Although this was Eugene Lionheart’s first time knighting someone, there was nothing grand about the occasion or the setting. In a place like this, there naturally wasn’t any raised dais, and the only witnesses present were two living souls, one deceased soul, one familiar, and a dragon.
Of course, if you looked at it from another perspective, it was a completely different story. One of those living souls was the undisputed greatest wizard of this era and a formerly pending Goddess of Magic who had recently reached full divine status, and the other living soul was a Saint. The remaining deceased soul was that of a genuine Archangel.
But what about the familiar?
‘I suppose it’s enough that she’s cute,’ Eugene thought with a silent snort.
In the first place, Eugene didn’t consider Mer to be just a familiar.
As for Raimira, it was also enough for a dragon to just be a dragon. After all, in the current era, there weren’t any knights who could be said to have been knighted with the blessings of a dragon.
“Ahem,” Eugene suddenly cleared his throat.
He could have somehow made a dais to stand on if he really felt that it was necessary, but Eugene thought that something like that wasn’t strictly needed because Eguene was fully capable of flying through the air on his own.
Floating up into the air, Eugene stood slightly taller than Molon, whose shoulders were thrown back and his legs locked straight in an imposing stance.
“Molon Ruhr,” Eugene began the ceremony by solemnly calling out the name of the one being knighted.The Brave Molon Ruhr, the Courageous First King who had founded the nation of Ruhr, calmly looked up at Eugene.
“I… ahem… so anyway…,” Eugene faltered, unsure how exactly he was supposed to continue.
They had both agreed that Eugene would appoint Molon as his Holy Knight, but how was he meant to do this?
For a few moments, Eugene couldn’t help but lose himself in frantic thought. His sudden panic was because he had never actually knighted anyone before in his entire life. In the case of Laman, whom Eugene had long ago dragged back with him from the desert, Eugene had simply thrown him into the mansion’s service without first knighting Laman.
After a few more moments of trying to figure it all out by himself, Eugene turned to Molon and asked, “Hey, how am I supposed to knight you?”
Molon, who had been waiting there with a serious and solemn look, shifted back into his usual foolish expression as he blinked in confusion and said, “Why are you asking me that?”
“At the very least, you’ve been a king, so you must have dubbed a lot of people before, right?” Eugene argued.
“That is true, Hamel.” Molon nodded slowly. “I’m reminded of when I first raised a village in this harsh snowfield. That village became Hamelon, the capital city of Ruhr. As you must know, the name of this country’s capital, Hamelon, was chosen in your honor.”
Eugene listened to this silently.
“At first, Hamelon wasn’t a large city like it is now. Besides me, there were the warriors who followed me and their families, as well as refugees who had lost their homelands because of Helmuth…. At that time, we were sorely lacking in supplies, so we constructed the houses using bricks made out of compacted snow,” Molon fondly recalled.
Eugene wasn’t sure what Molon was getting at.
“That’s how we raised the first village in this snowfield, and I declared it the start of my kingdom. The kingdom that was eventually named after me — the Kingdom of Ruhr. At that time, in the middle of the snowfield, I granted the title of knight to my hundreds of warriors…,” Molon trailed off in reminiscence.
Why had this bastard started boasting all of a sudden? Eugene’s brow furrowed in confusion.
To Eugene, who was starting to lose his patience, Molon’s words sounded like nothing but bragging, as if he was saying, ‘Oh, look at me, I’ve knighted hundreds of knights.’
Also, why had he started talking about the founding of Ruhr all of a sudden?
“Stop with the bullshit, and just tell me how you’re supposed to knight someone,” Eugene demanded with a growl.
Molon shrugged, “You can just do whatever you want.”
Eugene frowned as he said, “I didn’t listen to your bullshit just to hear such a simple answer.”
“The accolade[1] ceremony is performed differently for every knightly order,” Molon finally explained. “The accolade ceremony for holy orders involves being beaten to a pulp, getting slapped in the face, then spending the whole night reciting prayers while holding your sword. If that’s what you really want, Hamel, I don’t mind it if you feel like spending a few days punching me.”
“Why would I do something like that when it will only end up hurting my fists more than your face?” Eugene complained.
Molon changed the subject, “I’m actually curious about something else, Hamel. As I said before, I named the capital of Ruhr Hamelon in your honor, but now that you’ve been reincarnated like this and the whole world knows about your reincarnations, is there any need to commemorate your death like that? Doesn’t this mean Hamelon no longer needs to be named Hamelon?”
“Hey! Even if I’ve already been reincarnated, that doesn’t make it so that my death as Hamel never happened. So what do you mean that there’s no need to commemorate it?” Eugene fired back as he raised Levantein into the air.
Fwoosh!
The blade of transparent crystal burst into flames. Startled by the roaring flames, Molon took a backward step.
“Why did you just set your blade on fire?” he asked with concern.
“I’m going to tap you once on each shoulder with this blade,” Eugene informed him.
“Are you really going to make branding your knight’s flesh with scars of holy flame part of your accolade ceremony?” Molon asked in wary concern.
“It just looks like it’s burning fiercely, but it isn’t that hot,” Eugene reassured him.
Although he didn’t believe that Eugene would lie to him, Molon’s eyes couldn’t help but waver in concern. After all, it hadn’t been that long since he had seen this sword of flames, Levantein, unleash its terrible might by slicing straight through Gavid’s body.
However, this was none other than the Brave Molon. So he just took a short breath and kept his back straight as he stood in front of Eugene.
“Molon Ruhr,” Eugene said solemnly, lowering his voice.
Engulfed in flames, Levantein slowly parted the air around it as it softly landed on Molon’s right shoulder.
“You are my first Holy Knight,” Eugene declared.
The moment he said this, the color of the flames changed. The dark and vicious blood-red color transformed into a radiant white light.
Eugene continued, “I dub thee the most trusted and valued of my knights and the Greatest Warrior.”
Moving once more, Levantein gently touched Molon’s left shoulder.
Fwooooosh!
The flames erupted from the blade and washed over Molon’s body. But it was just like Eugene had said. Even though the flames had now engulfed his entire body, Molon didn’t feel even the slightest trace of heat.
Molon unconsciously took a deep breath. The swirling flames flowed into Molon along with the air that he breathed in.
Badump, badump….
As the flames circulated within his lungs, Molon’s heartbeat began to feel different from how it usually sounded.
He reached his hand out towards the axe that he had plunged into the ground next to him. The moment that his huge, rough hand wrapped around the handle of his axe…
Fwooosh!
Flames identical to Eugene’s engulfed Molon’s axe. Molon gasped in surprise as he lifted his axe to take a closer look.
As he felt the divine power now dwelling within him, Molon smiled brightly and said, “This strength defies belief.”
The divine power had only just been poured on top of the mana that Molon had already accumulated over the long course of his life. But even with just that recent addition, Molon was already able to ignite such powerful holy flames. This was the strength of a Holy Knight and the Greatest Warrior personally knighted by his god. Moreover, it wasn’t just anyone who had been dubbed by Eugene — it was Molon, who had already been one of the strongest human beings alive.
“It’s not just my strength. Everything about me feels like it has just been remade,” Molon muttered introspectively as he lowered his axe.
Even before this, Molon was already considered a legend as the Founding King of Ruhr. His storied life had extended for a whole three hundred years, a feat that in any other era would have immediately guaranteed his ascent to godhood. As a result of all that history, this accolade especially brought about a massive growth in Molon’s strength.
“It will be a year at the very latest,” Eugene said as he stared at Molon with a calm look. “I will be challenging Babel within the year.”
“Isn’t that too hasty?” Molon asked in concern.
Eugene sighed, “I have no choice but to rush it. The Demon King of Incarceration has already warned us more than once that there really isn’t much time left.”
Although they couldn’t know for sure what would happen when the time came for the end of the Oath, Eugene didn’t want to wait and see what that end would be like. Because no matter how much he thought about it, Eugene knew that the end wouldn’t bring about anything good.
“Also, the number of Nur appearing has significantly increased recently, hasn’t it?” Eugene pointed out.
The Nur were an omen of Destruction. Even with the recent increase in numbers, Molon was still able to handle them easily. But if the Nur poured forth in uncontrollable numbers and spread across the continent as they had during the end of the Age of Myth, then things would truly get out of control.
“So the only issue left is Noir Giabella?” Molon muttered with a hard expression.
He didn’t know the full story behind Eugene’s relationship with Noir. However, even without knowing anything about that complex relationship, Molon already knew that Noir was a strong opponent.
“Hamel, do you know what state Giabella City is in now?” Anise suddenly asked.
Eugene shrugged, saying, “I’m sure that place is as noisy and rotten as it’s always been.”
“It’s true that it’s as rotten as ever, but… the situation in that city has changed since you last visited it,” Anise said, shaking her head. “While you were absent, Giabella City was sealed shut for two months. None of the city’s millions of tourists were allowed to leave, and no new tourists were able to enter the city.”
Eugene frowned silently.
“Things lasted like that for two months. Because the tourists from their various countries weren’t allowed to return, all the countries involved sent a formal protest to Helmuth. They demanded an explanation for why their tourists were being held hostage. I also got the feeling that something wasn’t right, so I paid a visit to Giabella City,” Anise recounted.
Despite receiving dozens of protests, the Demon King of Incarceration didn't take any action to reopen the gates of Giabella City. That said, the Demon King of Incarceration also didn’t do anything to show his direct support for Noir Giabella. He had simply rejected all involvement in this issue.
The Saints decided to accept this at face value and proceeded to take action. Although they didn’t want to engage in armed conflict with Noir Giabella at such an early point, the number of human lives being held captive made it impossible for them to simply ignore her.
Hamel might be absent, but if he had been there with them, he would have surely made the same choice. As such, the Saints mobilized all of the forces that they could muster. Most of those who had participated in the Hauria Liberation War also chose to respond to the Saints’ call. The Pope gave his blessing, and even the Emperor of Kiehl lent his support to the Saints’ decision.
Moreover, the Demon King of Incarceration himself didn’t do anything to interfere either, even as the Saints led an army across the Helmuth border and proceeded to travel through the warp-gates as if they were only going there as tourists. Even the ordinary demonfolk, who were usually prone to convulsions, granted the army swift passage, appearing like they had been given orders to that effect.
Even now, Anise still found it difficult to comprehend the strange sight of Giabella City at that time.
She had visited Giabella City in the past with Eugene and spent some time in the insanity that was Giabella Park. It was truly a city where night never seemed to exist, a city that never went quiet, not even for a single moment.
But when she stood in front of the gates of Giabella City that day, with her army behind her, Anise couldn’t hear any sounds coming from the city. The city that had been holding millions of captives within its walls was so silent that no trace of their presence could be felt.
“They opened the gates,” Anise slowly recalled.
They had just been about to break down the tightly sealed city gates, but before Anise could give the order, the gates had opened on their own.
“It was right at the end of the two months of lockdown, the gates were opened, and all of the captive tourists were released,” Anise elaborated.
This only made the whole situation even more bizarre. The Saints weren’t the only ones who felt that way. The many knights, mercenaries, warriors, and wizards who had also been present were disturbed by this surprising turn of events.
Most of those present possessed senses keen enough to detect the traces of an ant crawling on the other side of the city gate. However, none of them had sensed the gathering presence of all these people before they proceeded to pass through the now-opened gates. The same was also true for those who had been peering down into the city walls from observation points floating high in the sky. From their lofty positions, they should have had a clear line of sight to what lay inside the city, but none of their eyes could clearly make out what exactly was happening inside Giabella City.
No, from the very start, they hadn’t been able to see anything through the strange veil covering Giabella City. The false image of the city that they thought they had been looking at, as well as the traces that they had been carefully searching for, all of that was an illusion created by a distortion of reality.
“The people who emerged from the wide-open gates looked so at ease that it was impossible to believe they had just been held captive for the past two months. They all looked extremely refreshed. If I had to describe it, they each had the face of someone who had enjoyed a long, relaxing nap,” Anise reported with a frown.
The tourists who emerged from the city gates came to a halt in confusion at the sight of the army led by the Saints that was blocking their path.
“After asking a few of those accompanying me to lead those tourists away, I tried to enter Giabella City on my own. I wanted to figure out what had been happening inside the city during those past two months. I wanted to know what exactly Noir Giabella, that slut, was up to,” Anise confessed.
“But it seems that you weren’t able to enter,” Eugene suddenly muttered thoughtfully, breaking his silence.
“That’s right,” Anise nodded while also letting out a long sigh. “It’s shameful and pathetic to admit, but it’s true, I wasn’t able to enter the city.”
A voice had started whispering to Anise as if it was coming from right in front of her.
—If you dare to enter….
The voice didn’t finish what it was about to say. However, from what it had already said, it was easy enough to imagine what words would have followed.
Anise had had to make a decision. The power held by the Saints was the antithesis of all demonkind, but their opponent was Noir Giabella. A demonfolk of her level was — no — Noir had already become an existence that even surpassed the level of an ordinary demonfolk or even a Demon King.
So, would the Saints truly be able to defeat a Demon King single-handedly? That was impossible. Even if Anise poured out all of her divine power and let loose with her strongest miracle, she still wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against Noir. Those gathered behind the Saints were undoubtedly a group of the most elite warriors from across the entire continent. However, even with their protection, how long would Anise truly be able to last in such a battle? Was it even possible for them to put up any resistance against Noir?
“At that time, I didn’t feel like I had the determination or justification to risk everyone’s lives,” Anise admitted shamefacedly.
“You did the right thing,” Eugene responded. “It’s not like you went there to kill Noir Giabella. You only went there to retrieve her captives, and since that succeeded, it meant that there was no need for you to fight her.”
“Are you trying to comfort me out of pity for my weakness?” Anise sniffed haughtily.
“Just think of it however you like. After all, no matter what I say, the humiliation you felt back then won’t go away. However, Anise, I would hate it if you died,” Eugene said with a fond smile as he pulled Anise into a hug.
Anise was startled by the sudden embrace and tried to leap up to her feet. However, Eugene’s strong arms held Anise in such a firm grip that she couldn’t escape.
“Anise, Kristina,” Eugene sighed. “It seems you both went through a lot of suffering and hardships while I was gone. It’s a blessing that we were able to safely reunite like this.”
Anise faltered, “Oh... um….”
I am already dead, so what’s the meaning of you saying at this point that you ‘would hate it if I died’? If it were the usual Anise, that is what she would have said to poke fun at Eugene.
However, right now, she wasn’t capable of doing something like that. Eugene’s embrace had robbed Anise of any freedom of thought.
[Sister, Sister!] Kristina shouted.
Anise ignored Kristina’s loud screams echoing inside her head. Meanwhile, Anise was also desperately trying to keep control of their shared body. Kristina’s strength had grown a lot, but she still couldn’t easily seize control of her body from Anise.
[You devil! You villain!] Kristina shouted accusingly.
How dare Kristina call the holy spirit of someone who had died as a Saint and transformed into an Archangel, a devil? However, Anise decided to generously forgive her shameful behavior.
“Y-yes…. It… it really is a blessing, Hamel, that I… that I’m alive like this…,” Anise slowly said as she leaned her face against Eugene’s chest, showing a soft expression that she had never once revealed during all of the time that she had been alive three hundred years ago.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem!”
Unlike Molon, who was watching this scene with a fond smile, Sienna was glaring at the two with flames in her eyes as she loudly and repeatedly cleared her throat.
“So then, what happened after that?” Sienna prompted Anise. “After the tourists were released, you had to run away from Noir!”
“Really now, how can you be so tactless with your words?” Molon chided her.
Sienna was taken aback, “I… what’s wrong with what I said….”
Eugene frowned, “Apologize, Sienna. Your words just now were far too harsh. Anise is a priest, after all. It’s only natural that she wouldn’t be able to fight a Demon King on her own like we can.”
“I… I truly am so pitiful and weak. Th-that’s why I need the Hero’s… Hamel’s protection…,” Anise said in a breathy sob.
She actually dared to call herself pitiful! Sienna’s shoulders trembled in rage. How could a battle priest who, three hundred years ago, had reveled in swinging a mace and smashing in the skulls of high-ranking demonfolk and who even now could turn most demonfolk into splatters of flesh and blood be described as pitiful!
However, when one thought about it calmly, it was a self-evident fact that the combat power of a Saint would be inferior to that of an Archwizard and a Hero.
“I… you…,” Sienna’s lips parted as she tried to apologize for what she had just said and correct herself, but she found herself struggling to actually finish the sentence.
Anise didn’t wait for Sienna’s apology and resumed speaking first, “The lockdown of Giabella City was lifted, but there was a problem with what happened next.”
Anise had yet to leave Eugene’s embrace, and she even proceeded to wrap both arms around his back as she continued to lean her face against his chest.
“You… you crazy bitch! What do you think you’re doing!” Sienna shouted in anger.
“The tourists who had left the city and returned to their hometowns began heading back to Giabella City all on their own. Each of their countries tried to restrict them from traveling back, but that didn’t work so well. If any of them were forcibly captured and placed in confinement, they would start to commit acts of self-harm, such as slamming their heads against a wall or strangling themselves with their own hands,” Anise softly whispered, paying no heed to Sienna’s insult.
Even as she continued to speak, Anise was still desperately trying to keep control of their body so that Kristina couldn’t take over….
“The other priests and I felt that it had to be some sort of black magic spell designed to manipulate their thoughts, or perhaps some sort of evil hypnosis laid on them by the Queen of Sluts, so we tried to purify them, but… it was impossible to do so. The tourists weren’t being afflicted by any black magic spell or hypnosis,” Anise revealed disappointedly.
“Then what was it?” Eugene urged her.
“It was their own memories,” Anise sighed as her hands ran down Eugene’s back. “Those intense and pleasant memories from the two months that they had spent in that slut’s city made them voluntarily decide to head back to Giabella City. If we wanted to suppress that urge, we would either have to erase those memories or erase the emotions associated with them.”
“In other words, you didn’t have any practical methods of dealing with them,” Eugene surmised.
“That’s right,” Anise reluctantly admitted. “Because there are limits to what we could do to control their urges and restrict their attempts to harm themselves, in the end, most tourists were allowed to return to Giabella City.”
Still, the city didn’t feel as extremely off-putting as it had been the first time. The gates of Giabella City had been left wide open. Anyone was allowed to enter, and all those who entered were free to leave as they pleased.
But this didn't do anything to improve the situation. The various kingdoms had taken action to ban their citizens from traveling to Giabella City, but the tourists who had entered Giabella City before that ban was put into place weren’t willing to leave.
“Most of the attractions and casinos in Giabella City were still operating, but…,” Anise hesitated. “Hamel, everything had changed from the last time we were there. At that time, Giabella City was known as the city without a night. At all hours of day and night, the city was filled with the noise of people partying. However, at that moment, things were completely different. At that time, the tourists who visited Giabella City weren't interested in any entertainment. They only went to the city to dream.”
Through their dreams, they could lose themselves in their fantasies. Meanwhile, Noir Giabella was floating in the air, standing above these millions of blindly dreaming tourists.
“That slut has gone crazy,” Anise cursed.
She was already crazy to begin with, but never before to this extent.
“I know,” Eugene said with a wry smile as he let go of Anise. “Because of that, I need to kill her before she gets any crazier.”
Turning away from Anise, whose eyes were practically dripping with tears of disappointment, Eugene looked around at the others.
“For now, we should head back to the Lionheart estate,” Eugene suggested.
“...Alright,” Anise responded once she had regained control of her emotions.
Instead of replying to Eugene, Sienna repeatedly cleared her throat, “Ahem, ahem, ahem…!”
“Molon,” Eugene said as his gaze finally came to a rest on Molon. “When I reach Babel, I will summon you, my first Holy Knight and my one and only Greatest Warrior.”
“Of course, that’s just how it should be,” Molon said with a grin and a nod. “As I familiarize myself with the Light that you’ve granted me, I will look forward to that day.”
It would be a year from now at the very most.
Compared to the hundreds of hellish years that Molon had spent on this mountain, a year was an extremely short amount of time.
“On that day,” Molon smiled and extended his fist towards Eugene, “Together with you, Hamel, we will defeat the Demon King of Incarceration.”
Eugene also grinned as he extended his fist to Molon.
Bam.
Their fists lightly knocked against each other.
1. Also known as the dubbing, where the liege places his or her sword on the soon-to-be knight’s shoulder. ☜