Shadow Being System

William's breath hitched as his eyes locked onto the monstrous purple orb staring back at him from the abyss. It was massive, unblinking, and pulsating with an otherworldly energy that seeped into his very soul. This was no mere eye—it was an abomination, a piece of something that should never exist in the mortal realm. The sight of it sent icy needles racing down his spine, and his knees buckled beneath him. Dread coiled around his chest like a serpent, squeezing the air from his lungs. He tried to speak, to scream, but his voice failed him. The abyss seemed to grow darker, more suffocating, as though it was feeding off his fear.

The silence stretched unbearably, broken only by the sound of William's ragged breathing. Yet somehow, through the pounding in his ears and the paralyzing terror, he managed to choke out a single, trembling question:

"Who... who are you?"

The answer came, not in words but in a force that shattered the very fabric of reality, sending ripples through the abyss and distorting the space around William. It felt as though time itself momentarily fractured, leaving him suspended in a surreal, harrowing stillness. The voice was not just sound—it was anti-sound, an auditory black hole that consumed everything around it. It spoke in harmonies that defied logic, in frequencies that made his vision blur and his nose bleed. The weight of eons pressed down on him, a tide of ancient darkness and patience so vast it dwarfed the existence of mountains and stars. Frost began to form in the air around him, intricate patterns resembling faces caught mid-scream, their expressions a twisted blend of agony and ecstasy. Explore more stories at empire

The abyss trembled as the voice spoke again, and even the shadows seemed to recoil, reacting to the sheer power of its presence.

"I am Shadow," it said, the words reverberating through William's very bones.

A realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. The Shadow Lord, he thought. The celestial being who created the system. But what was such a being doing here? The thought sent his mind spiraling into chaos.

"What do you want from me?" William managed to ask, his voice barely audible against the weight of the Shadow's presence.

"Power," the Shadow Lord replied, the word dripping with an intensity that made the abyss shudder. "I want to give you power."

William's eyes narrowed, skepticism momentarily cutting through his fear. "Why? Why would you want to give me power?"

The Shadow Lord's voice rumbled like a storm, shaking the very foundation of the void. "Because out of all of them, you're the only one who survived."

"All of us?" William whispered, confusion etched across his face. "I'm the only one who survived? What does that mean?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The words lingered in the air, heavy with implication. Then, like pieces of a puzzle snapping into place, fragments of memory surged through William's mind. The system's cryptic messages, the prototype designation, the daily reward of 50 experience points for surviving. It all pointed to one conclusion: hosting the system was inherently dangerous, a game of survival that others had not won. He was the sole survivor.

The Shadow Lord's voice broke through his thoughts, the resonance dragging him back to the present. "Who would have thought that it was the prototype that would survive?" it mused, almost to itself. "But alas, I do not have much time."

The voice grew heavier, darker. William felt the weight of it pressing down on him, his consciousness fraying at the edges. The shadows seemed alive, writhing and twisting as though they were preparing to engulf him entirely.

"Do not fail me," the Shadow Lord added, the words imbued with an ominous finality.

The abyss fractured around him, the oppressive darkness giving way to an even more suffocating void. William's vision blurred, and he felt his consciousness being torn from the abyss. He woke up in his bed at the orphanage, gasping for air. Sweat drenched his body, and his chest heaved as though he had run a marathon. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"What just happened?" he muttered to himself.

Before he could process it further, his body gave out, and he fainted, collapsing back onto his bed.

Back in the abyss, the Shadow Lord let out a guttural, bone-chilling laugh that resonated like shards of ice scraping across metal. It echoed endlessly, distorting the very fabric of the void and sending ripples through the oppressive darkness. Bound by heavy chains, the monstrous figure loomed in the darkness, its form obscured but its power undeniable. Its laugh carried with it a sinister promise, one that spoke of worlds falling and lives shattering.

"Yes," it said, the words dripping with malice. "My plan is going well. Child, I've given you my shadow fragments. Do well to use them, so my chains may come free. And then I'll return to the world. The world shall be mine. Lee, I'm coming for you."

The chains rattled as the Shadow Lord shifted slightly, its form pulsating with energy that crackled like lightning in the void. The abyss seemed to shrink under the weight of its intent, as though the void itself feared the creature it contained.

Far away, atop a tall hill in a secluded Japanese temple, two old men sat in a dimly lit room. Their faces were etched with concern as they discussed recent events.

"Lee just sent a message," the monk said, his voice heavy with worry. "The last of the hosts is dead. The boy with the prototype is the only one who survived."

The other man, dressed in a black kimono, grimaced. "That means the boy must have received the shadow fragments."

The monk nodded slowly, his expression grim. "Yes."

"Has Lee found a way to seal the Shadow Lord permanently?" the man in black asked.

The monk's face darkened. "No. At this rate, we may have to kill the boy to contain the Shadow Lord. The Shadow Lord must never return to the world."

In a corner of the room, a young boy with fiery red hair sat cross-legged, meditating. His eyes snapped open as the conversation reached his ears.

"William," Liam said, his voice barely a whisper.