Chapter 85

The first tears through his right arm, the second his left. The third crunches through his right leg, the fourth his left. The fifth and sixth rip his torso apart, the seventh impales his chest, and the eighth tears through his neck. Finally, the ninth takes his head in its mouth. “Still alive, are we?” Shadow asks. “Hurk… At last…I got to witness the pinnacle of swordplay…,” Fenrir replies, his voice hoarse. “Thank you…for the demonstration…” Shadow seems unimpressed. “The pinnacle doesn’t exist.” “What are you talking about? You’ve clearly reached—” “Above the pinnacle lies yet another pinnacle. That’s all that is there.” “What…?” “Thinking they’ve reached the pinnacle is when people stop climbing.” “I see… So that’s why I lost…” A look of regret flits across Fenrir’s face. “…I have yet to glimpse the pinnacle.” The ninth dragon snaps its jaw shut. Fenrir’s head shatters. Shadow’s longcoat flows out behind him as he strides deeper into the fog. “Sh…Shadow, wait!!” Alexia shouts. Shadow stops. “Please, you have to tell me! Who are you? What are you fighting for?!” Alexia waits for his answer. However, he keeps his back to her and says nothing. “I want to protect my country! I want to keep sad things from happening to the people I care about! That’s why I fight! But what about you?! How am I supposed to know if I can trust you?!” “I told you…you’d be best served avoiding me.” “Don’t give me that! Not now!! We’re fighting for our lives out here! That might not seem like much to someone as powerful as you. You might think we’re beneath you. But what you need to understand…is that weaklings like us work just as hard to live as you do!!” Shadow slowly turns around. He fixes his bloodred eyes straight on Alexia. “We remove those who stand in the way of our goal. Nothing more,” he tells her, his voice low and booming like it’s echoing up from the very depths of the abyss. “What goal…? Just what do you intend on doing with this world?!” Alexia’s question is the first thing that earns a proper reaction out of Shadow. His mouth curls into the smallest of smiles. Then he swings his jet-black blade. His target is a strange device sitting in the fog. A metallic noise rings out as the device splits in two. “My collar…” Alexia and Claire look down and discover that their collars are broken. “Shadow!” When they look back up, Shadow is gone. Try as they might, they can’t spot any traces of him. Alexia clenches her fists. “If only I was stronger…” “Claire…are you all right?” Christina asks as she helps Claire stay on her feet. “I-I’m okay…,” Claire replies, clutching at her chest. She might very well need surgery. “Princess Alexia, the sooner we get out of here the better,” says Christina. “Do you have any idea where the exit is?” Suddenly, they hear footsteps in the fog. “Heya there! I finally found you!” A short girl appears from within—Nina. Despite the pain she’s in, Claire’s whole face lights up. “Nina… Oh, thank goodness. Where were you?” “Hey, yeah, sorry ’bout that. I just barely managed to get away from Isaac, but then I got totally lost. I did find a way out, though.” Nina laughs in embarrassment and points to the exit. “You’re a lifesaver,” Alexia says. “Let’s get a move on.” The moment she turns her back on Nina, Nina swiftly makes her move. Alexia is the first to fall. Then Claire and Christina collapse in unison. The knife hand strikes are terrifyingly quick. “Man, I always get stuck with the dirty work,” Nina mutters as she looks down at the unconscious trio. She lets out a small sigh, then turns and calls over to the fog. “The preparations are all finished…Zeta.” A golden-haired therianthrope and a strawberry blond girl emerge. “Excellent work. Are you sure you don’t want to join the Shadow Garden?” Victora asks Nina. “I’m sure I could become a member of the Numbers with ease, but…,” Nina replies haltingly, then looks over at Zeta to gauge her reaction. “It’s better to have Nina outside the Shadow Garden,” Zeta says. “Her ability to act solo is what lets us outwit them.” “Then I’ll continue operating as I have been.” “Uh-huh. Keep on acting as Claire’s friend…until the time comes.” “…Understood.” Nina conjures a white robe out of slime and pulls its hood down low over her face. Then she hoists up Claire’s unconscious body and carries her over to the door at the back of the Sanctuary. Zeta gives the order, and she secures Claire to a pedestal covered in ancient writing. When she channels mana into the pedestal, the sconces on either side of the door light up. “Once we do this, there’s no turning back,” Nina reminds Zeta. “Uh-huh.” “But Alpha’s plan—” “Alpha is too soft. If she had her way, evil would rise once more, and the world would repeat its mistakes. That’s why we need to rule the world—to make sure mistakes never happen again.” Zeta gazes at the fire from the pedestal, like the myriad flickering flames are painting some sort of picture for her. “With eternal life, Master Shadow will become a god,” Victoria says, her eyes gleaming with rapture. “This world doesn’t need Holy Teachings. We’re going to be preaching a new doctrine.” “…Are you’re sure we’re making the right decision?” Nina asks. “It’s our duty.” With that, Zeta funnels mana into the pedestal. Its ancient writing dances across it and links up to the chains sealing the door shut. The chains flash and loudly creak. “Rrrgh! Gah!” Claire’s body shudders atop the pedestal. Her red eyes snap open, and her face contorts in agony as she screams. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!!” “Claire!” Nina rushes to her side. “Zeta, just look at her!” “It’s a rejection response. It’ll pass.” “But—” “If we want to control Diablos after we’ve revived it, we’ll need her body.” Slowly but surely, the chains begin snapping. More and more sinister magic circles begin welling up on Claire’s hand. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” As she screams, the chains shatter into dust, and the door at the deepest part of the Sanctuary swings open. There’s nothing beyond it. Just darkness that goes on forever. The magic circles on Claire’s hand burn bright. A bewitching smile spreads across Victoria’s face. “It worked.” “We’ve assembled the right and left arms.” Zeta inspects Claire’s new circles with keen interest. “Stay close by and observe her, Nina.” Nina wipes the sweat off Claire’s unconscious brow. “So you’ve really…you’ve really made your choice,” she mumbles. “Me and Alpha… Someday, we’ll know which of us made the right call.” Zeta turns her back on Nina and walks off. “Until then, we lurk in the shadows…” With that, she vanishes into the deep darkness. I’m standing in a white space. It’s been a while since I had a decent fight or a decent chance to role-play, and I gotta say, that totally hit the spot. The terrorist geezer’s swordplay was really something else. I guess it’s true what they say about old people being wise. His technique was so cool, I even decided to steal it for myself, and as a result, I was able to wrap up the battle with the perfect finale. Figuring out your opponent’s special move mid-fight, then turning it back against them… That right there is the stuff that dreams are made of. Plus, the Suzuki part was awesome, too. By disguising myself as him, I bet I was able to make Shadow’s character seem even more profound. Being able to show up anywhere and casting a shadow wherever light exists is exactly what being an eminence in shadow is all about. While I was reminiscing fondly on everything that just happened, I ended up here before I knew it. I take in my surroundings. “This looks familiar…” I know this place. It’s where I met kid Violet last time. “Hey, we meet again.” A small girl is clutching her knees smack-dab in the middle of the white space. She’s battered and bruised from head to toe. “…Are you okay?” I ask, channeling mana into her to heal her wounds. “Snff…” She lifts her head. Her face is stained red from where she’s been crying tears of blood. “Thank you.” “Happy to help. What happened?” “Nothing. Just the usual.” “The usual, huh?” “Yeah.” She looks up at me and smiles. “I’m glad we could finally meet, mister.” “What do you mean, finally?” “Well, I’m stronger near the core.” “Huh. Oh yeah, I have something for you.” I fish the red jewel out of my pocket. “It’s really important to you, right?” “…Are you sure?” “I’ll trade it to you for a hundred million zeni. Don’t worry, though—you can wait to pay me back until after you’ve hit it big.” “Thank you.” The girl takes the jewel. “I’ve been waiting for this.” “Well, now you’ve got it. Can I ask what it is?” “Oh, sure…” The girl smirks, the corners of her mouth curling upward into the shape of a crescent. “This right here… This is…” Her face contorts like a horrible monster’s as sinister magic begins flowing out. The once-white space gets painted over with black. The girl’s tiny lips whisper two words: “…my malice.” I can’t hear her voice, but that’s definitely what she’s saying. Then a torrent of ugly emotions wells up. Men, women, children, and the elderly appear one after another to stare at the girl with contempt. A moment after each one appears, though, they get torn to pulpy shreds by some mysterious monster. I watch the process repeat for hundreds and hundreds and thousands and thousands of years, and before I know it, I’m back on the academy rooftop. It’s the very first place I met the younger Violet. Off in the distance, I can see the sun setting. Things are normal here at the academy, just like they always are. I cock my head. “Huh. In retrospect, maybe I wasn’t supposed to give her that.” The silver-haired girl casts her scarlet gaze out over the academy grounds. “All the Knight Order was able to get from their investigation was some testimonies from the students. They didn’t find a single piece of hard evidence…” She leans against the windowsill of the empty classroom. In addition to the silver-haired girl, there’s also an unremarkable dark-haired boy. “I don’t get what that has to do with you wanting to talk to me,” he says.