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The Necromancer in Shadow (The Eminence in Shadow fanfic)

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Chapter 122: Faith
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    • Chapter 122: Faith

    Christina Hope asked to join my investigation team hoping to save Claude from Eliza's clutches to repay him for saving her. I have no reason to refuse considering I don't have many people I can trust.

    "Very well. You're in."

    "Thank you very much, your highness!"

    Pooch merely clapped her hands as Christina clenched her fists with determination reflected in her eyes.

    But her story makes it sound like Claude surrendered to her willingly! Is he a pervert!? Did he get easily seduced by that bitch in nightgown!? Even though he already have my sister!?

    No. As much of a pervert he is, he must have a plan… and I hope it's a damn good one, or else my sister is going to kill me. And he sure as hell better not fall for the mind control Artifact or we're doomed!

    I turn towards Pooch, hoping the message left by the killer clown has good news, even if we have no idea who this Jack the Ripper fellow is, or what he wants.

    "Now, it's your turn, Pooch. Please tell us the message that this killer clown, Jack the Ripper, left to you and why to you only."

    "A-Ahem. Alright. First off, this card… 3 of Spades." He said while showing both of us the card.

    "After thinking about it, I believe it refers to the 3rd week of winter because Spades represent winter and the playing cards have 52 cards, each representing a week. Also, the number three can be considered to have a message of its own because 3 in playing cards also represents Faith." Pooch remarked with a slight smile. He must've been so proud of his accomplishments. How rare for him to try so hard and be proud of it.

    "3rd week of winter? That's next week!" Christina exclaimed.

    "But why the specific time of the year and nothing else but "Faith"? Is he telling us to believe in him as he does something on the 3rd week of winter?" I muttered.

    "Probably?"

    "How knowledgeable you are, Pooch. How did you know this?"

    "Well… I sometimes play cards with my friends Skel and Po… getting plenty of money from them in the process… And out of curiosity, I researched the meaning of the cards and found out about it."

    "Amusing. What a good friend you are, Pooch."

    "Heh. I am, aren't I?" He said with a proud smile. You're not supposed to be happy about that! Do you even know about sarcasm? Or are you actually proud of swindling money out of them? Knowing Pooch I bet it's the latter. Typical greedy Pooch.

    "So you're telling me that I have to put my faith in a freaking killer clown whose identity and motivations are unknown."

    "I mean… do we have any other leads?"

    "I hate how smart you are sometimes, Pooch."

    "Oh? So you prefer me to do nothing but listen to your complaints?"

    I answered "yes" in my heart because I realize now that asking for more out of him would endanger him. Why and how did he become so reliable at a time like this!? How vexing! But his support makes me so happy inside.

    "Haaah… I hate being unable to do anything but wait for a suspicious individual to appear…" I muttered. The image of a certain black cloaked swordsman appeared on my mind.

    "But I guess this is the best lead we got. Fine! I shall place my faith in this killer clown and Claude! And I hope they don't make me regret it!"

    If he screws up, it won't be just me and my sister who will chase him down to hell. His sister will too. And she sure as hell will be less lenient compared to the both of us.




    "What do you mean my brother surrendered himself willingly to that bitch, Lady Alpha!?" The shouting voice of a young lady with blonde hair tied in drill shaped twintails echoes throughout the office room within the main Mitsugoshi building in Midgar Royal Capital which belongs to Alpha. Her shouting was accompanied by the sound of her hands slamming the sturdy and expensive table made of Yggdrasil wood.

    "Lady Charlotte. Please mind your tone before your superior." A dark skinned elf wearing military uniform scolded her, brandishing her whip threateningly, but the young lady did not budge and continued glaring at Alpha, who isn't affected by her glare as much as she isn't affected by the dark elf's one eyed glare that used to affect her during their training together.

    "It's alright, Lambda. She is more of an ally than a member of Shadow Garden after all." Alpha said to the dark elf, Lambda, who immediately stood straight in response.

    "Very well." Lambda relented and allowed Charlotte to continue glaring at Alpha.

    "I merely said what I saw. After throwing the hostage out of the room, he closed the door and didn't allow her back in. Afterwards he left the underground facility together with her." Alpha recounted the scene she witnessed.

    "Then why did he…!?"

    "Have some faith in your brother, Charlotte. I'm sure he has something in mind when he confronted her alone. Perhaps to interrogate her about the whereabouts of the remaining Thirteen Night Blades, who are currently being protected by the Cult that even we, Shadow Garden, cannot find them."

    "Don't treat me like a fool, Lady Alpha! I know that he wore the mind control Artifact which is crafted by Necromancer when he left with that bitch! He has fallen under the enemy's influence and you're telling me to calm down!?" To that, Alpha sighed before answering.

    "I'm not trying to conceal this from you but I thought you'd act rashly if you knew."

    "The fact that I'm here instead of acting on my own like my brother often does is proof that I'm not as reckless as him, don't you think?" Charlotte remarked while gazing at Alpha with determined eyes.

    "Hm. You're right. I apologize for underestimating you, Charlotte." Alpha said with a smile.

    "However, I still implore you to have faith in your brother. When I saw him leaving the underground facility, I saw him not with an empty expression that I've seen in someone who has been mind controlled." Alpha remarked. An image of a certain king who has become a warmongering tyrant comes to mind.

    "And Lord Shadow also acknowledged it, that's why he didn't interfere and even gave Princess Alexia a message." Alpha remarked while drawing a card from the deck of cards on her desk and showed it to Charlotte. It's the 3 of Spades, though without the letter "J" on it.

    "Hmph… It's so frustrating. Why can't he just be more open and rely on us more…? So that we can help him?" Charlotte stopped glaring at Alpha and looks down with a frustrated expression.

    "That makes the two of us." Alpha remarked while looking out of the window, gazing at the cloudy sky with the image of her master's lonely back in her mind.

    She touched the window glass with one hand. "Perhaps… your brother is looking at a world that none of us know, let alone comprehend. To support him… you must grow stronger." She remarked as she recalled how her master has started to rely on her more recently, perhaps noticing how much more powerful she has become after her training with the Mist Dragon.

    "Then… Can you continue my training?"

    "No. You need to find a way to get stronger on your own. Not just rely on our and your brother's teachings." Alpha said as she turned back to face Charlotte.

    "How do I do that?"

    "It's up to you to decide." Alpha said with a captivating smile, satisfied after giving Claude's sister a piece of her wisdom, which she obtained after her master's defeat at the hands of the Necromancer, which led her to obtain draconic powers.




    "Heeh… So this is the Royal Castle. Almost as extravagant as the castle in Alexandria. Similar architecture too, though Alexandria's is noticeably older style." I muttered as I walked through the hallways of Midgar Royal Castle aimlessly as I got some free time due to no longer being hounded by my sister. I've sneaked into the castle sometimes in order to spy on the latest political development of the kingdom but this is the first time I can walk around openly, which gave me the opportunity to admire the architecture.

    I should use this free time to plan my next move. Now, what kind of shadowbroker scenario I can pull off? I gave them a date but I still dunno how to find the Thirteen Night Blades. If only that ikemen haven't removed them from power and declared them fugitives. I could've hunted them down a lot easier when they're not hiding.

    Speaking of that ikemen… That harem protagonist. Causing so much trouble because you can't keep your Excalibur in your pants. At least this gave me another chance to save him.

    Maybe I should sneak into Iris' office room. I bet the documents she has would be easier to read than Alpha's reports.

    Or better yet, why don't I sneak into that ikemen's room? See if I can find something interesting. Yes, that's a good idea!

    And so here I am, standing on front of that ikemen's room. I sensed a strong presence leaving the room through the window. Said presence somewhat reminds me of Delta for some reason, though I'm sure it wasn't her. Still, said presence has nothing to do with me right now and I waited for him to leave before I sneakily unlocked the door by forming a key with slime.

    When I entered the room, a familiar sight surprised me. There, on the ikemen's bed, lies someone I haven't seen in a long while.

    Hello there Sherry. I see that you've been seduced by the ikemen too. Last time I saw you, you were hanging out with the Necromancer during the Bushin Festival. Did the ikemen seduce you so you left the Necromancer?

    Regardless of what happened, what's clear is that she is just another girl in that ikemen's harem now and it's totally not my business.

    I'll just leave them be. Who knows maybe he's planning to seduce the vice president of the student council, which so happens to be the daughter of the leader of the bad guys I'm currently hunting, just like how he seduced Sherry, bringing them to his side. Maybe he's planning to use her to find where her father and other members of the Thirteen Night Blades. I just hope he wouldn't steal my kill! I have an image to maintain as the Jack the Ripper!

    Though that mind control Artifact I've heard so much about is concerning. Hopefully it can be broken or I will lose my king.

    I left the room in order to avoid disturbing Sherry's sleep and locked the door back.

    I should check up Iris' room then.

    Though when I arrived in front of her room, I sensed that she's inside. Should've known that she would be busy considering her future husband is missing. Maybe I should wait until it gets darker before sneaking in.

    "Haahh… Claude… Am I… Am I that unattractive to you… that you've never made a move to me… but to Eliza… Ahhh…" I heard some sensual moans coming from inside the room. My enhanced hearing is a curse sometimes. Oh dear. I seemed to have stumbled upon her in her most private moment. To think the princess would masturbate in her office room instead of working.

    But really? That ikemen never touched her? Maybe because he thought he already secured her as part of his harem and thus felt no need to seduce her? How neglectful of you, Claude. Look at how sexually frustrated your future wife is! Since she is to be your queen, shouldn't you pay more attention to her?

    Well… This is once again not my business. It's the harem protagonist's. A mob and a shadowbroker like me shouldn't interfere. Whatever troubles your harem will cause is your own business.

    Iris' office room is no good too. I need to find other sources of information. I don't have to check Alexia's room because I know what she knows. I mean, I partially controlled the information she received after all. Maybe I should ask Alpha about this. I feel bad about interrupting her when she's busy but… last time she seemed happy when I asked for her help. Maybe I can ask for her help once in a while.




    Author's Note:

    A harem protagonist accusing others of being a harem protagonist. Quite ironic, don't you think?

    Anyways, I'm back after procrastinating, which is why there was no update last week. I read several mangas during procrastination, including the 7th Prince manga (the mastering magic one, there's two 7th prince manga apparently) and the World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs. Good read they were.

    Anyway, the last section with Cid happens after Adra left Sherry in Claude's room back in Chapter 111: Brothers, which happens after Claude put Sherry to sleep and left here there to go to Oriana. Hope the timelines aren't so confusing.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 123: Oriana Civil War
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 123: Oriana Civil War

    "Can you find anything, Delta?" Epsilon asked her comrade, the beastkin Delta as they inspected the blood soaked scene in Fort First, which was recently invaded by the king's army, signalling the beginning of Oriana civil war.

    "Delta smells… him…" There's only one person who could make even Delta shiver just by scent alone, despite her never encountering him personally. The fact that he defeated her boss is enough to make her wary of him. The smell of blood and death that lingers on his scent also helped making her fear him more. He is the only one she feared besides Alpha (and Shadow to an extent).

    "Then he must've stolen all the corpses." Epsilon muttered as she gazed at the blood soaked walls and floors of the fortress. Despite the battle occurring very recently and thus, shouldn't have been cleaned yet, there are no corpses. The broken walls, damaged floors and blood are the only proof that a battle had occurred recently.

    "Of course that monster would profit the most from this war! We must prevent it at all costs! Let's go Delta! We're going to meet up with 666 and 559 in the capital!"

    "Roger that!" Both of them left the scene before being noticed by soldiers of the king's army stationed to occupy the fortress which they took from a noble from the Perv faction which is currently (officially) allied with Marquis Grantz' Anti-Raphael Faction.

    The drums of war are beating, signalling the beginning of an age of chaos.




    "Fort First has been invaded and taken by the king's forces!?" Shouted 666 in front of her superior, Beta.

    "Yes, 666. Your father has officially started the civil war." Beta replied.

    "I… I need to speak to my father!"

    "I agree. 559, Epsilon and Delta will accompany you. You must rendezvous with them in the capital."

    "Lady Epsilon and Lady Delta!?" 666 was startled. When she started working for Shadow Garden, she had negative thoughts caused by low self esteem that came from how inferior her strength is compared to the people she constantly compared herself to, the Seven Shades. She thought her father wasn't a high priority target for Shadow Garden, hence they haven't done anything for her and her father so far. But the fact that Epsilon and Delta, two of the Seven Shades, is being assigned to accompany her means…

    "Meet up with them in the capital's Mitsugoshi branch. They will accompany you when you confront your father. And when you do, you know what to do."

    "Yes!" 666 confirmed her orders and immediately left the room, leaving Beta alone.

    "In the meantime, I have to investigate the Phantom of the Opera. He didn't kill anyone these past few days. Perhaps he sensed that the war is starting. I need to find out what his purpose is." Muttered Beta as she formed a hooded cloak out of slime and left the room as well. Her target, a Cult affiliated noble which is marked for assassination by Shadow Garden.

    She had been personally taking care of the assassination missions normally reserved for 666 nowadays in hopes of encountering the Phantom of the Opera. She even specifically chose to assassinate them when they attended Opera Houses but so far she hasn't encountered him, which vexes her to no end. She even visited his underground lair but found nothing but a bunch of musical instruments and a huge pipe organ.

    She arrived at an Opera House where her next target, Marquis Kokoa, is attending a musical play about a princess who took refuge with seven dwarves, obviously a ripoff of her work, the Snow Lady. When her mission is over, she would have to submit a complaint towards the organizers of the play about copyright infringement.

    The Opera House have noticeably less people than usual but these nobles who are present are still bold enough to visit Opera Houses despite the rumors of the Phantom killing people within Opera Houses. They brought some guards with them this time, which explains why they are bold enough to risk their lives for mere entertainment.

    Beta watched both her target and the stage, waiting for something unusual to happen. If nothing happens, she would assassinate her target and move on. Tonight looks no different than the usual… until something happens.

    Beta felt a faint magical energy up in the ceiling and when she turned towards the ceiling, all she saw was the huge chandelier falling. Its chains were apparently cut by the magical energy she felt earlier.

    A long range slash? A technique similar to Epsilon's!?

    But that's not all. The chandelier didn't simply fall. If it were to fall normally, it would hit the stage underneath it directly but that is not the case.

    The chandelier is falling towards the audience seat, as if someone deliberately threw it towards them. Beta froze and watched as the chandelier hit the audience seat, killing several nobles, her target, Marquis Kokoa, included. In fact, he seemed to be the target of the thrown chandelier.

    "Have you missed me, Good Messieurs~?" A haunting singing voice echoes throughout the building, causing the audience and the performers to start panicking and began scrambling out of their seats, running for their lives.

    Before anyone, including Beta, could notice, a black cloaked man wearing a fedora hat and a white mask covering half his face appeared in the middle of the stage as if he was there the whole time. Beta was surprised that someone capable of surprising her exists.

    He's dangerous. Just like that Black Knight…

    "The war has started! Your own king has started the war! And yet, here you are, enjoying life as if nothing's wrong. Did you think that the war would not affect you? How wrong you are. War affects ALL!!!" The Phantom began monologuing before using his magic to lift the musical instruments from the orchestra to the air and threw them towards the fleeing audience. One person had his chest pierced by a clarinet, another had his head smashed by a violin, another had his spine broken by a trumpet, etc.

    In the midst of the chaos, Beta jumped from her hiding spot and confronted the Phantom.

    "Greetings, Phantom. You are a hard man to reach."

    "Ah. Bonsoir, ma dame."

    "I am Beta of Shadow Garden. Who are you exactly?"

    "I am the Phantom of the Opera. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The Phantom answered while mockingly bowing before her.

    "I'm talking about your real identity. Who are you beneath that mask and why are you killing more people than necessary?"

    "I could ask the same out of you too, ma dame. Is Beta even your real name?"

    "I've abandoned my old name. I am simply Beta now."

    "The same could be said of me." The Phantom said while touching his mask. Beta took note that something from his past seems to be covered by that mask.

    "Hmph. If you would not talk, then so be it. I only ask that you stop involving innocent people in your killing spree. In fact why don't you work with us?" Beta extended her hand towards the Phantom.

    "An intriguing offer. However, one I must decline."

    "Why?"

    "Because your goals do not align with mine!" The Phantom said as he raised his hand and with his magic, lifted the musical sheets from the orchestra into the air. Such action caused Beta to be on guard as she brandished her slime sword.

    "Then what is your purpose!? If it's to stop the war, we are working on it with Princess Rose! She's going to free her father from Necromancer's influence as we speak!"

    "My purpose…? Purpose…" The Phantom paused for a second, his eyes unfocused as if gazing towards a distant past.

    "My purpose… is to write an Opera… one that will shake the very foundations of the world!" Exclaimed the Phantom as he sent the flying papers towards Beta. Beta felt danger from the papers and dodged it. Sure enough, her decision was correct when she saw the papers slice through chairs and damages the floor upon impact.

    When Beta glanced back at the Phantom, he already disappeared.

    "Tch. He's just another maniac then. I need to make sure he and 666 doesn't meet again. Though… that reaction when asked about his purpose… No. He's still too dangerous and uncooperative. I suppose we can only consider him an enemy now." Beta mutters as she left the blood soaked Opera House.
    *Gasp* "But I leaked an information about 666! I need to go there to make sure he didn't try anything funny! With the threat of Necromancer lurking around Oriana, adding the Phantom to the mix may be too much for Epsilon, Delta and 559 to handle!" Beta exclaimed as she increased her speed, rushing towards the direction of Oriana's capital city.




    After returing to Oriana, before resuming my act as the Phantom of the Opera, I had the king start the civil war by having his army invade and take over Fort First, which was under the management of a noble from Perv faction. Then I personally collected the corpses. After that, I met Beta of the Seven Shades… who looks VERY familiar to me. Trying to recruit the Phantom to your cause, eh? Too bad, the Phantom and I have different purpose in mind.

    Also… They sent Rose to free Raphael Geerk Oriana of my hypnosis. Heh heh heh. I suppose I should've known they would be that desperate now that the civil war has officially started. After hearing that, I immediately teleported to Oriana castle to meet up with the princess.

    I'm sure they're in for a surprise. After all, I've prepared a stage for our dear princess.

    The window to the king's office room opened. She's here. I must hide as I direct the scene from behind the stage.

    "Welcome back, my dear daughter." Geerk, who is sitting on the desk, greeted Rose before she showed herself. She seemed to be startled but she resolved herself and stepped out of the shadows.

    "Greetings, esteemed father. Your daughter has returned." She greeted back as she kneeled before him.

    "I knew that you would return to me. Now you shall fight for me."

    "Father… please stop."

    "Stop what? What I do is necessary!"

    "It's not! Can't you see how much the people are suffering!?" Rose shouted as she stood up and slammed her palm on the table.

    "It is precisely because they are suffering that I started this war! We need to cull our numbers, eliminate useless parasites from our country, and establish ourselves as a force to be reckoned with!" Geerk responded after pounding the table with his clenched fist.

    "Father! You're being manipulated by Necromancer! That is not who you are! This is not what you wanted!"

    "Necromancer? I've broken free of his control a long time ago."

    "Then why…?"

    "Because what happened cannot be erased. Controlled or not, I've slain the king of Midgar and now we must prepare for the inevitable war against them."

    "We have friends in Midgar who doesn't want war as much as we do! We can still stop this!"

    "No, my child. Don't be foolish." Geerk stood up from his desk and walked towards Rose. "Under hypnosis or not, I've committed a regicide. No kingdom will let that slide. They will demand blood." He put his hand on Rose's shoulder and whispers. "And thus, we must be prepared." Rose clenches her fist hearing that.

    "Father. Please have faith in me. I… I've joined Shadow Garden. They also want to prevent the war from happening and they have the power to oppose the evil that has been lurking in the shadows of history, the Cult of Diablos."

    "I'm aware that you've pledged your allegiance to that shadowy organization which is no different from the Cult. It displeases me that you've thrown away your true self."

    "No! Shadow Garden is not like the Cult!"

    "They may claim to be the heroes who fights against the Cult. But what happens after the Cult is wiped out? What then? Will Shadow Garden quietly return to the shadows from whence they came, or will they replace the Cult?"

    "What…?"

    "Human beings are greedy by nature. No one will amass such military power without aiming to gain something. And Shadow Garden is certainly on the right path towards world domination. Look at how powerful their Mitsugoshi company is. How influential they are internationally."

    "So you know…"

    "Of course I know. Don't underestimate me, dear daughter. I've been king longer than you have lived. Shadow Garden is a dangerous organization and I have to ask you. Are you still Princess Rose of Oriana, or have you abandoned your identity, your birthright, in order to serve as a pawn of Shadow Garden? Are you Rose? Or are you merely a number?"

    "I… am…. Rose… Not 666." She's hesitating. Good.

    "666? Ha! To think they would go as far as to name you after the Number of the Beast!"

    "Number of the Beast?"

    "But really. Are you truly Rose? I want you to say it."

    "I… I am Rose Oriana!"

    "Good! Are you the princess of Oriana or are you a mere pawn of Shadow Garden?"

    "I am a princess… but I am also a member of Shadow Garden. I--"

    "Wrong, my child. You are not a pawn of Shadow Garden. You are better than that. You are the future queen. My heir. You cannot be someone's pawn or else the entire kingdom of Oriana might as well be their plaything! I want you to value yourself higher than that, my daughter! Remember that as a royalty, your worth is equal to that of the entire kingdom!" Geerk put both his hands on both of Rose's shoulders and looked at her in the eyes with a stern gaze.

    "Father…" Rose felt conflicted but she is starting to get convinced. Good.

    "I've heard enough. So you've decided to betray Shadow Garden then, 666." A sinister female voice was heard from behind her.

    "559!?" Rose exclaimed when she saw the pink haired girl suddenly appearing from behind. It's the Saintess of Orum, Victoria, otherwise known as No. 046. Heh heh heh.

    "559! What are you doing here!?"

    "That's my line! We're supposed to rendezvous with Lady Epsilon and Lady Delta before coming here but you rushed here without meeting us! And you're even letting your mad king of a father influence you to betray us."

    "But the message said for me to go ahead! And he's not a mad king! He has broken out of Necromancer's hypnosis!"

    "I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, he is Necromancer's pawn and is hostile to us. He must die for Lord Shadow's sake." 559 said as she brandished her slime sword. Rose exclaimed by brandishing hers.

    "So you'll get in my way? Then you shall die with him, traitor!" 559 lunges towards Rose and Rose braced herself for the clash, only for her father to shield herself.

    "Wha…." Rose was stunned when she saw her father being stabbed right in front of her eyes.

    "FATHER!!!" Rose shouted as she saw her father's body being thrown towards her.

    "Rose… You are my heir…. Please… don't forget who you are… Protect…. Oriana…" Geerk gave his final words and dies in her arms.

    "FATHEEEEERR!!!!" Rose cried as she held her father's corpse in her hands… unknowing that he is already dead a long time ago and the one who spoke to her before this was merely an undead and thus it is impossible for you to break him out of my influence. I had to kill him because he truly did broke out of my hypnosis some time ago. He has now served his purpose and his daughter, his heir, shall take his place as my next pawn. And No. 046's unexpected assistance helped speed things up. Heh heh heh. I suppose it will soon be time for me to take the stage.




    I've done it. I've manipulated events in order to kill the king. I have nothing against 666 and her father but Lady Zeta's orders are absolute.

    Yes, I left the message that told her to rush towards the castle ahead of me, Lady Epsilon and Lady Delta so I can accuse her of colluding with her father to betray Shadow Garden. Her father actually trying to coerce her to betray us simply helped my case even more.

    Lady Alpha and the others are too naïve according to Lady Zeta. To stop the war with Oriana, the king must die. Their promise to stop the war from happening with King Oriana still living is nothing but a dream. No amount of diplomacy could possibly wash away regicide. With King Oriana already dead however, the war may be prevented. My work here is done.

    "559… Why…. Why did you…?" 666 asked me with tears in her eyes. Pitiful creature. You have no idea how much of a favour I've done for you and your entire kingdom.

    "Wake up, little princess. Stopping the war with Midgar is impossible unless the king is dead. I've just done you a favour." In response to my words, she glared at me hatefully, tears still staining her cheeks.

    "WHAT FAVOR!? YOU'VE KILLED MY FATHER!!!"

    "Don't be naïve, 666. Preventing the war with Midgar and your father living cannot exist in the same universe. Without the king, this country will tear itself apart and even Midgar wouldn't need to lift a finger unless they want to be seen as a bully internationally. Now, will you return to Shadow Garden, or will you betray us?"

    "Betray you…? What are you talking about…? I am Rose Oriana… AND IT IS YOU WHO HAVE BETRAYED ME!!!" She shouted as she lunged at me with her slime sword in hand. How naïve. You think a pampered little princess like you can defeat me? The former leader of the Templars who once gave the Seven Shades a hard fight despite not receiving Lord Shadow's power yet?

    Her sword clashed with mine. Her strength is impressive, as expected of someone who received Lord Shadow's gift. But…

    "Not enough!" I exclaimed as I pushed her back, causing her to crash against the wall. The impact also caused several bookshelves on the wall to fall along with their contents.

    "Ughh…" She moaned painfully. I approached her slowly with blade in hand.

    "So you have chosen death… then die, traitor!" I raised my sword, ready to strike her down. But as I was about to strike her down, I was interrupted by an unexpected sound…. No… a music.




    Author's Note:

    And so Rose's descent to madness starts.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • OminousRain said:
    She arrived at an Opera House where her next target, Marquis Kokoa, is attending a musical play about a princess who took refuge with seven dwarves, obviously a ripoff of her work, the Snow Lady. When her mission is over, she would have to submit a complaint towards the organizers of the play about copyright infringement.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You can feel the sheer Irony in those words I swear.
     
    Chapter 124: Overture for the Queen
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 124: Overture for the Queen

    I've been set up. I've been betrayed and lied to. And as the result, my father is dead and my kingdom is in ruins.

    Just as 559 was about to finish me off, I closed my eyes and braced myself for my death… only to hear the familiar music… the Phantom of the Opera's song… only, instead of merely playing the pipe organ, this time it's a full blown orchestra.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NstnB3Wnqk&ab_channel=AndrewLloydWebber-Topic

    Startled by the music, 559 stopped her blade and gazed outside the window. I followed her gaze and saw the Phantom's magic lifting several musical instruments, including the castle's pipe organ which had been removed from its installation, into the air and played them through pure magic alone. The music not only attracted the attention of the both of us but also all the castle staff, who started gazing outside their windows as well. Some of them even went out to the courtyard to witness the floating musical instruments in complete awe.

    "What the… What the hell is this magic!?" Even 559 was incredibly startled at the incredible display of magical prowess.

    There, floating in the air, we both saw the one who lifted and played all the musical instruments with his magic, the Phantom of the Opera.

    He floats slowly towards the window to my father's office and opened it with his magic, facing 559 without truly entering the room.

    "So, you're the Phantom of the Opera that I've heard so much about." 559 remarked while hiding how intimidated she is.

    "Bonsoir, ma dame. A fine evening to slay someone's father, isn't it?"

    "This does not concern you, clown! Leave before I cut you down!"

    "Oh no, my dear Fallen Saint. I'm afraid this concerns me a lot..." The moment he uttered the word "Saint", 559's eyes reacted by twitching. What does that mean?

    "For this concerns the Opera that I am currently writing."

    "What kind of Opera?"

    "An Opera called the Golden Rose Triumphant! Of how the country fell into chaos by the schemes of hidden organizations… and how a heroine will rise to save it!"

    "Foolishness! The only salvation that this world will obtain is through Lord Shadow!"

    "Salvation? Will he bring really salvation? Or will he bring despair when he defeated all his rivals?"

    "What blasphemy are you talking about?"

    "I'm saying that your Lord Shadow is no different from the Cult leaders and the Necromancer. And you Shadow Garden are no different from the Cult. You all seek world domination for your own selfish purposes and will use anyone or anything to achieve it. The princess is just another pawn of yours."

    "You fool. Once the world is united under Lord Shadow, everything will be--"

    "Will be ruled by Shadow with an iron fist. Just like how the Cult have always ruled this world for centuries!"

    "I've had enough of your blasphemy! Die!" 559, losing her patience, started jumping through the window towards the Phantom, who blocked her sword strike with a floating drum stick.

    "What!?" 559 exclaimed in surprise at how her slime sword, which could cut through grown men with ease, was blocked by a wooden stick.

    "But Oriana will never bow down to such a devil! A heroine will rise!!" The Phantom exclaimed as he raised the pipes of the pipe organ and aimed them at 559.

    "And let this be the Overture!!!" He exclaimed again as he used his magic to play the pipe organ, blowing air to the direction of 559. The air blown by the pipe organ not only produced loud music but also produced strong wind that blew 559 back into my father's room and through several walls.

    "That's it! First Alucard… and now you…! I've had enough of you monsters!" 559 stood back up immediately despite being blown through several walls and stepped back into my father's room, angrily facing the Phantom once again.

    She flared out her magic, which at this point is on the level of the Seven Shades! But…

    "Then why aren't you coming at me?" The Phantom taunted… and sure enough 559 is unable to… afraid to move even with her power level. The Phantom's power simply far surpassed hers.

    "…" 559 didn't answer and simply trembled.

    "Oh, I know. It's because you're stalling for time, waiting for the Shades to arrive, aren't you?" The Phantom casually revealed 559's plan, causing her to click her tongue in annoyance as she drops her scared act.

    "I hate it when my enemies are smart." 559 muttered as she calmly charged at high speed to attack the Phantom. Her moves are on a different level than before but her many strikes are blocked by various musical instruments that the Phantom controls. Drums, trumpets, clarinets, violins… all are used to block her high speed strikes in mid-air.

    But soon enough she found an opening and managed to charge towards the Phantom, slicing his cheek as he dodged her attack.

    "Heh heh heh." 559 grins as she found the Phantom's weakness. There is a limit to how many musical instruments he can control, especially when he's fighting and playing music at the same time. Despite this, he kept insisting on playing his music.

    "Still insisting on playing your music after all that? How mighty arrogant you are, Phantom." 559 taunted him.

    "A good musician does not let such a tiny little thing interrupt his performance!" The Phantom replied confidently.

    "Then it'll be your doom!" 559 charged again with the same speed as before… but this time she have to face a lot more musical instruments than before, which is no longer merely on the defensive but also on the offensive. She jumps around the castle's towers, battlements and occasionally used his musical instruments as stepping stones in order to dodge his attacks.

    "Did you think you already have me figured out from that simple exchange? Don't be so naïve, Fallen Saint." The Phantom remarked as he watched 559 trying her best to dodge his musical instruments.

    Violin bows and drum sticks flew like arrows, violins themselves along with cellos tries to hit her like clubs, trumpets sends out air waves that blows everything in its path, drums served as shields, and so on.

    But once again, 559 found an opening and charged towards the Phantom once again with a bloodthirsty grin, only to have her sword parried by a sword that the Phantom unsheathed from his hips in response.

    "Almost thought that thing is merely decoration." 559 remarked without losing her grin. "But if you think that's enough to defeat me, you have another thing coming!" She shouted as she unleashed several slashes at the Phantom, who blocked all her attacks with his sword. As someone who has clashed blades against him, I can tell that he is skilled even in swordsmanship.

    "What… is this…? How can you keep up with me whilst playing this infernal music!?"

    "By simply being better than you." That remark managed to elicit real anger out of her, not just a faked one as she drops her grin and began glaring coldly at him.

    "You will take that back, you bastard."

    "Make me. Heh heh heh."

    "Haaaaa!!!" Shouted 559 as she envelops her sword in reddish lightning and sends them towards him. He tried to block using his drums but the lightning simply jumped from one drum to another until it struck him head on.

    "Heh heh heh." 559 grins once again even as she saw the Phantom emerged relatively unharmed from the attack.

    "Chain Lightning. Using your sworn enemy's trick, aren't you, No. 046?" The Phantom started referring to her with numbers… and it elicits more anger out of her than his previous taunts… as if that number is a personal insult towards her.

    "How did you know of that!?" She exclaimed in anger.

    "Let's just say, I've encountered the Necromancer before… and he mentioned you pretty fondly, No. 046."

    "Don't you dare call me that!!" She shouted angrily as she infused her blade with lightning and charged at him. Her lightning enhanced blade sliced through every musical instruments he used to try and block her advance and when she arrived face to face with him, he parried his sword strike, but the lightning from her sword flows through his sword, shocking him with electricity.

    "Take that, you monster!!"

    She thought she had him cornered when the electricity shocks him, only for him to punch her in the gut with his free hand, sending her crashing against the roof of the castle's keep.

    "Your tale is quite tragic. One that could be a side chapter for my Opera perhaps. The story of a Fallen Saint deceived by a black devil who wants to rule the world." The Phantom floats, slowly approaching her as she stood back up immediately and glared at him in anger.

    "But it seems that I must retreat for now. I bid you adieu, ma dame." He mockingly bows to 559 as he floats away from her and towards me.

    "Hey! Come back here! I'm not finished yet!!" 559 shouted but he ignored her. She charged at him with lightning sword in hand but he blocks them with reinforced musical instruments that merely cracks when struck by her sword. The Phantom approaches me and extended his hand towards me.

    "Let us retreat, princess." He said with his hand extended towards me. Like before, I hesitated to take his hand… but after all that have happened… I gave in and took his hand and we both escaped from the castle at high speed before two strong presences arrive at the castle.




    When 666 and 559 didn't come to the rendezvous spot as planned, I began having a bad feeling. That bad feeling is confirmed when me and Delta heard a terrifying music being played loudly in the castle. I read the musical sheets in the Phantom of the Opera's lair and thus I can confirm that this is his song.

    "Delta! We're going to the castle now! Let's go!"

    "Y-Yes! Let's go hunting!" As if sensing the mood, Delta replied nervously, but still eager for some action. We both rushed towards the castle, only to find the remnants of a battle, with broken battlements, walls and several musical instruments, including an enormous pipe organ, fallen on the courtyard.

    We arrived at the rooftop of the castle's keep and I saw 559 approaching us. She bows before giving her report.

    "Lady Epsilon… 666 has betrayed us and he's colluding with the Phantom of the Opera. They escaped together. I'm so sorry that I can neither stall nor stop them."

    "I see. And these musical instruments the work of the Phantom?"

    "Yes. He was able to keep up with me both in magic and swordsmanship whilst playing that infernal music. I hit him with all I had but… he merely toyed with me and left with the traitor 666."

    "Good work, 559. But 666 betraying us? That's surprising. Perhaps Beta's hunch about the Phantom's nature is correct after all. You must write a full report later."

    "Yes, Lady Epsilon!"

    "For now we must chase after them. Delta! Can you smell…. Delta?" I turned towards Delta, who trembles uncharacteristically.

    "H-He.. was here…!" Delta said with her ears down while trembling and curling her tail on her body whilst hugging it.

    Those three words sent us all into alarm.

    "Wh-Where is he now!?" Before I could ask Delta, 559 beat me to it.

    "I dunno… His scent ends here! It's like they disappeared!"

    Of course it's not gonna be easy when it comes to him, huh. I have to summon the rest of the Shades. He is closer than we thought and this is no longer a mission that only three of us can handle.




    We arrived at the Phantom's underground hideout after passing through the subterranean lake... Though this one looks a bit different than before… Is this a different one? I was in a daze during the whole journey that I didn't even notice when we arrived.

    I'm physically and emotionally drained that I said nothing the whole time.

    The organization I joined… the organization led by my saviour, Shadow… has betrayed me… and my father died at their hands. The Phantom also remarked that Shadow wants to rule the world and 559 didn't even deny him…

    I guess father was right. They gave me a number in order to degrade me… to remove my individuality and identity in order to use me as a pawn… and me being the crown princess and heir to the throne… that means they wanted to put me on the throne as a puppet ruler… one step closer towards world domination.

    After all… they already got Claude, the future king of Midgar, on their side. Now they just want to invade Oriana and take it over… or turn us into a vassal state, effectively enslaving us all.

    How could I've been so naïve… how could I trust them…?

    No… It is difficult not to trust your saviour after all. Shadow… did he planned all this ever since he saved me from kidnappers all those years ago? And when he cured my Possession… Was it all for the sake of his ambition?

    Is this all that he wants?

    All that work… all that trust I gave them… only to be repaid with betrayal…

    Well… it doesn't matter now. I'm tired and defeated. I just wanna lay down and die.

    "We are here, your highness." The Phantom said.

    "…" I didn't reply him. He held out his hand once again but I didn't take it this time.

    "It is not over yet. We can still fight back."

    "How…? Oriana is weak… We can't possibly win against the combined might of Midgar and Shadow Garden!"

    "Your father has amassed a mighty army before he was killed. His army was strong enough that they achieved victory against soldiers of the Perv faction who's backed by the Cult. Do not underestimate your father, your highness."

    "But… I…"

    "You are now the Queen of Oriana. You have a duty to your people. Or… have you given up and decide that you'll leave them to their fates?"

    "No! Never!"

    "Then stand up, Queen of Oriana… and fight for your country."

    "Will you… help me?"

    "Naturally." He said as he kneeled before me. It's reassuring to have someone as powerful as him on my side… when I have no one else to trust.

    "Very well… I'll trust you, Phantom. First… I need your help in rescuing my mother."

    "Well… about that… I doubt your mother needs rescuing."

    "What do you mean?"

    "You need to rest for tonight. Do not burden yourself further with this."

    "No. It's my mother! After losing my father, she is all that I have! Tell me what's going on!!"

    "Then… Let us go to Perv's castle. Instead of telling you, I'll let you see for yourself."

    His words gave me a bad feeling. Please… not my mother…!




    "Ahh…. Perv… I love you…!"

    "Honey… I love you too!"

    "You're so much better than that useless husband of mine! After we drugged him, he became a madman instead of being an obedient puppet… Ahh….! And that useless Rose must've inherited his uselessness… that she disobeys you… leaving us with more work than necessary…!"

    "Indeed. But don't worry, my darling. Soon she shall return to us… and after she serves her purpose… we can simply remove her and put her "sister" in her place…"

    "Ahh…! Why is it so necessary to use "her"? Can't you become king instead so I can become your queen?"

    "That foolish king has promoted his relation to the hero Freya… that left us with no choice but to keep someone of royal blood on the throne. Luckily for us, the Cult has prepared an obedient replacement for that foolish daughter of yours."

    "I see… Ahhh! Perv…! Your plan is flawless!"

    "Soon, the entire kingdom will be ours for the taking!"

    "Yes! Ahhh!"

    I can't believe what I'm currently seeing and hearing… Even though it's muffled, it's undoubtedly my mother's voice… and the words they spoke are clear as day to me. My mother… My blood related mother… the only family I have left in this world… Is committing infidelity with my enemy… whilst scheming to take over the country from me and my father… And in her own words she is even responsible for drugging my father, leading him to being vulnerable enough to be mind controlled by Necromancer.

    My entire body is shaking and sweating… My tears can't stop flowing out… I can't even stop my drool flowing out as I hyperventilate… I can barely even stand up.

    Oh Cid… I need you Cid… Help me…!

    "What is… this…?" I asked the Phantom whilst using both my hands to cover my mouth to keep myself from throwing up at this disgusting scene.

    "This is the truth… Are you okay, my queen?"

    "D-Do I look fine…to you…? Urgh…" I asked with a crazed look. I must look so pathetic right now. I even feel like shit. I feel so much like shit that I couldn't hold it back and threw up on the floor of the balcony.

    "This is why I don't want you to know the truth yet. You are not ready for this…"

    "Of course… not…! I am… not ready… for everything that happens in this horrible night! My father dying… My mother's betrayal… me suddenly becoming queen of a country in ruins… I'm not ready for all this…!" I cried and he pulled me into a hug. His warmth comforts me a little.

    "I know. I know. Now let us leave this place. It's been a long night and you need rest."

    "Yes… let's do that… after I finish my business here."

    "Oh?"

    "I need to… remove the poison from my country after… all…"

    "Who's there!?" I heard Perv's voice from inside the bedroom. Looks like they've stopped fucking and finally noticed us conversing out here in the balcony.

    "They're coming." The Phantom said.

    I could've sworn he grinned when I said that I would kill Perv and my mother but at this rate I don't care. My vision is now full of red and I charged in to execute both of them with my own hands.

    "What!? Rose!? How did you—GUOHH!!!"

    "What!? PERV!! NOOO!! Oh no! Rose! You can't do this to me! I'm your mother! I gave birth to you! Please don't—GWAAGH!!"

    Their words and screams are mere noises to my ears as I stabbed them both. After that, I passed out in the Phantom's arms.

    "Rest well… my Angel of Music."




    "I'm very sorry, Lord Shadow. Lady Alpha and Lady Gamma aren't here. They received urgent message from Lady Epsilon that they left as soon as possible." Nu answered her lord when he visited Mitsugoshi main building asking to meet Alpha.

    "Oh bummer. Oh well. I guess I have to take care of things on my own." Those words hurt every member of Shadow Garden who is present to hear it, Nu included.

    "But what is she doing with Gamma in Oriana?"

    "T-They received word that Necromancer is there and he has captured 666! Lady Beta, Lady Epsilon and Lady Delta are already there requesting reinforcements and even Lady Zeta and Eta are on the move!"

    "666? The Number of the Beast?" Shadow grins. Nu gasps when she heard the word beast out of her lord's mouth.

    Holy shit! Did my arch nemesis capture Satan himself? And the Seven Shades wants to hog him all to themselves? No fair! Either way, this is an event I cannot miss! Hopefully I can finish this event and be on time to do something about the Thirteen Night Blades and that ikemen next week.

    "Very well. Then I shall immediately catch up with them." Shadow said as he jumped through the window and flew at high speed towards the direction of Oriana.




    Author's Note:

    The song played in this chapter is obviously the Phantom of the Opera Overture.

    Rose had it worse than in canon, in a single night at least. With the Phantom's guidance, where will fate lead her to? Find out on the next episode of The Trauma in Shadow!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 125: A Sonata for the Queen
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 125: A Sonata for the Queen

    Rose slept on a bed in the second Phantom's Lair. The first one has been compromised so I can't possibly take her there. The layout of this second lair is similar enough to the first one, with many candelabras illuminating the room, a small dock for the boat used to traverse the subterranean lake, musical instruments scattered around and the highlight of the place which is obviously the pipe organ.

    This hideout is also located under the capital, though not under an Opera House like the first one. You might be thinking that making another hideout in the capital would make it easier to be found by Shadow Garden and thus I shouldn't have done it… It is exactly that kind of mentality that led me to build it here. Plus it is more convenient because I don't have to run far away in order to retreat.

    I also used some special magic to erase our scent on the way so any beastkin they sent to track us down won't be able to find us. Now I will have no interruptions as I continue to corrupt her.

    She is mine now. With how much trauma she has experienced, she will no longer have anyone but me to rely on. She will be my perfect pawn. My tyrannical queen. Heh heh heh.

    Now… what song should I sing for her when she wakes up? Obviously the Music of the Night comes to mind but… there is someone I'm saving that song for. I suppose I'll just settle with the good ol' Piano Sonata No. 14 aka Moonlight Sonata that has become very popular these days thanks to Silon the pianist… or Epsilon, one of the Seven Shades.

    "Uhhn…"

    Ah. She's waking up. Right on time. I quickly jumped to the seat at the pipe organ and began playing Moonlight Sonata on it. Normally this piece is to be played with a piano but due to how rushed I am to set up this second lair, I had no time to acquire a piano. The pipe organ is my personal preference and thus is a greater priority after all.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJVISot446U

    "Last night… Was that a dream…? A nightmare…? No… It wasn't…" She hasn't noticed the music yet as she is still experiencing flashbacks and began having a panic attack again. Her breath heavy, her forehead wet with sweat and her cheeks stained by tears.

    "Ohh… father…" She cried but I ignored her as I kept playing my music. But soon enough, she noticed the familiar tunes played on an instrument normally unfamiliar for it.

    "This piece…. Moonlight?"

    Rose was enthralled by my music. Capturing and extracting the knowledge and experience of those musicians is worth it after all, even if I still had to practice a lot in order to make use of the knowledge I stole. This way I can play the role of the Phantom of the Opera, a murderous musician, well enough and influence her while showing off at the same time.

    No. 046, aka former Saint Victoria, has been a great assistance in that endeavour. Shadow Garden probably thought that killing the king is necessary in order to prevent the war with Midgar from happening. She called Rose naïve but she is also naïve. You think Midgar will just sit back and do nothing now that they lost the target of their revenge? Now that they lost the reason to wage war? Fools.

    War, conflict, slavery, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, racism, etc has always been motivated by one thing and one thing alone, profit. Anything else are merely excuses to justify the atrocities committed. Every kingdom, especially in this world, naturally sought profit and would jump at the opportunity given the chance. Oriana is a prime target for Midgar right now. Ripe new lands to conquer (with weaker military too considering they've defanged themselves for a long time thanks to the Cult's influence, and are currently even facing a civil war too), not to mention access to the hero (heroine) Freya's tomb which is said to be located here, which would increase Midgar's political influence internationally.

    As Claude, I didn't even need to influence the Midgar nobles on my side with subtle hypnosis to support this war, not just to show off Midgar's might but also to get more lands. If I'm not as evil I am, I'd say they wanted the war more than I did. Truly, human greed knows no bounds and they will gladly kick a dying little puppy for a piece of meat. At this rate even Iris and Alexia won't be able to stop them from demanding war. And as the good king I am, I have to grant their wish, don't I?

    Shadow Garden should've studied history more often… although with how biased and shrouded their world history is thanks to the Cult, I suppose their young minds couldn't possibly reach the same conclusion I did. It doesn't matter though. Their naiveté helped me speed my plans up and they even graciously provided themselves as scapegoat. I was originally planning to have Mordred kill King Raphael but this is even better because this allows Rose to break out of Shadow Garden even faster than I originally planned.

    Now she has nowhere else to go… no one else to comfort and support her but me.

    Rose left the bed and walked up to me whilst enjoying the music with listless eyes. Eventually I finished the song and she claps her hands with an empty smile.

    "To think that you would know my favourite piece. That was a wonderful performance, Phantom."

    I stood up and bowed my head before her. "I aim to please, your highness." Seeing me bow and addressing her as royalty reminds her of who she is and what her mission is and that brought some light to her eyes after a few seconds have passed.

    "Now… there are things I must do…. But I don't know where to start. Last night mother and Perv said they prepared a replacement for me. Do you know anything?"

    "Project Clara." I uttered the name of Mordred's latest pet project, which was coincidentally the name of her deceased younger sister who died at childbirth. Is that the reason why her mother was such an outrageous woman? Or has Queen Reina always been like that? Who knows? Rose widens her eyes and clenches her fist in response.

    "To think that not only they manipulated my father and turned my mother against us… they even sullied the name of my deceased sister…! Just how far must they defile my family!?" Rose grits her teeth in anger.

    "Yes. They took your DNA and created a clone based on it. She was made to lure you out by making your father announce a new heir to the throne and would eventually be used to replace you afterwards." I explained the nature of Project Clara, which infuriates her more.

    "Then we must find her at once."

    "Yes. But first there is something you must do." I said as I took out a ring box out my pocket and opened it. She stared confusedly at the silver ring with rose carving at the top and some red vein-like lines surrounding its surface.

    "I'm sorry… but I cannot accept your feelings. I have…"

    "No. That's not what I meant. This ring once belonged to your father. It is an Artifact possessed by the royal family for ages. Now it belongs to you. Take it." I elaborated. I totally do not want to propose to you right now. It is necessary for her to wear the Ring of Succession not just to allow me to gain admin access to its systems so that I can gain access to its Black Rose function but also because I've hacked the ring and placed a certain recording that I want her and the world to watch.

    "Very well." She said as she took the ring and after staring longingly at it for a few minutes, she wore it on her left index finger, a place for a royal's ring.

    Just as she wore it, a bright red light began shining from the ring and shoots through the ceiling and into the sky. I grinned as my plans proceeds smoothly.




    "L-Lord Mordred! That light…!"

    "I know! Now shut up!" I said as I decapitated the subordinate who wasted my time with a useless report of something I already know.

    Today has been another disappointing day thanks to that meddlesome assassin who calls himself the Phantom of the Opera. Not to mention I never recovered the Ring of Succession from the now deceased king because Perv has been secretly defying me, colluding with that damned Necromancer. Too bad he was killed before I was able to punish him myself. And now it seems that Princess Rose has recovered the Ring of Succession from her father's corpse. The bright red light shining on the capital is a sign of that happening. Several holographic screens started appearing in the air, depicting the late king. It appears that Geerk has recorded a hidden a message on the ring before he transferred the ownership of the ring to Rose.

    "Attention, citizens of Oriana. It is I, Raphael Geerk Oriana, though if you're seeing this message, it is likely that I've passed away… or had my mind and body be controlled by powers beyond our imaginations." The king, whose face is reflected on the screen, began speaking. His words are heard by every citizens of the capital. At this rate the existence of the Cult will be revealed. This kingdom must be destroyed.

    "But before that happens, I have something to confess. It is likely that at the time you're hearing this, I would've already succumbed to the influence of my captors and slain King Klaus of Midgar as they wanted, causing a great rift between the two countries. The organization that is behind all this desired Oriana to be engulfed in war against Midgar. For what reason? I do not know. Perhaps to weaken both kingdoms so they can easily take over." There he said it. Even just through mere reference, this kingdom must absolutely be destroyed. I grabbed the Artifact that could remotely activate the Ring of Succession and immediately ran to the center of the light while the king continued his speech.

    "The identity of the organization that is behind this crime perpetrated against me… I cannot say it, for they are far too dangerous. But several Oriana nobles are affiliated with them, particularly those affiliated with Duke Perv Asshat. He and my wife are personally responsible for drugging and manipulating me." You cannot say our names but you have drawn attention to us, nonetheless, accursed king! If I could, I would've killed you ten times over!

    "But fear not, loyal citizens of Oriana. When I am gone, I hereby declare that the one who will inherit my throne is the one I love and trusted most, my beloved daughter Rose Oriana. It is likely that by the time you're hearing this message, she is missing, working behind the scenes. But she is a strong woman and she will return. With the threat of war looming on the horizon, I believe she can be the one who will make Oriana strong. Only she can guide you through these trying times and bring peace and order back to Oriana. Please put your trust in her. And Rose…" The image of the king started intently at the viewer, as if staring directly at someone.

    "I love you. And I forgive anything that you would do… for you will do it for my sake, and for the sake of Oriana. I'm proud of you. Please remember who you are and always remain strong. Always." With those last words, the screen, along with the image of the late king, disappears. How sentimental, but I shall send her to the underworld so you won't be lonely!

    I arrived at an underground lair after passing through a subterranean lake by walking in the water and there, I saw the new queen, Rose, and a masked man, likely this Phantom of the Opera character, in a room full of candles and musical instruments, with an enormous pipe organ in the wall. I've found you and you cannot escape anymore.




    "I love you. And I forgive anything that you would do… for you will do it for my sake, and for the sake of Oriana. I'm proud of you. Please remember who you are and always remain strong. Always." With those last words, the screen that displayed my father's final message disappears. I can't stop the tears from falling.

    "Oh… father… I promise… I shall be a great and strong queen! And I shall protect Oriana!" I swore right then and there.

    At that declaration, I heard a clap, but not from the Phantom. I turned towards the one who claps, a purple haired man in white armor. I recognize him from the dossier. He is Mordred, a member of the Knights of Rounds and one who injured Lady Epsilon some time ago.

    "A touching display. But it is time to close the curtain with your deaths."

    "Mordred! You and your Cult has toyed with my family and Oriana for long enough! I'll put an end to your reign!" I declared with a slime sword pointed at his direction.

    "Ha ha ha! A foolish infant like you think you can defeat me? How amusing! Come then, so I can send you to reunite with your pitiful parents." Mordred merely laughed. He didn't even unsheathe the sword at his hips.

    Before I can jump in to strike him, the Phantom stopped me.

    "Allow me, my queen. You must go to the castle to restore order to the royal court."

    "Restore order? There is only destruction waiting for you! Behold!" Mordred took out an oval shaped device from his pocket and pressed the button on it, sending a magic signal targeting my ring. But before it could reach, the Phantom stopped the flow of magic with a wave of his hand.

    "What!?" Mordred exclaimed as whatever he expected to happen didn't happen.

    "Go, my queen! I'll handle him!"

    "Make sure you return alive!"

    "Of course I will." The Phantom said as I escaped the place through a tunnel.




    Rose escaped through the tunnel behind me as I blocked Mordred's path. With me around, he cannot activate the Black Rose. Oh no. I will not allow it, not when my evil queen hasn't had a chance to shine yet. She needs to rise before she inevitably falls. Her fall would be much more beautiful that way. Mordred merely grinned, thinking he can dispose of me easily with the new sword that he bought from me, which is appropriately named Clarent.

    "Playing the role of a knight, are you? How admirable, but also foolish. This kingdom is doomed the moment its leaders betray the Cult. Your queen's only act as a monarch would be to witness her kingdom's destruction and she shall have only her father to blame! And you should be honored, fool. For standing in the way of the Cult, I, the Knight Beyond Men himself, shall personally destroy you!" Mordred began monologuing again.

    "Heh heh heh. It's amusing how you'd say that after your shameful last defeat."

    "Hmph. So you've heard of my retreat from that vampire Alucard. No matter. I've become stronger since then and you'll never defeat me." He said as he finally unsheathes Clarent, a greatsword with decorated hilt, a red gem embedded on its guard, and red glowing runes carved on its blade.

    "Grown stronger? You call borrowing another's strength as growing stronger? First that stolen elven sword Invisibilite, and now this new sword?"

    "You can talk all you like but in the end, you shall die by my hand!" Mordred said as he sent an invisible long range slash that I dodged, which sliced through my precious pipe organ.

    "That was pretty expensive, you know."

    "You should worry more about your life, fool!" Mordred exclaims as he sent another invisible slash, which sliced through the wall cleanly.

    "How… how did you dodge that?" Mordred glared at me, unable to believe that I dodged his attacks.

    "Unlike Invisibilite, which only sent mere invisible attacks, your new sword slices through space itself, and thus no defense can resist it. Is that it?"

    "How did you know!?" Mordred exclaims angrily because he haven't used the sword in public before and yet his secret is already out.

    "Because I made that sword." A simple answer, simple sentence, broke him.

    "Wha… you… Necromancer!?" I grinned as he said that.

    "Correct." I confirmed as I shed my Phantom disguise and revealed my true form.




    Author's Note:

    And so the Necromancer returns to action.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 126: Return of the King
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 126: Return of the King

    In the capital's Mitsugoshi branch, Beta along with all Shadow Garden members present in the capital witnessed the bright red light pillar and the message left by the late king through holographic recording. That can only mean one thing.

    "That message… 666 must've obtained the key then. And the Cult must've responded. We must protect 666! Come 664 and 665! We must protect her!" She commanded the only available Numbers present in the Mitsugoshi branch as other members have other assignments, particularly to search for Rose and to quell the ongoing civil war and prevent the Necromancer's forces from stealing corpses. Even Epsilon and Delta are currently unavailable as they left to search for Rose's whereabouts after her father was killed last night. Hearing her orders lifted the spirits of her former teammate and friends, 664 and 665.

    "Lady Beta! So you're not abandoning her after all!" Exclaimed 664, the squad leader of Rose's team, enthusiastically.

    "Thank goodness, we're going to save her!" 665 said as she sighed in relief as the whole incident made her lose her infamous appetite that she haven't eaten anything since morning.

    "I don't buy 559's story of her betraying us. This must've been a misunderstanding… or the Phantom is at fault. Either way, we cannot allow her to fall to the Cult's hands!" Exclaimed Beta who, as Natsume Kafka, actually befriended Rose before she joined Shadow Garden, thus she have a degree of care and trust towards the princess.

    ""Yes, Lady Beta!"" Exclaimed both 664 and 665 as they created black cloaks out of slime and followed Beta to the source of the light.




    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plgdbr_bTrc&ab_channel=trigun1231

    Mordred stood above the water with a shocked face as he witnessed my transformation. He soon replaces it with a slightly angry face. "I must admit, you surprised me for a second there. But if I think about it, it makes sense that you're the Phantom considering your unique control over magic. Don't tell me that Alucard is you as well?"

    "You are correct. I was the Alucard who defeated you months ago. Heh heh heh." I taunted, which made him become more enraged.

    "Which means the entire story of slumbering legends are merely lies. To think that you would work against me since back then. You've truly betrayed the Cult, haven't you?" Mordred remarked with a frown, still sore about his humiliating defeat against Alucard.

    "Betray the Cult? No. What I'm doing is what every member of the Rounds do in their spare time, scheming against each other. I'm just following examples. Heh heh heh."

    "You've turned members of the Rounds against each other than even Lord First Seat has taken notice. I must applaud you, Necromancer. No one has ever shaken the Rounds ever since Alexander the Great. But Lord First Seat doesn't need to dirty his hands on a fraud like you! I shall do it myself!" Mordred said as he pointed his sword at me.

    "Oh? Fraud am I? Even though you're using a sword made by me?"

    "You're a fool to hand over a power like this to me. Now I shall make you regret ever giving me this Artifact!" Mordred declared as he once again sliced through the air and I dodged the attack, which results in the wall in the direction of his slash to be sliced cleanly despite his blade not even close to reaching it.

    "You're the fool here. I made that sword… which means I understand its power more than you who merely used it." A programmer would understand the software he coded more than its end user after all.

    "Don't underestimate the Cult's knowledge, you upstart! I have far more knowledge of space magic than you think! Did you know that there are other worlds besides this one?"

    "Of course I know. I came from another world after all."

    "What!? You!?"

    "And your plan is to use the Black Rose to open a portal to the 4th​ Realm, which is currently the closest realm orbiting this one. Isn't that right?"

    "Tch. I admit that you're far more knowledgeable than I anticipated. But that doesn't change the fact that you're helpless against a sword that cuts through space itself!"

    "How did you think I was able to dodge your attacks, then?"

    "What?"

    "You didn't think that far? You're even more of an idiot than I thought."

    "Why, you…!"

    "Allow me to enlighten your limited knowledge then. I created that sword and its enchantments, which means I understand how it works on a fundamental level. That also means I can easily detect the space that was about to be cut whenever you swing that blade. Not to mention…" I monologue before swinging my hand in a cutting motion, which cuts Mordred's cheek (and the cave wall behind him) before he could react. Stalactites also fell from the cave ceiling when they are cut by my spell and was dropped into the water.

    "I can use that blade's power without the blade."

    "You…!" Mordred angrily swings his sword again and again but I kept dodging it because I can sense which space he is cutting with my mastery of space. He eventually stopped when he realized his attacks are futile.

    "You meddlesome creature…! Why won't you die!"

    "By the way, I created another blade and enchanted it with space magic." I said as I summoned one of my newest floating swords, which is enchanted with space magic enchantment. "Do you want to know what it can do?"

    "Isn't it the same as my blade?" Mordred said with an unimpressed face. Oh he is in for a surprise. A deadly surprise. Heh heh heh.

    "Oh it can do much better than that. It can do this." I snapped my fingers and the floating sword teleported to Mordred's chest.

    "Aghhh….!!!" Mordred coughs up blood as my blade suddenly appeared and is embedded on his chest before he could do anything about it.

    "It can teleport." I finished as I watched him dropping to his knees.

    "You think… Cough… You can get away with this…?"

    "Oh I think I can." I said as I used my floating sword to lift him to the air, not allowing him to drown in the water he was standing on, and bring him close to me so I can gaze upon him closely, as if staring directly at his soul.

    "You and Fenrir are fools if you think you can use my own creations against me. I know what I made better than you ever could, be it their weaknesses and limits, their reach, and even countermeasures against them." I said as I recalled the mind control Artifact I sold to Fenrir some time ago, which he entrusted to the Thirteen Night Blades to be used against me… as Claude. I will soon have a very fun time twisting his scheme inside out. But for now, Oriana takes priority.

    Mordred widens his eyes but he clearly didn't have the context about Fenrir's plans. Despite being colleagues in the Rounds, they still scheme against each other and wouldn't freely share information after all.

    "You… who the hell… are you…?" Underneath the mask, I grinned. It's been a very long time since I uttered my catchphrase.

    "I am the Necromancer. Ruler of Death… and Master of your fates." He widens his eyes at my declaration, which reminded him of what I can do, what I was known for besides being an Artifact creator.

    "And you won't be able to get away with defying me. From now on, you will be my eternal slave."

    "No… you don't mean…!"

    "Oh I very much mean it, Mordred. The Alexander you mentioned is already my slave in death. You should join him. And don't worry. I will soon make the rest of the Rounds join you both so you won't be lonely. Heh heh heh."

    "NOOOO!!!" He shouts as I used my magic to steal his soul, leaving his corpse lifeless and motionless. I shall reanimate him later using his subjugated soul. I unsummon my blade, which took his body along with it, took Clarent back and left the hideout before the Shadow Garden members arrive here. As much as I want to play with them, my Queen Rose is a greater priority after all.

    Ah, it's been a while since I acted as the Necromancer. It's good to be back.




    We arrived at the subterranean lake and traversed through it on foot by using magic to walk on water. To think the Phantom-- Necromancer would create another hideout in the capital so close to the first one… If only we could predict this, we wouldn't send too many personnel out of the capital to search for 666. But what's done is done and we must focus on saving 666. I just hope Necromancer isn't there. I don't think I can handle him alone.

    But when we arrived at the lair, we only found signs of battle and no one was there.

    "We're too late…" I grit my teeth and clenched my fist.

    "Lady Beta…?" 664 asked with a worried face, perhaps surprised of how much concern I gave 666. I've been friends with her long before you two after all.

    "Nothing. 664 and 665. Call for reinforcements and have a beastkin track 666's scent."

    "At once!" The two of them left to carry out my orders while I stayed back to inspect the place. The layout of this place is similar enough to the first lair. It even has a pipe organ, although it has been sliced cleanly by someone. Most likely Mordred because who else would react to the late king's message if not him and who else possess a sword with long range slash similar to Epsilon's technique?

    Necromancer must've made short work of him if they weren't here by the time I arrived. The thought of the Rounds fighting each other is reassuring but when it comes to Necromancer, who is far more dangerous than all the Rounds combined, him emerging victorious is not a good sign at all, especially considering he can enslave his defeated enemies with his vile magic.

    No matter. All Seven Shades will soon gather and we shall do our best to at least thwart his schemes in Oriana.




    I arrived at the royal castle, entering it through the main gate instead of sneaking in like last time. The guards not only allowed me to pass but also bowed before me.

    "Hail Queen Rose!" The guards greeted me as I walked the hallways towards the throne room. Some nobles also lined up to greet and bow before me… though some of the have that grin… the same grin they wear when Perv and my father visited Midgar during the Bushin Festival. Of course not all of them are on my side. But I am not alone. Many of the guards followed me close behind as I walk. These guards are no doubt more loyal to my father than to the Cult.

    Soon enough I arrived at the throne room and saw some nobles and a girl standing beside the throne. The girl greatly resembles me but younger and was dressed in a dress.

    "So you're Clara." I addressed the girl but she did not respond. She remained standing with a blank look in her eyes.

    "Welcome back, Princess Rose. It is good to have you back. However, you have a contender for the right of the throne." A royal guard, whom I recognize as Gwyn, who have served the royal family for years, spoke condescendingly. To think he is part of the Cult as well.

    "You heard my father's message. He named me the heir to the throne."

    "We cannot in good conscience leave the kingdom in the hands of someone that the warmongering king named as heir. Please do not sully the royal family anymore and--" I lost it when he called my father a warmonger and immediately decapitated him before he finished his sentence. All the nobles present are startled.

    "She is like him after all!"

    "She studied in Midgar! Of course she's gonna learn all their barbaric ways!"

    "Warmonger's daughter!"

    "Murderer!"

    "Barbarian!"

    "Monster!"

    I should've expected this but hearing them whisper about me in such a manner hurts. But I cannot give up now. The presence of some of the guards following me close behind is reassuring enough and it gave me the strength to go on.

    "All of you be silent." I sternly commanded them and they immediately became silent.

    "Did you not hear what my father said? He was manipulated by the Cult of Diablos into committing regicide. Now our country is on the brink of war and it needs a new leader." I declared before pointing my sword towards Clara. "Do you have the resolve to lead this kingdom?" I asked her and she still does not reply. With Gwyn no longer speaking on her behalf, she can only respond by unsheathing the blade on her hips. The nobles merely watched as they waited for the victor to be decided. What a bunch of disloyal snakes.

    "Very well. Have at you!" I accepted the challenge and she charged forth with her blade in hand. Her speed is impressive… if I haven't been trained by Instructor Lambda that is. After receiving the Shadow Garden training, her lunge seemed too slow and amateurish. I easily parried her strike and pushed away her sword. Now weaponless, her previously expressionless face began showing signs of fear as I walked slowly to approach her.

    When I am directly in front of her, she closed her eyes, waiting for her death. But instead of death, I gave her a hug.

    "You've went through so much, haven't you? The Cult must've treated you like a weapon. Don't worry. From now on, you are my sister, Clara." I whispered in her ears, which prompted her to cry.

    "Uwaaahhh…!" She cries as she hugged me back tightly.

    Clone or not, she is still my flesh and blood and I will not let the Cult use her again.




    Author's Note:

    In case you didn't know, Clara is Rose's little sister in the web novel. She did not exist in the light novel though, hence I brought her here as Rose's clone. Rose is certainly gonna treat her like a real sister though.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 127: Music of the Night
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 127: Music of the Night

    I hugged Clara for at least an entire minute as she weeps in my arms. When I finished and let her go off my hands, the nobles started clapping.

    "Congratulations, Queen Rose!"

    "Truly a wonderful display!"

    "She is the strong leader that Oriana needs!"

    "She is also a gentle heart!"

    "The future of Oriana is secure in her hands!"

    The moment the scales tipped to the other side, they immediately switched their tones and start praising me like no tomorrow even though they mocked, accused and cursed me just minutes ago.

    "Be silent, all of you. Don't think I didn't hear what you whispered few minutes ago." I sternly ordered the sycophants to stop wagging their serpent tongues as I turned to face them with a glare. They became silent immediately.

    "Now take me… to my father."

    "Your highness. Your father has--"

    "I know. Take me to him. I must pay my respects."

    "Very well. This way please." With that, the nobles took me to my father's bedroom where my father laid… on a stretcher on the floor. Sure, only a few hours have passed since his death but the sight makes me angry.

    "Why is my father treated in such an unceremonious way?"

    "Your highness. This man… no… this FIEND is the one responsible for all the troubles that our country currently faced. He plunged our kingdom into war and chaos! He doesn't deserve--"

    "Not another word of slander." In an instant, my blade is already on the throat of the noble who dares insult my father right in front of me.

    "B-But your highness! He--"

    "DID YOU EVEN PAY ANY ATTENTION TO HIS FINAL MESSAGE!? THE ONE THAT BROUGHT ME BACK HERE!? OR ARE YOU SO DROWNED IN FOOLISH MUSIC THAT YOU COULDN'T HEAR ANYTHING!?" I shouted angrily, causing the nobles to get scared.

    "Y-Your majesty! P-Please forgive meee..!" The man whose throat is being threatened by my blade, cried as he begs for forgiveness with soiled pants.

    "Prepare a royal funeral immediately. And I don't want to hear anymore slander out of your mouths."

    "Tch…! Y-Yes! Right away!"

    "Did I hear a tongue clicking?"

    "N-No! You didn't--"

    "Are you saying that I'm deaf like you? You would do well to stop wagging your tongue traitorously or I'll cut it off."

    "Y-Yes… Your majesty!"

    Haaah… Father. To think you'd have to endure working with these people… and to think I've been too blind that I never noticed their true character. Is that why you sent me to Midgar? So I wouldn't be corrupted by these disloyal snakes? So my foolish and gullible past self wouldn't become their puppet ruler? Even now they still tried to influence me by slandering your name in order to distance myself from you… I will not have it. I won't let that happen. I will become strong just like you wanted! I'll protect Oriana!




    The funeral for the late king went smoothly as the nobles who are opposed to it wouldn't dare object to it. They also wouldn't dare speak even a single word during the whole affair, be it praises or slander for the late king, as they know both would displease Rose, the former because she knows they are lies, and the latter for obvious reasons. They didn't even dare whisper during the funeral as they know Rose would hear it with her enhanced hearing, causing them to hate and curse Spellswords even more.

    These Oriana nobles have always looked down on Spellswords. They didn't like it when the late king sent Rose to study in Midgar. They didn't like it when the king began preparing for war against Midgar and fills Oriana's military with Spellswords, both local and foreign (foreign ones are mostly from the Lawless City, courtesy of Yukime, as mercenaries from other countries would think twice before opposing Midgar) and they especially don't like it when the naïve princess that they've always sought to control become so strong and defiant.

    When they heard that the Perv faction have manipulated the king, they flocked into the Perv faction. When the king broke out of Perv's influence and not only became independent but also became a warmonger, they flocked to his side as they didn't have connections to the Cult of Diablos the way Perv faction does and thus they thought that the Perv faction, even after joining forces with Marquis Grantz, would lose the civil war considering they saw how many bloodthirsty Spellswords have joined the king's forces. They feared such a force being turned against them.

    When the king died and a royal guard by the name of Gwyn came to present Clara as his successor, they flocked to Clara's side, believing she would be an easier puppet to control compared to Rose who studied in Midgar. But when Rose dismantled that plan as quickly as she returned, they flocked to her side and pretended to be loyal subordinates whilst trying to influence her as they've always wanted to do… only to have a stronger Rose thwart their plans with her unyielding willpower.

    Few days after the funeral they held a secret meeting, away from Rose's ears, in order to discuss their next move.

    "Have you contacted Marquis Grantz, yet?"

    "Yes. With Perv dead he has become the sole leader of the Anti-Raphael faction... but he said he wants to return to the capital to meet that bitch queen before deciding to continue the civil war. I don't think his goals align with ours."

    "We need to make sure he also opposes the king's faction, which has been absorbed into Rose's faction, so we can switch to his side. If he loses, we can simply blame him and return to the Princess' side. If he wins, we can dispose of him and take over the kingdom for ourselves."

    "Indeed. I've been contacted by the remnants of the Perv faction. They're moving behind the scenes to sow discord between Rose's faction and Marquis Grantz's faction in order to keep the civil war going."

    "Good. Whoever wins, we shall be on the winning side. A toast to our victory!" A noble lifted his glass of wine in the air for a toast and the others follow.

    "Indeed. A toast to fuckin' traitors." An unfamiliar voice was heard.

    "Who's there!? Show yourself!"

    "The name's Zack, a newly appointed royal guard. Our Queen Rose doesn't trust you lot and so she assigned us to figure out your allegiance… and figure out we fuckin' did. Much easier than I thought, really."

    "How slanderous! We can have you executed for this!"

    "How precious. You guys are the ones gettin' executed here." Zack snaps his fingers and several more royal guards emerged from their hiding places.

    "Wha—H-Hey! You can't do this to us! You barbaric Spellswords!"

    "Oh we certainly can. Men? As our queen ordered, execute them on the spot."

    "No! Please! We'll pay you whatever it takes! We'll—GWAAAH!!!"

    The royal guards executed the traitorous nobles not only without mercy but also with pleasure, with Zack watching them without taking pleasure in their deaths. Despite being a Spellsword and a royal guard, he isn't as bloodthirsty as the others and he certainly didn't enjoy the slaughter like they did.

    "Haah… The people who are loyal are bloodthirsty whereas people who aren't bloodthirsty are disloyal. Queen Rose must've had his hands full with this mess. I'm so glad I ain't part of the royal family. Ain't gonna subject myself to this mess. Hope she can fix this mess so our kingdom can properly function again." Zack mutters to himself as he left the room.




    Rose had become so busy these days. Much busier than when she was a mere grunt of Shadow Garden. Between keeping her kingdom in one piece by scouting and executing traitors and educating her new little sister Clara, who, due to her upbringing, didn't even know how to talk and to express herself, only how to listen to orders and swing a blade as the Cult never intended her to be anything more than a weapon, she has too much on her hands that she barely had time to rest. Her rest time is also disturbed by nightmares and paranoia about assassins killing her in her sleep.

    Rose walked back to the castle after observing her subordinates place the decapitated heads of the traitorous nobles on a stake and displays them publicly in the gate of the castle as a cautionary tale. They also wrote the word "TRAITOR" with blood on wooden boards nailed to their stakes to make sure everyone know what they did and what fate befell those who follow their footsteps.

    "Prepare a council meeting as soon as possible. I have many things to address." Rose declared to her subordinates whilst on the way to her office.

    "Is it to discuss your Coronation, your highness?" One of the royal guards asked her.

    "There are more important things to discuss."

    "But your highness! Until the Coronation is done, you cannot fully claim the throne!"

    "Hm… I suppose you're right. I can gather the nobles with the Coronation anyway so we can immediately discuss our plans. Then, prepare the Coronation Ceremony immediately!"

    "Right away, you majesty!"

    The subordinate left to prepare the Coronation as Rose returned to her office, formerly her father's, which also happens to be the place he died in, to resume her work, not letting thoughts of her father's demise in this very room… or the deaths she brought to her kingdom, be it as the Owl or as queen, distract her from her duties as they have already disturbed her sleep these past few days.

    She is restless. Her mind is tired… and thus easily manipulated by one of the few people she trusts. And it is in this moment that he appears.

    "I see you're getting the hang of it now." The Phantom's voice was heard behind her, startling her but also reassures her.

    "Where have you been?" Rose stood up from her chair and faces the Phantom.

    "Disposing the rest of the Cult in Oriana. They won't move from the shadows anymore and so you can destroy the remnants of the Perv faction and any nobles still disloyal to you without any obstacles in the way."

    "What of Necromancer? I heard he's in this kingdom."

    "Unfortunately, I never found him. Perhaps he has returned to Midgar or Lawless City which is his territory. I only encountered the remnants of Mordred's forces after killing the man himself."

    "I see… and Shadow Garden?"

    "So far there's no movement out of them from within the kingdom… but from Midgar however… I heard the Seven has made their move."

    "W-What!? The Seven Shades!?"

    "They must be trying to finish the job." The Phantom said ominously. The implication in his words is clear to Rose.

    "To finish the job… to finish me… But why the Seven…? I could barely defeat 559!"

    "Because they feared the weapon you now possess in your fingers." The Phantom's words caused Rose to look at the ring on her finger, her father's ring.

    "As you've noticed, that ring is no ordinary ring. It's an Artifact. It possess the power of the Black Rose."

    "The Black Rose!? You mean--"

    "Not the legend of the Black Rose that gave powers to certain champions of Oriana, no. It is the Black Rose that wiped out thousands of Velgaltan soldiers when they invaded Oriana during the Velgaltan-Oriana war."

    "Such power…!"

    "The royal family wielded such power… but with restraints. They never used it unless it is absolutely necessary. That is the secret of that ring that only few people know. And naturally the Cult knows as well, that's why he confronted us last time."

    "How did you know about it then?"

    "Your father told me. Did you think I move alone? No. I've always worked alongside your father."

    "Who… are you then…?" Rose's question made the Phantom cover his mask with a hand with a frown.

    "I… am simply the Phantom of the Opera. I have no name besides that."

    After a few seconds pause, Rose replied "I see… Then I will not pry. I'm grateful for your help. But to think the ring held such a secret… wait… The Seven!"

    "Yes. They know about it. They desired that power, that's why they manipulated you… They held you hostage so that your father wouldn't use the Black Rose against them. And then they killed him in order to seize the ring for themselves. Luckily, I've secured the ring for you."

    "And now that I possess the ring, the Seven Shades finally made their move. Heh…." Rose smiled with a frown, not finding the situation humorous or amusing but terrifying instead. A great power… a great burden in her hand.

    "You must never let them take it, my queen. If they do, the kingdom is doomed."

    "Why would they need it if Lo—Shadow already possess powers rivalling the Black Rose?"

    "Because he wants to reign supreme as the sole ruler. His defeat at the hands of the Necromancer has made him desperate for more power."

    "Does Shadow… wants to rule the world that much?"

    "Why else would he possess such power? He and the Necromancer are the same after all."

    "How about you? What do you wield your power for?"

    "To serve the interests of Oriana…? No… To write a play… with you as the protagonist." The Phantom declared as he pointed his finger at her.

    "Me?"

    "You are… the perfect protagonist for my story… And I shall do whatever it takes to ensure you make for a legendary tale. That is my desire." The Phantom declared as he put both his hands on Rose's shoulders.

    "You shall be the protagonist of my story… oh my Christine…"

    "Christine?"

    "Ah…" The Phantom turned away from Rose as that name left his mouth as if embarassed. "Forget about it."

    "… Very well." Rose dropped the subject with pity in her heart.

    So you've lost someone too… that's why you're doing all this.

    "Anyway, I must leave you now. I'll return when the Seven arrived in the capital."

    "Wait! Before you leave, tell me… can we win this war?"

    "It will be… hard. But don't worry, your highness. Your father has prepared you plenty of capable fighters. Not to mention, you have the Black Rose and… me on your side."

    "Very well. I'm counting on you, Phantom." With that last exchange, the Phantom left the room through the window.




    A blunder. Uttering the name Christine like that. When I created the Phantom's character, I originally intended Rose to become Christine… and I intended to seduce her to fit the theme. But when I tried to seduce her, I held back… because I still have Sherry.

    That little slip up was from my original script, the one that still have her as Christine. I wonder what she thinks of that name. Haaah.

    No matter. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't… so why am I facing an angry Sherry when I returned to my base?

    "Sh-Sherry… What's wrong?"

    "Heard you adopted another mask and sang in Oriana… for Rose."

    "W-Well… I used the Phantom of the Opera persona to manipulate her in order to separate her from Shadow Garden and make sure she reclaims her birthright."

    "Then what's this entire Christine business, huh?" She said as she waved a book, a book where I wrote the script for my Phantom persona. Ohh… This feels like my chuunibyou secrets have been discovered by my girlfriend. How embarrassing!

    "If it's about Christine… I scrapped that part because… even whilst pretending to be someone else, I couldn't bring myself to seduce another girl."

    "Really?" Sherry widens her eyes when she heard that.

    "Truly, Sherry. Otherwise you'd hear talks about how I serenaded Rose. No. I only sang the Phantom's song and played his theme music."

    "… Then… can you sing for me?"

    "Huh?"

    "It's not fair that only Rose have heard you sing! I didn't even know you can sing! I want to hear you sing too!" She began nagging me to sing for her. Luckily I saved the perfect song for this occasion… the song that I originally intended to sing for Rose in order to seduce her but couldn't because of Sherry.

    "Then listen to… the Music of the Night."




    Author's Note:

    The Phantom gaslights Rose again. Also, Zack made his appearance! If you didn't know, he is a character from the web novel. Gwyn (Guin) is also a character from the web novel.

    Also, the scene at the end with the Music of the Night… I originally planned that scene to happen after Sherry gets jealous of Iris' advance towards Claude but considering that part will take too long because Claude is still being "kidnapped" and the Phantom arc will likely be over already by that time, which would make the inclusion of the Music of the Night becomes out of place, I decided to include the Music of the Night here. If you haven't heard it, please give it a listen. It fits the theme of Claude and Sherry. I personally recommend Ramin Karimloo's performance.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBDxEHzidx0&ab_channel=TheShowsMustGoOn%21
     
  • Threadmarks
    • AshenFlame said:
    God, I hope it's not NTR...
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I changed my plans. The important scene I was referring to was the part where he sang the Music of the Night. I changed the subject of jealousy from Iris to Rose because it makes more sense for it to be about Rose because Claude held back on singing this song for Rose because of Sherry. I'd have to think of a new way to write Iris scene.
     
    Chapter 128: The Number of the Beast
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 128: The Number of the Beast

    Claude's Music of the Night was so beautiful. I feel like drowning into darkness… which is his world… when he sang that song to me. But… when the lyrics asked me to leave my old life… I couldn't…

    I feel so guilty. I often behave jealously whenever he gets close to other women because he's a handsome and popular man and many women more beautiful than me want him for themselves too. I feel so insecure… fearing that he will leave me… I'm glad that he stayed loyal to me even though he could've seduced Rose or Yukime and I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him if he did.

    But despite him proving time and time again that he loves me and me alone… my heart still clings to my first love. And his music reminded me of how unfaithful I've been to him.

    Oh Claude… I'm so sorry. I still couldn't forget about Cid…!

    I'm so sorry, Claude! I'm so sorry! I'll try…. I'll try to devote my body and soul to you more…!

    I need you, Claude. Not just for my revenge… but to continue living…! So… please forgive my unfaithfulness and let me be more useful to you! Let me help you more!

    "Good evening, Lady Acolyte! You look more determined than ever! Did something happen?" The mutt who haven't killed his sister as Claude ordered appeared, as annoying as ever. And he caught me without my mask on. I frowned when he showed himself unannounced.

    "What do you want, Adra?"

    "Nothing. Just greeting a colleague is all."

    "You're awfully being familiar with me all of a sudden."

    "Well, can't help it! You're so much cuter without the mask on."

    "R-Really?" I'm… cute?

    "Yeah, really! You shouldn't hide such a cute face!"

    "Hm. Unfortunately I must hide my identity… and forsake my old identity for Lord Necromancer's sake. You would do well not to speak of this to any living soul." I gave him a warning as I put my mask back on.

    "Gotcha, Lady Acolyte!"

    "Now follow me. We have work to do."

    "Ayayaye Captain!"

    He seemed too enthusiastic for someone whose sister and mother's lives are held hostage. Well… whatever. As long as he continue being useful to Claude, I'll tolerate his foolish antics.




    Not a day passed without death in Oriana, be it through execution and assassinations by my orders, or through the ongoing civil war. Despite losing so many of their leaders, the Perv faction is still actively fighting, mainly by turning into lawless bandits causing troubles wherever they go though.

    The situation in my kingdom is so dire that if my father hadn't left me with so many warriors, I wouldn't be able to gain the upper hand in this fight, though many of them are of dubious background, not only the bloodthirsty formerly oppressed Oriana Spellswords but also the mercenaries, mainly from the Lawless City.

    There is even that Black Knight fellow who scares even me despite his contributions to my father's cause. The army he led always achieved overwhelming victory on the battlefield no matter how disorganized they are. I wonder how I could control such a man. How did father find him and obtain his loyalty? Can I keep him on my side? What is his motive for joining my father's cause? Is he like the Phantom? What are the Black Knight and the Phantom's relation with my father? I have no idea. So many unanswered questions... If only my father is still here.

    Ah. They're here. I knew this day would come.

    "666." Lady Beta called me by my number as she sneaked into my office, her face veiled by the hood she always wears whenever I see her.

    "No. I am Rose Oriana, Queen of Oriana. Please address me properly." I glared at her defiantly while asserting my rightful identity.

    "Very well… Rose. I want to talk to you."

    "I'm sorry but I'm not returning to Shadow Garden. Your murder of my father forced me to return to my duties as royalty of Oriana after all."

    "I will not ask you that considering our side is the one at fault. Please forgive us." Lady Beta, instead of using her usual cold hearted tone and strict attitude, is now humbly bowing her head before me whilst asking for my forgiveness… How manipulative.

    "Just as Midgar could never forgive my father for taking the life of their king, I… as well as all of Oriana, could not possibly forgive Shadow Garden for killing our king." I replied coldly, holding back my fury... and fear… as I know she is still stronger than me. If she moves against me, I may need to activate the Black Rose… but unleashing such a dangerous weapon in the castle so close to the capital city is not something I wanted to do.

    "Of course. I will not ask you to rejoin Shadow Garden. All that I ask is for you to… be wary of the Phantom. He is--"

    "Trying to undermine my ally in order to sow discord between us, huh? A pathetic attempt, Lady Beta."

    "You must listen to me, 666-- no… Rose!" Still calling me by my number… In the end, I'm still a number to you all, a mere pawn in your games.

    "Save it. I don't want to hear it. If that is all you have to say, I advise you to leave. Thanks to you, I've got my hands full and I'm very extremely busy, so busy that I don't have time to waste on you."

    "Rose…! Please listen to me!"

    "Please leave… or I'll be forced to resort the extreme measures." I said as I stood and clutches my father's ring in my finger.

    "Rose! You don't understand! The Phantom is--" She desperately pleaded… but her hand is reaching towards mine, most likely to steal my ring.

    "Stay back!" I took a step back and unsheathed my sword from my hips and pointed it at her before her hand could reach mine. She seemed to have widened her eyes at my defiance.

    "Rose! No! Please! Listen to me!" She still pleaded… and is that a drop of tear in her cheek? She even prepared crocodile tears to deceive me? Or… is that… genuine?

    "I also advise you to leave the queen alone, elf." Said the Black Knight as he suddenly appeared behind Lady Beta. Since when did he…? With such heavy armor, how did he sneak past both me and Lady Beta!?

    "Kuhh….! Black Knight!?" Lady Beta is now cornered, with both of our swords pointed at her from front and behind. She closed her eyes as she finally gave up.

    "Very well… I've tried my best. I hope you'll still find salvation after this, Rose. And… I'm sorry." She said her last words in a sad and regretful tone before leaving through the window. Why did she… look so sad?

    I heard clanking sound, which is the Black Knight's armor, as he walked towards the door to leave me.

    "Wait!" I stopped him before he left.

    "Tell me… What is your relation with my father…?"

    "…" He does not answer. Just like the Phantom. They don't trust me with that knowledge yet.

    "I see… I hope that I… can prove myself worthy of--"

    "I am… simply someone who knows the burden of kingship." To my surprise, he replied.

    "As a reigning monarch, you must rise above everyone else. Even if you couldn't, you mustn't let anyone think otherwise. Your performance today… has been satisfactory to me, as does your work so far. I look forward to seeing where your path will take you." He said as he left the room.

    Hi s words gave me determination. I swear… that I will become stronger and I will protect Oriana from the entire world's evil, be it Shadow Garden, the Cult, the Necromancer… or the inherent evil of mankind.




    I've failed. I thought I could at least talk to her. I was even about to reveal my other identity as Natsume to her so I could perhaps… use our friendship and her admiration of my works to convince her to at least listen to me… but the Black Knight's arrival thwarted that plan before it started.

    I suppose… this is my punishment for manipulating her. The incident with John Smith taught us to trust our subordinates more. Lord Shadow taught us a valuable lesson… a lesson that I… neglected in favour of more cold hearted methods.

    I told her that war could be prevented because we had allies in Midgar who does not wish for it to happen as long as we break her father's hypnosis, a simple lie that even I can hardly believe, in order to make sure she didn't behave rashly. Would everything be different had I trusted her more and told her of the truth? That in order to stop the war, we most likely need to kill her father, whether or not he broke out of hypnosis? Now she knows the truth and it is too late to repair my relationship with her. After all, who would trust a liar? I certainly wouldn't.

    I played the scenarios in my head, the same way I thought about stories for my books, but I am unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion because real life is unlike fairy tales where everything could work out in the end as long as the writer chose to.

    Lady Alpha favoured telling her the truth… that we may need to kill her father... but me and Zeta thought differently… and we're paying the price for it. Now we've lost Oriana to Necromancer. This increases the chances that even if we could prevent the Midgar side from starting the war, the Oriana side would be the one to do it. I know Rose is not the type to do such a thing but… she has been manipulated by the Pha—Necromancer. In time, she probably would be turned into a bloodthirsty tyrant like her father did when he was brainwashed by Necromancer.

    I returned to the capital's Mitsugoshi headquarters where the Seven Shades have gathered to attend the emergency meeting. How rare it is for the Seven Shades to move out together like this. Even Eta moved out of bed without being forced to. It is also rare for me to be the last one to enter the meeting room when usually it's Eta who's late.

    "I'm sorry for my delay." I said as I entered the meeting room and took my seat.

    "How is she?" Lady Alpha asked without the scrutinizing gaze I expected her to have.

    "She refused to listen to me." I reported with my head hung low, expecting some scolding.

    "I see. Perhaps Lord Shadow has foreseen this… that's why he called her that according to Nu's report." What?

    "What did… Lord Shadow said?" I asked.

    "He referred to 666's number as the Number of the Beast. I suppose he knew that we couldn't control her for long." Lord Shadow said that…? Does that mean it is in her inherent nature to be defiant towards Shadow Garden and Lord Shadow's will? Or is Lord Shadow covering up for our mistakes?

    I know what kind of girl Rose is… so I find it hard to believe that she is a beast… in fact, it's my fault that she has fallen so low.

    "But still, I find it puzzling as to why 559 killed the king." Lady Alpha said, her gaze landing on Zeta. She already suspects something.

    "I'm the one who ordered her to do that." Zeta answered with her eyes locked with Alpha defiantly.

    "Why?" Lady Alpha asked. Her angry tone concealed but still present in that one word she uttered.

    "Because that's the only way we could prevent the war from happening, by making sure Midgar lost their reason to go to war. You know this as well, Lady Alpha." Zeta replied.

    "I know. But will your scheme succeed, I wonder? Executing 666's father right in front of her is bound to make her take his place." Please stop referring to her as 666. She doesn't like it.

    "I know. Even if we prevented the Midgar side from starting the war, the Oriana side might do it now that she has fallen to his side. That's why we need to kill her too. And 559 would've done so had the Phantom—Necromancer not interfered." Zeta said callously.

    "Why did you not discuss this with me?" Lady Alpha asked. Her furious draconic aura began to leak out. Delta in particular is visibly shaking.

    "The sooner, the better, Lady Alpha. If we waited like you planned, there will be more damages done to both Oriana and Midgar which could ruin our plans. We need to kill her immediately so we can immediately solve the Oriana crisis and move back to Midgar." Zeta never broke eye contact despite being exposed to Lady Alpha's draconic aura.

    "It's not that simple now. She is protected by the Black Knight." I reported.

    "That… complicates things. But still… with all of us Seven--" Zeta said with a frown. She took my reports about my first encounter with the Black Knight seriously.

    "Haaah… We have proven ourselves useless again. That's why he has made his move." Lady Alpha said with a sigh, dispersing her oppressive aura and allows us to breathe.

    "Lord Shadow has made his move!?" Gamma exclaimed.

    "Boss is here!?" Delta, whose mood has been soured ever since she smelled Necromancer's scent in Oriana castle that night, stood up excitedly.

    "Hee hee… Things are getting interesting." Eta, the only one of us who's not worried the whole time, muttered with a slight smile. Sometimes I wish I could be as carefree as her.

    "Yes… he has." Lady Alpha confirmed.

    Normally it would be reassuring to have Lord Shadow move out… but this time it is to clean up our mess… not to mention the risk of him encountering Necromancer again… This news is not reassuring at all and all of the Seven Shades knows this. The ones who took this news the hardest is definitely me and Zeta, for it is our decisions that led to this.

    "Where is Lord Shadow now?" Epsilon asked.

    "We don't know. All we know is that he must be in Oriana right now." Lady Alpha replied.




    Author's Note:

    And so we take another glimpse at the crack within the Seven Shades. Are you guys surprised that Beta joined team Zeta? Originally I thought Epsilon should be the one to join team Zeta but I thought Beta joining would be more surprising.

    And Cid's remarks about the Number of the Beast is now a source of misunderstanding. Classic Eminence in Shadow misunderstanding.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 129: The Search for Satan
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 129: The Search for Satan

    Hmm….

    I've arrived in Oriana's capital city. Many of its cities are in ruins due to the civil war as expected. The people are living in absolute misery and public order is at all time low. Many soldiers, mainly from the pervy guy's faction, have turned to banditry to survive. Even the capital isn't spared from some destruction although it is better than most cities I've passed through.

    Seems like lots of fun things happened while I'm busy assassinating corrupt nobles from Midgar and collecting some of their money as compensation. If only my schedule wasn't so tight. There are some things I wanna do in this chaotic kingdom, like break out of prison for example, or enlist as a mercenary. I've also been hearing about corpses being stolen from the battlefield. My best friend Necromancer must be preparing for a zombie apocalypse right now. I'm so excited!

    But now… what to do? I came here because Nu said the Necromancer has captured Satan himself but so far no sign of that happening. I wonder where Alpha and the others are. They must know a lot more about what happened to Satan. I suppose I should visit one of the Mitsugoshi shops to ask the employees of their whereabouts.

    I stopped by the road to the royal castle and beheld a particularly gruesome scene… of several heads of random people put on stakes which is lined up perfectly on both sides of the road. The arrangements of the stakes is neatly done, perfectly measured, with no stakes being farther or nearer than the rest. As expected of the kingdom of arts. They put so much effort and thoughts even to such instruments of terror.

    "You're new here, are you boy?" Said a random old man wearing tattered winter jacket as he approached me.

    "Y-Yeah. What's this all about?"

    "These are the heads of nobles that the new queen, Rose, executed." Really? Rose-senpai did this?

    "When she came back, we had hope that she would fix all the mess that her father made… but turns out she is no different from him. All that talk about him being brainwashed is nonsense, I say!" The old man continued with frustration in his voice.

    "If you moved to the capital city expecting better situation than in other cities, you're out of luck. Even the capital ain't so different from the rest of the cities in this godforsaken kingdom. You might consider leaving this kingdom entirely… if you got the money that is." The old man finishes with an advice as he walks away. Oh, I will leave this kingdom… but not before I find Satan!

    Still, it might be worth it to visit Rose-senpai at night. She might clue me on the whole Satan thing. Or maybe she has become a tyrant because of Satan's influence! Either way, I'm so gonna punch Satan in the face for refusing to give me magical powers when I tried those occult rituals back on Earth.

    But first… I must gather more information!




    I sneaked into the castle at night in my Shadow outfit. It'll be out of place to dress up as Jack the Ripper after all, especially since Oriana already has its own murderous vigilante, the Phantom of the Opera. He must be a reincarnator like me. I wonder if we can meet so he can compare notes with my own Jack the Ripper.

    I sneaked into Rose-senpai's office. Even late at night she is still working, doing paperwork. I thought a tyrant like her would be enjoying some bath or some feast without caring about her people. It seems that she is working to fix the mess that her crazy father made before his death. I suppose she is not really a tyrant, though I'd still approve of her even if she became a tyrant.

    She hasn't noticed me so I made my presence known… by standing behind her and leaking some of my aura, which surprised her so much she jumped out of her chair and unsheathes her blade.

    "L-Lord Shadow…!?" She eyed me warily.

    "Rose Oriana. I see you're hard at work even at this hour." When I say her name, she somehow widens her eyes. Are you that surprised that I, as Shadow, know your name or something?

    "I didn't expect you to call me by my proper name…" Hm? What?

    "But I must ask you to leave. While I'm grateful for your help in curing my Possession, I no longer have any association with Shadow Garden." Asking me to leave already? How rude. But I'm not leaving before I can get my answers!

    "This kingdom has been engulfed by the Devil's influence." I said the line I prepared beforehand. She widens her eyes even more. So she knows about Satan.

    "The Devil, you said…? And what, pray tell, will you do with him?"

    "I am here to eliminate him."

    "Heh…" She laughed. What's so funny?

    "If that's the case… follow me. I will help you rid the world of the Devil." She said as she walks out of the room, with me following closely behind.




    "Lord Shadow is currently following Rose!? Where are they going!?" Alpha exclaimed when she heard reports from one of the Numbers.

    "She led him north, out of the capital city, Lady Alpha. But I don't know where they are going! There's nothing but wilderness up north as far as we know!"

    "Summon the Seven Shades! We must follow them!" Ordered Alpha. But before the Number could leave the room to relay Alpha's orders, the rest of the Seven Shades already stood in the door.

    "You're already here. Good. Are you girls prepared to show our worth to Lord Shadow?" Alpha asked them with determined eyes.

    """Yes!""" Replied the rest of the Seven Shades, even Eta.

    "Good. Let's move out immediately and be prepared to protect our lord from Necromancer." Alpha said as she removed her work dress and replaced it with her slime suit on her way out of the room, with the rest of the Seven Shades following her closely behind. The Number who witnessed this scene stood in awe as she have never saw the Seven Shades moved together like this. She thought that with the Seven Shades moving together with Lord Shadow, there's no way they would lose. Little does she know…

    "Delta. Track their scent." Ordered Alpha as they left the city premises.

    "Already on it!" Delta replied as she sniffs her boss' scent. "This way!" She said, leading the Seven Shades to follow her.

    "Delta… Slow down!" Muttered Eta as she fell behind the rest of the Shades due to her weaker physique compared to the rest of the Shades.

    "If you're too slow, Delta will leave you behi--" Delta's words were cut as she suddenly stopped in place.

    "Delta. What is it?" Alpha asked.

    A brief pause occured… And then…

    "H-He's here!" Delta said whilst trembling. It means only one thing.

    "Bonsoir mesdames!" Greeted a masked figure wearing black cloak and tuxedo with a fedora hat who stood in front of them, quickly gaining their attentions.

    "My queen has an important scene to play and I cannot allow you to interfere with it! Members of the audience should remain in their seats lest you ruin the scene that is about to unfold!" The masked figure dramatically declared, fully prepared to stand in their way.

    "Cut the act, Necromancer. We know it's you!" Alpha said with a frown.

    "Heh…. Heh heh heh. I suppose I have that dog girl over there to blame for my secret identity being found out. No matter." Said the Phantom as he shed his disguise using shapeshifting, revealing himself as the Necromancer in all his skull masked glory. His black robe is now accompanied by a black tattered cloak and a pair of metal gloves with green shining runes carved on them.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vp7O9bCb0&ab_channel=trigun1231

    "Kuhh..!" The Shades immediately felt the pressure of his magic, which is not only different from before he shed his disguise but also much stronger than ever before. Their bodies began trembling in fear, for they now face the one who defeated their lord.

    "Lady Alpha! We've come to assist you!" Said a member of the Numbers as she arrived with reinforcements of 12 people.

    "No! You must retreat! You're no match for him!" Shouted Alpha. But it is too late. Now that they have felt the Necromancer's dreadful aura, they are frozen in place, unable to move.

    The Necromancer merely stood by calmly even as he is surrounded by enemies. It is the ones who surrounded him that are gripped by fear.

    "Brave pawns you have here. But pawns are pawns no matter how brave they are." The Necromancer remarked as he snaps his finger and all of a sudden the slime suits of all 12 girls began attacking their wearer by forming spikes that pierced their bodies. Unable to do anything to resist having their greatest weapons being turned against them, the girls collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. The sight angers the Seven… well, all of them except Eta, who remains indifferent.

    "You…! What did you do!?" Exclaimed Alpha angrily.

    "Your slimes suits are… quite revolutionary. But in the end, they are still corpses. And I am a Master of Death. Guess what I did. Heh heh heh." The Necromancer answered as he snaps his fingers again and the Seven Shades felt his magic invading their slime suits.

    "Agh…! Lady Alpha! His magic is…!" Gamma exclaimed in panic as she struggled to control her slime suit.

    "D-Do we have to undress in front of him!?" Beta exclaimed. The very thought of exposing her body before their most hated enemy is unbearable to her.

    "Ohh nooo….! Pervert…!" Eta muttered lazily as she kept control of her slime suit.

    "Don't let his magic control your suits! Fight back!" Epsilon exclaimed, having succeeded in expelling the Necromancer's magic with her absolute magic control.

    "H-How…?" Delta asked, still struggling to keep her slime suit from attacking her.

    "Just push his magic away from your suit, doggy!" Zeta said as she also managed to expel the Necromancer's magic from her slime suit.

    In the end, all seven managed to expel his magic from their suits, preventing him from taking control of them and using their suits against them like he did with the 12 members who just died in front of them.

    *Clap Clap Clap*

    The Necromancer merely clapped after they managed to thwart his first move.

    "Bravo, girls. Bravo. I applaud you for resisting my magic."

    "Hmph. Cease your fake flattery. I'm sure that wasn't impressive for you." Alpha remarked, her eyes never stop glaring at him hatefully. The memory of their first meeting starts to resurface once again.

    "Heh heh heh. You know me so well, No. 001, my beloved first experimental subject." The Necromancer once again affectionately called her by the number he assigned her, which angers her even more.

    "I told you. My name is Alpha!"

    "You are No. 001. Nothing more. Even now you are still assisting me with my experiments, just like what you did just now."

    "We'll see about that." Alpha said as she brandished her slime sword and shrouded herself with draconic aura like she did during her confrontation against Don Jon. The other Seven followed suit by brandishing their weapons out of slime, though this time not the sword they usually use but more personalized weapons instead; Beta her manifesting a bow, Gamma manifesting a huge gun, Delta manifesting a pair of claws, Epsilon manifesting a scythe with strings resembling harp on it, Zeta manifesting a pair of bladed cakrams, and finally Eta who brought out a familiar book.

    Hoo… The Necronomicon that I wrote. So it ended up in the hands of Shadow Garden after all. This is getting interesting. Let us see how much you've learned from my tome. Thought the Necromancer as he glanced at Eta.

    In response to the Seven Shades bringing out their weapons, the Necromancer summoned his weapons; 6 floating swords, a staff and a floating throne which is made of bones. The sight of him leisurely sitting on the throne angers the Seven, with the exception of Eta, who remains indifferent and merely eyed his Artifacts with clear interest.

    "Two of these swords are new. I shall have you assist me in testing them."

    "You look relaxed, Necromancer. Are you sure you want to take on all of us whilst sitting?" Alpha asked, offended at how relaxed their enemy is.

    "If you can make me stand up from my throne, I'll take you more seriously." The Necromancer replied.

    "Then it's your doom!" Alpha said as she charged, followed by Delta, Epsilon and Zeta. Beta, Gamma and Eta opted to stay behind in order to snipe him from afar.

    But before they can reach him, the Seven, with the exception of Alpha, are stopped by his floating swords, which repelled their attacks.

    All Seven are now facing one of his floating swords, except Alpha who is facing the Necromancer himself, confronting her most hated enemy and greatest fear.




    I followed Rose-senpai out of the capital city and into the northern woods. Nothing but a bunch of trees and snow out here. Are you sure Satan is here, Rose-senpai? I sensed the Necromancer's magic behind us. He's probably fighting someone right now but I cannot sense who he's fighting because his aura greatly overshadows the other's. Looks like he has grown much stronger since our last encounter. I wanna butt in but Satan is more important right now!

    We arrived at a clearing. At this point we are already several kilometres away from the capital city. Because I'm following Rose-senpai's pace, it end up being quite slow. This better be worth it.

    "Now then. Where is the Devil?"I asked her, which she responded by turning around slowly with a grin I never expected to see from Rose-senpai of all people.

    "One of them is currently out of reach." She said as she glanced at the direction the Necromancer is currently fighting. "But one of them is currently here." Hm? You mean there are two Satans? This world has two Satans? And one of them is here? I grinned in anticipation.

    "And I shall eliminate him now!" Rose-senpai declared as she held her hand up in the air, causing a bright red light to shine out of her ring into the sky. The beam of light emerging from her ring pierced the sky, forming colourful glowing lights in the night sky. The color of the lights resembles that of auroras but they are shaped more like rose petals.

    "Behold… the Black Rose, the weapon that wiped out the Velgaltan army in a single night! I'm sorry, Lord Shadow. But I must kill you here and now… for I cannot allow you to toy with me and my kingdom any longer!" Rose declared with determined eyes. I don't understand what's going on but things are getting more and more interesting.

    From the rose pattern shining in the sky, a huge black figure emerges.

    Is that him? Is that Satan!?




    Author's Note:

    And so the Black Rose is unleashed and the Necromancer faced the Seven Shades. 2 Boss Battles are about to begin.

    Also, there is an Overlord reference in this chapter. Readers of Overlord light novel might notice.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 130: Chorus in the Darkness
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 130: Chorus in the Darkness



    PS: For maximum enjoyment, I suggest listening to Devil May Cry 4 OST: Chorus in the Darkness while reading this chapter.




    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QykZ_g9bho&ab_channel=trigun1231

    My worst nightmare… the monster who calls himself Necromancer. I know he's powerful considering he once defeated Shadow, nearly killing him in the process… But the amount of pressure we're feeling right now… How… How did Shadow keep up with this monster!? It just reminds us all that we still have a long way to go before we could catch up with Shadow.

    "Burn everything away, Agni, Sword of Flames!" Necromancer shouted and one of his swords, one with glowing red runes that even I cannot read, started casting fire spells at us. The flames are so hot that it melts the snow on the ground instantly. Deciding not to try our luck, we dodged the cone of flame. The entire area is filled with steam from the evaporated snow.

    "Pierce them, Rudra, Sword of Frost!" We heard him shouting again and numerous icicles started emerging from the steam, shooting towards us like arrows. Despite the surprise attack, we managed to dodge. Some of us even destroyed the icicles with our weapons.

    "Let them feel the storm, Indra, Sword of Storms!" He shouted again and lighting strikes began shooting from the steam. This time, some of us are unable to dodge. Gamma, Eta and Beta were hit by the lightning strikes.

    "Beta! Gamma! Eta! Are you alright!?" I shouted towards my injured comrades.

    "I-I'm fine!" Gamma replied whilst trembling. The electrocution is still affecting her.

    "Swords that casts spells… Interesting… Hee hee." Eta muttered lazily. Is she really injured with how relaxed she is?

    "Ugh…! This is… nothing compared to Lord Shadow's suffering!" Beta replied whilst struggling to stand up despite the electrocution.

    "Make them kneel before me, Umbra, Sword of Curses!" He shouted again and suddenly we are unable to move as the gravity increases around us… on second thought, the increased gravity seems to affect only us because the trees around us didn't fall down from increased weight. Considering what he called the sword, this must be one of its curses.

    "Make these puppets rise and serve me, Morteus, Sword of Death!" He shouted again and 12 figures emerges from the steam… 12 people who are supposed to be dead.

    "Curse you, Necromancer!!" I shouted hatefully when I saw the 12 Numbers who died at his hands earlier began attacking us with their slime swords.

    "HAAAAHHHH!!!" I forced my body to move despite the increased gravity and managed to repel them before they reach some of our more vulnerable members like Eta and Gamma, who are still unable to move. The rest of us managed to move and fight the corpses of the poor girls, albeit with great difficulty.

    "Slice through reality itself, Endar, Sword of Space!" I had a bad feeling about this… And so I created a barrier out of my draconic aura to protect us all… and yet the barrier is instantly sliced like paper. Not only that, the ground and everything else in the path of the invisible slash has been sliced open so cleanly as well. It is a miracle that no one is within the trajectory of that attack. Perhaps that monster missed intentionally. Seeing the result of that invisible attack gave me goosebumps. If one of us is hit by that attack, we would be sliced into two no matter what kind of defense we have. I wonder if the Mist Form can negate that attack.

    The 12 girls who attacked us jumped back, perhaps ordered by their new master as the steam slowly disperses. The gravity curse he applied on us fades as well.

    The figure of the dreaded Necromancer emerges from the steam, still sitting on that bony throne accompanied by six floating swords, each possessing runes which glows with different colors:

    Red, which is engulfed in flames,

    Blue, engulfed in an aura of cold,

    Yellow, engulfed by sparks of lightning,

    Purple, which glows ominously,

    Orange, which seems to phase in and out of reality

    And finally Green, the very same color as that monster's magic.

    And he hasn't even showed the abilities of that staff of his, the one he used whilst fighting Shadow… or that new glove with green glowing runes… or that skeletal throne. I'm positive that throne is an Artifact as well and that it does more than just float around in the air.

    "That concludes the demonstration. Any questions?" He remarked mockingly. Always so arrogant. But his arrogance is perhaps the only weakness of his that we can exploit. We must play this cautiously.

    "Me…!" Eta held her hand up lazily despite the increased gravity. Her sleepy expression didn't hide her clear interest in Necromancer's Artifacts.

    "Ask away." Feeling playful, the monster agreed. Perhaps this is a chance to get more information about his powers. Good one, Eta, although I know your motives are purely selfish.

    "What about your staff? What is its power?" Eta asked her question.

    "If you can make me use it, I shall not only answer, but also demonstrate it. Do your best to make this… interesting, won't you, Eta Lloyd Wright?" Of course the monster won't give a straight answer. We shall have to force it, and any other information out of him it seems.

    "Now then. Let us continue." Necromancer declared as he sent his swords to face us one by one:

    Beta faces the red sword,

    Gamma faces the blue sword,

    Delta faces the yellow sword,

    Epsilon faces the purple sword,

    Zeta faces the orange sword,

    And finally Eta faces the green sword,

    whereas I am face to face with Necromancer himself.

    "You seem to be out of swords to spare. Will you be using that staff against me then?" I taunted. And he responded by having 2 skeletal arms from his throne move to attack me. I knew that throne is an Artifact of some kind. I dodged the skeletal arms easily enough.

    "As I said. If you're able to make me, I shall use this staff. Now prove your worth, No. 001."

    "If swiping me with skeletal hands is all it can do--" My taunt is interrupted by the skeletal hand casting fireballs at me. Despite my draconic aura shielding me, I opted to dodge the fireballs in order to play it safe. His skeletal hands continue shooting fireballs despite me dodging them. Does he intend to hit me or…?

    By the time I realized it, it's already too late. I'm surrounded by his fireballs which remain in the air after I dodged them instead of colliding with something in their path.

    "This is an old trick that your lord has figured out a long time ago. We'll see how you fare." He said before the skeletal hand snaps its fingers, causing the fireballs surrounding me to shoot towards me from all directions. To defend myself, I harden my draconic armor and brace myself for the coming impact as I jumped to the air in order to make sure not all fireballs hit me... only for the fireballs to chase after me from behind by changing their direction midair.

    *BOOOM*

    I hit the fireballs in front, causing me to be unable to dodge the ones coming from behind.

    *BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM*

    I was hit by all the fireballs. Despite the impacts, I survived thanks to my hardened draconic armor made of pure magical energy.

    "That's disappointing. Your master not only dodged the entire thing but also counterattacked. And that's from the first time we fought." I know. My battle experience is still lacking compared to Shadow, especially since I haven't seen how this monster fights up close. But now I've figured out his tactic. There's no way I'll make the same mistake again.

    "But despite that, you haven't harmed me." I taunted as I emerge from the smoke.

    "But that doesn't mean my throne haven't chipped away at your defense. If this keeps up, you'll run out of magical energy."

    "Shouldn't the same apply to you, Necromancer? Isn't controlling the swords and the throne taxing for you?"

    "Heh heh heh… Mwwa ha ha ha ha ha!!" He laughed as if I just told him a joke. I don't like this at all.

    "What's so funny?"

    "You fool. I did say that if you can make me stand up from my throne, I'll take you on more seriously, didn't I? I'm implying that if you can defeat my Artifacts, I'll actually fight you."

    "What do you mean!?"

    "I mean that so far you lot haven't fought me, directly or indirectly."

    "What…? You mean…?"

    "I'm not controlling these swords and this throne. They function independently, though I could also give some orders that they'll obey to the letter. They also didn't depend on me for magical energy. They have internal power supply, allowing me to simply watch as you fools struggle against them without lifting a finger."

    "What…!?" I thought he's controlling the weapons using his magic the same way he played musical instruments under the Phantom of the Opera disguise… and thus I intended to buy time until he exhausted his magic… Or at least exhaust him enough to make it easier for Shadow to strike him down. But to think that his Artifacts can function independently without his assistance…

    "Originally, they function through artificial intelligence… but now that I have imbued them with souls, they are now far more powerful and far more independent."

    "Did you say… Souls?"

    "Indeed. As a Master of Death, soul manipulation is my specialty after all. The swords and the throne are imbued with the souls of my victims. They are so grateful because I gave them a better existence as my weapons."

    "How is that any better than the lives they had!?"

    "I've made them far more powerful than they ever could be with their fragile bodies, haven't I?"

    "Disgusting! Just how low are their lives' worth to you!?"

    "Compared to me? They might as well be a bunch of ants compared to a dragon."

    "You monster!"

    "I am indeed a monster. A monster beyond you imagination. Now let us continue, shall we?" He said as his throne began casting another spell. This time, of lightning.




    Even as I faced the sword of flames, that Necromancer called Agni, I still heard what that monster said about this sword with my elven ears. Someone's soul is trapped within this sword and is being manipulated to fight for him. As if controlling corpses aren't enough, he even enslaves souls of dead people!?

    He is much more ruthless than the villains of those fairy tales Lord Shadow told me. I never thought a monster like him exists not in fiction but in reality.

    The sword creates several magic circles in the air which shoots out cones of flames at my direction. I dodged and tried to snipe it with my bow but the steam that rises every time the flames made contact with the snow made it a little hard. Luckily I can still track it even through the mist from how glowy it is.

    I shoot the sword with exploding arrows because I know normal arrows won't be able to even dent it. The sword defends itself by slicing through my arrows but everytime it does, the arrow explodes on it. After receiving explosions a few times, the sword opted to dodge. Looks like I caused a little bit of dents on it and it knows it. Perhaps the claim that they are imbued with souls is true after all.

    The sword now changes tactic. It shoots itself at me at high speed. Not feeling like being barbequed, I dodged the sword immediately and didn't miss the chance to shoot it before it made impact with the ground. Even after receiving my exploding arrow, the sword didn't weaken its thrust and made a bigger explosion as it collides with the snowy ground.

    The heat generated by the sword's flames easily trumps the cold of winter. In no time at all, the area around us no longer has snow and are filled with muddy water, burnt trees and steam.

    I must keep this up… for Lord Shadow's sake.




    "Bang bang bang!!" I shouted as I shoot the blue icy sword with the new weapon that Eta developed based off of the handgun that Lord Shadow obtained from Don Jon, though mine is bigger and has more firepower. It is an amazing design which is several times better than the muskets which is common among soldiers who didn't have much aptitude as Spellswords.

    I interpreted Lord Shadow sending the handgun to me as him telling me a message that I am hopeless as a swordswoman… and I'm inclined to agree. I may have acted obliviously but I'm not a fool who didn't know my own weakness. I know I am considered the weakest among the Seven Shades after all. And so, despite my shame at being considered on the same level as soldiers with low aptitude as Spellswords, I took Lord Shadow's suggestion and asked Eta to create this weapon for me, which she happily did.

    *BOOM BOOM BOOM*

    The shots are accurate. Even as the sword occasionally dodges my bullets or shoots icicles to intercept them, I still hit it occasionally. It seems that my natural clumsiness that usually accompanies me didn't follow me when I used a ranged weapon. This is good. I'm slowly becoming more competent in combat!

    Just when I thought things are proceeding smoothly, the sword suddenly casted a spell that caused a blizzard to appear. The cold wind froze my feet and the outer layer of my slime suit. My body is unaffected however. The Ring of Warmth that Eta developed using the ring we acquired from Necromancer's tombs years ago protected my body from the cold.

    Using magic, I brushed off the layer of ice covering my body immediately and dodge the icicles coming my way. Of course while dodging I didn't miss the chance to shoot the sword again and I hit the mark perfectly! Yes!

    Watch me Lord, Shadow! I'm finally becoming a competent combatant!




    Delta thinks it's weird to hunt a sword but the yellow sword is a powerful prey in its own right! Delta easily dodges the sparky lightning that the sword shoots at Delta. But when Delta gets close to strike it with Delta's claws, Delta felt shocks of electricity.

    "Uaaarghhh….!"

    It hurts but Delta is strong! Delta can handle this!

    Delta used Delta's other claw to strike the sword again, knocking it away from Delta.

    "Delta is good… at hunting, you know?" Delta mutters as Delta licks her lips.

    The sword emerges from the ground and shoots more sparky lightning at Delta. Delta dodges but… the electrocution earlier made it a little harder for Delta to move. It's not a problem though. Delta is strong after all!

    Delta move to strike the sword again but this time it tries to slash Delta. Its blade met Delta's claws, making sparks of lightning jump from our clash to the area around us. Of course the sword electrocutes Delta again. The second electrocution made Delta's body becoming number than before. Delta doesn't like this.

    "Uryaaaahhh!!!"

    Delta rushes at the sword again and strikes the sword again with Delta's claws… but this time Delta's strike is stronger that Delta manages to knock the sword away before the sword can electrocute Delta.

    "Hee hee hee. Delta is a strong girl after all. Now… Delta will hunt!"




    "Ughh… Out of all the swords that faces me… it had to be one that deals curses!" I muttered as I felt not only my body becoming heavier due to the purple sword's curse, but my magic control is becoming worse too, making it harder to maintain my voluptuous figure with the Shapeshifting powers I obtained from Alucard.

    But don't underestimate my absolute magic control! As the sword shoots itself towards me with the intention to impale me, I dodged the attack despite my body becoming heavier.

    After failing to strike me, the runes on the sword started glowing and I felt like my control over my body is… inverted. The new spell seemed to have messed my brain and nerves, making it so that when I wanted to move my right hand, my left hand moves instead, and so on and so forth. And it shoots itself once again when it thinks I cannot move due to still adjusting to the inverted controls. But...

    "If you think that's enough to stop me, think again!" I shouted as I bring my scythe to strike the sword down. With my shapeshifting powers, restoring control of my body is child's play.

    The sword's runes glows again and I felt like my magic is being sealed. To think the sword can replicate the effects of magic sealing cuffs as well…

    "Urghhh…!" The effect of this particular curse is even worse than I anticipated because it amplifies the effects of other curses by making me more vulnerable to them all. Not only am I struggling to keep the gravity, magic control and inverted body control curses, I'm even struggling to keep my slime suit and my shapeshifting in place!

    And of course the sword took this as a chance to strike me. But don't underestimate my abilities!

    I managed to keep my body under control and deflected the sword with my scythe. But due to my hands being weaker, I wasn't able to push it away and it attacks again. I dodged the second attack by a hair's breath, earning me a scratch on my beautiful face.

    "You… You're just a sword… How dare you…!"

    With my rage, I regained focus and forced my failing magic under control, partially breaking the curse as I infused my weapon with magic, intending to repay the favour.

    "Take this!" I shouted as I launched my signature long range slash, which hits the sword. I grinned when the attack hits, causing the sword to stumble midair.




    Out of all the swords he brought out, the one I'm currently facing, the orange sword, seems to be the deadliest. It has a ranged slash attack similar to Epsilon and Mordred's signature move… but considering it sliced through even Lady Alpha's barrier, I believe this one is stronger. It is safe to assume that no amount of defense can block that attack. I wonder if even Lord Shadow could be sliced to pieces with this attack. The thought terrifies me.

    Luckily, the danger senses I honed since before I joined Shadow Garden, which was tested against Alucard and John Smith recently, warned me whenever the sword launched that attack, which was undetectable otherwise.

    "Huh?" My danger senses suddenly warned me that I would be stabbed if I don't move quickly. Trusting my instinct, I jumped back immediately before the sword could teleport to my previous position. If I had stayed there, the sword would impale me before I know it. Damn. That sword could even teleport, huh.

    The sword teleports again and it appeared on my chest before I could move… but I'm prepared for it. Instead of the sword impaling me though, my body disperses into mist and gathers elsewhere reforming my body.

    "Heh. Too bad. I am immune to such attacks." I taunted the sword despite not knowing if it could hear me or not.

    "Huh?" Suddenly my instinct warns me of danger once again. I noticed a transparent dome forming around me and… I saw the sword right in front of me, except it's much bigger than me… I understand what it does now. It didn't grow bigger or make me become smaller. It's just that the sword manipulated the space around me to make me appear smaller before it. To support that theory, I saw a larger version of me behind me. Said version of me obviously looked behind her just like what I am doing right now.

    "This is bad!" One would think that my mist form could render any attack useless but I have a bad feeling about this space manipulation thing and thus I decided to play it safe and jump out of the transparent dome before the sword could slice it into two. And sure enough… I felt some wind dispersing after the dome breaks in half and disappears.

    I can only conclude that the sword cuts the space inside the dome… including the air inside it. If I stayed inside with mist form, I wonder if I could reattach my body after it is cut. While I wanted to know, I decided not to test it. I don't want to sacrifice any body part of mine after all.




    Hee hee hee. The green sword I'm facing is imbued with the magic that I am most interested in, the magic to control corpses… which is the Necromancer's signature ability.

    The art of necromancy is written in great detail in the Necronomicon but I never had the pleasure to practice it myself due to Lady Alpha forbidding its use. How annoying.

    That's why when reports came that the Necromancer is active in Oriana, I hastily answered Lady Alpha's summons despite my body's need of sleep.

    "Raaahhh…!" one of the zombie girls, who is formerly a member of Shadow Garden, attacks me with her slime sword. They seem to retain the physical capabilities they had in life judging from their movements. How interesting. The Necronomicon mentions how the undead minions have many limitations which could be improved over time. It seems that the Necromancer has improved upon his undead minions and my current knowledge is severely outdated. I must take this chance to study them… maybe capture one of them in secret in order to dissect her.

    Three more rushed after me all at once but I created shields out of slime to defend against their attacks. While I am distracted, another one came from behind, ready to slash me from behind.

    *CLANG*

    Her sword clashes against the barrier I deployed beforehand. I'm not a good combatant and I am easily distracted, hence I deployed barrier to protect my back. The Necromancer's magical knowledge is very useful indeed.

    "Take this…!" I lazily muttered as I opened the tome and cast a fireball spell against the three zombies who attacked me earlier. With their weapons gripped by my slime tightly, only one of them managed to dodge the fireball by abandoning her weapon and jumped away. Two of them are engulfed by the fireball and explodes. The two of them emerges from the smoke with severe injuries but they didn't react to any pain. It seems they indeed lack the ability to feel pain. In fact, they immediately rushed towards me again after breaking off from my slime due to the explosion.

    "They say that the weakness of the zombies are their heads. Let's test that, shall we?"

    Forming a blade out of slime which I control with magic, making it float in the air, I decapitate one of the injured zombies and pushed away the other with a wind spell coming out of my palm.

    The decapitated head dropped close to me and I leaned closer to observe it.

    "Graaah…!"Surprisingly the head is still alive and it used its jaw to jump towards me, intending to bite me.

    "Uwah…!" I knocked the head away with a slime limb before it can bite me. I observed that the body still stood despite missing its head. Another weakness that the Necromancer has improved.

    The other ten zombies rushed to attack me together with their blades and I deployed a full body barrier to protect myself.

    "The Necronomicon mentioned that the zombies move through magic circuits connected to their brains. Let's see what happens when their magic are sealed." I muttered while retrieving a square shaped device from my pocket and pushed the button on it, making it create an invisible dome where magic (besides mine) is sealed and cannot be used. This device's effect is based off one of the Artifacts that the Cult used when they attacked Lord Shadow's school, the Eye of Avarice.

    The result? The slime suits that the zombies wear are dispersed, exposing their naked bodies… But they are still alive and kicking, still attempting to attack me with claws and bites. It seems that they now function despite their magic being sealed. Did the Necromancer finally succeeded in manipulating souls? Ah, yes. I heard the Necromancer telling Lady Alpha earlier that he imbued souls into his swords, allowing them to function independently. I wonder if he did the same to these zombies?

    "Graaaahh…! Please… help… me…!" Did they just… talk? I guess this confirms it that they have souls.

    Hee hee hee. This is getting more and more interesting. I must capture one and dissect her soon.

    I also eyed the sword that reanimated these girls… that sword with green glowing foreign runes that none of us can read. It just stayed there in the air, allowing the zombies to fight me in its stead. I must steal it as well so I can analyze its enchantments. It is far more interesting than any other Artifacts that I've seen so far.




    Author's Note:

    Probably the longest chapter I wrote so far, longer than the previous longest chapter which is Chapter 100: The Mafia Boss and the Agent… and this is only the beginning. The Necromancer haven't showed his full arsenal yet.

    Did you listen to Chorus in the Darkness like I suggested? Think of it as the Necromancer's Boss Theme.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 131: Apocalypse
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 131: Apocalypse


    Edit: This music is recommended by DerTrap from Fanfiction.net



    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9RC8DCEPM&ab_channel=%E7%85%A7%E4%BA%95%E9%A0%86%E6%94%BF-Topic

    Tetsuya…

    I sat leisurely in my throne while watching the Seven Shades struggle against my Artifacts. My Throne of the Damned continued casting spells at the elf Alpha, also known as No. 001. The spells my throne throws are obviously lesser compared to spells I usually use against Shadow, both in quality and trickiness. But it is the most versatile of the Artifacts I brought today barring my staff.

    No. 001 quickly adapted to the trap spells that the throne casts, a little faster than I expected. The throne casts Chain Lightning and she kept dodging it even though the lightning kept changing direction to chase her. The throne tried to cast a freezing spell to stop her from dodging but she jumped away when ice starts to form around her former position, causing the lighting to be spent destroying the ice. Good job thwarting that spell combo.

    Not giving my throne a chance to cast the next spell, she lunges towards me, aiming for a thrust. The throne's bony hand intercepts her blade just before it skewers my skull, and it follows up by casting a lightning spell, causing electricity to flow from her sword to herself. But thanks to the draconic aura surrounding her, the lightning didn't affect her, though it slowly chips away at her defense.

    She withdrew her sword, which was being held by the throne's bony hand, by liquefying it and forming a new sword for a follow up attack, an overhead slash. Once again, the bony hand blocks the attack with its wrist… receiving some cracks on it in the process. No. 001 continued her assault until one of the bony hand is shattered to pieces.

    She then tried to thrust her sword into my skull again but the throne's other hand casts a barrier spell that not only protects me from my attack but also pushes her away with a shockwave.

    As her feet touched the ground, she realized something's wrong and jumped before the ground explodes. Nice reaction towards the landmine spells that my throne had prepared beforehand.

    The throne then casts a magic control curse on her, causing her magic control to run out of control. It took her a mere second to rein her magic under control, but in that second my throne had teleported itself along with me behind her, ready with a rot magic spell in hand (a spell that even Shadow has no defense against, although without Alucard's blood magic, this magic is limited to melee range).

    She sensed the danger and was able to intercept the bony hand with her sword, only to be surprised when her sword rapidly melts against the corruption of my rot magic. She quickly abandoned her slime sword and jumped backwards.

    "Surprised? Even your master couldn't defend against this spell."

    "And yet he lives!"

    "For now."

    As I said that ominously, my throne's hand snaps its fingers to open a portal. It's no ordinary portal, it's an unstable portal. Why unstable? It's unstable on purpose… in order to create an everything grinder. The unstable portal sucks everything in front of it like a black hole. No. 001 was able to jump away from its range to witness the portal grinds all the trees, snow, soil and rocks it can swallow and spat out chunks of them.

    Then my throne casts several homing fireballs that chase after her, trying their best to lure her closer to the still opened portal, but she knew its plan and instead of being sucked by the portal when she entered its range, she created wings out of her draconic aura and flew away, causing the fireballs chasing her to collide with the portal and explodes, dispersing the portal in the process.

    The more trap spells she figured out, the more cautious she becomes, which makes her better at avoiding them. As expected of my first girl (experimental subject).

    She lunges again at high speed and my throne's hand moved to intercept her again… only to have her destroy said hand with a mighty slash. Thinking she got me, she moves to thrust her sword to my skull again, only for the skull at the top of the backrest of my throne has its eye sockets glow, which forms a barrier to protect me.

    "Did you think the hands are the only things this throne could cast spells with?"

    "Tch!" She clicked her tongue and retreated. Then my throne, through the skull, continued casting spells as I observed the other fighters, starting from Beta, also known as Natsume Kafka the plagiarist.

    Tetsuya…

    With that bow of hers she opted to snipe Agni from afar whilst Agni continued casting fire spells at her. The battlefield around them is no longer a wintry snow field but an infernal wasteland instead with how much burnt trees and molten rocks around. Agni occasionally lunges towards her but when she got her slime sword melted instantly when she used it to defend herself the first time, she never tried again and opted to dodge everytime Agni gets close.

    She also has to watch her footing every time she dodges because the floor is lava. Heh…

    Still, her exploding arrows is doing some numbers on Agni. There are several chips on the blade already despite it being forged with Orichalcum. And I was quite proud of Orichalcum's solidness… since it could even withstand Shadow's attacks… though that was because my staff was also coated by my magic to enchance its own durability when I used it to block Shadow's strikes. Looks like I need to create Adamantite soon.

    I glanced at the next one, whose name is Gamma, also known as Luna, the owner of Mitsugoshi. I was able to confirm her identity as one of the Seven Shades after I attacked her as Don Jon because only after that attack did I figured out that Mitsugoshi is actually owned by Shadow Garden all along. When she fought the Boar, she can only swing her blade wildly. All power and no skill. This time however, she wielded that handgun looking cannon thingy quite skilfully. Just like Agni, Rudra suffered quite the damage from her bullets. She's even unaffected by the cold air that Rudra created, which is colder than the current winter.

    Giving some mental command to the sword, I made it create ice blocks to serve as shields against her bullets so now it can defend itself better. But I guess it is only delaying the inevitable at this point.

    I turned my attention to the dog girl, Delta, who happens to be Adra's sister. Come to think of it, I ordered him to kill her, didn't I? And as I predicted, he didn't do it… Well… as I am now I couldn't kill my own sister too so I can't blame him… for now.

    The battlefield is a mess with how many lightning strikes destroyed the ground and the trees around them.

    Her physical prowess is perhaps the greatest among the Seven. She resisted the numbness that comes from electrocution and kept blasting Indra off with her massive claws. That sword won't last long so I turned my attention to the next one.

    Epsilon, also known as Silon the plagiarist, resisted the curses brought by Umbra and was able to keep using her magic to create long range slashes, some of which landed on Umbra. The magical energy consumption should be really high when she has to maintain that slime suit along with resisting many curses whilst enhancing her physical prowess to fight but it seems that she was able to mitigate most of the upkeep with excellent magic control… almost like how Shadow was able to resist my Sanctuary's effects during our second encounter.

    The next one is Zeta, formerly known as Lilim. I fought her as Alucard and I must say that she is skilled. I thought that Endar would be overkill against them but turns out she can keep up with it. She used Mist Form to occasionally escape unharmed from Endar's teleportation attack (the very attack that killed Mordred) and dodged whenever Endar slashes through space. She shouldn't know about the trajectory of the space slashes considering she shouldn't know a thing about space magic… Did she dodge it by pure instinct? Impressive.

    Oh? She switched from Mist Form to solid form so quickly that she was able to slash Endar with her cakram the moment it teleports to her former location. How surprising… but she is not as surprising as the last of the Seven Shades, Eta… also known as Eta Lloyd Wright the Architect.

    Tetsuya…

    Her mastery of Necronomicon's spells is quite astounding. Not only did she cast the elemental spells and barrier spells against the zombies controlled by Morteus… she even summoned eldritch tentacles to aid her in combat. How fearless… Even I still have second thoughts about using those summoning spells, which are prototype Black Rose imitation, which is why I held back on using such spells until I was able to study the real Black Rose up close.

    You never know what might be listening when you summon alien creatures from whichever realm they came from.

    Especially for me… whose name is whispered constantly since a few days ago… calling for my soul directly…

    The tentacles she summoned gripped the zombie girls… not in a lewd way but in a painful way, crushing their bones with mighty grip. The zombies felt no pain though and continued to assault her despite their broken bones… though most of what they can do at that point is send out their slimes to fight in their place.

    Morteus remains undamaged though… She seemed more interested in observing it rather than defeating it. She is interested in it… Isn't she? I can certainly use her… through the Necronomicon. Heh heh heh.

    Just as I was contemplating on how I would play with these girls next…

    *BWOOOOSH*

    A red pillar of light blasted into the night sky… forming a rose like pattern in the sky. So the Black Rose has been activated… just as I planned. I knew that Rose have no choice but to activate the Black Rose if she wants to stand a chance against Shadow. I intentionally didn't tell her about what kind of weapon the Black Rose is… and thus even if she foresaw its dangers and activated it outside the capital city, she didn't know that the creatures it summoned would ravage the entire country. And she will be the one responsible for it! Heh heh heh!

    "What is that!?" No. 001 asked.

    "That's… probably the Black Rose!" Beta answered while glaring at me.

    "Indeed. The Black Rose has been activated. That means… playtime is over for us… for I have the next experiment to make." I said as I started floating away from them towards the direction of the Black Rose's center.

    "Playtime is indeed over. Girls?" No. 001 prompts with a grin… and the rest of them started getting more serious and in no time at all, destroyed the already damaged swords…. Except for Morteus, which disappeared without me noticing. Even the zombie girls lie dead on the ground… though I noticed some of them missing. After disposing of my Artifacts, the girls stood in front of me, intending to block my path and prevent me from observing the Black Rose up close.

    "Don't think you can get away!" No. 001 still intends to stall me as her lord currently faces the ruler of the 4th​ realm which has been summoned by the Black Rose, Ragnarok.

    To think they would name such an unimpressive beast after the apocalyptic event that destroyed the Norse gods…

    "Ho? Still intending to face me? This is your opportunity to escape, you know."

    "Why would we run, when our greatest enemy is right in front of us?"

    "Heh heh heh. You poor deluded fools. You think that just because you can destroy my swords, you stand a chance against me? Ha ha ha! But I suppose I should reward you for proving yourselves worthy of the honor. Here." I stood up and held my hand high in the air in order to charge my signature spell… only it's amplified several times compared to what I used against Shadow during our first encounter.

    "What…!?" No. 001 exclaims, not expecting such high magical output.

    "Wait! What about the powers of your staff!?" Shouted Eta, still curious about my statff. Unfortunately for you, your time is up. If you can survive this though, I will reward you with more knowledge than you could possibly imagine.

    "Now, try to survive this! APOCALYPSE!!!!" I shouted as multiple black orbs with swirling green energy surrounding them appeared in the sky. The magnitude of which exceeds even the Black Rose's.

    I let the black orbs rain down to the ground, creating multiple nuclear level explosions as the black orbs implode.

    *BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

    The attack terraforms the surrounding area, turning it from Swiss Alps into the Grand Canyon. Pretty sure even the Oriana capital and the surrounding settlements felt the tremor of the impact.

    The beast Ragnarok, who's facing Shadow at the moment, is staring this way and looks absolutely flabbergasted from afar. With my enhanced vision, I could tell that it is trembling, for I wielded destruction magic greater than its own.

    Oh? I felt a space shifting. It seems that the Seven Shades managed to escape through teleportation. All of them were flabbergasted when they witnessed the destruction that my magic brought.

    *Clap clap clap* I clapped my hands, turning their attention from the newly formed Grand Canyon to me.

    "Congratulations for surviving my attack. I never thought the wielder of Necronomicon was even capable of teleporting. Well done."

    "How are your magic powers… not diminished after that attack…!?" No. 001 mutters in utter disbelief.

    "By being better than you."

    The rest of the Seven Shades are speechless after being hit by the terrible truth… of the great disparity between us. Well… except one of them.

    "You gonna tell us the power of your staff yet..?" Eta persistently asked again with an annoyed face as she tries to catch her breath. The teleportation must've cost her a lot of magic power.

    "Still interested? Very well. I shall show you… the power of my staff… Valdamir." I said as I stood up and raised my staff.

    "Made out of Orichalcum, a metal I created through Alchemy, which exceeds Mythril in both hardness and magic conductivity, this staff has the power to not only amplify my spells, shields me from both physical and magical attacks and can function independently like my throne and swords should I wish it to… it is also extremely potent against possessors of Diablos Cells."

    "What do you mean?" No. 001 asked, most likely having a bad feeling about what I just said.

    "Well… why don't you feel it yourself?" I tap the foot rest of my throne with my staff, which lest it emanate a wave. The wave caused the Diablos Cells inside the girls to run wild, re-igniting the condition known as Demonic Possession.

    "Hyaaaghh…!" Their screams of agony are music to my ears. The curses casted by my throne and by Umbra might be resisted… but Valdamir's effect invades the very cells within their bodies. This is different from the Blood Queen's technique which uses her own invasive blood to cause the Demonic Possession. This time, I used their own cells against them. The only one who can save them now is Shadow… and he's not here! Heh heh heh.

    "You're looking very familiar now, No. 001. Yes, I certainly prefer you this way." I remarked whilst gazing at the form of the Seven Shades, whose bodies are ravaged by bulging rotten flesh in several places.

    "Ughh… Aggghh…! Damn you… Necromancer..!" She cursed whilst enduring the extreme pain she's currently in.

    "Lord Shadow… Please help…!" Beta mutters, calling for his help whilst enduring the assault of both pain and trauma.

    "Lord Shadow… Aghh…!" Gamma dropped to the ground with tears in her eyes.

    "No…! Delta… doesn't want to be weak anymore…!" Adra's sister endures the pain desperately, refusing to remain weak. Such admirable courage. Admirable but useless.

    "No… I can't… control my magic anymore…!" Epsilon cried painfully. Her vaunted magic control useless after her own body turned against her. Is it just me, or has she grown slimmer?

    "Aghh… No…! This can't be… how it ends!" Zeta glared at me with hatred in her eyes.

    "…." Eta just… sleeps through the pain. I suppose everyone has their way to cope.

    The Seven Shades kneels before me in pain and despair, just the way I like them. Now they realize that all their efforts, their bravery, their determination… it's all hopeless. Before me, only despair awaits.

    This power only works against those who utilizes Diablos Cells to enhance their powers… like the descendants of heroes (the Cult's guinea pigs), those who took the Red Pills, the Rounds, who took the Tears of Diablos, and finally, Diablos herself. That's why I cannot use it against Shadow, who obtained supreme power by other means.

    "Now then. Since you insist on staying with me, I shall welcome you all into--"

    Tetsuya…

    "Argh! Will you shut the fuck up for five minutes!?" I shouted angrily at the sky. The Seven Shades are confused at my behaviour, having heard nothing that calls out to them directly to their souls. Then I sense the space around the Black Rose cracks… as if someone… something is forcing its way in.

    "Wha… He's coming…!"




    Author's Note:

    He's coming. But who? Is it… Satan himself!?

    Also, the way he shouts Apocalypse is a reference to the Lich King.
     
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    • Chapter 132: Descent of the Great Beast
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 132: Descent of the Great Beast

    I lured Lord Shadow out of the capital city into the wilderness in the north, where there's nothing but trees and snow surrounded by mountains. The view around this place is absolutely beautiful during spring. It's a shame that I had to destroy it in order to protect my kingdom from one of the two devils currently manipulating my kingdom from the shadows. I'll take care of the other one later.

    I'm sorry Lord Shadow. I know I am repaying your kindness and help with betrayal… but since your help was merely a means to control me and my kingdom, I cannot leave you be no matter how big my debt towards you are. I am still the princess of Oriana… who will soon be crowned queen after all.

    We stopped in a clearing and I turned to face him. His gaze… is so strong that I feel like I could be forced to kneel… no! I won't submit to him like he wanted me to!

    "Now then. Where is the devil?" He asked a question, no doubt expecting me to say where Necromancer is… But he's not here now. Only you and me, Lord Shadow.

    "One of them is currently out of reach…" I said as I glanced at the direction where I felt the Phantom's magic power when we were on the way. No doubt he's making sure nobody interrupts us.

    "But one of them is currently here." I continued as I returned my gaze on him, not giving in to his formidable gaze.

    "And I shall eliminate him now!" I declared as I held my hand up in the air, causing a bright red light to shine out of my ring into the sky. The beam of light emerging from my ring pierced the sky, forming colourful glowing lights in the night sky. The color of the lights are beautiful… they even resembles rose petals. So that's why it is called the Black Rose.

    "Behold… the Black Rose, the weapon that wiped out the Velgaltan army in a single night! I'm sorry, Lord Shadow. But I must kill you here and now… for I cannot allow you to toy with me and my kingdom any longer!" I declared as I watched Lord Shadow's reaction… He's smiling… no he's grinning. No doubt admiring the power he desired. But you're not playing with fire, Lord Shadow. You will get more than just burnt.

    I turned my gaze back to the Black Rose. Honestly I don't know what it does, only how deadly it is. And thus the sight… and the pressure of a mighty presence that emerges from the Black Rose shocked me to the core.

    It's a huge monster… clad in darkness, possessing wings coated in white flames and huge red claws in each of its limbs. "ROOOOAAAARRRR!!!!" As it opened its mouth, an unworldly roar pierced my ears. What is this creature? Is this the true form of the Black Rose?

    "And so the truth that has been hidden from the world… unfolds." Lord Shadow muttered something vaguely as he stared at the beast in the eyes.

    "What do you… mean?"

    "You have been deceived."




    "You have been deceived." I said something mysterious without knowing the full context because she looked like she was surprised by the appearance of the bat-like monster in the sky. What other response could I give other than pretending to be all knowing?

    Rose-senpai looked flabbergasted... as if she's receiving the greatest shock of her entire life. Well… maybe she is. I dunno. Anyway, the bat-like monster… looks pretty Satan-like I guess. Its power level is also impressive. But…

    "ROOARRR!!!" It roars and shoots out white light beam out of its mouth, bringing down destruction upon the forests around us.

    Yup. The power output, while formidable, suffers a lot from inefficiency. The beast seems to be relying on pure brute force that it wastes a lot of energy in that attack without achieving much destruction. I could've launched 10 I Am Atomics with that much energy and just one of them would have greater destructive force than this monster's mouth beam.

    "Gyaahhh!!" Rose-senpai was almost thrown away by the shockwave generated by the explosion that destroyed the forest around us. I stood in front of her not only to shield her from the majority of the blast but also to look cool.

    "Wha… Lord… Sha--"

    "Go. You still have a duty to fulfil, don't you?" I told her to go without even glancing behind me. But I could tell that she's crying judging from the sobbing noises she makes. You're supposed to be utterly in awe of my awesomeness, you know? Not crying like attending someone's funeral.

    "Lord Shadow… I…"

    "Go!"

    "Y-Yes!" With that she finally ran away while I faced the beast head on. The beast seems to have noticed me staring at it challengingly and responds by glaring at me back.

    "Heh heh heh. Gaze upon me all you want, beast. But know that the Abyss stares back!" I taunt it whilst jumping towards it with my fist ready to give it a punch. It responds by launching its own fist, which clashes with mine, causing a huge shockwave to be generated which shook the ground around us.

    Seeing as I was capable to match its strength despite my tiny size, it decided to summon reinforcements. Several black monsters of various shapes, which is smaller in size compared to the bat, appeared from the rose shaped portal in the sky. I suppose this is gonna be quite fun.




    I ran and ran and ran. I don't know what's going on anymore. I activated the Black Rose, fully intending to let it destroy Lord Shadow… but it end up summoning a monster of unfathomable power. Is that it? Is that the devil that Lord Shadow referred to? Is that the demon Diablos? Have I been deceived into unleashing it!?

    "What have I… done… Oh father… What should I…?" My vision blurred a bit from the tears but I didn't stop running towards the capital city. I felt a shockwave from behind me, which made me stumble down and fell to the ground.

    "Aghh!" I grunted. With my body enhanced by magic, I wasn't hurt by the fall but I grunted reflexively nonetheless. The fall also allowed me to see what happened behind me. The creature summons its kin and have some of the scatter towards random directions. So that's why Lord Shadow told me to flee! I must protect the capital city from those monsters!

    Now knowing what I must do, I stood back up and ran faster towards the capital. Never in my life have I run so fast in my entire life. I ran faster now than I did back in Midgar when Perv framed me for attacking him and hunted me down.

    "APOCALYPSE!!!"

    But before I could go far, I heard an ominous shout and felt an ungodly amount of magic in the direction where the Phantom is supposed to be… And witnessed several black orbs surrounded by swirling green vortexes appear in the sky. I may have witnessed it only once but there's no way I'll forget… the terrible green magic that Necromancer casts… which clashed with Lord Shadow's purple magic back during the school incident. And now there are multiple of them…

    "What in the…"

    I could only watch helplessly as the orbs rain down upon the ground. The world became so bright, the sound barrier broken and the shockwave threw me away.

    When the shockwave passed, I lifted the pile of trees that buried me… to witness the forest and mountains surrounding it to be completely destroyed, leaving nothing but several smoking craters…

    I don't know which one is more terrifying… the monster that the Black Rose summoned or Necromancer…? Currently I'm leaning towards the latter.

    From here I could still make out the form of the black beast. Its attention stolen by the destruction that just occurred, which exceeds what it did greatly.

    "What is… going on…? Did the Phantom faced… Necromancer…!? And he…!" I was concerned of the fate of my mighty ally…

    "You have been deceived."

    But Lord Shadow's words echoed in my mind. The Phantom of the Opera… has he deceived me… all along? In order to make me unleash the Black Rose?

    I was about to run to the direction of the Necromancer before I saw the flying beasts pass through me.

    "Oh no! The capital!"

    Well… I can find out the truth later. For now, I must return to the capital city as soon as possible!




    Ho ho. Bravo my fated rival and best friend. Bravo. To think you could unleash multiple Armageddons… and you even named it Apocalypse. Cool! The wilderness around us has been totally turned into the Grand Canyon. I wonder if I can match this amount of destruction with my I Am Atomic Rain.

    The beast I'm currently facing is absolutely stunned by the destruction that the Necromancer brought. It seems that it has enough intelligence to know when it is outmatched. See there, beastie? That's the correct way to use magic to destroy things. Minimum energy consumption, maximum output! Efficiency!

    Even its minions ran away to random directions when they saw that much destruction.

    Oh? What's this? I felt an enormous amount of magic… and it's not me, the Necromancer or this beast's. It's something else… something that is not here yet but is close… The source is close to the rose-like portal in the sky.

    Eventually a crack began forming in the sky, a crack in dimension similar to when I broke through the Necromancer's dimension during our second encounter…

    And from that crack… emerges an unspeakable eldritch monster whose form shocks even me because I've never seen anything like it.

    If I were to describe it, it's a gigantic lump of flesh with several skeletal hands and scythes attached to it… along with several bone parts like ribs, spine, hip bone, skull, etc emerging from the flesh in various places. The biggest skull is at the bottom of the lump of flesh, with red glowing eyes to boot. I guess that big skull can be considered its head. Not all parts of its body managed to pass through the crack, though so I assume that what I'm seeing is its head along with its neck.

    "SCREEEEECHHHH!!!" It screeches like a Nazgul… its voice hurts even my ears… and a green ring of light began forming around its neck. The ring of light is connected to its flesh through green sparks of electricity. The amount of magic on that ring of light alone is no joke. It exceeds both mine and the Necromancer's… and looks like it has magic control to boot, unlike this bat monster whom I'm pretty sure is currently trembling like a scared dog.

    The bat monster tries to fly away but that caused the skull of the eldritch monster to stare at it… and annihilates it with laser beams coming out of its eye sockets. Yup. This thing has decent magic control on top of having huge magic power. Looks like this is going to be hard even for me.

    Is this him? Is this Satan himself? Well… it doesn't really look Satan-like but who knows… maybe it is him. Even angels looked like eldritch monstrosities according to some sources. And Satan used to be one of them.

    And I was about to prepare myself to face it… but instead gazing at the nearest largest source of power, namely me, it turned its gaze towards the Necromancer instead. What, you're more interested in him because he's wearing a skull mask just like you?

    I flew to the Necromancer's side as he floats in the air, leaving some kind of bone throne behind. Ah. The Seven Shades is below him. So he was playing with them all along. They look exhausted though. They should've known how hard the Necromancer plays.

    "Shadow!" Out of the stunned Seven Shades, only Alpha manages to call out to me. I responded by giving her a smile before facing the giant skull face together with the Necromancer.

    "Feeling scared, my nemesis?" I asked him because he too looked like he's stunned.

    "Au contraire, my nemesis. I am absolutely ecstatic." He replied without breaking eye contact with the eldritch monstrosity.

    "Glad you're still yourself. Shall we?"

    "Of course."

    And so, two fated rivals, without needing to communicate verbally, agreed to fight side by side against a new and greater foe.






    Author's Note:

    Now I fulfilled the hero and villain joining forces trope. Who is that monster that forces Shadow and the Necromancer to join forces? Find out on the next episode of The Alliance in Shadow!

    Btw, if you're curious as to how the eldritch monster looks like, you can check out my DeviantArt (OminousRain), my tumblr (@OminousRain), my twitter (@TheOminousRain) or my Instagram (@ominous_rain). Alternatively, you could also check out this fic on Sufficent Velocity where I also post my artworks.
     
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    • Chapter 133: Thanatos
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 133: Thanatos


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-G6k0ye1ok&ab_channel=NeoFGO

    Am I dreaming? I probably am. Never in my wildest dreams would I even think that this day would come… the day when Shadow would… work together with that monster.

    The two of them faced the eldritch abomination summoned by the Black Rose, which shares some similarities to Necromancer, head on. I bet that abomination was part of his experiments too. Why else would it possess the same sickening green magic as him?

    And he actually created an abomination … whose power surpasses even his own and Shadow's. And Shadow had to join forces with him to clean up his own mess. What a joke. But... we, who have proven ourselves to be helpless against him… can only stand back and watch as they fight the monster.

    "Lady Alpha… What should we do…?" Beta muttered whilst enduring the pain of the Possession, a very familiar pain for all of us.

    "I don't know… At our current condition…" I answered whilst enduring pains of my own.

    Suddenly Necromancer raised his staff high and it flashes green… and we feel his sickening magic envelop us once more… and cured us of our possession. The warped and rotten flesh that grows in several parts of our bodies are cured instantly.

    "What…?" Epsilon muttered, absolutely surprised as to why the monster would heal us.

    "Why would he…?" Beta said, confused. The rest of the Shades also have the same question… but I know why he did that.

    "It's because he made a deal with Shadow. In exchange for Shadow to help him with that monster, he released us of our condition. We were… hostages…" I answered their question, which horrifies them.

    "It can't be…! I thought we're… stronger now." Gamma stated in frustration.

    "Delta… is not weak…!" Even Delta expresses her frustration by punching a hole at the ground.

    "Lord Shadow… I…" Zeta is beginning to show the same face she used to wear when we first met her… the face of someone who hated the entire world.

    "…" Eta… merely observes the two of them with curiosity. Sometimes I wish I could be as carefree as her.

    But now that we're free from Possession, we can help him, even if it costs us our lives. I stood up first in order to draw the attention of the other Shades.

    "You girls… get ready. There's no way we can leave Shadow alone. We should--"

    "Go." My words are cut by Shadow, who's glancing at our direction with a smile that seems to say "Leave it to me!"

    "But Shadow! We can help!" I shouted desperately.

    "You should listen to your master, No. 001. You have proven your uselessness already this day with your disgraceful defeat. No need to add more to the pile of failures in the same day." Necromancer says in his dreadful and taunting voice. After he said that, both of them turned back to face the skull head of the gigantic abomination.

    "Lady Alpha… You heard him. Let us retreat." Zeta said with a blank expression. I may be wearing the same expression right now though.

    "Yes…" I said in response with subdued voice, trying my best to stop my tears from flowing. All seven of us retreated after that, leaving Shadow to face the abomination with his greatest enemy.

    Shadow… Please… Don't die.




    Tetsuya…

    I face the creature that has been whispering my name for the past few days with my nemesis at my side. The creature is an enormous lump of flesh with several skeletal hands, scythes and various bone parts and skulls protruding out of his body, with the big skull at the bottom which seems to serve as his head considering how he's glaring at us through its eye sockets, which glows red much like the eye sockets on my own skull mask.

    The lump of flesh above him (which is probably his neck) is surrounded by a ring of light that glows a very familiar shade of green and is connected to his neck through sparks of green electricity. A grotesque and alien creature, though with familiar parts unlike what I would've expected out of such an interdimensional alien. I mean… why would the skulls look so much like human skulls?

    And that ring of light that surrounds his neck… What enormous power it contains. I must study it before taking it for myself. More power for me. Heh heh heh.

    I cured the Seven Shades of the Possession I caused as an incentive to make Shadow join me in fighting this creature. He seemed eager enough to join me even without me doing that but I still did it in order to prevent him from being distracted from the fight just because his subordinates got hurt.

    I am confident in taking on this creature myself even if he's stronger than me by a large margin but his powers are still largely unknown to me, not to mention I am surrounded by enemies from all sides without allies in sight, which means that even if I managed to defeat this creature, my enemies could've taken the opportunity to attack me while I'm at my weakest… and thus the best course of action is to make use of my nemesis to test out this creature's power.

    Tetsuya…

    I can't afford to underestimate him. Despite this being our first meeting… we instinctively recognize each other… as evidenced by how he calls me by my previous name.

    Miyazaki Tetsuya. How nostalgic… hearing my old name like that. I've been Claude Normann for so long that I almost forgot that name. Makes me think of my old world. I wonder how the legacy of the Occult Killer I've left there has grown. Do the people still remember me? Or have they forgotten about me? I have to make a point in researching the Black Rose in order to find a way to open a portal to return there.

    I pointed my staff at the creature and try to communicate with him.

    "Tell me. Do you have a name?"

    Tetsuya…

    "Hmph. No no no. That name has been left behind. I hereby dub thee… Thanatos!" I declared, naming the creature after the Greek god of death. Shadow seems to approve judging from his grin.

    Tetsuya!!!

    The eye sockets on the creature's head began glowing and we both moved out of the way to dodge the laser beam coming out of his eye sockets. I try to test his defences by launching a mini Armageddon at him.

    With how big he is and how not all his body manages to cross the portal he forcefully created, he cannot dodge and will remain stationary there in the air, suspended by the portal as if stuck on a hole, and thus the black orb of my Armageddon hits him squarely in the face… or at least that's how it's supposed to be but instead, the Armageddon explodes midair before touching him. His ring of light seems to have protected him from my attack.

    It's Shadow's turn and unlike what I expected of a battle junkie like him, he launches a long ranged slash instead of rushing to meet Thanatos in melee range. His attack, like my mini Armageddon, vanished mid air.

    I have a theory to test out, and thus I launch a huge fireball at him… and the fireball vanishes as if blown by a huge wind.

    "As I thought. That ring of light generates so much force that any attack would be pushed back."

    "Is that so? How interesting!" Shadow declared as he launched arrows made of slime towards Thanatos in order to test out how strong and how dangerous the force generated by the ring of light by launching a physical object at him. The result? The slime arrow disintegrated completely before it could touch Thanatos. It's a good thing that Shadow is cautious enough not to rush towards him.

    "SCREEEEECH!!!" The creature screeches like a Nazgul once again and sent its scythes towards us. Naturally we dodge the enormous scythes but I want to see how strong the scythe is, and thus I create a barrier mid air and launch it towards the trajectory of one of the scythes and allow it to be sliced by the scythe. The barrier is not only sliced in half but also disintegrates when it came in contact with the scythe. The amount of magic power I poured into that barrier is no joke and could've survived at least one mini Armageddon. For it to disintegrate completely…

    "So… perfect offense and defense." I muttered as I watch Thanatos's ring of light glow brighter.

    "Incoming!" I shouted as a warning to Shadow as Thanatos launches countless magic bullets out of his ring of light to all directions, which rains down destruction to wherever his bullets hits. So many bullets coming at us but we dodged them all, Shadow by using his superior speed, and me by occasionally using teleportation.

    After Thanatos stopped his attack, I was able to observe the damage caused by that attack. The battlefield used to be Grand Canyon thanks to my Apocalypse. Now it's… still Grand Canyon but with several valleys that seemed bottomless. Just how deep did his magic penetrate the ground?

    As much as I want to keep playing with him, I certainly can't let him destroy MY world even more than he already did.

    "Shadow. Keep him contained for a bit, will you?" I requested my nemesis and he merely grins as he flew towards the creature and creates swords out of pure magic and launches them towards him to get his attention. Naturally the swords disintegrate before impact but Shadow launches more to distract the creature as I prepare my next attack. The creature responds by occasionally sending orbs of light or laser beams at him, which he dodged everytime.

    "Let's see how you handle a curse, my dear Thanatos." I cast a magic control disruption curse towards the creature. Considering his enormous magic power, he should have problems with magic control like I did back when I took the Tears of Diablos and received enormous power boost. After all, his condition is similar to mine even if his magic control is still better than Ragnarok's. And naturally I amplified the curse a hundredfold in order to affect a creature of this magnitude.

    "SCREEEEECH!!!" The creature screeches again, but this time in pain as his magic control fails him, making him barely able to maintain his ring of light. Shadow took this chance to charge in with his sword in hand. With the ring of light failing, Shadow is neither blown away nor disintegrates but instead is able to slash through the ring of light, causing it to dissipate.

    "Now you're vulnerable, my dear Thanatos." I said as I prepare my next spell… only for the creature to break out of my curse in an instant and try to form the ring of light back but Shadow didn't let him do it by slashing at his enormous body, causing green glowing liquid to come out of his wound. The color of his blood looks toxic and even Shadow instinctively dodges it.

    Oh look. That enormous wound stitches and heals itself in an instant. The ring of light is even formed again. But this much is within prediction. Even I can regenerate wounds that fast as long as I have magic power.

    Before I was able to cast the next curse, he starts creating several light orbs out of the ring of light, no doubt aiming to shoot those orbs at us. We of course are prepared to dodge, even as the light orbs change directions to chase us, similar to my bootleg Hellzone Grenade fireballs did. Coating my staff with my magic, I hit the orbs with my staff without causing it to explode upon impact, merely changing its direction in order to allow it to hit other orbs and explode in the air. Shadow lured the orbs to hit each other with his speed alone without touching them.

    Then Shadow creates more floating magic swords but this time he poured more magic to it in order to add more penetrating power, and he shoots it at Thanatos' ring of light. Obviously it didn't work but both of us noticed that his swords managed to go farther than other spells we threw at him before dissipating. The swords almost reached him in fact. Hmm…

    "Hmph. I know what to do now. Nemesis! Now it's your turn to distract him!" Shadow said.

    "What do you plan to do, nemesis?"

    "Playtime is over!" He said as he started channelling the purple glow of his signature magic. It seems that he realized that a prolonged fight is not advantageous for us due to how enormous the amount of magic power Thanatos has.

    "A brute force method then. Very well." I said in agreement as I launched several fireballs towards Thanatos. That drew his attention far easier than I thought it would. As I drew Thanatos' attention by casting several elemental spells and curses at him, Shadow finishes his spell, which allows his purple magic to form a cone that targets Thanatos.

    "I AM ATOMIC ARROW!" He whispered, although his voice still audible despite that.

    His Atomic magic then bursts, though not in all direction like before but instead is concentrated towards the direction of Thanatos, engulfing the creature in his purple explosive magic.

    We waited a few second for the light and the smoke to dissipate to behold the sight of a wounded Thanatos, who has a large hole in the center of its body now along with broken ring of light still surrounding him.

    "Heh. All that power and only this much damage." Shadow mutters whilst grinning in excitement despite spending a huge amount of magic for that attack.

    Naturally Thanatos starts to heal his wound but before he can close the wound completely, I launched an Armageddon towards it and when the wound closes with the black orb inside it, I let it burst.

    "ARMAGEDDON!" I shouted and the black orb explodes inside him, making his green blood spread all around us. Both of us have to deploy barriers in order to shield ourselves from the flood of toxic blood splashing around.

    Now his 'neck' is completely destroyed, only his severed head (still floating below us) and the pile of wounded flesh in the portal remains. In order to prevent it from regenerating, I raised my staff and casts a spell to close the portal, or more accurately the dimensional hole he forcefully created through brute force, separating his head from the main body completely.

    When the portal is closed, his head, which is still alive and kicking despite being separated from the main body, floats above us and forms its own ring of light above his skull head, which looks like a halo.

    "Heh. Time for the second phase it seems." I muttered as we prepared ourselves to face the head.




    Author's Note:

    First phase of the boss fight is over. Now entering the second phase.
     
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    • Chapter 134: I Think, Therefore I Am
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 134: I Think, Therefore I Am

    How… humiliating.

    To think that I, The Knight Beyond Men, Mordred, would not only be bested so easily but… would even be enslaved by that monstrous conjurer. I was even denied eternal slumber… not that I desire one but that might've been better than being reduced into his undead pawn. With the spell he placed upon my soul, I was powerless to resist his commands. But that doesn't mean I won't try though.

    Naturally I could not think of anything but revenge. But… looking at the destruction that his black orbs does in the distance… Now I can only think that he's the second coming of Diablos… no, even worse than Diablos… Because at least Diablos was a simple mindless beast after succumbing to her powers and we need only create pawns to face her. Necromancer on the other hand, is not only powerful but also a cunning schemer and possesses various unique magic to boot. I doubt Olivier, Lili and Freya could hold a candle to what he's capable of. Though that is to be expected of a monster who came from another realm I suppose.

    Watching the destruction he brought upon the wilderness beside me are the masked person who is the rumoured Acolyte, Necromancer's apprentice and the only one who possesses his magical knowledge, and a filthy beastkin. Both of them are part of his elite units. The Seven Wraiths if I recall. I was contemplating on how to sway both of them to my side but I doubt they'll listen to me after witnessing the power of their master.

    But several minutes after that I saw my chance… though said chance surprised me greatly as well. The Black Rose was activated and Ragnarok was summoned. But Ragnarok was an utter disappointment. It could not even match Shadow properly, let alone that monster Necromancer. And to think I used to consider that creature a trump card. But what surprised us isn't Ragnarok's weakness… it's what comes after it.

    It was an unbelievably powerful eldritch creature whose form primarily consists of flesh, skulls, scythes and bones. Its ring of light alone possess an unbelievable amount of magic that can be felt kilometres away. This creature is powerful beyond imagination. But I suppose I should've seen this coming considering what I know.

    Few months ago, during the night of the Red Moon, I received reports from my subordinates whose duty is to monitor the dimensions and keep records of the constantly orbiting realms as part of our otherworld research. It is how I know that we are currently crossing paths with the 4th​ realm where Ragnarok ruled as its king.

    He said someone opened a gate to the First Realm in order to enhance the effects of the Red Moon. The Red Moon phenomenon is linked to the First Realm where the being that became the basis for Diablos' creation came from, which is why vampires, who were created from Diablos' blood, reacted to it. It is a realm full of mysteries and dangerous monsters that capturing a sample that eventually became Diablos was a miraculous accomplishment. And said subordinate also said that ever since then, an unknown entity from that realm has taken notice and made its move to approach this world.

    I am convinced that the one who opened the gate that night was Necromancer… and what he did attracted this creature we see before us. This is an opportunity to sway them to my side. With my knowledge… and my newfound immortality, I shall rule this world without needing to worry about death like the rest of the Rounds.

    "Wonderful sight, is it not, Acolyte? The sight of your master reaping what he has sown." I addressed the masked person who reacted to my words with anger.

    "What do you mean by reaping what he sown, Mordred?" The beastkin asked curiously.

    "That monster was brought here by your master and he's going to be killed by it. A fitting end for such a reckless fool. Heh heh heh." I chuckled in satisfaction whilst observing the agitated Acolyte.

    "Say, Acolyte. Would you like to serve under me? As you can see, your master is doomed and he will drag this entire world sown with him."

    "And you're saying you have a solution to… that?" Instead of the Acolyte replying, the beastkin replied with a question of his own.

    "Naturally. The Cult possesses a vast library of knowledge, the likes your master could not even think of. We encountered similar situation in the past. During the first Black Rose Incident, we aided Oriana in closing off the gate. I know how to solve this problem. Does your master know?" I try to entice the both of them by bragging about the Cult's past accomplishment but they seem to be more interested in observing the battle between Shadow, Necromancer and that creature.

    "Still thinking your master has any hope? No matter how powerful he is, he can't possibly--" My words are cut when I saw Shadow and Necromancer destroying that monster's body and close the gate where it came from, leaving only its head behind.

    "You were saying about closing the gate?" The Acolyte smugly remarked while I can only grit my teeth and frown. Shadow and Necromancer. What a bunch of monsters. How did they acquire such powers? How can I gain such power for myself?

    As I was contemplating what to do next, the person we are waiting for finally arrive.

    "You…! Adra…! Acolyte and… Mordred!?" The would be queen of this ruined kingdom, Rose Oriana, exclaimed in surprise as she saw the three of us.

    And now comes the time where the Acolyte would tempt her to join us. Well, I don't have to do anything besides being here, for I am merely here to shock the queen, and perhaps scare her into submission if necessary. Such is the role given to me, a former member of the Rounds.

    How… humiliating.




    Whoa. This thing is persistent. Even though we already separated its head from its body, the head is still alive. Its magic power is still huge but only miniscule compared to before though. The Necromancer closing the portal made sure of that. I suppose this is gonna be eas—

    "Aghh…!"

    Oops… I let my guard down and had the monster shoot through my stomach with its eye laser beam. It was so fast and the monster didn't even need to build up its magic power to do that. And my underestimating it ultimately backfired on me. Now I have a big hole in my stomach. Is this payback for the I Am Atomic Arrow from earlier?

    "Don't let your guard down, nemesis. This is actually going to be harder than before." The Necromancer said. The laser beam was aimed at him too but the only damage he suffered was on his cloak. He didn't underestimate the monster and managed to dodge the ultra fast laser beam. How embarrassing.

    I used my healing magic to heal my wound, closing the hole in my stomach easily. But I guess having healing factor like the Necromancer does is better? Or does it consume more energy than healing spell? Questions for later.

    After I finished healing my wound, I understand why the Necromancer said this is going to be harder than before despite the monster having much less magic power than before… It's because it has gained the ability to move! That alone is a significant advantage.

    I move to slice it but it floats away before my attack could land. It's pretty fast and it knows that its ring of light won't be enough to defend it from my attack this time.

    Its eye sockets flashes again and I dodged the laser beam it shoots in retaliation. As I approach it again, its ring of light flashes and instantly shoots out several magic bullets to all directions. I dodged the bullets as I did the Necromancer's bootleg Hellzone Grenade from our earlier battles, though this one is much faster and didn't change direction to follow me. The Necromancer dodged the bullets easily by teleporting.

    Then the Necromancer casts some kind of curse to break its magic control again but it didn't seem to work anymore. The thing is immune to it by now. As the Necromancer was about to cast another spell, the skull head dashed towards him quickly and rams him with the force of its ring of light, blasting the Necromancer away. Then it ignores me complete and went to chase after him. Hey. I will not have you escape me. I wanna play too, you know!

    I intercept the skull head before it can reach the Necromancer, who's lying on the ground he crashed in, and knocks the skull away with my sword. Looks like the ring of light's defense is still hard enough that it's not cut when I slash it with my blade. I'll need to put more strength to it in order to—

    Oh? The Necromancer crashed near Alpha and the others. It seems that even though I told them to go, they still remained nearby. Well… I suppose it's fine. An Eminence in Shadow needs an audience when he shows off his power after all.

    But I see Alpha approaching the Necromancer. What is she doing?

    "Whoa!" I exclaim as I dodge another laser beam. It seems that I can't listen to their conversation because I need to concentrate fully on this monster. Well… at least this fight is becoming much more fun than I imagined it to be.




    I lay on the ground and watched as Thanatos was knocked away by Shadow. My focus was disturbed by his whispers, which wasn't muffled even though his main body is another dimension away from here. I can also sense that he's trying to breach the barrier between dimensions again, using the Black Rose's opening as an anchor… a coordinate to let him know which dimension he needs to breach.

    As I was about to stand up and close the Black Rose, which is still open, No. 001 walked towards me and points her sword on my throat.

    "And here I thought you would obey your master like an obedient dog and escape the battlefield like a coward. To think that you would look for a chance to kill me in the middle of the battle…"

    "That monster. That thing was your doing, wasn't it?" She asked with an angry face.

    "You… could say that. Technically his doing was and is my doing. Heh heh heh."

    "What do you mean?" She frowns.

    "I'll leave that up to your imagination. Heh heh heh." I said as I pushed her sword off my throat and stood up by floating with magic.

    I raised both my hands to the sky and prepared to close the Black Rose when I feel the tip of No. 001's sword poking my back, aiming straight for my heart.

    "You might want to stay away from this."

    "Why should I listen to you?"

    "Heh heh heh. Because you're going to make things worse than they already are with your meddling." I said as I cancelled the spell and allowed the Black Rose to remain, which also allowed Thanatos's main body to once again breach the barrier between dimensions, this time through multiple places. Several holes were formed in the air from the breach and through them several skeletal hands and scythes emerges, attacking everything that moves, which happens to include the Seven Shades.

    "Look at what you've done, deadweight. Heh heh heh." I taunted.

    Why I allowed this to happen? The look on her face says it all. Heh heh heh.

    Thanatos' bony hands and scythes emerges from the portals, though of course he's not focusing on them, which is why the Seven Shades could survive the attacks even if some of them were harmed by the scythes, which would normally vaporize anything they touch.

    Several portals appeared around me and Thanatos' bone hands emerge from them, fully intent on capturing me rather than vaporizing me outright. It seems that he's hungry for me just as I am hungry for him. Heh heh heh.

    I created a barrier that also generates force that blew the hands away, forcing them to go back into the portals where I would proceed to close them save for one that I left open because I captured one of the hands with a magic chain.

    "Let me have a taste." I said as I reach out to the captured hand and activate the brand new Artifact I wore on my hands, the Gloves of the Reaper, which is a pair of metal gloves enchanted to steal souls. With the glove, I start the process of ripping Thanatos' soul out of his body. The process obviously takes time because of how big he is in both body and soul but I anticipated that. I didn't even intend on gulping his soul all in one sitting, and thus I stopped immediately when he resists and breaks my chains holding his hand. But that attempt wasn't futile, for I have took a chunk of his soul out of his body and devoured it.

    "SCREEEEECHH!!!!!" He screeches like a Nazgul again from beyond the portal. It's painful, isn't it? I know how painful it is to have your soul damaged. I felt it before.

    "Sluurp. Delicious!" I taunted as Thanatos opens more portals and send more hands to capture me. No sign of change in his strategy besides creating way more portals and resist harder when I capture the hands with my chains. And here I thought you'd be smarter. Heh heh heh.

    Where am I? What is this place? There's nothing here but darkness and… alien landscape… filled with dangerous eldritch creatures… If I am to survive… I need MORE POWER…!

    Huh? What was that…? Thanatos' memories? How… interesting.

    "Aghh!" While I was distracted by the memories, one of the hands broke my barrier and captured me. Then a portal opened before me, revealing a huge skull, as big as the one that Shadow is currently fighting. It opens its jaw and… I can feel my soul being sucked out.

    "Arggh…! It will not be me who will be devoured!!" I shouted as I feel the tug on my soul. I struggled to resist by tugging my soul back. The tug of war is painful for me but I'm not going to give in! Especially since his side is winning due to overwhelming difference in power!

    "That power will be mine!" I shouted as I remotely activated the auto-combat function of my staff, Valdamir, causing it to shoot elemental spells at the skull and the hand that captured me, freeing me from Thanatos' clutches and breaking the tug of war on my soul, though Thanatos still managed to devour a piece of my soul, resulting in my soul, which I have painstakingly fixed by devouring the souls of others, to be damaged once again.

    "Agh…. Arrrghhhh…..!!!!" I screamed painfully as the pain that comes from my soul being damaged strikes again, just like that time in Yukime's village, making me srop to my knees as I lose my magic control again. I could've sworn I saw No. 001 enjoying my suffering from afar.

    Several portals opened again, with several skeletal hands trying to capture me again. The same strategy again. Heh.

    I allowed one of the hands to capture me again but I made sure both my hands are free so when the skull appears again to suck my soul out, I am ready to fight back with my gloves.

    The tug of war starts again. Even with the gloves assisting me, his tug is still stronger than mine… but I am not only defending my soul… I am also sucking his soul out. And as expected, his focus is breaking the moment my magic touch his soul again, making him falter and allowing me to not only win the tug of war for my soul but also to suck more pieces of his soul away.

    "Heh heh heh. You are indeed powerful, my dear Thanatos… but I am still better than you, for I haven't lost myself into the void like you have. I think, therefore I am."




    Author's Note:

    One would think that the fight is going to get easier because the boss gets weaker but this is a second phase, of course it's going to be harder, Cid. I used that as an excuse to make Cid get harmed at least once because Thanatos is still at his core, a mindless monster… for now.
     
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