The other side of the Leheinjar, which was sealed within a barrier, was chosen as the location for their spar. This was because if Eugene and Molon were to fight in the real world with both sides giving it their all, things wouldn’t just end with the terrain getting slightly rearranged, but the entire mountain range might just get erased.
‘Though things probably won’t get that intense,’ Eugene tried to tell himself.
In fact, Eugene himself wasn’t so sure about the truth of that thought. After all, Eugene and Molon both knew each other quite well, so Eugene couldn’t be certain that things wouldn’t get out of control.
But even if the two of them got a bit serious, they still wouldn't be able to kill each other. Even if they ended up suffering severe injuries, Anise and Kristina would be there to help them recover. On top of that, if things really did go too far, Sienna, who would be watching from the sidelines, would also intervene.
But the most important thing was that no matter how the fight went — or who won — Eugene and Molon wouldn’t hold it against each other. No matter the outcome of the battle, their relationship wouldn’t change. However, Eugene’s pride was still at stake.
Honestly speaking, even in his previous life, Eugene had never once thought of himself as being weaker than Molon.
Of course, in his past life, Hamel did have a weaker body than Molon. Because of that, he wasn’t able to fight as barbarically as Molon usually did. However, what did something like that matter when it came to deciding who was stronger and weaker in a fight?
Eugene was already thinking such arrogant thoughts before the fight had even started, as if it just came naturally to him.
Moreover, unlike the last time, this wouldn’t be a match fought for Molon’s sake, so he wouldn’t have to be trying to treat Molon’s madness during the fight. At first, Eugene had only intended to fight with Molon to test out the change that he had sensed, but at some point, the focus of their match had shifted to deciding, once and for all, just which of the two was the stronger.
Thanks to that, there was a possibility that things might get a bit too intense. Eugene was certain he was stronger than Molon, so he didn’t want to lose, no matter what. Besides, who on earth would go into a fight while thinking solely of losing?
The same went for Molon.
He respected the man once known as Hamel Dynas. That was the case even three hundred years ago, especially after seeing the stubbornness that Hamel had shown upon first meeting Vermouth. When they had first heard Vermouth say that he wanted to welcome a young mercenary who was quickly gaining notoriety in the mercenary world as a comrade, Sienna and Anise had both protested.
However, Molon hadn’t been too resistant to the idea. He had trusted that Vermouth must have had a good reason for his choice. At the same time, he noticed the fact that their potential new comrade was a mercenary.
At that time, Molon, Sienna, and Anise didn’t have much worldly experience. That was something that couldn’t be helped. Molon was the heir to a tribe from the northern snowfields, Anise had been enshrined as the Saint in Yuras, and Sienna had grown up in the Rainforest since she was an infant.
On the other hand, if the new member was a mercenary who had experienced countless battlefields, wouldn’t that mean he must have a wealth of diverse experiences? Like Anise and Sienna had said, they might not be skilled enough, but in that case, wouldn’t it be fine if they were given roles other than combat?
After seeing Hamel in person, Molong had changed his mind. Although all they had seen was Hamel getting rid of some small fry mercenaries[1], Molon had sensed unseen depths hidden within Hamel’s movements. And after watching the match between Hamel and Vermouth, Molon grew certain that Hamel would someday become someone strong.
However, he never thought that Hamel would one day become stronger than him.
It was true that Hamel was an exceptional warrior. But to believe that Hamel was stronger than himself? Molon had never once had that sort of thought. Of course, there was a huge difference between the habits and methods that the two used in battle, but that was just due to how their roles were divided. If Molon was forced to, he would have been able to fight the same way that Hamel had fought, at least to a certain extent. So it wasn’t that he couldn’t do it; he just didn’t have to.
“Hamel,” Molon said as he crossed his thick arms in front of his chest. Molon stared at Eugene over his big, bushy beard with a solemn expression, “I saw your skill in our last match. And I feel that the current you has become much stronger than you were back then.”
“That shouldn’t come as a surprise. You should already know this, but I am always growing stronger," Eugene responded with an aloof expression as he rubbed his feet against the ground a few times.
As Molon stood there with his arms crossed, his already immense bulk looked even bigger. Moreover, it even felt like he was gradually growing larger. This was evidence that Molon had entered his fighting form.
Eugene sensed Molon’s presence gradually growing stronger. In response, Eugene turned his focus toward the universe inside of him.
Now, just like how Eugene had felt that Molon was larger than he actually was, Molon also felt that Eugene was somehow different in some unseen way.
‘How strange…,’ Molon thought to himself.
Eugene gave off a sense of incongruity as if he didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the scenery. In Molon’s eyes, Eugene felt separated, like he was an existence that was set apart from the world. Such a sense of presence was fundamentally different from the intimidation that Molon had been giving off.
Molon was confused, ‘He’s clearly right in front of me, and he definitely feels out of place. Yet, even so, he’s somehow transparent….’
Just what was this feeling? Still feeling puzzled, Molon uncrossed his arms.
This was Molon Ruhr. He had lived a very long life. Among the humans, none should have gone through as many battlefields as Molon. However, in Molon’s entire life, he had never once met anyone who gave off such a presence.
“So then,” Eugene began speaking. “You should make the first move. Because I got the first hit last time.”
—If you’re that confident about winning, don’t dodge or block this move. Just take it.
Last time, he had said something like that to Molon, and Molon had actually complied. But there was no way that Molon would also make the same request of him, right? Eugene thought it might just be possible, so he had already prepared a countermeasure, but it seemed that Molon wasn’t going to be as petty as Eugene feared.
“Alright,” Molon readily agreed.
Instead, Molon actually didn’t feel much resistance to having been given the initiative. As Eugene currently was, Molon acknowledged that he had the right to say such a thing.
After uncrossing his arms, Molon clenched his fists that were as large as dumbbells.
Boom, boom.
Molon began to walk forward. The Holy Sword, which Eugene was only holding with his right hand, slowly rose up in response. The Holy Sword was held at an angle that drew a straight line with Eugene’s body.
However, at that moment, Molon could no longer see Eugene’s figure. It felt as if the beauty of that exquisitely refined blade had completely engulfed Eugene’s presence. It was an incredible display of focus and immersion. Right now, Eugene and the Holy Sword were in perfect unity.
“...Hm…,” Molon considered thoughtfully.
He didn’t stop walking, but at this moment, Molon felt some hesitation.
His hesitation was due to a momentary confusion about how to launch his attack. That was just how hard Eugene was making it to find any openings, and Molon had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to break through Eugene’s defenses no matter where he chose to attack.
However, Molon’s hesitation was short-lived. He might be facing an opponent without any openings and a defense that could not be penetrated, but that was just the impression his eyes were giving him. He wouldn’t know for sure without attacking Eugene directly.
With a broad grin on his face, Molon pulled his fist backward.
Grrrrrrrr!
Molon’s clenched fist was already beginning to tremble. As his knuckles curled up even tighter, a thunderous roar began to well up from deep within Molon’s fist.
Boom, boom, boom!
The space around his fist warped and vibrated. As Molon pulled his fist behind his head, it felt like his upraised fist contained a force that could shatter the entire world.
Molon’s left foot stretched forward.
Boooooom!
The ground that he stepped on shook. With that one step, Molon’s body was planted firmly into the earth and connected to it.
Creeeeaaaak!
Molon’s waist twisted to the side. Drawing a straight line from his left foot back to his right fist, the stance needed to launch his fastest and strongest punch had been created.
Poppop, poppoppop…!
Thick veins bulged on the back of his hand and up along his right arm, his muscles swelling to the point where they seemed about to burst.
“Hamel,” Molon said with a bright smile. “You can dodge this if you want.”
Eugene couldn’t help but laugh at these words. This bastard. He really did have a good memory. There was no need for Eugene to even answer such a question.
Fwooosh….
A black flame quietly ignited and engulfed Eugene’s body. Instead of its usual brilliant light, the Holy Sword was also covered by a layer of these subtle black flames.
‘It’s coming,’ Eugene felt.
Crack!
The mountain collapsed around Molon’s foot. But Molon’s fist had already launched forward at a much faster speed that outpaced the land’s subsidence. At the moment when he sensed Molon’s fist covering his entire field of vision, an enormous force struck Eugene, shattering the space around him.
If he was still the same Eugene from last time, he wouldn’t have been able to receive a blow like this that contained such a powerful force from head-on. With this type of attack, it was better to avoid it than to try and block it. If it was a situation where you couldn’t avoid it, then it would be better to try and meet it with even greater force…
‘But now,’ Eugene grinned.
…there was no need for that. Eugene’s spirit was roused into action, and the Holy Sword moved.
Swish!
It didn’t even require much strength to deal with the attack, and he did not need to take more than a few steps.
Parrying was a technique that Eugene had specialized in using from back when he was still Hamel. In the ‘Hamel Style’ that Vermouth had created and passed down to Genos’ family line, this technique also existed under the name of Mana Parrying.
Yet even if this was Eugene, it should have been impossible to parry Molon’s fist as completely and cleanly as he just had. Moreover, the parrying just now hadn’t even required him to use much strength. It was like the flow of a wave crashing down on him from head-on was suddenly diverted to the side after hitting a small stone.
“Huh…,” Molon gasped.
The person who was most surprised by this outcome was Molon, the one who had thrown the punch. After standing there blankly for a few moments, his fist still outstretched, he loosened his clenched fist.
It hadn’t been just a simple parry. During the moment of contact, Eugene had also sliced him….
With a chuckle, Molon shook the back of his hand.
Psssh!
Red blood spurted out from the wound like a fountain.
“It’s certainly strange,” Molon muttered.
Grrrrrrrrroan!
Unable to withstand even a single blow, the mountain beneath Molon’s feet began to collapse.
Sienna immediately flew into the air together with Anise. She stared at Molon and Eugene with narrowed eyes. The two had been confronting each other at a very close range, but after the mountain peak collapsed, Molon had fallen down the mountain. However, let alone collapse, the ground on which Eugene was standing hadn’t even shaken slightly.
“...Anise, do you see that?” Sienna asked.
“I do,” Anise confirmed.
Floating next to Sienna, Anise’s eyes were glowing with light. There was no way that Anise, as the Saint, would fail to detect the change that a wizard like Sienna had noticed. Her eyes focused on the ground beneath Eugene’s feet, which didn’t have a single crack running across it.
Anise voiced their discovery, “That’s definitely Holy Ground.”
Even though she was seeing it with her own eyes, Anise still couldn’t believe it. Even in the Church of Light, you would have to be a high-ranking priest, at least the Archbishop level, to create a holy ground, and as a Saint, Anise was, of course, able to sanctify holy ground as well. However, even Anise, the most outstanding Saint in all of the Church’s history, would need to make some advance preparations if she wanted to create a holy ground using her divine magic.
However, what Eugene had done just now — without any prior preparations, he had made the space around him into holy ground. Moreover, that holy ground wasn’t the holy ground of the God of Light.
“He used his own divinity…,” Anise muttered with a disbelieving snort.
The holy ground wasn’t very large. Only the space where Eugene stood, an area of only a few paces across, had been turned into his holy ground. The surprising thing was, within that holy ground, the divine power of Light was coexisting along with Eugene’s own divinity. Was it because Eugene was the Hero, and he was holding the Holy Sword? Or perhaps there was a different reason?
‘...I can’t think of anything other than the Light having acknowledged him and given him its permission…,’ Anise thought with a frown.
Eugene was also able to sense what he had just accomplished. He hadn’t done it deliberately. He hadn’t even taken out his Divine Sword. He had just been operating the White Flame Formula like usual. However, perhaps due to some spillage from Agaroth’s memory, he had unconsciously mixed in some of his divine power into the White Flame Formula.
Glancing down at his feet, Eugene almost burst into laughter.
As long as Eugene was alive and wanted it to keep standing, this holy ground wouldn’t collapse. Also, while within the holy ground, Eugene would possess numerous advantages. Just like Agaroth, he might someday be able to use it to resist the ominous aura of Destruction. Perhaps it would even enable him to resist Noir Giabella’s Demoneye of Fantasy.
Molon, who had fallen down the mountainside, stepped on the surrounding pieces of debris in order to leap upwards. Having jumped high into the sky in one fell swoop, Molon landed on a different mountain peak.
The back of his hand that had been sliced by Eugene’s sword was still bleeding. Anise was about to try to heal it with her holy magic, only for Molon to shake his head.
“The first to get treatment loses,” Molon insisted.
When she heard the thickly bearded Molon say this with a serious expression, Anise could only shake her head in bewilderment. This was because she felt that their spar was no different from a fight between children, where the first one to get a bloody nose was proclaimed the loser.
Poppop.
Molon clenched his fist once more. When he did, the sliced-open wound was forcefully closed by his immense strength, stopping the bleeding. After Molon clenched and unclenched his fist a few more times, the sides of the wound had completely stuck together.
Having finished his self-treatment, Molon grinned and turned to look at Eugene. Unlike earlier, the distance between the two was quite far apart, but in Molon’s eyes, Eugene seemed to be very close, almost as if Eugene was right in front of his nose.
“It seems you’ve gained quite the strange power,” Molon observed.
Molon could still feel an unfamiliar air coming from Eugene. But rather than putting him off balance, it only excited Molon’s spirit as a warrior.
As Molon slowly lowered his stance, an aura of fighting spirit rose off of him like a haze. At the same time, a strong desire bloomed within him. Looking at Eugene’s upright stance that showed no signs of wavering, Molon felt a desire to make Eugene, who had just now managed to take a blow from him without even getting pushed back, fall down like he had.
How long had it been since he had felt such a pure desire?
Crack, cracrack!
The ground beneath Molon’s feet crumbled once more. The space where Molon was standing began to shake. The massive man kicked off the ground so fast that even the sound couldn’t keep up with him. A moment after he leaped, Molon had already reached Eugene’s holy ground, and soon, an immense surge of violence was unleashed.
It was the same fist as before, but the weight behind the fist felt different. It was only in this moment that Eugene was able to get a thorough grasp of what had changed within him. When they had fought last time, he didn’t get to see Molon show such strength. He had known at the time that Molon hadn’t been giving it his all, but he hadn’t been able to tell just how much Molon was holding back.
However, now, Eugene had been able to coax out much more from Molon. Like how he was moving with such incredible force and how much physical strength Molon could actually exert. Surprisingly enough, this monster of a man was still only using about half of his full strength.
Booooom!
The Holy Sword bounced backward. Molon’s fist was also thrown back. However, neither of the two were forced to take a step back. Molon instead simply took another step forward and raised his other fist.
‘Crazy bastard,’ Eugene cursed to himself.
Eugene couldn’t muster up any arrogant words, even in his mind. This absurd strength had to be due to the power that Molon had accumulated over the past three hundred years. It was the result of all the battles that Molon had fought, even as he slowly lost his mind. If he wanted to withstand such force, Eugene would also need to be prepared to die.
At their level, for both of them to confront each other with all their might was to risk death or serious injuries. Because of that, just like Molon, Eugene was also refraining from using his full power. That was why he wouldn’t be using Ignition or Prominence in this battle.
‘If I use those, the current balance would collapse,’ Eugene thought.
In the last battle, it was fine for him to use Prominence and Ignition. That was because it was a barehanded fight, so even if Eugene had used Ignition, Molon was able to handle it with ease.
However, now, that was no longer possible.
‘If Hamel were to use Ignition…,’ Molon mused, getting the same feeling as Eugene. ‘I would definitely be pushed back.’
This fact excited Molon.
Fist and sword clashed repeatedly. But the trajectory of the sword never shook. Eugene was able to parry Molon’s fist just as he wanted to because he could predict how Molon would attack.
However, things weren’t going all according to Eugene’s will. Eugene had tried to slice at Molon’s fist, but he wasn’t able to leave a wound on Molon’s body like he did the first time. No matter how sharp his blade was, he wasn’t able to scratch Molon.
“I admit it, Hamel,” Molon spoke up after his fist had already clashed with Eugene’s sword about a dozen times. “Now, I’m no longer able to defeat you with my bare hands.”
Eugene’s lips twitched at these words.
From three hundred years ago, the weapon that Molon had used when he fought was the axe.
1. The author seems to have made a mistake here, as when they first met, Hamel was beating up a couple of young knights, not mercenaries. ☜