Behold, a Full-Fledged Eminence in Shadow!

Akira Nishino runs down the pure-white corridor.

As the alarm bell heralding the stampede rings, he advances deeper and

deeper into the research building. It's almost as though he's deliberately

heading away from the battlefield.

Both his arms are taken up with carrying a white box.

"Pant, pant… Shit!"

He stops in front of a white door and curses as he tries to steady his

ragged breathing.

"That damn Alliance rat… Now they've gone and done it. I never

expected them to make off with Akane…," he mutters, to vent his frustration

as he unseals the door's lock.

Inside, there's a pure-white sickroom.

A silver-haired girl is sitting on its bed.

"You're awake? I could have sworn I gave you a sedative…"

The silver-haired girl—Natsume—gives him an adorable tilt of the head.

"The dosage must've been too low. Well, whatever. It's not like you can

understand me anyway."

Natsume gives him another head tilt, then looks down and stares

quizzically at the white box Akira Nishino is carrying.

"…Curious about the box? This box is going to transform you. You're

Page 205 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

going to become a stronger knight than even the Original Knight ever was."

When he opens the box, Natsume's eyes widen in surprise.

Inside, there's a cryogenically preserved head.

Sinister black magic weaves coils around its darkened skin and fiery-red

hair.

"Surprised? We recovered this from a site we discovered with abnormal

magic readings. Eating from this was what let the Brute become the most

powerful apex beast we've ever seen."

A malignant smile spreads across Akira Nishino's face as he approaches

Natsume.

"The magic hidden within this head in unbelievable. It has a quality to it

that none of our magic does… The same way that you do."

He grabs Natsume's arm and pulls out a large syringe.

"The Brute ate from this head and evolved, and now it's your turn to fuse

with it and become the greatest knight in the world. Now, let's get this show

on the road. With this, you'll be—"

A ptchoo rips through the air, and a bloodstain spreads across Akira

Nishino's white lab coat.

"Wha—?"

There's another ptchoo, then another.

Akira Nishino's body jerks back and forth as blood sprays around him and

the smell of gunpowder smoke fills the air.

"Th-this can't… It doesn't…"

He drops to his knees.

There's someone behind him holding a gun.

Their high heels audibly click, and they turn their aim to Natsume.

"N-no, don't—"

Ptchoo. The gun recoils.

A dark hole appears on Natsume's forehead. She collapses onto the bed.

Her death was instant.

Akira Nishino's voice rises feebly from the ground. "Why? Why would

you do this…?"

The figure turns their gun back to him.

Their eyes meet.

For a brief, fleeting moment, everything is silent.

"Death will come for you soon," the assailant says. "I hope it hurts."

Page 206 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

They take the head and the syringe and leave.

"Heh… Heh-heh… Well, damn…"

A pool of blood spreads out across the white floor.

Akira Nishino can feel the heat in his body drain out alongside the blood.

"So, this is how it ends."

As a researcher, he knows that his attacker was right. He's a dead man.

"And I was so close, too…"

He finally got the material he needed for his research.

He was on the verge of making a warrior more powerful than even the

Original Knight. And this time, he was going to be able to control it.

He reaches toward the empty air above him. His hand is wet with his own

blood.

As his vision starts to fade, he looks over at the bed.

"Huh…?"

That's when he sees the silver-haired girl abruptly sit up.

For a moment, he assumes it's a hallucination brought about by his blood

loss.

After all, he saw her get shot square in the forehead with his own two

eyes.

However, the girl then stretches, stands up, and, in the blink of an eye,

changes into an all-black outfit.

"What?"

Once again, he doesn't believe his eyes.

She changed into that black bodysuit in a single instant.

She goes on to pull a large black sack seemingly out of nowhere and starts

packing stuff into it.

"M-my camera…"

One thing Akira Nishino spots is the camera that he thought he lost.

The girl stuffs his laptop inside the sack, then rummages around the room

and takes every electrical appliance she can get her hands on.

The sack bulges as it gets fuller and fuller.

It's made of some material he's never seen. It's black, lustrous, and

elastic.

"This one, and this one… Good, now room is all finished done. Next all is

left is retrieve head," Natsume says. Her Japanese is oddly dubious.

"Y-you can talk?"

Page 207 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

"Am many fluent," she says as un-fluently as can be. "Now, where data

is? Am deleting."

"It's in a lab farther inside the building. Do what you like. I knew there

were traces that the browser history had been edited, but I never imagined

that you were the second rat…"

Natsume flashes him a radiant smile and walks past him.

"Just tell me…one last thing…," he chokes out. "Who are you people…?"

"We are the Shadow Garden," she replies in a low whisper. "We lurk in

the darkness and hunt down shadows."

She leaves without making a sound.

"The Shadow…Garden…huh…?"

He's never heard of them.

Do they operate overseas, maybe? Or are they perhaps the kind of

organization that never shows its face in the light?

Either way, it means that there are groups in this world the likes of which

Akira Nishino never dreamed of.

"I thought I was so close…but I guess…I was further than I thought…"

He looks over to the door the girl disappeared through—and then

suddenly, she pops her head back in.

"Am you know FallenAngelofRebellion?" she asks him out of the blue.

"The Fallen Angel of Rebellion? Never heard of it…"

"Good. When I finding them, I kill. Marking my words."

And with that, she leaves. For good this time.

The Fallen Angel of Rebellion must be the organization the Shadow

Garden is fighting against.

As Akira Nishino wonders who they could possibly be, he breathes his

last.

The knights gather on the base's wall and begin fighting back against the

beasts.

The beasts, in turn, drive their sharp claws into the wall and climb it

practically like they're running. The knights' efforts to stop them are marred

Page 208 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

by exhaustion, and despair begins creeping into their expressions.

"Commander Haitani, there's too many of them! We can't hold them all

off!"

Knight Commander Haitani has no reply for his soldiers' screams.

"What's going on? Where did all these beasts even come from?"

Haitani brandishes his sword. The beasts falter, and he moves in for the

kill.

However, the wall below is covered with more just like it. The beasts'

writhing ranks stretch all the way to the horizon.

There aren't supposed to be this many.

No normal stampede has anywhere near this many beasts.

Now, though, they're surging toward the base like they're being drawn to

something.

Their numbers, their ferocity… Everything about the situation is

abnormal.

"If only she were here… No, not even she would be enough to turn the

tide…"

Haitani realizes he should stop talking.

Even though he's in the middle of a battle, there's still a chance someone

might overhear him.

And besides, even if their strongest combatant, Akane Nishino, were

there, it wouldn't be enough to stop the army of beasts knocking at their door.

At that point, Haitani realizes that he already knows how this battle is

going to end.

The only thing waiting for them is their inevitable, inexorable defeat.

"Start evacuating the civilians."

"But Commander, if we do that—"

"All we can do now is buy time for them."

"You're saying we're abandoning the base?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Haitani has the eyes of a man who's

already made his peace. "But we're not fighting so we can throw our lives

away. We're fighting so that we can save as many others as we can."

"Commander…"

"I'm splitting the knight order into two groups. One group will be

evacuating the civilians through the emergency tunnels. The other will stay

here and buy them time."

Page 209 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

"Y-yes, sir."

"You—you're in charge of the evacuation efforts. Remember, their lives

are in your hands."

Haitani hates futility.

In his eyes, fighting futile battles and losing lives for nothing is a colossal

waste.

If there's meaning in the fight, though, he's more than willing to put his

life on the line.

Haitani is determined to fight until his dying breath if it means buying a

single second more for the evacuating civilians.

However, even that determination can shatter under the weight of true

despair.

That despair comes in the form of a roar that sounds like a thunderclap.

The terrible cry reverberates through everything, demanding the attention

of all present.

Once it has it, the fearsome beast with its massive amounts of mana

appears.

One stock-still knight's choked comment echoes across the battlefield. "Iit's the Brute…"

The beast's overgrown crimson claws and fangs stand stark against the

darkness.

It inspires instinctual terror in any who behold it, like a demon straight out

of the world of stories.

The Brute leaps too quickly for those awed by it to follow and swings its

mighty claws.

The blow it inflicts is despair incarnate.

"What…?! The wall—!"

With but a single attack, the Brute's claws carve deep fissures into the

university's bulwark.

If that wall goes down, the base will be defenseless. They'll get overrun in

seconds.

They can picture it already.

Another claw strike cleaves through the night.

"N-noooo!"

The shout is powerless to stop the Brute.

It should be, anyhow.

Page 210 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Yet the Brute's crimson claw freezes unnaturally in midair.

Is it heeding that desperate cry?

No, of course not.

At long last, the knights notice the obsidian blade that the Brute is

impaled on.

It's piercing the massive beast through from behind. Dark blood trickles

down its tip.

A roar of agony erupts from the Brute's mouth.

Then, slowly…

…its massive frame rises into the air.

Slowly—ever so slowly—the blade hoists the Brute aloft.

The beast has been reduced to nothing more than a helpless sacrifice.

Then, under the moon's light, the obsidian blade flips over.

A moment later, the Brute splits in two. A torrent of black blood spills

forth.

There, underneath it, stands the man holding the sword.

"I-it's him…the Black Knight! The Black Knight is here!"

"H-he killed the Brute in a single blow!"

The quivering voices grow into an ever-expanding stir.

"I-is he here to help us…?"

The Black Knight holds his sword horizontally and squares off against the

slavering horde of beasts.

Everyone falls silent again.

The knights' eyes are fixed on the Black Knight's each and every move.

They can tell that something is about to happen.

They don't know what yet.

However, they can tell from the way the air curls around the Black Knight

that it's going to defy belief.

Nobody so much as twitches.

The only thing moving is the air.

Light—fathomless specks of light—gather around the Black Knight's

sword as he continues holding it level with the ground.

The light then swirls, spiraling in a bluish-purple glow as it converges at

the blade's tip.

A new bluish-purple sword extends forth.

It stretches across the ground, all the way to the horizon.

Page 211 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

It seems to practically go on forever.

The Black Knight stoops low and draws the sword back.

His voice rumbles like it's coming from the depths of the abyss as it

echoes all through the area.

"I AM…"

A tremendous amount of mana gathers on the blade—

"…ATOMIC SWORD."

—and the blade cleaves forth.

A flash of light bisects the night, shredding through all who stand within

it.

In its wake, a bluish-purple afterglow drifts by and illuminates everything

the sword sliced through.

Everything as far as the eye can see lies slain.

All of it—beasts, trees, and buildings alike—now has a perfect horizonal

line cut through it.

"This isn't possible… It shouldn't be possible…"

It's like God himself has come and divided the world into tops and

bottoms. The onlooking knights are completely overwhelmed at the

unbelievable gravity of what they've just witnessed.

"Who…? What is he…?" Haitani murmurs.

He can't believe that the man who did this, the Black Knight, could

possibly be human.

The Black Knight slowly begins to walk. His dark longcoat flutters in the

night wind.

His boots click loudly against the ground as he advances toward the base.

"Eep…"

The knights turn and try to flee on reflex alone, and Haitani doesn't even

think of rebuking them.

He, too, knows that resistance is futile.

"…Open the gate," he says.

"A-are you mad, Commander?! Wh-who knows what'll happen if we let

that thing inside?!"

"So? It's not like we have any other options."

"But, Commander…"

"None of us are powerful enough to so much as break his stride, so we

have to gamble on whatever tiny chance we have. He did stop the stampede,

Page 212 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

if nothing else."

As Haitani speaks, he descends the wall and opens the gate himself.

The Black Knight walks into the base without even hesitating.

The knights scramble over one another to get out of his way.

Not a single one of them tries to stop him.

The Black Knight keeps going like it's the most natural thing imaginable.

Everyone present understands one thing—if anyone in the world can

claim to be strong, it's him.

"Hold…"

Haitani tries to speak to him.

However, his voice fails him.

He realizes, faintly, that it's because he's scared.

Finally, he manages to wring out a hoarse shout.

"H-hold on, please… What do you want? Why are you here at

Messiah…?"

He fully expects to be ignored. The Black Knight might not have even

heard him.

To his surprise, though, the Black Knight stops and murmurs softly. "The

time has come. The door of darkness is cast open, and the world advances to

a new field…"

Nobody present understands what he means.

However, his words have a weight to them that they can all comprehend.

The Black Knight knows everything, no doubt.

He knows why Japan became the way it did. Where the beasts came from.

Everything. He sees the shape the world is yet to take.

Surely that's why they don't understand him.

"Who… Who exactly are you…?" Haitani asks as the Black Knight goes

farther away.

"My name is Shadow. I lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows."

"You lurk in the darkness…and hunt down shadows…"

Haitani watches him go.

He wonders if the day will ever come when he understands what Shadow

means by that.

Page 213 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

My black longcoat flutters as I vanish into the darkness.

It's the perfect exit—it's slow, it's unhurried, and it leaves behind the

impression of absolute power.

"Heh-heh-heh… I nailed that!"

They're probably still trembling in awe at the eminence in shadow who

appeared out of nowhere and obliterated the beasts with overwhelming force.

Plus, they'll spend ages pondering the mysterious words I left them with.

"Shadowbrokers never die. They live on forever in the hearts of those who

witness their deeds."

As I stealthily watch my audience from a rooftop, I sense a familiar

presence behind me.

"Beta… You've come," I say, switching back into my Shadow act.

She does her own Shadow Garden act and kneels before me.

"Did come yes. Was am late."

For some reason, she's talking in Japanese.

But why?

"I—I see you've learned Japanese…"

"Yes. Thanks to Lord Shah-dou am many fluent."

That's not exactly what I'd call fluent, but she's clearly competent enough

to make herself understood.

That weird, choppy grammar of hers sort of reminds me of someone, but I

can't put my finger on who.

None of my acquaintances immediately come to mind, though, so it's

probably not that important.

But I gotta say, I wasn't expecting Beta to learn Japanese nearly this fast.

"Anyway…what's in the bag?"

She's carrying a huge bag made of slime on her back.

It looks sort of like Santa Claus lugging around his big sack of presents.

"I gathered the you-know-whats. Now we am be stronger."

"The you-know-whats…?"

Pretty sure I don't know any whats, but I guess she's just doing our

standard routine.

Page 214 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

"Many knowledge. Like you am said long ago, Lord Shah-dou. All

knowledge am have common links. You was right! Sai-fur pattern am linked!

Learned Japanese! Lots of many other links! Knowledge all connected! It are

amazing!"

"Ah, yes. It all makes sense."

That didn't make any sense. All I got from that was that Beta's Japanese

blows.

"And how is the plan proceeding?"

There wasn't actually a plan, but I feel like changing the subject.

We're pretty far off-script at this point, yet Beta does a perfect job

keeping up with my ad-libbing.

"Everything am in place. Did found what we looking for."

"I see… So, everything is in place."

"Door am open. Leader that way."

"I see… So, the enemy leader is that way…"

When I turn my attention in the direction Beta's pointing, I sense a pair of

unusual magical signatures.

She must've gone and found the next big event for me.

You did good, Beta.

A shadowy figure runs down a dark underground tunnel.

They're carrying a severed head, and every so often, they shoot a worried

glance back over their shoulder.

Eventually, they come to a stop in front of a large wheeled suitcase at the

end of the tunnel.

"It's over… It's finally over."

The figure's voice is female.

She retrieves a flashlight and uses its light to open the suitcase.

Inside, there's a sleeping young woman hugging her knees.

The young woman has long black hair and is dressed in a knight order

uniform. It's Akane Nishino.

"This is all your fault. Everything that happened, everything that's about

Page 215 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

to happen…it's all because of you," the shadowy woman says to her.

She sets down the head and pulls something shaped like a syringe from

her pocket.

That's when a new voice echoes through the tunnel.

"Looks like I was right. You were the culprit."

It belongs to a boy.

"Who's there?!"

The shadowed woman whirls back and shines her flashlight toward where

the voice came from.

Its light reveals the boy standing in the darkness. He has black hair and

eyes, and looks utterly unassuming. He's the kind of average young man you

could find just about anywhere.

"Minoru…? How are you here?"

"You probably thought I was dead, didn't you…Dr. Yuuka?"

"..."

The woman's expression freezes.

Sure enough, she's the base's lab coat–clad physician, Dr. Yuuka.

"I mean, you are the one who gave the order to have me killed."

"…That's right, I am. Clever work, figuring that out."

"I take it you killed the gor…Saejima, too?"

She admits it matter-of-factly. "That's right."

"It was weird, you know. I hadn't done anything to make people want to

attack me. The only explanation that made sense was if you were the killer."

"I see they didn't finish the job."

"Nope. I'm still alive and kicking. Why'd you do it, Doc?"

Dr. Yuuka smiles coldly. "You want an explanation?"

She pulls a pistol from her lab coat's pocket and points it at Minoru.

"…That the gun you used to kill Saejima?"

"The very same. Killing him was like taking candy from a baby. When

their guards are down, knights are just ordinary people. You can kill with

nothing more than a little…bang."

She pulls the trigger.

A bullet bounces off the ground by Minoru's feet, sending up a little

shower of sparks.

Minoru doesn't so much as twitch, a fact that she regards with some

surprise. "You don't scare easy, do you? Or are you just so scared you can't

Page 216 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

even move?"

"Why'd you kill him?"

"He was our inside man. Once we had what we needed, we got rid of

him," she answers with a bewitching smile.

"We?"

"I'm a spy for the Alliance."

"Oh, I see. So, what, you're after the base?"

"That's what the Alliance is after, certainly. But not me." She clenches

her fists. "My goal is revenge."

"What do you mean?"

"Where to start… Do you know who she really is, deep down inside?"

Dr. Yuuka looks down at Akane's sleeping body.

"She's a very bad girl who killed loads and loads of people."

"Huh."

The boy sounds almost nonchalant. Dr. Yuuka's expression harshens.

"You don't believe me. You think I'm lying, don't you?"

"What? No. I'm sure you're—"

"Fine. I'll tell you everything. Let's see how you feel once you know

about the way she slaughtered them."

"I mean, hey, if you want to."

Dr. Yuuka's lips contort as she begins telling her story. Her expression

hasn't softened one bit. "I used to live in Arcadia with my husband. Things

weren't easy, but we were happy. Now, my husband was a researcher. He

studied the Awakened alongside Akira Nishino."

"Okay…"

"One day, their research bore fruit, and they created the first knight in all

of Japan—a girl with black hair and red eyes who they called the Original

Knight."

She stares down at Akane Nishino as she speaks.

That strikes me as odd. "If I remember correctly, I thought I heard that the

Original Knight had golden hair."

"In the beginning, her hair was dark. But Akira Nishino wasn't satisfied

with her power. He began dabbling in forbidden research in an attempt to

make her even stronger. That was what turned her hair golden."

"Oh, huh…"

"And she became powerful, all right. Eventually, though, that power grew

Page 217 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

out of her control. My husband tried over and over to stop Akira Nishino, but

he never could. And that's when it happened."

She hangs her head. Her lips are quivering.

"One day, the Original Knight went on a rampage and massacred the

people of Arcadia. My husband was one of the victims; I held him in my

arms as he died. I followed Akira Nishino and the Original Knight after that,

and when I found them a few years later, do you know what they were doing?

Continuing their research like nothing had changed. They destroyed Arcadia

and killed my husband, and I intend to make them pay."

She grinds her teeth as she goes on.

"I already put down Akira Nishino. Once I'm through with the Original

Knight, it'll all be over. And in case it wasn't clear enough by now, she's the

Original Knight."

She looks down at the girl cradling her knees in her sleep.

"…Are you going to kill her?"

"Death would be too good for her. After all the horrors she wrought, now

she's trying to forget about what she did. Well, I'm not going to let her. I'm

going to force her to remember everything…"

Dr. Yuuka presses the tip of the syringe against Akane's neck and glares

at Minoru.

"You stay right where you are. Do you know what kinds of experiments

Akira Nishino was performing on this girl? He made the Original Knight by

injecting her with purified beast bodily fluids a tiny bit at a time. She's a

monster with human and beast bits all mixed up inside her. Now, what do

you think will happen…if I inject her with fluids from the Brute?"

She sticks the syringe in and deposits its payload.

Akane's eyes snap open.

Her slender body convulses, and golden magic begins pouring out of her.

By the time she's risen to her feet, her hair gleams gold.

"Now this…this is who you really are."

Dr. Yuuka's mouth curls into a cruel smile. Akane turns her glassy eyes

on her.

Akane's face is expressionless, and her eyes are cold and blank.

She casually thrusts her right arm forward.

Her arm moves like it's being drawn to something, then pierces Dr.

Yuuka's heart.

Page 218 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Dr. Yuuka doesn't resist.

Page 219 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Page 220 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Instead, she just slumps forward onto Akane and whispers in her ear.

"…This is my revenge."

She laughs. Her lips are wet with blood.

Then, she crumples at the knees and laughs until the last life fades from

her.

"Ah… Ahh… Ah…"

Akane's eyes swim.

Trembling, she looks down at her arm soaked in red.

"Ahhhh… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

She tears at her hair with her bloody hand.

Her screams are tinged with sorrow.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Golden particles scatter from her body. They envelop her surroundings,

then explode.

Akane Nishino feels like she's gazing at some sort of distant, far-off world.

In her heart, however, she knows that it's all happening right in front of

her.

She knows all too well that the sensation of her arm rending flesh and the

sight of Dr. Yuuka collapsing are both terribly real.

She knows, because she remembers having the same thing happen long

ago.

She wonders what, exactly, happened back then.

She wonders how many people she killed.

Recollections flood back right as the feeling in her arm does.

"Ahhhh… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The memories are etched deep in her heart. They'll never go away.

She crushed towns, slaughtered people, and destroyed Arcadia, all

because she couldn't control her magic and her urges.

It felt like she was gazing at a distant, far-off world back then, too.

Because of that, she knows what's about to happen.

She can feel her magic starting to run wild.

Page 221 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

It hurts.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Golden particles swallow her surroundings, then explode.

The black-haired boy gets caught in the blast and goes flying.

"Ah… Ahhh…"

By the time her magic finally settles down, everything in a dome around

her is destroyed.

Rubble lies piled high around her, and she can see the stars through the

newly formed hole above.

The black-haired boy is nowhere to be seen.

Akane stands there petrified.

Yet despite the profound sorrow in her heart, she can't get her expression

to change. That fact hurts, too.

Then, she hears something behind her.

She turns and sees a man in a black longcoat standing atop the towering

debris.

It's the Black Knight.

The moon hangs high at his back as he draws his obsidian blade.

"It's a fine night for severing one's past…"

He raises his sword toward the sky.

A gust of wind blows between the two of them.

"Here I come."

With that, he swoops through the sky.

No…stay back!

Akane's body moves on its own, heedless of her internal screams.

Golden magic wells forth from her entire body. She soars into the air.

The swooping black and soaring gold collide.

And when they do…the gold smashes through the black.

Another person dead by her hands.

Akane looks down at the arm she used to pierce the Black Knight and

feels a wave of something almost like resignation wash over her.

Her arm is covered in a black, sticky liquid.

It's the Black Knight's blood. No, wait…that isn't right.

A voice comes from behind her. "That was my afterimage."

She whirls around and finds the Black Knight standing there as calm as

can be.

Page 222 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

She's positive she felt her arm stab the Black Knight through, yet he

doesn't have so much as a scratch on him.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Her body rushes forward, determined to hunt the Black Knight.

Midway through her charge, however, she comes to a sudden stop.

She doesn't know when they got there, but there are chains winding

around her arms and legs and restricting her movement.

She thinks back to the black liquid she found on her arm. Did he do that to

set this up?

"Agahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Her magic struggles and tries to lash out, and he chides her in a tranquil

tone. "It's no use. None can escape the prison of black chains."

His boots clop against the ground as he slowly approaches her.

Bluish-purple magic gathers at his black blade.

It's terrible and beautiful to behold.

Akane is stunned speechless.

She realizes then that she's going to die there.

It's all finally going to be over.

Her body rages, but her heart is calm.

He brings his blade down, and Akane's vision floods with bluish-purple

light.

As her consciousness starts fading, she hears a familiar voice.

"…From now on, try to stop getting kidnapped so much."

Beta watches through a gap in the rubble as the bluish-purple magic heals

Akane.

"Tee-hee-hee… This am magnificent."

She uses the digital camera in her right hand to capture an image of her

esteemed master, and at the same time, uses her left hand to write out

passages of The Chronicles of Master Shadow. It's quite the party trick.

"This camera can preserve Lord Shadow's image in all its majestic glory.

Is am like this device were invented just for me."

Page 223 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

She wipes away the drool running down her chin before packing up the

camera and her manuscript.

Seeing that her master has reached a good stopping point, she calls over to

him.

"We're all ready to going, my lord."

He calmly turns toward her. "Ah, Beta."

"Are the plan complete?" she asks.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Very well. Then I starting."

With that, Beta fishes the severed head out of the rubble.

She's already finished analyzing the Black Rose.

"Oh…?"

"I going like this… And like this, probably… All done!"

She tosses the head into the air, imbues her sword with magic, and uses it

to impale the head.

Darkness begins spilling out, forming a growing black hole.

"Ooh… I didn't really follow that, but good work, Beta."

"Y-you're too kind, my lord! It were nothing!"

Beta is so moved by the unexpected compliment, her whole body trembles

before she can stop herself.

"All right, let's get out of here. Like, right now. Chop chop, no time to

waste."

"Yes, sir."

"Here we go, Beta! Geronimo!"

Without hesitating for a moment, her lord leaps directly into the black

hole.

Beta watches him go, but right as she's about to follow his lead, she

realizes something.

"This…willn't fit."

The black sack she's lugging around is packed so tight and full it looks

like a small mountain.

Inside are all the tools and documents she's collected during her time in

Japan.

The plan was to take them all back with her so she could study them, but

there's one problem—the black hole is too small.

It's barely large enough for her to fit through, let alone all her loot.

Page 224 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

And to make matters worse, it's slowly but surely starting to shrink. In a

couple minutes, it'll be completely closed.

"Sniff… But I collecteding so much…"

Tears well up in her eyes as she opens her sack and dumps out its

contents.

She begins scouring the pile for anything small enough she can carry with

her by hand.

"This one… Not this one… Definitely not this one… This one maybe

fitting… Hmm?"

Then, all of a sudden, she registers the presence of the young woman on

the ground.

Thanks to the way Beta's master healed her, the young woman's hair has

returned from its previous golden hue back to its original beautiful shade of

black. She's sleeping peacefully on the ground.

"I just getting a good idea."

A wicked smile spreads across Beta's face as she looks down at the

resting woman.

There's only so much she can take with her.

That means she needs to prioritize the most valuable resources and

sources of knowledge she can find.

"The best thing to bringing is a local specimen!"

Beta swaddles the raven-haired woman in slime and packs her in with a

few smaller devices, as well as the digital camera.

"In we going, now."

She stuffs the black bag into the hole, then jumps in after it.

"Shadow is back?"

At the moment, Alpha is listening to a report while in the director's office

of the Mitsugoshi Deluxe Hotel.

The moment she heard about Shadow getting sucked into the Black Rose,

she immediately rushed over to the Oriana Kingdom to take charge of the

damage control operation.

Page 225 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

"M-M-M-M-M-Master Shadow is back?!"

Epsilon, who's working beside her, stands up so fast she knocks her chair

over.

"Calm yourself, Epsilon."

"B-but, Alpha…"

"He had some sort of important objective he was carrying out, and we

knew he had the resources for his return close at hand. There was never any

doubt about whether or not he would be back."

"I—I guess you're right. I'm so glad he's safe, though."

"Where is he now?" Alpha asks Victoria, who's standing in front of the

door.

"He's heading for the Midgar Kingdom in quite a hurry."

"Why the rush?"

"He seemed to be concerned about how soon the academy's winter

vacation was ending."

"I see. There might be something important happening there, then.

Something related to the Cult, or perhaps even Diablos…"

"Understood, ma'am. I should note that Zeta is with him."

"Zeta? When did she get back?"

"Unclear, ma'am."

Alpha lets out a small sigh. "That girl has skills, I'll give her that, but she

really does need to report in more often."

"Also, Beta returned as well. She says she brought a number of interesting

things back with her."

"Ah, so they did go in with an objective. Where is she?"

"She's—"

Before Victoria can finish her sentence, the door swings open and a silverhaired girl comes in.

"I'm back, everyone!"

"Good work out there," Alpha says. "Actually, before I compliment you, I

have to ask—what's that?"

Beta is dragging a large black bag along behind her.

"Let's see," she says and starts proudly pulling out various electronics. "I

have a digital camera, a laptop, a tablet… And they're all amazing! I mean,

we're talking about some revolutionary gadgets here! All they need is

electricity, and they can do all sorts of things!"

Page 226 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Alpha points at the conspicuously human-shaped blob. "That's all

fascinating, but I was actually asking about the one that looks like a person."

Epsilon nods in agreement.

"This is, um…" Beta pauses and tilts her head in thought. "A…

knowledge…sample? Or rather, a manual, maybe? Something along those

lines."

"I have to say, it looks a lot like a human being."

"Well, I haven't looked into it with any proper rigor, but to be precise,

she's a specimen from the other world—one that I suspect is nigh

indistinguishable from a human."

Beta's pedantic reply earns her a furrowed brow from Alpha. "Well, make

sure you take proper care of her."

"Who, me? I was just going to hand her over to Eta…"

"You found her, so she's your responsibility. Once you start something,

it's important to see it through. And besides, who knows what Eta would do

to her if given free rein?"

Beta hangs her head despondently. "Th-that's a fair point…"

Page 227 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Page 228 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

"You can fill me in on all the details later. Write up a report about

everything that happened over there and all the things you brought back."

"O-of course. I'll get started at once."

"Also, there's something you should know. As far as the situation with

Number 666 goes…"

The Shadow Garden's board of directors meeting continues until late in

the night.

Akane wakes up in a white room.

She feels good. Really good. Her heart is calm, and she can't remember

the last time she woke up feeling so refreshed.

"Where am I…?"

She looks around the room.

At first, she thinks she's in one of the university's labs, but the equipment

here is too primitive for that.

"I can't…I can't read anything."

There's something written on the wall, but she doesn't even recognize

what language it's in.

"What happened to me back there…?"

Akane remembers everything.

She remembers her sins, she remembers accepting death, she remembers

the gentle light and his voice enveloping her at the end—everything.

Her heart is calm enough now to accept things as they are.

"…I'm so sorry."

The apology is directed at those she wronged.

Dr. Yuuka, the people of Arcadia… All of them died by her hands.

Her brother might have been the one who started it all, but the way she

sees it, it was her own weakness that exacerbated the damage.

She's wanted to come to terms with the past for so long, but she's never

had the strength to do so.

Now, however, she does.

"That was you, Minoru…wasn't it?"

Page 229 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

His was the voice she heard. She's sure of it.

"I know you survived. You never change, do you…?"

A single tear trickles down from the corner of her eye.

If he's still alive, then she can be strong.

"Wait for me, Minoru. I…I killed a lot of people, but I'm going to save so

many more. So please, just wait for me to finish atoning…"

And with that, golden particles begin drifting around her.