Whooooosh!
Eugene was still connected to the light that the priests and the Saint had generated. As he fell towards the city, Eugene raised his head to look up into the air.
A thread was connecting Eugene to Raimira, who was flying high above him. That’s right, the light leading down from the sky towards Eugene looked like a thin thread.
If Eugene had to use a simile to describe it, his appearance reminded him of a marionette, as if a doll was being held up by a string that had come down from the heavens.
…A doll? Eugene let out a snort and shook his head.
Eugene wasn’t a doll. He could be sure of that. This thread wasn’t something that the God of Light had connected to Eugene in order to control him like a puppet. Instead, it was an expression of the god’s unconditional and infinite love. The purpose of the thread was to ensure that Eugene’s attacks wouldn’t miss, he wouldn’t get hurt, and he wouldn’t die.
“How burdensome,” Eugene complained.
It was only natural for a god to love his believers. Moreover, Eugene wasn’t just any ordinary believer but the Hero chosen by the god. Although the God of Light usually gave off an indifferent feeling, it was only natural for him to bestow his infinite love upon Eugene.
Until now, there had been several times when Eugene experienced the miracles bestowed by the God of Light. However, he had never once received a direct revelation from the God of Light, and that was still the case even now. Eugene couldn’t hear any voices trying to speak to him.
He took the Light’s silence as the god’s acquiescence towards his action.
No matter what Eugene did with it, the light would not refuse to cooperate. Even if Eugene were to invade the Holy Empire, murder the Pope, and massacre tens of thousands of believers, the God of Light would continue to lend Eugene as much strength as he desired.
[Sir Eugene,] Kristina’s voice was heard inside Eugene’s head.
“There’s no point in you coming down here, so just stay up there,” Eugene ordered her.
Kristina tried to argue, [But—]
Eugene cut her off, “You can feel it too, can’t you? Even without you coming down here and following after me… we’re already connected by this light. Isn’t that right?”
At these words, Kristina was left with no choice but to nod. Although this was their first time experiencing something like this, it was just as Eugene had said.
Right now, Kristina’s divine power had fused together with the divine power of the priests of the Graceful Radiance and formed into this single source of light that was connected to Eugene. Kristina and Anise’s will could be transmitted to Eugene through this thread of Light, and all of the holy magic and miracles cast by the two Saints could also be remotely bestowed upon Eugene, along with the divine power supplied by the other priests.
“Still, this is really quite inconvenient,” Eugene said with a frown as he looked up above his head at the thread of light leading up to the sky.
It wasn’t something solid one could touch with one’s hands, and it didn’t act like a real thread, so there wasn’t any discomfort when moving around.
However, it was still an inconvenience. For example, when Eugene leaped through space with Prominence or when he was moving around at maximum speed if this thread of light kept following Eugene around, wouldn’t his opponent be able to follow Eugene’s movement without any difficulty as long as they kept an eye on where the thread was going?
“Disappear, disappear…,” Eugene muttered with narrowed eyes as he tried to shoo the thread away with his hands.
Up in the sky, Kristina and Anise also expressed the same desire. As they did so, the thread of light began to fade away until it disappeared completely. But the connection made through the Light hadn’t been cut off. The connection had simply turned invisible.
“Isn’t that bastard actually listening in on us right now?” Eugene asked suspiciously.
[Hamel, even if you are a god yourself, please don’t use such blasphemous words to address my god,] Anise chided.
Although she said this, as the Saint, Anise had more blasphemous thoughts about her god than anyone else.
Or at least that was what Eugene thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Anise.
“Later,” Eugene quietly muttered.
It would be best for him to stow this observation away for later when they were in a situation where he could afford to laugh his ass off after enduring the obligatory slap from Anise. Eugene gave a wry smile as he looked down at the ground.
Below him lay the Capital City of Nahama, Hauria. Once, it was the most gorgeous and prosperous city in the entire Kingdom of Nahama.
But now, Hauria had been occupied by the Demon King and had been rendered into ruins where only ghosts still resided. Eugene glared down at this city that had been destroyed within the space of a single night.
A lot of undead troops seemed to have been deployed out in the desert, but compared to all the undead roaming the city, those forces were only a drop in the bucket[1].
But no matter how many undead there were, they were still just undead.
The biggest advantage of the undead was that their numbers would grow if they killed their enemies. Special undead such as the Death Knights, liches, or things like Kamash might still be dangerous, but the undead currently roaming Hauria shouldn’t pose any threat to the Liberation Army.
There weren’t any ordinary soldiers included within the ranks of the Liberation Army. All those who had come here possessed at least acceptable levels of skill, and there was no way that any of the knights would falter when faced with these sorts of undead.
However, there was no such thing as absolute certainty on the battlefield. Especially since Hauria was a city that was currently being ruled by a Demon King. Although these appeared to be ordinary and weak undead, that might not actually be the case.
‘Rotten bastard,’ Eugene silently cursed.
It was just as he had thought.
Eugene looked closely at the army of ghouls and skeletons stumbling through the city. Even among all the undead, these two types were considered the lowest of the low. However, while that might indeed be the case, they could still be used as vessels for dark power. The weak durability of ghouls and skeletons meant that they couldn’t carry a lot of dark power, but even that small amount made them much stronger than their original counterparts.
Looking at the numbers swarming the city and taking into consideration the fact that the entire city was being inundated with dark power, the damage that the Liberation Army would suffer trying to get through the city wouldn’t be too small.
‘And it’s not just the undead,’ Eugene reminded himself.
There were no more Super Demonic Beasts left in the city. All of the high-ranking demonfolk who had crossed over from Helmuth and their subordinates had also died in the desert.
However, the original vassals of Destruction still remained. This included Alphiero and many other demonfolk of his ilk. They could be considered as the elite forces of the Demon King who had taken over this city.
Raising his head, Eugene looked up to see what lay ahead. In the distance, he could see the royal palace. The Demon King, that fake copy, was waiting for Eugene there.
Eugene turned his head to look behind him.
Booom!
Eugene watched as Hauria’s outer walls collapsed. Through the vast clouds of dust that were raised by the collapse, he saw a light that was sparkling like a jewel.
“You should keep going ahead,” Sienna’s voice crossed the large distance between them and managed to reach Eugene.
Sienna wasn’t the only one to have contributed to the collapse of the city walls. Melkith, who had finally managed to sign a contract with Tempest, kicked down the city walls as she walked into the city. The wizards of the Towers of Magic and Aroth’s Magic Corps came in through the path she had opened up for them.
Furthermore, at another distant location, the warriors of the Zoran Tribe and the knightly orders from the various countries had opened up their own path into the city. The flying squadrons led by Carmen and Raphael were also descending from the sky with them.
Hauria was truly a colossal city. There was no need for Eugene to have to deal with the large army of undead or the vassals of Destruction wandering within this massive city all by himself, and there was no reason for him to even try.
Let’s go!
The unified cries of the Liberation Army rang throughout the city. The emotions carried in their voices, their expectations of Eugene, and what Eugene himself had vowed to do — Eugene took all of these to heart as he mustered his determination.
Eugene turned his head forward. From now on, instead of turning to look backward, Eugene would only look forward.
“Sienna, there’s no need for you to rush. After all, I’m the one that bastard is waiting for,” Eugene growled.
Although there was quite some distance between them, Sienna was still able to hear Eugene’s voice extremely clearly. She laughed as she easily noticed the blatant intention underlying Eugene’s words.
“Don’t resort to such obvious tricks. I’m the one who’s left feeling embarrassed after having to listen to them,” Sienna scoffed. “So Eugene, why don’t you try being more honest instead?”
She really did know him all too well. With a wry smile, Eugene nodded, “If at all possible, come and help once you’re done with the city.”
Sienna raised an eyebrow, “This huge city? That’s not an easy thing to ask.”
“Is it too much even for the Goddess of Magic?” Eugene teased.
“Since it’s a request from my beloved disciple, this pre-Goddess should do her best to fulfill your demand,” Sienna replied with a giggle.
As he listened to her response, Eugene kept moving forward.
“Kristina, Anise, you two…,” Eugene paused for a moment, “should try to help our allies so that less will die.”
Kristina immediately agreed, [Yes, understood, Sir Eugene.]
[‘Less will die,’ you say. Hamel, it seems that you still have a conscience, even if it’s just a hair thin[2],] Anise teased.
This was the battlefield. It was impossible for the allied forces to not suffer even a single casualty. The role of Saints and priests on such a battlefield was to ensure that as few of their allies died as possible.
“I’ve always been a conscientious person,” Eugene retorted.
Anise muttered, [Not only are you stupid, you really are so shameless as well. In any case, Hamel, are you heading straight to the palace?]
Eugene shook his head, “There’s something I need to do before that.”
He almost lost control of his temper when Anise started teasing him about being stupid. However, he knew that getting angry at Anise in their current situation would be ridiculous, so he forcefully suppressed his rage. It was also because he knew getting upset over Anise's teasing remarks would be a waste of his rage. From the moment he descended into Hauria, Eugene had set a designated target for all his rage.
The flames of Prominence flared up. Eugene transformed into a black comet that pierced through the sky. The scenery of the ruined city that had been transformed into a lair of the undead flashed past below him.
Hauria was an extremely expansive city. However, the size of the city didn’t matter, as Eugene’s flight speed was ridiculously fast. He crossed the entire city in mere instants.
Just as he had told Anise, Eugene didn’t storm into the palace right away. The wings of Prominence, which had been fluttering behind him like a comet’s tail, suddenly swept upwards. When this happened, Eugene’s body dropped straight down.
Then, as if they had been waiting for this moment, some creatures leapt out to block Eugene. It was a group of chimeras that had been pieced together from different animals like jigsaw puzzles. Just by their appearance, it was quite obvious to see who had created them.
“Amelia Merwin,” Eugene quietly hissed her name in a cold voice.
Even Kamash hadn’t been able to hold on to Eugene. The high-ranking demonfolk couldn’t even withstand a single one of Eugene’s blows.
So these chimeras? And the undead? Even if they were grouped together in a wall of meat, they still wouldn’t be enough to stop Eugene.
There was no way that Amelia didn’t know that.
“How dirty,” Eugene spat out.
These chimeras that were leaping at him, hoping to drag him into a fight… they weren’t here just for the sake of buying time.
Within the space of a few short moments, Eugene was able to figure out what these chimeras were doing here. Each had a powerful self-destruct spell built into them. And this wasn’t just some ordinary self-destruct that fueled an explosion with their remaining dark power either.
Amelia had infused all the different curses that could be cast using black magic into their self-destruct spells, and she had also laced the explosions with a deadly poison that targeted its victim’s very existence, both body and soul. She might not have expected either one to actually kill Eugene, but whether it was the curses or the poison, Amelia must have been desperately hoping that at least one of the two could slow him down.
How dirty and petty of her. Did she really have any high hopes that something like this could actually work? Eugene couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh. There was no need for him to even swing either the Holy Sword or the Moonlight Sword to get rid of these things.
Eugene simply expanded his flames. This move alone didn’t just prove to be enough; it was actually excessive. The dozens of chimeras immediately burned to ashes and disappeared, unable to curse, poison, or explode all over Eugene.
Amelia was also able to watch as this happened. While swallowing a shaky breath, she leaped to her feet.
Eugene Lionheart, that man, that monster, he was somehow coming here while knowing exactly where she was hiding.
‘I have to run away,’ Amelia thought in a panic.
If she had had the choice, she would have wanted to hole up in the palace, but that had become impossible.
This was because the power emitted by that monster — the Incarnation of Destruction who no longer went by Hamel and had now become a nameless specter — would even devour the magic of Amelia and the liches if they got too close.
For the barrier that had covered the entire city, an elaborate magic circle was needed to constantly repair the barrier’s underlying formulas from the damage due to external attacks, but it was impossible to maintain such a magic circle in the palace while it was being affected by the specter’s dark power.
So Amelia had no choice but to leave the palace. Because she and the liches didn’t want to become an open target, they went into the city’s cemeteries and dug even deeper below them to set up a base deep underground.
One of the characteristics of a cemetery, the stagnant evil energy that had accumulated over a long period of time, made it the perfect place to cover up the use of large-scale black magic.
But just how on earth had Eugene seen right through their trick? Their camouflage should have been perfect. They were also hidden deep, deep underground. They hadn't left even a single trace behind in the cemetery on the surface. And Amelia had even prepared some elaborate dummies hidden elsewhere, just in case.
Amelia hadn’t expected that they would be able to fool Eugene for long, but… she could never have imagined that he would head straight towards her without a second thought, skipping the investigation process.
“G-Grandmaster,” stammered one of the dozens of liches following Amelia.
They weren’t allowed to move under their own will, so they needed to wait for Amelia’s orders.
Naturally, Amelia had no intention of protecting the liches. She didn’t have even the slightest hesitation when she made her choice to abandon them. Amelia immediately grabbed her staff, Vladmir, and left the magic circle.
Kamash was dead. The demonic beasts that had been brought here from Ravesta had all died as well. The army of undead might still remain standing, but Amelia couldn’t control any of the undead within the city.
As for the vassals of Destruction? The same also went for them. The only ones that Amelia could command were the undead legions who had already been deployed in the desert. Everything that remained in the city belonged solely to the specter.
So, first of all, Amelia needed to get out of this underground lair. Although there was quite some distance between her and the palace, she would still be able to escape there if she just had a little time. She had hoped that the chimeras would be able to buy her some of that time, but they hadn’t even successfully activated their self-destruct spells, let alone make use of the elaborately designed curses and poison.
In that case….
“You all, I order you to die for my sake,” Amelia spat out the order without even looking back over her shoulder.
The fires in the liches’ eye-sockets dimmed at these words. It was a cruel order for them to follow, but it was impossible for the liches to resist. The life vessels of all the liches were being held by Amelia.
She had gained possession of their life vessels by telling the liches that it would allow her to lead them in casting their black magic with more power and efficiency. She was their Grandmaster, a figure they had always respected as black wizards and from whom they had sought guidance for their entire lives. Who could have imagined that she would just abandon them like she was tossing away an old shoe?
The liches leaped onto their feet. The structure of the magic circle immediately began to transform. It was no longer structured towards protecting the city, but instead calibrated to thoroughly kill a single enemy. As this was happening, the atmosphere in this underground base suddenly underwent a change.
As Amelia prepared to escape, she thought to herself, ‘This should buy me a little more ti—’
She wasn’t even able to finish that thought.
Booooooom!
A huge impact collapsed the ceiling of their underground base. The base’s barrier, which had been made up of hundreds of layers of spells, was easily pierced through in the face of this merciless and overwhelming force, like a piece of paper in front of an awl.
“Do it now!” Amelia screamed.
The liches, who had no choice but to follow her order, immediately began to cast the spell.
Grrrrrrrrrr!
Their combined dark power also began to run wild.
Not only was it too late, it was pointless. The spread of Eugene’s flames was faster than the speed at which the liches could cast their spell. The blazing black flames were thicker and more intense than the dark power generated by the dozens of liches working together in concert or the evil energy that had accumulated and distilled in this cemetery over a long period of time.
Eugene’s black flames didn’t illuminate this dark underground lair. However, to the eyes of the liches, it felt both dazzling and scorching, as if they were looking at a sun that had appeared just a single step away from them.
Liches didn’t have anything like skin, flesh, or muscles. Although they far outclassed ordinary skeletons in comparison, their bodies were still just made up of bones covered in their dark power.
Right now, it felt as if their entire, hollow bodies were being burnt to ash. The liches rolled on the ground, screaming in pain. The surging flames also washed over the magic circle, incinerating it, and the black magic that was on the verge of being cast was dispelled.
As for Amelia… someone had grabbed hold of her hair. It had happened in a split second. That man, that monster, had suddenly appeared right next to her.
From Amelia’s perspective, it felt as if she had been trapped in darkness, unable to see anything, when a ghost had suddenly reached his hand out towards her. The ghost quickly and securely grabbed hold of Amelia’s hair, then looped the long strands around his wrist to make sure that he wouldn’t lose his grip.
Then Amelia’s head was yanked to the side. Even though she was being pulled with great force, her hair wasn’t torn in two. This ghost, this monster, seemed to be very familiar at controlling his strength to keep it within the endurance limits of her hair.
Once, Amelia also had experience at enduring such treatment. However, that was a story from long ago. The current Amelia had become accustomed to being the one inflicting violence by pulling on someone else’s hair. On the other hand, she was no longer used to being in that same situation herself.
However… as her hair was pulled, her legs were kicked out from under her, her knees crushed into the ground, her waist bent over, then her hair pulled in the other direction, causing her neck to stretch backward… Amelia was clearly reminded of her childhood, which had mostly been filled with the same humiliation and pain.
Amelia was also reminded of what sort of attitude she should display when she was being overpowered like this.
“Hey,” a voice suddenly spoke in a whisper.
It was only then that Amelia saw the monster holding her.
And it was then that she knew something for sure.
“It’s been a long time,” Eugene said with a vicious grin.
No matter how much she wept and begged, this monster wouldn’t show her any mercy.
1. The original text uses a Korean idiom with a similar meaning, the blood in a bird’s foot . ☜
2. The original text uses the Korean idiom of a mouse’s tail to describe something miniscule. ☜
Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts
OBW: You could almost feel sorry for Amelia, but then you do have to remember that she did just desecrate the corpses of all those left behind in the city in order to raise an army of the undead.