Chapter 566: Night (6) [Bonus Image]

"You... just stay still," Sienna found herself saying.

It was the first time since the fight with Raizakia that Eugene appeared so severely injured. There had been worse fights some three hundred years ago, but back then, they were all weaker and less adept.

Sienna approached Eugene with a pale, stricken face.

"I’m alive," Eugene muttered while glaring at the sky.

Eugene wasn’t dead, and neither was Noir Giabella. She was out there somewhere in the night sky, waiting for him.

"Isn’t that obvious? I know too. That... that whore is still alive. But you don’t need to fight anymore...!" Sienna clenched her robe as she spoke.

It was truly a grim sight, not just his severed arm either. His internal injuries looked severe, too. Though acquiring divinity had enabled him to regenerate most wounds, at this moment, that was impossible for Eugene. This was the price of overdriving his divinity. The backlash from Ignition had just hit him.

"You... just sit here quietly, with your severed arm. Soon, either Kristina or Anise will come to their senses. Yes, get the elixir..." Sienna muttered.

"Sienna,” Eugene called out.

"You’re not worried about me, are you? I might be injured, but it's not even a scratch compared to yours. And that whore is just as badly hurt! So..." continued Sienna.

"Sienna,” Eugene called out once more.

"Don’t call my name! Just, just shut up and rest. I could kill Noir Giabella in her current state—" She couldn’t finish her sentence. Sienna’s lips were pursed as she glared at Eugene.

Had he really heeded her demand not to call her name? Eugene didn’t call out to Sienna anymore. But his gaze was far heavier than any words he could have spoken.

"The fight is practically over anyway. Both of you are alive, but you have... I’m here. I can finish this,” said Sienna.

"No,” retorted Eugene.

Sienna glared at him silently.

"This is between me and Noir Giabella. Only one of us can end it. Not you,” said Eugene.

"Ha! Why should I indulge in your sentimentality? You can hardly stand, yet you insist on fighting," spat Sienna.

"If you act on your own and ignore my wishes, I will hate you for the rest of my life,” Eugene said, flashing a faint smile. "Really. Even if you cry and beg, I won’t forgive you."

"If you die, there will be nothing for you to hate," Sienna retorted.

"I won’t die,” Eugene assured.

There was no use talking to Eugene at times like this. Sienna wanted desperately to convince him, but she knew it was futile and sighed deeply.

"Alright, I understand. Killing that whore personally is that important to you. But how do you intend to do it? You can barely move, let alone fight," Sienna inquired.

"I'll make it possible." With those words, Eugene placed his hand on his chest.

Not understanding his gesture at first, Sienna blinked in surprise. Eventually, as she grasped what Eugene intended to do, she gasped and reached out her hand.

"You crazy fool!" she shouted.

Eugene's fingers brushed his heart just before the magic seized him.

Thump!

A faint heartbeat surged with heavy force, reviving the dying embers.

"Hey!" Sienna shouted.

Until now, Eugene had only used Ignition consecutively during the Raizakia incident. Back then, he had pushed Raizakia to the brink of death alone but had collapsed from exhaustion just moments before finishing the task.

A second consecutive rampage had completely damaged his heart and Core, almost killing him then. If not for the miracle of the World Tree, he would have indeed died.

"It's different this time," Eugene said in a calm voice.

The previous Ignition had caused a surge of divine power, but this time, it was purely a mana surge. Therefore, it wouldn’t kill him from the recoil like during the Raizakia incident.

Of course, that was just the theory. The backlash from surging divine power was merely a sealing of divine energy, which hardly burdened his body. But now, could his battered body withstand the recoil of this Ignition?

He hadn't thought about it. Noir, too, wouldn’t be in great shape, but there was no chance of his victory unless he caused his mana to rampage. Eugene quickly drew an elixir from his cloak and downed it as first aid.

"You... you...." Sienna was at a loss for words. Her lips were quivering.

Eugene flashed her a grin and then kicked off the ground, soaring into the sky.

"If you die, I'll die too!" Sienna screamed after him into the night sky.

"Ah." Noir let out a short sigh while fluttering through the undulating night. "I thought dying together in each other's arms would be... a beautiful end,” she said.

It could have been. They were so close. But it hadn't happened. Noir chuckled while massaging her chest.

In truth, Hamel's response had been excellent. Just as her bomb of dark power was about to explode, Hamel had reacted in the best way possible.

"The beautiful ending I envisioned wasn't beautiful for you, I guess,” she muttered.

Was the grip too weak? Or... had she hesitated at the last moment? Perhaps it was a bit of both. The explosion had been impulsive. She had acted out of a moment’s impulse. Perhaps it had not been passionate enough? Or perhaps she had hesitated at the end.

Either way, it was fine, whether her grip was too weak or she had hesitated. All of it made this moment sweeter.

Noir removed her hand from her chest and placed it above her lips.

Cough.

Blood trickled from her slightly parted lips.

The failed explosion had severely injured Noir as well. She had lost the Demoneye of Divine Glory. A significant amount of her dark power had evaporated in the explosion as well. Her injuries were severe; her chest was slashed and pierced. Pain radiated near her heart, and her tattered wings trembled as if they might crumble any moment.

Yet Noir was still alive. She was alive and flying in the sky.



Hamel Dynas.

He did not stop his sword. Dark power and flames intertwined, burst, and scattered. They were raised again. No matter how many times their attacks were blocked, their intent to kill did not dull.

'We were—' Eugene thought.

The scattered dark power once again became a blade that brushed past. Eugene ignored it. He couldn’t afford to block each one, and he did not have the leisure to do so. He had activated Ignition forcibly. All the mana available to him was transformed into flames, all poured into the sword. He only looked forward. He only saw Noir Giabella. Every nerve was focused solely on reaching her.

‘—Destined to end this way.’

Their past lives, the connections they shared from before, Agaroth and Aria — none of that mattered. As long as he was Hamel and she was Noir, this was their inevitable conclusion.

Do not dull.

Do not become weighed down.

Do not hold regrets.

Do not hesitate.

All the emotions that he would inevitably confront were irrelevant at this moment. Thus, Eugene's murderous intent was pure. He approached Noir purely.

She knew.

She could feel it.

She could feel how much Hamel wanted to kill her right now. She could feel how pure and upright his murderous intent was. That was why she laughed. She couldn’t bear it without laughing.

'I feel the same,' Noir thought.

Because she loved Hamel, she wanted to dream an eternal dream with him. Because she loved Hamel, she wanted to kill him with her own hands. Because she loved Hamel, she wanted to die at his hands. She felt death. She felt Hamel. This moment was the sweetest dream of Noir's life.

They were close now, too close to retreat, not that either of them wished to. A reach away, and they could touch.

Their gazes met, each contemplating the deadly completion of the other. Noir stretched out her hand, and Eugene thrust his sword.

'It’s me.'

Crack!

Noir's hand scattered the flames and shattered Eugene’s sword. The fragments scattered across the night sky. Seeing this, Noir smiled brightly. In the end, Eugene’s sword had not penetrated her; it had reached her but failed to deliver death.

'I am the one who will kill you.'

She had reached the conclusion she had so desperately desired. Throughout her journey to this day, Noir had experienced a tumult of emotions. Noir Giabella, once known in ages past as Aria, had been called the Twilight Witch, the War God’s Saint.

She had suffered after coming to realize this fact. She suffered after having to acknowledge things she did not want to know. She grappled with an identity that was not entirely her own, shaken by memories and emotions that did not belong to her. It only deepened love and hate. The realization that her love for Hamel and her feelings towards him were not entirely her own tormented her. She despised their past lives.

Yet, she could never let go of her love for Hamel. He was a man she could not help but love. Thus, today, she had destroyed Hamel with all her might, hoping to dream an eternal dream, wishing they could die together.

The end they reached after surpassing everything was as fatally sweet and venomous as any. The emotions that would follow this conclusion — regret, loss, and grief — would be incomparably greater than any she had previously imagined. Perhaps she would be broken beyond recovery.

No, she was certain of it. Noir would be shattered. She might never smile again, might never dream again.

But it did not matter.

A world without Hamel was not worth living in. That was enough. She did not like the twilight. She did not like the dawn. Thus, this sweet night would draw to a close as an eternal nightmare.

"Ahah."

Was it the end?

No, it was not over. Noir laughed unwittingly. As the fragments of the sword scattered, Eugene twisted his body. From his wide-open cloak, a sword hilt protruded. It was the same as before: an unremarkable, plain, ordinary sword.

It had always been this way.

He treated weapons too harshly. Breaking a weapon during battle was not uncommon for you. If one sword broke, you would simply draw another and continue fighting.

Hamel was such a man.

'I am satisfied.'

She was satisfied that she could kill Hamel.

Satisfied that she could kill him like this.

'But you weren’t.'

Even now, Hamel did not give up. He did not hesitate.

‘I was lacking.’

Hamel did not wish to die together with her. He did not wish to lose. In this moment, after killing Hamel, Noir envisioned what would come next — the despair of being left alone, destroyed.

But not Hamel.

He was still looking at Noir even now. His pure, murderous intent did not hesitate with regret or reluctance. His sword approached her. His desire rekindled the flames.

Noir, smiling brightly, spread her arms wide.

"So you really want to kill me that badly."



Their bodies overlapped.

The sword pierced her heart.



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