HP - Shadow Monarch! [BOOK 1]

Chapter 145 - Shadow Monarch's Dungeon 03.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

Third Person POV

Romania.

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Morou Kaind was a 30-year-old man with black hair and eyes. He often carried a serious expression as a characteristic most of the time. His eyes reflected a man who had faced thousands of battles throughout his life, despite having died relatively young.

He was a child who lost his parents fighting in a world war on a small but highly technological planet in the Outer Rim. He became an orphan. His parents met a cruel fate in that conflict, which spread across the entire planet, while he survived among other orphaned children, constantly facing the possibility of dying in an attack or bombardment by enemy ships vying for territory. No city on that world was safe at the time. All he could do was watch the destruction and feel helpless, as people begged the Guardians to end the conflict. But even after years, they never came.

One day, however, that plea was answered when the Guardians themselves arrived on the planet. These visitors ended the war not long after their arrival. Everyone feared them; no one could stand against them. Yet they weren't there specifically to fight or maintain peace.

The real reason for their presence was that they were searching for a vessel. The signal had led them to the planet by coincidence. Despite this, they arrived during a time of crisis and resolved it regardless. However, their sole objective remained: to find the child.

They went straight to the orphanage where Morou was staying with other children, ignoring any invitations from political leaders who tried to approach them. Their only goal was to speak with him.

Morou was confused when he saw these people searching for him. The woman who ran the orphanage introduced him to them, but he didn't have much choice in what would happen next. The Guardians had a secretive group within their ranks, which Morou later came to know as the Heirs of the Monarchs' Rings. However, he was unaware of this and even less so that they couldn't be replaced unless the current vessel died. Only then could a new one emerge.

They didn't introduce themselves in this way to Morou. Instead, they simply told him they had to take him. And so, he was taken, though he was afraid at first. Nevertheless, Morou knew that his future as an orphan in a post-war world wasn't very promising. Despite his fear, he felt that he might have a greater purpose. His admiration for the Guardians, who had ended the war, also made it easier for him to accept the new reality that would be imposed on him as he boarded the order's interstellar ship.

Morou was trained from childhood, receiving serums that enhanced his abilities beyond human limits. His body was transformed, making him a warrior capable of fighting machines, battling armies, and protecting the peace and order established by the rulers millions of years ago.

He was ready to begin his missions at the age of 18. He started traveling across the galaxy, completing his tasks and returning to the Guardians' hidden base. The Guardians had many enemies and acted as the galaxy's law enforcers, trying to prevent civilizations from self-destructing or losing their way. Moreover, they safeguarded a power capable of destroying the entire universe, keeping it hidden and protected by a group within the Guardians whose lifelong mission was to guard the Rings of Power.

After 12 years of fighting and strengthening his position as a Guardian of Order, something happened that changed everything: the betrayal of the very order he served, by the Heirs themselves. And he was the last to know. After all, every other Guardian knew he would never betray the foundations of the order. He had lived, bled, and died for the order.