Chapter 373: The Demon King of Fury (7)

Heaven Genocide, Destiny Form.

It was the sort of name one wouldn’t dare to call out if they had any shame, but unlike how ridiculous its name was, the actual form incorporated the wielder’s unshakeable will to defeat the opponent.

In this form, Heaven Genocide resembled a silver glove that covered everything from the elbow downwards. Every part of the form was a weapon. The slender and angular forearms were as sharp as blades. The fingers were also equally sharp, but when clenched into a fist, they were able to turn any enemy into a pulverized mass of meat with just a slight rotation of the wrist.

Carmen’s White Flame Formula had been specialized for fighting with her fists. Unlike Eugene’s White Flame Formula or the other Lionhearts, her White Flame Formula didn’t burn fiercely. Instead, her flame had been condensed to its very limits with only a slight flow running over the surface of her skin, its color a white so deep that it seemed like no other color could pollute it.

These flames would explode the moment that she hit her target, punching right through them.

Boom, boom, boom!

Carmen’s fists shattered the dark matter flying at her.

She had fought against Iris’ Demoneye of Darkness before. To fight this Demoneye, one needed to first understand the properties of her dark matter, but it was easier said than done to determine these properties during the heat of battle.

But now, there was no need for that. This was thanks to Sienna’s intensive research on how to neutralize Iris’ Demoneye. So, the patches of dark matter that the Demoneye used when creating connected pathways were destroyed without fail. And the other dark matter that the Demoneye launched as a blunt weapon was left for the warriors engaging in close combat.

Even so, the battle was far from easy.

Carmen didn’t have any divine power, nor did she have the Moonlight Sword. She didn’t know how to use magic, and she didn’t have any other weapons that she could use.

Her only weapons were Heaven Genocide, the gauntlet made from Raizakia’s scales, the martial arts she had been training her entire life, and the White Flame Formula in which the Lionheart clan held so much pride.

But that alone seemed to be enough.

Carmen poured all of her strength into fighting the Demon King. Her punches flowed without end, and the flames that erupted with each strike of her fist punched through the attacks from Iris’ Demoneye and scattered her dark power. Under this flurry of blows, the Demon King’s body was slowly being pushed back.

The pace of the battle was different from when Iris had been fighting Eugene. Unlike those who wielded a sword or other weapons, Carmen made use of her whole body, not just her two fists. If the opponent parried her fist, a leg would immediately fly out, and if the opponent dodged her leg, then she would just strike once more with her fists.

Her attacks weren’t light either. It didn’t matter that Carmen had no divine power because Carmen currently had the power of a Saint supporting her from behind. There were also dozens of priests collaborating with the Saint.

Iris bit her lip, ‘How annoying.’

There were also snipers shooting at the Demon King from the other ship. If they were just ordinary snipers, a shield of dark power would have been enough to deal with them. However, among the snipers, there were a few more powerful shots mixed in that needed to be taken seriously.

Especially Sienna Merdein, that damn wizard had mixed her spells in with the snipers’ shots to amplify their power, and during this barrage of sniping, she was secretly casting her own spells to target the Demon King’s blind spots.

‘How annoying,’ Iris thought in irritation.

Those who shouldn’t even be worthy of any attention from Iris kept attacking her without fear. Now that all of the Demon King’s vassals had disappeared, everyone was free to attack the Demon King.

The Paladins surrounded the Demon King while shouting the names of the gods they served. The shield of dark power that Iris exploded to try and get rid of them was blocked by a barrier of concentrated divine power.

‘How annoying.’ Iris’ annoyance kept rising with every moment.

Why were they going so far? Weren’t they at all afraid of death? The Demon King felt a serious sense of doubt.

Not all of her attacks had been blocked. Since this battle had begun, dozens of people had already perished at the Demon King’s hands.

This was only natural. Not everyone could be as strong and as fast as Carmen. The Saint and the priests were constantly exercising their divine power, but even back when they fought three hundred years ago, people still died even under the Blessing of Light. After all, no matter how many wounds the priests healed, if someone had their head blown up or their heart pierced through, they could do nothing to save that person.

‘So why aren’t they afraid?’ Iris wondered.

That was the Demon King’s largest source of doubt. Even though divine magic could erase fear and bolster courage, it wasn’t perfect. To a certain extent, all it could do was skew existing emotions. On top of that, since the dark power of Fury was especially capable of causing people’s mental states to collapse, it was impossible for divine magic to completely suppress emotions such as fear in a battle like this.

For example, what had happened earlier, when all of the Demon King’s vassals had pulled out their own hearts and offered them up for the Demon King of Fury. That ritual had carved fear into the minds of most of the humans here.

Just how sweet had the fear of thousands tasted? However, now she couldn’t feel any of the same sweetness as before. Instead, various emotions that caused the Demon King to feel displeasure were rising in its place.

Emotions like bravery, trust, hope, and belief in the Light.

Bam!

The Demon King’s head was thrown back. An arrow had landed between her eyes and burst out of the back of her skull. The Demon King immediately pulled her head forward once again. The arrow was destroyed by dark power, but countless dots of magic clouded her vision as her sight returned.

Bam bam bam bam bam!

The Demon King staggered backwards. Her ability to resurrect herself kept getting slower. The dark power she had always thought of as infinite was proving not to be all that infinite after all.

As the dots of magic exploded, Carmen and the other warriors dove through the explosions.

This was a no man’s land[1] that they were charging into. Among these warriors, there had to have been more than a few who didn’t want to die here. And that was indeed the case. Quite a lot of them had never even thought about going into battle against a Demon King until just a few days ago. But now, they just couldn’t help but to do so. It was just a matter of bad luck.

The dark elf they had come here to subjugate had transformed into a Demon King. Most had wanted to calmly take a step back and reassess the situation, but the Hero, the Saint, and the legendary Wizard who had suddenly appeared before them insisted that this was their best chance to kill her.

Most of them had been pulled into taking part in the battle out of a sense of self-consciousness. They wanted to run away; they didn’t want to fight or die, but they had to ignore such desires because of a need for respect and prestige. There were also some who just found it difficult to go against the trend, who had been left with no choice but to go along with the plan.

Be that as it may, all of those who were currently charging at the Demon King were all of one mind. They didn’t want the glory. They also didn’t dare to anticipate a victory that was still out of their grasp.

Their only thought was… since it couldn’t be helped, they just had to do it. Although they felt it would be nice if someone else could take their place, no one else was there who would do this for them.

Because it couldn’t be helped, because they were already here, because a lot of people had already died, and also… because if they left her like this, a lot more people would be killed by the Demon King.

Their conviction and sense of justice were shallow. The base motivation for most of them was that they had no other choice.

It wasn’t even due to heroism. By nature, most humans weren’t heroic, fair, or perfect, and that applied to most of those currently fighting against the Demon King.

But even so, their actions were meaningful.

But the Demon King’s thoughts as she gritted teeth were different, ‘How meaningless.’

She was sick of this. These mere insects, these insignificant germs, men and women who wouldn’t even be able to change anything all on their own. That’s how it should have been, but — by coming together in a group and throwing themselves to their deaths — they were beginning to make the Demon King dizzy.

They weren’t the Hero. They weren’t the Saint either. So what on earth was she doing fighting these fools?

The Demon King’s anger was boiling over. Rage and insanity due to her self-inflicted isolation transformed into murderous intent, and once this intent was poured into her Demoneyes, her desire for their deaths was soon satiated.

Booooooom!

In this sort of situation, it was clear who would be the first to die. Those who were weak. Those who were unlucky or who had just gotten too close. Those who were overconfident and arrogant.

And then there were those who deliberately sacrificed themselves.

When the Demoneye shot out a ray of light, Anise also burst into light. Kristina, who had already come to her senses, recited a prayer along with Anise. The dozens of priests following the Saint’s lead prayed for the same miracle as Anise.

However, even their divine power wasn’t infinite. Anise needed to suppress the dark power, bestow her blessing onto the others, regenerate wounds at lightning speed, block several fatal attacks, and even attack the Demon King whenever she saw an opening.

All of these duties slightly slowed down the formation of Anise’s barrier.

Rank Three of Shimuin’s Twelve Finest, the Paladin Adol, was a quiet man. Since the expedition's departure, only a few people had managed to speak with him. Even after their mission had changed from the subjugation of the Pirate Empress to the extermination of a Demon King, Adol hadn’t expressed any conflicting opinions and had just silently supported the decision of the Hero and the Saint.

As death approached him, Adol merely raised his shield without flinching. Instead of retreating, he moved forward with his shield held high.

Adol wasn’t the only one moving against the crowd. All the paladins were moving forward while holding their shields up like Adol.

‘Ah,’ Iris was taken aback.

Carmen, who was still in close proximity, threw herself backward. Adol tilted his shield and his body at an angle that would keep Carmen out of danger. With wide eyes, Carmen stared at the backs of Adol and the other paladins.

A black torrent engulfed the paladins. Then, they all disappeared from the world without even getting to leave behind any last words.

Rooooar!

A carefully constructed barrier blocked the tidal wave of dark power. A spear of magic shot out from behind the barrier impaled the Demon King’s body, splitting the torrent of dark power into two, from head to toe.

But the Laversia was also split into two. The dark red seas below began to churn as they swallowed the ship. Sienna and Kristina panted for breath as they quickly did what was necessary. Everyone on board the sinking Laversia was pulled up into the air.

“Haha… hahahaha!” Iris suddenly laughed.

Some of her unpleasant emotions had been relieved.

That’s right. Since she didn’t want them to waste any more of her time on them, she should just kill them and let them know their own place. That was the easiest solution for the Demon King. Here and now, not a single one of the Demon King’s vassals still remained. However, at this moment, the Demon King didn’t feel any loneliness.

Recalling what she had seen in the abyss sealed beneath this turbulent sea, Iris remembered the previous Demon King of Fury. His support of her hadn’t disappeared after his death; even now, she could feel him supporting her from behind.

To repay his support, what she needed to do was to tear everyone here into pieces with her bare hands.

The Demon King did not fly over from the sinking ship. Instead of righting herself and getting her balance back, Iris laid herself down in a position close to the sea. Her head tilted slightly as if Iris was looking at something other than the sky above.

The brightest light within her devildom, a blasphemous, ominous, and terrifying light.

Her Demoneye did not emit any light in response but instead began to infuse the darkness that lay below.

* * *

There were many reasons why Sienna, Kristina, and Anise didn’t go looking for Iris.

With the Demon King of Fury descending upon the Laversia, if either Sienna or the two Saints were to be absent, the fragile balance here would immediately collapse.

It was true that the Demon King had been weakened from the earlier battle, but that didn’t mean she was now powerless. As a rule, wild beasts were at their most dangerous when they were injured. When someone’s death drew near, they would have no choice but to desperately struggle for survival, and that applied to the Demon King as well.

Eugene was currently unable to lift even a finger. Of course, if he had been in a truly perilous situation where he was thrown into the sea, then at the very least, either Sienna or the Saints would have prioritized rushing back and saving Eugene. But fortunately, Eugene wasn’t in that much danger, as he hadn’t fallen into the sea.

This was because Sienna and the Saints hadn’t been the only ones tracking where Incarceration’s chains had chosen to throw Eugene.

There was still Ciel Lionheart. Instead of being stationed on the Laversia or the Formeri, she had stayed with the reserve fleet. Although the battle at the front was important, that didn’t mean the battle in the rear could simply be ignored.

As a result, several elites, including Ortus, had been stationed with the reserve fleet, and Ciel had been one of those. Naturally, Ciel hadn’t been satisfied with her current position. After all, with her skills, she would have been strong enough to battle the dark elves on either the Laversia or the Formeri.

But now, she thought she was lucky to have been placed in that position.

The huge, disgusting pirate ships and the monsters that had leaped off those ships with a bestial roar had all turned into ashes and disappeared.

So now, there was nothing that could stop Ciel. With white flames fluttering around Ciel like a mane, she leaped from ship to ship. Her two eyes weren’t turned to the battle at the front, but they were fixed on where Eugene was falling.

‘He’s fine. He has to be,’ Ciel kept repeating to herself.

She realized that it was all for the sake of this moment that she had endured such harsh training. Her body was as light as a feather and as free as the wind, allowing her to move exactly as she wanted to.

Leaping up from the deck of the closest ship, Ciel’s hands reached out to catch the falling Eugene. Fortunately, nothing happened to whisk him away from her fingers. Ciel’s hands grabbed onto Eugene, and she then pulled in her outstretched hands to hug Eugene close.

This moment… felt extremely precious and tranquil to Ciel. In fact, Ciel’s ears currently weren’t registering any sounds. Although she would be embarrassed to admit this, she even thought it might be better if time could just stop at this moment.

Of course, something like a time stop didn’t occur. Ciel fell down, still hugging Eugene tightly. To prevent any shock from being transmitted to Eugene when they landed, she began to reduce her speed while still in mid-air.

After her initial celebration, concerns arose, ‘He’s too quiet.’

Even if Eugene had lost consciousness, it was strange for Mer and Raimira, who were inside his cloak, to stay this quiet as well. Since Eugene had been placed in such a situation, those two should have been the first to emerge from the cloak and take care of Eugene.

Ciel’s expression hardened as she reached her hands into the Cloak of Darkness.

Inside that endless and yawning space, Ciel moved her hands this way and that, but she wasn’t able to catch hold of anything. If they were alright, Mer or Raimira should have reached out to grab her hand, but… had the two of them also lost consciousness? For now, Ciel had no way to confirm this.

As Ciel landed, voices could be heard muttering, “Sir Hero….”

The crew members of this ship who had survived the battle had gathered around Ciel and Eugene.

The fleet doctors had all been stationed on the evacuation ship… should she head there? Or would it be better to head to the front and seek the help of the priests?

No, before that, the first thing she needed to do was to check Eugene’s current status right away. If it was just first aid, Ciel could at least do that much.

“What is… this?” Ciel, who had been examining Eugene, unconsciously muttered.

She was surprised because she had noticed how Eugene’s left hand was stuck to the hilt of the Moonlight Sword.

Eugene had always hidden the truth about the Moonlight Sword. Even when he had used it against Eward at the Black Lion Castle, he had only pulled out the Moonlight Sword when everyone who had been captured to be used as sacrifices had already fainted. He only ever pulled out the Moonlight Sword when he absolutely needed to kill someone, and in fact, in most battles, Eugene had never been pushed hard enough into a corner to rely on the Moonlight Sword.

As a result, Ciel didn’t know much about the Moonlight Sword. There might be all sorts of weapons in the Lionheart clan’s treasure vault, but she had never once seen a sword that could emit such an ominous light.

However, she at least knew this much — though rather than an understanding, this was more like an intuition — this sword, which had half of its pieces missing, was extremely dangerous.

It was true that the ominous light emitted by this sword had managed to drive the Demon King into a corner, but this ominous and frightening light wasn’t only dangerous to the Demon King, it had also endangered Eugene. The reason Eugene was currently unconscious had something to do with this sword.

Ciel stretched her hand out towards the sword with a stiff expression.

But what on earth was she supposed to do? His fingers were not only embedded within the crushed hilt but his fingers and the hilt were literally fused together.

Should she forcefully tear his fingers away one by one? Or else should she just boldly amputate him at the wrist? She heard that a Saint with a stigmata was even able to restore severed limbs by reattaching them, but… she didn’t know for sure whether such a thing was possible or not.

Ciel thought to herself, ‘If nothing works, then I’ll have to slice off his wrist, but first….’

That sort of solution should only be chosen in the event of a worst-case scenario. After taking a deep breath, Ciel grabbed both Eugene’s hand and the Moonlight Sword.

Since three hundred years ago, there had been an established fact that not just anyone could hold the Moonlight Sword. Even the strongest of that era, like Hamel and Molon, couldn’t resist the ominous lunacy that the Moonlight Sword transmitted to its wielder.

Just like the word lunacy implied, holding the sword could drive you mad. The moment one held the sword in one’s hand, it felt like one's mind was being transformed into something else. No matter how strong one’s mental fortitude was, it was impossible to resist the lunacy of the Moonlight Sword.

But Vermouth had not only been able to hold the Moonlight Sword, he had even swung it in battle. The same went for Eugene. The qualification required to hold the Moonlight Sword wasn’t mental fortitude but a certain special trait. This special trait lay in the blood of Vermouth, the Lionheart clan’s blood.

And that blood also flowed in Ciel.

Ciel’s body trembled. Due to her special blood, Ciel’s mind wasn’t driven insane by the Moonlight Sword’s lunacy.

However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any other effect. The moment she held the Moonlight Sword, her mind was carried away to somewhere that wasn’t a piece of this reality. The lunacy currently eroding away at Eugene had dragged Ciel along as well.

‘N-no,’ Ciel resisted.

Fortunately, Ciel wasn’t completely swept away, and her consciousness reemerged in the void left after the world was destroyed and all things had collapsed.

This was dangerous. If she wasn’t careful, she might get swept away completely and lose all sense of self.

Despite repeated warnings from her intuition, Ciel did not let go of the Moonlight Sword. This was because Ciel was more worried about the immediate danger that Eugene might be in rather than the danger to herself if she continued to hold the sword like this.

She needed to get closer.

She needed to go deeper.

Her consciousness sank down into the center of the void. In here, she couldn’t hear anything. She was clearly looking around with her own eyes, and her consciousness had fully entered this void, but that still didn’t give her any sense of stability.

The only thing she could be sure of in this place was that she must not let go of the sword's hilt. Also—

“You need to go.”

—she could vaguely see something. The thing that Ciel most desired to see in this place.

It was Eugene. He was sitting there lifelessly, still caught in the images shown to him by the Moonlight Sword.

Ciel’s consciousness reached Eugene.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” a voice came from out of nowhere.

Ciel couldn’t tell who the voice belonged to.

The voice continued, “The sword wasn’t part of my plan.”

Fwoooooosh!

The void faded away. The voice also had nothing more to say.

“Gasp!” Ciel let out the breath she had been holding and sank down.

At some point, her hand had fallen away from the Moonlight Sword, but her other hand was holding on tightly to Eugene’s wrist.

Gasping for breath, Ciel’s eyes ran over Eugene. Fortunately, Eugene’s hands and the hilt of the sword, which had been fused together, were now separated.

“Eugene!” Ciel frantically called out as she shook Eugene by the shoulders.

After shaking him a few times, Eugene’s eyelashes fluttered.

“Ah…,” Eugene groaned as his eyes slowly opened.

His head was cloudy, and he had a pounding headache. His body also felt weak.

Did he end up using too much of his magical reserves when the Moonlight Sword ran wild? Or perhaps… his current state was because of what he had seen when his consciousness was dragged out of his body?

“Ciel…?” Eugene called out Ciel’s name hoarsely.

Vague memories slowly began to reconnect, filling in the situation.

He had been in a world filled with nothingness. Within the center of that void left by destruction, he had seen someone’s figure. And at the end… he had heard a voice.

“Did you… pull me out of there?” Eugene asked doubtfully.

Ciel wanted to say, ‘That’s right,’ with a smile.

However, she couldn’t do that. That was because it had actually been that voice they had heard at the end… who had pushed Eugene and Ciel out of that space while remaining there all on their own.

Ciel wavered, “I….”

Ciel had dived deep into that void to find Eugene. However, some other force had been responsible for pushing both Eugene and Ciel back out of there.

After some hesitation, Ciel finally shook her head, “I didn’t….”

…do anything, is what she was trying to say, but suddenly there was a loud sound.

The sea shook, and Ciel felt a shock run through her.

Was it a signal from her own intuition like she had felt earlier? Or perhaps it was a warning etched into the blood that flowed through her veins?

She couldn’t tell which it was, but the threat was clear.

Ciel quickly made her choice.

Her hand shot out and pushed Eugene to the side, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to take the hit for him. She had no other choice. She couldn’t say for sure whether all lives were truly equal, but whether it was here on this battlefield — or in the future to come…

‘...your life is much more valuable than mine,’ Ciel thought as she fell forward.

Her vision in her left eye turned red and then darkened.

The sound of a pop rang inside her head.

1. The original text uses a particular word to describe this situation. The word translates directly into a dead land or a place where people are almost certain to die. The phrase ‘no man’s land’ was used in WW1 to describe the unoccupied space between two opposing trenches that was almost certain death to cross. ☜