Chapter 4 — The Unseen Council
High above the ruins of the world, beyond the reach of mortals, a fortress floated among the clouds—veiled in storm and silence.
The Bastion of Order.
Here, twelve beings stood around a circular obsidian table. Hooded. Faceless. Each radiated power enough to level continents.
They were the Unseen Council.
And Rael was now on their list.
{Target: Shadowborne Sovereign. Status: Rogue Asset. Threat Level: Escalating.}{Suggested Action: Eradication. Vote Initiated.}
Glowing sigils lit up around the table as each member raised a hand. All but one.
"Not yet," said a woman seated at the far end, her voice calm but cold.
Councilor Seraph.
{Objection registered. Motion to delay eradication: Pending justification.}
"He's not complete," she said. "Killing him now might erase the one thing we've been trying to recreate for centuries."
The others stirred.
"Are you saying he could develop an Origin Ability?" another asked.
She nodded. "And if he does... we'll know it's possible."
The High Overseer's voice rumbled. "And if he becomes unstoppable?"
"Then we use the failsafe."
Rael sat on the edge of a broken roof, the cold wind biting his skin. The remains of Blackrest burned below him.
Syra was recovering in a nearby shelter. The child she'd protected had survived.
But Rael couldn't rest.
His system pinged.
{Daily Login Reward – Day 4: Concealment Veil (Epic) received.}{Effect: Temporarily renders the user undetectable by physical, magical, and system-based senses. Duration: 60 seconds. Cooldown: 6 hours.}
He placed the item in his inventory. It would be useful.
But something else was bothering him.
"System. What is the Origin Ability they're afraid of?"
{Access Denied. Unlock requirement: 9 Origin Fragments. Current: 1/9.}
"Can I learn about others like me?"
{Partial access granted. Displaying confirmed anomalies.}
Four names appeared before him:
Subject X-1 – Status: Terminated
Subject V-9 – Status: Unknown
Subject K-0 – Status: Hostile
User: Rael – Status: Evolving
So he wasn't the first.
But he might be the last.
Deep within the Bastion, Seraph walked alone.
Her chambers were filled with relics—shards of dungeons long collapsed, cores of extinct monsters, and black books bound in screaming flesh.
She stopped before a containment pod.
Inside floated a man—his body covered in glowing scars, suspended in stasis.
Subject V-9.
Still alive. Still dangerous.
"Don't worry," she whispered. "You'll have company soon."
Meanwhile, Rael was preparing.
He had looted dozens of weapons, tools, and crystals from the fallen hunter Zahr. Most went into his Shadow Domain.
But one item stood out.
A glowing red crystal.
{System Warning: Detected Item – Authority Core Fragment.}{This item links directly to a Council surveillance node. Possession will flag user for immediate tracking. Discard?}
"No," Rael said. "I'll use it."
He crushed the crystal in his hand.
A shockwave burst out—only visible in the shadow spectrum.
Above, alarms screamed within the Council's inner chambers.
The High Overseer stood. "He's provoked us."
Seraph smiled faintly. "Good."
Back in Blackrest, Rael crouched on a rooftop and activated the Concealment Veil.
{Concealment Active. Detection Systems Nullified. Duration: 60 seconds.}
He moved.
Through back alleys. Through guarded gates. Right into the heart of the city's last stronghold: the Guild Archives.
He didn't want gold or weapons.
He wanted history.
Inside, he uncovered fragments of truth:
The system had been given, not discovered.
Dungeons were seeded by someone—not natural.
And the first "System Users" were experiments.
Rael's fingers trembled over the last line.
The Origin Path is a glitch. A mistake. A miracle.
He smiled coldly.
So that's why they feared him.
He wasn't supposed to exist.
{Shadowborne Sovereign: Progress Milestone Achieved. Shadow Domain Evolution Unlocked.}
Within his mind, the domain expanded. New layers opened—training halls, armories, libraries filled with phantom tomes.
Rael stood at the center.
He raised one hand.
And the shadows bowed.