The [Shadow Tide] was moving just fine, he could feel the [Shadows] growing stronger by the minute. And with each minute the [Shadow Tide] advanced, his power also grew stronger, each new [Tainted] that was consumed increased his might. His power, [His Authority].
He could feel it, festering in the [Shadows], he could almost taste it as it dissolved the [Souls] as it [Proliferated] from one body to the next.
It was quite the thrilling sensation, and to think that this [Gift] had been laying dormant in the body of that… Impostor.
Over a thousand [Tainted] had been sacrificed only for two empty husks to emerge from the Shadow Port he carved using his own essence. The body of a girl and a boy, both black-haired, around the same age.
One was the body of Alice Ashcroft, and the other of Suzuki Akira, both students at the MPI.
One was a suspect user of [Soul Manipulation Skills], his body devoid of life. The other however, was a vessel that seemed to hold quite well to Shadows, the first time he saw that body all the shadows in the room seemed to want to climb to it, to embrace it and pull it down again.
Of course within his area of influence it was impossible for the Shadows to do so, it was quite trivial for him to seal them away and let him study the body. On it he found the answer to his pleas.
A shard of reality, a gem carved using the primordial prana that housed this world. He had seen one before, of course. It was how [Odyssey] would grant the three favors the former [Ten] now [Nine Stars], only this one wasn’t connected to [Divine Mana] or [Prana], but it was attuned to the most primordial type of [Shadows] Maximilian Windsor ever felt.
Shadows so dark that even the worst nightmares his Mother Eleanore Windsor could summon were a child’s toy.
And he could feel the call, whatever was there wanted to spread, and it promised him power beyond recognition if he only allowed it to spread. So of course Maximilian Windsor, former [Shadow Pact] did what he was trained to do.
“Do you perhaps want to sign a contract?” He said with trembling hands as he grasped the reality shard. “I will help you spread, I will make sure everyone knows and hears of you…Just… give me back my sister… give me back… her name, her face, her smell, her memories…. give me back what the world took from me.”
The ominous gem pulsed with dark energy, all the signs of a contract that was harmful to the contractee, but he ignored them. “Give me the power to call back my sister back.” So he took the gem, he took it and sank it deep within his body.
“Ţ̶͓̭̲̫̙̪̙̼̲̉͛̅͊̽̓̄̑͐̈́͠͝ḥ̸̡̩͇͚̠̫̟̼̬͔̃̓̈́́ͅe̶̯̋̏̃̏̉́̋̅̃̋̌̾͌ ̶̡̤̯̭̜̖̏̊̿͌ẗ̸̨͉͕͕̝͚͔̠̳̖͈̥̥̺͇́͐̐̎̾̚͜͠ě̸̛̘̹̯̳̟͈̺̱͓͕̲̰̼͕͖̻́̆͒̃͗͗̔̎͜ŗ̵̱̤͉̲̣̹̫͚̞̪͇̳̭̗̠̗̈́̊̏̇̔̚̚̚̚͝m̴̢̫͈̳̖̤͙̣͓͔͍͇̈́̋̓͐̿̋̉̿̇̀͒͂͛͠͝͠s̵̨̗͍̳͍̖̙̲̩͉̬̗͙̳̤̱̯̽̄͐́̀̃͘ ̷̨̞̼̪͈͍̲̟̹̦̀͐̃͒͑̄̚͘a̷͇̻̲͆̃̆̾̑̈̀̌́͝r̶̳̟̤̬̥̓̊̽͒̀̎̂̋̐̑͘ę̶̩̞͎͂̽̅̀̐̈̕͜͝͠ ̷̤̓ͅa̶̬͉̯̖̠̺̝̺͚̝̟̾̀͋͌ͅc̸̨̨̧̨̛̙̙͔͔͖͍̤͚̬̖̣͌̈̊̄͘c̶̨̬̃̀̑̎́̏͝ę̵̱̲̹̗͓̈̒͒͘̚p̸̡̡̙̲͇̮͎̞͇̜͔̎̽̈̌̈̓̀̎̂͛̇̈́̕t̵̡̧̛̩̝̦̔̋̇̾̅́̽̊̅̊͒͒̚a̷̧͕̫̬̝͇̮͓͖̰͎͚̖͍̭̦͊̏̿͝b̷̢̡̡̛̛̟̘͈̥̥̝͔͔̪̤̈́̋̒̅̈́͐̀̀͐̌̇͑͠ļ̶̣̫͙̣̗͎̤̪̩̫̮̣̰̠͉̣̍͌̾́͝͝ȩ̵͚̫̝̖̺̮̳͚͙̩͕̺̗̥͗͋̓̔̌”
It was that day that he stopped being [Shadow Pact], he gave his power, his body, his mind. Everything just to recover what was his, what he wanted to get back, to own, to protect, to safeguard, to care, to enjoy, to love.
He wanted his family back.
If it was for that, he was willing to sign away his [Soul], he became [The Shadow Tide].
Who was his sister? He did not know, he knew some clues of course.
1. She should have the last name Windsor.
1. Mother did not remember her either.
1. [The Ten] did not remember her either.
1. The reason he remembered her was because [Framework] helped him by sending him into the alternate dimension of shadows where he was safe from most of the effects from [The Advent]
1. This black-haired girl, Alice Ashcroft, was related to his sister's disappearance.
So, using the girl as a medium, he spread his new power, the power of [The Shadow Tide], and trying to pull at the [Shadow Threads] of [Fate], he summoned someone who could answer him.
Did he hope to get his sister back? Yes, he knew chances were very slim that he could. He had hoped for a [Miracle], that he could pull his sister into the body of this girl who was so attuned to the [Shadows].
Instead he got the screams of a black-haired, red-eyed girl who wanted to run away, and the body of the other kid turning into a blonde girl who was surprised at seeing him, but who still took the hand of the black-haired girl and teleported away.
He had been too stunned to react; that was not what he expected to happen. It took him too long to track the girls back. They could perceive him coming somehow and used that information to run away.
On a normal day, he could have outrun them and caught them in a second, but his status was being updated to this new form. He couldn’t use all his powers as [Shadow Pact], not anymore. He couldn’t cast or impose [Contracts] since it seemed that he had broken his powers after [Advent].
So he advanced slowly as he fed his [Shadow Tide]. Each body that was struck into his [Shadow Tide] was absorbed and assimilated as his, each helping the tide grow strong, each increasing his [Authority]. Each one was one step closer to fulfilling his mission.
And after so long, he had more clues.
Elizabeth Starbright, one victim of the [Advent]. A girl who in the eyes of everyone was an orphan. Formerly Elizabeth Ashcroft, the same last name as the Alice girl.
But to him, Elizabeth was more important. He remembered her.
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She was the daughter of one of the former [Ten] and featured at the MPI’s debut of new [Heroes] and [Magical Girls].
And yet, he couldn’t remember whose daughter she was, he knew that girl’s parents took someone else under their wing, but couldn’t remember who had been the one to scout. And most of the members of the [Ten] took someone. Everyone but that girl.
She had made a promising debut, used her powerset to defeat someone she shouldn’t have been able to, and no one took her. It was impossible.
The girl was the daughter of someone, and he couldn’t remember who. She was a kindred spirit…
But that wasn’t enough to make him stay his hand. The girl was harboring the key to get his sister back. Worse, she had taken the tracker off. He couldn’t detect Alice or the other girl anymore.
What he could detect were the shadows at the borders, little critters hidden within the shadows poking and trying to get close to him; each time one was near being [Tainted] they either self-destructed or straight up teleported away.
It was annoying, but he noticed that they were guiding him. Each time he went in the wrong direction, they would dive from the direction he was supposed to go. They were trying to guide him, trying to herd him in a specific direction.
So he allowed that, to be guided, he wanted to go in that direction either way, so he was happy with that, he also attempted to [Taint] them, but these critters were resistant to his skill, somehow they could react as if they knew how his [Skill] worked. How the [Gift] he had been granted worked.
That was impossible, this had come from that girl, Alice. Not from whoever this was, and that girl wasn’t the one that had sent the critters, he knew that. The girl Alice was [Weak], she had talent for [Shadow] powers yes, she had showcased that when she used the [Skill - Shift] to change into that [Heroine] set.
But not to this extent, this must be someone else. And who else could it be but this girl… Elizabeth, the one who was a daughter of one of his former coworkers. It made sense, who else could hide someone being [Tainted] but one of those that stood at the peak.
Someone who had access to the level of power they had, someone who could abuse the system. He suspected [The Elementalist] or [The Prophet] to be honest, usually he would suspect [Echidna], but he knew that Mother would never allow someone with this type of power to be away from her grasp. If this Elizabeth was his sister, she would have been under her Mother’s thumb, she would have never allowed her to be that close to some of the [Ten].
So he allowed himself to be guided. Slowly, he could feel the encirclement around him growing. They wanted to make sure that he would never leave without them knowing. Smart.
This girl was smart, or perhaps she had someone guiding her. He wasn’t sure. Either way he would continue his plans nontheless, his plan would not change, whatever this girl Elizabeth planned it would be meaningless. No matter what she did, it would not change. He would get what he wanted. If this girl was planning to get on his way, then she would feed the [Shadow Tide].
He was close to his next step, he soon would have enough [Shadows] to encroach upon all the world, not even his Mother could claim to be able to do this, even if she had a wide range thanks to her power set. Thanks to her [Skill] allowing her to tap into the [Nigthmares] of all humanity.
What he was planning to do was different, he would [Taint] the world, he would extend his domain all over the planet, and when he had achieved that. He would have enough pull to get his sister back.
“[Soon…Soon you will be back sister…]” Perhaps he could even remember everything, instead of suspecting. He was pretty sure his sister was Chloe, but he wasn’t sure of why he thought so. Or of anything beyond that.
“Welcome [Shadow Pact], or should we refer to you as [Shadow Tide]? Perhaps [Maximilian Windsor]?” A little girl dressed in what looked to be a modified maid outfit with armor bits spoke to him.
To his eyes the little girl was closer to a [Shadow] than to a human, even if he could see parts of a [Human] there.
“[I am the Shadow Tide, not Shadow Pact or Maximilian Windsor.]” He answered, stopping in front of the little girl, the shadow tide stopping with him, waves upon waves of shadows flowing near him. “[I will not speak to a mere Mana Construct, bring forth your master Minion.]”
The little girl frowned at his statement, this Elizabeth must be quite the eccentric to micro manage her summons like this.
“Quite rude are we, you are quite interesting. I don’t see why Mistress liked you.” The little girl said, was her summoner one of his fans? That shouldn’t be.
He was never popular while doing [Hero] work. Most of his work involved high-profile targets, and his popularity only rose because he had done some grunt work with…with who? Had he worked with other members of the [Ten], or were there more?
Had this memory also been stripped of him?
“[I care not for what you or your mistress think. I only need your owner to feed my Shadow Tide.]” He answered and with a motion of his arm spikes of shadows flew at high speed towards the little girl.
He had never manipulated this much power before, it flew true as if he had always done it before, his Manipulation of Shadows had grew by leaps and bounds after he took that [Reality Fragment], was this how it felt to be a prodigy?
“Hmph.” Even so, the little girl materialized a small shield and parried his attacks. The shield started being [Tainted] with the contact of his shadows, but the little girl simply threw the shield away and dodged the next attack instead. “Quite a rude guest we have.”
He didn’t answer the obvious taunt, instead he grunted and twice the number of spears floated atop his shadow tide, “[You either bring me your master or my Shadows will pull her out, but I will get what I wish.]” And with a snap, he sent them all towards the little girl.
“I really don’t understand our Mistress.” The little girl sighed and turned to look at him with tired eyes, her left eye was pink while his right eye was blue, both started flaring in those colors “Come forth Valkyries.”
With this around her, the space was distorted, and a group of fourteen maid-like-dressed little girls came forth. Each dressed similarly to the first little girl, but their dresses had fewer decorations. All of them wearing a motif of a broken pair of twin swords.
“[What are you playing at little girl?]” He asked, but the little girl did not answer with words, instead she pointed forward.
The little girls behind her poured forward, each wielding daggers or short axes. These instead of fighting his attacks head on instead threw their weapons to intercept his, this was of course the correct course of action, each weapon killed the momentum of his shadow spears, and instead of [Tainting] them, the weapons just self destructed, making his attack useless.
“Did you think you would get to our Mistress easily?” The little girl mocked him.
“Beatrice! Sorry, I am late!” And if that wasn’t enough, a girl came running at them, she was dressed in the traditional Izanami dress of a swordsman. Another point to his theory that this Elizabeth girl was a daughter of [The Elementalist]. “I am [The Demon Slaying Sword], prepare for your defeat. For the love of my life wants you kneeling at her feet.”
“[Hmph, a mere sword of Izanami dares to think itself worth? I crossed swords with those at the peak of power. You are nothing!]” He answered as he threw more shadow spears at the new girl.
He half expected her to either panic or release a series of talismans to defend herself, Izanami [Heroes] always used eithier talismans or summons to fight.
What he did not expect was for the girl to draw a flaming sword from open space and to use that to cut in two all the attacks that had been sent her way.
“Hmph, only this? She would not stop at something this simple.” The red-haired girl said she had cut cleanly his attacks, and if that wasn’t enough, she had burned away the [Tainted] mana on the attacks, making it impossible for his shadows to [Proliferate] into her.
This may be interesting, most of the so called [Heroes] and [Magical Girls] that had fought against him had either succumbed to the [Shadow Tide] or ran away, this was one of the very few that had actually fought back and achieved something.
The girl Alice had been another, he hadn’t managed to be [Taint] her, but she hadn’t been able to destroy his mana like this girl.
“[Interesting.]” He said as the [Shadow Tide] started bubbling as if the shadows were boiling, “[Perhaps this will be somewhat more interesting than I had thought.]”
He called upon the [Reality Fragment] lodged within his body, he would need to use more power than he had expected, he didn’t want to, every ounce of power was important, and he wasn’t sure how much power he would need when calling upon [Akasha] to fulfill his [Wish], but so close to his goal?
This wasn’t the time to refrain himself. Besides he didn’t want [The Elementalist] or any of the [Nine Stars] to come around and make his work harder.
“[Heed my call those of you that wail within the crevices of this world…]” So he started chanting. He had never done any of this [Chant] nonsense before, but after getting this [Reality Fragment], it was quite common for him to use his powers like this “[... come forth and drag those that dwell within the light, pull and claw at them, sink them into the deepest of despairs, make them suffer as we do.]”
As soon as his word finished, the [Shadow Tide] bloomed with all its might, thousand upon thousand of shadowy human-like figures coming from it as if a human had walked through a waterfall of tar.
“[Pull them in, so they know true pain like we do.]” And as his words sank the thousand of human-like figures started walking forward. What once had been mere shadow reflections on his alternate shadowscape had become a real tangible entity that he could use to attack.
“...” The little girl made of shadows stared silently at his shadow ghouls. The same could be said of her valkyries.
“ Hmph.” The red-haired girl only grunted as a second Izanami Katana materialized on her left hand. As soon as she put some strength into its grip, it blazed in red fire.
“[Let the shadow tide bring darkness upon this world.]” Soon, he would get what he came for, and the world would know true pain. They all would regret the day they dared to forget his sister, the day they dared to take from him his sister.