The city woke to chaos.
Senator Grant's body was on every screen — dead in a private club, surrounded by "friends," his final words recorded: *"I sell kids! I take bribes! I rape!"* The elites were scrambling. Stocks crashed. Foundations closed. Cartels went silent. The world called it a "suicide wave." Elias Voss called it Tuesday.
He stood in his office on the 97th floor, watching the news, his aura vision painting the city in colors of rot. Green ambition, red rage, black corruption — everywhere. His contract pulsed on his arm, symbols shifting, hungry for more blood.
Lira floated beside him, her smile sharper. "They know something's wrong. The Veil is stirring. Hunters are coming."
"Hunters?" Elias asked, voice calm.
"Veil guardians," she said. "Humans touched by the Veil, trained to kill ghosts and their contractors. They see you as a threat."
Elias smiled. "Good."
His phone buzzed. Unknown number.
He answered.
"Mr. Voss," a man's voice, low, dangerous. "You've been busy. Victoria. Grant. Next is you."
Elias saw the aura through his SoulLink — silver, sharp, edged with white fire. A Hunter.
"Come find me," Elias said, and hung up.
***
The Hunter came at midnight.
Elias was in his mansion's underground gym, shirtless, training. Weights, knives, shadows. The contract had made him stronger, faster, his body a weapon.
An alarm beeped. Intrusion.
He walked upstairs, calm.
The Hunter was in the foyer — tall, scarred, black coat, silver blade glowing faintly. Aura like a blade itself: silver control, white purity, black scars from old fights.
"Elias Voss," the Hunter said. "Contractor of the Veil Ghost. You killed innocents. You corrupt the balance. Die."
Elias smiled. "Innocents? Like Victoria? Grant? Show me your aura."
The Hunter charged, blade flashing. Fast. Trained. Lethal.
Elias dodged, felt the air slice. He countered, fist to ribs — crack. The Hunter grunted, spun, slashed again.
They fought. Brutal. Close. Blood on the marble floor.
Elias saw flashes in the Hunter's aura — memories. Training in hidden temples. Killing ghosts. Swearing oaths to "protect humanity."
Elias pulled.
The Hunter staggered. "What...?"
"Your soul," Elias said. "Your will. Give it."
The Hunter roared, blade thrusting. Elias sidestepped, grabbed his wrist, twisted. Snap. The blade clattered.
Elias focused, pulled harder. Memories flooded:
**Hunter's Truth**
*The Hunter, young, in a temple. Priests teach: "Ghosts corrupt. Contractors are demons. Kill them all." He nods, pure.*
*First kill: a child contractor, 12 years old, ghost friend. The boy begs: "She helps me!" Hunter stabs. Boy dies crying.*
*Years later, the Hunter doubts. Kills a mother protecting her ghost daughter. "Necessary." But his aura cracks.*
*Now, he hunts for money. Elites pay him to silence threats. He knows Voss is exposing their dirt — so they hired him.*
**End**
Elias laughed, cold. "You're no guardian. You're a mercenary. Paid by the same monsters you 'protect' humanity from."
The Hunter broke free, grabbed his blade, lunged. Elias pulled one final time — soul chunk ripped out.
The Hunter screamed, aura shattering, silver fading to gray. He collapsed, dead, eyes open in horror.
Elias stood over him, breathing steady, blood dripping from a cut on his arm. "First Hunter down."
Lira appeared. "He was weak. Stronger ones come. But you won."
The cost hit then. Memories surged, triggered by the fight.
**Flashback: Smile Project — Deeper Trauma**
*Age 10. The white room. Phase 3: Betrayal Training.*
*Scientists bring his "friend" — Subject 15, a boy his age, shared cell, shared pain. They played, whispered dreams of escape.*
*"Choose," the lead scientist says. "Kill him, or we kill you both."*
*Elias hesitates. The boy pleads: "Don't. We're brothers."*
*Elias smiles. Takes the scalpel. Cuts the boy's throat slow, watching life drain. "For survival," he whispers.*
*The scientists applaud. "Perfect detachment."*
*His parents visit. Mother hugs him. "Our perfect son." Father slips him candy. "You'll rule one day." They knew. They approved. They profited.*
*That night, they "reward" him — more drugs, more chips, more erasure. But one memory sticks: the boy's eyes, accusing.*
**End Flashback**
Elias touched the scar on his temple. The chip hummed. "They made me this."
***
Morning brought pawns.
His butler, James, entered the office, eyes down. "Sir, the bodies... cleaned up?"
Elias saw James's aura — gray loyalty cracking with black fear. "You knew about Victoria."
James paled. "Sir?"
"You handled her payments. The club visits. The cover-ups."
James knelt. "Please. I have a family."
Elias smiled. "Show me."
He pulled. James's memories:
**James's Cruelty**
*Years ago, James as a cop. Beat suspects for bribes. Killed a witness, buried the body.*
*Joined Voss for money. Covered murders, trafficked girls for elites, sold info to cartels.*
*"Family man," he tells his wife. Lies.*
**End**
Elias pushed. Forced confession. James screamed his sins into a recorder, then died, soul gone.
Pawns fell like dominoes.
***
The elites struck back.
A board meeting. Virtual. Angry faces.
"You're killing our network!" one CEO snarls.
Elias smiles. "Your network was rotten."
They vote to remove him. Stocks dump.
Elias hacks their systems — SoulLink feeds their fears, secrets.
He exposes them all. Auras flood his mind: affairs, murders, bribes.
One by one, they confess publicly, die.
The world calls it "Voss Curse."
***
Night. Another Hunter.
This one female, agile, dual blades. Aura steel-strong.
Fight in the rain-slick garden. Blades clash, blood mixes with water.
Elias pulls her memories:
**Hunter's Truth**
*Orphaned by a ghost rampage. Trained to hate. But she sells kills to the highest bidder. Voss's exposure threatens her bosses — the real monsters.*
Elias wins. Rips her soul. She dies whispering, "You're right... we're all monsters."
Lira nods. "The contract advances. Third stage soon."
Elias's past surges again.
**Flashback: The Girl**
*Age 12. Final test. Subject 7's ghost appears — the girl he killed. "Why?" she asks.*
*Scientists: "Destroy her echo, or join her."*
*Elias crushes her spirit. Feels the emptiness seal forever.*
*Parents celebrate. "Our king." They bed scientists for favors, sell other kids.*
**End**
Elias laughs. "All of you... dirty."
The game escalated. Hunters massed. Elites plotted. Veil stirred.
Elias was ready.
Power grew. Past fueled. Humanity burned.