King of Shadows

"What the hell..." He mumbled watching as the shadow form a human shape.

"That... isn't me. How strange."

Within ten seconds, a tall man in a black trench coat with a stubble beard stood to Vance's right.

Vance stared at him curiously.

"Who are you?"

The man spoke with a gravelly voice.

"They call me the King of Shadows. So you're the one eh? Quite young to be ruining the King's plans. How does it feel to be a traitor to the kingdom? Eh, that doesn't matter. You won't be alive long enough to regret it."

Vance simply stared at him.

"Scared silly huh?" He said with a smug look on his face.

Vance flicked his finger towards him and sent a small fireball at him.

"Heh. Weak. Slow. I can dodge this like nothing, and all you'll see is a shadow." He chuckled as it hit him.

"Eh?" He looked confused.

Vance began laughing.

"You didn't realize it yet? Are you stupid?"

A frown slowly appeared on the 'King of Shadows' face.

"The last person to insult me ended up dead."

"I'm not that person though." Vance said as he walked up to him.

When he was a foot away from him, Vance stopped. In that whole time, the man was unable to move.

"For a guy called King of Shadows, you really know absolutely nothing about shadows." Vance mocked as he slapped the man.

Angry, he tried to swing back, however, for some reason, he couldn't move.

"What!?!? What did you do!?!?"

Vance simply pointed at the floor.

As if someone had grabbed his head and turned it, the man looked at the floor and noticed that his shadow was restraining him.

"WHAT! My shadow betrayed... Me? The King of Shadows?"

Vance chuckled.

"What's a king to a god, dumbass."

Saying this, Vance made the shadows restrain him fully.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm just a normal guy. Honestly that question is gonna be really common very soon when dealing with me. But that's beside the point. YOU, must be one of the generals of this kingdom. Correct?"

The man opened his mouth but Vance cut him off.

"Before you hurl insults or try and do something stupid for your kingdom, I suggest you hear me out. Regardless of whether or not you tell me with your mouth, I will find out what I want to know. I'm giving you the opportunity to say it without it being your soul I'm talking to. And I don't mean with it still in your body." He lightly tapped the mans soul.

"Wh-... okay... fine..."

Vance smiled brightly.

"Very good. Now I'll ask you the question again. Are you one of the generals of this kingdom?"

The man nodded.

"What rank?"

"Fifteenth."

Vance revealed a look of surprise at that.

"Really? Y'know I thought the pattern would go as normal with me fighting eighteen seventeen etc all the way to number one. But you're fifteenth?"

The man appeared to realize something.

"Y-you... you defeated Charles and Hans."

"Old guy and young man? Yeah. I'm pretty sure I left them in a cell in the Fatewalker Kingdom. Can't quite recall."

He let out a sigh.

"At least they're alive."

"Oh? A sense of camaraderie? Somewhat surprising considering there's rankings for the generals."

"That's just so we have goals to reach for. Would you fight your close friend because someone said that they can read faster than you?"

"Fair point. Then if you're fifteenth, I suppose it's because of your control over shadows? The whole disappearing reappearing thing?"

"You are correct."

"Wow, I am a really unlucky matchup for you then. Really, how bad can your luck possibly be?"

The mans face darkened.

"Well, I still have use for your information, but I don't want to stay out all night. Just debating whether or not I should throw you into my shadow as well..."

"What!?!? Into your shadow? You can store objects in your shadow?"

Vance sighed.

"You really had a lot further to go in regards to shadow control. Hmm. I'll just open freeze time for you and throw you in."

"Wait wha-" The man froze mid sentence.

"Might as well make a separate area in my shadow then."

The King of Shadows slowly sunk into Vance's shadow.

*sigh*

"Let's just get to the inn. There better not be any more of these guys for a while."

With that, he continued walking to the inn.

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Once he got to the inn, Vance threw himself onto the bed in his room.

"So much to do so little ti-... Never mind." He mumbled to himself as he released the Shadow King from his shadow.

He was still frozen in time, unaware of the world around him.

"Gotta cast a little silence spell here."

He put a sound proofing spell on the room before snapping his fingers.

*snap*

*GASP*

"What!!! No, no, please don't freeze me in time!!!" Shadow King yelled.

After yelling, he looked around in a panic, unable to recognize where he was.

"Surprise. How was your first time freeze? Rate it on a scale of one to ten. How did it feel?"

He looked around, horrified at Vance's abilities.

"You... you aren't human. You just can't be."

Vance shrugged.

"Yes and no. I'm not too sure myself. But that doesn't really matter right now. Have a seat." He pointed behind Shadow King.

Vance's shadow rose from the ground behind Shadow King in the shape of a chair. Shadow King sat down as if by force, and restraints wrapped his arms and legs.

"Well then, oh mighty general of the kingdom. I have some questions that I need answered. As a general, I assume you have better information than some kidnappers or scientists right? Those can be hired off the street. But a general... That position needs to be earned with honor and trust. Doesn't it?"

A hint of fear began to show in Shadow King's eyes.

"Well, question one. I need to know, how much do you know about the Cult of Eternity?"