**THE KING OF SHADOWS — CHAPTER 1: "THE LAST GUARDIAN"**
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[System]: User: Dain Suyo. Rank: S1 — Torch of the End. Shadow Ally: "Bear of the Final Guard". Location: Umbral Dimension — Level 7. Mission: Contain Darckholl. Survival Probability: 12%.
The Umbral Dimension had no sky.
No ground.
Only darkness writhing like starving serpents, and screams that came not from throats, but from shattered memories.
Dain Suyo advanced.
His armor, cracked at the side. His breath, ragged. His shadow ally — a bear with black fur and glowing ember eyes — limped beside him, one leg shattered from a prior assault.
Before him, at the heart of the void, stood Darckholl.
Not a woman.
A man. Tall. Lean. Clad in armor forged from solidified shadows, as if he wore the night itself. His face was sharp, eyes devoid of whites — only absolute blackness — and a smile that never reached those hollow depths.
— "Dain Suyo. The Wall of the Night. The only one who has endured three assaults against me."
Dain didn't answer. He only tightened his grip on his axe — a weapon forged from the essence of a hundred defeated shadows.
Darckholl took a step.
The ground — if it could be called ground — cracked beneath his feet.
— "Your shadow is broken. Your body, exhausted. Your mission, impossible. Why do you still stand?"
Dain spat blood. Black. Thick.
— "Because I have a son. And as long as I breathe… he will live in a world where you do not rule."
Darckholl laughed. A dry sound, like breaking bones.
— "A child. Is that what gives you strength? Pathetic."
He moved.
No warning. No flash. Just a tear in the air — and suddenly, Darckholl was in front of Dain, his shadow-wreathed fist punching through the hunter's shoulder.
Dain screamed. Fell to his knees.
His shadow ally roared, lunging at Darckholl — but the shadow-lord only raised a hand.
A mantle of darkness wrapped around the bear.
Crushed it.
Disintegrated it.
— "Your shadow was strong. But it's gone. What's left of you, Dain? A man… or a corpse that doesn't yet know it's dead?"
Dain stood.
Shoulder shattered. Ribs broken. Vision blurred.
But standing.
— "What's left… is this."
He activated his final ability.
**"Last Guard — Blood Sacrifice."**
His body lit up with black runes. His skin cracked, releasing vapor of pure shadow. His heart beat once… twice… three times… then stopped.
Darckholl frowned.
— "What are you doing?"
— "What no one else would… for my son."
Dain charged.
Not with speed. With resolve.
With every step, his body disintegrated.
With every breath, his life burned away.
Darckholl stepped back.
— "Stop!"
Too late.
Dain embraced him.
And exploded.
Not fire. Not light.
Pure darkness. A black sphere that devoured everything: air, ground, time.
Darckholl screamed — a cry that echoed across a thousand dimensions — as his armor cracked, his flesh tore, his essence was sealed.
When the explosion faded…
Only silence remained.
And a layer of ash floating in the void.
**[System]: User: Dain Suyo. Status: DECEASED.**
**[Entity: Darckholl. Status: TEMPORAL SEAL ACTIVATED — Duration: 15 years.]**
**[Mission: SUCCESS.]**
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Rain fell over Lumen City.
Cold. Relentless. As if the sky knew what was coming.
Amara Suyo opened the door.
She held Kikoshin in her arms — just a baby, sleeping against her chest.
— "Yes? How can I help you?"
Two men.
Black suits. Expressionless faces. Eyes that never blinked.
One extended an envelope.
— "We regret to inform you that your husband, Dain Suyo, died in an accident at the northern government facilities."
Amara blinked.
— "Accident? He… he told me he worked in an office. That he was an accountant."
The second man placed a metal briefcase on the floor.
— "Government compensation. Five million credits. For you… and your son."
Amara looked at the case. Then at the man. Then at her child.
— "Will Kikoshin… know? Will he ever… know who his father was?"
— "Unnecessary. He's just a baby. He won't remember."
They closed the door.
Walked away into the rain.
As if they had never been there.
Amara slid down the wall until she sat on the floor.
Held her son close.
And cried.
Silently.
No screams. No wails. Only tears soaking her baby's hair.
In the crib, Kikoshin slept.
Unaware.
Innocent.
Not knowing his father had died… to save a world that would never call him a hero.
---
The apartment smelled of stale smoke and cheap alcohol.
Kikoshin woke to a yank on his arm.
Vorlan Kreth dragged him out of bed.
— "Get up, useless. You're cleaning the bathroom today. And if you do it wrong, no dinner."
Kikoshin didn't cry. Didn't scream. He only stood, barefoot on the freezing floor.
In the kitchen, his mother cooked.
Bruises on her arms. Swollen eyes. A smile that didn't reach them.
— "Good morning, Kiko. Today… rice and egg."
Vorlan snatched the plate from her hands.
— "Me first. Then… if there's anything left, the brat."
Kikoshin sat on the floor, back against the wall.
Looked out the window.
Saw other children playing. Running. Laughing.
He had no laughter. No games. Only silence… and hunger.
That night, while Vorlan snored drunk on the couch, Amara approached Kikoshin's bed.
She sang to him. The same song his father used to sing.
> "Sleep now, child of shadow and light…
> though the world be cruel,
> you will be strong… like your father."
Kikoshin closed his eyes.
And dreamed.
Of a tall man. In armor. With a smile that lit up the darkness.
He didn't know who he was.
But in the dream… he called him "father."
---
The restaurant "The Broken Moon" smelled of burnt grease and old sweat.
Kikoshin wiped tables.
Fifteen years old. Cracked hands. Back bent under the weight of trays heavier than his future.
Customers ignored him. Bosses yelled at him. Cooks threw him bones… "so he wouldn't starve."
He picked them up.
Wrapped them in newspaper.
Stored them in his pocket.
For his mother.
— "Hey, Void — the head cook shouted — stealing food again?"
Kikoshin didn't answer. He just kept cleaning.
His shift ended at 10 p.m.
He received his pay: 800 credits.
Minus 200 for "breaking a glass."
(He didn't break it. The boss threw it… on purpose.)
He walked three kilometers home.
Stomach empty.
Feet bleeding inside his broken shoes.
A bag of bones and cold rice in his hand.
When he entered…
Vorlan was drunk.
Amara, on the floor.
One eye swollen. Mouth bleeding.
— "Where were you, brat? Your mother can't cook if I beat her!"
Kikoshin set the food on the table.
Helped his mother up.
Led her to her room.
Cleaned her wound with a wet rag.
Sang the song.
She cried.
— "I'm sorry, Kiko… I can't protect you."
He hugged her.
— "I'll protect you, Mom."
That night, while Vorlan snored, Kikoshin sat on the balcony.
Looked at the moon.
And for the first time… he saw something impossible.
The shadow of a man… on the wall.
It didn't move like the others.
It moved… as if it were alive.
He blinked.
The shadow vanished.
But a voice… whispered in his mind:
> "You're not alone, my son."
---
Two men waited for him behind the restaurant.
Same black suits. Same cold eyes. Same emotionless voices.
— "Kikoshin Suyo. Son of Dain Suyo. The Wall of the Night."
Kikoshin didn't step back.
— "What do you want?"
The first man held out a tablet.
Showed a photo.
A man in armor. With an axe. With a smile Kikoshin recognized… from his dreams.
— "Your father didn't die in an accident. He died fighting a shadow that wanted to destroy this world. And he stopped it… with his life."
Kikoshin stared at the photo.
His chest tightened.
His hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From rage. From pain. From something he couldn't name.
— "Why tell me this now?"
— "Because you've started seeing them, haven't you? The shadows… that move on their own."
Kikoshin didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The second man placed an envelope on the ground.
— "Inside is everything about your father. And an offer. Join us. We'll pay you better than this dump. And we'll teach you… how to use what you inherited."
— "What did I inherit?"
— "What no shadow can touch… and no human can control."
They left.
Like ghosts.
Like always.
Kikoshin opened the envelope.
Photos. Recordings. Insignias.
And a note:
> "Your father was a hero. You… could be a king."
He looked up.
The moon was covered by clouds.
But on the wall…
his shadow was still missing.
Only him.
Standing.
Alone.
---
The hospital smelled of antiseptic and desperation.
— "Mrs. Suyo… without the Moonblack Elixir, you won't last six months."
Kikoshin clenched his fists.
— "How much does it cost?"
— "Five million credits."
Vorlan laughed in the waiting room.
— "Spend that on her? Let her die. She's useless now."
Kikoshin said nothing.
He only walked home.
To his room.
To the envelope they gave him.
He opened it.
Took out the number.
Dialed it.
A voice answered on the first ring.
— "Order of the Hidden Lamp. Speak."
— "I accept. Give me the money. I'll do whatever it takes."
Silence.
Then…
— "Welcome, Broken Lantern. Prepare. Your first mission… will come soon."
He hung up.
Looked out the window.
His mother slept in the hospital.
Pale. Fragile.
Alive.
And on the wall…
his shadow was still gone.
But this time…
he didn't care.
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