On that day, the student, Kagera Sanashi was killed in a stabbing. Upon the ambulances arrival, he was already dead. All of his hopes and dreams were all but lost to him, including his dream of achieving strength.
In the afterlife, he was greeted by The Shadow Monarch, Ashborn. Who assisted in his new life, at the price of him taking his mantle and becoming the new Shadow Monarch.
After his meeting with Ashborn, Kagera awoke to see that he was now in the arms of a woman, presumably his new mother along with his new father looking at him. He began his newfound life as the first son and second born child of The Kagenou Family, Kagari Kagenou.
Kagari's Thoughts: (Ashborn was right, I really was reincarnated to another world. Apparently, I'm the first son of a town on the country side, a barony I think it's called. It looks like my reincarnation was a success.)
As his parents were talking about what to name him, Kagari turned his head to see another baby on the bed, but this baby was different as she did have black hair, but with red eyes.
Kagari's Thoughts: (Who is that...?)
(Timeskip: 2 Years)
In the house of The Kagenou Family, Kagari can be seen walking towards the room where their parents are in with some of the maids following him.
Kagari's Thoughts: (Okay, so it's been about 2 years since I was reincarnated to this new world and my new name is Kagari Kagenou of The Kagenou Family.)
Kagari: (Mom and Dad thought it was weird that I didn't cry when I came out of the womb. So, I faked it. I still had my 19 year old mind and I didn't have the need to cry. When I first saw my surroundings, I saw that the world I was now part of was similar to my old one in a few ways. Except for one, Magic actually existed in this world. Ashborn wasn't kidding.)
Kagari's Thoughts: (Oh, and that girl who I saw that day is actually my sister, Claire. I've always wanted a sibling. Apparently, my mother was pregnant with both of us, but she came out first and I came out the day after her. So, I'm basically considered the second child. Even though I would have liked to have been the oldest child in the family. Speaking of family...)
Kagari's Thoughts: (My new family in this world is rather strange to say the least....)
Kagari's Thoughts: (First is my new mom. During the last two years, I can say that she is a kind woman. But, she doesn't have her angry moments when it comes to things with my new dad. Which I can understand.)
Kagari's Thoughts: (..-_-....I say that because in this world, I'm only 2 years old but I clearly can see that my new father is a poor excuse of a male role model for me. It's no wonder why Mom is the actual head of the family and she calls him Baldy instead of dear or husband.)
Kagari's Thoughts: (But nothing prepared me for what I saw next...)
When Kagari entered the room, he saw his father hovering over the bed as mother held a baby in her arms.
Mr.Kagenou: Haha! Claire always wanted another little brother! She'll be overjoyed!
Kagari's Thoughts: (Oh, they had another one. Looks like I'm an older brother. Cool....)
Cid's Thoughts: (What the hell...?)
Mrs.Kagenou: But something's not quite right. Much like Kagari, he never seems to cry.
Cid's Thoughts: (Oh, I get it now...)
Cid: wahhhh. wahhhh. wahhhh.
Mr.Kagenou: Haha! What a hearty cry!
Mrs.Kagenou: Oh, I must be imagining things.
Kagari's Thoughts: (He's doing the same thing I did.)
Cid's Thoughts: (I have no idea how or why this has happened. But that's just a minor detail. More importantly, the air is filled with magical energy. But it was strange...)
Cid's Thoughts: (When I looked at the one who was my older brother, I swear I could feel the presence of a deathly aura around him. Maybe when I get older I'll....uh oh....)
Kagari's Thoughts: (Did he just...?)
Cid's Thoughts: (I pooped....)
Cid: wahhh. wahhh. wahhh.
(Timeskip: 10 years)
Both Kagera Sanashi and Minoru Kagenou were both killed in the same world 2 years apart from each other. Now, they were both reincarnated in a different world as Kagari Kagenou and Cid Kagenou, both brothers and The Sons of Baron Kagenou, an aristocrat who lived in the countryside, away from the royal capital.
10 years have passed since that day, Kagari along his sister Claire were now 12 years old, and Cid was now 10 years old.
Kagari's main goal was never to become a Dark Knight, despite having the magic to do so, his goal was to master the powers Ashborn bestowed upon him and live a normal peaceful life with his newfound powers and strength.
As for his younger brother Cid, his goal was much different. He wanted to become a powerful being who's not the hero or the villain of the story. The Eminence in Shadow.
So when it came down to who was the strongest among The Kagenou Siblings, Claire appeared to be the strongest and gained the most attention, while Kagari allowed himself to appear decently strong and receive an average amount of attention, and Cid decided to be below average in his strength and barely get any attention at all.
(Timeskip)
Nightfall, Forest
At nighttime, Kagari would sneak out of the house via his bedroom window with his sword and secretly train by destroying the large boulders in the forest near his home.
Kagari was slashing the boulders to pieces with his sword. It has now been 12 years since his reincarnation and he's now much stronger than he was in his previous life.
Kagari: Ah, that should be enough for the night.
Kagari's Thoughts: (12 years. It's been twelve years since I've been here. Wow, time flies by fast. One day I'm a college student, next I'm training to inherit the powers of a Death God. I guess this is what those Isekai Protagonists go through, huh?)
???: Hello, brother.
Kagari looked up at one of the boulders to see his younger brother Cid standing one of them.
Kagari: ...-_-....What's up, Cid?
Cid: Nothing much. I just found a nice little bandit camp in that abandoned town not too far from here. Wanna join me? It is time for me to test out those Slime Bodysuits I made. .
Kagari: So, this test is for that "Shadow Persona" you love to talk about.
Cid: So big bro, will you help me..?
Kagari: Sure. Besides, you'll go back to being a "mob" by morning anyway.
Cid: Thanks, bro! See you there!
With that, Cid teleports away.
Kagari's Thoughts: (Cid Kagenou, my younger brother. It took a while, but I found out that he was a reincarnate, just like me. Growing up, it was strange. He didn't seem interested in the Dark Knights, not that I blame him.)
Kagari's Thoughts: (But when he was a baby, it always seemed like he was looking at me. He did have a very high affinity for magic. Even as we were growing up over the years, he always seemed to be focused on me instead of our parents and sister. After I figured out that he was a reincarnate, I found out something else....)
Kagari's Thoughts: (Apparently, my little brother's dream is to become a person known as The Eminence in Shadow.)
Kagari sighs.
Kagari's Thoughts: (-_-.....Honestly, my little brother is a piece of work with his fantasies, and it's not like fighting some bandits are going to help me get stronger...whatever, it's a good way to kill time.)
(Timeskip)
Later that night.....
Cid: Hahahahaha!
In the abandoned town, Kagari watched in annoyance as Cid was ripping the bandits to pieces with his slime bodysuit.
Cid is the 3rd Child and Second Son of The Kagenou Family. For the last 10 years, he pretended to be weak but in reality, he's actually a very powerful and slightly sadistic fighter. Much like his older brother, he too liked to sneak away from home at night to train, practice his magic, and hunt down bandits to test his skills.
Cid: I see business is booming, my dear bandits! Now, kindly show me your valuables!
Bandit: Do you dare get cocky with us, you twerp!
The bandit pulled out a gun and tried to shoot Cid, but he dodged the bullet.
Bandit: Wait, did he just...?
Cid: Hey, you there. Enough idol chit-chat, I told you to hand over the money.
Cid cut the bandits head off with his slime sword.
Cid: This is my Slime Sword. It's nice, isn't it? It's even more useful than I thought it would be.
Cid: Now then, me and my brother are here to test out our new skills and you guys are the perfect test subjects!
The remaining bandits began to run away from Cid only to see that there was another person walking towards them, after they finished killing the Bandit Leader.
Kagari was wearing a dark suit, similar to Cid's, but he wore a face mask which revealed his eyes.
Kagari: Alright....
Kagari: Who's next..?
Kagari's Thoughts: (Unfortunately, I have to disguise myself as well. Only to hide the fact I'm from the family, of course. My idiot brother thinks I'm doing this to join in on his fantasies.)
???: My liege, allow us to handle these peasants for you.
2 figures began to emerge from Kagari's Shadow.
One was a large knight with a light purple glow, jet-black armor covering him from head to toe, a tattered black cape, and a long red hair-like ornament extending out of the back of his helmet.
The other is a huge humanoid shadow ant with a light purple glow, neon eyes, sharp claws, and smoky wings.
Bandit: What the hell are those things?! Monsters?! Demons?!
Kagari: Welcome Igris, Welcome Beru
Beru/Igris: It is good to see you as well, my liege.
Kagari's Thoughts: (It turns out that Ashborn's top Marshals have been watching over me since I was a baby.)
Beru: Please my liege, allow us to handle this crisis in your stead..?
Kagari: Are you sure, Beru?
Igris: Yes. It would be our honor, my liege.
Kagari: Okay then, you guys can kill them.
Beru: Thank you, my liege. Now, if you'll excuse us.
As Igris and Beru went to go and finish off the rest of the bandits, Kagari and Cid were searching the stolen luggage.
Cid: Our caravan friends, we have avenged you.
Cid: Don't worry my friends, we will make great use of the gifts you've left behind.
Kagari: -_-....Could you try even less at being sympathetic...?
Cid: Let's see, we have money, art, food...
Kagari: Along with some books and weapons. I'll have Greed and Iron bring this back to the house and--
Before Kagari could finish his sentence, they both heard a rumbling sound coming from the stack of boxes.
Cid: What was that...?
Kagari: It came from that cage over there.
Kagari removed the tarp to reveal.
Cid: 0_0...Okay....
Kagari: 0_0....This is...pretty gross...
Cid: Is it a slave...?
Kagari: I don't think so. It's not a corpse, whatever this is has started to rot, but it's still alive. So, that means...it's possessed.
Cid: Check out that wavelength. I felt it before, it's just like a magical overload. Ah, maybe I can use it to--
Kagari: Shadow Split!
Cid: God dammit, brother! So what, you're gonna help whatever this thing is?
Kagari: I have a few ideas.
Igris: My liege, all of the bandits in the idea have been disposed of.
Kagari: Thank you both, excellent work.
Beru: My liege, pardon my intrusion, but what on earth is that repulsive creature? Would you like for me to get rid of it for you?
Kagari: That will not be necessary, Beru.
Kagari placed a hand on the blob and began charging it with magical energy, causing it to break out of the cage and implode.
Kagari: Yep, this is coming back home with us.