Chapter 498: Delusion (6)

Chapter 498: Delusion (6)

Just how many more times today would he be forced to make this declaration?

Eugene had made the first declaration back during his battle against the specter. His words had been meant for Gavid, who was looking down on their battle from his position high in the sky. While swinging his sword, Eugene had suddenly declared....

—I am Hamel.

That was how he had phrased it.

Then again, just a few minutes earlier, in order to prove it to Gavid, and so that everyone present could hear him, he had loudly declared once more....

—I am Hamel’s reincarnation.

This meant that he had already made the same declaration twice today. But looking at the current atmosphere, it seemed like he might have to do it one more time.

Eugene furrowed his brow and glared at Melkith, who was suspended in the air. She was still struggling to try to get free from the binding of Sienna’s spell.

“...,” Eugene silently considered the spirit summoner.

In many ways, he did have a good opinion of Melkith. If Eugene had to be honest, their track record together had been so good that he couldn’t find any real reason to dislike her. That was just how much of a help Melkith had been for Eugene up until now, especially after considering the newfound strength[1] that Melkith had managed to reach, she would continue to be of great help to Eugene in the future as well.

That was why he didn’t want to sour their relationship. So Eugene was willing to go along with whatever Melkith wanted and listen to her requests, at least up to a certain line, so long as there was a clear exchange of interests involved.

However, now....

Eugene felt like he might be developing a bit of a grudge towards Melkith. His desire to keep up a good relationship with her was steadily growing thinner....

“Eugene! Why aren’t you saying anything?! I’m asking you, are you really the reincarnation of the Stupid Hamel?!” Melkith yelled down at him.

After listening to her shout like this, Eugene realized on second thought that Gavid had actually been quite the gentleman. Even though they were enemies, at least that bastard had spoken to Eugene in a tone full of respect.

Gavid had called Eugene Hamel of Extermination.

That was the epithet that had been given to Hamel by the demonfolk. However, Eugene was actually very satisfied with that name....

After all, it at least sounded much more impressive than a shitty title like the Stupid Hamel.

In that sense, Eugene couldn’t help but think that Melkith was quite impressive. To think that she would shout out such a nickname directly in front of the person, especially one that had no redeeming qualities to it....

“You really are the reincarnation of the Stupid Hamel!” Melkith loudly squealed.

She raised her arms above her head and began clapping her hands together, like a cheerleader trying to work up a crowd, and began to chant, “The! Stu! Pid!”

Melkith was enthusiastically clapping in time with her chants. She glared at her fellow wizards who were still sprawled on the ground next to her.

The wizards from the White Tower of Magic, who had been the ones closest to her, didn’t even have the right to refuse. So the wizards forced their tired and aching bodies to stand, and then they started clapping along with Melkith as they repeated her chants.

“Ha! Mel!”

“The! Stu! Pid!”

“Ha! Mel!”

Just what on earth was she trying to do? What was the meaning behind her chanting? Why did she then have to go and pull others into the chanting instead of just making a fuss all on her own? And why wasn’t she satisfied already with just the wizards from the White Tower of Magic? Why was she trying to attract even more people to join in?

“The!” “He!” “Ro!”

“Eu!” “Gene!”

“Li!” “On!” “Heart!”

Why had she changed the chanting from the Stupid Hamel to Eugene Lionheart? What on earth was the meaning behind such a change in designation?

Some of the people who hadn’t dared to move their lips out of tactfulness when she was shouting the Stupid Hamel were subtly beginning to respond more and more after the chanting had turned into the Hero Eugene Lionheart.

Was that why she had changed it?

Just what on earth was Melkith El-Hayah’s goal in trying to make everyone here cheer for Eugene?

Inside Eugene’s cloak, Wynnyd began to hum.

Tempest had been forced into an irrevocable and irresistible contract with Melkith. Now, his voice was heard inside Eugene’s head, [Hamel, that thing isn’t human. It’s just something wearing the face of a human. It might look like a human, but it doesn’t think like one. Whoever created that thing may have bestowed it with great talent, but in return, its creator left a huge hole where its fundamental nature as a human being should be.]

[During the implementation of Omega Force, when I was forced to become one with Melkith El-Hayah, it felt like I was drifting through an abyss. It was like peering into a deep ocean that didn’t have an end in sight. I don’t know how to put into words the terror of the unknown that that sight struck into me. When I and the other Spirit Kings fused with the great chaos that swirls within Melkith El-Hayah... my... my honor was...,] Tempest’s voice trailed off in a trembling murmur.

“The!” “Ra!” “Di!” “Ant!”

The number of people shouting had increased. The new voice belonged to Carmen. She had also been caught up in Gavid’s sword wind, so her face was covered in blood, but surprisingly enough, she didn’t seem to have any other injuries. This had to be because of the outstanding performance of her Exid, the Demon-Dragon Armor, which had been specially modified for her use.

So when Carmen, who was in a much healthier state than any of the others present, shouted, her voice rang out much louder than anyone else’s.

“The!” “Ra!” “Di!” “Ant!”

Carmen was very attached to the title she had come up with for Eugene all by herself. While she also liked some of his other titles, such as the Dragon Slayer and the Blood Lion, she was especially enamored with the Radiant Eugene Lionheart — so much so that she had unconsciously let out a shiver the moment she said those words.

As such, she wanted to make sure that everyone would start calling Eugene with that epithet.

The Great Vermouth.

The Brave Molon.

To think that he would actually be cross-examined like this so publicly.

At that moment, Sienna stepped forward to speak for Eugene, “It’s understandable.”

“Huh?” Melkith said in confusion.

“It’s understandable.” Sienna just repeated herself.

What did she mean by that? Even Eugene turned to look at Sienna in confusion.

Eugene wasn’t the only one with such perplexed emotion in their eyes. Everyone was looking at Sienna with bewildered expressions.

Melkith frowned, “Big sis, what are you saying all of a sudden—”

Sienna’s hair slowly began to stand on end.

“It.”

Her eyes glowed with an inner light.

“Is.”

A galaxy opened up behind Sienna.

“Understandable.”

That was enough. None of the thousands of people present were willing to question Sienna any further. They just calmly nodded in acceptance. Even Melkith didn’t dare to demand a further explanation from Sienna. This was because Melkith personally knew all too well just how forceful and scary Sienna could be when she got like this.

“That’s right, big sis, of course, it’s understandable,” Melkith agreed with a nod, having quickly adapted her attitude.

No matter how much she thought about it, Melkith still couldn’t understand how shameless someone would have to be to do such a thing, but it was clear that if she continued to pursue this topic any further, she would just end up being scolded by Sienna.

No, perhaps it wouldn’t just end on the level of a scolding. She might even end up getting killed... that was just how intense the murderous intent dwelling within Sienna’s eyes was.

There’s no way that Melkith could have known this, but Sienna also had a desperate and unavoidable reason to step forward at this moment. If Eugene were forced to give an explanation for his actions, there was a very good chance that he would express how upset he was about the nickname given to him in the fairy tale. In that case, what if he publicly revealed who the author of the fairy tale was?

And after all, Eugene did have good reason to feel personally attacked due to the ruined reputation of his past life. Then what was so wrong about using a different identity to sing his own praises?

Sienna sincerely believed that such actions were understandable.

“...Ahem,” Anise awkwardly cleared her throat.

Anise was also in agreement with Sienna. After all, it was all because of the two of them, the Wise Sienna and the Faithful Anise, that Hamel had ended up with such an insulting title....

“How... how wonderful,” Lovellian said haltingly as he started sniffling in a corner all by himself.

The secret he believed was known only to him had finally been revealed. A relationship that transcended a whole three hundred years had finally been resurrected, and a new chapter was being written for the fairy tale that had once ended in a tragedy.

Lovellian started clapping as he pictured the course of their romance inside his head. He felt the urge to play the violin like he had in Shimuin, but the entrance to his Pantheon had been destroyed, so it was difficult for him to use any summoning magic right now.

So, instead, Lovellian just continued clapping with all his heart and soul. When the usually serious Red Tower Master started such a round of applause, it created a far different response than when Melkith had tried it. Almost all of the wizards present started clapping with him.

“All of this is the Light’s will,” Raphael declared, as he also started applauding with a sense of wonder.

All of the paladins and priests were already clapping for Eugene.

“The Radiant Eugene Lionheart!” Carmen also shouted once more.

Eugene’s only thought at this moment was that he just wanted to go home already.

“Reincarnation,” Balzac muttered to himself in awe, standing behind the rest of the crowd.

He wrapped his other hand around his trembling arm and squeezed down tightly.

Earlier, Balzac had faced off against some monsters of mysterious origin. Although they weren’t demonic beasts, they seemed more demonic than any of the other demonic beasts, and each of the monsters seemed to possess a closer connection to the power of Destruction than Destruction’s own vassals.

Balzac had used his new Signature, Gluttony, to devour all of the corpses of those monsters. Not only that, but he also swept up all the corpses of any deceased demonfolk that he managed to lay his eyes on.

This overindulgence that had pushed his body far beyond its limits had left his arm unable to feel any sensation other than pain, and the process of fusing these newly acquired resources into himself was so excruciating that it made him want to vomit them out right away.

However, at this moment, Balzac couldn’t feel any of his previous pain. His head, which had been clouded and throbbing in agony, instead seemed to have cleared up instantly.

Like everyone else here, he felt awed and mystified by the sudden news of Hamel’s reincarnation. Balzac could never have imagined that reincarnation was actually possible. Not only that, this wasn’t just any ordinary reincarnation either. Thanks to this reincarnation, the title of the Hero had actually been inherited many generations later by another member of the Lionheart family. Nobody could believe that this was just a coincidence.

It was definitely not a coincidence that a new Hero had been born after three hundred years.

It was fate that ensured Hamel Dynas would be reincarnated as Eugene Lionheart.

It was also fate that led the Demon King of Incarceration, who had upheld the peace for such a long period of time, to announce that the end of the Oath was approaching.

‘In that case...,’ Balzac shivered in excitement.

Soon, the final act of this era would be upon them. He didn’t know if everything would just end there or if they would be able to survive and move on to the next chapter, but even so....

Balzac, at least, felt grateful to be alive in this present era.

1. Just in case this is confusing, it refers to her development of the Omega Force ☜

2. The original text uses the Korean idiom of ‘put gold on your face.’ I had trouble thinking of a corresponding English idiom that means something similar, but I settled on this phrase as the one that seemed the most appropriate. ☜