"Are you okay, Touya?" asked Lu, entering her husband's office, with a tray of onigiris. "I brought you a snack as you skipped breakfast."
"Thanks, Lu!" said Touya, taking the rice ball Lu was offering him, without taking his eyes off of his paperwork.
"What's that? This is what made you skip breakfast?" asked Lu, worried by Touya's expression.
"The intel reports I asked Tsubaki," explained Touya. "After everything Shadow Garden told us, I decided to get as much information as possible. And, it seems that is more urgent than we thought."
He gave the documents to Lu, and she gasped. According to Tsubaki's reports, a lot of girls have disappeared recently. Elves, beastkin, demonkin, and even humans have big amounts of magic power.
"Alpha mentioned that possibility, remember? That interrupts their supply of 'possessed' the Cult may try some desperate measures like kidnapping girls from this world for their experiments." Said Touya, with a frown.
Lu nodded. "I see. I cannot believe that Kagenou's games ended up being a very disturbing reality. I cannot take him seriously when he is the one explaining things."
Touya nodded. At least Shadow Garden has behaved since the incident on the first day. They kept a low profile as black-ranking adventurers and took all the slime-related missions no one else wanted. If they had continued causing trouble with the Cult of Diabolos, that would be too much for Touya to handle.
The Great Duke of Brunhild was finishing his second onigiri when he received a telepathic message from Kohaku, his white tiger.
"My Liege, the leaders of the world alliance are here."
"Thanks Kohaku!" Touya looked at Lu. "It's time!"
She nodded happily. "Yes!"
...
Touya has reunited all the member nations of the World Alliance in his conference room, prepared for this moment.
"So, Touya, can you tell us why you called us here today?" asked the King of Belfast.
Touya took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you everyone for coming! I am sorry for calling you out of nowhere, but we have a situation on our hands. Just like the Fraze, I'm afraid we are facing a menace from another world."
The world leaders started to talk to each other, worried.
"Touya, so we need to prepare against a new type of monster?" the Knight King of Lestia.
"No, this time the monsters we are fighting against are humans. Which makes them more dangerous." explained Touya.
"What do you mean? Who are we fighting against then?" asked the Beast King of Mismede.
"They call themselves the Cult of Diabolos." said Touya.
"The Cult of Diabolos?" asked the Mikado from Eashen.
Touya nodded and began to explain the situation.
How this Cult has existed for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years, corrupted every level of society, and now controlled their world from the shadows. He told them about how their twelve leaders got eternal life thanks to their horrid experiments, and this allowed them to ensure their position and power for generations. And finally, thanks to an artifact that allowed them to cross between worlds, they have started the corruption of theirs, putting it under the Cult's control.
The monarchs exchanged a worried look.
"I don't get it, if they have their world under control, what are they looking for in our world?" asked her Holiness, the Pope of Ramiish.
"Because, in the end, the inevitable happened. A group emerged from the shadow with the sole purpose of destroying the evil cult. At the beginning, they underestimated them. But now, the group known as Shadow Garden has destroyed most of their investigation facilities and even freed a country from their claws. The Cult knows it understands its enemy, and they are desperate to get their advantage back. But Shadow Garden will not allow them to recover now that they are weakened."
"So, they decided to come to another world, ours, so they can recover where they are not bothered by this 'Shadow Garden'. Am I right?" said the King of Linhea.
"But Touya, my boy, how do you know all of this?" asked the Emperor of Refreese.
Touya sighed. "This is the main reason I wanted to talk to you all. Lapis, please let our guests pass."
The maid bowed before them and opened the side door of the conference room. But there was no one behind the door.
Touya face-palmed. "Kagenou!"
Yumina patted him on the back to comfort him.
Then they all felt a menacing presence right on the other side of the room. The monarchs jumped backward, except for the Knight King from Lestia and the Beast King of Mismede, who prepared to fight alongside their knights. They were ready to face this menace; there were only five of them, but they could feel they were extremely powerful.
Four women and a man. Dressed in black bodysuits with black hoods.
They could feel the women were powerful, but the man was just terrifying, as they could not see his face at all. They could only see two red orbs floating in darkness.
The man started to walk toward them.
"Hold!" commanded Commander Nicola from Belfast, aiming his sword toward him.
The man in black removed his hood, revealing a young face with black hair and black eyes. Features very similar to those of Touya.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cid Kagenou, and I am an old acquaintance of Touya. You can say we are childhood friends."
"A friend of Touya?" asked the Emperor of Refreese. "So you two came from the same place?"
Touya nodded. "Yes, this is Kagenou-kun, an old acquaintance of mine, AKA Shadow, leader of Shadow Garden."
Before the reunion, Cid and Touya discussed how he would introduce Cid as an old friend of his, not his Shadow persona. The reason was that the world leaders trusted Touya, and if Cid introduced himself as an old friend of his, it would be easier for them to join the cause. Kagenou pouted about not being able to introduce himself as Shadow but agreed in the end.
"Oh, I see!" cheered the King of Belfast. "So in another world, an old friend of Touya is fighting for what is right by facing this evil cult. If it is an old friend of Touya, then everything is possible!"
Alpha bowed before the world leaders. "Our most sincere apologies for getting you involved in this war. This happened because we were unable to control our enemies properly. But do not worry, those fools will be punished for creating problems for an old friend of Shadow-Sama."
"In the end, they will be exterminated by Shadow-Sama's divine power!" added Epsilion.
"We won't allow those bastards to extend their influence to another place. Just like vermin, they must be completely annihilated," said Beta. "This is why we humbly ask for your cooperation.
"And what do you need exactly?" asked the Pope of Ramiish.
"The Cult of Diabolos operates in the shadows, so we need you all to stay alert to anything related to the transportation of goods of dubious origin; and mostly disappearances. Especially for races known for their amount of magic power, such as elves, demons, beasts, and even humans with above-average magic power. Their bases are not easy to detect, but if you suspect something, let us know. We will take care of the rest." explained Alpha.
"After all, detecting the Cult's bases is one of the many specialties of Shadow-Sama, and ours. As his loyal followers, we have to live up to his expectations." finished Beta.
"It's time for the great hunt!" cheered Delta, waving her tail.
Shadow Garden bowed before the monarchs and took their positions behind Cid, who smirked.
Touya sighed. "Ehem, as you can see, Shadow Garden followed the Cult all the way to here and contacted me right away to explain the situation. I was very surprised to see Kagenou, but I know from a very good source that we can trust him."
The Pope of Ramiish gave Touya a significative glance, and Touya gave her a dissimulated nod.
"Our intelligence network has been investigating mysterious disappearances and smuggling," continues Touya. "We haven't found a pattern yet, but when dealing with the Cult of Diabolos, we may take every possible precaution."
The Beast King of Mismede frowned.
"Everything that you have told me is very worrying, Touya, my boy. As a matter of fact, we've been getting lots of missing person reports, especially from the Spirit Forest, home of the fairies."
With that, Leen couldn't help but gasp.
"Our court magician, Eris, went to investigate the incident and hasn't returned." continued the Beast King. "It may be nothing, but after you have told us, they could be a target of this Cult."
"Especially since we fairies are the race with the highest affinity for magic!" says Leen.
Everybody turned to Cid, who nodded. "Show me the area where the disappearances are occurring."
"Eh... I would need a map." said the Beast King.
Touya pulled out his smartphone, used the maps app with his null spell'mirage', and projected a map of Mismede. Then the Beast King pointed at a certain spot on the map.
"Here it is, the Spirits Forest. The fairies' territory."
Cid nodded and simply put his finger on a random section of the map. "Here. This is where we will find the Cult. and Eris."
Shadow Garden grinned and started to complement Shadow-Sama's smart thinking and ability to detect the bases of the Cult of Diabolos with a glimpse of an eye.
Then Alpha turned to the King of Mismede and bowed before him. "Your Highness, we humbly ask you for your permission to get into your territory and take care of the Cult of Diabolos. You have our word that we will rescue and cure all prisoners."
"Cure?"
"If they have started with their experiments already, they urgently need to be cured. Don't worry, we will take care of them."
The Beast King of Mismede nodded. "Okay, we will work together. Do everything you can to save my people."
Cid smiled and shook the hand of the Beast King.
"It's always a pleasure to meet new people, kid. You are a friend of Touya, so you may be strong. Once this is over, I would like to have a duel with you."
Kagenou smiled. "Sounds perfect! I still have 43 other techniques to show!"
The King of Mismede seemed delighted at this declaration, but the people of Brunhild just exchanged uncomfortable laughter.
"We must go immediately!" said Alpha. "The longer we wait, the more dangerous they will become."
Touya nodded. "I'll send you over to the edge of the forest with a portal spell."
"Thanks, Touya-Dono! We can always count on you!" said the Beast King.
The Great Duke sighed and created a portal.
"You first, Your Highness!" said Beta humbly.
The Beast King and his retinue went through the portal, followed by Shadow Garden and Kagenou.
"Kagenou-kun!" called Leen.
Shadow turned to see her.
"Please bring Eris back safe!"
He smirked at her and put on his black hoodie before going through the portal.
Then Touya said goodbye to all of the world leaders in a bit of a rush, but they promised to keep an eye open to any suspicious activity. They would never allow the evil Cult of Diabolos to extend their influence to their kingdoms.
Besides, they could trust Touya and his friend. They would take care of everything.
And once they all crossed the gates to their respective countries, Touya immediately opened a new portal.
"Going someone, Touya?" asked Yumina.
"We're all going to Babylon. I promised Kamisama that I would not get on Kagenou's way, but I have a feeling I must keep an eye on him and that something bad can happen at any time."
The girls didn't say anything and followed Touya to Babylon.
***
Eris, matriarch of the fairies and court magician of Mismede, opened her eyes only to find herself in an unknown location.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" she asked.
She tried to stand up but then noticed the chains on her wrists and waist.
"HELLO?!" she shouted. "Do you have any idea who I am? I am the court magician of this country! If you don't release me now, the Beast King will certainly send an army!"
All she got in response were moans of desperation, rising her alert levels. She looked around and noticed she wasn't alone.
"Eris-Sama!"
"No... Have you been captured too, Eris-Sama?"
"No... no... no... everything is lost! Unless His Highness or Leen-Sama may help us"
Eris regained composure, but it was hard. She realized that she was surrounded by the missing fairies she had come to rescue.
"No, wait! I can still rescue you!" Eris was trying to use a spell to release them, but nothing happened.
"No, what is wrong with my magic?"
"These chains block our magic." explained the girl who was closest to Erin.
That made Eris shiver, but she didn't lose her nerve. "Oh, well, don't worry. I will think of something! I am sure His Highness will send someone to help us from this predicament."
A cold laugh got Eris' attention. "Ehehe, isn't that cute? Do you really think we will get out of here just like that? 'His Highness' will not come on time. We have placed agents in the right place on this joke of a nation to make sure he keeps running in circles and does not bother us."
Eris glared at the man, dressed in a white lab coat, smoking a cigarette. He puffed a smoke ring from his mouth and smiled at her.
"You may delay him, but in the end, he will come! I am his court magician after all!"
"It's true that we cannot keep him away forever. But that means that we have to hurry."
The man then took a syringe and grabbed Eris by the chin. "If you want to blame someone, blame Shadow Garden. If it wasn't for them, we would never get forced to hide in this world."
"What is Shadow Garden?"
The man ignored Eris and put the syringe on her leg, taking a sample of blood.
"We will see you around, dear!"
Eris shook her head as she glared at him. "Let me out! Let me out!"
***
The man then went to a lab, where he put Eris' blood on a flask in order to compare it with the blood of the other subjects he had captured in this world, and the creatures he had brought from his own world.
"Philip-Sama, we have problems." said one of his assistants.
"Is about that problematic nation, Brunhild. According to our intel reports, the Great Duke has summoned a meeting with the World Alliance to discuss the 'menace from another world'."
"What? Are they aware of us?"
"Well, it seems that Mochizuki Touya has a habit of stumbling into trouble every now and then, so there is a chance he found out about our Cult recently. He has a habit of interfering with others' business very frequently. Especially with those who are in conflict with his sense of justice."
Philip frowned. This man sounded as problematic as Shadow, but even more insufferable as he rubbed his success to other people's faces by showing off his little country and his nine wives. Not only that, but his heroic deeds were well-known in this world. In Philip's original world, people like him would have been crushed or forced to join the Cult.
"Okay, we must speed up our plans. The Beast King will have to go to Brunhild and then come back, that will give us about a week. We have to prepare ourselves!"
"Is it like you say, Philip-Sama."
Suddenly, the whole facility started trembling.
"No, it's too soon!"
***
On the surface, the Beast King was waiting for his explorers to inform him about the situation, along with Shadow Garden, who was waiting stoically,
"My Lord!" said the captain of the batallion, bowing before the Beas King. "We have found what it looks like: a bandits' lair. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that their weapons aren't normal. They have magic equipment, we should proceed with caution."
Alpha smiled. "As expected of Sahdow-Sama, He located their hideout with just a glimpse at the map!"
Shadow smiled. "Let's go then."
The Beast King stopped them. "Wait, I know they are your enemies, but please let the forces of Mismede make the first move. Let us prove ourselves."
Shadow nodded.
"As you wish, but if we decide that you cannot handle the situation on your own, we will intervene. Are we clear?"
The Beast King smiled and withdrew his sword. "Time to show up to Touya-dono's friend. Accel!"
The Beast King activated his hyper-speed spell to position himself in front of his forces, and knock the first guard of the lair with a single punch.
"You scum! What do you think you're doing in my land?"
More guards came up to meet the Beast King, and the battle started. They crossed swords, and some of the forces of Mismede started casting their spells right then and there.
"Ice, come to me and defeat my enemies. Ice-Javeli..."
But before they could finish chanting the spell, they were stabbed in the heart by the cult members.
"This useless way to do magic is nothing but a waste of time. Why don't you just attack?" mocked the cult member.
Mismede's forces may have had the advantage thanks to their surprise attack, but the Cult of Diabolos easily turned the course of the battle thanks to their superior training and the fact the fact that they were able to channel their magic without useless chants.
The only one who was given a decent fight was the Beast King.
"I see that you are king for a reason. Well, congrats, Your Highness! Let me show you a sample of our real power." said the captain of the cult's guards as he pulled a flask with red pills.
"Do you think I am afraid, you coward? Accel!" said the Beast King, charging against him.
The guard swallowed one of the red pills. The effect was instant, his eyes turned red as his muscles started to grow and began to move at insane speeds. The Beast King got a deep cut on the abdomen, as the man raised a sword and was about to impale the Beast King.
***
Touya and his family were watching the fight from Babylon, as Touya was using his smartphone to project the fight.
"Noooo!" they shouted.
"They are stronger than we thought!" said Touya.
***
The Beast King saw the sword descending at great speed, and closed his eyes, facing his destiny as a true warrior. However, the strike never came. Instead, he felt a warm liquid covering him, followed by the stench of blood.
He opened his eyes only to see that the only legs remaining of his enemy were his legs. The torso lay at his side with a hole in its stomach.
And right before him was Delta, with her claws dripping blood.
"Wooooow! Lots of preys!" giggled Delta.
And she charged to battle.
The soldiers of the Cult of Diabolos didn't know how to react after seeing their captain massacred so easily after taking the pills, but it wasn't time to think about it. They took their weapons and ran to Delta. The beastkin woman just roared, showing her fangs, and with a crazy look on her eyes, she started to massacre them one by one with ease. The Beast King could only see this in awe, everything was happening too fast for him to react. He could only see the soldiers who overwhelmed his forces so easily being killed one by one by a single beastkin.
Then he noticed that the other women in black had joined the battle too, moving at impossible speeds for the eye to catch.
Epsilon grabbed the second-in-command by the neck of his shirt. "Tell me where the entrance to the lower floors is, and I'll let you live."
"I'll never tell!"
"As you wish." said Epsilon, indifferent.
The man's left arm and leg were cut with precision.
"What about now?"
"Never!"
Epsilon didn't say more and chopped the man's head off.
The four women in black turned to the Beast King, still in shock. "Tell your forces to prepare to rescue prisoners. We'll take care of the cult members. Delta!"
The beastkin turned to the blonde elf. "Yes, Alpha-Sama?"
"I need you to find a way down. Look for any gate that takes us to the basement!"
Delta sniffed the air and started to remove some corpses to reveal the hatch.
"Here, Alpha-Sama!" called Beta.
One of the 'corpses' grabbed Betta by the ankle. "Shadow Garden, no, you were not supposed to be here!"
Beta silenced him with a single strike of her slime sword. "Delta, help me lift this hatch!"
Delta, the strongest of the Seven Shades, ripped the hatch with one hand.
The sentinel looked up. "Shadow Garden? Wait, you shouldn't..."
Delta threw the heavy door right on his head, smashing it completely. Then, the four women got into the lower level and started to hunt the members of the Cult.
...
At the lab, Philip was giving the finishing touches to the new batch he made thanks to Eris' blood, when one of his subordinates interrupted him.
"Philip-Sama! We are under attack!"
"I know! Mismede's forces are stronger than we thought!"
"No, Philip-Sama! They have joined forces with... with... Shadow Garden!!"
"WHAT?!" shouted Philip.
The sounds of fighting, or rather, a slaughter, were getting closer.
Philip gulped, took a syringe, and rushed to where the prisoners were, only to find the Beast King releasing the prisoners.
Philip frowned. "What do you think you're doing? Do you think I will allow you to come and ruin everything? Where is everybody? I need backup!"
Philip turned to his assistants, only to find Epsilon with her sword aimed at him as blood dripped from it.
"Oh, sorry! It seems that it is too late! You're all on your own!" mocked the elf.
Philip shook his head. "No, this cannot be happening! You were not supposed to find us if we came to this world! No!"
"Do you really think you can escape His all-seeing eye?" asked Beta, joining Epsilon.
"Don't think you'll get away with this! I'll end you here and now!" shouted Philip.
He took the syringe, and injected himself.
"This is my almighty power!!"
An aura of raw power was coming from Philip's body. His muscles started to grow as his eyes turned completely black, with two red lights as pupils.
He took his sword and charged Beta and Epsilon. But it was Alpha who came to face him. The two crossed swords, and the fight started. Philip had superior strength, but Alpha was faster, and her moves were precise, and she did not waste any of them, as Philips just used his aura and raw strength to keep Alpha away from him.
She calmly looked at the soldiers of Mismede. "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get all the prisoners out of here right now!"
"As if I would let you go just like that! Where is my backup?"
His subordinates did not respond.
"What?"
Delta came from the shadows, all covered in blood.
"So much for your backup!" said Epsilon.
Philip screamed in anger, and continued to attack Alpha, who did not flinch and kept dodging his frantic attacks.
"Alpha-Sama! Let us help you!" said Beta.
"No, I can do it alone!" said Alpha.
They continued to fight for a while, when they heard some steps coming closer. Deliberately slow and calm.
"Alpha, you are wasting time. If you cannot hit him, go help the Beast King free the fairies. I got this."
"But Shadow-Sama..."
"Alpha, my orders are absolute." reminded her Shadow. But in reality, I just want to show off my childhood friend.
Alpha obeyed and submissively stepped down to let her master deal with Philip. "You are right, Shadow-Sama! Forgive me."
Philip shivered but forced a smile. "Shadow. I should have known you would eventually show up. Fine, I'll kill you and earn a seat with the 'Rounds'."
Shadow gave Philip a dismissive smile, and he disappeared. Philip looked around, only to find him right behind him, and two cuts appeared over his body. Superficial cuts, but they really hurt.
"Damn you, Shadow! But at least I got some power from those fairies. Thunder, respond to my call, and become my servant. Thunder Spear!"
He shot the attack at Shadow, who dodged him with a tilt of his head. "Pathetic. I cannot be defeated with borrowed strength."
...
From Babylon, Touya and the others were looking at the scene thanks to a combination of 'Long Sense', 'Mirage', and 'Projection'. They could only see a one-sided slaughter.
"Touya, Kagenou's partners are amazing!" said Elsie.
"I don't approve unnecessary violence, but I must say they are very efficient!" added her twin, Lindsay.
Then Touya's phone rang.
"Moshi-moshi? Kamisama? What's up?"
"TOUYA, LET EVERYONE OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!" said Kamisama in a panicked voice.
"What?"
"Kagenou is about to make his final move. If you don't want everyone to die, let them out of there now!"
Touya looked at his wives, who nodded. So he crated a 'Gate portal' to a hill at a reasonable distance from the lair of the Cult of Diabolos. Then he pulled out his phone and activated the Maps app.
"Show me everyone at the underground hideout of the Cult of Diabolos! Show me the members of the Cult as red pins, and everyone else as blue pins! Oh, and show me Kagenou as a purple pin!"
The blue and red pins appeared all over the screen, and I noticed that there was a red pin close to the purple pin, as the other red pins were running out of the hideout. Most likely, they were trying to keep the evidence and their experiments safe from Shadow Gaden. But Touya didn't have the time to worry about it. Kamisama's tone of urgency meant that he had no time to lie.
He activated his magic on his smartphone. "Multiple! Activate 'Gate' in all the blue dots!"
Soon, both Shadow Garden and the forces of Mismede were teleported before Touya and his wives.
...
Shadow and Philip kept fighting, but it was obvious that Kagenou was just playing with him. He was barely paying attention to his opponent, which made Philip really angry.
"Take this seriously!"
"There is no reason for me to get serious with a fool who uses stolen strength."
Philip got angrier and took a flask of red pills from his pocket.
"What about this?"
He swallowed the pills. He was advised against this by the Cult, but combining the pills with the new compound they were studying, he may have a chance. He began transforming, his arms turned big and disproportionate, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, as they grew and lost their humanity. His skin turned dark brown, almost like mud.
"With this power, I'll be the one who takes the life of Shadow, and gets a seat on the Rounds!"
His attacks became faster, more violent. But also more predictable.
"Boring!" said Shadow, cutting off Philip's hand with ease.
His hand fell off, still holding the sword, angering Philip. But Shadow just ignored him and looked nowhere in particular.
...
From his observation point, Touya and company shivered. They knew that Kagenou was staring at them.
"Oi, Touya." said Shadow.
"Kagenou, do you know we are watching?!" asked Touya.
From the projection, Shadow was still fighting with Philip without even looking at him, staring right into Touya's eyes.
"Remember when we were children? I remember I told you I always dreamed of a way to withstand a nuclear explosion."
"Kagenou, what do you think you're doing?!" asked Touya, panicking.
...
"Who the hell are you talking to?" shouted Touya, full of rage as he was being ignored.
Shadow kept ignoring him. "After being reborn and thinking about it, I finally came to a conclusion. If I don't want to get vaporized by an atomic bomb, I'll just have to become nuclear myself!"
Touya shivered.
"Touya, what does nuclear mean?" asked Yumina.
But Touya didn't pay her any attention. He could only watch in horror.
"Kagenou, don't you dare!"
...
Cid wasn't listening. He only lifted his sword as he released his magic power before a horrified Philip.
"I... am... ATOMIC!"
***
That day, at least fifty members of the Cult of Diabolos, all of their equipment, and the results of their experiments; and two thirds of the Spirits Forest, disappeared under a purple light.