The System Reincarnator: From Zero to Shadow King

The shadow domain trembled.

The bargain had been signed, and the weight of the shadows hung to Kaelen's shoulders—not as a burden, but as a veil of silent strength.

[System Notification].

You've unlocked: Shadow Gate (Skill — Rank E) enables travel between the Shadow Domain and Mortal Realm.

Cost: 100 Shadow Essence each usage.

Kaelen stood alone on the edge of a wide chasm, the swirling dark mist muttering like the voices of the damned.

Beyond this gate lay the world he had left behind—the kingdom that despised him, the lords who betrayed him, and the rulers who abandoned him for dead.

But now...

He was not returning as a man.

He returned as a Shadow Reincarnator.

[Shadow Gate—Activated]

A tear had burst wide in front of him, revealing a rift of ink-black energy sparkling with violet veins.

Kaelen stepped forward—and crossed.

The Mortal Realm — Kingdom of Eldrin, Borderlands

Thunder cracked across the stormy sky as Kaelen emerged from the shadows of a barren hill. The initial target of his conquest was Grave march Outpost, a garrison city on the outskirts of the kingdom.

Its walls loomed high, thirty meters tall and made of black iron and stone. Torches flickered atop the battlements, while guards patrolled in rhythmic shifts.

But Kaelen's eyes saw something others couldn't.

The shadows whispered.

There are plenty of weak places. Corruption among the guard ranks. Commanders' hearts are filled with fear.

[Shadow Sight—Active]

Enemy morale: Low Corruption Level: High Dominance. Potential: 78%.

Kaelen smirked.

Perfect.

He knelt and pressed his palm into the earth.

Dark tendrils grew from his palm and vanished beneath the soil, like roots seeking prey.

[Shadow Bloom—Active]

Infecting subterranean shadows. Spreading control.

Within minutes, the shadows beneath the outpost's walls began to pulsate, undetectable to mortal eyes.

Kaelen arose.

"I will conquer this city… without lifting a blade."

Within Gravemarch Outpost

Captain Derron strode within Grave march Outpost, murmuring under his breath. The men spoke of weird shivers and moving shadows, which Derron dismissed as foolishness.

Until the torches started to die.

One by one.

No wind. There's no rain.

Only darkness creeps across the stone.

And then...

A voice emerges from among the darkness.

"You serve me now."

Derron turned around, sword half drawn. However, there was no one. Only his own shadow rises and shifts. Looking back with brilliant violet eyes.

[Shadow Domination - Success]

Derron collapsed to his knees, eyes empty.

Within an hour, half the garrison was under Kaelen's hidden authority.

The commander was the next to go, taken by a shadow beneath his own cloak while he slept.

At Dawn, The Black Banner Rises.

Gravemarch's gates flung open to reveal a silent morning.

A black banner unfolded from its highest tower, bearing a single sigil-like crown surrounded by shadows.

[System Notification].

You've conquered Grave march Outpost.

Shadow Dominion established: +100 Shadow Essence every hour.

The Shadow Lord of Grave march title has been unlocked.

Kaelen stood atop the battlements, arms crossed, while his new soldiers—some unaware, some bound by shadow—lined the walls in complete quiet.

Under the morning sun, his eyes burned violet.

One city down. The kingdom is ready to go.

But in the distant.

A shadow moved across a distant hill. A figure wrapped in silver watches with chilly eyes.

[System Notification].

Warning: The enemy reincarnator has been detected.

Ardyn, The Lightbringer.

Class: System Reincarnator (Light Domain).

Kaelen's sneer darkened.

"So… I am not the only one, after all."