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Serial Killer In 'The Eminence in the Shadows'

I've always admired villains. They are the driving force of every story. Heroes won't exist without villains and villains won't shine without heroes opposing them. I've always wanted to be a villain… or at least play the role of a villain in my head. I understand as much that I'm too weak to be a true villainous figure in real life. That's why… I need more POWER!

Zephyrrrrr · Anime & Comics
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10 Chs

Chapter 1: The New World

Where am I?

My last memory was of being swallowed by darkness after another successful murder. Said darkness appeared out of nowhere right above the pentagram I drew with my latest victim's blood.

Could it be… the ritual actually worked? It never worked before. Why now?

I am now floating in complete darkness. I was expecting it to be cold but it is strangely warm and comfortable. Tight but comfortable, although this could be a prison considering I can't move my limbs.

Perhaps it will get hotter and hotter as I get closer to hellfire? It is after all what I deserved. How many people I've killed? I never counted but pretty sure it hasn't passed 30 yet. It matters not. I will burn for the sins I committed.

Will I at least meet Minoru-kun again? Could I have the chance to interact with him for the first time? As enemies or as friends? I can only wait and see.

I have no idea how long I spent in this darkness. I heard some muffled voices speaking in language I don't recognize. I'm not sure but the voices sound human. Don't tell me…

One day I felt the space around me tighten, I heard screams of agony and I felt the air getting colder and colder. Eventually I was pushed out of the dark warm embrace into a cold bright world. I knew it. I was reborn with my memories intact.

How did I get from being a serial killer to this?

I was born to a rather rich European looking family. My parents' blonde hair and the architecture of the room I'm in would've led me to that conclusion, if not for this strange feeling I have… like there's something out there… and in my body… something powerful, which I soon discover to be magic.

My parents also spoke in language I know nothing about. In my previous life, as part of my extensive research into the occult, I learned or at least familiarized myself to many languages.

I don't speak all of them fluently but I should've at least recognized what language they are, especially if it's European.

But the language they're currently speaking doesn't sound like any European language I know of. When my eyes could see clearer, I saw this world's letters when my mother read me a picture book.

They don't look like any European letters I know of. That and the presence of magic led me to conclude that this is another world. I've been reincarnated into another world!

How? I only have my rituals to blame.

Either way, this new world opens up new possibilities. I was born into a rich family, most likely aristocrats or even royalty. With that alone I already have power and influence to become a villain.

But the presence of magic greatly expands that possibility. I know that I won't be the only one wielding magic in this world, and thus I must train my magic starting from now in order to master magic greater than anyone else at an early age.

Heh heh heh. The Occult Killer shall rise again.

"Aww… Look at that, dear. He's laughing! How cute!"

"Ha ha ha! He's happy to be in the presence of his father!"

"No. I'm sure it's because he's happy to be in the warm embrace of his mother!"

I don't know what the hell are you two quarrelling about, my new parents, but can you please keep it down? I can't concentrate on my schemes if you keep being noisy.

"No! He's loves his father! Give him to me, you beautiful old hag!"

"Not in a million years, you handsome fatso!"

"…."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Huh? They're suddenly making out after that quarrel? These people are nuts. I don't understand anymore.

...

As I learned this world's language, I eventually learned that my name in this world is Claude Normann, the first son of Duke Normann of Midgar Kingdom.

The name of the kingdom definitely confirms my suspicion of this being another world, although am I in the Norse myth?

Unlikely because the world seem to have magic energy based technology and the castle I'm living in does have the renaissance aesthetic and architecture which led me to conclude that this is a fantasy world.

I've heard tales of witches, monsters and dragons, most famous tale being the The Three Heroes who defeated the Demon King Diablos. Yup. Definitely a fantasy world. Complete with the Yuusha (Hero) versus Maou (Demon King) cliché.

I also heard of the existence of Elves and Beastkin races but so far no mention of Dwarves, Orcs or other fantasy races. Midgar is a human dominated kingdom so I guess I won't be seeing other races too much.

Either way, I'm the first son of the duke, which means I am his heir. With that influence comes the political power that I seek.

My father is also a shady looking fat aristocrat, which means our family is probably already involved in some shady stuff in the underworld.

My political power is assured. I just need to build up my personal power. And with a head start in magic training, that should not be a problem.

I've perfected my control over magic as a baby because I've got nothing better to do and as I grew up I watched how my father's knights trained and infused their bodies with magic power to give themselves superhuman strength.

This seems to be the norm about magic in this world. While it was disappointing, this could also mean that I could become more powerful than anyone else by mastering magic more than anyone else.

I shall become a Spellcaster while everyone else are stuck with the Spellsword class. I'll show them the true potential of magic. Thus I've decided to focus on my magic training and experimentations in my free time. Secretly of course.

Still, as a son of the duke I can't completely abandon the sword and thus I trained my swordsmanship since I was 5 years old.

In mere two years I've reached an adequate level of swordsmanship, which, at my age, is considered prodigal.

While I have to stand out as a prodigal son, I still need to hide my true power, especially my magic, which I continuously train every day.

A true villain must not reveal all his cards since the beginning.

And thus I held back during training at day and trained by myself at night.

My swordsmanship level is considered prodigal enough that people are comparing me to Iris Midgar, the eldest princess of Midgar Kingdom who is a real sword prodigy.

She sounded like a main character or a heroine. I wonder if she is the one for me. I shall find out soon when we inevitably clash in battle. For now I have a needy little sister to deal with.

"Big brotheeer!"

Yes, I have a little sister in this new life. Her name is Charlotte, a cute small girl with blond hair tied into twintails shaped like drills who is wearing a red frilly dress.

She's now 5 years old, 2 years younger than me and due to me acting the part of the good big brother, she has been very clingy towards me that it gets annoying most of the time.

Despite that I'm indifferent towards her and would probably sacrifice her for some scheme or something in the future. Maybe betray her trust so I can enjoy the face she makes when she saw what a bad brother she has.

Heh heh heh.

"Big brother! Are you listening?"

"Yes, yes. I'm listening, Charl."

"You don't look like you're paying attention to me, though. Are you sure you're listening?"

"Yes, I'm sure I'm listening, Charl."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then what was I talking about?"

One would probably think I don't know what answer I should give her because I didn't pay attention to what she said but no. I have the perfect answer for this situation.

"You were talking about your favourite dolls, right?"

"No! I was talking about princesses!"

Damn. Usually that worked.

"Oh I'm sorry. What was it about princesses?"

"I heard father talking about engaging you with a princess! I don't know what that means but I don't like it!"

So I'm being considered to be a suitor for one of the Midgar princesses. Which one will it be? The older one, Iris Midgar? Or her younger sister, Alexia Midgar?

Most likely Alexia since I am in her age group, though I would prefer Iris because as the first born she would most likely be the heir to the throne.

No matter. Either way I'll gain more influence that I can use to rule this world from the shadows. I'll assassinate Iris if it comes to it. Heh heh heh.

"Hm. Interesting."

"Interesting!? Big brother! You're not leaving me for a princess, are you!?"

"Oh no no. I'll never leave you, Charl." Heh. I musn't chuckle.

"Good! Because you're gonna marry me when I grow up! You promised!"

"Sure. Sure." When the hell did I promised that? Perhaps at one of the instances where she would annoyingly talk my ears off and I would tune them out and just reply yes to anything she says?

Eh, no problem. She's not gonna live long anyway. I just need to prepare the proper script for it. Heh heh heh.

"Brother. You're making that face again."

"O-Oh? What kind of face was I making?"

"A perverted face! You're not thinking anything dirty about the princesses, are you!?"

"No, of course not! Where did you get that idea?"

"My maids told me! Though I'm not sure what that means."

"….."

Am I supposed to be mad at the maids for teaching her weird things? Well… I suppose I could use this as an excuse to punish them.

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