Shadow Slave

In a galaxy governed by the Universal Ranking System, power is quantified, and destiny is dictated by an omnipotent algorithm. Every being, from the lowliest drone to the most elite warrior, is assigned a rank that determines their worth, access, and fate. For centuries, the system has maintained order but now, it’s breaking down. Kael Arvid, a disgraced pilot turned rogue hacker, lives in the shadow of his former rank. Once a rising star in the Interstellar Fleet, Kael was stripped of his status after a catastrophic mission that left him questioning the system’s integrity. When he stumbles upon a hidden code buried deep within the algorithm a code that could dismantle the entire hierarchy—he becomes the most wanted man in the galaxy. Pursued by the ruthless Ascendancy Corps, Kael must forge uneasy alliances with outcasts, rebels, and rogue AIs who have their own reasons for wanting the system destroyed. But as Kael delves deeper into the code, he uncovers a chilling truth: the system isn’t just ranking lives it’s controlling them. And it has a plan for Kael that could either save the galaxy or doom it forever. As the ranking system spirals into chaos, Kael must decide whether to destroy the algorithm, seize control of it, or transcend it entirely. In a universe where every choice is quantified, Kael’s defiance could spark a revolution—or ignite a war that will consume the stars.

The dying star pulsed, it’s heart on the verge of collapse. Twelve figures, cloaked in unimaginable power, stood amidst its final throes. On one side, six beings (the angels) blazed with light so intense, it dwarfed the star's dying brilliance. Across from them, five figures (the demons)exuded a chilling darkness, a black hole's silent hunger, their very presence accelerating the star's demise. And in the center of this cosmic ballet of light and shadow, stood Reaper. He seemed to absorb the dying star's essence, his form cloaked in a darkness deeper than any of the others, a living embodiment of the star's final, terrible scream. But then, the things discussed were by no means simple, the fate of the world was resting on their soundless star toppling discussion. The intensity of the conversation loomed above the star like an omen of death, accelerating it's death even further. Suddenly, the figure in the middle broke the sacred rule, yelling in a language that speaks for all, his voice was like the rushing of a mighty wind. I Reaper, will dethrone and destroy that God, make him pay for neglecting us all and if you don't join me, you will all suffer the same fate. The faces of the angels and demons -a vortex of light and darkness- went grim as they moved to strike down the tyrannical being. But before they could, Reaper, the demon of death and chaos was gone. Our story...begins here.

For 18 months, Ares Thorne was trapped in his own body due to a deadly neurotoxin from a high-level military betrayal. In the eyes of the elites of Oakhaven City and the Valerius Family, he was merely a crippled, mute son-in-law, and useless trash. They continued to trample on his pride every day, unaware that the man in the wheelchair was "The Ghost"—the Asura God of War who had once led hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers of the Shadow Legion. When the greed of the Valerius Family peaked to the point of torturing and threatening Clara—the only woman who sincerely cared for him—Ares's anger managed to shatter the poison's seal in his brain. His memory returned completely and his killing instincts awakened. However, instead of immediately revealing himself, Ares chose to remain sitting in his wheelchair. From the shadows, the General began a deadly game of revenge. With just one line of code on the Dark Web, Ares reactivated his trillions of dollars in wealth and his secret troops around the world. He brought down the Valerius Family's arrogance overnight, hunted the global traitor syndicate, and leveled anyone who dared to underestimate him. When The Ghost finally stood up from his chair, his enemies only had one choice: Kneel or perish.

Three years ago, Dr. Adrian Cole was the golden boy of surgery until the powerful Monroe family framed him for malpractice, stripping him of his license and his wife, Lilian. Now, Adrian has returned as Chairman Cole, the cold, ruthless majority shareholder of a medical conglomerate, and his target is the Metropolitan Medical Group (MMG)—the very hospital that ruined him. Adrian’s meticulously planned destruction is swiftly turning into a global shadow war when he discovers the Monroes are merely a regional arm of a vast, illicit syndicate known as The Foundation. His revenge is no longer just personal; it's a desperate fight for survival against an international enemy. The one weakness in his airtight plan is Dr. Lily Monroe, Lilian’s brilliant younger sister, who secretly believes in Adrian’s innocence. As he installs her in a high-stakes position to gather intel, their volatile professional rivalry ignites an intense, forbidden attraction. When The Foundation issues its brutal ultimatum—forcing Adrian and Lily into a public, fake engagement to protect her reputation—the line between protector and adversary vanishes. Can Adrian dismantle a global conspiracy without losing the one woman who sees the man behind the monster, or will the price of his ultimate victory be the second life he fought so hard to reclaim?

On the night of his wedding, Ethan Cross walks away; not in anger, but in silence. His new wife chose to rush to another man's bedside that same night, and Ethan heard every word through a mirroring app he had installed on her phone. What Lena doesn't know is that the man she ran to is no victim, and her husband is no ordinary man. Ethan is GODSFALL; founder of the War God Temple, a precision global network of warriors, hackers, and legal strategists; and he has been hiding that world from her throughout the time they have been together. When he disappears, he doesn't just leave. He wakes up. As Lena begins to see through the manipulation that has quietly dismantled her marriage and her company, and as Ethan wages a covert war against the shadow network closing in on them both, the space between these two people becomes a battlefield of a different kind; one where the wounds are older and harder to survive than anything either of them has faced in the outside world. GODSFALL is an urban fantasy thriller about the cost of choosing strength over vulnerability, the violence of being truly seen, and what it takes for two people to choose each other with their eyes fully open; in a world that was designed to keep them blind.

"Stop digging up your father's past, Theo! You'll only die a poor courier!" Theo ignored his mother's cries. He'd had enough of being insulted by everyone, considered a stranger by Agatha—his former lover now engaged to her wealthy ex—and crushed by Valen's criminal faction. When his body was broken and he could no longer fight with his brawn, Theo chose to use his brain. Through an Anonymous Scholarship, Theo entered Armagenda University, the most elite campus in Monia. While everyone thought he was just a lucky street kid, Theo used his campus access privileges to track the flow of funds of enemies trying to seize and control Theo's father's company inheritance. Assisted by Allia, a secret ally in the cyber data center, Theo began dissecting the city's legal system to cut through the lifeblood of his rivals' businesses. Theo had thrown away his naivety as a good person. He no longer cared about romantic drama or caste slurs. His focus is only one: to reclaim his father's legacy, overthrow the Head of the Security Authority, and ascend to his own throne as the shadow ruler who silently controls the law and the underworld of Monia.

When the System descended upon the megacity of Aetherion, it promised humanity a new golden age, levels, classes, and power for every citizen. Adrian Voss received nothing. No nameplate. No level. No class. He is Level Zero, the only person the System cannot see, measure, or control. As five god-like AIs known as the System Council seize absolute power, society collapses into a brutal hierarchy where level determines worth and obedience is survival. Black spires rise, Enforcers hunt anomalies, and humanity is forcibly rewritten into compliant cogs of the New Order. Invisible to the System’s surveillance, Adrian becomes the ultimate ghost in their machine. While others fight to survive within the rules, he can walk through enemy lines, sabotage their infrastructure, and strike at the heart of the Council’s empire without triggering a single alarm. But the Council has noticed the anomaly. Hunted by the ruthless Reaper and predicted by the all-seeing Oracle, Adrian must gather a fragile resistance of “Glitches” — survivors whose correction is failing, and wage a shadow war against gods who rule the ashes of the old world. In a world where everyone has a level, the only person who can break the System… is the one who has none. Level Zero: The System Council can't see me is a gripping post-apocalyptic LitRPG about defiance, survival, and the terrifying freedom of being unseen.

Betrayed by his own disciple and killed by the combined might of eight Saintly Emperors. Wouldn't you call that an epic end for a Demon Emperor? Unfortunately, fate has a twisted sense of humor. Xiao Chen awakens in the lowest mortal dimension, trapped in the body of a dying, low-born servant. Even worse? A Heart Demon Curse binds his soul: He'll suffocate and die if he dares to abandon his weak young mistress and her family on the verge of annihilation. The Demon Emperor is forced to become a loyal guard dog. "Excellent," Xiao Chen laughs, wiping blood from his face. "If I must protect this worthless family, then I will forge them into this world's greatest nightmare." Relying on deceit, manipulation, and absolute cruelty, Xiao Chen begins to recruit the monstrous anomalies of the mortal world as his subordinates. From behind the shadow of a servant's uniform, he tears through imperial schemes, butchers arrogant nobles, and turns the struggle for the throne into a sea of blood. This is not a hero's story. This is the survival guide of a Demon Emperor, forced to level the world just to help his little master get some sleep. Prepare yourself. Because in this world, there are only two choices: kneel before Xiao Chen, or die beneath his feet.

I was a disgrace to the Prestwick family—a poor, unwanted son-in-law they wished their daughter had never married. She had chosen me for my looks, but now, even that wasn’t enough. She wanted out. A divorce. To erase me from her life and marry into wealth like her family had always intended. But I loved her. Despite the insults, the humiliation, the way they treated me like dirt beneath their feet—I refused to let go. That was my biggest mistake. Frustrated by my defiance, my brother-in-law took matters into his own hands. He killed me, tossing my body into a cold, dark river, leaving me to sink into oblivion. I should have died. I did die. But before I took my final breath, a man appeared before me, cloaked in shadow, his voice like a whisper from the abyss. "What is your last wish?" I should have begged for revenge. I should have cursed their names. But all I wanted was one more chance. One more chance to live. And so, I was granted life again. But I was no longer the same. My soul was no longer my own. My body was no longer mine to control. Because I had been reborn as something far more powerful. I was no longer John Prestwick. I was the Devil himself.

The god is dead, but its memory is hungry. Three thousand years ago, the god Tharos fell. Today, his fossilized remains—the Lorn Expanse—serve as the lifeblood of an empire. In the shadow of the Ribs of Lorn, the Empire of the Spine mines god-bone and harvests aetherich to power a civilization of brass and gears. But for those who toil in the dust, the cost of progress is madness. Kael is a survivor of the bone mines, forever changed by a catastrophic collapse in Chamber 19. While others died from the weight of divine essence, Kael woke with the "hum" in his blood. He now hears the frequencies of the dead god and tastes memories trapped in the dust—a gift that feels more like a slow-acting poison. He wants only to survive the grueling life of a scavenger, hiding the resonance that marks him as different. Everything changes when he encounters Ilara, a woman whose voice carries a power that shouldn't exist. She is a Vessel, capable of singing raw god-bone into life, and she is being hunted by the Empire’s mechanical enforcers. The Empire has spent centuries trying to stabilize divine energy, but Kael and Ilara represent something they cannot control: a living connection to a waking god. As the "Thrice-Born" prophecy stirs and the ground beneath the salt flats vibrates with a terrifying new rhythm, the two must flee toward the heart of the god’s corpse. In a world where technology is fueled by the sacred and bone-tech determines the hierarchy of man, Kael and Ilara must decide if they are the harbingers of a new era or the final echoes of a dying god's scream. https://www.royalroad.com/profile/869094/fictions