Chapter 285: Operation Silver Ash
Operation Silver Ash
"And his presence changes everything," the leader said, his tone cutting, sharp—measured like a blade honed too long. "If we hesitate, even for a day, he’ll tighten the walls around this place. By morning, we’ll be the ones on the run. No escape. No second chance."
He turned—slow, deliberate—facing the crowd of black-robed warriors packed into the low-lit cavern, shadows dancing across their hoods like ghosts waiting to be born.
"Every second of silence we leave behind," he went on, voice carrying, echoing off the walls like a warning, "is one more thread tightening the noose around our necks."
A beat. Heavy. Quiet.
"So we move tonight. While they lie warm in their beds, dreaming soft, safe dreams, unaware of the fire crawling under their floorboards... we end it. We gut their peace. We shatter their sleep. We leave nothing behind but nightmare. We burn their city. We turn it to silver ash."
He stepped forward. Just one step. His cloak whispered behind him, dragging silence with it.
"This city’s drunk on peace. Drunk on light. But the Moonwalker’s returned—and before his light can rise again, we flood his streets in shadow. Silver City will fall. Burned. Scattered. Buried in ash no one will even name."
And then came the pause.
And then—fists. Sixty of them. Raised high and fierce, black gloves clenched with the weight of promise.
The cavern shook—not from sound, not yet—but from something deeper, like the moment before thunder breaks.
"Yes, Leader. Turn Silver City to silver ash."
"Operation Silver City to silver ash!"
"Operation Silver City to silver ash!"
"Operation Silver City to silver ash!"
Their chant slammed through the stone walls, each repetition louder, sharper—building, rising, until the walls themselves seemed to breathe with it. Until the very air vibrated with dark intent.
The leader let it swell. Let it fill the room like smoke. Then—one hand. Gloved. Lifted.
And just like that, silence fell like a blade.
"Final preparations," he said, voice clipped, controlled. "Are they complete?"
From the second row, a figure stepped out. Younger. His hood lowered just enough to reveal a pale scar slicing across one cheek like a half-remembered memory.
His voice held something strange. Not pride, not exactly. Something colder. But steady.
"Leader, preparations are complete. I—with Team Two and Team Four—we finished planting the explosive runes. Each one is linked. Each one is set. And this—"
He reached into his cloak, careful, slow—like handling something holy.
A scroll.
Old. Pale parchment frayed at the edges, soft from too many touches.
Crimson-black ink shimmered on its surface, coiled into a rune circle that throbbed faintly, humming with a power held just beneath the skin.
The leader took it like it might bleed.
His eyes narrowed as he studied the faint pulse underneath the dried-blood lines.
"They’re anchored," the young man added. "One core rune. Just like the benefactor said."
A breath. Not tired. Just... full. The weight of it all settling on his ribs.
"Good. This... this is the key. Tonight, we end what we began."
He lifted the scroll a little, just for a moment. Just to look at it. Then passed it back to the one who brought it.
"Then there’s nothing left to wait for," he said quietly.
His eyes flicked toward the stairwell.
"Let’s finish it. Let Silver City burn."
They didn’t shout.
They didn’t need to.
Nods moved through the chamber like wind through long grass. Quiet. But strong.
No more words.
Just motion. Cloaks drawn tighter. Weapons checked, wrapped, hidden. Faces vanished behind black cloth pulled from folds sewn for this exact night.
Sixty shadows began to shift, to move—not like men, but like silence made flesh.
The leader turned. His cloak swept behind him, long and weightless, like it belonged to something no longer bound by gravity. Nine followed—his elites, his core.
Then the rest. One by one. Like smoke climbing stone.
No chant. No final vow. Just the steady drumbeat of boots on stone steps. Measured. Cold. Unstoppable.
Outside, in the alley behind the Iron Mug, the world hadn’t noticed.
Not yet.
The guards—still slumped where they’d dropped, propped like broken dolls against stone walls. Not dead. Not even bleeding. Just out cold, limbs bent like old toys. Their armor caught the moonlight in dull flickers. Not one moved.
The gas had done its work.
Silence wrapped the alley like frost.
The black-robed figures poured out of the shadows, each step soundless, precise. They breathed together, like soldiers who’d trained too long for this to feel wrong. No hesitation. No need to speak. The alley accepted them. Like it had been waiting.
Inside, the tavern felt even quieter. Heavy. The kind of quiet that crawled under your skin and stayed there.
The stale scent of cheap ale clung to the walls, layered with steel and old smoke from burned-out lanterns. On first glance, the place looked untouched. Tables still upright. Chairs still whole.
But the truth stained the floor.
And the gate.
And the front road—just beyond the tavern.
Guards who’d stood proud not long ago now laid there like fallen statues. Unconscious. Still breathing, but barely moving. Helmets tilted. Mouths slack. Chests rising slow, like they’d fallen into a sleep they wouldn’t wake from anytime soon.
No one escaped.
From the darker corners, the intruders returned—like they’d been summoned. Or maybe they’d never really left.
Their cloaks swayed with each step. Every movement sharp. Memorized. They didn’t look at the bodies. They didn’t need to.
They weren’t here to admire their work. They were here to finish it.
And at the tail end, the one they followed.
He stopped in the doorway, just before stepping out. Letting the night touch him again.
It was colder than it should’ve been. Too sharp for summer. Wrong in a way that had nothing to do with weather.
Above, the moon looked wrong too. Low. Swollen. Sick. Tucked behind thick clouds that moved like they had something to say.
He stood there.
Just breathing.
Taking it all in.
The stillness. The bodies. The way the whole city didn’t even know it was already bleeding.
And then—just a flicker of something cruel curled his mouth. A smirk. Small. Dangerous.
When he spoke, it was low. Almost kind. Almost like a whisper to a lover before the end.
"The air smells like blood and ruin. After tonight... Silver City’s just a name."
He lifted a hand.
One of the robed ones stepped forward. The one who’d been waiting for this moment. No words passed between them. Just motion. Slow. Purposeful.
He placed the scroll in the leader’s palm like an offering. Their hands didn’t touch—but the weight of it passed all the same.
The leader didn’t look at him.
Just the scroll.
He reached into his sleeve with the other hand. Drew a dagger. Slim. Clean. Still untouched. Still waiting for its story to begin.
He didn’t keep it.
He passed it to the man beside him.
The follower took it. No question. No tremble. No hesitation.
He pulled off one glove. Quietly.
His palm was rough. Weathered. You could read years on that skin.
Then—he cut.
One long drag. Precise. Deep enough to bleed. But not shake.
No cry. No flinch.
Just blood. Warm. Ready.
It spilled, thick and sure, over his hand. A promise in red.
The leader held the scroll steady underneath. Not rushing. Not flinching.
A drop hit the page.
Then another.
Then one more.
And the moment the third drop landed—
FWOOM.
The ink twisted. Slithered. Crimson wrapped around obsidian, shapes warping, alive. The scroll pulsed. Trembled. A heartbeat beat inside it—something ancient and waking.
Then—flames.
First red.
Then black.
Then a violet that didn’t belong in this world—sick with power. Hungry. Alive.
The light danced like a threat. Or a prophecy.
A smile crept under the leader’s mask. Not wide. Just enough.
His eyes narrowed.
"Now," he whispered, soft and venomous. "Silver City... awaken."
He snapped the scroll.
And the world ripped open.
BOOM.
The first explosion cracked the silence in half.
Then—BOOM. BOOM.
The city jumped.
Fire bloomed.
Like roses. Hungry ones.
The ground trembled, cried, roared. Chain reactions lit up every sleeping street. Shockwaves rolled. Walls shook. Roofs split.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
It didn’t stop.
Stone cracked.
Flames poured from alleys.
Towers burst open, windows coughing glitter and glass into the night.
Red light swallowed the stars.
The Silver Market caught first. Then the outer districts. Then the forest edge.
No place was spared.
The sky turned red. Then black.
And the screams began.
Too late, a bell rang out—thin and hollow.
The leader stood still. Watching.
Watching the fire climb higher.
Watching Silver City fall.
And when he spoke again, his voice was low. Soft. Almost... reverent.
"Burn, Silver City. Burn in silence... and die before dawn."
And as the flames swallowed stone, and cries rose behind them, the black-robed ghosts vanished.
One by one.
Back into the fire.
Back into the dark.