Exeo and Bo couldn't hear what they said next since it wasn't loud enough for them to hear anything. Exeo was curious about what was going on, so he followed their movement. After listening for a while, a man came out from a corner of the room.

It was 'Hugo'.

The two mercenaries that saw him greeted and saluted him, "Sir!"

'Hugo' just nodded and walked towards a man that was tied to a chair.

Exeo and Bo waited quietly behind the wall, watching everything unfold.

'Hugo' walked up to the man in the chair and removed a knife from his pocket. He then cut the ropes tying his hands up to the chair. Before letting go, the man tried to get up but failed due to how sore his wrists were.

The man was about to try again when Hugo said, "No. Not like that. Sit back down."

The man complied and obeyed.

Hugo walked in front of the chair and grabbed the knife, putting it near the side of the man's face. The man immediately flinched and backed off against the chair. However, his reaction caused Hugo to move faster and grab hold of the man's neck tightly.

"Hey, hey, don't resist!", Hugo shouted and pulled the blade closer to the man's cheek.

The man was shaking violently as soon as he felt the blade on his cheek.

He stuttered saying, "P-Please sir. P-please f-forgive me!"

Hugo held the knife deeper into the man's face and said in a calm but angry voice, "I told you to guard the laboratory. Now, my father is missing."

The man kept begging for his mercy, he peed on his pants which made Hugo back off, lowering his knife. He kicked the man in the stomach with his feet and kept doing it over and over again.

The man curled up groaning and with a slight blood coming out of his mouth. His head was now bleeding badly.

Finally, after kicking him about five more times, Hugo turned away from him and looked at the remaining mercenaries.

The man who received the kick spoke up and said, "Please forgive my mistake, sir. I won't make such mistakes ever again! I swear!"

Hugo scoffed, "Really? Then why the fuck haven't you been guarding this laboratory?!"

Hugo repeated himself, "What the hell did I tell you?! Answer me dammit!"

But, no one responded. They all just look at their leader with blank faces, afraid to speak or breathe.

Hugo raised his dagger and slammed it on the chair's armrest, causing a huge dent in it. As the sharp edge of the dagger touched the skin of the man's wrist, blood spurted out and landed on top of the table beside the man.

Hugo walked towards the man who was lying on the ground groaning. He grabbed his face using his right hand, dragged him, and pushed him backward until his back hit a lab table. The table shattered upon impact.

Hugo yelled out loudly, "You stupid fools! You even can't protect my father and his research!"

While shouting, he grabbed the man by the collar and threw him across the room where he crashed onto the opposite walls.

The man didn't even have time to stand up properly before Hugo kicked him in the chest hard, sending him flying. When he finally landed on the ground, he started coughing violently because of the severe pain he was feeling.

Then, the man lost consciousness and was barely breathing anymore. His whole body was covered in wounds and there were some parts where the bones were broken.

After some time, Hugo picked up the dagger and turned around to the other mercenaries who were silently watching.

"All of you!" he shouted angrily. "Clean this mess up! We'll leave this place!"

Several of the mercenaries rushed forward to bring the man away while the rest of the men went back inside the facility.

Before Hugo left, he picked up his phone and dialed a certain number.

"This is Hugo," he said in a low voice.

There is silence from the other end as it seemed that no one was speaking and just waiting for Hugo to continue speaking.

"There's a slight change of plans. Find out more about the group who's been foiling our plans."

"Yes, Master," came a reply from the person on the other line.

After a few seconds, Hugo closed the call. Without saying anything else, he began walking toward the exit of the building, following the men who left the facility.

On the other hand, Bo and Exeo silently walked out from where they were hidden. They decided to follow Hugo and his men. They soon ran out of the exit of the building and looked around to see if there are still mercenaries roaming around.

When they found none, they ran toward where they parked the car. But, as they got nearer to the car, Bo slowed down and whispered to Exeo. He noticed that Hugo had already gotten inside the car and drove away. They needed to hurry and catch up. Otherwise, they may be too late.

With their current abilities, there was no doubt they could kill those guards easily, but what will they do if the target escaped?

"Go after him", Exeo ordered.

Bo nodded as he sprinted towards where Hugo's car just disappeared. Exeo followed behind using the car that they used earlier.

Bo followed Hugo's car on foot jumping from tree to tree. Soon, he realized where the vehicle was driving to.

'That's...' He thought.

He pressed his earpiece to inform Exeo where he was currently at.

"Exeo. I think I'm close to the location."

"Ok, stay put and don't do anything rash.", Exeo replied.

"Roger that."

Then, the vehicle stopped. It stopped at a very familiar mansion. Bo's guess was right. They were back to where their first target's location was for this mission. It was the residence of the cousin of one of the royal family.

Bo relayed the intel to Exeo and was ordered to still stay put and be hidden. Instead of staying hidden at the top of the tree, Bo jumped to the ground from his perch and entered through one of the entrances, he took cover behind a large bush.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

When Bo heard that Exeo had arrived, he darted out of hiding to meet up with Exeo. Exeo followed Bo to where he was hiding earlier and both hid behind two large bushes.

They could see the window of the balcony, but they can only hear muffled voices. Their eyes narrowed in each other's direction.

Once again, Bo spoke into the earpiece. "We are about 50 meters away from the balcony. I think we should try to sneak closer and listen in."

"Good plan, but before that, put this on", Exeo said and threw a small thin metal toward Bo.

Bo caught it and said, "Roger that."

Bo and Exeo held the thin metal in their hands, injected a little amount of their mana and it immediately transformed into a mask. There was only one eye hole on the right with no hole for the mouth.

They were not wearing their cloaks so they had to use the small thin metal to cover their faces.

They both moved slowly and carefully and eventually, they were almost on the same level as the balcony. They both leaned forward and listened closely to the muffled conversation, but they were unable to make sense of any of the words spoken.

All they could do was watch as the people in the room talked in hushed whispers and glared at one another.

Exeo and Bo watched for some time before the two looked at each other and signaled 'go' to each other. Bo ran forward with his Camouflage mode activated, while Exeo went in the other direction.

They were only 15 meters away, they were going to reach the balcony in a few seconds.

However, what Bo and Exeo weren't expecting was that suddenly Hugo appeared in front of Exeo.

And, without hesitation, Hugo swung his dagger in an attempt to strike Exeo. The dagger was covered in an ominous red aura.

Exeo reacted quickly and dodged the attack.

In turn, Hugo also attempted to swing his dagger again, aiming at Exeo's torso. This time, however, Exeo quickly avoided the blow and slashed Hugo in the shoulder. Hugo grunted loudly from the sudden attack and staggered a step backward.

"Fuck!" he cursed.

Hugo tried to run toward his opponent, but as soon as he made two steps forwards he was stopped. He spun around to see what happened but saw nothing. However, when he looked down at his feet, it was frozen to the ground.

The ice spread throughout the area like spider webs. He tried stomping the ground to break the icy surface with his bare feet.

But, it was useless.

Hugo didn't know that Exeo had another company.

Hugo then turned around to face Exeo who has stopped him. Hugo couldn't see Exeo's face as he was now wearing the mask. His face darkened as he stared coldly at Exeo.

Then, Exeo slowly raised his hand and pointed it directly at Hugo's chest. His entire body then froze in his position. In a second, his whole body went stiff!

Little did Hugo know that Bo was beside Exeo the moment he attacked Exeo and didn't reveal himself. Instead, Bo decided to use his ability and deceived the man in front of them that it was Exeo's ability.

Bo's ability is called 'Hundred Step Magic'. It's a spell that uses his magic power to freeze people in one spot. Once his power is expended, the target would fall unconscious. However, the freezing effect would disappear once his energy is used or if Bo fell unconscious.

But, there has its advantages, Hundred Step Magic has multiple layers of different effects.

First layer: It allows the user to freeze the target and not let them move. Then, the user can use another layer to trap the target within an ice circle. Afterward, the target will suffer from frostbite, hypothermia, or frostbite in the extremities.

Second layer: The user can use a different layer to paralyze the target.

A third layer: One could also freeze the victim's lungs or heart which would prevent them from being able to inhale and exhale fresh air.

The last layer would only release a breath of warm oxygen, which would help thaw the target out again.

Of course, all these effects were designed for the enemy, not an ally of his. If they are successful against someone else, they could probably win without much effort. If it were the enemy though, they might lose instead.

Right now, Hugo was stuck under Bo's ability disguised as Exeo's. Hugo kept struggling and yelled, "Who are you!?" but he received no answer from anyone.

"Let me go, you bastard!"

Hugo continued to shout. "Stop fooling around and let me go!"

Exeo sighed under the mask and said, his voice has been completely distorted, "We needed more details from you."

"What the hell did you guys come here for!?" Hugo continued to yell.

Exeo just chuckled quietly under his mask. Then he raised his hand up again. With a powerful punch, he struck Hugo on the forehead, leaving behind a deep wound.

Hugo groaned loudly and stumbled backward several steps. He shook his head a little bit and muttered something before falling to the ground unconscious.

Exeo said to Bo, "We need to bring this guy back."

Bo nodded and picked up the guy like a sack of potatoes. He didn't dispel his ice ability on Hugo to prevent him from escaping.

When they left the scene, there was already a large crowd gathered by the entrance. They were all talking among themselves. Some were screaming and yelling while others were trying to calm their nerves.

Exeo who was looking for a car for them to drive back to the hotel, suddenly realized that none of the vehicles nearby seemed to work. None of them even had any fuel.

'How in the hell do all of the cars here have no fuel?!' Exeo thought.

He frowned and said, "I think we'll have to jump again on top of the buildings." while looking around the area. There were many high-rise buildings surrounding the area.

They decided to go back to the hotel by jumping around the buildings. When they arrived at the hotel, both landed on the balcony of the room where Ember and the rest were waiting. Exeo let a soft knock on the balcony window.

Ember opened the door immediately and saw Hugo lying unconscious on Bo's shoulder.

Bo put him down on the floor and asked for a rope, while Exeo went inside.

As soon as he entered the room, he sat down on one of the sofas and sighed pronouncedly.

Once Bo had tied the man securely, he brought him inside, and all of them were waiting for Exeo's update regarding this man.

Exeo looked at each member of the group, with a serious face, and said, "So it seems that we're going to be dealing with the cult as confirmed."

Ember asked, "Did you get intel what their cult name is?"

Exeo scratched his head and responded, "No, I don't have any information on that. But I do know that-"

He was interrupted when his phone rang. He picked up his phone and answered it. On the other line, it was General Luis, and answered, "Hello, sir."

The general asked, "How are things going on your side?"

Exeo replied, "Well, we've encountered and brought the leader of the cult here back in the hotel. It's been confirmed this is the leader, but we have not yet confirmed the name of their cult."

Gen. Luis paused for a moment, and then asked, "Can you confirm that he will be able to talk?"

Exeo nodded and answered, "Yes, he is conscious and can talk. Although, we have yet to know the name of their cult."

"Very well," said the general. "Thanks for letting me know. We have our people working on confirming the name of the cult right now."

After hanging up, Exeo looked at the team and said, "The general said that they are still confirming the name of the cult right now."

While the rest of the team was discussing, Hugo, who was brought inside and was unconscious lying on the floor, suddenly woke up. His eyes widened when he recognized the room they were in.

Bo who had his ice ability still in place on Hugo, was calm and observing Hugo. Hugo tried to get up but fell when he noticed that both his hands and feet were frozen.

Hugo cried out, "You bastards! What did you do to me?!"

Exeo turned around and stared at Hugo, while Bo held onto the ice spell.

The group was quiet after hearing the cries of Hugo. Eventually, they heard Exeo's voice saying, "I'm sorry. But we needed more info from you."

Hugo glared at Exeo angrily, and shouted, "More info!? You took the life of my father! How much more info do you want!?"

Ember who was quietly watching, and maintaining a straight face until now, started to smile and said in an amused tone, "Oh dear. I thought you were about to say something else."

Ember walked towards Hugo who now is sitting, grabbed his chin upwards, and looked at Hugo menacingly. He asked, "You better talk, or else, not just your father, whoever is related to you, will be hunted down by us."

While Ember had been trying to pry some information on Hugo, Valens, on the other hand, the shadow talked in his mind. He heard it say, "Hey kiddo, your brother said that you have yet to know the cult name right?"

Val frowned but answered the shadow in his mind, "Yeah, what of it? Did you remember something?"

The shadow replied with a wicked laugh. "Oh yes, I remembered now quite a lot of things!"

After the shadow was done talking in his head, he felt his body freezing over again, and he couldn't move. The shadow laughed again, while Valens was stuck in place.

Exeo looked at Hugo and asked, "What is the name of the cult?"

Hugo smiled a little and answered, "Whether you force me or not, you'll never be able to know the cult's name."

This time, it was Valens, who speak up which caught the attention of everyone, looking toward him.

He walked slowly toward Hugo and repeated what he said earlier, which no doubt did not hear by everyone in the room except for Hugo.

"Your cult's name", Valens stopped in front of Hugo, who was looking up at him, and continued, "It's called the Hades' Wrath, isn't it?"

Everyone in the room said in unison, "What?"

Although no one could see Valens's face when he said, Hugo who was still looking up at him, who was surprised earlier, suddenly felt a chill run through his spine.

Hugo was staring at Valens who had his left eye suddenly glowing red. He could feel that the man in front of him is too dangerous and just by his aura, he could feel that death is near him.

Valen's eyes showed a murderous glare at Hugo. Hugo shook off the feeling and said, "But what does it matter if that is the name of the cult? What difference would it make to you?"

Exeo was about to say something, when Valens, again spoke, "Blovik Empire", still looking down menacingly with his glowing left eye, staring at Hugo.

Another silence enveloped the room as everyone was lost in thought upon hearing those words from Valens.