SHADOW KING'S RETURN

Chapter 5

"RRAAAWWWWRRR!"

A deafening roar exploded across the night sky, shaking the air and reverberating deep into the ground. The sound was so dense and heavy that it could shatter skyscraper windows, scattering them into thousands of sharp shards.

On Arcadia City's main streets, thousands of people scrambled in panic, rushing out of buildings that shook violently. The clatter of footsteps colliding, screams of terror, and the sound of heavy objects crashing filled the air.

"Run! Quick, run to an open area!" a man shouted, clutching his child tightly.

"What's happening up there?!" The sky...the sky is tearing apart!" screamed a woman, pointing toward the clouds.

People looked up, their faces as pale as paper. Above them, a gigantic black crack forcibly split the night sky. From that wide, gaping void, a giant arm covered in gleaming black scales slowly emerged. Its sharp, thick claws dug into the edge of the sky as if grasping the fabric of night to widen the entrance.

Within seconds, Arcadia’s entire power grid went dark. Streetlights went out instantly, and giant billboards lost their glow. Pitch-black darkness swept over every corner of the city. An unnaturally cold chill spread rapidly, freezing people's breath as they ran.

In the city center, the Hunter Association headquarters was filled with a suffocating commotion. Red emergency lights flashed rapidly throughout the control room.

"Energy anomaly report!" a female officer shouted, her hands trembling over the keyboard. "Wave levels are off the charts! All sensors in the Eastern District have failed!"

"Activate the emergency barricades immediately!" the field commander ordered in a loud voice. "Look at the monitor screens!"

Across all the main screens at headquarters, large, glowing red text flashed incessantly:

WARNING!

SSS-Level Disaster Detected."

Meanwhile, deep within the basement of the Obsidian Building, violent tremors continued to pound the cracked stone walls. Thick dust and concrete fragments rained down ceaselessly from the ceiling, covering Kai’s shoulders and hair.

He coughed softly and brushed the dust from his face with the back of his trembling hand. His chest felt tight as the cold air constricted his lungs more and more.

Darius stood tall directly in front of Kai. He planted his feet deeper into the stone floor and gripped the hilt of his giant sword with both hands until the hinges of his iron armor clanged loudly amid the roar.

"Your Majesty," Darius whispered in a low, tense voice. "This place is about to collapse. We must leave immediately."

However, the man in the black robe from the Eclipse faction laughed smugly amidst the billowing dust. His shrill laughter echoed off the ancient, crumbling walls. He spread his arms wide, as if dancing beneath the shower of debris.

"Leave?" the man exclaimed, glancing back and forth between Darius and Kai. "Where do you think you're running to?!"

He widened his terrifying grin. "It's too late! The Shadow Gate has opened wide! Soon, this boring world will be ours again!"

Kai held his breath, tightening his grip on his dirty jacket. "What exactly do you want?" Kai asked in a hoarse voice. "Why do you have to destroy this city and target my soul?"

The man in the black cloak slowly lowered his hand. The fiery red glow in his eyes shone intensely in the darkness.

"We never intended to cause destruction," the man replied softly, taking a step closer to Kai. "We're merely tearing apart the false order created by these weak humans."

“But you said you betrayed your king!” Kai interrupted, trying to look his enemy straight in the eye, though his knees still felt weak. "You said you were the ones who overthrew him ten years ago!"

The man smiled faintly and shook his head slowly. “We never betrayed the Shadow King. We simply chose to side with whoever held the highest seat of power.”

He took a deep breath, savoring the growing chill in the air. "The Demon Emperor will return soon. This time, not a single human, hunter, or king will be able to stop him.”

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound rang out directly beneath their feet.

The stone floor of the dungeon cracked, forming deep black fissures. From within those fissures, dozens of formless black fingers crept out. Those shadowy fingers moved as swiftly as wild tree roots.

However, they weren’t directed at Kai or Darius. Instead, they tightly wrapped around the ankles of the Eclipse man.

"What?!"

The smug grin on the man in the black robe vanished instantly. His eyes widened as he watched the coiling black shadow begin to creep upward and wrap around his calves and waist.

“No! Let me go!” he screamed in panic. He swung his arms, trying to summon black energy to sever the coils, but his energy was completely drained by those ethereal fingers instead. “I’m not done yet! I haven’t taken the Shadow Core from his body!”

The black mist swirled more violently around the room, creating a cold whirlwind that made Kai’s clothes flap wildly. An ancient voice distant, trembling, and soul-crushing crossed the dimensional rift and echoed directly inside all their heads.

"Bring...the Shadow King...alive..."

The voice was so heavy that it made Kai stagger. He clutched his head, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by dizziness.

Hearing that sacred whisper, the Eclipse man’s entire body froze instantly. The panic on his face turned into deep, pure terror. Ignoring his body sinking further into the crack in the floor, he dropped to his knees suddenly, bowing his head so low that his forehead touched the concrete.

"Order received," the man whispered, his voice trembling and his breath ragged.

In the blink of an eye, those black fingers pulled Eclipse’s body into the crack in the ground with force. His body softened and turned into a cloud of thick mist. Then, it vanished, swallowed by the darkness, leaving not a single thread of cloth behind.

The tremors in the room suddenly stopped. The crack in the floor slowly closed, leaving behind a suffocating silence. Only the sound of Kai’s heavy, ragged breathing remained in the darkness.

Kai stood frozen in place. He stared at the stone floor, now smooth again, his brow deeply furrowed.

“Who…” Kai whispered softly, turning toward Darius with eyes full of questions. “Who was that figure who just spoke?”

Darius didn’t answer right away. His hand was still clenched tightly around the hilt of the massive sword before him. His red eyes stared straight up at the sky through the huge hole in the building’s shattered roof.

“Darius?” Kai called again, shifting his feet closer. “Do you know whose voice that was?”

Darius took a deep breath. The sound of his armor’s hinges creaking was tense. "That aura...it definitely doesn't belong to the Demon Emperor."

Kai frowned in confusion. “Not the Demon Emperor? But that man said...”

"That man is just a pawn who knows nothing," Darius cut in quickly, his voice growing heavier. "The aura that just passed through the gate is too ancient. Too dark."

Darius turned his head slightly and gazed at Kai from behind the slit in his iron helmet. "There's still someone lurking in that darkness. Someone far more powerful who is controlling the course of this destiny from the shadows.”

Before Kai could process his subordinate’s words, a floating shadow appeared in front of his face. The transparent black screen flickered rapidly, outlined in blood-red borders.

The emergency mission begins.

The first Shadow Gate has opened completely.

Objective: Close the main gate before the invading forces cross the world’s border.

Reward: Shadow Core synchronization increases by +10%.

Failure Warning: The city of Arcadia and all its inhabitants will be annihilated.

Kai’s eyes widened. He read the text line by line, his heart pounding.

"One city..." Kai whispered, his voice caught in his throat. "...will be completely destroyed?"

His dust-covered fingers clenched tightly at his side. Images of the people who used to greet him on the street, the mother who ran his favorite food stall, and the noisy, lively atmosphere of the city flashed rapidly through his mind.

"I'm just a street courier..." Kai muttered, staring at the screen with bated breath. "How can something like this be placed on my shoulders?"

Before he could finish wrestling with his inner turmoil, a massive explosion erupted from the city center.

The boom was so powerful that it shook the air throughout Arcadia. From a distance, high-rise buildings could be seen collapsing one by one like wooden toys struck by a heavy weight. Thick smoke and flames soared high into the sky, mingling with the increasingly dense black fog.

Faintly, the screams of tens of thousands of people could be heard from afar, echoing with the increasingly erratic wail of sirens.

High above Arcadia, the massive, black-scaled figure that had been trying to break through the gate had extricated its entire body. The colossal monster stood towering over the city’s ruins, its back turned to the fading moon. Its two eyes glowed bright red as it swept the landscape below with deep hatred.

The monster slowly raised its head, then opened its enormous mouth wide. A row of thick, sharp teeth was clearly visible, exhaling the putrid stench of ancient carrion that instantly poisoned the city’s air.

It turned its head slowly, until its giant red eyes locked directly onto the ruins of the Obsidian Building where Kai was standing.

Then, a deep, trembling voice, filled with thirst, poured out of the giant’s throat, cutting through the city’s clamor and echoing directly in Kai’s chest:

“I smell my King…”