---
The corridor was dead silent, the air thick with tension. Asher, Selena, Cassandra, the Queen, the Princess, Darian, Talon, Lyria, Elias, and the other trusted guards stood over the unconscious assassins, trying to piece together what had just unfolded. The cold marble beneath their feet echoed the weight of what was to come.
Suddenly, the heavy double doors at the end of the corridor burst open.
A soldier, drenched in sweat and grime, ran in with shaky legs. His armor was scorched in places, and a cut ran down the side of his face. He collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath.
"Urgent news from the capital!" he shouted, his voice trembling. "The King... the King is dead!"
Gasps rippled through the group.
"What?" Cassandra snapped, stepping forward. "Explain yourself! Don't just throw words like that around."
The soldier bowed his head, trembling. "I... I witnessed it with my own eyes. Lord Germini, Lord Akaza, and Lord Hulio... they're all dead too. Korrin... he slaughtered them. He killed the King and destroyed the castle!"
Silence fell like a hammer. Even Asher stood frozen for a moment.
Asher's voice was like a blade drawn in the night. "Start from the beginning. Tell us everything."
The soldier nodded, eyes wide, and began recounting the tale—his voice strained, yet vivid and clear.
---
Flashback – The Fall of the Royal Court
It had begun like any other day at the Grand Royal Castle. The King, ever proud and wrapped in his courage, sat atop his obsidian throne, flanked by the greatest defenders of the realm: The kingdom top strongest Lord Germini, the Time Reaper—wielder of the scythe that could bend time itself. Lord Akaza, the third strongest in the kingdom know as the Warped Magician—able to twist and manipulate reality with his voice and hands. And Lord Hulio the fourth, the Beast Lord—summoner of mythical hybrid beasts and wielder of devastating natural magic.
Lord Hulio was already on edge. His fury was raw from the recent loss of his sister—the Queen of a neighboring province—whose death he blamed on the Shadow Assassins. He had gifted her an egg of immense power, now stolen, and the rage within him had festered into something monstrous.
Then... the darkness fell.
The castle lights flickered, then vanished. A wave of unnatural black shadow rippled through the halls. The windows exploded inward. Screams echoed from all directions.
The King stood from his throne at the center of the grand chamber, alarmed.
"What is the meaning of this!?" he shouted.
Then he appeared.
Korrin.
Walking calmly through the dark veil, his body cloaked in layered shadows. On his finger—glowing faintly with a sinister aura—was the Shadow Ring, a relic only granted to the highest-ranked within the Shadow Assassin Guild.
"No one leaves this castle alive... until I've taken the King's head," Korrin said coldly.
Germini's scythe spun in his hands, a soft ticking sound accompanying each rotation. He stepped forward. "You have the guts to attack the king in his own throne on broad daylight; if you wish for death so much....then I will give it to you," he whispered.
Akaza raised his hand, bending the marble floor upward, warping it like cloth to form a barrier. Lord Hulio growled and slammed his staff on the floor. The air trembled. A phoenix-lion hybrid creature—wreathed in burning feathers and scales—roared into existence behind him with an electric eel that possesses a body made up of only water.
Korrin blurred. Dashing through the room and only aiming for the King's head.
His speed was overwhelming by Germini who reversed his actions with time magic. He dashed toward Germini, but the time-wielder reversed the flow of time by five seconds, warping the shadows away from the corridor. Korrin appeared back where he started.
"Tch..." Korrin gritted his teeth.
Akaza laughed. "You can't win. Your speed means nothing against control over reality."
Hulio's beast roared and charged.
Korrin moved again—but he was too fast effortlessly slicing the electric eel that still formed back it's water body. Hulio's second summon, a colossal serpent-dragon hybrid, burst from the shadows and coiled around him trying to squeeze and suffocate him to death. The King laughed.
"So this is your master assassin? Pathetic."
But as they thought Korrin trapped, his eyes gleamed—and the entire hall dimmed.
A shockwave of darkness exploded from his Shadow Ring. The walls cracked. The entire castle covered in a shadow dome.
From behind the illusion of his entrapment, Korrin emerged from Hulio's own shadow, slashing his back. Blood sprayed the walls as Hulio roared and collapsed to his knees.
Akaza shouted an incantation. Reality warped—the castle bent sideways, gravity twisted, and Korrin's form was pulled toward an invisible vortex. But the assassin struck the ground with his dagger, anchoring his body through the shadows of his own feet.
Time twisted again. Germini reappeared behind Korrin, swinging his scythe toward his head.
Korrin ducked, barely avoiding the attack—but not without a slash to the side of his neck. He staggered, then flipped backward. His dagger spun in the air and landed back in his hand.
"I'll show you the price of touching me," Korrin hissed.
Lord Hulio, partially healed by his phoenix-lion, summoned a multi-headed wolf- octopus hybrid with testicles had venomous snake heads with thunder coursing through its veins. The beast lunged at Korrin, multiple jaws open.
Akaza warped the space between them to trap him in an endless loop corridor with the hybrids.
But Korrin had already seen it coming. His shadow seeped across the loop, bending with his will. He appeared out of Akaza's shadow like a portal, his dagger poised.
Before Akaza could react, Korrin struck.
But Akaza clutched Korrin's wrist—and teleported them both high into the sky, far above the castle.
"You die with me!" Akaza screamed.
The Warped Magician self-destructed in a blazing vortex of twisted space. "Noooo!!!!" Gemini screamed as he saw their ashes fall to the ground.
On the ground, Germini tried to rewind time to save Akaza, but Korrin reappeared—faster than ever—and severed Germini's arms with a single slice.
"How.... How are you still alive and not lord akaza" Gemini inquired.
"he is not the only one who can teleport," Korrin whispered. Then his dagger flashed through the air.
Germini's head hit the floor.
---
Back in the Corridor
The soldier trembled as he finished the story. "He... he didn't even flinch. After all that. He told the guards surrendered. They dropped their weapons and begged for their lives. Korrin beheaded the King... like it was nothing."
Everyone was silent.
The Princess covered her mouth in horror. "T-The King... Father..."
The Queen's fists clenched at her side, her nails digging into her palms. Her face was calm, but a storm brewed behind her eyes.
Asher narrowed his gaze. "He took down all three... the top one, three, and four."
"And the egg," Cassandra said coldly, her foresight flickering behind her eyes. "It's connected. Hulio's egg—the one stolen. It must be the same."
"Then this is far from over," Selena murmured. "If he has the egg and the ring..."
Asher looked down the hall. His mind raced. Strategy. Possibility. Risks.
"Then we prepare," he said at last. "We plan, we train, and we fight korrin."
---
The air in the corridor turned heavier after asher's words. Everyone looked at Asher. "We have no hope of winning Korrin" talon said with a pessimistic look as he faced asher—whose expression was unreadable, a mask hiding the storm within. His fist clenched slowly, not out of fear, but resolve.
"I need full details on the castle's current state," he said to the soldier. "Anyone still alive? Any traces left behind?"
The soldier shook his head slowly, eyes hollow. "Only ruins remain. The castle is in flames, caved in from the destruction caused by time and reality warping. The beasts summoned by Hulio took him and vanishing... and Korrin walked out alone."
Cassandra closed her eyes briefly. "Then it's worse than I imagined. That wasn't just an assassination—it was a message."
"To who?" the Queen asked, her voice calm, yet threatening.
"To us," Cassandra replied, her foresight vision flickering like a candle in a storm. "To everyone. Korrin wants us to know that not even the King, the strongest Lords, or reality itself can protect us. And he's not done."
Selena looked down, her expression conflicted. "The egg... if he hatches it and bonds with the beast..."
"He becomes unstoppable," Darian said darkly. "He already is."
Princess Lily looked between them, her face pale. "But... but why now? What's he after?"
Asher turned toward the window. The skies were cloudy, the light dull. He finally spoke again. "The throne's empty now. The chain of command is shattered. Korrin has killed three of the top five lords. With Hulio dead... that leaves only Lord Yura—the top second strongest in the kingdom."
The soldier nodded. "Lord Yura was seen defending the prince... they fled the castle just before it collapsed. I... I don't know where they are now."
Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "Korrin let them escape on purpose."
"What?" Talon asked.
"He wants us to regroup. To gather what's left of our forces. He doesn't fear war—he wants it," Cassandra said grimly. "And..."
"And?" the Queen asked, stepping forward.
Cassandra sighed. "I've seen fragments in my foresight... Korrin is no longer just a man. The Shadow Ring has fused with his body, and the egg—he's trying to awaken it. The beast inside is not of this world. It's... ancient. And if it bonds with him—"
"He becomes something beyond any of us," lyria finished as she held the dimensions pouch tightly to her waist.
The Queen placed her hand on her chest. "Then we cannot wait. We must act before he does."
Lyria stepped forward, biting her lip. "But what can we even do? Even together, we're not stronger than the Lords he killed. "
Asher turned around, facing them all. "There is a way."
The group turned to him, startled by the steel in his voice.
Asher continued. "Korrin's power is immense, but it's not perfect. He struggled to land direct hits against time and reality manipulation. That tells me something: his speed gives him an edge, but his damage relies on close combat. If know the outcome of the battle using Cassandra's foresight we will have the advantage."
Cassandra nodded. "Yes. As we speak I have looked into the future of the queen and princess and Korrin succeeded in killing them."
This made all of the look at Cassandra in a super shocked way as their moral and hopes just crashed
"But..." Cassandra continue "when I looked into Selena's future she was able to hide them using her magic while Asher fought Korrin and for some reason Asher didn't die..."
This made Asher give out a flash smile so quick no one noticed.
"Wait I can't hid the princess or queen, I can't use illusion to hid other yet." Selena said with a scared face.
"Yes you can" Asher responded
"But...but I can't....."
"Every clone is always 10 times stronger than the original. Haven't you felt it your power has grown rapidly because you are a clone that is why my father decided to make over hundred of clone"
"Wait so does that mean..." Darian said while stroking his beard "Asher is two thousand times stronger than his original "
"Yes, and Korrin is five thousand times stronger than the original "Asher said .
"Wait Korrin is a clone..?" Princess Lilly asked
"Yeah Korrin is Asher's...." In a swift gesture Selena covered garek mouth "what he means to say is Korrin is just one of the victim of cloning like me and Asher heheheeh" she said while makes an awkward laught
"Why are you acting weird all of a sudden what are you trying to hide?" The queen pointed.
"I don't know what you mean...,I guess am just nervous since I have never camouflage any other person except my self; hehe"
"Then you'll have to prepare and protect they Selena " Cassandra said and continued
"The fate of their life is in your hand " she said as she faced Selena.