?
Chapter 89- a Father Figure (Part 2)
"You're so annoying, old man. I'm still training every day. My progress isn't bad either." Kaya replied as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"As if! Listen to me, Kaya. Your talent is something rare even by our standards. You're the first and only Archangel to reach this position at such a young age. I took you under my wing because I knew that you could become something great in the future and the person who will inherit my legacy." Mikayla said with a serious tone.
Even though Kaya is considerably rude toward him, it is because this man is one of the few people she considers close to her. Other than that, Kaya would've never dared to speak to him in such a way because that man was simply a monster in every sense of the word.
Being a Virtue is already a great achievement in the underworld that only a few in the world could ever dream of reaching. But, Kaya had a belief that at some point, Mikayla was strong enough to be an Ophanim.
However, for some reason or another, Mikayla never became one and Kaya didn't know the reason to that day.
"Sigh, I'm really busy, old man. I don't have time to dedicate my whole day to training. Besides, I'm already strong enough to become a Virtue if I want to. All I need to do is kill one of the existing Virtues and take their position." She said coldly.
"You cocky brat." Mikayla's aura rose from his body, submerging the whole room in coldness.
Kaya's face frowned slightly as she felt the huge weight that came down on her shoulders. Even in his old age, Mikayla was still a freak of nature with enough strength to terrorize anyone that stands in his face.
"Did you send me a red letter just to give me a lecture on hard work?" Kaya decided to change the topic as she knew the two of them will only end up arguing for a long time without any conclusion.
In Divinity, there are four forms of communication between the higher ranks. A red letter is sent when the receiver is needed for a matter concerning the inside affairs of Divinity. A blue letter is for compulsory missions, a green one for a potential reward or a gift, and finally a black letter is when there is a huge threat that could send Divinity into shambles.
While the three first letters are sent pretty often, the black letter had been sent only once before and that was years ago.
Anyway, the old man seemed to agree with Kaya's topic shift as he retracted his aura and rested his back on his chair.
"I heard some news."
"News?"
"Yes, I heard that you came into contact with the Hitman Guild."
At that question, Kaya frowned slightly before she shook her head. She already knew that Mikayla would hear about this. He had spies all over the world that provided him with information.
"Yes, I had to."
"... So, you met that 'man', huh." Mikayla's wrinkled face frowned slightly.
"I did and he's as horrifying as the rumors if not worse," Kaya said matter of factly. Her words weren't technically lies as Kai was indeed a terrifying individual. However, she tweaked the words a bit to make it sound as if she didn't know him. "He's certainly stronger than you, old man. Unfortunately, before I could do anything, he suddenly disappeared."
"You insolent brat. Always with that sharp tongue of yours." Mikayla clicked his tongue before continuing to say. "I already know that because I have seen him fight before…"
At those words, Kaya's interest was picked as she instinctively adjusted her position on the chair.
"You saw the Black Phantom fight? Against who? And when?"
"It was years ago, before his sudden disappearance. That year, the Red Rose Day was particularly tense and the underworld was in a chaotic mess. Divinity knew that something big would happen inside the Guild. At that time, I was able to plant a spy into the 100 hitmen to attend the meeting."
"How were you even able to do that?"
"It's not important. You don't ask an old man for his tricks, I have a bunch of them. Anyway, at the time, that Black Phantom brat was challenged by the arguably second-strongest hitman in the Guild… Agent 1."
'Agent 1…' Kaya instinctively tensed up when hearing that name.
Since the foundation of the Guild, there have been exactly 10 people that were able to claim the title Agent 1. Each one of them was an individual with enough strength to terrorize the whole world. They don't take normal assassination missions like the other hitmen but instead have their own special missions that's why they were quite the mysterious individuals since they rarely appear in the spotlight.
During all of that history, only a few were able to claim that spot from another agent.
"Agent 1 wanted to claim the title 'Agent 0' that the black Phantom brat had and many betted that he would be able to take it. I, myself, never thought a kid would be able to beat that man. However, what I saw with my own eyes at the time… was something I have never seen before." For the first time since Kaya walked inside his office, Mikayla's expression changed from serious to a strong frown. A man with Mikayla's experience isn't simply strong, but he also has seen countless things in his life and fought countless strong foes.
Each one of them was a monster of their own. Yet, what he saw that day was something he had and will never see in his life again.
"That boy isn't human. I have seen countless geniuses in my lifetime. However, that boy is one of a kind. Whatever you heard about him, it's all a downgrade of what's he capable of. The Guild truly had a trump card that could've easily made them the one and only true monarch of the underworld."
"You must be exaggerating, old man." Kaya tried to laugh it off because the words her foster father said were just too mind-blowing.
She knew that Kai was extremely strong, but to hear her grandfather call the rumors around him nothing but a downgrade was just too much.
However, the old man shook his head.
"No, you do not understand, brat. I'm a man who believes that as long as you have the talent and you work hard enough, you can reach the peak. But, that kid is simply not something you can achieve by normal means. He's out of this world."
Kaya could only look down as she tried to contemplate those words. What kind of thing did her grandfather see for him to say these words?
Recalling the huge crater in the ground, it was indeed something terrifying but it felt as if Kai didn't really exert much power to create such an effect.
'What are you hiding, Kai? How strong are you actually?' She thought to herself. However, she knew deep down that Kai would probably never be pushed to show his true powers.
"I know that you're mission is to look for him. But, if you don't want to end up dead, don't ever think about trying to fight him. He's not something you can handle."
"I see… Got it." Murmuring with a nod of her head, Kaya looked up at Mikayla again. "But, what happened during that fight?"
"Agent 1 was defeated… with one single move."