Other World

The Other World is the tentative name of the place where Cid Kagenou was reincarnated and in which the setting of The Eminence in Shadow takes place. It was revealed to be one of limitless Parallel Worlds.

Past
The officially published take on history in the world is that, a millennia prior to the founding of Shadow Garden, a great catastrophe occurred where Three Heroes defeated the demon Diablos. In actuality, the Cult of Diablos was conducting inhumane experiments and created Diablos from a girl named Aurora in their endeavor to develop immortality via the Tears of Diablos. The world of the time had technologically advanced science and technology, at most a century ahead of Earth before their ruin, but their world would collapse and be rendered into a post-apocalyptic wasteland rebuilding itself. Details and information being restructured from records into fables into myths and legends-- especially the Three Heroes and their heirs. Aurora was slain and her spirit then sealed in isolating within the Sanctuary of Lindwurm for over 1,000 years.

The Three Heroes would have many children and the modern royal lines would descend from that ancestry. While the female descendants of the Heroes would suffer magical overload and be cared for under medical attention, the cult would infiltrate key points of society, such as the Church of the Divine Teachings, and rewrite history to discriminate the heroes' descendants as having Demon Possession, claiming these girls for experimentation to continue their immortality and covert rule over nations. Such as developing Velgalta into a warrior empire dissuaded from anything but honing the sword, while conditioning Oriana into a nation of arts to detest war and relying on neighbors for protection. The Cult molded the world after they destroyed it into how they desired it and used their weaponized revision of history to take the heroes' descendants to ensure their retained immortality.

Present
Ironically, their goals and mission were exposed by a fantasy-indulging young boy as the impetus for Shadow Garden; despite him actually improvising the story to recruit the original members. From healing possessed girls and educating them, his story would be repeated to subsequent recruits as the insurgent organization found evidence to prove their evils. Eventually, Shadow Garden grew from a motley resistance into an existential threat to the Cult and their leaders, the Knights of Rounds. Due to their millennia of overstayed longevity, the Knights of Rounds have splintered into factions and squabble over resources while Shadow Garden steadfastly dismantles their assets and claims their treasures. Meanwhile, King Klaus Midgar covertly opposes the Cult in his own way and uses the chaos of Shadow Garden as the necessary justification to investigate where he needed.

Promised reinstatement into the Rounds, Lutheran Barnett incriminated Shadow Garden as terrorists, but they welcomed the infamy unimpeded in their aims, and Shadow killed Barnett. To combat both organizations, Iris Midgar founded the Crimson Order. Shadow Garden raided the Goddess's Trial to infiltrate the Sanctuary, recovering substantial information of the Cult and Demon Possession, eliminating the Nelson sect while flooding Lindwurm and freeing Aurora's spirit to possess Claire Kagenou, Shadow's sister. With the Bushin Festival, under command of 9th Seat Mordred, Chancellor Perv Asshat had brainwashed King Raphael Oriana to kill King Klaus Midgar to instigate war, but Princess Rose Oriana mercy killed her father and Shadow revealed himself an undercover contestant, hindering the Cult's plans even further for the Midgar Kingdom and plinging Oriana Kingdom into civil war. To reallocate their secret funds, the Cult's next plan to collapse Mitsugoshi Company backfired when a third party foe named "John Smith" printed counterfeit bills alongside Yukime of the Lawless City's White Tower. With their own scheme turned against them, the fiasco devastated the Cult's financial holdings in the Midgar capital and dissolving their merchant asset, the Major Corporate Alliance.

To end the Oriana Civil War, King Raphael's last will exposed the Cult and forced Mordred into the spotlight to eliminate all witnesses. However, Shadow Garden intervened and Shadow eliminating the 9th Seat and stopping the Black Rose. But as Rose became queen, The Cult's control of the church branded Oriana a heretic state hindered by trade sanctions, with Shadow Garden helping as best as possible covertly. When Fenrir and his faction moved to create new Tears of Diablos, the abductions of Academy students led Shadow to battle and slay Fenrir. However, Claire Kagenou was forcefully bound to Diablos's right arm by Zeta of Shadow Garden, in the fanatic's plot to immortalize Shadow.

Nations

 * Midgar Kingdom: A nation renowned for their Knight Order, military, education, and commerce.
 * Oriana Kingdom: A nation dedicated to the arts, so much so that their alliance with Midgar ensures their safety.
 * Velgalta Empire: A warring empire often trying to continue expanding, who prize the sword; an opposite to Oriana.
 * Altena Empire: An island state and a key member of The City - State Alliance opposing Velgalta expansion.
 * Holy State of Orum: A theocratic member of The City-State Alliance.

Cities

 * Lindwurm: The holy city where the Divine Teachings church situates and the Sanctuary once hid.
 * Alexandria: The lost ancient capital of Midgar, now the secret headquarters of Shadow Garden.
 * Lawless City: A non-affiliated domain with unrestrained crime and where the monarchs live in luxury towers.
 * Laugus: The academic city and mecca of learning, current home to Sherry Barnett.
 * Grazheim: A trading-focused city and the headquarters for the City-State Alliance.

Swordsmanship Practices
In this world, swordsmanship tends to be studies and refined within the nation of origin, with restricted knowledge divulged to outsiders. Due to this isolationist view of study, the techniques barely evolve and develop inconsistently. What's more, the swordsmanship of the world either relies on superficial presentations or an overwhelming charge of magic into one's attacks. Practical and refined swordplay is rare and sparse, or, in the case of Alexia Midgar, still in development. This is noted when she witnessed Shadow battle Zenon Griffey and noted how his swordplay was based on the basics of the art but refined to a degree where it was beautiful and unfettered by needless motions.

Magic
According to Cid's research into magic, he was very surprised that magic existed in the world where he reincarnated, since he had finally obtained what he had yearned for. But with the passing of time realized that the use of it, for most if not almost all races, do not know how to correctly use the magic that inhabits the world and thus they waste it poorly. The magic users relying solely on its destructive power, along with its tremendous speed and healing power that it offers. Until the current date, only the members of the Shadow Garden organization, along with their leader, Shadow, know how to use magic correctly and efficiently while increasing it. A few others outside the organization, like Claire Kagenou and partly Alexia Midgar, have been shown to use magic similarly to them in more developed and efficient methods compared to the general public.

Culture and Military Discipline
Other world's study, management and breeding in agriculture, and in everything related to commercial production at a civil level, among its branches, are identical to those of The Land, with the difference that they are one century behind in advancements of how to harvest and cultivate their yield, among other things, even better.

While his discipline, study, management, development, and training in the military, Cid Kagenou thought of the sword arts as deficient, especially in the management of fencing. This is due to the over-reliance of magic, as they only learn the normal handling of the sword to later reinforce and potentiate their sword attacks. According to Cid, regarding speed, strength, and resistance in both the swords themselves and their wielders is something unfortunate for him. This disappoints Cid often, since he rarely finds good opponents to face, in terms of swordsmanship or with melee combat.

This also applies to athletic attitudes, since most of those who exercise in the world where he reincarnated do not usually practice the basic parts of athletic training and warm-up. According to Cid in the anime and Light Novels, the usual fighters neglect to consider the basics, like normal stretching and flexing muscles in the arms and legs.

Technology
The other world’s technological level when Cid began as Shadow is approximate to an early industrial era, with several key non-magical technologies like steam power, printing, and colorless photography already in use. Given the story progression, the existence of special artifacts and depictions from the anime, it is possible that technology used to be far more advanced, similar to 21st Century Earth or slightly more advanced by several decades to a century. Aurora once stated that the town where she lived, and presumably rest of the world, wasn't enjoying this much prosperity during the era she lived.

As for the combat technologies and tools, swords and other medieval-era weapons, are a commonality among the populace with knights and ranking citizenry having bladed weaponry ready. Magic devices seems to be the most commonly used instruments of war, such as staffs or gem adorned items. Gunpowder based weapons are also available, albeit seen as "commoners' toys" due to their lack of firepower and uselessness against the Dark Knights. In addition, both magical and non-magical ranged attacks and tools to commit these attacks seems to be surprisingly unpopular. Melee combat is the preferred methodology of combat, at least in the Midgar Kingdom. The most notable user of ranged attacks so far is Aurora when using her blood-bending attacks, which evolved into a Vampire signature ability.

Additionally, the Cult of Diablos have access to advanced technologies and infrastructure that they hid from the rest of the world. Notably technologies and techniques linked to biological engineering and several laboratory complexes, including an ancient advanced research facility like the Sanctuary. The Cult has ruled the world unopposed for so long that it hordes its technologies for themselves to maintain world dominion, which is entirely possible since they possess highly advanced weapons and devices at their disposal that no other present organization, nation, or person has access to.

It's not until Shadow Garden created their corporate front in Mitsugoshi Company, using the knowledge of Shadow Wisdom to them brought by Cid Kagenou from Earth, that new innovation began to spread around the world. From Mitsugoshi introducing advancements in trade, resource networking, food, and so-on, the Cult's public assets established in those markets began to lose efficacy and profit. Mitsugoshi brought an improvement and elevation with regards to the standard of living not simply for the nobility and royalties of the world, but also the commoners as everything they produced targets practically every notable demographic. For this reason, the technology level of this world is expected to advance further with the approaching Automotive industry and Petroleum, as pioneered by Mitsugoshi.

Religions
The Divine Teachings is a monotheistic religion that believes in the Goddess Beatrix (ベアートリクス), which is the most widespread religion of this world. The Goddess Beatrix is said to have bestowed a divine duty onto the Three Heroes to slay Diablos, severing the left arm in Lindwurm.

Languages
In the Light Novel and Manga, the language of the other world is seen as unfamiliar to Earth's languages, similar to glyphs or symbols. From the anime, the world language appears to be similar to the ancient Runic and Phoenician languages of Earth, with numbers sometimes sharing value to letters-- with a few letters resembling simple Kana. Even in the past, as seen in the memories of the Sanctuary, the native script was seen in the computer data and keycards in the pre-apocalyptic times.

Inhabitants
Basically all characters, except those that are living on planet Earth. Such as the majority Human nations and peoples, the long-lived Elven peoples who live among themselves or intermingle with humans, as well as the Therianthrope tribes and clans warring for dominance in the vast wildernesses between cities and countries.

Visitors

 * Akane Nishino

Trivia

 * The Other World's time flow is observed to be approximately five times faster than Earth's. This is concluded as it had been fifteen years after Cid was reincarnated before venturing through the Black Rose, while it was three years after his death in Japan.
 * This was further verified when Cid and Beta were gone for a few weeks, the whole of his academy winter break, but were on Earth for nearly one week.
 * Both in the Novels and Manga, they treat the description, history, and development of the other world in the medieval style. Yet conversely in the Anime and Game, they treat it from the industrial era of the 18th century to the modernization of the 19th and 20th century.
 * In both the light novels and the Manga and Web novel, firearms have not been shown so far, such as normal pistols and semi-rifles, due to magic making up for the most part in combat. By combining them too, with swords, while in the anime and game, they do show firearms, from the first events of the story.