Rael sat in the dim light of his apartment, one hand resting atop a pulsing crystal orb. Memory fragments flickered across the surface—Aeris's pale face, her trembling voice, and the name she'd whispered like a curse:
"Commander Vale."
> [Memory Sync Complete] [Priority Target List Updated] [Revenge Progress: 1/7 Identified]
Rael's violet-glowing eyes narrowed.
"They've started to move."
Selene, perched lazily on the windowsill with her legs crossed, glanced back. "Will you wait for them to come to you?"
Rael stood, his coat sliding onto his shoulders like a shadow. "No. I'm done waiting."
He walked past her, the air around him cooling.
"I'm going hunting."
---
Location: Black Fang Underground Auction – Restricted District
A city beneath the city—that's what they called the Restricted District. Here, old guilds turned mercenary and Tower washouts traded cursed artifacts like candy.
Rael had one name: Venn Kalor.
Once a support mage, Venn was the first to cast a disabling seal during Rael's betrayal. Word was he now acted as a broker for Crimson Dawn's more delicate affairs.
> [Deploying Clone No.3 – Sync Rate: 94%] [Disguise Enabled]
Rael's clone emerged inside a crowded chamber lit with arcane lanterns. Noble elites rubbed shoulders with criminals, enchanted masks hiding identities.
He moved through them like mist, cloaked in illusion magic and suppressing his mana signature.
His target sat on a raised velvet booth, surrounded by two bodyguards and puffing on a magepipe like he was royalty. Venn—older, fatter, but still carrying that smug grin.
Rael approached, took a seat across the table.
"You're in my spot," Venn said, not looking up.
Rael smiled, the illusion fading just enough to let his true aura bleed through.
"I think this is exactly where I belong."
Venn's head jerked up.
---
Fifteen Seconds Later
The bodyguards lay slumped over the table, unconscious.
Venn backed into the wall of his booth, trembling.
"Y-You're supposed to be dead. I saw you die!"
Rael dismissed the last remnants of the illusion. "And yet, here I am. Lucky you."
> [Skill Activated: Shadow Bind] [Target Restrained – Movement Locked: 30 seconds]
Chains of black mist snapped around Venn's limbs, pinning him to his chair. His screams were muffled by Rael's aura pressing into his lungs.
Rael leaned forward, voice low and flat.
"You have one job now, Venn. You'll tell me where Vale is. Or you'll be nothing but a bloody stain the cleaning crew can't scrub out."
"I don't know! I swear! He vanished after the Tower fell! We split! No one hears from him unless he wants to be found!"
Rael didn't blink.
"Then give me someone who knows. Names. Places. All of them."
Venn, sweating bullets, began scribbling with trembling fingers onto a glyph-sealed parchment. Rael watched in silence until the list was complete.
Six names.
Rael scanned it.
Kael Sorrin. Valeria Enna. Gideon Cross. Mira Velm. Tova Kline. And Vale.
> [Target List Updated: 3/7 Confirmed] [Revenge Progress: 43%]
Rael stood, eyes shadowed beneath his hood. "You should pray none of them are harder to find than you."
Venn whimpered. "W-What happens now?"
Rael tilted his head.
"Now? I leave. You get to live."
Venn exhaled in relief.
Rael smiled. "Until I don't need you anymore."
Then he vanished.
---
Rooftop – One Hour Later
Rain poured over the city as Rael stood atop a spire, the list clenched in his hand. Selene emerged behind him, her cloak shimmering against the storm.
"He break easy?" she asked.
"Easier than expected. Fear remembers me."
Selene smirked. "Then we're halfway there."
Rael said nothing. The water dripping from his fingers wasn't rain. It was the sweat of restraint. He could have killed Venn. Every part of him had screamed for it.
But no. Not yet.
He would make each one feel it.
Like he had.
> [Internal Objective Updated: Phase Two Activated] [Mission Log: "Begin Active Purge"]
---
Back at Base – Underground Bunker
The walls were covered in notes—maps of Tower floors, battle data, sketches of old allies turned traitors. Rael added the list beside a drawing of the Tower's final room. The circle where they had stood. Where he had fallen.
He marked three names in red.
Tomorrow, he would begin with the fourth.
Selene placed a fresh crystal on the table. "Another clone ready."
Rael looked into the crystal's heart.
Not just for revenge.
This was for rebirth.
"Let them come."
He turned away, coat fluttering in the underground wind.
"Let them remember."
> [The Phantom Hunts] – Status: In Progress