Shadow Farms

"What Really Matters"

At night, the light from a distant fire illuminated the Vice School Head's room.

In that dim room, there was a figure moving.

The figure took out a few books from the bookshelf, and threw them on the ground and burned them.

The small flame fed more and more books, until it grew to the point where the room lit up brightly.

This now illuminated figure was revealed to be a thin black-clothed man.

“What do you do in such clothes ..... Vice Principal Ruslan?”

That skinny figure shivered. She thought she was alone in the room, but without her realizing it, she seemed to have a friend in the form of a teenage child.

The boy sat on the sofa, cross-legged, calmly reading a book.

He was a black-haired boy with a face that could be found anywhere. However, the boy did not glance at the black-clothed man nor the spreading flames, only focusing on his rather thick book. The sound of him turning the page seemed to be too loud.

“So, you noticed.”

That's what the man in black said. Then he took off his mask, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. With salty hair and pepper in a back sweeping style, he was undoubtedly Vice Principal Ruslan.

Ruslan threw his mask on the fire, then took off his black costume and threw it as well.

The room gets brighter with a notch.

“For reference only, can you tell me how you know, Sid Kagenou-kun?”

Ruslan sat on the other sofa facing Sid.

“I can tell by looking at it.”

Sid glanced at Ruslan, then returned to his book.

“See, you said. Then maybe it was my step, or my posture .. Well after all, you have very sharp eyes. ”

Ruslan studies Sid, while Sid continues to read his book.

Their shadows are both generated by flicker and fire shifts.

“For reference, can I also ask you something?”

So ask Sid while still paying attention to the book.

Ruslan wordlessly asked him to continue.

“Why are you doing this? I don't really think you have this kind of hobby. ”

“‘ Why, h huh .... The story had to go some time ago. ”

So Ruslan muttered as she crossed her arms.

“Then, I've been standing at the top. That was before you were even born. ”

“I've heard about you taking the championship at the God of War.” Festival

“This festival is far from the top. The peak is actually much further down the road. Although I don't think you'll get it even if I tell you. ”

Ruslan laughs. There was no scorn there, only an indistinct sense of tiredness.

“Just after I reached the top, I fell ill, which forced Me to retreat. After all the efforts of Me to claw My way, My glory lasts only a moment. Then I had to focus on finding a method to heal myself, until I finally saw a possibility for it in an artifact researcher named Luclaire. ”

“Will this story be long?”

“Slightly, yes. So, Luclaire is Sherry's mother. He was too smart, so he was hated by the entire academic world at large. However, her knowledge and ability as a researcher is arguably the top in the world, so she is in a very comfortable position for Me. Therefore I decided to support his research, and we managed to collect many artifacts.

Luclaire will research the artifact, then I will use the results. He's not interested in wealth or fame, so we have a good relationship. Then one day, I arrived at the Eye of Greed. This is the artifact I've been looking for all this time.

But Luclaire ...... that silly woman, she called Eye of Avarice ‘dangerous’ and tried to sign up to the country to pick it up. That's why I had to kill him. I started stabbing her from her extremities, then gradually worked her way inside, until I finally stabbed her heart and even gave her one last lap. ”

Sid closed his eyes to listen, with his book still open.

“So I managed to stay in the Eye of Avarice, but the research is not complete. However, I soon found another researcher who was comfortable – Luclaire's daughter, Sherry. He knew nothing, doubted nothing, and devoted himself only to me. All the while still not knowing the fact that I was the one who took his mother from him. My sweet, sweet, stupid stepdaughter.

Thanks to the efforts of the mother and child, the research on the Eye of Avarice was finally completed. All that was left was to prepare the stage to absorb magic and find a comfortable scapegoat. And today ... is the best day of my life, the day when my dreams will finally be achieved. ”

My me, laughing Ruslan.

“So how, is it a good reference?”

Sid opened his eyes to Ruslan's question.

“Alright, I'm getting the common core of it now. But ..... There's only one thing I want to confirm. ”

“Try me.”

“Is it true you killed Sherry's mother and only used Sherry?”

Sid turned his gaze from his book and looked straight at Ruslan.

“Of course it's true. What, are you angry, Sid-kun? ”

“I want to know .... Actually, I am someone who very clearly distinguishes between things that are important to me, and things that are not important.”

Sid is a little down.

“Can I ask why?”

“To be unperturbed, I think. I have something I really want to accomplish, and something very far away. That's why I keep whining. ”

“Whittling?”

“Because most people live on, the things they consider important grow in proportion. They make friends, find a life partner, get a job. But I did the opposite. I keep cutting things while I'm alive. Don't need this, don't need it, like that. In that way, after shrinking myself down to the core, I finally determined what really mattered to Me. Now I live only for the sake of that one little thing, so I don't really care about other things. ”

Sid closed the book with a sound. He stood up, then threw the book into the fire.

“So you mean you don't care at all about that stupid mother and daughter couple?”

“Not exactly. I'm saying that I don't really care, doesn't mean I don't care at all. Right now, I'm feeling a little .. blisters, I guess. ”

Sid drew the sword at his waist.

“It is time we started. I have a feeling that we will be distracted if we take too long. ”

“Good idea. Well then, I guess it's time for us to split up. ”

Ruslan stood up and also drew his sword.

Two white blades glittered in the flame light, and the result was decided in an instant.

Ruslan's sword pierced Sid's chest, sending fresh blood flying.

Sid's body crashed into the room door from the momentum of the attack, straight into the now burning passageway. The boy's body was instantly engulfed by the crimson flames, disappearing from sight.

“Farewell, young man.”

Ruslan sheathed his sword. The flames from the hall began to invade his room, his strength growing greater with every minute. But when Ruslan turns around and is about to leave ……

“Where did you go?”

“……!”

A voice that sounded like an echo from the depths of the earth reached him. When Ruslan turned around, he saw a jet-black man standing there.

His face was covered with a magician mask, and the hood of his long coat was pulled inside, but the mantle was now burning with red flames. However, the man showed no signs of bothering him at all, only to quietly pull out his jet-black blade.

“You are......!”

Ruslan raised his own sword.

“I'm Shadow, he who hides in the shadows and hunts the shadows ...”.

“So you are ********Day ....”

Ruslan, who was holding his white blade up, faced Shadow, who carelessly hung his pitch-black blade.

After staring at each other for a while, it was Ruslan who first retreated.

“I understand, you are indeed strong.”

“Hou.... ”.

“I am also someone who lives by the sword. Only by facing off, I can get at least a general reading on my opponent. I don't fit in with you right now. So I had to exert full force from the very beginning. ”

Ruslan took the red candy out of his breast pocket and swallowed it. Then he also took out the Eye of Avarice and its controller.

“Eye of Avarice reveals true value only when two parts are combined. Like this.”

With a click, the two joined together.

Suddenly, the two pieces released a brilliant white light, in the middle where the letters of the ancient language could be seen exploding.

An ancient spiral of letters revolved around the room. Laughing crazily, Ruslan pushed the artifact into his own chest.

“Here and now, I will be reborn !!”

The artifact sank into Ruslan's chest.

As if submerged into water, the artifact pierced through his clothes and flesh.

“OOOOOOOOOOooooHHHHHHHHH!!”

Angrily Ruslan scratched his chest while roaring above his voice.

Ancient letters gathered in Ruslan, carving themselves into his body.

The white light grew increasingly brighter, until it colored the room pure white.

Then.

After the light subsided, there was Ruslan, with one knee.

He slowly stood up, as white smoke shot out from his body. When he raised his face, it could be seen that there were small, shining letters branded on his face, looking like tattoos.

“Ya ...... this is a feeling ...... strength, I feel the power flowing through me ........ I MENTIONED ........ !!”

Magic blows in the torrent coming from Ruslan, causing the flames to bend backwards.

“Do you understand, the feeling of this raging power! This magic that replaces all human limits !! ”

Then Ruslan started laughing.

“First, now I'll try it on you.”

Ruslan's missing.

In the next instant, he reappeared behind Shadow, his sword was already in the midst of a cutting attack ..

A high-pitched clang came out, and the air around them both blew in the wind.

“Hou, good work gets in the way. ”

The shadow just stood there, its back still to Ruslan. Only his pitch-black sword was behind him, blocking Ruslan's sword.

Ruslan poured more power into his sword, but Shadow did not even tremble.

“It seems I underestimated you a little. How about that? ”

Ruslan disappeared once again.

This time, the high-pitched clang came out several times in a row quickly.

Every time a sound rang out, it could be seen that the Shadow sword had changed position slightly. Just the simplest movement, the minimum movement needed to perfectly block every incoming attack.

After the fourth clang, Ruslan reappeared in front of Shadow.

“I didn't think you could block it. Alright, I will acknowledge your strength. ”

Then he looked at Shadow with a confident smile.

“In relation to that power, I will also be serious.”

Ruslan's attitude changed.

He raised his sword upwards, and began to gather a large amount of magic. With a dazzling white light, his sword became the eye of a magic vortex.

“You can boast in the next life for making me serious.”

His attack shot towards Shadow with incredible strength and speed.

But.

In fact it was easily defeated by the jet black blade.

“What?!”

Sparks jump due to clashes.

“You can even handle it ?!”

“Do not say ... This is what you can do?”

They both glared at each other in close range.

“Guh...... No, it's just getting started! ”

The Ruslan sword accelerated.

His pictures painted a beautiful bow in the air while dancing furiously.

“UUUUOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

The white sword lit up in attack after attack to the accompaniment of Ruslan's voice, but all of them were repelled by the jet black sword.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

White slashes clashed with jet-black blades repeatedly, filling the air with sparks and an almost unceasing metallic sound of metal.

Like some sort of brutal and barbaric music, the sound rang, adding a new dimension to the searing night.

But eventually, it's over.

After one last swing from the pitch-black blade, Ruslan was sent flying. His body hit his desk before rolling to the ground.

“Guh..... h-, how can this ……! ”

Suppressing the pain running through his body, Ruslan slowly stood up. The wound healed at a visible speed, but the light from the ancient letters on his skin dimmed proportionally.

“Think that it will be a tough battle. Nails, you really are something. But regardless of how strong you are, you are done. ”

“It's done, you say?”

“Hah, I've made all the necessary preparations so that this entire incident will be blamed on you and your Shadow Park. Evidence, witnesses, I've got it all. No matter how great you are at fighting, it won't make you the slightest bit good. ”

Ruslan laughs. His crooked face closely watched Shadow to see his reaction.

However, Shadow also laughed. Coming from behind his mask, it was a low, low laughter that flowed out.

“A, did you laugh .... ”.

“You. To think that you will call something on that level ‘finally.’ Oh, *****. ”

“You just became a poor loser.”

As Ruslan said, the smile disappeared from his face.

Shadow shook his head. Humiliating, even, as if he was mocking Ruslan for his failure to understand.

“Since the beginning, our path has never been as fair. Nor is it the way of the wicked. We are the ones who walk our own path. ”

Then Shadow opened his arms wide, his upholstery making a sound that was heard from the movement.

“If you can, bring to us all the sins of the world. We will bear it all! But nothing has changed. We will continue to do what we have to do. ”

“Do you say that you are not afraid to have the whole world as your enemy ?! That is sheer arrogance, Shadow! ”

“Then what if you come and try to destroy my arrogance?”

Ruslan rushed over.

Then his white sword swung down from overhead, slicing straight towards Shadow.

The attack that was supposed to split Shadow's head was lost at the last second.

“What!!”

Fresh blood dance.

Ruslan's left wrist was pierced by a jet-black blade.

Soon, Ruslan changed using his right hand and back.

But.

“APA!”

This time, his right wrist was pierced.

Ruslan keeps trying to retreat, but Shadow chases after him.

“Guh..... gah……! ”

Under the prick attack that was faster than his eyes could do, Ruslan could not even react when his body was stained with blood.

Countless thrusts pierced his wrist, then his leg, then his arm, then his thigh, gradually went inside.

“From the extremities, then gradually work into.....”

The low voice of the shadow resounded on the sidelines of the impulse.

“Then finally it's the heart, with a twist ... is that true?”

The instant Shadow uttered that sentence, his jet-black sword pierced through Ruslan's chest.

“How......!!”

Even when spitting blood from his mouth, Ruslan tried to pull out the sword in his chest, desperately resisting.

Ruslan's eyes clashed with the boy's eyes behind the mask.

“You ********, You ..!”

Just as Ruslan was about to say something, then the black jet blade spun around.

“Gah, agah..... aaa……! ”

Then the jet-black blade jolted backwards, causing a large amount of blood to come out. The light in Ruslan's eyes and the ancient letters on his skin slowly disappeared.

All that was left was the skinny corpse of a middle-aged man.

At that moment.

A small scream pierced through the air.

“Step-father....”.

The shadow turned on her clothes that were dyed with Ruslan's blood.

“STEPFATHEEERRRRRR !!”

The pink-haired girl ran past Shadow, making a lineage for Ruslan's corpse.

“Tidaaaa .. stepfather .. why ... WHY ... !!!”

He clung to the thin corpse as tears streamed down his face, but his stepfather would never move again.

The girl's tears fell like rain on Ruslan's face.

The shadow looked at the heartbroken girl, then turned around.

“No need for you to know ..”

Then he disappeared into the depths of the deep red flames, with the heartbreaking wail of the girl ringing in his ears.