For this world, the biggest threat was the Demon Diablos, everyone thinks so. But in fact, Diablos was not the only one who wanted to destroy this world. Another demon also wanted this, although it would be more correct to say - creature. But all mentions of him were erased, but hiding something forever is an impossible task. After all, people tend to look for answers to all their questions.

I woke up in absolute silence. The morning sun was shining through the curtains into my room. Reluctantly getting up from the soft bed, I went to wash myself.

"It's been a long time since I was reborn and I felt so tired" I saw a letter on my desk. The letter was written by Alpha. Considering that my day would not get any worse, I took it and opened the letter.

"Shadow-sama, we have obtained information about the Cult bunker as you requested. Below you will see the coordinates of the location of the bunker. Unfortunately, the powers of the shadow garden are so involved that we cannot afford this mission, so I will have to ask for your help. Please go to the place as soon as you are free.

-Alpha"

Well I have to admit, sometimes Alpha plays the role even better than me. Well, no matter what bunch of bandits there are, I think it will be interesting and there's nothing for me to do.

I poured magic into my legs, then opened the window and headed to those same coordinates. I must admit that I didn't immediately understand how to deal with these coordinates, but still I got to the place.

"Hmmm, did I really get there? it's just an ordinary abandoned building" I glanced at this building, i could swear that it looked like an ordinary abandoned building. I went inside to take a look around, wandering around for a few minutes i came across a door, the most abnormal thing was that for such junk it was armored and obviously very strong. "It may be strong, but for me it is only like a straw"

After I pulled out the door I saw a staircase down. There was no light, no warmth, no life. I began to go down, simultaneously trying to see what was in front of me.

"[Black Haze]?" Approximately 90% of my light was absorbed, making it impossible to see what was at the very bottom. I tried to enhance my vision with magic but it did not give any results. I even used my mana vision, but the haze blocked the flow of mana. Thermal vision was of no use either; for a second I even felt scared.

Then I made a decision, I wanted to release a powerful spell to disperse the haze but...

"Is my magic being suppressed?" It looked like it was the same case as when our Academy was attacked. Then our magic was suppressed by an artifact, but now it's difficult to determine what exactly it was. Was this haze the cause? Maybe the building itself? Maybe it was a barrier spell? there were many different versions of what could have caused it. But mere thinking will not help here.

Before I had time to get out of my thoughts, I suddenly saw a sword, and this sword was rapidly heading towards my heart. It wasn't a big deal for me to dodge the blow, but my attacker was... Uh... Phantom? I didn't know they could hold physical objects. But after a couple of seconds, I realized that I dodged only on reflexes, because the phantom itself did not make any sounds. Soon I saw a couple more swords that wanted my death.

"Damn you guys are in the way." I hit one of the phantoms but he didn't seem to care.

"Aren't these Deogenes?" Everything was adding up to this painful truth. There is a lot of fuss with these guys, I have absolutely no desire to waste my precious time on them.

I applied the maximum permissible force and dispersed these guys.

"Well, this will be enough for a while, anyway, I need to find the summoner and kill him, otherwise they will bother me again." I arrived on the move and began to descend faster. But as soon as I walked a couple of meters, I saw the swords again. Having dealt with them further, I came to the conclusion: "It seems that the haze itself stimulates their appearance. They appear literally from the shadows. But they better remember that it's only me hiding in the shadows"

As Beta once told me: Phantoms and Deogenes, although of the same classification, are different creatures.

Phantoms are just wandering souls. They are rarely hostile, but even so, one light swing of the sword can easily dispel their shell, which leads to death.

Deogenes, in turn, are something like evil souls devoured by a curse. They are always extremely hostile and very difficult to dispel. Although their shell is the same, they ignore damage to the shell because it is not lethal for them. They are connected to the summoner; if he dies, they die too. All I did was critically damage their shell. Although they won't die, they will need time to recover, which will buy me time.

As soon as I reached the bottom the haze began to become weaker. Even though it was floating in the air, I saw a faded light. Light from wall torches. A space similar to a laboratory appeared before my eyes. There were many different cells and also devices and cones. The walls were gray, as was the entire interior. Although the haze made it difficult to see, some details could be seen, especially the figure of a man standing in the distance. I approached the man, I was a little wary because my magic was still suppressed and you never know what he could do.

"Well, I'm pleasantly surprised. Shadow" The man decided to speak first. Speaking of him, he was taller than me, his skin was pale and his build was thin. He had long brown hair and emerald eyes. His eyelids were sunken and his whole appearance was tired. He's wearing a white lab coat, but what's interesting is that he had two swords on his belt.

"Two swords? Isn't it too much for someone like you?" I greeted him with a question. In the end, really, why does he need two swords?

"I see you immediately appreciated my appearance? But please don't judge a book by its cover. Appearances are always deceiving" Even though he smiled, his words still radiated coldness.

"Perhaps you can still answer my question?" I formed my slime sword in preparation for a potential battle.

"Although it's not obvious from me, in any case, in the past I was an experienced swordsman. The winner of the God of War Tournament. My name is Enpisi Notimportante. As you most likely guessed, I am the summoner of those Deogenes." He pulled out both of his swords. He wasn't lying; just by his grip alone, you can recognize him as a very good swordsman.

"Well, that simplifies everything. It was certainly nice to meet you, but I think that's all."

I concentrated my magic and moved towards him. A swing of the sword and... Miss? He moved quickly, but obviously not as fast as me. I tried to hit him again but he parried my attack. I went behind him and wanted to hit him from behind, but he jumped away. And then I lengthened my sword and still managed to hit.

"Heh, so the rumors weren't lies, and you're an interesting opponent, Sir Shadow." This time he smiled sincerely. I don't really understand why he's so happy, but ok.

Another swing of the sword, this time I wounded him in the shoulder. We started exchanging blows. But as soon as he began to lose ground, he went on defense.

"You know, I'm really pleased that you are my opponent. Ever since the cult executed my family, I've been looking for a worthy opponent at the hands of whom I wouldn't mind dying." He has quite a depressing story.

"A cult murdered your family and you're working for them?" I really wonder why he doesn't just take revenge on them.

"I don't like it either, but I have no other choice, I need money to support my son. If I refuse, they will kill him too." The smile faded from his face, and there was a note of disappointment in his voice.

"You have a son and you want death at the hands of a supposedly worthy one?" Well, that's really kind of stupid.

"Honestly, I'm so tired that I can't stand it. It's unlikely that you will understand the hopelessness I feel now." His face became even sadder.

"Then I will fulfill your deepest wish" I gathered mana and quickly rushed towards him and my sword pierced his chest. Tears flowed from his eyes and blood began to drip from his mouth. It seems he began to choke on his own blood

"You... I didn't think that..." He let out a lethargic wheeze.

"Even with suppressed magic... You are so strong... If only I had this power" Eh, 4/10 is not the best I've heard.

"You should know... Fenrir has his own plans for you. If you are interested in this, then it was he who cast the [BLACK HAZE] spell. It is she who suppresses magic. Or rather, absorbs it." Fenrir? Well, I don't know what kind of guy this is, but I'll have to fight with him too. Maybe he's like a boss?

"Goodbye... son" In fact, of course, he said a cliché, but I even feel sorry for him. I don't think he deserves all this.

"Well, I think my work has come to an end here, it's time to clean everything out here and we can go back home."

I walked around the laboratory for another half an hour collecting various valuables and then went up.

"Is it already evening? Time flies quickly though." I looked at the beautiful sunset holding equally beautiful jewelry in my hands.

"Well, it's time to go back" Strengthening my legs, I ran towards the house.

I thought that I would never return; returning, of course, was not very convenient. But it was worth it-

Before I had time to think, I saw my sister standing in front of the entrance to the dorm.

"I'm actually in damn trouble" As soon as I said this, my sister turned in my direction.

"Ciiiid! How nice to see you in prosperity and health!" Although she was smiling, I felt wild anger behind that smile.

"Hello to you too, sister, how are you doing?" I tried to play dumb.

"Cid tell me. How important a reason should there be for skipping dinner with your winner-sister? She came closer, and I became more scared.

"W-well, you know, I was robbed and beaten!" I made it up as I went along.

"Is it true? What a shame! The only interesting thing is that your clothes look completely normal and there are no signs of beatings on you." I didn't see this coming.

"Y-yes, I was just already cured and changed my clothes." I'm still trying to survive.

"I think we need to go to that doctor and ask him to cure you again." My sister put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

"W-why? I'm completely healthy..." I realized what was about to happen to me.

"I doubt it!" I felt a blow to my groin and then they dragged me to my room. I'll probably be in pain for the rest of the evening.

Since then, I have tried not to ignore my sister's requests or at least think through better excuses.