The Shadow Sovereign: Level Up from the Dirt

Escaping the Cloud City

The red lightning coming out of Kemi’s eyes burned the skin of my arms, but I did not let her go.

Alarms began to ring loudly inside the Vanguard Premier Hospital. The high concrete walls of the Island were built to keep the poor people out, but right now, those walls were the only things keeping us trapped inside a death trap. Heavy footsteps echoed from the metal doors at the end of the alley. More guild guards were coming.

"Zane, put me down and pick up the silver gun," Kemi said. Her voice did not sound like a fourteen-year-old girl anymore. It was deep, clear, and perfectly steady. "The hospital security system just sent a level-four alert to the main gate. We have exactly four minutes before the elite hunters lock down the entire bridge."

I stood up, adjusting my grip on the silver pistol I took from the dead guard. I looked at the two tall, smoking figures made of pure black mist standing in the mud. Their blue eyes glowed brightly, waiting for my command.

"What do we do with them?" I asked, my chest breathing hard.

"They are your shadows now," Kemi said, leaning against the brick wall. Her pale face looked completely calm despite the red energy sparking under her skin. "They have the exact memories of the guards Femi hired. Order them to lead us through the underground laundry tunnels. The regular security paths are already blocked."

I turned to the two black figures. "Lead us to the laundry tunnels. Keep us hidden."

"Yes, Master," the two shadows said.

They turned around and ran toward a small iron hatch in the ground that I had not even noticed before. One of the shadows lifted the heavy iron cover with its bare hands, showing a dark ladder leading down into the basement.

I picked Kemi up in my arms. She felt lighter than before, but the heat coming from her chest was real. As I carried her down the ladder, the blue digital screen flashed in front of my face again.

Mana Level: 120 / 150.

Active Summons: 2 / 5.

Warning: Maintaining shadows drains 1 point of mana every minute.

The basement was filled with giant metal pipes and baskets of dirty hospital sheets. The smell of bleach was very strong. Our two shadow soldiers walked ahead of us, their dark smoke bodies moving silently through the corridors.

"How do you know about this path, Kemi?" I asked, keeping my footsteps quiet.

"When Ifunanya first called us, I did not just check the doctor's name," Kemi said, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I hacked the hospital's architectural blueprints. The Island elites think poor people are too stupid to understand their technology. They never change their digital security codes because they believe their concrete walls make them safe. I used their own arrogance against them."

I felt a chill go down my back. My little sister had planned for a betrayal before we even left our shack. She did not trust the rich citizens at all. She only came here to see if the cure was real.

Suddenly, one of our shadow soldiers stopped at a corner. It raised its dark hand, signaling us to wait.

"Two guards ahead," the shadow said, its voice sounding like wind inside a pipe. "They are carrying high-grade shock rifles. Master, should we eliminate them?"

Before I could answer, Kemi pressed the plastic earpiece closer to my ear. "No. If you shoot them, the main system will log the energy spike. Tell the shadows to walk past them normally. The guards will think their teammates are just returning from the alley."

"Can they do that?" I muttered. "They look like black smoke."

"Try it," Kemi said. "The system tracks physical weight and ID chips. The shadows still carry the dead guards' digital chips inside their smoke bodies."

I looked at the first shadow. "Walk past the guards. Do not let them see your faces clearly. Just distract them."

The two shadow soldiers stepped around the corner. They walked with the exact same heavy, arrogant stride they had when they were alive.

"Hey, Kola," a voice called out from the hallway. "Did you dump the trash? The Chairman wants us back on the top floor."

The shadow soldier named Kola did not speak. Instead, it nodded its head very slowly and kept walking straight toward the two guards.

"Wait a minute," the guard said, his voice changing. "Why are you walking so stiffly? And what is that smell?"

The shadow did not answer. It walked right up to the guard, grabbed the man's throat with both hands, and slammed his head hard against the concrete wall. The second guard tried to lift his rifle, but the other shadow lunged forward, driving a smoky fist into his stomach.

"Zane, run past them now!" Kemi said.

I bolted down the hallway, holding Kemi tightly against my chest. The two guards were already on the floor, their faces turning blue as my shadows choked them out. We ran toward the end of the tunnel, where a large metal pipe led outward toward the muddy banks of the lagoon.

We crawled through the pipe, the wet dirt ruining my shirt. When we finally emerged, the cool night air of the Mainland hit my face. Across the black water of the lagoon, the giant glass skyscrapers of the Island shone like gold diamonds. They looked so beautiful, but now I knew the rot that lived inside them.

We were back in the slums. The mud here was familiar, but everything had changed.

I set Kemi down against a broken wooden crate near the water. My arms were shaking from the effort. The blue screen popped up again, showing my mana dropping to 90.

"We are safe for now," I gasped, leaning against the crate.

"We are not safe," Kemi said. She pointed her small finger toward the big screen on top of the border wall across the water.

The screen usually showed ads for expensive Island cars. Now, my face and Kemi’s face were plastered across the digital display in bright red letters.

Wanted: Zane Balogun and Kemi Balogun.

Crimes: Guild Treason and Theft of Core Property.

Reward: 100,000 Nexus Credits. Dead or Alive.

"Femi will burn the entire Mainland to find us," I said, my teeth grinding together.

"Let him try," Kemi said, a dark smile appearing on her pale face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, glowing red drive. "Before the machine killed me, I copied the main frequency of the Vanguard Guild's private vault. Zane, we are going to take everything they own."

Before I could respond, a cold mechanical voice echoed from the dark water behind us. A metal boat with glowing red headlights emerged from the mist. Three men in heavy black armor stood on the deck, their rifles aimed directly at our heads.