Eye of the Guild
Chapter 13: Eye of the Guild
Location: Dominion Guild Headquarters – Central Tower, Sky District
The Dominion Guild was a monument to power—skyscraping obsidian, layered with enchanted barriers, and guarded by hunters whose names alone could silence entire cities.
And yet… it was quiet today.
Unnaturally quiet.
Inside the topmost floor, cloaked in holographic glass, three figures sat around a glowing, circular table. The room pulsed with low humming—monitoring a single feed:
Subject: Ryo KazenStatus: Level – Red NoticeProtocol Interference: ConfirmedAbilities: Unregistered. Adaptive. Viral.
The central figure, an older woman in sleek combat attire with silver-streaked hair, leaned forward.
"He fought a Data Devourer… and lived?""He did more than live," another responded grimly. "He tamed the code.""So it's true," the woman said. "The Shadow Protocol didn't choose him. He hacked it."
She pressed her hand to the glowing table.
"Deploy the Eye."
Meanwhile – Kaizen District, Ryo's Apartment
Ryo was still sore. His entire body buzzed with lingering static. The aftereffects of absorbing a Protocol monster weren't something a teenager should be able to survive.
But he wasn't normal anymore.
"Shadow Protocol," he whispered, summoning the semi-sentient interface."Show me the data fragment I gained."
A dark glyph hovered mid-air. A shattered, glitchy rune.
[Skill Fragment: Consume Skill Code – Level 1]Ability: Absorb skill data of defeated enemies. Limited to E–C rank unless fused.Warning: High risk of memory instability.
"Memory instability… what does that mean?" Ryo muttered.
But before he could probe deeper—
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
His door shook under a triple tap.
He tensed.
"No one knows where I live."
He slid to the peephole, but there was no one there.
Then—
"You should've reinforced your locks," a voice said behind him.
He spun.
There, sitting calmly on his broken window ledge, was a girl dressed in a black-and-silver Guild uniform, legs crossed, sipping from a steaming cup of tea she clearly didn't bring with her.
Her eyes? Solid white irises. No pupils. Glowing.
"Who the hell—?""Easy, Shadow Boy." She sipped again. "I'm not here to kill you. Yet.""Yet?""I'm your observer. The Guild sent me. Code name: Iri."
She stood. In one blink, she was in front of him.
"I'm here to evaluate whether you're a weapon worth keeping… or a threat we should erase."
The Test
They moved to the rooftop. Ryo kept his guard up.
"What kind of test?""Protocol compatibility," she said, pulling out a glass shard filled with blue code. "This is an Overseer Lens. Stand still."
[Overseer Lens Activated]Warning: Subject Protocol Signature—Corrupted]Outcome: Shadow Sovereign Seed Detected. Threat level: Unmeasurable.]
The shard shattered in her hand.
"Well," Iri said dryly. "You broke my scanner.""Is that a good thing?""It means you're very interesting. Which means you'll be very hunted."
An Offer... and a Threat
"Here's the deal, Kazen," Iri said, leaning on the rooftop rail. "You're unstable. Dangerous. But powerful."
She tossed him a silver badge.
[Temporary Guild Clearance: Level C – Observer Escort Required]
"You have two choices. Join the Guild under surveillance… or they'll throw you into a containment vault and study your brain for the next ten years."
Ryo narrowed his eyes.
"And what if I run?""Then I'll be forced to kill you," Iri said sweetly. "And I really don't want to. You seem fun."
The Decision
Ryo stared at the badge.
He didn't trust them.
But he needed access—resources, data, higher-level dungeons. He needed to find out what the Shadow Protocol truly was. And why the name Voidcrown echoed in his brain like a cursed song.
"Fine," he said. "I'll play along.""Smart choice," Iri smiled. "Welcome to the Dominion Guild, Ryo Kazen."
Elsewhere…
A dark room flickered with screens.
Someone watched the whole exchange.
"He's in the Guild now," the watcher said."Good," replied a voice laced with venom. "Let him get close. Then rip everything out of him."
The Betrayer… was already preparing his next move.
End of Chapter 13