163. Sigh, really didn’t want to make a scene, man~

"I didn't quite plan on making a scene, quite frankly..."

Maximilian took in his surroundings with just moving his eyes.

He saw Clara at Guin's mercy, Batt bloodied and laying still, and of course, the knife at his own throat.

"Well, aren't you calm. I can slit your throat anytime I want, buddy."

"Kuku… I suppose you think you have the upper hand now. Sad to say, I don't quite see it like that."

"You ain't makin' sense."

"My only concern is how much of my power I should reveal to you lot. I'd sincerely wanted to end this maintaining the face of a minor villain."

"The face of a minor villain…? Wait, so you're involved with them… the real Evil lurking in the shadows…?"

Zack took a quick glance at the black haired boy laying propped up a side wall.

"Ho… Zack, you seem to know something you shouldn't… how unfortunate."

"... Unfortunate?"

"Yes, indeed very unfortunate… since now I must kill everyone here."

"-- WHAT!?"

Suddenly, Maximilian had vanished. Having lost sight of his mortal foe, Zack's knife was now stuck in thin air.

The next instant, snow flurried upwards and blood rained down.

"Gahhh…!!"

Multiple bodies fell to the white ground, dying it red.

At the center of them stood Maximilian with a sinister smile. He flicked his sword to shed off the blood.

"Y-you cut your own allies…?" Clara uttered in shock.

The ones that Maximilian had cut down were indeed-- the guards and other member of the Doem Camp.

"... Indeed. They were closer as well as complacent. If I must kill everyone other than you, then the order matters not much."

Maximilian said easily with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What, in the blazes! I'm on your si--!"

"--You're no exception, Guin."

Guin's head flew.

Warm blood spray hit Clara's face, and the sword at her own neck clattered to the ground.

Slowly, Guin's headless body fell backwards.

"N-no… Guin..."

Clara fell on her arse trying to move away.

Just when they were supposed to be at a standstill, the situation had changed instantly and dramatically.

Prisoner and guard alike had been cut down without distinction… as if their lives held no value whatsoever.

They'd fallen powerlessly all by the hand of one man.

"W-what kind of… monster are you..."

"Me a monster? Surely I'm but a simple criminal, put here as punishment for my crimes. Just your average prisoner."

"T-there's no way… you're no prisoner..."

"Kukuku… whatever do you mean?"

Maximilian looked down gleefully at Clara.

"Fuckin' 'ell. Yer Highness, please run!!"

Zack picked up the sword Guin had dropped.

And without delay, he charged at Maximilian.

"I plan to leave you for last."

"--!"

Maximilian's form blurred, and Zack's blade struck only air.

Then,

"Gahh!!"

Zack was knocked off his feet.

Blood sprayed from his back.

"Z-Zack--!!" Clara screamed.

Zack fell on the snow in agony.

"Yes, I will kill you last. Writhe in agony and watch. I will now begin culling all your comrades. I will bring you Royalists true despair..."

Clara's retainers stood before her.

"L-Lady Clara, you must escape..."

Their trembling swords told all too well their fear.

All of them knew-- they wouldn't survive Maximilian's slaughter.

"Right… suppose I shall take my time with this. Come out now, OWL. The more you hide, so much more will they die. Come out if you wish to save them. If you can defeat me, that is..."

Maximilian looked over each of Clara's people one by one.

Clara was shaking in the knees, desperate to escape.

As for Zack--

He, despite his carved back, was crawling along the snow.

He sought only one thing.

To go where he lay… at one corner of courtyard, the black haired boy.

"...P-please..."

Even as blood dripped out from his mouth, Zack clawed the snow with trembling fingers so as to approach the boy.

"Please… you're… our last, hope..."

As for the boy, he was already half covered in snow.

"Just, do something… whatever your goals are… just help us, for now..."

Finally, Zack reached where the boy lay.

"I'm beggin' ya, just save Her High..."

He swiped away the snow covering the boy.

-- And saw,

"...Huh?"

Only a lump of black slime taking his shape.

A vast burst of mana shook the earth.

164. The Power of Diabolos

Violet mana tinted the blizzard sky.

"Kuh… what monstrous mana...!!"

Maximilian grimaced feeling the raw blast of mana.

In the middle of the snow storm, one man landed onto the ground before him. A man in a jet black longcoat.

He wore a deep hood, and covered his face in a mask. He was--

"My name is Shadow… I lurk in the shadows, hunting the shadows..."

A voice as if from the depths of the abyss.

"You're… Shadow..."

Shadow Garden was a recognized threat to the Order. An hidden organization that boldly opposed them.

They had exposed the existence of the Order to the world. They couldn't be taken lightly.

Even the combat potential of Shadow Garden rivalled that of the Order. Their leadership, known as The Seven, are rumored to house individuals of equal measure to a Knight of the Rounds.

And within this shadowy organization, most mysterious of all was the man Shadow himself.

Every member of the Order said to have fought him had been eliminated, and the only places he'd been witnessed, to date, were at the Goddess' Challenge and the God of War Festival.

His strength was measured at… Undefeatable.

Maximilian suddenly recalled what Doem, who had witnessed Shadow first had, had said: "It's hard to believe that thing is even human. He's like Diabolos... No wonder he noticed our existence..." Doem had rambled on like that one drunken evening.

Maximilian had dismissed it as the alcohol talking.

But now, after feeling that vast magic, he was starting to understand his colleague's fears.

"Your mana, it is certainly interesting… it far surpasses anything mere mortals can contain. And it is dense. Far denser than anything I've seen."

Maximilian calmly scrutinized the mana that kept gushing out of the man like the blizzard was carrying it away.

"Indeed, you're as impressive as the rumors claim… Greetings, Shadow..."

Maximilian's lips curved upwards.

Shadow still stood there coated in violet mana.

"I welcome you to the kingdom of Oriana. I do not know what your goals are in this land, but your luck has just run out. I am Maximilian 'Coldblood'. I specialize in people boastful of their mana such as yourself… As such, I shall dissect you thoroughly to find how exactly you hold so much!"

The next moment, Maximilian disappeared.

The ground settled snow surged upwards and a figure blurred into existence behind Shadow.

"Behind you, fool."

Maximilian slashed Shadow clear down the back.

He felt his sword strike.

"... How?"

Shadow simply stood there, unfazed.

Then, as if that attack had been an illusion, the man in black turned and faced Maximilian.

"Oh, were you doing something…?"

"--Tsk, manahouses are always so painfully slow."

Maximilian clicked his tongue and took distance.

"That coat must be an artifact. A good one too to have blocked my sword. I shall relieve you of it soon enough..."

Once again, Maximilian vanished.

"Over here."

Maximilian was approaching from behind.

--But before that.

"Wrong way."

Before Shadow could turn, Maximilian appeared from under him.

"-- Weakling."

Maximilian's strikes came from all directions, and even from above, successively and without pause.

Shadow couldn't even react as he was cut away at from every which way.

Then finally--

"It is done."

One last powerful blow sent Shadow to the ground.

Shadow rolled on the snow before crashing on the camp wall.

"All artifacts have a limit to their endurance. Now your precious coat is finished."

Maximilian moved his gaze from Shadow to something to the side.

"So you finally show yourself-- OWL."

At some point, a female form had been already standing where Shadow lay collapsed-- dressed in her pitch black bodysuit, it was OWL.

165. Where is He?

"How sad, OWL. You're all but too late--"

"Kindly, shut up."

OWL turned to Maximilian.

"... You dare." Maximilian's tone raised in ferocity.

"You're of no concern now."

"Foolish. Shadow is finished, and the same fate awaits you next--"

"You don't seem to realize that you've been played."

"Played...?"

"Lord Shadow, please allow me a question."

OWL asked Shadow who was buried rubble.

"... You may."

Shadow answered after a pause.

Violet mana then blew away the debris, and Shadow slowly stood up.

"You! So you have that much power still--!"

Maximilian was half in a panic but in contrast, OWL was calmness itself.

"Sir, why do you not show your true power?"

"... I wished to fully judge the power of that man. For reference, as it were..."

"For reference… I understand now. I have one more thing I must ask."

OWL asked with a tinge of anger in her tone.

Shadow nodded his assent.

"What is the meaning of this…?"

OWL blew the snow at her feet away with her sword. The powdery white pulled away to reveal a black form.

This was-- the lump of slime that had taken the form of Cid Kageno.

"Please answer truthfully. Cid… where is Cid!?"

OWL roared as if to overpower the howl of the blizzard around them. Her voice contained fierce resolve.

"That voice..." Clara stared at OWL as it to ascertain something.

OWL's attention was wholly towards Shadow however.

Shadow took a moment before answering.

"Cid is safe..."

"But where is he?"

"... Must you know?"

"--!"

Shadow and OWL stared at one another for some time. A silent tension rising between them.

Then…

"You have saved my life, granted me power, and have shown me the path I must tread. I… do not want to doubt you. So I shall trust those words… But."

OWL paused her words to glare sharply at Shadow.

"If the words you said are false… If you've put Cid in danger… I will not forgive you!"

Shadow gave OWL as sidelong glance.

"I do not need your forgiveness. Regardless of what you may learn or think of me, my path shall not waver..."

OWL narrowed her eyes to that.

"Now… I shall return to the fight."

Shadow looked away from her, and silently drew his sword.

"I shall return to my mission as well."

OWL approached Clara.

"Princess Clara. My charge is to deliver you to the Royalist base of operations."

"OWL, you… I heard say that our people had a secret plan, is that your role in all this?"

"I am not alone. We are currently aiding your faction. I had wanted to provide a proper explanation, but time is of the essence. Please follow me, this may be our last chance to leave the capital."

Clara stared at the hand OWL had offered.

"Are you… No, nevermind… Let us go, I will trust you."

"Your Highness, are you sure it's safe to trust her…?"

Her retainers were agitated.

"I am. After all, she should be much more..."

Clara's voice petered off on that line of thought.

"Then please follow after me. We will be heading underground and meet allies en route."

OWL hoisted Batt onto her back and headed for the camp gates.

"Halt. You will not pass me!"

Maximilian was about to charge at OWL.

Which was when a powerful bloodlust assailed him to the core, halting him in place.

"What-- this is unreal--!?"

Maximilian jumped from his spot in a panic.

"-- But can you pass me?"

This bloodlust that seemed to cause tremors in the earth-- was of course that of Shadow.

He had managed to arrest Maximilian to the spot with but a glare.

"Shadow--!!"

Maximilian glared back, rage building on his face. That was all he could do.

He could only watch in spite as OWL left the premises together with the Royalists.

And once the last of them, Zack, was also leaving, the bloodlust became even more fierce.

"--!?"

Zack shivered and turned around.

Shadow was looking at him.

Zack was dripping in sweat and repeatedly nodded at the man in black.

A silent conversation seemed to take place.

Then, Zack left, ran away as fast as his feet could take him...

166. Demon Lord Unleashed

"Is that your p-plan, to intimidate me? Foolish, you don't stand a chance--!"

Maximilian braved the out-of-this-world bloodlust and rushed at Shadow.

His sword followed a straight path to the man at incredible speed. Its tip surely to pierce the throat.

-- Yet.

"-- WHAT!?"

That tip was caught between Shadow's fingers.

"Let me bestow you some advice..."

Shadow spoke in a soft voice.

"Let, go…!"

Try as he might, Maximilian couldn't dislodge his sword from between the man's fingers. It was as if the blade was stuck into a boulder. It moved not no matter how much he pushed and pulled.

"Show me all your power-- if you don't wish for a swift death..."

Shadow released the sword, causing Maximilian to pitch over and fall.

He quickly stood up and glowered at Shadow.

"You will not underestimate me…!"

He then pulled out a red lozenge and swallowed it.

"Now you'll pay for that attitude. I will have you know despair."

Maximilian's mana surged and his eyes were dyed blood red.

"Behold-- It is your death that will be swift!!"

Maximilian blurred.

He was suddenly behind Shadow.

"-- An afterimage."

A slash faster than sound cut Shadow from behind.

It wasn't able to cut through Shadow's longcoat.

Shadow turned around.

Faster than that, Maximilian once again blurred.

"That too-- an afterimage."

Yet again, Maximilian cut Shadow from behind.

"As I thought, you have no means of reacting to my speed. Yes, that is inevitable. I am not your average Awakened I'll have you know..."

Seeing how slowly Shadow was turning back, Maximilian spoke.

"I am no 3rd-- I am a 2nd." He sneered and blurred once again.

"Slow! You're too slow, Shadow!! Now taste the power of a true 2nd of the Order!!"

Maximilian's voice came from all directions.

Relentlessly, he made slash after slash upon Shadow.

His afterimages seemed to be everywhere at he did.

"This is my sword-- the Coldblood Kaleidoscope!"

The myriad Maximilians in the fierce blizzard truly appeared as if he came out of a cold and deadly kaleidoscope.

"Soon enough, that artifact of yours will be exhausted! That will be your end!!"

The endless slashes had numbered to more than a thousand now.

Shadow couldn't do a thing, he just stood there and took it.

Each slash caused the snow to jump, turning everything white.

And finally, it ended.

"Huff… huff… fool."

Maximilian wrested control of his breathing.

The ground around him was gouged.

Coldblood Kaleidoscope tended to have that effect on the landscape.

It was impossible to stay standing after a relentless onslaught like that.

Maximilian was about to sheathe his sword, when,

"WHAT--!"

Beyond the veil of snow, stood a form.

As the uplifted snow slowly drifted back to the ground, the identity of the form was made clear.

"It's not, possible..."

That form was of course-- Shadow.

Shadow was standing there, having withstood Coldblood Kaleidoscope-- without injury.

Without a scratch on him, the man in black stood as if the fierce rush from just now was but an illusion.

"How are you uninjured after my Coldblood Kaleidoscope!? Th-this is impossible, no artifact like that could exist..."

"Artifact…? Might you be curious about this?"

Shadow said indicating his garment.

"There's no other way! I am stronger than the likes of you! Just because you have that ridiculous artifact, don't think…!"

"This, is no artifact. It is made of Slime."

"Th-that is absurd! No Slime can withstand what I did!!"

"Correct. By itself Slime is very weak as material. However, what would happen if it were to be infused with mana of incredible proportions…?"

"H-hah, idiocy. Indeed Slimes are said to have high mana conductivity. However, handling it as material is impossible. The mana paths aren't even similar to that of a human's."

"All too true… In that case, what if we mix in human flesh…?"

"Ah--!"

"Combining a great number of Slimes with one's own flesh. It is similar to attempting to mix oil and water. But it is possible to fuse them using mana."

"Impossible… you merged human mana paths with that of a monster… You would need an unimaginable level of control to achieve such a feat!"

"Verily. To my knowledge, those in this world who can perform such a task-- is I and I alone."

"-- Y-you lie! You lying scoundrel, do you think I will believe that..."

"Oh? Even if I show you this…?"

Shadow's longcoat warped.

Within the white blizzard, the jet black garment expanded to both sides like wings.

No, they were wings.

Jet black wings like that of the devil had manifested out of the coat.

"T-that… isn't, no, that's not..."

Maximilian could think of only one material able to change shape so freely.

--Slime.

And nothing else.

"M-monster… you're, you're no human, you monster!!"

His expression warping, Maximilian rushed at Shadow.

However, the blazing speed of his sword was easily stopped by the now transformed devil wings.

"Slow..."

"N-no… you can't react to my speed..."

Despair dyed Maximilian's face.

The pair of wings had split into four.

They flapped once, allowing Shadow to be lifted into the air.

Maximilian was speechless.

"Know this. The quantity of my mana is not so different from your own."

Jet black wings flapped in the white blizzard sky.

"If well compressed, it only appears hundred-fold more powerful when released. I simply do that whenever I use it… like so."

Shadow gathered mana in his wings.

The violet mana collected on the wings and appeared as small feathers.

"Hyii… Monster… no, Demon Lord…!"

"Quality easily trumps quantity when it concerns mana. And quality comes from control. To that end, the amount of control you can exert while you release… determines everything."

Those feathers, were beautiful yet cruel as the devil himself--

"I. AM. ATOMIC RAIN."

As they fell on Maximilian.

Violet mana rain dwarfed the raging snow storm.

Its light enveloped Maximilian, erased the snow and swallowed up everything.

As it fizzled out, having ended everything, only a large crater remained where the walled camp once stood.

All was quiet for a time.

Then, the jet black wings flapped, taking their bearer high into the snowy sky.

167. Mordred

Rose was quite familiar with the intricate underground escape tunnels under the capital.

After all, she'd been taught how to navigate them if it ever came to it. However, these tunnels were not connected to the concentration camp, and so, the other members of her squad had patiently dug a hole nearby to connect to it.

Rose, Clara and several others were now walking along those tunnels having jumped down the hole.

Shadow would have ample strength to deal with Maximilian. Rose couldn't imagine Shadow losing to him. If there wasn't that issue considering Cid, she would've trusted him fully even. She might've even been in awe and respected Shadow for his strength alone.

But Cid-- was he truly in a safe place?

It was worrying.

But for now, she just had to trust that Shadow wasn't lying. She couldn't abandon her duty and go searching for Cid.

Still, if Cid really was safe as Shadow claimed, it raised even more question.

Why was that Slime there? What reason did Shadow have to make a faux Cid?

Rose didn't understand.

Could it be-- Cid and Shadow were connected somehow…? Rose thought back on her image of Cid. She couldn't see anything about him that would be related to Shadow.

Before long, they had made it to the location where her squad members would be waiting.

Small holed leading to the surface was the only source of light in these tunnels.

There was a figure in black propped up against a wall.

"... 664?"

Rose let down Batt from her back and slowly approached the figure.

"Where is 665? What…!?"

The woman in black who was sitting with her back to the wall was definitely her squat leader, 664.

She was injured. Blood had drenched the wall behind her.

"664!? What happened here!?"

Rose quickly crouched down to her.

"...-un." said 664 in a weak voice.

She was breathing, at least.

"I'll help you right now!"

"R-...-un, 666.!"

"Eh?"

And then, something came.

From a direction where no one was supposed to be, one man suddenly came walking.

"... What!?"

He had practically no presence. Rose couldn't comprehend how he'd appeared as if from thin air.

It was almost as if he was there all along.

"Seems Maximilian failed."

Said the man, looking at Clara and her troupe.

It was a cold voice.

He was a tall man, with hair white as snow swept to the back of his head.

He had a sort of chilling beauty to him.

"... 665!?"

Rose's cry echoed into the tunnels.

The man was holding 665 in one hand.

"She was a disappointment too."

He said as he threw down the beaten woman at Rose's feet.

"--!"

Rose quickly caught 665 as she fell and checked her breathing.

"...ugh."

She was unconscious but breathing, yes.

"I'll make you pay!!"

"S-stop, don't fight him, 666!"

664 cried out to her as she was drawing her sword.

"Why!?"

"You, can't beat him… he is… Mordred."

"Eh!?"

Rose was aghast and stared at the man, who in turn gave her a curt bow.

"I am indeed Mordred. It is a pleasure… Princess Rose."

Behind Rose, the people following Clara stirred. Rose asked Clara to lead them a safe distance away.

"... You have the wrong person."

"I see, if that is how you want it, I shall comply."

Rose glowered at Mordred, who in turn looked at her with a bemused expression.

"Shadow Garden… so the organization opposing us has come here too. Rather than the Key of the Oriana, I personally find you bunch much more interesting."

"... Key of Oriana?"

"Did Shadow Garden not intervene in this war for the sake of obtaining the Key? Oh, perhaps you didn't know?"

Rose didn't answer.

She had become a member of Shadow Garden, but that didn't mean she knew everything. Shadow Garden was a large organization. The Seven who lead them all held unbelievable strength, and the special forces known as the Numbers all had strength equal or surpassing that of Rose. Rose was only a single cog in the machine.

Still, this Key of Oriana seemed to be something that could concern her personally. Would they fill her in on it if she asked?

"I will not reveal anything. We need to be somewhere."

They had many injured. Mordred was clearly stronger than she could handle, but she could at least buy time for them. Rose drew her sword.

"Don't fight, leave me and go..."

"Leader..."

"Y-yeah, I'm your squad leader, and that's an order..."

664 weakly got to her feet and stood in front of Rose.

Mordred observed the two with cold eyes.

"I am interested in Shadow Garden, as I've said. Much more so than the Key..."

"... So you will block our path?"

"As one of the Order, I mustn't let you run free. But I believe letting you go now would be quite beneficial to me."

"Meaning?"

"My interest in Shadow Garden is quite deep. I'm specifically interesting in your leadership, The Seven."

Mordred said with a cold grin.

"... Yes, she was quite enjoyable indeed."

"... Enjoyable?"

"Yes, very. So much that I'm willing to let you go past me."

Mordred retrieved something from his pocket.

As he opened his palm, something drifted down from it. Bright like spring water-- they were strands of hair.

And rose happened to know someone with such beautiful and strange hair.

"Wait, that's--"

That clear springwater hair was that of Epsilon.

"She was… quite enjoyable." kuku, Mordred chortled.

"Go on, pass at your leisure. The Doem Faction and Royalists will clash soon enough. However, this is not your ordinary civil war."

Mordred was beginning to shimmer into the background.

"This is a proxy war between the Order and Shadow Garden… how fun."

He disappeared, leaving only dry laughter.

"So that's, Mordred..."

It will become an increasingly difficult battle with him around, Rose thought.