Chapter 546: Divine Ascension (7)

Chapter 546: Divine Ascension (7)

A chair floated over and landed in front of Eugene. Slowly slinking closer, Ciel swallowed a gulp and sat on the chair.

The distance between them was so close that their knees were touching. While staring into Eugene’s face, which was right in front of her nose, Ciel could feel her heart pounding loudly.

She silently clenched her sweaty hands.

It had only been a few seconds since she had just sat down, but the silence between them already felt awkward.

Ciel felt like she should say something, but right now, she couldn’t think of anything to say. It was then that Ciel’s eyes were drawn to the diagonal scar across Eugene’s right cheek.

“Th-that scar...,” Ciel suddenly began speaking.

The scar had been left during Eugene’s duel with Gavid Lindman. Even though Eugene’s limbs had been able to regenerate instantly after being torn to pieces during the duel, the scar on his cheek had yet to disappear.

Eugene didn’t care about the scar on his cheek. This was because, back when he was Hamel, his life had left him with enough scars to cover both his face and body.

In fact, Eugene was actually just the slightest bit pleased to have this scar. Scars like this would only add to his reputation as a warrior, and since his face was already almost excessively handsome, Eugene felt like the scar would set off his handsomeness quite well.

Ciel’s sentiments about this scar weren’t that much different from Eugene’s. After all, compared to a year ago, with his hair becoming much bushier, the addition of a diagonal scar across his right cheek, his slightly sharper eyes, and the strong bridge of his nose....

This was a face Ciel had already seen countless times ever since she turned thirteen, but for some reason, as she looked into Eugene’s face while sitting across from him like this, Ciel felt a strange emotion rising within her.

But right now, she couldn’t just finish her sentence by saying that she thought he looked good with a scar.

Ciel thought frantically for a few moments and finally ended up asking a question that she wasn’t fully at ease with. “...doesn’t it hurt?”

“It’s already fully healed, so why would it hurt?” Eugene raised an eyebrow.

“That’s... there’s a thing called phantom pain, isn’t there?” Ciel awkwardly argued.

“It doesn’t feel like anything. It doesn’t even tickle,” Eugene said as he began to lean his body forward.

Due to this movement, the already close distance between them narrowed even further until Ciel’s entire vision was fully occupied by Eugene’s face. As her breathing began to quicken, getting closer to panting, Ciel unconsciously swallowed a breath and jerked her body backward.

“Stay still,” Eugene ordered, his large hand grabbing Ciel’s shoulder.

Because of his grip, she couldn’t get any distance. This whole situation was causing Ciel’s head to spin.

No way, could it be?

This strangely oppressive attitude, the serious look on his face, the strength of the hand holding onto her shoulder, and the whole situation of being caught in Eugene’s grip and unable to move was causing Ciel to feel a mysterious and nerve-wracking sense of excitement.

‘No — no way...,’ Ciel cried out internally.

If they were to get even a little bit closer, his lips would end up touching hers. No way, could it be? Would the fantasies she had dreamed of hundreds or even thousands of times before now finally become reality? Feeling a nervous sense of anticipation, Ciel subtly puckered her lips.

“Mmph....” In the bathtub behind Eugene, the Saints who had been submerged in holy water were struggling to endure the pain.

However, the moans that they were releasing couldn’t reach Ciel’s ears. Right now, Ciel’s eyes could only see Eugene and her ears were directed solely toward listening to Eugene’s voice.

“Your eyes,” Eugene said abruptly.

“...Huh?” Ciel gasped in confusion.

“Open your eyes wide,” Eugene ordered.

Ciel stammered, “Wh-why do you suddenly want to look at my eyes?”

“What do you mean why? I want to take a look at your Demoneye,” Eugene answered impatiently.

As expected.

‘There’s no way that this bastard would do something like that...,’ Ciel cursed to herself in disappointment.

Her senses suddenly returned to normal. Ciel retracted her subtly puckered lips and let out a long sigh. Then, just as Eugene had ordered her to, she opened her left eye wide.

“You already examined my Demoneye last time,” Ciel complained. “Why do you have to examine it again at this point?”

Eugene justified his actions by saying, “I am different from back then, almost as if we are two completely different people.”

“Ah, so that’s why~,” Ciel drawled sarcastically. “How impressive of you. But why are you the one doing this? Has Lady Sienna gone somewhere?”

“She went to meet with the elves in our forest. She last saw them a year ago, and she also wants to inform some of them of what she experienced in the World Tree,” Eugene revealed.

But those weren’t all of Sienna’s reasons. Among the elves currently living in the Lionheart's forest, many were suffering from the Demonic Disease. Signard, who was currently taking on the role of acting representative of these elves, had also caught the Demonic Disease. So, regardless of their own free will or personal situations, the fates of these elves had left them with no choice but to live in the forest.

Naturally, Sienna couldn’t just watch this happen without doing something about it. Three hundred years ago, even though the war had ended, the Demonic Disease didn’t disappear, and the Demon King of Incarceration had also washed his hands of the matter, saying that he couldn’t do anything about it. Although no one knew for sure whether or not that was true, as someone who considered the elves to be her family, Sienna wanted to find some way to treat the Demonic Disease.

She had already experimented with several treatments in the past, but she had never managed to succeed. Whether it was with magic or with holy magic, it was impossible to cure the elves’ Demonic Disease. However, having managed to attain the Godhood of Magic, it might now be within her reach. That was why Sienna had gone to the elves’ village.

“Open your eyes a bit wider,” Eugene suddenly demanded.

“How can they get any wider than this? If you want me to open my eyes any wider, I’ll have to tear open the sides of my eyes first,” Ciel retorted unhappily.

Eugene tsked before saying, “Your eyes are actually quite small... even though they seemed really big when you were younger.”

The voice continued, “Even if you meet him like this, it will be impossible for you to save him.”

The first thing Eugene saw when he opened his eyes was the Demon King of Incarceration sitting on his throne of chains. Behind that throne, Eugene also saw a door that, similar to the throne, was wrapped in chains.

Eugene gave a wry grin as he turned to look at his surroundings.

Apart from the Demon King of Incarceration, his throne, and the door, there was nothing else here. Eugene’s room seemed to have vanished, along with Ciel and the Saints.

“It seems that only my consciousness has been sent here,” Eugene observed.

“That is what you intended, isn’t it?” the Demon King of Incarceration said with a smile. “You are truly persistent. This isn't the first time you’ve come looking for Vermouth using such impulsive means. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried this?”

Eugene thought back, “You’re talking about when I tried to use Draconic Incantations to examine the Moonlight Sword?”

“I had to stop you back then as well. There was also the time... when the Moonlight Sword went on a rampage. Now that I think about it, you’ve never thanked me for either of those incidents,” the Demon King of Incarceration chuckled as he lazily rested his chin on one hand. “If I hadn’t held on to you back then, your soul would have completely dissipated. Just like three hundred years ago, everything would have failed due to your stubbornness and reckless mistakes.”

“That’s just you acting on your own accord because you didn’t want to see me fail,” Eugene dismissed the Demon King’s grievances with a snort. “So why exactly did you spare my life all those times when you could have killed me at any moment?”

“Because of the Oath,” the Demon King of Incarceration said in explanation. “I also had to put a lot of effort into upholding the Oath. Having invested so much effort into it... if possible, I also want to see it through to the very end.”

Eugene sarcastically proposed, “In that case, why don’t you just commit suicide? It would be good for the Oath, and that way, you’re the only one who needs to die.”

“Hahaha,” the Demon King of Incarceration’s laughter grew louder. “It seems that you’ve managed to guess what exactly I derive from the Oath.”

“I’ve given it some thought,” Eugene admitted. “What must it feel like to have to move on to the next era after everyone around you dies, leaving you as the only one who will live to see the next era? What must it feel like to conquer the world but not be able to rule it, as everything will eventually be completely erased by Destruction? Why did you make such an Oath with Vermouth and grant him and humanity a grace period of three hundred years? What benefit would you gain from doing so?”

The Demon King of Incarceration smiled silently. Eugene met this smile with a wry smile of his own.

“You want to end Destruction, but you’re unable to do so. No matter how strong of a Greater Demon King you might be, you’re still unable to bring an end to Destruction. The only thing you can do is to survive by yourself in the middle of its raging sea as everything around you disappears,” said Eugene as he began walking forward.

“I have never experienced such a thing, and I can’t even imagine what it must feel like, but it must be a horrible feeling. Especially since it isn’t something that just happens every few dozen years but instead something that repeats itself over and over again every hundreds of thousands of years. When I think about it that way, I actually can’t help but feel awed by you.”

His steps never slowing one bit, Eugene arrived in front of the Demon King of Incarceration as he asked, “Just how long have you wanted to die?”

The Demon King of Incarceration silently stared at Eugene. There was still a faint smile adorning his lips.

“No matter what, this body is unable to die in such a vain manner,” the Demon King of Incarceration finally began to speak. “Do not be so quick to presume that you know what I truly desire, Eugene Lionheart. I have shown you much mercy, but... it would be an extravagant insult for you to so hastily conclude that you truly understand the great longing that I have harbored over the course of my long life.”

“So you’re saying that you can’t just commit suicide,” Eugene impatiently concluded.

“If that were possible, I would have done so a long, long time ago,” the Demon King of Incarceration shook his head with a dry laugh. “Telling you about myself, pulling on your emotions, and making you understand what I truly desire will be one of the greatest pleasures I will have experienced in the countless eons I have been alive, but... there is no reason for me to grant such an honor to the current you. This is not Babel, and you have yet to obtain the qualifications to stand before me.”

“Will killing Noir Giabella give me the qualifications?” Eugene angrily questioned.

The Demon King shrugged. “You are the one who decided that you needed to kill her before you could climb up through Babel.”

“Fine. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do something like understand you, but before I kill you when I climb to the top of Babel, I will at least listen to your story,” Eugene said as he stepped past the Demon King of Incarceration.

Or at least, he tried to step past, only for a towering wall of chains to block Eugene’s path forward.

“Do you truly wish to head in there?” the Demon King of Incarceration questioned.

“That is why I’ve come here,” Eugene insisted.

The Demon King of Incarceration reminded him, “Even if you meet him now, it will be impossible for you to save Vermouth.”

“I know,” Eugene impatiently replied.

“It might not even be possible to have a clear conversation with him,” the Demon King of Incarceration added.

“I know,” Eugene repeated as he glared at the door covered in chains. “I just came here because I wanted to take a look at that bastard’s face.”

The Demon King of Incarceration fell silent.

Eugene scowled, “It doesn’t matter if we aren’t able to communicate. Because I can just say what I have to say to him and be done with it.”

The chains that were blocking Eugene’s way forward slowly retracted downwards.

“This will be the last time,” the Demon King of Incarceration softly whispered. “This meeting will be the last concession that I ever grant you. At the same time, this is also the last time I will show any sympathy for Vermouth Lionheart.”

“Yeah, alright.” Eugene shrugged this reminder off.

A portion of the chains covering the door came loose. Following this, the door opened slightly, and Eugene stepped forward towards that gap.

Behind him, he heard the Demon King of Incarceration say with a final chuckle, “Good luck.”

As he entered through the gap in the doorway, Eugene closed his eyes and then reopened them.

Eugene arrived in a place that he had seen before.

A bleak world that seemed to recreate the nothingness of the void.

It felt like he was standing at the center of a deep wound in the world.

And in front of him, he saw Vermouth sitting on a chair wrapped in chains.

1. It’s been a while, so just a reminder. Vermouth was said to have taken many wives and mistresses. ☜