Chapter 1: The Fallen Star and the Shadow's Awakening
The sky over the majestic capital of Astaria was no longer the serene azure the citizens adored. It had become a canvas of nightmares, painted in strokes of violent crimson and suffocating amber. Smoke rose in thick, black pillars from the noble districts, carrying with it the scent of charred oak and the metallic tang of fresh blood. In the center of the grand plaza, amidst the ruins of a civilization he had bled to build, General Malthus knelt.
He was a man who had once been compared to a mountain—immovable, silent, and protective. Now, that mountain was crumbling. His silver-plate armor, forged from the rarest meteoric iron, was shattered. Jagged cracks ran across his chest piece like a spiderweb, and dozens of black-feathered arrows were lodged in his shoulders and thighs. Each breath he took felt like swallowing broken glass.
But the physical agony was nothing compared to the cold realization chilling his soul.
Malthus turned his head, his neck muscles straining with the effort. His vision was blurred by a veil of blood, but he could clearly see the figure standing three paces behind him. It was Augustus, his sworn brother-in-arms. The man who had shared his bread, his secrets, and his battlefield victories for twenty years. Augustus's sword—the very blade Malthus had gifted him upon his promotion—was buried deep in Malthus's lower back, having bypassed the armor's weakest joint with surgical precision.
"Is this... the price of loyalty?" Malthus's voice was a guttural rasp, barely audible over the crackling of nearby fires.
Augustus didn't look away. His face remained a mask of cold ambition. "Loyalty is a currency for the weak, Malthus. You were a magnificent shield, but you became a shadow that eclipsed the throne itself. The people don't chant the King's name anymore; they chant yours. And in this world, there is no room for two suns."
From the balcony above, King Valerius watched the scene with a bored expression, swirling a chalice of dark wine. With a flick of his wrist, he gave the final command.
Augustus twisted the blade, eliciting a muffled groan from the General, before withdrawing it with a sickening squelch. With a powerful kick to Malthus's chest, he sent the legendary warrior tumbling backward. Behind him lay the "Valley of Silence," a bottomless abyss shrouded in perpetual mist. As Malthus fell, the world began to shrink into a tiny circle of light. His last sight was the cold, triumphant smile of the man he called brother.
I curse you, Malthus thought as the darkness swallowed him. I curse the crown, the kingdom, and the very blood in my veins. If there is a hell, I will crawl back from it to tear your hearts out.
[Initializing... Resonance found.]
[Death detected in host body... Initiating Soul Transmigration.]
[Syncing Soul 'Malthus' with Vessel 'Kayan'...]
[Integration Level: 15%... 40%... 85%... 100%]
Kayan's eyes snapped open.
A violent convulsion racked his body as air rushed into lungs that had forgotten how to breathe. He wasn't in the abyss anymore. He was lying on a bed of damp, jagged stones inside a cavern that smelled of sulfur and ancient decay. The pain was different now—it wasn't the sharp sting of arrows, but a dull, throbbing ache of malnutrition and systematic abuse.
He raised a hand to his face. It was thin, skeletal, and caked in filth. This wasn't the calloused, powerful hand of a General. These were the hands of a boy.
Suddenly, a flood of foreign memories crashed into his mind like a tidal wave. Images of a small, frightened boy being kicked by merchants, sleeping in gutters, and finally, being cornered by a group of thugs in this very cave. They had beaten him to death for a handful of copper coins he didn't even possess.
"Kayan..." the General whispered, testing the new name. His voice was high-pitched and weak, but the fire behind his eyes remained the same. "You died in despair, and I died in betrayal. It seems we are a perfect match."
[Ding!]
[The Shadow Sovereign System has been activated.]
[Current Status: Near Death.]
[Daily Quest: The First Kill.]
[Reward: Life Restoration and Skill Activation.]
[Failure: Permanent Soul Dissolution.]
A holographic screen, shimmering with a dark violet hue, floated in the air before him. Kayan didn't flinch. In his previous life, he had encountered ancient mages and mystical artifacts; he knew better than to question a gift of power, whatever its source.
He forced his trembling limbs to move. Every bone in Kayan's body screamed in protest, but the soul of Malthus was a tyrant that brooked no weakness. He crawled toward the entrance of the cave, his fingers clawing into the dirt.
Outside, the Valley of Silence was a graveyard of mist. And there, crouching over a pile of refuse, was his target. A Shadow Wolf. It was a creature of low rank, but its fur was matted with dried blood and its fangs were like obsidian needles.
Kayan didn't have a sword. He didn't have his armor. All he had was a jagged piece of flint he had picked up and the tactical mind of a man who had led armies of thousands.
He waited. He slowed his breathing, merging his presence with the shadows of the cave. The wolf sniffed the air, sensing the scent of a dying human. It crept closer, its yellow eyes glowing with predatory hunger. It saw Kayan—a small, broken boy—and saw nothing but an easy meal.
The wolf pounced.
In that heartbeat, Kayan didn't move away. He moved forward. He used the wolf's own momentum against it. As the beast's jaws snapped inches from his face, Kayan rolled beneath it, his small frame allowing him a mobility his old body never had. With a guttural roar, he drove the flint shard into the wolf's throat, twisting it with desperate, savage strength.
Blood, hot and thick, sprayed over his face. The wolf thrashed, its claws tearing at Kayan's thin chest, but he didn't let go. He held on like a demon, his eyes locked onto the dying light in the wolf's eyes.
"I... am... not... dying... here!"
[Target Slain.]
[Experience Gained: 100]
[Level Up: Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2]
[Health Restored. All minor injuries healed.]
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Heart of the Sovereign (Fear Resistance increased by 50%).]
Kayan stood up. The cracks in his bones were gone. The hunger that had gnawed at his stomach was replaced by a cold, pulsing energy. He looked at the wolf's carcass, and then at his own hands, which were now glowing with a faint, ghostly aura.
"The hunt has just begun," he said, his voice now carrying the weight of a General once more. "And this time, I won't be the one falling."