Chapter 543: Divine Ascension (4)

When Eugene had returned to the mansion a year ago, he had found it drastically different from how he remembered it.

‘How on earth did the mansion turn out like this?’

Eugene couldn’t help but unconsciously think to himself at that time.

Even so, a year ago, the mansion had still retained some traces of its former appearance, but now no such traces remained.

Eugene stared at the mansion in silence.

What bothered Eugene more than anything else was the extreme disharmony that could be found within the grounds of the estate. On one side, there was a forest so dense that it seemed like it had been ripped right out of the Rainforest. Then there were the three Fairy Trees[1] that towered above the rest of the forest. As Fairy Trees, they would have already grown much larger than ordinary trees, but these weren’t just any ordinary Fairy Trees; they were saplings grown from the World Tree.

While looking at the lush tree branches that were beginning to cover most of the sky above the forest, Eugene had to swallow back a gulp.

Unlike the first side, which was filled with the overflowing vitality of nature, the other side didn’t have any traces of nature left. All he could see were various different mechanisms that were hard at work. All sorts of items were flying down the constantly running conveyor belts — swords, spears, axes, arrows, and shields — those sorts of products.

In other areas, all sorts of different minerals were piled up. Even the precious mythril ore was heaped up and made to look as common as a stone one could find on the street.

Eugene widened his eyes as he watched all this activity taking place. The dwarves were running around everywhere on their short, stout legs, and among their number... were people that he wasn’t familiar with.

“Hmmm...,” Eugene hummed thoughtfully.

Upon inquiring, Eugene was informed that they were all Spirit Summoners who belonged to the White Tower of Magic. They were working as the dwarves’ assistants with an air of familiarity, and they were also responsible for enchanting the completed equipment and items. Some of them had even set up their own workshops and were collaborating with the dwarves.

In the first place, although the current White Tower Master, Melkith El-Hayah, was a renowned Spirit Summoner, the White Tower of Magic didn’t just deal in spirit summoning. They also specialized in alchemy.

“Hmmm.... ah....,” Eugene murmured in surprise.

When he had last seen them a year ago, the grounds of the mansion had also been in quite a state of disarray. The elves and the saplings of the World Tree that Eugene had brought here had already been causing the Lionheart Forest to grow far too aggressively. Then, there were the ten dwarves he had brought with him to process Raizakia’s corpse. At that time, the dwarves had set up a workshop on one corner of the mansion’s grounds to improve their work efficiency, but the problem now was that the workshop had already grown far too large.

‘The results are definitely a benefit, but...,’

Eugene kept these thoughts to himself.

Thanks to the saplings of the World Tree having fully set down their roots, the ground beneath the Lionheart estate had been transformed into one of the strongest leylines on the continent. The Lionhearts had been able to monopolize the benefits from this as, even if you just looked at it in terms of pure efficiency, the mana that the Knights of the White Lion and the Black Lion had accumulated over the past few years was qualitatively superior to all of the mana that they had previously accumulated through a lifetime of training.

The dwarven workshop might somewhat marr the estate’s aesthetics, but the goods they produced were of excellent quality. Thanks to that, all of the Lionhearts had been armed with dragon-sourced equipment, and they would be able to continue to monopolize the dwarves’ craftwork throughout the near future.

“Once everything is over,” Eugene said after clearing his throat with a nervous cough, “how about getting the whole family to move somewhere else?”

Instead of replying, Ancilla just kept up a shallow smile. Shooing the others off, she had volunteered to greet Eugene’s return today all by herself. Naturally, this act was because she wanted to show him how much the mansion had changed over the past year.

“By ‘once everything is over,’ when

exactly

do you mean?” Ancilla questioned as she led Eugene on a tour of the mansion.

Eugene gulped, “I... after I’ve slain the Demon King of Incarceration and the Demon King of Destruction, things should be over at that point....”

“That sounds like it will be quite difficult,” Ancilla said with a sniff.

“Yes, that’s right...,” Eugene admitted nervously.

“Although it isn’t as much as you, I’ve had to face my fair share of difficulties during this period,” Ancilla sighed in a low voice, still keeping up her smile.

Eugene suddenly recalled how Sienna and the Saints had immediately run away when they saw that Ancilla was the one coming out to greet them. Sienna had escaped by saying it had been too long since she had last seen her older brother and the Saints had left while saying they had some matters to discuss with the Pope, who had arrived earlier that day....

“Moving, you say, that sounds like quite a good idea. Do you already have a place in mind?” Ancilla continued her interrogation.

Eugene hastened to promise her, “I would be fine with wherever you decide, Lady Ancilla. If you wish to live in his castle, I will even go up to King Strout II, who has said that he will be attending today’s banquet, grab him by the collar, and order him to make preparations to vacate his palace immediately.”

“Oh my...,” Ancilla muttered appreciatively with a nod, still wearing the same smile she had first greeted him with.

When they had discussed this topic before, Eugene had sensed that Ancilla didn’t seem too upset with the idea of moving the family to a different home. However, Eugene could sense that something had changed since then. The last time, Ancilla had felt a bit resigned to the changes going on around her, so after giving it some thought, she wasn’t upset by the idea and had instead come to accept the possibility of moving out of the Lionheart estate — but now, things were very different.

‘I’m dead,’

Eugene thought to himself in fear.

He could feel her chilly, murderous intent wash over him as he walked behind her. Ancilla’s murderous intent was one born of deep resentment rather than a violent rage.

Eugene tried to continue persuading her, “Or how about the Holy See? Yuras is actually quite a nice city to live in, and the Vatican is right in the center of the city. They might tell everyone publicly that there are no warp-gates in Yuras, but that’s just a bunch of lies. The Vatican even has a warp-gate hidden in its basement. And if that’s not enough, we can just make a few more.”

“A castle, as you said earlier...,” Ancilla, who had been quietly listening to Eugene’s chatter with that same stiff smile on her face, finally gave a physical reaction. She nodded slightly as she turned to look back at Eugene, “I believe that Babel would be fine.”

As Ancilla spat out these words, her eyes, which had been narrowed into thin, smiling curves, opened up slightly to reveal her pupils. The cold gaze that shot out brushed over Eugene’s skin. Ancilla’s gaze seemed to penetrate even deeper into Eugene’s skin than any of the Demoneyes he had met throughout his life.

“Ba... Ba-what?” Eugene stammered.

“Babel,” Ancilla slowly repeated.

“Is the Babel that you’re talking about the same Babel that I’m thinking of?” Eugene nervously checked.

Ancilla calmly clarified, “I’m not sure just how many places you know about that are called Babel, but as far as I am aware, there is only one Babel.”

“Ah... ahem...,” Eugene awkwardly cleared his throat.

Could Babel really be called a castle? Eugene thought back to what he had seen of Babel during his last visit to Helmuth. Babel had definitely looked like a skyscraper that was ninety-nine floors tall....

However, Eugene knew that if he dared to tell Ancilla that Babel wasn’t a castle when she was in such a vulnerable state, the fan she held in her hand would definitely be snapped in two.

“Um... Babel is... alright... as long as it stays intact and doesn’t collapse. Then yes, I agree,” Eugene conceded. “The bottom floors can be used to garrison the knights, and the upper floors can be for the family’s personal use.”

Ancilla nodded in approval, “It would be quite a powerful gesture to repurpose the royal palace on the top floor for the Patriarch’s personal office. It would also be very symbolic.”

“Yes...,” Eugene weakly agreed.

But would Babel really be able to remain intact after he was done killing the Demon King of Incarceration? That, more than anything else, was causing Eugene to feel hesitant to agree.

Most probably, the building wouldn’t be able to withstand the aftermath of their battle and would just collapse, or else.... In the worst-case scenario, the entire fief might end up being erased, like what had happened when the Dragon-Demon Castle was brought down. No, in the first place, the current form of Babel was only able to exist because of the Demon King of Incarceration’s dark power. So, if the Demon King of Incarceration were to perish, wouldn’t it be only natural for Babel to crumble away in its entirety?

‘If that happens, we’ll just have to build a new one,’

Eugene resigned himself.

Now that Ancilla had voiced her decision, even if Babel were to be erased, they would just need to erect an equally tall, ninety-nine-storied building in its place. Just like Ancilla mentioned, such an act would have plenty of symbolic meaning. The reincarnation of Hamel, who had died while climbing Babel, and the Lionhearts, the descendants of the Hero, would have finally conquered Babel after three hundred long years and would make it into their personal fiefdom.

‘That would be quite the sight...,’

Eugene smiled to himself.

The more he thought about it, the more pleased he felt with the idea.

‘Even if Babel ends up destroyed, we can just build a new one. Ninety-nine floors is a bit too much, so perhaps around ten floors.... No, would ten floors be too low?’

Eugene thought to himself as he nodded in contemplation.

Suddenly, Eugene recalled another question that was bothering him. “But what are the wizards from the White Tower of Magic doing here?”

“Without you or Lady Sienna here, do you think there is anyone around who would be able to restrain Melkith from ordering them here?” Ancilla asked rhetorically.

“But Kristina was here, wasn’t she,” Eugene pointed out.

“While you were gone, the Lady Saint locked herself in her rooms for several weeks, getting drunk all by herself. During that time, Lady Melkith invaded the estate and caused all sorts of things to follow,” Ancilla revealed.

This wasn’t a bad thing for the Lionhearts. Instead, it was actually a huge benefit for the family. Through active exchanges with the wizards of the White Tower of Magic, the elves living in the forest had learned the art of spirit summoning, and even among the knights, a few had found themselves learning spirit summoning at such a late point in their career. Also, most of the dwarven products created were further enhanced by the wizards’ alchemy and enchantments before entering the Lionheart’s arsenal.

“That’s good,” Eugene sighed in relief. “Thanks to the elves and the dwarfs that I brought along, the family has really prospe—”

Grrk.

Eugene heard a strange noise. Fortunately, it wasn’t the sound of a fan snapping in two. It was just... the sound of Ancilla grinding her teeth.

Eugene stopped himself from finishing his earlier sentence and instead quickly changed the subject, “Everyone is probably waiting on us, so why don’t we head back over to the banquet hall?”

***

Many prestigious guests were visiting the Lionheart mansion today. All of the rulers Eugene had met thus far in his life were in attendance, including the Emperor of Kiehl and the Pope of Yuras. Also present were all of the spectators who had been in the arena during his duel with Gavid in Raguyaran a few days ago, including the heads of a few of the more influential collateral bloodlines and their children.

“I had heard that you’ve employed elves as your servants... but to think that it would be true,” said the Emperor of Kiehl.

Strout II was observing the elves from his seat in the VIP area. Just a few years ago, it would have been extremely rare to see any elves outside of the forests. This was because most of the previously wandering elves had either fled south or had been hunted down and taken as slaves, so any remaining elves were forced to live while hiding away in desolate forests or mountains.

However, ever since the Lionhearts had declared themselves the guardians of the elves, the entire race’s situation had changed drastically. The elf hunting that had previously been taking place, despite the country’s laws banning slavery, had come to a complete halt due to the impact of the Lionheart name.

Strout II knew the reason for this. The Lionheart name was certainly influential, but it was also thanks to the Knights of the Black Lion, who had taken care of all the necessary dirty work in the shadows. Then, there was also the impact of Eugene Lionheart’s name on top of that. More than the fact that Eugene was publicly known as the successor of the Wise Sienna, his name had been able to deter the slavers who had previously been hunting elves in the Rainforest because he was known to have the backing of the Zoran Tribe[2].

In fact, at that time, Strout II had been dissatisfied with everything regarding this elf affair. Even if it was just a minor race, to think that a single family would be able to dictate the fate of an entire race and leverage even more influence than the laws of the country... and to think that they had even gone and formed relationships with the barbarian tribes of the Rainforest? If it hadn’t been for Alchester dissuading him, Strout II would have used any excuse to take Eugene Lionheart down a peg.

‘Thank goodness,’

Strout II thought to himself.

At that time, Alchester had yet to have met Eugene. Despite that, Alchester had still thrown his support behind the young man. It may have been out of his loyalty to the Lionhearts or Alchester’s desire to protect the much younger Eugene, but — thinking back on it now — Alchester’s dissuasion had saved Strout II’s life. If he had found an excuse to get Eugene in his hands at that time, then....

“Hey,” a voice suddenly reached Strout II’s ears just as he was sighing in relief.

“Aaagh...!” Strout II gasped as he almost leaped out of his seat, without any regard for the damage to his reputation from doing so.

Before Strout II had even realized it, Eugene was already standing next to him.

“Eu-eu...” Strout II stammered, struggling to collect himself. “Lord... Eugene Lionheart.”

“What do you mean, Lord? Huh[3]? Didn’t I tell you to call me Sir?” Eugene demanded thuggishly.

“Wha—” Strout II choked back a protest.

“Why didn’t I see you at the duel? Lord Alchester showed up, so why didn’t you?” Eugene questioned as his eyes forcefully glared a hole into Strout II.

In what realm of common sense could that be justification for scolding someone of his status? Strout II was the Emperor. No matter how much the fate of the continent might depend on that duel, it was unconscionable for him to personally attend such a duel when it was impossible to know what might happen. After all, if Eugene had been defeated, wasn’t it possible that Gavid and the other demonfolk present would have gone on to slaughter all the spectators there?

Strout II tried to defend himself, “No... no matter what, you should at least consider our position—”

“Your position?” Eugene sneered. “I’m asking you to tell me why you didn’t show up while Lord Alchester came in person?”

Why was Eugene treating Alchester with such respect, even as he was being so rude to Alchester’s liege, the Emperor?

Strout II was dismayed and anguished by Eugene’s double standards. Just a few years ago, Eugene had at least been willing to treat him like his Emperor when in front of other people... but after it had become publicly known that Eugene was the reincarnation of Hamel, even that minimal show of respect had disappeared.

“That’s...

We

are not the only one who didn’t attend in person,” Strout II tried to argue. “The Pope of Yuras and the Kings of Shimuin and Aroth also didn’t make a personal appearance....”

Eugene defended the King of Shimuin. “Oseris would have found it difficult traveling all the way up from the southern tip of the continent. Since he’s spent most of his life in a temperate climate, he would have frozen to death the moment he arrived in the north.”

Strout II was forced to remain silent.

“The Pope is too old, and Daindolf of Aroth at least sent his Crown Prince Honein in his stead. So, who do you think you are not to send anyone?” Eugene sneered.

Strout II protested, “

We

also sent Lord Alchest—”

“Is Lord Alchester a member of royalty? Do you think that he’s your son?” Eugene immediately shot back as he narrowed his eyes in anger.

His shoulders trembling in a mix of anger and fear, Strout II realized that there was no way he would be able to emerge victorious from this conversation. This was because Eugene had already decided on what kind of response he wanted to hear from Strout II.

In the end, Strout II was forced to bow his head as he struggled to suppress the anger boiling inside him, saying, “I apologize....”

Eugene nodded victoriously. “That’s right, but make sure to do your best so there’ll be no need for you to apologize in the future.”

Tap tap.

Eugene patted Strout II a few times on the shoulder. The depression that Eugene had been left with after receiving such a difficult mission from Ancilla had completely disappeared.

“You’ll get sick if you keep trying to bottle everything up. Sometimes you just need to vent,” Eugene muttered as he turned and left Strout II behind him.

Even if that meant you needed to manufacture an excuse for that outburst yourself.

‘Did he say that out loud just for me to hear him?’

Strout II thought to himself.

Strout II felt aggrieved about everything that had just happened to him. However, unlike Eugene, Strout II knew he couldn’t just vent his pent-up emotions at any of those present here. He felt it would be better to hold it in, even if that meant getting sick.

“Ahem.” Eugene deliberately cleared his throat loudly.

At this noise, the many eyes spread throughout this banquet hall turned to face Eugene.

Sienna and Kristina had arrived earlier, leaving Eugene as the only attendee yet to arrive. Everyone already present had been eagerly awaiting Eugene’s arrival, but none of them had realized Eugene was already there with them until they heard him clearing his throat.

Before an outpouring of their loud voices could come crashing down on him, Eugene raised his hand and requested, “Please settle down, everyone.”

Even though that was all he did, all the voices in the room immediately stopped speaking. Even Melkith, who was wearing a fine dress with a low-cut back, kept her mouth shut without a fuss.

This was thanks to the natural aura of intimidation that the current Eugene carried with him.

“Hah....” Eugene let out a deep breath as he shook his head.

He had just seen the Platinum Lion standing proudly in the back of the banquet hall, serving as a decoration. Every time he saw that thing, he felt the urge to destroy it or melt it down, but strangely enough, Gilead had grown attached to that fancy float....

“They should just put it in storage...,” Eugene muttered as he turned his gaze away from the Platinum Lion.

He looked around to see if there was any high footing he could stand on, but unfortunately, the highest vantage point in the banquet hall was on top of the Platinum Lion.

Could it be that its placement there was deliberate? Eugene clenched his fists tightly before relaxing them. Only one senior in the Lionheart clan could have arranged something as eye-catching as this. Eugene immediately looked around for Carmen.

Carmen silently made eye contact with him and nodded back with a joyful smile.

Eugene knew that Carmen bore no trace of ill will towards him... so he just couldn’t bring himself to lash out at her.

In the end, still letting out repeated sighs, Eugene climbed up on top of the Platinum Lion.

Mer reminded him, [If you really didn’t want to climb on top of this lion, you could have just started floating up into the sky. Or perhaps it would have been better to just start speaking while you were on the ground. Everyone was already looking at you, Sir Eugene, in any case, so was there really any need for you to go and stand someplace tall?]

Eugene’s only response was silence.

[Sir Eugene, I know you all too well.] Mer shook her head. [Right now, you’re just trying to fool yourself. No, it’s not just now. You’re always being dishonest with yourself when it comes to most things, Sir Eugene. Even though you say, ‘I don’t want it~,’ you actually secretly enjoy doing stuff like this. That’s still the case even now. Even as you think that it can’t be helped and that Carmen’s the one responsible for all this... the truth is that you enjoy drawing all this attention while looking down on them from such an attention-drawing and tall position.]

Just let her say whatever she wants to say for now. If he could have his way, Eugene really wanted to reach into his cloak and pinch Mer’s cheek. Everything that this cheeky little brat had just said was pure slander.

Raimira had her own opinion, [Since Benefactor is more honorable than any of the humans here, it is only natural for Benefactor to stand in such a splendid and high position while he receives everyone's admiration.]

Mer cursed, [You bitch, why do you always take Eugene’s side whenever I make fun of him? That’s just like how a cowardly lizard would act.]

[This lady is just being honest. However, Benefactor, this sculpture is too shabby to properly show off your majesty. Surely it would be better for you to stand on my head, this magnificent dragon?] Raimira proposed.

[You sly bitch, stop trying to get closer to Sir Eugene by using yourself to draw even more attention!] Mer accused.

Mer and Raimira began squabbling inside the cloak. Now standing atop the Platinum Lion’s head, Eugene ignored the loud noises coming from his cloak.

“Many of the guests currently present were also there for my duel in the Raguyaran arena,” Eugene began by saying. “I’m not sure how well the broadcast of the duel managed to record it, but there was something important that I revealed during my fight.”

Just what could Eugene be leading up to? Everyone in the banquet hall looked up at Eugene, their eyes shining in interest, and their ears pricked as they listened carefully.

“I revealed that I am now a god,” Eugene declared this in a calm voice.

Naturally, Eugene’s gaze first fell on the Pope.

Eugene had wondered if the Pope would be dissatisfied with his declaration and step forward to dispute it. But unlike Eugene’s suspicions that Kristina had been making up an excuse to run away from Ancilla, it seemed that she really had met up with the Pope and informed him of what would happen in advance.

“A god?”

“A god... what on earth is he saying all of a sudden....”

“Is he seriously saying that, not just as a metaphor for something else?”

The crowd erupted in an uproar, but the people who were making most of this fuss didn’t include those who had watched the duel in person from their seats in the arena and instead consisted of those who had spectated the duel through the broadcast. In fact, the people who had been there to see the duel in person, like Alchestor, didn’t doubt Eugene’s words.

The duel that had taken place there, the flames and the power that Eugene had exuded were more than enough to identify him as a divine being.

“In any case, since I have become a god, before I give everyone leave to enjoy this banquet,” Eugene paused to clear his throat as he pulled Levantin out from within his cloak. “If anyone wishes to be converted by me personally and become my believer, as well as my Holy Knight, please stand in a line in front of me. This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day. That said, it’s also not something I can do for everyone here. Based on certain criteria, I will be selecting a—”

“Eeeep...!”

Before Eugene could even finish speaking, someone let out a loud gasp of excitement and raised their hand.

It was Carmen.

“Hmm... I knew this would happen,” Eugene muttered to himself as he nodded his head. “Please, come this way.”

1. It’s been a while since this tree species was last mentioned, so here’s a small reminder. Fairy Trees are a species of trees that only grow in the Elven Territory, and their wood can be used to make exceptional magical staffs. The World Tree is also a Fairy Tree and the largest of its kind. ☜

2. The original text uses the Bayar Tribe, which is the tribe that Molon belongs to. However, from the context, it is obvious that the author meant Ivatar's tribe, the Zoran Tribe. We made the change for consistency and a better reading experience. ☜

3. The original text uses a Korean verbal tic meant to signify an imminent physical threat, often accompanied by a raised hand. ☜