[38] "Surprise"

[The next day]

On the island where the Korean academy is located, several people were moving quickly to sort and clean up the debris from the destroyed buildings.

Suddenly, two people slowly approach towards them, which surprises the workers.

"Good morning," greets one of the people respectfully.

Jiyoung Yoo nods in response, while the others wait for the two people to explain themselves.

"We came to see Mr. Han Seongik, is he available right now?" asks Inhyuk Goo with obvious hesitation in his voice.

"He is in his office right now, he just received treatment," replies one of the workers pointing towards an address on the island.

'Phew... Whew... Good thing he's still alive. If he were to die, it would be a big blow to our country and produce a breakdown among the organizations,' Jiyoung thought walking in the direction pointed.

'We'll go talk to him,' said Inhyuk Goo following Jiyoung Yoo.

The two men nodded their heads and continued to clean up the place.

In the small office with no ceiling and cracked walls, Han Seongik, an older man with a bandage covering his right arm and chest, was talking to Hye-yeong Kim, an older woman.

"I'm surprised you came here so quickly," Han Seongik laughed.

"As soon as I heard that Ares visited you, I came right away. I also received the information that an awakened one caused an incident in Baekdu territory," said Hye-yeong Kim.

"Well, if you came to see me, it seems that news spreads very fast. I also heard a little bit about what happened to Baekdu, although I still have to investigate what happened," Han Seongik said calmly.

"But how can you be so calm in the state you are in?" asked Hye-yeong Kim, visibly angry.

At that moment, the door opened and Jiyoung Yoo and Inhyuk Goo walked in. Han Seongik greeted them with an innocent smile.

"Miss Jiyoung Yoo, what is the reason for your visit? Please have a seat," Han Seongik said.

Inhyuk Goo looked at the bandages on Han Seongik's body and wondered if he had fought against Ares.

The tension in the room was palpable, and everyone knew something important was about to happen.

Jiyoung took a seat between the two people as Inhyuk stood behind her. "Sorry for arriving so suddenly, Mr. Han. I didn't know you were with President Hye-yeong," Jiyoung said.

"I came to talk about what happened here and in Baekdu since I was asking myself," Jiyoung continued with a serious expression on her face.

"I heard that Ares visited you, Mr. Han," he added.

"Hahaha, you shouldn't worry so much. We just talked on good terms, nothing to worry about. It won't affect the country," Han Seongik replied with a smile on his face.

Hye-yeong Kim, who didn't look too happy, kept silent as she listened to the conversation.

"Apparently, he had a confrontation with Ares. Won't that affect the country?" asked Jiyoung curiously.

"Well, a small one, but it was a warning," Han Seongik said in a calm manner.

Warning?" everyone exclaimed in shock.

"Did you mess with Ares?" asked Hye-yeong Kim worriedly.

Jiyoung and Inhyuk kept silent as they looked at Han Seongik.

"No... he gave me a little warning about some organizations that apparently in our country are bothering him," Han Seongik explained.

'Organizations in this country,' said Jiyoung and Hye-yeong Kim with a disgusted expression on his face.

'Someone from this country is standing up to Ares?" thought Inhyuk rather puzzled.

"I don't know, I just said that... I have to find out," said Han Seongik.

"It's not said that he makes things up to fight against other awakened ones," Inhyuk whispered quietly.

Everyone kept silent and stared at Inhyuk, who was surprised by the stares at him.

"Sorry... I thought I thought about it," Inhyuk replied innocently.

"I don't know if it must have been because of that, but a warning from any awakened one has to be taken seriously," Han Seongik said.

Everyone nodded at Han Seongik's words. Before further conversation, a person came through the door in a hurry.

"Mr. Han, we have been called by the presidents of Halla, Awakened Union and Baekho to talk urgently about the plan to be implemented because of what happened yesterday," said the man.

Han Seongik nodded, and the man placed three devices on the table that displayed a light and formed three faces of people.

"Good morning to all presidents!" greeted Han Seongik as he connected with the three projected men.

"Good morning Mr. Han," the three responded in unison.

"I didn't expect to meet President Jiyoung and President Hye-yeong Kim," said the Awakened Union president.

"We were going to start talking about what happened with Baekdu," Han Seongik replied.

All three agreed.

"I heard that Chairwoman Jiyoung had a talk with the intruder," said Baekho's chairman, with interest in what they talked about.

"It's true. I had a little conversation with Rebecca," Jiyoung said.

"May I know what they talked about?" the Awakened Union president asked.

"You all know what Baekdu representatives are like, especially the chairman. The same cannot be said of their vice president," said Jiyoung, making everyone agree with his words.

"All she told me was that they had come to her and that Ares informed her that the awakened of this country were hiding their powers from the outside," Jiyoung added.

Everyone was surprised by the words spoken, as if a mountain fell on their shoulders.

"Does the outside already know?" asked the Baekho chairman.

"We made a lot of effort not to stand out on the outside and have a low profile so that we can continue to improve our forces," said the Awakened Union president, hesitantly.

"That's not true. If it leaks, it's very likely that the world academy will send someone to find out the veracity of the news. Ares must have somehow found out about us," said Han Seongik.

Hearing those words, everyone present relaxed.

"Well, now you know how important the pact made a while ago was. We are not able to protect ourselves from the world as you may have noticed," said Han Seongik.

"That's true, you guys know what happened...," said Jiyoung.

"I think we should focus more on the individual training of each awakened one. Apparently, Rebecca is capable of taking on Baekdu by herself without Ares," said Jiyoung, shocking everyone.

"President Jiyoung, is there anything we don't know?" asked the president of Awakened Union.

"Yes, according to the information we have, there was only a small confrontation between them," replied the Halla president, visibly worried.

Jiyoung was silent for a moment and then looked at Han Seongik.

"They shouldn't withhold information in a situation like this," said Hye-yeong Kim, clearly annoyed by the attitude shown. "We have an awakened one who could destroy any of our organizations, all by herself."

"Well, I was a little late to the scene," Jiyoung continued. "When I arrived, Suman Kang was unconscious and badly injured, while Supil Kang was in very bad shape. From my understanding, both needed treatment immediately or they could have died on the spot."

"And Rebecca had only minor wounds on her arm. I'm guessing that to deal with both of them, she didn't use all her powers since she wasn't with Ares. She decided to hold back," added Jiyoung.

Everyone except Han Seongik was shocked at the informant's words.

"Is what you say true?" asked the Halla chairman, with a cold sweat on his forehead.

"Yes, it is true. And just so you know, Ares Seo is on a completely different level than her, he is an awakened one who faced three awakened ones ranked in the top 30 of the world rankings and came out victorious," replied Han Seongik.

"What are we going to do?" asked Hye-yeong Kim.

"We can't do anything. They already left the country. The only thing we can do is to become stronger," said Jiyoung Yoo.

"Good thing they left," sighed the Halla president.

"Well, we've talked a lot in a short time. Go guard your territories. Any important information I'll let you know," Han Seongik concluded, cutting off the calls without waiting for them to answer.

"I hope they don't talk too much to avoid creating nervousness," Han Seongik said, looking at the three of them.

....

[In Baekdu]

A gray-haired man with light purple eyes frowns as he looks moodily at some information projected in front of him.

"She's lost..." he mutters, anger in his words.

"Damn Rebecca, how dare you openly attack me on my territory and then leave whenever you please?" his bloodshot eyes show great murderous intent.

Kang Supil looks at her wounded body and clenches his fist. "I will make sure to be so powerful that no one can stop me in my revenge," he promises to himself.

"I just need time. With what has happened here, the other organizations will be very vigilant with the awakened from the outside and will be very careful with their steps. There will be very tense times and they will do everything they can to become stronger in the shortest possible time."

"That's two hits in such a short time..." he adds, with a sigh.

....

1545 words.

Next Chapter "Three Crossed Destinies"