The night after the assault felt too quiet.
No beast cries. No system messages. No signs of hostile movement.
That was the first warning.
Inside the captured stronghold, Ankit stood atop the watchtower, sharpening his twin Talwars under the moonlight-filtered mist. Each draw of the whetstone left sparks. Sparks that matched the itch behind his skull—a sensation he'd grown used to.
The feeling of being hunted.
Toni arrived silently, dropping a sealed scroll at Ankit's feet.
"Tower just issued a Blood Contract," he said, voice tight.
Ankit unrolled the scroll. The system voice echoed in his mind.
📢 [Blood Contract Issued]
🎯 Target: Ankit Kumar – Guildmaster of Blackhunt
☠️ Executor Guild: Black Coil
⚔️ Contract Class: Platinum
🕛 Validity: 72 hours
Ankit's eyes narrowed. "Platinum."
"That's not just any bounty. That's execution clearance. They don't want to beat us—they want to erase us," Toni said grimly.
🌑 Who Are the Black Coil?
Kaido burst into the war room moments later. "We just pulled info off a dead scout's badge. You're gonna love this—Black Coil's leader is Valen Draeg, a floor enforcer for the Tower. Rogue-class climber."
"Enforcer?" Raghav growled. "That's someone who hunts rule-breakers and monsters inside the Tower."
"Exactly," Toni said. "But Valen's no longer sanctioned. He's gone rogue, built a guild of murderers who sell their blade to the Tower's backend code."
Raunak spat on the ground. "Let them come. We're not scared of ghosts."
Ankit stayed quiet, staring at the sword-shaped crest seared into the Blood Contract scroll. A message was etched under it in black ink:
"One slash. One silence. No second chances."
🩸 Elsewhere – Black Coil Camp
A crimson banner fluttered in a dead wind. Valen Draeg, clad in silver-on-black armor and bearing a chain-sword shaped like a coiled serpent, stood before his guild of assassins.
His voice was cold, disciplined. "You all know the name Blackhunt. Young. Rising. Loud."
He paused.
"Cut off their voice."
🛡️ Blackhunt Prepares
Back at the stronghold, Toni gathered the team in a circle.
"We have 72 hours. They'll come fast and silent. Assassins. Poison. Psychological tricks."
"We don't scatter," Ankit said, drawing his blades. "We tighten."
Each member took a position:
Vikram set up shadow wards and illusion beacons around the perimeter.
Riya and Asha paired together to lay traps and mana field distortions.
Raunak and Raghav reinforced chokepoints.
Sana brewed restoration brews and prepared emergency revives.
Kaido loaded mana bombs into proximity sensors.
Toni studied predicted strike paths and altered the terrain map manually.
Every moment counted.
The tower had gone quiet, but death was walking toward them.
🔥 Midnight Ambush
It started at the second bell.
A Black Coil assassin crept through a slit in the wall, only for Vikram to materialize behind him—dagger through the spine, clean and fast.
[Enemy Eliminated – Black Coil Scout]
[1/?? Neutralized]
Then it began.
From the fog, black blades, silent arrows, and chain-weapons rained down on Blackhunt's walls.
Raghav blocked a flurry with his gauntlets, sending sparks into the sky. Raunak smashed down a flaming assassin with one swing.
Sana pulled Kaido back from a sudden trap.
In the center, Ankit moved like a phantom, blades cleaving through masked killers with unrelenting precision. Blood spilled on the walls, and the enemy faltered—but only briefly.
Then Valen himself stepped through the firelight.
And the Tower trembled.