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Duality of Shadows

In a world where everyone is a slave, someone is born who cannot be controlled. At the same time, an unstoppable villain rises on a quest for revenge. But the truth is darker than he ever imagined, and now he must face an unbeatable enemy — including himself. *** Bruno was a young man born on Earth, the son of an influential modern Emperor. Despite having everything money could buy and receiving the best and most rigorous training to succeed his father, he chose the opposite path, defying his family’s ruthless rule. The price of his innocence? A merciless death and the complete erasure of his existence by the deity controlling his fate. On Earth, the law of the powerful was absolute; a slave could never rebel. But then, he wakes up again. He’s reborn in a world of cultivation, where freedom was promised to those strong enough to claim it. Now, he could soar like a free bird and carve his own destiny... or so he thought. The harsh reality of this new world soon showed him how insignificant he still was. He realized he had only changed masters. The freedom he sought was an illusion. The heavenly laws treated everyone as servants, and their rules were unbreakable. Bruno learned this bitter truth after losing everything that made him happy due to an unjust rule. But who was he to question? Hopeless, Bruno died... and was reborn as Alm, an unstoppable villain. With a soul poisoned by pain and vengeance, he sowed chaos across the universe. Planets were destroyed, countless lives taken, and his name became synonymous with terror. A hero rose to oppose him, wielding a sacred sword of hope. People from all corners of the universe united against Alm, raising their voices and weapons to stop the villain who defied the heavens. But Alm was no longer just fighting for revenge. He was challenging the heavenly laws that sought to control him, fighting fate and all living beings. And against all odds... the sacred sword shattered. The alliance of the entire universe was defeated. The villain won! Now, Alm found himself alone in the empty void of a dead universe, facing his own inner demons. Who could be more ruthless to him than himself? “What have I done?” At that moment, the doors of truth opened to him. Everyone was a puppet of a supreme figure, an entity that manipulated minds and even the heavenly laws. “I will find you, no matter where you are!” Thus, the last emissary of the true Heaven’s Will awakened. Alm, who once only relied on his sheer will and rage, now had a system to guide him. But his opponent was an immortal existence, above even the heavens. The villain who destroyed an entire universe now faced a new beginning. He discovered that the universe he devastated was just a tiny grain of sand in an infinite cosmos, where countless other universes existed. And so begins the legendary tale of the villain’s rise... and the Sacred Round God? A strange Duality of Shadows existed within one person. But this time, he wouldn’t be alone. *** To clear up any potential confusion or frustration, here are some key points about the story. I’ll avoid major spoilers, but a few things will be revealed. You might find this concerning at first, but just check the book cover—it shows the main character and his only partner. She first appears at 10 years old, but rest assured, there’s no inappropriate content or early romance. At around 13, SHE starts developing feelings for the protagonist, but he doesn’t respond until she’s an adult. With her determined personality, she tries to seduce him at 17/18, but it doesn’t work. Their relationship only happens much later. The book has nods to other works, with my own spin on them, and focuses on avoiding elements I find problematic in other stories. Lastly, the beautiful book cover was commissioned and created by HDIArt.

Suiyan · Fantasía
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860 Chs

Weak

In a dark and gloomy place, dense miasma hung in every inch of space. It was an atmosphere steeped in darkness, where the moonlight and stars couldn't penetrate. The ground, covered in a thin layer of black moss, echoed with the muffled sounds of skeletal footsteps.

Hundreds of skeletons lined up, positioned in a disorderly formation, like a legion of specters hungry for commands. They held makeshift weapons crafted from dubious materials, whose rudimentary appearance contrasted with the lethality they exuded.

At the epicenter of this macabre theater stood a necromancer. His hooded cloak concealed his face, but his expression, twisted and concerned, was perceptible even in the shadows.

His eyes burned with a malevolent gleam as he raised a staff made of black wood adorned with arcane symbols. As the staff ascended, the laws of death seemed to bend before him, obedient to his command. A sinister magical melody echoed through the air, like a somber summons calling forth the power of darkness.

Quickly, the necromancer began to create more undead. The new material had arrived recently, and he was the Queen's army creator. From the depths of the dark earth, discarded bodies and bones came together, and macabre creatures writhed, emerging with a sinister creaking.

He didn't hesitate and, with overwhelming momentum and an excessive expenditure of Qi for the task, employed another technique to completely dominate the minds and bodies of the newly summoned.

'The numbers are now three times larger than before. I have to execute the orders perfectly this time,' thought the necromancer after completing the entire ritual.

He watched the newcomers closely. 'That damned dracolich must be involved in this. The attack and internal theft would only be possible with mastery of death Qi superior to mine,' he reflected, concluding that everything was normal with the now-controlled skeletons. That failure to dominate the previous skeleton had been unusual and inexplicable, raising suspicions of external interference.

"For the Queen!!!" shouted the necromancer, raising his staff. Following him, a sinister chorus resounded, with hundreds of skeletons chanting the cry with equal intensity.

The dense miasma, stretching over a vast area, began to move rapidly, and the black army of skeletons followed in unison. The necromancer floated high above, surveying the surroundings and expertly controlling the dark domain.

'All skeletons are under my command, and if the dracolich moves directly, I will notice immediately. The only valid option for them to sabotage me again would be an attack coming from the dark laws above my understanding,' the necromancer whispered to himself, carefully evaluating the possibilities.

'He is capable of that, but I am properly prepared defensively.' A shadowy aura emerged with overwhelming intensity, enveloping the necromancer like a devouring blanket of darkness. It seemed as if he were absorbing all the laws and life itself around him, becoming an impenetrable force.

'With this, it will be clear that no power from Qi can instantly kill me, and if he moves carelessly, I will have evidence against him. Now I can fully focus on eradicating all the outposts of these pathetic creatures,' declared the necromancer, his determination firmer than ever. The darkness surrounding him seemed to pulse in response as he led his army of undead toward the next massacre.

In the midst of the steadily marching army, dozens of meters above them, a subtle event occurred on the necromancer's back. One of the skeletons, following the march like all the others, discreetly glanced upwards and then changed direction rapidly.

'Darn it, even though he's useless, he seems to be quite cautious,' Alm grumbled.

Naturally, the skeleton was none other than Bruno and Alm, the Divine Skeleton!

'He has a defensive black cloak... our tactic of attacking him when he lets his guard down is useless now. Even if we use all the accumulated Qi, his defense, powered by Yin Qi, can withstand the attack. We will never be able to kill him in one go,' analyzed Bruno. 'Not to mention he is using some kind of flying technique since it wasn't supposed to be possible to fly at his realm.'

'We lack brute power. I knew we should have absorbed as many lives as possible,' replied Alm, frustration evident in his voice.

'Stop complaining and think of something. We're burning our limited energies blending in with these skeletons.'

'Conventional techniques won't work; only direct attacks with weapons might have some effect. Unfortunately, we only have stored arrows and spears,' Bruno commented with a thoughtful tone.

'Everything in this universe is trash, and the life force of these soldiers was of terrible quality. Even if we attack directly, we won't win due to a lack of Qi.'

'However, these weapons, despite being rudimentary, contain a spear of mixed wood with a metal alloy; it belonged to the soldiers' commander from the living races. He must have been someone important among those useless ones. If someone on the same level as the necromancer used it, it could injure him,' Alm remarked.

'The level of the spear is sufficient, but our power isn't...?' Alm began to say but was abruptly interrupted by a sudden change in Bruno. He had a premonition of a strange idea sprouting in his partner's mind.

'Use all the power of the rune to disguise the movement and get close; I will concentrate the rest for the attack,' Bruno said as five runes subtly appeared on the skeleton's bones.

'Having two minds operating in perfect sync was something peculiar,' Alm thought as he moved closer to the necromancer. It would be completely impossible for an ordinary person to control and use two subtle techniques simultaneously because they would quickly find that the level of both techniques would decline, and the Qi consumption would increase due to the lack of control. However, for them, this was not an issue.

The necromancer was calm, gazing at the horizon, when he noticed something strange. The nearest outpost was completely extinguished, and he couldn't sense any life presence coming from that place. 'Did they know about my attack?' he speculated, furrowing his brow.

The situation became even stranger when he realized the almost untouched belongings and traces of death in the camp. By focusing his senses further ahead, he spotted, a few kilometers away, other camps with living people.

'There's no strong dark Qi here. Are they having an internal dispute? These idiots can manage to kill each other even when they're fighting in a war,' he pondered, confused by the situation.

Suddenly, while he was still lost in thought, he felt a strange fluctuation and was stunned. A deafening roar, like an apocalyptic thunderclap, reverberated in his ears, but the sound didn't come from above. It came from below.

RUMBLE!!!

He didn't have time to shift his gaze and only felt blood rising in his throat. Looking down at his own chest, he saw a red-glowing spear piercing through it. The strike seemed to have come from an expert assassin, above anything he had ever seen, and he was impaled without any chance of defense. However, he immediately realized that the wound wasn't fatal and turned to face his attacker.

The shock was even more extreme when, looking into the empty, red eyes of the attacker, he realized it was a sinister and malevolent-looking skeleton. In a matter of milliseconds, a wave of heat erupted from his chest, and his vision brightened before abruptly fading.

BOOM!

"Hahaha! Explosive cannon, a success!" The sound of excited laughter echoed, sinister, coming from a skeleton, but no living beings were present anymore.

'They were weak, but the weapon wasn't,' Alm thought, even as darkness enveloped him.

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