Chapter 148: Unexpected Help
"Haah… Hahh… Hahh…" Two girls, one clad in red and another clad in green, breathes heavily due to exhaustion as their enemy, Astaroth, merely toyed with them due to being stronger and more experienced in combat.
"Aki-chan… What should we do?" The green one, Shiina Green, asks her companion.
"Nothing we can do but keep fighting…!" The red one, Aki Red, responds to her friend with determination still burning in her eyes, ready to fight to the death.
"Admirable courage. But courage alone won't save you. Have you seen the zombies upstairs? Occult Killer-sama will turn you all into his zombie minions after I kill you." Astaroth taunts with grin as he approaches them with his axes in his hands.
The two girls braces themselves for death before they felt another presence approaching at rapid speed.
"Aki-chan… this is…!"
"What the…!?"
Before Aki Red could finish her sentence, a familiar figure stood in front of them, confronting Astaroth.
"Y-You are…!?" Astaroth's expression turned from menacing to fear the instant he laid his eyes on that figure.
"Because you killed my brother!"
The blue haired girl with blue frilly uniform reminiscent of Mahou Shoujos shouts with hatred and sadness in her eyes. Ohhh… I like this.
"Ha ha ha ha! I've robbed many people of brothers over the years. You're gonna have to be more specific if you want me to remember him."
"I'll make you remember… HAAAAA!" She shouts once more as she charged in with her naginata. I commanded my undead minions to back off and give us some space as I engage her in close combat by turning my staff into a scythe by conjuring a curved magic blade from its tip.
*BLAANGG!*
Our weapons clash… blade with blade, though mine is obviously superior.
"Huh!?" She gasps as she makes a face like she just found out that the rock she is trying to cut down is actually a mountain.
"How feeble." I mutter as I push her weapon away and go for a slash with my scythe. She dodges my strike by leaning backwards and jumps back to retrieve her weapon quickly. Heh heh heh. How fun. I admit that I didn't have much hope for a bunch of magical girls who are unskilled at wielding magic but she is more skilled in martial arts than I thought.
I charge forward with a downward strike. She dodges once again because she knows that the blade of my scythe will still reach her even if she blocks it from the staff. She also knows that even if she manages to block the blade itself, she won't be strong enough to push me back, not to mention how hard it is to block a curved blade. Her best bet would be to…
*SHWIIING!*
Deflect it by letting my scythe slide against the blade of her naginata. But are you sure that's wise? To you etherite might be the strongest material currently on Earth but even mythril, which is ten times stronger than etherite, would have a hard time defending against my magic, you know?
"Tch!" She grits her teeth as she sees the damage done to her naginata, a slight scratch that looks melted down. Still, she was able to prevent the worst damage by avoiding too close of a contact with my scythe's magic blade.
"Haaa!" She charges again. So, best defense is a good offense, eh? Hoping to put pressure on me with your assault so I won't do the same to you?
She went for a horizontal slash… but feints the strike and goes for a thrust attack instead. My experience fighting Shadow makes dodging the thrust simply by tilting my head a child's play.
*SHWIIING!*
"Oh?" Instead of retracting her weapon back, she kept going, launching numerous thrusts with her naginata. One strike even scratched my skull mask, though it didn't even left a dent.
Come to think of it, her thrusts seem to aim for my head. How wise of you to aim for the head. But will it do you any good? We shall see.
*CLANG!*
I intentionally let her strike my head… and her blade simply bounced against my skull mask. The flimsy material in the blade gave in to the previous damage and snaps.
"Wha…!" She looked at her bladeless naginata in disbelief.
"How feeble. From your strength to your equipment. And you think you can defeat me with this!?" I say while applying some pressure on her with my aura, filling her with dread. She still stood bravely before me even then though, still gripping that worthless weapon.
"I… I…" She tries to speak but the words won't come out of her mouth as scared as she is.
Now this is getting disappointing. I had such high hopes for you as entertainment. Too bad.
"With such feeble attempts, you will never avenge your nameless brother's death. Now, allow me to reunite you both." I say as I raise my scythe, about to reap her soul like a grim reaper. I obviously lied about reuniting her with her brother. Her soul will become a mere material to me.
"O-Onii-chan…!" She cries while closing her eyes, bracing herself for death.
….
I stopped. Why… Why did those words stop me? Just like back when I was about to execute Delta… the image of my sister Charlotte flashes to my brain.
Just as I thought. She is still my weakness. A weakness that I have to rectify soon… Starting with this worthless creature.
"Huh?" She opens her eyes and finds out that she's not dead yet. She looks up in confusion.
"You…!?" She widens her eyes, which starts to tear up.
I was about to continue… until I sensed the arrival of the fourth intruder… accompanied by the other two.
"Mari-chan!" The red haired one shouts as she ran into the great hall with her green haired friend.
"Aki-chan! Shiina-chan! You're alive!"
"Yeah! We managed to defeat Astaroth with… her help. But he escaped though." The red haired one, Aki Red as she is called, says as she glanced to the familiar blonde haired elf who saved them from Astaroth. And do I spy my magic bag? She must've stolen it from my lab.
"She's…!" Mari Blue looked at No. 001 in disbelief, as if she's seeing a ghost.
"The Original Knight, yes. It's hard to believe but… she saved us." The green haired one, Shiina Green, says.
"…" The aforementioned Original Knight merely stares at me with a slight frown wordlessly.
"Good to see you again, my beloved No. 001. How fares your journey to another world?" I say to No. 001 in the language of the other world. The three magical girls, who obviously couldn't understand what I said, could only watch.
"Not as horrible as what you've done to this world."
"Ha ha ha! Oh I'm about to do more. And I'll have you watch and admire my villainy up close."
"There's nothing to admire about the horrible things you've done!" She exclaims as she brandishes her black slime sword from her pocket. Ah, she must've stolen some of the slime sample I took from her previous outfit.
"Heh heh heh. Being repulsed and terrified of my evil deeds is exactly how you admire it." I say as I ready my scythe, waiting for her to make a move.
…
"Is Shadow here… in this world?" She asks one last time.
"Maybe he is… maybe he isn't. Who knows."
"Is that's so? Good to know." She says before enveloping herself with draconic aura, creating a pair of wings made of pure magic, just like what she did when she fought me in my Don Jon disguise.
But instead of charging forward like I expected her to, she starts to generate purple fog out of her mouth. This purple fog… no… mist… is poisonous. And I know where it came from.
"Ah… I see you've made contact with the Mist Dragon. So that's how you've learned this draconic power." I say as the purple mist, obviously not affecting me in the slightest, starts to envelop the great hall, obscuring my vision. It seems that she has regained her cool and decided to retreat instead of insisting on killing me even though she is incapable of doing it. To honor her newfound intelligence, I decided to let her escape through the mist along with the three magical girls.
"Mark my words, No. 001. When I am finished with Oriana, Midgar… and the Rounds… Alexandria will be next! Heh heh heh." I gave her some ominous words as I watch her escape through the front door after hacking through my undead minions surrounding the great hall.
A mistake. I've exposed Alexandria as the base of Shadow Garden by using the Mist Dragon's mist breath on him… but I have no other choice. I doubt I could escape without it… though… did he deliberately allow me to escape? If Shadow was unaffected from it years ago I doubt that a monster of Necromancer's calibre could be deterred by my mist, which is still weaker than the Mist Dragon's on account of my lack of draconic nature.
After searching for them for several days, I finally found robed men with skull masks and followed them to their lair… which is a lot easier to find than Necromancer's headquarters in my world. Even the entry is unrestricted by teleportation gates, though I obviously still couldn't enter through the front gate.
In order to obtain information, I sneaked into the place by following these three girls through the tunnels without them noticing by erasing my aura and presence. I was about to retreat when I felt Necromancer's presence upstairs but… perhaps out of gratefulness for them leading me here and due to my desire for companionship (these last few days of roaming alone in a ruined world is quite maddening) I decided to save them and escape together using the mist breath I learned from the Mist Dragon. It was a mistake that led to the exposure of Alexandria… but I have no intention of blaming these girls for it.
I dragged the three girls who are dressed in red, green and blue before they become the next victim of Necromancer's evil out of my own free will.
「これは賢明だと思いますか、マリちゃん？彼女は始まりの騎士ですよね？」They speak in language that I am unable to understand on account of being foreign to this world… but from their expressions I can see that they are terrified, relieved and confused at the same time.
I wish could communicate with them so I can gather information from them.
"Hm?" The blue one tugs at my white robe, pointing her finger to me and motioning me to come with them while smiling.
"You want me to come with you? Very well." I say… even though I know they won't understand a word.
I decide to come with them to gather as much information as I can.
"Are you sure this is wise, Mari-chan? She's THE Original Knight, you know?" Aki-chan asked me while whispering. You don't have to worry about her hearing, you know? I doubt she understands us.
"I don't think she's the Original Knight. Back in that great hall she spoke with the Occult Killer in some… foreign language. And she also didn't seem to understand Japanese."
"How did you know that?"
"She barely responds to a word we're saying and only responds to gestures."
"Do you know what language they were speaking in?"
"No clue. Doesn't sound like any language I've heard."
"Well… Whatever. I'll trust your judgement, Mari-chan."
"Even after I've almost led you both to your deaths?"
"Heh. I'd gladly die for you, Mari-chan!" Aki-chan says such horrible thing nonchalantly as if talking about a joke. It's not funny at all.
"I'd appreciate it if you value your life more, Aki-chan."
"I know. But I value yours higher, Mari-chan. You saved my life after all."
"Geez. There's no arguing with you about this!"
"Ha ha ha! You know me too well, Mari-chan!" She laughs as I pout at her.
"A ha ha ha… So… Shall we bring her to Akihabara?" Shiina-chan says to change the topic.
"Yes, we shall. Hopefully she can help us fight the Occult Killer."
"I see…. Nee… Mari-chan. Did you find what you were looking for?" Shiina-chan asks cautiously. Aki-chan also pays close attention to me, eager to hear my reply.
"Yes… I did."
Author's Note:
Alpha finally makes another contact with other characters. Being The Lonely in Shadow must be maddening.
Translation of the Japanese line above: "Are you sure this is wise, Mari-chan? She's THE Original Knight, you know?"
A bit late update due to me taking a little break from writing. Might take another if I'm not really feeling it.
Also, I forgot to announce on FFN that I've written the prologue side story for this fanfic called "Records of the Seven Wraiths". It will focus on the Seven Wraiths similar to the Seven Shades Chronicles from the Master of Garden game. That side story will have slower update because I'm focusing on the main story.
And… some of you may have known about a shameless plagiarist stealing this fanfic and posting it on Webnovel and P*treon, renaming the fanfic as "Serial Killer In 'The Eminence in the Shadow'". If you can please report it. Otherwise, don't support it. They only promise up until 30 chapters on while you can read over 100 chapters ahead for free here.
Guest: "Because you killed my brother!"
"I've killed many brothers. You'll have to be more specific." or alternatively, "Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"
Answer: Exactly.
TheVirtualPug: Siscon Claude... I need
Answer: Siscon Claude strikes again in this chapter. I hope you can bear with me with this one for a little while longer…
borregodillon9: Potential sister for necromancer one of them as to go old or new Permanently
Answer: *thinking_emoji*
DerTrap: There are so many ideas about different ships, even though there is only one supreme and true ship, Necromancer x Shadow! Just like Batman and Joker, they need each other. Otherwise they would be way too bored, without someone who can seriously challenge the other.
Answer: Indeed. Just look at how bored Necromancer is!
vikinggold32: Ugh I seem to have forgotten a few things, that's Akane. Lol
Btw can necromancer create homunculus? I think it would be cool if loyal followers like Astaroth had their souls transferred to more powerful bodies, loyal servants.
Answer: Necromancer can create homunculus.. and he already used it on stronger servants.
yoksana980 (Chapter 78: Something Missing): Sherry really star to get in my nerves
Answer: Can't blame her for getting in the way of harems. She's a girl with low self esteem and now she has to defend her lover from women that she perceives as more beautiful than her, who could've seduced her beloved Claude.
mohammadalibrahem27: theomniousrain someone is posting your fanfic on webnovel under thhe name of (serial killer eminence in the shadow)
Answer: Thanks for reporting. I've tried some stuff to get it taken down, including DMCA. Hope they work.
yoksana980 (Chapter 124: Overture for the Queen): There is a bullshit that soo annoying ohhh i can smell him he here ooo I smell him hi necromancy…he created soo many spells but can't do something about his smell…fuck off how is this make sense
yoksana980 (Chapter 125: A Sonata for the Queen): …so he can erese his scent but didn't…
Answer: I don't want him to be a Mary Sue who perfectly solves every single potential problem he has. I want him to have some flaws too, thatt's why there are some things he ignored.
yoksana980 (Chapter 147: Doomsday Cult Headquarters): Wtf…I caught up with author…when how and why
Answer: Thanks for reading all the way to the previous chapter. Hope you'll continue reading. _
Receive The Wind Humbly: Unfortunate that there's a shameless thief on webnovel stealing your workprofiting off of it.
Answer: Yeah unfortunate indeed. Not only they shamelessly steal my work, they profited from it through P*treon and even delete some reviews and comments exposing their thieving nature on top of pretending to be the author in the replies. Still, Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery as they say.
Guest: I wonder what will happen when Claude returns to Midgar especially with the civil war and how he will make it up to Iris, will he give her more attention
Answer: He will… though perhaps not as much as you'd expect. No intention of him creating a harem.
Imboredlmao11: Tetsuya and Cid talking on a bench about how they are living there dreams and fantasies and talking about all the forums they read to get stronger sounds like a great spin off story.
Answer: Perhaps… just like that one scene in the original Tsukihime Visual Novel where Shiki and SHIKI didn't recognize each other and just sat together chatting while drinking canned coffee? Maybe. But for now, Record of the Seven Wraiths is the only spin off I plan to write.
Imboredlmao11: This is alot of fun to read. Still a pity we likely wont ever get daily chapters again but its whatever thanks for the read again
Answer: Yeah, I've gotten busier with work this year. But I'll keep writing. Don't you worry.
choeyingtenzing8: Author do u have a discord server?
Answer: No, I don't. I usually hang out in The Eminence in Shadow discord server though.
choeyingtenzing8: Can you make a chapter explaing the mc's powers and skills
Answer: Maybe one day, when I've revealed more of his powers because he will keep growing too.
choeyingtenzing8 (Chapter 52: Memory Extraction Blunder): Kinda hoped that the mc was the one who killed the traitor maid. Maybe used her as a test subject and made her beg for her life
Answer: Gotta let Sherry get in on that villainous action too. Also to establish herself as a yandere.