The underground hideout breathed with tension.
Rael's clone, masked and cloaked under the persona of Ashen, leaned against the moss-cracked wall of a dilapidated meeting hall. The ceiling above dripped with condensation, and crude lanterns cast flickering shadows on rogues who had long abandoned order. This wasn't a registered guild hall—it was something worse.
A ghost guild.
Where washed-up hunters, deserters, black-market dealers, and rogue Tower climbers gathered, all of them ghosts in the eyes of the world.
And tonight, one of those ghosts would be snuffed out.
[Target Confirmed: Damon Vale – Last Known Contact Point Located]
[Tower Pulse Residue Detected – Tied to Crimson Dawn]
[System Objective: Sever the Web – 4/7 Traitors Identified]
Rael stepped deeper into the room, every eye cautiously glancing his way. As Ashen, he'd moved in shadows, traded in fake relics, and posed as a quiet support-type to earn their trust. But that part of the game was over.
Now, he was here as a warning.
"Ashen, you hear about that S-rank dungeon collapse in Zone 17?" one hunter asked. "Some freak took out the core in under a minute. Whole team left in shock."
Rael didn't answer. He had been that freak.
Instead, he walked to the central table, where relics and contraband were stacked like poker chips, and dropped a sealed black cube onto the surface. The obsidian container pulsed faintly with twisted Tower mana—contaminated, corrupted.
The room stilled.
"…That's a Guardian Core," someone whispered.
"Unprocessed. Still volatile. From the 47th Floor."
Rael's voice was calm, deliberate.
"It belonged to Damon Vale."
A hunter scoffed. "You expect us to believe that? Damon Vale was Vice-Leader of Crimson Dawn. A war hero. Tower-cleared to Floor 60. He—"
"He ran," Rael cut in, eyes glowing faintly behind his mask. "Left his team to die. Just like he did on Floor 47."
He let the silence build.
"And I was there."
One man moved—a twitch of doubt or challenge.
Snap.
In less than a blink, Rael had broken his wrist and crushed his windpipe. The man crumpled, gasping silently on the floor.
No one else moved.
The older veterans in the room stared, realization dawning in widened eyes.
"That stance…" one of them whispered. "No… It can't be—"
Rael looked up.
"Phantom," another muttered, almost reverently. "But he was—he was dead."
Rael smiled beneath the mask. Cold. Inevitable.
"Funny. So were they."
[System Sync: Aura Signature Recognized – Legend Reactivation in Progress]
[Title Restored: Phantom – Ghost of Floor 50]
He turned to leave. Behind him, the ghost guild froze—caught between legend and terror.
But before he reached the stairs, a presence blocked his path.
A voice he hadn't heard in years.
"You always liked making dramatic exits."
Rael stopped.
Aeris stood there, leaning against the crumbling stone arch. Silver hair cascading over her shoulder, her sword resting casually at her hip—but her eyes were sharp. Sad.
And searching.
"It's been a long time, Rael."
He didn't move.
She stepped closer, her gaze unwavering. "Or do you prefer Ashen now?"
"I prefer not being stabbed in the back," he replied, his voice colder than the damp air.
She flinched—but didn't look away.
"I didn't know, Rael. None of us did."
"Didn't you?" he asked quietly. "You were there. You heard the call to retreat. You saw me fall."
"I thought you died," she whispered. "And when no body was found… we were ordered to say nothing. Crimson Dawn sealed the report. You know how they work."
Silence.
The kind that filled the space between betrayal and regret.
Rael turned his head slightly, just enough for her to see his jaw tighten.
"I waited," he said. "Even in the Tower's deepest floors. I waited for someone to come back. You never did."
"I'm here now," she said, softer. "Is that not enough?"
He stared at her. Long. Unblinking.
"It might be," he finally said. "But not for forgiveness."
Aeris sighed, stepping aside.
"Then make your path, Phantom. Just… don't forget that some of us never stopped believing you'd return."
Rael brushed past her, his cloak fluttering in the rising wind of the city's underground vents.
[Target List Updated: 4/7 Confirmed]
[New Threat Detected – Shadow Pulse within Capital Radius]
[Estimated Time Before Tower Eruption: 42 Days]
From beneath the cracked streets to the highest spires of power, his enemies were waking up.
But so was he.
And this time, the Phantom wouldn't fade into silence.