Summary
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Eminence in Shadow, Episode 21, “The Lawless City”, now available to stream onHIDIVE.
Famous for its rise among other notable isekai works in the fall of 2022,The Eminence in Shadowreturns with more moments for fans to enjoy. AfterCid Kagenouloses his life, as is usual with isekai characters, he starts his life with the hopes of fulfilling his goal of being the Eminence in Shadow.
For fans involved in series' that tend to flip genres,The Eminence in Shadowserves as a perfect example. Rather than the popular focus in the isekai genre is on a character who tries to level up or one where an individual joins a guild to begin adventures with the aim of defeating a demon lord, this series is famous for taking a different approach. Cid’s delusions serve as a central element in elevating the series' storyline; as such, the second season is bound to have even more exciting flips.
Shadow And Shadow Garden’s Movement
The episode kicks off withShadow Gardenhaving a meeting with Shadow at their headquarters. The discussion is centered onthe Cult of Diablosand then on how funds are illegally directed to the Lawless City, a place where no government exists and crime rules. Shadow’s interest is piqued once he hears ‘funds.’ Next, viewers get to see a red moon, followed by Shadow saying he smells the blood in the Lawless City and talking about how he wants to go investigate.
As expected, the Shadow Garden tries to stop him by telling him they can do the job of investigating the cause of the red moon since it’s apparently linked to an incident that occurred thousands of years ago. The irony in this scene is that Cid (Shadow) has no idea why it’s red, and the topic being on funds is the only reason why he’s going there; hence, he swiftly impliedly connects the concept of the red moon to the Lawless City.
Lawless City
From the different shots of the city, one can readily attest to the fact that the city is indeed lawless. Slaves exist, and no government order can do anything to help the lives of the citizenry. What is, in fact, notable is that the city is controlled by three monarchs: White, Black, and Crimson.
While maintaining his persona as Cid, he has no choice but to be in the Lawless City because his sister has dragged him along with her. Subsequently, afterthe events of the Bunshin Festival, Claire Kagenou, his sister, was declared the winner, and as such, she decided to head to the cityin order to ‘kill vampires.‘Her decision to bring Cid along with her came from a place of pity, as she fears he’s wasting away his life and that it’s her responsibility to help him.
The Crimson Tower
After their arrival in the city, the moon still maintained its radiant, blood-red color. At night, the vampire ghouls start to bite random individuals, hoping to turn them into vampires as well. This is when Cid comes across an alley and witnesses it. The ghouls turn to attack him, and thenhe starts to deliberate whether he should maintain his background character or defeat them like he easily would. In his moment of deliberation, he is ‘saved’ by a red-haired lady who, subsequently, after saving him, introduces herself as Mary the Ancient Vampire Hunter.
Further, after saving him, she says, “Run if you value your life; the frenzy has begun. The moon is red; we are out of time.” Cid, after he hears this, becomes excited. However, in the city, people are turning into vampire ghouls simply by biting one another. Cid then becomes Shadow and starts to eliminate them. Most of the city, however, runs with them. After that, two monarchs, Yukime and Juggernaut, cross paths while killing the ghouls, and a battle looks imminent. On the top of the Crimson Tower lies the third monarch, who has clearly orchestrated this ghoul event, watching over the city.
Meanwhile, Cid’s sister, Claire, is searching for him, hoping he is safe. To buy time, Cid disguises one of the ghouls as himself; during this time, however, Mary meets Claire, and they team up. Mary informs Claire that her brother is likely in the Crimson Tower, and they both aim to make their way there. On the other hand, Shadow makes his move to the Crimson Tower and drops a flashy entrance as he comes in between the two monarchs who are about to cross blades.
One thing is certain: Cid’s aim currently is to make money in the Lawless City; however, the opportunity to feed into his delusion of ‘being in the shadows’ has presented itself.
