Chapter 96: Hunt For A Ghost

Damien Bale’s order was like a boulder thrown into a relatively calm lake, sending ripples through the still-developing intelligence network of the Dragon Sovereign Guild.

As the person directly responsible for the guild’s intelligence operations, Selene wasted no time putting the order into action. She understood better than anyone that Damien’s patience was limited when it came to threats against his ambitions, and Abyss had already attracted enough attention to become one of his highest priorities.

Within hours, covert agents operating under her command began moving throughout Ashford City.

Some infiltrated groups of independent players and quietly gathered rumors from taverns, safe zones, and hunting grounds. Others monitored trading hubs, auction houses, black-market channels, and resource points. A few were dispatched to investigate locations where Abyss had previously appeared, while others began digging through whatever fragments of player information could be obtained through the system and the remnants of the city’s old communication networks.

The investigation formed an invisible web that gradually spread across Ashford City.

At the center of that web was a single name.

Reaper.

Selene divided the investigation into several different directions, hoping that even if one avenue produced nothing, another might reveal a weakness.

The first focus was the most obvious one—combat traces and eyewitness accounts.

Selene personally led a small intelligence team to revisit several locations where Abyss was known to have appeared. Their first stop was the abandoned industrial park in the western district, where Reaper and the other members of Abyss had openly clashed with members of the Dragon Sovereign Guild.

The scene had already been disturbed by other players and the passage of time, but enough evidence remained to reconstruct portions of the battle.

Technical analysts carefully examined every detail they could find. Weapon scratches were recorded and compared. Footprints were measured. Impact marks on walls and concrete surfaces were photographed. Energy residues left behind by skills were collected and analyzed, while the positions of destroyed objects were used to reconstruct the movements of the combatants.

The investigation team reached a conclusion that surprised even Selene.

Reaper’s combat traces revealed an extremely efficient fighting style.

There was almost no unnecessary movement.

Every step appeared deliberate, every change in direction served a purpose, and every attack seemed to be aimed at achieving the greatest possible result with the smallest possible expenditure of energy. There was none of the flamboyance commonly displayed by players who had recently obtained powerful abilities. Instead, his movements possessed a cold, almost ruthless simplicity.

He did not fight to look impressive.

He fought to kill.

The traces left behind by Silas the Bulwark were equally striking.

The marks created by his tower shield showed that he had maintained an exceptionally stable defensive formation throughout the battle. The positioning of his shield and armor suggested that he understood precisely how to absorb and redirect attacks, while the damage patterns around him indicated that he had repeatedly positioned himself between his allies and incoming threats.

The analysts eventually described his defensive ability as being unmoving as a mountain.

That description stayed with Selene.

It was not simply that Silas possessed powerful equipment. His movements demonstrated experience, discipline, and an understanding of defensive combat that exceeded what could normally be expected from an ordinary tank.

Purple Lily was the most difficult to assess.

Her presence on the battlefield was comparatively faint, but that did not mean she was unimportant. Quite the opposite. When the analysts reconstructed the battle step by step, they discovered that almost every action she took had occurred at precisely the right moment.

Her support skills were rarely wasted.

She did not interfere with Reaper’s attacks or Silas’s positioning. Instead, she seemed to understand instinctively when to strengthen one and when to assist the other.

The three members moved together with an almost unnatural degree of coordination.

It was as though they had fought side by side for years.

Yet there was a problem.

The investigation had uncovered almost nothing about who they actually were.

Most witnesses remembered their equipment more clearly than their appearances. Their armor and weapons had concealed much of their physical features, while the chaos of combat had made detailed observation nearly impossible.

No witness could provide a reliable description of Reaper’s face.

The same was true for Silas and Purple Lily.

Their class names remained unknown as well.

Their pasts were even more mysterious.

It was almost as though three highly experienced players had simply appeared from nowhere, already possessing exceptional equipment, terrifying combat ability, and almost no history that could be traced.

Selene did not like that conclusion.

The second direction of the investigation focused on their equipment and resource flow.

This proved even more frustrating.

Selene activated the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s connections with several major trading hubs and black-market organizations, attempting to determine where Abyss had obtained its equipment.

The tower shield carried by Silas immediately attracted attention.

Its construction was simple and heavy, lacking the ornate designs commonly seen in high-level equipment. Yet the defensive properties it displayed were extraordinary. The shield did not appear to correspond to the equipment obtainable from any known dungeon in the current version of the game.

The same was true of Silas’s heavy armor.

According to the guild’s equipment experts, the set could potentially have originated from an undiscovered dungeon, a hidden quest chain, or some special method of equipment creation that had not yet been revealed to the public.

Purple Lily’s equipment created another mystery.

Her [Moonlight Meditation Set] possessed design principles and enchantment effects that were considerably more advanced than anything the guild’s known alchemists and enchanters could currently reproduce.

The set appeared elegant rather than extravagant, but its effects were extremely sophisticated.

Even more troublesome was Reaper’s weapon.

The dark-gold short blade had not been identified by any of the guild’s equipment specialists.

Its properties did not correspond to any known weapon currently circulating among players, and there were no reliable records indicating that it had ever appeared as a dungeon drop.

The problem went deeper than simply identifying the equipment.

Such equipment should have required an enormous amount of resources to obtain.

Rare materials did not simply appear out of nowhere. They had to be gathered from dangerous hunting grounds, obtained from dungeons, purchased from other players, or acquired through quests and special events.

Therefore, Selene ordered her people to examine high-value material transactions across Ashford City.

The result was almost unbelievable.

Nothing matched.

There were no suspicious bulk purchases.

No large-scale acquisitions of rare materials.

No unusual transactions involving crafting components.

No resource movements that could explain how three relatively unknown players had obtained equipment of such quality.

It was almost as though Abyss did not need to gather materials at all.

As though the equipment had simply appeared in their hands.

That possibility was absurd.

And yet Selene could not find a better explanation.

The third direction of the investigation was identity and social relationships.

This was where the intelligence department encountered its greatest failure.

Selene ordered her people to cross-reference the codenames Reaper, Silas the Bulwark, and Purple Lily against every available player record.

The system’s partially accessible database was searched.

Old survivor records were examined.

Fragments of pre-apocalypse communication networks were investigated.

Known player groups were questioned.

Nothing.

The three names were effectively blank.

Even their codenames produced almost no useful information.

Selene went further.

Through some of Damien’s connections among the remnants of the military, she obtained access to partial population records from the Ashford City region. The records were incomplete and heavily damaged, but they still represented another potential avenue for identification.

Again, nothing.

There was no obvious civilian identity that matched Reaper’s characteristics.

No known military background.

No surviving player record.

No social connection that could explain his sudden appearance and extraordinary strength.

The same applied to Silas and Purple Lily.

They were ghosts.

No identifiable past.

No obvious social connections.

No traceable foundation.

They had simply appeared on the stage of the apocalypse.

Selene’s fourth approach was the black market.

If Abyss could not be traced through ordinary channels, perhaps the people operating outside the official system would know something.

Through several secret channels, Selene eventually established contact with Phantom Eyes, one of the black market’s more influential figures.

Her question was direct.

Who exactly was Reaper?

The response she received was equally direct, though considerably less useful.

"Mr. Reaper is one of our valued clients. All information concerning him is classified at the highest level. We are responsible for facilitating transactions, nothing more. We do not pry into our clients’ identities, and we do not disclose their information. That is the rule."

The refusal was polite.

Professional.

And completely watertight.

Selene had dealt with black-market organizations before. She understood that their reputation depended heavily on maintaining client confidentiality.

But that did not make the answer any less troublesome.

If Phantom Eyes was willing to maintain such strict confidentiality for Reaper, then his relationship with the black market was clearly not superficial.

More importantly, Reaper appeared to have access to enough resources to be considered a major client.

That raised another question.

Where had he obtained the money?

Several days passed.

The Dragon Sovereign Guild spent a considerable amount of resources, manpower, and favors investigating Abyss.

And in return, they obtained little more than fragments.

A combat profile.

A handful of eyewitness descriptions.

Unidentified equipment.

Contradictory rumors.

And a mountain of unanswered questions.

Eventually, Selene stood alone in the guild’s intelligence room.

An enormous map of Ashford City occupied the wall before her. A few scattered markers represented confirmed Abyss activity, while countless question marks surrounded them.

Selene stared at the map in silence.

Her cold expression had barely changed throughout the investigation, but a faint crease had appeared between her eyebrows.

Her fingers unconsciously curled around a thin strand of shadow that danced between them.

"Top-tier strength, luxurious equipment, mysterious origins, highly purposeful actions, apparent hostility toward Dragon Sovereign, close connections with the black market, and no traceable social background..."

She quietly summarized everything they had discovered.

The more she spoke, the stranger the picture became.

Such an existence should not have been possible.

At least, not without some kind of foundation.

Selene’s mind ran through the possibilities.

Perhaps Abyss was a pawn cultivated by some ancient organization that had remained hidden since the beginning of the apocalypse.

Perhaps a powerful faction had secretly supplied them with equipment and resources.

Or perhaps Reaper himself had obtained some extraordinary inheritance that allowed him to bypass the normal limitations imposed on ordinary players.

There was another possibility.

One that Selene found particularly difficult to accept.

A person who had somehow fallen from the heavens.

Someone who possessed knowledge and resources completely outside the understanding of current players.

Regardless of which explanation was correct, one thing was certain.

Abyss represented a significant threat to the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s ambition to dominate Ashford City.

Selene finally picked up the completed investigation report.

She had done everything she could for the moment.

Now, it was time to report the results.

She walked toward Damien’s office.

After receiving permission to enter, Selene stepped inside and approached the desk.

"Sir, this is the preliminary investigation report on the Abyss squad."

She transmitted the virtual document directly to Damien.

Damien opened it immediately.

His eyes moved rapidly across the report.

The more he read, the darker his expression became.

This was not what he had expected.

After mobilizing the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s intelligence network for several days, he had expected at least one significant breakthrough.

Instead, the report contained fewer concrete answers than he wanted and considerably more mysteries than he had anticipated.

Damien slowly placed the report on the desk.

"What is your conclusion?"

His eyes settled on Selene.

She took a quiet breath before answering.

"Based on the intelligence currently available, we can confirm several things."

Selene’s expression became serious.

"First, the Abyss squad, with Reaper at its core, should be considered a highly dangerous independent force. Whether Reaper is operating alone behind the scenes or whether Abyss represents a larger organization, we cannot currently determine."

She continued without pause.

"Second, they possess a stable and unknown method of obtaining high-level equipment. There is a possibility that they have discovered an unknown dungeon, hidden quest line, special inheritance, or unique crafting method."

"Third, their counter-reconnaissance capabilities are extremely strong. They appear to understand how to conceal their movements and have left almost no reliable trail for us to follow."

Selene’s expression hardened.

"Fourth, their actions toward the Dragon Sovereign Guild appear deliberate. Their encounters with our members have not been random. At the very least, they do not appear intimidated by us."

She paused briefly before delivering the final point.

"And fifth, we have found no evidence confirming whether a larger force is supporting them."

The room became quiet.

Selene looked directly at Damien.

"Overall, I believe Reaper himself is the key."

"His strength, intelligence, combat experience, and access to resources are all far beyond what we should expect from an ordinary player at this stage."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"He is dangerous."

Damien remained silent.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

"A lone player..."

He slowly repeated the phrase.

"Or a micro-organization."

There was a faint trace of disbelief in his voice.

"A lone player or a small team with no visible foundation, capable of developing to this extent in such a short period of time?"

His eyes sharpened.

"Selene, do you believe that?"

Selene did not answer immediately.

Rationally, she didn’t.

Everything she had learned during the investigation told her that such rapid development should require some kind of foundation. Yet every attempt to locate that foundation had failed.

The facts were directly in front of them.

There was no hidden organization they could identify.

No massive resource transfer.

No suspicious recruitment network.

No known background.

Nothing.

"I cannot say that I believe it," Selene finally replied. "But we have no evidence proving otherwise."

Damien’s eyes narrowed.

For a moment, he seemed lost in thought.

Then his expression hardened.

"Keep investigating."

His voice was cold.

"Increase the intensity."

Selene immediately straightened.

"Expand our monitoring of the black market. Track every high-value resource transaction you can access. Keep an eye on unexplored areas, hidden dungeons, and unusual resource points. I want reports on every unexplained movement that could potentially be connected to Abyss."

His gaze became ruthless.

"I don’t believe they can remain invisible forever."

Damien leaned forward slightly.

"Everyone leaves a trace eventually."

He paused.

"And when you find theirs..."

His eyes glinted coldly.

"If Reaper is ever separated from the others, you know what to do."

Selene understood immediately.

"Yes, Sir."

She bowed and quietly withdrew.

After returning to the intelligence room, Selene stood before the map once again.

The marker representing Abyss remained at the center.

Around it were countless question marks.

She stared at them for a long time.

For the first time in her career as an intelligence officer, Selene felt something she rarely experienced.

Difficulty.

Not because her resources were insufficient.

Not because the investigation team lacked skill.

But because every direction she pursued seemed to disappear into fog.

She could find traces of battles but not the people who fought them.

She could identify equipment but not its origin.

She could trace transactions but not the resources behind them.

She could locate Reaper’s enemies but not his allies.

It felt as though she had spent days throwing punches into a thick cloud.

There was nothing solid to grasp.

Her fingers slowly tightened.

"Reaper..."

She whispered the name under her breath.

"Who exactly are you?"

A faint trace of confusion appeared in her otherwise cold eyes.

She had never encountered an opponent like this.

Usually, information was power.

Once she understood someone’s background, relationships, habits, resources, and weaknesses, she could begin predicting their actions.

But Reaper had given her nothing.

No history. No obvious habits. No social connections. No weaknesses.

He existed only through the traces he chose to leave behind.

And those traces seemed to have been deliberately arranged to reveal just enough to make people wonder, while concealing everything that truly mattered.

Selene finally looked away from the map.

Somewhere in Ashford City, Reaper was undoubtedly continuing whatever plan he had been pursuing.

And the worst part was that she had no idea whether he was even aware that the Dragon Sovereign Guild was investigating him.

She had no idea how much he knew.

No idea what he was planning.

No idea what his ultimate objective was.

That uncertainty was more frustrating than any failed investigation she had experienced before.

Meanwhile, far away from the center of Ashford City, inside a secluded base hidden from the eyes of ordinary players, another person was completely unaware of the frustration spreading through the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s intelligence department.

Or perhaps...

He simply did not care.

Aiden had just returned from another hunt.

The spoils of his latest battle were scattered before him as he calmly sorted through them, checking their quality and deciding what was worth keeping.

His movements were relaxed.

There was none of the tension one might expect from someone who had potentially attracted the attention of one of the most powerful guilds in Ashford City.

Then, without warning, Aiden paused.

He slowly raised his head.

His gaze shifted toward the distant center of Ashford City.

Although the city itself was far beyond his current line of sight, his expression suggested that he could somehow sense the direction from which the invisible pressure was coming.

A cold smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Starting to investigate me, huh..."

He chuckled softly.

"Selene."

There was no surprise in his voice.

If anything, he sounded amused.

Aiden lowered his gaze again.

He understood exactly what kind of person Selene was and how she operated. In his previous life, he had witnessed firsthand how frightening the Dragon Sovereign Guild’s intelligence network could become once it decided to pursue someone.

But that was precisely why he had been so careful this time.

"Unfortunately..."

Aiden picked up the Devouring Soul Blade resting beside him.

The dark-gold blade reflected the faint light of the room as he slowly ran a cloth along its edge.

"Having lived another life, how could I leave behind the kind of handle that would allow you to grasp me so easily?"

His smile deepened.

He had already experienced the consequences of revealing too much information in his previous life.

This time, he had no intention of repeating those mistakes.

Every identity he used, every location he visited, every resource he acquired, and every connection he established had been carefully considered.

He knew which traces to leave behind.

More importantly, he knew which traces never to leave.

Aiden looked at the Devouring Soul Blade in his hand.

The weapon seemed almost alive beneath his fingers, as though it possessed an endless hunger that could never truly be satisfied.

"This time..."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"...I’m the one watching from the shadows."

He lowered his head and continued wiping the blade, his movements calm and unhurried.