Prologue: The Occult Killer

I've always admired villains. They are the driving force of every story. Heroes won't exist without villains and villains won't shine without heroes opposing them.

Most stories always start with villains threatening the peace of the world and heroes would rise up to defeat said evil. In most cases, the heroes win in the end. That kind of development bores me. Villains deserve to win too! That's why I prefer games where you play as the villain.

Do I really want to be a villain like the villainous characters I admired? Yes and no. I want to be cool like them but I'm too weak to become a proper villain. If I try to become a villain in real life, I'd be imprisoned or even shot dead before I can truly shine. That's a lame way to end. Totally uncool.

I also don't want to be a simple serial killer or simple thug or rapist who got nothing better to do in their lives. No. My ambition is totally higher than that.

What I want to be is a true mastermind in the shadows, someone who pulls the strings and toy with many people's lives. Perhaps to become a member or a leader of a secret organization who moves from the shadows, whose name is written in legends and whispered with fear.

What I aspire is to become the Final Boss… or perhaps the Secret Boss who is stronger than the Final Boss whose identity is hidden until several requirements are met. Yes, that's cooler.

Sadly I do not have the power to become a true villain so all I can do is play video games and tabletop RPGs to realize my fantasies. Or so you'd think. No. I never gave up. I constantly searched and searched for powers that would make me shine as a villain.

Personal power? Nope, no matter how much I trained, I'll never become superhuman, though some martial arts training won't hurt. Hence I trained under a martial artist.

Political power? I'm just an ordinary dude with no influence and rather poor family so… one would think that politics is off the table, but I heard my absent father is working on that front… However, following on his footsteps would only turn me into his pawn.

Economic power? If I'm from a rich family. But I'm from a poor family and thus it would take forever for me to independently rise to the top with the global economy being dominated by economic titans.

No, the power I need to rise to the top need be something more. I quickly came to the conclusion that the power I need is magic.

I searched the internet for ways to learn magic, tried religion, tried voodoo, tried demon summoning rituals, tried visiting supposed haunted houses to contact ghosts or whatever spirits might be there, and did research on myths and old legends and see if I can discover anything magical from them. Nothing worked.

Over the course of my research though, I noticed a peculiar individual… Kageno Minoru.

I don't normally pay attention to people around me, only treating them as background characters while I myself blend in. This Kageno guy though I can't help but notice.

Whenever I'm in the Karate or Kendo club at school, he would be there. When I'm researching myths, legends, magic or general knowledge in the library, he would be there as well, researching similar topics as me. He doesn't stand out in those places, perfectly blending in with everyone else. He is the perfect background character. But I noticed him due to how many times we crossed paths despite never really interacting with each other.

I secretly paid attention to him and one day I noticed metallic sounds from his duffel bag when he accidentally dropped it. No one seems to notice but I did. Kageno-kun was carrying a really heavy bag. That's when I noticed that he is a seeker of power just like me.

You'd think I would befriend him as someone who walks the same path. Heh. Wrong. The path to power is always a solitary one. In other words, he is a rival. I decided to spy on him, to discover his secrets, only to one day discover how far behind I am compared to him.

That evening, while spying on my rival, I saw him witnessing a kidnapping. Then he disappeared in a corner and emerged wearing a balaclavas covering his head wielding a pair of crowbars. He infiltrated the warehouse where the kidnappers hid and proceeded to single handedly beat them all up. I escaped the place before I could be found as police soon came to investigate the warehouse and save the kidnapped girl, who I would later discover to be Nishino Akane, a classmate.

The discovery of Kageno-kun's prowess left me in awe and disbelief. I've been far too cowardly. I've been far too weak and lazy. I didn't try hard enough to gain power. No more. I will not be left behind. I must catch up to you, my hero and rival Kageno Minoru! And for that I NEED MORE POWER!

I decided from then on to intensify my training… secretly of course… and to further my studies, perform more profane rituals starting with animal sacrifices. When animal sacrifices failed, I decided to stop. Despite my dreams, killing a person is too much even for me.

That mindset didn't last long though as I soon discovered that my rival and my only true friend in this world, Kageno Minoru, died, hit by a truck. I was overcome by grief and loss. Before I know it, I had tracked down the truck driver who killed Minoru-kun, kidnapped him, beat him up, killed him and drew a magic circle on the walls and floor with his blood, using him as sacrifice for a ritual. When I came to my senses, he was already dead. The ritual didn't work but I have to come to terms that I've truly ended someone's life. I've done it. I'm a real murderer.

I escaped from the warehouse where I killed the truck driver and the next morning his death was broadcasted in the news. I was too paranoid and afraid that I would be captured but it seems like I was not discovered. I was terrified and exhilarated. I grinned secretly while watching the news. The Occult Killer they called me due to the magic circles, pentagrams and demonic symbols I left at the scene. Minoru-kun. Is this how you felt when people called you the Balaclavas Berserker?

I always thought being a serial killer is lame but when I tried it, it was more exhilarating than I thought. I love it when people talks about me in fear. I ended up stalking and killing several more people and sacrificing them in rituals after that. Needless to say nothing magical happened but now that I have a taste of blood, it's difficult to stop. I know it's wrong but I can't stop. Sometimes I left cryptic messages written in blood like "The End is near" or "They will come and all shall despair" or "The world as we know it is over" for fun. Nobody took the messages seriously of course, not even me. They only feared me for what I did, for what I can do.

This power I have over people, the power of fear, how did I not discover this sooner? If I have done this before Minoru-kun left this world, we could've had an epic battle to the death. I could be the Joker to his Batman, the Moriarty to his Holmes, the Maou to his Yuusha. But alas, that was not meant to be. So I would continue killing until I find someone else to take his place as my fated rival, as the hero to my villainy.

Never would I imagine that my actions have severe consequences upon the world… that all the killings I did would make me end up being swallowed by a darkness that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said darkness left the world in ruins without my knowledge.

Author's Note:

I was thirsty for Eminence in Shadow fanfics and end up writing one myself. The idea is to have an MC who is similar to Cid (in terms of craziness) but chose the role of a villain instead of Cid's more heroic methods. Obviously due to how similar he is to Cid I intended to write misunderstandings which will probably start next chapter.