As Shadow swats them down, the Blood Queen puts some space between them.
They square off again, as though the fight just started over from the beginning.
“He’s…goin’ toe to toe with that monster?”
“My! What incredible speed…”
The battle was far too fast for any of them to make out, but they all gawk at it regardless. Beta’s heart is filled with joy.
This is her master in all his glory.
At the same time, though, she feels uneasy in a way she can’t quite put into words. There’s something about him that seems just a little off…
Before she can try to figure out what it is, the Blood Queen makes her move.
She detaches two of her feelers, then uses their blood to create two copies of herself.
“Watch out! This is what made Queen Elisabeth the strongest Progenitor: her ability to make blood copies of herself and control them at will!”
Immediately after Mary finishes shouting, three of her queens shoot feelers at Shadow.
The ebony blade slices through their feints.
The battle is playing out just like it did before.
Unlike last time, though, there are three Blood Queens that use the feelers’ cover to launch a surprise attack this time.
One of them attacks from behind, one from above, and the last from his side.
Shadow adroitly avoids all three.
His defensive movements are so flowing and elegant that it’s almost like he knew where the Blood Queens were going to come from. Their dance seems destined to go on forever.
As the fight goes on, though, Beta comes to realize her initial sense of unease is growing larger and larger.
What is it?
In all her memory, has her master ever spent this long crossing blades with an opponent?
—No.
Something is different.
Something about her master is off.
Suddenly, apprehension surges through her heart.
She devotes her full attention to the battle, trying to figure out what it is that’s making her so worried.
The red feelers assault Shadow, then the three Blood Queens ambush him from his blind spots.
As she watches the process repeat, Beta finally realizes.
For all his skillful defense, none of Shadow’s movements are leading into counterattacks.
No matter how well someone protects themselves, they’ll never take their opponent out if they don’t hit back.
So why isn’t Shadow counterattacking?
The endless onrush of feelers coming from every direction is limiting his movement, and the Blood Queen’s surprise attacks are constantly leaving him on the back foot.
How can that be happening?
There’s a reason for it—Shadow’s legs aren’t moving.
Beta knows her master, and she knows that he normally dodges his opponent’s attacks with an undetectable amount of movement so he can immediately shift into his counterattack.
Yet now, he’s repelling the feelers with his sword. Because he’s using his sword to block the assault, his counterattacks are delayed by a beat. During that time, the Blood Queens invariably bear down on him with their claws, so he loses the chance to strike back entirely.
Why—?
Why aren’t you dodging, my lord—?
His feet are sluggish. His movements are stiff.
That combat style he’s using, where he stands in place and repels the feelers manually—it’s almost as though he’s protecting something precious.
“—Gh?!”
That’s when the pieces click into place.
Beta herself is standing behind Shadow.
Behind her are the wounded Number 664 and Number 665, Number 666 trying to protect them, and her master’s unconscious sister…
“O-oh…” Beta’s voice trembles.
This whole time—he’s been covering for them.
He’s spent the entire fight protecting them all.
That’s why he hasn’t been dodging.
Tears well up in Beta’s eyes.
“Master Shadow…”
Then the equilibrium finally shatters.
The red feelers smash into Shadow, and the three Blood Queens press the assault.
He’s sent flying and crashes through the wall.
“Mas-Master Shadowwwwwwwwwwwww!!” Beta’s heartbroken shriek echoes through the room.
Ignoring her body’s screams of agony, she practically drags herself toward the collapsed wall.
“No, no… Master Shadow… Master Shadow… Master Shadow!!”
This would never have happened if they hadn’t been dragging him down.
Beta curses her own weakness.
She hates herself for not even being able to stand up.
Tears stream ceaselessly from her eyes as she crawls along the floor and leaves a bloody trail in her wake.
“Master Shadow! Master Shadow!!” Beta stretches her hand toward the shattered wall.
Before she can reach it, bluish-purple magic comes pouring from the rubble.
“Wha—?!”
“What is—?!”
Its power is so overwhelming that the air is shaking and the rubble is floating up off the ground. The bluish-purple magic paints over the moon’s red light.
Then Shadow emerges from the other side of the wall clad in a colossal mantle of energy.
“Master Shadow!!”
Her lord is standing there the same as ever.
The unease Beta felt is gone.
She sees her master surrounded by his beautiful bluish-purple magic.
Although he looks a little smaller for whatever reason, he’s brimming with power.
He focuses the magic into his sword and squares back off against the Blood Queen.
“I might just show you what I’m capable of…”
Beta’s heart leaps when she hears his voice. It’s so deep, it sounds like it’s coming from the depths of the abyss.
There’s nothing left to be worried about.
She feels almost sorry for the Blood Queen, now that her master isn’t pulling his punches anymore.
“Oh, Master Shadow, thank good— Huh?”
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Beta sees something glimmering behind the wall.
For some reason, there’s a huge pile of gold coins strewn about there. Beta cocks her head to the side.
Why would there be…? Oh, whatever.
Given the fact that her master is fine, everything else seems trivial in comparison.
“Master Shadow! You can do iiiiiiiit!!”
And with Beta’s cheer of encouragement, the battle begins anew.
Bluish-purple magic rages all around Shadow.
“Shit! He’s a fair match for the Blood Queen… No, he’s stronger…”
“Verily. No human can wield magic like this…”
Shadow’s heels go click, click on the floor as he strides nonchalantly toward the Blood Queen. However, the Blood Queen has no intention of letting his arrogance stand.
A massive number of blood feelers surround Shadow and assail him.
He fends them off with his sword.
Then he takes a casual step forward.
“Wha—?!”
“What is he—?!”
Everyone present can tell just how terrifying his footsteps are.
He isn’t even using his sword anymore.
The innumerable feelers all just stream past him, almost as though they’re trying to avoid contact.
Another step.
Click.
It’s as carefree as the last.
The way the Blood Queen’s feelers keep missing, it’s like watching a magic trick.
Shadow’s completely seen through their trajectories.
He dodges them with the tiniest movements possible, then closes the gap one step at a time. It’s like he’s saying they’re not worthy of his notice.
Even when a Blood Queen appears b
ehind him, he dodges her almost before she strikes, then keeps walking.
He doesn’t counterattack.
He knows he doesn’t need to.
He just ignores them and keeps walking.
All he’s looking at is the real Blood Queen.
“He’s dodgin’ her attacks just by walking—?!”
“Such microscopic movements…! Is that even possible…?” Yukime gasps.
He’s attained an ideal.
Perfect movements. The kind people imagine, the kind they only dream of. He’s reached the pinnacle of martial skill.
“So this is the real Shadow…”
“Mayhap he is the real monster…!”
Click, click, click. The sound from his boots echoes throughout the room.
Finally, he comes to a stop.
When he does, the blood feelers pause, too.
He’s so close, he could reach out and touch her.
For a short while, the beautiful Blood Queen and the jet-black Shadow just stare at each other.
The Blood Queen stands with the crimson moon at her back. Shadow stands clad in his bluish-purple magic.
Everything is still, almost as if all the tempestuous violence had never happened.
Yet despite the utter silence, it feels as though the two of them are conversing.
“You seek death…?” Shadow’s voice is low and deep, as if it were coming from the depths of the abyss. “Very well…”
A tremendous amount of magic gathers in his ebony blade.
The bluish-purple energy converges in a spiral.
The Blood Queen extends her crimson claws.
Why is it…? Why is it that those loathsome nails seem full of sorrow now…?
“—Wait!!”
That’s why Mary leaps forward.
“Please, wait!!”
She dashes toward them.
They can start over. She’s certain of it.
That’s why she needs to—!
“Queen Elisabeth!!”
She frantically stretches out her hand.
But…the blood feelers knock her away.
“I AM…”
Shadow’s heartless voice sounds out.
“Queen Elisabeth!!” Mary screams.
For a second, Elisabeth looks her way.
Her red eyes gaze gently at her.
“…ATOMIC. RECOVERY.”
The red claws and the black sword collide, and the world disappears into the bluish-purple light.
“Uhh…”
She must have passed out.
When Beta opens her eyes, she’s greeted by the Red Moon’s light shining down on a quiet night.
Everyone else is unconscious. She must have been the first one to wake up.
Her master is nowhere to be seen.
He’s probably already on his way to his next battle. How busy he is…and how kind.
“Thank you, Master Shadow…”
She vows never to forget the image of him putting his life on the line to protect her and the others.
When she suddenly notices that all her wounds are healed, a silent smile creeps across her face.
She looks and sees that Number 664’s wounds are healed, too, as are Number 665’s and Number 666’s.
Naturally, there isn’t a scratch on Mary or her master’s sister, either.
“Nothing gets by Master Shadow. It seems like Eta’s theory was right…”
Beta retrieves a drop of the Blood Queen’s blood and seals it in a vial.
Then she focuses her mind on her own blood plastered across her bodysuit…and causes it to hover into the air.
“Vampiric powers, huh…? With proper training, these could be useful. Sigh…I bet Eta’s going to use me as a lab rat… Hyah!”
Beta launches her blood through the air, then goes to wake her subordinates up.
“Ow.”
“Huh?!”
“Where am I?”
“Are you three planning on sleeping all day? We’re heading back.”
The Numbers frantically scramble to their feet.
“Rgh…,” groans Juggernaut. “What happened?”
“What happened, indeed…”
It seems like the two from the Lawless City are up, too.
They look around in astonishment.
“Wait, Shadow did all this…?”
“The man protected everyone all on his own…”
The Crimson Tower’s been annihilated. They all look up at the sky. As though trying to burn his existence into their very eyes…
Beta turns around. “Come on, we’re going.”
“Ungh…”
“Ahh…!”
It sounds like Claire and Mary just woke up behind her.
Beta glances backward and sees Mary helping someone up from amid the rubble.
It’s an adorable little girl with dark crimson hair.
“I hope you’re able to find it this time… Your Haven, that is…”
And with a kind smile, Beta vanishes into the darkness of the night.
As the morning sun beats down on me, I gaze at the elegant, black-lacquered carriage and yawn.
The carriage’s windows are blocked by a thick curtain, so I can’t see inside, but I imagine my sister is exchanging teary good-byes with her vampire friend.
The autumn air is crisp and pleasant.
All sorts of stuff went down, but the real-deal Vampire Progenitor event has come to an end.
Things got a little rocky when I ran into some unforeseen problems in the middle there, but at the end of the day, I was able to rescue the big finish. And hey, all’s well that ends well, amirite?
The one thing I didn’t manage to rescue, though, was all the gold coins. For a while there, I was sitting pretty on a whole three thousand coins, but because of, shall we say, a myriad of circumstances, I ended the day with a scant five hundred.
Five hundred coins come out to five hundred million zeni. That’s nowhere near enough for me to retire on.
But after some thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe this is fine.
After all, the Lawless City is still standing, and it’s still got two towers left.
If I ever run low on funds, I can just stop by again. In a way, the Lawless City is basically my own personal piggy bank.
A little while later, the carriage door opens and Claire steps out.
Speaking of my sister, there’s been a big development on that front.
It happened last night, at our inn.
I did kinda wander off on my own back in the Lawless City, so I stopped by her room to make a cursory apology.
When I opened her door, I saw something.
There was some sorta badass magic circle on her hand, and she was wrapping it up in a bandage to hide it.
And to make matters worse, she was muttering, “My right hand is trembling… A special power awakens in me…”
I chose to say nothing and quietly closed the door.
She’s got the three-hit combo trope of a magic circle, a bandage cover, and a special power going on.
I guess she’s finally getting to that age…
When she steps out of the carriage, she walks toward me with a suggestive smile on her face.
I call out to her in as normal a tone as I can muster.
“You all set?”
“Yup, let’s go.”
The two of us set off.
Suddenly, though…
“Cid…”
…she hugs me from behind.
“…What’s up?”
“It’s nothing… No, it is something… See, the truth is…”
Here it comes…!
“I have a special power sleeping within me…”
She’s doing her big coming-out scene.
It wouldn’t do for me to refute her here. If you carelessly shut children down, they’re liable to get rebellious on you.
“Figures. I always knew you were special, Sis.”
“I knew you’d
believe me, Cid…” She squeezes a little tighter. “I have to unravel the secret behind this power. And the secrets surrounding him…”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do great. I’ll support you no matter what path you take, Claire.”
“Cid…have you heard of Shadow?”
“Oh, yeah, he was crazy cool back at the Bushin Festival. Why, did he do something?”
“…No, it’s nothing.” Claire hugs me tight.
There are probably no shortage of hardships waiting for my sister after this. She’ll struggle, she’ll suffer, and she’ll have to confront some cold, hard truths. But if her right hand is “throbbing,” there’s no getting around it. It’s all part of growing up, after all.
No matter what path she eventually decides to take, I’ll respect her for it. After all, the path she’s walking is the path I, too, once walked…
Suddenly, I feel a gaze on my back. I turn to look.
There’s a girl standing in the black-lacquered carriage carrying a large black parasol.
I can’t see her face because it’s hidden behind it, but I can make out her lovely crimson hair fluttering in the autumn breeze.
Under the parasol, she bows deeply.
Auxiliary Chapter
Field Notes on a Little Brother—by Young Claire!
Claire Kagenou just turned eight this year and has a brother two years younger than her named Cid Kagenou.
Claire herself is an outstanding young girl.
The Kagenou lineage has produced countless dark knights, and as such, expectations on her are especially high.
Her brother, Cid, on the other hand…is depressingly average.
He’s not stupid or anything, and it’s not like he hates exercising. But no matter what they make him do, it all comes out flat and uninspired.
If the two of them were a painting, Claire would be smack-dab in the middle, the focus of the work, and her brother would probably be mistaken for some bystander just passing along behind her.
—A mismatched pair of siblings.
For some reason, realizing that’s how people saw them upset Claire to no end.
In the Kagenou household, dark knight training begins when you’re six.
Claire is eight, so she started two years ago, and she’s already to the point where she’s won a youth tournament.
Her brother Cid just turned six, so he started training recently, too, but…
“Bluuuh… Sis, you’re so strong…”
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 3 (Light Novel) Page 10