freeallnovels Chapter 168: To the headquarters
Chapter 168: To the headquarters
Noah turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowing behind his eye slits as he thoroughly analyzed the newcomer’s appearance.
The man was of completely average height, possessing a lean, unassuming physical build that easily blended into a crowd.
He had neatly styled black hair that framed a sharp jawline, and a pair of deep, dark blue eyes that carried a cold, calculating intelligence beneath their polite surface.
What stood out the most on him, however—and made it utterly impossible for him to pass as a common civilian—was a massive, intricate black and red flower tattoo that entirely covered the left half of his face.
The dark ink was stark against his skin, with the stylized leaves creeping down toward his neck, while one of its vibrant, blood-red petals perfectly curved upward, rounding his left eye in a striking, sinister pattern.
It was an unusual, conspicuous marking for a high-ranking mage to wear so openly on his flesh, but he didn’t voice out on it. He kept his expression perfectly unreadable beneath the absolute concealment of his matte-black cat mask, maintaining his usual detached and professional demeanor.
The man stretched out a right hand toward him in a polite, formal greeting. Noah stepped forward, his traveling cloak rustling softly against his boots as he took the handshake, replying with a smooth, even tone: "I’m flattered."
The stranger nodded in approval, his dark blue eyes locking onto the eye slits of Noah’s mask as he introduced himself. "I’m Ayu, an arch magi from the guild," the man said, his voice carrying the calm, steady weight of someone accustomed to holding immense authority.
Noah nodded back in a slow, deliberate gesture, but behind his calm exterior, his mind was already processing a massive influx of data.
’Yeah... I already knew that.’ he thought.
From the very first millisecond he had set his eyes on him, Noah hadn’t hesitated for a single moment.
He had already scanned the newcomer with his Eye of Truth, bypassing the man’s physical facade to lay bare his entire status and current condition.
[Name: Ayu Stant]
[Rank: Arch Magus (mid)]
[Elements: Earth, Water]
[Mana: 5000/5500]
[Health: 1400/1450]
[Strength: 26]
[Agility: 22]
[Stamina: 34]
[Endurance: 21]
[Sense: 40]
[Emotions: Excitement, Fear, Suspicion...]
The detailed breakdown of Ayu’s statistics confirmed the massive weight of his presence, but it also raised an immediate, glaring red flag in Noah’s mind.
He actually wasn’t expecting the guild to send down a mid arch magus to a frontier outpost like Ter on such short notice.
This meant Ayu wasn’t just arriving fresh from the central capital, but had actually been lurking in the immediate area for quite some time, tracking their movements and watching him closely from the shadows.
The timing of his appearance was far too convenient.
When he saw the three of them suddenly vanish into the pocket dimension was probably when he decided to finally break his cover and prepare to intervene.
’But then... I didn’t sense him.’ he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly, feeling a bit cautioned around this man.
For a magus of Noah’s exceptional sensory capabilities to not detect a mid-rank arch magus tailing them meant Ayu either possessed an incredibly high-tier concealment artifact or was masking his presence through a specialized technique.
Before Noah could dwell further on the tactical implications of the man’s stealth, Ayu broke the brief silence.
He turned his head toward the towering, cloaked figure of Yaroth, who was still standing completely idly and submissively beside Noah under the absolute shackle of the dragon’s command.
Ayu’s dark blue eyes scanned the hidden, trembling form of the demon supervisor, his voice smooth as he said: "I heard you were having problems down here... but I see... there’s nothing wrong anymore."
Although he seemed perfectly calm and composed on the outside, maintaining a steady posture with his hands folded beneath his cloak, inwardly, Ayu was utterly shocked by what he was seeing.
He stared at the towering, cloaked figure of Yaroth, his mind racing as he thought to himself in absolute disbelief, ’How... the hell did he make that submit?!’
From Yuan and Varis’ detailed descriptions of the initial laboratory breach, this was a very powerful demon supervisor, armed with a terrifying pool of high-density nether and a lot of strange, volatile attacks that could easily overwhelm a standard team of elite vanguard magi.
Even still, despite all that dark power and lethal heritage, it wasn’t a threat for Mr. White.
The masked magus hadn’t just defeated the monster; he had thoroughly broken its spirit and turned it into an obedient, silent hound without causing any widespread collateral damage to the surrounding town.
There was also the lingering, unsettling fact that they still didn’t know where this Mr. White came from, or what his true identity was meant to be.
He had appeared out of nowhere, completely unheralded by any known aristocratic houses or regional registries.
His true ideals or goals were still completely unknown, hidden behind that inscrutable matte-black cat mask, and that profound lack of information made Ayu deeply worried.
The strategic implications were terrifying to contemplate. If they turned out to be wrong about Mr. White, and he was actually not on their side at the end of the day... then they were sure to be in absolute, irreversible trouble.
Trusting a powerhouse of this scale without knowing his allegiance was like sleeping next to an unexploded core.
Such a powerful figure running wild, completely unmonitored by the central authorities, would certainly be unstoppable if his interests ever aligned against the sovereignty of the human kingdoms.
He possessed the raw power to shatter the regional power balance on a whim.
Forcing his voice to remain smooth and polite, Ayu shifted his gaze back to Noah’s mask, breaking the heavy silence of the street.
"I’m sure you have... a lot to say about this investigation," he said, his dark blue eyes searching the eye slits for any hint of emotion.
Noah’s expression turned incredibly grim beneath his absolute concealment, the terrifying weight of the secrets he had just learned from Yaroth pressing heavily against his chest.
The global infiltration, the world-devouring Demon Lord, the corrupted nether—it was an existential nightmare. He looked back at Ayu and said, his voice dropping into a low, razor-sharp whisper: "Yeah..."
Ayu nodded slowly, sensing the sheer, suffocating gravity behind that single word. He adjusted his cloak, his demeanor shifting into a strictly professional manner as he gestured toward the main road.
"This is a very important matter," Ayu said firmly, his eyes flickering briefly toward the captive demon. "We’re heading straight to the headquarters."