Prologue - The Lie That Became Law
The world doesn't belong to heroes. It belongs to those who know how to disappear.
In the burning ruins of the southern district of Arkan, a boy watched shadows dance like ghosts over crumbling walls. No one noticed him—just a tattered figure in a soot-streaked coat, hands tucked in his pockets, boots coated with ash.
His name was Cid Nightfall. And he wasn't supposed to be here.
He should've been at school, reciting the names of emperors and the rules of noble etiquette. He should've been learning how to light candles with magic or wield a sword for honor. But Cid wasn't interested in glory. He was obsessed with control—the kind of control no king, no god, no hero ever really had.
He wanted the kind of power that moved silently beneath the world. The kind people only noticed when it was too late.
So, he practiced not being seen. He trained in abandoned train tunnels. He read forbidden scrolls about the lost Shadow Wars. He invented codes, false identities, entire secret organizations—because none of them existed.
Until one night… one did.
It began with a joke. A wild lie whispered into the ear of a wounded noble girl he saved from thugs in an alley.
> "They were Crimson Oath," he said. "Tell your family… Shadow Reign watches from the dark."
He expected her to laugh. Or forget. But the next day, her guards were searching for him. Her father—the Lord Commander of the Arcane Guard—sent scouts across the kingdom. Because Crimson Oath wasn't a made-up name.
It was a real cult. A dangerous one.
And Shadow Reign? That was new. That was terrifying.
The nobles believed it was a warning. The Crimson Oath thought it was a challenge.
And Cid? Cid just wanted to keep playing the role he made up. He thought he was pretending to be a shadow mastermind.
But the world had already accepted the fiction. And now, everyone believed he was real.
So he played along.
He recruited orphans with nowhere to go. He trained them in lies and illusion. He gave them code names. Masks. Roles in a war they didn't understand.
And they followed him. Not because they knew the truth.
Because he did.
Because the Crimson Oath was real. Because it wanted him dead.
And because his greatest lie… had become the only thing that could stop them.
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Chapter One – Smoke and Masks
The alley behind Wyrmspire Academy always smelled like rot and boiling metal. Rats skittered under rusted pipes. Steam hissed from the vents like dying beasts.
Cid stood there, perfectly still, as the city moved around him. He wasn't waiting for anyone. He was watching.
A noble's carriage rumbled past. A merchant screamed about apples. Somewhere, a school bell rang.
And no one noticed the boy with dark hair, messy boots, and a satchel of books he never opened. No one looked at the boy with scars on his knuckles and faded ink stains on his wrist.
He wasn't invisible.
He was forgettable. Exactly how he wanted it.
But Cid wasn't just playing pretend anymore. Every moment, every decision, was part of the script he was secretly writing—a script only he knew, with twists no one expected. He walked among the elite, pretending to be average, all while crafting the legend of a secret war in the shadows.
And today, that script took an unexpected turn.
A scream shattered the air.
High. Muffled. From the alley across the square.
Cid moved like breath in winter. Silent. Cold.
Two men. One girl. Velvet cloak, golden embroidery—noble class. Probably kidnapped.
The men had blades. Real ones. Not academy foam swords. Their stances were sloppy, but cruel.
Cid didn't speak. He didn't shout. He just moved.
A crack of bone. A knife kicked into the gutter. One down.
The second lunged. Cid ducked, rolled, slammed an elbow into ribs. The man gasped. Choked. Fell.
The girl stared.
> "Who… who are you?" she breathed.
And Cid, unsure what else to say, smiled faintly and whispered:
> "Tell your masters… Shadow Reign has returned."
He turned before she could ask more.
He didn't wait for thanks. Didn't care about her name.
But he did notice her eyes—wide with fear, yes, but also with recognition. As if she had heard that name before.
Shadow Reign.
It was just a fantasy. A game. A name he invented to sound cool in his head.
But now it was real.
And somewhere deep within Arkan's oldest archives… a black seal cracked.