The bells tolled twelve.
Not the time. A code.
Twelve tolls meant protocol enforcement across all districts. Silence in the undercity broke. Guards moved. Runners vanished. Markets closed their stalls early, and the taverns lit no lamps. When twelve rang, it meant blood was coming.
Kai knew who they were sending.
The Eclipsed.
He sat on the edge of a rusted platform in the heart of the Veil, sharpening his dagger with slow, rhythmic strokes. The Dragonbone blade hissed against the whetstone, like it too could smell danger approaching.
Felda stepped into the chamber, quiet as always, but her expression was more rigid than usual. "Scouts say they've entered Sector Five. Three of them. Confirmed."
Kai didn't stop sharpening. "Just three?"
"They don't send many," she said. "They don't need to."
He looked up. "Tell me what you know."
Felda leaned against a broken pillar, shadows coiling gently behind her. "Each Eclipsed is Guild-bred. Enhanced. Not fully human anymore. The Guild calls them 'ethical violations' off the record. On the record? They're elite enforcement — no arrests, only silence."
Kai set the dagger down. "And who leads them?"
She hesitated. "You won't like it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Wraithborn," she said.
The name hit like a blade under the ribs.
Wraithborn was the Guild's walking secret. A man who'd severed his soul in exchange for perfect stealth — no scent, no shadow, no aura. He didn't walk through doors. He simply appeared on the other side. Once, Kai had seen the aftermath of one of his cleanups: six corpses, no blood, not a single broken bone — just missing eyes and silence.
"They're here for me," Kai said.
"They're here for *Shade*," Felda corrected. "But yeah."
Kai stood, adjusting his cloak.
"Prepare the inner Veil," he said. "No one gets in without my mark. Soul-lock the entrance runes. If Wraithborn gets in, I want him to feel the teeth."
Felda moved quickly. She understood his tone now low, deliberate. Not the rage from earlier chapters of his life. This was planning. Awareness.
He was finally understanding what it meant to be hunted.
In the farthest shadows of Sector Five, Wraithborn crouched over a corpse.
The man had no face anymore. Just a smooth, pale surface where features used to be.
Behind Wraithborn, two other Eclipsed watched the street in silence. One was massive — plated in mana-infused bone armor that steamed with black glyphs. The other was thin, jittery, twitching every few seconds as if reacting to sounds no one else heard.
Wraithborn didn't speak. He never did.
Instead, he placed a gloved finger on the body's chest, and from it, pulled a thread of blue light — a memory echo.
> Last location: Veil Sector – Lower Root.
> Number of voices heard: 5
> Magical imprint: Unknown variant – high instability.
The tall one "Bonecaster" cracked his neck. "He's grown fast."
The twitchy one "Pith" giggled. "He's scared. They all get scared when we come."
Wraithborn's eyes, colorless and glassy, narrowed. He stepped into the alley wall vanished and reappeared fifty meters away on a rooftop.
He'd found a trace.
Faint, but familiar.
Shade.
Back inside the Veil, Kai walked the perimeter.
Solen was building runes along the corridor walls, humming softly to himself. He liked blood-based sigils. Too much, maybe.
Kai watched him for a moment, then spoke. "You've seen the Eclipsed before."
Solen didn't look up. "Once. They flayed a rogue Soulbinder in a sealed arena. Took his memories while he was still conscious. Used his body to track others."
"Can we fight them?"
Solen shrugged. "Not if you're trying to win."
Kai didn't answer.
Then he turned to Eren, who stood watching the staircase like a coiled spring.
"We need fallback options," Kai said. "If I go down—"
"You're not," Eren snapped.
"I might," Kai pressed. "If I do, you take your sister and disappear. Burn the Veil. Let it become a story."
Eren stared, defiant. "We didn't come this far for a story. We came for change."
Kai studied him. The fire in the boy's eyes had hardened into something sharper. Eren wasn't just a survivor anymore. He was a soldier.
Kai nodded once. "Then we hold."
Wraithborn reached the Veil's outer wall before dawn.
He stood still, listening.
The structure breathed.
Soul-bound stone. Old alchemy. Rune-threaded thresholds.
He touched the entrance — and smiled.
Then slipped through the cracks like a shadow splitting the light.
---
Inside, alarms didn't ring.
Runes didn't glow.
Wards remained still.
Because Wraithborn wasn't *in* the Veil.
He was *around* it.
His body phased just slightly between dimensions — a trick known only to him, gifted through sacrifice.
From here, he could see every soul moving. Hear every whisper. Trace every flicker of heat.
Shade was deep in the center. Surrounded by four loyal figures.
One of them had potential — the cursed Soulmancer. One was bound. Two were watchers.
None were threats.
Wraithborn moved forward.
The first to sense him was Felda.
Her skin prickled. Like static. Her breath caught — eyes darting.
"Something's—"
A blade pierced the wall beside her.
She rolled.
Kai turned.
Wraithborn stepped through the stone, blade raised.
But Kai was already moving.
The dagger he'd forged — from dragonbone and chaos — met Wraithborn's steel in a shower of sparks.
The Veil reacted — the walls howled — runes exploded with violet flame.
Felda screamed, "He's inside!"
Eren lunged, trying to flank, but Wraithborn vanished.
Then reappeared behind Solen.
The Soulmancer laughed. "That all you got?"
Then coughed blood.
His shoulder was split.
Kai gritted his teeth.
The system buzzed.
> [BOSS ENCOUNTER: WRAITHBORN]
> Enemy Class: Soul Severed Assassin
> Threat Level: S+
> Passive: No aura signature
> Weakness: Unstable phase cycle (Cooldown 9.7 sec)
He calculated fast.
"Eren, mark his last position. Count ten. Then strike."
Eren nodded, flipping a dagger into reverse grip.
"Felda, runes. Force him to ground."
"On it."
Kai stepped into the corridor, weapon ready.
"Let's make a myth bleed "
Wraithborn's silhouette flickered in and out of visibility, a ghost between planes. Kai's mind worked like a machine — watching movement, counting time.
Nine seconds. Eight. Seven—
A rune burst beneath Wraithborn's feet. Felda's trap, raw light exploding from the stone, temporarily anchoring him to a physical form.
"Now!" Kai shouted.
Eren moved first — reckless, fast, full of fury.
His blades sang through the air, one catching Wraithborn across the ribs before vanishing again.
Not deep.
But blood was drawn.
Kai launched in next, his dagger glowing with stored chaos. The strike wasn't meant to kill — it was meant to brand.
He shouted a rune aloud **"Tether."**
His blade connected with Wraithborn's shoulder.
The rune flared.
> [TARGET MARKED: Dimensional Phase Disrupted]
> Duration: 10 seconds
> Vulnerable State Active
Solen was already muttering, his hand raised. The space behind Wraithborn warped.
A tendril of soul magic lanced out piercing into the assassin's back, draining his vitality.
Wraithborn stumbled for the first time.
He turned to Kai, eyes burning.
And then he spoke for the first time in decades.
"Impressive."
His voice was barely human. Like stone cracking underwater.
Kai didn't hesitate.
He rushed forward, dagger leading but Wraithborn parried, spun, and kicked him hard into a support beam. Pain tore through Kai's ribs.
Eren lunged next, but Wraithborn grabbed his wrist mid-air, slammed him down, and twisted until bone cracked.
"Too slow," the assassin hissed.
Felda threw a blade laced with rune-glow. It hit it's neck but Wraithborn just vanished.
"Damn it," she breathed.
Then he was behind her.
Solen shouted a warning but too late.
Blood hit the walls.
Felda crumpled, shoulder split open, barely alive.
Kai dragged himself upright.
Everything slowed.
The Veil hummed beneath him, his domain. His blood. His will.
And Shade rose.
His voice cut the air.
"You step into my shadow, Wraithborn"
He held up his hand.
The Veil answered.
Spikes of living darkness erupted from the walls, pinning the assassin from all sides.
Wraithborn grunted, struggling.
Kai stepped forward.
"you bleed in it."
He raised his hand again.
The spikes *pierced*.
Wraithborn let out a low, feral growl then exploded into light.
Gone.
Only blood remained.
> \[ENEMY FORCED RETREAT]
> Status: Heavily Wounded
> Mission Failed
> You have survived a Tier-S+ Assassination Encounter
> Rewards: +4,000 XP, +1 Chaos Sigil, Veil Integrity Upgrade
Kai dropped to his knees, breathing ragged.
Felda coughed, pushing herself upright. "He's not dead."
Kai nodded. "No. But we made him bleed. That's more than anyone else ever has."
Solen limped toward him. "The Guild will double their efforts now. We're a threat. Not a problem — a *priority*."
Kai looked around at the bloodied floor, his people — loyal, broken, still standing.
Good.
He needed them.
And they needed a future.
"I want everyone recovered in three days," he said quietly. "Then we prepare."
"For what?" Eren asked, clutching his bruised ribs.
Kai stared at the exit tunnel, where Wraithborn had vanished.
"For the next hunter."
---
Meanwhile, in the Sanctum Tower, Veyra stood before Wraithborn.
He was bleeding from the eyes. Arms trembling.
"You failed," she said.
He raised his head. "He's stronger than you know."
"Then we bring the rest of the Eclipsed."
"No," Wraithborn rasped. "He has a soul-bonded Veil now. He's not alone."
Veyra turned away. "Then we'll take his followers."
Wraithborn said nothing.
But in the echo of silence, the myth of Shade grew.