"Did you encounter... ’him’?"

Even the second woman didn’t speak, but her reaction said everything as her body stiffened slightly, the lightning around her flickered erratically, and within her fearless eyes, for the first time, there was deep, instinctual fear as something buried within her.

Because she knew exactly who that ’him’ referred to as ’he’ was, the only existence, the only nightmare that had ever forced Nell into defeat and brought them to their current state. ’He’ was the only being they all feared from the depths of their existence.

For a brief moment, even the air felt suffocated before Nell let out a quiet breath, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he shook his head.

"Heh, thank the Zodiac Plains it wasn’t ’him’ so don’t worry." Those words alone eased both women’s tension, just slightly. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But before they could fully relax, Nell continued, "But the Mythical Coalition seems to have discovered something."

The relief vanished instantly as their expressions hardened again, but this time far more seriously.

Nell’s gaze turned distant for a moment, as if recalling the scene, "The Hall of Twin Sovereignty... was breached as even their spatial seal that they took great pride upon broken from the outside, and two Quasi-Myths of Mythical Coalition appeared."

The moment those words fell, both women’s pupils shrank.

"Mythical Coalition..." The woman in the coat murmured softly, her voice tinged with gravity.

Nell nodded as he clicked his tongue, "One was a Fire Wyvern... nearly at full mythical awakening, and the second was a Thunder Ogre, with destructive capacity on par with peak Quasi-Myths."

Nell’s expression turned dark, "If I’m not wrong, then those two should be the Myth of Inferno and Myth of Thunder hailed from the Zodiac Warrior Alliance.

The woman in a lab coat’s expression turned solemn as she said gloomily, "They actually sent those two? Doesn’t this mean the Mythical Coalition had solid proof of who we ’actually are? But I don’t understand how they could know us and our plans?"

Nell sighed helplessly because he was also clueless, but his thoughts were different from his companion’s as he continued calmly, "I won’t go that far with speculation. Although they were there with clear motives and might’ve detected something unusual with the Federation, they had no idea about our involvement. If I’m not wrong, they were probably there for a fishing expedition!"

The woman in the coat narrowed her eyes slightly as Nell’s words weren’t reassuring as they sounded, and she questioned coldly, "If they were only there for a ’fishing expedition’ then what are you doing here? Didn’t your identity get exposed?"

Nell seemed to be expecting this question as his lips curved faintly and replied nonchalantly, "I didn’t wait to find that out and left."

A simple answer, but both women were speechless as they finally understood what Nell had done and knew what it meant.

Nell didn’t wait there for the two Quasi-Myths to investigate or test their purpose of coming there, and didn’t gamble with the possibility of the Mythical Coalition only being there for a simple check, because it was impossible with two Quasi-Myths present on the scene. He simply ran, which, coming from Nell, said everything.

"I used Axiom Severance Transit," He added calmly, "multiple layers. No trace. No direction. No causality. Just as we planned and prepared before."

The second woman crossed her arms, though the faint tension in her posture remained, but she didn’t seem to be worried anymore.

"And yet you’re saying your cover is blown? Geezer, are you trying to scare us to death?" She jeered at him with a hint of worry in her eyes, clearly concerned for her father’s safety.

Nell’s eyes darkened slightly, not because of how his daughter spoke with him, but because he clearly remembered why he had been so rash, which was really unusual for him.

"That’s the problem." He said slowly, "I don’t know how, but the moment they appeared, my instinct as that ’Swindler’s acolyte’ seemed to sense an unknown danger. That’s why I didn’t try to play along or abandon my Federation identity, and took off."

Silence fell again as both women’s expressions grew even more serious, tinged with disbelief, because they knew exactly what Nell was trying to imply, and they no longer judged his decision to flee as irrational.

The woman in the coat finally spoke, her tone low, "If it was like that, then they didn’t come blindly. But I still won’t understand how the Mythical Coalition gets involved at this stage? We didn’t even target their members yet, not to mention the Coalition is fully detached from the Legendary Plains."

Nell nodded as he completely agreed with her, and this fact also seemed to haunt him as he replied with frustration, "That’s what I’m worried about as well. If they sent those two Quasi-Myths, then they probably knew enough to come. But I’m positive that they just didn’t confirm everything yet."

The second woman’s eyes flickered sharply, "Which means..."

Nell finished calmly, "I’m now a target, and they might not even spare the Federation higher-ups anymore, as they will do everything in their power to figure me out. But I won’t be worried about that too much since everything that is known about me is false, my name even!"

Everyone present in this place knows that Nell is not just any target, but he was the target of the Mythical Coalition, and the implications of that were far beyond being hunted by the entire Legendary Plains.

For a moment, no one spoke before the woman in the coat exhaled softly, her gaze turning cold and precise once more as she said matter-of-factly, "Nevertheless, this changes everything."

The second woman clicked her tongue, and she said in a sharp tone as the lightning on her flickered more intensely, "Then stop standing there like it’s nothing. What’s the next move? You know your ’Boss’ wouldn’t like it once he found out about this!"

Nell didn’t answer immediately; instead, a faint smile appeared on his face again, this time neither gentle nor warm, but dangerous and calculating.

"If we were to assume they were there because they found something and that thing happened to be worthy enough to draw their attentions," He said softly as his eyes flickered toward the two Quasi-Myths suspended in the containers, "...and I think I know what."

The atmosphere in the laboratory shifted because, for the first time, the situation was no longer about hiding or remaining in the shadows; it was about what came next.

But unbeknownst to all three of them, far above them, something unseen and unnoticed was already watching all of this amusingly, like the reality itself!