Crack.
The punch shattered something and pushed in even further. This would have been far enough to stop if the opponent had been human. There would have been no need to push any further since a punch like this to the face would undoubtedly be fatal to a human.
But Eugene’s current opponent was not human. Therefore, Eugene didn't retract his fist; instead, he pressed on even harder.
Crunch!
His fist finally smashed through the obstruction completely.
Boom!
Black flames exploded like fireworks above the specter's neck. Eugene's fist, quite literally, burst the specter's head open. The headless body teetered for a moment while trying to correct its stance.
The specter’s head hadn't regenerated yet. Nonetheless, the headless body lunged at Eugene without hesitation. At a glance, the specter’s body seemed driven by uncontainable rage.
However, the specter had not lost reason or control due to anger. His movements remained precise, fluid, and smooth, like water or smoke. Yet, upon contact, the gentle flow turned into a fierce storm, threatening to tear or engulf everything in its path.
Eugene knew all too well. He could swear on everything he had that this opponent was the one he had fought against the most since Hamel's birth.The person in question was Vermouth.
The same was true for Vermouth. Hamel was the one he had fought against the most. It couldn't be otherwise. Just like with Hamel, most of Vermouth’s enemies did not survive past their first battle. On the other hand, Hamel and Vermouth had no reason to kill each other, and Hamel often sought duels, leading to countless confrontations between the two.
So, Eugene was certain. Vermouth didn't have a set of defined techniques, but that unique style of deflecting and countering was unmistakably his. It wasn’t only his physical skills, either. The specter’s techniques were infused with Vermouth’s specialty in spatial manipulation.
The discord Eugene felt was palpable. Was it because the specter was using spatial magic? No, that much was acceptable to Eugene. But seeing the specter perform Vermouth’s maneuvers was infuriating. It felt absolutely disgusting.
The specter was born from Hamel's memories. He bore Hamel’s face and used Hamel’s techniques.
And now, he was even employing Vermouth's White Flame Formula and magic, along with Vermouth’s unique movements and skills.
"This son of a..." Eugene cursed in irritation.
He would have felt less disgusted if the specter had boasted blatantly. If the specter had said something clichéd, like wanting to kill Eugene to become the real Hamel, Eugene would have felt some sense of relief.
He might have felt relief if the specter had been similar to the delusional Amelia… if he had some absurd wish or, like the mosquito Alphiero, was blinded by some stupid loyalty to the Demon King. Or, like Amelia, if he died seeking revenge after failing to accomplish anything as the Demon King.
There were countless reasons the specter could have chosen. If he had just picked one and stood by it, Eugene was sure he wouldn't be feeling this vile discomfort.
But the bastard didn't pursue any of those reasons. After coming to his senses, the specter met with Molon and invaded the Black Lion Castle before a day had passed. Despite launching an attack, he didn’t kill anyone and only spouted nonsense about coming to infuriate everyone before leaving. Then what about his occupation of Hauria? The more Eugene thought about it, the angrier he got.
"What the fuck do you want?" Eugene shouted.
His arms were intertwined with the specter’s.
If Eugene was caught, his arm would break, and he could no longer hear the voices of Kristina or Anise. In other words, if he suffered a broken arm here, there was no healing magic to treat it.
"You even spare a thought for the innocent civilians? You didn’t want to drag them into this mess?" spat Eugene.
Eugene chose to retreat without directly clashing with the specter, but he wasn’t running away. He continued to launch Eclipse from the feathers of Prominence while also cleverly concealing a feather amidst the scattering sparks. He immediately leaped to the feather and positioned himself to the specter's rear.
"You sealed off the city, formed most of your forces with demonic beasts and demons deemed expendable, and filled in the gaps with the undead,” said Eugene.
"What's wrong with a Demon King commanding other demons?" the specter retorted. He could no longer hold back when faced with Eugene’s continuous taunts.
"Don't play coy, you bastard,” Eugene snapped. The specter’s response was utterly unsatisfactory. "I asked you, why that fucking look? Why do you look like you have a fucking sob story? It's not just your expression, though. Everything about you screams it,” said Eugene.
The specter found no words to counter the barrage of insults. Instead, he twisted his body and swiftly extended a hand toward Eugene. Spatial magic was immediately completed and pressured Eugene from all directions.
In response, Eugene's cloak flapped open.
Crackle!
Bombardments from the Thunderbolt and the Dragon Spear struck the specter. Although the bombardment wasn’t nearly as powerful as Eugene's techniques, the well-charged attacks managed to neutralize the space manipulated by the specter to a degree.
"So what, you didn't want to do this, but you had reasons, had no choice?" Eugene's mockery didn't cease. He reached into the cloak and pulled out a massive hammer.
It was the Annihilation Hammer Jigollath, the weapon used by the Demon King of Carnage. The specter's expression stiffened when he saw the weapon.
He had forgotten. Eugene Lionheart didn't only wield the Holy Sword and Moonlight Sword. He also possessed the arsenal of the former Demon Kings.
"Then spill it. What's your damn story!?" Eugene roared while swinging the Annihilation Hammer. The specter reflexively layered spaces to form a barrier, only to immediately realize his mistake.
The power of the Annihilation Hammer was incredibly straightforward. In fact, it could be said that none among the various weapons of the Demon Kings had a simpler ability than the Annihilation Hammer.
It annihilated whatever it hit. What the Annihilation Hammer could smash depended on the strength of its wielder. With Eugene's strength — empty spaces, mere voids, were no different than glass windows in front of the Annihilation Hammer's power.
Crack!
The layered barrier shattered into pieces. The simple, brute force zeroed in on its target. The specter quickly extended both hands and raised his flames in defense. The intertwined colors of the flames blocked the Annihilation Hammer.
"Who exactly are you? What do you want from me? And that son of a bitch Vermouth, why did he teach you the White Flame Formula and—." Eugene’s shouts were interrupted.
"Do you really think...!" The specter's face contorted. "Do you think I'm staying silent because I don't want to talk? I also—" the specter stopped, unable to continue.
What could he say? The specter felt suffocated. But it wasn’t as if he could simply spill everything. What he had to do, what he wanted to do was….
"Speak!" shouted Eugene.
The veins in his neck bulged. He stowed the Annihilation Hammer back into the cloak.
Was it the Demon Spear Luentos next?
The specter made an assumption based on the power of the Demon Spear — the Spear Forest. Eugene would summon countless spear blades at spatial coordinates…
Whoosh!
He was wrong. What emerged from the cloak was the Moonlight Sword. The pale, expanding moonlight formed a crescent, and the specter's eyes widened in disbelief.
The Moonlight Sword? Suddenly? Wasn't it unusable?
"Finish your sentence, you prick!" Eugene growled.
He had no intention of holding a conversation until now, especially when the specter first unleashed the flames of the White Flame Formula.
However, the specter suddenly spouted nonsense about Eugene not being strong enough. He blabbered on as if he was so desperate to show off his tragic backstory.
It pissed him off. But he held back. There was only one thing for the Hero and the Demon King to do when they met on the battlefield. They would fight and kill. Questions could be asked before the killing, or so Eugene thought.
But this son of a bitch kept acting unbefitting of a Demon King. He continued to flaunt his tragic backstory while keeping his trap shut.
Eugene couldn't stand the repulsiveness of it all.
Crack!
A crescent slash flew towards the specter's face. The specter barely managed to intercept the Moonlight Sword. He had recovered his dark power to a degree, but still, receiving Eugene’s strikes did not prove easy.
It was an issue of the heart. Eugene's words weighed heavily on him, making the Moonlight Sword feel heavier than before.
The specter's body felt the same. The sticky, boiling emotions weren’t only affecting the specter mentally but also physically. He suddenly felt much heavier than before.
‘Disgusting?’ the specter recalled.
Why was he making this face? Dark emotions bubbled furiously inside of him. It felt like his head was filled with fire and was about to burst from the heat.
"You don't know shit...!" the specter shouted with a scowl.
It was true. Eugene Lionheart knew nothing. He probably thought he simply needed to kill the Demon King of Incarceration and the Demon King of Destruction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.
The specter knew this. He couldn't be certain that he knew everything, but he was sure the Demon King of Incarceration wasn't lying. And what he knew was enough to justify his current choice.
"Of course, I don't know, you dipshit. How could I know if you don't tell me? If I knew, I'd be a god!" Eugene shouted. However, he felt slightly guilty.
Technically, Eugene was a god. But that was a story from one of his past lives, and strictly speaking, he wasn’t a god now, was he? No one had brought up his words as being contradictory, but Eugene convinced himself anyway.
"That son of a bitch Vermouth, the Demon King of Incarceration, and you! You all act like you're holding onto some grand secret that is too precious to share now, promising to reveal it later, but not for free…. It's all such bullshit." The more Eugene spoke, the angrier he became.
It all started with Vermouth. If Vermouth was going to reincarnate him, he could've at least left a letter explaining everything. Why had he left such crucial information in bits and pieces? And most of it wasn’t even reliable, leaving Eugene still clueless about Vermouth's whereabouts, let alone his true identity.
The Demon King of Incarceration was no better. His antics made Eugene want to beat him to a pulp, not because he was a Demon King, but simply because he was infuriatingly vague. Even a saint, who had never uttered a curse in their life, would definitely swear if they met the Demon King of Incarceration.
It was evident in all of Eugene’s encounters with the damned Demon King. The first time they met in the tomb, the Demon King of Incarceration didn't speak directly but hinted at something about a foolish lion, Vermouth's affection, and so on. Every single word he spoke was disgustingly suspicious.
And what about after that? He blatantly protected Eugene, even controlling his demons until Eugene was ready. Then, at the Knight March, he openly declared he'd wait until Eugene climbed Babel.
The worst part had been in the battle against Iris after she had become a Demon King. Who was the one who stopped the Moonlight Sword's rampage? It was the Demon King of Incarceration. Who explained the situation in the deep-sea city? It had been the Demon King of Incarceration.
"And after all that, that son of a bitch says he'll only reveal what I need most after I climb the Demon King's castle!" Eugene raged, his anger boiling over.
The most infuriating thing in the world was someone who stopped talking midway, someone who didn’t finish their words.
“You too, you bastard! You despicable bastard,” Eugene spat without regard.
Eugene continued his relentless assault while unleashing a torrent of heartfelt curses. Before long, he was once again wielding both the Moonlight Sword and the Holy Sword, just like before. Each strike was imbued with his fury.
Meanwhile, other attacks were being orchestrated from within his cloak. If the specter attempted to erect a defensive barrier, the Annihilation Hammer was used to shatter it. If he tried to make use of the space around him, the Demon Spear was used to restrict his movements. Thus, he was restrained in space as Eugene attacked him with Eclipse.
The specter was struck squarely several times. He could not dodge the attacks or block them. His body remained heavy, his head throbbed with pain, and the boiling emotions in his heart seemed bottomless.
"That’s right,” the specter finally screamed with bloodshot eyes. The surging emotions had overcome his reason. "It was Vermouth who gave me power."
This wasn't a conversation he planned to have before the fight was over.
"It was he who bestowed upon me the dark power of Destruction when I was meant to die! He who made me into the Incarnation of Destruction! All of it was that bastard Vermouth,” shouted the specter.
He charged at Eugene, each outcry seemingly dissipating the heavy lump of emotions that had weighed down his chest.
"That bastard...! Even as I fought you, he continued to empower me. He taught me how to use the White Flame Formula and the magic, no, powers...! Even how he fought in the past!" The specter continued his ravings.
The specter was mostly filled with frustration and anger.
He had been filled with hatred and a desire for vengeance when he was deceived by his fake memories. But once he realized his true identity, he could no longer harbor hatred or a desire for revenge. He was simply frustrated, sorrowful, and angry.
Why him? Why was he made aware of the truth? If he had remained ignorant, he wouldn't have had to ponder such matters.
"I-I initially just wanted to kill you. I thought maybe I could replace you if I did. But it was impossible,” the specter admitted.
The core of the specter's identity was Hamel, who would never engage in such actions. The specter tried to find stronger assurance, so he met with Molon and watched Sienna from a distance. Afterward, he found himself able to completely let go of that desire.
"I can never be you. It's not about being fake or real. I am just me... and I can't be you,” said the specter.
Crack!
A tumultuous array of colored flames burst from the specter's demonic sword.
With the specter beginning to wield the demonic sword, Eugene could no longer afford to swing the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Swords separately. Although he did not merge the light as before, the two swords formed a single line in their strikes.
"I knew you wanted a war in Nahama, so I did as you wished. To give you a more legitimate cause, I even invaded the Black Lion Castle." The specter's voice grew harsher as he continued. "I planned to act out the war. I had nothing to gain from this war. I would just go through the motions, then... then put you in the spotlight. And throw Amelia Merwin, that woman, at your feet!"
Clang!
The colliding flames mixed together.
"I just wanted to fight you...! I planned to die after a decent fight. I thought I would be content with that…” explained the specter.
"Why do you have to die fighting me?" Eugene interrupted.
He was the first to stop his sword. The abrupt cessation of the attack surprised the specter, causing him to halt its sword as well.
"I've roughly got the gist of your situation, and if you're not going to act like a total ass, I'm willing to accept you as an ally,” said Eugene with a tilt of his head. The specter’s mouth hung open in shock after hearing his words.
"Of course, you can't just get off scot-free. Apologize to Molon and then kneel and beg at Black Lion Castle. Hey, but why didn't you go see Sienna?" questioned Eugene.
“I went to see her secretly..." the specter admitted in a quiet voice.
"Secretly? You sneaky bastard. You were spying on Sienna!" Eugene yelled again furiously.
He raised the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword once more, and the specter instinctively flinched and stepped back.
"I didn't see anything... weird,” he said hastily.
"Then I'll forgive you. For now, let's continue talking,” Eugene said, furrowing his brows and fixing his gaze on the specter. "Do we really have to fight each other? I consider myself quite rational, and after hearing your story... it seems like I don't necessarily have to kill you.”
"That's for you to decide,” the specter responded. He calmed his stirred emotions and smiled. "My decision hasn't changed. I am determined to kill you no matter what."
"You said earlier you thought of dying in a fair fight,” said Eugene.
"That was before I met the Demon King of Incarceration..." responded the specter.
"Alright, then let's talk about that now," Eugene said with a nod. "Why are you so intent on killing me?"
"That is—"
"Don't tell me you're going to say something like, 'If you defeat me, I'll tell you,’” Eugene interrupted.
The specter's eyes wavered.
"What if I accidentally kill you before getting the chance to hear your story because I couldn't control my strength?" Eugene asked.
"Why do you assume you'll definitely win?" the specter questioned with furrowed brows.
His expression mirrored Eugene's. What an attitude!
Eugene clicked his tongue and shook his head, saying, "Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you could defeat me. Imagine you succeed in killing me. But what if you also lose control of your power in the process…?"
"There's no need to waste words on someone who's going to die anyway,” the specter countered.
"That's where you and I are different, bastard. I'm willing to have this conversation even though I plan to kill you. Isn't that right?" Eugene cursed once more.
The specter had no comeback.
"Don't be so stubborn pretending to have a deep story. Just spit it out. We'll talk and then decide what to do afterward," Eugene continued.
"What do you mean to do afterward ?" questioned the specter.
Eugene looked at the specter as if he was an idiot to ask the most obvious question.
"Fight."
The specter looked confused.
"What's with that look? Whether I decide to kill you or not will depend on what I hear, but that's a completely different issue from the fight," said Eugene.
His anger had yet to fully dissipate.