[Sir Eugene, are you alright?] Kristina’s voice, riddled with concern, was heard inside Eugene’s head.
By now, Eugene was getting used to being worried about in this way. Right now, it wasn’t just Kristina doing so, but Mer and Raimira inside his cloak were also crying out in concern as they clung to Eugene’s sides, calling out ‘Sir Eugene’ and ‘Benefactor’ respectively.
It was true that his current state warranted such concern. Eugene had been struck down by the power of Iris’ Demoneye repeatedly. Although he had only been hit by the explosions caused when dark matter was condensed to its limits, the attacks were both simple and effective, as the shockwaves practically ignored Eugene’s defenses.
But he hadn’t died. Even though the attacks were so deadly that it wouldn’t be strange if he were dead, Eugene was still alive. Even though all of the defenses protecting his body’s exterior had been shattered, those weren’t the only defenses Eugene had.
The strong mana from the Seven Stars of the White Flame Formula had protected Eugene’s body from the inside. The same went for the Lightning Flames that were dissolved into his blood. Right now, no, for a while now, Eugene had become something that could no longer be considered totally human. He had become an existence that wouldn’t be so easy to kill even if he wanted to die.
‘She’s definitely a Demon King,’ Eugene thought as he experienced Iris’ new powers.
Although his wounds were already healed, he still had the bitter taste of blood in his mouth. Eugene turned his head to the side and spit out the blood.
[Hamel,] Kristina’s voice had been replaced by Anise’s. [Can you keep going?]
Anise asked him a different question from the one that Kristina had asked. That was because she knew that asking questions like ‘Are you alright?’ was of little use on such a battlefield.
“If it’s just for the rest of today,” Eugene responded as he began standing back up.
Anise knew that, whether it was Eugene or Hamel, he would always answer that question in the same way.
This battle had come as a surprise. None of the people here had been prepared to fight against a Demon King. Even so, they still had to fight. Because they had to win this fight. They absolutely had to kill the Demon King here, in this sea.
Eugene looked around, “What about Sienna?”
“You can just ask me that yourself,” Sienna’s grumbling voice was heard from the distance.
When the Demon King had gathered up her dark power, the one who had suffered the most wasn’t Eugene, who was being attacked directly, but Sienna. Dark Power had a strength that was on a completely different scale to that of mana. So when the dark power came under the Demon King’s complete control and flooded the area, Sienna, who had been making the mana in this area race around like stars, received the most damage when all of that mana was shunted aside.
“There’s no problem,” Sienna’s voice was heard coming from inside a writhing mass of dark matter.
Although Eugene couldn’t make out her appearance, her voice was still fresh.
Crackle, cracracrackle!
The lump of darkness cracked open as multi-colored rays of light burst out of it.
Sienna, who walked out with the burst of light, glared at the sky and spat out, “That damned bitch.”
The power of the Demon Spear had exploded directly into Iris’ body. However, the Demon King wouldn’t die from just that. Even now, the Demon King stood in the sky, looking perfectly fine and glaring down at them.
Eugene waved his cloak at the falling Demon Spear.
Swish.
Obeying his command, the Demon Spear flew over and entered inside his cloak.
At this sight, the Demon King couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “You’re radiating such unbecoming mana for a Hero, and you’re even able to perfectly control the weapon of a Demon King. Are you really sure you’re the Hero?”
There was no need to give an answer to such a question. Eugene just raised the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword once more. In response, the Demon King narrowed her eyes.
The sea was suddenly shaken by a massive explosion. The black sea was split apart as waves spread from the impact. The spray of water droplets was immediately swept away by flames and the burst of mana.
Eugene leaped through space to reach the Demon King. His attack emerged at point-blank range. Although he was only swinging two swords, the slashes that erupted from his blades were too many to accurately count. Whenever the Holy Sword was swung, the black flames of the Empty Sword were entangled with the white of the divine power. And the pale moonlight that shone in the center of this chaos radiated a dangerous ominousness.
Eugene’s deadly Asura Rampage, an unceasing chain of slashes, split the Demon King’s arms into hundreds and thousands of pieces, but no flesh or blood was scattered. Wherever the slashes swept past, the Demon King’s arms had already regenerated in their tracks. Then, a clenched fist filled with dark power pierced straight through Eugene’s Asura Rampage.
Clang!
Eugene was pushed backward!
Clang!
But simultaneously, the Demon King was struck by yet another attack. An attack that couldn’t be seen, much less comprehended, managed to get through the dark power wrapped around Iris. A ray of magic designed solely to cause as much damage as possible pierced the Demon King.
It didn’t end with just that one ray of light. The light that managed to penetrate her body scattered into countless fragments that shot through everything in the Demon King’s surroundings.
Boom, boom, boooom!
Iris vanished in an explosion of dust. But the death of her physical body still didn’t pose even the slightest threat to the Demon King in her current state. Even after experiencing physical death, her thought processes hadn’t even paused.
The Demon King’s body was reborn once more. But as if they had been waiting for that, a circle of light appeared in the sky. Kristina and Anise aimed together at the Demon King with their stigmata-engraved left hands.
Earnest prayer was needed to perform a miracle, and the prayers from the two Saintesses managed to catch hold of the Demon King.
Whoooosh!
The Demon King’s darkness pushed back against the dazzling Light, but a line of light had been drawn across Iris’ devildom for now. For Eugene, that line became a path for him to run on.
Eugene’s killing intent was making it hard for him to think, but he clung to it as he glared at the Demon King.
When they had fought the Demon King of Carnage, the Demon King of Cruelty, and the Demon King of Fury…
…and when they had fought the Demon King of Incarceration…
…just how many Stars had Vermouth’s White Flame Formula reached? Had his White Flame Formula already been perfected even back then?
Eugene didn’t believe that to be the case. Of course, Vermouth had been so strong from the beginning that he didn’t seem human. That said, it wasn’t like his strength had been in a perfect state right from the start.
After all, perfection meant there was no more room for growth, and Vermouth had just kept getting stronger all the time. No matter how fast Hamel had tried to chase after him, the speed at which Vermouth grew stronger exceeded the pace at which Hamel could catch up. Vermouth had grown stronger with each battle that had taken place, even during their fights against the Demon Kings — during those, he had seemed to be growing stronger with each passing moment.
‘So what about the current me?’ Eugene considered carefully.
He had reached the Seventh Star of the White Flame Formula. He had the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword. He also had the Demon Spear, the Annihilation Hammer, and many other weapons. He even had the experience from his past life. Considering all these facts, he couldn’t be said to be worse off than Vermouth.
‘In the first place, I need to be even stronger than Vermouth that I knew back then,’ Eugene reminded himself.
He couldn’t afford to be any weaker. Just being similar in strength wouldn’t cut it, either. Neither Vermouth nor Molon was here with them. If they wanted to kill the Demon King here and now, then it was only natural that Eugene had to be stronger than Vermouth from three hundred years ago.
Eugene or Hamel could still clearly remember what Vermouth had looked like back then, but there was no need to spend too much time trying to recall those memories. Because Hamel had known better than anyone else just how Vermouth had fought and how strong Vermouth had truly been. The person who had fought most closely by Vermouth’s side was Hamel, after all.
Eugene muttered, “I will….”
Just like Eugene was radiating killing intent towards the Demon King, the Demon King was also showing her own killing intent towards Eugene. The killing intent of a Demon King was enough to make most of their opponents’ bodies falter and drive their minds insane.
“...I will kill you,” Eugene vowed through gritted teeth, killing intent laced into every word.
Eugene’s eyes were shining like a pair of flames. If it was true that earnest prayer really could cause a miracle, then what was happening inside Eugene now could also be called a miracle.
Eugene’s whole-hearted desire was reflected in his killing intent towards the Demon King. What he had prayed for was for the Light to allow him to surpass his own limits.
He had reached the Seventh Star of the White Flame Formula, and now, all seven of those Stars inside his chest were shaking. Yet even though such changes were occurring inside of him, the mana flowing through Eugene’s body didn’t falter in the slightest. Instead, while flowing even more violently than before, his mana ignited a spark that would make all of Eugene’s desires come true.
The wings of Prominence, which had been burning with a dark purple flame, suddenly set off an explosion. Just like when Eugene created layers of the Empty Sword, black spots appeared on the flames of his mana, and the outer wing feathers turned completely black.
Booooom!
With the speed that Eugene showed next, it was as if he had become an exception to the rules everyone else took for granted. However, Eugene's will was as strong and focused as ever, and there was no way that anyone could miss his obvious intent to slay the Demon King.
“Aaargh!”
For the first time, it was a painful moan instead of a laugh that left the Demon King’s lips.
This was — the Demon King hadn’t died. However, it was even more painful than death for the Demon King. She had barely been touched by his attack, but it felt like her dark power was being dissolved, and scars were being etched across her very existence.
‘Just what was that?’ Iris thought in fear.
Iris had lived for over three hundred years. She could still clearly recall all of the memories from that era of war, back when battles had been a daily affair. She had fought against all kinds of humans: the knights, wizards, and priests. Iris had even fought with the Hero, Vermouth.
After the war ended, she also fought against the other demonfolk, including the Queen of the Night Demons, Noir Giabella. This meant that Iris had fought against a demonfolk who almost seemed to have more power than even a Demon King. Even after becoming a Demon King, Iris still felt that her odds of victory against Noir were slim.
However, she had never felt anything like this in all of the previous battles that she had been in. This power was unique. It was different from any power shown by both the humans and the demonfolk.
However… Iris at least knew this much. This power really didn’t seem to match well with words like ‘the Hero’ or ‘the Light.’ This power was much more violent, terrible, and ominous than all that such words could encompass.
“Ha! Hahaha!” The Demon King burst into laughter even as her face twisted in agony and she kept coughing up black blood. Her glowing red eyes were fixed on Eugene, who was standing right in front of her, “You, you call yourself the Hero?!”
How could there be a Hero with a power of this nature? As the Demon King kept laughing insanely, she unleashed her own power. Darkness erupted in the gap between Eugene and the Demon King just as they both moved towards each other.
Eugene wasn’t swept back by the sudden eruption. Before he could be pushed back by the wave of darkness, the flames of Prominence pierced through Iris’ dark power and threw the Demon King down towards the sea.
The Demon King was sent plummeting along with all of her dark power. The sea, which had been dyed black to look like an endless abyss, caught the falling Demon King.
Hissssss!
The moment that Iris struck the water, a large portion of the sea evaporated, leaving a huge hole behind. The Demon King stood in the center of that hole and raised her hands.
Sienna, Kristina, and Anise, who had been surprised by Eugene’s sudden transformation, quickly put their guards back up.
‘What on earth was that?’ Sienna thought as she glanced up at Eugene, who was diving down towards the sea.
She could understand why the Demon King had uttered such words. The wings of Prominence that rode on Eugene’s back were burning with pitch-black flames, and even the sparks of mana fluttering off of Eugene were now completely black.
His appearance looked almost heretical. It was the complete opposite of Vermouth's sacred and noble flames that had burned a pure white.
However… however…. Sienna could still feel Hamel/Eugene in those flames. The one who was here now wasn’t Vermouth Lionheart. This Hero was the reincarnation of Hamel Dynas, Eugene Lionheart. And three hundred years ago, the man called Hamel couldn’t have been further from the description of sacred or noble.
That’s why she felt that this sort of flame suited Eugene.
[Hah…,] a voice sighed inside Kristina’s head.
As Kristina looked at Eugene, Anise was also able to examine him. Kristina couldn’t sense it, but Anise, as an angel, could feel something different from those flames.
However… she wasn’t sure whether her current suspicions made any sense whatsoever, and even she found it hard to accept them.
This also wasn't something she could afford to think about right now.
The Demon King was still alive and kicking. Eugene may have undergone a transformation, Kristina had been marked with a Stigmata, and Sienna Merdein was here as well, but that still wasn’t enough to pose an unbeatable threat to the Demon King. Even in such a position, death still wasn’t an imminent concern for Iris.
On the other hand, what about the humans in this fight? Although the miracles summoned by divine power were staving off their deaths, there was no way their divine power could be stronger than the Demon King’s own powers of immortality.
Once more, Iris saw the Hero, who didn’t really seem like one approaching her. The wizard was following behind him. Judging from the movements of the mana in the air, the wizard was already prepared to cast dozens of spells. That annoying Light also continued to pour down from the sky, waiting for an opportunity to strike her down.
Iris’ dark power surged, and the sea collapsed around her. The black seawater gathered together to form a sharp spike. Then, without her needing to make any gestures, the spike shot upwards. Since her dark power moved according to her will, all Iris required to launch an attack was to direct her killing intent at her target.
The transformed spike tore a hole through the sky. From that hole, black flames ignited and spread. But dozens of separate spells shot out to restrain those black flames. Then, a ray of brilliant light shot down, like the sun piercing through dark clouds, to illuminate the world.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
The moment the Demon King’s attack pierced through the sky, Sienna’s trap was activated. Dozens of different binding spells hidden within a spatial fold seized hold of the Demon King’s body. They could only restrain the Demon King for a few moments, but in that brief opening, Eugene’s sword completely erased the Demon King’s body.
“Die!” Sienna cursed as she held out her staff.
The highest level of mana output she could access through her Eternal Hole was gathered at the tip of her staff. Then, with all her murderous intent concentrated on one spot, Sienna fired the light at the undying Demon King.
Iris didn’t think much of this attack. Although Sienna was leveling an amazing amount of mana at her, in the end, it was as if all Sienna had done was gather up a lot of light into a single point. The Demon King raised a barrier formed from the power of her Demoneye and her own dark power to block the path of Sienna’s attack.
But at that moment, the mass of mana underwent a change. The mana that had been gathered into a single point and shot at the Demon King scattered just before it was about to hit the barrier. The mana filled the space surrounding the Demon King, and the devildom that was supposed to be packed full of her dark mana was now packed with so much mana that it had virtually replaced all the air around her.
‘Freeze,’ Sienna thought in command as her green eyes shone.
Cracracrack!
Following Sienna’s order, everything her mana touched froze; the entire space surrounding the Demon King, her dark power, and even the Demon King herself in the center of it all. Even time itself was frozen in the area caught within Sienna’s spell.
Time and space might have been frozen, and even the Demon King’s thought processes had halted, but Sienna’s spell didn’t stop there.
Cracracracrack!
The sea, free of the taint of dark power, returned to its original color. Then, all of that seawater came crashing down on the Demon King.
Ice spread from the center of the sea, creating a frozen plain of ice. Sienna slammed the Demon King down towards the bed of the frozen sea. The frozen waves acted as a weapon in their own right, with pieces shattering from the frozen Demon King at the slightest of impacts.
“Sienna!” Eugene suddenly shouted.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Eugene moved as soon as his instincts warned him. But before Eugene could even stretch out his hand, Sienna had also sensed the threat and quickly cast a spell.
Cracracrack!
The frozen sea split apart. A blade of darkness so sharp that it seemed like it would split the world into two was sent flying at Sienna.
Fwooooosh!
The light that erupted between Sienna and the Demon King dulled the sharpness of the blade of darkness. Eugene swung the Moonlight Sword and the Holy Sword to push the blade of darkness off course.
“Gagh!” Sienna groaned.
The blade may have been blocked, but blood still spurted from between Sienna’s lips. The Demon King’s figure could no longer be seen anywhere. However, this place was still within the devildom, and all of the darkness and dark power contained within this space was still moving according to the Demon King’s will.
“Go!” Sienna shouted loudly.
Iris’ broken barrier was being restored. The mana from her Eternal Hole was also getting pushed out by the Demon King’s own dark power. Upon hearing Sienna’s order, Eugene didn’t hesitate and immediately leaped into the still-gaping sea.
Although Eugene was now beneath the surface of the sea, it was no longer the sea he was familiar with. The seawater had already transformed back into its pitch-black state by the dark power. From deep within those tainted waters, Eugene spotted red eyes staring at him.
The distance between them was closed in an instant. A slash of Eugene’s sword left a trail of black flames, only to be blocked by Iris’ dark power. The Demon King reached out to grab Eugene directly, but Eugene had no intention of allowing himself to be caught like that. With a black flash of lightning, a ray of moonlight split open the space between Eugene and the Demon King.
“I had this same feeling back when we first met in Kiehl,” the Demon King suddenly said.
Clang!
Her hand crushed the moonlight and proceeded to slam Eugene down into the depths of the darkness.
“You might be a descendant of Vermouth, but in fact, you don’t resemble Vermouth in the slightest,” Iris observed.
From above, a burst of light pierced through the darkness and opened a path to the surface. The light did not proceed to disperse and disappear but instead stayed by Eugene’s side. Even in the depths of this darkness, Kristina and Anise were shining their Light on Eugene, and the Holy Sword he held in his right hand also began to light up the darkness.
Iris continued, “Even though they call you the Hero, you’re nothing like Vermouth. Eugene Lionheart, your temperament….”
Eugene’s modified White Flame Formula once again ignited with a fierce blaze. The light of destruction also flickered ominously from within the grasp of Eugene’s other hand. The Demon King felt a shiver run up her spine as she watched Eugene slowly approach her.
“...it resembles Hamel,” Iris concluded.
Her infinite dark power wasn’t the only thing Iris had gained from becoming the Demon King. Everything about her had been transformed to fit her new status as a Demon King. The Intuition of a Demon King analyzed the temperament of the one approaching her and reminded her of the enemy from three hundred years ago.
Iris’ eyes hardened, “Although this seems absurd, but you….”
The Demon King’s breathing grew heavy. Eugene’s temperament wasn’t the only suspicious thing that she had noticed. In her head, all the separate points were being put together. The Demon King focussed on looking back more than three hundred years into her own past.
“...you, you really are Hamel,” Iris hissed.
Iris didn’t receive any response from Eugene, but the Demon King was sure that Eugene was Hamel, her most hated enemy. Having become certain of this fact, what the Demon King had to do next was simple.
“Aaaaaaaah!” the Demon King let out a cry of sorrow.
Iris sobbed as tears of blood fell from her eyes. Just like the name she had claimed, Iris was now in a state of fury. As the Demon King lost control of her own mind, the dark power that had filled her surroundings also began to run wild.
“I’ll kill you!” the Demon King screamed as she grabbed her head with both hands.
The realization that she had come to by using her newly developed Intuition and the resulting fury had served as a sort of metamorphosis for the Demon King. This young Demon King, who had previously claimed the title of the Demon King of Fury for herself, had, at this moment, truly become the Demon King of Fury .
Her Demoneyes shone through her disheveled hair. Evil intent blended in with her murderous intent. This metamorphosis promised to be a great misfortune for the entire world, and before the world could be subjected to such ill fortune, Eugene was the one who would be the first to face this new threat.
Booooom!
‘What’s going on with this bastard?’ Eugene asked himself.
Iris had just released a shockwave that made Eugene feel like his whole body was about to shatter into pieces. The sounds of unspoken cries were also filling his entire head. In the midst of this, Eugene felt rage and confusion.
The cries told him that Iris needed to be stopped. No, that he needed to run. Or else, should he try to counterattack? Eugene’s battle instincts had taken hold of his consciousness. Eugene could only choose the most plausible and viable course of action.
He tried to stop her. The intention was good, but the Demon King’s strength was now far above Eugene’s. Eugene was struck by Iris once more and sent plummeting even further into the darkness.
The moment he was sent falling, the darkness coiled itself around him like a snake. Eugene didn’t know if the darkness was meant to kill him by trapping him at this depth or squeezing the life out of him, but right now, the darkness was making it difficult for him to even move.
“It was because of you!” the Demon King continued to wail.
Dark power gathered onto her fingernails like claws.
Screech!
He barely parried her next swipe with the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword, but the blow was extremely heavy. Eugene’s feet were pushed backward as he tried to stand his ground.
“Because of you!” Iris repeated.
Blood spurted out from between Eugene’s lips. A spike of dark power had pierced through his stomach. In response, he countered with his own flames. The Demon King wasn’t the only one who had gone through a metamorphosis. Eugene’s flames were still inimical to and capable of inflicting agonizing damage on the Demon King.
Iris howled, “My father!”
Eugene couldn’t understand what Iris meant by that. Oh, that’s right, Eugene or Hamel had indeed played a huge part in the death of the Demon King of Fury. Could it be that she wanted revenge on her father’s enemy? In that case, that certainly did apply to Eugene.
“And to me!” Iris roared.
However, those following words were truly unfair. What on earth had Eugene ever done to Iris? Was she blaming him for holding her back when Vermouth sliced open the Demon King of Fury’s throat?
“You fucking bitch,” Eugene spat out with some blood. “You deserved everything that you got!”
Boooom!
The flames he sprayed at Iris burned fiercely as they engulfed the Demon King.