The cell was dark, damp, its corners reflecting the faint light from tiny windows. I sat on the floor, my back aching, my mind gathering the shards that Elisa had left behind. But the pain did not define me. The new Kim was not born to suffer; the new Kim was born to read, to control, to plan.
I looked out the window and saw a vast city, stretching almost endlessly. Towering buildings, winding streets, the sky painted in grim shades mixed with smoke and fog. How had I never seen this place before? How had I never sensed its existence, despite all my battles? I smiled bitterly, half sarcasm, half realization:
— "The universe is far larger than I imagined… and every victory I thought was strength was merely a lesson. Now, I will understand the true laws."
I heard soft footsteps behind the iron door. They knew I was awake, watching my movements. They thought the prison had broken me, but Kim cannot be broken. I sat and closed my eyes, summoning my new skill of the Dual Soul Shadow. Even here, inside the cell, I could sense, plan, and create a space of control.
I thought of Elisa, Darkol, Morfin, and Seraphine—each of them a part of a bigger game. Their mistake was not knowing that I do not fight alone; I fight with myself, with every shadow, with everything I have yet to reveal.
I whispered harsh words to myself, mixed with regret and awareness:
— "I have killed, lost, and learned… but every strike, every betrayal, was part of understanding the truth: power is not only for controlling others, but for controlling yourself, for turning pain into a weapon… and I will let no one teach me endings again."
I began to move inside the cell with unexpected stealth, as if the shadow melted into the darkness. I felt the walls, the beams of light, even the air became a tool I could wield. My mind worked with superhuman speed; I read the city before me as if it were an open book. I saw entry points and exits, who was watching me and who trusted me—I saw everything.
Then the plans began to take shape: how to escape, how to face Elisa again, how to control Darkol, Morfin, and Seraphine, and how to regain command of the entire city. Everything would be a mental game before becoming a battle of strength, and every opponent would feel the shadow before they even touched it.
I looked at the sky and grasped my Dual Soul Shadow as if it were a real dagger:
— "I will reshape this world… my way. From today, I fight not because I must, but because I know that whoever holds the laws, holds the ending… and I will be the one to write it."
I smiled—a lethal, fierce, psychological smile, full of cunning and deception—and began my first movements, sensing every corner of the cell, every window, every shadow of the city before me… the journey had begun, and the real game was about to start.