Re:Zero x Eminence in Shadow: The Star among the Shadows

Void. 

It's the place where I found myself in almost every dream. Each time I slipped into this ethereal dream, it felt like revisiting familiar yet elusive memories. A vast expanse of nothingness, where everything blended was covered with shadows. 

A silver-haired beauty covered in shadow stood in front of me, I could barely discern her features, the curves of her face obscured by the darkness around us. Yet, the intensity of her gaze pierced through the haze, locking onto mine eyes with an intensity that felt both intimate and obsessive.

"∎∎ ∎∎∎∎∎∎" She whispered, her cold yet beautiful voice echoing through my ears. 

I yearned to reach out, to touch her, but in this realm of shadows I could not. My body barely moved, my muscles didn't listen to me. 

"∎∎ ∎∎∎∎∎∎" She whispered with obsession, her beautiful amethyst eyes staring at me with intensity. 

The only thing I could do is to stare back, being drowned in her purple eyes. 

"∎∎ ∎∎∎∎∎∎" She whispered for the last time, before dozens of shadow hands enveloped me. 

The two swords met with a resounding clang, a fierce spark erupting from the contact. Sword against sword sent a sharp, metallic sound. Subaru's eyes locked on his opponent's sword with determination. 

"Focus on the opponent's movement and body, not on the sword." His opponent said, while striking him with a sword vertically. 

Subaru barely managed to sidestep, feeling the rush of air as the blade swept past him. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on his own sword. 

"Watch his feet!" he reminded himself, eyes darting to the ground as Shadow lunged again. Subaru pivoted to the side, dodging the blow, and with a quick flick of his wrist, countered with a horizontal slash. His blade met the opponent's with another fierce clash, but this time Subaru felt a surge of confidence. "I see you now."

With his renewed resolve, Subaru turned an attack to the right, then quickly attempted to strike from the left. But Shadow was already a step ahead, shifting his weight back and ducking away effortlessly out of sword's way. 

"Good feint, but too slow!" Shadow said, before unleashing a number of strikes that Subaru struggled to keep up with. Each clash sent shivers through his hands as he struggled. 

Before Shadow could do a decision blow, Subaru exclaimed. "Pandemonium!"

A surge of energy coursed through Subaru as he called out the spell, which he created not so long ago. A veil of purple energy, like shadows, covered his sword as he lunged at Shadow

"Take this!" he cried. Shadow's eyes widened for a moment, sensing the unexpected energy and Mana coursing through Subaru's body and sword. With a new feeling of speed and force, Subaru unleashed a series of unpredictable strikes. 

However, even as the speed of his attacks grew, Subaru noticed that Shadow remained calm and focused.

"Impressive," Shadow complimented with a hint of amusement. 

Shadow effortlessly parried and redirected each attack with a precision. Each time their swords clashed, Subaru could feel the momentum slipping further away from him.

"Your technique is flashy, but it lacks the fundamentals," Shadow critiqued, his voice calm, as if they were discussing the weather rather than engaged in a fight. "You rely too heavily on raw emotion rather than control."

With each retreat, Subaru felt the weight of fatigue settling into his limbs. 

"Let me show you the real meaning of the power!" Shadow suddenly closed the distance, his strikes precise and unyielding. Subaru staggered back, desperately raising his sword to block the incoming blows. Each clash sent jarring vibrations through his body, shattering the illusion of control he had for a fleeting moment. 

Gritting his teeth, Subaru tightened his grip, focusing on the movement of Shadow's sword and feet. But as he focused forward, he missed the subtle shift in Shadow's stance. 

With a final, calculated strike, Shadow darted and delivered a powerful upward slash, knocking Subaru's sword from his grasp. For a moment, the blade spiraled through the air before clattering to the ground just beyond Subaru's reach.

"You have potential, but you need practice." Shadow said.

"Ghaaaa..." Subaru fell on the ground backwards, panting from the exhaustion.

"Why do you even hide your power? You could easily beat anyone and become a hero of the kingdom?"

"This is not something that I want, I need to keep my mob persona so I wouldn't draw too much attention to myself."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Subaru rolled his eyes before standing up and picking up his slime sword, inspecting it. 

"I wonder how you even come up with the idea of using slimes as sword and armor…" 

"Through the experiments and tests, I figured out that slimes are excellent mana conductors allowing someone with excellent control over their mana to channel their magic through the slime suit and create just about anything conceivable, from swords to armor and other stuff." Cid explained, as he transformed the slime Into different kinds of weapons.

"That's… something I guess. I am going to take a walk, see you later." Subaru said, as he walked in a different direction. 'Experiments? Tests? What did I get myself into…'

"Subaru." A young female voice tried to draw his attention. 

"Ah!" Subaru jolted, not expecting another person to meet. 

"Alpha? What are you doing here?"

"I was just spectaring your training with Lord Shadow—"

"Yeah, I know. I was quite pathetic, wasn't I? Being the weakest among all of you…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Alpha replied, stepping closer. Her gaze was steady, a mix of concern and encouragement. "Everyone starts somewhere, and you have potential. You just need to believe in yourself."

"Strength isn't just about power," she replied, her voice softening. "It's about resilience. Kindness and determination can be just as impactful in this world. You may not have the same raw strength as the others, but your heart is what sets you apart, Subaru."

"I think you are overestimating me…" Subaru weakly replied. 

"No, I see you clearly," Alpha insisted, her voice firm yet gentle. "You may not think much of yourself right now, but I can see the fire within you, waiting to be unleashed. You don't need to be the strongest fighter to make a difference. Sometimes, being the heart of the team is the most crucial role."

Subaru felt a flicked of warmth in his chest hearing Alpha's words. He shifted his weight, considering her words. "Alright, thank you Alpha."

Alpha warmly smiled at me. "There is nothing to thank me for, Subaru." Her tone shifted to the more neutral and professional, indicating serious matters. "We have received reports of Cult's involvement in a village, where Beastkin Tribes live."

"Cult of Diablos, huh?" Subaru shifted uncomfortably. "Elaborate further."

"We believe the son of the Dire Wolves' Elder has been in contact with a Cult, which could lead to the catastrophic event of their son being manipulated by the Cult. Both tribes, The Spirit Foxes and Dire Wolves are in danger."

"Alright…" 'There is probably something else playing. Probably politics and rivalry which would result in a war between those 2 tribes. Probably wouldn't hurt to check.' Subaru thought to himself. 

"Tell me the location, I will be going alone."

"Alone?" Alpha asked with concern. 

"Yes, alone. I have some tricks under my sleeve in case something happens." 'I cannot let her learn the truth about the Cult yet.'

"If you wish so…" Alpha then proceeds to tell all information regarding the village and the tribes. 

In the midst of a half-ruined and burned village, two Beastkin of different tribes stood in front of each other. 

"An organization made me a proposal, they offered me the power to protect all of you." a therianthrope wolf with glossy jet-black fur said approaching the female Beastkin. 

"G-gettan…" A therianthrope nine-tailed fox with snow-like hair and blue eyes stared waringly at him. 

"I tried telling everyone to accept their proposal. It was the only way for us to survive. If we take these pills, we will gain immense strength, strength which is enough to defend ourselves."

"We could stand against greater clans, we could have broken out of the state of constant war. But that woman refused."

Tears gathered at the corners of the white Fox's eyes after learning the revelation. "Y-you…"

"Because of her all of them died! All of them! If only she accepted, then everything would be fine!" He exclaimed hysterically. "That's right. I did it. I killed her."

"I did it to protect you from the war."

"Gettan…"

"Now, Yukime, pledge your loyalty to the Cult and accept their power." Gettan said, handing red pills to Yukime. 

"Don't come any closer!" Yukime pushed him away and ran away from him. 

"And now even you rejected me!"

Yukime felt a sharp pain on her back and fell face to the ground, she was cut by Gettan, her blood was actively flowing from the wound. 

"Why do you reject the power?"

"Please, stop…"

"You are still refusing?!" Gettan raised his sword, delivering the final blow. 

As Yukime laid there, bleeding and in pain she saw another presence emerging. A nasty-eyed guy with short brown hair and in a slime suit, his hand gripping a sword in his right and a whip in his left hand. 

Yukime's consciousness slowly faded away as she saw the look of horror and desperation on the unknown man's face. 

Before Gettan could strike her, Subaru lashes out his whip, knocking the weapons out of Gettan's arms. "W-what?"

Subaru, using the opportunity, quickly lunged at him, swinging his sword vertically, delivering a deep cut across Gettan's abdomen. 

A cry of pain resonated from Gettan's mouth as Subaru delivered a kick to his face, knocking him out. 

After seeing his opponent unmoving, Subaru frantically looked around the chaos enfolded in the village. 

"Shit… I was too late…" Subaru said, as he saw many corpses of villagers lying across. He then turned around to the white fox, who the assaulter just tried to kill. 

Her cut was deep and blood was flowing from her wound. Subaru applied healing magic, which he got taught by Cid, and healed her in a matter of seconds. 

"I can't just leave her here… in the middle of the ruins…" he muttered to himself. 

After successfully healing her wound, he picked her up in a bride carry style. However, before heading back, he walked towards Gettan's unmoving body and materialised the slime sword. 

He moved the tip of the sword towards the chest, to his heart with the intent to pierce his heart. However, his hand trembled. 'N-no, I am not ready…'

He dematerialized his sword and left Gettan to his fate, carrying the white fox with conflicted thoughts.

Subaru was walking chaotically across the room of the abandoned house. In the same room as him, there laid a white fox in a bed covered in a warm blanket. 

'Great, Subaru. I didn't know that one of your job professions was saving damsels in distress, just great!'

With such thoughts, Subaru was walking around the room. He didn't want her to be included in Cid's fantasies. Probably because the guilt started crawling on his back. He tried to contemplate the next course of actions. 

Of course he is not going to throw her away the moment she wakes up. However, it's to be expected that she could be terrified or rather aggressive due to the events of the village. 

This means he has yet another responsibility, the responsibility to take care of her. Maybe he could convince his parents, tell them about her tragic fate and she could work there as a servant or some sort of? 

Subaru put a palm on his forehead. 'This is just getting nastier and messier with each passing week…'

The white fox stirred slightly in her blanket, a soft whimper escaping her lips, before her eyes opened and she jolted awake. Her eyes widened in horror as she started looking around the room in panic before spotting me. 

"W-who are you? Don't come any closer!" She pressed herself to the wall as her tails wrapped around her in defense. 

Subaru raised his hands in a non-threatening manner and stepped back. "it's okay! I don't mean any harm!"

Yukime, seeing him keeping his distance, calmed down a bit. Her eyes are trying to see if he carries any weapons with him. 

The memories of the last night flooded back to her mind, her eyes widened in terrors as tears threatened to leak from her tears. "G-gettan… Why…"

"Not sure who Gettan is, but I found you in the village, badly injured." Subaru said, trying to read her expression. 

Yukime, recognizing the ominous man in the village as Subaru, looked at him cautiously, finally gaining courage to speak. "You… you saved me? You were there, right? From Gettan…"

"Yes, I did. He tried to kill you, I couldn't let him do any more harm."

"Did you… kill him?" She whispered, her voice quivering. 

"I don't have guts to kill people, I knocked him out." I replied carefully and slowly. 

"I see…" A slight relief could be seen on her face. 

After a moment of silence, Subaru proceeds to tell everything that happened to her village. The deaths, the fire, the ambushers and Gettan. 

"I am sorry… if only I was quicker enough, I would save everyone…" Subaru said with his gaze casted down and a guilty expression. 

Yukime's tears streamed down her cheeks as her fears confirmed. Everyone who she cared about. Family, friends, villagers — they all died. Yukime rushed into his arms and cried for what she had lost. 

Subaru hesitated for a brief moment, taken aback by the intensity of Yukime's grief, but he quickly wrapped his arms around her, offering what comfort he could.

"I'm so sorry… I wish I could have been there," Subaru murmured, his heart aching for her loss. "I tried to find survivors, but…"

Yukime pulled back slightly, her tear-streaked face lifting to meet his gaze. "You did what you could. I-I just… I can't believe they're gone." Her voice broke, the weight of her loss pressing down on her.

"I know it hurts," Subaru said gently, "but you're not alone. I'm here. You can lean on me." He struggled to find the right words, knowing that no amount of comfort could erase her pain. 

With her sobs slowly quieting down and Subaru embracing her, they spent in such a position for an unidentified amount of time. 

Subaru was strolling down towards the "official base" of the Shadow Garden with a heavy heart. He brought food, water and basic things for the white fox, who introduced herself as Yukime. He didn't tell her about the Shadow Garden nor about his family. He told her that he would visit her about 5 times a day, bringing food, books or other things she would want to. 

He finally heard the familiar voices inside the house. He knocked on the door before entering. The first thing he saw is Cid wearing a chief suit next to deeply involved in whatever Cid's talking, Eta. 

"More… Shadow Wisdom…" Eta tiredly murmured. 

Shadow Wisdom is something that they came up with. Basically, it's just an otherworldly knowledge. Cid has been feeding his "wisdom" to them lately. 

"Lord Pleiades!" The first ones to notice Subaru were Beta and Epsilon. 

They were carrying the plates with what seemed like food. 

"Please, Lord Pleiades, I cooked this just for you, would you like to try it?" Epsilon said, while handing me a plate that seemed like rice with beef. 

"Hey! That wasn't fair! I was the first one to notice Lord Pleiades, he should try my food first!" Beta exclaimed with frustration, her plate was also filled with rice with beef. 

"My dear Beta." Epsilon replied with a teasing smile, "You know that it's not about who noticed him first! It's about who made the most delicious dish! And I must say, my rice and beef has a special secret ingredient."

Beta rolled her eyes. "Secret ingredient or not, I'm certain Lord Pleiades will recognize my culinary skills once he tries my version of the dish! After all, I put my heart into every grain of rice!"

Epsilon and Beta exchanged competitive glances, as if preparing for a final showdown of culinary prowess. "Why not let Lord Pleiades taste both and give us an honest opinion?" Epsilon suggested with a wink.

Beta nodded eagerly. "Yes! A taste test! That way, you can declare a true winner!"

"Honestly, I appreciate your efforts. But I want mayonnaise to eat with rice." Subarh interrupted them. 

"M-mayonnaise?" Both of their hearts sank. 

"Lord Pleiades," Subaru noticed Gamma approaching, before bowing to him in a sign of greeting. "May I ask, what mayonnaise is?"

"Oh, it's something I absolutely adore and love! It's a creamy condiment made from egg yolks, oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. It's typically smooth and rich, perfect for enhancing the flavor of dishes or serving as a dip." Subaru explained, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

Meanwhile Beta and Gamma were furiously scratching notes, noting everything that I just said. 

Beta sent a mischievous look towards Epsilon. "Guess who has the upper hand now?"

"That's not fair! Give me the recipe too! It Should be fair and square!" Epsilon exclaimed before both of them rushed to the kitchen. 

'Are they really going to try to make mayonnaise? I am in heaven.'

Subaru was looking at Gamma now and her notes. "What do you write them for?"

"In order to increase our finances, I am writing down both Shadow's and your ideas in the notebook, so I could release them in the future."

"Oooh… I think many people would like mayonnaise, it has a certain note which everyone loves."

Subaru's attention drifted towards Zeta, who was staring at Shadow with absolute devotion. In the past weeks, Subaru felt like she had become quite distant with him. It could be especially seen in the latest mission when Subaru couldn't kill bandits. 

Not in terms of strength, he was surely stronger than them now. But his mind and heart couldn't allow to take another human's life. During such moments, Zeta would often stare at him with disdain. 

It was quite understandable on her part. How could such a pathetic and weak person be among them? 

His thoughts were interrupted, as Alpha greeted him. 

"Lord Pleiades. May I know the report of the latest mission?" She asked me. 

I shifted uncomfortably, trying to pick up the right words. "I was too late, the village was slaughtered, no one was left alive." I replied with a grim expression, I decided to leave out the parts about Yukime and Gettan. 

"I see…" Alpha said with a solemn expression. "So the Cult acted fast…" 

She looked at me with a concerned expression. "Don't blame yourself."

"I… Huh?"

"Don't fool me, the time we spent together is enough for me to read your expression."

"I just… I wish I was quicker… I wish I was there…" Subaru's thoughts drifted to Yukime for some reason. 

"You did what you could do, there is no one to blame but the Cult."

"I don't like seeing your eyes being casted down, I like when these scary-looking eyes ignite with determination."

"Excuse me?! My eyes are not scary!"

She softly chuckled. "I know, I especially like the way they soften when you smile."

"I… Thanks." Subaru's face turned red in embarrassment. 

She just smiled at Subaru and walked towards the kitchen, where the chaos enfolded due to Beta and Epsilon's cooking. 

"Yo, Subaru." Cid approached Subaru. "I suggest we should go home now, Claire has been mad lately due to our lack of absence."

"And I wonder whose problem is that?" Subaru said. "Besides, I promised Beta and Epsilon to try their cooking."

"I think that's impossible now." He pointed towards the kitchen, where crying and yelling could be heard from. 

"I see your point. Maybe next time."

The next day arrived and it started with a sparring session with Claire. Subaru was watching as Claire was whooping Cid's ass effortlessly. 

"Come on, Cid! You are not even trying!" She yelled. 

"Sis! You are just way too strong for me!"

Claire signed with frustration. "Alright, take a break for a few minutes and then we will continue."

Then Cid approached Subaru and sat down next to him leaning on the tree. 

"So, how was my skill?" he asked Subaru. 

"It was terrible."

"Perfect!"

"Cid, do you enjoy being beaten by Claire? Are you a masochist?" Subaru asked him. 

"Of course not, I just have high pain tolerance and Claire has been obsessed with teaching me swordsmanship."

"I think that's your main problem with Claire. You need to show her that you. Improved a little so she would stop training with you daily."

"Oh? Do you really think so?" Cid's eyes sparkled."

Subaru nodded, confirming what he said. 

"Alright then, maybe I could try blocking one of her strikes. But not really anything beyond that!"

"Good luck."

The break time was over, Claire and Cid got into a fight stance. 

It started as usual, with Claire lunging at Cid. However this time, Cid managed to party her attack. 

Claire's eyes widened before she exclaimed in astonishment. "I knew it! You have potential in you! Parents were wrong! We should double our training, so you could attend the school early like me!"

"Eh?" It was the only sound Cid could muster, before intensely glaring at Subaru. 'I'll get back to you! You hear me?'

'Oh, oops…' Subaru thought to himself, before walking away while low whistling.