Chapter 608: The Demon King of Destruction (7)
"What?" Alchester was leading the White Dragon Knights, and he looked towards the Demon King of Destruction, exclaiming in shock.
Carmen’s strike had reached and dissipated against the Demon King of Destruction, but it had created a very small ripple in the tangled mass of colors.
‘Did it connect?’ Alchester thought as his eyes widened at the sight.
It was only a week ago that he had witnessed how terrifyingly powerful and ominously strong the Demon King of Destruction was. It had appeared suddenly, instantly nullifying Melkith El-Hayah's Omega Force, and had remained unscathed despite hundreds of priests sacrificing their lives to attack it.
But look at it now. Carmen's strike had definitely reached the Demon King of Destruction. It had created a tiny ripple in that bizarre entanglement of colors.
It was entirely possible that Carmen Lionheart had grown stronger in this last week. Eugene Lionheart’s divinity was growing, and his anointed holy knights were receiving his power. But more than that, Carmen had managed to cause damage to Destruction because its current state was imperfect, at least more so than when it first appeared a week ago.
Alchester understood why. Heroes who had ventured directly into the belly of the Demon King of Destruction were fighting within. Because of their struggle, the Demon King of Destruction was remaining stationary and had become vulnerable enough to be affected by outside attacks.
"Captain!" Alchester’s lieutenant shouted after noticing the situation.
The White Dragon Knights were always mentioned among the strongest in the continent. But today, they were struggling just to hold the line against the relentless, undeterred horde of monsters.
It was only because Alchester stood at the forefront that the White Dragon Knights were able to push the front line forward at all. If Alchester were to leave, the tide of battle would change immediately.
But all the members of the White Dragon Knights looked at him with fearless eyes. They urged Alchester forward with their glances. Even if Alchester were a superhuman, wielding his sword relentlessly against the endless army would eventually wear him out. Therefore, it seemed best to strike directly at the cradle of the monster known as Destruction while he still had the strength, even if it meant that he and many of his comrades might die in the process.
Alchester felt a resolute determination in the eyes of his subordinates. It wasn’t just the White Dragon Knights who were exceptional. Everyone on this battlefield was filled with a resolve to die for the greater good.
They thought of the radiant name of the Hero, a man who had reincarnated after hundreds of years and ultimately ascended to divinity. Everyone here knew the name of Eugene Lionheart and the tales of the heroes from three hundred years ago.
They had even defeated the Demon King of Incarceration, who had once defeated these heroes. And now, they were challenging the Demon King of Destruction, whom no one had ever been able to stand against. Everyone on this battlefield was captivated by that myth. They wanted to witness its completion and contribute to its fulfillment.
"Yes," Alchester replied.
He felt the same. He was born into a family of knights that served the royal family of the Kiehl Empire. He had long ago sworn to dedicate his life as a knight to the royal cause.
But — how many times had he longed for this?
Ever since meeting Eugene, ever since hearing his stories, time and again, he had committed himself. Even before knowing that Eugene was the reincarnation of Hamel, their encounter had ignited a flicker of flame in Alchester's heart.
He had a desire to dedicate his sword to that young Hero, a desire to fight alongside him against the Demon King and save the world. Not just as a knight but as Alchester Dragonic, the man, he had always yearned for this. Now was the time to consume himself with that desire. Alchester leaped upward from the ground.
With a whoosh, his massive form of the Empty Sword cleanly bisected the necks of the Nurs in one sweep. Under the blazing arc of his sword, dozens of the monsters’ heads and their grisly blood rained down like a downpour. Alchester stepped on the severed heads and leaped forward again.
"Little Alchester,” Carmen said as she glanced back and chuckled. Her hands were bloody and tattered as she spoke, "This place is where we settle the debts of the blood that runs through the Lionhearts. An outsider like you doesn't necessarily need to help."
"I personally taught Sir Eugene how to wield a sword technique,” Alchester replied with a smile. "I can't claim to have taught him anything else, but the art of the Empty Sword, a secret of my family, was indeed passed on to Sir Eugene by me. Though I do not carry the blood of the Lionhearts — serving here for Sir Eugene, I believe I am more than qualified to do so."
"Your son is still young,” Carmen reminded him.
"The kid once called little has grown enough to have a son of his own. If I cannot be a proud father, my son might not get the chance to become an adult,” responded Alchester.
He felt a burning sensation in his chest.
The Demon King of Destruction remained silent and did not strike back. Carmen's arm was tattered because it was harmed by the natural backlash of dark power when she struck Destruction. Even if it didn’t move, dark power surrounded Destruction, and its reactive force alone could cause injury to the body.
"Hmm, not the time for flair, is it?" said Carmen.
She pulled out a cigar and put it in her mouth. As always, she didn't light it, but the cigar soaked in flowing blood tasted of the acrid blood and the musty dampness of the tobacco leaves.
"Help us,” she asked.
She turned her head to look at the Demon King of Destruction.
Rumble!
Gilead, Gilford, and Gion wielded their swords and carved through the chaotic colors of Destruction. But swinging a single strike left their flames scattered, and blood spurted from their mouths.
"The heroes who made this world what it is are in there,” said Carmen. She clenched her bloody hand into a fist. "The progenitor of the Lionhearts, the Great Vermouth, is also in there."
There was no need for further words. A colossal form of the Empty Sword surged from Alchester's blade. Carmen silently watched Alchester's back as he charged toward the Demon King of Destruction, letting out a chuckle.
"The kid has grown up quite a bit,” Carmen chuckled, reminiscing about the past — Alchester as a little boy, swinging a wooden sword.
That small child had become the commander of a nation's knightly order, and enough time had passed for him to have a son. The heroes who gifted them that time were inside Destruction, and just like in the distant past, they were fighting to give the world a future.
‘The world couldn’t simply rely on them alone,’ Carmen thought as she turned her head. Did everyone share the same desire and resolve? She saw people headed this way across the battlefield. They were not the heroes from three hundred years ago, but those from this era, people who could certainly be called heroes in the future.
"There must be meaning in all this,” said Carmen.
"There will be,” said Gilead, wiping the blood from his mouth as he approached Carmen. "It was brief, but at the moment the sword pierced through, I felt my blood being drawn.”
"And the light, too,” Gion gasped for breath as he spoke.
"I think I wouldn’t mind dying here,” Carmen said with a nod. "But I believe that our ancestors... and our comrades should never die."
"I wish for the same,” said Gion. "Having suffered all their lives, shouldn't they all live to see happiness?"
Gion chuckled wryly and turned his head, looking at Gilford, who seemed about to collapse any moment, spitting blood.
"My second brother has indulged in too much happiness. Just one swing of the sword and look at him..." he commented.
"I... I’ve retired...," Gilford responded.
"To think you retired at your prime, even if you were moved to a collateral line. You got complacent with your happiness and neglected your sword, didn’t you?" Gion asked.
"You’re too harsh to the one who, for the sake of our family, took up his sword in a dire moment though he had laid it down long ago!" Gilford protested in hurt and indignation.
Carmen smacked his back and stepped forward.
"If you have the energy to talk, use it to engage the White Flame Formula.
An attack of flames, lightning, storm, and earthquakes struck the Demon King of Destruction alongside a shrieking roar. Carmen frowned as she watched the violently shaking colors.
"We receive help for a great cause, but inside there is the ancestor of Lionheart. And there is also his descendant, the Glorious and Honorable Eugene Lionheart, along with Lady Sienna, who might as well be his wife, and Saint Kristina,” said Carmen.
"The great ancestor is there too,” said Gilead.
"Yes. They are all the blood of the Lionheart,” Carmen nodded vigorously before raising her fist. This battle was for the world, but it was also for the Lionheart clan and its kin.
Carmen thought of her ancestor, who had suffered for three hundred years. At the moment he was freed from his last bonds, if, at that moment, the sound he heard was that of the uncultured woman screaming....
The mere thought was horrifying and guilt-inducing. Carmen shook off the pain and swung her fist once more.
***
Eugene felt a resonance. It wasn't earth-shattering, but his senses clearly felt the subtle vibrations. At first, he thought it was Vermouth. Could it be that Vermouth was resisting inside the monster’s heart, causing the void filling this place to waver? But soon after, he realized it wasn't coming from within. The vibration had come from outside.
"Damn it," Eugene cursed as he pushed himself up from the ground.
He tried to stand but staggered instantly — for a simple reason. His left leg was missing. He had thought he dodged well but apparently not well enough. Eugene examined his leg, which neither bled nor caused pain, and scowled.
[Hamel!]
[Sir Eugene, your leg...!]
"Don't make a fuss,” Eugene said, jumping forward on his remaining leg. "If it had been an arm, it would be a problem, but a leg is actually okay. I don’t need it to kick. I can just fly to move around."
He had arrived at that conclusion through cold reasoning. The loss of his leg had no impact on the current fight.
The severed leg couldn't be regenerated immediately, but it would fully heal during recovery after everything was over. Fortunately, there was no pain and no bleeding. Dark power wasn't seeping into him through the wound either. And though it might sound odd, fortunately, the leg was severed very cleanly.
He hadn't been careless. He just hadn't dodged properly. Eugene levitated at a low altitude and narrowed his eyes to glare at the monster.
Molon's axe had chopped off several of the monster's many limbs. The hands that flailed from its back were bombarded by Sienna’s magic. Eugene also crushed the giant maw’s teeth, burst its eyeballs, and hacked at its face.
Despite their relentless assault, it didn't feel like they were pushing it back. The more they attacked, the more they chipped away at its color and dark power, but it equally drained their strength, too. They could no longer overestimate their regenerative abilities, but the monster was not limited in that regard. No matter how much it was cut, it quickly regenerated.
But they hadn’t given up. If their attacks were too shallow and it regenerated, Eugene thought they just needed to strike deeper and heavier. Then, the monster’s stance changed. The swirling colors suddenly stopped in place, and its dark power quietly settled.
And then it exploded. That was it.
"Are you okay?" Eugene asked as Molon was just getting up.
"Not really." Molon’s response was unexpectedly straightforward. His left arm had been severed from the shoulder. He had sacrificed his arm to block the scattering dark power and colors. "I can still fight."
Molon rotated his right arm a few times to demonstrate.
"I saw it,” commented Sienna. She had returned after being blown away and was catching her breath. There were no injuries on her body, but many of Mary’s petals had turned to ash and crumbled.
"I'll need to formulate new spells. That last attack won’t work on us anymore,” she said.
"How many times can you block it?" asked Eugene.
"I don’t know. I’ll do what I can,” answered Sienna.
[I'll assist,] Anise chimed in. Light stretched from Eugene and connected to Sienna. She received the additional divine power and felt Anise’s presence.
"It’s not giving us a break, is it?" Eugene grumbled as he lifted his head.
He had impaled the monster with a huge Divine Sword, but it was slowly rising to its feet. Just before his leg was severed, he had driven the Divine Sword in, but it had disintegrated by the flaring, exploding colors.
Slowly, the creature's mouth opened, and dark power boiled within. Hundreds of hands on its back swayed, and then all shot up into the air. Boom, boom, boom... Each hand manifested a condensed orb of dark power. The sight of thousands, tens of thousands of attacks aiming their way made Sienna's face stiffen.
"What about that? Can you block it?" Eugene asked with a hollow laugh.
Sienna half-opened her mouth and then fell silent. Anise, too, was at a loss for words. Both were briefly pondering how to combine barriers to fend off this merciless assault.
"Try to avoid it as much as possible," Sienna stuttered out a response.
Molon ground his teeth and stepped forward to shield them. If the worst came to pass, he was prepared to end it with his sacrifice.
"I can’t see what’s in front of me, so get lost," Eugene cursed as he stood next to Molon.
With a haunting moan, dark power and color flowed out of the monster's maw. Eugene gripped a Divine Sword in each hand and glared at the beast. It was already clear that moving out of range was impossible. As soon as the attack started, he would open a path based on instinct and intuition.
The anomaly occurred suddenly. The monster's massive body staggered, and the orbs of dark power held in the hands on its back scattered. It staggered and scattered its power, but that didn't mean the attack hadn’t started. However, those tens of thousands of attacks were not aimed at Eugene and his group but shot off randomly into the sky and elsewhere.
"What the—?!" Sienna screamed, taken aback.
Though the attacks seemed randomly fired, given their sheer number, some were heading their way. And still, a powerful tide of dark power was boiling inside that gaping maw.
Boom!
With a roar, the monster’s mouth snapped shut. The build-up of dark power in its mouth backfired, blowing off the monster's head cleanly. Eugene, too, was shocked, his eyes wide.
Its head had been blown off, but the attack originated from the monster’s own dark power. A new head burst forth right next to where the original had been. The creature roared loudly for the first time, emitting immense fury. It seemed the recent anomaly hadn’t been part of the monster's plan.
"Bastard," Eugene cursed with a grin, deflecting the oncoming rush of colors with his two Divine Swords.
Vermouth was coming.