Marvi was one of the few shadow legion commanders who took direct orders from the Shadow Queen herself. His awakening was a few months ago when his lord used one of the essences he obtained to create another shadow. Before Marvi, there was only the Shadow Queen Ruki
“Arise, my follower,” summoned the Shadow Queen, making her the first voice Marvi had ever heard. However, the man standing behind her was the one who brought him. “Vow an oath to your lord.”
Marvi did not swear it right away and took a look at his so-called lord at that time. He found a young man, no older than him, sitting on a rock with his legs crossed and an intrigued smile. Despite being a shadow now, Marvi blinked with surprise.
“You seem unconvinced,” chuckled the young man, but there was no range despite Marvi’s doubts. “At least you can have the ability to doubt me. That is better than blind loyalty, right?”
The shadow did not understand what his unreliable-looking lord meant by those words, but he knew that this man was worth following. It was an instinct, the same one a human feels when meeting his mother. There was an invisible connection between them.
“This shadow is… odd,” muttered the Shadow Queen with a threatening tone as she looked at him as if she would dispose of him if he were disloyal.
“That is because he lived his entire life in the shadows, and mistrust is his dearest companion,” smiled the lord of shadows. “This is still fascinating, even though you have been with me for most of a year, Ruki.”
“This is all thanks to your powers, my lord,” bowed the Shadow Queen. “If not for your saving, I would have been entrapped in the body of a monster forever. However, please never accept a mistrusting subordinate. We can unsummon this shadow.”
Marvi grew alert as it took a step back. The man behind the Shadow Queen raised his arm, and Marvi was sure he would be attacked. However, the man did no such thing. Instead, he smiled and waved at him.
“Don’t be like that, Ruki. Family does not abandon each other but works things out instead. I’m sure that we can reach a deal of some sort. Do you think the same, Marvi?”
The moment the man mentioned his name, Marvi fell to his knees. It was the name he had heard for a long time but could not remember where or who he was. However, the other thing that shook him was the men saying they were family.
“What do you mean by family?” glared Marvi at the ground, looking at his shadow arms. “I know that you have killed me to obtain this essence and resummon me as a soldier of your own.”
“I did not seek to kill you, Marvi,” said the man after a pause. “Look behind you. That is the corpse that has been you. You came here to take my life, shackled by your past and future.”
Marvi flinched and stared at the man, whose golden eyes stared into his soul. Those eyes did not lie to him, and as he turned around, he found a collapsed thin man on the ground. There were blades beneath his sleeves, weapons across his belt, and poison lacing his blades.
“You have been chasing me for a while now, Marvi,” said the man in front of him. “However, I know that you are nothing but a borrowed knife. That is why I want you to be more than that. You can be free.”
“And you would let me be free, even after you have summoned me now?”
“I would,” nodded the man. “I have no intention of forcing anyone to follow me. You can leave this battlefield and never return, and I promise that no one will ever chase you. However, if you do decide to follow me later….”
“Then I would have no place in your legion?” smiled Marvi, realizing the man was forsaking him with a threat. However, the man paused and smiled instead.
“I wanted to say that you would always be welcomed. As long as you harm no one, then you are one of my family.”
It was that word again that got his dead heart beating. Marvi stared at the man, confused, and realized why this word impacted him. The former him wanted someone to tell him that. There was a deep-seated regret in his heart that Marvi could not remember, but he knew that the former wanted to hear these words.
“…I will follow you for now,” muttered Marvi, and the man in question grinned. “However, I will only swear loyalty to you once I know what kind of person you are.”
“You already know me, dear,” said the man as he stood up. “The first task I want you to do is bury the corpse behind you. After that, we will leave at sunrise.”
***
It has been a few months since then, and Marvi witnessed the man perform miracles after miracles. He trained his goblins and took care of his shadows, slowly growing a bizarre army. The shadows did not get along with the goblins, but the man sat in front of them with a smile. It was indeed an odd sight.
One day, Marvi asked the shadow lord the reason behind the unstoppable march and diligence in taking care of his army. After this man summoned him to explore a dungeon, they were just the two.
The man did not answer right away, and he smiled. Marvi expected him to have a grandiose purpose for them or a goal like conquering the world. Instead, the man was carefree even as he took down countless monsters.
“I am preparing for something,” said his lord with a smile. “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I will be gone in a few months. You are the first person to know this, Marvi.”
“Gone?” blinked Marvi with shock, halting his steps. “What do you mean by that?” there was a bitterness in his voice for some reason.
“It is hard to explain, but a different version of myself will soon replace me?” his voice was uncertain as to if his lord was working based on assumptions. “I came to understand that the past year has been a better life than that was possible. The person who made that happen is another version of me, and I came to exist because of it.”
Marvi did not understand much then, but he did today. When he was summoned along with the rest and met his lord, Marvi knew that this man was not the same as before. Instead, it was a colder and more ruthless version of the man he once knew.
It broke his heart to see that man replaced by another, but he also knew this would be temporary. Regardless of what caused this, Marvi needed to ensure that when ‘that’ Arthur returns, he would find his family safe.
“I warned you against eating your own shadow,” muttered Marvi toward the woman on the ground. “A shadow is a person’s true heart. If you devour your shadow, it is nothing other than self-destruction.”
“You talk back for a mere monster,” said the soldier-woman with a sweaty face. Marvi stared at her silently before looking in a specific direction. “Even if you are creepy, I decided to devour you.”
“Even though I promised him never to harm humans again or use my skills…” muttered Marvi toward the distance blocked by the walls. “I’m sure he would forgive me for this once.”
Marvi reached out toward the ground, and his shadow-covered arm went inside his shadow. He was nothing but a monster, but this was nothing compared to the monstrosity he was before meeting Arthur Silvera.
“You see… I have to bring him back. He asked, ordered, and threatened me not to do anything if he gets replaced. However, how can I not?” smiled Marvi. “I was never his follower, but that allowed me to care more about him than he cares about himself.”
“What are you blathering, monster?” breathed the woman as she stood up, her body inflating to become a giant towering over Marvi. “I will use everything I ate today and destroy you.”
“I cannot be devoured because I have a mission to bring him back, no matter what. There are more horrors in the world that your mind cannot even imagine, soldier.”
Marvi pulled two short knives from the shadow and carried one in each arm. The familiar pose he used as an assassin appeared again. The soldier woman, now a giant, screamed in rage in front of him.
“Forgive me, Arthur,” muttered Marvi as the giant brought down her fist to flatten him. “I failed to keep the promise I once made to you. I wonder… if you would still consider me a family when we meet again?”
Then, Marvi disappeared. There was a slight ripple in the shadows of the underground tunnel, which passed through the soldier giant. The world froze before the giant was sliced in half, with Marvi appearing on the other side.
