When I opened my eyes, all I could see was darkness.

The Primordial Dark will hasten its awakening, Omegaɑ’s words echoed in my mind.

Oh crap! What happened to the battle?!

I bolted upright and my head hit the darkness. What? This was solid? Was I trapped inside a dome of darkness?

You finally figured it out. I wonder how you survived this long with that head, a voice inside me said.

This darkness… Is someone else controlling it? I asked.

Does it matter? You can control any darkness with my powers. 

Oh yeah.

I willed the darkness to fade away and the first thing I saw was a large beast’s claws going down towards me.

“Woah! What the hell?!” I managed to roll away.

GAHAHAHAHA! You should’ve seen the look on your face! the voice laughed.

I unsheathed my sword and faced the beast.

It was a purple-furred beast that looked like an oversized rabbit. However, its front teeth looked like fangs instead. It also had sharp claws but the most noticeable thing about it was the large red gem on its head.

I swung my sword and managed to cut its skin. Was its skin this soft? Maybe the only good thing about it was its size.

Go, go, Mikage! Go, go, Mikage! the voice inside me cheered.

You’re distracting me too much, Anya! I scolded them.

My shadow rose up into one large spike as I willed it to impale the beast. However, its flesh was tough so I couldn’t fully impale it.

Come on… Your imagination is lacking. You’re not using darkness properly. I’m ashamed to share a body with you, he said.

That was when I realized that the voice I was talking to was a familiar-sounding male’s voice. I wasn’t talking to Anya all this time.

Let me show you how to use darkness!

Several spikes popped out from my shadow that impaled the beast. If that wasn’t enough, the shadow of the beast moved on its own and turned into multiple spikes that further skewered it.

You can control any darkness in existence. So you might as well learn how to use it!

The beast disintegrated except for the red gem. I didn’t mind that. I had one important question I wanted to ask.

Who are you? I questioned.

A semi-transparent man appeared in front of me. He had black hair and he was wearing a white uniform similar to what the Westa Knight Order would wear. The sclera of his eyes were black and his irises were red. But his face was very familiar.

The one and only Primordial Dark!, he gave a bow as an introduction.

Excuse me, what? 

Just as he says. He’s the Primordial Dark, Anya’s voice said.

My heart felt relieved when I heard Anya. And from how she acknowledged his existence, I wasn’t going insane.

Gahahaha! I win the bet, Anya! He didn’t notice something was wrong until I had to drop a major hint like that! the Primordial Dark laughed.

What’s going on? I asked.

Oh, that? You’ve been snoring for some time so I decided to break the ice with Anya. We had a little talk which ended up with me betting that you are too airheaded to notice that there’s an entirely new and different person speaking, he explained.

No. Not that! Why is the Primordial Dark talking and having a familiar-looking appearance? I asked.

Oh? You have no idea why I’m familiar? Have you looked at the mirror recently?

I then realized that he looked exactly like me except for his eyes.

Wow. You really are an airhead, huh? he smirked.

That’s not the important part! 

It’s thanks to the Primordial Rea— errm… Their name is Omegaɑ now, right? Yeah. Yeah. Thank them! 

Hold on… Explain like I’m five.

Here’s what happened while you were unconscious, Anya sighed.

She then explained what happened. When Omegaɑ touched me, they commanded the Primordial Dark to awaken. In the next second, Yoclesh, Merryweather, and Ryuuki fought a strange being who appeared in my mind.

The fight was broken up by Shiki and the other masters and after talking it over, the Primordial Dark said that he somehow had free will.

Wait… Why did Omegaɑ do that? Weren’t they out to kill me? I asked.

I have no idea. I was trying hard to calm you down to even notice that the Primordial Dark gained free will. I was surprised when Shiki introduced me to him, Anya answered.

We’ll never know what they are thinking. Besides, shouldn’t you be more worried, Mikage? the Primordial Dark asked.

Worried? Why?

Really? You’re that much of an airhead? Look around and you’ll see!

And then I realized we were nowhere near Westa. All around us was a barren wasteland. There were no trees or even any plants. Only dirt and rocks greeted my eyes.

“Where are we?” I asked.

We are most likely in the Demon Realm, Anya said.

And what makes you say that, Anya? the Primordial Dark asked.

The creature we fought disintegrated except for the gem. That’s the characteristic of a Crystal Beast whenever they would die. And Crystal Beasts can only be found in the Demon Realm.

I see. That’s another thing to add to our knowledge.

Wait. Why are we in the Demon Realm? Did we get teleported? I asked.

That I don’t know! I was busy fighting the other masters and then had to sit down and talk to them so I have no idea how we ended up here. But I know one thing we have to do.

And that is? Anya asked.

Can’t you feel it, Mikage? That energy. It’s being gathered in the south. It’s as if it’s calling us.

I then noticed what he was trying to say. 

A massive concentration of that strange energy was in the south. It was the very same energy I could feel back when Theodore Sen and Captain Reagan took that pill. In other words…

Is the Unkindness here? I asked.

I can arrive at that same conclusion since whenever that strange energy is involved, the Unkindness was pulling the strings, Anya answered.

Unkindness? What’s that? the Primordial Dark asked.

An organization that’s trying to get me and you. I have no idea what their plans are but I don’t want to find out, I told him.

Oh. That’s a pain. And what are you going to do? Go straight to it?

Probably. If they are gathering that amount of energy, it must not be for a good reason.

Besides, that was the only hint I had. There must be a reason why I got teleported here and if I just walked back to Westa as if nothing happened, it would be like I was running away.

I began my walk down the barren wasteland with the south as my destination. There were many questions in my mind and the only way to get them was to move on forward. And speaking of questions, I had one important one.

Hey, Primordial Dark? I called out.

What’s up? he asked.

What’s your name?

Haato once told me that the Primordial Beings have their own names. In her case, she said that the Primordial Insanity’s name was Haachama. I felt the need to learn the Primordial Dark’s name since I was sure that he’d rather be called with a proper name.

I have one? he asked.

Wait. You don’t?

Not that I can remember. Then again, I remember nothing. My first memory is when I opened my eyes and saw a red-skinned oni charging at me.

Yoclesh really attacked you without warning?

In her defense, she fought in the Dark Times. So when a stranger with the same aura as the Primordial Dark would appear unannounced, she would fight without a second thought, Anya said.

So uncivilized, the Primordial Dark clicked his tongue.

We’re getting off track. If you have no name, then do you want me to give you one? I asked.

Do I need one?

I don’t know. I’m thinking it would be nice if you have one. I would rather be called “Mikage” instead of “this man” or “administrative officer.” Things might be different for you though.

Then go think of a name for me!

I tried to think as I walked forward. Since he was the Primordial Dark, I should give a fitting name. It would be too lazy if I was going to just name him “Kuro” and naming him “Yami Mikage” made me sound like the main character of a children’s card game’s anime.

 Black… Kuroe?? No. That was still lazy. But what about other languages?

“Noir”, I muttered.

Hmmm? the Primordial Dark didn’t catch what I said.

How about Noir? That sounds cool.

The Primordial Dark was silent for a whole minute as I wondered whether my naming sense might be bad.

Alright then! Nice to meet you! My name is Noir, the Primordial Dark!

And so, my journey with Noir in the Demon Realm began.

###

A/N: The start of Volume 5!! Woooh! Let’s hope this one goes well too! 

(Still not sorry for giving that heart attack on April 1.)