[The Confession: Call of the Void]
A suffocating silence filled the back room of Arin's shop—a silence that was not a peace, but the anticipation of an earthquake that would level the remaining walls of deception. I looked at the old man, Arin; his eyes were like embers beneath a layer of ash, waiting for the truth before they were extinguished forever. Beside him, Ryo stood like a marble statue, but I could feel the tremor of the "Dragon" mana in his veins. He sensed that his master's mask was finally about to fall.
"I will tell you who I am, Arin..." I began, my voice emerging cold and dry, as if echoing from a bottomless well. "I am not a son of this world, nor do I belong to the lineages of its kings or its slaves. I am the 'Anomaly'—the Sin that no one accounted for."
I began to recount the tale from the very first moment. I told them of the other "Ray"—the student who feared shadows, who possessed a family, warm memories, and simple dreams. I told them of the moment reality fractured, and the emergence of the "Entity" that views worlds as nothing more than a chessboard.
"I was placed within the White Doors, Arin," I said, feeling the 'Eye of Sin' in my head pulse with heat. "The First Door was designed to break my body, but the Second Door... that was to break my soul."
[The Banquet of Despair: The Staircase of Shame] I described the "White Desert" to them. I spoke of the heat that sucks the moisture from the very marrow of your bones, and the salt that burns through open wounds. I told them of the "Hanging Door" in the sky, and the despair that grows when you realize you are the only material available to build your own path.
"There was no wood, no stone, no metal," I whispered, my gaze lost in the void of the room. "I was the builder, I was the stone, and I was the sacrifice. I cut off my own leg, Arin. I carved it off with my bare fingernails to create a step to stand upon. And when hunger devoured me and I found nothing to eat... I ate of my own flesh. I chewed my own thigh so my heart could find the energy to beat for one more second."
In that moment, I felt a sudden movement beside me. I glanced toward Ryo. That massive youth, the warrior who did not flinch before death, was trembling. I saw silent tears cascading from his golden eyes; they were not tears of fear, but of suppressed agony and grief for the man he had seen as an invincible "God," only to discover he was constructed from the wreckage of torture and scavenged flesh.
Ryo closed his eyes tightly, gripping the hilt of his golden sword until his knuckles turned white. He buried his master's secret deep within his soul, realizing that the strength he took shelter in now was the product of a hell no human could imagine.
[Insight of the Beast: The Birth of the Eye] I continued my narrative, explaining how the System labeled me a "Glitch." I spoke of the birth of the crimson "Eye of Sin" from the womb of that filth, and how I began to see the world as a network of blood, nerves, and fatal weaknesses.
"I do not fight for justice, Arin," I said, my voice hardening. "I fight because I refuse for my suffering to have been in vain. I want to tear down this cosmic pyramid that views us as mere fuel for its amusement. Baron is nothing more than an insect in my path toward those who rule from behind the veils."
Arin listened to me with a strange smile—the smile of a man who had finally found the explanation for all the mystery that had surrounded me for eight years. He didn't see a monster; he saw the "Savior" that these dark times demanded.
Arin coughed up a thick spray of blood, and his hand that gripped the edge of the cot began to go limp. He looked at me deeply, as if his gaze were piercing my soul to reach that small student who was once "Ray."
"Ray..." the old man whispered, his voice as faint as the rustle of wind in a graveyard. "You are a warrior... a true one. You have carried a weight that mountains could not bear, and you suffered alone so that Ryo and others would not taste this hell. Your sacrifice of your own flesh and bone is what made you the 'Ghost' that kings tremble before."
Arin gripped my hand with a final surge of strength that surprised me. "I trust you... I trust that you will do what is right for everyone. Do not let this world break you as the one before it did. Take Ryo's right... take my pupils' right... and take your own right from this cursed universe."
The old man's hand began to weaken, and the cold started to seep in. I looked at his face; the smile was still etched upon his pale lips. His breath ceased, and an absolute silence fell over the back room. Arin's hand slipped from mine, striking the mattress with a dull thud.
Arin was dead.
I stood in place, frozen like a statue of ice. The room that had teemed with stories and the scent of iron had now become a cold tomb. I looked at the old man's corpse—the only person who had ever known the truth of the "Sin" that resided within me.
Ryo felt the moment and placed his hand on my shoulder. His body was still shaking from the shock, but he was trying to comfort me. I didn't turn to him. I was looking at Arin's hand—the hand that had forged Ryo's blade, and the hand that had so often patted my shoulder during our long moments of silence.
[Return to the Den: The Ryumin Fortress] We left Arin's silent shop behind, bidding a secret farewell to the man who had smelted his life in service of an ancient vow. Ryo and I walked through the dark alleys of Draka, but we were no longer heading toward the old, damp basement. Ryumin today was not as it had been eight years ago.
We stopped before a massive stone wall in the Northern District. I pressed a specific stone, and the ground vibrated with a faint mechanical sound as a passage opened, leading downward. We entered, and as we descended, the walls transitioned from mud and rock to reinforced steel and glowing magical inscriptions.
As soon as we entered the Great Hall, a profound silence fell. There were dozens of elite assassins, clad in black leather armor, but their eyes were all fixed on the person walking beside me. Ryo—with his massive frame, his silver hair cascading like a waterfall of light, and his undeniable royal majesty.
At the end of the hall stood a massive circular table. Skyro, whose temples had turned gray and whose spectacles had grown sharper, stood up. Beside him was Nero, who had become a human mountain, and Gina—the black cat who had refined her body to the point where her movements were nearly invisible.
"The Ghost has returned..." Skyro said, his voice echoing in the hall. He bowed slightly, not to me, but to Ryo. "Welcome to your true home... Your Majesty."
[Harvest Time: The Chessboard] We sat around the table. Ryo looked at everyone intently, as if studying his army for the first time. Skyro struck the table, and glowing magical scrolls emerged, spreading into the air like a 3D map of the kingdom.
"Eight years, Ray... ninety-six months of silent work," Skyro began, pointing to the scrolls. "We have planted spies in every corner; in the markets, in the royal kitchens, even in the King's bedchamber. We know when Baron breathes, and we know what Cyril and Muriel eat."
He then pulled the final scroll—it was detailed to a terrifying degree. "This is the Royal Palace. Every secret passage, every torture chamber, every magical trap designed by Arin or others... it is now in our hands. The time has come to harvest eight years of patience."
I smiled coldly, my Red Eye glowing beneath my shroud. "Finally... the target is clear."
[The Asura Squad: The Remaining Elite] Skyro straightened in his seat, his tone becoming more serious. "However, do not forget that we face three great problems. The first is King Baron and his Reflection technique. The second is the madman Dan, whose location we do not know. And the third is what remains of the Asura Squad."
Skyro pointed to five names on the map. "We have killed seven of them in the past years, but the remaining five are the 'Elite of the Elite.' One of them is equivalent to an entire army. They are:"
Muriel: Baron's eldest son, a beast of raw, brute force.
Cyril: The mastermind and king of illusion.
Jan: The cold-blooded executioner.
Ronan: The noble son who hides a dark, filthy personality behind his smile.
Elena: Nicknamed the "Blade of the Wind," the fastest among them and one of the most dangerous.
"Elena is our first target," Skyro said, displaying her file. "For eight years, I sent eight guards to monitor her. Only one remains... the other seven were killed in the blink of an eye as soon as she sensed their presence. She goes out every day at nine o'clock at night to the 'Echo Forest' to train alone."
[The First Mission: The Dragon Goes Hunting] "I will go," Gina said suddenly, sharpening her dagger with terrifying coldness. Gina had evolved; her body had become lean and muscular like a machine designed to cut breath, and her eyes held an ancient hatred for Dan that she wanted to vent on any target she encountered.
"And I will go with my sister, Gina," Ryo said, his booming voice shaking the room. Skyro looked at him in surprise. "Ryo... you have never fought in a real battle. Elena is not a training dummy; she is a professional assassin. Going on the first mission against the Fifth Seat is suicide."
Ryo smiled a smile that perfectly mirrored my own. "I have fought Master Ray for eight years. In our last spar a week ago, he was barely able to parry me after using half of his full power. If I have stood before the 'Ghost,' what of a woman who plays with swords?"
Skyro sighed and looked at me. I nodded. "Let him go, Skyro. A beast does not learn to hunt in a cage." Skyro agreed, but added: "Nero... you will go with them to watch from afar and intervene if necessary. And Ray... go and see the fruit of your labor."
[Preparation: Shadows of the Night] Everyone began to prepare. Ryo stood before the mirror, tying his long white hair with a black leather band so it wouldn't hinder his movement. He donned a tight black outfit padded with light armor, perfectly mimicking my own appearance. When he finished, he looked like a younger, more regal, and more massive version of myself.
We set off toward the "Echo Forest." The time was eight in the evening. We reached the designated location; a forest of dense trees, inhabited by a permanent mist that heightened the sense of hearing.
Nero and I positioned ourselves atop a giant oak tree overlooking a dirt clearing in the center of the forest. Ryo and Gina descended stealthily to hide among the thick bushes. An eerie silence fell, in which we could hear nothing but the beating of our hearts.
[The Blade of the Wind: The Terrifying Appearance] The minutes passed heavily. Suddenly, the leaves trembled. From within the mist, a girl appeared, walking with a coldness that sent shivers down the spine. She wore thin silver armor covering her chest and shoulders, and she carried in her hand an exceptionally long blade, nearly touching the ground. It was Elena.
She stopped in the center of the clearing. Nero signaled to Gina that she was the target. Elena looked around in confusion, her senses terrifyingly sharp; she tilted her head as if smelling a strange "danger" in the air, but she decided to begin her training.
She approached a massive tree trunk. With a movement that human eyes could not process, she unsheathed her blade and struck. Shssssssssst! In less than a second, the solid trunk was transformed into a hundred equal small pieces, which fell to the ground in a funereal silence. There was no dust, no chaotic splinters; it was the surgical precision of a human killing machine.
[Speed vs. Speed] Gina signaled to Ryo to wait back. Gina lunged from behind Elena with lightning speed, her blade aimed directly at the girl's neck. It was a perfect, silent, and sudden movement.
But Elena... without even turning, performed an acrobatic flip backward, soaring over Gina in the air. While airborne, she threw two small daggers that were hidden in her belt. Gina dodged the daggers with extreme difficulty and recoiled to take a defensive stance.
Elena stood a few steps away, casually brushing the dust from her armor with an irritating coldness. She looked at Gina with eyes devoid of any emotion and said in a voice as sharp as a knife: "A stupid and filthy style... is this the best the Ryumin syndicate has to offer?"