The [Shadow Tide] was moving just fine, he could feel the [Shadows] growing stronger by the minute. And with each mihe [Shadow Tide] advanced, his power also grew stronger, eaew [Taihat was ed increased his might. His power, [His Authority].

  He could feel it, festering in the [Shadows], he could almost taste it as it dissolved the [Souls] as it [Proliferated] from one body to the .

  It was quite the thrilliion, and to think that this [Gift] had been ying dormant in the body of that… Impostor.

  Over a thousand [Tainted] had been sacrificed only for two empty husks to emerge from the Shadow Port he carved using his own essehe body of a girl and a boy, both bck-haired, around the same age.

  One was the body of Alice Ashcroft, and the other of Suzuki Akira, both students at the MPI.

  One was a suspect user of [Soul Manipution Skills], his body devoid of life. The other however, was a vessel that seemed to hold quite well to Shadows, the first time he saw that body all the shadows in the room seemed to want to climb to it, to embrace it and pull it down again.

  Of course within his area of influe was impossible for the Shadows to do so, it was quite trivial for him to seal them away a him study the body. On it he found the ao his pleas.

  A shard of reality, a gem carved using the primordial prana that housed this world. He had seen one before, of course. It was how [Odyssey] would grant the three favors the former [Ten] now [ars], only this one wasn’t ected to [Divine Mana] or [Prana], but it was attuo the most primordial type of [Shadows] Maximilian Windsor ever felt.

  Shadows so dark that even the worst nightmares his Mother Eleanore Windsor could summon were a child’s toy.

  And he could feel the call, whatever was there wao spread, and it promised him power beynition if he only allowed it to spread. So of course Maximilian Windsor, former [Shadow Pact] did what he was traio do.

  “Do you perhaps want to sign a tract?” He said with trembling hands as he grasped the reality shard. “I will help you spread, I will make sure everyone knows and hears of you…Just… give me back my sister… give me back… her name, her face, her smell, her memories…. give me back what the world took from me.”

  The ominous gem pulsed with dark energy, all the signs of a tract that was harmful to the tractee, but he ighem. “Give me the power to call back my sister back.” So he took the gem, he took it and sank it deep within his body.

  “T???????????????????????h?????????????????e??????????????? ???????????t????????????????????????e????????????????????????????r????????????????????????????m?????????????????????????????s????????????????????????? ???????????????????a??????????????r?????????????????e??????????????? ????a?????????????????c??????????????????????c??????????e????????????p?????????????????????????t????????????????????a?????????????????????b?????????????????????????????l????????????????????????e?????????????????????”

  It was that day that he stopped being [Shadow Pact], he gave his power, his body, his mind. Everything just to recover what was his, what he wao get back, to own, to protect, to safeguard, to care, to enjoy, to love.

  He wanted his family back.

  If it was for that, he was willing to sign away his [Soul], he became [The Shadow Tide].

  Who was his sister? He did not know, he knew some clues of course.

  She should have the st name Windsor.Mother did not remember her either.[The Ten] did not remember her either.The reason he remembered her was because [Framework] helped him by sending him into the alternate dimension of shadows where he was safe from most of the effects from [The Advent]This bck-haired girl, Alice Ashcroft, was reted to his sister's disappearanbsp;

  So, using the girl as a medium, he spread his new power, the power of [The Shadow Tide], and trying to pull at the [Shadow Threads] of [Fate], he summoned someone who could answer him.

  Did he hope to get his sister back? Yes, he knew ces were very slim that he could. He had hoped for a [Miracle], that he could pull his sister into the body of this girl who was so attuo the [Shadows].

  Instead he got the screams of a bck-haired, red-eyed girl who wao run away, and the body of the other kid turning into a blonde girl who was surprised at seeing him, but who still took the hand of the bck-haired girl and teleported away.

  He had been too stuo react; that was not what he expected to happen. It took him too long to track the girls back. They could perceive him ing somehow and used that information to run away.

  On a normal day, he could have outrun them and caught them in a sed, but his status was being updated to this new form. He couldn’t use all his powers as [Shadow Pact], not anymore. He couldn’t cast or impose [tracts] si seemed that he had broken his powers after [Advent].

  So he advanced slowly as he fed his [Shadow Tide]. Each body that was struto his [Shadow Tide] was absorbed and assimited as his, each helping the tide grow strong, eacreasing his [Authority]. Eae was oep closer to fulfilling his mission.

  And after so long, he had more clues.

  Elizabeth Starbright, one victim of the [Advent]. A girl who in the eyes of everyone was an orphan. Formerly Elizabeth Ashcroft, the same st name as the Alice girl.

  But to him, Elizabeth was more important. He remembered her.

  She was the daughter of one of the former [Ten] aured at the MPI’s debut of new [Heroes] and [Magical Girls].

  A, he couldn’t remember whose daughter she was, he khat girl’s parents took someone else uheir wing, but couldn’t remember who had been the oo scout. And most of the members of the [Ten] took someone. Everyo that girl.

  She had made a promisi, used her powerset to defeat someone she shouldn’t have been able to, and no oook her. It was impossible.

  The girl was the daughter of someone, and he couldn’t remember who. She was a kindred spirit…

  But that wasn’t enough to make him stay his hand. The girl was harb the key to get his sister back. Worse, she had takeracker off. He couldn’t detect Alice or the irl anymore.

  What he could detect were the shadows at the borders, little critters hidden within the shadows poking and trying to get close to him; each time one was near being [Taihey either self-destructed or straight up teleported away.

  It was annoying, but he noticed that they were guiding him. Each time he went in the wrong dire, they would dive from the dire he was supposed to go. They were trying to guide him, trying to herd him in a specific dire.

  So he allowed that, to be guided, he wao go in that dire either way, so he was happy with that, he also attempted to [Taint] them, but these critters were resistant to his skill, somehow they could react as if they knew how his [Skill] worked. How the [Gift] he had been granted worked.

  That was impossible, this had e from that girl, Aliot from whoever this was, and that girl wasn’t the ohat had sent the critters, he khat. The girl Alice was [Weak], she had talent for [Shadow] powers yes, she had showcased that when she used the [Skill - Shift] to ge into that [Heroine] set.

  But not to this extent, this must be someone else. And who else could it be but this girl… Elizabeth, the one who was a daughter of one of his former coworkers. It made sense, who else could hide someone being [Tainted] but one of those that stood at the peak.

  Someone who had access to the level of power they had, someone who could abuse the system. He suspected [The Elementalist] or [The Prophet] to be ho, usually he would suspect [Ea], but he khat Mother would never allow someoh this type of power to be away from her grasp. If this Elizabeth was his sister, she would have been under her Mother’s thumb, she would have never allowed her to be that close to some of the [Ten].

  So he allowed himself to be guided. Slowly, he could feel the encirclement around him growing. They wao make sure that he would never leave without them knowing. Smart.

  This girl was smart, or perhaps she had someone guiding her. He wasn’t sure. Either way he would tinue his pns nontheless, his pn would not ge, whatever this girl Elizabeth p would be meaningless. No matter what she did, it would not ge. He would get what he wanted. If this girl nning to get on his way, then she would feed the [Shadow Tide].

  He was close to his step, he soon would have enough [Shadows] to encroach upon all the world, not even his Mother could cim to be able to do this, even if she had a wide rahanks to her power set. Thanks to her [Skill] allowio tap into the [Nigthmares] of all humanity.

  What he nning to do was different, he would [Taint] the world, he would extend his domain all over the p, and when he had achieved that. He would have enough pull to get his sister back.

  “[Soon…Soon you will be back sister…]” Perhaps he could even remember everything, instead of suspeg. He retty sure his sister was Chloe, but he wasn’t sure of why he thought so. Or of anything beyond that.

  “Wele [Shadow Pact], or should we refer to you as [Shadow Tide]? Perhaps [Maximilian Windsor]?” A little girl dressed in what looked to be a modified maid outfit with armor bits spoke to him.

  To his eyes the little girl was closer to a [Shadow] than to a human, even if he could see parts of a [Human] there.

  “[I am the Shadow Tide, not Shadow Paaximilian Windsor.]” He answered, stopping in front of the little girl, the shadow tide stopping with him, waves upon waves of shadows flowing near him. “[I will not speak to a mere Mana struct, bring forth your master Minion.]”

  The little girl frow his statement, this Elizabeth must be quite the etriianage her summons like this.

  “Quite rude are we, you are quite iing. I don’t see why Mistress liked you.” The little girl said, was her summoner one of his fans? That shouldn’t be.

  He was never popur while doing [Hero] work. Most of his work involved high-profile targets, and his popurity only rose because he had done some grunt work with…with who? Had he worked with other members of the [Ten], or were there more?

  Had this memory also been stripped of him?

  “[I care not for what you or your mistress think. I only need your owo feed my Shadow Tide.]” He answered and with a motion of his arm spikes of shadows flew at high speed towards the little girl.

  He had never maniputed this much power before, it flew true as if he had always do before, his Manipution of Shadows had grew by leaps and bounds after he took that [Reality Fragment], was this how it felt to be a prodigy?

  “Hmph.” Even so, the little girl materialized a small shield and parried his attacks. The shield started being [Tainted] with the tact of his shadows, but the little girl simply threw the shield away and dodged the attastead. “Quite a rude guest we have.”

  He didn’t ahe obvious taunt, instead he grunted and twice the number of spears floated atop his shadow tide, “[You either bring me your master or my Shadows will pull her out, but I will get what I wish.]” And with a snap, he sent them all towards the little girl.

  “I really don’t uand our Mistress.” The little girl sighed and turo look at him with tired eyes, her left eye ink while his right eye was blue, both started fring in those colors “e forth Valkyries.”

  With this arouhe space was distorted, and a group of fourteen maid-like-dressed little girls came forth. Each dressed simirly to the first little girl, but their dresses had fewer decorations. All of them wearing a motif of a broken pair of twin swords.

  “[What are you pying at little girl?]” He asked, but the little girl did not answer with words, instead she pointed forward.

  The little girls behind her poured forward, each wielding daggers or short axes. These instead of fighting his attacks head on ihrew their ons to intercept his, this was of course the correct course of a, each on killed the momentum of his shadow spears, and instead of [Tainting] them, the ons just self destructed, making his attack useless.

  “Did you think you would get to our Mistress easily?” The little girl mocked him.

  “Beatrice! Sorry, I am te!” And if that wasn’t enough, a girl came running at them, she was dressed iraditional Izanami dress of a swordsman. Another point to his theory that this Elizabeth girl was a daughter of [The Elementalist]. “I am [The Demon Sying Sword], prepare for your defeat. For the love of my life wants you kneeling at her feet.”

  “[Hmph, a mere sword of Izanami dares to think itself worth? I crossed swords with those at the peak of power. You are nothing!]” He answered as he threw more shadow spears at the new girl.

  He half expected her to either panic or release a series of talismans to defend herself, Izanami [Heroes] always used eithier talismans or summons to fight.

  What he did not expect was for the girl to draw a fming sword from open spad to use that to cut in two all the attacks that had bee her way.

  “Hmph, only this? She would not stop at something this simple.” The red-haired girl said she had cut ly his attacks, and if that wasn’t enough, she had burned away the [Tainted] mana oacks, making it impossible for his shadows to [Proliferate] into her.

  This may be iing, most of the so called [Heroes] and [Magical Girls] that had fought against him had either succumbed to the [Shadow Tide] or ran away, this was one of the very few that had actually fought bad achieved something.

  The girl Alice had been another, he hadn’t mao be [Taint] her, but she hadn’t been able to destroy his mana like this girl.

  “[Iing.]” He said as the [Shadow Tide] started bubbling as if the shadows were boiling, “[Perhaps this will be somewhat more iing than I had thought.]”

  He called upon the [Reality Fragment] lodged within his body, he would o use more power than he had expected, he didn’t want to, every ounce of power was important, and he wasn’t sure how much power he would need when calling upon [Akasha] to fulfill his [Wish], but so close to his goal?

  This wasn’t the time to refrain himself. Besides he didn’t want [The Elementalist] or any of the [ars] to e around and make his work harder.

  “[Heed my call those of you that wail within the crevices of this world…]” So he started ting. He had never done any of this [t] nonsense before, but after getting this [Reality Fragment], it was quite on for him to use his powers like this “[... e forth and drag those that dwell within the light, pull and cw at them, sink them into the deepest of despairs, make them suffer as we do.]”

  As soon as his word fihe [Shadow Tide] bloomed with all its might, thousand upon thousand of shadowy human-like figures ing from it as if a human had walked through a waterfall of tar.

  “[Pull them in, so they know true pain like we do.]” And as his words sank the thousand of human-like figures started walking forward. What once had been mere shadow refles on his alternate shadoe had bee a real tangible entity that he could use to attack.

  “...” The little girl made of shadows stared silently at his shadow ghouls. The same could be said of her valkyries.

  “ Hmph.” The red-haired girl only grunted as a sed Izanami Katana materialized on her left hand. As soon as she put some strength into its grip, it bzed in red fire.

  “[Let the shadow tide bring darkness upon this world.]” Soon, he would get what he came for, and the world would know true pain. They all would regret the day they dared tet his sister, the day they dared to take from him his sister.