Cid was happy right now. Truly, very happy. After all, he had just taken his revenge.
With a smile on his face and a spring in his step, he returned to where he had started. Seeing the people in the hall still chatting and laughing merrily, his smile grew even brighter.
Though it was a little unfair to Rias, he had already offended Diodora thoroughly anyway. When he left just now, he decided to go all the way and simply extracted the "spatial Core" of this alternate dimension. Without the "spatial Core," a Magic Formula was no longer a Magic Formula. It was only a mass of gathered energy. In about ten minutes or so, this alternate dimension would probably collapse.
In Cid's plan, the disturbance a few minutes before the alternate dimension collapsed would alert Rias and the others that something was wrong. To leave the alternate dimension, they would need to look for Diodora. After a bit of searching, he was sure they would quickly discover the burlap sack he had hung in the bathroom. He had not exactly tried hard to hide it.
And if they could not find it, that was fine too. It was only a low-level alternate dimension, so it could not be too far from reality. With Rias and the others' strength, even in the worst case, they would only get a little injured.
It really was a perfect plan! Not only had he gotten his revenge, but he could also check off another achievement on his Eminence in Shadow achievement list: "Catching a Turtle in a Jar" and "The Banquet at Hongmen." That combination was just too cool.
He had even left a tiny line saying "I was here" along the way, just to stop some small-fry organization from stealing the credit halfway through.
Thinking of this perfect plan, Cid leaned comfortably against the table, called over a waiter, took a glass of red wine, and had a small sip. Then, after a few seconds of silence, he set it back down on the table without expression.
As expected, he still did not like drinking. Earlier, he had been in a rush to act and had not really tasted it. Now, just to look the part, the flavor hit him all at once. It was not as good as soda. Still...
He raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked with an icy, merciless gaze at the people in the lively hall, all completely unaware of the battle about to come. The corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably.
A unique sense of satisfaction slowly took root in Cid's heart.
Cid thought he might finally understand why murderers returned to the scene of the crime after killing someone. This feeling was simply too cool. Before he had even succeeded, looking at them already felt like watching monkeys. He did not dare imagine how thrilling it would feel once everything succeeded.
Hahaha...
To long to become an Eminence in Shadow!
Yes, this was why he had wanted to become an Eminence in Shadow from the very beginning. An ordinary appearance hiding an astonishing secret beneath it...
This sense of superiority and self-satisfaction, hidden within the mundane while protecting and destroying everything, was just, just... too cool!
He looked out the window with his back to the crowd, covering his face with his right hand to hide his wild grin. Then he lifted his palm slightly, his fingers combing through his hair, and his body began to tremble.
"Hehehe..."
Just think about what kind of days he had been living lately. What kind of background extra was this supposed to be? Why did those blind fools keep coming up to him one after another? Were they blind?! Or had something gone wrong with his perfect extra disguise again?
Why could they not be like that Diodora and think he only succeeded because he got lucky? Could they act like normal people for once?!
The smile on his face became more and more unrestrained, and more and more sinister!
Mercy, softheartedness, childhood sweethearts, childhood friends, dual cultivation, all of it was impurity that would only slow the speed of his sword draw! Kill!
Kill! Kill! Kill!
In that instant, a glint flashed through Cid's eyes beneath his palm, releasing cold killing intent and a fierce, vicious light.
The instant murderous intent takes hold, the world itself seems to open.
"Cid? Why are you here alone? Where's Akeno?"
A familiar voice came from behind him. Cid knew exactly who it was. Rias, one of the sources of his endless trouble.
Good, good, good. Since we've met, let's settle this debt. Claire, you will be the first stepping stone on my path. I will kill her with my strongest weapon.
A dangerous light in his eyes, Cid had already decided who would become the sacrifice on his path to becoming an Eminence in Shadow.
Yes, that was right. The first stepping stone he wanted to kill was his older sister. After all, while Rias was troublesome too and had caused a major crisis in his life, strictly speaking, his sister Claire was the true culprit who brought him into contact with Rias in the first place. She was one of the roots of all evil. One had to distinguish the principal offender from the accomplice. Everything had an order. Blindly shouting kill, kill, kill was not the way to go.
With that in mind, Cid looked at the moon outside the window, slowly lowered the hand covering his face, and turned his gloomy gaze backward. In a tone like he was reciting poetry, he sighed...
Rias blinked, looking somewhat confused at Cid, who seemed to have fallen into some strange state. He had been covering his face with one hand just now, and now he had suddenly lowered it, looking all mysterious.
Rias frowned, not quite understanding what had happened. She had clearly asked Akeno Himejima to look after Cid while she was being held up by other people, and preferably help him make a few friends. Yet once she was done and glanced over, he had vanished.
After finally making a round of the place, she found the Cid she was looking for tucked away alone in a corner, looking as though he was having a Chuunibyou episode... Forgive her for thinking that, but it really did look like Chuunibyou. That pose with his hand over his face, who knew what he was thinking? Rias had seen it on quite a few middle school students before.
No, you cannot think that, Rias. This is Cid. There is no way he would be having a Chuunibyou episode. Something must have happened.
Thinking this, Rias patted her fair cheeks, driving away those stray thoughts. She opened her mouth to ask Cid what was wrong, only to be interrupted before she could speak.
"The moonlight is so beautiful!"
Waaah!!!
Her face flushed red in an instant. The words that had been hovering in her mouth suddenly would not come out, and her mind turned into a complete mess.
"A c-c-c... confession?"
She stammered the words softly, wondering if she had misheard. In Japan, people usually did not say "I love you" directly because it was too blunt. They were supposed to be more subtle, so "the moonlight is so beautiful" was a romantic phrase that meant "I love you."
"...Huh? Rias, when did you get here? I didn't even notice you."
There seemed to be a silence, or maybe there was not. Cid lowered the hand covering his face, turned around, and, as if only now noticing Rias's presence, called her name in surprise and delight.
"Ah, you weren't saying it to me? Cid, you didn't notice me? R-right, of course. Ahaha..."
Hearing Cid's voice, Rias froze on reflex, then realized that unlike her, Cid had not grown up in Japan. He was from a kingdom in another world. Without anyone explaining it to him, he might truly not understand the meaning of that phrase. Rias smiled awkwardly.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong just now?"
Seeing Rias's reaction, Cid asked curiously, as if he had no idea what his words had meant.
"No, nothing. It's just that, Cid, you shouldn't say that to anyone else here. That phrase has... another meaning in this place. Whether you're close to the person or not, saying it carelessly will make things very awkward."
Rias shook her head. Although she was a little embarrassed, she did not take it to heart. She merely taught Cid not to say that sort of thing carelessly to others.
"Is that so? Then I'm sorry, Rias..."
He spoke calmly, as if he did not care about the matter at all and had only treated it as some minor life tip. But in reality?
The palm of the hand hidden behind his back was already damp. Smiling at Rias, Cid did his best to ignore the sticky feeling on his back.
That was close, that was close, that was close. I got careless...
In his inner world, Cid was gasping for breath. This time, he had truly forced out every last bit of his emotional intelligence. An unprecedented disaster.
It could not be helped. He had been reincarnated for so long that most things from his previous life had been wiped clean from his mind. When he came back to his senses and saw such a round moon, he was still in Eminence in Shadow mode and instinctively used the almighty "Weather Deck." By the time he realized what he had said, it was too late. All he could do was try to bluff his way through.
Damn it. Wasn't the "Weather Deck" supposed to be almighty? It almost got him killed. Luckily, Rias was fairly understanding. Otherwise, even pulling out his status as a foreign friend would not have helped.
Of course, that was that, but Rias, you are still on my list of stepping stones for the path of the Eminence in Shadow. Once Claire is dead, you will be next... next, next, next.
With a smile on his face, Cid swept a cold, merciless glance over Rias from deep within his eyes. That small bit of goodwill at most meant he would wait until Rias died of old age and then refrain from throwing a party on her grave.
Yes, this was his strongest weapon: time. No matter how strong someone was... unless they reached a certain level of strength, they would eventually be worn down by time. No exceptions. And Cid was very confident that he could outlive everyone.
Bloodlust was one of Cid's taboos, so he would not attack others for no reason. But now he needed to kill his sister to prove his way. If he just killed her outright, he would violate that taboo. In a situation like this, he needed to use his strongest weapon: time. It was one of the few weapons that could bypass his bottom line.
Time would wear everything down. Hatred, love, friendship, and all manner of intense emotions would fade and change within that endless passage of years.
All emotions would calm down with time, without exception. The only difference was how long it took.
So whenever he ran into something hard to deal with, all he had to do was hide for a while. Once the other person calmed down, they could still continue being friends... And if that did not work, he could simply outlive them. Once they died, all emotional disputes would disappear.
Come to think of it, he seemed to know quite a few long-lived beings. Given Rias's potential and lifespan... Wait, could Rias be among the last batch to die?!
Suddenly realizing this, Cid subconsciously began calculating how long he would need to outlive everyone he knew.
First of all, his sister was only a Human. Although he had no idea what had changed so much recently, she was still just a mere Human in the end. She would definitely be the first to die.
Then came Alpha and the others. In the end, they were just long-lived beings. A few hundred or a few thousand years would be about their limit, right?
After that came ordinary mythical long-lived beings with average strength, but who could live for several thousand years thanks to their racial advantages.
Then there were long-lived beings like Azazel, who were powerful but had already lived for a long time. He should have about five thousand years left or so.
Finally, there were beings like Rias—long-lived, immensely gifted, yet still young by their kind's standards. Even being generous, a few tens of thousands of years would be their absolute limit.
What's the problem? Doesn't that mean the advantage is mine? With my current financial reserves, living for a few hundred thousand years should be easy, right?
Looking at Rias's cherry-like lips as she continued speaking at length, Cid could no longer be bothered to care what she was saying. In his eyes, she was already a dead person. He was merely thinking about when the alternate dimension would start having problems. It was time for him to begin doing great things, great things, great things!
Well... there should still be about ten minutes left.
"Wait, what's that?"
With an unintentional glance through the rooftop, Rias seemed to see something startling. Her voice suddenly fell silent for a moment, then she let out a surprised cry. But Rias was not the only one startled. Quite a few people had unconsciously looked out the window as well, and without exception, they all let out surprised sounds similar to hers.
What happened?
Cid was not the only one in the hall with that question. Everyone followed the gazes of the shocked people in front of them and turned toward the source, wanting to know what could have frightened so many people.
A powerful purple Magical Power fluctuation swept across the sky above the entire island, clearing all of Itogami Island's sky. Beneath the searchlights shooting into the night from the skyscrapers, it revealed a scene without a single cloud for thousands of miles.
"What... is that?"
People voiced the same question as before. Those who turned and saw the scene had pupils that began trembling violently.
And the Magical Power fluctuation that shook an entire island and stunned everyone on it was merely the erupting, collapsing magic released from the prison-like islet standing in the sea.
As everyone stared at the scene before them, in a corner unnoticed by anyone except Rias, the corner of Cid's mouth lifted slightly.
Wonderful... Now this is getting interesting.
He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, as if tasting a faint hint of blood. His nose caught the scent of a major incident. Ah... even from this far away, he could sense the colossal thing connected behind that prison. His fighting spirit was rising.
"Cid, stay here and don't move. I'm going to find Koneko and Gasper."
Cid instantly restrained his expression and looked at Rias's solemn face with confusion.
"Although the world nearly ended just a few days ago, this time probably won't be as serious as that. But it's too close. To be safe, we should gather together..."
"But I need to go to the restroom right now..."
Her explanation froze. Looking at Cid, Rias still spoke.
"Go quickly and come right back. Diodora should appear soon."