After observing for a moment, Gabriel stepped toward the bed and lay down, staring calmly at the ceiling of the room.
He extended his right hand forward.
A white-horned beetle crawled out from beneath his sleeve and made its way onto the back of his hand.
For a brief moment, his thoughts drifted back to the information regarding the main mission he had to undertake.
"This mission… is really going to be troublesome," Gabriel murmured softly. "And I just intended to work while playing Ash."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He rose from the bed, lightly jumped down, and walked toward the window. Gabriel opened it, letting the outside air sweep into the room, brushing over the space that still felt strange—but was slowly beginning to feel real.
SHWHOOS…!!!
A strong gust of wind blew in, moving the curtains and briefly revealing Gigan hidden beneath his bangs.
The Ash persona fully awakened.
"Interesting…" Gabriel said, his voice wrapped in mist. "The Wheel of Fate has begun to turn, testing the pale mist that watches over the stars."
Yet behind that persona, his thoughts moved in a far calmer and more rational direction.
"Fortunately, the system gave a three-year time limit. If it were only seven months like before, that would have been a major hassle."
He fell silent for a moment. His memory shifted to fragments he had managed to hack through Cid's eyes—absurd training sessions, past lives… and one thing that hadn't happened yet.
Cid had not yet encountered Alpha.
In other words, Shadow Garden had not yet been formed.
"Furthermore…" he murmured softly, "the system's decision to place me in this timeline—even making me Cid's twin—is a reasonable move. I don't need to compete in building the organization."
Yet his voice then hardened.
"Even so… the difficulty level of these three main missions cannot be underestimated."
Gabriel extended his hand, then focused his mind—slender, yet precise.
"Mana Zone."
"Two Unit: Output Release."
The two Units of Compression Energy activated simultaneously. Pale white Mana flowed out from his body, seeping into the air, and—slowly but surely—brought the surrounding energies into submission.
The space itself seemed to respond to his will.
Normally, a Mage from the world of Black Clover would not automatically be able to use Mana Zone in the world of Kage no Jitsuryokusha.
The reality system was different.
The rules were not the same.
However, when the environment contains energies that can be synchronized, and the mage possesses extreme control along with sensitivity beyond normal limits, a phenomenon equivalent to Mana Zone can still manifest.
The name itself is actually irrelevant.
Technically, the phenomenon might not even warrant the name "Mana Zone"—yet the result is identical.
Gabriel continued to call it that, not out of attachment to the term, but out of laziness to invent a new one.
For Gabriel, Mana Zone was not a technique.
It was merely a foolish human way of giving a name to something simple: the right to dominate the space around oneself.
In the next instant, the pages of his Grimoire, in its digital form, opened—twelve layers of pages unfolding at once.
[- Dark Matter Creation Magic: Jophiel Animation des Leerenlichts -]
{Translate: Dark Matter Creation Magic: Jophiel Animation of the Void Light.}
Immediately, pale mist coalesced around him, moving with precise coordination, weaving together into a complex structure.
Within five seconds, fifty pale white horned beetles materialized perfectly, flapping their wings and circling Gabriel.
"Go," Gabriel said softly. "Be my eyes… and search for the candidates of the shadowed blossoms."
The pale white horned beetle perched on his right hand flapped its wings and flew out through the open window, vanishing into the overcast sky.
One by one, twenty more beetles followed, dispersing in various directions before disappearing from normal sight.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Gabriel, Cid stood with his eyes closed near the bedroom door—just outside the room.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, as if he had just confirmed something important.
From behind the door, every word Gabriel spoke reached his ears clearly.
Troublesome mission, check.
Wheel of fate starting to turn, check.
Twin timeline, check.
Candidates for the shadowed blossoms, check.
One conclusion settled perfectly in his mind.
Gabriel was truly fitting.
Perfectly fitting.
Exactly the shadow right-hand role he had been considering—a role he had nearly crossed out because no one seemed worthy of filling it.
A few seconds later, Cid fell silent. His thoughts returned to a single phrase Gabriel had just uttered—regarding the shadow identity he assumed.
The pale mist that watches over the stars.
"Lovecraft…?" he murmured softly, almost like the whisper of wind. "Mist… mist… ah."
His eyes opened slightly.
"Nameless Mist," he whispered. "And… the other one feels familiar too."
Cid's smile widened.
"Ash."
"Heh…"
His laugh was faint, low, as if echoing from the end of a long, dark corridor.
"Then," he murmured softly, "this just got a lot more interesting than I expected."
Without a sound of significant footsteps, Cid turned and left the bedroom door, as if letting the wheel of fate spin on its own.
A few moments later, he arrived near the dining room.
In front of him, Claire was already standing, arms crossed. Her expression was hard to call anger—more accurately, it was exhaustion mixed with impatience.
"Cid," she called out flatly, "where's Gabriel?"
Cid stopped in his tracks.
"…Hmm?"
Claire stared at him a moment longer. Her gaze was enough to make the air around him feel heavy.
"Didn't I tell you to bring Gabriel to the dining room?" she continued, her voice calm yet carrying unmistakable pressure.
Cid paused for a moment. His face bore a seriously contemplative expression—as if weighing some grand strategy.
"…Ah."
He lightly tapped his palm.
"He looks like he's deep in thought again," Cid said casually. "I figured it'd be rude to disturb him."
Claire stared at him without expression.
"…So you forgot."
"Not forgotten," Cid quickly retorted. "It's more… a matter of priority adjustment."
Claire let out a long sigh.
Enough.
"Fine," she muttered, turning on her heel. "Then I'll go get him myself."
Without waiting for a response, Claire walked toward Gabriel's room—leaving Cid where he stood, once again lost in his own thoughts, utterly unconcerned about any wrongdoing.
***
The sky had darkened, the moon faintly veiled by clouds, and the air still carried the dampness of the recent rain.
Beneath that night sky stood the Kagenou family manor. In one of its rooms, Gabriel stood facing the open window, gazing outside with calm focus.
A gentle breeze swept through, ruffling his cloak—his Ash attire.
His white shirt was covered by a black hoodie, layered with a black Rain Cloak adorned with silver ornaments, while jet-black gloves covered both of his hands.
On his right shoulder, Morgan sat casually, her tiny arms and legs crossed.
The night wind played with her long, pale-white hair, and her eyes bore into Gabriel with their usual cold scrutiny.
"Hey, what are you planning to do tonight while indulging in useless things?" she asked, her tone sharp and icy as ever.
As usual, Gabriel ignored her pointed remark. His focus remained fixed outside the window—watching the post-rain night was one of the coolest things he could do.
On the other hand, his mind was busy with all the things he wanted to do tonight. In other words, amid that activity, Ash kept moving.
"Tonight…" Gabriel murmured, his voice wrapped in mist, "within the boundless void, the threads of fate begin to be pulled, composing a melody for a story."
A brief silence enveloped the room. Morgan watched Gabriel with her usual expressionless gaze—silent, observant, and unnervingly close.
Her scrutiny pressed in, closer and closer. Gabriel's face instantly flushed red.
"P-please… don't s-stare at me," he whispered. "I-it's… too long… too close…"
Seeing the reaction of the Magus who had become her Master, Morgan offered a faint, almost imperceptible smile. For some reason, it amused her slightly.
"Relax," she said coldly. "I'm merely making sure… the mist you take pride in doesn't collapse just because of a single glance."
Hearing those words, Gabriel lowered his head slightly. A thin wisp of smoke seemed to rise above him—a sign that Ash's mask had momentarily cracked.
But only for a moment.
Not long after, his gaze caught sight of Cid walking away, disappearing into the forest in the distance. From his posture and stride—without a single word—Gabriel understood.
Cid was aware of his presence. And for those immersed in the world of chuunibyou, that was clearly an invitation.
Within 0.3 seconds, thanks to his mana manipulation, Gabriel's emotions were brought back under control. The Ash persona fully awakened, masking the remnants of his earlier nervousness.
"Interesting…" he said, his voice once again shrouded in mist. "Could it be that the Shadow Banner… is inviting the Nameless Mist that watches over the stars?"
Morgan did not respond immediately.
From her position, she observed the shift—the mist that had momentarily cracked now reassembled with near-mechanical precision.
"The mask was put on too quickly," she murmured flatly. "It wasn't born of calm… but of habit."
Her gaze then shifted, following Gabriel's line of sight. Morgan narrowed her eyes as the figure slowly vanished behind the trees, disappearing without a trace.
"So that's how it is," she said quietly, as if drawing a long-delayed conclusion.
"Not imagination. Not a shadow."
A brief silence fell as Morgan glanced at Gabriel.
"Another human—one who has also chosen to live behind a role."
Seemingly responding to that observation, Gabriel raised his hand to his bangs.
With a calm motion, he swept them back—revealing something that had long been hidden. Dark Matter crept subtly, tinting his black hair into a pale white.
And for the first time, Morgan saw the eyes that had been concealed: Gigan.
The eyes were intricate—formed from interlocking geometric magic circles, slowly rotating in a pattern nearly impossible to decipher.
"Mystic Eye…?"
Morgan pondered for a moment.
"No. That's not it."
Almost simultaneously with that conclusion, Gabriel touched the small form of Morgan sitting on his shoulder with his left hand—a brief signal for her to prepare.
The next instant, without hesitation, Gabriel leapt out through the open window.