Chapter 11

Tohsaka Rin was stunned. Ever since her father's death, she had inherited the position of head of the Tohsaka family and knew the local mages inside and out. Fujimaru Kyoya shouldn't have been a mage at all.

Now wasn't the time to think about that.

"Gandr."

Mana gathered in Tohsaka Rin's hand and shot toward Fujimaru Kyoya. This was a Norse curse, not a lethal spell, but it could disrupt a person's health—an effective means of subduing an enemy.

What the hell is this?

Fujimaru Kyoya had no idea what it was, but he was utterly shocked that a person could shoot a ball of light from their hand. Then... he slapped Tohsaka Rin's Gandr apart with one palm.

"I see. Magic Resistance is still there, but not as strong."

Fujimaru Kyoya also possessed the talent of "Divine Ancestral Regression," but Lloyd had awakened years ago, while Fujimaru Kyoya had only had it for a few days.

Fortunately, Tohsaka Rin's attack wasn't anything advanced; it couldn't hurt Fujimaru Kyoya.

"You..."

An ordinary person slapping her Gandr apart with one hand—this began to shatter Tohsaka Rin's worldview. Facing an enemy she couldn't read at all, the best move was to retreat.

"Heh~ Trying to run?"

Fujimaru Kyoya saw Tohsaka Rin trying to escape, and naturally, he couldn't let her slip away.

By now, he fully understood. Back at school, Tohsaka Rin had said she was going to study abroad in London after graduation, and Fujimaru Kyoya had admired her ambition at the time.

Now it was clear—this girl was heading straight from London's Platform 9 3/4 to Hogwarts.

"Hand over your owl."

Fujimaru Kyoya raised his hand and unleashed a Lightning Whirlwind Chop, cutting off Tohsaka Rin's escape route.

Hogwarts' admission letter belongs to the virtuous.

Fellow cultivator, please hold.

A man of both virtue and talent like Fujimaru Kyoya would surely be sorted into Gryffindor.

"Hey, you're not planning to expose magecraft to ordinary people, are you?"

Tohsaka Rin was no delicate young lady. Over the years, she had trained hard in Baji Quan with the Marbo Priest and reinforced her body with magecraft, yet she still couldn't believe Fujimaru Kyoya had caught up to her in an instant.

"The Ministry of Magic's rules? I've heard of them."

Magecraft must not be seen by Muggles—Fujimaru Kyoya knew that much. But...

"Coach, I want to learn magic."

"Magic?"

Tohsaka Rin looked at Fujimaru Kyoya like he was an idiot. As far as the world knew, only five True Magics remained—that wasn't something just anyone could teach.

"Can't talk about it in a crowded place? Then let's find somewhere quieter."

Fujimaru Kyoya saw the wary look on Tohsaka Rin's face and understood there was no way she'd calmly accompany him to a quiet spot.

In that case.

Fujimaru Kyoya flashed behind Tohsaka Rin and, with practiced ease, struck a clean blow to her neck.

"I'm going to ambush you."

You already ambushed me.

That was Tohsaka Rin's last conscious thought.

"A quiet, undisturbed place?"

Fujimaru Kyoya hoisted the unconscious Tohsaka Rin onto his back and glanced at the Love Hotel in the distance.

Elbow up, let's go inside.

Chapter 19: Heaven's Wedge

The school's Delinquent and the Unreachable Flower appeared together at a certain Love Hotel.

It contained elements of coercion, confinement, uniform... a whole series of tropes. If placed on a certain unspeakable website, it would make for a ten-thousand-word essay.

Unfortunately...

"Tohsaka, what if I join Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat doesn't put me in Gryffindor?"

Fujimaru Kyoya's gaze turned sharp, clearly ready to keep beating the Sorting Hat until it changed its mind.

"I keep telling you, it's the Clock Tower, not Hogwarts."

Even though Tohsaka Rin was on the verge of having her chastity at risk, the spark of her sarcastic soul was still ignited by Fujimaru Kyoya.

Sure, the two Harry Potter movies released in recent years had gotten a "little" popular, but why would anyone actually believe Hogwarts existed?

"In short, you want to learn magecraft, right?"

"Something like that."

Fujimaru Kyoya naturally wouldn't tell her the truth. He made up a flimsy excuse about awakening a talent, but faced with his utterly unreasonable Magic Resistance, what else could Tohsaka Rin do but believe him?

"That's just unfair."

Tohsaka Rin looked at Fujimaru Kyoya with unwillingness. Her magecraft, which she had trained painstakingly for over a decade, was completely ineffective against this one person—the frustration was written all over her face.

Now trapped in a Love Hotel, she couldn't cry out to heaven or earth. If anyone mistook this for some kind of special roleplay, her reputation would be ruined beyond repair.

For the sake of her chastity, Tohsaka Rin made a decision that would betray her ancestors.

"Taking you as a disciple isn't out of the question, but from now on you must respect your teacher and follow the way. No more dragging me to Love Hotels like this."

Respect the teacher and follow the way?

What a joke. For a magus, not sending one's own teacher to an early grave was already considered respect.

Tohsaka Rin knew full well how treacherous magi could be, but Fujimaru Kyoya didn't. Now, as the veteran, she would fool this rookie properly—at least to get revenge for today.

"So you agree?"

"From now on, you're a disciple of the Tohsaka family. After school tomorrow, come with me to meet my senior disciple, and then I'll start teaching you magecraft."

Leaving those words behind, Tohsaka Rin immediately bolted.

After all, a teenage girl and a delinquent appearing together in a Love Hotel was already beyond her psychological threshold.

Taking on a disciple so hastily was indeed reckless, but her senior disciple Kirei Kotomine was shrewd and experienced. With his help overseeing things, it should be fine.

"She left? Good thing I booked by the hour."

Fujimaru Kyoya went to the front desk to settle the bill and planned to head home, even though the receptionist's gaze carried a hint of pity for some reason.

How ridiculous. From entering the room to leaving, it had been less than half an hour. In less than half an hour, they'd made this much money off him—what more could they possibly want?

"Detected your initial contact with the Mystic Side. You have begun to understand the truth of the world. Your influence on this world has reached a sufficient threshold. Hero Simulator begins simulation... Please select three birth talents."

The familiar darkness descended upon Fujimaru Kyoya once more. Ten orbs of light surrounded him, and he needed to choose three at random.

"Benevolent Dark Emperor: Born alongside an absolute monarch. If the king governs with diligence and loves the people, it lies dormant. If the king enacts tyranny, it awakens."

"Infinite Martial Arts: Martial skill unrivaled in an era. Complete unity of mind, technique, and body. Unleashes powerful combat ability unaffected by any mental interference."

"First Before First: Perceives the opponent's intent to strike first and arrive later. Can also conceal one's own attacking intent so the enemy cannot anticipate it. Absolute defense and absolute offense."

That's incredible.

Fujimaru Kyoya was no longer a novice ignorant of combat, so he fully understood the value of "Infinite Martial Arts" and "First Before First."

Unrivaled martial skill was easy to grasp, but "First Before First" was downright broken.

If he could sense the opponent's thought to attack, he could prepare his defense in advance. And by hiding his own attacking intent, he could make it impossible for the enemy to defend. When the gap in strength between both sides wasn't huge, this would absolutely give him an overwhelming advantage.

The only one with unclear meaning was that so-called "Benevolent Dark Emperor"—a seemingly blank talent that was useless when the ruler governed with benevolence.

But life was never smooth sailing. The other two talents were enough to compensate for this dead weight.

"Talents confirmed. Beginning scenario import: If I Were Emperor."

[You are born.]

[Your birth is not ordinary. You have no parents, no family. As a creation of the gods, you are entrusted to the Goddess of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, to raise.]

[You live with this goddess in the underworld. She trains your martial skills, teaches you knowledge, and treats you as her own child.]

[Your training in the underworld never slackens. One day, you discover that you can sense danger in advance and conceal your own thoughts.]

[Talent "First Before First" awakens: Thought precedes action—this is First Before First. Anticipate the enemy, strike later but arrive first.]

[Your diligence and talent surpass ordinary people. Even the goddess Ereshkigal can no longer teach you after several years. In pure martial skill, she is no longer your match.]

[Talent "Infinite Martial Arts" awakens: The martial arts you have learned merge into your body. No matter what state you are in, it does not hinder your performance.]

[You have nothing left to learn in the underworld. For this reason, Ereshkigal comes to find you.]

"Shadow, you no longer belong in this underworld."

Seated upon a throne of skulls, the Goddess of the Underworld Ereshkigal wore a dignified expression. Within this realm, she possessed absolute power—but...

"Ere, I've told you before, that forced dignity of yours is just laughable."

Fujimaru Kyoya naturally felt no reverence for this goddess who looked a bit like his classmate Tohsaka Rin, especially after learning just how reckless a person she really was. That dignity was truly hilarious.

"You bastard..."

Clench, clench. Ere's fists were already clenched.

Just because her name was too long, he shortened it to Ere. As her disciple, he never gave his master any face during training. What kind of sin had she committed to raise someone like this?

"Shadow, have you ever thought about one question? Why are you called Shadow?"

"Isn't that just the name you gave me?"

Fujimaru Kyoya naturally wouldn't dwell on what he was called. A name was just a label. Even if in one life he'd been called "Dog Shit," it wouldn't have mattered.

"You are the gods' insurance. The second Heaven's Wedge."

Chapter Twenty: Brothers from Different Mothers

Shadow. That was Fujimaru Kyoya's name in this life.

He had no particular thoughts about his name. After all, he was a creation of the gods. Since the gods had given him life, they naturally had the right to name him.

But now, it seemed this name carried another meaning.

"Heaven's Wedge?"

Fujimaru Kyoya murmured the term, yet among all the knowledge he had learned, such a word had never appeared, let alone its meaning.

"As the name implies, an object that binds heaven and earth, linking gods and humans—its name is Heaven's Wedge."

Ereshkigal looked at Fujimaru Kyoya. Though she had deliberated for a long time, she now decided to tell him the truth.

"This era is the Divine Era, where all gods gather. But due to a certain incident, the Divine Era began its decline."

Divine Era Decline again?

Fujimaru Kyoya frowned. Could it be that the world of Shadow and the world of Lloyd were connected in time?

"The Divine Era inevitably declined. Though every pantheon had a fallback plan, the loss of human worship—this sense of abandonment—was something the proud gods could not accept. Thus, a plan called 'Heaven's Wedge' was born."

Heaven's Wedge: a demigod with divine blood ruling over humanity, using that throne as a chain to bind gods and men, ensuring the continuation of the Divine Era.

The crystallization of this plan, the gods' perfect work, was Gilgamesh.

"The stronger a being, the harder to control. The gods gave him enough power, for only power could make him Heaven's Wedge. Yet because of that very power, the gods could not steer his fate."

"So that's where I come in. A replacement."

Fujimaru Kyoya felt no disgust at being reduced to a tool. Living life too soberly only brings pain; a little ignorance is the secret to happiness.

"Correct."

Though calling her own disciple a replacement irked Ereshkigal greatly, it was an undeniable truth. If she lied out of kindness, it might leave the boy before her unable to face reality in the future.

"The gods believed that if Gilgamesh proved disobedient, you would take his place and fulfill the mission of Heaven's Wedge."

"Then they'll be disappointed. Whether I oppose someone depends on whether that person provokes me. I don't know Gilgamesh, so naturally, I won't be his enemy."

The gods may have created him, but it was Ereshkigal who raised him. Unless she herself asked, Fujimaru Kyoya wouldn't go out of his way to pick a fight with a powerful foe.