We walked briskly down the restricted, stone-walled corridor, the rowdy shouting and clinking ale tankards of the main hall quickly fading into a distant murmur. Sydney led the way, the heavy master key ring in her hand jingling rhythmically against her thigh, while I followed close behind, my newly restored left hand effortlessly balancing the heavy wicker basket of alchemical precursors and medical glassware.
Our destination was the private office of Chief Anton… the overall director of the Luminous Knights Bureau Association. Out of everyone in the capital's sprawling military bureaucracy, Anton was my most trusted confidant. Months ago, when I first dragged myself into his office as a mangled, bleeding, and utterly mute shadow to claim my very first underworld contract, he had recognized my lethal potential. More importantly, he had given me his absolute word of honor: he would use his administrative power to completely seal my registry and conceal my bloody bounty-hunting identity from my siblings, ensuring Elias and Elicia never found out what I had become.
But the administrative landscape had completely shifted. Since Elicia had already shattered the matrix of my secrets by discovering me in that freezing northern blizzard, the old arrangement was obsolete. I needed to inform Anton that the shadows were receding, and I was no longer hiding my operational reality from my sisters.
As we turned a sharp corner into a quieter administrative wing lined with polished silver torches, Sydney glanced back at me over her shoulder. Her sharp eyes scanned my unblemished face, my silver-streaked hair, and the neat basket of chemistry supplies cradled in my arm.
"You know, Eirene… For all these months, ever since you first stepped into this bureau, everyone thought you were this terrifying, dark, and incredibly edgy phantom of the underworld. But ever since you pulled down that hood and I heard your actual voice... you just look like an innocent, charming child who is stubbornly forcing her way through the brutal world of bounty hunting. It's almost surreal. Tell me the truth... who in the world managed to heal you like this? Who possessed the power to erase an apex-tier curse?" Sydney murmured, a soft, bewildered smile breaking through her previous panic.
I didn't hesitate, my mismatched jade-green and crimson eyes remaining perfectly steady beneath the dim torchlight.
"It was the Offspring Goddess, Elicia, I'm completely done hiding secrets from my siblings. The ledger is open now."
Sydney's eyes widened slightly at the mention of my older sister's divine status, but before she could press for more details, we finally arrived at the end of the restricted corridor.
Standing before us was a massive, reinforced iron door embossed with the roaring lion insignia of the LKBA. A faint, pulsing golden aura radiated from the threshold… a high-tier localized security ward designed to prevent electronic or magical eavesdropping. Sydney stepped forward, selecting a heavy silver key from her ring, and slotted it into the massive deadbolt. With a heavy, metallic clack, the security matrix dissolved, and she gently pushed the door open to reveal Chief Anton's private sanctuary.
The heavy iron door swung inward with a low, weighted groan, revealing a spacious office illuminated by the warm, amber glow of standard ether lamps. The room was lined with towering bookshelves packed with classified military maps, ancient monster compendiums, and high-tier tactical ledgers.
Sitting behind a massive oak desk in the center of the room was Chief Anton. The Director of the LKBA looked every bit the retired S-rank vanguard… his broad shoulders filled out his dark commander's uniform, his face was weathered by decades of frontline combat, and a sharp, calculating glint shone behind his monocle as he reviewed a glowing holographic map of the southern territory.
The moment the threshold broke, Anton's eyes snapped up from his data projections. He blinked, his gaze instantly locking onto my 5'5" frame, tracking the clean fabric of my simple dress, the heavy wicker basket of alchemical supplies balanced in my left hand, and my unblemished, striking face.
He looked entirely bewildered. He didn't see the terrifying, blood-soaked phantom who usually haunted his office in a shredded, shadow-woven cloak.
"Sydney, Who is this girl? This is a restricted administrative sector. Why have you brought a civilian child into my private office?"
Anton said, his deep, baritone voice echoing off the reinforced walls as his brow furrowed in deep confusion. Sydney let out a soft, nervous chuckle, stepping aside to let me fully enter the room.
"Chief... look closer, She isn't a random civilian. She is Eirene."
Chief Anton froze instantly. The holographic pen in his hand slipped from his fingers, clattering loudly against the desktop as his jaw tightened. His monocle nearly popped out of his eye socket as he leaned forward, staring violently at my face, my silver-streaked hair, and the unmistakable, striking contrast of my jade-green and crimson eyes.
The absolute shock on the old commander's face was unprecedented. For months, he had been the sole guardian of my darkest secrets, knowing me only as a heavily scarred, mute, and physically broken weapon. To see me standing here, completely whole, unblemished, and radiating a calm, elegant baseline presence, completely shattered his tactical calculations.
"E-Eirene...?"
Anton breathed, his voice dropping into a rare, utterly stunned whisper as he stood up from his heavy leather chair.
"By the gods... what in the world happened to you?"
Chief Anton stepped around the massive oak desk, his heavy boots clicking against the stone floor as he approached me. He stopped just a few paces away, his sharp eyes scanning my fully restored left arm, my unblemished skin, and the distinct, vivid contrast of my jade and crimson eyes.
"The Glasgow smile... the missing limb... the systemic necrosis from your old baseline core... it's all completely gone, If I hadn't spent the last six months personally verifying your S-rank combat registry, I would swear you were a completely different person standing in front of me. And Sydney said you're speaking now?" Anton murmured, his deep voice thick with absolute, unadulterated awe.
"Yes, Chief Anton, the administrative silence is officially over." I replied smoothly, my beautiful, resonant voice dropping into a calm, deadpan octave that instantly grounded the room's chaotic energy.
Anton let out a long, booming laugh that shook the nearby bookshelves, a massive grin breaking through his weathered, battle-scarred face.
"By the gods, it truly is you! The same freezing composure, the same terrifying focus. To hear a voice like that coming from the underworld's most ruthless phantom... the irony is staggering."
His expression suddenly shifted, turning deeply serious as his eyes flicked down to the heavy wicker basket of alchemical flasks, sulfur dust, and medical supplies resting effortlessly in my left hand. He stepped back toward his desk, gesturing for Sydney to close the heavy iron door behind us.
"Sydney told me you came here demanding the restricted telemetry data on the Branch 2 southern border massacre, Eirene, I know what you're capable of. You saved this country's currency from a total inflationary collapse when you liquidated those four rogue syndicates. But the entity that just slaughtered thirty-two of our finest Luminous Knights down south isn't a standard bounty target. It's a ravenous, purebred vampire apex."
"I am well aware of its biological classification, And I am the one going to execute it. The Capital Knights Bureau has already authorized the deployment. If I bring back its head, the eighteen gold pieces currently placed on my registry will be permanently canceled, and my slate will be scrubbed completely clean." I stated flatly, marching straight up to the desk and setting the heavy basket down with a precise, controlled click.
Anton's monocle nearly popped out of his eye socket a second time. He stared at me, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he rapidly calculated the sheer, unhinged genius of my tactical play.
"You... you walked straight into the CKBA headquarters, and those administrative fools hired the real Crimson Phantom to hunt down the monster that's framing her? Incredible. The timing is absolutely flawless. But what about your older brother, Elias? The Shadow Walker has been tracking your old calling card like a bloodhound. If he catches wind of this… "
"Elias is officially off-duty on a countryside leave for exactly seventy-two hours, that gives me a strict three-day operational window. I will descend into the southern border, utilize my custom alchemical vesicants to neutralize its respiratory tissue, and slice its core to pieces with my newly forged mist-bayonets before Elias even sets foot back in the capital. He will never know what his little sister has become."
Anton looked from me to the holographic map of the southern territory pulsing on his desk, his old vanguard instincts flaring to life. He tapped a localized rune on the interface, causing a red, highly detailed tactical grid to expand into the air between us.
"If you're operating on a seventy-two-hour countdown, you don't have a single second to waste on blind tracking, look here, Eirene. This is the exact telemetry data the Bureau is trying to keep under wraps. This is where your hunt begins."