"Fuck off."
Altair swore at them. Changing Erebus into daggers.
"Look, Altair, though the last, who knows how many, centuries have been the same for us, today, we won't kill you."
The green-haired man said.
He had a stern look on his face though his tone did not match it.
His hair was leafy-green and short, meanwhile, his eyes were yellow. He also wore glasses, a shirt and a tie.
He looked like a regular office worker.
"Please believe us."
The white-haired woman asked.
Her hair was mid-length and white--a beautifully unique colour--and her eyes were ruby red. She wore a black t-shirt with frayed denim shorts. The woman also had a puffy coat on her, despite it being summer.
She was the woman who Altair shot an arrow at earlier.
"Why would I--"
Suddenly, Altair's head began pounding. He dropped Erebus into his shadow as he tried to soothe his headache. Then...
"Huh? Where am I?"
Shoya woke up. Altair was not in control of his body anymore. It seemed like the strain of that iaido did it in for him.
The six of them looked at him, slightly surprised.
Shoya noticed their glares.
"Who are you guys?"
The boy had not seen anything Altair did.
To him, it was like he was in the supermarket then suddenly on the street with five more people.
"Well, this will be easier. I am Reinhardt. The Green Emperor."
Shoya reacted instantly.
He prepped a Shadow Gauntlet Overdrive and drove it toward Reinhardt. But...
He stopped it himself.
"That's strange..."
Shoya said, undoing his Shadow Gauntlet.
(If they are the Emperors that killed Altair as soon as they saw him, why aren't they trying to kill me? I don't sense any major killing intent either. Something's off.)
"Well, at least he's smart."
The man said.
He was dressed and looked the shabbiest of them all. His hair was somewhat long and messy; it covered his left eye. There were dark circles under his eyes and he wore a cloak, which looked like it had not been changed for years. His hair, eyes and cloak were all grey.
"He seems cuter than Altair."
"Azuka, stop being an absolute whore. You were just at a party with five guys."
A girl told the white-haired woman, Azuka.
The girl looked Shoya's age, if not slightly older.
She had a bowl cut, which was slightly messy. Her hair was purple meanwhile her eyes were lilac. She also had dark circles under her eyes.
This girl wore a black hoodie and shorts. She did not seem dressed properly.
Shoya thought that the girl reminded her of a gamer.
"Come on, Lili! You know how handsome Altair is! This boy doesn't look like him but he's on par with him, well, in cuteness."
When Azuka licked her lips, looking at Shoya, he flinched.
"You have a husband! Does he know you're doing this type of stuff with guys?!"
"Yeah."
"God, I just want to go back to playing video games..."
"I fear for you, Azuka."
A boy said.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Aether."
This boy looked older than Shoya by a little bit. His hair was blonde and his eyes were blue. He wore a tracksuit.
"What? Why?"
Aether asked Azuka.
"Well, you have multiple girlfriends. You can't do that."
Azuka said.
"Hey, they're okay with me having more than one. Besides, do the guys you chill with know you have a husband?"
When Aether pointed that out, Azuka diverted her vision slowly.
"Uh..."
"That's enough messing around. Let us explain the situation to him."
Reinhardt said, silencing the other Emperors.
Then, he silently glared at Shoya. Shoya felt the need to look away but, for some reason, the look in Reinhardt's eyes made him too scared to divert his eyes.
"Ummm..."
Shoya mumbled.
"He's trying to say that he wants your name."
The woman, Azuka, said.
"Reinhardt isn't good with words."
"Oh, if that's it then... I'm Shoya Sasaki, a student at Altheria Academy."
Then, he decided to add something on.
"And the Black Emperor."
They all looked at him seriously before Reinhardt coughed.
"Now, I shall introduce us. As I already told you, I am the Green Emperor, Reinhardt. In the human world, I go by Rin."
Shoya blinked a few times.
"Human world?"
"Us Emperors like to blend in with humankind for fun. All of us have two names excluding Altair and the Grey Emperor there."
"But... I thought it was kind of against the rules."
"Rules? What're you talking about? What can mere mortals do to gods?"
Azuka scoffed.
Shoya nodded.
"Anyway, the Grey Emperor there is Xander. As you can see, he's a dirty vagabond."
Xander nodded at Shoya.
"The Red Emperor is the whore of a woman, Azuka. Her human world name is Alice."
"Why would you call me that?!"
The woman, Azuka, pouted.
Shoya felt the need to stay as far away as he could from the Red Emperor.
"The Purple Emperor is this gamer addict, Lilith. She prefers to be called Lili."
The purple-haired girl, who was scratching her head, let out a lazy greeting.
"Yo~!"
"And finally, this playboy here is Aether who goes by the name, Osamu."
The Yellow Emperor winked at Shoya, who backed away in a hurry.
Five Emperors were right in front of him.
Suddenly, Shoya thought back to a line Reinhardt said, 'she prefers to be called Lili,' which meant that he would have future interactions with them.
No one would like someone they met for the first time to call them by a nickname.
"Wait, so, you're not going to kill me?"
He asked, a little nervous.
Azuka was the one who answered.
"Normally, we would but there's a reason as to why we are not."
"A reason? Like what?"
Abruptly, there was a deafening BOOM and smoke, trailed by flames, rose into the air. When Shoya looked over, he instantly noticed something.
"That's the direction of the school..."
"That's the reason. The only reason."
Aether said, unfazed, staring at the smoke.
"Regulus is currently making a move. What he's doing will mean that he plans to move against us and is betraying the Emperors. You seem to be a powerful Black Emperor and understand your abilities of Shadow far more than any previous incarnation."
"Shoya Sasaki, we are taking you to our palace, Olympus, to train you. If done correctly, you may even be as strong as one of us. We will take you there now. Quickly."
Reinhardt suddenly said.
Shoya looked at him and replied.
"What about the school and people? About Kuro?"
"You'll have to leave them behind. After your training is complete, you'll see them."
"No... I can't just leave like this! I need to--"
With a swift chop to the neck, Lilith knocked Altair and caught him as he was about to fall.
"So noisy."
Lilith put her face against the fur around Shoya's neck.
"But so fluffy..."
"Reinhardt."
Azuka called out.
"Is this the right thing to do? I mean, right then, he seemed terribly similar to Altair. We could've just given up on him and maybe he would've grown from this situation."
She said, slightly worried.
"Yes, maybe if we do leave him, he may grow but if he grows stronger than Altair, what will we do?"
"I--"
"Training him ourselves is better. Killing an old friend is wearing all of our hearts out."
Azuka looked down as she replied.
"I guess..."