“Do you really believe they’ll honor the treaty?”
The Supreme Commander remained silent for a long moment, his hardened gaze fixed on the sprawling city beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“They have to,” Marcus replied softly.
He turned from the window and seated himself behind his heavy executive desk.
The room was empty except for Marcus and the one man he trusted above all others in the military
The officer shook his head, stepping closer.
“Look at me, Marcus.
I’m speaking to you as your friend now not your subordinate.
We were raised from childhood to despise that nation.
Yet you abandoned everything we were taught to believe in, and signed a peace treaty you proposed.
Why?”
Marcus fell silent once more.
Hearing someone utter his given name was an exceedingly rare occurrence these days.
But for his childhood friend, he owed an honest answer.
“Because after twenty years of war,”
Marcus said, his voice quiet yet carrying an unsettling edge,
“someone had to be brave enough to try peace.”
The weight behind his words left no room for argument.
The officer slowly lowered his head, unable to meet his eyes.
“Then I’ll take my leave…
Supreme Commander.”
Marcus watched in silence as his friend turned and walked out of the office, leaving him alone with the cold reflection of his powered-down monitor.
The dark glass reflected a man whose face bore the unmistakable marks of his age.
Tomorrow, he would turn forty.
He possessed cropped, coarse brown hair and cold, emotionless black eyes forged through a lifetime spent in endless war.
A jagged scar ran from above his left eye down to the edge of his jawline.
Marcus exhaled a long, heavy breath, muttering to the empty room,
“At least…
we’ll finally have peaceful days ahead.”
His decision to initiate peace talks with the enemy nation after two decades of brutal warfare had sent shockwaves through the public.
Many had vehemently opposed the treaty, with citizens even taking to the streets in protest.
Yet, in the end, they accepted it simply because it came from him.
Marcus was the most trusted man in the entire republic—the brilliant strategist who had personally repelled the enemy’s land, sea, and air invasions with flawless tactics.
“It’s over now…”
Marcus reached out, his finger pressing the power button on his desk terminal
Suddenly, the entire office flooded with a blinding red glow.
Deafening sirens shattered the silence, echoing violently through the walls.
Outside his doors, the military headquarters plunged into total chaos as emergency lights flashed rhythmically down every corridor.
Marcus bolted up from his chair and swept out of his office, striding purposefully toward the central command bunker.
The hallways were a disaster of shouting officers, running guards, and stammers of sheer panic.
‘What in the hell is happening?!’
He reached the heavy blast doors of the Central Command Center and pushed through.
Dominating the far wall of the massive war room was a colossal display projecting a three-dimensional map of their nation.
Dozens of glowing red circles pulsed frantically across the territory.
In the center of the room, high-ranking military officials, men Marcus knew intimately were running between consoles, screaming into comms, and barking frantic orders.
“What’s going on?!” Marcus demanded.
One of the directors snapped his head around, his face pale with horror.
“S-Supreme Commander!!
You’re finally here!
It’s a high-level emergency!!”
Marcus closed the distance to the main tactical table, sweeping his eyes across the readouts.
The moment he comprehended the data, his heart nearly ceased beating.
He stood frozen as the director’s panicked voice cut through the noise once more.
“S-Supreme Commander…
every air defense official…
you granted them leave today to celebrate the treaty!
What do we do?!”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Because…
there was nothing left to do.
In less than sixty seconds, a nuclear warhead would strike the Central Command Center, wiping out the facility and killing millions across the surrounding cities.
Marcus had believed he was making history.
He had negotiated with the rival state’s leaders to make this day a historic symbol of lasting peace.
Not even twenty-four hours had passed since the ink dried on the parchment.
They hadn’t embraced peace; they had simply waited for him to lower his guard.
“I failed my people…” Marcus whispered.
His voice was eerily calm, yet it bled with unimaginable anguish.
The main power grid suddenly collapsed, plunging the entire war room into absolute darkness before the auxiliary screens sputtered back to life.
The Supreme Commander had failed.
The treaty he believed would bring peace was nothing more than a death warrant for his entire nation.
Marcus turned around to address the staff, only to find the vast war room entirely deserted.
Everyone had fled in a frantic, hopeless bid to reach the deep underground shelters.
Marcus didn’t bother running.
He knew far too well that it was already too late.
He stepped toward the central console and swiped his hand across the glass.
High above, the massive steel shutters parted, revealing the bright blue sky outside.
Despite the serene weather, Marcus caught sight of a massive, dark silhouette plummeting at terrifying speed directly toward the facility.
“I’m truly sorry, everyone…
I failed you all.”
For the first time in over twenty years, a single tear slipped from Marcus’s eye.
How could he ever rest in death knowing he had authored the destruction of his own country?
“You killed us, Marcus.”
Marcus’s eyes widened.
He turned toward the voice and found his childhood friend standing near the shattered doorway, the man he had trusted more than anyone else in the world.
“I am so sorry, Cassian…” Marcus choked out.
“I ruined everything we fought for…”
Cassian stood motionless, slowly tilting his head back to gaze up at the nuclear warhead that was now only seconds from impact.
“Supreme Commander Marcus…
you never lost a single battle in your entire life.
I believed in you.
We all trusted you…
but you made a foolish decision.
Remember this, Marcus…
I will never forgive you.
None of the people of this nation ever will.”
Then—
The world turned pure white.
Heat hit Marcus before any sound could register.
Before he could even process the sensation, the solid floor beneath his feet evaporated into nothingness.
So this is how it ends…
He had spent his entire life preparing to die on a bloody battlefield.
He had never imagined his end would come without an enemy standing face-to-face before him.
And then…
total numbness.
There was no sound.
No pain.
No light.
…
Thump.
Then he heard something.
A soft, rhythmic pulse.
A heartbeat.
His heartbeat.
His eyelids fluttered, opening with immense effort.
The first thing he felt was the agonizing, icy chill of death seeping into his bones.
The second thing he noticed was the harsh, metallic reek of blood burning the back of his throat, along with a body that felt unnaturally thin, fragile, and utterly exhausted far removed from the battle-hardened physique of a Supreme Commander.
And the third…
was the resonant, hollow chime echoing directly inside his mind, accompanied by lines of pale, shimmering text that ignited within the pitch-black darkness.
[Aspirant!
Welcome to the Nightmare Spell.
Prepare for your First Trial…]
‘What?’
Hey everyone, SG_Team here!
Before you dive into this chapter, I wanted to give you a quick heads-up regarding what this story is and how it fits into my current writing journey.
If the beginning of this Prologue feels familiar, that’s completely intentional!
The opening setup and character foundations are drawn directly from my main web novel.
However, this is a dedicated Shadow Slave Fanfiction alternative timeline.
Instead of Marcus reincarnating into the original fantasy world of my primary novel, this story answers a single, chaotic question: What if a former suprême commander was thrust directly into the brutal, unforgiving universe of Shadow Slave?
Expect a darker, more tactical journey as Marcus Emotion abilities, and analytical nature collide head-on with the Spell, Nightmares, and terrifying Nightmare Creatures.
For readers coming from my main novel, I hope you enjoy this ‘What If’ twist!
And for Shadow Slave fans, welcome aboard get ready for a wild ride.
Let’s see how long marcus can survive the Spell.
— SG_Team