A/N: I have to admit, the fight between Shadow and the three Holfort Ancestors is something I was looking forward to the most and the least. It's a cool scene that I wanted to write, but damn it's going to take a lot of skill that I'm not sure I have. It's also going to be across the entire chapter, since it's important but I feel if I have it all at the end or the beginning the rest of the chapter might be ignored. I know a couple of readers mainly pay attention to the Eminence in Shadow stuff anyway.

Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)

Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.

Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary, lover and companion to Ann and Lea. When they had returned from their adventures in ancient Midgar, all three had been attacked by the founding heirs as they all wanted Ann. To save Lea and Ann from such a fate, she teleported them away, and swapped bodies with Ann. / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.

Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou boy from Earth that would be transported to the ancient times of the current before dying at the hands of his friends due to becoming demonically possessed out of grief. / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden. / Mundane Mann, a pathetic looking sword wielder that disappeared many years ago and has returned for the Bushin festival. / Kageno of Mitsugoshi, after an argument with his parents, Cid decides to go by Kageno for a while. / Herlock Sholmes. During the trial of Leon v Holfort, Cid disguised himself as the famous detective. Most importantly, all the Shades call him some variant of "darling."

Alice [Kagenou: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden. Currently Pregnant.

Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.

Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.

Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world. Xianyun, Sword master of the far eastern kingdoms. Currently Pregnant.

Delta: Sara, certified good girl.

Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.

Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, Lili.

Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.

Charlie: Known previously as Carla Fou Wayne.

Aurora: Called Violet by Cid and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.

Other People:

Claire Kagenou: Cid's older sister and one of Leon's fiancés. Going by Nonna during her time in Alzer.

Deidre Fou Roseblade: The stereotypical haughty Ojou-Sama. One of Leon's fiancés. Going by Rogue during her time in Alzer.

Rose Oriana: Princess of Oriana. Probably the only person besides Aurora that knows Cid thinks everything is part of a game. Going by Luci in Alzer. Number 666 in The Shadow Garden.

Noelle Beltre: Beltre is a fake last name given to her after the destruction of her house. In truth, her name is Noelle Zel Lespinasse / ?

Louise Sara Rault: Currently the one and only daughter of House Rault. Also the only living child by blood following the death of her brother Leon Sara Rault. A vampire "princess" to boot. / In her previous life she was Hiro(pre-isekai Leon)'s girlfriend, Yuna. He was ready to propose but when the rumor of him being gay spread she dumped him.

Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.

-P2W/Shadow-

If Shadow had to make a comparison to the situation he is currently in, then he'd say that fighting Lea, Ann, and Mary would be like fighting three super bosses at the same time. Super bosses that were definitely meant to be fought at separate times, not together. If a game were to have the three of them fighting together like they are now, Shadow reckons the game would be called an unbalanced mess that makes Dark Souls look like a game meant for children.

Every blow that Shadow attempts to make is easily met by Lea making the same one, and unfortunately Lea has a bit of weight and height on Shadow, so his blows have a bit more force. Nothing that Shadow can't handle, but he definitely can't take this fight anything but seriously.

Lea thankfully is a bit slower than Shadow, especially whenever his buffs from Ann end for a split second. But even when Shadow lands a hit, any damage dealt is just healed away.

I'm not seeing my win condition here yet. Thought Shadow. Usually when fighting a super boss you'd be able to learn the patterns and exploit a weakness. But the super boss learned all of my patterns and is using it against me to the point that I can't do anything. If anything, I'm starting to feel myself breaking a sweat for once. It's thrilling, as I've always wanted to have a challenge like this, but now that I got it it's also a bit annoying.

Shadow obviously has tried to go after the healers first, but Lea is there at every turn. It's admirable how easily he can defend his wives, but again, it's a bit annoying to not be able to do anything in this situation. But, Shadow knows that this fight can be won. He doesn't have anything to base that idea off of, but he still somehow knows.

He also knows that it's going to take a while.

-Leon-

I have to admit, I really didn't expect for Noelle to have feelings for me. Much less that everyone else learned first, and then did their best to help her realize them. I honestly thought she was just really happy to have a new friend besides Jean.

I said as much to Livia and Angie a couple of minutes ago, and that led to them laughing for the past few minutes.

"Are you done?" I asked.

Livia kept giggling, but Angie managed to get her laughter under control.

"A-apologies but… *snnrk*" Angie couldn't help but snort and go back to laughing her shapely butt off.

I walked over to her and started to pinch her face. "What happened to the young daughter of the duke? Who is this woman laughing at me without a care in the world?"

"Your wife." Cheerfully answered Angie.

I nodded sadly. "Ah, so this is my fault."

"Like always." Replied Angie with a smile.

"Hey!"

Angie went back to laughing at me. Unable to do anything I knelt down and started speaking to the child growing in her stomach. "You're not going to laugh at me too, are you?"

Since the girls are both about 3-4 or so months along, I get a kick in response.

…

Wait a second.

"D-did you feel that?" I asked Angie, who even though she had been tearing up from laughter earlier, she is now tearing up from being moved.

"Y-yes…" whispered Angie.

Livia bounded over next, forcing a hand to her stomach. "Hey, try with our kid next!"

I put my other hand on her stomach and spoke softly, figuring Livia's child would probably be a bit fragile too. "Hey kiddo, can you hear daddy?"

Like magic, and honestly it felt more magical than any lightning bolt I've casted, my kid with Livia responds as well. It's not as noticeable as my child with Angie's response, but it's there.

I hug both women as best I can while I kneel on the floor.

"It's hard to believe this is real sometimes." I admitted.

"I know." Replied Livia.

"Although with a human growing inside of me, I thankfully have something constantly reminding me." Snarked Angie.

I humed as I got up. "You know, I'm curious, what's that even feel like?"

Angie shrugged, "I'm not really sure how to describe it honestly. When they're calm it's like a bunch of butterflies fluttering in there. When they're more active it's like a hedgehog rolling around."

I winced. "I feel like I should apologize or something."

"*Giggle* for what?" asked Livia as she kissed me on the cheek, "Love, both of us wanted this."

"Love?" I asked.

"Well, since all of Cid's wives call him 'darling' I thought we should come up with a nickname for you. I mean, I used to use 'senpai' but that was kind of Mary's thing with Lea so…" Said Livia bashfully as she poked her fingers together. "I thought it was nice since it started with an L… do you like it?"

"It's adorable." I answered. Although I kept it to myself that it reminded me that I was in a very European styled country in this life time.

In any case, I now had something to do.

"Hm? Love, are you going somewhere?" asked Livia.

I smiled, "I'm going to brag to everyone" I turned to the side and saw Luxion floating by. "Luxion! Where's Cid, I need to celebrate with someone."

[Unfortunately, it would appear that the elf lover had already went back to Alzer. The reason why was not revealed to me, so I cannot speak more on the subject.]

"Aw." I said, sulking a bit. I then brighten up. "Welp, guess I got to go scream from the rooftops."

"Wait."

"Love, no!"

"Too late!" I cackled as I ran outside, knowing the two wouldn't be able to keep up. Unfortunately, I was going to have to go back to Alzer pretty soon as I had handled most of what I needed to here, so I wanted to enjoy the time I had with my wives and fiancés here as much as possible and let them know that I loved them as much as possible.

-Shadow-

After another hour of the back and forth going nowhere, I made a sudden realization as Lea punched me in the face.

If he knows everything that I taught him to do, and everything I used to do, then I only have one option: I need to come up with something new.

First off, since I'm in my slime suit, I should put away the blade.

As I do, I see Lea raise a brow, backing off a bit to try and figure out what I'm about to do. To be honest, I'm not sure either. But that just means that they won't be able to tell either.

So I carefully approach Lea once more, dodging a couple of spells from Ann and Mary that threatened to melt the slime suit right off, and went in for a punch. Only, as soon as I started to extend my arm, I shifted the slime into a blade, forcing Lea to dodge even more than he usually would.

But I'm not done. I quickly shift the single blade being extended into a scythe like shape, which allows me to actually hook Lea with my next strike and then quickly toss him towards Ann. She moves to catch him and I move to go after Mary. Mary does her best to use her chains on me when I get too close but I just grab them instead.

"That only works once." I declared as I pulled the staff towards me and kneed Mary in the stomach. I then made the slime grow with the hit to force Mary to let go of her staff. I felt a presence behind me so I immediately pulled a reversal spin.

This allowed me to go behind Lea as he tried to hit me, but he was smart enough to not fully extend so he pulled a reversal as well to go behind me, but I couldn't allow that so I pulled another reversal and went behind again, but as expected of Lea he wasn't done and pulled a reversal, so I clearly had to respond and pull another reversal—

-P2W-

Alpha calmly sorts through paperwork as Epsilon kneels in seiza on the floor with several stone blocks on her legs. Epsilon's subordinates are also next to her, although they're doing their best to not cry as their pain tolerance is much lower than their boss's. Unfortunately for the trio, Beatrix had gone out with Iris for the day, so everything is currently being handled as a Shadow Garden matter.

"So," began Alpha after having said nothing to the trio besides commanding them to add a brick to their legs. "Remind me, what was it that we agreed upon for your test?"

Epsilon attempted to open her mouth but one side eyed look from Alpha told her to not even dare.

"Because I recall that I said to find a way to calmly fight her." Said Alpha, as she pat Delta's head a bit too roughly. Delta, meanwhile, was too scared of Alpha's current tone of voice to say anything. "I did understand you wanted to do so as Lady Epsilon, and I agreed to that. But why did you take out your scythe? No, actually, why did you even fight her yourself?"

Epsilon tried to look down in shame, but she suddenly felt her slime suit force her to look up.

"Did I say you could look away?" said Alpha with the tone of a stern mother that made everyone in the room nervous. "I agreed to you taking Kai and Omega because I had assumed that you'd simply make the two of them do the actual fighting. Alexia, despite having grown considerably, is only as strong as one of our numbers."

Little known fact, but for the most part the shadow garden's unnamed numbers could be easily sorted by strength by the number they had when they joined. It's simply the matter of experience and more time in training that separates them. Each batch of 100 is roughly one tier above the other.

Alexia, despite being mainly self-taught, would be roughly in the same tier as the unnamed numbers of shadow garden 200-300. Nothing one could laugh at but still leagues behind the Seven Shades.

Epsilon, desperate to defend herself, tried to speak up. "Um, I know I got a little heated by seeing her sword style, but at least we know about His Highness' mana eating sword…?"

Alpha put down the papers on her desk and turned fully to Epsilon. Epsilon hadn't felt so afraid since the time she first contracted possession.

"Ah, yes. I should thank you for that, is that what you're saying?" asked Alpha.

Epsilon decided to keep her mouth shut. Several maids that were in the room knelt in fear. Kai and Omega started to silently sob.

"You know, despite the fact that His Highness had informed Darling of the mana eating sword during his plans to fight Lord Shadow, when was it… Last December!" At Alpha's raised voice Delta immediately dropped to the floor in the pose of submission, and several of the maids followed suit. "Oh, and obviously Alexia would have a sword style similar to Darling, they both use the Ordinary Style!"

Epsilon started tearing up this time.

Alpha sighed and got up, not walking much further than her own desk due to the child growing in her belly robbing her of most of her mobility. She leaned against her desk as she looked at Epsilon once more. "I had let you be the one to fight Alexia as I figured one of us would want to eventually. I figured that you would be the least likely, aside from myself, to fly off the handle and cause any serious damage. Could you imagine if Delta had fought her? There wouldn't have been any survivors left. His Highness would've declared war on the Shadow Garden!"

The hands Alpha had clinging onto her desk immediately clenched so hard that she broke off to chunks of wood with a loud *CRUNCH* sound echoing through the room.

Alpha sighs once more as she lets go of the chunks of desk in her hands. "You do understand that now that his highness thinks us an actual threat, rather than a possible one, he is going to develop more weapons in response to us?"

The thought was pretty startling to everyone in the room. Although a normal mana coated sword could cut through Epsilon's fake breasts, it definitely wouldn't be able to do so to her weapon. The fact that Leon could do so with a weapon he only had just-in-case, is rather worrying. Thankfully, Leon would likely relay how said items worked to Cid, if only slightly, but as of now Cid is currently out with no one having a way to contact them.

Meaning that if they ever needed to fight his highness' faction for any reason, things may quickly turn lethal despite both groups not really wanting it to come to that.

"So, what's the verdict? Do you approve of her?" Alpha asked but not really considering the terrifying smile on her face. "Because by your own test's standards I likely would've approved."

Epsilon just nods. Alpha inwardly rolls her eyes, knowing she would've been displeased with either outcome, and the fact that Alexia is likely going to visit her soon given she's met all of the others.

"You're leaving for Oriana tomorrow, correct?" Epsilon nodded to Alpha's question. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do. Kai. Omega."

""Sir, Yes Sir!"" shouted both women.

"Omega, you repair my desk. Kai, you help Epsilon pack for tomorrow. Epsilon?" For a brief moment, Epsilon thought her punishment was over. She was wrong. "Raise both your arms above your head." Epsilon followed her directions. "Now keep them like that until you leave tomorrow."

Epsilon, Kai, and Omega all immediately got to work, not wanting to make things worse by sticking around. As she exited, Epsilon found herself followed by most of the maids that were still conscious. No one commented on Epsilon sniffling as she left given that most of them wanted to cry as well.

As soon as they all left, Gamma had walked in right after, Nu accompanying her until she saw Delta and then walked right back out. Alpha had simply figured she saw the broken desk and wisely decided to leave.

Gamma walked up to Alpha and gave her a brief peck on the lips in greeting. "I hope you weren't too rough on her dear. With how close you are to the delivery you may be…"

"Hormonal? Full of mood-swings?" questioned Alpha sarcastically.

"Something like that." Confirmed Gamma. Alpha began pouting at this so Gamma kissed her again.

Outside, Nu found herself confronted with a large red gate.

"Ah, Nu!" called out Beta, sticking her head out of the gate. "Just the person I was looking for!"

"Lady Beta… What is this?" asked Nu.

Beta shrugged, "It's one of darling's gates. He gave me a couple of gems that he put the magic for it in case of an emergency. Now, hurry. I need your help for a mission."

"Is lady Delta coming?" asked Nu.

"No." answered Beta.

Nu immediately leapt through.

-Shadow-

I continued to do my best to use my slime suit to its full potential. In some ways it felt as though I was trying to fight using the venom symbiote with how I wasn't only fighting using my arms and legs, but also with several tendrils I had coming out of my back. I couldn't do much other than push them around and interrupt spells with this approach, but it was really all I needed.

This approach of fighting Lea upfront and using the tendrils to fight Mary and Ann was doing me massive favors, making me feel like I finally chose the right build.

For phase one of this boss fight.

See as I was getting in some blade combos on Lea, using the tendrils to throw his lovers around the room so they wouldn't spam the fireballs and laser pillars like they had been, I suddenly felt my slime suit acting weirdly.

And then Lea smiled. He rose high into the air and I was suddenly reminded of the fact that he had used the reinforcing strings like I do to pull off 'I AM ATOMIC.' I had mistakenly thought that he had been using it to reinforce himself and boost his output, but as he raises his arm above him, the strings rearrange themselves so that they resemble a bird cage above us and a magic circle forms beneath us, making us rise high above the platform we'd been fighting on.

"There is so much more to lose than you realize." Declared Lea. As he did, I felt the slime vacate my body, leaving just enough so that I'd still have a blade in hand.

The slime then had light surround it, and I dreaded that Minoru might be summoned in front of me, but it was worse actually—a male elf with black hair and blue eyes wearing an outfit a lot like Leon's Holy Knight garb formed in front of me.

"Hello Minoru." greeted the lad as he reached out a hand to me, "I'm Makoto. Do you remember me?"

"What, are you one the children I saved?" I asked, knowing already that it was wrong.

Makoto chuckled and then reached out a hand to me, "No. I am your child."

I suppose that's why I feel proud of this weird reveal.

Also explains the way the slime had been acting all those months back.

Makoto formed a blade in front of him, and then readied himself in the Ordinary style. Aw, did he learn it because I knew it?

Unfortunately, I don't have time to process what's happening as Makoto immediately charges in to fight me.

"Frei!" shouted Makoto, creating a small orb of nuclear energy beside me that I had to quickly side step. However, being not only my child but also Olly's he follows up by jumping up and slamming a blade into the ground, creating a wave of energy that I have to roll to dodge given the speed.

"Is it weird that I'm proud of you?" I asked as I shoulder checked him. "I feel like it's a bit too late to say."

Makoto quickly gets up to his feet and begins to exchange blows with me next. "It makes me happy either way father."

"Aw, that's nice." I said kept up all of my swings. Makoto was a good blend of both Olly and my styles, with a clear influence from Lea who probably had to raise him for a bit considering that as I recalled, Olly and I were more clones of ourselves than real people. "I'm afraid of finding out more though, so I'm going to need you to turn back into my suit."

"Make me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Hitting that rebellious phase a bit too soon."

"Forgive me if I'm blazing through my childhood." Said Makoto with a smile that made me a little sad to see. "You missed all of it, you see."

…

Okay that hurt more than the stab he gave me after.

-P2W-

The Six Great Houses, Three Tower Leaders, Claire and Deirdre, and several other nobles were gathered at a party venue to celebrate the imminent restoration of the Seventh House. Although Claire and Deirdre were here on behalf of Leon and Noelle, the party was for all intents and purposes being held behind their backs. After all, after everything that had been happening recently, the power dynamics of the houses needed to be reassessed.

Also here was Leila, who wore a fine dress, accompanying Emile as his partner.

"It's hard to believe a house with no people coming to life over a bet caused so much stir." Murmured Leila.

Emile smiled wryly. "True enough, but it should be considered that House Rault and Granze had thrown in their lot willingly for the restoration. With house Fievel and Barielle being forced to support it, and then the white tower's support being bought, people need to reconsider what's happening. Even if the house just ends up collapsing underneath its own weight, the fact that so many things are moving means people can't sit on the issue."

"Mhm." Leila wasn't too interested in that. What concerned her more was one specific love interest who would be present at the event.

I really screwed things up. Since Loic always got so jealous over other boys, I didn't let Noelle get close to the other love interests. Now that's come back to bite me in the butt. Thought Leila.

In the otome game, Loic was extraordinarily possessive. If the player was too free with their affections, it would anger him and result in a bad ending. That was why Leila had kept her sister from meeting the prerequisites for triggering the route for Hugues (and Hugues' obsession with his brother.)

Hugues stood next to his brother across the room. The top buttons of his suit left open, tie hanging loose. He had the same golden-blond hair as his older brother Fernand, though he let his grow longer. His green eyes hung half-lidded with boredom, but he was a handsome man by any definition. He did look a bit like a delinquent, but that was part of his charm in Leila's eyes.

He may be way to fixated on his brother, but I still should have picked him over Loic. I guess it's too late to regret that now though. Bemoaned Leila inwardly.

The player had to meet the prerequisites for the Hugues route early on or they would lose the opportunity, and he would instead become engaged to Louise. Unbeknownst to Leila, the latter step had been cancelled upon the revelation that Albergue's daughter had a chance with a foreign king, but it didn't change the fact that at this point Hugues was definitely a lost cause.

Desperate to find something to talk about with his girlfriend, Emile started babbling. "Uh… it's kind of surprising to see all the house leaders in one place."

"Didn't you say this was a big event?" questioned Leila.

"Y-yes. It is, but also… from what I've heard normally only financial things get them to meet like this. Especially publicly." Said Emile.

"Don't you guys get along well or something?" asked Leila. Which was true, as everyone in the houses were well acquainted with well another.

As the two attempted a conversation, mostly just Emile, Louise had floated over. In response, Leila had tried to hide behind Emile.

"Hello Emile, I'm surprised to see you brought Leila." Said Louise in greeting.

Emile hesitated, "Um… are you okay? You seem a bit… worse for wear."

"Oh just some sword and magic training getting out of hand." explained Louise. "If I'm going to win the affection of The Bloody Crown Prince then I ought to build up some skill and durability."

As the two talked, Louise eventually decided to include Leila.

"Have you heard from your sister? Has she been enjoying her time in Holfort?" asked Louise, who had been updated on Noelle's recent relationship status change.

"Uh… yeah?" said Leila, trying to just end the conversation.

Louise smiled. "I see. Well, Emile, you seem to cherish this girl so much. You had best take care of her."

Emile stood a little straighter. "Yes ma'am."

With that, Louise floated away.

Leila sighed, "that sounded so sarcastic. I'm sure she really wanted to say I don't belong in a place like this."

Emile tilted his head. "You think so? It sounded to me like she was being sincere. Besides, Louise has always been very kind."

"What part of that woman is kind? You know how much she's picked on my sister—it's practically part of her daily routine."

"Y-yeah, but I've known her for a long time."

Emile's attitude frustrated Leila. Is this the type of guy he is? If we get married, will he still put his house before me and leave me to fend for myself? It made her anxious about the future.

Ignorant of her inner thoughts, Emile kept his eyes on Louise, who seemed to be enjoying herself in conversation. His eyes filled with sadness. "After her younger brother died, she was inconsolable. She may look fine now, but it was heartbreaking to watch her back then."

"Her younger brother? What?" Leila's face screwed in though. He's talking like she has some other sibling besides Serge.

Loic arrived at the venue belatedly and made his way over to the drinking table with Hugues. Leila had dragged Emile over so they could listen in secret. As far as Loic knew, he was alone with Hugues. And as far as Leila knew, Beta and Nu weren't anywhere close to her, taking notes over her appearance and actions.

"Hugues, there's something important I need to speak with you about. I would like you to summon Lord Fernand for me."

"My brother? Do you know what you're asking? Our houses are at odds right now."

"That's completely contingent upon present circumstances, isn't it? Besides, Druille only stand to benefit from what I have to say."

As Leila listened in, Loic shot a sharp look her way. She hurriedly averted her gaze and turned toward the exit.

"Emile, I need to go get some air."

"Huh? Oh, o-okay."

Beta and Nu secretly trailed after Leila as she nervously went to the bathroom to try and comfort herself. After taking some deep breaths and fixing her makeup, Leila would exit only to find Loic waiting for her by himself.

"Hey there, Leila."

"Loic." She glared at him, but it seemed to have little effect.

He smiled at her. "Hey now, no reason to get so hostile. I just had something I wanted to talk about."

Leila leveled a flat stare in his direction. "Noelle. Look, she's made it clear that she—"

"I know that. I'm the one at fault."

"What?"

Loic looked genuinely repentant, contrary to how stubborn and insistent he'd been up until this point. "It was my fault for coming on a bit too strongly. That's why I want to enlist your help."

"Are you really serious?"

"Of course I am. I don't want to scare Noelle. I simply want to be in a loving relationship with her, like the one you share with Emile. No, sorry, that's an understatement. I want really want to commit to her."

His playful attitude coaxed Leila into gradually lowering her guard. "What are you planning?"

The mirth in Loic's eyes faded as he turned serious. "Do you really think that this house restoration is going to have no consequences?"

Leila held her breath. It's one thing to dismiss something that wasn't supposed to happen in game because no one really asked for her help or opinion, but now that it's being shoved in her face…

As panic started to overcome her, Loic placed a hand on her shoulder to console her.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you. The reason I want Emile's help is because there are people out there who are after you and your sister."

Someone was targeting them? Leila could easily guess who that might be. "House Rault?"

Beta and Nu rolled their eyes. If it wouldn't have made a sound they would have smacked their foreheads and groaned as well.

"That's right." Said Loic. "It will prove difficult to take down the current chairman, but my house will back and protect you both. To be honest, there's no way any of us can give up Noelle now that she's the priestess. Leila, I want you to help me. I swear I won't make the same mistake this time."

"Huh?"

"If Noelle picks me as her Guardian, House Barielle will provide you both with its protection. You'll lend me a hand, won't you?" Even though Loic's troops had failed contain Leon, Leon is an outlier. The truth is their protection from the rest of the houses is nothing to laugh at.

Nonetheless, Leila's head was spinning. "S-sorry, I'm a little confused right now."

"Apologies. Perhaps I was a bit hasty. Regardless, if anything happens, I hope you'll turn to me for help."

Leila gave him a small mod and watched as he turned and left. So he's finally cooled his head. Maybe my sister will actually…

Now that Loic had his act together, she might actually be able to convince to Noelle to go for him instead of sharing the guy from Alzer.

While Leila had been going back to Emile in the party, Beta and Nu had deigned to follow Loic. As unlike Leila they possessed brains. Something only proven by the fact that after he turned his back to Leila, an eerie grin grew across Loic's face.

Noelle, thought Loic, only a little bit longer and you'll finally be mine.

He had calmed down, yes but only because he had finally thought up a sure fire plan to get his hands on Noelle. His status had been an obstacle up until this point—small though he thought it—and it hadn't helped Noelle refused him at every turn. Now, with her being the priestess being a factor, he had every reason to try and make her his.

And it all would begin with the collar in his possession. Were Beta and Nu not trained to hide their emotions, they'd be gasping in shock at the sight of the slave collar in his hands. Therianthropes are often taken in as slaves but they're paid, in nearly every country on the planet the slave collars have been banned. For Loic to have one, and his intentions clear on who he wants to use it on, Beta could only feel disgust at the thing calling itself Noelle's sister.

Sensing a presence approaching, Loic quickly plastered a more socially appropriate smile on his face.

"Loic, it's been a while. You certainly have grown." Said Fernand as he strolled up with Hugues close behind him.

"You say that every time we see each other."

The two shook hands, and Fernand smiled.

"It's a stock phrase. I hope you won't hold it against me. More importantly, I heard you have something important to discuss?"

"We should find somewhere more private for this conversation. It's a delicate subject pertaining to Alzer's future."

Fernand narrowed his eyes, and Hugues quickly cut in, "Youd better not be wasting my brother's precious time."

"Enough, Hugues," said Fernand. "There's no harm in hearing him out."

Hugues scowled but didn't push the matter any further.

"Much appreciated. Now, if you will come this way…"

The three disappeared into an empty room. Well, assuming that Beta and Nu were naught but flies on the wall.

-Shadow-

SHINK*

"Hey," I said to Makoto, "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault father." He replied. "Unless you mean the sword in my stomach, then yeah you put that there."

"No not that. I meant that I couldn't raise you. Even if me and Olly were just clones I should've tried and figure out something." I said, meaning it fully. I used the hand not holding the sword impaling my kid to hug him. "Hey, since reincarnation is a thing and all, do you think I could get a second chance on raising you?"

"I'd like that. But something tells me we won't meet again for a bit."

With that, Makoto's slime body faded and turned back into my slime suit. Somehow, it felt warmer to wear this time. Although I don't have the time to reflect on that considering that Mary, the witch that she is, takes a cheap shot at me by firing a Kouagon right where I was standing. The X shape of the spell doesn't just end with the regular blast.

No, that would be too simple to be an attack from the Saintess Witch. Instead, what happens when she casts it, is that a bunch of pillars of light erupt from the ground, following the X shape laid by the original spell. On top of that, Ann also casts a holy spell, except this time its literally Divine Judgement meaning a giant gavel of light comes from the heavens and tries to hit me each time.

And of course, Lea's still here and a problem. Except this time, he's actually got his own giant 'fuck you' sword instead of some random one. Even worse, is that he keeps using this one technique where he dashes back in forth in the air while completely invulnerable.

Meaning I got Mary using a move that makes it so my movement is limited, Ann trying to smite me with God's wrath, and Lea chasing me with a move I have to wait to end just so I can hit him. I feel like a JRPG character that's waiting for a maxed out party to end their turn but they keep spamming moves that let them keep going.

It's a bit frustrating honestly. Next time I kill some bandits I'll let them have a turn, because this is how they must feel like most of the time.

-Yukime-

It's not often that I go out and meet with the House Leaders or even my fellow tower leaders. It's mostly because I make them nervous, I feel. Likely due to the fact that many of them visit my district. They always come disguised, but there's not much that can hide from senses like mine. I have to be ready shouldhe ever show up after all.

In any case, tonight was mainly dedicated to sitting down and focusing on what everyone else was doing. From what I gathered it's mostly business as usual. The Six Great Houses are doing their best to get ready for any threats before forgetting about them in the face of money.

Once everyone heard that the new house would be backed by Mitsugoshi, suddenly they were all in favor of it. I admit I'm not looking forward to Mitsugoshi setting up a location here, but I did get a contract offer from them saying they'd purchase land from me to set up one of their department stores and offer me a rental fee, as well as a percentage of the profits. I was a bit ashamed at how the percentage they offered matched last year's overall sales.

But in the end it's not as though I'm really attached to my corporation. So if this earns me more money, then I don't really care. If there is something I care about it'd have to be the movements that everyone believes they are making secretly. Three heirs went into a room by themselves, some people I do not recognize are here at the gathering, and that Vlad fellow has been eyeing everyone for reasons I can't discern.

"Good evening." A voice I'm not familiar with greets me. I turn to see a woman with golden ringlet hair accompanied by a woman with red eyes and black hair, as well as the Rault heiress. "I believe that you know us, yes?"

I chuckled, "Under which name shall I talk to you?"

"Talk to us as our hubby's wives tonight." Said Claire Kagenou. "We have some important political stuff to talk about."

"Oh? With a humble business lady such as myself?" I asked sarcastically. "I can't imagine I have much to talk about with the princess consort's of Holfort. Much less in a very public place like this."

Louise shook her head, "Unfortunately, everyone is already familiar with the identity of everyone here. There's no reason to try and hide anything. But there is something we'd like to talk to you about."

"For free? My consultations usually have a cost you know~"

Claire took a bag of money and handed it over to one of my attendants who checked it for authenticity. Once she did, I readied myself for the coming conversation.

"Right. We wanted to ask more about the Sacred Tree." Said Claire.

"Oh?" that's surprising. Given what I knew about the girls I half expected this conversation to be about tips on how to please their husband. "What do you think I know that Miss Rault here doesn't already."

"W-well aren't you… um…" Claire floundered a bit, her eyes clearly eyeing my tails.

I couldn't help but laugh at her adorableness. "I'm afraid that I'm not that much older than you Miss Claire."

Claire deflates at this, but Deirdre continues. "Perhaps age isn't a factor, but the fact is that you run one of the three current districts here. Not only that, but you run the red light district. There is no way that you don't have knowledge we may not about the given situation, and if not, you and your people could gather it."

Smart lass. "Perhaps. But why would I?"

"Why wouldn't you?" wagered Deirdre. "Is there anything that would interest you more?"

I take out my smoking pipe.

"I hear that you all have your own network of information gathering back in Holfort." I said as I take a long drag. I exhale towards the window nearby before continuing, "If I were to look into the thing you'd like me to, then I want you to do the same for something I'd been looking for."

"And that would be?" asked Claire.

"A horrible excuse of a man that goes by the name Gettan."

-Shadow-

After nearly an hour of this bullshit third phase, I came up with an idea. It's not enough to incorporate my own abilities, I should try and copy the techniques of others. If Lea could summon my son from a past life using my slime suit, and Leon could summon Lea using his armor, then why shouldn't I be able to summon someone as well?

I can't feel a connection to Violet right now, Lea and the others likely cut her off so she couldn't help me after she gave me back my slime suit, so I should try contacting someone else.

And about now, there's only one person I can contact.

Surging magic into my slime suit, I call out a name I've been very familiar with for the past few weeks.

"Olly…" I began to call out, feeling as though a thread in the back of my head was being plucked like the string on a instrument, "Please, work with me once more!"

I then felt the slime leave my body once more, but this time so did the strings that I had coated myself in. The slime morphed into a big ball in the sky, reminding me of a sun blacked out by the moon during an eclipse. Finally, as I was about to get swiped by Lea who charged in, a figure descended, breaking through Lea's seemingly invincible attack.

"Hello Dear Shadow." Greeted the woman. White hair like her demonic appearance, yet clothes matching her normal hero attire. Albeit it was black instead of the usual teals. "Fighting with Lea again?"

"I think it might be the last time, actually." I informed her. She smiled.

"One can hope."

I stood back to back with Olly as Ann, Mary, and Lea all started to surround us. It was clear, this 'conversation' was coming to an end.

-P2W-

It was late into the night now. Leila had gone to her home, not wanting to spend the night at Emile's as she enjoys not having to pretend to be nicer than she really is. She dreamt of the past. When her parents of this life were still alive.

She recalled how they would look after Noelle more than her. How they had set up a marriage for her, yet had kept Leila indoors at all times. She loved how her mother doted on her, but couldn't help but remiss how her mother would constantly elevate Noelle.

It reminded her of her past life.

In her original life, she played the sequel otome game, however, she followed the story's guide and avoided two-timing, so while she knows the proper story of the game, she never saw any of the bad ends or the events leading to them. It's why she doesn't catch onto how Loic's current actions would be rather concerning.

Growing up, she was constantly compared to her more talented older sister. In school, she confessed to a boy, but was rejected, with the boy even asking her to introduce him to her sister. Eventually she got a fiancé, who was the heir to a family owned company. Feeling that she had finally done better her sister, the girl brought her fiancé to her parent's house. However, while there, her parents asked if her fiancé was okay with her instead of her sister, and within months, the engagement was called off and he was dating her sister. When the girl voiced her feelings to her family, they waived off her concerns and she realized that they didn't really care. After this she cut ties with her family and grew to hate her sister.

Shortly after, she died, although she can't remember exactly how. She does know she has an aversion to monsters, but it's not as though she would've been able to die from a monster attack in her last life.

While Leila was having her little nightmare, bemoaning that once again her older sister would get everything: their parents' love, the status as priestess, and even a king for a fiancé on top of several others being desperate for her, two women entered her bedroom.

"Lady Beta, are you sure of this?"

"Questioning my orders?"

"Making sure I heard correctly."

"This young lady believes that Noelle deserves to be with Loic." Said Beta, "and from what we've gathered based on their relationship, she wishes that she was Noelle. We're simply going to be the fairy godmother to this wannabe Cinderella."

"But… it seems a bit cruel, no?" asked Nu as she began to apply the slime to Leila.

"Perhaps. But Noelle and his highness are going to come back tomorrow after meeting with Lady Shade. So this shouldn't be more than an important lesson."

Nu shrugged, and followed orders. Although she had been worried about several details being missing.

"Um, what do we do about her…" Nu gestured towards Leila's figure.

"Oh, Lord Shadow gave me some tips on creating what he called 'cosplay boobs.' Get the saline, and ready the magical seal." Instructed Beta.

When Leila would awake in the morning, she'd see someone else in the mirror.

"Wh-what the fuck…?" said Leila before she gasped, as her voice didn't come out either. The magical seal on her back activating to make it so her disguise would change more than appearance. Leila then also noticed the weight on her upper torso. She fondled herself, and found that she could also feel it.

She cupped herself for a bit, only interrupted by the sound of the doorbell going off.

For whatever reason, she forgot about her change in appearance, did her hair in her side ponytail, and answered the door.

"H-hello?" asked Leila.

Outside was Loic.

"Ah, Noelle. So Leila was correct, you would be here this morning." He said with a smile that Leila had never seen.

"H-huh? Wait, but I didn't-"

Loic placed a hand over her lips. "You don't need to say anything. Leila already told me that you wished to give me another shot after having your heart broken abroad. It's fine, I understand. You just needed to get it out of your system. Now, let's go on a date once more." Loic gave Leila a once over that sent shivers down her spine. "You may want to change out of those pajamas first. Here, I have brought you some clothes that would befit a woman that deserves to be at my side, none of those rags you usually don."

"Excuse me!?"

"You're excused, please hurry on. Unless…" Loic leaned in with a dangerous look, "You'd like for me to assist."

"N-no!" Leila shut the door in Loic's face. She looked into the mirror and saw once more a face that was similar to hers, but had yellow eyes and hair. "…"

Leila realized, she wasn't in her body. She didn't know where hers was, but holding the dress in her hands she remembered something. This date was on the Loic route. Maybe this is a dream, or maybe whatever reincarnated Leila into the game had finally fixed things.

"If that's the case…" said Leila. She began to get ready, not only putting on the dress, but also fixing her hair so that it'd be in the protagonist of Alto Liebe 2's signature twin tails. "I should just act this out. Noelle was probably fucking everything up so bad that the game put me in her body to fix it… right, yeah, that has to be right…"

Beta, who had been still in the house just out of Leila's field of vision, rolled her eyes once more. This girl… how could one girl be so delusional and self absorbed? She makes Princess Alexia look like a perfectly calm and collected individual.

Nonetheless, Beta resolved to follow after Leila, to see how long it would take for her to see the folly of her actions.

Ah, if only Lord Shadow were here. I wonder how long until his mission is over?

-Shadow-

Despite all my interactions with her being nothing but memories, Olly fought as though she had been by my side this entire time. When Lea tried to rush in she'd leap up to break through his attack. When Ann tried to cast divine judgement she'd take my by the arm and toss me so I could attack her with Demonic Decree. When Mary had attempted to spam Kouagon, Olivier would hit her with a Brave Blade and cut straight through the light attack.

"Ha…" Lea's chest heaved, and he had to slightly lean on his blade. We finally managed to wear him down it would seem. Although he was still fully healed thanks to his two wives it would seem. "I guess I should've figured that you two would still be a pain in the ass to fight. It was a neat trick using your connection to… Alpha, was it?"

Is that how I was able to connect to Olly even with the block Lea and them had put in? I suppose it makes sense. But if that's the case…

I put my hand over my heart once more. The magic circle we all had been standing on had swelled with a violet blue energy, and from it emerged a few more figures. 7 of them. All of my lovers from the past, including Freyja, had emerged. But strangely they couldn't talk.

"Clever of you to bring in the rest of our family, husband." Said Olly putting one hand on my shoulder before smiling sadly, "But they have all moved on for the most part. Knowing that you were able to come back to life was all most of them needed to see."

"And you?"

"How could I be content until I saw you not only alive but happy as well?"

I looked away from Olly, knowing I wouldn't make a cool expressions if I were to face her right now.

…

They moved on, huh?

"Hey, have you figured out what I wanted you to do?" asked Lea, standing at the ready. His face was determined, like that of the King he deserved to be. The one Leon is becoming.

I didn't say anything, figuring this was one of his rhetorical questions.

"It's the same thing I asked of Leon." Informed Lea. His gaze softened, and I was reminded of all the times that he offered advice as an elder. "I want my friend Minoru to stop playing his games and move on. I want Cid to live his life in full."

"Lea…" I couldn't help but feel a little touched. But… "I'm not the type to really change myself you know."

"I know that you're full of shit when you say something like that. Honestly you're like a tsundere when it comes to changing yourself, you'll say you won't but then do it in your own way later." Said Mary, once more landing a critical hit on my psyche.

Ignoring her, I take my Lord Shadow stance "No matter what anyone says to me, no matter what anyone says about me, I will not change. I only continue on my quest to become the Eminence in Shadow! I'll risk it all, I just have to reach out my hand."

"Sure sonny." Said Ann. "But will you do it as Cid, Minoru, Shadow, or someone else?"

"I'll do it as myself." I answered.

"And who is that?"

I lit a flame of violet blue mana. I then clenched it in my hand and took a deep breath. "I'm still figuring it out. But it's not going to be the same person that started these trials."

With that I dashed alongside Olly and the others once more. The girls kept Mary and Ann busy, leaving me and Olly to face Lea. Lea attempts a large swing to hit both of us, and if we had tried to block it we would've both needed to given the difference in strength. I swear that Lea has some therianthrope blood in him or something.

But Olly went high to dodge and I went low, Lea dodges our first couple of coordinated attacks, but as he moves I can see him start to falter. I believe Lea when he says he had been able to take on the demonic Minoru's. With nothing but the demonic boost to let him cast magic, Minoru likely wouldn't ever be able to truly progress as a warrior, stagnating to a point that wouldn't be able to overcome Lea's teamwork.

But now I can work alongside others, now I can use magic, now…

I can defeat Lea.

With a few feints Olly and I manage to move Lea right to where we want him. He tries to swing at us again, but we dodge it and perform a cross slash straight through him. Or rather, the strings of mana that had been coating him. With a flourish, Olly and I sheathe our weapons, and a large explosion coats the room. I feel Olly grab my hand. I see the other girls all smile and wave.

And then, when I woke up in the ship I had been sleeping in, I saw the helmet shatter.

"Goodbye you three." Said Violet. "Thanks for everything."

Not really sure what else to do, I picked up the pieces of my helmet and walked out of the room I had been in.

"Lord Shadow." Greeted Lambda. "Are you done with your meditation session?"

I used one hand to pick up Lamda's hat, lean in to kiss her forehead, and then place it back before answering. "Yeah. I'm done. By the way, how far are we from Alzer?"

"About 1 hour and a half." Answered someone else since Lambda was effectively stunned.

"Then I'm going to warp back in a bit." I said as I opened a new gate to Alexandria.

There I made my way quickly to a plot of land we kept behind the castle. It's not an area we used often, thankfully, but it is one with a lot of meaning behind it.

"Cid…" questioned Eta who had likely ran over when she saw me walk this way despite her hating running. "Did something happen…?"

I shook my head and took out the helmet.

"Just saying goodbye to a couple of people." I said.

After all, Freyja, Lea, Mary, and Ann probably all had graves. But me and the past lives of the seven shades? Their corpses had been taken and used to create clones. Clones that eventually had children, though not exactly by choice.

Eta handed me a shovel, and I started to dig, feeling that I should do this by hand instead of magic. After about 30 minutes, I placed the helmet in and covered it up. I spent one more minute just offering a silent prayer. Eta had joined me, even though I'm pretty sure she doesn't believe in that stuff.

"Thanks… don't tell anyone about this, okay?" I asked.

"Sure… but…"

"It's a lot to explain and a lot of it doesn't make sense. It's best to just let some stuff rest." I explained. Eta nodded, so I kissed her on the lips real quick.

Since I had some time, I figured I'd warp to Alpha and Gamma one more time, just to let them know I'm alive still.

"And who are you now?" asked Violet.

…

I don't know.

-Alpha-

Today I had the delight of meeting Leon's new wife, Noelle Zel Lespinasse.

She had meant to meet me yesterday if it weren't for Epsilon's attack, so it was pushed for today before they left.

I didn't have much to comment about the girl, although I did think it was rather precious how she had asked to put her head to my stomach. My child had even kicked upon feeling her.

The day had been made even better when the red gate signaling darling had opened once more. He stepped through…

But he wasn't alone.

A blonde elf had… walked? Wait, are her legs see through? What?

"Alice." Darling gave his greetings as per usual, kissing me on the lips, then my stomach. He gives a handshake to Beatrix and I look at the woman accompanying him once more. She looks familiar…

"Uh-" I try to ask darling about who the woman is but he shuts that down.

"Sorry, still busy. Just wanted to let you know I'm alright. Is Gamma here?" he asked. I nodded so he left. As he did, he closed the door behind him, cutting off the woman… who just walked right through.

…

…

"Auntie did you"

"You saw her too?"

.

.

.

A/N: Okay. That's Cid's trials done. I likely could've taken a better approach, but I wasn't sure on how to deliver on the fight so I took this one. The best way I could describe fighting Lea would be like fighting Master Xehanort, The Lingering Will, and Xion at the same time.

Now that the trials have ended here is the conclusion: Minoru's moved on, but who is Cid without him? What does it mean to be The Eminence in Shadow, when you aren't willing to give up anything precious to you?

Also, Olivier is still following Cid, and her descendants can see her. Yet it seems like Cid can't… yet. The people on QQ voted to keep her after all.

Now let's answer the didn't have any this time

SB

MWKillKenny84: Lmao yeah. Leon may have been able to fight her legitimately, but with the exploit he can skip the boss fight that would normally take an hour.

QQ

Someone ani: Delta still is the slowest of the Shades, but she's nowhere as dumb as she is in canon. Think of it like this. In canon she's 15 and therefore technically a kid/puppy. In this fic she's about 18-19 and therefore an adult/fully grown dog.

As for her magic control, I like to imagine that Cid showed her how to mess with someone's brain, and then by instinct Delta managed to delete a memory. She then realized how to do it over and over again, and it was just a skill. Since she's used to knives and art brushes, fine point attacks are probably normal for her.

BlackThief12: Alpha most likely knows, but no one else would know about that. But her encounter with her brother will be fun to do, especially since it's during the John Smith Arc.

Bladist: I'm going to assume that UE means ultimate evil? That would be fun to do, but more in the same vein of that one Silent Hill ending where the dog was behind everything.

Magic boobs? Did I miss something about Alexia? Side note: I love albino characters, has to be one of my favorite genders.

So I do like your plan for what Epsilon should've done with her unique talents. However I feel like such a scene would hit better for Alexia's character growth if it wasn't orchestrated and instead was just something she did naturally. Also, in this chapter I hopefully explained why Epsilon had been the one to fight.

I don't take any offense of course, hell, part of this was because I wanted one of the shades to fight Alexia and Epsilon was the one I had left.

I looked up what a katzbalger looked like and it looked like the random sword I saw on google images, so katzbalger it is.

I feel like with the approach I've taken already, character bloat is a bit of ship that sailed a year ago.

I plan on doing omakes next week, I might do something like what you recommended. My brain is also doing things, and I feel like writing another AU for this fic inspired by the highest dream AU in master of garden and that one "Go Go Masked Rangers" pic from the manga of Mobuseka.

Ao3

Wolfpaladin: Noelle's reaction was "Oh, this was planned for Louise, I understand then."

I didn't notice the weed thing. I must've been thinking "need" as I typed "wind" and since my mind moves faster than my hands, I messed up. I'll leave it there though. Lmao.

Delta's an interesting character to use I feel. It's also just fun to leave her as is, but since she's the only one besides Gamma who has plans to take over the world for Shadow, if you use her right she's fun. Zeta, in my opinion, thinks the world already belongs to Shadow.

Alexia's also going to be friends with Louise lol.

Man, if I could write lemons (fuck you anti nsfw bill) that test with Beta would be really fun to write.

Leila's not the best at anything really. She could've probably been a good person, but the thing is she's the type to never learn. Like you understand where she comes from but every choice she makes is just bad and gets worse.

What's funny is that Rose doesn't know about the reincarnation stuff. She wasn't a part of any of those meetings. That was her honest opinion.

Noelle is described as having the body of a model, so she likely thought herself fit. Iris, who wields a big 'fuck you' artifact sword, would probably be ripped. She probably thought Noelle was cute.

If Epsilon fought Alexia alone she would probably pull off the Arsene thing, but it could have resulted in things escalating to the point that things got lethal. Especially since Alexia often doesn't know when to not say something rude and could've pissed off Epsilon during the fight.

I never actually read JJK, just got spoiled on it. So what does getting jumped JJK style mean?

I'll handle Olivier's thing a bit differently so that I don't repeat too much, wouldn't be fun or cool that way.

Totntobt: If I knew more about Teresa I'd take that approach. As many of the ancestors don't have much characterization I kinda had to skim over it. From what we know Teresa is just Delta with a new hair cut, but we could be proven wrong.

Leila's going to go through hell and pour gasoline to try and get out.