---
The wind over Seoul tasted different that night.
Colder. Sharper. Like steel being drawn from a scabbard.
The city's lights glittered as always, and the traffic hummed beneath skyscrapers and towers. But above it all, in the tallest Guild building in Gangnam—the Azure Blade Tower—something unnatural pulsed through the walls.
Whispers. Rumors. Orders. Surveillance.
And silence.
That terrible silence before thunder.
---
Inside Azure Blade – Floor 31, Strategic Conference Room
Commander Ryu Jae-Ho sat with the other high-rank officials, a glass of black tea untouched before him.
The air around them was tight with tension.
The latest reports were displayed on a floating magic panel.
> — Missing: Nam Do-Hwan (Logistics Director)
— Inconsistencies in Surveillance Logs
— Essence Core Leak Confirmed
— Multiple Internal Eyes Suspected
A younger Commander stood and slammed his hand on the table.
"This is a surgical breach. Someone's slicing us open from the inside!"
"Then cauterize it," said another coldly. "Purge the lower ranks. Arrest every unverified Hunter. Find the mole."
But Ryu raised a hand.
"No," he said.
The room fell silent.
"Panic is the last weapon we give our enemy. Let them feel safe. Let them believe they're ahead."
He stood.
"Tomorrow, the Association moves. They'll come with lawyers, not blades. With suits, not swords."
He turned toward the window, where the city below stretched endlessly.
"And we'll greet them with smiles."
But then he whispered to himself:
"And slaughter them the moment they show fangs."
---
Across the City – Hunter Association HQ, Midnight
President Choi In-Sun stood at a round table with six division heads. All wore black coats with the Association crest—a golden phoenix wrapping around a broken dagger.
The leaked evidence floated mid-air:
Footage of the essence vault
Core analysis from the lab
Audio logs from Commander Ryu's office
"We have enough to crush them," one officer said.
In-Sun shook her head.
"No. We have enough to scare them."
"They'll stall. Buy time. Hide bodies."
She placed a sealed scroll on the table. Magic burned around it.
"Tomorrow morning, we raid Floor -3. We need someone inside to disable the lockdown sequence. Otherwise, they'll erase every trace."
A younger agent asked, "Do we have a name for the inside contact?"
In-Sun smiled faintly.
"We don't. We have a ghost."
---
Meanwhile – Red Spiral Hideout, Level 18
Kang Mi-Ra sat with Jin-Soo, her jaw tight, her hands wrapped around a can of stale coffee.
The others were silent.
Some were sharpening blades. Others checking maps. One just stared at the floor.
"You sure tomorrow's the right time?" Mi-Ra finally asked.
Jin-Soo nodded once.
"While they look up at the Association…"
He pointed downward.
"…we strike from below."
He unrolled the final plan.
Three teams.
1. Mi-Ra and two Red Spiral members would enter via the maintenance shaft to floor -2, using stolen key runes to bypass the outer gates.
2. Jin-Soo alone would enter from Floor 29, disguised as a courier on internal delivery. His path led straight into the command vault.
3. A third team—backup, former B-rank Hunters in hiding—would engage only if the Guild deployed armed resistance.
Jin-Soo handed Mi-Ra a sealed packet.
"If I die, give this to the Association."
"What is it?"
He looked at her.
"Everything."
---
Late Night – Jin-Soo's Dorm
He stood beneath the flickering bathroom light, staring at the scars across his chest.
Some were old—wounds from years ago.
Some fresh—left by monsters who tortured, laughed, and called it training.
But all of them burned with one truth:
He was still alive.
> [System: All conditions aligned.
Infiltration path "Ashes Within Ashes" – Final Phase Activated.]
[Would you like to unlock Suppressed Title: Monarch of Silence?]
[Y/N]
He stared at the mirror.
Then whispered—
"Not yet."
---
2:00 a.m. – Azure Blade Tower Rooftop
A storm brewed overhead, slow and distant.
Rain had not begun yet.
But the sky was heavy. Pregnant with power.
Jin-Soo stood at the edge of the rooftop, wind brushing against his hair like cold fingers.
He closed his eyes.
He could still feel the presence of the essence core inside his cloak—the last one he kept.
Still warm.
Still whispering.
A memory lived inside it. A voice.
Sometimes, at night, he thought he could hear it crying.
"I'll avenge you," he said softly.
"And everyone they buried."
He turned and walked down into the tower.
---
Final Scene – Somewhere Deep Below
In the darkness of Floor -3, machines hummed.
Tubes pulsed.
Hunters floated in stasis, their skin pale, their mana drained.
And beside the main siphon core, a man in red gloves hummed to himself, cleaning a surgical blade.
He looked up suddenly.
Eyes wide.
He shivered.
"…Something's coming."
---