"First, all of you must understand who these Shadows truly are… and how they came into existence."
Long ago, the world existed in perfect balance between light and darkness.
Guarding that fragile balance was a hidden race known as the Shadow Beings—mysterious entities born from the essence of the void itself.
But everything changed after a great betrayal.
From the ruins of that ancient race arose the beings now feared as the Shadow Kings.
They were no longer human.
They had become living shadows.
Darkness, fear, memories, and souls themselves became the source of their power.
The Birth of the Shadow Kings
Thousands of years ago, a primordial dark force known as Umbraxis descended from the depths of space.
The first to come into contact with that forbidden power were thirteen warriors.
At first, they were ordinary humans.
But the moment they touched Umbraxis, they changed.
Their bodies blackened like burnt ash.
Their eyes turned into silver shadows.
Their hearts merged with eternal darkness.
Those thirteen warriors became the first Thirteen Shadow Kings.
The Shadow Kings' Empire
The very first Shadow Empire was known as the Noxareth Empire.
Its capital city was Velkarith.
The entire city was forever covered in black mist and endless darkness.
Above the skies hung a permanent black moon.
But that was not the only horror dwelling there.
Shadow Dragons, Soul Wolves, Abyss Knights, Phantom Priests, and countless terrifying armies served the empire.
However… the place where the two of us were trapped was not the main city itself.
We were imprisoned only within the border territories leading toward that dark kingdom.
Even there, only the lowest-ranked Shadow warriors resided.
And when you first saved Zimbara from captivity, the warriors who attacked that day were merely basic soldiers.
They were not true Shadow elites.
None of them possessed the complete power of the Shadow race.
Even Miruthan himself… was nothing more than a servant of the Shadow Emperor.
The lion you rescued belonged to a bloodline enslaved by the Shadows as well.
In truth, both the lions and Miruthan's kind were merely fragments of the vast Shadow race still hidden within the depths of the Noxareth Empire.
And entering that empire was far from easy.
As I mentioned before, the lions and several others sought our help to overthrow Miruthan and seize his territory.
After gathering a massive army, we launched an attack.
In a single night, we burned the great border kingdom standing at the edge of the Shadow City.
Thousands died.
We obtained countless ancient artifacts and rings from the battlefield.
When Miruthan learned what had happened, he avoided confronting us directly and retreated into Noxareth itself.
Because Singha possessed the greatest number of relic-rings afterward, he eventually became the ruler of that territory.
But now… we have learned that Miruthan has returned.
The Dark City has fallen back into his hands.
Even Singha is now in hiding.
And since only the two of us once aided him, the Shadows have now come searching for us.
However… that alone is not the true reason they came here.
The Sword of Shadows
The greatest secret connected to the Noxareth Empire… is the sword you now possess.
The blade once wielded by your grandfather, Veerendhira Rathrangan, and now carried by Rudhran…
That sword originally belonged to the Shadows.
And the creature known as Aghomi also belonged to them.
Long ago, the royal strategist claimed that the sacred cave temple where the sword rested had been created to protect the kingdom.
But the truth was different.
That place was actually an ancient Shadow Temple.
No one knew its true nature.
Only during a lunar eclipse would the temple lose its protective power.
Whoever claimed the sword during that moment would be acknowledged by Aghomi as its master, along with their bloodline.
Your grandfather Veerendhira took the sword during such an eclipse.
At that time, Aghomi was still inside an egg, waiting to be born.
Because he claimed the blade during its awakening, the creature became bound to your lineage forever.
The Shadows only recently discovered that the sword still exists here.
That is why their gaze has now fallen upon the Gandharva Kingdom.
The Coming War
Do not underestimate them.
A single warrior cannot defeat the Shadows so easily.
To reclaim the sword they consider the symbol of their race, the Shadows would not hesitate to burn our entire nation to ashes.
And remember this carefully…
Destroying that race is nearly impossible.
Because they are already a race that once perished and yet continues to exist beyond death itself.
Fighting such beings is no ordinary matter.
At present, there are only thirteen Shadow Kings.
But opposing even one of them is enough to invite destruction.
If we confront them directly now, the only thing awaiting us is death.
Even twenty Shadow Soldiers alone would be enough to erase us from existence.
"There is still much more you must know," he continued.
"We did not simply stop after helping Singha."
The strategist had revealed many truths to us afterward.
That was why we never returned to our homeland.
We feared unimaginable disasters would occur if we did.
Even before you came searching for us, we already knew the Shadows would eventually arrive seeking the sword and Aghomi.
But before we could prepare ourselves… too many terrible things had already happened.
Leaving the Shadow territories was our greatest mistake.
We departed only to find Singha and bring back his warriors.
But the delay caused countless catastrophes here.
Even the soldiers currently protecting us are warriors loyal to Singha."
He slowly raised his head.
"And now… the next thing you must learn about… is the true history of the Noxareth Empire."