Shädow appears again in a vision, grinning:
"You smelled it. The taste of blood. You need me."
Shadow begins to doubt.
Each victory makes him less human.
But he swears:
"I use you. You use me.
But you will not own me."
—
In the background, Black prepares for war.
The cultists have taken the city of Ghorel.
Children with sewn-shut eyes serve as seers.
Shadow attacks.
A brutal urban battle begins.
Demonic magic against twisted rituals.
The city becomes a burning, whispering, living thing.
In the end, Shadow kills the high priest –
but innocent spirits are destroyed as well.
His warriors begin to look at him differently.
"Will he become a savior…
or the next tyrant?"
—
Saphira leaves.
She wants to help – not just to save Shadow,
but to preserve the humanity within him.
She travels to an ancient order of Light Mages,
to grow stronger herself.
Before she goes, she says:
"If I don't recognize you next time –
I'll kill you. Okay, brother?"
—
Shadow stands at the edge of an ancient battlefield.
There, he sees him for the first time – from afar:
The King.
The former father – now a dark monarch
with a golden mask and a three-headed hellhound: Cerberon.
They speak through visions.
The King says:
"You are not my son.
You are my creation."
Shadow replies:
"Then you'll watch your creation die."
—
Shadow enters the temple ruins of Sorn-Tel,
where the last fragment of a fallen angel hides.
The angel appears: pale, broken,
a sword of light piercing his chest.
"You are caught between worlds, child of darkness."
Shadow demands knowledge – about the King, the Void, and the Heart of War.
But the angel demands a price:
"Only those who die may see the truth."
Shadow kills him.
With one final scream, the angel shatters –
and in his light, Shadow sees:
The King is bound to the Void itself.
He is just the host of an ancient being.
—
Shädow appears in the heart of the demon fortress.
He offers Shadow the full power – the final merging.
"Merge with me – and your enemies will fall like leaves."
Shadow hesitates.
He sees the army. Their eyes.
Their fear.
The power would be sweet –
but it would be final.
He refuses.
But the price is high:
A third of his shadow warriors turn against him.
Chaos erupts.
Shadow fights his own soldiers – and survives.
But now he stands alone.
King of the Hated.
—
An old companion – Korr, the silent shadow captain – betrays him.
He steals a demon crown and delivers it to Black.
Shadow follows him deep into the swamps of Ulron –
but Korr dies by his own hand,
to enable a ritual for the King.
His final words:
"I believed you were the savior…
not the heir to terror."
Shadow curses him –
but the seed of doubt continues to grow.