High in the sky above the clouds, where oxygen was scarce, and one could see the entire continent and oceans, was an impossible place for life to exist. Yet, there floated Giabella Face, buoyant and serene.
There was only one reason Noir Giabella left Giabella Park and was now hovering so high in the sky: to witness the war unfolding in Nahama.
She had the opportunity to be an observer during the Iris subjugation plan in Shimuin’s sea by borrowing Princess Scalia’s body. But it was different this time around. If she really wanted to, she could surely find a way to watch from the center of the battlefield, but—
"It's become somewhat burdensome now," Noir murmured while swirling her wine glass.
She had not felt any burden when she secretly joined the Iris subjugation force. She found neither the members of the subjugation nor even Iris herself of any significance.
But that was no longer the situation. Not much time had passed, yet the humans had grown much stronger.
The humans who had participated in the Iris subjugation plan, including Carmen Lionheart and Ortus Hyman, had grown significantly stronger compared to a year ago. Moreover, there were other existences present in the battlefield below that she was wary of.
The Death Knight.
The Death Knight was donning an ill-fitting mask and acting like a Demon King without actually being one. Noir would not be siding with anyone on the battlefield, so there was always a possibility of being targeted and attacked by any and all. Hence, she chose to stay at these dizzying heights and avoided any direct involvement.
It would be difficult, almost impossible, for others to even distinguish between cities from this height. But for Noir, it posed no problem. The high-performance lenses of Giabella Face, combined with her dark power, allowed for a clear, comfortable, and threat-free observation."I thought my eyes were deceiving me." A voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. The screen in front of her shifted.
Outside Giabella Face, against the pitch-black sky, stood Gavid Lindman. Noir's eyes widened in surprise, and then she suddenly burst into laughter.
"And what brings the Grand Duke of Helmuth up here?" questioned Noir.
"I could ask the same. What are you doing here?" Gavid countered.
"I couldn't miss such an entertaining spectacle. Aren't you here for the same reason?" Noir asked with a mischievous smile.
Gavid frowned and shook his head. "I am not here for fun like you,” he retorted.
"Then?" Noir asked, her gaze sharpened. "Are you here to see how strong your enemy is?"
The answer to her question was blatantly obvious.
"…Enemy, is it?" Gavid let out a bitter laugh, then gave a shrug.
He had no intention of denying it or boasting. After all, he was facing Noir Giabella, the Queen of the Night Demons. Regardless of their equal status as dukes, Gavid respected her incredible power.
"It turned out that way before I knew it,” he admitted.
"Do you feel that you should've killed him earlier? Are you having some sort of regret?" she inquired.
"If I said no, it would be a lie. What I overlooked was that the growth of the human race was much faster than I anticipated,” answered Gavid.
It wasn't just Eugene Lionheart, either. All the humans he saw at the Knight March had grown much stronger. It was as if one human had become a stepping stone that propelled the entire species forward.
"A turning point… perhaps," Gavid mused.
Eugene hadn't explicitly taught anyone anything special. It was just that those who knew Eugene and those who had been involved in incidents with him were unwittingly drawn to him, even without them realizing it.
Eugene Lionheart wasn't just strong on his own. Even the Liberation Army had gathered voluntarily. Most people connected to Eugene looked forward to what would come next. They wanted to fight alongside him again in the future instead of falling into despair by comparing themselves to him.
And that was what made it dangerous.
Gavid silently gazed down at the earth. The human knightly orders had been insignificant when he saw them at the Knight March. The leaders had been exceptional, but their excellence still fell within human limits. But now, and in the future, that would no longer be the case. The experience of war changed both demons and humans alike.
It wasn't just the knights but the wizards as well. Were they influenced by Sienna Merdein?
Gavid clicked his tongue as he observed Sienna.
He could feel the swirling mana around her and the laws born and enforced by her will. Even with his limited knowledge of magic, Gavid could feel that Sienna's current state was something not permitted to humans.
And then there was Melkith El-Hayah. Among the demons of Helmuth, were there any who could stop her advance alone?
It wasn’t just the knights, warriors, and wizards, but even the priests had shown tremendous growth. They were ancient adversaries of demons, and Gavid thought they would be a significant threat in the future.
In his honest opinion, the power of priests and holy knights seemed greater now than even when the Faithful Anise lived three hundred years ago. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this era was possibly the golden age for priests.
He could not fathom why the Dragon Duchess, the daughter of Raizakia, was acting as a mount for the priests. However, her figure was shining so brightly with dozens of priests and the Saint on her back that it was entirely possible to mistake her dragon-form for an artificial sun.
"Troublesome," Gavid muttered with a short sigh while shaking his head.
He had two primary problems.
One, he could join the battlefield right now to eliminate future threats in advance.
He could eliminate Melkith El-Hayah and the other Archwizards, as well as the leaders of each knightly order. Dealing with them right now would likely reduce their forces by more than half.
That was a concern befitting his position as the Duke of Helmuth. To him, all the humans fighting below were enemies of Helmuth. As a Duke, Gavid wanted to eliminate them before they became a definitive threat to Helmuth.
The other issue he was agonizing over wasn’t as the Duke of Helmuth but rather as the Blade of Incarceration. Essentially, it was a concern he had as a demon. To put it more simply, Gavid, too, yearned for the days of war.
He wanted to meet his enemies on the battlefield. He wanted to clash with the now-respectable human forces in a frontal battle.
Such frontal confrontations had been rare during the war three centuries ago. The closest thing to a frontal confrontation was when Vermouth of Despair led his band across the Centipede Mountains. Gavid had led the Black Mist and an army of demons to meet them at the Red Plains, right before the gates of the Demon King of Incarceration’s castle.
That battle had been intense and enjoyable. He had longed to experience such a battle again.
"If you're unsure what to do, why not just follow the will of the Demon King of Incarceration?" Noir whispered to Gavid with a bright smile.
Gavid's dilemma ultimately came down to a simple choice: to draw his sword or not.
Noir naturally hoped for the latter. She wanted Eugene to triumph in the war and for the army following Eugene to grow strong enough to threaten Babel.
Noir’s reasoning was clear, 'You will only come to me before climbing Babel.'
Her smile deepened as she entertained such a thought. It was all the more reason she wished for Eugene's glorious victory. For that man to shine the brightest in the world. As he stepped forward to achieve his glorious moment, to fulfill the longing he had harbored since three hundred years ago, Noir was prepared to snatch away her beloved Hamel’s life.
She would deliver him into the depths of despair. She would extend this profound sense of loss and despondency to all who loved and followed Hamel. Ultimately, it would be Noir who monopolized Hamel in the end, and the world would crumble in the wake of Hamel's death.
The mere thought of it delivered a euphoric thrill so intense that, without realizing it, Noir gripped her shoulders and shivered.
Yes, she had made a decision. If Gavid chose to descend right now and engage in the dull act of secretly wielding his blade, Noir would oppose him with all her might.
"The will of His Majesty the Demon King," muttered Gavid.
Noir perceived Gavid's inner turmoil, but Gavid couldn't do the same. He was too preoccupied with his immediate concerns.
"Yes." In the end, Gavid let out a wry smile and nodded.
The Demon King of Incarceration wished for the Hero to ascend the Demon King's castle.
He was worried that one day, the Hero would become a threat to Helmuth. But that thought in itself was distrust towards the Demon King of Incarceration. Gavid shook off the lingering doubts from his thoughts.
No matter how strong the humans became, they were all but insignificant in the presence of the Demon King of Incarceration. So what if the current demons weren’t strong enough to defeat the humans? It didn’t matter. At the heart of Pandemonium, the capital of Helmuth, stood Babel, where the Great Demon King resided.
"Will you not let me in?" Gavid inquired after his thoughts had settled down.
"Oh my, what an outrageous thing to say. Are you saying you wish to be alone with me in my room right now?" Noir retorted with a straight face.
Gavid grimaced in response, not in jest but in genuine frustration. In fact, his expression crumpled into a frown.
What on earth was this madwoman saying? Gavid refrained from asking further and immediately turned his gaze downward.
"Haa…." He let out a quiet sigh as he peered down at the ground below.
The royal palace was now overrun by the specter. Monsters poured forth like a tidal wave from the castle ruins. Even Gavid, a demon of many years, found the scene utterly alien.
Humans were just humans, after all. Even if they formed contracts with demons or Demon Kings to gain dark powers, they didn’t cease to be human. That was precisely why Edmund Codreth, the former Staff of Incarceration, longed to become an existence that transcended humanity.
But this — this was different.
Gavid swallowed hard involuntarily.
The humans had ceased to be human after being swallowed by the specter’s dark power. Several monsters were born from one human. The monsters were neither demons nor demonic beasts. So then… what were they?
Gavid concluded, ‘I'm not sure what they are, but….’
They were dangerous. Despite the vast distance between himself and the monsters, he knew it instinctively.
The creatures howling and charging forth weren't just a threat to humans but to demons alike. Although it felt somewhat ludicrous, he couldn’t help but think that the unidentified monsters posed a threat to all living things.
‘Is it possible to replicate such creatures by imbuing humans with dark power?’ Gavid wondered.
He had not imagined the possibility of such a capability. Gavid's expression hardened at the thought.
It might have been too early to judge, but there seemed to be no significant constraint on producing such monsters for the specter. Numerous creatures could be replicated just by infusing humans with dark power. In other words, the specter could produce an army composed of an endless supply of such monsters.
Was this a power held by the Demon King of Destruction? Gavid was uncertain. He had lived a long life but knew very little about the Demon King of Destruction.
On the other hand, Noir unknowingly clutched her chest when she witnessed the flood of monsters.
What was this feeling?
It was her first time seeing such a scene and such monsters, but she felt an eerie sense of familiarity. It was almost as if she had witnessed it all before.
Noir Giabella was powerful. Such trivial monsters posed no threat to her life. Even now, as she looked down upon them, she didn’t feel her life was endangered, though she did acknowledge their threat. She was confident that even if these creatures swarmed her, she could dismiss them with a scoff and annihilate them with ease.
But then why? Why did her heart feel heavy at the sight of these creatures?
…Heavy-hearted?
This wasn't fear.
Then, what exactly was this emotion she was experiencing?
A crackling noise seemed to echo in her mind. A scene unknown to her, something she had never seen before, was swirling in her thoughts. There were countless monsters and people she knew dying in droves. At a certain moment, when she could bear it no longer, she threw herself into….
"..…?"
This was an unfamiliar memory.
Noir immediately raised her finger and plunged it into her head. Her long finger pierced through her skull and tore into her brain.
There was a simple reason she chose such a drastic measure: She didn't want to recall memories unknown to her, and she didn't want such memories to transform her into someone she wasn't. But even as her fingers mashed and mixed her brain matter, the emerging memories didn't cease.
Gavid could not spare any attention to her from outside Giabella Face. His gaze was locked firmly on the battlefield below. He was unable to divert his attention for even a moment.
Eugene Lionheart had just descended into the royal palace. He was now confronting the specter, who was seated on the throne.
Black flames, like wings, soared upwards from his back.
Eugene placed his right hand on his left chest.
Gavid involuntarily held his breath as he witnessed this scene. That unique posture, with his hand clutching the heart area, made Gavid recall someone from three hundred years ago.
‘Extermination….’ Gavid breathed.
But his thoughts were interrupted.
A crimson light was drawn from Eugene's left chest. This light was entirely different from the technique of Hamel of Extermination that Gavid had just recalled.
Yet, Gavid's eyes widened, and he grasped the hilt of Glory at his waist. Despite the immense distance, the light imprinted in his pupils was so intense it awakened his instincts.
Noir had seen this light before. It was the same light that had extinguished the life of Iris, after she had transformed into the Demon King of Fury.
She had been… astounded when she first witnessed this light. From the unknown light, she had felt a power different from the light of the Moonlight Sword, the flames of the White Flame Formula, and the radiance of the Holy Sword.
When Noir first saw the light, she couldn't discern its origin. It was still the same. Noir still didn’t understand what the light signified. Yet, for some reason… a place deep inside her memory hinted to her that this light was something that was familiar to her.
She didn't want to know. She didn't wish to recall. She desperately wanted to rid herself of these unknown memories as she burrowed further into her own head.
But the unknown memories continued flowing into her head.
'I recognize that.' In the end, Noir was forced to concede.
***
The light drawn from his chest immediately transformed into a sword.
This was the Divine Sword of the ancient God of War, Agaroth, and the Divine Sword of Eugene Lionheart, who was worshiped as the Hero.
The distance between Eugene and the specter closed instantly as soon as Eugene unsheathed the Divine Sword. Similar to Sienna's Absolute Decree, Eugene's Divine Sword was imbued with an absolute rule that it couldn't be evaded.
The sword made of red light approached the specter, and it penetrated closer to him. At this distance, it was impossible to evade the strike. Even if the specter were to flee to the ends of the earth, the crimson light would transcend space and time to cleave through the fleeing specter.
The memories the specter possessed couldn't comprehend the miracle of this sword, but the intuition he gained from becoming the Incarnation of Destruction allowed him to understand the absurd power of the Divine Sword.
There was no evading the attack. This left him with only two possible actions to take: either to counter with an attack or defend against it.
'Can it be blocked?' the specter wondered, but he couldn’t waste any time contemplating. The specter immediately grasped his sword and attempted to block the Divine Sword.
At the moment of impact, or rather, just before that moment, the specter came to a realization.
'It will break.'
And indeed, his thoughts actualized. The sword created by the specter couldn't withstand the Divine Sword. His dark power was sliced apart and dispersed. The light of the Divine Sword cut into the specter's body.
The specter came upon another realization as his body was sliced, a recollection, 'I know this sword.'