Chapter 47: Kael's First Kill List
The city lights flickered beneath the veil of twilight, casting long shadows over the skyscrapers that jutted like jagged teeth into the purple sky. From the rooftop of an abandoned data-tower in the 7th Sector, Ryo stood still, the wind pulling at his black cloak. His eyes, now more silver than gray, scanned the streets below like a predator eyeing prey.
He wasn't alone.
Kael—no longer just a name, but the identity the Shadow Protocol whispered into his bones—had begun compiling a list.
Not of objectives.
Not of missions.
But of names.
Names that had to disappear if he was ever going to protect what mattered and take back control of the world that had betrayed him.
The Kill List.
His fingers moved across the holographic interface he'd carved into the Protocol Terminal embedded in his wrist. Each name bled onto the screen like ink on water.
Commander Elric Vaughn – The one who had ordered the abandonment of Unit 9 during the Dungeon Collapse. Ryo still remembered the echo of his comrades' screams, trapped beneath layers of living stone while Vaughn watched from a remote command room.
Yura Nozomi – The double agent from the Guild's Intelligence Division who had fed his sister's medical records to the black market. Rina's sickness had worsened because of her.
Gavren Voss – The Protocol smuggler who specialized in corrupted Code Crystals. He sold one to a rogue hunter that later caused a Bleed in Sector 3… killing three hundred innocents. Among them, a girl who once saved Ryo from starvation.
Saeko Mirdan – A shadow broker who captured children with rare systems and sold them to the Eastern Protocol Guilds. She had tried to take Rina once.
He wasn't acting out of vengeance alone. The Protocol showed him a map—a web of corruption that needed to be severed at its roots if balance was to be restored.
Ryo closed his eyes. The list kept growing.
The wind shifted. Behind him, footsteps.
"You really made a list." The voice belonged to Kazein, the exiled Protocol Hunter turned informant. His hair was tied back, his face half-covered with a scavenged Reaper mask.
Ryo didn't turn around. "I don't make threats. I make corrections."
"You kill them all, you'll paint a target on your back the size of a city block."
"There's already a target. Might as well earn it."
Kazein let out a low chuckle. "Then start with Vaughn. He's at the Ark Guild Citadel tonight. Protocol Council's doing an emergency session."
Perfect. Ryo's gaze hardened.
"I need to make a statement," he murmured. "The first name on this list doesn't just disappear. It dies publicly."
Kazein raised an eyebrow. "You planning to walk into the Citadel? That place has a six-layer security shield. You'll get dissected before you reach the lobby."
Ryo finally turned, the shadows behind his back swirling like smoke reacting to his will. "That's why I won't walk."
He stepped off the edge of the rooftop.
And vanished into shadow.
Citadel, Inner Chamber – 01:42 AM
Security sensors buzzed softly as a tremor spread through the subterranean core of the Citadel. Commander Vaughn stood at the center of a conference room, surrounded by elite guards and projection terminals flickering with surveillance data.
"Status report," he barked.
Before any of them could respond, the lights dimmed.
The air grew cold.
And the shadows began to move.
One by one, the guards collapsed—not from gunfire, not from blades, but from their own shadows strangling them. The room devolved into chaos. Vaughn reached for his emergency alert pad, only to have it sliced in two by a tendril of pitch-black energy.
"You left them to die," came a voice from the corner.
Ryo stepped into the pale emergency light, his face unreadable, silver eyes glowing like twin moons.
Vaughn raised a trembling hand. "You... You're the Shadow anomaly. The one from Sector 9."
"I'm the one you tried to erase."
"You don't have to do this—"
Ryo didn't wait.
One swift motion, a shadow blade curved from his arm, and Vaughn's scream was silenced. The entire Protocol Council chamber bathed in silence, save for the drip of blood against marble.
Two Hours Later
The footage leaked across the dark web. Citizens watched in horror and awe as the broadcast from the hacked surveillance cameras played on loop.
"This is not murder," Ryo's distorted voice said over the video. "This is justice recalibrated."
The name "Kael" burned into global consciousness overnight.
The Shadow Sovereign had begun his hunt.
End of Chapter 47