Ch 360: The challenge.

Alexia found herself in her dorm room again. And Noah was already there, sitting in one of the armchairs. This time, he was dressed in casual dark gray pants and a black shirt.

"Hi, Alexia." nodded Noah. "How was your day?"

"Don't you already know?" asked Alexia as she sat on the sofa. A hot cup of coffee, black as she liked it, appeared in front of her, and she nodded at him in thanks as she took it. "You're in my head. I assume you can see what I do during the day as well."

"I can't." shrugged Noah, his own drink in hand. "Lilith gave me this ability so I would be able to spend personal time with all my girls, not to spy on them. While you are awake, this shard of me is not. And I think than us having some privacy from each other is a healthy thing in the long term. Today was the ninth day of your training. What did Sakura do to you?"

Alexia took a sip of her coffee.

"I think I like this one more than the others." said Alexia, and Noah nodded, filing the information away.

Noah didn't just give her treats to drink or eat in her Soul Space. He also allowed her to taste many variants and flavors that only existed in other worlds.

"Today, Sakura let me straighten my arms. But I have to wear those ridiculous paw-shaped mittens, so I still can't use my hands."

"That's progress." smiled Noah.

Alexia nodded with a resigned sigh. Noah didn't ask anything more for a while, and she felt grateful for it. She knew now that she couldn't lie to him, and if he asked her if she still disliked being petted by Sakura, she would be mortified no matter which answer she gave.

"What about you?" asked Alexia. "Taking into account the Sanctuary's time dilation, you should have shared information with your main body once by now, right?"

"That is correct. Today, I witnessed the executions of a murderer and the man who paid him, revived one of the couples he had murdered, and asked for their two adult daughters to become members of my harem. Both the daughters in question and the parents accepted. With this matter settled, I can now focus more of my attention on the Mystic Moon crisis…. Wait, no, there's also those two in my basement I should deal with first."

"Do I want to know?"

"Just two female mercenaries who tried to kidnap a friend. But they are talented and cute, so I'll keep them. I haven't quite decided how to train them yet. I guess it will depend on their own preferences and if they anger me or not."

"Is it me, or is your harem growing at a ridiculous rate?" frowned Alexia. "You sound like you're adding a handful of girls every week."

"It is." nodded Noah. "Long term, I will be overseeing about twenty worlds. Even if I take the backseat and don't rule directly, I will still need a huge number of subordinates to keep things under control. Lilith showed me once how she punished her Champions when they grew complacent and neglected their duties, causing the deaths of millions."

"You think Sakura making you into a pet cat is bad?" smiled Noah. "Try being turned into a literal piece of furniture for thousands of years while being relentlessly edged, and not allowed to go mad the whole time."

Alexia tried to imagine the scene and shuddered. She decided to change the subject.

"Tell me about me, in that future you saw. Did I die in that future?"

"You didn't." smiled Noah. "I'd say you experienced some mental growth after a while. You realized that while honing your skills as a fighter is important, knowing where to point your sword was also necessary, and you spent some of your time reading books related to management, economics and politics. Your father and Iris didn't die either, though Iris was depressed for a while after suffering a humiliating defeat against Shadow."

Alexia nodded and quietly drank her coffee. Noah was also quiet.

"You're quite different from what I imagined." said Alexia after a while. "When Chisato and the others started talking about Valhalla, I imagined you sitting on a throne in a dark room and dishing out commands. but you're actually quite approachable. Even though I am bound to obey your orders, no matter how lewd, you treat me like an equal."

"Do not misunderstand, Alexia." smiled Noah. "I find you very attractive, and I am tempted to give that kind of commands. But we're going to be together for a long, long time, and I first want to build some trust between us."

"Yes, and I appreciate that." nodded Alexia. She put the empty cup of coffee back on the table and leaned back on the confrontable sofa. "And I suppose you're less restrained with some of your other shards."

"You could say that again." nodded Noah. "…And there's a benefit to this ability I didn't see coming, although the shard in question is probably asking himself, 'Why me?' right now. Care to take a guess?"

Alexia frowned for several seconds, and she understood. She looked at Noah with sympathy.

"This is Scathach, right?"

"Exactly. And she insisted I spend at least ten subjective days inside her Soul Space, each time she decides to get some sleep. That makes… about 150 hours of training with her for each day that passes inside the Sanctuary… Which in turn means I've experienced over a thousand hours of torture already, and only a single day has passed for my real body."

"…Oh. My condolences." laughed Alexia, enjoying his misfortune.

"Thanks." chuckled Noah. "But this is ultimately for my own good. I am making some serious progress. But I look forward to the day she'll decide she doesn't have anything more to teach me. I'm desperately clinging to the hope that this day will come… eventually."

"I'll be satisfied training with Okita. Assuming Sakura lets me out of that damn cat outfit."

"How long it takes depends on you, Alexia." shrugged Noah. "Are you still that opposed to having sex with me?"

Alexia crossed her arms, looking away. She didn't really want to speak about it, but Noah probably would just wait until she answered.

"…If it were up to me, I wouldn't have sex with anyone for a while yet. But if I had to, and if I could decide which person to take as my partner, I would choose you. We get along well enough, and you're handsome. But I still resent the fact that it wasn't given a choice, and that it won't be a relationship between equals."

"I understand, and I'm happy to have earned your favor." smiled Noah. "But you weren't completely honest with the last part. You are ambiguous about it."

Alexia glared at him, and he shrugged.

It was true that by now, imagining herself being bound and made to wear this bodysuit was enough to arouse her. That being treated like a pet was thrilling. But she felt that if she admitted it to anyone, she would lose ground that she would not be able to recover later.

"Alright, I did not mean to embarrass you, just point out that there comes a point where resistance for resistance's sake becomes counter-productive. But let's change the subject. Should we watch a movie?"

"A movie?" frowned Alexia. "Are you going to show me more of that alternate future?"

"No." smiled Noah as he stood and walked closer to her. He sat beside her on the sofa, close but not touching, and the black screen reappeared on the wall in front of them, and the room dimmed like a semi-opaque veil had covered the window.

It was only when he was sitting that Alexia thought that she hadn't reacted in any negative way to him coming so close to her. She hadn't even considered that he might push her down. Didn't that mean that she trusted him?

The screen lit up.

"A great thing about having a perfect memory, is that it becomes fairly easy to replay movies for others in their Soul Space. We're going to see a fictional story called Alien."

"Alien?" blinked Alexia.

"Yes." grinned Noah. "It's about the crew of a spaceship who receives what seems to be a distress signal coming from an unknown world, and… Well, let's not spoil it. We'll see if you're good with jump scares."

…

Two hours later, Noah's movie ended. Alexia had to ask him to pause several times as she didn't understand a few things, like space being a cold vacuum where one wouldn't be able to breathe, or the unfathomable distances between stars. Overall, she found the experience quite fascinating and educational.

"Those aliens, where do they come from?" asked Alexia. "I know this is a fiction and they don't exist, but did the author think about those details?"

"Yes, and there are multiple movies related to the Alien universe." nodded Noah. "In the second one, they show where the eggs came from. But if you're asking about their whole race, their origin can be traced back to a strategic-scale biological weapon, some kind of intelligent disease meant to eradicate all intelligent lives on whole planets."

"Have you seen those other movies?" asked Alexia with obvious interest.

"Yes. How about we watch the sequel tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'd like that." smiled Alexia.

"Alright. And I will leave you to rest. Good night, Alexia." smiled Noah.

"Yes, good night, Noah." nodded back Alexia.

He left, and she started to feel sleepy. She didn't fight it off, and thought that, maybe, Sakura truly had done her a favor, when all was said and done. Not that she intended to admit it to her.

…

Alexia slowly woke up, feeling well rested. She lazily stretched, and the white latex she wore made sounds she had started to find pleasant. Then she realized something was different. Sakura wasn't in the bed beside her. Shuuko was, dressed in a black latex bodysuit. Instead of a leather collar, Shuuko had on a simple leather chest harness with a thick steel ring just above her sternum.

For an instant, Alexia contemplated waking her up to ask why she was there, but thinking that she might be having her own private time with another of Noah's shards, she decided to just wait.

It didn't last long, however, as Shuuko woke up a few minutes later.

"Good morning, Shuuko."

"Morning, Alexia."

"Did you switch places with Sakura?"

"Yes. Something came up outside, and Sakura had to leave. She asked me to continue your training while she's away."

"What came up?"

"Some people have been murdered at night, and the murderers claim to be from Shadow Garden. Sakura, Rin, Chisato, Takina, Okita and Scathach have gone on patrols to find the killers."

"Already?" exclaimed Alexia.

"What do you mean, Already? Do you know something about it?"

"…Noah told me a little, about that future that isn't meant to be. But I thought we'd get at least another week or two before this happened."

"I see." nodded Shuuko. "Well, I trust them to find the murderers quickly. Until then, Mistress has given me detailed instructions regarding your training. I'll apologize in advance."

Alexia saw a tail plug appear in Shuuko's hands. A plug significantly larger than the one currently inside her, and she groaned.

…

Beta had rarely felt as furious as she was right now, and she really looked forward to catching those who dared to besmirch the name of Shadow Garden. She and Epsilon jumped from rooftop to rooftop, checking one back alley after another.

"Should we separate?" asked Epsilon, equally irate. Her voice was almost a growl. "We'll cover more ground this way."

"Not yet." frowned Beta. "We need to evaluate the enemy's strength before deciding if this is safe or not. This could be a trap to take us out one by one."

She and Epsilon were but one of a dozen teams currently scouring the city, searching for the culprits. Alpha was the only one moving alone for now.

They already had found one mangled body in a back alley, and someone had pinned a sheet of paper on a nearby wall, claiming that Shadow Garden would rule the capital from now on.

To have this happen just one day before Shadow would enter the capital, as if to mock their intention to deal with anything that could disrupt his life, was adding oil to the fire!

Epsilon nodded, and they kept jumping from one rooftop to another.

Until they found something.

Two women wearing black outfits with gold trims, standing near the body of a dead woman. One of them had one of those pamphlets in hand.

So the assassins weren't content with blaming Shadow Garden for their actions. They were also mimicking their appearances!

Epsilon didn't wait for Beta's command and jumped down the alley, and Beta followed. They smoothly landed five meters from the enemy.

"Oh?" exclaimed one of them, a blue-eyed girl with long dark gray hair, some of it gathered into twin tails. The other had purple hair, and a red ribbon tying some of her bangs above her left ear. Beta recognized them from a photo Nu had taken, using one of Eta's latest inventions. They were two of the women hanging around the second princess and Claire Kagenou.

"You lowly scumbags. Surrender immediately and tell us who you work for, and maybe I will give you a painless death." promised Epsilon.

Beta knew it was a lie. For the crime of impersonating Shadow Garden, those two were going to die screaming in pain either way.

"Do you feel like surrendering, Nee-san? asked the purple-haired one, whose name was Sakura Tohsaka if Beta remembered correctly. Beta bristled at her amused tone. She didn't seem to take them seriously.

"That offer wasn't really attractive, so I think I'll pass." shrugged the other one.

"Very well. I actually prefer it that way." replied Epsilon with a sinister smile. She transferred some of the material of her slime suit into her hand, molding it into a sword with practiced ease, and Beta did the same.

Beta chose Sakura as her opponent and closed the distance in an instant. She slashed toward Sakura's right shoulder, intending to inflict a wound that, while not lethal, would stop her from using her right arm.

Sakura moved with surprising speed, parrying her strike with a sword that appeared out of nowhere. She was strong, too, and Beta frowned when her blow was stopped cold. With her other hand, she created a slime wire, thin enough to be barely visible, and slashed at Sakura's left thigh, but some kind of translucent, yellow something appeared to block it.

Another sword suddenly was in Sakura's left hand, and Beta jumped back. As she did, she turned her sword into a bow and took some more of her slime to form an arrow. Beta always carried more slime than necessary in her outfit for this exact purpose.

She released the string, and the black arrow shot toward Sakura's left shoulder. She deflected it with ease, her left arm moving with a speed and precision that reminded her of Alpha.

Since Sakura didn't seem to want to press an immediate counter-attack, Beta quickly glanced at the fight between Epsilon and the one Beta assumed to be Rin Tohsaka, and her heart sank.

Epsilon, too, hadn't managed to go through Rin's defenses. Beta saw her suddenly throw a trio of slime-hardened needles with a flick of the hand, and they bounced off a larger version of whatever had stopped her wire.

Clearly, those two were very strong, and Beta started to wonder if they should call for reinforcements.

"You two must be Beta and Epsilon, right?" nodded Sakura. "I am Sakura Tohsaka, and this is my sister Rin. We aren't the ones who killed that woman, so let's stop this meaningless fight."

"Do you seriously expect us to believe that? When you were standing over a corpse and you wear imitations of our outfits?" snorted Epsilon.

"Yes, our outfits follow a similar color scheme." nodded Sakura. "And I must say, you look nice wearing those. But they aren't imitations. It just proves that our Master and Shadow have good tastes… Or should I call him Cid?"

Beta flinched before she could help herself, and a shiver of dread spread from her spine. How could they possibly know this? And if they knew about Shadow's identity, what else did they know? Had one of Shadow Garden's members turned traitor? Was it Nu?

"Now we really have to capture you." decided Epsilon. Her anger dissipated in seconds, leaving place to cold determination. She was now prepared to put her life on the line.

And so was Beta.

"And your attempt will go poorly." snorted Rin "If you want information about us, we'll give you some for free."

Beta could see Epsilon shift her footing, preparing for another charge, and Beta lifted her hand to stop her.

"You claim you didn't kill that woman. Why are you there, then?"

"We belong to an organization called Valhalla." said Sakura. "And just like Shadow Garden, we intend to destroy the Cult of Diablos. We believe they are the ones behind those murders. We were patrolling the city to hunt them. But we also knew that running into some of you was likely, so we already decided what we would tell you."

"I never heard of Valhalla." frowned Beta.

"That is normal. We entered your world very recently." nodded Sakura.

"…Entered our world?" asked Epsilon is disbelief.

"Yes. Valhalla is present in dozens of worlds, and we fight all kinds of evil organizations. You probably wouldn't believe that without proof, but you can ask Shadow. He knows something about other worlds too." said Sakura before smirking. "Or do you believe that all of the knowledge he displayed really comes from him alone?"

Beta stared in shock. They were suggesting that the wisdom of Shadows actually came from other worlds Shadow had visited.

"Are you trying to make us doubt Shadow? That won't work!" spat Epsilon.

Rin looked at Sakura, and they shrugged at each other.

"Anyway…" said Sakura. "Here are the two important things we wanted to tell you, should we meet tonight. First, Shadow is strictly forbidden from using his Atomic in a populated area. He may not care about civilian casualties, but we do. If he violates this, we will make him pay using several methods, and the first one will be by revealing his identity to the public."

Beta felt a bit relieved hearing this, as it meant they didn't intend to disclose that secret, at least for now. And their request wasn't something she was personally opposed to. She didn't think any of the Seven Shadows would.

"Second, we do not intend to interfere with Shadow Garden or the Mitsugoshi Company, and we expect for you to extend us the same courtesy. If there's any issue between us, you can just come for tea and have a talk, we won't mind. But several weeks after the Red Moon incident, we, Valhalla, will formally challenge Shadow Garden to a duel. In a remote place where we will be able to go all-out without having to worry about civilians, the Seven Shadows, as well as Shadow himself, will face eight of Valhalla's strongest members."

"The format of the duel will be the following: Each of the Seven Shadows will face one member of Valhalla, one on one, and their fight will end when one side admits defeat or can't keep fighting. Killing will be forbidden, and we will heal anyone injured."

"Once the seven duels are over, Shadow, the eighth member of Valhalla, as well as every victor of the previous seven duels will face each other in a brawl. Again, killing will be forbidden."

Sakura paused, and Beta exchanged glance with Epsilon. She could see the scheme under Sakura's proposal. They believed that they would win most duels against them, then be able to face Shadow with an advantage in numbers.

And they might be right about that.

Although Beta didn't want to admit it, it was clear that if Sakura and Rin were representative of Valhalla's strongest members, there was a chance they might actually defeat most of the Seven Shadows. Eta and Gamma were almost a given, as they had absolutely no athletic abilities. But Epsilon and Beta herself were no slouches, and yet, they failed to injure Sakura and Rin just then. They hadn't truly gone serious yet, but still…

But their scheme was ultimately futile. Even if they defeated all of the Seven Shadows, even if they somehow defeated Alpha, Shadow alone would easily be able to deal with them. There was not a single shred of doubt in mind about that.

"What do you stand to gain in this challenge, and why would we even accept?" glared Epsilon.

"We believe Shadow will accept because he loves fighting strong opponents." smiled Sakura. "And then, there are the stakes we have in mind. If you defeat us, we will provide you with eight spatial rings, magic artifacts allowing their wearers to store items inside."

She pointed to a plain silver band on one of her fingers, and Beta understood that Sakura's swords had come from it. That was certainly a convenient artifact, and she couldn't deny that the possibly of obtaining eight of those was tempting.

"We will also give you enough gold ingots to fill that room where you girls generally have your meetings, from floor to ceiling." added Sakura, and Beta's eyes widened slightly. This much gold would take years even for a company as profitable as Mitsugoshi to accumulate, and greatly accelerate Shadow Garden's growth. That was… a sizable prize, to say the least.

"…And if we lose?" frowned Beta.

"If you lose, Shadow Garden will become a branch of Valhalla. We will teach you some of our secret techniques, making your members significantly stronger, give you advanced equipment to make your work easier, and allow you to travel to those other worlds I mentioned."

"Shadow will still be Shadow Garden's leader, and we expect you to keep fighting the Cult of Diablos and other criminal organizations. If Shadow still wants to act like he currently does, we will let him, as long as he remembers not to kill innocent people while he shows off. But you all will, Shadow included, pledge loyalty to our Master, the man who created Valhalla."

"Now, what needed to be said has been said, and we'll resume our search for the murderers." said Rin. "I suggest you do the same."

"Wait!" exclaimed Beta as she saw them turn away. "How did you learn about our secrets, and what did you do with that afflicted girl you found in the sewers?"

"Millia?" asked Sakura with a smile. "Shadow and a handful of you can cure the Afflicted, if our information is correct. He personally cured you two. But we can do that as well. Millia has joined Valhalla and will soon learn our secret techniques. We'll take good care of her."

"As for how we know so much about you… Our Master had been able to predict the future, to a small extent. We knew about Nu even before she came to spy on us. He predicted Princess Alexia's kidnapping and the Red Moon incident, and has seen Shadow unleash his Atomic right in the middle of the capital to deal with that mere lackey Zenon, swallowing hundreds of buildings in a pillar of magic, and killing thousands of innocent people without a care. With how strong Shadow is, he could easily have dealt with Zenon without killing anyone else. But he needed to show off!"

Beta felt heat coming to her cheeks when she heard the scorn in Sakura's voice. She felt like she was a child being scolded for making a mess.

Even Epsilon was speechless for once.

"That is why we believe Shadow Garden needs to be put under our control." said Sakura. "We may have common goals, but your disregard for the damage you sometimes cause is unacceptable. And now, we're leaving."

Sakura and Rin jumped, using more of those translucent yellow things as footholds to reach the rooftops.

"Wait!" shouted Epsilon as she and Beta, gathered their magic power into the soles of their feet and jumped to the rooftop in hot pursuit.

Sakura and her sister didn't wait, and were moving fast. Despite Beta and Epsilon's best efforts, they lost them after a minute.

"Damn it." cursed Epsilon.

"At least, we know where to find them." sighed Beta, frustrated. "And they said we could come and talk with them."

"…Let's find Alpha and report." nodded Epsilon.

"I'm here." said Alpha, landing on their rooftop with barely a noise. "I saw you running after two people, but I started from too far away. Did you find the murderers?"

Beta shook her head and started relating their conversation with Rin and Sakura. When she was done, Alpha frowned.

"How strong are they?"

"We barely fought, so it's hard to say." reluctantly admitted Epsilon. "Their swordplay and reaction speed would earn them a position in the Numbers, at the very least, if they were part of Shadow Garden. And then they have this kind of armor or shield they used, and they implied that their organization possesses more than one special technique."

Alpha nodded, and sighed.

"We need to have a good talk. Epsilon, ask Nu to invite them for tea, tomorrow at Mitsugoshi. And they should bring with them Millia and that black-haired woman who was summoned."

"Understood." nodded Epsilon.

Alpha was about to ask them to resume their patrol when she saw three girls wearing black and gold under their hooded capes running in their direction. They were members of Shadow Garden, Iota, 664 and 665.

"Alpha-sama, we met a woman armed with a red spear a few minutes ago." said Iota as she pulled her hood back, freeing her long blonde hair and rabbit ears. "She was facing three men wearing black capes and armed with swords. The men were repeatedly saying the words 'We are Shadow Garden' like they were possessed, and the woman killed them all in an instant. She then lifted her head as if she had spotted us from the beginning and challenged us to a fight, saying she wanted to evaluate us."

"And?" asked Alpha. She could already tell from Iota's drooping rabbit ears and the expressions of regret on 664's and 665's faces that she wasn't going to like hearing the rest.

"She trounced us, Alpha-sama." lamented Iota. "It was so humiliating. She even gave us advice on how to improve as she kept throwing us around. Then she said than one day, she would train us to become strong, and she left."

"Describe that woman to us." commanded Alpha.

"She is a tall human woman and very beautiful, with blood red eyes and long, straight wine-red hair reaching her butt. She was wearing a black and gold bodysuit looking very similar to our slime suits, but with black metal greaves and gauntlets, a breastplate and armor around her hips."

664 and 665 nodded for emphasis.

"Alpha-sama, is she perhaps someone you know?" asked Iota.

"…she isn't."

"Why would they help us, then?" exclaimed Iota.

"Search the men's bodies for anything that might help us find their accomplices, then resume your patrol, Iota, 664,665. There may be more of those men. If you see others like that woman, keep an eye on them from a distance and send someone to find me." said Alpha without answering.

"Yes, Alpha-sama!" nodded the three girls before leaving.

Alpha turned toward Beta and Epsilon.

"That woman isn't one of those Nu described or took photos of. There are members of Valhalla in the city we do not know about."

"Should I ask Nu to invite her as well?" asked Epsilon.

"…No. We don't even know her name. And this is just for a talk, to clarify our positions and know more about them. I do not want this to turn into a fight.

"I'll make sure to stress that point to Delta." sighed Beta.

"Yes. Let's resume our hunt for now. There may be more of those murderers out there. I do not want any of them to escape us." said Alpha, and they left in different directions.

…

"I'm back!" smiled Sakura as she entered her room inside the sanctuary, and she stopped, an eyebrow raised. She expected to find Alexia in Shuuko's lap, squirming in pleasure or something along those lines. Instead, Alexia, still wearing her white latex bodysuit, collar and cat headband, but without the paws or boots, was sitting behind Shuuko on the bed, and the brunette, wearing her favorite black bodysuit and a replica of the Ecstas Online's slave harness she became fond of, was in the process of being bound with a white rope harness. A clumsy rope harness.

"…Should I return a bit later?"

"Yes, and maybe you should knock on the door next time?" retorted Alexia.

"Why should I knock to enter my own room?" protested Sakura.

"I have gained Noah's powers." shrugged Alexia.

"Ah, I see." grinned Sakura. "Congratulations. If your training is over, then, I have nothing to say, aside from please use another room, unless you're fine with me joining in. But I'm a bit surprised. I've been away for five hours. That makes it about three days in the sanctuary. I expected you'd need a bit more time."

"It's because of Noah." nodded Alexia. "After the third movie date, sort of, he asked to kiss me, and I didn't say no. This and that happened, and he decided to extend the time. From my perspective, it's been almost two weeks since you left, and I have no reservation anymore. I'm even forgiving you for tricking me into it."

"Thank you. And Shuuko?" smiled Sakura.

Shuuko blushed, and Alexia shrugged.

"Shuuko looked like she needed someone to take charge of her, and I wanted to learn how to tie someone up… It's more complicated than you made it look."

"Oh, so Shuuko agreed to let you practice on her."

"…Yes, Mistress." nodded Shuuko.

"Do you want me to give you a few demonstrations, Alexia?"

"If you don't mind." nodded Alexia, moving to the side, and Sakura climbed in the bed. She took the rope from Alexia's hands.

"It's a bit of a mess, so I'll remove it and show you from the start... We found and killed five murderers tonight. And we stumbled upon several members of Shadow Garden. They, too, were hunting for the impostors. I think they killed three as well, judging from the bodies we found."

"How did it go?"

"They thought that we were the murderers, due to our uniforms using the same color scheme and finding us near a woman's body, so we fought, but only for a few seconds. When they realized that we weren't just lumps of meat on a chopping block, they agreed to listen, and we told them two things. We said that if Cid unleashed his Atomic in any city, we'd expose his real identity everywhere. And we issued a challenge to them, to happen a few weeks after an event that is likely a few months away."

"A challenge? I thought you wanted to delay that fight as much as possible."

"That's the point." nodded Sakura. "A formal challenge is going to appeal to Shadow's pride and showmanship, so he'll be less tempted to attack us before the set date. And we told them the stakes. If we win, they will all pledge loyalty to Noah, and Shadow Garden will become a wing of Valhalla. We'll make them agree to verbal contracts with Akeno. Then, they will all have a shard of Noah in their heads, and it will only be a matter of time before they join us for real."

"And if we lose?"

"We'll craft and give them eight spatial rings, and over fifty tons of gold."

"Tons?" blinked Alexia.

"A weight measurement unit. I don't know how much you weigh, but I guess one ton would equate to about fifteen to eighteen girls like you?"

"And you offered them fifty times that much?" asked Alexia incredulously. "That would break a country's economy!"

"We just have to avoid losing!" grinned Sakura. "Anyway, pay close attention to the knots I'm making. I won't demonstrate for too long today. I want to catch some sleep before the school week starts again in a few hours."

"And it's later today that Cid will enroll in the academy." nodded Alexia.

…

Cid looked at his reflection in the hand mirror one last time, congratulating himself on his perfectly average and unremarkable haircut.

While his face was more handsome than most, he couldn't really do anything about it.

He adjusted a little the blue tie around his neck, making it a little less tidy, then nodded to himself before leaving the room he was renting in the cheapest dormitory he managed to find.

As he walked down the stairs, he found his two neighbors ready to leave.

"Sorry for the wait." smiled Cid.

"Hey." replied Skel Etal, the taller one.

"We need to go, we're going to be late." said Po Tato, the smaller, bald one.

"Ahah, sorry?" replied Cid with a laugh of self-derision.

Po shrugged and led the way.

As the trio left the dorm and walked toward the academy, Cid secretly praised himself once more for choosing two dyed-in-the-wool background characters as friends. The bribe he gave the dorm manager, pretending that he preferred the view of that room in particular, was money well spent!

He mostly listened as Po and Skel talked, telling him about girls, about what he would need to do as a new student, about pretty girls, about the upcoming campus-wide competition, and about the most beautiful girls.

Cid feigned interest, inwardly thinking that Po and Skel couldn't produce a more background character aura if they tried.

When they were about half-way to the Academy, however, he noticed a blue-eyed woman wearing a white robe, with her hood pulled up.

She was fifty meters in front of them, walking in their direction. She looked straight at him for a second, then entered a narrow alley on the side, barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side.

Cid kept his smile on his face but fell silent. And when the trio walked past the alley, he stopped, and his expression changed into one of agony. He flexed his legs a little and made his knees shake.

Po and Skel walked two meters before noticing Cid had stopped, and they turned.

"Cid, what's wrong?" asked Po.

Cid lifted a shaking hand toward the alley.

"…Poop… I gotta poop…"

He took a shuddering breath, as if in great pain.

"I can't hold it anymore… If I don't go right now, It's gonna come down my pants while I'm walking."

Skel and Po's expressions turned grave, and sweat began to appear on their foreheads.

"That is pretty serious." said Skel with a tone of shared understanding.

"You'll be late. A choice between honoring the rules and your personal honor." added Po.

Cid nodded, with a pained, trembling smile.

"Leave, go on without me. I don't want anyone to see this."

"But, Cid!" exclaimed Po. He was about to step toward him when Skel held his shoulder.

"We understand, Cid." said Skel with resignation, his head lowered. When he lifted it up, he spoke loudly.

"We'll never tell anyone you took a dump outdoors! Man to man, you have my word!"

Several people passing by heard, shocked, and decided to cross the street.

Po vehemently nodded, his eyes starting to shine with unshed tears.

"I don't care what anyone says, you made the right choice! I'll always believe that!" shouted Po.

Cid nodded and straightened a little.

"I can't hold it any longer! Please, just go!" exclaimed Cid between gritted teeth.

"We'll never forget you, Cid!" shouted back Skel.

"Even if you do poop outside, we'll always be your friends!" yelled Po.

"Go! Just go!" screamed Cid.

Someone hearing his words without knowing the context would assume that Cid was sacrificing himself to buy his friends time to flee a dire threat.

Po and Skel turned and ran toward the Academy, screaming in shared grief as their tears flowed.

Cid watched them run for three seconds, then straightened and returned his expression to neutral so quickly that the few people watching from a distance doubted their senses.

"Okay then." muttered Cid as he turned and entered the alley.

The girl was waiting thirty meters away from the entrance, and he leisurely walked to her.

Alpha pulled her hood down, revealing her long blonde hair and pointed ears.

While elves made up the majority of Shadow Garden, they were rather uncommon in the capital, and Alpha would have drawn attention if she didn't hide her features.

"Welcome to the capital, Shadow." said Alpha with a soft voice and a warm smile.

"It's been a while, Alpha." casually replied Cid with a nod. "But I was expecting to meet you this evening."

"Something urgent came up, I'm afraid. There is another secret organization operating in the capital. Their name is Valhalla, and they said they came from another world. They, too, are enemies with the Cult of Diablos."

"Seriously?" exclaimed Cid.

"Yes. We informed you a few days ago about the incident involving the second princess and your sister. The new female students who accompanied Claire are members of Valhalla."

Cid nodded, grateful with how far Alpha and the others were willing to go to humor him, and impressed by their creativity. Years ago, when he managed to cure Alpha from her demonic possession, which in truth was just her own magic power running amok and distorting her body, Cid had seen an opportunity to finally act on his desire. He came up with a fake enemy, the Cult of Diablos, borrowing the name of the former demon lord, over a thousand years ago.

He made up a story about him secretly fighting evil worshipers of the old demon lord who wanted to resurrect him, and Alpha swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. She instantly decided that they needed to search for allies and create an organization to assist him.

Since then, Cid had mostly focused on training himself, while Alpha acted as Shadow Garden's second in command and daily manager. And the girls started adding to his setting on their own, clearly wanting to humor him with reports of Cult of Diablos activity, and strikes against their secret bases. Cid didn't know when the girls started understanding that the Cult wasn't real, but they decided to humor him by keeping up the charade, and thanks to them, he had a lot of fun.

And now, Alpha was adding to the setting a new secret organization of otherworldly origins. Really, they were surpassing themselves.

"Yesterday, we heard rumors of murders happening in the capital during the previous night, and Shadow Garden was being framed for it. So we took action and patrolled the city last night and got rid of two murderers. But we also met several members of Valhalla who were also hunting for them, believing that they were part of the Cult of Diablos, and Beta and Epsilon talked to two of them."

Cid nodded with approval. This framing plotline was a nice touch to justify learning about Valhalla's existence. Alpha could make a career as a writer. Or maybe the idea had come from Beta, since she was an actual writer.

"Shadow, Valhalla knows about your identity." said Alpha.

"What? What do you mean?" frowned Cid, his smile disappearing instantly.

"They threatened to reveal your identity to the public if you ever unleashed your full power in a populated area and caused many civilians to die, and they challenged Shadow Garden to a duel, to happen a few weeks after the moon turns red." said Alpha with utmost seriousness.

"They proposed the following stakes for the duel. If they lose, they will provide us with eight magic rings that can store objects inside them, as well as enough gold to buy a country. If they win, Shadow Garden will become a branch of Valhalla, and we all would have to obey their leader."

"How ridiculous." snorted Cid. "Shadow Garden does not bow before anyone."

"That's right!" nodded Alpha.

"Shadow, how should we handle this matter? I was going to ask Nu, the newest of our Numbers, to invite some of them for tea this afternoon. I want to try to learn more about their intentions and what they know about us."

Cid felt a moment of uncertainty. He felt like he was missing something… but he couldn't put a finger on it.

But in the end, it didn't really matter. To have people not under his control know about his identity was simply intolerable. The whole concept of an eminence in the shadows was based on the condition that no outsiders knew. If a whole organization did, even if they didn't tell others, could he really think of himself as truly being in the shadows? No, he would be like a fake. A fraud.

"…No one who isn't part of Shadow Garden is allowed to know my identity." declared Cid with a tone of finality, and Alpha nodded.

"I understand. We will proceed with capture or elimination, then… Shadow, should I mobilize all of our available members?"

"How many people have you recruited?" asked Cid. He personally knew only about the Seven Shadows, but they all had left three years ago to expand Shadow Garden's influence. By now, they probably numbered… maybe about twenty to thirty, and…

"Close to seven hundred." answered Alpha.

"Seven hun…" yelped Cid before snapping his mouth shut. Expressing surprise would be unbecoming of an eminence in the shadows. He needed to appear in control at all times.

"Yes. Although only about two hundred or so are inside the capital or can be reached in time, I'm afraid."

"Ahem… No need to mobilize everyone. Do as you see fit, Alpha."

"…I see." nodded Alpha with a smile. "You wish to test my ability as your second by determining the optimal amount of resource allocation. I won't fail you, Shadow."

"T-That's right." replied Cid, taking it in stride. Alpha really was excellent at humoring him. She had never broken immersion, not even once. And whenever he came close, she helped him recover.

"I will go make the preparations and inform Nu of the change of plans… Just in case, Shadow, I would like you to be present as well. At least some of those Valhalla members may be comparable in strength to us Seven Shadows, and they evaded our pursuit last night."

When Cid heard Alpha's words, his doubts returned. Until now, he had not actively participated in any of Shadow Garden's operations. He had only given them training, ideas from his previous life, or invented a few things like the slime suits. He only gave them on occasion vague instructions that sounded like something a wise leader would say.

But now, Alpha wanted him directly involved? How would she maintain the game if he witnessed it? Could it be that Valhalla was real after all? Or did she hire actors who would let themselves be captured, then she would later tell him they were killed after being interrogated? …No, it was likely that those people were already new recruits of Shadow Garden. They would let themselves be captured, then pretend to have been convinced to join.

Whatever the case, he saw no need to revisit his decision. Even if he was wrong and Valhalla truly existed, they were a threat he needed to get rid of.

"I will come. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing else for now. Have a good day at school, Shadow." smiled Alpha.

"Thanks, see you later." nodded Cid as he walked back into the larger street. He then displayed a frantic expression as he broke into a run, like a perfect background character running late.

…

As soon as Alpha reached the headquarters of the Mitsugoshi company, she sent someone to bring her Nu. Since Nu wasn't actually enrolled in any of the academy's classes and only made appearances during breaks or lunch, no one would notice her arriving late.

In one of the living rooms adjacent to the office where they regularly met, she found Beta hunched over a desk, writing pages after pages of her next manuscript. The desk was already covered with sheets.

"Beta, I made my report to Shadow."

"Oh? What did our Lord decide?" asked Beta with a smile.

"We will invite them to meet in a deserted warehouse. And then, we will capture them, or kill them."

Beta blinked, and hesitated for a second. "Alpha-sama, are you sure? We do not know enough about their actual numbers, or their combat ability."

"This is Shadow's will." replied Alpha with a slightly colder voice, and Beta gulped.

"Very well, we will enforce his will." nodded Beta.

Someone knocked on the door, and Nu entered.

"Alpha-sama, I came as instructed."

"Thank you, Nu. I have received Shadow's order. 'No one who isn't part of Shadow Garden is allowed to know my identity'. Those were his exact words. Instead of inviting them to Mitsugoshi for tea after classes, you will invite them for a meeting at midnight, in a warehouse near the river. I will give you the address in a few minutes. We will capture them if possible, for interrogation. If it isn't possible, we will permanently silence them."

"I understand, Alpha-sama."

"What if they do not all come?" asked beta.

"That is why we will form two forces." nodded Alpha. "One group will ambush those who come. The other will attack the dorm where they reside."

"Alpha-sama." said Nu. "I would like a clarification about scope. I assume our targets are the two Tohsaka sisters, Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue, as well as the three Aikawa sisters, the unknown woman with the red spear, the black-haired woman who was summoned, and the Afflicted girl they rescued. But what about Princess Alexia, Princess Iris, and the two guards they trained with?"

Alpha thought for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"Capturing or killing members of the royal family or their household should be avoided for now. We will deal with them if the interrogation of our prisoners shows that they disclosed to them Shadow's identity. If any of them accompany Valhalla to the meeting, we will assume they need to be captured or silenced as well."

"Very well, Alpha-sama." nodded Nu.

Nu suppressed a sigh. She would of course execute Shadow's orders with her utmost capability. But it was a pity that things had come to this. She had been growing fond of them.