The other request that the specter had made of the Demon King of Incarceration was to free the demonic beasts that had been sealed within Ravesta.
Demonic beasts didn’t possess the same ability to reason that demonfolk did. As beings whose origins flowed directly from the source of all dark power, they were even more ferocious than monsters and had always preyed on humans.
The demonic beasts sealed within Ravesta were, in particular, some of the most ferocious and gigantic demonic beasts throughout history. Although they lacked the ability to reason, the demonic beasts sealed within Ravesta were strong enough to be comparable to high-ranking demonfolk.
The dark cloud following the specter was a direct recreation of Ravesta’s underground sky. The enormous demonic beasts that blended into this night sky like shining auroras were all currently marching toward Hauria, the capital of Nahama.
During the era of war, these demonic beasts had preyed on countless humans, but at the moment, they were keeping their silence, and their fangs were hidden. This was because even the irrational demonic beasts knew to show absolute obedience to an existence like a Demon King. In the first place, these demonic beasts could no longer pose any harm to the humans of this current era because, at the end of the war, the Demon King of Incarceration had placed all of the demonic beasts under his personal control.
Even the largest of these demonic beasts hadn’t been able to overcome this control, and now, their reins were no longer held by the Demon King of Incarceration but by the specter instead.
Screeeeech!
The Centipede Mountain, writhing within the black cloud, voiced its response to the specter’s command and descended toward the ground.
Tchrrrrrrrk!
The reason why it had been difficult to even approach the territory of the Demon King of Incarceration three hundred years ago was the Centipede Mountain that had surrounded his entire territory. If the Demon King of Incarceration hadn’t intentionally left an opening leading into his territory, it would have taken much longer for the suicide legions to enter the red plains sheltered within.
In other words, the centipede’s body was long enough to wrap around an entire fief. As its name implied, this demonic beast was truly as large as an entire mountain range.
Some of the centipede’s countless legs dug into the sand, holding its body firmly in place. Its other legs were held up in the air, looking like rows of halberds that had been erected on a wall.
The Centipede Mountain, whose shell was so tough that it would be difficult to break through it even if an Archwizard were to attack it, had formed a wall around Hauria with its entire body.
“Kyaaaaaah!
Citizens of the most gorgeous city in Nahama, the capital city of Hauria, couldn’t help but let out identical screams of terror. A swarm of dark clouds that were large enough to cover the entire city had suddenly rolled over them, and from within those clouds had descended a centipede as tall as a castle wall and as long as a mountain range, which had proceeded to surround the entire capital.
All that could be seen from within the city was the white stomach of the Centipede Mountain and the legs that it was holding in the air. Even those who felt no qualms catching bugs with their bare hands couldn’t help but have their eyes roll back into their heads as they fainted at this repulsive sight.
After confirming that the city had been completely blockaded, the specter continued to move forward. It wasn’t just demonic beasts standing at the side of the silent specter. Also present were the demonfolk of Ravesta, who were led by Alphiero. All the vassals who had once sworn service to the Demon King of Destruction were now following behind the specter.
‘His Incarnation…,’ Alphiero marveled as he stared at the specter’s back with a fascinated look in his eyes.
Alphiero didn’t think anything of the humiliation that the specter had inflicted on him back in Ravesta.
Three hundred years. Alphiero had been waiting for a whole three hundred years for his Demon King to awaken. And now, the Demon King of Destruction had finally sent his Incarnation into the world.
“Aaaah…,” Alphiero moaned in delight.
Alphiero wasn’t the only one having such thoughts. The demonfolk who had been exiled to Ravesta for the past hundreds of years were all madmen who had been eagerly waiting for the return of the Demon King of Destruction and anticipating being able to go on a rampage when war was redeclared.
When this specter had suddenly appeared in front of them and aroused his dark power, the demonfolks who had suffered such defeat and humiliation the last time they had met the specter were the first to follow him.
The essential reason for their submission was the different feeling the specter’s dark power now gave them. As an Incarnation of Destruction, the specter felt the closest they had ever come to the awakening of the Demon King of Destruction that they had been waiting for these past hundreds of years. So once he told them that he was going to start a war and asked them to follow him, what reason could they have to refuse?
The specter felt the worship being directed towards him from the demonfolk behind him.
Just as he was forcing himself to ignore his feelings of disgust at this sensation, Alphiero approached him with his head bowed.
Alphiero began to speak, “Oh Incarnation, down there, there’s—”
The specter couldn’t bear listening to Alphiero speak, so he raised a hand to interrupt the vampire. Glancing down, the specter spotted Hemoria on a rooftop, looking up at them with a shocked expression.
“That girl has betrayed Amelia and is conspiring with Sienna of Calamity,” Alphiero reported.
Alphiero had personally bestowed some of his own blood to Hemoria. Even though he had known about Hemoria’s betrayal, he had turned a blind eye to it. This was because Alphiero had felt that it would be pretty amusing to see Amelia be betrayed and killed by a pet she had looked down on once the war broke out.
“With your permission, I shall punish that girl personally,” Alphiero offered.
However, now the situation had changed. Since the Incarnation of Destruction had personally stepped forward, the war that was about to break out here had now become a holy war for Alphiero and the other vassals of Destruction. So they could not allow Hemoria to continue with her plans during the course of their holy war.
His red eyes shone with a murderous light as Alphiero glared down at Hemoria.
The specter shook his head, “There’s no need to punish her.”
“Truly?” Alphier frowned in confusion.
“Bring her with you,” the specter ordered.
The specter’s chillingly cold killing intent left Alphiero feeling unable to ask any more questions. Alphiero immediately flew downwards and grabbed Hemoria.
“Wh-what?!” Hemoria yelped in protest.
She had let out a cry when she was suddenly captured, but upon being dragged into the dark cloud, Hemoria had no choice but to keep her lips sealed shut. That was just how cruel and oppressive the atmosphere within those clouds was.
The royal palace could be seen under their feet.
The black wizards were all on their knees with their heads bowed. The demonfolk, who had been spending their leisurely time in the Sultan’s harem, had all come outside to look up at the clouds.
Amelia, trembling in her boots as she held Vladimir in her hands, was also visible among the crowd.
The specter descended onto this scene all by himself.
“Ah… um…,” Amelia stammered, her lips quivering.
She knew she was supposed to say something but didn’t know what to say. It was only then that Amelia realized something. She still didn’t know how she should address the specter. Should she call him Hamel? Or should she perhaps call him by a different name?
Until now, Amelia had always addressed the other party as you . This was due to her sense of superiority at having been the one to create him through a ritual.
She had always considered herself superior and noble. Everyone else paled in significance next to her. But even if they weren’t truly insignificant, and even if they were actually stronger than her, Amelia had always stubbornly referred to them as you .
This insistence was like a weak dog who barked loudly to compensate for its weakness or like one of those animals whose brightly colored hide was meant to serve as a threat display. For Amelia, who had had to overcome her dirty and miserable, sewer-like past, looking down on the other party by addressing them with ‘you’ was an act of bravado meant to disguise her own weakness.
However, she couldn’t make use of such a tactic now. This wasn’t a situation where Amelia could afford to put up a show of bravado. She was so scared that she wouldn’t be able to keep it up even if she tried. Amelia felt like her head might go flying as soon she had a slip of the tongue.
She had to force her legs to stay strong just to keep herself standing. Her body was draped in a splendid robe that someone like a sultan would wear, and she had a gold crown on top of her head.
Eventually, Amelia reached her limit. Her body trembling in resistance, Amelia bowed her head. Then, just like the other black wizards, she knelt in place. Vladimir was set down next to her, and she even took off the crown on her head.
Placing both of her hands on the ground, Amelia bowed her head in the direction of the specter.
* * *
By the time the priests from Yuras had arrived, treatment of the wounded had already been completed. Their wounds had been inflicted with dark power, so the treatment wasn’t easy, but potions couldn't be compared to the healing power of a miracle cast by a Saint blessed with the Stigmata.
“What… just what on earth…,” Gilead, having arrived with the rest of the reinforcements from the main estate, couldn’t help but shake his dizzied head in disbelief.
Gilead could at least be certain of one thing. In all of the history of the Lionheart clan, there had probably never been a Patriarch with a more eventful career than himself….
Of course, Gilead wasn’t too pessimistic about his own situation. He also wasn’t the type to lament that the family’s problems were too much for him to bear.
Instead, he just felt a sense of guilt towards his ancestors. He felt ashamed for not being able to protect the Lionheart clan’s honor, and he felt anger towards the enemy who had dared to attack the Lionhearts. While barely managing to suppress a fit of passionate rage, Gilead gritted his teeth.
What had happened here was both fortunate and yet humiliating. The Black Lion Castle had been invaded, but no one had died. Their mysterious enemy could have killed everyone here but hadn’t chosen to do so.
‘Just who is he?’ Gilead wondered as he turned his head to look over at the castle.
While inspecting the wounded, he listened to their reports of the enemy. The enemy’s true identity was unknown. He had been wearing a mask, and he used suspiciously sinister dark power.
“...Could there be… some sort of secret…,” Gilead muttered to himself.
Eugene seemed to have realized the enemy’s true identity. The same went for the Saint and Lady Sienna. However, Gilead hadn’t been informed of any details.
So… they seemed to want to keep it a secret. But why? Although he didn’t want to doubt his adopted son, he couldn’t help but feel sad and a bit suspicious that they weren’t telling him the full truth.
Gilead set aside his concerns about Eugene for now. After all, he couldn’t just go up to Eugene and demand answers immediately. Eugene was currently inside the castle, exchanging greetings with the foreign reinforcements.
“...Are you feeling alright?” Gilead asked his son.
“I’m fine,” Cyan replied while rubbing his throbbing chest with one hand.
He had first received treatment from the Saint, and then he had been looked at once more by the priests of Yuras when they arrived later. The reason Cyan’s chest was still currently throbbing wasn’t from any wounds but because his mana had been nearly drained from using Geddon’s Shield.
“...I’m sorry,” Cyan hesitantly apologized.
“What do you even have to be sorry for?” Gilead asked in surprise.
“Even though I’m the future Patriarch, I couldn’t do anything,” Cyan confessed. “...Instead, I even had thoughts of running away—”
“That’s enough,” Gilead said firmly. “What happened here could have caused anyone to have such thoughts. But even so, Cyan, you didn’t run away. Instead, you did your best to fight against the enemy and protected your younger sister.”
Although this situation as a whole felt bitter and painful, Gilead felt pride in what he had seen from Cyan. When he was younger, Cyan was a boy who seemed to have more flaws than strengths, but now….
Gilead smiled widely and patted Cyan on the shoulder.
“What about Ciel… is she okay?” Cyan asked worriedly.
Gilead nodded, “Mhm. She wasn’t seriously injured. She’s also recovered from her faint. However, since her eyes are… special, Lady Sienna and the Saint said they would need to keep her under observation for just a bit longer.”
Cyan knew what the word ‘special’ meant. It was referring to Ciel’s Demoneye. Although it was different from the Demoneyes possessed by the demonfolk, Ciel’s Demoneye was at least inherited from a demonfolk — the Demon King of Fury at that. There hadn’t been any abnormalities so far, but when Ciel had tried to activate her eye’s ability, the specter had destroyed her bindings with his dark power, so there was a need to monitor her recovery.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Ciel, who was currently stuck inside the castle, stuck her lips out in a pout and grumbled.
It was true that her eye’s power had been shattered when she tried to activate it, and in the process, her mana had backlashed, causing damage to her Core.
However, it was nothing serious enough to warrant such fuss. Her Core was sore, but that was it.
“The dark power may leave a trace behind,” Anise reminded her.
“And I’m saying that it hasn’t,” Ciel stubbornly insisted.
Anise growled, “Do you really want to end up with only one eye?”
Once Anise’s eyes had narrowed into a piercing glare, Ciel didn’t continue to argue any further and quietly kept her mouth shut.
Anise wasn’t the only one sticking close to Ciel. Sienna was also sitting on Ciel’s other side, rubbing her back as she checked Ciel’s Core and mana veins.
“Could it be that she’s going to develop another Demoneye?” Sienna mused.
Anise frowned, “Don’t suggest something strange like that.”
“It could happen,” Sienna insisted. “Her Demoneye was created when the dark power of the Moonlight Sword seeped into Ciel…. In the end, that son of a bitch’s dark power isn’t so different from the Moonlight Sword’s.”
“My eye is a present given to me by my ancestor. It’s not due to that sword’s dark power,” Ciel, who had been trying to keep silent, couldn’t help but speak up in anger once more.
It was now Sienna’s turn to pout in dissatisfaction at this blunt response, “It’s exactly because your ancestor is connected to the Demon King of Destruction that I’m so worried about it!”
“Honestly! I told you not to say anything strange,” Anise snapped. “Also, lower your voice. This is the Black Lion Castle! If anyone were to hear you say that their ancestor is connected to the Demon King of Destruction….”
“Hey, your voice is even louder than mine, you know?” Sienna argued back.
Ciel was so shocked by Sienna’s retort that she had to slap her hand over her mouth. Sienna found this appearance so childish and cute that she couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.
Sienna waved her hand, “It’s a pointless concern anyway. Do you really think I wouldn’t put a barrier over us when discussing something like this?”
“...Even if you placed a barrier, your words could still be leaked,” Anise insisted.
Sienna sniffed, “That’s even more of a pointless concern. Who do you think I am? I’m Magic’s God—”
Sienna had been about to say Magic’s Goddess, but she suddenly felt like she would be ridiculed if she said something like that in front of Ciel. So Sienna immediately snapped her mouth shut.
Although Sienna had suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, Ciel wasn’t really all that curious about what had been left unsaid. She had no doubt that it was just more of Sienna’s usual nonsense and self-aggrandizement.
More importantly, Ciel was concerned about what was going on with Eugene. Presently, Eugene was conversing with the foreign representatives in another room in the castle.
“By the way, I haven’t caught up with the current situation. What’s going on now?” Ciel asked.
“It’s Molon,” Anise replied as she leaned closer to Ciel’s left eye. “...It seems like the guy who invaded the castle first went to see Molon a few hours beforehand.”
“What?” Ciel yelped. “But that’s impossible. There isn’t even a warp-gate in the Lehainjar Mountain Range, where Sir Molon is residing, so how could he get all the way here from there in just a few hours?”
“He must have used that strange method of his to travel here,” Sienna answered Ciel’s question with a furrowed brow.
The spell usually used for any long-distance movement that didn’t go through a warp-gate was the Teleport spell. Warp-gates could enable ultra-long distance movement by connecting two fixed spatial coordinates, marked by the gates, with each other. Teleportation or Blink didn’t have to make use of such gates but instead created a designated point and then leaped towards their point through a combined effort of both body and soul.
Eugene’s Signature spell, Feathers of Prominence, was an application of the latter type of spatial magic.
Even for an Archwizard, there were certain conditions needed to cast a Teleport.
That was still the case even for Sienna, as well as the dragons, who were known to be the master manipulators of magic. Even for someone like them, it was still essential to prepare a designated point, and even then, the distance they could travel was incomparably shorter than the reach of a warp-gate. As for teleportation that ignored all distance restrictions, that only left the use of the leaves of the World Tree, or else—
‘A Demon King,’ Sienna thought suspiciously.
The Demon King of Incarceration was able to freely appear and then disappear from anywhere in the world.
That was also the case for the Demon King of Destruction.
So appearing and disappearing from anywhere in this world without setting a designated point beforehand or being restricted by the distance was a power that only the Demon Kings had ever been shown to possess.
Molon was currently calling Eugene through a long-distance communication spell. [I searched all over the Lehainjar.]
Eugene listened to Molon’s story in silence.
[However, I couldn’t find any trace of him. I thought at first that he might have been concealing his dark power, so I searched a few more times, but I still couldn’t find him,] Molon said in frustration.
The Death Knight — no, he couldn’t really be called a Death Knight at this point… but that said, he didn’t quite seem like a Demon King either — he had gone looking for Molon and challenged him to a fight before coming here.
[I… I’ve really made a mistake,] Molon said regretfully. [If I had contacted you immediately instead of searching for him—]
“That’s enough, idiot,” Eugene said with a sigh. “The damage over here wasn’t too bad. What about you? Are you okay?”
[Mhm. I was injured slightly, but I’m fine,] Molon reassured him.
“Of course, you’d be fine. I would have been disappointed in you if you had been beaten by a half-baked bastard like that,” Eugene bluntly spat out as he scratched his head in frustration. “...What about the mountain? Has there been any changes in Raguyaran?”
That guy had made heavy use of the dark power of Destruction. Eugene couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the thought of a guy like that running around unchecked all over the Lehainjar.
What if that brought some kind of stimulation to the Demon King of Destruction and woke him up? Or if it led to the Nur appearing in larger numbers?
[I’m keeping an eye on it, but there haven’t been any problems yet,] Molon reported.
Right now, Molon was down in the training grounds where the Knight March had been held. He had come down here to treat the injuries he had sustained in his battle and to contact Eugene. Although that meant he had had to leave the Great Hammer Canyon, Molon’s shining eyes could see the entire mountain range as well as the Raguyaran, even from the training grounds.
[Hamel,] Molon hesitated for a few moments before continuing to speak. [That guy… he didn’t come here to kill me or just to fight with me.]
“...,” Eugene held his tongue.
[If we had kept fighting, then I might have been the one to fall. However, that guy didn’t keep the fight going and was instead the first to take a step back,] Molon honestly admitted.
“That’s what happened here as well,” Eugene grunted. “After igniting everyone’s temper, he just left without even killing anyone. We don’t know where he’s gone now.”
As he said this, Eugene scratched the floor in frustration. Although it was a solid marble floor, when Eugene scratched at it, furrows were dug in the floor.
Eugene cursed, “That’s what fucking sucks. Do you know what’s even more of a fucking insult? That bastard was wearing a mask. He actually covered up my past life’s face.”
[...,] it was Molon’s turn to keep silent.
“Although I don’t really want to keep thinking about it, my thoughts keep turning to the question. Could it be, does that son of a bitch… know who I am?” Eugene muttered with a dark frown.
Screech, screeeeech.
Eugene kept scratching the floor as he voiced his suspicions, “Could it be that he’s realized that I am Hamel’s reincarnation, so he’s put on a mask because he wants to protect Hamel’s… my honor, or because he wants to be considerate of me?”
[Hamel,] Molon tried to reach out to Eugene.
Eugene ignored the interruption, “Even though he went looking for you, he came here afterward and did all this shit.”
Screeeeeeeech.
As Eugene’s fingers were digging another furrow into the floor, they clenched into a fist as he growled, “What the fuck is he even trying to do?”
[Hamel… whatever he is… he knew he was a fake. While fighting him, I thought… that he resembled you,] Molon hesitantly admitted.
“Molon, if you were in front of me right now, I would have smashed my fist straight into your chin,” Eugene promised. “But I’m trusting you to have said something like that even though you knew just how much that would offend me.”
Molon nodded. [Of course, I knew. Hamel, I said all that while prepared to receive a few punches from you when we next meet. But I really did feel something like that.]
“Son of a bitch,” Eugene muttered, not making it clear who he was referring to.
[I hope that you give these words some serious thought. Even though he’s realized he was a fake, as someone who resembles you, what reason could he have to… wear a mask and do all of this? What on earth would someone like him want to do?] Molon questioned.
“Hah,” Eugene let out a scoff as he relaxed his clenched fists. He stood up, and while shaking off the marble dust that had been caked onto his palms, he asked, “What’s the point of me even thinking about it? All I need to do is find that son of a bitch and ask him his reasons before killing him.”
[That’s also one solution. However, we still don’t know where he is,] Molon pointed out.
Eugene sniffed, “Please, that guy wants me to kill him. He even went so far as to wear a mask and come here to provoke me. There’s no need for me to keep my eyes peeled looking for him. I’ll find out where he is sooner or later. But before that….”
Eugene scrubbed his still powder-covered palms on the wall. Realizing that rubbing his hands like this was a sign of his own nerves, Eugene clenched his fists once more and pounded his chest in an attempt to relieve the choked-up feeling that he was experiencing.
“...There’s something I need to do,” Eugene quietly muttered.
Molon perked up, [Hm? Did you say something? I didn’t quite hear you—]
Eugene had hoped that this day would never come, but now….
“I need to reveal who I really am,” Eugene spat out through gritted teeth.