Chapter 95: The Dragon’s Gaze

In the center of Ashford City, atop a skyscraper that had once belonged to a multinational conglomerate, the Dragon Sovereign Guild had established its temporary headquarters.

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows stretched a bizarre sky, a fractured firmament hanging over the city, with streams of data raining down from the cracks like digital lightning.

Inside, the entire floor had been transformed into a command center.

Holographic screens floated throughout the vast room, displaying maps, player movements, resource distributions, and constantly updating streams of intelligence. The atmosphere was filled with both advanced technology and the unmistakable symbolism of power.

Damien Bale stood before the enormous windows with his hands clasped behind his back.

His posture was straight and imposing, while his dark combat suit outlined his powerful physique.

He gazed down at the scarred yet infinitely promising city beneath him.

On the surface, his expression remained as calm and confident as ever.

But beneath that composure lurked a barely perceptible gloom.

Too many things had happened recently.

First, there was Reaper.

The mysterious player had soloed a team dungeon and flatly refused Damien’s recruitment offer.

Then Commander Garrett Kaine had personally led several men to provoke him, only to be publicly humiliated and stripped of his equipment.

The Ember Guild’s strength had also risen sharply after receiving a mysterious hidden quest guide from an unknown source, causing the Dragon Sovereign Guild to suffer repeated losses during their resource disputes.

And then there was the Third Elite Team.

Almost every member had been wiped out at the East District chemical plant.

Even now, they had no clear answer as to whether it had been an accident...

Or foul play.

One incident could be dismissed as coincidence.

Two could be explained away.

But when they were all placed side by side, they seemed to vaguely point toward the same shadow.

That mysterious lone wolf.

Or perhaps...

The force standing behind him.

And now, there was another name.

Abyss.

A soft knock came from behind him.

"Enter."

Damien did not turn around.

The door opened.

A slender woman dressed in form-fitting black leather armor silently entered the room.

She had a cold, beautiful face, while her footsteps were so light that they were almost impossible to hear.

Her presence itself seemed faint, as though she had naturally merged with the surrounding shadows.

Selene.

Damien’s intelligence officer.

She possessed the A-rank class, [Shadow Weaving].

"Guild Leader."

Her voice was as cold and detached as her temperament.

"The preliminary intelligence report regarding the Abyss squad has arrived."

Damien slowly turned around.

His sharp gaze settled on her.

"Speak."

Selene raised the virtual panel in her hand and began reporting in an even tone.

"The Abyss squad currently has three confirmed members."

"They first attracted our attention in the abandoned industrial park in the West District. There, they defeated five peripheral members of our guild, rescued several independent players, and then openly announced the name of their squad."

Selene swiped across the virtual panel.

"According to eyewitness accounts and our analysis of the battle traces..."

She paused briefly.

"Tank, Silas the Bulwark."

"A male with a burly physique and extremely powerful defensive capabilities. He possesses a rare-quality tower shield and a complete set of rare heavy armor. His class is currently unknown, but judging from his combat performance, it is likely focused on defense."

"He also appears to possess some kind of long-range ability capable of forcibly attracting or redirecting aggro."

Selene swiped again.

"DPS and Captain, Reaper."

"Male. Agile physique. Extremely aggressive combat style. His primary weapon is a dark-gold short blade, which appears to possess a special effect against elemental cores."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Based on his combat characteristics, he is almost certainly the same Reaper who previously soloed The Fall of City Hall."

Another swipe.

"Support, Purple Lily."

"Female. Young. Equipped with a rare-quality cloth armor set that increases intelligence and mana recovery. Her class remains unknown."

"Her individual combat performance appears limited, but her ability to coordinate with the other two members is excellent."

...

Selene lowered the virtual panel slightly after finishing her report. The faint blue light from the holographic display illuminated the lower half of her face, but her expression remained as cold and composed as ever. She had delivered the information exactly as it had been gathered, without adding her own speculation. Nevertheless, the implications of the report were difficult to ignore. Within such a short period of time, Abyss had gone from an unknown group of players to a squad that had already begun attracting attention among the independent player community.

"In addition, our informants among the independent players have reported that Abyss has already developed a favorable reputation within a small circle of independent players. They are being described as a powerful and mysterious squad willing to stand against our guild’s bullying."

The words lingered in the command center.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke. The countless holographic displays continued operating around them, their flickering screens casting shifting patterns of light across the walls and polished floor. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, streams of data continued falling from the fractured sky, giving the entire city an almost unreal appearance.

Then came a quiet sound.

Tap.

Damien’s fingers had begun tapping against the surface of the mahogany desk.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The rhythm was slow and deliberate, but there was nothing casual about it. Each tap seemed to carry the weight of his thoughts as he considered everything Selene had just reported. His eyes remained fixed on the enormous holographic map of Ashford City, but his mind was clearly somewhere else, silently connecting pieces of information that most people would have regarded as unrelated incidents.

"’Reaper’..." Damien finally murmured.

His voice was low, almost thoughtful, but the slight narrowing of his eyes revealed that the name carried considerably more weight than it should have. After a moment, his gaze shifted from the map to Selene.

"’Abyss.’"

The two names seemed to become linked in his mind.

He slowly leaned back against the edge of the desk, his arms folding across his chest as he began reviewing the events one by one. "Soloing a team dungeon, refusing my recruitment offer, publicly humiliating Commander Garrett Kaine, and even taking the equipment from the men he brought with him." A cold glint appeared in his eyes as he continued. "Now, he has formed a fixed squad with two other players, all of whom possess equipment far better than what most independent players can obtain at this stage. And instead of keeping a low profile, they openly announced their name and even dared to interfere with our people."

Damien’s fingers stopped tapping.

He raised his head and looked directly at Selene.

"And now they’re willing to openly provoke my Dragon Sovereign Guild."

His gaze was sharp enough to make even Selene feel a faint pressure.

"Don’t you think all of this is too coincidental?"

Selene did not immediately answer. She understood what Damien was getting at, but she also understood the danger of making an accusation without sufficient evidence. Her job was to gather information, not to confirm suspicions simply because they came from the guild leader.

Damien, however, continued before she could respond.

"The timing of Reaper’s appearance. His growth rate. The equipment he possesses. His refusal to cooperate with us. His repeated clashes with our people. And now this Abyss squad..." He narrowed his eyes as his thoughts became increasingly focused. "It all reeks of something strange."

Selene lowered her head slightly.

"Does the Guild Leader mean that you believe someone is deliberately supporting them?"

"I suspect someone is behind them."

Damien’s response came without hesitation.

His voice had lost the trace of uncertainty it previously carried. He pushed himself away from the desk and began walking toward the enormous holographic map occupying one side of the command center. His footsteps echoed softly across the polished floor as he studied the various markers scattered throughout Ashford City.

"Either a hidden force is supporting them from the shadows," he said, "or they are coming directly for me."

He stopped in front of the map.

"For Damien Bale."

His gaze swept across the countless districts, resource zones, dungeons, and territories controlled or contested by the major guilds.

"And for the Dragon Sovereign Guild."

With a gesture, the holographic map expanded, bringing several locations into focus. Red markers appeared across different sections of Ashford City, each representing an incident that Damien had personally ordered his intelligence department to investigate.

He raised one hand and pointed toward the eastern part of the city.

"The destruction of the Elite Team at the East District chemical plant."

His finger shifted toward another location.

"The sudden rise of the Ember Guild after they somehow obtained that hidden quest guide."

Another marker appeared.

"The anonymous account that has repeatedly interfered with our material acquisitions on the black market."

Damien stared at the three locations for several seconds.

"Individually, these incidents could be explained as accidents," he said calmly. "The chemical plant incident could have been a failed operation. The Ember Guild might simply have gotten lucky and obtained an exceptionally valuable quest guide. And the anonymous buyer interfering with our acquisitions could merely be another player with sufficient resources."

He paused.

"Coincidences happen."

His eyes gradually hardened.

"But when you connect them..."

He extended his hand and drew an invisible line between the different points on the holographic map.

"...they begin to look very different."

The atmosphere in the command center became heavier.

"The spearhead vaguely points toward this Abyss squad that suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

Selene’s eyes flickered slightly as she stared at the map. She had already considered some of these connections herself, but hearing Damien lay them out in such a manner made the possibility considerably more unsettling.

Damien’s expression remained grim.

"And that is precisely what concerns me."

His suspicion was not entirely baseless. As the possessor of the SSS-rank class [Sovereign of Fate], Damien possessed abilities that extended beyond ordinary combat power. His class had given him an extraordinary sensitivity toward the fluctuations of fate surrounding him, allowing him to perceive subtle changes in situations that might otherwise remain invisible to ordinary players.

He had relied on that instinct countless times since the beginning of the game.

Sometimes it manifested as a sudden awareness of an opportunity. At other times, it appeared as an inexplicable sense of danger just before something went wrong.

Right now, that instinct was behaving differently.

It was not quietly warning him.

It was screaming.

A cold sensation had been lingering at the back of his mind ever since he first heard the name Reaper. It had grown stronger with every subsequent incident, as though an invisible thread had gradually tightened around his destiny.

Something about Abyss was wrong.

Something about Reaper was wrong.

Damien could not yet explain precisely what it was, but his instincts had never produced such a powerful reaction without reason.

This was not simply another troublesome player squad.

It was a potential threat to everything he intended to build.

Damien’s expression slowly darkened as he turned toward Selene.

"From this moment onward, place the Abyss squad under the highest priority for investigation."

Selene immediately straightened.

"Especially Reaper."

There was unmistakable authority in Damien’s voice now.

"Use every intelligence channel available to you. I don’t care how difficult it is or how many resources you have to spend. Contact our informants among the independent players. Investigate the major guilds. Search the black market. Cross-reference every dungeon report and combat record involving Reaper. If necessary, use our connections outside Ashford City as well."

He stepped closer to the holographic map.

"I want their true identities. Their addresses. Their classes. Their equipment. Where that equipment came from. Their known associates. Their previous movements. Their current activities. Every place they have appeared since the game began."

Damien’s eyes became increasingly cold as he continued.

"Everything."

Selene nodded silently, committing each instruction to memory.

But Damien was not finished.

"And especially Reaper."

His gaze locked onto hers.

"I want to know who he really is."

His voice lowered.

"I want to know why he keeps opposing me."

He paused for a moment before delivering the question that concerned him most.

"And, most importantly, I want to know who is standing behind him."

"Yes, Sir."

Selene respectfully accepted the order.

Her face remained emotionless, and her posture showed nothing but obedience. Yet deep within her eyes, hidden beneath her usual cold composure, a complicated glimmer briefly appeared.

Investigate Reaper.

The mysterious and powerful man had once again become the center of Damien’s attention.

Selene’s thoughts briefly lingered on him, but she quickly suppressed them. Whatever her personal thoughts might be, her position demanded absolute loyalty to the guild leader. She had been entrusted with the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s intelligence network, and Damien had given her a direct order.

She would find the truth.

Even if that truth was difficult to uncover.

"You may go."

Damien waved his hand dismissively.

Selene gave a slight nod before turning around. Her footsteps were almost completely silent as she crossed the command center and disappeared through the doorway. The door closed behind her with a soft click, leaving Damien alone once again.

For several moments, he remained motionless.

The command center suddenly seemed much larger without Selene present. The countless holographic displays continued projecting information, but none of it held his attention. His gaze remained fixed on the fractured sky outside.

Beyond the glass, the strange digital rain continued descending over Ashford City.

Damien slowly lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Deep within his body, the power of his Sovereign of Fate class began to fluctuate.

It was subtle at first.

Then it became unmistakable.

A strange sensation crawled through his consciousness, as though something cold and predatory had entered the vast web of fate surrounding him. The sensation was unlike any ordinary threat. It did not feel like the presence of a powerful monster, a rival player, or even an enemy guild.

It felt as though something was reaching toward his destiny itself.

For the first time since obtaining the Sovereign of Fate class, Damien clearly sensed an unfamiliar undercurrent moving through the seemingly brilliant path he had been walking.

A cold, eerie, predatory force.

Something hidden beneath the surface.

Something that had been quietly approaching him.

His eyes opened.

The faint reflection of the fractured sky appeared within his pupils.

"Reaper..."

He whispered the name.

Then his gaze shifted toward the distant city.

"Abyss..."

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

There was no fear in his expression.

Only a dangerous coldness.

"No matter who you are," Damien murmured, his voice echoing through the empty command center, "or what your purpose is, you should understand one thing."

He slowly clenched his fists.

"Anyone who dares to stand in Damien Bale’s path will only have one ending."

His knuckles cracked beneath the pressure of his grip.

"Falling into the bottomless abyss of hell."

He remained there for several seconds, allowing the silence to settle around him. Then the cold smile on his face widened slightly.

"The game has only just begun."

Outside the windows, streams of data continued to descend from the fractured firmament, bathing Ashford City in an eerie digital glow.

The city appeared peaceful from above, but beneath that calm surface, countless forces were already moving. Guilds were fighting over resources, players were searching for opportunities, hidden quests were beginning to surface, and powerful individuals were quietly positioning themselves for the battles that would eventually reshape the entire game.

And now, one of the most dangerous figures in Ashford City had finally turned his attention toward Abyss.

Damien Bale had identified Reaper as a potential threat.

He had ordered his entire intelligence network to uncover the man’s identity.

And from this moment forward, every movement made by Abyss would be watched from the shadows.

The confrontation between them was no longer a matter of chance. It was only a matter of time.