Chapter 110 - Damn Reincarnation

Flames

“Well, now.”

The man clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“There was no need to make this exhausting for either of us. But you just had to make a bigger deal of it.”

Siknard did not answer.

He could not. He was covered in blood, his throat clamped in a massive hand. He could barely breathe. When he managed to open his mouth, all that emerged was a fading groan.

“This is all because you misunderstood.”

The man shook his arm as he spoke. Siknard’s body swung back and forth like a puppet dangling from strings, scattering blood across the ground.

The ground was already awash with blood.

“I have no desire to hurt you people. I don’t want to bully the weak, either.”

“... Ghh...”

Siknard swallowed the blood filling his mouth.

“Didn’t I tell you from the start? I just wanted to stay here for a little while. A few days, at most. I wouldn’t bother you, and you wouldn’t have to concern yourselves with me.”

Siknard mustered what little mana and strength he had left. He swung his arm, aiming a knife-hand strike at the man’s throat.

“All I asked...”

Before Siknard’s hand could reach his throat, the man slammed him into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth heaved, and pooled blood spurted upward. Siknard’s mouth gaped open. The excruciating pain could not even become a scream.

“...was for you to pretend to be hostages when that brat came back, so we could have a pleasant negotiation. Was that really so difficult a request?”

It felt as though every bone in Siknard’s body had been crushed. That last blow had exhausted all the mana in his core, leaving him without the strength to move a single finger.

Through his swimming vision, he could see the man. A hood pulled low. Golden eyes gleaming beneath its shadow. Sharp teeth exposed whenever he opened his mouth.

“... Heh!”

Siknard glared at the man and spat out a broken laugh.

“... Hostages? You won’t hurt us...? Don’t... talk nonsense.”

“Good grief. You really are hopelessly stubborn. Have you spent your whole life being lied to?”

“Your... very existence is hurting us. It makes us sick and brings us closer to death.”

“Hmm... That can’t be helped. But I’d like you to understand that I don’t mean for it to happen. I pity you elves. Watching you die of sickness is heartbreaking. So...”

“Heh... Hahaha! Did you think... we would gratefully accept your offer to turn us into dark elves...?”

“Isn’t that better than dropping dead from sickness? I said I’d arrange for you to become dark elves serving directly under that woman, the Rakshasa Princess, rather than mere rank-and-file dark elves. You clearly don’t understand what an opportunity that is.”

“Stop talking shit... and get out. You beast.”

The man could no longer smile and play the affable visitor. A beast. To him—no, to his entire race—that was an insult that could not be forgiven.

“You don’t know your place.”

His voice was icy as he released Siknard’s throat.

Looking around, he saw terrified elves. A few lay on the ground, covered in blood like Siknard. They were the young elves who had stood alongside him to resist the violent intruder.

To the man, their resistance was utterly insignificant. Aside from Siknard, no elf in this village could be called strong. If they had possessed that kind of strength in the first place, they would never have returned to this forest.

“Killing a few should be fine.”

In situations like this, an example had to be made. He had no intention of killing them all. If he brought all these princesses back, his elder brother would be pleased that they could put the Rakshasa Princess in their debt.

There were plenty of elves anyway. Killing two or three would pose no problem. Having made up his mind, the man raised his foot over Siknard’s sprawled body.

He intended to stomp on him, over and over, crushing him to death.

“... Hmm?”

Just before he brought his foot down, the man’s expression changed. He swiftly twisted around and swung his arm.

BOOOOM!

With a deafening roar, the man vanished from sight. Siknard, who had resigned himself to death, could not comprehend what had happened before his eyes. He had seen the man swing his arm to deflect the incoming blast, but he could not believe that such a powerful monster had been sent flying so easily.

Carbos, the Dragon Spear.

Its drawback was that it gobbled up far too much mana, but with enough mana, it could fire blasts without any complicated magical formulas. Though those blasts fell short of a dragon’s breath, their power vastly exceeded what the mana they consumed would normally produce.

Eugene descended to the ground with the enormous Dragon Spear resting on his shoulder. Elves lay sprawled in their own blood. Of them all, Siknard was in the worst condition.

“... Ha...”

Siknard almost uttered the name Hamel without thinking, but hurriedly shut his mouth.

The attacker was not dead.

“What is that bastard?”

Eugene did not look down at Siknard. He could not afford to. He had landed a direct hit with the Dragon Spear’s blast, yet failed to kill the man.

“... He said he was Yagon’s brother. Eugene, he’s after you.”

Siknard spoke between ragged breaths.

Yagon. Eugene’s expression hardened slightly at the name. He had never met him in his previous life, but he knew the name.

The chieftain of the beastfolk who served the Demon King of Destruction.

Oboron’s son.

Even knowing nothing else, Eugene could hardly forget Yagon’s name after hearing that he had bitten his own father, Oboron, to death and usurped his position as chieftain. Oboron had been as savage and powerful as his epithet, Maleficent, suggested. A son who had bitten him to death had to be an even greater madman, even more vicious than Oboron.

“... His brother, huh.”

Eugene muttered, twisting his lips.

“Doesn’t seem to resemble his father.”

The man who had been blasted into the distance was getting up. Eugene had sensed it when the blast struck, and now he could see that the man appeared to have suffered no serious injuries. Only his cloak had been reduced to tatters.

‘He reacted fast.’

Eugene had fired from a sufficient distance. There was no avoiding the deafening report, but the Dragon Spear’s blast was not an attack someone could dodge just because they heard it coming. No—the man had reacted before the roar even erupted.

“Ptoo.”

The man spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and stared at Eugene.

“Eugene Lionheart. You came back much sooner than I expected.”

With his robe in tatters, the man’s appearance was clearly visible.

Lycanthropes were mutants derived from vampires and demons. Like vampires, they expanded their bloodlines through blood. Even if someone had once been human, infection with lycanthropy tainted their very essence with demonic power.

Beastfolk were different. Like elves and dwarves, they were simply a nonhuman race. Unlike lycanthropes, they did not have separate human and animal forms. From birth, their bodies were a mixture of human and animal.

In other words, they were beasts with human intelligence. As a result, most beastfolk possessed animal instincts, and those born as predators were especially prone to being ruled by them.

To live in this world, they had to know how to suppress those instincts. What distinguished beastfolk from animals was whether they possessed the reason to do so.

But the beastfolk Oboron had led three hundred years ago had not suppressed their instincts. Every one of them had been a predator. Carnivores that hunted herbivores. Fierce beasts that reigned supreme among predators. Rather than suppressing their instincts with reason, they had wanted to use their intelligence to indulge more efficiently in slaughter and feeding.

The man approaching Eugene was one such predator. A beast that walked like a human. Golden eyes and fangs. A face that blended tiger and human features. Unlike an animal, he had human hands and feet, but vivid tiger stripes marked the fur covering his body.

“You’re Yagon’s brother?”

Eugene glared at the beast.

“The son of Oboron the Maleficent. From what I’ve heard, Oboron was a bear. So why are you a tiger if you’re his son’s brother?”

“Boy.”

The man’s lips twisted into a smile.

“You’d do well to watch what you say. The former chieftain’s name is not something the likes of you may invoke so lightly.”

“Look at this fucking beast pretending to be human.”

Eugene sneered as he put Carbos inside his cloak.

“What, are you some kind of mongrel? Did Oboron the bear fall for a tiger and breed with her, with his eldest son Yagon born a bear and you, the second son, born a tiger?”

“Watch...”

“If that’s the case, it’s pretty amazing. A bear and a tiger can have kids together...! Even a fucking beast like you knows what a mule is, right? A cross between a horse and a donkey. They say hybrids like that can’t have offspring, regardless of sex... Are you a sterile bastard, too?”

“...your words. I believe I warned you.”

The man spat the words out, his face contorting. Eugene stopped sneering.

“If I watch my words, will you just go home?”

Both of Eugene’s hands were still inside his cloak.

“You came here to fuck me up, didn’t you? No? Whatever I say, you’re still going to try to fuck me up. So why should I watch my mouth?”

The man knew exactly who Eugene was. Eugene had never revealed his identity in Samar. The only people in this forest who knew about him were Kristina and the elves of this village.

If this fucking beast had come to capture him...

‘Who was it?’

Someone outside the forest had run their mouth. Was it the Holy Empire? Or perhaps... someone from Lionheart. Eugene did not want to consider that possibility.

Few people in Lionheart knew that Eugene had come to Samar. Genos, captain of the Black Lion Knights’ Second Division. Doynes, head of the Council of Elders. And Gilead, the family head. Eugene had told no one else that he was going to Samar. Even his biological father, Gerhard, and the twins, Cyan and Ciel, did not know where he had gone after leaving Black Lion Castle.

“You’ve got a foul mouth, boy.”

The man spoke without concealing his fangs.

“If I’d wanted to kill you, I had plenty of chances before. Do you know? When you picked up that cripple-legged elf, I took care of the Garung warriors pursuing you.”

“Thanks for saving me the trouble.”

Eugene had thought it strange that fewer pursuers had come after them than expected. He narrowed his eyes at the man. That meant this bastard had been following him for quite some time.

‘I didn’t detect him.’

It could not be helped. No matter how keen Eugene’s senses were, he could not detect someone following from far away. The man, on the other hand, had been keeping track of Eugene, and the beastfolk’s distinctive senses allowed him to retain Eugene’s scent even at a great distance.

“So... killing me isn’t your goal? Then what is?”

“Unlike that idiot elf, you can be reasoned with.”

The man’s mouth twisted into a smile.

“My name is Barang. Boy, Yagon and I aren’t related by blood, but we are sworn brothers.”

Just as expected. So a bear fathering a tiger really was impossible.

“I followed you to find the elves’ domain said to be hidden somewhere in this forest.”

“...”

“Boy, I saw you enter the domain. Since I couldn’t follow you inside, I decided to come here and wait for you. But that elf bastard lying at your feet attacked me first, threatening to kill me.”

“Of course he attacked you.”

Eugene twisted the corner of his mouth.

“So you want me to guide you to the domain?”

“Let’s not make this complicated.”

“And once I’ve taken you there?”

“We can part with smiles. I have no intention of going so far as to kill you.”

“Why are you looking for the domain?”

“I have no intention of telling you that.”

“Fine. Then I’ll ask something else. Who’s the bastard who ran his fucking mouth about me?”

“Don’t try to learn too much, boy.”

“You want plenty from me, but you won’t do a single thing I ask.”

“That sort of unfairness is the privilege of the strong.”

Barang laughed heartily. Instead of answering, Eugene cocked his head.

‘Part with smiles when it’s over?’

Like hell they would. Eugene did not believe Barang.

Besides, he wanted Eugene to guide him to the domain. That demand did not warrant a moment’s consideration. Senya and the elves were sealed inside the World Tree at the heart of the elves’ domain.

Eugene did not know why this fucking beast wanted to enter the domain or what he planned to do there. But he had absolutely no intention of taking him there.

Nor was this someone he could persuade to leave.

“... Eugene. Run.”

Siknard’s lips moved. Barang heard him, too. He laughed loudly and shook his head.

“And leave over a hundred elves behind?”

Siknard’s face contorted at those words. ... Could he at least buy some time? No, that was impossible. He had attacked with all his strength and failed to inflict even a single wound on the beast. Though demonic sickness had weakened Siknard from his prime, there was no denying how powerful the beast was.

Eugene knew it, too. This tough bastard had taken a blast from the Dragon Spear and suffered only minor scratches. As he was now, Eugene could not defeat Barang.

“Sir Eugene!”

A voice came from behind him. Kristina, who had been following him, had finally reached the village. Her face turned deathly pale as she saw the savagely beaten Siknard and the other elves. Eugene extended a hand to stop her from approaching his side.

“Stay there.”

“... What?”

Not understanding, Kristina looked puzzled.

Eugene took a step forward. Barang smiled contemptuously at that step.

Eugene Lionheart. He had heard about the boy. A prodigy ranked second only to the founder in Lionheart’s history.

But even so, he was merely a nineteen-year-old human child.

“Stop, boy.”

It was a question not worth answering. No, not just that question. Every exchange Eugene had had with the bastard since confronting him had been worthless.

Eugene had no intention of negotiating with Barang or doing as he wished.

‘At least there’s some good news.’

Eugene checked the weapons inside his cloak. Dozens of miscellaneous weapons. Wynnyd, the Storm Sword. Asphel, the Devouring Sword. Carbos, the Dragon Spear. Pernoa, the Lightning Bow.

The Moonlight Sword.

‘I have enough weapons, and...’

His right hand emerged from the cloak. Barang snickered and shook his head. The hand held no weapon.

Instead, Eugene placed his right hand against his chest.

‘There’s a high-ranking cleric here to keep the worst from happening.’

If his enemy was more than he could handle with his current abilities, he simply needed to adjust himself until he could handle him.

The nineteen-year-old Eugene could not defeat Barang.

But Hamel from his previous life certainly could.

If his current stats were insufficient, he just needed to bring them closer to those of his prime.

‘Ignition.’

Eugene’s right hand pressed against his chest. The mana he released exerted intense pressure on his heart and core.

THUMP.

Everyone heard that tremendous heartbeat.

The rampaging flames billowed like a lion’s mane.