Chapter 1: Rebirth into Power
The world ended before Shadow ever understood what peace felt like.
Blades of light and rivers of fire tore through the skies of his old world a world where gods and demons fought endlessly, and humans were nothing but their pawns. Shadow was different. He had clawed his way to the top mastering every sword art, every magic, every forbidden technique. He'd become a legend feared by gods themselves.
Yet, even gods die.
When the final battle ended, and the heavens themselves collapsed, Shadow's body was consumed by light. His last thought was simple If there's another life… I'll master everything again.
When he opened his eyes, the air was soft, scented with roses.
He was… a baby.
In a grand bedchamber, a woman with silver hair wept tears of joy, and a man in noble armor smiled down at him.
"Welcome to the world, my son," his father said. "Welcome to the House of Valeheart."
Shadow Valeheart.
A noble name… for the man who once broke the will of gods.
Years passed quickly. By the time he was ten, the young Shadow had already surpassed every instructor in swordsmanship, alchemy, and elemental magic. His tutors whispered that he was blessed by the gods themselves but Shadow knew better.
He had no blessing. Only will.
Every night, when the mansion slept, he trained beneath the moonlight testing the limits of his mana, pushing his body until it bled. He wanted to be perfect again. Not for glory. Not for fame.
For control.
One evening, he ventured deep into the forest beyond his estate drawn by a sickening aura of corrupted mana. There, he found a girl, roughly his age, kneeling in the dirt. Her skin was pale, her veins pulsing with a black fire. Her eyes were empty, her voice trembling with inhuman whispers.
A demon possession.
Without hesitation, Shadow extended his hand. "Sleep," he whispered. A torrent of shadow mana poured from him, swallowing the corruption whole. The air shook, trees splintered, and the forest fell silent.
The girl collapsed, breathing weakly.
When she awoke, she looked at him her eyes glowing faintly gold.
"Who… are you?" she asked, terrified.
He smiled faintly. "A nobody. Call me Shadow."
She blinked. "And me?"
He paused, thinking. "Lyra. Your name is Lyra now."
That night, under the moonlight, Shadow realized he had just formed the first bond of his new life his first follower, the first member of something greater than himself.
Over the next year, Shadow discovered six more souls afflicted by demonic possession. Each one broken, lost, and abandoned by the world. He saved them all. Some were noble sons, others street orphans, one even a captured soldier.
They all called him "Master."
But Shadow never wanted worship. He wanted something real. A force that could move unseen hunting the monsters the world ignored.
He stood before the seven of them one night, his cloak fluttering beneath a storming sky.
"From this day," he said, his voice calm but commanding, "we are the ones who dwell in the dark. We are shadows that hunt the shadows."
The seven knelt.
"Name us, Master," Lyra said softly.
He looked into the lightning-lit sky and whispered,
"We are Shadow Veil."
Months later, rumors spread across kingdoms. Tales of a mysterious group that struck from darkness, slaying possessed nobles, corrupt lords, and demonic cults all without leaving a trace.
But one night, the light of Shadow's world dimmed again.
His sister, Serina, was kidnapped taken from their home on her fifteenth birthday. The guards found no trace, no note, only a map burned into the wall with red mana.
Shadow stood before the map, eyes glowing cold. "They think this is a game," he muttered.
Three of his shadows knelt behind him. "Master, what are your orders?"
He pointed to the mark on the map. "They have my sister. That's where we strike."
They nodded without hesitation. But in the back of their minds, they feared it was a trap. Shadow knew too. He didn't care.
He led the charge himself.
The night was fire and blood.
Inside an abandoned fortress, the evil organization The Crimson Hand performed rituals to fuse Serina's soul with demonic essence.
Shadow's arrival shattered the ritual circle in a flash of black light. His seven shadows cut through the cultists like storm winds. The air was thick with screams.
"Where is my sister?" Shadow roared.
A cloaked cult leader laughed. "You can't save her. You're just a child!"
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Children don't control atomic mana."
He raised his hand. A single sphere of dark energy expanded in his palm pulsing, growing brighter, until the air itself warped.
"I am… Atomic."
The fortress vanished in silence.
When the light faded, the entire valley was gone.
Only Serina remained safe, unconscious, untouched.
But as Shadow knelt beside her, he saw the bodies of his seven shadows.
All of them had fallen.
He clenched his fists, the storm howling above him.
"…Thank you," he whispered. "You won't be forgotten."
From that day forward, Shadow's legend truly began.