The city's foundation groaned under the weight of repair and rebirth. Fires had long since been extinguished, but smoke still clung to the air like the memory of battle. While the surface showed signs of recovery, beneath it, in the dark recesses forgotten by time and untouched by light, something was stirring, Leon's shadow army.
Inside an abandoned war chamber below the old tower, Leon stood in the center, surrounded by silence. Only the faint hum of magic pulsed in the air. Before him knelt three shadows, Kel, the Eternal Empire assassin, and the first monster he had consumed upon his return from the Shadow Realm.
Kel, head bowed, armor scuffed and eyes hollow, was once the weakest of the Eternal Empire's commanders. Now, he knelt not out of loyalty, but out of understanding, Leon had stripped away everything that once made Kel fear the Empire. What remained was resolve.
"You know who I am now," Leon said coldly, his voice echoing like distant thunder.
Kel nodded. "You are the one they failed to erase."
Leon's eyes glowed faintly, one with the frigid light of ice, the other consumed by endless dark. "They built you to follow. I don't need followers. I need weapons."
"I will be your blade," Kel said without hesitation. "Not theirs."
Behind him, the assassin, a creation of the Eternal Empire, forged to kill silently and without mercy, remained still. It was no longer driven by orders from the Empire, no longer bound by its twisted creed. It had been consumed, reborn, and now responded only to Leon's will.
And beside it was the first beast Leon had taken, the one that lunged at him the moment he returned to this world. A creature of feral power, now bound in shadow, its presence was a symbol of Leon's hunger and wrath.
Kaelis watched from the far wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable. "You're building something… dangerous."
Leon looked over his shoulder, eyes sharp. "No. I'm building a warning."
Days passed, and the chamber grew. Kel began training Leon's recruits, lost hunters, forgotten mercenaries, and quiet onlookers who had seen the Eternal Empire's influence and survived its aftermath. They were weak, unorganized, and scattered.
But under Leon's shadow, they began to unify.
Training sessions turned brutal. Kaelis sharpened their swordplay. Kel instilled discipline. And Leon, he didn't teach. He watched. Judged. Let the ones who broke under pressure walk away, while those who remained slowly grew into something harder than steel.
One night, beneath a blood-red moon, Leon stood before them all. The shadows of the assassin and the beast loomed behind him like gods of death.
"You fear the Eternal Empire," he said, "because you've never seen what they created turn against them."
He raised his hand, and the assassin emerged fully, blades humming with dark energy. "They forged this to kill men like me."
Then he pointed to Kel. "And they sent this one to follow blindly. But both are mine now."
Silence filled the room. Not fear, respect.
Leon's voice dropped lower, colder. "If you want to fight under me, understand this: you're not soldiers. You're not rebels. You're shadows. And what belongs to the shadow… never dies."
Kaelis stepped forward. "It's time. The army is ready. Or as ready as they'll get."
Leon nodded, eyes narrowing. "Then we're one step closer."
"Closer to what?" Kaelis asked, though he already knew the answer.
Leon turned toward the darkness. "To making the Eternal Empire fear their own reflection."