Location: Unknown Facility – Midnight, Shadow Council Room
Twelve robed figures gathered around a circular obsidian table. The room pulsed with crimson sigils. Their faces were masked, but their voices dripped with arrogance.
"The Vales are distracted."
"The school is wide open."
"And the Phantom is still in hiding."
Wrong.
So very wrong.
Scene: The Plot Thickens
"Strike during the festival. While they're all outside. No wards, no guards."
"We'll eliminate the heirs. Wound the structure. Cut the legacy from the inside."
"Then we'll draw Phantom out."
They laughed.
But none of them realized…
The new student on their surveillance boards?
The one they kept ignoring?
The one who never showed up in magical scans?
Was already listening.
Scene: Avalon Academy – That Same Moment
Grayson Lysander sat in a quiet hallway.
One AirPod in.
One leg crossed.
Reading… or pretending to.
The other side of his mind?
Tuned in.
[SYSTEM: SURVEILLANCE INTERCEPT COMPLETE.]
[Encrypted Audio Source: ORDER – Tier 3 Cell – "Operation Cinderfall."]
He smirked.
Softly.
Dangerously.
Scene: The Calm Before the Reversal
Caelan, Azra, and Liora were heading to class.
They passed Grayson, nodded casually.
He nodded back. Unbothered. Relaxed.
But his eyes shimmered faintly with calculated fire.
They had no idea that while everyone played at peace…
Damon Black was preparing for war.
Final Scene: The Hunter's Thoughts
"Let them think I'm gone."
"Let them plan and plot and whisper."
"Because when the curtain rises…"
He slowly closed his book.
"I won't react."
"I'll end them."