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The Necromancer in Shadow by TheOminousRain

Anime » Eminence in Shadow Rated: M, English, Horror & Humor, Cid Kagenou/Shadow, OC, Words: 548k+, Favs: 386, Follows: 387, Published: Oct 27, 2023 Updated: Aug 9

768Chapter 25: Tainted Heart

Chapter 25: Tainted Heart

We are all left in awe… We know Shadow is strong but… to this extent...? And to think that his archnemesis and my worst nightmare, Necromancer, was able to actually match him… I grit my teeth as I watch the battle helplessly. The other Shadow Garden members had the same thoughts. We are currently witnessing a battle between gods.

*BOOOOOMMMM*

A huge explosion illuminates the night sky as the power of two gods clash. We feel the shockwave merely seconds later, a few of us are blasted away by the impact. The huge explosion left a huge mushroom cloud as a reminder of it happening. Had it occurred in the city, it would've left the entire city in ruins.

"Lady Alpha…" Gamma calls out to me as she crawls back up with bleeding nose after falling down due to the shockwave.

"What is it?" I turn to ask before finally seeing an unbelievable sight. The sight of our lord Shadow heavily injured but still grinning like a maniac. He stands there unbothered by the many wounds that cover his body. He soon lost his smile and addresses us.

"Shadow Garden. Let us retreat."

"Very well. Let's go retreat to our Mitsugoshi base."

"FATHEEERRR! Please! Don't leave meee!" Screams an innocent girl desperately while crying out as she holds the cold hand of her foster father which was found near his office, which makes them assume he was killed there, which was now destroyed as a result of two titans clashing. They suspect one of the two titans to be the killer.

"I heard her mother was killed in similar manner." Glen remarks to Iris who is watching the poor girl with pity.

"Then can we assume that either Shadow or Necromancer was responsible for her mother's death as well? After all, they both started their battle there. I'm actually more inclined to believe that the serial killer Necromancer is the one responsible though." Remarks Iris.

"But really. That battle. You felt it, didn't you, Princess?"

"Yes… I did." Iris answers as she clenches her fist in frustration.

"What monsters… Have we found Cid Kagenou and Claude Normann?" Iris asks.

"!" The mention of the names caught the attention of the crying girl, though both Iris and Glen haven't noticed that she already stopped crying.

"No. We haven't, your highness. The knights are still searching the school grounds however."

Unbeknownst to them, the crying girl actually heard their conversation and desperation begins to bloom in her heart as she suddenly runs away from the medical tent.

"Sherry! Where are you going!? Sherry!" Shouts Iris. But the princess' calls are unheard by her as she ran towards the school building.

Please… I've lost so much already… Don't die… My first friends….!

Sherry walks to the now ruined hallways which are littered with corpses, gore and debris, a sight that would normally make her throw up had her mind not occupied by thoughts of the first friends she made ever since her mother perished years ago. However she ignores the horrible scene as she desperately searches for any sign of life, for the sight of the nonchalant black haired boy and a kind blond haired boy. Eventually she hears a clanging sound, the sound of a metal staff falling on the floor… and a pained groan… which came from a familiar source.

"Claude!" Sherry calls out as she enters a classroom and finds Claude sitting on the floor with his back leaning on the wall, his body filled with wounds, more wounds than what Shadow suffered, and drenched in blood. But that's not what shocks her. What shocks her is the black robe he's wearing…. And what he held in his hand, a skull mask that she has only seen in the distance but is unmistakably the one which is worn by one of the titans who just finished their battle earlier.

"Claude…?" Sherry mutters in disbelief.

"Sherry…? Is that you?"

"What are you… doing…? Wearing that….?"

"Heh. I suppose you caught me, huh." Claude says as he smiles for the first time since the whole crisis began, though not his usual kind smile, more of an uneasy smile.

…

"Claude…"

"Yes?"

"Are you… Necromancer?"

"…. As you can see…. Yes."

…

"Claude…."

"Yes?"

"Are you… still my friend?"

"….."

"Claude…."

"Yes…?"

"Did you….kill…. my father?" Sherry asks in between her sobs. Tears begin flowing down her cheeks again.

"….." Claude didn't answer.

"Did you kill my father…?" Sherry asks again. Her voice started brimming with rage.

"…." Once again Claude didn't answer and maintains his uneasy expression.

"ANSWER ME!" Shouts Sherry with bloodshot eyes and an expression of pure rage as she holds Claude's throat in her tiny and delicate hands. The life of the great Necromancer seems to be within the hands of a little girl. But…

After a brief pause, Claude answers her question with another question.

"Sherry…. Did you saw the battle between me and Shadow?"

"What does that have anything to do with…?"

"What weapon did I wield?"

She doesn't answer immediately, though she vaguely recalls the terrible sight of the Necromancer wielding a dark greenish metal staff while raining down destruction and commanding monsters against Shadow, who fought with a black sword in hand and with superior strength, speed and skills.

"And… Your father's wounds…"

"!" Gears begin clicking in her head. Her father's corpse was found with multiple stab wounds, wounds that could be caused neither by the Necromancer's staff nor magic. The metal staff lying on the floor beside him is further proof of his claim. Confirming his innocence, Sherry releases her weak grip upon his throat.

"I'm sorry. Sherry. I'm… Cough…"

"Claude…."

"Yes…?"

"Are you…. still my….?" Sherry desperately asks him again as she begins crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Claude hugs her as she cries and wails in his chest.

"Sherry… Are you still willing to be my friend… even though you know who I am?" Claude asks when her cries slow down.

Sherry looks at him in the eye while her tears kept flowing as she nods.

"Sherry… Do you have any idea who I am?"

Sherry pauses for a second before shaking her head… as the friend that she thought she knows is not who he really is as she could see. Claude grits his teeth as if in pain.

"I am the Necromancer! Ruler of Death! And Master… of your fates…! I am… a murderer. A monster. I've slain countless innocents in my pursuit of power. I've joined an evil organization in order to survive the cold cruel world and to… to keep their evil… at bay… away from… my loved ones."

Sherry listens to his confession but offers no response as it is too big for her at the moment. He continues regardless.

"I've ruined countless lives, Sherry… I'm a horrible person. Would you still be willing to…"

"Yes!" Sherry answers with determination in her tear filled eyes. Despite the terrible things he said he has done, she still considers him her friend.

"Really…?"

"Yes I do! And I wanna help! Please…."

"Sherry. What I do isn't for the faint of heart."

"Claude…"

"Yes?"

Sherry clutches on his blood stained robes tightly as she stares at him in eyes, no longer with a sad or determined look, it was a look of pure hatred, the same one she wore when she held Claude's throat.

"I want to… I must…."

"What do you want?"

"….. Kill Shadow. My parent's murderer." The look of hatred on her eyes does not suit a girl like her… and yet it excites Claude internally, almost making him grin.

"…. It's not going to be easy."

"I know."

"He's very extremely strong, as you just witnessed."

"I know."

"And you may have to leave your old life behind."

"It's okay. I have no more life there to begin with."

"And you may not see Cid again."

A reminder of her other friend… and crush… cuts into her heart deeply as she cries again. She knows that in order to help Claude, she has to leave Cid behind as he has nothing to do with all this. But she continues with determination.

"That's… okay… If he were to stay away from me… Perhaps that would be best."

"…. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you ABSOLUTELY sure, Sherry? Once you go down the dark path… you won't be able to step into the light again."

"That's fine… As long as my parents are avenged…. And as long as Cid is safe…. That's all that matters." Answers Sherry with a hollow look in her eyes.

…..

"Very well, Sherry. I shall train you… and you shall join my group. And… I'm sorry…. For everything." Claude says as he hugs her again.

I'm a horrible person indeed. A very horrible person. I'm sorry Sherry. But I'm going to corrupt you into the greatest villainess ever. Thought Claude as he grins, with Sherry none the wiser.

"A girl named Sherry Barnett. Keep a close eye on her."

Shadow ordered us to search for a girl named Sherry Barnett with a look of concern that I've never seen in his eyes before he went to sleep. That was last night. We've searched everywhere and found no trace of her. The Crimson Order lost track of her last night when she suddenly decided to run away from the medical camp where her foster father's body was kept into the direction of the school building. They are also still searching for her.

The poor girl suffered a lot from her foster father's manipulations from what I heard from Shadow. And she is being targeted by Necromancer too. I grit my teeth in frustration as I wait for news from Zeta's side. She eventually returns and reports that she found nothing. It was as if the girl has vanished from the face of the earth.

"DAMMIT!" I drive a fist through my desk in frustration. This innocent girl, who I believe must've been very important to Shadow if he personally ordered us to save her, much to my envy, is most likely already in Necromancer's hands.

"I see. It's a shame." Is all that Shadow has to say when I reported our failure to him. Once again we've proven our uselessness to him. He rarely gave us missions personally and mostly didn't even rely on us. This one time that he actually relied on us after he was exhausted after his battle against Necromancer… We failed him.

"I'm so sorry… Shadow. If you wish, I shall atone for this failure with my life." I said as I bow down to him and create a knife out of slime, ready to slit my own throat.

"No. No. Don't worry about it, Alpha! It's fine!" He kindly says with his usual smile. We don't deserve him.

Author's Note:

This chapter is so angsty, right? This is a chapter that I've been wanting to write for a long time ever since I decided what to do with Sherry's story. If it's Sherry, it has to be angst. And even Alpha joined in the angst. I wrote this chapter while listening to "A Tear Ran Down Someone's Cheek" from TEiS OST, which is the song that plays in the Sherry's farewell scene in episode 9 of the anime. This chapter is my plans for Sherry that I've teased previously and oh I have plans for when she finally encounter Shadow. I hope I can convey the emotions properly from my writing. Let me know what you think in the reviews.

Chapter 609 - 28