At the break of dawn, Cain watched the gray sky with eyes heavy from sleeplessness.
The words Duan had spoken the night before still echoed in his ears:
"If you seek a true army then the path to the Fields of Death is your way."
He tightened the reins of his black stallion and rode southwest.
His destination was a borderland between the Empire and the Kingdom of Brass, one of the seven kingdoms at the continent's heart and by far the bloodiest in its wars.
Rumors of wastelands steeped in death's energy and black magic had reached him, yet what happened in Brass drew his attention most. A civil war had erupted there, lasting an entire month over succession to the throne.
It was said that thousands of soldiers had perished, that the land itself refused to bloom after such a massacre, turning into a desert of blackened bones where dark mana seeped in every direction. That war was recorded as one of the worst in the kingdom's history, and the third worst in all the continent.
Many knights had tried to purge it, but death and failure had always been their fate. Few returned alive to tell of what they saw: endless hordes of skeletons some knights, others common soldiers.
Since then, the land bore only one name: The Land of the Dead.
Cain's journey took two and a half weeks.
On the final day, as dust swirled around him, the cursed land revealed itself.
The soil was cracked and black, the air thick with a rusty stench like dried blood. From afar, he saw skeletons dragging their feet aimlessly, the dead wandering without purpose.
Cain gripped his sword and felt something strange a resonance between the blade and the darkness of this land.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"It seems I have come to the right place"
He raised his hand, and Duan emerged from his shadow, followed by the Shadow Knights.
Cain pointed toward the plain teeming with abominations and commanded:
"We march into this hell. Stay sharp… I will reach the source of this power."
Duan grinned.
"Summon your steeds, brothers let us charge as true knights should!"
Cain blinked in surprise.
"You can summon horses?"
Duan's tone was calm.
"What worth are knights without their steeds?"
Suddenly, near each shadow appeared a black warhorse, their manes shimmering with blue light, their eyes glowing azure like Cain's stallion.
The sight stirred Cain's heart. This was the army any commander would dream of. He raised his sword high and roared:
"Charge! Crush these brittle bones!"
Cain's host thundered forward into the undead tide.
At the sight of them, a skeleton loosed a shrill, broken cry, summoning the horde.
Tens of thousands swarmed, weak alone, terrifying in numbers.
But Cain did not falter. He rode like an arrow, his stallion trampling all in its path. One skeleton shattered under his blade, then another, then a third. Duan and the Shadow Knights followed, cutting through the masses with ease.
Steel clashed, bones splintered, and Cain's dark sword pulsed hungrily, as if feasting on their souls.
Duan shouted through the chaos:
"They are weak, my lord! I'll cover your way!"
But Cain did not answer. His gaze was fixed on the black aura rising deeper in the plain.
After carving through waves of corpses, he reached a wide circle where a colossal skeletal knight sat upon a stone throne. Its cracked black armor clung to its frame, a massive spear in its grasp, eyes glowing with a malevolent crimson light.
Sensing Cain's presence, the knight rose slowly and leveled its spear to the sky. Instantly, hundreds of skeletons surged to encircle the arena.
Cain's voice was calm, cold:
"Duan… keep them busy. This one is mine."
Duan bowed and led the Shadow Knights against the throng, while Cain advanced step by steady step, his eyes locked with the knight's burning gaze. The air itself trembled between them.
The skeletal warrior struck first, spear lancing forward with lightning speed. Cain slipped aside and slashed at its side, sparks of black fire bursting, but the armor held.
The knight swung again, its blow shaking the earth beneath Cain's feet.
Cain retreated, smiling faintly.
"Impressive strength but you are nothing more than the remnant of a bygone age."
He surged forward, black mana flooding his veins.
Sword and spear collided with a thunderous crash, the shockwave rolling through the arena.
Crack!
A shard of the spear broke loose.
Yet the knight pressed on, striking with its iron fist.
Cain ducked beneath the blow and drove his blade upward through its chest. Bone cracked, but the knight did not fall it seized Cain's sword with both hands, trying to crush it.
Then the blade began to drink.
The knight's crimson eyes dimmed as dark mana poured from its body into the sword. A strangled cry escaped it, and its grip faltered.
Cain wrenched the sword free and raised it high.
"Rest, at last, after centuries of torment!"
With a single strike, his sword erupted in black light, cleaving the knight in two. A roar split the heavens as the giant crumbled into black ash.
Cain turned to the throne, where the core of the darkness pulsed. He drove his sword into the stone, and a surge of power exploded outward.
Dark mana flooded into him without end.
The earth quaked, bones shuddered, then fell lifeless as their souls were torn free and reborn.
Duan and the others froze, awestruck.
The land itself became a sea of shadows.
Cain's voice thundered, echoing through every dead spirit:
"Answer my call and swear your loyalty!
I shall grant you release from your sins and bestow glory upon you!"
At once, the skeletons dissolved, reformed as legions of black-armored knights. Their dark auras cloaked them, six thousand strong, kneeling in silence before a single master.
Power surged through Cain, raising him to the rank of an Expert Knight for the first time.
From the throne, he gazed over his vast army, smiling.
"Here… my army begins. And here… the world shall learn the name of the Black Knight."
From among the shadows, the colossal spearman emerged once more. He knelt, lowering his weapon in a silent pledge. The others followed, row upon row kneeling in unison.
As the sun rose, the shadows of thousands stretched across the land heralding the birth of a power that would shake every tyrant.
Cain's voice rang like thunder:
"I accept your oath… Rise, and march with me upon the path of death. May glory be our companion!"
Two days after his battle in the southern Fields of Death, Cain had left the place far behind.
That night, he sat by a quiet fire, its flames swaying in the cold wind. His eyes lingered on the dark blade beside him, his thoughts heavy with all that had transpired.
He summoned Duan and the silent spearman, who sat across from him.
Cain asked gravely:
"Can you speak?"
The warrior shook his head. Cain understood he could think, act, and decide, but his voice was lost.
Cain's tone softened with respect:
"Your strength is that of a first-rank Expert Knight. Your past life must have been extraordinary. You wield the spear instead of the sword, and yet you speak not. Truly, your story must be worthy of honor. From this day forth, your name shall be Leon like a lion, and your spear its fangs. You shall be my claw in battle, my companion in war. I trust you will not disappoint me."
Leon's eyes glimmered faintly, as though pleased, and he bowed in gratitude.
Cain then turned to Duan.
"Tell me… what limits bind Shadow Knights? How far can they stray from me?"
Duan smiled.
"There is no end, so long as the bond holds. We are spirits tethered to our lord's shadow. But there is one flaw… when a knight is wounded, healing does not come easily if he is far away. He will fight until he fades, then return to you."
Cain listened silently as Duan went on, revealing another truth:
"Remember, my lord Shadow Knights do not sleep, nor do they tire. You may summon us from anywhere, but if your strength wavers, if your balance collapses, we shall falter too. A shadow exists only by the light that casts it and you are that light."
The words struck deep within Cain's mind. He did not command mere specters, but a force bound to his very soul.
His eyes burned with resolve.
"This place is finished. It is time to seek more souls and forge my army."
As the last embers of the fire died, Cain rose, sword in hand.
Duan followed, and silent Leon at his side.
Behind them, the shadowed host moved in silence an army cloaked in black, marching beneath their master's banner toward an unknown destiny.