Highlights
- Cid faces a dilemma of maintaining his weak persona or revealing his true power as Shadow while dealing with vampire ghouls in Lawless City.
- All parties enter the Crimson Tower with different goals, including Claire wanting to save her brother Cid and Mary's true identity as a vampire being revealed.
- Shadow decides to finish off the boss of the Tower, Crimson, but forgets to stab him in the heart, leaving room for the possibility of Crimson's survival.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Eminence in Shadow, Episode 22, "The Haven," now available to stream on HIDIVE.
Life can get tough for characters who have to pretend to be weaker than they are. This is the reality of Cid Kagenou, who aims to be the Eminence in Shadow. However, on his trip with his sister Claire in Lawless City, he has faced the dilemma of deciding if he should see things play out while maintaining his weak persona or put an end to things easily as Shadow.
With Lawless City overrun with vampire ghouls, each party has something to gain or seek. For Claire, rescuing Cid takes priority since his 'capture' is partially her fault for bringing him to the city, or at least that is what she tells herself. Different events begin to unravel once she and Mary enter the Crimson Tower.
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The Entrance Of The Crimson Tower
The last scene in episode one involved Yukime and Juggernaut, the city's rulers, about to battle. Shadow interferes, and this brief pause between these heated rulers leads both sides to postpone their battle. Recognizing Shadow, both agree to stay out of his way and implicitly expect the same from him. After that, all three parties enter the Crimson Tower.
Prior to their entrance, the White Demon, a notable killer who preys on those weaker than him, observes the interactions of Shadow, Yukime, and Juggernaut. Bothered by the reputation of the two leaders, he put off attacking them because he fears his instant death. On the other hand, he has no idea who Shadow is, and because he fails to detect any form of mana from him, he concludes Shadow is weak and attacks. Before he can understand what is happening around him, Shadow's slime dissects the White Demon into parts, killing him swiftly.
Inside The Tower
All parties enter the tower, each with a goal. Mary and Claire enter the vampire's library and meet Beta of Shadow Garden. Once they confirm whether she is an enemy or ally, they ask her purpose for being there. Beta and her subordinates want the progenitor's blood sample. Knowing Mary is a vampire, Beta asks questions suggesting Mary may not be human. On the other hand, Claire wants to leave as soon as possible to save her brother Cid. This makes Number 666 of Shadow Garden, one of Beta's subordinates, react and ask further questions, but Beta shuts her down.
Once they leave the library, Claire shares that she suspects Mary's allegiance may not be entirely clear. At this moment, they both encounter Juggernaut, who is disposing of Crimson's subordinates; supposedly, they are his (Crimson's) high-ranking officials. While they try to hide from Juggernaut, he instantly detects them and engages in battle with them, landing decisive blows on both. Mary gets the short end of the straw and is heavily injured; however, when Claire tries to save her, her magic seems ineffective. Mary then kisses Claire without consent to draw on her blood to heal herself. Instantly, Mary's vampire abilities are revealed, but ultimately, she is still no match for Juggernaut. He is fast enough almost to land a decisive blow on Claire, who is saved in the nick of time by Shadow; with a kick, Juggernaut flies out of the building. Thereafter, Shadow disappears.
Mary's Past
After the non-consensual kiss, Mary is forced to first apologize and then explain her relationship with the vampires. She explains that vampires used to slaughter humans at some point, and essentially, they served as food alone. Over time, humans grew smarter and discovered their weaknesses: sunlight, a stab into the heart, and how they depend on a continuous consumption of human blood or face the consequence of losing their abilities. The hunted became the hunters, and Elisabeth, the then-ruler of the vampires, decided they would stop feasting on humans. This led to vampires being able to endure the sunlight, except Elisabeth.
However, when the red moon appeared, Crimson gave Elisabeth a bit of blood in her food, and she went on a killing spree. When she finally regained her sanity, she pleaded with Mary to spread her ashes in the sea. Mary's allegiance was stronger than that, and she failed to do so; instead, she decided to watch over her late Queen's body. Unfortunately for her, Crimson stole the body to revive the Blood Queen, Elisabeth, when the next red moon appeared.
Shadow's Movement
With the main objective of finding money in the tower, Shadow entered. After saving his sister without even realizing it, the leader of Shadow Garden finds the vampire's vault. After hauling what he needed, he decided to make a move. To Shadow, he had overused his appearing fashionably late trope, so he decided to finish off the boss of the Tower, Crimson before everyone else made their way up. He does this efficiently; while Crimson is in the process of reviving the Blood Queen, Shadow launches an attack, severing his head.
Even though it may appear that Crimson is dead, Shadow forgot to stab him in the heart after severing his head. In the next episode, fans should not be so surprised if Crimson is alive, but one can commend Cid for trying to approach the 'swiftly defeating the villain' idea; it was indeed surprising.