The forest at the kingdom's border fell silent.
The wind stopped.
Even the sounds of night insects disappeared.
In the middle of the cracked ground stood two figures facing each other.
One was Arken, the ruler of shadows.
The other was a general of the Void Sovereign's army.
An aura of emptiness surrounded the creature like a black storm.
"Human… you are my target," it said in a heavy voice.
Arken looked at it without emotion.
"Then you came to the wrong place."
The Void creature swung its sword.
Void energy shot forward like black lightning, shattering the trees behind Arken.
But Arken had already moved.
His body turned into shadow and reappeared behind his enemy.
The shadow in his hand transformed into a long black blade.
Clang!
The shadow sword and the void blade collided.
An explosion of energy shook the forest.
The ground cracked around them.
The Void creature laughed.
"You're strong… but not strong enough!"
It slammed its sword into the ground.
Void energy erupted like a massive wave.
Arken jumped back, but part of the attack still struck him and threw him several meters away.
Dust scattered through the air.
The Void creature slowly walked forward.
"So the Shadow King… is nothing but an empty legend."
But as the dust began to clear—
Arken was still standing.
His black cloak moved with the wind.
His eyes were now darker than before.
The shadows across the entire forest began to move.
Tree roots.
Rocks.
The ground.
Every shadow rose like living creatures.
The Void creature stopped walking.
For the first time, it felt something strange.
Pressure.
Arken slowly raised his hand.
The shadows transformed into thousands of black spears floating in the air.
"An empty legend?" Arken said quietly.
The shadow spears began to tremble.
"Try saying that again… after you survive this."
In an instant—
The sky was filled with a rain of shadows.
The Void creature roared and raised its sword to block the attack.
Explosion after explosion shook the forest.
The battle could be felt even far beyond the kingdom's border.
In the palace of Atheria…
Lunaria suddenly opened her eyes.
The blue light in them shone brightly.
She could feel that energy.
An incredibly powerful shadow energy.
"Arken…"
But along with that energy…
She also sensed something else.
Emptiness.
A power from the Void dimension.
Lunaria clenched her hand.
In her visions, she saw possible futures.
One of those futures…
Showed Arken severely wounded.
Lunaria's expression turned serious.
"This must not happen…"
On the battlefield, the fight was still continuing.
But without them realizing—
Someone from the dimension of emptiness was watching the battle.
And a faint smile appeared on his face.
The Void Sovereign.