Read Novel Full Chapter 789: Madness
Chapter 789: Chapter 789: Madness
“Hahaha! Hahahaha! It worked! It actually worked!”
His laughter echoed throughout the deserted area like the cries of a madman. He had successfully exploited the loophole.
Now, no one could interfere. No rules would protect Gwen anymore. And what delighted him the most… was that even after returning to his original self, his terrifying regenerative ability hadn’t disappeared.
His muscles trembled violently as wounds rapidly knitted themselves back together. Cuts closed within seconds.
Bruises vanished almost instantly. Even broken bones regenerated with horrifying speed. Gwen continuously attacked him without mercy.
However, Patrick either dodged them effortlessly or endured them before healing almost immediately. The battle dragged for thirty minutes.
Eventually, an entire hour passed.
Sweat soaked Gwen’s clothes. Her breathing became ragged.
Meanwhile, Patrick continued smiling. Although his body had suffered countless injuries, his stamina hardly seemed affected.
Watching his wounds regenerate over and over again… a terrible premonition slowly crept into Gwen’s heart.
‘This monster… Why won’t he die…?’
………………………………………
Half an hour earlier, Annie had already arrived at the location Gwen had mentioned.
In fact, she had reached nearly fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.
However, the alley was completely empty.
Just as she was about to leave, something caught her attention. Lying quietly on the ground was the very same hair clip she had left on her office desk.
Annie frowned. She immediately recognized it. ‘So… Gwen really took it.’
She slowly bent down and picked it up. A strange feeling of unease settled inside her chest. ‘But… Why would she throw it away here?’
Her instincts immediately warned her that something wasn’t right. Without wasting another second, Annie pulled out her phone before quickly calling Gwen’s father.
The call connected almost immediately. “Father. Is Gwen with you?”
He sounded confused. “No. She left earlier to deliver your clothes.”
Annie’s expression instantly darkened.
“She called me. She told me she’d wait for me here. But when I arrived… she had already disappeared. I’m calling her repeatedly, but she isn’t answering. Could you please check the places she usually visits?”
The concern in her voice was impossible to hide. Gwen’s father immediately became anxious.
“This girl… she really knows how to make me worry.”
After taking a deep breath, he answered, “Alright. I’ll go check the places she usually frequents.”
……………………………
Within the next thirty minutes, Annie, her father, several military officers, Felix, and a group of search personnel began searching throughout the entire base.
Yet, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of Gwen. Unable to find her, they immediately sought Ivy’s help.
“Ivy. Can you scan the entire base?”
Ivy nodded seriously before slowly closing her eyes. Her senses expanded rapidly, sweeping across every corner of the enormous base.
Several moments later, she slowly opened her eyes. “Gwen isn’t here.”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed. Felix frowned deeply.
“Impossible. Logically speaking… Gwen doesn’t possess any teleportation abilities. So how could she completely disappear from the base within fifteen minutes after Annie reached the meeting point? If she had left through the main gate…the guards would’ve seen her.”
He immediately looked toward the guards. However, every single one of them shook their heads. “She never left through the gates.”
Ivy slowly frowned. “Maybe she accidentally triggered one of the base’s rules.”
As soon as she spoke those words, she suddenly paused.
“But wait, there must’ve been a reason for triggering the rules. From what I know… Gwen isn’t the type to recklessly start fighting with strangers.”
Halfway through her sentence, Ivy froze. Her eyelids twitched.
‘Actually… she absolutely is that kind of person. I completely forgot.’
Before Ivy could continue thinking, Annie quickly asked, “Ivy. Can you check whether she was expelled because of one of the base’s rules?”
Ivy immediately nodded. Closing her eyes once again, she communicated directly with the Temporal Storage.
After several seconds, a response arrived.
She abruptly opened her eyes. “Gwen and an old man named Patrick were teleported approximately two kilometers away from the base.”
The moment Patrick’s name left Ivy’s lips, her heart suddenly sank.
A chill ran down her spine. ‘Patrick…? Please… Don’t let it be the same Patrick. He should have died long ago, right?’
…………………………………………………..
Without wasting another second, everyone hurried toward the reported location.
The moment they arrived, every single one of them froze. Standing not far away was Patrick.
Or rather, something that barely resembled a human anymore. His entire body had grotesquely transformed.
Bulging veins crawled across every inch of his skin like countless writhing snakes.
His muscles had swollen far beyond what should’ve been physically possible. His eyes glowed with bloodthirsty madness.
The sixty-year-old man had completely disappeared.
What stood before them now was a monster. The instant Ivy saw him, a wave of fear she hadn’t experienced in a very long time gripped her heart.
‘Impossible… How…? I killed him with my own hands. I personally chopped his body apart. I made absolutely certain he was dead. So, how did he come back?’
………………………………….
Meanwhile, Annie immediately rushed toward Gwen.
She found Gwen covered in dirt and bruises, breathing heavily after the prolonged battle.
At that exact moment, Patrick suddenly moved. His speed exploded.
Before anyone could react, he wrapped one muscular arm tightly around Gwen’s neck, while his other hand pressed a sharp knife firmly against her throat.
The cold blade lightly broke her skin, allowing a tiny drop of blood to slide down her neck.
Patrick roared, “Stay back! Don’t any of you dare play any tricks! Otherwise, I’ll slit her throat right here!”
Everyone’s expressions immediately darkened. Annie slowly raised both hands, trying not to provoke him.
“Please… calm down. If you’re angry because I humiliated you before, I’ll apologize, alright?”
Patrick suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. “Hahaha! No! I was never angry because of that!”
His bloodshot eyes slowly shifted toward Ivy. “If you want this little girl to live, then hand that woman over to me.”
He pointed directly at Ivy. Everyone stood frozen. Complete confusion filled their faces.
Annie frowned deeply.
“Are you even in your right mind? Was your target… Ivy all along? Are you her enemy?”
Patrick’s smile twisted into one of pure hatred. “Enemy? I wish it were that simple.”
He pointed at Ivy with trembling fingers.
“That bitch… she killed me, and now I’m going to repay her by killing her.”
The entire group fell silent. Everyone looked toward Ivy in shock. Countless questions filled their minds.
Why would Ivy kill Patrick? What had happened between them?
However, not a single person doubted Ivy. If Ivy had killed him, then there had to be a reason.
Meanwhile, Gwen weakly looked toward Annie.
Her breathing remained uneven as blood trickled down her neck beneath the knife.
“Don’t bother… he’ll kill me anyway.”
Her voice trembled with exhaustion.
“I heard him talking to himself while we were fighting. He said… that if he couldn’t get his hands on Ivy, then he’d kill every single one of us instead.”
Hearing those words, Annie frowned, but she didn’t make a reckless move.
Instead, she slowly looked at Patrick and said calmly, “You can tell us about your grievance. If there’s truly a misunderstanding, we’ll hear you out.”
The moment Patrick heard those words, he threw his head back, preparing to laugh once again.
However, before even a single laugh escaped his mouth, his entire body suddenly stiffened.
Every muscle cramped violently. His expression twisted in agony.
“W-What…?!”
His arms began trembling uncontrollably as though an invisible force had wrapped around every joint in his body.
Everyone immediately turned toward Silas.
Standing beside him was one of the base’s psychic guards.
Without saying a word, the guard kept both hands raised, his eyes glowing with a faint blue light as he continuously activated his psychic ability.
Invisible psychic chains tightly restrained Patrick’s movements. Patrick desperately struggled.
The veins across his body bulged as he tried to break free. His muscles swelled grotesquely.
Unfortunately, it was completely useless. No matter how hard he struggled, his body refused to obey him.
Seeing the opportunity, Annie reacted instantly.
She rushed forward before pulling Gwen away from Patrick’s grasp.
The knife fell onto the ground with a metallic clang.
Without hesitation, Annie pulled Gwen behind her and instinctively spread one arm protectively in front of her.
Almost at the same moment, Gwen’s father hurried over as well.
He immediately stood beside Annie, shielding his daughter with his own body.
Gwen stood frozen. She stared blankly at Annie. Then, she looked at her father.
For the first time, she truly realized how terrified both of them had been.
A wave of guilt quietly spread through her heart.
‘I… I made them worry this much…’
Her nose suddenly felt sore.
However, now wasn’t the time to dwell on those emotions.