Return of Tower's Phantom-Chapter 7 – Shadows of Regret

Aeris Talvora didn't sleep that night.

She sat alone in the Crimson Dawn Guild's war room, lights off, fingers trembling as she scrolled through old data logs—tower records, raid footage, grave markers from the "Phantom's Fall."

He was dead.

He had died.

She saw it. She stood there, sword drawn, frozen as her team turned on him.

"Rael..."

The name tasted like blood and shame.

---

Five Years Ago – Tower, Floor 99

Rael stood at the top.

Their final climb.

The atmosphere was charged—victory close, the impossible within reach.

But then the offer came.

A god-fragment. Power. A deal.

"Only one may ascend."

They turned on him.

All except her.

Aeris hesitated.

But that was the problem.

She didn't stop them.

She didn't save him.

She just... watched.

---

Now, five years later, he was back.

Stronger. Colder. Not a ghost—a storm.

She replayed the battle in her mind. He could have killed her. He didn't. That was the worst part.

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He let her live.

Not out of mercy.

Out of purpose.

And that scared her more than death.

---

She tapped into the secure Guild line.

"Put me through to Commander Vale."

A moment later, a stern voice answered. "What is it, Talvora? It's late."

"I made contact with a hostile inside a B-rank dungeon. Solo-clear type. He displayed movement patterns and skills identical to a known Tower irregular."

Silence.

Then: "A name?"

"...Rael Arden."

A longer silence.

Then: "Impossible."

"I saw him. He spoke to me. He knew."

"Did you engage?"

"I survived."

Another pause.

"Send me the coordinates. I'll inform the others."

Aeris closed the line, heart heavy.

The others.

The rest of the traitors.

They wouldn't hesitate like she did. If they learned he was alive, they'd come for him. Harder. Faster. Together.

She looked at her hand.

It still shook.

Why didn't he kill me?

---

Elsewhere – Unknown Location

A screen lit up in a dark chamber.

A cloaked man watched the transmission in silence.

He was once called The Spear of Heaven—one of the Tower's top-ranked hunters. A traitor. A king in the modern guild system.

He smiled.

"So... the Phantom lives."

He turned to the shadows.

"Send word to the others. It's time we bury him properly."