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Chapter 5 - chapter 5

Cerberon is unleashed on him.

The three-headed hellhound hunts Shadow through a ruined city of thorns and flame.

Each head whispers something different:

The first: "You will fail."

The second: "You are alone."

The third: "You are just like him."

Shadow fights like an animal.

No mercy. No strategy.

He kills two heads.

The third escapes – as a warning.

But the battle leaves him bleeding, torn apart inside.

His humanity… begins to flake away.

Saphira returns – more powerful, more mature.

Her magic now radiant and pure – the opposite of Shadow's flames.

They confront each other in an ancient library.

She heals his wounds – but not his heart.

"You're still there, brother.

But for how much longer?"

Shadow shows her the Heart of War – a shard of black eternity.

She wants to destroy it.

He wants to use it.

They part ways. Again.

This time, with no promises.

To control the Heart of War, Shadow must defeat an ancient demon god:

Mal'Vorr, the Whispering One.

He finds him in a cave of glass – a being of smoke, chains, and voices.

The fight is warped – reality bends.

Shadows speak.

Old guilt awakens.

Shadow summons Shädow's power, but keeps control.

He binds Mal'Vorr – then rips him in half.

"I'm no servant of gods.

I'm their grave."

With the god's death, Shadow now holds full access to the demonic realm's power –

but the heavens remain silent.

Saphira has a vision:

The Heart of War threatens to tear the world apart – if unleashed.

Shadow wants to use it to bring down the King.

She wants to destroy it.

In the Sacred Valley of the Old Mages, the siblings stand face to face –

not as enemies,

but no longer as allies.

Shadow:

"I need it.

Without the Heart… he'll destroy us all."

Saphira:

"And with it?

You'll destroy yourself."

She makes her choice.

In an ancient ritual, she binds her magic to the Heart – to seal it.

And in doing so, loses her gift.

When the ritual ends, she collapses, breathing heavily.

Shadow lifts her in silence.

"You extinguished your flame…

to stop my darkness."

The battle for the Bridge of Dornkamm begins.

Shadow and Black – two monsters, two warriors, two mirror images – face each other.

No more words.

The fight is long, raw, full of old wounds.

Flashbacks flicker – Black with Shadow's father, an old vow, a broken plan.

Black:

"I should've guided you.

Instead, I let you burn."

Shadow:

"Then let me extinguish you."

Death is no triumph.

Shadow kills Black – but sees in his eyes: regret. Truth. Perhaps even love.

He burns Black's body himself – without demons.

Shadow marches into the heart of the kingdom.

There, in halls of obsidian glass, waits the King.

But he is no longer the man who once ruled –

he is now the host of the Void:

A being that speaks through him. Whispers. Lives.

"I am the crown without a head.

The realm without borders.

The death of your love."

The King reveals: Shadow's birth was planned.

His family – sacrificed in ritual.

Saphira – kept alive only as a witness.

Shadow nearly collapses.

Shädow screams within.

Saphira's face appears in his mind – and he rises.

"I'm not your weapon.

I'm your end."

The demon fortress itself rises.

The shadows begin to quake – Shädow wants to take him completely.

"You need me to kill him.

Merge with me.

Become what you fear."

An inner battle begins –

in a dreamworld of blood and fire.

Shadow faces himself – as a king, a murderer, a monster.

Saphira's voice echoes:

"You are more than what they tried to make you."

Shadow rips part of Shädow's power away –

without surrendering fully.

A risky act.

He becomes half-demon, half-man – a unique being.

When he awakens, his eyes burn –

but his tears are still human.

"I don't need you.

I am my own shadow."

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