The world was a graveyard.

What once thrived in human hands now lay in ruins. Nature had begun to reclaim its place, but the devastation remained—a constant reminder of the chaos the monsters had unleashed. Concrete and steel crumbled beneath the weight of time and neglect. Fires had long since burned out, leaving only the remnants of what had once been cities. Now, only shadows roamed the streets.

Ace Vesper stood amidst the desolation, his boots crunching against the broken asphalt. He gazed out across the ruined landscape, the faint light of the setting sun casting long shadows on the wreckage. The sky was a dull orange, bleeding into gray, much like the world itself—once vibrant, now hollow. In a world where hope had been snuffed out, Ace remained the last ember, buried in shadow.

For five years, he had been forgotten. Replaced by a younger hero. A man who wielded the same power. Alistair.

The name echoed in Ace's mind, bitter as bile. Alistair had taken everything—took the world’s trust, its admiration. The people had embraced him, a new hero to fight the monsters. And when they found that Alistair possessed the same mastery over the elements that Ace had, they turned on him. The world no longer needed Ace.

But the world didn’t know the truth. They didn’t know the depths of Ace’s power. The power he had spent five years cultivating in the shadows.

Ace closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the pulse of the Phantom Reign within him. He reached deep, pulling on the dark energy that thrummed in his veins. His power wasn’t just elemental magic anymore. It was control—control over the very monsters that had once ravaged the world.

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A low growl echoed in the distance. A soft tremor in the ground. Then, the sound of shifting, of movement from the deepening shadows.

Ace smiled.

He turned, his face expressionless, his eyes cold. With a flick of his wrist, a dark portal ripped open in the air before him, a swirling abyss that seemed to suck in the light. A low, guttural growl echoed from the portal.

From the darkness, a massive form emerged—a hulking creature with glowing red eyes. Its body was an unholy mix of bone and muscle, its skin a sickly gray, covered in jagged scars. Clawed hands scraped against the ground as it staggered forward, towering over Ace. A beast, once a terror to humanity, now at his command.

"Rise," Ace muttered, his voice barely more than a whisper.

The creature obeyed, lifting itself fully from the shadows. It stood at least ten feet tall, its eyes fixed on Ace with an unblinking stare. A deep, rumbling growl escaped its throat as it lowered its head in submission.

Ace’s eyes narrowed, the air around him thickening. He raised his hand slowly, and the creature mimicked the motion, its massive claw reaching toward the sky. The energy of the Phantom Reign surged in Ace’s chest, and the monster shuddered as it was bathed in the same power. He had trained it, fed it with energy. And now, it was more than a mindless beast—it was a weapon, a soldier.

Ace turned his attention to the next shadow, and more forms began to take shape. Shadows crawled from the cracks in the earth, from the abandoned buildings, from the forgotten corners of the world. Creatures of all shapes and sizes appeared, each one twisted in form, each one more powerful than the last.

They had all been waiting. Waiting for Ace. Waiting for the day when he would rise again.

The air thickened with tension as the monsters gathered at his feet. They were his army—his Shadow Walkers—and together, they were unstoppable.

He clenched his fist, and the shadows of his army moved with him. They followed his every command, their bodies shifting and flowing with unnatural grace, their eyes glowing with an eerie red light. It was no longer just Ace Vesper standing alone against the world. Now, he had an army. An army that would remind the world of who he was.

With a single gesture, Ace turned toward the horizon, his eyes cold and determined. The world had forgotten him. The world had abandoned him.

But it would soon learn to fear him.

The Phantom Reign was upon them.