Chapter 5 — Hunter of Shadows
The rain fell like needles.
Blackrest's outskirts were soaked, the mud swallowing the boots of the desperate. Dungeons pulsed in the distance, barely restrained chaos waiting to erupt again. Monsters prowled the night. The city clung to survival.
Rael moved like a phantom through it all.
He was hunting.
And he wasn't alone.
{Daily Login Reward – Day 5: Tracking Lens (Rare) received.}{Effect: Reveals hidden enemies, magical traces, and invisible threats within 100 meters. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 4 hours.}
He slotted the item into his system interface and activated it.
{Tracking Lens activated. Aura traces detected nearby. Classification: Awakened Assassin – Rank S.}
A ripple shimmered in the corner of his vision.
Rael ducked just in time as a dagger slashed where his neck had been a second earlier.
He rolled, shadows gathering, and turned toward his attacker.
A hooded figure stood across from him, body cloaked in a distortion field.
"Another one?"
The figure didn't speak. They rushed forward, twin blades gleaming with cursed runes.
Rael parried with the Dagger of Silence, shadows sparking off steel. He activated Shadow Clone, flanking the assassin instantly.
But this enemy was trained.
A spin. A slash. One clone was dispelled instantly.
Rael blinked behind the attacker with Void Step—and for a split second, he saw their face.
Young. Female. Eyes hollow with system corruption.
{Name: [Classified]}{Talent: Soul Veil – S-Rank. Passive: Immune to mental probes. Can mimic other system signatures.}
"You were one of theirs," Rael muttered.
She didn't answer. Just fought harder.
The battle spilled into the ruins of an old cathedral, shadows and lightning dancing across stained glass.
Rael ducked under a blade and slammed a palm into the girl's chest, activating Execution Mark.
Her movements slowed.
He followed up—Shadow Blade, Clone Feint, Silencer Strike.
A scream echoed through the hollow cathedral.
She dropped, twitching. But alive.
Rael stood over her, breathing hard.
"Why are they sending kids now?"
She laughed weakly. "Because the adults all failed."
{Target restrained. Would you like to extract memory shard?}
"Yes."
{Warning: Subject is mentally fortified. Risk of backlash. Proceed?}
Rael didn't hesitate.
"Do it."
{Memory Shard Extraction Initiated...}
Pain stabbed through his mind.
Visions.
A chamber of glass and steel.
Children in tubes.
Seraph standing above them.
"Shadowborne bloodlines are unstable. Only a few survive awakening."
Rael saw his own face reflected in one of the tubes. But not as he was now.
Younger. Unscarred.
He staggered back, gasping.
{Memory Extraction Complete. Fragment Stored.}
Rael stared down at the unconscious girl.
"They were breeding us... for this."
For power. For control. For something greater.
He stepped away, fading into the shadows.
She would live.
But she would never be the same.
Back in the Shadow Domain, Rael opened the new Memory Fragment.
It glowed like black glass, waiting to be studied.
He stored it.
Then turned to the evolving core of his system.
{Shadowborne Sovereign – Progress: 2 Origin Fragments acquired. Evolution Unlock: Phase 2 available.}
{Would you like to view new abilities available under Assassin's Crown path?}
"Yes."
Three new skills appeared:
Phantom Edge (Active): Attacks from stealth deal 100% bonus damage. Short stun effect.
Nightwalk (Passive): Movement speed increased by 30% in darkness. Fall damage nullified.
Grave Echo (Ultimate – Locked): Leaves a deadly afterimage in place after teleporting.
Rael selected Phantom Edge and Nightwalk.
{Skills acquired. Integrated.}
He opened his eyes.
His shadow shivered.
He was becoming something more than human.
Something they had tried to kill before it could awaken.
Now?
They had failed.