Shadow Slave: Eternal Madness

[Volume 1: Lost] Opening quote:

Fate truly has a twisted sense of humor.

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In a warm dining room, five people sat around a table laden with food. At the head sat a man in his forties, with black hair just starting to gray and brown eyes that gleamed with quiet affection. His features were average, but his presence carried a certain steadiness.

To his left sat a woman of the same age, her striking blue eyes—a rarity in these times—softened by a mischievous glint. Her black hair framed a face many would call beautiful.

On his right was a younger reflection of her: a girl in her early twenties, her blonde hair and vivid blue eyes lending her an elegance that mirrored her mother's beauty.

Opposite them sat two boys. The older one had black hair and brown eyes like their father, his athletic build marking him as confident and active. Beside him, the younger boy, slimmer and quieter, shared their mother's rare blue eyes. His headphones were firmly in place, his attention locked on the screen of his phone, detached from the lively table.

Alex glanced at his wife and smiled.

"Your cooking is really top-tier, Alisa."

Alisa smirked back at him, her tone playful.

"Oh? Are you judging my cooking now?"

Alex blinked, caught off guard.

"No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I was just trying to say it's so good that I wonder how I managed to marry someone so... pfft—"

Laughter erupted from his right, breaking his flow.

"Ariel, Raphael," Alisa said with a mock scolding tone, "don't laugh at your father. That's disrespectful."

Raphael, the older boy, grinned as he looked at his mother.

"Then why were you teasing him, Mom?"

Their sister Ariel chimed in, laughing.

"Really, Father, you're too easy to tease! Is this what love does to people?"

The room filled with laughter, all except for two—Alex, the victim of their jokes, and the youngest, who stayed engrossed in his phone.

Raphael leaned over, curious.

"Hey, Michael, what's so interesting? What are you watching?"

Without looking up, Michael replied, "Re:Zero

."

"Re:Zero?" Raphael scoffed. "Isn't that the one where the MC's weak but has some overpowered cheat? Seriously, why watch a show with such a lame MC?"

BAM! Michael slammed the table, his eyes blazing.

"Don't you dare insult my glorious King Subaru!"

SLAP!

"Ow! Mom! What was that for?" Michael yelped, clutching his head where Alisa had lightly smacked him.

"Hit the table like that again, and you'll find out," she warned.

"Stupid," Raphael muttered under his breath.

Michael glared. "I heard that, you—"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Raphael interrupted innocently.

"Raphael, stop," Alex interjected, his tone firm.

Raphael sighed and leaned back, eyeing his brother. "But seriously, why do you even like that show? It's so boring. The MC's the worst. If I had his power, I'd use it way better."

Michael looked at him with a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

"Raphael, do I need to remind you about the last time you broke your hand you cried like a baby."

Raphael fell silent, his mouth twisting in defeat.

Raphael scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Alright, alright. But still, where are you at in Shadow Slave?"

Michael blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"

"Just answer the question."

"Sigh... I just got to the privileged chapters."

"Really? What do you think about it?"

Michael's face lit up. "Solid 9/10. Everything was peak, but V8 was disappointing. And V9 is still ongoing. The only good part in V8 was when Asterion finally showed up."

Raphael grinned. "I have high hopes for him. Modret couldn't stop glazing over him."

Ariel, clearly fed up, slammed her hand on the table. "Could you both just shut up, you bookworms?"

Michael turned toward his older sister, raising his eyebrows.

"Ariel, you know, one time I saw your phone open, and what I saw was... really bad. Yaoi pornhwa, Ariel? Yaoi?!" He scrunched his face in exaggerated disgust.

Ariel's face turned bright red, and her spoon clattered to the floor. "I can explain—"

Before she could continue, Raphael jumped in, grinning mischievously.

"Mhm, mhm. I also saw her reading those... Wattpad abominations."

Ariel stared at them with a mix of defeat and annoyance. "I... I'm going to my room!"

"Wait, Ariel—" Alisa started, but the sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the dining room.

Alisa glared at her sons, her expression darkening.

"Sigh... you two. Be ready, we're leaving in an hour."

"Yes, ma'am!" they said in unison.

An hour later, as they were all gathered in the car, Alex glanced back.

"Is everyone in?"

"Yeah."

"Yep."

"Let's just go," Alex muttered, focusing on the road.

Raphael looked at his sister again, raising an eyebrow.

"By the way, why did you dye your hair blond? Trying to stand out or something?"

"None of your business," Ariel snapped, her face a little flushed.

"Tch, fine. Guess I'll just talk to Michael. Hey, Mich—"

"Shut it," Michael interrupted, not even looking up from his phone.

"Sigh... you're killing the mood," Raphael muttered under his breath.

As they drove through the streets, Raphael noticed something strange in the sky. His eyes narrowed as he stared, trying to make sense of it.

'What is that? Is it falling near us? No way, right?'

"Hey, Dad. What is that in the sky?" Raphael asked, his voice suddenly tense.

"Huh?" Alex glanced up, his eyes widening. He didn't know how big it was, but he recognized the shape—round, cylindrical... like a missile.

'A missile? But why? There's no battlefield here... And if it's military, how is it still intact?'

"Raph... RAPH! Everyone down, NOW!" Alex shouted, his tone sharp with panic.

Without thinking, Alex swerved the car off the road, his foot heavy on the gas pedal, trying to outrun the missile. Other drivers on the road began to notice, but it was too late.

The missile streaked downward.

First, a deafening tremor. Then came the blinding light—a flash so bright, it swallowed everything in its wake.

And then...

Nothing.

Darkness.

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In history, it was said that the missile was an Israeli weapon that had gone off-course. Initially, the military had assumed it had fallen somewhere in the Middle East, lost in the chaos of a region constantly on the brink of conflict. But the missile had not landed where anyone expected. Instead, it fell in Europe.

The world would come to know it as The Missile of War. Its impact was far beyond anyone's imagining. The missile, in its devastating power, ignited the spark that would set the world ablaze, triggering what would later be remembered as The Doom War—the war that led to the collapse of nations and the rise of destruction on an unimaginable scale.

What followed was the cataclysmic event that is called World War 3

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What do you think?