The sky over the Umbra Coast was starless.
Clouds hung like a shroud over the cliffs, the sea below crashing in violent, relentless waves. The jagged rocks jutted upward like the teeth of some ancient leviathan, and on their edge stood a man whose name had once silenced kingdoms.
Zehn Caelum.
He stood still as stone, black robes fluttering in the salted wind. His face was half-covered in a hood laced with ash-grey embroidery — symbols long forbidden in the central empires. Silver strands streaked through his jet-black hair, and his eyes… they glowed faint violet, like a dying galaxy.
A man who had vanished for ten years.
A man the world had declared dead.
But Zehn had not died.
He had simply waited.
> ❖ [System Online]
❖ [User: Zehn Caelum]
❖ [Status: Exile Completed — 3,652 days of silence]
❖ [Shadow Domain Monarch — SSS-Rank Talent Active]
❖ [Faction: Silent Fang — Status: Destroyed (Hidden Core Available)]
❖ [Command: Rebuild. Reclaim. Rule.]
Zehn extended his right hand.
His palm bore a black sigil — a crescent moon pierced by a fang — which began to glow in response. Chains of pure shadow burst from his back, slithering across the ground, tracing invisible pathways in the earth.
The cliff rumbled.
Below, hidden beneath stone and ocean mist, a long-forgotten structure awakened. A massive stone gate opened, revealing a descending staircase carved into the bedrock itself.
The Shadow Temple.
The last remnant of the Silent Fang.
Zehn descended in silence.
---
The temple was cold.
The torches lining the walls lit themselves as he walked past — not with fire, but with dark-blue flame. Statues lined the corridor: faceless assassins kneeling in eternal loyalty. Some bore blades. Others, books. All watched him return.
At the center of the underground sanctum, a massive stone throne awaited — untouched by time.
He sat.
The moment his body touched the seat, the temple shivered with ancient mana.
> ❖ [Silent Fang – Core Throne Reclaimed]
❖ [Guild Revival Possible]
❖ [Would you like to restart the Guild? Y/N]
Zehn didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
> ❖ [Guild 'Silent Fang' Reactivated]
❖ [Status: Hidden]
❖ [Recruitment Permissions: Leader Only]
❖ [Shadow Authority: 100% Restored]
He leaned back and looked up at the arched ceiling — it was filled with carvings of forgotten assassins, traitors, revolutionaries.
All of them had died for a cause. But Zehn hadn't.
He had lived… to end the system that killed them.
---
A thousand miles away — Capital of the Elmaria Empire
The sun rose slowly over marble towers and golden domes. The capital buzzed with politics, false peace, and secret bloodshed.
Inside the Palace of Light, the High Chancellor sat before a polished crystal screen. His face was pale.
Before him was a single object.
A black dagger.
Plain. Unmarked.
Except for one thing.
On its hilt: a small silver crescent moon carved into a fang.
The old man's hand trembled. "He's alive…"
Behind him, a general stepped forward. "Chancellor, is something wrong?"
The old man turned, voice dry.
"Activate the Ghost Division. Triple the surveillance in the northern regions. And… summon the Inquisitors."
"But… why?"
He didn't answer. He simply looked at the dagger again.
"He's come back from the dead."
---
Back on the Umbra Coast
Zehn stood before a dark altar now lit with seven soul crystals — each linked to a fallen assassin from his past.
He placed his hand on one of them.
> ❖ [Initiating Shadow Echo: Subject — Kael, First Fang]
❖ [Memories Restored]
❖ [Cause of Death: Betrayal by Imperial Spy]
His fingers curled into a fist.
"They killed you… all of you. Used you like blades, then broke you."
His voice was soft, but the mana around him rippled.
"I'll rebuild the Silent Fang. Not as a guild… but as a nation."
He turned to the empty hallway and spoke, voice echoing through the ancient stone.
"Send a signal to every surviving agent still loyal. The Reaping begins at the next moon."
> ❖ [System Alert: Recruitment Mission Initialized]
❖ [Target #001: City of Velkarth – Rogue Assassin Detected]
❖ [Target #002: Empire Intelligence Archives – Locate Original Traitor]
❖ [Begin Operation: Nightfall]
Zehn's eyes narrowed.
It had begun.
Not just revenge.
But restoration.
And when the empires bled, they would remember that in darkness...
the true sovereign had returned.