Chi/Chronology

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## Background

### Past life serving the Cult

Chi used to be the daughter of an elven noble named Karen von Herzog who was the former First Children raised by the Cult of Diablos trained to become the 'Named Child' previously known as the *Shooting Star* and also the head of the Herzog Family which is an aristocratic family that has been close relationship with the Cult for generations had been entrusted with the role of maintaining stability within the Velgalta Empire with Karen herself being high extremely loyal to the Cult in carrying out her duties as head of the family for the sake of the empire's peace.

As the successor of the Herzog Family which has produced skilled warriors, Karen has mastered extraordinary techniques in weapons skills especially in spears and has a fighting instinct that allows Karen to use these techniques with precision, which made her strength far beyond the level of an ordinary swordsman or knight thanks to the military drill coupled with the training she underwent from the Cult until her abilities were recognized by the empire to the point where Karen was chosen to earned the title of the Velgalta's Seven Blades.

### Betrayal

But in the year and a half ago, Karen had contracted a Demon Possession symptoms and she should have been handed over to the Cult. However, her family had neglected their duties as aristocrat resulting in the fate of the entire Herzog Family being purged by a fellow Named Child who was also one another member of the Velgalta's Seven Blades, Sergey Gorman the Storm Sword. At that time, Karen was momently caught by Sergey as he gouges out her right eye until she manages to escape despite her lost right eyesight and Karen puts an eyepatch on for the right eye socket that Sergey had gouged out.

Since after her family was destroyed, a malnourished Karen had been sleeping alone in a dumpster at the end of an alley with a curse spreading around her right leg was discarded and abandoned by society until she become forgotten, when she tried to escape the Empire to avoid Sergey's pursuit. Karen suspects that the order of purging her entire family had been decreed by the **"Round Table Committee"** which makes her feel unable to accept the fact that the Cult would go so far as to eradicate everything her family has built over generations that made Karen resent the Cult for their decision.

Although she was stricken with Demon Possession, Karen managed to escape from the imperial capital and continued running eastward until she reached the borderland near a remote corner of Madlid City, whilst being chased by Sergey who brings at least twenty subordinates he chose to capture Karen. With the injustice she felt, Karen is being giving reasoned with Sergey in asking the reason why her family had to be purged to which she should think that the Cult would still find value in the territories and wealth held by the Herzog Family, as well as leveraging their aristocratic influence even if she were handed over to the Cult.

However, Sergey answered that if Karen had been affected by these symptoms, then it would be natural for him to eradicate her entire family because what would be the point of a political base with a possessed child if he ruled the Empire. Realizing that the order to purge of the Herzog Family did not come from the decree at the "Round Table" decision, Karen forced Sergey to say who was the mastermind who ordered him, but he ignored her answer, which made Karen are willing to take revenge on this unforgivable act by intended to kill Sergey and his subordinates.

Despite her right leg being rotten due to possession symptoms, Karen was able to repel the Velgalta imperial soldiers, but she could not stand against Sergey and was about to run out of fate. When got cornered after sustained quite injury, Sergey insulted Karen for her possession which he considered a curse, which made her say to him that he didn't know anything on the symptoms but it turned out that Sergey knew about Demon Possession from which he even revealed his knowledge about Tears of Diablos and how they are created, even though he said things which Karen considered a betrayal because Sergey answered that knowing about it and sharing it with the Round Table were two different matters which made Karen think that Sergey is a traitor with intent to turned against the Cult.

When suddenly two children named Gamma and Eta who called themselves from Shadow Garden that were previously conducting an exploration survey to searching for oil fields appeared in front of them, Karen tried to tell them both to run away and told Sergey not to disturb the two of them who didn't know anything, even though he reassured her by saying that the strong presence of magic power emanating from the two children could not possibly be people from this remote area to which she agree his explanation until Sergey realized something after hearing the name of their organization as she saw him laughing by telling Karen that Shadow Garden is a mysterious organization that's been active recently causing skirmishes on Midgar Kingdom's outskirts.

At that time, Karen was given first aid by Eta to slow down the progress of her possession while surprising Karen with Eta's ability to cure Demon Possession as well as her skill in eliminating Velgalta soldiers with her slime technique, which the unfamiliar fighting style using slimes was completely different from the Cult's Children of Diablos, until suddenly Sergey accused Karen had in cohorts with Shadow Garden because he presumably thought that she is communicating with the Cult's enemies which made his decision to purging her along with the Herzog Family become clearly ascertain, much to Karen's denial.

When Karen saw Gamma trying to fight Sergey, she was somewhat annoyed that none of her attacks were able to hit him and Sergey realized at a glance that Gamma's inexperience in fighting and gauge the opponent's abilities. Despite Gamma managed to land her attack, the attack didn't work to injure Sergey because it didn't have the slightest effect until, he tried to finish off Gamma by slashing her from the head until she split into two. However, his slash attack only caused a small bump on her head which made Karen surprised after seeing Gamma receive Sergey's powerful attack and survive which even Sergey himself also shocked as he had never witnessed an individual that can't handle magic properly at all are able to possess an incredibly high physical defense.

Seeing the outcome of how their fight had been determined plus Eta already understanding that Gamma would die if she continued this fight, Karen told Eta that Sergey's swordsmanship had precision attacks that could destroy any strong magic defense which made Eta also try to attack with her slime ability to help Gamma, only the slime to be cut down as Sergey is able to read her move along with his ability to predictably sense magic is really good as well. With their predicament situation already become quite precarious, Eta drags away Gamma back to her place and decided to escape while carrying the possessed Karen because their abilities are unable to defeat Sergey, from which the duo took Karen and escaped on a boat made of slime.

### Defection to Shadow Garden

#### Another Life

In the laboratory, a conscious Karen wants to ask why she wasn't killed yet which Eta wants to protest and suggest making her a test subject, which Beta and Alpha rebuked her. Karen even found out that there are so many things she didn't understand about their place and all those who had saved her from death, especially cannot believing that her possession symptoms have actually been cured. Alpha then gives two paths that lie before Karen if she is truly the Cult leader, namely, to tell all the knowledge she knows about the Cult of Diablos and leave everything behind to join Shadow Garden or to give them everything on the Cult from here now and then her life that has been saved from possession will be ended by her sword.

When Karen told Alpha that she haven't considered herself choosing the third path where she became a martyr for the Cult by taking her own life, Alpha noted that she had also fleeing from the Cult's pursuers who were after her life even though she was injured, coupled with her symptoms of possession and responded that she wants to survive by rebelling against her fate which makes Alpha think it is impossible for her to do so, even willing to lend her a spear to stab herself with, much to Karen's frustration that Lambda advised her not to underestimate Alpha despite her childlike appearance which made Karen realize that she was a Velgalta soldier after seeing her stance until Lambda revealed that she was also a former possessed who had lost everything besides her life, just like her.

Gamma also tells Karen, who doesn't believe that she is evil after realizing that her actions to protect her from their previous situation isn't something anyone could do even if they wanted to, and Gamma feels that Karen has a sense of duty and pride towards her positions as an aristocrat despite working for the Cult. When Gamma wanted Karen to be able to give an explanation about who she is and her role in the Cult as Karen thought that she would be tortured or given drugs, which made Gamma stated in making that as the final resort and told Karen she intended to have a positive encounter for all of us until may have a long relationship in the future, although it would be that of a superior and a subordinate with Beta and Epsilon amazed at Alpha and Gamma's approach efforts to be able to carry out negotiations with Karen through their own ways until Karen has followed Gamma's persuasion for there is nothing left for her anymore and thought that it was worth relinquishing everything, pride and all.

However, Gamma said to Karen that there must always be something left that exists by responding to their presence being here just like her, which made Karen realize that everyone in front of her had experienced possession before and then Alpha confirmed her guess and later explained that Shadow Garden operates all across the world with a mission to save the possessed and aim to destroy the Cult when they do. Hearing this, Karen finally decided to comply with their request in providing all she had in her knowledge regarding the Cult and then after that resigned to what they would do with her life, other than turn down the request from Eta who wanted to make her as her test subject which made her felt an incredibly bad feeling if she agrees to her offer.

Sometime later, Karen is ushered into a meeting room which includes four members of the "Seven Shadows" along with Lambda and asks Alpha to briefly tell her everything she knows about the Cult in detail, so that she wouldn't have to reiterate what Shadow Garden already knew during their organization's founding. Alpha provides a fairly understandable explanation by saying that the Cult of Diablos control the world from the shadows that have been abduct those who are having Demon Possession symptoms and use them as test subjects to serve some purpose by having deep ties with the Church as well as having tenuous relationship to the Church's inquisitors, the Templars until she said the most important thing to Karen that the Cult's structural powers are so vast that even their subordinates cannot obtain satisfactory intel on its workings, which made Karen felt amazed by the detailed information their organization had gathered so far after hearing her impressive explanation to the point of thinking that Shadow Garden is evidently much more knowledgeable than any other outsiders concerning the Cult, even more so than those of the aristocracy themselves who had been deeply infiltrated by the Cult to the point as Karen herself who feel wondered that she wanted to ask about who had told them all of this, but decided to keep quiet after Alpha point her slime sword at her.

#### Exposing Cult Intelligence

Feeling she wouldn't get an answer to her question, Karen went descriptive in her explanation that the Cult of Diablos has been active in the shadows of history since ancient times, even played a significant role in the formation of the Velgalta Empire. Beta also knew the empire's history that before unification, many local lords were vying for power and there were frequent skirmishes between lords throughout the continent, until there were no hidden details have been recorded in the history that was passed down amongst the people, which made Alpha emphasize in providing the fact that aristocrats like the Herzog Family played an important role after becoming pawns of the Cult.

Karen also explains that everyone was exhausted from the wars that raged across the continent until the land was finally unified under the Velgalta Empire where most of the lords lacked ambition were willing to serve any ruler so long as they were guaranteed autonomy, at which point the Cult effortlessly infiltrated the aristocrats' inner circle and the Herzog Family were one of the aristocratic families that accepted the Cult's power and submitted to them, which led Alpha to concluded that Karen as the head of a noble family was born a member of the Cult with Karen responding that control works best when undetected. Moreover, when war breaks out, it was the common people who suffered the most which made her ancestors understood what needed to be done to avoid unnecessary bloodshed to the extent that this is the reason why the Herzog Family has long played their part in maintaining peace within the Velgalta Empire, restraining those brash individuals who only seek conflict, and protecting the lives of their people.

After hearing the explanation, the two of them argued over their respective ideals with Alpha concluding to Karen that thinking is the arrogant mentality typical of people dominating others that had taken away the opportunities of those Karen claimed to protect in walking on their own two feet and grow. When Karen stated to Alpha that her words were nothing more than idealistic notion because not everyone can possess power and lead the lives they desire, which made Alpha retorted that Karen is denying people the opportunity to fail and of course that was an example of "controlling" them to which Karen herself being "controlled" by acting in accordance with the Cult's will, even explaining again that Karen is genuinely believe that her thoughts were correct despite being fully aware of what is happening until Alpha remarks that Karen had turned her back on her beliefs and boast about the shackles that bind her, urging others to wear them as well, which makes Karen a slave to power much to her frustration by saying that her family believes that their actions are the best way and they have fulfilled their duties as the Herzog Family until now.

However, Gamma replied that their duties no longer existed after hearing that the entire Herzog Family had been annihilated by Sergey, which made Epsilon ask Karen who Sergey really is and wanted to know if the Seven Blades itself is an organization that affiliated with the Cult. Karen tries to confirm Epsilon's assumption by clarifying that the Velgalta's Seven Blades is a title given to knights who are highly regarded in the Empire for their pure martial prowess and ability to utilize them, even telling that Sergey Gorman is a knight who duel against a previous member of the Seven Blades which is also coincidentally a Cult's "*Children*" member by wagering the title in a match until Sergey eventually defeated his contender after claiming that position along with his opponent's life, earning him both titles.

Hearing that title name after Gamma had heard that Karen referred to Sergey by that term before, it is certain that it was only natural for a large organization to have words indicating position within its hierarchal structure as Alpha being blunt by asking who is at the head of the Cult, which made Karen reveals that there are individuals in charge of determining the Cult's policies and governing its central operations through the **"Round Table Committee"** as its members known as the Knights of Rounds or simply the "*Rounds*" which makes Alpha never expected that the Cult of Diablos is controlled by a collective, not an individual.

Despite knowing the Knights of Rounds' title name, Karen and even her long-standing aristocratic family had lack knowledge about who they are, how many of them, or the details of their hierarchal structure in the Rounds, which Beta thought that the Cult is a secret organization where even aristocrats are treated as underlings. However, Karen stated that the Herzog Family only recognized the names of four known Rounds members, namely Fenrir, Loki, Hel, and Jormungandr which then revealed that it seemed that each of them hold a specific rank, but so far she only aware Fenrir's position rank is "Sixth" in the **Round Table** until Beta answered that the four names mentioned by Karen are all matched the Cult's name factions in Midgar Kingdom and she assumed that perhaps because of conflicts between the Cult's factions in Midgar, even many of their subordinates know their names.

When Epsilon wants to ask what the name "Children" means, which she thinks is a title within the Cult, Karen confirms that people who possess power and serve the Cult like herself are generally called the Children of Diablos which she is giving an elaborates details explanation regarding on the Children's distinctions between First, Second, and Third. Karen explains that those below the "Third" are treated as ordinary members or foot soldiers of the Cult, as she reveals that those who were born and raised Children like herself or those who joined and became Children like Sergey, are rare cases to which she gives the general understanding that the Cult finds orphans with no relatives or children of poor commoner with high aptitude, then abducts them from their homes and raising them in special facilities to be brainwashed into undergo rigorous combat training, educated as members of the Cult, and administered drugs to enhance them.

Although Karen says that the Herzog Family were not like other aristocratic families and subordinate organizations because they merely offers a means of escape from poverty by becoming Children, Alpha explains that all the acts done out of kindness are basically just wanting to save those who are gifted with lives to be saved based on practical conditions before even considering whether they want to be saved, which makes Karen feel uncomfortable with her accusation by saying that humans aren't that intelligent until Gamma breaks up their argument and asks Karen to explain again about the different ranks for the Children mean.

Later, Karen provided detailed information that "Third" is a general term for Children whose minds could not withstand enhancement to which they are solely used for basic combat, which led Lambda to think that these mentally broken members had no risk of leaking information until Karen added that they possess fighting abilities far surpassed any standard knight. Then Karen explained that "Second" are those with stable mental states and certify that most of the Cult's leaders were belong into this rank, until finally Karen confirmed that the "First" distinguishes Children like herself are possess undeniable strength.

When Beta curiously asks if there are any individuals among the Children who become members of the Rounds, Karen answers her question by saying that Children of Diablos who show promise or make significant contributions to the Cult are given two titles and such individuals are referred to as "Named Children" which most of them are "First", but there are some members who are from "Second" because becoming *Named* within the Cult is said to be a gateway to joining the Knights of Rounds.

After learning what their arch enemy organization's chain of command system was like, Seven Shadows completely deduces that the Cult of Diablos are using the methods to which precisely imposed by those in control, by training Children while dangling the position of power known as the Rounds. Also, Alpha wanted to ask Karen if her upbringing in an environment that raised her had blinded her to the contradictions inherent in such actions or perhaps knew how distorted their hierarchical structure was but turned blind eye in order to reap its benefits.

#### Crossroad of Identity

Sensing that Shadow Garden has already gained a definitive understanding on the Cult's secret inner structure, Alpha gives Karen time to reflect on herself and helps convince her to understand the reality that the Cult's domination of the world is built on lies and deception after her experience as a possessed, even if Karen is willing to discard everything that has made her up to now, then they are ready to welcome her as a member of Shadow Garden. Alpha then told Lambda to treat Karen accordingly while she remains their guest in Alexandria by giving her a bedroom to be a place for her to think, as a token of appreciation for sharing actionable intel with Shadow Garden.

Following the conversation, Karen has been wandering around Alexandria and usually spend her time on Eta's experiments. At one of these experiment, Karen to do one of Eta's experiments as she is pedaling the bicycle that her movement efforts will generate power to the machine in creating electricity she made which Karen thought felt that she had already become her test subject because it made no difference in doing what Eta told her, even though she denied it until finally Gamma entered the laboratory and ordered Eta to stop her experiments on their guest while checking on Karen's condition and taking her outside to get some fresh air.

Once outside, Karen wants to know the reason for having her as a guest even though she herself is their enemy, which Gamma then tells Karen that she has lost everything she has besides her life after becoming possessed as Gamma replied although Shadow Garden's objective is to destroy the Cult, their efforts to rescuing and protecting the possessed is an equally important mission. When Karen says that she will gather intel and bring it back to the Cult, Gamma responds that if Karen is planning to do that then she shouldn't be crazy enough to go along with Eta's experiments after Gamma realizes that Karen doesn't seem to really care about her own well-being and also she wants to change herself, to which is the reason why Karen have gone along to accept Eta's dangerous invitation without a second thought until Gamma discovered Karen's desire to survive after seeing her involved in Eta's experiments.

Knowing her behavior was being noticed, Karen confessed to Gamma that she didn't know what to do because she felt resentment and sadness over her fate, along with a sense of retribution for the Herzog Family turning a blind eye to reality but more than anything, her heart felt empty as Gamma advise that she can rise again and start anew after learning Karen's realization until she told Karen to live, even ask her to witness how the future of their world unfolds and the pivotal role that Shadow Garden will play, to which would be best to join and served Shadow Garden until Karen gets enlightened from Gamma's explanation.

In order to determine her chosen path, Karen asked Alpha for a challenge to a duel in a spear fight while in her prime condition with Alpha agreeing to Karen's heartfelt request and telling her that if she can defeat her in spear skills until she feels she has truly lost everything, then Karen will pledge her loyalty to Shadow Garden.

#### Karen vs Alpha

Even though Karen's level as a former Named First Children are strong that which far beyond the level of an ordinary swordsman or knight with her having mastered exceptional techniques and having a combat instinct that allowed her to wield those techniques with precision which made her strength became recognized to the point where she earned the title of one of the Velgalta's Seven Blades, Alpha eventually defeats Karen in a close combat with hand-to-hand martial arts after intentionally giving an sudden strike by hitting on her right eye.

Gamma and Eta also saw their great fight, even Lambda herself praised the abilities of the two combatants that Karen anticipated Alpha would throw her sword and followed it up with a melee attack due to knowing slime sword properties. But Alpha instantly picked up on Karen's response as she closed their distance past the sword's range and countered with a close-quarter physical attack like Delta when under pressure by using force to overpower her opponent.

Seeing Karen who was already feeling herself powerless after her defeat, Alpha stated to her that she won't be able to defeat her, the other Seven Shadows, or even the Numbers in Shadow Garden as long as she still "Karen" as Alpha trying to make her face reality after noticing the disparity in skills, even their slime swords and slime suits.

Then, Alpha proclaims that the Shadow Garden swordsmanship utilized not just blades, but also fists, kicks, elbows, and knees as part of a comprehensive attack, plus their organization even has the power to heal the Demon Possession symptoms as they did to her because all of these are from the "Shadow Wisdom" that was bestowed upon them by the leader of Shadow Garden, **Shadow** to which also reveal that Shadow Garden exists to carry out his will by destroying the Cult of Diablos and restoring the world to its natural form.

Later on, after that, Alpha asks Karen once again to discard her name to join Shadow Garden and pledge her allegiance to Shadow, because there is nothing left of what made her who she is until Karen finally cries as she has truly lost everything. But the act of doing so is for the best when Gamma tells Lambda if there's something inside of them that they just can't let go of and it's hindering them from progressing, then having someone else sever that connection they're clinging to can allow them to move forward.

#### Becoming Chi

Eventually, Alpha handed over Karen's training to Lambda when a excommunicate "Named" First Children, *The Shooting Star* Karen von Herzog defected to Shadow Garden after joining the organization by being giving her the Numbers title as **111** and she would be trained by Lambda personally, as well as aims to destroy the Cult of Diablos that was had betrayed her to pay for their betrayal for the annihilation of the Herzog Family who had served them for generations. In the midst of that, Gamma wanted to ask about the Cult's knowledge regarding the manufacturing method that Sergey meant, which seemed to her to sound like a phrase that stood out, with Karen saying that the enclosed sensitive knowledge she mentioned is something important for members who had become Rounds and revealed the name of the item in question, Tears of Diablos.

At some point later, Karen rose through the ranks to become one of Shadow Garden's double-digit Numbers because her ability and strength are recognized by the Seven Shadows, to which she earns a "Named" Rank no. 22 and becoming Named Numbers when she would identify herself as **Chi**. Also, Chi established a strong and direct relationship with Epsilon, one of the original Seven Shadows, and worked together with Omega to become Epsilon's direct subordinates.

## Volume 2

### Sanctuary Infiltration

As the Goddess's Trial commenced in Lindwurm, Shadow Garden prepared for an infiltration mission, and Chi was present in the city. When Shadow suddenly made himself known to summon the memory of Aurora and concluding their battle with the result of Aurora's defeat along with the opening gate to Sanctuary at the same time, Chi was among the Shadow Garden contingent that followed Alpha, Delta, and Epsilon into the Sanctuary. Before entering the Sanctuary, Chi joined Omega by Epsilon's side as they are taking Natsume Kafka a *"hostage"* and entering the Sanctuary, along with the Acting Archbishop Jack Nelson.

Inside, Chi and Omega followed Epsilon with a unit of Numbers to collect and gather all intelligence from the memory world they found within the Sanctuary, confirming some theories on the Cult's origins, learning new details, and understanding their motives much better. While the Slime Bodysuits were malfunctioning due to proximity to the core, Chi and Omega apparently imagined that Epsilon's (fake) breasts fell off and reattached, but when Epsilon was looking at them, they said nothing.

As their investigation mission are complete along with the information they collect from the Sanctuary, Alpha ordered all Numbers to leave which Chi complied and following her order to leave the Sanctuary, leaving Acting Archbishop Nelson to battle Shadow. Then, Shadow Garden's team was outside, and Chi saw Shadow erased the Sanctuary using his "Atomic" spell. With the city flooded by the Sanctuary's destruction, Chi and Omega helped escorting Alpha and Epsilon out of Lindwurm with the intelligence they collected.

### Bushin Festival Tournament

When her master, Cid Kagenou, came to the Mitsugoshi Company asking for help in disguising himself so that he can participate in the Bushin Festival without explaining his reasons, Chi was seen together with Omega in operating the face-making machine created by Eta. To accomplish this, she was riding a bicycle that would power and activate a device for the facial profile changing machine to work. After Gamma had applied the slime make-up to cover his face and had chosen the face on Mundane Mann's character, Chi immediately started pedaling to start the Eta machine. Once she began the remodeling process of modeling his master's face, finally Cid's new facial profile had changed to Mundane.

Following the events of the Bushin Festival that occurred in Midgar Kingdom learning her master Shadow appeared to save Princess Rose Oriana from Perv Asshat's capture, an account of the situation was being communicated by Eta through a newly established code network. Chi was then seen together with Omega and Epsilon as the three of them started an infiltration mission within the Oriana Kingdom's capital. While they conducted their operation, Shadow Garden would also be involved with an imminent conflict Major Corporate Alliance. Curiously, Chi sees Delta up on the roof, surveying her surroundings in finding her lord, but did not intercede given her superior's strength and independence.

### Great Trading Company Conflict

Chi and Omega assisted Alpha and Gamma with business analytics for Mitsugoshi until Nu alerted them to intruders. But as Gamma volunteered to combat them, Alpha commanded Chi and Omega to aid her, much to the dismay of the pair. Upon encountering the Clovers, Chi and Omega dealt with the Second and Third Leaf members as Gamma dealt with the First Leaf. With the fight finished within a couple minutes, Chi was just as astonished (if not stunned) by Gamma defeating the leader while tripping over herself and getting a nosebleed.

After the conflict with the MCA concluded, Mitsugoshi passed out special invitations to select customers for their grand opening of a hot springs resort. Chi was present on the staff alongside Omega, with both dressed in swimwear and an employee t-shirt, serving guests of the resort. Chatting with the Seven Shadows and joking about Nu taking a paid day off at the wrong time, Chi would hear Eta mention an anomalous surge of magic beneath the hot springs, which would culminate in a minor crisis. Once resolved, Chi and other employees would alleviate their guests's concerns by claiming the event was part of a show and market memorabilia.

## References

1. ↑ *Volume 1 Chapter 5: Mastering the Peaceful Life of a Nobody!*
2. ↑ Episode 28