Chapter 23 – The Mind of Shadows

The Calm Before the Next Storm

For the first time in what felt like forever, we had a lead—a real lead. The War Scroll of the Last King wasn't just some dusty artifact gathering cobwebs in an old vault. It was a playbook. A warning. A strategy meant for this exact moment in history, prepared centuries ago by those who knew this day would come.

And yet, the scroll barely scratched the surface of what we needed. It detailed the First Shadow's ultimate weapon—not its strength, but its ability to outthink, to manipulate battlefields like a puppeteer yanking strings from the shadows.

Korr read the scroll aloud as we camped just outside the vault. The dying embers of our fire cast flickering shadows on the cavern walls.

"When the Shadow returns, it will not strike with muscle, but with mind. Every blow you land will be calculated, permitted. Every victory a design within its greater plan."

I stared into the fire, my fists clenched. "So... we're fighting something that's not just stronger than us, but smarter, too."

Taro chuckled. "Welcome to war."

---

Understanding the Shadow's Strategy

Taro leaned back against a rock, his arms behind his head as if we weren't discussing our inevitable doom.

"Think of the First Shadow like a grandmaster on a galactic chessboard," he explained. "We're pieces. Pawns. Knights, if you're feeling generous. Every fight we win? It's only because it lets us."

I frowned. "But why? Why let us win at all?"

Taro's smirk faded. "Because while we're celebrating small victories, it's setting the board for the final move."

Checkmate.

It made sense now why Xyros hadn't gone all-in. Why he'd retreated after our battle. Why the Shadow Saiyans hadn't overwhelmed us yet.

They weren't fighting a war to defeat us.

They were fighting a war to use us.

For what, we still didn't know. But something in my gut told me we were playing right into their hands.

Korr stood and rolled his shoulders. "Then it's time we flip the board."

---

A Lesson in Tactical Combat

The following morning, Taro dragged us into a mock battlefield he'd marked into the cracked stone of the Outlands. Dozens of small flags dotted the landscape, creating zones, barriers, and choke points.

"We're not just throwing fists today," Taro said. "Today, you learn to command."

I raised a brow. "Command?"

"Your enemy thinks ten steps ahead," he continued. "If you can't learn to think eleven, you die. And worse? So does everyone else."

Great pep talk.

Korr and I squared off, but instead of just charging at each other like we always did, Taro shouted rules from the sidelines.

"No full-power blasts. No aerial retreats. Control the zones. Force positional advantages."

For the first few minutes, it felt awkward—like I was trying to fight with one arm tied behind my back. Every instinct screamed to rush Korr and end it fast. But when I did, he used the terrain against me.

I lunged, and he pivoted behind a flag marker, forcing me into a narrow corridor between two crags.

"Checkmate," Korr muttered, blasting me from behind with a contained ki burst.

Taro cackled. "See? You play his game, you lose. Control the field. Force him to react."

I stood, wiping the dirt from my face. "Again."

And we did.

For hours.

Until the movements started to make sense. Until I wasn't just reacting, but predicting. Until I could guide Korr where I wanted him without him realizing it.

---

The Next Evolution of Power

But strategy wasn't the only lesson.

Taro reminded me that the power of the fallen wasn't just raw energy—it was the combined knowledge of thousands of warriors who had fought this exact enemy.

"Call on them," he said as we rested between matches. "Not for strength, but for insight. The Shadow Saiyans adapt. You have to adapt faster. And with the minds inside you, you can."

I closed my eyes, focusing on that golden river of energy within me. But instead of pulling from it like a reservoir, I listened.

And the whispers became voices.

"The First Shadow reuses formations. Copy them, then break them."

"When the darkness splits, its weakest point lies in the center mass."

"Lead them into overextension. Shadow Saiyans crave excess."

They weren't just giving me ideas.

They were giving me counter-strategies.

Tools. Techniques. Mental blueprints from warriors who had survived long enough to matter.

And that?

That was something Xyros didn't expect me to have.

---

An Unwelcome Visitor

Night fell again. Korr and I were half-asleep while Taro kept watch.

Until the wind shifted.

And the air grew cold.

Too cold.

Taro stood. "We've got company."

From the darkness, a figure emerged. Not Xyros.

But worse.

A Shadow Saiyan Commander.

Taller than me, draped in living shadows, his golden eyes gleamed with recognition.

"Akuma," he said, his voice like gravel grinding against steel. "You have what belongs to us."

I rose slowly, energy crackling around my fists. "If you're here for the power of the fallen, you're leaving disappointed."

The commander grinned. "Oh, I'm not here to take it. I'm here to test it."

---

A Tactical Battle Begins

This wasn't like the earlier brawls.

This fight was chess.

And I was finally playing the game.

Every move the commander made was calculated. Wide, sweeping strikes meant to box me into kill zones. High-speed charges designed to force me into reactive defenses.

But I didn't take the bait.

I applied the formations from the vault. The ghostly knowledge from the fallen guided my footwork, my attacks, my counters.

I used the field—angled rocks, trenches, debris. I forced the commander to waste energy chasing empty threats while I set up traps of my own.

Korr and Taro worked with me seamlessly, using formation patterns we'd drilled all day.

And finally, I spotted the opening.

One slip.

One overreach.

The commander lunged—right into the pincer I had led him toward.

Korr's blade cut across his leg, halting his momentum.

Taro struck from above, driving the commander into the dirt.

And I finished it—slamming a golden-fueled fist into his chest, disrupting the shadow energy that held him together.

The commander disintegrated into mist, his last words barely a whisper:

"You are learning... too fast."

---

The Road Ahead

I stood over the fading remnants of the Shadow Saiyan, breathing heavily.

We weren't just fighting stronger enemies now.

We were fighting enemies who knew we were becoming a problem.

And that meant they would escalate.

Taro clapped me on the back. "Congrats, kid. You've officially made their radar."

Korr smirked. "About time."

I looked up at the stars.

This wasn't the end.

It was the beginning of a bigger, deadlier game.

And I was done playing defense.

---

As we stood in the Vault of Forgotten Kings, the War Scroll opened more than just strategies—it opened a hidden history none of us were prepared for.

At the bottom of the scroll, faint inscriptions glowed to life as my golden ki reacted with the ancient ink. These weren't battle formations or tactical advice... these were warnings.

Taro leaned over my shoulder, reading aloud.

"The First Shadow was not born... it was forged."

I blinked. "Forged? By who?"

Korr's expression darkened. "Not who. What."

The scroll revealed the existence of something deeper than the Shadow Saiyans—a primordial entity known as The Abyssal Mind, a sentient force from beyond our reality. According to the scroll, the First Shadow was its avatar, created when ancient Saiyan kings sought ultimate power and accidentally tore a rift into the Abyss itself.

Taro exhaled. "They thought they were evolving. Instead, they were possessed."

This changed everything.

We weren't just fighting the remnants of a corrupted Saiyan faction. We were fighting a cosmic parasite—one that had been whispering to our kind since before history was written.

The War Scroll ended with a final prophecy:

"When the Abyss returns, the blood of kings must unite. For only the Heir of Flame and the Last Warden can reseal the breach."

I looked at Taro. "Who's the Last Warden?"

Taro's face shifted. "...I think we're about to find out."

Returning to the Vault

As the last glow faded from the War Scroll, I realized this wasn't just a war for survival.

It was a war for existence itself.

The Saiyan people weren't just warriors. We were guardians of reality, and somewhere along the line... we forgot that.

Taro rested a hand on my shoulder. "Hope you're ready to rebuild an empire."

I glanced at Korr. He just smirked. "It's about time we acted like kings."

I looked back at the vault, at the weapons, the strategies, the memories left behind by those who had fallen long before us.

"We're not just fighting for ourselves anymore," I said quietly. "We're fighting for all of them."

The next phase of this war wasn't going to be won with brute strength alone.

It would take strategy.

It would take unity.

And it would take remembering what it truly meant to be Saiyan.

The words of the War Scroll still echoed in my mind as the shadows of the vault seemed to close in tighter around us.

"The blood of kings must unite."

"The Heir of Flame and the Last Warden."

Up until now, I thought my fight was against Xyros and his Shadow Saiyans. But this... this was bigger.

Because the Abyss wasn't just some forgotten threat.

It was inevitable.

---

The Abyssal Cycle

Taro motioned for us to gather as he began explaining what the fallen warriors and the scroll had revealed to him in full.

"The Abyss doesn't destroy civilizations by brute force," Taro said grimly. "It cycles through them. First, it offers them power—the lure of ultimate strength. The Saiyan Kings of the past thought they were controlling it, wielding it as a tool. But the Abyss was always the one in control."

"And when the cycle completes?" Korr asked.

Taro gestured to the vault walls. "Everything falls. Civilization collapses. The Shadow rises. The Abyss consumes."

And I realized...

We weren't facing the first cycle.

We were facing the next one.

Xyros wasn't just trying to awaken the First Shadow. He was trying to complete the cycle, bringing the Abyss fully into our realm through a massive ritual known in the scroll as The Eclipse of Kings—an event where the spiritual remnants of all past Saiyan rulers would be devoured, fueling the rebirth of the Abyss's avatar.

---

As the vault sealed behind us, I felt the pressure of destiny more than ever.

"We're running out of time," I said.

Korr nodded. "Then we start with the Warden."

Taro smirked. "And along the way? We burn every Shadow freak we find."

I smirked back, but the weight of what we now knew settled deep in my chest.

This wasn't just about winning battles anymore.

This was about ending the Abyssal Cycle, once and for all.

And it was going to take more than power.

It was going to take all of us.

---

Next Time on Ancient Legends…

The journey to the Bastion of Orin begins!

Who will survive the Warden Trials?

And what horrors will Xyros unleash to stop them?

Find out next time on Ancient Legends!