The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 1 (Light Novel)

by Daisuke Aizawa

  Rex scratches his head and averts his gaze. “Well, I guess.”

  “Quit screwing around.” Sir Gaunt’s magic heightens, and the surrounding air undulates under its pressure.

  Rex’s cheeks go stiff as he feels the knight’s bloodlust. “Take it easy. I’ve secured its general location and shall be retrieving it soon.”

  “Your antics are interfering with my plans. The next time you screw up, I’m taking your head. How’s that?”

  “All right, I get it.”

  Sir Gaunt’s piercing eyes follow Rex, who’s heading toward the door with his hands lifted above his head.

  “Oh, almost forgot.” Rex stops before making his exit. “We may have trouble.”

  He looks back to see Sir Gaunt’s reaction and receives the cue to continue.

  “A bunch of Thirds have been slain. Two of the Seconds are dead. One man’s heart has been crushed, and the other had a small incision in his pressure points. My best guess is the latter was stabbed by a rapier. All of them were only struck once. The enemy seems dexterous,” comments Rex, sniggering like a ravenous wolf.

  “Well, well…perhaps it’s the Shadow Garden. The bait has finally worked.”

  “Seems that way. You might want to watch your back.”

  “Keh-heh… You think a man like me needs to be cautious?”

  “Oh, I think you’ll be just fine, Mr. Ex-Rounds.”

  “Hmph. Make sure to bring the Shadow Garden’s heads along with the artifact.”

  “That goes without saying.” Rex leaves the room with the corner of his lips curled into a grin.

  Sir Gaunt sneers to himself. “Finally, everything will fall into place…” He takes the ominous artifact out of his breast pocket and stares at it suspiciously.

  “This will mark my return to the Rounds.”

  The man continues snickering to himself creepily.

  When Rex and his subordinates are walking through the corridor, something strange suddenly attacks them while they’re searching for the artifact. Rex’s subordinate vanishes before his eyes.

  “What the—?”

  Rex scans the area to determine what it was, but there aren’t any suspicious shadows around him. The only hint he has is a whoosh in the air.

  Buzz, zip. A sound slices through space.

  “Nng…!”

  And the lackey next to Rex is gone.

  But this time, he manages to catch a glimpse of it. There was a boy in a school uniform—drenched in blood. Using the heel of his palm, the boy knocked the man out and stole him away.

  Rex powers up, intensifying his vision to its limit and focusing his gaze. Only then can he detect these rapid movements.

  “Stay alert! Enemy!” Rex shouts, vigilantly scoping the area. “…Oh?”

  He stands in place, bewildered.

  The subordinates who were at his back are gone. Before he’s realized it, he’s standing alone in the corridor.

  Then there’s a whiz.

  Hearing it, Rex immediately channels all his strength into protecting his heart.

  “Guh…!”

  The heel of someone’s palm hits his arm.

  Crack. The force of it snaps Rex’s bones and sends him flying backward.

  “That…little shit!!” Rex promptly resets his stance and brandishes his sword.

  But no one’s there. He clucks his tongue in frustration.

  A single palm strike has broken the bones in his left arm, which he’d been protecting with magic. His heart might have shattered if he hadn’t shielded himself when he did.

  Whish. Rex moves with the noise, tuning in to the presence behind him and swinging. His timing is perfect.

  The runt…is getting faster! How dare he! Rex takes stabs at the air behind the boy, quickly resuming his posture with the sole aim of protecting his heart.

  “Agh…!”

  He suffers a blow to the ribs.

  Rex jumps back to reduce the impact as he tracks the boy with his eyes. He can barely make out his afterimage.

  “Ts…” Rex hacks out a mix of saliva and blood and stands on the defensive.

  It’s nearly impossible to detect the enemy, and countering is out of the question. Only he’s taking damage. From an objective standpoint, there’s no graver situation. But…Rex has a wealth of experience worming himself out from between a rock and a hard place.

  For he is Rex, a Named Child.

  “That’s a handy artifact you’re using,” Rex comments so his enemy can hear.

  He’s figured out the enemy’s shtick.

  It doesn’t take him long to piece it together. His opponent moves faster than humanly possible, which means he requires extraordinary power to keep it up.

  “At first glance, I have the disadvantage. But you can’t fool me. You’re pushing yourself, right?”

  With inhuman speed comes sacrifice. He sees the traces of it already.

  “Don’t you know your uniform is covered in blood?”

  Yes…Rex solved the riddle when he saw the red uniform: His opponent used the power of the artifact to achieve logic-defying speeds. And in exchange, it’s wearing him down. It’s clear from the rivers of blood pouring out of his enemy. The boy will reach his limit. If Rex can hold out until then…victory is his.

  That’s Rex, the Game of Betrayal, the Named Child, who can completely expose his victims with minimal information.

  “I’d guess that you have a few hits left. That’s when you’ll have reached your limit!” Rex declares in a powerful voice.

  But his enemy doesn’t reply. He’s been silent and still ever since Rex started his little speech.

  “Guess I’ve hit the nail on the head.” The corners of Rex’s lips form a sinister smile.

  He can see his victory. But…it’s not as easy as Rex makes it out to be. In fact, he still has to evade the undetectable palm strike a few more times.

  “Hey, why so silent?” Rex starts feeling confident, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

  This battle is one of…intense psychological warfare.

  “Come out, you chicken!”

  Whoosh.

  Just as the sound rushes through the air, Rex evades the attack using only his instincts, twisting his upper body to avoid the trajectory of his hand.

  That fast?! He uses his right arm as a shield at the very last second.

  “Gaaaah!!”

  It snaps in every possible place. He backs away, retaining his grip on his sword through sheer determination.

  And yet, his opponent persists. Rex has only seen the enemy’s most basic moves, and he’s drawing near.

  In other words…this is the turning point in their battle.

  “Come at meeeeeeeeee!!” Rex shrieks as he protects his weak points.

  His enemy has reached his limit. If Rex can endure this final strike, victory is his.

  Seconds later, a palm slams into his stomach.

  “Gah!! Aaaaaghhhh!!”

  Rex vomits a stream of blood as he’s thrown backward. He blasts through the wall into a classroom, tumbling into desks and chairs before crashing onto the ground.

  “Kah-kah…!” Clutching his stomach, he coughs up blood. His ribs tear his internal organs.

  But…he’s alive. Guarding with all his might pays off.

  “Heh-heh…” Rex’s bloody lips curl into a sneer as he lifts his head.

  That’s when he sees them.

  “The hell is this…?”

  Corpses lie in a heap in the classroom.

  All of them are men in black. It’s clear they hardly bear any wounds; each was slain with a single attack.

  Did that one child kill all these Named Children by himself…?

  Tap, tap, tap.

  He hears someone walking toward him in the hallway.

  Tap, tap.

  The sound of footsteps ceases at the doorway.

  Silence.

  Rex notices the palm gripping his sword is abnormally sweaty.

  Click. The doo
rknob turns and breaks the silence.

  Then…the entrance opens.

  There’s no one there.

  With a whir, Rex’s right arm is ripped to pieces.

  Another hum, and his left arm is torn off.

  Whoosh.

  Whish.

  Whiz.

  And so it goes.

  Every time there’s a sound, Rex loses more flesh.

  “AAAAAAGH… Aaaaaaaghhhh…aghh…”

  Right before his head whirls into the air, Rex realizes the boy possesses an infinite amount of power.

  “You’re doing great.”

  That’s the voice Rex hears when he dies.

  In the ransacked lab, Nu looks down at a corpse. With dark-brown eyes and matching hair, Nu wears a pair of frumpy glasses and the uniform for the Academy of Science as a disguise to blend in, but she can’t hide her sensuality.

  “You’re Glen, the Lion’s Mane, from the Crimson Order.”

  The corpse glares into space, wearing an anguished expression. He seems to have suffered profoundly. Without magic, he whose name is known throughout the Knight Order is feeble.

  Nu’s attention is directed elsewhere. There’s one more knight in the room, and he’s still breathing.

  “Marco Granger. You joined the Crimson Order.”

  Nu recognizes his face, which is handsome with luscious blue hair. Not only is he one of the strongest dark knights, but he is also rumored to be the future commander of the Order. She remembers him having a strong sense of justice.

  Marco was supposed to be Nu’s husband in their arranged marriage.

  They sent many letters to each other and shared dances at the ball. But in the end, he was nothing but the man her parents chose for her. She never knew how he felt about the situation, but she could never bring herself to love him.

  But she doesn’t necessarily hate him. She may not have loved him, but she thought he was kind. She wouldn’t have minded marrying him one day. She imagines that tying the knot with a respectable man would have led to a bright future.

  An arranged path, an arranged partner, an arranged future.

  Nu never used to have much of an opinion. In the past, she conformed to the values of those around her and lived as per their dictates. She didn’t mind at the time. But looking back on it now, she finds that lifestyle terribly confining.

  As she gazes at his face, she suddenly remembers the ball. Nu wryly smiles as she recalls showing off Marco’s attractive face around it like some kind of accessory.

  Somehow, memories always stick with us the more we try to forget about them.

  “What’s up, Nu?”

  She hears a voice behind her and turns. That she hasn’t sensed him doesn’t surprise her. She knows him by his voice.

  “Master Shadow…”

  She didn’t notice that an average-looking black-haired boy had entered the lab. He walks past Nu and flings open one cabinet after another.

  “This used to be my arranged fiancé.”

  “Oh. What will you do?”

  “I personally have no reason to kill him or keep him alive.”

  “And that’s fine,” he replies, rummaging through the cabinets and continuing his search.

  Nu leaves Marco’s side and stands next to the boy. “Master Shadow, I know it’s a bit late, but I have something to report.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “The Shadow Garden has infiltrated the campus. We’re waiting on standby and will move at your command.”

  “Got it.”

  “But fighting when our magic is blocked comes with a risk. Only the Seven Shadows can operate at their usual speed, but the only one of them in the capital is Lady Gamma. And…well, this kind of thing isn’t her strong suit…”

  “She’s got no game.”

  “Um…correct. As for me, I-I’m only at about half my normal strength…”

  “I see.”

  “Lady Gamma is currently leading the entire organization. She’s suggested they won’t be in control of our magic for much longer and that we should wait it out until then.”

  “All right.”

  “The men in jet-black are holed up in the auditorium and haven’t moved. At the moment, they don’t seem to have any demands. The Knight Order has the campus surrounded, but Iris Midgar and the other commanders are the only ones strong enough to take them on. Given that they weren’t fond of us in peaceful times, I don’t think they’ll lend us a hand.”

  “Okay.”

  “Master Shadow. We’ll stay on standby until further orders.”

  “Okay.”

  “Is that all right?”

  “Okay… Oh, wait a sec.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m looking for a few things. I need mithril tweezers, the bone powder of earth dragons, and the enchanted stone of ash…”

  Nu retrieves each item from the cabinet.

  “Thanks. Whew, you saved my butt.”

  “My pleasure. May I ask what they’re for?”

  He holds the various items in both arms. “Oh, this stuff? I’m going to use this to alter the artifact.”

  “Alter the artifact, huh?” Nu parrots.

  She couldn’t have guessed in a million years that he was so well versed in artifacts, but it wouldn’t be odd for him to know such things. Why would he want to alter it in this dire situation?

  “Something called the Eye of Avarice is impeding our magic. I’m currently making the final adjustments to a different artifact to temporarily disable it.”

  “Incredible… You never let us down.”

  She’s stunned. Not only has he identified the source blocking their magic, he’s even preparing to nullify it. Plus, disabling a powerful artifact requires extraordinary knowledge. Without the wisdom of one of the greatest minds in the nation, this is an impossible feat. She shudders in the presence of his limitless mind.

  “I should be done around sunset.”

  “Understood. We’ll be ready to mobilize when it’s complete.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Yes.”

  Nu watches him leave the room with his items before checking to see if her ex-fiancé is still conscious.

  She runs her ebony blade down the nape of his neck.

  His breathing and pulse are normal—stable. He’s alive but clearly unconscious.

  “I’ll spare you your life.”

  Nu leaves a shallow cut in his neck and disappears.

  “I’m back.”

  Upon seeing Cid return with the ingredients, Sherry smiles, retrieving them from him and lining them up on her desk.

  “Thank you so much. I should be able to finish it now.”

  “Good luck.”

  Sherry quickly sets to work on the artifact. Cid is lying on the sofa, reading a book.

  It’s silent for a while.

  The light that flows in through the window slowly turns vermilion.

  Cid occasionally gets up to go to the bathroom. When Sherry offers him medicine to relieve his upset stomach given his frequent visits, he accepts it with a complicated expression.

  Time passes, and the sun begins to set. The red hue intensifies, and the shadows grow darker. When Sherry turns on the lantern, everything becomes a shade darker outside the room. She finally approaches the end of her task around sunset.

  “I’m done.” Sherry holds up the pendant and shows it to Cid.

  “It’s amazing.”

  “Thank you. It’s the best I could do.”

  “Yeah, and it’s nice that it’s just after sunset. The future of the school depends on you.” Cid stands up and pats Sherry on the back. “I can’t help you anymore. You must save the world with your own hands.”

  “I-I’ll do my best,” she says nervously, picking up the lantern and facing the stairs. “My sincerest gratitude. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to rescue my foster father.” Sherry glances back at him once more, then lowers her head.

  “It was nothing. I hope he’s okay.”


  “Thanks.” Sherry grins and descends.

  After a long trip down the damp staircase, she arrives at the bottom. The air is completely different down here. The dark tunnels are illuminated by the light from her lantern, and the paths start forking off: One wrong move, and she’ll never reach her destination.

  “Erm…” Sherry takes out her map to confirm the path to the auditorium.

  “Go straight and then take a left at the third turn…”

  At first, she timidly scampers down the path.

  But then she remembers having walked these tunnels with her foster father. Even though she pestered him while he was working, he came down to play with her anyway. This is an incredibly precious memory to Sherry.

  The young woman doesn’t remember her biological father. He died soon after she was born. And the memory of her mother has almost entirely faded from her mind. Her mother was murdered during a robbery one night when Sherry was only nine years old.

  Sherry remembers the black shadow she saw through the crack between the closet door. Her dreams were occasionally plagued by her mother’s screams and the sound of ghastly laughter.

  For many years after the incident, Sherry couldn’t speak. She rejected those around her, instead choosing to work on the artifact her mother left behind. As if following in her footsteps, Sherry devoted herself to research.

  Her foster father was her savior. He took her in, supported her research, and gave her a loving family. Through that, Sherry finally regained her voice. Almost all her memories of family are of him.

  Her entire life, she’s been supported by her foster father. And now it’s time to repay him.

  “I’ve got to keep going.”

  Sherry walks the dark path alone. Her steps are no longer frightened or timid.

  It isn’t long before she arrives.

  “I think I’m under the auditorium…”

  The single path split into many: the path to the first floor, then the middle, then up to the second floor…

  She follows her map.

  “Oh…!”

  She’s found it.

  It’s a small air vent running between the second and third floors. While it can’t fit a person, there’s plenty of room for her to toss the pendant inside.

  Sherry furtively peers through the vent to see what’s happening.

  She remembers Cid’s words: When in hiding, it’s important to release the tension in the body—to breathe slowly and relax.