Chapter 544: Divine Ascension (5)

While receiving stares from everyone in the banquet hall, Carmen walked to the front of the crowd. She had just returned to the estate after a year spent in the rainforest together with Sienna, but her physical appearance as a whole hadn’t changed greatly from when Eugene had last seen her in the rainforest.

However, Eugene could sense a distinct depth of experience in her gaze that hadn’t been there a year ago. For humans, a year was already by no means a short span of time, but the year that Carmen had just spent must have felt dozens of times longer than that.

Eugene didn’t know for sure just how far out-of-sync her sense of time might have become, but what he did know was that Carmen had experienced something similar to what Gavid had gone through. The magic of the Sage and the World Tree had summoned a copy of the God of Giants from beyond time and space, allowing Carmen to repeatedly challenge the God of Giants over that long period while experiencing countless deaths.

“This is just out of personal curiosity, but...,” Eugene whispered after Carmen had arrived at the foot of the float. Casting a spell that kept their voices from reaching the rest of the audience, Eugene asked, “...did you manage to defeat the God of Giants?”

Eugene was honestly very curious about her answer. It might not be able to compare to the real deal, but the memory of the God of Giants that the Sage had summoned had to have been incredibly strong. During his duel, Gavid had said that he was able to transcend his limits as a demonfolk by repeatedly battling the illusion of Agaroth, so what about Carmen?

“No,” Carmen shook her head. “Until the very end, I was unable to defeat that immense and imposing man.”

Her answer was only natural. The methods that they used to grow stronger may have been similar, but there had been a huge gap in strength between Carmen and Gavid from the very start. The most crucial factor was that Gavid was a demonfolk, and Carmen was only human. No matter how many times she had died during her training, it wouldn’t lead to an increase in her strength in reality, and even with the strength of Carmen’s willpower, this type of practice was too excessive for a human to endure for too long. If she was forced to repeatedly die hundreds of times, over and over again, even Carmen’s formidable will would collapse.

“However, even though I wasn’t able to defeat him, I still learned a lot. While challenging someone so amazing that I would never be able to defeat them and suffering repeated defeat dozens of times over, I, Carmen Lionheart, was reborn from the petty weakling I once was,” Carmen said as she clenched her fist aggressively.

Although Carmen hadn’t directly ignited her flames, Eugene could sense the fire burning within Carmen.

It was the fire of the White Flame Formula. Carmen’s White Flame Formula, like Eugene’s, had undergone a brand new transformation, one that couldn’t be classified by the number of Stars.

“Through my rebirth, I realized something. Something about the Lionheart’s White Flame Formula: the Stars that are used to separate each level are ultimately just an illusion. If you remain blindly obsessed with increasing the number of Stars, you will never be able to achieve true strength.” Carmen raised her voice, no longer speaking solely to Eugene.

Carmen was now addressing all of the Lionhearts who were present in the banquet hall.

She continued, “In the end, the White Flame Formula, which was created by the founder of our Lionheart clan, the Great Vermouth, was something that was started by him and could only be completed by him. In the end, our founder passed down the White Flame Formula and the Red Flame Formula to us, his descendants. Naturally, we considered the White Flame Formula to be the genuine article and deemed the Red Flame Formula to be the inferior version....”

At these words, the members of the collateral lines began to murmur.

There were countless collateral lines belonging to the Lionheart clan, but among all those lines, only those who were particularly powerful had the qualifications to attend today’s banquet. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of the Black Lions who were in attendance also came from collateral lines, though the recognition shown by the Lionhearts to have them assigned to attend this banquet was based on their actual skill rather than the prestige of their families.

But for all of those from the collateral bloodlines, Carmen’s words just now were a harsh and bitter reminder of the division and discrimination within the clan.

“I don’t want to mince words, so I, Carmen Lionheart, will speak my mind boldly,” Carmen declared. “In truth, I did think that way in the past. As the ones responsible for continuing the direct bloodline, the main family must be the only ones to inherit the White Flame Formula and thus secure their legitimacy. In contrast, the collateral bloodlines that are responsible for spreading out like branches must only be taught the Red Flame Formula so that they are not tempted to go against the main family. That was what I believed, and I was also sure that the Black Lions solely existed to protect the laws that governed the clan.”

Eugene had just wanted to proceed straight into ordaining his first group of Holy Knights, but why had things changed into Carmen giving a speech? However, Eugene kept this thought to himself and didn’t do anything to interrupt Carmen’s speech.

“However, through my metamorphosis, I have come to realize something. If we simply continue to consider learning the White Flame Formula to be the orthodox path to follow, we will never be able to catch up to our Founding Ancestor. Both the White Flame Formula and the Red Flame Formula that our ancestor left as a legacy for the family were ultimately nothing more than a guideline for the development of the Lionheart clan’s own martial path!” Carmen declared, her voice growing even stronger.

The collateral bloodlines were no longer making any noise. They were listening to Carmen’s speech with bated breath. Even the Patriarch, Gilead, and the Head of the Council, Klein, had their ears pricked to listen to Carmen’s speech with a serious look on their faces.

“The ancestor of our Lionheart clan may have been a great hero, but it was a mistake for us as his surviving descendants to follow his path without question blindly! If we continue to cling solely to those two training methods, the White Flame Formula and the Red Flame Formula, in the end, the true Star that we all possess will just end up fading away!” Carmen raised her fist as she passionately shouted, “We — all of us — have a Star shining in our hearts....”

“Erm....” Eugene swallowed a groan of consternation as he unconsciously took a step backward.

However, Eugene was the only one showing that kind of cringing reaction.

Genos, the strongest among all the collateral lines, even had tears streaming down his face as he listened to Carmen’s speech. Even Gilead’s eyes had turned red with suppressed tears as he clenched his fists in excitement.

“Rather than the Stars of the Great Vermouth, I want to perfect the Star of Carmen Lionheart,” Carmen shouted as she raised her fist high into the sky.

Although the sun was still far from setting and the skies were clear, the fingers that Carmen raised to point up at the sky looked like they were trying to pluck the stars out of the night sky.

“Those who truly wish to find their own Star, come forward. It doesn’t matter whether you’re from the main line or the collateral lines. Regardless of the lines we have drawn between the White Flame Formula and the Red Flame Formula, the fact that we each have our own brilliant Star within us is what unites us and the Lionheart clan as a whole. I believe that that is the future that our founding ancestor, the Great Vermouth, truly dreamed of,” Carmen finished passionately.

In fact, Carmen’s words weren’t wrong. It was impossible to reach Vermouth’s level of strength even if one did master the White Flame Formula. In the first place, there was a big difference between the White Flame Formula that Vermouth passed down to his descendants and the White Flame Formula that he had used, as humans would never be able to use the genuine version of the White Flame Formula.

That was why there was ultimately a need to evolve past the White Flame Formula at some point during their progress. Eugene had also gone through the same thing. After going through several intense battles, Eugene’s White Flame Formula, which had originally been at the Seventh Star, had gone through a transformation that rendered the number of Stars meaningless. Currently, there existed an infinitely expanding universe inside Eugene, where the Stars of the White Flame Formula had once been.

But this result was because Eugene was a special case. He didn’t just learn the White Flame Formula; he also managed to comprehend the Eternal Hole. Then, he proceeded to create his own internal universe by combining these two, along with his experiences as Hamel and Agaroth’s divine power.

It would be impossible for the other Lionhearts to do the same thing. Still, judging from Carmen’s case, it seemed accurate to say that Vermouth had always intended for the White Flame Formula to be able to evolve in some form or another.

‘If someone was currently at the level of the Sixth Star, they should be able to adapt the White Flame Formula for their personal use just by going through the Dark Room...,’

Eugene considered thoughtfully.

But would it also be possible to do that with the Red Flame Formula? The result would surely vary depending on who exactly went through the process, but what was certain was that the gap between the main family and the collateral lines would be greatly reduced. If that were to happen, the superiority of the White Flame Formula that was practiced by the main family would only create a large gap between them and the collateral lines when both their respective levels were low.

“Lionhearts.” Carmen wasn’t done speaking just yet. Infusing her voice with her hopes for the glory of the Lionheart family, the future of the continent, and the inheritance of their ancestor’s will, Carmen shouted with all of her strength, “Awaken!”

Along with her shout, her hand, which had been pointed at the sky with all fingers extended, curled into a fist. Right now, Carmen had just seized hold of her Star.

“Awaken!”

Her passionate cry moved all of her listeners. Genos was the first to raise his fist. Then, like father, like daughter, Genia who was standing beside him also raised her fist in the exact same way.

“Awaken!”

And just like that, all the Lionhearts in the banquet hall were raising their fists. The banquet that had been planned as a way to celebrate Eugene’s return and his victory in the duel against Gavid had suddenly become an event of reuniting the divided Lionheart clan.

“Awaken!”

Everyone was shouting the word with the same positive intention behind it.

The Lionhearts were only ever meant to serve as a clan for Hamel to be reincarnated into. Having grown past this purpose, the Lionhearts now seemed to have been left with no other choice but to serve as the strongest vanguard for Hamel’s eventual war against the Demon Kings. Perhaps... this really might have been the future that Vermouth had envisioned for them.

Yet even with that being the case, Eugene, who was listening to the passionate cries that Carmen had inspired from all of the Lionhearts present while standing atop the brilliantly sparkling Platinum Lion, couldn’t help but wonder what kind of expression he was supposed to be making now.

If he really had to be honest, Eugene just wanted to cover his ears and run away from all of this.

But Carmen’s cries hadn’t ended just yet.

“For the sake of the Radiant! Eugene! Lionheart! For the sake of the continent’s future!”

While looking up at Eugene with her burning golden eyes, she shouted out her new goals for the Lionheart clan.

“Awaken!”

Eugene couldn’t help but feel an unspoken pressure coming from her gaze. He wanted to rebel against this pressure, but it was impossible for him to do so. It wasn’t just the Lionhearts. Everyone who had gathered in this banquet hall was now looking up at Eugene with their eyes sparkling in interest as if they were waiting to hear his opinion on the matter.

In the end, Eugene hesitantly raised his hand, no, raised Levantein to the sky, and awkwardly shouted, “A-awaken!”

“Oooooh!” all of the Lionhearts enthusiastically cheered.

Eugene scrunched his eyes tightly for a moment to stop himself from seeing this. Only when the enthusiastic cheering had stopped did he open his eyes once more.

“Now then, time to resume the ordination,” Eugene sighed in relief.

Until just a moment ago, Carmen had been shouting so fiercely that it had seemed likely for her throat to start bleeding, but now her current expression showed only calmness with no trace of any other emotions.

After struggling to get his own emotions under control, Eugene nodded and proceeded to get back into the ordination.

The dubbing process itself was similar to what he had done with Molon. Although he didn’t say anything about them being chosen as his Holy Knight and Greatest Warrior, as he had done with Molon, Eugene did tap each of them on the shoulders with his sword, which was covered in a thin layer of fire. As he performed each dubbing, the flames of Levantein would seep into one being dubbed.

Even though his divine flame was being bestowed like this, Eugene’s divine power didn’t suffer any decrease. Instead, each time he ordained another Holy Knight through this bestowal of his divine flame, Eugene’s divine power was actually refilled.

Carmen was just the first to be dubbed. He also ordained the Knights of the White Lion, the Knights of the Black Lion, and the patriarchs of the collateral lines who did not belong to either of the knightly orders. As he had initially intended, today’s ordination wasn’t just limited to the Lionhearts.

He also ordained Ruhr’s elite forces, the White Fangs, who were led by the Beast King Aman. He then ordained Ivic and the other mercenaries. Ortus and the Knights of the Violent Tide seemed to hesitate for a few moments, but after seeing those who had been ordained admiring the divine flames that had been infused into their bodies, he ultimately ended up standing in front of Eugene.

The same was true for Alchester and the White Dragon Knights. At first, Strout II was hesitant about whether he should truly turn a blind eye to their ordination. His hesitation was because he felt that if he allowed this to happen, Alchester and the White Dragon Knights, who were sworn to serve only the Emperor and had previously been personally knighted by the Emperor, would end up being completely swayed to Eugene’s side.

However, despite such thoughts, Strout II didn’t do anything to block the ordination. He was afraid of being criticized by Eugene for needlessly stepping in, and since it was for the sake of saving the world, he would have been forced to acquiesce to the ordination in any case.

Surprisingly enough, it was Ivatar and the warriors of the Zoran tribe who were truly hesitant to accept the offer. In their case, they had already devoted their faith to the spirits of the rainforest and the World Tree. No matter how much respect they might hold for Eugene, as one of the native tribes of the Rainforest who had never been exposed to any other religions throughout their entire life, being ordained by a strange new god was an unfamiliar and disturbing prospect in many ways.

“It’s fine,” Eugene took the lead in reassuring them, having guessed why Ivatar was hesitating. “I have met with the World Tree in person, and after asking her, the World Tree has given her approval to allow me to ordain you.”

“What did you say?” Ivatar asked in shock.

“I’m not lying; it’s the truth. And it’s not like I will become your master by doing this. It’s more like we’re making a temporary contract because we both need and respect each other. Then later, once the war is over and the contract has been satisfied, we can readdress the issue of your tribe’s faith,” Eugene said in a tone that showed no sign of reluctance or regret to do so.

He truly wasn’t feeling disappointed by Ivatar's hesitation. In the past, he had thought about converting the entire Zoran tribe into a theocracy that supplied him with their faith through his relationship with Ivatar, but the current Eugene was not only connected to the faith of the Light, but he also held a connection to all of the various other faiths that existed on the continent. As such, there was no longer any need for him to resort to that measure.

“Understood,” Ivatar nodded his head.

Ivatar wasn’t aware of the various circumstances behind Eugene’s offer. However, he respected Eugene as a warrior and was also interested in the divine flames he had seen being infused into the ordained knights. So, in the end, starting with Ivatar, he and the other elite members of the Zoran tribal warriors were all ordained by Eugene.

Raphael and the Knights of the Blood Cross didn’t have to undergo this new round of ordination. After all, they were already Holy Knights sworn to the Light. Even without Eugene ordaining them, to a certain extent, he was already sharing his divine power with them.

‘An Incarnation of the Light...,’

the Pope thought to himself as he silently watched this ceremony take place.

Pope Aeuryus and Raphael had already heard this news from the Saints in advance. Of course, they hadn’t been informed of the full truth. The Saints had given up on the possibility of persuading these stubborn fanatics that their god was dead right from the very start and had instead chosen to fabricate a lie.

Eugene Lionheart had directly met with the Light and had become an Incarnation of the Light. Eugene and the Light had joined together in one body, and the Light had given Eugene its divine blessing to become the new god that would continue to illuminate this era....

In fact, this wasn’t a complete lie, and since it was the

genuine

Saint who was saying this, even the Pope didn’t have the necessary authority to question this matter.

“Why can’t I be ordained?” a shrill voice complained.

After the ordination of the knights, mercenaries, and various warriors had been completed, Melkith, who had also lined up to be ordained but was rejected by Eugene, was left in tears.

“Have you started discriminating against wizards now?” Melkith accused. “Those guys who only know how to swing their weapons get to become your Holy Knights, so why can’t wizards become your Holy Knights, no, your Holy Wizards?”

“In the history of this entire world, has anyone ever even been given the title of a Holy Wizard?” Eugene pointed out skeptically.

“I am an open-minded person. Even if there is no Holy Wizard, I can just become the first Holy Wizard,” Melkith declared proudly.

Eugene sighed, “Stop with the nonsense and just go back already. I can’t ordain any wizards.”

“But you also use magic, don’t you? Since that’s the case, Eugene, you can’t be like this! When you were just a cute little brat, this big sis took great care of you, didn’t I? Like with your current Signature, what was it again, promenade or Prominence? It was your big sis, this Melkith El-Hayah, who helped you out when you were busy creating it, so how could you do something like this to me?!” Melkith cried out like a child throwing a tantrum and demanding sweets, but if something shouldn’t be done, then it couldn’t be done.

“It will be Sienna who ordains the wizards, not me,” Eugene finally revealed in frustration. “I’m sure that you would also prefer to be ordained by Sienna rather than me, isn’t that right, Lady Melkith?”

Melkith’s expression immediately transformed as she cried out, “Big sis!”

She stampeded away from Eugene’s side, ran over to Sienna, who was leisurely drinking some tea, and got down onto her knees next to Sienna.

“Big Sis! Oh, Goddess of Magic!” Melkith cried out reverentially.

It had been Sienna’s long-held desire to become the Goddess of Magic. This was a fact that the Archwizards who were active in this era were already aware of.

Going back to just before the liberation of Hauria, Sienna still didn’t have a firm idea of how exactly to achieve godhood, but through her one year in seclusion, it seemed that Sienna had finally managed to achieve divine ascension. Lovellian and the other Archwizards also moved to surround Sienna in their excitement.

Sienna had been planning on savoring Eugene’s embarrassment all day long, but she never could have imagined that he would just toss the grenade back to her like this.

After glaring at Eugene, Sienna stumbled over her words, “Ah... Um....”

“Please grant us your ordination!”

Now, even King Daindolph of Aroth and the Crown Prince Honein were bowing their heads to Sienna.

Sienna barely managed to compose her expression before responding. “I... I can’t do it here. I’ll do it the next time that I’m in Aroth.”

Eugene had his prior experience as Agaroth and also the help of the Light, but Sienna had only just recently ascended to Godhood. Ordination as a whole should be possible, but since she had never attempted it before, Sienna still felt the need to get some practice done beforehand. What if she tried to ordain someone here, in front of everyone, and it failed?

If so, Sienna’s divine legend as the ‘Wise Goddess of Magic’ would be set awry right from the very beginning. Sienna absolutely couldn’t accept such a thing happening.

“This should be enough,” Eugene said with a tired huff.

Having ordained most of those present — the ones who could be called the true elites of the continent — Eugene felt like he had ordained enough people for now. He didn’t feel like it was necessary to mass-produce holy knights by ordaining any more people than he already had.

That was what Eugene had decided from the very start. Thanks to the experience and strength that they had already accumulated through their training, those present were easily able to harmonize with his divine flames, but granting his ordination to any Tom, Dick, or Harry[1] would just be a waste of resources.

‘And finally...,’

Eugene thought to himself.

The ordination of everyone here had finally been completed, but there was still work to be done after the banquet was over.

“Kristina, Ciel,” Eugene called out to those two, restricting who could hear his voice to avoid any misunderstanding.

In response to his call, Ciel hurriedly arrived in front of Eugene.

Everyone in the main family, the White Lions, the Black Lions and the collateral lines as well, had already been ordained. Only Ciel had yet to receive her dubbing.

—I’ll do yours later.

After hearing this explanation from Eugene, Ciel had withdrawn to the back of the line. There had to be a special reason for Eugene to put hers off until the last moment.

“Is it finally my turn?” Ciel asked with a smile, her eyes shining brightly.

Kristina also strode over to stand next to Ciel.

“You two,” Eugene began speaking with a calm expression and a quiet voice, doing everything he could to avoid any possible misunderstanding. “Come to my room after the banquet is over.”

Although he tried his best, it was a statement that couldn’t help but be misunderstood.

1. The original text uses the Korean idiom of

any little pieces of shit or pieces of piss

. This is a less vulgar option. ☜