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📍 Nightfall – Edge of District Seven
The rain had just begun to fall — thin, cold, silent. Streetlights flickered, struggling against the growing mana interference. It was the perfect night for a strike.
Kael stood with his hood pulled low, a dozen rogue hunters around him — exiles, betrayed elites, guild rejects. Some carried blades. Others relied on magic. All of them carried rage.
In front of them stood the outer facility of the Scarlet Aether Guild — once a research lab, now a black site where rebels and rivals disappeared.
"Target confirmed," said Myrla, activating the comm-crystal. "Seventy-two personnel. Thirty hostiles marked. No civilians inside."
Kael nodded.
> [Mission: Reckoning – Operation Type: Precision Assault]
Objective: Expose Scarlet Aether atrocities
Reward: Public Revelation + Faction Expansion
His voice was cold and calm:
"Move."
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📍 Inside the Facility – Command Deck
"We're picking up movement on the outer wards," barked one of the mages. "Mana distortion — it's him. He's here."
The commander of the site, Ryven Grell, ex-Guild A-rank, narrowed his eyes. He wore a crimson cloak with blood-sigil embroidery.
"I was hoping he'd come," he muttered, gripping his halberd.
He turned to the guards.
"Bring out the test subjects."
The agents hesitated.
"But sir—those are—"
"I said NOW."
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📍 Kael – Breach Point
The walls didn't explode.
They melted.
Silent Blade and the Shadow Guardian phased through like phantoms, eliminating watchmen without a sound. Kael followed, his presence weighing down the very air.
Guards ran, alarms screamed—then died mid-blare, overridden by Kael's mana.
In the main chamber, they found the proof.
Stasis tanks.
Filled with hunters.
Eyes open. Conscious. Suspended in mana-laced fluids.
Myrla stepped back, bile rising in her throat.
"They were... experimenting on them."
Kael didn't speak.
He raised his hand.
> [Skill: Shadow Collapse – Initiate]
[Area of Effect: 18 meters – Compression Level: MAXIMUM]
The machines crumpled like paper under invisible pressure.
The victims… were finally released.
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📍 Ryven Grell – Descending the Stairwell
He arrived in time to see the last tank fall.
"You really think this makes you a hero?" Ryven laughed, mana swirling around him. "All you've done is prove you're a terrorist."
Kael didn't flinch.
"Then I'll be the one this city fears… if it means people will finally see."
Ryven struck first — a blast of bloodfire cutting through the chamber.
Kael dodged.
A counterstrike of pure shadow surged forward, clashing with Ryven's mana in a storm of black and crimson.
Their battle shook the entire block.
Myrla and the others cleared the area.
From the rooftops, rebel eyes watched as Kael moved like a phantom — brutal, efficient, unstoppable.
Ryven gasped as Kael's blade of shadow pierced through his shoulder.
"You're… just a kid…"
"No," Kael whispered.
> [Shadow Core Activated – Rank-Up Triggered]
[New Title Acquired: Warden of the Fallen]
"I'm everything you created."
Kael finished it with a single blow.
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📍 Citywide Broadcast – 04:12 AM
Without warning, every screen in Juren flickered to life.
Security feeds. Stasis tanks. Names of the victims.
And Kael's voice.
> "They told you we were lost.
But they were the ones burying us."
> "This is not a rebellion.
It's justice."
> "And it's only just begun."
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📍 Final Scene – Dragoon High Command
Silence.
Elrik stood frozen, watching the footage on loop.
A commander spoke behind him:
"We have a problem. Several guilds are withdrawing support. Civilians are rioting. You need to respond."
Elrik turned, and for the first time… his expression was fear.
"No," he whispered. "We're too late."
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📌 Next: Chapter 12 – The Cost of Fire
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