Shinigami.
An extremely popular name in the forums where Gaia was discussed. Even before the ranking was revealed, she was already a well-known and striking figure.
From large businesses to job offers for other Lords, she was not only recognized as one of the strongest on the server but also as a consummate capitalist.
Her development was much faster than most, even before the Tower of Worlds, which meant she had achieved it without relying on special powers, but only on her own abilities.
Of course, in time she attracted the attention of other powerful Lords. When they realized her rapid rise was not due to personal power but to her commercial skills, they tried to recruit her to their ranks… but it was already too late. By the time they noticed, the so-called Shinigami had already created a mini empire capable of rivaling any of the superpowers. And after the Tower of Worlds, that small chance vanished completely: her personal power grew enormously, allowing her to enter the world's top 100 and the server's top 10.
Looking at the legend before him, Kaito spoke in surprise.
"And to think that the Shinigami himself would stand before me. To what do I owe this surprise?"
The girl in front of him did not speak; she watched him in silence for a few seconds, as if analyzing him.
"So you are a Lord. From the level of this world, I didn't expect it to be ruled by one."
"You didn't expect a Lord, yet you came here on a Sunday, when most would be in the Tower of Worlds?"
"It is better to be cautious," she replied with a smile.
"Speaking of caution," Kaito recalled a detail about her, "where is your shadow?"
The shadow of the Shinigami.
After numerous attempts to bring her down and stop her rise, the Lords discovered something: she was protected. Whoever her protector was, not only did they have skills on her level, perhaps even superior, but also an unmatched mastery of stealth. Most of those who tried to attack her died before they even understood what was happening. According to rumors, her shadow was always with her and never left her side.
"He left me," she answered dismissively.
Kaito did not believe her. He did not trust the idea of absolute loyalty; there was always the possibility that this so-called shadow would abandon her.
Or at least that is what he thought… until he saw her in person and recognized her as Kaguya Shinomiya, a character from an anime he had watched before. Then he realized that most likely her shadow was also another character: Hayasaka Ai, her personal maid. More than that, Hayasaka had grown up with Kaguya and considered her almost a sister. There was no way she had abandoned her.
Luckily, making that kind of character appear was simple.
"Good," said Kaito, opening the cell.
Kaguya stared at him, trying to read his intentions. Kaito did not keep her waiting.
He reached his hand toward her chest. Although Kaguya's speed did not allow her to see how his hand vibrated at an imperceptible speed, she did feel the danger and tried to move, only to be frustrated by the pressure that immobilized her.
At that moment…
Crack.
It was heard when Kaito's hand intercepted a knife, shattering it instantly.
"Found you," he said, looking at the blonde girl before him.
The girl did not speak. Instead, she dropped the knife and pulled out two daggers from her waist, pointing them at Kaito's neck.
Kaito jumped back, dodging them with ease. Hayasaka did not stop: she advanced, slashing nonstop, while Kaito avoided every move with bored ease.
Finally, tired of dodging, Kaito grabbed both arms, immobilizing her. Hayasaka let go of the daggers, letting them fall. Kaito followed them with his eyes, waiting for the next move.
That second was enough for a sense of danger to flood him. Confused, he looked at Hayasaka. Directly through her, an intangible being with a scythe emerged, trying to cut him.
Kaito vibrated, avoiding the impact. Even so, the weapon caused him pain, not in his body, but on another level, forcing him to clutch his chest.
As he stepped back, he looked at the being before him. At first glance, it was Kaguya… but different. Her intangible form, the black dress turned into an old dark cloak, floating as it left behind a shadowy smoke.
The situation became difficult to control. Kaito stopped playing around and moved before they could follow him.
Perhaps by a sixth sense, Hayasaka vanished into the shadows, so Kaito went straight for Kaguya.
She had no time to react before Kaito's blow connected, making her spit blood and sending her flying several meters.
"Kaguya-sama!"
Hayasaka's voice rang out just before the shadows dragged Kaguya away, making her disappear.
"Bad idea," murmured Kaito, sensing their location.
Although both hid in the shadows, Kaito's ability was much more powerful. He appeared instantly in their hiding place.
All around was black, a subspace of shadows. Hayasaka, who was giving first aid to Kaguya, opened her eyes in surprise when she saw him.
Kaito did not attack. Instead, he smiled kindly.
"Why not surrender? You would be very useful to me."
Kaguya was the one who answered, her voice filled with hatred.
"You…!"
Kaito raised an eyebrow.
Why does she seem angrier than before?
"I would rather die than fall into your hands."
Surprising everyone, she took her own life at that moment. Her body disappeared instantly.
Hayasaka looked at her with resignation, sighed, and bit something in her mouth, dying as well.
Soon, only Kaito remained in that place.
"They killed themselves? Seriously? At least let me kill you, I didn't even get any experience…"
Kaito resigned himself. But his expression changed immediately as he remembered something.
---
In a city ten times larger than Kaito's, with buildings reminiscent of a real-world metropolis, a girl appeared on her throne with a gesture of frustration.
At her side, another girl appeared almost instantly.
"Kaguya-sama, are you alright?"
"I am fine," she replied angrily, "but that bastard… he made me waste a life. He will pay for that."
"To be exact, we invaded his territory, so…"
"That does not matter. First of all, how is he so strong? I couldn't even react."
"By his appearance… could he be Lucifer?" said Hayasaka.
"Lucifer?" Kaguya's expression changed immediately. "Wait! Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"You didn't let me…"
"No, no, no! We provoked the number 1 in the world! Forget about climbing without obstacles… we will be lucky if he doesn't chase us down and kill us."
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated?" asked Hayasaka, confused. "Even if he is number 1, as long as we don't run into him, he won't be able to…"
At that moment, the throne room doors opened.
Kaguya frowned, annoyed.
"Who enters without permission?"
But when she saw the intruder, her face turned pale with fear.
"Shinomiya-san, what a nice place you have here," greeted Kaito.
"You…! How did you get here?"
Kaito smiled.
"I just followed the scent of fear."
"And the guards?"
"Don't worry. I just knocked them out. No one dead."
"You think you will get away with invading this place?"
"Get away with it?" Kaito laughed, "how long do you think it would take me to reach the basement and break your territory's core?"
He advanced slowly. His steps echoed in the hall until he stopped before her.
"You have two options, you submit… or you abandon Gaia forever."
Kaguya's gaze cycled through several emotions in seconds: fear, helplessness, resignation.
"…I can only surrender."
[You have defeated Lord Black]
[You decide to subjugate her]
[You have obtained Black's territory]
[You have two options:
1. Destruction and reimbursement
2. Assimilation and subordination]
[You have chosen option 2. The Lord of the subordinate territory can be changed at any time]
[You have gained a subordinate Lord. You have obtained a silver chest. You can now view her status.]
"Good," murmured Kaito.
When they killed themselves I thought I had lost the chance, but since she held a grudge… I only had to follow the path that Evil dictated.
"Speaking of grudges," he said, looking at Hayasaka, "you don't seem to hate me."
"I have no reason to. We attacked your territory. As for the young lady," she looked at Kaguya, "she probably misunderstood your last words."
"Misunderstood?...I'm not sure what Shinomiya-sama thought. But what I need is your intelligence."
"Intelligence?"
"That's right. I need someone with political vision by my side."
"So when you said 'be useful,' you didn't mean that?"
"That?" asked Kaito, confused.
"…It doesn't matter," said Kaguya quickly before placing a hand on her cheek and staying like that for a few seconds, thinking. In the end her expression changed as she smiled, "Fine, at this point, I have no choice but to give it my all."
"You are not angry anymore about losing everything you fought for?"
"I would be, if it were against someone else. But losing against the top 1 is fine. In fact, it makes everything easier. My purpose is to reach the top and surpass some unpleasant people. And, as I understood, I won't be a simple subordinate, but the mind of your territory, right?"
"Something like that."
"Then" spoke with a calculating smile on her face, "it will be a pleasure to work with you, Lord Lucifer," she said, extending her hand.
Kaito shook it.
"Likewise, Lord Black. We have much to discuss."
______________________________________
Hey, about this chapter, it happened exactly the way I wanted and unfolded just as I intended, but I still feel like everything went by too quickly. Maybe if it had lasted two chapters it would have worked better, but I kept it to just one. Even so, I feel like I fixed it by adding Kaguya's perspective on it later.
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)