The shadow beneath Nyxaroth's feet exploded.
Not outward.
Inward.
As though reality itself had been swallowed by an endless abyss.
Darkness consumed everything.
The sky vanished.
The world vanished.
Even my senses vanished.
For a single moment, I existed within absolute nothingness.
Then—
My vision returned.
And every instinct in my body erupted.
Danger!
Danger!
Danger!
Blue lightning exploded around me.
Crackling arcs of electricity danced wildly across my body as every muscle tightened.
The hairs on my neck stood upright.
My pupils contracted.
My heartbeat accelerated.
Every survival instinct I possessed screamed at me to leave.
To run.
To escape.
A translucent blue screen suddenly appeared before my eyes.
«Welcome to the Shadow Realm.»
The moment those words appeared, information flooded my mind.
Not enough to understand everything.
Just enough to understand how terrifying this place truly was.
The Shadow Realm.
The personal domain of Elder God Nyxaroth.
A realm forged from fragments of his soul.
A realm born from shadow.
A realm born from death.
A realm that hated the living.
The blue screen disappeared almost instantly.
Leaving me alone with a feeling that made my blood run cold.
Something was watching me.
Not one thing.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Perhaps more.
I slowly lifted my head.
And froze.
I stood atop a mountain.
A massive black mountain whose peak appeared unnaturally flat.
As though some unimaginable force had sliced the top cleanly away.
The world stretched endlessly around me.
Black mountains.
Black forests.
Black rivers.
Black skies.
Everything was black.
Not dark.
Black.
As though color itself had been erased from existence.
The only source of illumination came from faint silver stars floating high above.
Yet even they appeared wrong.
Like eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
Judging.
Far above me floated a circular platform.
Roughly one hundred meters wide.
White marble covered its surface.
Though shadow energy had stained portions of it dark gray.
Standing upon the platform were two familiar figures.
Nyxaroth.
And my father.
Both looked down at me.
One calm.
One amused.
Nyxaroth's feral grin widened.
His purple eyes gleamed.
Then his voice echoed throughout the realm.
Run.
The single word shook the heavens.
Run.
Run.
Run.
Run.
The command echoed endlessly.
Like reality itself was repeating his words.
A cold smile appeared on Nyxaroth's face.
"You have ten seconds."
Silence followed.
Then—
The mountain beneath me trembled.
My instincts exploded.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
I turned around.
And saw them.
Eyes.
Thousands of eyes.
Glowing white within endless darkness.
My breathing slowed.
Not from calmness.
From instinct.
A predator preparing to hunt.
The eyes continued multiplying.
Thousands became tens of thousands.
Tens of thousands became hundreds of thousands.
An endless ocean of glowing eyes stretched across the valleys below.
Then shadows began emerging.
Dragons.
Humans.
Beasts.
Giants.
Warriors.
Creatures I couldn't even identify.
All made entirely from shadow.
All staring directly at me.
Waiting.
Watching.
Hungry.
The information forced into my mind earlier surfaced once more.
Shadow Soldiers.
The warriors of the Shadow Realm.
Souls of defeated enemies.
Souls of the dead.
Converted into immortal soldiers.
They could not tire.
Could not age.
Could not fear.
Could not die.
Even if destroyed, they would simply reform.
Again.
And again.
And again.
An endless army.
A nightmare battlefield.
The ten-second countdown had already begun.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
The shadow army started moving.
At first it was slow.
Then faster.
Then faster still.
An ocean of darkness surged toward me.
The earth shook beneath their charge.
Mountains trembled.
Valleys cracked.
The sheer number of bodies transformed the landscape into a moving tide of death.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
My instincts screamed at me to run.
My logic told me to run.
Every sensible thought I possessed told me to run.
Far above.
Nyxaroth watched me with amusement.
My father looked worried.
Very worried.
A normal person would run.
A genius would run.
A prodigy would run.
Even most gods would run.
Because survival was the objective.
Yet...
Something stirred deep within my soul.
Something ancient.
Something proud.
Something furious.
A voice echoed from somewhere deep inside me.
Perhaps it was my Beast.
Perhaps it was the Nameless Sovereign.
Perhaps it was simply me.
But its message was clear.
Run?
The voice sounded amused.
Run from what?
The army continued charging.
Four.
Three.
The pressure intensified.
Yet the voice only laughed.
This Sovereign does not run from ants.
A smile slowly appeared on my face.
Predatory.
Savage.
Wild.
My heartbeat steadied.
Fear vanished.
Excitement replaced it.
The charging army saw prey.
I saw food.
I saw experience.
I saw challenge.
Most importantly—
I saw enemies.
Two.
One.
The countdown ended.
The world held its breath.
The endless army charged.
And I stepped forward.
A single step.
The mountain beneath my foot cracked.
A grin spread across my face.
Then I lowered my stance.
Like a beast preparing to pounce.
Blue lightning exploded around me.
The sky shook.
The mountains trembled.
The army roared.
And for the first time since entering the Shadow Realm—
I roared back.
The battle was about to begin.