Diolan let out a small breath with a 'kkingk' sound. Nevertheless, due to his massive size, his presence was quite imposing.
Lucent's body froze stiff.
It was the same principle as freezing when facing a tiger, feeling ultra-low frequency waves through his body.
At this moment, Diolan had a kind of magical power that could freeze people, whether intentional or not.
Diolan slowly approached the closed door with his gigantic body.
There was no sound of footsteps. Despite his massive frame, it was incredibly quiet.
Finally, when Diolan leaned his head toward the door.
-Swish.
His body seemed to become like a fluid, seeping into the door and then suddenly disappearing.
It was a scene that was hard to believe even while watching. Not through an appropriately sized passage, but passing through the tiny crevices of a tightly closed door as if being sucked in.At this point, it seemed less like a giant cat and more like a mass of darkness taking some form.
"W-what is that...?"
"Catsy can move without being restricted to any place. The simple physical laws that block his path can't restrain him."
The only thing that made this possible was the old boots Diolan had carefully taken off.
"What should we do with those boots?"
"Leave them. Eventually, he'll come back and wear them again. It's best not to touch them with the intention of keeping them. Diolan especially hates having his boots touched."
Could that easygoing smiling Diolan get angry?
It was hard to imagine. But recalling his giant form just now, one could be certain it would be terrifyingly scary.
"As I roughly expected, Diolan was indeed from the 'summoned beast' side."
It was then that Osian, who had been quietly standing, spoke.
"You knew?"
"I had a vague sense. From movements incongruent with his massive body, to movements that defy physical laws. For something like this to be possible, it could only be witchcraft."
Witches use various magic through their craft.
Among them, there were also witches who controlled summoned beasts.
"Was that why Diolan is looking for [Mother Goose]?"
"From what you know, it seems you've been told everything."
Edgar's words drove a wedge of certainty into Osian's speculation.
Diolan's true identity was the summoned beast Catsy, created by the great witch [Mother Goose].
Perhaps Diolan's search for Mother Goose was related to his own origin.
Osian could only carefully speculate this way.
*
After going out the door, Diolan moved quietly, avoiding the watchers' gazes.
His wavering black fur became one with the darkness, and the cat hiding in the shadows moved unseen by anyone.
How long had he been sliding along the walls and traversing the ceiling?
Diolan's eyes gleamed in the darkness when he saw a group of people moving.
'This must be it.'
His animal instincts were activated. Literally, not figuratively.
The suspicious smell emanating from them also played a part.
The place he secretly followed them to was the conference room located on the middle floor of the headquarters.
William, whom he had first met when he came here, was there, along with three other people facing him.
'Who are they? They don't seem to be people from this company.'
The three were all wearing unusual clothing.
Though they wore hoods to hide their identities and even had pure white masks on their faces, their attire was impossible to completely conceal.
It was likely these were the foreigners Edgar had mentioned.
Diolan hid in the shadowy corner of the conference room and listened to their conversation.
"We've been waiting a long time. Lucent Philburg has just returned to the company. We should be able to hand over his technical documents soon."
"How long will that take?"
The person sitting in the center criticized William with a dissatisfied voice.
Nevertheless, William did not dare to retort rudely. Rather, his use of polite language revealed the power dynamics of this meeting at a glance.
"We've already been waiting for several more days. And you want us to wait more here? Don't you think that's rude?"
"That was an unexpected situation. But everything has been resolved safely now. All that's left is to extract information from that coward. It won't even take half a day."
"We want it right now. Have you forgotten? Surveillance eyes are spread outside."
"Those are eyes looking at us, so you don't need to worry."
"They may be looking at you, but those eyes will also fall on us who are together. You might be hiding now, but how long can that last?"
As the masked man showed signs of discomfort, William cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Understood. Then we'll extract information from Lucent right away."
"Yes. We need to do it as quickly as possible. Our patience isn't that deep."
William nodded while breaking into a cold sweat. His bodyguards were with him, which was a quite unusual reaction.
'Is he that afraid of these masked people?'
Besides the person in the center, the two people sitting next to him seemed to be his escorts.
They seemed to have brought only two to avoid drawing attention, but in other words, two were sufficient for escort.
'Showing such a reaction in a headquarters boasting tight security means they're also formidable. Who on earth are they to provoke such a response?'
Diolan became curious.
He thought he might be able to discern a bit more about their identity if he got a bit closer.
When Diolan took off his boots, such impulsive curiosity was hard to resist.
This was because he was a cat inherently full of curiosity.
The black shadow crawling in the corner slowly slid along the carpet.
Just as he was about to narrow the distance.
-Swish.
One of the masked men sitting as an escort turned his head and looked where Diolan was.
Diolan was startled by this.
'Did he notice my existence?'
If it wasn't a mistake, the man had definitely pinpointed his location.
Even though he had approached beyond the safe distance, he never expected to be discovered like this.
The masked man turned to his master and whispered something softly.
After hearing those words, the master nodded and stood up.
"We'll have to end our conversation here."
"No, what do you mean..."
"Because we have ears listening. And you said half a day? I'll give you exactly one hour. Either bring that man or extract information directly from his brain, otherwise we'll consider this deal null and void and leave."
"..."
William's expression hardened coldly.
He recognized the severity of the situation from those words.
The masked man left the conference room with one of his escorts. William also left with his security personnel.
The conference room door was locked from the inside by the escort who first discovered Diolan.
"Come out."
A heavy, rough voice rang out.
"Mouse cub hiding and watching."
Mouse cub? Regardless of anything else, Diolan found that provocation absolutely intolerable.
The shadow hiding in the darkness rose, transforming into the form of a giant cat.
Despite a monster suddenly appearing out of nowhere, the masked man showed no particular agitation.
-Meow!
Diolan growled, baring his teeth.
The proverb "curiosity killed the cat" didn't come from nowhere.
Being noticed just by approaching a bit, he would have no face to show his colleagues who trusted and entrusted him with this task.
But what's important now is to focus on the opponent in front of him.
Diolan glared and then rushed toward the masked man like an arrow.
*
An emergency was declared in the research building.
Heavily armed guards stormed and took control of the research area.
Researchers stood frozen with terrified faces.
They feared these guards might open fire. In fact, some had already been killed that way.
However, these guards ignored and passed by other researchers as if they weren't even visible, surrounding one place.
It was the personal research lab of the chief researcher, Lucent Philburg.
"Looks like he's not planning to hide anymore."
Osian stood up from his seat and drew the sword from his waist upon hearing the noisy corridor sounds.
"Wh-what's happening suddenly?"
Lucent looked confused, having only just arrived here.
"Diolan hasn't returned, and an incident has erupted. I'm not sure if it's related to Diolan's side or if they're just that desperate."
Lorraine finished handling her gun and with a click, completed loading.
"It could be both. And it seems they're more cornered than we thought. To cause such a commotion right after arriving."
Edgar, who had finished chewing all his candy, threw the empty stick in the trash can. He took out a new candy and put it in his mouth.
"Sounds like they're confident in resolving things quickly."
"What's that mean? Does that mean we look easy?"
When Lorraine complained, Edgar laughed coldly.
"Wouldn't it be natural? From the perspective of those who've lived in such noble places, someone like us who scrapes by at the bottom would seem ridiculous."
"If you think so, then show them."
Osian responded nonchalantly and stood at the door.
He could feel those surrounding the door were already aiming their guns.
But they didn't immediately enter or fire. Were they considering capturing Lucent?
At that moment, a pure white gas burst from the ventilation shaft with a 'chii-ik' sound, pouring down like a waterfall.
"They're doing interesting things from the start."
The pure white gas instantly engulfed the research lab.
The anesthetic gas rose like fog, making the research lab completely obscured.
"Infiltrate."
Guards waiting outside forcibly opened the door.
Beyond the automatically opened door, only white anesthetic gas filled the space.
Five team members wearing gas masks entered the research lab quickly with their guns drawn.
And then shortly after.
-Crash! Thud! Smash! Bang!
Sounds of something breaking, shattering, and being destroyed erupted, followed by silence.
The teams waiting outside stared intently, wondering what had happened.
While the anesthetic gas still filled the space, making nothing visible, a black shadow suddenly burst out and swallowed them.
"Aaack!"
What flew out was one of the colleagues who had first gone inside.
With his limbs not intact, he knocked down three waiting team members and rolled on the ground.
"They're not down yet! Shoot!"
They immediately aimed their guns and fired.
Their colleague was hit. And with the fact that the targets were still fine, their attacks showed no mercy.
Lucent might have been killed, but surely he wouldn't be standing perfectly fine in this situation.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The gun barrels spewed fire and shell casings dropped.
The automatic rifles they used were special military-grade, maximizing penetration and destructive power.
In other words, they were weapons no mere fixer dealing with street gangs could handle.
"Is it...over?"
After emptying an entire magazine, they stared inside.
At that moment, a yellow light flickered within the anesthetic gas.
Like yellow paint spreading on a white canvas, a knight soon walked out the door.
A white knight with a brilliant golden halo above his head.
Blue light flowed from inside the helmet targeting the guards.
"Shoot, shoot! Keep shooting!"
"Open fire all at once!"
The guards who immediately changed magazines fired at Osian.
Falling like a rain of lead about to touch Osian's body.
-Kling!
The wheel behind Osian's head began to rotate fiercely.
With the wheel rotating like shifting gears, the lead bullets flying toward Osian disappeared, engulfed in yellow flames in midair.
"What the hell is that!"
"Shoot! Keep shooting!"
In the corridor filled with gunshots and muzzle flashes that hurt both eyes and ears, Osian slowly moved his steps.
Around Osian, who was just walking lightly, yellow flames flickered and disappeared.
This was proof that the bullets had failed to complete their mission.
Only the mercilessly dropped shell casings weakly proved that the bullets had been fired.
"Retreat and join the rear!"
Just as the team leader shouted this and tried to escape, one side of the passage's wall exploded with a bang.
And emerging from inside, scattering white anesthetic gas, was a young boy holding a massive blue hammer.
"You've had enough preparation, right?"