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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 · ファンタジー
レビュー数が足りません
846 Chs

Superior and Incomparable

'Hey, it is actually a nice idea!' Bruno suddenly said.

Alm, obviously, wasn't expecting that answer. 'Wait, really?'

'NO!' Bruno shouted back in their minds. 'What kind of fucking idea is that? First of all, what if doing such a thing actually messes up the balance instead. Not to mention, I would never allow that!'

'Tch...' Knowing it wouldn't go anywhere, he spoke slowly. 'The necromancer, despite being a pathetic bastard, can summon a large number of skeleton soldiers. In a war with so many corpses nearby, it's a simple strategy for him to multiply his army without expending much energy. Besides, there are two other dark cultivators attacking in different areas.'

'This war must have been going on for a few years, and the level of humanoid race cultivators shouldn't be higher. You're not an idiot; we ourselves have faced an attrition battle like this in the past, and the enemy's level was slightly higher than ours. You should already know perfectly well how they've held their ground in this war,' Alm added with a tone of wicked amusement.

The skeleton turned his gaze upward and began to move slowly toward a busier area. "There are still two hours until dawn; let's find out then," Bruno communicated mentally, sneaking through the shadows.

On top of a hill, a soldier cautiously observed a cluster of darkness. A few kilometers away from him, other points of light were visible; they were the scouts, forming a defensive chain as they carefully watched the enemy over a wide area.

The skeleton, blending in with the shadows of the trees, slowly approached the hill. Around him, they could see a command tent in the center of the camp, and as their sights adjusted to the darkness, they began to notice scattered wagons throughout the camp.

One of them was filled with people. Someone in that wagon felt something and looked into a dark shadow, catching a glimpse of two small points resembling red orbits watching them. Everyone there was dirty and ragged, and the person looked back at Bruno and Alm with a mixture of curiosity and fear in startled eyes.

Suddenly, the two red points went out, but the trembling eyes of that person didn't waver. There was something strange in the air, a small glimmer of hope for a possible change.

As Alm and Bruno continued to approach slowly, they noticed that some soldiers with considerably higher cultivation were patrolling in a small group. In the center of the camp, a long table was filled with people eating and drinking.

The skeleton continued to creep toward the large empty tent, sliding along the ground with its skeletal fingers and bones until it reached the back of the tent. There, Bruno picked up a knife and began to carefully carve the tent fabric, opening a small slit that allowed his skeletal body to pass through silently.

Bruno's skeletal head appeared between the thighs of two women tied up with ropes, while dozens of other women watched with expressions of despair on their faces. Their mouths were tightly closed, but their gazes conveyed a primal fear and terror as if they wished to scream with all their might.

Bruno was the one in control and exuded that frightening aura, while Alm smiled inwardly.

'You wanted to see with your own eyes, there you go! The people inside the wagons were all men and children native to small villages of the same race. Further away, there were others from different divine beast races,' Bruno explained.

'They will probably be used as cannon fodder with slave seals. Historically, slavery techniques are the first techniques created by cultivators, and in this universe, it's no different.'

'This race uses the weaker ones around them as sacrifices, while the more powerful ones attack the necromancers directly. It's a good tactic; they save energy and go all out against the necromancer. If the necromancer is defeated quickly, his or her summons lose their connection and become easier to deal with later,' Alm added sarcastically.

'The women must be destined for other purposes. Well, you and I know many refining and dual cultivation techniques, so you can imagine their fate,' Alm concluded sardonically. 'In fact...' Alm controlled the skeleton arm as he started to go up in one of the women's tight. 'We can have some fun ourselves.'

Bruno snorted after seeing it. 'You? Having fun with women? Alright, go ahead. Let me see it!'

Alm let go of the skeleton arm, feeling a little down that Bruno didn't fall for that. 'Fine, you have the same memories as me, so you know I have never forgotten our wife. That is the one barrier I could never cross.'

Bruno was taken aback. 'Errr... I simply thought you had no penis, so you couldn't have fun anyway.'

Alm was once again speechless.

They left the tent and moved stealthily, staying in the shadows while they listened to the guards' conversation. The guards boasted about how they had moved from tent to tent while their villages were burned, capturing slaves and killing those who refused to make the journey.

Alm didn't miss the opportunity to ridicule, saying, 'These are definitely our ancestors; humans are great at killing themselves. Using other races and the weakest as shields? That's just inevitable. I would have gathered them all and refined their lives into power. It would be a sinister bloodbath, but it would be swift and elegant,' Alm concluded with a muffled laugh.

After a few meters, they reached an area where the slaves were held in waiting. Three rows of slaves were tied by a master chain to a crude and rudimentary metal anchor. The slaves inside the wagons were of the same race as the soldiers, while those tied outside were a strange mixture of horned humanoids with wings of various sizes, closely resembling half-human, half-divine beast beings.

Bruno remembered that someone inside the wagon had noticed their presence and approached it. When he got close to the chain that held them, Bruno heard words he didn't understand, but Bruno didn't need to understand; it was written on the humanoid's face, 'What the hell is THIS?' as he breathed in fear.

Suddenly, a blue-eyed gaze turned in their direction, and Bruno looked closely at that figure. It was clearly a child; their body was dirty, but their eyes were pure and clear, without any trace of fear.

This mortal child, without any cultivation, was the only one who had noticed their presence, while not even the soldiers had sensed them. Their gaze was fixed on Bruno, and they now had conviction. No matter the era or location, in times of crisis and disaster, talented and genius individuals always emerge. This child could instinctively merge with the world and its laws. Nothing escaped his senses, something only a cultivator in the higher realms could achieve.

'Combined with their bloodline, this child is destined to become someone superior and incomparable. Hahahahahah...' Alm laughed uncontrollably.

'It's very likely that if this boy had the opportunity to cultivate, he could end this war in a few hundred years. But this race of humans is simply going to send him to his death and bury his chance of victory completely,' Bruno lamented instead.

If he says it...

Suiyancreators' thoughts