Alright, to be an elder brother in a dysfunctional family, I first need a little sister.

Which begs the question; is the next Shadowlord a female? That'd be quite progressive if true, but more importantly, that would mean Azell knows about the Shadowlord from his previous turn.

Kind of seems obvious, now that I think about it. Like, how else would he know that this dungeon is where the leader of Shadows of sealed?

Wait, Azell is not the only one on this mission; Noelle's also here. How exactly did he convince her to participate in this borderline inane expedition?

Like, raising the fucking Shadowlord herself so that she doesn't turn into a genocidal maniac doesn't sound like the best way to deal with the situation.

Did he tell her the truth, that he's a Regressor who has come back to the past to right some wrongs, which more probably than not includes saving Noelle's life?

Or did he make some 1000 IQ plays through which he proved that having such knowledge is not out of the norm for him? Like, maybe he told them he has some 'Premonition' skill which showed him the future?

"Now that I think about it, how did you know there was the Shadowlord itself sealed here?"

Let's ask the man himself.

"A… fortune teller told me."

"…"

He clearly winged it while hoping for the best, and I honestly don't know why his comrades believed him.

They either went along with him while thinking "Get a load of this idiot" or they trusted him because, you know, he is their comrade.

Most likely, it's the latter.

"You… sure do trust your fortune teller a lot."

"Uh-huh. She's honestly the best."

You know what? Fuck it.

I'll deal with things as they come because that's what I do best; carrying my teams.

Quite surprisingly though, our journey to the Shadowlord's holding room(?) was rather uneventful. I was expecting something spicy, like an attack by the other Shadows who had come to pledge their loyalty to their new leader, but it was just a walk in the park.

That sounds highly amusing, now that I think about it.

Imagine being a Shadow who's on a mission to greet the new Shadowlord and carry out a, I dunno, maybe a Coronation Ceremony or something? Except that when he gets there he finds three seedy looking humans are trying to kidnap their infantile Queen because they want to raise her as their, of all things, a daughter.

That stuff would go down in their history books as legitimately the strangest they, as a species, had encountered.

Wait, that's actually how slavery works, does it not? In many of my lives, there were groups who kidnapped children and sold them to couples who could not bear a child on their own.

I imagine the literal Shadowlord would fetch for a really high price.

This mission suddenly took on a not so wholesome turn.

"Hmmm, wait, why exactly are you trying to raise the Shadowlord?"

Let's do the mature thing and simply ask. I'm sure they'll reveal everything to a child they met hours ago.

"…" Azell looked back at me with widened eyes.

"I mean, I thought hard but I cannot see any point in doing this. You do not plan to kill her either, so why don't you just leave her alone?"

Unless there is a subplot going on where the Shadowlord is the last Shadow alive on this planet. We should definitely take her in in that case because I don't think this world has an orphanage for Shadows.

Azell stopped in his tracks and we followed his example because I was in no mood to attempt this mission by my lonesome.

Some moments of silence followed where I was stared at by Azell and Noelle with peculiar gazes.

"Do you know the reason behind the existence of the Shadowlord?" Azell finally opened his mouth.

"The Shadowlord's main goal is to create a just paradise for the Shadows."

The word 'Just' is actually crucial while describing the Shadow's paradise. Because they've been tormented by other races since time immemorial, they want to create a world where no Shadow is unjustly persecuted and no Shadow faces injustice.

"And do you know how they plan to do it?"

"Well, they're of the opinion that true understanding is impossible between the different races, so their plan of action is to eliminate every other race."

And they're not exactly wrong, per se. Understanding between individuals is possible, but understanding between entire races is a different matter altogether.

They're just too different from each other.

For the humans, the Shadow's are just mindless monsters who kill their friends and families. For the Shadows, the humans are cruel maniacs who slaughter their innocent families and friends in the name of justice.

Not all Shadows prey on others, and not all humans go out to hunt down Shadows, but the blood that has been already shed prevents them from comprehending this fact.

"You sure know a lot for a brat." Noelle quipped.

"I call that 'Being well-read'."

"So you read all this in a book?" She furrowed her brows.

"I didn't exactly have anything else to do in that house."

"Oh…"

Hmm, am I gaslighting them? I seriously need to stop playing this victim card or I might traumatise them for life.

"But Noelle is right. You know a lot of things. I expect great things from you as the R&D Head."

"You exaggerate." I shook my head. "Anyway, back to our discussion."

"Right." Azell nodded. "So, what do you think about it?"

"About what?"

"About this whole Shadowlord having to create a paradise thing?"

"Nothing much."

What is there to think about it? It is a King's duty to work for their people. And if a mindless slaughter is what his Kingdom desires, then a mindless slaughter he shall give them.

"Really? Do you not find it… sad that the Shadowlord is put into a role that they did not even ask for? That they are forced to fight for their people even though they never signed up for it?"

"Isn't that what it means to be a leader?"

"Isn't that a burden too heavy for a child that is just born? Look at it from their perspective; from the moment they take a breath into this world, they're expected to carry the burden of their entire race."

"Well, they are also provided with the arsenal to carry out that duty."

A Shadowlord is capable of thinking like an adult from the moment of their birth, while their powers rival those of the strongest Shadows. Needless to say, by the time they reach adulthood, they are already an absolute unit.

"But they don't get a choice, do they? They exist solely for the Shadows. They're poisoned by the Shadow's wrath and pain and become twisted."

Ahhhhhh…

Now I see where he's taking this.

This Shadowlord; the one we're trying to rescue from this dungeon, was most likely Azell's comrade in his previous turn.

It's possible that she made some bad decisions which obviously led to horrific results, and as a leader, she was forced to live with her mistakes and ended up regretting being the Shadowlord.

She might have wondered what would have happened if she wasn't born a Shadowlord. She probably thought about how happy she could have been if she started off as a normal Shadow where she would be free of the worries of being a leader.

Most likely, she was young when this transpired, so she blurted out her thoughts to Azell in a moment of weakness.

And so, our Regressor boi decided to save her by, dare I say, kidnapping her before she could be recognised as the Shadowlord.

And, well I don't want to say this is one of the dumbest things I've heard, but it's pretty damn close.

You don't take someone's raison d'etre unless you're capable of giving them a new one.

That's like, the basics of 'Saving People 101'.