Touya and his wives walked toward the conference room, where he had asked Cid and company to wait for them. In the meantime, he told his wives about his old classmate. Yumina, Elsie, Hilde, Yae, Sue, Lindsay, Sakura, Lu, and Leen were in shock after hearing how this mysterious visitor was actually their beloved husband's former classmate.
"This is unbelievable!" said Leen. "Are you telling me that not only this 'Kagenou Minoru' is a classmate from your old world, but that his magic is stronger than yours?"
Touya frowned. "I'm not sure if he is stronger. Is it just that this is the first time someone is able to undo my spells without an artifact helping them."
Sue, the youngest of the wives, hugged Touya. "It's okay, Touya. I bet that you can teach this Kagenou-guy a lesson. Right?"
Touya just smiled at Sue but didn't say anything.
"Touya?" kept insisting Sue.
"Sue, we still don't know if they are friends or foes." explained Yuimna.
"And does he have all of the magic attributes like you and Doctor Babylon?" asked Lindsay.
"I don't know. He came from a different world. I mean, we are both from Japan, but apparently, he reincarnated in another world too, so their magic system is different from the one we have."
Leen's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Touya, do you mind if I speak with him about their magic system? I cannot wait for him to give me the details!"
Touya forced a smile, something that his wives noticed right away.
"Is something wrong, Touya?" asked Lu.
"You're not fond of him, don't you, Touya-san?" asked Yumina. It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Touya sighed tiredly.
"Nothing escapes your mystic eyes, right, Yumina? You are right. Kagenou is... troublesome."
"So, he is an enemy then?" asked Elsie.
"I don't know... I think he fights for justice, or at least I want to believe that. Back at school, he was involved in several incidents that involved local gangs."
"So he was a gang member?" asked Hilde, placing her hand on her trusty sword.
Touya shook his head.
"No... he actually... I don't know. No one could prove anything back then. However, there were some rumors about a crazy person wearing a balaclava with a couple of crowbars and beating the local gangs. Every time a story about this mysterious berserker's latest achievements came, Kagenou showed up the next day covered in bruises. He explained the bruises, explaining that he fell from the stairs or another ridiculous story. But even if no one could prove anything, he never fooled anyone. And one day I saw him."
"Seriously?" asked Elsie.
"The leader of one of the local gangs was messing with my best friend and his girlfriend, so I took matters into my own hands."
"Running into trouble as usual!" Leen said with a smirk.
Touya blushed a bit, but continued with his story. "By the time I arrived at their headquarters, it was already too late. They lay unconscious in a puddle of motor oil and their own blood. And sanding before the pile of bodies, was Kagenou, holding his two crowbars. He noticed my presence and managed to reveal his face to me while posing, right before vanishing into the shadows."
The girls didn't know what to say, when they came across the maids, Crea and Renne, carrying a bottle of wine and a tray with crystal glasses, respectively.
"Who ordered the wine, Renne?" asked Lu.
"The guest. I asked them if they wanted something to drink, and he requested our finest wine." explained the young maid.
Touya sighed. He wasn't entirely okay with Kagenou drinking wine, as they were the same age. But since his own didn't have a legal age for drinking alcohol, he preferred to stay quiet.
"Shall I take this back?" asked Renne, looking at Touya's expression.
"No, go on and bring it to him. I told him he could ask for anything he wanted, so please go on."
"Awww, what a sweetheart you are, Touya!" cheered in a happy voice right behind him.
Touya froze as a woman with pink hair hugged him from behind. "I just heard you had a visitor from your old world. Don't tell me it was your first love?" asked the woman, pressing her index against Touya's cheek.
Touya groaned at the teasing of his honorary older sister. Karen, goddess of love.
"Stop it, Karen-neesan!" complained Touya. "This is not the time. The situation with Kagenou... is complicated."
"That's what people say about their first and second loves." Said Karen.
Touya simply rolled his eyes, and decided to ignore Karen. He did not have enough patience to deal with her and Kagenou's antics.
"Touya, so you like that sort of thing?" asked Lu.
"Don't listen to her! We have more important things to deal with than her stupid jokes!" said Touya in a bad mood.
"Touya is right, Karen." said Touya's other honorary sister, Moroha, goddess of the sword. "We have to evaluate the situation with this other reincarnation. You can feel his power, right?"
Karen pouted. "You're not fun!"
Touya frowned at her. "This is not the time for your jokes. If Kagenou is here, we are about to get into trouble."
"Don't you always run into trouble?" asked Moroha.
Touya shook his head. "If Kagenou is here, things are about to get more out of hand than usual."
"You're not fond of him, aren't you?" asked Yumina.
"Not at all!"
Touya sped up his pace until they all arrived at the conference room. He opened the door, where they found Kagenou, staring at a corner with a blank expression and a mysterious attitude. He slowly turned his gaze to Tou and gave him a small nod. Touya's wives exchanged a confused look. Was he trying to look 'cool'?
Then, much to their surprise, the four women in black bowed before Touya.
"Huh... please don't do that!" asked Touya.
The leader, Alpha, shook her head. "Shadow- Sama has told us you came from the same place he did, and that you also wield the wisdom of shadows. A man worthy of the greatest expression of respect and admiration."
"Wisdom of the shadows?" asked Touya, raising an eyebrow.
"Knowledge from our homeland, our old world." said Kagenou, turning to Touya with a smirk.
"You mean Japan?" asked Touya again, confused.
Kagenou smiled and continued. "During our way here, I've noticed that you have implemented a lot of stuff from our old world, such as bicycles, majong, kites, etc. Things from our old world are a great source of income, am I right?"
Alpha stood up and nodded. "When we came to this country and recognized the things that Shadow-Sama had told us about, we could barely believe it. We never imagined that the wisdom of shadows could be used to create a whole new nation."
"Thanks to you, we realized the true potential of the wisdom of shadows, and how we still have a long way to go in order to make Shadow-Sama proud." added Beta. "We will have a long talk with Gamma as soon as we return home."
"Right..." said Touya.
The wives, the other goddesses, and Touya didn't know what to say or think about the current situation. But then Renne decided to break the ice by approaching with the bottle of wine.
"So, you asked for some wine, right?" asked Renne.
Kagenou smiled and took a glass from Crea's tray.
Crea was about to open the bottle and serve a glass to their honorable guest, but Beta took the bottle out of her hands. "Do you mind?"
"What? But I am the head maid..."
"We appreciate your services, but serving Shadow-Sama is an honor exclusive to Shadow Garden. I hope you don't mind."
Crea looked at Touya, who rolled his eyes and nodded, so Crea let the bottle go and allowed Beta to pour the liquid into her master's glass. Kagenou took a sip of the wine and stared at the window with a serious expression. Then he turned to Touya and his family.
"You must be Touya's lovely wives. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cid, Cid Kagenou. But that's just my mask. My true self is Shadow, he who lurks in the shadows and hunts the shadows."
Touya made an exasperated sigh. "I see you haven't changed, Kagenou. But, what do you mean that your name is 'Cid'? I thought you were called 'Minoru."
Shadow extended his arm, making his black hood turn into his school uniform. Then he went to shake Touya's hand. "It was Minoru, but when I reincarnated, I had to start my life from scratch, and Cid is the name my new parents gave me. Oh well, it is so nice to see you, Mochizuki-kun. It's been a while, right? The last time I saw you was right before that lightning struck you! Who would say you end up reincarnating in another world, and doing this great! Ruler of a nation and nine wives. I always knew you had the protagonist vibe!"
Touya forced a smile and shook Cid's hand. "It's a pleasure to see you too, Kagenou. How are you here? Did you...?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I got killed too. But I wasn't struck by a lightning, instead, I got hit by a truck. The most pathetic ending, perfect for a background character."
Touya sighed again and invited his guests to take a seat around a big table as he and his family were seated right in front of them.
"I'll go straight to the point, Kagenou," said Touya. "What are you doing here? If you died and reincarnated into a different world, why are you on mine? Shouldn't you have stayed in the world you reincarnated in?"
Cid took another sip of wine, and looked at the blond elf.
"Alpha," he commanded.
"As you wish, Shadow-Sama," said the elf, pulling an artifact from her suit. "This is an inferior version of an ancient artifact known as the Black Rose. An artifact created to bring monsters from other worlds and use them as an advantage on the battlefield. The original Black Rose was destroyed by Shadow-Sama, but our enemies still have those versions that they are using to poison your world."
"What do you mean?" asked Yumina.
Then, during the next two hours, the elves told them a strange story about an ancient demon and the heroes who sealed it. They told them about the disease caused by the magic overload, called 'demonic possession', and that the Cult used the possessed ones as sacrifices to the church or for their sinister experiments. demon had a group of followers called the Cult of Diabolos, who now controlled their world from the shadows. They told them about the disease caused by the magic overload, called 'demonic possession', and that the Cult used the possessed ones as sacrifices to the church or for their sinister experiments.
At some point, the leader, Alpha, looked at their master, but Kagenou nodded as he took a sip of wine. Alpha understood and continued with the story.
"What I am about to tell you now is highly classified. If Shadow-Sama is allowing me to tell you this, it means that he trusts you. So we trust you as well."
Kagenou smirked. "I do trust Mochizuki-kun. We were good friends back at school, right?"
Touya forced a smile at Kagenou's comment, but Yumina comforted him by patting his back. "Ara-ara..."
Alpha bowed her head apologetically. "I am sorry, I forgot I was before an eminence as high as Shadow-Sama."
She resumed her story, which became even weirder as it wasn't weird enough already. Apparently, the Cult of Diabolos was not seeking the resurrection of the demon, but to manufacture a strange drug called the 'Drops of Diabolos'. A strange drug that would grant immortality but had two side effects. The pill had to be taken once a year to perpetuate the immortality, and they could only make twelve per year.
"Thanks to Shadow-Sama's brilliant leadership, we have managed to kill a couple of the higher ranks of the Cult, and we have also severely damaged their production by destroying most of the prime matter that the Drops are made of."
"That's when you say you destroyed the sanctuary of Lindworm, right?" asked Leen.
"Exactly."
"I see. Please go on."
Epsilon nodded, and with Alpha's permission, she continued. "We think that the Cult of Diabolos is trying to move its more delicate operations to a new location where they think they will be safe from Shadow Garden's surveillance. Thanks to some corrupt nobles on this side, they have settled a few operations."
"Shadow Garden has intercepted several chariots transporting possessed ones that they plan to use as guinea pigs for their experiments. However, we haven't been able to fully prevent them from causing trouble in this world, and we are deeply sorry about it."
Touya and the girls listened, trying to process this information. What caught Touya's attention was Kagenou's reaction. He was calm, simply giving small nods to the girls when they tried to check the information or having his permission to share what they knew with Touya. As he was the mysterious leader pulling the strings.
"Touya, the two girls who you asked the maids to take care of, were 'possessed ones', right?" asked Lindsay, who hasn't witnessed the fight.
Touya nodded. "Yes, they were cured by Kagenou after he freed his friends from my paralyzing spell."
Touya's wives and honorary sisters exchanged a look as Touya turned back to Kagenou.
"Okay, thank you for explaining the situation to us, Kagenou. Do you mind if I discuss it with my wives for a moment?"
"Of course!" said Cid with a voice deeper than usual. "I know this is too much information to assimilate, as he thought about how much of a great job the girls from Shadow Garden have done by developing the plot he started back when he was a kid.
Touya nodded and turned to the maids.
"Crea, Renne, please take our guests to the game room. We will join them after we discuss this."
The two maids bowed before Touya and did as he told them, escorting their guests out of the conference room as the royal family discussed what they just heard.
"So, what do you think about Kagenou?" asked the Great Duche.
"I don't like him!" said Yumina. "This whole thing about the Cult of Diabolos is just a game for him. He was acting all mysterious, but it was just an act. He is roleplaying!!"
Touya nodded. He didn't have the same mystic eyes as Yumina, but he knew Kagenou from when they were children. And he knew all- too -well that everything was a giant roleplay for him.
"But what about the women in black, Shadow Garden?" asked Leen. "They believe that what he says is true. They were really convinced of what they were telling us."
"And we saw how he cured the 'possessed ones'" added Hilde.
"Yes, we saw it, we did!" added Yae.
"They weren't lying when they told us how they were cured by him, and given a new purpose by him," said Yumina with a frown. "And what they told us was how they destroyed the Cult's bases; they believe what they say, even if this is all a giant lie from their leader. What is the meaning of this?"
Touya turned to the two goddesses, his honorary sisters. "Karen-Nee-san, Moroha-Nee-san, what do you think?"
Karen frowned. "Well, they are all deeply in love with their master. But he only considers them playmates or even tools. I don't like him, it feels like he is incapable of loving someone."
Moroha was only thoughtful. "All I can say is that he is an excellent fighter. My blessings have reached him."
"So you knew him from before?"
Moroha shook her head. "Of course not! I cannot keep a detailed record of all the people I have blessed over the years. I know everyone in Brunhild, but this is only because I have come all the way down to the mortals and trained them in person. But my blessings can reach anyone in the multiverse. I know I have blessed him, but that's it. I really want to fight him."
"Is this all a game for you?" asked Touya, exasperated.
"Sword fighting is a conversation, deeper than just exchanging words. With each attack you receive, you get a better idea of your opponent's true character." explained Moroha.
"We need more answers, but I don't know if we must interrogate them separately." Said Touya, thoughtful.
"That won't be necessary!" said a voice right behind them.
They all turned to a corner in the room. It was an old man with a white beard and mustache, dressed in a traditional Japanese outfit, with thick framed glasses. His long, white hair was also tied in a ponytail.
"Kamisama!" said Touya.
Kamisama, God, smiled at Touya, but the boy quickly noticed it was a forced smile. God seemed worried and tired.
"It's been a while, Touya, my boy. I haven't seen you since the day of your weeding."
"Kamisama, do you have any idea of what's happening?"
God nodded slowly and sighed deeply. "I am sorry, my boy. I'm afraid that a grave danger has entered your world, and it's all because I got distracted."
"You mean the Cult of Diabolos?" asked Touya.
Kamisama nodded.
"WHAT?!" shouted everyone in the room.
"That foolishness about the Cult isn't just the product of Kagenou's imagination?" asked Leen.
Kamisama sighed. "I'm afraid it's very real. Kagenou thinks this is just a game, but it is as real as it could be. It's complicated, but Kagenou and his group have explained the basis already. About how the Cult has extended through all states of society and pulled the strings to control the world from the shadows."
Touya had to rub his temples to deal with the incoming headache. "Just to make things clear, this is not just a roleplaying storyline Kaganout came up with."
Kamisama nodded. "Yes and no. Do you remember my son, the God of destruction?"
Touya frowned. Yes..."
Kamisama continued with his explanation. "The world they came from is a world in which I have lost faith already and sent my son to annihilate it. But much to my surprise, he said he had a better idea."
"What? Why, if he was so adamant about destroying this world?!" said Touya.
"Because he met you, Touya, my boy," explained Kamisama.
"What, me?"
The deity laughed tiredly. "He told me that there was a chance to save that world. He had found a soul in the world you came from, and he may be the solution for that world. I told him that it was impossible, that all the heroes we had sent to that world had been eliminated or corrupted by the Cult of Diabols. But he convinced me to give him a chance and that he had found the right type of personality that may be able to stop the Cult. I thought it was impossible but decided to give it a shot."
"What? Why?" asked Hilde.
"Because the span of a human life is nothing for us, waiting for this boy to die was no big deal. But it turns out I was wrong! In only seventeen years, the Cult has suffered huge losses, one after another. Slowly losing its power and influence. And all thanks to Cid Kagenou."
"Really? That moron?" asked Elsie.
"Thanks to Kagenou-kun, the Cult of Diabolos is forced into a corner. His unique mindset that this is all a game, and that the Cult is not real is the perfect defense against the Cult's influence. They are looking for Shadow, this haunting figure who created an organization so powerful that rivals them. But Shadow is just a game, a character produce of the imagination of Cid Kagenou, who only roleplays as him because it looks cool."
"So, this other world didn't need a hero but an idiot?" asked Lu,
Kamisama nodded again. "Precisely. I was pretty surprised myself. Giving him a power equivalent to yours to someone in that world was a risky bet, since the Cult has captured and brainwashed the heroes I have sent before. But my son was confident that Kagenou was the one, so I accepted. But only because he would destroy the world if the Cult put their hands on Kagenou."
"Then...?"
Kamisama shrugged. "Imagine my surprise when my son told me that Kagenou not only destroyed the sanctuary where the Cult stored the rest of Diabolos, but he had freed a country from their influence."
"So he is like the Great Duke?" asked Sakura.
"On the contrary, Touya is light and a protector. Kagenou is a shadow, a force of destruction.
"A force of destruction?"
"Until now, the Cult of Diabolos has destroyed everyone who has tried to stand up against them, but now that he has managed to rip their power away from them, they panicked. And after the fiasco of the Oriana kingdom, they became more desperate. And in this desperation, they tried to expand to other worlds. Looking for the perfect place to operate away from Shadow Garden interference."
"And this is how they came here." said Touya.
"I am sorry, Touya, but I aligned the circumstances for Kagenou to get to your world to destroy the Cult before it was too late."
"But I can take care of this 'Cult'!" said Touya. "Like in Sandora and other countries, I do not like to get involved, but if this Cult is this dangerous, I will do everything in my power to stop them."
"You are a good kid, Touya, my son," said Kamisama, patting Touya's head as a loving parent. "But I am afraid you are too kind. The Cult of Diabolos must be annihilated for good. Don't get me wrong, you always see the best in people and think that redemption is possible. But you are what your world needs, not what the other world needs. To defeat the Cult we need someone heartless who would exterminate its enemies without thinking twice because everything is a game for him."
"It sounds terrible!" complained Yumina.
"I know. A terrible solution for a terrible world. Touya, I am sorry to have you involved in this, I really wanted to destroy that world for a reason. I knew that the Cult had the potential to expand to another world at any time, but now that there is hope for that world thanks to Kagenou, I don't want to do it anymore. However, I had to allow Kagenou to go to your world so we could stop them before it was too late."
Touya frowned. "So, what do you I have to do?"
"You don't have to help Kagenou if you don't want to, but don't get in his way and do not let anyone do so."
"Well, if the Cult is already here, I have to do something. Even if I don't like Kagenou, I will do everything I can to help him!" said Touya.
Yumina nodded and smiled. "And if you speak with my father, I am sure he will keep an eye open to any suspicious activity. The Kingdom of Belfast will not fail you."
"Same for the Refreese Empire!" added Lu.
"I don't like it, but I can talk to the Overlord to help too!" said Sakura, frowning at the idea of asking her father for a favor.
Hilde smirked. "I will speak with my brother. The Knight Kingdom of Lestia will make sure those cultists come to light."
"So, we are pretty much summoning the world alliance." said Touya. "Okay, let's do it."
Kamisama nod
ded with satisfaction. "Thank you my boy but let me give you a piece of advice first."
"Yes?"
Kamisama approached to whisper in Touya's ear. "Please, Touya, I know that Kagenou's way of doing things is completely against your morals, but no matter what, don't pick a fight with him. You both have a similar amount of power, and if you fight, you two may destroy the world."
Touya shivered. "Of course, thank you for the advice, Kamisama."