking into things too much?’ She wondered inside.

From the start, she was certain that her tracks were covered.

How could the Red Prince possibly know that she was the mole? It’s impossible.

She had taken every precaution.

So, it made sense that she was only being paranoid.

But even then, the woman didn’t linger around.

It was best to take cover in her safe place before he really realized that she was the mole. Once she made sure nobody was paying attention, she slipped through a medium crack hidden well behind stacked boxes on the warehouse wall and headed to the backside.

There was only a narrow alley behind the warehouse

Just the warehouse and the backside fence, and it was suffocatingly dark.

As she turned into the alley, her steps faltered. A strange chill crawled up her arms. Somehow, the darkness here felt somewhat darker than normal. She knew that the alley was normally dark, especially at night.

But there was a heavy, almost viscous feeling to it right now.

It pressed on her from all sides like it was breathing.

She shook her head, forcing the paranoia down, and continued walking.

No time to waste.

Once she neared the center, she stopped and probed the wall with her hands. She stopped at a particular spot on the back wall when she found what she was looking for—a faint trace of mana that was heavily suppressed.

It could only be sensed through physical touch.

She then tapped her mana-infused finger against the brick.

Swish—!

A symbol materialized in the gloom—two curving lines that formed a delicate archway with a black circle on the inner side. Only she could open this door. All she needed to do was infuse her mana into the circle, watch the symbol glow with a pale-yellow hue, and then go up to her sanctuary.

But as she placed her hand on the black circle, her body froze.

A large hand stretched over her shoulder.

Just the well-gloved hand alone already told her who this arm belonged to.

A primal, paralyzing terror locked her muscles and stopped her breath in her throat. She did not dare to look behind. She did not need to. More importantly, the person behind her seemed to also not want her to turn around from how close he was standing to her back.

She watched, wide-eyed and helpless, as the large hand touched the symbol.

It pulsed with a quiet, terrifying wave of mana that seemed to draw in the darkness around.

Before her very eyes, her intricate symbol shattered like glass.

And the solid wall that was actually an illusionary construct dissolved into the night.

It revealed a wooden ladder leading upward into the dark.

Realizing that everything was exposed, the woman spun, "Wai—!"

Before she could speak, beg, or scream, a sharp pulse of mana shot directly into her body.

Her vision went white, and then everything suddenly turned black.

Kai caught her before she could fall and lowered her gently to the ground.

He looked down at the woman and exhaled exasperatedly from her mouth. "I was trying hard to improvise, and she still saw right through me. Are my eyes really that revealing? I will have to ask Bree to help me fix that."

Just earlier, he found the woman with the help of the night.

Fearing that she might disappear suddenly, he rushed down to intercept her, but then realized that the workers were staring at him. He could not simply yank the woman away, considering that she was still in disguise.

So, he wanted to let her go and then follow her.

But since the woman was still rushing, he knew that she knew what he was planning to do.

It was precisely why he’d sent the Griffin skyward to make her doubt herself, hoping that she would lower her guard. As for him, he slipped away under the Night-phantom’s veil, giving the Griffin the order to fly only after he was gone.

And that seemed to work as the woman was petrified at his presence.

Kai then looked up at the staircase.

He sensed nobody up there, so he grabbed the woman and dragged her upstairs.

Moments later.

Abigail closed the door behind her with a soft, definitive click.

She leaned her back against the wood for a moment, letting out a long, shuddering breath.

She had just helped her father lie down—on the bed. Tonight’s ordeal had been traumatic for him, and the healing process, though successful, had drained the last of his low stamina as the mana forced his muscles to move as it fixed the broken arm.

Additionally, she had also checked the other rooms.

Relief washed over her when she found her other family members deeply asleep.

Spissos had put them down for the night.

It was time for her to return to the academy.

As much as the night had been a waking nightmare, a small, bittersweet warmth bloomed in her chest. She had been somewhat happy to see her family again—even if she could not truly talk to them freely.

Her eyes drifted down to the wooden floor.

And then, her gaze slowly shifted to the table, shifted to the green vial.

She walked over and picked it up—the cold glass resting heavily in her palm. The liquid inside swirled, thick and vibrant. The faint scent reached her nose as she recalled what Spissos told her to do.

’Two drops...’ She thought inside.

Just feed two drops to Kai, and he would take care of the rest.

Just two drops to protect her family, so that something like this would never happen again.

Abigail stood there, her thumb racing the rim of the vial while her mind spiralled into a dark, heavy contemplation. If she did this, she would return to who she was again. But if she didn’t, her father and then her family would die.

She was paralyzed by the sheer impossibility of the choice.

CRASH!

Out of nowhere, the wooden door was knocked open.

Abigail gasped and raised her arms to block the wooden fragments from getting into her eyes.

Decisively, three figures stormed into the room.

Seeing them, Abigail’s hand instinctively clenched around the vial and hid it behind her back.

Kai barged in first; his red mask made him look like the savage champion of the underworld. His presence filled the tiny house with an overwhelming, suffocating gravity. His abyssal eyes scanned the room in a fraction of a second before they locked onto her.

He closed the distance in two massive strides.

"What happened?" Kai demanded.

"Abigail, what happened?" Both his hands clasped her shoulders—and then he looked down to check on her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Hm?! Answer me."

Behind him, Matilda and Bree moved with lethal, synchronized precision.

Neither waited for an order to spread out, sweeping the house clean.

The physical shock of Kai’s grip, and the sheer violence of their entrance snapped Abigail out of her trance. The fog in her mind evaporated—replaced by a sharp clarity. She looked up into Kai’s frantic eyes, her own widening with feigned urgency.

"He’s gone! He’s gone!" she blurted out. "He already left. He sensed you guys coming, and he left."