Becoming a Shadow in the New World

In World 3, he was the son of a minor nobleman. Since the school was already a prestigious academy, and he knew a couple of people, he easily became a second-year student.

Although Itogami Island seems to have a purpose in researching demons in World Two, no one has mentioned it since the academy was established.

After all, there are many powerful figures among the orcs and demons in both World One and World Two, and saying such things would not be conducive to unity.

He expressed his gratitude for this global fusion, thanking it for providing such a suitable stage for the birth of powerful beings.

Think about it carefully: demons, angels, god vampires... with these beings existing, even with external pressure, the world can never truly be at peace.

Take the fourth progenitor from urban legends, for example. Legend has it that he killed countless people, drank a cup of virgin blood every day, possessed 12 familiars that were harbingers of calamity, and was capable of destroying the world single-handedly.

How cool would that be? If someone could tell him where the Fourth Progenitor was, he would go there immediately and kill him, thus making his second official appearance as a Shadow Power in the New World.

All sorts of villains, all sorts of world-ending crises—just thinking about it excites him. You see, even with his strength, there are at least three powerful figures in the new world against whom he can't be sure of victory or defeat.

Because this new world truly allows him to become a Shadow Power, several months ago, he had Alpha and the others gather the Shadow Garden, a total of over seven hundred people. At that time, he stood on the stage, looking at the crowd below, and told them, in a way that fit the game's setting, that he no longer wanted to play the chuunibyou game.

Although most people couldn't understand what he was saying, he believed that Seven Shadows, who had grown up with him since childhood and knew his true nature, understood what he meant.

What he said to Gamma before might seem profound to most people, as if he were carrying some kind of burden, but Gamma had probably already interpreted it automatically in his mind, after all, Gamma is very intelligent.

"You no longer need to report this information to me (I've already said I'm not going to play those chuunibyou games anymore)."

We're no longer on the same path. Let's seize this opportunity to lead the garden into the sunlight. Remember, flowers cannot bloom in the dark. (It must have been hard for the staff to play with me, I won't bother you anymore.)

I can bear all the darkness and sin of this world alone; you don't need to, and shouldn't, face it. (I'm going to become a true Shadow Warrior; you can't help me now.)

That's right, he has graduated from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome). He wants to separate the shadows before the world merges from the shadows after the world merges.

He was happy jumping around as a riddle teller before, but a fake is a fake. There was never a Diablo Order in the first place. The fact that the kingdom didn't issue a warrant for the Order but instead issued a warrant for him proves that the kingdom wasn't fooled.

Thinking about it carefully, this is a dark history.

Look at this new world now. On the surface, it seems calm, but undercurrents are surging. He would regret missing this stage, which is so suitable for those with the strength of a shadow, to take the stage.

He's already a true Shadow-level powerhouse, why is he still playing these chuunibyou games? Although he did consider bringing them along, Alpha and the others have already paid out of their own pockets to have others play these chuunibyou games with him. If he were to drag others into danger for the sake of his own dream, he would despise himself.

Not saving someone he didn't know is a completely different matter from not saving his good friend who helped him realize his dream.

However, it seems they went a bit too far just now; Gamma and the others were almost bursting into laughter.

Fortunately, he had a quick wit and left immediately, even softening his stance before departing, believing that Gamma understood his meaning.

"All I can do is take away the darkness from your path to the light (call me if you need help). Also, Gamma, think carefully about what I said to you before (for the sake of our relationship, don't laugh, at least wait until I'm gone)."

Sid thought to himself as he walked to the classroom.

Chapter Three: The End of the Shadow Garden

Watching Sid close the door, Gamma suddenly felt her face become wet. She reached up and wiped it away, only to find it was tears. When was the last time she cried?

It must have been back when she was still in the countryside, defeated by Delta. Gamma knew very well that her athletic and combat talents were poor, and couldn't deny it. Despite being the third person saved by Sid, she was overtaken by the newcomers who joined later.

She is the weakest of the Seven Shadows, also known as the weakest Gamma, a fact confirmed by her numerous defeats.

It's ridiculous that you're willing to give your life a new lease on life for the person who saved your life, only to find that your strength is completely insignificant.

Rather than living such a shameful life, I'd rather die.

With this in mind, he summoned her and taught her a fighting style called "wisdom." She greedily absorbed this knowledge as if grasping at a last straw.

Relying on the knowledge she received, she established the Mitsukoshi Trading Company in the original world to provide funding for Shadow Garden. Even after the world merged, she still made a name for herself by waving the banner of the World Battlefield. In addition, her advantages in quality and price eroded the civilian market in the new world.

She thought she could use this achievement to tell him that she was useful and that she was an indispensable member of the Seven Shadows.

But just over two months ago, her master, Shadow, suddenly summoned all members of Shadow Garden, ordering the garden, which was originally in darkness, to move towards the light, while he himself remained in the darkness.

At that moment, she knew that they had been abandoned, simply because their lord was too gentle.

If Shadow Garden is to emerge into the world, now is the perfect time. During the period of adjustment among the three worlds, all sorts of underhanded and dirty tactics from various factions will be used in secret.

No one will investigate what happened during this adjustment period, because it involves making enemies of most of the world. So, even if a second-rate power suddenly appears in this world, no one will care.

"Audiences should act like audiences."

How ironic that in their original world, these were the words they spoke to those living in the surface world, but in this new world, their master has returned them to them verbatim.

No one objected or asked the Lord to retract the order, because they were too weak, too weak to be of any help to Him.

There is no need to refute or question this point.

In the original world, the Shadow Garden had once been enemies with their Shadow Lord. It was on that occasion that their Shadow Lord proved with facts that they were nothing but trash that he could easily destroy at will. It was also on that occasion that the dignity of the Shadow Garden was shattered.

In the original world, the Shadow Garden was able to stand against the cult that secretly ruled the world, but in this new world, it is only a second-rate power. And their master, the god of the Shadow Garden, is only qualified to fight against four people, even in this new world.

That's right, they dragged him down. To their master, he was one of the strongest in the world, and no one could defeat him. But if they were included, even if he was still one of the strongest, he might be defeated by the weak.

If there is no way to defeat him, the enemy will only show their claws in the shadows, and no one will dare to openly show hostility towards him. But they have become their lord's weakness, and the enemy will attack them frantically in order to defeat him.

This is not without precedent. There was a war in World 1, and the main forces involved in that war were demons, fallen angels, and angels.

The angels' gods were theoretically on par with their lord in terms of strength, yet they were dragged down and killed by the four demon kings of the demon side. There may be various reasons for this, but there is no doubt that the angels held the gods back. Otherwise, even if the gods were weak, the four demon kings would not have been qualified to perish together with them.

Although they appear cold, their master is very gentle and would never abandon them because they are weak.

He taught them how to fight and enlightened their hearts. Even though their experiences had nothing to do with him, he saved them out of compassion, even though they had been abandoned by their families and country.

To repay this kindness and for revenge, they established the Shadow Garden, whose members are mostly like them, people who were abandoned by their families or countries after being possessed by demons.

But does that make any difference to him?

No. Everyone in the Shadow Garden believes one thing: even if they choose to leave and not fight against the Order after being saved by him, he will still choose to fight and save more girls who, like them, are possessed by demons.

Can the cult defeat him?

Impossible. Faced with his absolute power, the world could still be saved by him, and demon possessors could be healed and reborn by him.

Perhaps in His Lord's eyes, the so-called Shadow Garden versus the Diablo Order was no different from a game.

Even though it's just a game, in their original world they had the ability to protect themselves and even fight against the cult. Now, they don't even have the ability to protect themselves.

So it's only natural that they were abandoned. If their master were a villain, they wouldn't need to worry about this, since they would be more than capable of being cannon fodder. But unfortunately, their master is very gentle.

He hoped they would take advantage of this opportunity of world unification to step into the sunlight, instead of remaining in the darkness until the Diablo Order was destroyed, while he faced the Order and the potential darkness of this new world alone.

"New, did you hear what the Lord just said? If you did, have the intelligence team focus on investigating how well various countries around the world control transportation lines and goods."

"Yes, Lord Gamma. We are informing Lord Zeta to have the intelligence team infiltrate various countries to gather intelligence."

Fighting back his tears, Gamma gave the order as if nothing had happened.

Just as Sid had thought, Gamma immediately understood what Sid had said before he left.

"Gamma, think carefully about what I said to you before."

This statement tells her that there was indeed a problem with the report she just received, and that the answer lies in the knowledge she was taught earlier.

This was his teaching style towards her; rather than giving her the answers, he preferred to give them hints and let them solve the problems themselves. They were also capable of completely ignoring them, and on the eve of a problem erupting, Sid would transform into a shadow and solve it for them, but this also meant that they disappointed him.

She roughly recalled what Sid had said, and then opened her eyes.

"If things are going too smoothly, stop and look behind you. Otherwise, how can you be sure that what you call smooth sailing is not part of someone else's plan?"

Thinking about it carefully, she seemed to have taken the neutrality of the Mikoshi Trading Company for granted. In the original world, the Mikoshi Trading Company could control the world's economy and issue currency because countries needed them to circulate and develop their economies. Therefore, it was best for them to be neutral, and they could only be neutral.

After the world merged, Mitsukoshi, through its own advantages, seemed to have the potential to become a new world economic giant. All that was left was to declare a neutral stance to gain the trust of the other two world powers. But the question was whether the countries of the original world wanted Mitsukoshi to be neutral between their own worlds or neutral among the three worlds. The answer was self-evident.

She took Mitsukoshi's neutrality, which was due to compromises between countries in the original world, for granted and assumed that it would be the same in the new world, but she ignored whether the countries in the original world were willing to accept it.

She believes that various countries have used some means against the Mikoshi Chamber of Commerce, attempting to betray it when it expressed neutrality and tie it to their camp.

While the possibility of destroying Mitsukoshi is not nonexistent, it is extremely low. Without Mitsukoshi, the suspicion among various countries would not only cause the already largely established economic system to collapse, but also leave them with no means to counter the economic invasion from the other two worlds.

If she hadn't known, their underhanded tactics might have succeeded. In that case, no matter how angry Mitsukoshi was, having lost his neutrality, he wouldn't have dared to take action against the countries on the same side.

But now that she knows, it's simple: find out which countries have planted the bombs, then deal with them, or even retaliate.

"All I can do is take away the darkness from your path to the light. Also, Gamma, think carefully about what I told you before."

Correction: They were not abandoned by him; he simply intended to give without asking anything in return. He still regarded them as children who needed to be saved. It was they who felt abandoned.

Chapter Four: Nangong Nayue

"Asagi, wake up, school's over."

"Hmm... Ha, Sid, is school over already? I have to go, I'm going to be late for my part-time job."

The woman in front of him, who had just woken up and was lying on the table, with black hair, red eyes, old-fashioned glasses, and a dowdy outfit, was named Aiba Asagi. She was a local resident of Itogami Island in World 2 and one of the extras he had finally managed to find at this school.

It is said that before the world merged, she was just an ordinary person with good grades, but after the world merged, she was found to have good magical talent, so she transferred from her original school.

The power levels in each world are different. In order to clarify the approximate strength, a new evaluation system has been developed, which is divided into the following levels from bottom to top: d, c, b, a, s, ss, sss and Dragon God.

Unfortunately, even with her good talent, with only a little over a year of training, her strength was only C+. In this school that places great emphasis on practical skills, even with the written test included, her score was only in the lower middle range.

"You've been busy lately? You're still so tired after sleeping all day. Luckily, Nazuki-chan doesn't have class today, and the other teachers aren't interested in bothering you, otherwise you'd definitely have to write a self-criticism."

"It is indeed quite busy. There is a small problem at my workplace that can't be resolved in a short time. I'm staying up late every day."

"Is this really a small problem? I've never seen you spend so much time on a small problem that you couldn't solve even while catching up on sleep during class."

"Don't worry, I can definitely get it done in two days over the weekend (and telling you won't help anyway), I don't have time to chat anymore, I'm going to work now, we'll come out and play again after it's all done."

Sid sighed as he watched the girl pack her things and leave in a hurry.