Chapter 231 - Damn Reincarnation

Lehein

For a moment, Eugene failed to recognize Hemoria.

She still wore an iron mask over her mouth, but it was nowhere near as neat as the one he had seen before. She had bent what looked like a plate of iron torn off somewhere over her mouth and secured it with strips of cloth.

“Uh...”

In truth, the main reason he failed to recognize her was that he had never imagined she might still be alive.

At the Spring of Light, Eugene had cut off Hemoria’s arms and legs when she attacked him. He hadn’t gone so far as to cut off her head, but her wounds should certainly have been fatal. And that wasn’t all. He had kicked her limbless body into a deep pit.

There had been a few survivors at the Spring of Light, but none from that pit. Raphael, who had searched the place, hadn’t mentioned any survivors either.

“You’re alive?”

Finally recognizing her, Eugene blinked as he asked the question. He was surprised that Hemoria was alive, but that was the full extent of his feelings at the moment. She must have been incredibly lucky, he thought.

But no amount of luck could make severed limbs grow back. Eugene therefore stared intently at her arms and legs.

The limbs he had certainly cut off were attached to her body. They didn’t look normal, though. Dark, dingy bandages covered them completely.

“... Hhh.”

A strained breath escaped from behind the iron plate. There was nothing but surprise in Eugene’s eyes, but the same could not be said of Hemoria’s.

Her eyes had always been red, but now, opened so wide they looked ready to split, they were bloodshot and redder still. Veins writhed along her taut neck, and her chest heaved as her breathing grew ragged.

“Hhh... Hh.”

Before, she would at least have ground her teeth. Now she couldn’t even manage that, only forcing out one strangled breath after another. The sound puzzled Eugene.

“What have you got in your mouth?” he asked, looking perfectly unruffled.

Eugene had driven Hemoria to death’s door at the Spring of Light. He didn’t know how she felt about it, but in his eyes, what had happened between them hadn’t qualified as a fight or a battle. It had merely been a somewhat violent way of removing something insignificant and irritating from his path... a pebble, a bug, something like that.

A grudge? He had none against Hemoria personally. At the Spring of Light, he had simply been furious beyond reason and determined to destroy or kill everything in his way. It wasn’t as though there had been absolutely no personal feelings involved in cutting off her limbs, but he hadn’t swung his sword at her because he particularly hated her.

The same held true now. He had vented all his feelings about the Spring of Light back then... As for now? Unless Hemoria came screaming at him with murderous intent again, he had no particular intention of killing her.

‘Not that I could, anyway.’

The circumstances weren’t favorable. Had he run into her anywhere else, he could have killed her cleanly without any repercussions. But they were in the middle of the Knight March.

“No grinding your teeth?”

Eugene tilted his head as he asked her.

CRUNCH!

Something ground together behind the iron plate in response. It wasn’t the sound of teeth.

“Ugh...”

The inquisitor in Hemoria’s grasp had lost consciousness long ago. The groan came from deeper in the alley.

Eugene calmly walked over to a spot where he could see inside. There wasn’t really any need to look. The smell of blood, undetectable a moment ago, was now overwhelming.

‘They must have been hiding it with magic.’

When he had glared at the inquisitors stealing glances at him, there had been nothing inside the alley. The reason he could now smell the blood and see inside was that the inquisitor who had cast the spell had been beaten to a bloody pulp.

It wasn’t just one or two. Nearly ten inquisitors lay facedown on the ground inside the alley, covered in blood. There was no question who had done it. Eugene grinned at Hemoria’s blood-drenched hands.

“Are you allowed to do that?”

Hemoria’s eyebrows twitched at his jeering question.

CRUNCH!

She slammed the inquisitor she was holding by the throat into the ground, then raised a finger toward Eugene, her red eyes flashing. He had expected her to attack without warning... Instead, Hemoria crooked her finger, beckoning him over.

Eugene burst out laughing. Had attaching some strange new limbs given her confidence? With her begging him to come over like that, wouldn’t ignoring her be rather pitiful? Smiling, he stepped into the alley as she asked.

As Eugene moved, Hemoria backed away. She, too, was concerned about being watched. He found even that amusing.

“What could you possibly do that you need to worry about witnesses? Wouldn’t you be better off coming out of the alley?” Eugene asked with a smile.

“If I beat the shit out of you in the middle of the street, someone might step in to stop me.”

That blatant provocation made Hemoria’s eyes roll back.

“Mmmgh!”

The instant Eugene stepped into the alley, a muffled howl escaped from beneath the iron plate. Radiating vicious hatred and murderous intent, Hemoria lunged at him.

Was she faster than at the Spring of Light?

That was about it.

Before Hemoria could do anything to him, Eugene’s hand shot out. His open hand closed around her throat. She couldn’t even choke out a sound. The force of her charge vanished to no avail, while Eugene’s outstretched arm slammed her into the ground with absurd ease.

“Grrgh!”

Pinned to the ground, Hemoria struggled. Eugene caught one of her fiercely swinging arms. Should he rip it off or twist it until it broke? He decided to bend it the wrong way first and make up his mind afterward.

“What the hell?”

Eugene’s brow furrowed as he twisted her elbow joint. He had certainly crushed and bent the joint, yet it hadn’t felt like breaking bone.

The reason soon became clear. What the dingy bandages covered was not an arm of flesh, blood, and bone, but darkness gathered into the shape of one.

“... You fucker.”

Darkness spilled between the bandages. Instinctively recognizing what sort of darkness it was, Eugene’s face twisted. Just as he was about to crush Hemoria’s head, he stopped.

An utterly murderous presence sent chills through him. His thoughts, however, didn’t stop. First, Eugene sized it up.

‘I could take her.’

There were too many variables in this sort of intuition to know without actually fighting. Still, it was a tremendous improvement over two years ago. Back then, he hadn’t thought he could win even with every means at his disposal. In two years, he had reached a level where he stood a chance.

“... Has my pet...”

As though she had been there from the beginning, a woman with a veil covering her mouth emerged from the shadows deep in the alley.

... Amelia Merwin. Wrapped in a scarlet robe, she looked exactly as she had two years ago.

“...done something rude to you?”

Amelia pushed back her hood, twisting the corners of her mouth upward. Only her lips were smiling. Her purple eyes were calm, but deep within them writhed a murderous intent so terrible that merely looking into them seemed enough to shatter a person’s mind.

“Still fond of filthy pets, I see. ... You used to have a different one, didn’t you?”

“You mean the pet... you broke? That one is doing well. I didn’t bring it here, though.”

Eugene couldn’t quite make sense of the situation.

A pet? Hemoria? Why? He glanced down at her, still writhing beneath him.

“Since when has an inquisitor of Yuras been your pet?”

“And what would you do with that information?”

“I’m curious.”

“It’s a simple story. That girl whose limbs you cut off and whom you threw into a hole? I picked her up.”

Amelia drew a goat-headed staff from inside her robe. With a slight wave of it, darkness began spreading beneath Eugene’s feet. He watched without moving. He considered interfering, but decided against it.

Amelia was an enemy. Whatever the case with other black mages, Eugene had a reason he absolutely had to kill her. He saw no need to needlessly reveal his hand to such a definite enemy.

“Grrk...!”

Hemoria convulsed beneath his feet. For an instant, Eugene saw a desperate plea in her eyes. Naturally, he did not reach out to answer it.

The darkness swallowed her. A moment later, her body rose from Amelia’s shadow. Amelia glanced at Hemoria, held fast by the darkness, and smiled.

“... Well, then. Which of you was being rude?”

“Which do you think?”

“I have no desire to joke with you. I remember you, you know. You killed my pet in the desert. You haven’t forgotten, have you? Back then... if the Demon King hadn’t shown mercy, I would have killed you.”

“I know perfectly well. It’s unfortunate for you that you didn’t get to kill me then.”

“You damned grave robber.”

Amelia’s lips twisted behind her veil. Eugene smiled back at her open anger.

“Who are you calling a grave robber?”

“You robbed a tomb that belonged to me.”

“Hamel’s statue? His gravestone? Those were pretty valuable treasures to you too, were they?”

“They were history unknown to the world. Something only I knew about and possessed.”

“Don’t give me that fucking bullshit. You have no right to own them.”

“And you do? Ah, I suppose you would. You’re Vermouth’s descendant and Senya’s successor, after all.”

WOOOO...!

An ominous sound rose from Amelia’s staff. Her jet-black hair began swaying along with the darkness.

“So what? It was a tomb no one had found for three hundred years, abandoned without anyone to tend it. I was the one who found it. So everything in that tomb is mine. The statue, the gravestone, even the corpse!”

“How about you stop being so disgusting?”

When Amelia revealed her power, Eugene refused to back down. Mana guided by the White Flame Formula became purple flames that wreathed his body. Amelia’s cheek twitched at the sheer force of it.

‘... Is that even possible?’

It had only been two years. Back then, Eugene had been nothing more than a bug she could crush underfoot with hardly any effort. The only reason she hadn’t crushed him was that letter from that bastard Balzac Ludbeth, and the reason she had been forced to let him go without doing anything was the Demon King of Incarceration’s mercy.

‘... With my current preparations... there’s no guarantee I can kill him?’

Amelia weighed Eugene’s strength against her own preparations. She didn’t think them inadequate, but facing him now, she lacked the certainty that she could kill him. And even if she did, what came afterward would be a problem. She judged that she hadn’t made the preparations necessary to escape this place.

“Very well.”

The seething darkness quickly subsided. Amelia wanted to tear him apart that instant, but she suppressed the urge.

There would be other opportunities. She could feel the hatred and murderous intent radiating from Eugene. She didn’t quite understand the reason for those pure emotions, but they weren’t the sort that would cool.

One day, Eugene Lionheart would most certainly come to kill Amelia Merwin.

‘I can kill him then.’

Amelia tucked her raised staff back inside her cloak. Thinking of that future, whenever it might come, filled her with a thrill that sent shivers through her. Eugene Lionheart’s corpse would make a splendid pet...

She licked her lips and smiled.

“There is so much I want to say to you, and so much I want to do. But I’ll restrain myself here.”

“You don’t have to hold back.”

“Don’t provoke me. A clash with me right now would be inconvenient for you too, wouldn’t it? Surely you don’t think Lionheart will protect you? If you do... hehe. Let me tell you this much. No matter how strong you are, if I decide to kill you, no one will be able to interfere here. Either I die, or you do. The Lionhearts not far from here will only get to see one of our corpses.”

Was she going to erect a barrier? Eugene recalled the warning from the Black Tower Master, Balzac Ludbeth. According to him, Amelia Merwin was the strongest of Incarceration’s Three Demons.

In other words, Amelia Merwin was the strongest black mage of the present age. It was difficult enough to imagine how sturdy a barrier deliberately erected by an archmage would be. If the strongest black mage of the age erected one, then, just as she claimed, no one outside would be able to interfere until one of them died.

“Fine. I’ll hold back while we’re here.”

After glaring at Amelia for a while, Eugene nodded too.

“So, Amelia Merwin. Why are you here?”

“What an obvious question. I’m supporting Nahama’s Sultan. I don’t take his orders, but I assist him as a sage.”

“You’re saying you’re part of Nahama’s forces?”

“Calling me ‘part’ of them sounds rather trifling, but let’s say so. Why? Does it surprise you that someone contracted to the Demon King of Incarceration would support Nahama rather than Helmuth?”

“It’s hardly news that the Demon King of Incarceration gives the black mages contracted to him free rein.”

“Still so insolent. You were the same then. In the tomb, even when death should have been certain, you were insolent. I dislike that, and yet it delights me.”

“Delights you?”

“Yes.”

Amelia tilted her head and smiled.

“When you truly stand on the brink of death someday... if I am the one to carry it out... I... I wonder what expression you’ll wear, what you’ll say, what your face will look like as you die. Will you be as insolent then as you are now? Even as I sift through your soul, will you show me hatred and murderous intent? The very thought sends shivers through me.”

“Crazy bitch.”

Eugene let out an incredulous laugh and raised a finger.

“Stop spouting bullshit that’ll never happen and keep your new pet under control.”

“That is rather useful advice. She seemed to want a ‘walk,’ so I let her off her leash for a little while... I never imagined she would do something like this.”

Amelia lowered her gaze and surveyed their surroundings. After taking in the inquisitors sprawled in pools of blood, she clicked her tongue.

“I thought I had broken you thoroughly enough. Are you still attached to that religion? Did you think your former fellow inquisitors would save you? But they didn’t, did they? They called you a filthy fallen wretch and tried to restrain you. That must be why you slammed them into the ground.”

Amelia was no longer looking at Eugene. Her eyes curved into crescents as she stared intently at Hemoria. Held by the darkness, Hemoria flinched under that gaze, but she opened her eyes wide and glared back as if it didn’t frighten her.

“Why are you wearing something like that over your mouth?” Amelia whispered.

She reached out with her long fingers and stroked the iron plate covering Hemoria’s mouth.

SMACK!

That gentle touch suddenly became a vicious slap. Hemoria’s body rocked violently, her head snapping to one side. The iron plate covering her mouth fell away.

Hemoria was gagged. It was no ordinary gag. A bone, the sort a dog might gnaw on, had been bound firmly in her mouth.

Blood dripped from her clenched teeth as she glared at Amelia.

“Ah... pardon me. A pet should be disciplined in private.”

The hand that had slapped Hemoria now caressed the back of her neck. Amelia turned back to Eugene with a chilling smile.

“Let’s get along while we’re here. When I see you here, I’ll smile and greet you. I hope you’ll do the same.”

Those were Amelia’s last words.

She grabbed Hemoria by the hair and walked deeper into the alley, dragging her along as though pulling a dog by its leash. Hemoria breathed raggedly around the bone clenched in her mouth. Soon, both women vanished beyond the darkness.

“Crazy bitch,” Eugene muttered, shaking his head.

Amelia had said she had picked Hemoria up at the Spring of Light. He didn’t quite understand what that meant, but he wasn’t curious about the exact circumstances either.

So he left the alley without giving it any more thought.

... The Knight March. There had been far too many unexpected encounters. He had met Noir Giabella on the snowfields, Moron in Leheinyar, and Amelia Merwin in Lehein.

‘This feels ominous already.’

Perhaps because he had encountered an obnoxious woman he wanted to kill, there was a foul taste in his mouth. He glanced back at the alley where Amelia and Hemoria had stood moments ago and spat.

He no longer felt like taking a walk. Still, the heat that had risen to his head had cooled completely.

With a scowl, Eugene returned to the Lionheart mansion.

“Where have you been?”

Ciel approached him, her face grimy. She hadn’t reached Lehein when he left the mansion, but apparently she had arrived in the meantime.

“Uh... um... A walk.”

“Why do you look so sour if you’ve just been for a walk?”

Eugene stammered in surprise, but Ciel looked perfectly calm. Her face was grimy and her clothes dirty, though, perhaps because she hadn’t washed in days.

That couldn’t be helped. When she had been traveling with Eugene, his magic had allowed them to wash even without hot water.

Cyan and Ciel had split off from Eugene in the middle of the snowfields. Even now, it seemed abrupt and reckless. Most of the conveniences they needed for their journey had been stored inside the Cloak of Darkness. Cyan and Ciel did have extradimensional backpacks, but those held only a few days’ worth of emergency rations.

Even knights who wielded mana weren’t entirely immune to the cold. Washing in those freezing snowfields would only make them ill... So they hadn’t washed for over ten days. They had wandered the snowfields in search of food and melted snow for drinking water.

Despite that grueling journey, Ciel’s expression was composed. In truth, she didn’t feel nearly so calm. She was merely holding herself in check. It hadn’t really been that long since they last met, but she wanted Eugene to see how mature she was.

“... Are you all right?”

“What do you mean? I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.”

“But... you don’t look fine. You look like you’ve lost more weight too...”

“Don’t be rude. I was never fat.”

“I know that. I’m saying you’ve lost weight since I last saw you.”

He wasn’t saying it without reason. Her cheeks were more hollow than before.

“That’s because I had a hard time,” Ciel replied, still looking composed.

“See? You had a hard time. How is that fine?”

“You’re supposed to get your hardships out of the way while you’re young.”

“What are you even talking about...? Where’s Cyan?”

“He went straight to the baths as soon as we arrived. And I’m warning you now, don’t say anything unnecessary to him.”

“Why?”

“We traveled here with Princess Scalia, and she put him through hell. Speaking of which, that princess is a complete nutcase. It... um... wasn’t insomnia making her act strange. Her personality is just like that.”

Ciel’s brows drew together as she recalled Scalia’s outbursts during the journey.

“Honestly, there were so many times I wanted to just... do something to her. If I felt that way, my brother must have too.”

“Cyan was so excited about possibly getting engaged to a princess of Shimuin...”

“That was because he didn’t know what she was really like. Unless he’s lost his mind, he won’t get engaged to Princess Scalia.”

“But why haven’t you washed?”

Ciel’s expression stiffened at the question.

“Why are you asking that? Are you saying I smell?”

“No, no, you don’t smell at all. I’m just asking why you haven’t washed when Cyan has.”

“I’m going to. I was about to. I was just wondering where you’d gone, so I waited. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“Anything... to say?”

Eugene thought for a moment. Ciel said nothing more, merely staring at him, but he felt an intense pressure in her gaze. ... He had better answer carefully.

“... Um... You’ve been through a lot.”

“Don’t state the obvious.”

“You did well.”

“That goes without saying too.”

“I’m glad you came back safely.”

“That’s the one.”

Only then did Ciel beam. They were simple words, yet they seemed to fill her with warmth. She rose from her seat and looked up at Eugene.

“Were you worried about me?”

“Yeah.”

“You shouldn’t only worry about me. Weren’t you worried about my brother?”

“Of course I was worried about both of you.”

“But you were a little more worried about me, right? Be honest. I won’t tell Cyan.”

“I was equally worried about both of you.”

“This is when you’re supposed to say you worried more about me, even if you don’t mean it.”

His answer didn’t disappoint her. On the contrary, she thought it was just like him. Ciel giggled and moved the hand she had tucked inside her cloak.

“I brought you a present on the way. Hold out your hand.”

“What is it?”

Without giving it much thought, Eugene held out his hand. Ciel plopped the snowball she had been hiding inside her cloak onto his palm.

“...”

“Cold, isn’t it?”

Eugene looked back and forth between the cold, wet snowball and Ciel’s mischievous smile.

“If we were a little younger, we could have gone out for a snowball fight. You know, when we were kids, my brother and I put rocks in our snowballs when we fought you.”

“You think I didn’t know?”

“You never got hit by any of the snowballs we threw, so I thought you didn’t.”

“I didn’t get hit because I knew there were rocks in them. ... If you want, I can have a snowball fight with you. I’ll win, just like when we were kids.”

“I’m not doing that. Neither my brother nor you nor I are children anymore.”

“Hey, snowball fights are fun even when you’re older.”

“I’m sure they are, but I’m still not doing it.”

Ciel stuck out her tongue and turned away. Watching her walk off with a light step, Eugene shrugged. The snowball in his palm was already melting. He casually tossed it behind him.

“Eek!”

Mer, who had been sneaking up to surprise Eugene, screamed as the snowball hit her.