The Devil Summoner in Shadow

Prologue: The Eminence in the Unknown

I, Minoru Kagenou, honestly can't remember what catalyzed this desire. All I know is I've admired shadowbrokers for as long as I can remember.

Was it a certain anime? Or was it a manga-or a movie? Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. I was all in for anything that featured a mastermind, or an eminence in shadow as I like to call them. These characters were never the protagonists or final bosses but were relegated to a role behind the scenes where they flaunted their powers and meddled in the affairs of others. I've always looked up to the men in the shadows. I wanted to be one of them.

Think of children who worship their favorite superheroes. That was me but
with master puppeteers.

Well, there was one thing that set us apart: My reverence for them wasn't
short-lived. In fact, it buried itself deeper in my heart, never dying out and always guiding me through life. To become stronger, I learned everything from karate to boxing, from swordplay to mixed martial arts. I hammed it up during all my practices, concealing my true power from the world and preparing for the fated day.

At school, I played the part of being pleasantly mediocre, an unassuming face in the crowd. Like an NPC in a game or a part of the mob. I didn't do any harm.

But behind this facade of normalcy, I was training full throttle. That's how I
spent my entire youth.

But as time passed, an uneasy feeling started to haunt me: I was due for a
reality check.

Yeah, that's right.

This was all for nothing.

I realized I'd never become as powerful as shadow commanders in the stories. It didn't matter how hard I trained in martial arts. Sure, I could clobber a few punks...but that was it. It'd be a tough fight if anyone drew a gun, and if I was surrounded by soldiers in full gear, I'd be toast, donezo, old news.

The idea of a shadowbroker getting curb stomped by some soldiers... Ha!
Ridiculous! Let's say I trained for ten more years-or that I became the greatest martial artist in the world. I'd still get rekt by a gang of commandos.

Or maybe I'd manage to escape by the skin of my teeth or train hard enough
to fight back. It's all in the realm of possibility. But even if I somehow managed to do that, these guys could set off a nuke and vaporize me in an instant. There is a limit to the human body. That much I know.

That said, my master puppeteers would never be taken down by a nuke.
Which means I needed to be impervious to them, too.

What does one need to survive a nuclear attack?

Is it the ability to pack a punch?

Could it be a body of steel?

How about unlimited stamina?

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. You need a totally different kind of power.

Some call it magic. Others, mana. Or chi, or aura, or...you get the point.

Anything will do. I needed to obtain this clandestine ability. I'd managed to
reach this conclusion when I finally confronted reality head-on.

I'll try to explain. Let's say someone is on a quest for magical powers. Anyone
would think they're nuts. Hell, I know I would. I'd think they'd gone bonkers.

But consider this: No one in the world has proved that magic exists-or
disproved it.

I couldn't find these powers with my sanity intact. I had to dive to the depths of lunacy.

I started training in a new way that was damn near impossible.

After all, no one knows how to acquire magic, mana, chi, auras, or what have you.