Ascendant of Shadows: The Monarch and The Eminence

The air in the ramen shop was a frozen, crystalline thing. The pressure from two silent, titanic forces had crushed it into stillness. One was an active, suffocating aura of death and sovereignty. The other was a dormant, bottomless potential that felt like a coiled black hole. The few remaining patrons and staff were plastered against the walls, unconscious or paralyzed by a fear their minds couldn't even name.

Sung Jin-woo stared at the back of the man who called himself "Cid."

A passerby.

The words echoed in his mind. It was a denial, a deflection, and a threat all rolled into one. The brief, terrifying pulse of power he'd felt was proof. This man—this being—was not just hiding his power. He was playing a game. A game with rules Jin-woo didn't understand, on a board he had never seen.

Jin-woo's instincts, honed by a thousand battles, screamed at him. Attacking now would be a mistake. It would be like trying to punch an ocean; he might make a splash, but he had no idea what leviathans he would awaken in the depths. He needed information. He needed to understand the game before he could flip the table.

"I see," Jin-woo said, slowly retracting his aura. The oppressive cold in the room receded, and the paralyzed civilians gasped, taking their first shuddering breaths. "You do not wish to reveal your identity. Very well."

He changed his approach entirely. "That tear in the sky—the Fracture—was not a natural phenomenon. It was an attack. A force from outside our realities is consuming worlds. My world was targeted, as was yours. I came here seeking the one who had the power to fight it. That is you."

Cid, still facing his ramen bowl, processed this new information with giddy excitement.

'An attack from outside our realities! Consuming worlds!' His chuunibyou heart sang. 'It's a cosmic horror plot! I knew it! This mysterious 'protagonist' isn't my rival after all! He's the harbinger! The messenger who comes to warn the hidden mastermind—me—of the greater, world-ending threat! He wants to form an alliance! This is getting more and more epic by the second!'

This was a classic trope! The powerful hero seeks out the reclusive, legendary figure to team up against a common foe. He had to play his part. The reclusive legend is always reluctant at first, speaking in cryptic nonsense before finally agreeing.

"The weavers of void... the eaters of stories..." Cid murmured, just loud enough to be heard, pulling phrases from a novel he'd read in his past life. "They have grown bold."

Jin-woo's glowing purple eyes narrowed. He knows of them? He even has a name for them? This "passerby" was more central to this conflict than Jin-woo could have ever imagined. He was no longer just a powerful being; he was a source of vital intelligence.

"So you know of the enemy," Jin-woo stated. "Then you understand the stakes. Our worlds are in danger. A temporary alliance is logical."

Cid almost burst out laughing. It was perfect! He slowly turned on his stool again, his face now a mask of deep, weary contemplation, as if he carried the weight of ages on his shoulders.

"An alliance..." Cid mused, tapping a finger on the counter. "The threads of fate are tangled. A shadow cannot ally with the light, for its very nature is to be cast by it. But when a darkness that is not a shadow, but an absence, threatens to consume all..."

He let the sentence hang, full of profound, meaningless weight.

Jin-woo felt a headache forming. He was used to the blunt, straightforward politics of Monarchs and Rulers. This was like trying to negotiate a treaty with a theatre troupe.

"I do not care about light or shadow," Jin-woo cut through the philosophical fog, his voice sharp and impatient. "I care about survival. Will you help, or will you stand by and watch your world be erased?"

The final push! The desperate plea! Now for my magnanimous, cryptic acceptance! Cid thought.

He stood up from his stool, turning to face Jin-woo fully for the first time. He was shorter, slighter, and appeared utterly harmless.

"When the hunt begins," Cid said, his voice dropping to a cool, confident whisper, "even the quietest of shadows must occasionally sharpen their fangs." He gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. "I will... observe the board."

It was the closest thing to a "yes" Jin-woo figured he was going to get. It was infuriatingly vague, but it was an acceptance.

It was at that moment that the front of the ramen shop exploded inwards.

BOOM!

Glass, wood, and concrete blew into the room as a section of the wall was obliterated. Through the smoke and dust, armored figures began to pour in. They were Knights of the Midgar Kingdom, their red cloaks brilliant against the debris. They were followed by Royal Mages, their hands already crackling with balls of fire and lightning.

"There he is! The mysterious entity!" a knight captain shouted, pointing his blade not at Jin-woo, but at Cid. "Surround him! He is suspected of association with the Shadow Garden!"

Another group of figures, cloaked and masked, appeared from the shadows of the surrounding buildings. The Cult of Diablos.

"The man who toys with the power of the void!" a cultist shrieked. "He is a heretic! The false shadow! Seize him for the glory of Diablos!"

And from the rooftops, seven figures descended, landing silently around the perimeter. Alpha, Beta, and the other Shades of Shadow Garden, having seen the knights and cultists making their move, had arrived to protect their master. Delta was with them, her wrist crudely set in a splint, her eyes burning with a mixture of fear and rage as she looked at Jin-woo.

In the space of ten seconds, the quiet ramen shop had become the epicenter of a three-way—no, four-way—standoff.

The Knight Captain stared at the newcomer cloaked in deathly shadow (Jin-woo). The Cultists stared at the Knights. The members of Shadow Garden glared at everyone who wasn't their master.

And every single one of them was looking at the skinny, unassuming boy in the middle of it all: Cid Kagenou.

Jin-woo watched the scene unfold with a sense of grim disbelief. All these factions... all this power... was revolving around this one infuriatingly cryptic man. He had stumbled into the heart of this world's entire political and military struggle by walking into a noodle restaurant.

Cid, however, was in heaven.

'YES! YES! YES!' he screamed internally, his face a perfect mask of bewildered terror. 'The Knights! The Cult! My own organization! And the mysterious powerhouse from another world! They're all here! All focused on me, the humble background character! The stage is set! The actors are all in place! This is the most perfect, most epic scene of misunderstanding I have ever orchestrated!'

He had to play his part. He stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with fear, "selling" the image of a civilian caught in the crossfire.

"W-what's going on?!" he cried out. "Who are all you people?!"

Alpha gritted her teeth. 'Lord Shadow, your acting is flawless as always. You draw all our enemies to one place to gauge their strength and intentions.' She drew her blade. "We are the Shadow Garden. We have come to eliminate the fools who disrupt the darkness." Her eyes flickered towards Jin-woo. "All of them."

The Knight Captain squared his shoulders. "In the name of the King, all of you are under arrest!"

The cultist laughed maniacally. "Die for Diablos!"

Jin-woo let out a quiet, tired sigh. His plan for a simple, quiet negotiation had just spectacularly failed. He was now embroiled in a local conflict he didn't understand, allied with a man who spoke only in riddles, and surrounded by enemies.

He looked at "Cid," who was cowering behind the ramen counter in a display of pathetic fear that was so convincing it was, in itself, terrifying.

This is his world, Jin-woo thought, a sliver of his Monarch's power beginning to coalesce around his fists. Let's see how he handles its chaos.