Episode 8

**Dark Knight Academy Under Attack** (狙われた魔剣士学園, *Nerawareta Makenshi Gakuen*?) is the eighth episode of the *The Eminence in Shadow* anime adaptation.

## Synopsis

* English
* Japanese
 Cid sacrificed his life to save Rose. At least, that’s what everyone thinks. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Cid survived exactly as planned, and now his counterattack can begin.

 黒づくめの集団に抵抗したローズが斬殺されそうになった瞬間、モブとしての役割をまっとうしたいシドが身代わりに。その後、“テロリストの学園占拠”という夢に見た展開に嬉々として暗躍し始める。

## Summary

As terrorists attack the academy, Cid is secretly excited as they are fulfilling a "terrorist takeover" fantasy. But seeing that they are about to kill Rose, he jumps in (stating to himself) as it is the role of a background character to be killed first in that scene. As blood gushes out and Rose is in shock, Cid grins thinking the scene was perfect. A distraught Rose wonders why he gave his life away to save her, but concludes he fell in love with her, explaining why he was motivated to keep standing when he fought her and sacrificed himself. Threatening Rose to comply, the terrorists then move all the students to the auditorium, leaving Cid in the classroom.

Finally alone, Cid starts pounding his heart until it starts beating again. Cid voices to himself how he was lucky that he was successful with his secret technique, where he stops his heart for ten minutes, but maintained regular blood flow to his brain via magic. Although his magic is still obstructed, Cid circumvents the restriction once he narrows his mana into threads. Given how the terrorists set up a magic blocking scenario, he feels it would be rude to ignore it, donning his jacket before taking his leave. At the Midgar Academy of Science, Rex breaches into Sherry's room and claims to be from Shadow Garden, but then wonders if it was Shadow Guardian. He states his job is simply to retrieve the artifact, and once he is done, is allowed to wreak as much havoc as he wants. Rex moves to take the artifact in Sherry's hands, but is stopped by Glen. Rex is impressed he managed to do it without magic, and Glen claims such is easy when his opponent is weaker. While Glen and Marco keep the terrorists busy, they let Sherry run away with the artifact.

On a rooftop surveying the academy grounds, Cid observes the movement of the terrorists and is quite excited about the whole situation. Yet he is annoyed that they were all wearing black at midday, disappointed they aren't doing it properly as he wears black robes at night. Predicting their formula, Cid decides to play things slowly until nighttime and snipes quite a few of the terrorists, so that he can make his grand appearances easier. Upon noticing a pink-haired girl running around and almost begging to be captured, Cid realizes she is Sherry and snipes the terrorists that move toward her. Sensing that the "main story" is progressing, Cid protects Sherry while she makes her way to her father's office, taking out several enemies to save her from capture or detection. After enough close saves, Cid catches Sherry when she ends up tripping and falling on the stairs. He tell her what she was doing that drew notice and asks her to remove her noisy slippers.

Before reaching her father's room, Cid ends up taking out a few more terrorists, trying to help Sherry reach the good ending as her supporting role. Sherry finds the book she needed and explains that the artifact is the Eye of Avarice, which absorbs and stores the magic from any user, but it can be programmed to ignore some magical frequencies. Sherry postulates it cannot absorb magical traces that are too small or powerful spells exceeding its capacity, but isn't a human capable of the latter. Once the artifact has absorbed all it could absorb, it will release all the stored energy at once. Since all the students are in the auditorium, Sherry guesses that the artifact is somewhere nearby and it will kill all in the auditorium in an explosion upon releasing all that energy. Because of that, Sherry states her father didn't publish his findings in academia and gave the artifact to the government for safekeeping.

Sherry also explains that the artifact she was researching is used to control the Eye of Avarice and store the energy for a long-term period. Accessing a hidden switch, Sherry plans on using the basements to reach the auditorium safely. Once she is close to the Eye of Avarice, she will activate her artifact and stop the Eye of Avarice from exploding. Cid thinks how the plan is pretty good, but while the ending might be a little weak, it'll afford him a chance to wreak havoc as Shadow. However, Sherry left all her tools needed to fine-tune the complementing artifact in her room. Luckily, Cid volunteers he will get the tools for her and leaves her in her father's office. In the auditorium, Rex reports to the Cult knight about the Knight Order but the Cult Knight dismisses that, demanding an update on Rex retrieving the artifact, and The Cult Knight has to threaten death before Rex capitulates to complete his mission. Before he leaeves, Rex informs the Cult Knight that some of their men had been taken out by someone truly skilled and guesses that Shadow Garden is here. The cult knight notes that once his ambitions are realized, he will be reinstated in the Knights of Rounds. In the crowd, Nu keeps a vigil of the students and the Cultists on the auditorium stage, before departing.

As Rex is walking with four of his men, the two behind him are killed in an instant before the two in front of him are also done away with. As Rex examines the corridor, Cid strikes him before he can react, and thinking Cid's speed is from an artifact, Rex creates a net around himself. Although stating Cid will get caught in his net no matter what artifact he uses, Rex will know. Except Rex turns around to sees Cid just as he proceeds with attacking Rex, eventually taking him into a classroom with each seat taken by a propped-up dead terrorist. As Cid attacks Rex again, he notes that Rex is awesome, frightening one of the Cult's Named Children before meeting his end.

Meanwhile, Nu finds the deceased Glen, noting how a prestigious knight was no match, and they meet a swift end with their magic sealed away. She sees an unconscious Marco, noting his placement in the Crimson Order, and is ready to kill him. A moment later, Cid surprises Nu with his arrival looking for Sherry's tools, as Nu explains that Marco was once her betrothed. When asked what she'll do, Nu concludes she has no reason to do anything, so Cid concludes they do nothing. Nu then reports that Shadow Garden had infiltrated the academy and are awaiting orders. However, their membership will not be able to use magic, as it is a risk with their Slime Bodysuit malfunctioning, and only the Seven Shadows can operate in these circumstances. Currently, only Gamma is in the capital, but as this type of mission isn't her forte, she'll act as rear-commander. Even Nu herself can only use about half of her power right now, but Gamma predicts the magic barrier will lift soon. As she continues her report, the Cult has reworked their movements to a defense play. While Princess Iris Midgar may be the only one of use in a battle, she is debating with the Knight Order Commander over jurisdiction due to objections from the palace. While she concludes how Shadow Garden's numbers are instructed to wait for enemy movement or Shadow's command, Cid asks her to help him find some items.

After obtaining all the tools, Nu inquires why he needs them and Cid explains the tools are to fine-tune an artifact that can counter the Eye of Avarice, what is blocking their magic. Once they find-tune the other artifact, they can neutralize the Eve of Avarice and allow everyone their magic usage again. Nu is in awe of Cid's *genius* with identifying and remedying an artifact's effects, with Cid promising the artifact's readiness by sundown, as Nu replies she'll ready their forces by that time. Once Cid is out of sight, Nu turns to the unconscious Marco to tell him he has been spared another day, leaving him with a slight cut on his throat before departing. As the Knights hold a perimeter, Gamma and her Shadow Garden contingent stand atop the auditorium ready for Cid's signal, with Nu in the crowd readying their direction. Once Cid brings the tools to Sherry, she starts fine-tuning the artifact while asking for her father's help.

## Characters

* Cid Kagenou
* Rose Oriana
* Lutheran Barnett
* Sherry Barnett
* Rex
* Glen
* Marco Granger
* Iris Midgar
* Alexia Midgar
* Nu
* Gamma

## Promotional Video

TVアニメ『陰の実力者になりたくて！』第８話予告≪ノーマルVer.≫「狙われた魔剣士学園」TVアニメ『陰の実力者になりたくて！』第８話予告≪スペシャルVer.≫「陰の実力者は少年の夢であるアレを叶えたい！」
## References

1. ↑ https://www.hidive.com/stream/the-eminence-in-shadow/s01e008
2. ↑ https://shadow-garden.jp/1st/story/#story8