(This is going to be a very large action-based chapter. I had to divide it into two parts. My humble request is that if you have the time, please try to read both parts together. That way, you will get the full enjoyment.)
Chapter 14 — The Glowing Truth and the Chosen Shadow
## Part One: The Test Begins
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The star nearest to the Shadow Realm was setting.
Slowly, without hurry — as though it knew the weight of what it was leaving behind. Its last light spilled across the kingdom like a tide that had nowhere else to go, touching every corner of SC's City in a strange, melancholy gold before finally letting go.
Evening descended.
But SC's City received it differently than every other kingdom in the Shadow Realm.
There was no soil here. No roots, no earth, no living green pressing upward toward sky. There were only paths — metallic and smooth and cold, so perfectly reflective that the dying light of the star ignited across them in long, burning lines. Hundreds of buildings of glass and steel rose on both sides, and in the last moments of sunset, they caught the light and threw it back at itself, creating something that was less a city and more a dream of one. Shadow birds moved across the sky in slow, unhurried arcs — the only creatures visible in the entire kingdom. No voices. No footsteps. Only the deep silence of machines and the clouds gathering overhead, ready to turn everything silver once the moon rose.
A vehicle moved through this silence — not on the road, but above it, floating forward with quiet precision. Inside, two SCs.
Cypher was driving. Both hands steady, eyes forward, his face carrying the particular calm of someone who had already considered every possible question and set them aside. Kali sat with her face turned toward the window. The metallic paths passed below in streaks of reflected light, briefly illuminating her face before the darkness swallowed them again. She watched for a while without speaking.
Then she turned away from the window.
**Kali:** What do you think? Why has Ancient summoned us this time?
**Cypher:** It could be anything. Many changes have been visible in the Shadow Realm these past few days. Besides — Ancient has called us twice in one week. That doesn't usually happen. I think something interesting is about to unfold.
**Kali:** I've been worried about those changes too. I believe the entities Ancient mentioned last time are behind it. He'll probably speak of them again.
**Cypher:** I think so too.
Silence returned. A stretch of illuminated path swept past outside, and the light moved briefly across Kali's expression before fading.
**Kali:** Drive a little slower, please.
**Cypher:** *(with a faint smile)* As you wish, madam.
**Kali:** *(turning away, a slight flush crossing her face)* What is this — since when did you become so polite?
Cypher said nothing. He simply kept that quiet smile and eased his foot back, letting the vehicle slow without comment.
The star finished setting somewhere behind the clouds. The sky above SC's City was now fully dark, the moon rising hidden and unseen, its light diffusing through the cloud cover and turning the metallic roads below into something that shimmered like still water. It was in this silver-lit stillness that they arrived at Ancient's chamber.
Cronos was already waiting outside the door.
He said nothing when Cypher and Kali stepped out — only turned and led them forward with the quiet efficiency of someone who did not waste motion. They passed through the hidden entrance, crossed the threshold, and entered the lab.
The room held no warmth. The light came from Crystals embedded in the walls — a cold, even glow that left everything visible but colorless. Every surface was washed in gray and faint blue, as if color itself had decided to wait outside. Ancient stood at the center of the room, and before him, on a low surface, was a small stone.
The Shadow Stone.
It pulsed with purple light — slow, rhythmic, almost like breathing. Even across the room, something about it felt alive.
The three of them approached. Ancient did not look up, even as their footsteps reached him. His eyes remained on the stone. Only when they stood close did he raise one finger and point.
**Ancient:** Look. The light of the Shadow Stone has increased many times compared to before. This means — its true owner is now very close.
**Cypher:** *(after a brief pause)* Then what should we do?
**Ancient:** Wait. Before knowing what to do, you need to understand certain things first. *(turning toward Cronos)* Cronos — begin.
Cronos stepped forward without hesitation. He placed a spherical device on the table and activated it. Beams of light shot upward and assembled themselves into a hovering image in the air — a map.
**Cronos:** I will analyze only one thing — precisely how much power the bearers of the Shadow Stone possess.
The map resolved into shape. The Shadow Realm, seen from above. Cronos made a small gesture, and a second map appeared beside it. The same kingdom — but transformed. Large portions had simply ceased to exist. Where structures had stood, there were now empty, broken spaces. Kali and Cypher both narrowed their eyes.
**Cronos:** This first image is the Shadow Realm from seven days ago. This is what it looks like now.
Red circles appeared, marking each ruined location. They were scattered across the map like wounds.
**Cronos:** These areas were destroyed in just the last seven days — every one of them a site where the Shadow Stone's bearers clashed with Shadow Entities. As a result of those battles alone, twenty percent of the Shadow Realm has been damaged. *(a beat of silence)* And currently, they have defeated every Shadow Boss and their Shadow Warriors — every one, except for Althera. Very soon, they will enter our kingdom.
No one spoke. The red circles glowed quietly against the dark map, marking the addresses of fallen bosses.
**Kali:** *(slowly)* They are truly powerful.
**Ancient:** Yes. And that brings us to the reason I called you. *(He let a moment pass before continuing.)* I want you to test them. Verify whether they are truly worthy. They will enter SC's City very soon — and when they do, I want you to stand before them.
**Cypher:** *(a slight, anticipatory smile crossing his face)* After so many years… it seems there will be a real battle.
**Ancient:** Certainly.
He moved to the Shadow Stone. Carefully, with both hands, he lifted it and placed it inside a box, closing the lid over its pulsing light. As he did, he spoke without looking up.
**Ancient:** Cronos will face them first. After that — Cypher and Kali. Remember: worthiness is not measured by power alone. Observe their skill. Observe their command of Shadow Energy and how they move together as one. *(He set the box aside.)* Cronos — go to the edge of SC's City and wait. Cypher, Kali — go to the factory.
There were no questions. All three turned to leave.
At the door, Cypher paused. He looked back at Cronos.
**Cypher:** So you're going first. Give it everything. Don't hold back.
**Cronos:** *(evenly)* You don't need to concern yourself. I have spent the last four days modifying my body. It is now almost impossible to breach. I have also tested every one of my abilities.
**Cypher:** Hmm. Good preparation.
He stepped into the vehicle.
**Kali:** *(settling in beside him, a faint smile)* Best of luck, Cronos.
**Cronos:** Thank you.
The vehicle rose from the ground and moved away. Cronos stood watching it until it disappeared between the buildings. Then he turned and began walking toward the far edge of SC's City, alone.
A bird passed over his head. He glanced at it briefly — and then looked forward again, continuing on.
---
The bird flew on.
Through the dark air of Veyros Wartier it traveled, directionless, until it spotted a point of light far below and descended toward it. It settled on a tree near the light and closed its eyes. Below it, a small fire burned. Four people sat around it.
Kai. Aya. Rai. Shinsei.
The sky was closed with cloud and the air carried the smell of rain. A steady wind moved through the darkness, pressing against them, and no one was speaking. The exhaustion in their bodies was the kind that didn't show clearly — it sat beneath the skin, heavy and quiet, accumulated from everything that had come before. Then a gust moved through the camp and put out the fire.
**Kai:** Should I light it again?
**Aya:** I don't think it'll last. With the wind this strong, it'll just go out again.
No one argued. The ashes shifted in the breeze. Where the fire had been, only a dark smear remained.
Then Kai's eyes caught something.
A light. Faint but unmistakable — a strip of purple glow pushing out from the seam of Rai's bag.
**Kai:** *(frowning)* Rai. What's that light coming from your bag?
Everyone turned. Rai looked down at it, genuinely puzzled.
**Rai:** There really is something. What is that?
**Aya:** That's exactly what we're waiting for you to tell us.
**Rai:** I don't know either. Hold on—
He reached for the zipper. Before his fingers touched it, Shinsei moved. In one quick motion, he was on his feet and the bag was out of Rai's hands.
The three of them went completely still.
**Kai:** Shinsei — what's wrong?
Shinsei said nothing. He unzipped the bag and reached inside.
**Rai:** *(his voice sharpening)* Is there something of yours in there? *(A pause. No answer.)* Answer me.
A long silence. Then Shinsei let out a slow breath.
**Shinsei:** Yes.
He turned to face them. In his hands was a box — unremarkable on the outside, but from its edges, that purple light leaked out like something trying to escape. He stepped forward and opened the lid.
Purple light flooded the camp.
Inside were seven spheres, each one distinct, each one bearing a different symbol carved into its surface. A black energy moved within them — restless, shifting, as though something alive was pressing against the glass from inside. In the center of the box, a circular hole sat surrounded by the arranged spheres, empty and waiting.
**Aya:** *(unable to look away)* What are these, Shinsei?
**Shinsei:** I don't know exactly. A dying dragon gave them to me, many years ago. I've kept them carefully ever since. Before we entered the Shadow Realm, I hid them in Rai's bag. *(A pause.)* But from the moment we arrived here, they started glowing. The further we advanced, the brighter it became.
Silence from the other three.
**Shinsei:** I couldn't learn much more than that. Only that they hold a great deal of Dark Energy. And that they are very powerful.
A quiet moment passed. Then Rai shifted slightly closer to Kai and Aya, lowering his voice so only they could hear.
**Rai:** I don't trust this old man's behavior. He could land us in trouble at any moment. Stay alert.
Shinsei heard. He let it show — just for a moment — before covering it with a dry, deliberate cough.
The three of them looked back at him.
**Kai:** But why did you keep this hidden for so long?
**Shinsei:** I didn't hide it. I simply didn't show it — because there was no need. I don't like sharing unnecessary information. Because information creates curiosity. And curiosity *(a pause)* — is something that can destroy even the most powerful.
**Rai:** Can you not say anything simply?
**Shinsei:** My way of speaking and what I understand — you are not yet equipped to comprehend it. My experience far exceeds yours. I know what is good to do and what is not.
**Aya:** But won't these be useful to us?
**Shinsei:** No.
**Aya:** Then why have you kept them all these years?
**Shinsei:** What to keep and what not to keep is my own business.
**Rai:** Keep whatever you want. But why in my bag? *(After a beat.)* And I didn't even notice when you put it there. I carried it without knowing, all this time. I can't even trust myself anymore.
**Shinsei:** Good. That means all your attention was on battle, where it belongs.
**Kai:** What is the hole in the middle for?
**Shinsei:** That is the key to releasing the Dark Energy of these spheres.
Silence settled again. Kai, Aya, and Rai leaned slightly forward, examining the light moving inside each sphere. Shinsei watched them do it.
**Shinsei:** I don't think there's anything more you need to know. I'll put them away.
He was reaching for Rai's bag when Kai spoke.
**Kai:** Wait, Shinsei. The light — it actually makes the darkness easier to sit in. Leave them out for now.
Shinsei's hand paused. He didn't put the spheres away.
The night passed in the way nights do when people are too tired to sleep well and too restless to stop thinking. Hours moved by. Kai, Aya, and Rai drifted in and out of rest. But Shinsei remained sitting, awake, his eyes moving between the box and the darkness beyond the camp. Something in his face had shifted — a quiet tension underneath his usual stillness, something that had been sitting in him all evening.
Then, slowly, the sky of Veyros Wartier began to change. A thin light found its way through somewhere — not sunlight exactly, but its suggestion.
Dawn was coming.
Shinsei closed the box. He placed it back inside Rai's bag, rose quietly, stretched, and walked a few slow circles around the camp. After a while, speaking to no one at all, he said to himself:
**Shinsei:** Finally, we have reached the end. If everything goes well — only Titan remains now. Everything has gone mostly according to plan. I hope the end will be good too.
He said it quietly, as though testing the words. Then he turned and went back.
---
He woke the others.
They rose slowly — the careful movements of people whose bodies remembered yesterday. After sitting for a while, they gathered themselves and resumed their journey. The darkness of Veyros Wartier had begun to thin at the edges. The next kingdom was close.
Shinsei walked at the back, as always. Kai, Aya, and Rai moved ahead, their voices low between them. Eventually they found the Gate — and before it, hundreds of weapons had been driven into the ground, handles up, their blades buried deep. A field of them, silent and strange, standing like a testament to every battle that had ended here.
They passed between them.
Kai inserted the key he had taken from Veyros into the Gate. It responded immediately — the doors separated, and from the gap between them, intense white light poured outward in a single overwhelming wave, flooding the entire area.
After the long darkness of Veyros Wartier, it hurt. Kai flinched, eyes watering. But underneath the sting was something that felt like relief — genuine, physical relief, the kind that settles in the chest.
They stepped through.
SC's City greeted them all at once. Metallic paths stretched in every direction. Buildings of glass and steel rose on all sides, modern and clean and completely silent. Not a single living being was visible anywhere — only the city itself, still and perfect as a painting, with the occasional Shadow bird crossing the sky far above.
Their footsteps produced unfamiliar sounds on the metallic road — sharp, clean, precise echoes in the quiet.
**Aya:** The environment here is different. More beautiful than all the other kingdoms we've passed through.
**Rai:** It does look that way. But there's not a single creature here. How strange — are these buildings kept as decoration? What's the point?
**Shinsei:** It is truly unusual. In such a fitting kingdom, no sign of life. *(He paused a moment, then continued.)* But it may also be that the living beings here were moved deliberately. Gathered somewhere specific.
**Aya:** What do you mean?
**Shinsei:** *(with a quiet, unreadable smile)* It means that perhaps everyone here already knew something was coming. So they prepared — pulled back, found their positions, and are now waiting for us.
**Rai:** Hmm. There's logic in that.
**Kai:** I'm looking forward to seeing how powerful the boss here is.
**Rai:** What is there to be happy about? Whether he's powerful or not, he'll still try to kill us. And the way these bosses keep getting stronger — who knows if we'll win this time.
*(He glanced sideways at Shinsei and walked a little closer, lowering his voice into something that was almost conspiratorial.)*
**Rai:** Shinsei — suppose this boss is very powerful. Suppose we can't defeat him no matter what we try. In that case, we use Ultimate Form Stage 2. How would that be?
**Shinsei:** *(with a smile that dissolved almost instantly into severity)* Absolutely — *(and suddenly he was cold)* — terrible. You will never use Ultimate Form Stage 2 without my command. Even if it means losing.
**Rai:** That's not fair!
**Shinsei:** I will decide what is right and what is wrong.
**Kai:** *(lightly)* Don't worry, Rai. Shinsei would never let us lose. Our defeat would never be acceptable to him.
**Shinsei:** Don't try to warm me with sweet words. If you fight carelessly again, like last time — you will face the consequences. Even if that means defeat. *(A pause.)* Now stop talking. Move quickly.
Nobody argued. They moved forward, letting the silence of the city settle back around them.
Then Aya spotted it — something in the distance. A tower, rising taller than the surrounding structures. Different in shape, different in presence. Not just another building. Something about it demanded to be noticed.
Everyone's eyes found it at once.
**Aya:** We should go toward that tower.
**Kai:** Yes. That doesn't look ordinary. The boss — or the warriors here — that's where they'll be. Let's go.
They turned toward it.
---
Inside the tower, Cronos was waiting.
Before him, a monitor displayed the area outside: a field of dots and lines, with cube-shapes marking key positions along both sides of the road. He sat in the chair with the particular stillness of someone who had already done everything that needed doing. Then four red dots appeared on the display, entering the marked area.
Cronos leaned forward slightly.
**Cronos:** They've arrived. *(He studied the dots for a moment.)* Let's begin the test.
*Attack 1 — unlock.*
The roads on both sides of where Kai's group walked began to shift. Panels separated and retracted, and from the openings beneath, Robot warriors began to emerge — dozens of them, then more, filling the space in organized lines. Kai, Aya, Rai, and Shinsei stopped. Then they moved. Weapons of Shadow energy formed in their hands as a mechanical bird rose from the tower above them, its camera fixed on the scene below, feeding the image back to Cronos's monitor.
**Cronos:** *(to himself, watching)* If they are truly powerful, these will be nothing more than a warm-up. And if not — this is where their journey ends.
He pressed the earpiece.
**Cronos:** Attack.
The Robots charged.
What followed was not a battle so much as a statement. Kai moved through the formation with his Composite sword, not wasting motion, each swing deliberate, each cut landing where it needed to. Aya's lasers found the densest clusters and burned through them in long, sweeping lines. Shinsei's Fist of Harm aura glowed red as he moved between the machines, each blow detonating Robots outward in arcs of sparks and breaking metal. Rai spun both chain-linked axes in wide arcs, advancing as he went — until two arrows struck him in the shoulder.
He went still.
Then he reached up, pulled both arrows free, and threw the two axes in one smooth motion. They tore through six Robots in a line.
**Rai:** I really don't like archers. They don't have the courage to fight face-to-face.
A Robot raised a weapon at his head. Rai ducked and kicked it sideways.
**Rai:** Time for something bigger.
**Ruby Rose.**
A massive shield rose around him, shaped like a blooming rose, each petal layered over the next. Robots converged on it immediately, pressing in from all sides, hammering at its surface.
**Rai:** Explode.
The rose detonated outward. Every Robot within range was reduced to scattered metal. Rai picked up his axes from where they'd fallen and kept moving.
The last of the Robots were destroyed. The group gathered for a moment — catching breath, getting their bearings — then started forward again.
**Cronos:** *Attack 2 — unlock.*
From the tower, hundreds of drones erupted into the sky. They spread in every direction, filling the air above the group in a tight, overlapping formation before the group could react. Then the lasers started. Precision beams rained down from every angle.
Shinsei acted first. He created a Shadow sphere around all of them — a shell of dark energy that absorbed the beams and held. Inside it, the sound of the lasers hitting the shield was continuous and close.
**Aya:** *(with sharp frustration)* Not again.
Then Kai turned to her with something already forming in his expression.
**Kai:** Aya — can you teleport me above the drones?
**Aya:** Yes. But what will that accomplish?
**Kai:** You'll see. Just do it now.
She didn't question him further. She took his hand, moved, and a moment later Kai was above the entire formation — the drones below him, the sky above, everything open.
**Kai:** *(already falling)* Umbral Singularity.
He stopped falling.
He simply hung in the air, suspended, as something began to form in front of him — a single point of Shadow energy, small at first, then pulling. Everything near it felt the pull. The drones felt it. They began to drift toward the point, slowly at first, then faster, pulled from their formations and drawn inward.
Cronos saw it on the monitor and redirected every drone toward Kai. It was too late.
The point collapsed inward and became a sphere — drones and Shadow energy compressed together, feeding off each other in the confined space. When the drones fired their lasers inside it, the lasers reflected off the sphere walls and struck other drones. The mechanical bird with Cronos's camera was pulled in as well. On Cronos's monitor, for just a moment before it cut out, the feed showed the interior of the sphere: drones colliding at high speed, lasers bouncing in every direction, the entire mass consuming itself.
Then the sphere exploded.
The monitor went dark.
Cronos sat with the blank screen for a moment. Then he rose from his chair and walked calmly toward the lift.
**Cronos:** *(quietly, ascending)* Attack 3 — unlock.
---
On the ground, Shinsei pulled back his Shadow sphere. Kai landed. Broken machinery and melted metal lay scattered across the road around them.
**Aya:** We should stop advancing. Every time we move forward, we walk into another trap. Better to stand here and wait for whoever is actually behind all this.
No one disagreed. They held their positions.
From the base of the tower, a door opened. Three Robots emerged — visibly larger and more heavily built than anything before them. More deliberate in their movement. Rai looked them over.
**Rai:** It seems Robots are being built in every variety possible, just to be destroyed. I almost feel sorry for whoever made them.
The Robots crossed the distance in steady strides.
**Kai:** Let's go.
All four moved forward to meet them.
Kai went straight for the first one. The Robot swung a laser weapon at him — Kai stepped sideways and let it pass, used Shadow Step to close the gap in an instant, and brought the Composite sword down on the machine's leg. It fell. Fragments of Shadow energy darted through the air around it.
**Kai:** Shadow Sagitta.
The energy became flaming arrows and struck the fallen Robot from multiple angles, tearing it apart.
Rai moved on the second. The Robot fired continuously, and Rai moved between the beams with short, sharp adjustments — and then the chain of his axe was around the Robot's body and Rai was already moving away, the chain pulled taut. Aya appeared beside it.
She raised her plasma tonfas.
**Aya:** Shadow Laser Cut.
A straight beam bisected the Robot cleanly.
Shinsei faced the third. The Robot struck the metallic road with both hands — the surface cracked and the debris flew at Shinsei like a horizontal storm. Shinsei used Shadow Clap and the debris parted around him. When it settled, he saw the Robot drawing back for another strike. He was already moving. Fist of Extreme Pressure activated — his hand lit in blue. As the Robot struck again, Shinsei leaped and drove his fist directly into its head.
The explosion was complete. The Robot was gone.
On the rooftop, Cronos watched.
He had watched all of it — the sphere, the rose shield, the Fist techniques, the precision. And he had reached a conclusion.
**Cronos:** *(to himself)* They are exactly as expected.
He walked to the edge of the roof. With each step, Shadow energy began to form around him — not dramatically, not in a burst, but steadily, like pressure building slowly in a sealed space.
**Cronos:** Now it is my turn.
---
Below, Kai's group had regrouped after the Robots.
**Kai:** These Robots keep coming.
**Shinsei:** There is a powerful hand behind all of this. Until we remove that hand, the Robots won't stop.
**Kai:** Then what do we do?
**Shinsei:** We move quickly toward the tower and deal with the source. These Robots exist only to waste our time.
No one needed to hear it twice. They started moving.
Then Aya looked up.
At the top of the tower, something was standing. Not clearly visible yet — but unmistakably there. Not like the Robots they had been fighting. This one was different. More advanced. Shadow energy moved around it in slow, controlled currents. As they watched, it stepped off the edge of the roof, and jet thrusters on its feet ignited, carrying it down in a controlled descent.
**Aya:** Shinsei — the main obstacle is coming to us before we even reach the tower.
Kai's group spread out and took positions.
**Kai:** Everyone spread out a little. Stay ready. The moment he lands, we don't give him a breath.
They moved apart — all of them except Shinsei.
Shinsei had stopped.
As Cronos descended and became increasingly visible in the fading light, something happened to Shinsei's expression that had nothing to do with battle. His breathing changed. His stillness wasn't readiness — it was shock. Something old and unexpected moving across his face. He stared at the descending figure and the thoughts behind his eyes were moving too fast and too private to read.
**Shinsei:** *(to himself, very quietly)* It can't be. How is this possible? What is Cronos doing here?
---