[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]
"ARISE"
Two shadows rose from the corpse of Dickus and Richard. Richard's shadow immediately bowed to Kuro while Dickus' shadow nodded.
Kuro looks at Dickus' shadow and a system screen shows up.
[???? Lv. 1]
Rank: Knight
"Oh? So that is why you still have some of your haughtiness." Kuro nodded in understanding. "Well, I don't mind having another shadow with a Knight Rank. But unlike you, it seems your son doesn't share your genes."
[Shadow Awakener Lv. 1]
Rank: Common
"So, do you want to keep your name as Dickus?"
"No, my liege. I wish to get a name from your majesty." Dickus' shadow replied.
"So you can speak?"
"Yes, my liege."
Kuro then summons Niji since Niji has finished the A-ranker he was fighting against. "Then why couldn't you talk,Niji?"
"Can talk but only learn to kill from a young age. So I preferred to not talk. Apology, my liege." Niji replied.
"So that's the case. Well, I don't mind." Kuro nodded. He looked at Dickus' shadow. "Say hello to your older brother Niji. From today, you are Yonsi."
"Thank you for giving me a great name, my liege." Yonsi finally bowed to Kuro.
"Welcome brother." Niji extended his hand for a handshake and Yonsi accepted the handshake.
Afterward, Kuro jumps down through the broken elevator shaft to reach the ground floor. Niji and Yonsi follow after him.
Beside the corner, the shadow of Richard stares blankly at the now empty office, watching everyone leave except for the two corpses.
"..." The shadow could do nothing but follow after the other, feeling sad he was forgotten by his liege and his 'father'.
***
Kuro looks at the messy ground floor filled with dead bodies that were either eaten by the monster shadows or chopped to pieces by Sanji and his gang of sharp tools misfits.
At the corner, there were bodies of unconscious people who were not involved in the guild dark schemes.
Kuro then looks at some of his weaker shadow soldiers from his early days such as the pigs. "Thank you for your service guys. I hope you all have a great rest." He has decided to dismiss the shadow pigs and most of the shadow dogs. He only kept some of the dogs for their tracking abilities.
They nodded back to Kuro, expressing their love for him and wishing him greatness in his journey.
Kuro felt a ping of sadness looking at them but he had to let them go to make room for the humanoid shadows that are more versatile.
"Release" Kuro said as he looked at them for the last time.
Slowly, the shadow soldiers such as dogs and pigs faded away.
"Progress is never without its sacrifices," he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair as he turned away from the fading forms of his old soldiers. He could almost hear their soft goodbyes, their quiet wishes for his success. It was a bitter feeling.
With one last lingering glance at the fading shadows, Kuro set his sights forward.
"ARISE"
The shadows of the dead awakeners that used to belong to the Hoyoshil Guild rise up, stretching their limbs before kneeling toward Kuro. The two shadows that belong to the two A-rank awakeners walk toward Kuro before kneeling in front of him.
"We greet the monarch." Both greeted Kuro with reverence.
Kuro checked the two and was surprised both were also of knight rank. 'Well, I be damned. Three knights rank shadows in a single night.'
"You" Kuro pointed toward the shadow with a big shield. "You will be named Tank from now on."
"Thank you my liege! I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY BODY!"
Kuro chuckled at Tank's enthusiastic reply. "And you" he looked at the second shadow with a giant sword on his back. "You will be named Barbarian."
"OHHHHHH! ONGA BONGA!" Barbarian beat his chest as he shouted in excitement.
Kuro took a final look around as he stored all the shadow soldiers into his shadow. Sensing many mana signatures making their way toward the build, Kuro melts into the shadows as he disappears from the crime scene.
Shortly afterward, a woman with fiery red hair and humongous twin mountains blasted what was left of the front door.
The woman paused for a moment, scanning the room with a critical eye. Her gaze fell upon the bodies of the fallen. It didn't seem to faze her. Instead, her eyes narrowed, searching for the perpetrator.
Kuro got a glimpse of the woman from afar and whistled in appreciation of her physique. 'Damn she's hot.'
Niji, who was in the shadow, telepathically spoke to him. "My liege. She is the person who killed me on that day in the place my liege called Time Square."
"Oh? So she is the one." Kuro can feel the massive amount of mana from the red-head. With one final look at the big mountains, he made his way back toward the academy.
***
Selene eyes flickered briefly over the remnants of the scene—dead bodies, shattered walls, and the faint traces of magic still lingering in the air. Then, her gaze shifted to the unconscious guild members in the corner, the ones Kuro had left behind. There was no hesitation in her step as she moved toward them.
She knelt beside one of the fallen and began to murmur something under her breath, a faint glow surrounding her hands as she channeled some sort of healing magic.
Soon, the person woke up and screamed, holding her arms to her head.
"Calm down. Tell me what happened here and how your whole guild got massacred in the span of half an hour." Selene tried to get information from the woman but she was not cooperating.
The woman, still gasping for breath and clutching her head as if it were about to split open, continued to scream in agony, her eyes wide with terror.
"Please... No more!" she cried, her voice shaking as she struggled to sit up, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her eyes darted nervously around the room, as if expecting something to rise up and claim her once more.
Selene's gaze hardened, but she kept her voice calm and steady, trying not to let her frustration show. "I need you to focus. What happened here? Who did this?"
"The shadows... they came alive. They tore through us, killing everyone—like nothing we've ever seen before. There was this... darkness. He... he had this power... and the shadows, they obeyed him like soldiers."
"He? Who is this 'he'?"
"I..I don't know. I couldn't bring myself to look at his face. I felt like I would die if I did." The woman started to calm down a little. It seems talking to someone helped her in processing the event.
Selene kept her gaze steady as the woman's panic slowly subsided, her trembling hands relaxing just slightly.
"You're doing well," Selene said, her voice soft but firm, hoping to keep the woman grounded in the moment. "Tell me more about the man, the one who controlled the shadows. Anything you can remember—his voice, his mannerisms, the way he moved. Was there anything... anything that could help me find him?"
The woman closed her eyes tightly, drawing in a shaky breath as her mind returned to the horrors. "He... he didn't say much. Just... commands. But..." The woman paused, her body stiffening as she spoke. "But the worst part—he didn't need to touch anyone. His shadows, they did everything. They moved like they had minds of their own..."
The woman shuddered again, clutching her arms tighter as the memory surfaced once more. "He... he made them form shapes, figures, like... soldiers or beasts. They were... huge. They could crush us with a flick of their hand. And... and they didn't hesitate."
(A/N: This is from the perspective of a person who has never seen the shadow army or the way the shadow soldiers come out of Kuro shadow.)
"Soldiers, beasts?" Selene asked, her tone hardening as she pieced together the puzzle. "How many were there?"
"I-I don't know!" the woman gasped, her voice rising with panic again. "It all happened so fast! They swarmed in from every direction. They attacked from the shadows themselves! I couldn't even keep track of how many were there. It felt like there were hundreds of them. Even if you somehow take them down, they just reform and attack you again."
"Thank you," Selene said softly, her voice carrying a note of finality as she stood up. "Help is on the way. It also appears that the perpetrator is also gone. Rest."
The woman nodded at Selene as she leaned against the wall, still unable to close her eyes due to the horror of seeing her colleagues getting killed in front of her eyes.
Selene turned away from the woman and walked toward the elevator shaft. She jumped straight toward the top floor.
Once there, she saw the dead body of the guild leader as well as his son. However, what caught her eyes was the book that was placed by Dickus' corpse, as if someone had intentionally left it there so someone could find it.
Picking up the book, she realized that it was Dickus' private journal. Reading through the book, her expression hardens as he gazes toward Dickus and turns to disgust.
She kicks the corpse in anger before putting the book into her space ring. Just then, more figures appear on the floor through the elevator shaft.
"Did you find the culprit, guild leader?" As a girl who looks like she just graduated middle school.
"No." Selene replied. "But I found something more important."
Selene turns her gaze toward the two men that come along with the girl. "Naga, Sala. Send a message to the Council that there is an emergency immediately. A meeting must be held asap."
"Roger!" Naga and Sala saluted before disappearing back into the elevator shaft.
"Rena, did you find anything from the security footage?" Selene asked the girl.
Rena, the girl, shook her head. "Unfortunately no. Everything in the security room is destroyed and all the footage has been deleted or corrupted."
"I see." Selene looked at the night sky. 'I hope what is written in the book is not true. Otherwise, hell will break loose.'
Unfortunately for her, tonight's event will go down in history as the catalyst to the start of The Purge. An event where multiple guilds were wiped out from the face of Prime Earth by an unknown assailant.