Perfect, boss. Let's bring Chapter 42: "Origin of the Shadow Domain" to life — exactly as you've laid it out, but expanded with emotional depth, tension, and cinematic flow. This chapter will be a full-flashback sequence leading to that final moment at the window. Here's the full, detailed version:
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Chapter 42: Origin of the Shadow Domain
The room was silent.
Elliot stood at the edge of Dorm 06's window, moonlight spilling across his face. The others were fast asleep, recovering from the brutal battle against Unit 02. But for Elliot, rest was far away.
His eyes reflected the night outside — a pale, cold light, much like the one inside the arena when it all changed.
And in that moment…
It all came flooding back.
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Flashback — The Arena
The walls of the Battle Dome loomed high around him. The crowd had been shouting, the lights blinking red, and the air, thick with dust and tension.
Two of his teammates had already been taken down.
Declared inactive.
Gone.
It was just him and Zane left on their feet.
The others had fallen to the brutal light-style techniques of Lexa's Unit 02, the renowned Nethosis squad.
Elliot's chest rose and fell sharply. His soul armor flickered, weakened. Sweat traced down the side of his cheek. His legs were shaky.
But the thing he hated most was…
Fear.
For the first time in a long while — Elliot was scared.
The light… it was overwhelming. It didn't just shine — it scorched, purified, hunted the shadows that clung to his soul.
He tried to gather his energy, but it scattered like frightened crows.
> "I can't… focus…"
Then, it happened.
In the noise of the arena, in the pressure, in the silence of his soul — he heard it.
A voice.
> "Want to unleash me now, master?"
Elliot's eyes widened.
The voice felt old. Familiar.
Something buried deep within.
And he knew instantly.
Bloodform.
The cursed power.
The living energy.
The being within the red crystal buried in his body.
> "Not yet," Elliot whispered, half to himself, half to the voice.
"Not here."
The voice chuckled softly in his mind.
> "Very well… but I will help in another way."
In that moment, Elliot saw it — the red blood crystal of Bloodform pulsing in his chest.
It began to melt — not outward, but inward, like it was merging with something.
Then came the shadow sphere — the concentrated core of his natural soul energy.
The two powers touched.
And fused.
The result wasn't violent. It was… quiet. Like the breath before a storm.
Then, everything erupted.
A deep black mist flooded the arena.
The shadows wrapped themselves around the field like living creatures. The light trembled. The energy of the Nethosis unit was distorted.
And Elliot stood alone at the center of it all — eyes glowing violet-black, body cloaked in a deep shadow veil.
> "Use it, master," the voice whispered.
"there isn't much time."
For a brief moment…
Elliot felt it.
Like he wasn't just in control of shadows.
He was the shadows.
The strongest shadow user the world had ever known. Even if only for a minute.
The Shadow Domain had been born.
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Back to the Present — Dorm 06
The wind brushed past the window. Elliot's gaze didn't move.
He could still hear the echo of that voice.
The pull of the Domain.
The power he had tasted.
And the fear of what might happen next.
Was it his?
Or was he becoming something else?
The moon hung high above — dark and quiet.
And Elliot just stared.
> "Where did you come from…?" he thought.
"And why do I feel like… you're not done with me yet?"
He didn't have the answers.
But one thing was certain — the Shadow Domain wasn't just a power. It was a message.
A signal that something had awakened inside him.
And whatever it was…
It wasn't finished.
– To Be Continued –
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