Chapter 528: The Declaration (6)

Chapter 528: The Declaration (6)

"I’m curious as to who this person is that you would speak of them like this,” said Eugene.

A sparring partner?

Eugene narrowed his eyes as he gazed at Gavid, skeptical of the implication. He found it almost impossible to believe that Gavid's current prowess had developed within just a few months.

"Is there really someone in Helmuth that I don't know about, someone who is capable of sparring with you? Surely not Noir Giabella,” said Eugene.

Then who could possibly be Gavid’s match?

The Demon King of Incarceration? It wasn't entirely out of the question, but... it seemed unlikely. If it had indeed been the Demon King, Gavid wouldn't be discussing it so casually.

"I know what you are wary of,” Gavid said, grinning as he looked at Eugene. "I could simply drive you into a corner mentally by keeping it a secret, but... I’m not fond of such tricks. So, I’ll give you an honest answer. Hamel, my sparring partner isn't a demon. He isn’t a citizen of Helmuth either, nor a being of this world.”

"What?" questioned Eugene.

"It is a phantom, recreated from His Majesty’s memories... perhaps an existence you might know as well,” answered Gavid.

Eugene stared at Gavid. His sparring partner was a phantom recreated from memory? Eugene wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but the suggestion that it was someone he might know scraped at his emotions.

"I don’t follow what you’re saying,” Eugene said directly.

"Hamel,” Gavid called out, conscious of the chain bundled within his cloak. "Do you know of a wasteland littered with countless corpses?"

Eugene was surprised to hear this unexpected question.

Gavid continued, "Thanks to His Majesty the Demon King’s grace, I wandered that nameless wasteland over and over again. And each time, what I faced was the same death, again and again."

A wasteland strewn with corpses.

Eugene's eyes narrowed.

"The one killing me was always the same adversary. It was a man with a greatsword. Whether I fought or not, the man always ended my life," Gavid recounted.

Eugene just listened silently to the story.

"While only about two months have passed in reality, I have lived far longer in that wasteland. I can't even count how many times I have died there,” explained Gavid.

He pointed a finger at Eugene.

"I don’t know the man’s identity. But I can say this with certainty: his name does not exist in the annals of this world's history. Perhaps... he is from a time before history was even recorded. And." He paused.

The man's sword.

Gavid had barely, just barely, managed to elevate himself to a level where he could just about match the man. However, he had failed to overcome the adversary. Even if he used the Demoneye of Divine Glory, or even Glory, surpassing the man’s sword and threatening his life proved impossible.

Finally, Gavid said, "Hamel, you should know this man.”

When Gavid first saw the man in the wasteland, he had used the Demoneye of Divine Glory and drawn Glory to avoid death. That was when he first saw the man’s sword.

It had been a blade radiating a bloody hue, the very epitome of merciless and inexorable violence.

That sword had resembled the one Hamel had used to slay the specter.

"What words do you want to hear?" Eugene asked.

Eugene wondered how Gavid had grown so strong. He had never imagined the Demon King of Incarceration would assist Gavid in such a manner.

'At least it's just a phantom. I thought a new, unknown powerhouse might have emerged,' Eugene thought.

Or perhaps that still wasn’t such good news. Eugene clicked his tongue while sinking in contemplation.

Gavid would only grow stronger with the passage of time. Eugene didn’t feel as confident in defeating Gavid as he was now. As such, he was wary of how much stronger Gavid might be at the time of their duel.

“I’m rather curious about your relationship with this man, but I won’t pry into that,” said Gavid.

“Then?” questioned Eugene.

“I thought perhaps I should at least know his name,” Gavid voiced his thoughts.

“Why?” Eugene asked in genuine curiosity.

“Would calling him a master be too grand?” Gavid smirked at his own words. “Sure, it might be foolish to assume on my part. But Hamel, I was utterly in awe of that man’s sword. I never thought such a powerful man could exist in this world. I died at the hands of his sword hundreds, no, thousands of times. Each death and each resurrection gradually sharpened me and honed me bit by bit.

“And that is why I genuinely want to know the man’s name and identity. I want to know the name of the one who has killed me so often, who has drawn so much out of me,” confessed Gavid.

"Agaroth,” Eugene blurted out. "The God of War, Agaroth."

Gavid was genuinely curious about the name Agaroth for the reason he gave. Hence, Eugene responded honestly.

"The God of War, Agaroth...." Gavid closed his eyes momentarily and repeated the name, rummaging through the long memories he had accumulated.

The God of War, Agaroth.

He found it.

“That name was left in the sea where Iris was entrenched. Not really as a faith, but more like an ancient legend,” said Gavid.

When Iris suddenly settled at the southern end and started abducting dwarfs for some inscrutable schemes, Gavid had scraped together information to guess at Iris’ plots. That was when he first heard the name Agaroth.

Could it be related to the War God Agaroth? Perhaps. After all, Agaroth’s name had remained in the sea where Iris died.

Gavid started, "I am curious, but...."

How Eugene used the remaining time before their duel was entirely up to him. Gavid did not want to interfere or probe into the affairs of his long-awaited adversary. He had his own matters to immerse himself in for the year.

Gavid manipulated the chain door according to the coordinates Eugene had provided him, and in that brief moment, Eugene pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something.

Ssshhh....

The landscape visible through the door changed. Moments ago, it showed an empty room in the Lindman mansion in Helmuth, but now it displayed a vast sea.

Upon seeing the sea, Eugene immediately stepped forward.

"Then... see you in a year,” Gavid said.

Eugene passed through the gate of chains without a reply, then abruptly raised his hand towards Gavid.

"Huh...!"

A stark middle finger. Gavid couldn't help but let out a laugh of disbelief.

Such an utterly rude gesture — it was so typical of Hamel. Gavid shook his head as he watched Eugene plunge into the sea.

"I have no idea what he's plotting,” Gavid muttered.

A letter left on the table caught his eye. Gavid hadn’t intended to snoop, but since Eugene had left it openly unfolded, he couldn’t help but read it.

[I’ll spend the year training. We’ve agreed to build the arena in Raguyaran, so tell the dwarves at the Lionheart estate to handle it. Don’t get mad, and try not to worry too much either.]

"Huh..."

Gavid shook his head again. The letter unilaterally stated his demands.

How could he just write that and leave? And now he was instructing to have the dwarves construct the arena in Raguyaran....

"I’ll need to send a letter myself later,” muttered Gavid.

If things were left as Hamel had instructed, something would surely go amiss. It seemed necessary for Gavid to send a letter to the Lionheart clan detailing the date and location of the duel in place of Hamel.

"How irresponsible,” Gavid muttered.

He opened the portal again while clicking his tongue.

***

The moment he passed through the chain gate, Eugene dropped straight into the sea.

‘I have to admit, this ability is incredibly convenient,’ Eugene thought enviously.

It was a power that allowed him to arrive anywhere in a single step without a need for warp-gates, as long as he had the coordinates. This was an authority not even Sienna or the dragons possessed, but solely the Demon Kings.

‘Thanks to this, I arrived comfortably.’

This place was the southernmost tip of the Southern Seas. It was the site near the distant ocean where Iris had died and in the ancient past, the location where the Demon King of Fury had made a pact with the Demon King of Incarceration.

It was a city once ruled by Agaroth, the sea where the sanctuary of the War God was submerged.

“It would have taken quite some time if I came alone,” Eugene murmured as he fell into the sea. This part of the ocean was far from any warp-gate and could not be reached without a boat or flying.

Only a year remained.

He needed to maximize this time. But how? Should he seek Molon for a sparring session out of the blue again? Was there anything left to gain from such sparring now?

‘No, there isn’t,’ Eugene realized.

Eugene was now stronger than Molon. Even if Molon had also spent time in training during Eugene’s absence, he doubted there was anything more to gain from dueling Molon again.

Should he return to the World Tree and seek the Sage's help, or perhaps entangle himself in vines like Carmen did to duel the God of Giant’s phantom? It could be beneficial, but it would mean that he was blatantly ignoring the Sage's warnings.

Ultimately, now, Eugene could consider only one path ahead.

‘Divine Power.’

He needed a place to anchor himself.

He needed a place free from others' interference, where he could contemplate who he was now, what he was before, and the essence of his being — solely, profoundly, and introspectively.

“There’s nowhere else but here.”

The moment his feet touched the sea, it split open with a crack, as if the sea itself were a door. Eugene didn't panic but dropped through the gap created by the parted waters.

‘One year.’

Eugene's eyes narrowed.

‘I won’t leave this place for a year.’

The abyss of the deep sea yawned open.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.