Chapter 140 - Damn Reincarnation

The Hunt

The second day.

Gargis's eyes snapped open. Dew had collected on his armor since dawn, its color an ominous black.

It contained poison.

With an unruffled expression, Gargis brushed off the dew. A little remained on his fingertips, so he held them beneath his nose and sniffed. There was a faint smell of rotten eggs.

Without hesitation, he opened his mouth wide and stuck his fingers inside. Poison this weak couldn't hurt his well-trained body even if he drank a full beer mug of it.

"... Still, poison is poison. My body doesn't appreciate it..."

His tongue, uvula, and esophagus stung where the poison had touched them. He had never neglected his physical training, but training the insides of his muscles was another matter. There might be a way if he looked for one, but Gargis had yet to learn the secret to training his "insides."

"Didn't even need to wake you."

Dezra spoke from her perch on a branch.

"Nothing much happened. Some demonic beasts approached, but it wasn't bad enough to wake you or move camp."

"Mm."

Gargis nodded, then abruptly began sitting down and standing up over and over. Rather than ask why he was doing that, Dezra rummaged inside her clothes, took out some jerky, and chewed it.

'... He's just as strange as he was as a kid... but at least he's reliable. I got lucky.'

A vast forest, with only nine people in it. The Disorienters split their paths, and as they continued along those routes, meeting anyone else became exceedingly difficult.

That was why she was lucky.

Yesterday, when the sun set and the forest sank into pitch-black darkness, she had met Gargis while debating whether to keep moving until dawn or carefully choose a safe place to camp.

Simply having two people instead of one made all sorts of things easier. They could take turns sleeping to recover from their fatigue, and having more eyes and ears made scouting easier too.

'... They won't rate me as highly as if I were alone, though.'

She had accepted that much. She had never intended to surpass the main family's monster or Hector and rack up the best results. She only needed to do well enough for the elders at Black Lion Castle to remember the name "Dezra Lionheart."

'... I want to become a Black Lion too...'

She wanted to join the Third Division. Any woman born a Lionheart—no, any female knight with martial ambitions—was bound to admire Carmen Lionheart. The Lionhearts' heroine. The Iron-Blooded Black Lion...

'... Of all times for Lady Carmen to be away...'

She had heard Carmen had left to guard the main family. Still, if she showed results in this forest, joining the Black Lion Knights would naturally follow.

"... Are you done?"

"Three more sets."

"Isn't that a bit much first thing in the morning? You haven't even eaten."

"I refuel after training."

Below her, Gargis was doing squats with his greatsword across his shoulders.

"... Want some?"

"No. This is enough."

An unidentified, thick, porridge-like substance poured from a large canteen and filled his cup. With gratitude for his body and a prayer for its growth, Gargis gulped down his family's secret muscle-building formula. Vitality spread throughout him, followed by a weighty feeling of fullness...

"Let's go."

Looking refreshed, Gargis wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Dezra dreamed of joining the Black Lion Knights, but Gargis did not. Becoming a Black Lion Knight would ultimately distance him from the family he had been born into.

The only exceptions were families like Genos's, whose members all joined the Black Lions as though the position were hereditary, or the family of the head of the Council of Elders.

Gargis respected his father and loved his family and the territory they governed. Rather than contribute to the Lionhearts as a Black Lion, he wanted to inherit his father's title and rule their lands in peace.

But that didn't mean he had no desire to prove himself. He wanted to see how brightly this body, which he trained every day with sweat and effort, would shine in the hunt.

'... It's brutish, but...'

A greatsword as large as his own hulking body.

'He isn't swinging it with strength alone. He's quite precise.'

He varied its trajectory to avoid catching it on the surrounding trees. His brutally trained body let him swing and bring it down like that. Nor did he rely solely on the greatsword. He stomped, punched, and shoved with his shoulders. Gargis's bulk was itself a weapon that crushed demonic beasts.

Dezra guarded the rear. She had trained with a spear ever since childhood. Demonic beasts could spring out from anywhere. Some emerged from shadows, while others burst out of trees, rocks, or the ground.

Monsters capable of manipulating mana were rare. Not so with demonic beasts. They freely controlled the demonic energy filling their bodies, unleashing powers similar to magic or sword force.

They weren't threatening.

That was what Cyan thought. During his months of training at Black Lion Castle, he had never fought a demonic beast. All his training had consisted of one-on-one sparring with the captains and knights.

That was enough. Whether his opponent was a human or a demonic beast, what ultimately mattered was the fight. The more accustomed he became to fighting, the more he could do. His body absorbed how to move in each situation. As that experience accumulated, even in situations he had never faced before, he could choose an option that would never be the worst one.

Since entering the forest, Cyan hadn't once encountered anything approaching a worst-case scenario. He hadn't even used Gedon's Shield. If all the demonic beasts were at this level, he was confident he could easily break through with a single sword.

'... Hector must have gone farther in, right?'

He flicked the blood from his sword.

'Eugene. He must have gone deep too.'

Cyan wanted the same thing. He wanted to venture deep into the forest and prove just how brave and capable the Lionhearts' next family head was.

"... Well, this is unexpected."

Cyan muttered, concealing his surprise.

"I never imagined... you two would have made it farther in than me."

Gargis and Dezra.

'... They're among the more capable collateral-branch members, but...'

Even so! Cyan straightened shoulders that had begun to hunch for no reason. Their circumstances weren't the same. Whatever else might be said, Cyan was alone, while there were two of them. Even if he cut back on sleep to keep moving, watching out for demonic beasts in the darkness inevitably slowed him down.

Those two, on the other hand, could watch each other's blind spots... and lean on each other when they grew tired. In any event, there were two of them, so it must have been much easier. Cyan decided to think of it that way.

"... Hmm. But since you're heading back, I suppose you had a rough time in there?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Dezra's face crumpled into a scowl as she answered. She still remembered her chase with Cyan during the Bloodline Succession Ceremony when she was eleven. It had left her with a lingering fear of him, but to hide it, she deliberately raised her voice and glared.

"Heading back? We've been moving forward the whole time. We have no intention of going back."

"... What the hell are you talking about? And what's with that face? Are you trying to defy me?"

"... You shaved your beard. It's a bit late to say this, but you look much better without it, young master."

"... Hmph. As long as you know."

Cyan nodded and reached inside his clothes.

"Honestly... fools are fools for a reason. Did you come into this enormous forest without taking even basic precautions to find your way?"

They had come in with a halfhearted attitude. Clicking his tongue, Cyan took out the compass he had tucked inside his clothes.

"Here, look. This looks like a compass, but it's no ordinary compass. This magically forged needle points toward higher concentrations of demonic energy. Do you understand? By checking this needle and the compass needle, I can head for the heart of the forest from anywhere in it."

It was a special compass used by the Black Lions. Cyan had pestered his uncle Gion, the Fifth Division's deputy commander, into giving it to him.

"... We have a compass too."

Dezra pouted as she took out her own compass.

"It doesn't point toward demonic energy like yours, young master, but ours is a pretty good one too. The heart of this forest is to the west, isn't it? We've been heading west since yesterday..."

"It's broken."

Cyan shook his head without letting Dezra finish.

"Look. Your compass says west is that way, right? The direction I came from. But my compass says west is the direction you came from."

"... Maybe your compass is broken, young master."

"Ha! This is why fools... Were you listening through your nostrils? I told you, this compass points toward concentrated demonic energy!"

"... But I... headed west as soon as I entered..."

"The Disorienters must have sent you in the wrong direction from the start! Then you wandered in circles until you ran into me... Honestly, there's a limit to how stupid you can be."

Cyan hadn't had many opportunities to feel superior lately. He wasn't about to let this one slip away.

"It's incredibly stupid to rely solely on your senses in a forest. Even if you think you're walking in a straight line, you might actually be veering sideways little by little and heading somewhere completely different. Besides, it's not like all you've done in this forest is walk, is it?"

"... No..."

"You must have encountered demonic beasts, stopped to rest, and slept along the way, right? Isn't it terribly arrogant to be certain you're moving 'straight ahead' when you start walking again after those stops?"

"... Ugh..."

"If you hadn't met me here, you would have spent all four days wandering aimlessly with that pig! Dezra Lionheart, did you come all this way just to do that?"

"Ugh... uuh..."

Just as Dezra's memories of the Bloodline Succession Ceremony had left her a little afraid of Cyan, he felt the same about her. Dezra suddenly appearing with her face drenched in blood still occasionally featured in his nightmares.

That was why Cyan pressed her so hard: to overcome the childhood fear lingering in his heart. He had little to say to Gargis out of loyalty for the hair-growth remedy Gargis had given him last time.

"If you wish."

Cyan cleared his throat and straightened his back. The captains would be watching from somewhere in the forest. His reprimand had demonstrated the charisma to command his inferiors... Now it was time to show the leadership to embrace and guide them.

"Follow me. I am not suggesting we fight together, but I shall lead you to a 'battlefield' where you can prove the skills you have honed."

Cyan put strength into his voice and adopted what he considered his most impressive expression. He thought his lines were quite splendid too.

"We will follow you, young master."

Dezra looked dubious, but Gargis felt a deep stirring in his chest and thumped it with his fist.

"... Weren't you with Lady Ciel, young master?"

"Do you think we stick together all the time just because we're twins?"

Cyan snorted and walked forward.

"Ciel does just fine on her own. She's far more capable than you two, and she knows this forest better than I do. By now, she's probably closer to the demonic lair than anyone else."

* * *

Ciel bit her lip, trying to keep her wavering mind alert. She bit hard enough to draw blood, and the pain around her mouth was distinct. She could feel the taste of blood filling her mouth too.

But she couldn't feel her body. She tried moving her fingers, and they seemed... to be moving... but she couldn't feel them.

'... My head... is heavy. Drowsiness... fatigue? Am I... sleepy? In this situation? It isn't poison...'

"... Where are we going?"

Ciel forced her mouth open. Eward, walking ahead, turned to look back.

"You're remarkable."

"... What?"

"The drug I used on you was refined from gasamal fruit and pahyur root."

"... A narcotic, then."

Ciel twisted her bloodstained lips.

"They say a dog never changes its habits... Now, instead of buying drugs and taking them... you're refining them yourself?"

"I don't use them."

Eward answered with a smile.

"Over the past three years... hmm... I've tried them a few times as experiments, but never for pleasure."

"... You liked them, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Three years ago. But once I began making them with my own hands... I stopped liking them. Do you know something, Ciel? Dreams you have while high feel wonderful. They make everything I want to see and do come true."

Eward waved his hand as he spoke.

"But once you wake, you feel terribly empty. That's what dreams are like. Even if you want to dream them again, it's hard to pick up where you left off... and once you wake, they fade from your mind. Dreams aren't reality, after all... That's why I stopped. Bringing a succubus to the mansion was impossible anyway... and I realized I could simply make reality like a dream."

"..."

"Anyway, Ciel, you're remarkable. That much of the drug should have knocked you unconscious or made you hallucinate... but you're staying lucid and fighting to shake off its effects, aren't you?"

"... Unlike you, I trained hard."

Once again, Ciel bit her lip.

"You seem to remember me only as I was when I was little... but I've grown older too. I've changed a lot. Just like Cyan has. So I worked hard."

"So have I."

Eward smiled and nodded.

"I've changed, and I worked hard too. The way you've changed is commendable... Haha... Ciel, please don't be angry that I called you 'commendable.'"

"..."

"You see, I would rather you were high and seeing whatever hallucinations you wanted to see."

"... I suppose you don't enjoy talking with me?"

"I do. We haven't talked like this very often. But rather than talk for my own enjoyment... I want to do something for you, my little sister."

"... Then... stop this now. What are you trying to do? No. What have you done to me?"

The mana in her core wouldn't move.

"The drug you made me swallow doesn't disrupt mana. Magic...? Is it black magic? How did you hide it?"

It made no sense. If Eward had become a black mage, there was no way the Black Lions would have failed to notice. ... No, that wasn't the only thing that made no sense.

The demonic beasts Eward had killed. The captains monitoring them couldn't have seen those peculiar corpses and simply overlooked them. Quite some time had passed since Eward subdued her and began dragging her along... but no one had intervened.

'... Did he evade surveillance? How?'

Given his history, surely they had been watching him?

"It isn't black magic."

Eward laughed, his shoulders shaking.

"... This... isn't black magic?"

Ciel couldn't believe him. She tried twisting her body to escape again, but she still had no sensation below her neck... Swallowing blood, she looked down.

Her body below the neck was swallowed in pitch-black darkness. Was she walking on her own two feet? Or was she flying through the air...? Or had everything vanished, leaving only her head?

Ciel didn't want to acknowledge the chilling fear.

"You're frightened, aren't you?"

Eward didn't look back. He simply walked through the darkness without a torch or magical light. ... Quite some time had passed. The night and dawn must already have passed, and the sun must have risen. But no light reached the area around Eward.

Where was this place to begin with? Was it really the forest? Her mind was foggy. She couldn't trust her senses. At some point, even the smell of the forest had disappeared... Her surroundings... were too dark to see anything.

"I have no intention of enjoying the sight of you trembling in fear. That's part of why I gave you the drug first. So you could be even a little more comfortable..."

"... What are you going to do while I'm high?"

Ciel spoke, concealing the tremor in her voice.

"I... know you're trash I shouldn't have anything to do with, but still... still, I think you're human. However twisted you are, I'm your sister."

"... Ah... that misconception... is troublesome and unpleasant."

Eward muttered, shaking his head.

"Ciel. Let me make this clear so you don't misunderstand: I have no intention of defiling your body."

"..."

"Absolutely none. There would be no point if I defiled you. You're not a mage, but you know about 'sacrifices,' don't you? This... hmm... isn't something exclusive to black magic. It's taboo now, but in ancient magic and sorcery, using 'sacrifices' to complete powerful magic was perfectly natural."

"... What are you trying to say?"

"Among sacrifices, sacrificing one of your 'own kind' is special. The fascinating thing is that the closer your relationship to the chosen sacrifice, the higher its quality as a sacrifice becomes."

Eward paused and burst into laughter.

"Ciel. We're half-siblings. We have the same father. That alone makes you a high-quality sacrifice. Beyond that, your quality is determined again, not by our 'relationship,' but by your own value. Silver hair and golden eyes are rare among humans. And Ciel, you're honestly beautiful. A young, vibrant body just out of girlhood. Skills and mana overwhelmingly superior to others your age. Purity that has never been defiled."

"... Disgusting."

"My personal opinion... hmm... is only that you're beautiful. Everything else is fact, isn't it? You possess all those qualities, and you even share my bloodline. Ciel. You're the best sacrifice I can obtain."

"..."

"But you alone aren't enough. Cyan... I couldn't meet him first, but he'll come soon. Do you know? Just as a virgin woman has high value as a sacrifice, so does a virgin man. Other examples include newly born infants, premature babies, pregnant women... I... would rather not favor them, though."

"... You're insane."

Ciel spat the words out, trembling.

"You're out of your mind. So you're going to sacrifice me and Cyan? For what?"

"The more sacrifices, the better. Of course, there's a limit to how many I can handle with my current abilities, and taking on the Black Lions is impossible. So, as quickly as possible..."

"You're insane! How do you expect to deal with the consequences? You're—you'll die here. And not just you...! Lady Theonis, who took you in, and Count Bosar too...!"

"They'll be fine."

Eward stopped walking.

"They're supporting me. Whatever I do, they won't resent me."

"Stop talking nonsense...!"

"You're no longer hiding your emotions. Yes, I suppose that's inevitable. You've been afraid for a while now... You've always been good at hiding your thoughts, even as a child, but you've never hidden fear."

Eward pointed a finger at Ciel.

"So relax. Close your eyes and don't resist. That should do it."

Her vision blurred. Her mind sank heavily. No. She didn't want to fall asleep. If she fell asleep like this, she felt she would never open her eyes again. ... What about Cyan? What would happen to him? Eward had said he would come here... Him too? Mother, Father, Lady Carmen.

'... Eugene.'

What would happen to him? Would he come here too, just like Cyan?

'... Help me.'

* * *

"... That's strange."

Eugene narrowed his eyes and stopped walking.

Before entering the demonic-beast forest, he had received a compass from Genos. ... He hadn't taken it out once. Eugene could clearly sense the forest's sinister demonic energy, and he could tell which direction held a greater concentration without relying on a tool.

Now, however, he couldn't fully trust his senses. Yesterday, when he first entered the forest, he had sensed its heart. But now? Aware of the confusion in his senses, Eugene took out the compass.

"... A different direction?"

The compass was pointing in an entirely different direction.

"Did I start wandering the forest without realizing it?"

He took out another compass. This one was ordinary. Holding one in each hand, Eugene kicked off the ground and sprang forward.

'They haven't both broken at once.'

He had only moved in a straight line, yet the needles pointed in different directions.

'Is the forest what's broken?'

He drew Akasha from inside his cloak and gripped it. He examined his surroundings, but saw no magic altering the forest.

'The influence of demonic energy? That's possible.'

It wouldn't be unusual in Helmuth.

But this wasn't Helmuth. If the forest could go haywire like this in the first place, they would need something other than compasses to find their way.

'... Genos...'

Even the presence he had faintly sensed before was now gone.

"... Hmm."

Eugene put both compasses inside his cloak.

"... Ugh..."

Mer, who had been hanging limply, poked her head out.

"... What's going on, Eugene...?"

"Keep your head out."

"... What?"

"I'm going to find the way."

Eugene tapped Mer's head.

"From now on, you're my direction indicator."