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The fall of Azure Blade wasn't just a scandal.
It was an earthquake.
Not the kind that cracked the roads or shattered glass—but the kind that split faith in two.
---
[Seoul – The Day After]
Screens across South Korea glowed with one name:
> "AZURE BLADE – DISBANDED."
"Association Confirms Discovery of Essence Harvesting Program"
"Ryu Jae-Ho Found Dead in Tower Office – Cause Unconfirmed"
"Unidentified Hunter Leads Internal Collapse – Hero or Threat?"
The public devoured the news.
Talk shows speculated.
Journalists wept live on air.
One network ran a segment titled:
> "The Ghost Who Killed a Guild:
Who is the Silent One?"
---
[Hunter Association HQ – Press Conference]
President Choi In-Sun stood before cameras, composed as ever.
Behind her, survivors from the underground stasis chambers sat quietly. Some had scars. Some still trembled. Some clutched tiny mana stones like rosaries.
> "The man responsible for unlocking the truth," she said,
"has chosen not to reveal himself.
We respect that decision."
A reporter raised a hand.
"Will the Association investigate other Guilds now?"
Choi paused.
Then nodded.
> "Silence in one tower usually means silence in many."
---
[Meanwhile – Red Spiral Hideout]
It was no longer a hideout.
The place that once hosted whispers and sketches was now a beacon. A meeting ground. A recruitment center. A movement.
Red Spiral was no longer just survivors.
They were witnesses. Rescuers. Fighters.
And they had become something more terrifying to the old world than any dungeon monster:
Organized conscience.
Mi-Ra stood at the whiteboard, now covered with names.
Former captives. Lost friends. Missing links.
Then she paused.
A name was missing.
"…Where is he?"
A silence followed.
One of the former Hunters muttered, "We haven't seen him since Ryu's death."
Mi-Ra frowned.
"He wouldn't just disappear…"
But deep down, she already knew—
He would.
---
[Jin-Soo – Somewhere Quiet]
He sat on a rooftop near the Han River.
No uniform. No title. No weapons.
Just himself—and the sound of the water flowing below.
The system, always present, was now strangely calm.
> [Monarch of Silence – Hidden Title retained]
[Public identity: Erased]
[Threat Level: Zero. You are a ghost.]
[You have done what no nation dared.]
> [Would you like to begin your new life? Y/N]
He didn't press anything.
Instead, he whispered—
"I was supposed to die in that dungeon."
He closed his eyes.
> "But I didn't."
He thought of his sister.
The reason this started.
The voice that once cried out:
"Oppa, don't go today."
She was safe now. Secure under protection from the Association.
He had visited her hospital room after the raid.
Once.
Just once.
She had been asleep.
He had left a note on the windowsill:
> "No matter how loud the world gets—
remember the brother who made it quiet again."
---
[Days Later – A Rumor is Born]
In Hunter forums, a thread exploded:
> "Did anyone SEE the guy who took down Azure Blade?"
"There's no photo. No footage. Not even mana trace."
"I heard he moved without sound."
"I heard he killed a commander mid-spell."
"They say he's called the Monarch of Silence…"
Someone joked:
> "Sounds like a comic book character."
But no one laughed for long.
Because another thread soon appeared:
> "Guild in Busan collapses—essence harvesting exposed.
Mysterious masked Hunter seen at the scene.
No audio. No footage.
Only a card left behind."
It read:
"For those without voices.
— M.o.S."
---
[Final Scene – The World Changes]
Red Spiral goes global.
The Association passes a new bill: The Soul Protection Act.
Essence core harvesting is now classified as a Class-1 war crime.
Jin-Soo becomes a ghost—a myth that walks.
Sometimes, in broken towers and corrupt ruins, survivors speak of a figure in shadow:
He never speaks.
He never kills without cause.
But when he comes—the silence is the warning.
---