The Skygate Tower loomed over the skyline, its silver walls stretching into the clouds. Only S-ranks and above were allowed past the 50th floor, and today, a new clearance was being granted—to a select few from elite guilds.
Among them, walking silently in a borrowed uniform, was Cain—Rael's infiltrator clone.
He didn't need this climb.
He had already conquered these floors in his past life.
But he needed her attention. And this time, she came willingly.
Selene.
She stood near the teleportation array, flanked by a pair of elite hunters. Her silver coat billowed like ice in motion, her hair tied back, her eyes alert and unforgiving.
Rael's clone stepped into the light—just enough for her gaze to catch him.
Their eyes met.
A flicker.
A pause.
Then… nothing.
But for Rael, it was everything.
She hadn't changed. The same posture. The same narrowed glance she used when sensing lies.
Selene approached him slowly, her footsteps echoing across the marble floor.
"Cain," she said.
He bowed slightly, voice calm. "Commander."
"I reviewed your raid history."
"Then you know I'm not much of a threat."
"That's what concerns me," she said sharply. "Your files are… clean. Too clean. Like someone rewrote your past."
Rael smiled faintly. "Isn't that what most of us want? A clean slate?"
Her brows furrowed. She was close now—too close. One step forward, and she could feel the mana in him… if he let her.
She didn't take it.
Instead, she said, "Tell me something, Cain. Have we met before? Somewhere beyond the raids?"
He hesitated. Just for a breath.
Long enough to remember her laughter. Her fury. Her eyes the day he died.
"Maybe in another life," he said.
She studied him. Something flickered in her gaze—suspicion laced with familiarity. But she didn't press.
"I'll be watching you," she said at last. "One wrong step… and I'll end you."
"I'd expect nothing less," Rael replied.
As she turned away, his thoughts burned.
She's close. Closer than ever.
But not ready. Not yet.
He still had betrayers to hunt. And gods to kill.
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