Eugene was going to fight with Molon.
He was going to fight, and he was going to win.
‘Though there’s no way that’s possible,’ Eugene admitted to himself.
From the very beginning, Eugene didn’t really think he had any possibility of winning. Even if he poured out all that he had into this fight, his chances of victory would be slim, so it would be far too arrogant of Eugene to believe that he might be able to seize victory when fighting Molon without any weapons.
‘As for Ignition… I don’t really want to use it. But depending on the circumstances, it should be fine.’
Winning this fight wasn’t all that important.
Molon might disagree with him, but at least that was what Eugene thought.
In fact, if he had the opportunity, Eugene really did want to fight with Molon and win. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had such thoughts in his previous life when he was still Hamel. Just like how Molon had wanted to fight with Hamel, Hamel had also wanted to fight with Molon.
However, so many things had changed since then. Hamel had become Eugene, and Molon had stayed alive over these past three hundred years. All that time had worn out Molon’s spirit, but his barbarically limitless strength must have reached new heights.
As for Eugene? He currently had unlimited potential. However, that potential had yet to fully bloom. According to Eugene’s own estimation, if he gave it his all, he felt like he wouldn’t be any weaker than he was in his previous life. If one just looked at all the options he had in combat, he had a lot more in his repertoire than what he had had in his previous life. However, Eugene couldn’t really evaluate himself as being indisputably stronger than he was in his past life.
In those days, at his peak, Hamel might not have had a diverse range of abilities, but when it came to killing his enemies, Hamel was as efficient as a grim reaper.
Also, even if the peak Hamel was present today, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the current Molon.
“Hamel,” Molon said.
He looked at Eugene with eyes that betrayed his confusion. He didn’t know why Eugene was insisting on a fight all of a sudden. What would change if they did fight?
Nothing would change.
Perhaps Hamel thought that after defeating Molon in a fight, he would be able to make Molon listen to him.
‘Since I’ve won, obey my orders.’
When it came to Hamel, such words and actions really suited him. However, wouldn’t that only work if Hamel actually won? Was he so excited that he couldn’t grasp the difference between their strengths?
“There’s no meaning in doing this,” Molon tried to persuade him. “You and I—”
Eugene refused to keep listening until Molon was finished speaking. Instead, he pulled Akasha out of his cloak. Then, since he had decided not to use a weapon, he also took off his cloak and threw it behind him.
“S-Sir Eugene!” a voice called out.
Mer, who had finally gotten used to the miasma on this side, belatedly stuck her head out of the cloak. Similar to Molon, Mer was also having trouble understanding why this was happening. She wriggled her body out from beneath the cloak in order to climb out, only to hesitate, not having completely gotten over her fears.
She had only been able to adapt to the extent that she didn’t lose consciousness, and even that was only possible because more than half of her body was still hidden within the Cloak of Darkness’s subspace. She was afraid that if she came out like this, her existence as a familiar would be corrupted by that ominous aura.
“Just leave those fools alone,” Anise said as she picked up the cloak.
After glancing down at Mer, who was poking her head out of a gap in the cloak, Anise threw the cloak over her own shoulders.
Fwoosh!
Anise’s divine power transformed into light and enveloped her whole body. It was only then that Mer felt secure.
Mer stammered, “Th-thank you….”
“There’s no need for that. Mer, you and I are both having a hard time because of these fools,” Anise said sympathetically.
“Aren’t you going to stop Sir Eugene, Lady Anise?”
“It’s not just you. Kristina keeps asking me the same thing. Why aren’t I stopping them already? But those fools won’t listen to me even if I do tell them to stop. Since they won’t listen to my words, I’d have to step in between them if I wanted to make them stop. But why should I do such an exhausting thing?” Anise asked as her face crumpled into a scowl. “Just leave those two idiots alone. They don’t listen to people when they talk. Because fools like them have their own foolish ways of sorting things out.”
Mer hesitated, “But what if….”
“I know what you’re worried about,” Anise nodded. “However, Mer, just who do you think I am? Even if those two get into a reckless fight, I can heal them as long as they don’t die. That idiot Hamel should be taking that into account while picking a fight like this. That’s why I’m so annoyed. Because in the end, aren’t they still counting on me to provide a miracle for the fools that they are?”
[Sister, if you hate the thought of that so much, wouldn’t it be better for you to step forward now and mediate between the two?] Kristina prompted.
Anise thought back, ‘Silly Kristina! As I thought, you only have a shallow grasp of this situation. If you leave them alone, Hamel will end up half-crippled and in need of a miracle from me. Don’t you want to be able to look down at a Hamel who’s as weak as he can be? Don’t you want to see him being healed by the miracle that you’ve called upon?’
These thoughts were so shady that it was hard to believe that a Saintess had even thought of them. As such, Kristina was left shocked, yet she just couldn’t answer no to the questions that Anise sent flying at her.
[Sister. When the time comes, please switch places with me,] Kristina eventually requested.
‘Don’t worry about it. Kristina, you should be sure to remember. It’s not just moments like these. Both of us have to make sure that we share any enjoyable situations that come up fairly between us,’ Anise replied to her.
The bond between Kristina and Anise thus grew even deeper.
While this conversation was going on behind the scenes, Eugene prepared to activate the formula for his Signature that he had built up within Akasha. This was a Signature that had been created with the help of several of Aroth’s Archwizards. It was still incomplete, but that didn’t mean there was too much of a delay when it came to casting it.
In a confrontation between wizards, speed was more important than the scale, power, or sophistication of their magic. The Signature that was known to be the fastest of them all was the Pantheon of the Red Tower Master Lovellian, the man who happened to be Eugene’s master in magic.
As Lovellian’s student, it was guaranteed that the speed of Eugene’s Signature wouldn’t be low.
The immense magical formula of Eugene’s Signature, which was characteristic of all great spells, wasn’t just being built up within Akasha.
The purpose of Eugene’s Ring Flame Formula wasn’t merely to explosively accelerate his mana output. Its original foundation was based on Sienna’s Eternal Hole, and Eugene had simply replaced the Circles of the Circle Magic Formula with the Stars from the White Flame Formula. The Ring Flame Formula that was created in this fashion still retained the ability to record spell formulas like the Eternal Hole did, and this made it possible for him to cast most spells without any incantations.
After he had reached the Sixth Star of the White Flame Formula, Eugene’s Stars wouldn’t stop spinning. The White Flame Formula had been completely integrated into the Ring Flame Formula and evolved.
The Stars in his heart began to brighten. The starlight resonated with Akasha. His Signature’s formula was shared between Akasha and his Ring Flame Formula, because it was necessary to imprint the spell itself onto Eugene.
Thanks to that, this spell didn’t require any incantations. Just by making Akasha resonate with the Ring Flame Formula, Eugene could immediately cast the spell.
Fwoosh!
Purple flame rose from Eugeen’s left shoulder blade. The flickering trail of flames appeared to create a fiery wing. The single wing of purple flames rose higher and higher before spreading wide open.
“Hamel, what in the world is that?” Molon asked in surprise, without even backing away as he saw this single wing of flame spreading out from behind Eugene.
He had lived for hundreds of years, but he was still virtually a stranger to magic. However, he could still tell that the spell Eugene was currently casting was unusual. At first glance, that wing seemed to be made of flames, but the heat he felt from them wasn’t as high as the heat coming from a real flame.
Instead, Molon sensed an indescribably vast yet complex mass of mana. No, not sensed …he saw it. Even with Molon’s shining eyes, it was impossible for him to read the true form of this spell, but he could still see that the flames that made up Eugene’s wings contained a huge amount of mana that was arranged in a sophisticated pattern.
“Prominence,” Eugene called out.
Though he hadn’t meant to say it, when Molon asked that question, Eugene still answered him with a curt expression.
At this reply, Molon blinked his eyes, then let out a loud laugh, “What a wonderful name.”
From this flame, Molon felt something similar to what he had felt from Vermouth three hundred years ago. At that time, the White Flame Formula didn’t even have a name, but the pure white flames summoned by Vermouth were just as huge and bright as Eugene’s were. Although Molon also had a vast quantity of mana, it still couldn’t compare to the amount held within Vermouth’s flames.
Apart from Vermouth, Molon also sensed something similar to the Hamel from three hundred years ago. Hamel’s mana hadn’t been as massive or intense as Vermouth's flames. However, Hamel’s mana had been so complex that there weren’t any openings for Molon to see through, so Molon couldn’t even begin to imitate it.
The moment that he had this thought, the fogginess inside of Molon’s head cleared a little. Molon took off the fur pelt that was draped over his shoulders. Then he threw it behind him, just like Eugene had.
“Hamel, I truly don’t want to fight with you,” Molon repeated as his muscles began to writhe.
Badump, badump, badump.
His muscles swelled as if they had been pumped full of air, and the already massive frame of Molon’s body slowly began to grow even larger.
Molon continued speaking, “However, you must have a reason to want to fight with me. I don’t know what that might be, but I do know one thing.”
This was the Brave Molon.
With his hair wildly twisting in the wind, he looked down at Eugene. His eyes didn’t look as dull and tired as they did before.
Eugene saw a bright light shining within Molon’s pupils.
“Hamel, you can’t beat me,” Molon declared.
“We’ll just have to see about that,” Eugene replied with a smile.
Embers began to spread from the flames on his back. With each flap of the wing, feathers flew into the sky.
“If you have the confidence to beat me…,” Eugene began saying as he unbuttoned his sleeves.
In fact, there wasn’t any point in unbuttoning even a single button on his clothes. There was a good chance that, before long, all of his clothes would be turned into rags.
“...Then don’t dodge or block this blow of mine and let it hit you,” Eugene finished his challenge.
It was obviously a shameless statement. But Molon’s reaction was unexpected.
“Fine,” Molon readily agreed.
Well…Molon was just that type of guy. Molon spread his arms and left his chest wide open in a challenge of his own. While glaring at Molon’s face, Eugene clenched his fist. Purple flames engulfed Eugene’s body.
Now that things had finally reached this step, Eugene wouldn’t take this opportunity lightly. Molon had agreed that he wouldn’t block or dodge the first blow. If so, this blow would probably be the biggest and last chance for Eugene.
Even if Eugene managed to beat Molon and knock him down, he knew that wouldn’t solve the problem. However, Eugene still wanted to defeat Molon if at all possible.
Was it because he wanted to prove that Hamel had been stronger than Molon? No, that wasn’t the problem.
It was just….
He just didn’t like the excuses given by his friend, who had gotten worn down and tired after living for hundreds of years. No matter how much someone tried not to change, people still changed little by little. If they had lived for hundreds of years, they were bound to have changed even more.
However, Molon hadn’t accepted that fact. As the Brave Molon, he didn’t want to show the comrades that he had reunited with what he looked like after breaking down over these past hundreds of years.
Eugene really didn’t like that. In fact, he hated it. That was why he wanted to beat up Molon. Because Molon had, of his own accord, taken on the request that the son-of-a-bitch Vermouth had given him and made it his mission in life, then proceeded to fight those mysterious monsters in this hellish place until he finally broke down and collapsed.
Eugene’s foot kicked off the ground. He accelerated with all his might, and his fist was so packed full of strength that sparks of mana were overflowing from it. This was far too strong a force to use against a human being who had promised not to dodge or block the blow.
However, Eugene didn’t hesitate. His opponent wasn’t weak enough to be called a human. This was Molon Ruhr. There was no way that Eugene didn’t know just how tough and strong that idiot was.
‘Even so,’ Eugene thought to himself cautiously.
Just in case, he considered where exactly to hit so that he could finish this fight in a single blow.
The heart? Eugene didn’t have the confidence that he would be able to penetrate those thick chest muscles.
So it had to be the head. Or should he aim for the shin? Or else, should Eugene honestly try to plant his fist in the center of Molon’s face.
No.
Eugene decided to just hit Molon where he wanted to hit him. As he swung his fist through the air with all his might, he punched Molon in the cheek.
But it didn’t feel even remotely like he had just hit a person. Eugene had pushed his fist forward with all his strength, but Molon’s head hadn’t turned even slightly. Naturally, there wasn’t even the sound of his cheekbones being crushed.
Fizzzle!
The sound followed belatedly. The flames around his fist that couldn’t break Molon’s body scattered into the air.
‘You absolute fucking monster,’ Eugene silently thought as he immediately blasted up his mana.
A series of explosions engulfed Molon’s body. Using the recoil from the explosion, Eugene threw himself backward.
“Didn’t you say it would just be one hit, Hamel?” Molon asked, standing tall in the center of the flames.
His black hair fluttered in the wind, and a light shone from his wide-open eyes.
Whoosh!
With a single shake of his head, Molon was able to completely scatter all of the flames covering his body.
Booom!
Molon began walking forward.
His muscles still writhing, his right arm rose from his side. His thick fingers curled up to form a fist.
That was all that he did, but in Eugene’s eyes, Molon became the center of his entire world. Apart from Molon, he couldn’t see anything else. That was just how immense Molon’s current presence was.
“You can dodge if you want,” Molon said.
If this was the usual Eugene, once he had heard such words, he would instead choose not to dodge it. Because his pride wouldn’t allow him to obey.
However, currently, Eugene couldn’t even imagine entertaining such pride. If he tried to block it, he would be crushed along with his defenses. So he had no choice but to try and dodge it. But how, where to, and at what moment?
All of Eugene’s thoughts were occupied with these concerns.
Molon threw his fist forward.
Like Eugene’s intuition had told him, the force behind that fist was unparalleled. Eugene shuddered as he sensed the immense strength crushing its way toward him.
Boooooom!
The force of the blow swept over the ground. It didn’t just end there. Without weakening even slightly, the shockwave pierced through the air and completely annihilated the mountain peak that fell into its path.
[I-if he’s hit by that, he’ll die…!] Kristina screamed.
However, Anise just let out a snort and grumbled, “Still, it seems like Molon hasn’t completely lost his mind.”
Mer stammered, “Wh-wh-what do you mean by that? Sir Molon just tried to kill Sir Eugene!”
“If he wanted to kill Eugene, then he would have swung his fist even harder than that,” Anise corrected her. “If he couldn’t even dodge a fist that’s being held back, then Hamel would just be an idiot.”
A mountain peak had been erased with just one punch, but that was just Molon holding back? Unable to comprehend it, Mer just stared up at where the mountain peak had vanished.
To her shock, after she blinked a few times, she found that the mountain peak that had unmistakably vanished moments before had now suddenly reappeared, looking perfectly intact. This wasn’t reality, but instead, a separate space created by Vermouth’s magic.
Molon had yet to lower his outstretched fist. He tilted his head to the side as if confused. Eugene hadn’t been swept away by the force of his fist. He had successfully managed to dodge.
However, Molon couldn’t tell just how Eugene had managed to dodge it. Had he moved his body? But if that was the case, there was no way that Molon would have missed it.
Was it magic…? Eugene had said that he was going to use it. Molon was also aware of what kind of spell Blink was. So right before Eugene could have been swept away by the punch, had he managed to get away using Blink?
‘It’s strange,’ Molon thought as he retracted his outstretched fist.
Molon couldn’t see anything in front of him. However, he could detect something. Hamel’s presence was continuously on the move within this wide space. Yet his speed was so fast and his movement so complex that Molon was completely incapable of grasping his position.
Each of the feathers generated by Prominence could be used as a spatial coordinate to reposition Eugene.
Thanks to that, Blink’s requirements for vision and spatial coordinates were no longer necessary. Even the spatial distortion, which could be seen at the moment of Blinking, was hidden by the flames of mana that erupted from the feathers.
The wider the space, the more Prominence’s jump-off points increased in number — an exponential increase, to boot. And that wasn’t all. The fluttering feathers would continue to drift, so Eugene’s opponents couldn’t predict the jumping-off points used.
Prominence created an infinitely intricate path for attacking Eugene’s opponents.
But Eugene’s eyes were strained, and his head was throbbing. This couldn’t be helped. Currently, Eugene’s mind was linked to each of the countless feathers.
Thanks to that, Eugene was able to spy on Molon from any direction. Even from behind Molon’s back, he could see Molon’s front. Unlike seeing something with one’s own two eyes, the information was directly engraved into Eugene’s head. It wasn’t simply seeing how Molon’s body was moving; he could see how the mana itself moved and reached.
Molon’s barbaric and immense strength suddenly went into motion. He had given up on pursuing or predicting Eugene. In the first place, that wasn’t Molon’s specialty, nor was it his preference. He didn’t know where Eugene might reappear? He didn’t know when the attack might be coming?
So what if he didn’t? Molon could just sweep it all away.
Molon raised both of his fists into the air. Realizing what he was about to do, Anise’s expression twisted into a grimace, and she pursed her lips. Then, a barrier of dazzling light was summoned to protect Anise.
Molon’s raised fists fell to the ground. At that moment, Eugene was in the sky a short distance away. The feathers that had flown there were acting as stepping stones for Eugene.
As Molon’s fists smashed the ground, the sheer force created an explosion. The shockwaves swept across the ground and surged into the air. By doing this, Molon could cover a massive area, whatever was within reach of his strength.
In the middle of this gigantic storm, Prominence’s feathers floated about as if they would be swept away at any moment. However, they never really disappeared. Getting rid of all the feathers was an obvious strategy for dealing with Prominence, so Eugene had prepared for that right from the conception phase of his Signature’s design. Yet, seeing how strong the shockwaves were, it would be difficult to keep this up for very long.
It would be enough if they could just hold on for a little longer. The countless feathers were moving according to Eugene’s will. Right before the shockwaves soaring into the sky could reach Eugene, the feathers made up of embers began burning intensely. These purple flames then clumped together.
Through this, a sun that seemed to have been dyed black was born.
This was Eclipse.
Once again, Molon wasn’t able to understand what had happened to him. He had slammed his fists down and set off an explosion… up until that point, Molon had been in control, but the sunspot that had appeared within this makeshift arena was out of his control.
It was small. A very small, black spot. So with that size, what the hell was up with its power?
Molon was flying through the air, having been caught up in the explosion set off by Eclipse.
“...Ha!” Molon burst into laughter as he looked up at the dingy sky.
Instead of trying to turn his body upright in midair, he spread his arms out wide and just kept laughing like an idiot.
“Ahahahaha!”
Within the feathers of flame that were left floating, lightning struck. With each successive leap through space, the lightning bolt’s acceleration increased. Purple embers and sparks lit up the sky.
Trailing all of this behind him, Eugene appeared right in front of Molon.
Cracracrackle!
Molon’s body plummeted to the ground.