| Chapter Three –
Kingdom of Shadows
A tall, silent gate marked the entrance of the Kingdom of Shadows…
until the very air itself began to rot and suffocate.
A presence descended—
heavy, suffocating, inhuman.
The guards froze in their tracks.
Their instincts screamed before their minds could comprehend.
Then—
Blood splattered across the stone.
Shura moved.
Not with rage, not with haste, but with absolute certainty.
Bone blades flashed once—
and bodies fell like discarded puppets.
No screams. No mercy.
One soldier, still breathing, crawled backward, eyes wide with primal terror.
"W-What… is this entity…?"
His voice faded with his life.
From the depths of the citadel, she emerged.
The Knight Commander, second only to the king.
Her armor shimmered with dark enchantments as she walked calmly, unfazed by the massacre around her.
"I knew this day would come…" she said, gripping her blade tighter.
"Vessel of the Serpent."
Shura's eyes met hers—
empty. Merciless.
The battle erupted.
She unleashed everything—
speed, technique, skill refined by decades of war.
Steel clashed.
Shadows twisted.
Yet Shura barely moved.
He slipped through her attacks as if time itself slowed for
One step. One motion. One strike.
Her body collapsed before her mind could accept death.
"No value," Shura said coldly, looking down at her lifeless form.
"To those who stand between me and my goal."
The ground trembled.
Darkness surged.
From the heart of the palace, the King of Shadows appeared.
Living shadows coiled around him like sentient beasts.
"So…" the king spoke, his voice echoing unnaturally.
"You have finally arrived, Vessel."
Without warning—
Shura's aura exploded.
A monstrous pressure crushed the air as he vanished and reappeared before the king, striking with savage force.
The king barely blocked, skidding backward, his arm trembling.
"So it's true…" he muttered.
"You are no ordinary enemy."
The king retaliated.
Blades of shadow. Black vortices. Clawing darkness tearing through the battlefield.
Each collision sent shockwaves through the kingdom.
Stone shattered. The sky cracked with echoes of destruction.
Then—
The sun vanished.
A total eclipse swallowed the land.
The king laughed.
"Now… my power has reached its peak."
Shadow against serpent.
Darkness against the hiss of death itself.
Explosions tore through the heavens.
The ground split open.
And slowly—
the king began to fall.
"No… this is impossible!"
Shura pierced straight through him.
The king collapsed.
Still alive.
Shura knelt, gripping something warm and pulsing.
The king's heart.
"The gates of hell were opened by my hands…"
Shura said, his voice devoid of emotion.
"And they will not close until you all become ashes."
The heart was crushed.
The Kingdom of Shadows burned.
Castles collapsed. Streets drowned in fire and blood.
Shura stood at the center of the annihilation, his body dripping crimson.
"More souls…" he whispered.
"For more power."
This was not a battle.
It was extermination.
He walked over the ruins, stepping on broken crowns and shattered lives.
Within him, the Serpent whispered:
"We will not stop… until the five kingdoms are erased."
Shura gazed toward the distant horizon.
"Wait for me…" he said softly.
"The beheading has begun."
"The five kingdoms tremble… and destruction still awaits."