Chapter 199 – Childs of Shadow
Shadeva sat there, all eyes turned toward her—but her expression remained calm, unbothered.
After Noah’s question, she couldn’t help but reminisce.
About them.
About her siblings.
And each time she did, pain returned—along with disappointment.
She still couldn’t understand. Couldn’t accept it. Didn’t they see? She never wanted to rule. She never sought dominion or control. All she had wanted was for them to stay together...
Forever.
She gave a small, crooked smile.
’Seems I was being delusional...’
She composed herself, and began to respond to Noah’s question.
"We are a family of four—including me. So I have three siblings. Two sisters. One brother."
She told them everything.
No filters. No secrets.
Because they needed to know.
They needed to be prepared.
"As I said before... we were the first sentient shadows of the realm. And each of us has a unique ability—something only we possess. Something that defines us."
She paused, letting the weight of her words settle across the table.
"You all know mine—I can turn the dead into shadows. But it goes beyond that. My soul is not a normal soul. It’s a miniature realm of shadows in itself. A realm that grows stronger with every shadow I take... and every bit I grow stronger, it grows too."
That was her truth. That was her uniqueness.
The First Daughter of Shadows.
And then, her voice dropped lower.
"For my siblings..."
"The first—Mortis—has a unique space. A corrosive shadow space. A dimension of his own making... and inside it, shadows that corrode everything."
"Time. Space. Soul. Memory."
"Anything."
"And anything he corrodes... he gains a part of."
She looked down for a second.
"The last time I saw him... his corrosive space had already reached the size of small a realm."
She let her words hang there. She didn’t finish them.
She didn’t have to.
They understood.
The room shifted. Eyebrows raised. Breaths tightened.
That... was a monster.
"So..." Alice broke the silence, voice quiet but serious, "if he were to corrode an entire world... would he gain a piece of that world’s will?"
Shadeva just smiled.
And the answer was clear.
She wasn’t done.
Her voice returned, smooth and steady—but darker now.
"The next is Ebony. The older sister right after me."
"Everywhere she walks... everything she touches... she leaves behind a shadow residue. Something only she can see. Something only she can interact with."
"I don’t even understand her ability fully. But in short—her shadows store past movements."
She looked up again.
"That means, yes. If she strikes you once... she can store it. Then replay it."
"I remember when she stored millions of strike and use it all at once to her opponent."
Even Noah’s brows twitched at that.
That was insane.
To store motion—store action—as shadow and use it again?
That was absurd. Broken.
And yet, it existed.
"The last one..." Shadeva whispered, her voice softening with fondness. "...was the youngest. Sylphira."
And that was telling.
The youngest had been closest to her.
And so her betrayal had hurt the most.
Shadeva’s smile faded as she continued.
"Her ability is simple. Too simple, actually."
"Shadow Possession."
"She can possess anything that casts a shadow. All she needs is a stronger will."
"And once she does..."
"They become hers. Puppets."
No flair. No exaggeration.
Just fact.
And that fact was horrifying.
Because anything that casts a shadow could be taken.
Even constructs. Even beasts. Even deities, if they slipped.
That was terrifying.
That was madness.
And that’s when the Vaelgrims understood what kind of hell the Shadow Realm truly was.
These siblings weren’t normal beings. They weren’t even just dangerous.
They were existences.
And they had evolved. Over eons. With their terrifying gifts, they would have reached entirely new realms.
It wasn’t just about cultivation anymore.
It was about what you became.
And the kicker?
These three monsters had to gang up—together—just to seal Shadeva.
Because they feared her.
Now the Vaelgrims realized they had no idea what Shadeva truly was.
She wasn’t just a shadow.
She was the shadow.
The First. The original among the originals. The root of everything in that cursed realm.
Her ability—to turn every being she killed into shadow, to absorb them, to rule over them in her internal realm—was nothing short of divine.
Even gods could become part of her.
Her inner realm grew. Her control grew.
And that meant she grew.
A queen of death and shadow.
And they had barely seen a glimpse of what she was capable of.
They looked at her differently now.
Not as Noah’s shadow anymore.
But as a powerhouse.
Not someone to fear. But someone to respect.
Because even if she didn’t act like it, her weight... was undeniable.
But not one of them placed her above them.
Because—
They were Vaelgrims.
They had lost a battle.
They had lost their home world.
They had lost their throne.
But they didn’t flinch.
Even knowing that beings like Mortis, Ebony, and Sylphira existed.
Even knowing they had freed the one the others sealed.
Yes, they were probably doomed.
And yet...
It was fine.
They loved it.
Because that’s what the bloodline craved.
Adversity. War. Chaos.
They thrived in it.
And now, more than ever, they had something worthy to overcome.
If they had to tear down the entire Shadow Realm to reclaim their place...
Then they would.
Noah smiled as he looked at them.
At his women.
They weren’t discouraged. They weren’t shaken.
They were burning...
Burning with resolve.
Burning with hunger.
And as a loving husband... how could he not reward them for that?
So—
"The most accomplished among you," he said with a smirk, "will get a full week with me. Just the two of us. Alone."
The room went dead silent.
Then—
"As his mother, and the one who made him possible, I think that week is mine," Selene said, her voice soft, maternal, but smug.
But no one gave a damn.
"No thanks. As his master, it obviously belongs to me," Elira snapped back.
"I’m literally his oracle. You want me to keep seeing his fate clearly? Then I deserve the reward," Elizabeth shot back.
"What about me then? As the one who gave him my mother as maid I deserve it." Zara too took part in this.
Alice’s lips twitched at Zara’s now boldness.
Anya laughed loudly.
And like that—it began.
The chaos. The arguments. The bickering.
Noah smiled.
Because that was exactly why he said it.
Some of them were still tense. Still stressed from everything that had happened.
So this was a way to lift the tension. To distract them just enough. To give them something playful to focus on—something normal in the middle of all this madness.
And it worked perfectly.
As the girls began arguing, shouting, teasing, and even betting who would win—
Noah leaned back in his seat, still smiling.
What a loving husband.
—End of Chapter 199—