The Eminence in Shadow

“Whaddaya think you’re laughin’ at?!”

“Hee-hee-hee, I think I’m pretty stupid, but…it’s always funny when I find someone even stupider than me…”

“The hell you say?!”

“Hee-hee. You really should know your place… Now, it’s too late.”

The white-haired man sheds a section of his rags, exposing the right side of his body.

There’s nothing from the shoulder down.

“This was the result of

my

stupidity when I tried to challenge the Blood Queen four years ago… Not only did it cost me my arm, but now I’m a lowly Watchdog on a leash…”

There’s a thick collar with a chain fastened around the man’s neck.

“Ha. I’m Quinton, a Bushin Festival veteran. And he’s Goldy the Victorious Golden Dragon. We ain’t chumps like you.”

“Hee-hee. That means nothing to me… I have a policy of not remembering the names of anyone weaker than me…”

“Huh? And just who the hell are you supposed to be?”

“Hee-hee, I’m just a Watchdog… But once, long ago…they used to call me the White Demon…”

“The White Demon? Never hearda you. Goldy, you know this guy?” Quinton turns to his partner.

Goldy shakes his head. “It does sound familiar, but… Sorry, I can’t pin it down.”

However, his eyes are fixed cautiously on the Watchdog.

“And there ya have it, Mr. Nobody,” Quinton snaps.

“Hee-hee. Fine by me. The names of the stupid are best forgotten anyways…”

“No hard feelings, but we’re goin’ through that door whether you like it or not.”

“Ah, but I’m a Watchdog… I can’t just go letting weaklings by me…”

“…Eh. It’s your funeral.” Quinton glares at the Watchdog and unsheathes his blade.

The Watchdog reaches down with his left hand and draws his narrow,

single-edged sword in kind. It’s a beautiful weapon and longer than he is tall.

Goldy follows suit and draws his blade. “Quinton…be careful.”

“Whaddaya mean, be careful?”

“That man… I just can’t gauge how strong he is.”

“What? That one-armed pile of skin and bones? You’re full of it!”

Quinton ignores Goldy’s warning and attacks.

His greatsword casts a shining trail through the evening sunlight—and a moment later, blood sprays.

“…Huh?”

Cleaved neatly in two, pieces of the greatsword clatter on the ground.

“Q-Quinton!” Goldy shouts, and as he does, Quinton crumples from the gaping wound in his chest.

“Now, then… Who’s next…?” The Watchdog stands before Goldy, drenched in Quinton’s blood.

“D-damn you!”

Goldy hadn’t been able to make out the Watchdog’s slash that downed his friend.

All he saw was the spray of blood and the greatsword falling.

It was an incredible display of skill.

Goldy can tell the Watchdog stands far, far above them—despite being robbed of his dominant arm and being reduced to skin and bones.

He readies his sword regardless.

He hasn’t known Quinton for long. However, they were united by the common goal to get back on their feet after the same crushing defeat.

“Don’t worry… He’s still alive. He’s no good dead, after all…” The Watchdog laughs.

“How dare you!!”

Goldy gathers magic in his sword, then unleashes his strongest attack.

“Demonic Golden Dragon! Fatality Strike!!”

The moment he releases it, his eyes meet the Watchdog’s.

The Watchdog’s eyes are black and horribly bloodshot. When Goldy meets this bottomless gaze, he suddenly remembers who the White Demon is.

“W-wait, you’re…”

The Watchdog’s lips curl upward.

If this one-armed skeleton really is the White Demon…

Understanding the insurmountable difference in their strength, Goldy makes a spur-of-the-moment choice and fires his attack into the ground.

“Hmm…?”

A massive cloud of dust billows up.

Receding footsteps echo out, and a shout reverberates through the air. “Quinton!! I swear—I swear I’ll come back for you!!”

“Fleeing, huh…? Well, I can’t follow him… I’m a Watchdog, after all…”

The Watchdog sweeps away the dust with a single swing of his sword, then watches Goldy sprint off.

“Hee-hee, but… Will he be able to get out unscathed…?”

As the Watchdog watches, the doors to the houses creak open, and their “residents” swarm Goldy.

“Hee, hee-hee-hee. Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee…!”

He looks up at the towering skyscrapers.

The Lawless City—the world’s dumping grounds, controlled by three rulers in three lofty towers.

A world operating on survival of the fittest, where evil, wealth, and power from all over the globe congregate.

A world that no kings, no knights, and no monsters can intervene in.

Welcome to the Lawless City.

A world where might makes right.