The Eminence in Shadow

The Eminence in Shadow
File:The Eminence in Shadow light novel volume 1 cover.jpg Cover of the first light novel
陰の実力者になりたくて！ (Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!)
Genre	Dark fantasy, isekai
Novel series
Written by	Daisuke Aizawa
Published by	Shōsetsuka ni Narō
Original run	May 2018 – present
Light novel
Written by	Daisuke Aizawa
Illustrated by	Tōzai
Published by	Enterbrain
English publisher	NA Yen Press
Demographic	Male
Original run	November 5, 2018 – present
Volumes	5
Manga
Written by	Daisuke Aizawa
Illustrated by	Anri Sakano
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	NA Yen Press
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Comp Ace
Original run	December 26, 2018 – present
Volumes	11
Manga
Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden
Written by	Seta U
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Comp Ace
Original run	July 26, 2019 – present
Volumes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Kazuya Nakanishi
Written by	Kanichi Katou
Music by	Kenichiro Suehiro
Studio	Nexus
Licensed by	Sentai Filmworks
Network	AT-X, Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, SUN, BS NTV, TVA
Original run	October 5, 2022 – present
Episodes	20
Game
The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden
Developer	Aiming
Publisher	Crunchyroll Games
Genre	RPG, Gacha
Platform	iOS, Android, PC
Released	November 29, 2022

The Eminence in Shadow (Japanese: 陰の実力者になりたくて!, Hepburn: Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!) is a Japanese light novel series written by Daisuke Aizawa and illustrated by Tōzai. It began serialization online in May 2018 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Enterbrain, who have published the series since November 2018.

A manga adaptation with art by Anri Sakano has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace since December 2018. A spin-off manga by Seta U titled Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden (陰の実力者になりたくて！ しゃどーがいでん, "The Eminence in Shadow! Shadow Side Story") has also been serialized via Comp Ace since July 2019. Both the light novel and main manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nexus aired from October 2022 to February 2023. A second season is set to premiere in October 2023.

Plot

A boy in modern-day Japan desires to be a mastermind who exerts power from the shadows, but in the process of training, gets hit by a truck and dies. He is reborn in a fantasy world as Cid Kagenou, where he maintains a perfectly mediocre appearance as to not stand out and pursue his dream of manipulating from the shadows. One day, he stumbles upon an elven girl infected by a mysterious disease and cures her.

Cid makes up a story, explaining this world is secretly run by the Cult of Diablos, and his secret organization, "Shadow Garden", are the only ones that can fight them. The elven girl, now named Alpha, joins this organization and begins recruiting new members. However, the stories Cid made up were actually true, but he believes it to be total delusion. Cid continues fighting the Cult of Diablos under the alias "Shadow", completely unaware that he is involved in a complicated power struggle.

Characters

Main characters

Cid Kagenou (シド・カゲノー, Shido Kagenō) / Shadow (シャドウ, Shadō) / Minoru Kageno (影野 実, Kageno Minoru) / John Smith (ジョン・スミス, Jon Sumisu) / Mundane Mann (ジミナ・セーネン, Jimina Sēnen)

Voiced by: Seiichirō Yamashita, Hikaru Midorikawa (Mundane Mann) (Japanese), Adam Gibbs, Joe Daniels (Mundane Mann) (English)

Kageno is the main protagonist and a high-school student who dedicated himself into becoming stronger than a nuclear bomb. However after an accident where he was hit by a truck, he was reincarnated into another world where magic exists. In this world, he is the son of a noble family and uses the strong magical powers he gained from being reborn to secretly moonlight as the leader of the Shadow Garden, an organization that fights in the shadows against the Cult of Diablos (ディアボロス教団, Diaborosu Kyōdan), but he believes both organizations to be imaginary and their participants are simply role-playing. He desires to act like a 'mob' character and blend into the background, but he has chūnibyō tendencies, basing all his actions on whatever he believes would look coolest.

Claire Kagenou (クレア・カゲノー, Kurea Kagenō)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Cid's older sister, a skilled spellsword. She thinks herself as stronger than Cid and pushes him around, often acting aggressively towards him in the form of punching him and other forms of bodily harm when she finds herself annoyed by him. However, she does care about him to an obsessive degree, acting quite recklessly when she thinks her brother might be threatened. She later absorbs Diablos and becomes its host, but Cid thinks she is role-playing.

Princess Alexia Midgar (アレクシア・ミドガル, Arekushia Midogaru)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Olivia Swasey (English)

A haughty princess, she makes it her job to make Cid's life as annoying as possible. She and Cid previously dated as an act, but she developed genuine feelings for him while he was eager to end their relationship. Also, she is one of the only characters to have personally seen "Shadow" in action (outside of Shadow Garden members) but does not know that Shadow's true identity is Cid himself.

Princess Iris Midgar (アイリス・ミドガル, Airisu Midogaru)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese), Patricia Duran (English)

Princess Alexia's older sister. She built up a circle of soldiers, independent of the Knights, to fight anybody who threatens the peace, be it Shadow Garden or the Cult.

Princess Rose Oriana (ローズ・オリアナ, Rōzu Oriana)

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi (Japanese), Donna Bella Litton (English)

The princess of the neighboring kingdom of Oriana, a country known for its art. She controversially took up the sword instead of traditional arts and became a transfer student at the Midgard Spellsword academy. She became the student council president and her swordsmanship at the academy was considered only second to the first princess of Midgar, Iris Midgar. She becomes known as "666" in later volumes of the light novel when she joins Shadow Garden after a series of traumatic events.

Shadow Garden

Seven Shades

Alpha (アルファ, Arufa)

Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese), Christina Kelly (English)

The first member of the 7 Shades, those who receive magic power infusion directly from Shadow himself, she is a beautiful elven girl who resembles the legendary hero Olivier as well as her aunt, Beatrix the Goddess of War. When Cid first encountered her, she was suffering from Demon possession and was hardly recognizable as a human being. Cid experimented on her and inadvertently found a cure for Demon possession. In return for curing her, she swore fealty to him, becoming his second-in-command. She went on to find and recruit the other 6 main members of Shadow Garden and leads them in their pursuit of the Cult of Diablos.

Beta (ベータ, Bēta)

Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese), Annie Wild (English)

The second member of Shadow Garden, she was the first member to be found by Alpha instead of Cid. An elf known for her natural beauty and ample chest, she writes 'The War Chronicles of Shadow-sama', in which she details the exploits of Cid in his Shadow persona. She became a world-famous author named Natsume Kafka by publishing the stories Cid would tell her, which include popular media like Spirited Away and Spider-Man. Being a Jack of All Trades, she is given the positions of Operations Coordinator and Head of Mission Logistics in Shadow Garden.

Gamma (ガンマ, Ganma)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese), Elissa Cuellar (English)

The third member of Shadow Garden, though she is weak both physically and in technique, she possesses great intelligence. She is responsible for the creation and daily operations of Mitsugoshi Company, the front organization that funds Shadow Garden. Cid originally told her about concepts and products from his original world in the form of his "Shadow Knowledge" which Gamma was eventually able to recreate and sell for great profits. Nicknamed "the Brain" by Cid, her public persona is the president of Mitsugoshi Company, using the alias Luna. Her immense intelligence and master diplomacy granted her the position of Head of Finance and Administration in Shadow Garden.

Delta (デルタ, Deruta)

Voiced by: Fairouz Ai (Japanese), Raven Troup (English)

The fourth member of Shadow Garden, she is a dog beast-kin girl that is extremely strong and violent, but rather unintelligent. Due to her beast-kin nature, she also has heightened senses, such as being able to recognize scents from great distances and uses these to find and hunt her targets. She only listens to those stronger than her, and has only acknowledged Alpha and Cid as stronger than her. Also called "the Glass Cannon" by Cid. Many members consider her Shadow Garden's main fighting force due to her ferocity and ruthlessness in battle.

Epsilon (イプシロン, Ipushiron)

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Ellen Evans (English)

The fifth member of Shadow Garden, an elven girl with a haughty attitude. She is skilled in the use of the slime bodysuits worn by the organization's members, using it to make her seem tall and busty due to her being insecure about her short and slender figure. She is renowned as a world-famous pianist that popularized the Moonlight Sonata, taught to her by Cid. She's nicknamed the "Precise" among all Shadow Gardens members.

Zeta (ゼータ, Zēta)

Voiced by: Ayaka Asai (Japanese), Dominique Meyer (English)

The sixth member of Shadow Garden, a cat beast-kin who is in charge of the organization's recon, travelling the world in search of new sights and products. She does not get along with Delta very well. She is a descendant of the legendary "Beastkin Hero" Lili. Her hatred of the Cult of Diablos is so great that she goes to extreme and radical measures to destroy them no matter the cost which puts her in odds with Alpha. Due to her disapproval of Alpha's leadership, she secretly created a sub-branch within Shadow Garden that is solely loyal to her alone. Her true goal is to make Shadow immortal and make him god of the new world to ensure the Cult of Diablos would not return.

Eta (イータ, Īta)

Voiced by: Reina Kondō

The seventh and final member of the original Shadow Garden, she is the organization's head scientist. She has sleeping problems, tending to suddenly collapse at any moment. Devices such as a functioning digital camera and disguise machine used to create Cid's Mundane Mann identity were perfected by her, and have become valuable pieces of tech used by Shadow Garden members.

Numbers

Nu (ニュー, Nyū) (#13)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida

After the first 7 members of Shadow Garden (those recruited by Cid himself) come the 'numbers'. Nu is the first of the numbers to be featured, a formerly noble girl cast aside when she contracted Demon possession. She was later saved and initiated by one of the Seven Shadows into the Shadow Garden. She is highly skilled at make-up and disguises. Utilizing specially treated slime to mimic skin and shaping it to its desired form.

Lawless City

Juggernaut (ジャガノート, Jagānōto)

Voiced by: Tsuyoshi Koyama

Yukime (ユキメ)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō

Crimson (クリムゾン, Kurimuzon)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita

Mary (メアリー, Mearī)

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma

Others

Sherry Barnett (シェリー・バーネット, Sherī Bānetto)

Voiced by: Saya Aizawa (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

A researcher studying in the academy, and adopted daughter of Vice Principal Ruslan. Her mother died after she discovered an ugly truth, and was adopted by Ruslan. After he died, she left the academy to study more.

Skel Etal (ヒョロ・ガリ, Hyoro Gari)

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese), Nathan Wilson (English)

One of Cid's fellow low-level students.

Po Tato (ジャガ・イモ, Jaga Imo)

Voiced by: Shin Matsushige (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)

Another of Cid's fellow low-level students.

Media

Light novel

The series is written by Daisuke Aizawa and illustrated by Tōzai. It began serialization online in May 2018 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Enterbrain in November 2018, who have published five volumes. Yen Press licensed the series for English publication.

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	November 5, 2018	ISBN 978-4-04-735302-2	August 11, 2020	ISBN 978-1-97-535906-5
Prologue: Preparing the Perfect Stage! Chapter 1: Starting the Shadowbroker Tutorial! Chapter 2: Assuming the Role of a Side Character at School! Chapter 3: My Official Beginning as a Mastermind in Action! Chapter 4: The Two Sides of the Shadow Garden?! Chapter 5: Mastering the Peaceful Life of a Nobody! Chapter 6: The Scene Where Terrorists Take Over the School Final Chapter: My Idea of the Ultimate Shadow Commander! The Chronicles of Master Shadow Complete Version: Volume 1
2	March 5, 2019	ISBN 978-4-04-735580-4	November 10, 2020	ISBN 978-1-97-538699-3
Prologue: To Lindwurm, the Sacred Land! Chapter 1: Fun Times at the Goddess's Trial! Chapter 2: Investigating the Sanctuary! Chapter 3: When Things Get Boring, It's Time for Explosives! Chapter 4: This Situation Calls for a "Who Is That Guy?!″ Chapter 5: A Battle to Attract Only MVPs! Chapter 6: A Mastermind Always Plays Piano Under Moonlight! Chapter 7: Showing Off a Smidgen of My Strength! Chapter 8: Lay Your Eyes on My True Powers! Final Chapter: Just Who Is This Mysterious Badass?! The Chronicles of Master Shadow Complete Version: Volume 2
3	July 26, 2019	ISBN 978-4-04-735711-2	April 27, 2021	ISBN 978-1-97-531578-8
Prologue: Heading to the Lawless City over Fall Break! Chapter 1: Lawless City Bandit Hunting! Chapter 2: Storming the Crimson Tower! Chapter 3: Pursuing the Blood Queen! Auxiliary Chapter: Field Notes on a Little Brother — by Young Claire! Chapter 4: I'll Destroy It All and Start from Scratch! Chapter 5: Printing Fake Money as Mitsugoshi Throws Down with the Major Corporate Alliance! Chapter 6: Circulating Counterfeit Cash! Epilogue: The One to Destroy It All and Start from Scratch — with Fake Bills! The Chronicles of Master Shadow Complete Version: Volume 3
4	February 26, 2021	ISBN 978-4-04-735878-2	June 7, 2022	ISBN 978-1-97-534184-8
Prologue: It’s Time for a War in the Oriana Kingdom! Chapter 1: Putting the Kibosh on Rose Oriana’s Wedding! Chapter 2: Begin Operation: Obstruction! Chapter 3: Crashing the Ceremony! Auxiliary Chapter: Rise of the Fancy Hoodlum Slayer! Chapter 4: Lurking in the Darkness in Fantastical Japan! Chapter 5: Sneaking Around in Japan, Just Like the Old Days!! Chapter 6: Something Smells Fishy… But an Eminence in Shadow Always Cracks the Case! Epilogue: Behold, a Full-Fledged Eminence in Shadow! The Chronicles of Master Shadow Complete Version: Volume 4
5	December 28, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-737311-2	—	—

Manga

A manga adaptation with art by Anri Sakano has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace since December 2018 and has been collected in eleven tankōbon volumes. Yen Press also licensed the manga adaptation.

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	July 25, 2019	ISBN 978-4-04-108471-7	November 23, 2021	ISBN 978-1-97-532518-3
2	September 24, 2019	ISBN 978-4-04-108683-4	December 7, 2021	ISBN 978-1-97-532520-6
3	June 25, 2020	ISBN 978-4-04-109326-9	March 22, 2022	ISBN 978-1-97-532522-0
4	August 25, 2020	ISBN 978-4-04-109332-0	July 5, 2022	ISBN 978-1-97-533876-3
5	February 26, 2021	ISBN 978-4-04-111002-7	October 4, 2022	ISBN 978-1-97-533878-7
6	June 25, 2021	ISBN 978-4-04-111564-0	February 21, 2023	ISBN 978-1-97-534272-2
7	March 26, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-111565-7	July 18, 2023	ISBN 978-1-97-536295-9
8	September 26, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-112936-4	November 21, 2023	ISBN 978-1-97-537091-6
9	October 25, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-112937-1	—	—
10	November 25, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-112938-8	—	—
11	May 26, 2023	ISBN 978-4-04-113684-3	—	—

A spin-off manga by Seta U titled Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden (陰の実力者になりたくて！ しゃどーがいでん, "The Eminence in Shadow! Shadow Side Story") has also been serialized via Comp Ace since July 2019. It has been collected in five tankōbon volumes.

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	June 25, 2020	ISBN 978-4-04-109327-6
2	February 26, 2021	ISBN 978-4-04-109333-7
3	March 26, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-112378-2
4	October 25, 2022	ISBN 978-4-04-113040-7
5	May 26, 2023	ISBN 978-4-04-113688-1

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on the fourth volume of the light novel on February 26, 2021. The series is produced by Nexus and directed by Kazuya Nakanishi, with scripts written by Kanichi Katou, character designs by Makoto Iino, and music composed by Kenichiro Suehiro. It aired from October 5, 2022, to February 15, 2023, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is "HIGHEST" by OxT, while the ending theme song is "Darling in the Night" by Asami Seto, Inori Minase, Suzuko Mimori, Fairouz Ai, Hisako Kanemoto, Ayaka Asai, and Reina Kondō. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for a North American release, and HIDIVE will be streaming it.

A second season was announced during a livestream on February 22, 2023. The main staff are returning from the previous season. It is set to premiere in October 2023 and will consist of 12 episodes.

Episode list

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboarded by	Original air date
1	"The Hated Classmate"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	October 5, 2022 (2022-10-05)
Akane Nishino is a famous actress and good student who is friendly with her classmates; however, her behavior around them is a front she uses to conceal her own anger and bitterness, left behind in the wake of an incident in which a fan of hers kidnapped and molested her. She despises everyone around her, classmate Minoru Kageno in particular; he barely acknowledges her existence and seems to struggle to even remember her name. He is briefly shown to carry weights in his bag and clothing, to increase his strength. Nishino is kidnapped by criminals who intend to ransom her, but they are interrupted by Kageno, who is disguised as a masked vigilante calling himself Stylish Ruffian Slayer. The criminals refuse to take him seriously at first, but quickly acknowledge him as a dangerous brawler capable of defeating whole gangs by himself, known to them as the Balaclava Berserker, when they witness him dual-wielding crowbars. Slayer defeats both men and frees Nishino, who suspects that Kageno is responsible for her rescue. A few days later, Kageno is abruptly hit by a truck and killed. Through flashback, Kageno explains that, for his entire life, he wanted to become a secret mastermind manipulating society from the shadows to protect the innocent, to be like the fictional heroes he looked up to, and relentlessly trained in martial arts in the hopes that he might one day be as powerful as a nuclear bomb. In death, Kageno laments that no matter how hard he trained or how much he tried, achieving such a level of power was functionally impossible, as the laws of physics impeded him, rendering him an ordinary human no matter what he did. Having died, Kageno finds himself reborn in an alternate world with magical powers and rededicates himself to his desire to manipulate and control society under cover of darkness as the Eminence in Shadow.
2	"Shadow Garden Is Born"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	October 12, 2022 (2022-10-12)
In this new world, Kageno is Cid Kagenou, the son of minor nobles of the Kingdom of Midgar, Baron and Lady Kagenou, and younger brother to a sister, Claire. In keeping with his previous life, Cid trains in secret and resumes his vigilante lifestyle by killing bandits. One day, Cid discovers a living blob of rotting flesh and, after experimenting on it, succeeds in curing the curse afflicting it, returning it to its true form; an elven girl. Purely for his own amusement, Cid, in character as Eminence in Shadow, convinces the girl she is a descendant of ancient heroes who defeated a demon called Diablos, whom a Cult is seeking to resurrect. Believing his lies, the girl agrees to form a group called Shadow Garden to resist the cult. Cid gives her the name Alpha, but is secretly amused that Alpha believed his entirely-fabricated story. Three years later, Claire is abruptly kidnapped. Alpha, who has now recruited six girls (Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta) as the Shadow Seven into Cid's service, locates Claire and confirms she was kidnapped by the Cult of Diablos. Cid is convinced the girls are merely role-playing with him, completely unaware that the cult genuinely exists and intends for Claire to be used as Diablos’ host body upon his resurrection. Cid leads the attack, under the impression he is hunting normal bandits, and most of the cultists are killed. Claire escapes during the chaos and, with no idea Cid was involved, later leaves to attend Midgar Academy as planned. Cid, still completely ignorant of what really happened, is surprised when Alpha and the other Shadows abruptly announce they are leaving.
3	"Fencer Ordinaire"	Daisuke Takashima	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	October 19, 2022 (2022-10-19)
The Shadow Seven split up to hunt the cult all over the world; Cid believes they simply grew up and tired of role-playing with him. He enrolls Midgar Academy as Claire did, where he deliberately avoids standing out, choosing two extremely average boys, Skel and Po, to be his friends. As a forfeit for doing badly on a test, Cid is forced to publicly humiliate himself by offering a fake love confession to the much higher-class Alexia, a princess of Midgar; Cid plays along in his role as a “typical background character” and offers the confession, and is shocked when Princess Alexia agrees to be his girlfriend. When she invites Cid to her fencing class, he discovers Alexia is engaged to the royal fencing instructor Zenon, but she has no desire to marry him and has decided to use Cid as a tool of petty vengeance against him. Fully aware both that he is being used and of Princess Alexia's spitefulness and selfishness, Cid agrees to continue their fake relationship in exchange for money. After two weeks, Alexia admits to him that despite the effort she puts into sword training, she has never been as skilled as her sister, Iris, and was thus nicknamed “Fencer Ordinaire”. Cid admits he actually likes her sword style, which focuses on mastery of the basics; this angers Alexia, who opts to end their fake relationship. The next day, Zenon reveals that Alexia has disappeared and has Cid arrested as the prime suspect in her kidnapping.
4	"Sadism's Rewards"	Hazuki Mizumoto	Kunihiko Okada	Hazuki Mizumoto	October 26, 2022 (2022-10-26)
Now locked in a cell next to a mutated human girl, Alexia has her blood stolen by a cult scientist, who claims that it contains demon DNA. Cid is tortured by knights for Alexia’s location, but since he has trained himself to withstand pain, he pretends to be a pathetic but innocent NPC, thinking it makes him look cool. After five long days, Princess Iris orders that Cid be released. Alpha suddenly reappears to Cid, bringing news that they have continued to monitor the cult while increasing the scope of Shadow Garden's influence and power. Cid is impressed that Alpha and her fellow Shadows still occasionally visit to carry on their role-playing game with him, still very unaware of Shadow Garden's existence and power. Alpha plans to rescue Princess Alexia with 114 loyal soldiers; Cid plays along to amuse himself, knowing Princess Alexia really has been kidnapped but mistakenly believing it was the work of corrupt knights and that the 114 soldiers are just background actors Alpha hired. In a massive attack, Cid murders the knights who tortured him, while his army searches for Princess Alexia. The cult scientist desperately injects Princess Alexia’s blood into the mutant girl; she becomes a demon, kills the scientist, then frees Princess Alexia. While escaping, Alexia encounters Zenon, who reveals he turned her over to the cult in exchange for him being promoted to the role of a high-ranking knight. When Princess Alexia attacks him, Zenon easily defeats her, but their duel is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Cid.
5	"I Am..."	Kazuya Nakanishi	Mio Inoue	Kazuya Nakanishi	November 2, 2022 (2022-11-02)
Zenon identifies Cid as the one behind recent attacks on the cult and announces himself as one of the cult’s core members. The demon girl rampages through the city and fights Princess Iris. Alpha reveals herself to Iris as a member of Shadow Garden, defeats the demon with a single powerful blow, then vanishes. Cid duels Zenon and dominates him; Princess Alexia, who has no idea that Shadow is Cid in disguise, is captivated by his sword style, which expresses the heart of the style she has searched for her entire life. Knowing he is outmatched by Shadow, Zenon swallows pills that turn him demonic and increase his power, but using the principles of a nuclear explosion of which he has dreamed for so long, Cid sets off a magic bomb that dissolves everything in the blast radius to atoms, utterly annihilating Zenon and destroying most of the now-evacuated city. Now reunited with Iris, Princess Alexia is freshly determined to master her chosen sword style. Now that Zenon is dead, and having remembered that Cid told her he admired her sword style, she offers to be his real girlfriend; when he abruptly rejects her, she punishes him violently. Alpha returns to investigating a group that has been masquerading as Shadow Garden and committing crimes in its name, and Iris orders a kingdom-wide investigation into both the Cult of Diablos and Shadow Garden. Meanwhile, Cid, fresh off his violent encounter with Alexia, meets a scholarly girl with pink hair.
6	"Pretenders"	Daisuke Takashima	Kanichi Katou	Daisuke Takashima	November 9, 2022 (2022-11-09)
The false Shadow Garden continues committing murders. A recovered cult relic is given by Iris to the pink-haired student, Sherry, the kingdom's foremost researcher. Cid’s friends Po and Skel take him to a new department store, where he discovers that his subordinate Gamma opened the store to fund Shadow Garden, with branches in every city in the world; Cid is impressed but once again remains convinced that Gamma is role-playing, unaware he now owns dozens of stores and is effectively one of the wealthiest men in the world. He also meets Nu, the newest Shadow. On his way home, Cid witnesses Alexia fighting several murderers, so he saves Alexia, slaughters the murderers, and hands one survivor over to Nu for interrogation. Elsewhere, the murderer’s boss, Gaunt Knight, confirms they have located the relic. Alexia confirms Shadow Garden is not really behind the murderers, though Iris still insists they are enemies of the kingdom. Cid, Po, and Skell, having bought chocolate from Cid's store, try their luck with confessing to girls: Skell's confession ends with him being punished by her fiancé, and Po's confession ends with him being arrested, mistaken for a stalker. Cid decides to just give the remaining chocolate to anyone, which by chance is Sherry. Her adoptive father, vice-principal Ruslan, informs the naïve Sherry the chocolates were probably meant as a love confession and encourages her to decide on her answer quickly, so as to not keep Cid waiting.
7	"A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kunihiko Okada	Kazuya Nakanishi	November 16, 2022 (2022-11-16)
Nu informs Cid the murderer she interrogated was a typical Cult foot soldier, an orphan brainwashed with drugs and magic. One such soldier, Rex, is in the city on a Cult mission. During their conversation, Cid is preoccupied, as Skel and Po have entered him in the academy’s sword tournament to impress girls; Nu mistakenly thinks Cid's rambling about the festival is him plotting to deal with Rex. At the festival, Cid duels student president Rose, a princess of the neighboring kingdom of Oriana; while still role-playing as a secret hero and keeping his skills hidden, he feigns injury repeatedly but persists in the fight, rising to his feet again after each of her attacks. The referee eventually declares Rose victor, but she is impressed at Cid’s fighting spirit. Sherry asks Cid to be friends before they consider dating, though Cid has completely forgotten who Sherry is and decides to just avoid her. Sherry asks Princess Alexia about her relationship with Cid and is happy when Alexia reveals their relationship was fake, though Princess Alexia is privately upset another girl is interested in Cid. An election is announced to fill an empty student council seat. Gaunt Knight erects an anti-magic barrier, allowing the fake Shadow Garden to capture the academy. When Cid and Rose's classroom is attacked, Rose attempts to fight, but is much weaker without her magic; Cid recklessly rushes in to save her and is severely wounded.
8	"Dark Knight Academy Under Attack"	Daisuke Takashima	Mio Inoue	Daisuke Takashima	November 23, 2022 (2022-11-23)
Cid reveals that he was excited by the chance to look cool fighting terrorists, and saved Rose merely to appear heroic; Rose, meanwhile, mistakenly believes Cid sacrificed himself out of love for her. After the students are taken to the auditorium, leaving Cid's body in the classroom, Cid secretly revives and heals himself. Rex attacks Sherry to retrieve the relic, but Iris’ Crimson Knights help her escape. Cid, who is also killing terrorists, reunites with and saves Sherry. Sherry identifies the relic generating the barrier as the Eye of Avarice, which absorbs magic and explodes once full. Cid deduces the cult are using the Eye to kill the students and prevent them from becoming knights and obstructing their plans. The relic Sherry has been researching is the Eye’s control unit, which she hopes can be used to stop the explosion. Since Sherry needs tools from her room, Cid volunteers to get them for her. Rex warns Gaunt Knight that someone is killing their men, and Gaunt Knight suspects that the real Shadow Garden is responsible. It is revealed Gaunt Knight’s true goal is to be reinstated to the Knights of Round. Nu sees the sole surviving Crimson Knight is her former fiancé Marco; while tempted to kill him, she decides to let him live. Cid orders Nu and her fellow Shadows not to attack the terrorists until Sherry has the control relic ready.
9	"The End of a Lie"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	November 30, 2022 (2022-11-30)
Sherry activates the control relic, deactivating the Eye and its barrier. Cid arrives disguised as Eminence in Shadow, and Shadow Garden begins slaughtering the terrorists. Iris, believing that Shadow Garden is responsible for the attack, is enraged by their appearance. Cid finds Gaunt Knight burning Sherry’s research and reveals he is Ruslan, Sherry’s adoptive father. Ruslan explains he was once a master swordsman, until an illness weakened him. Believing the Eye might cure him, he cultivated a relationship with the woman studying it, Sherry’s mother. When she grew too afraid to continue her research, Ruslan killed her and adopted Sherry as a pawn to facilitate the research's completion. Ruslan combines the Eye with the control relic and regains his lost sword skills; he and Cid fight, revealing that even with his abilities restored, Ruslan's swordsmanship is still inferior to Cid. Ruslan brags he has framed Shadow Garden for all his crimes; Cid, unconcerned by this, kills Ruslan, an act inadvertently witnessed by Sherry. In the wake of the attack, the kingdom designates Shadow Garden as a terrorist organization. Sherry informs Cid that, with Ruslan dead, she has decided to transfer to a scientific research academy to pursue her new goal, though she will miss him. When Cid asks what her new goal is, she insists on keeping it a secret, but the dark aura surrounding her words suggests her new goal is sinister.
10	"The Sacred Land, City of Deception"	Daisuke Takashima	Kunihiko Okada	Daisuke Takashima	December 7, 2022 (2022-12-07)
Cid is contacted by Alpha requesting he visit the sacred city of Lindwurm. Beta, Epsilon and Nu also receive a mission from Alpha. Alexia and Iris visit Cid’s department store as they are also visiting Lindwurm for the Goddess Trial. Princess Alexia purchases thong underwear to seduce a certain man. A flashback shows after defeating Ruslan Cid pretended to have miraculously survived the injury he received rescuing Rose. Rose swears to accept his feelings by becoming his lover, even accompanying the reluctant Cid to Lindwurm. Cid reveals the dominant religion of Lindwurm is worship of Goddess Beatrix, who empowered three legendary heroes. Rose hopes if Cid wins the Trials her father might allow them to marry. Cid mistakenly believes she is trying to convert him to worship Beatrix and avoids her attempts to seduce him. In Lindwurm Cid sees Beta in her persona as the popular author Natsume, who became famous by publishing stories he told her from his past life's world, such as Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and Star Wars. Beta passes Cid his mission briefing coded in an ancient language. Rose misinterprets Cid’s enthusiasm as a passion for history and languages, though really Cid is just impressed at what he thinks is Beta’s latest role-playing event for him. A cultist murders Archbishop Drake of Beatrix’ Church, and while Epsilon kills one of his men, the murderer escapes.
11	"The Goddess's Trial"	Daisuke Takashima	Mio Inoue	Kazuya Nakanishi	December 14, 2022 (2022-12-14)
Cid visits a hot spring; uncaring Princess Alexia is already there naked. Hiding her embarrassment Alexia explains the Goddess Trial involves challengers dueling the spirits of famous warriors. Princess Alexia is busy with the Archbishop’s murder and asks Cid to assist by joining the Crimson Knights, which Cid refuses before nonchalantly leaving, fully exposing himself to the intrigued Princess Alexia. The Princess' investigation is cancelled by temporary Archbishop Nelson, who just happens to be Alexia’s prime suspect in Drake’s murder. Princess Alexia encounters Beta in her Natsume persona and both take an instant dislike to each other. Many fighters are humiliated when no famous warriors manifest to duel them, implying they are unworthy opponents. Cid is suddenly announced as next challenger, his entry fee having been secretly paid by Rose to show her father Cid’s potential. To avoid exposing his strength or embarrassing himself by faking a humiliating defeat Cid crashes the Trial as the Eminence in Shadow, his presence summoning Aurora, the Calamity Witch whom, according to Nelson, was the strongest witch in history. Princess Alexia realises if Aurora manifested before Eminence it is possible he is the most dangerous man in the world. Cid defeats Aurora but is disappointed the duel was too easy, so he leaves. The arena barrier suddenly collapses and a new summoning spell is activated in response to Cid’s actions, impressing the observing Shadow Garden.
12	"The Truth Within the Memories"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	December 21, 2022 (2022-12-21)
Cid decides to enter the circle and disappears. Alpha appears with the rest of Shadow Garden, kidnaps Nelson and all enter Sanctuary too. Princess Alexia and Rose also enter. Alpha reveals she is an elf and a descendant of Olivier, the hero who severed Diablos’ left arm one thousand years ago. Cid meets an imprisoned Aurora who has been trapped for a thousand years. Cid frees her and she reveals Sanctuary is actually a massive prison that stores the memories of every past hero. If they destroy Sanctuary’s magical core, Aurora and the other memories will be deleted. As they pass through memories Cid and the Shadows learn the cult used to use the Sanctuary to experiment on orphan girls with Diablos’ blood to resurrect him. Most died but some, like Olivier, became strong heroes. It is revealed experiments on Diablos’ arm produced the pills that turn people demonic, but once a year it produces twelve Beads that grant one whole year of immortality to the cults twelve leaders, the Knights of Round, one of whom is Nelson who helped create the first Beads one millennium ago. Nelson turns demonic and, with his control over the Sanctuary, scatters everyone throughout multiple memories and creates copies of himself to fight all the Shadows at once.
13	"A Bloody Showdown as an Offering to Annihilation"	Daisuke Takashima	Kunihiko Okada	Daisuke Takashima	December 28, 2022 (2022-12-28)
Epsilon reveals she and the named Shadows personally brought into Shadow Garden by Cid were all girls experimented on by the Cult. Cid cured them of the demonic/cursed side effects, leaving their strength intact. They enter Sanctuary’s archive and steal the records of the Cult’s experiments. Cid and Aurora reach Sanctuary’s core. Delta reveals she possesses berserker level strength, allowing her to kill hundreds of Nelson copies even without magic. The core is sealed behind chains that can only be cut by a nearby magic sword, and though Cid tries the sword can only be drawn by a hero’s descendant. Nelson summons Olivier to fight for him but Epsilon appears with all the Cult’s research so all the Shadows abruptly teleport out of Sanctuary with Alexia and Rose, leaving the confused Nelson. As Cid is still inside Sanctuary Nelson orders Olivier to kill him. They duel but Cid is disappointed as Olivier is mindlessly obedient, mute and without personality, so he finds the fight boring. Aurora decides to protect him as payment for providing her first new memories in 1000 years. Cid is annoyed at the assumption he will lose, claiming he has been paying close attention and has figured out one of Sanctuary’s secrets. Olivier stabs Cid through the heart, but he smiles and reveals one of his eyes has changed color.
14	"Your Lie, Your Wish"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Mio Inoue	Kazuya Nakanishi	January 4, 2023 (2023-01-04)
Cid grabs Olivier and kills her with his teeth, revealing to a stunned Nelson he allowed Olivier to stab him in a way she missed his organs. He also reveals the secret he figured out; Sanctuary absorbs magic from the air, so by compressing his magic into a solid mass within his eye, he can use magic again. Cid sets off his atomic bomb spell, reducing Nelson and the Sanctuary core to atoms. Cid is able to say goodbye to Aurora who kisses him and hopes one day he finds the real Aurora. Princess Alexia and Rose decide they must form their own secret organization against the Cult and Shadow Garden. As Natsume, Beta agrees to help so she can spy on them. Alpha discovers from Sanctuary’s archives that Aurora’s true identity is the demon Diabolos. Elsewhere, Shadow Garden begins buying all the property in the city of Madlid to open another shopping center, though secretly it is to access a valuable oil field. Alexia confirms the Beatrix church is involved with the Cult but politics prevents her investigating further so Iris decides to rise further up the ranks of the Crimson Knights to gain her own political power, starting with winning the upcoming Bushin Festival tournament. Rose discovers she may be infected by demonic blood.
15	"The Strongest Weakest Man"	Daisuke Takashima	Kanichi Katou	Susumu Nishizawa	January 11, 2023 (2023-01-11)
The Bushin Festival arrives, attracting hundreds of fighters, and Cid plans to astonish the crowd by disguising himself as weak but defeating everyone. Using magical slime makeup Gamma gives Cid the pathetic face of Mundane Mann, an unskilled knight who died in poverty. Annerose, a foreign knight who fought at the Goddess Trial, witnesses the disguised Cid allowing himself to be beaten by a fighter named Quinton, and is amazed Cid suffers no injuries. Cid learns the favorites to win the festival are Iris, Rose, Annerose, Quinton or a mysterious nameless Dark Knight. Rose encounters Cid and informs him her father has selected a man named Perv Asshat to become her fiancé and force her to quit the sword. Cid advises she do what makes her happy and try to relax for once. During the preliminary fights Goldy Gilded, a skilled but annoyingly arrogant knight, advises Skel how to identify warriors most likely to win but is disappointed when Cid, as Mundane, wins a fight without moving. Only Annerose notices Mundane moved so fast he defeated his opponent before the fight even began. Goldy announces that Mundane’s victory has made him Goldy’s next opponent. Next morning it is announced that Rose has disappeared after stabbing Perv.
16	"Unseen Intentions"	Yoshinobu Tokumoto	Kunihiko Okada	Yoshinobu Tokumoto	January 18, 2023 (2023-01-18)
Rose’s escape makes her appear guilty, which has dire consequences for inter-kingdom politics. Alexia decides to find and protect her, but Beta stalls her from interfering as she already knows Rose is hiding in the underground ruins. Cid meets an elf named Beatrix who is searching for her missing niece, and happens to greatly resemble Alpha. As Mundane, Cid faces Goldy for his first duel, watched by Annerose and Quinton who are both suspicious of Mundane’s abilities. To their great confusion Mundane dodges Goldy’s first attack by flexing his neck, and then causes Goldy’s own attack magic to explode backwards by sneezing, knocking Goldy unconscious. Despite his unusual methods Annerose doubts even she could copy Mundane’s movements. While meeting with Perv Asshat Iris discovers Rose didn’t injure him at all and he has a sinister influence over Rose's father the King. Mundane defeats Quinton, making Annerose his opponent the next day. Annerose attempts to intimidate him, until Mundane reveals he wears armour weighing over a ton and yet still moves too fast for people to follow his true movements. Rose continues to avoid the soldiers sent after her.
17	"Moonlight That Pierces the Darkness"	Daisuke Takashima	Mio Inoue	Susumu Nishizawa	January 25, 2023 (2023-01-25)
Cid’s elder sister Claire visits but he avoids her by pretending to join Skel in hunting Rose for a huge reward. Cid actually respects Rose for risking everything to escape an unwanted marriage. Cid overhears the piano song Moonlight Sonata and finds Epsilon playing it. Epsilon explains she is able to cultivate useful connections in Oriana Kingdom by posing as a skilled pianist. Princess Alexia and Beta suspect Rose fled after discovering Perv is a cultist using magic to brainwash the king, so they enter the underground to find her. Rose, suffering more from her infected blood, considers surrendering to avoid dragging Oriana into war. She suddenly hears the Sonata and finds Eminence playing the piano in the underground. She realises she can’t surrender so Eminence cures her blood and grants her power before vanishing. Cult soldiers locate Rose but she kills them and decides to end her partnership with Princess Alexia and Beta to fight alone, pleasing Beta who is sure this was Cid’s goal all along. Cid is pleased he was able to pull off the dramatic scene of playing a piano underground to impress Rose. He returns home and finds Claire has stubbornly waited all day for his return.
18	"Betting on a Moment"	Yoshinobu Tokumoto	Kunihiko Okada	Yoshinobu Tokumoto	February 1, 2023 (2023-02-01)
After sadistically punishing Cid for neglecting her, Claire reveals she has replaced Rose in the festival and insists Cid watch her from VIP seating. Cid sits beside Iris, who apologises for the Zenon incident. They discuss the dark knight competitor, Beatrix the elvish War Goddess, the festivals very first champion. Cid realises Beatrix is Alpha’s aunt. Cid sneaks away to don his Mundane disguise to duel Annerose. Perv takes his seat beside Iris, who despises him. Perv is confident Rose will return and marry him. He also suggests he is interested in hiring strong warriors; particularly Annerose. In the arena Annerose attempts to match Mundane’s speed, but is defeated. Princess Iris is determined to defeat Mundane in the next match. Perv has Mundane investigated, though he is confident he has no connection to Shadow Garden, who are all female. Annerose thanks Mundane for showing her she still has room to improve and invites him to work for her country’s government, but he refuses. Cid looks forward to defeating Iris so he can become a legend by mysteriously disappearing immediately after his victory. Claire meets him at his room, quietly reminding him he forgot to watch her match.
19	"Dancing Puppet"	Daisuke Takashima	Mio Inoue	Kazuya Nakanishi	February 8, 2023 (2023-02-08)
Cid sits beside Princess Iris and Beatrix to watch Claire’s next match. Perv continues drugging the King, hoping Rose will try to save him. He also plans to have the king publicly assassinate Iris and Princess Alexia’s father, the King of Midgar, to cause war. Claire wins her match and furiously looks for Cid, absent from the audience again. Iris duels Mundane, but has repeated terrifying premonitions of Mundane killing her instantly with a counterattack. Mundane disarms and defeats her in a single move. Rose infiltrates the VIP area with help from Shadow Garden and Perv is enraged when she kills her own father, who shows gratitude at being freed from Perv’s control. Rose moves to kill herself but Mundane stops her, kills Perv’s men and sheds his disguise to reveal he was the Eminence in the Shadow all along. Rose realises Eminence is also the boy she knew as "Stylish Ruffian Slayer", revealing that when Cid was training himself as a child he killed the bandits who coincidentally had just kidnapped Rose, inspiring Rose to learn sword fighting in the first place. Realising she can’t die yet Rose escapes. Beatrix, having wanted to fight Mundane anyway, realises he is a wanted terrorist and engages the Eminence in a duel.
20	"Advent of the Demon"	Kazuya Nakanishi	Kanichi Katou	Kazuya Nakanishi	February 15, 2023 (2023-02-15)
Beatrix engages Eminence and amidst their fight Princess Iris teams up with Beatrix. Alpha meets Rose and offers her membership in Shadow Garden, which Rose accepts. Eminence shows off his most powerful attack which will obliterate the city, terrifying both Iris and Beatrix, but at the last second he vanishes instead, leaving Princess Iris frustrated and determined to take vengeance. Perv is forced to beg his master’s forgiveness for his failure. Beatrix is sad she never found her niece. Sherry hears the news of the Eminence’s attack and is determined to one day kill him. With the Eminence revealed to the world, the Shadow Garden begin preparations to support Cid further, hoping he will soon take a more active role in running their organization. Alpha guides Rose into the monster infested mountains near Cid and Claire’s childhood village, revealing the mountains contain the old Kingdom of Alexandria, now Shadow Garden's new secret base of operations. Rose has had everything traumatically taken from her, including her name, and becomes Soldier 666 in Shadow Garden’s army while she trains to prove herself to them. Meanwhile, Cid is pleased by how cool his role-playing was with Princess Iris and Lady Beatrix and looks forward to the next game.

Video games

An RPG mobile game developed by Aiming, titled The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden (陰の実力者になりたくて！マスターオブガーデン, Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Masutā obu Gāden) was released for iOS, Android, and PC on November 29, 2022. Crunchyroll Games launched the game worldwide on iOS and Android on the same day. The PC version launched worldwide on May 25, 2023, with support for cross-platform play and progression.

Reception

By October 2022, the series had a cumulative total of 2 million copies in circulation; over 3.5 million copies in circulation by December 2022; and over 4 million copies in circulation by February 2023.

The first Blu-ray volume sold 2,327 copies in its first week of debut; the second volume sold 2,499 copies in its first week.

See also

• Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, another light novel series illustrated by Tōzai

External links

• Web novel at Shōsetsuka ni Narō
• Manga official website
• Anime official website
• The Eminence in Shadow (light novel) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Game official website at Crunchyroll Games, LLC