Chapter 573: The Divine Army (1)

“Where would you find anyone else crazy enough to put a threat into their speech like you just did?” Anise angrily demanded.

“When did I threaten anyone?” Eugene protested.

Anise had scolded Eugene immediately after they had left the rooftop, but Eugene felt genuinely wronged. He would have humbly accepted the scolding if Anise had pointed out a problem with the actual contents of his speech, but Eugene didn’t believe that there had been any threat in his words.

Anise frowned, “You told them that if they didn’t want to take up the sword, they needed to pray for your victory. What was that if not a threat?”

“You only heard that as a threat because you’re way too negative,” Eugene accused. “I didn’t have the slightest intention of threatening them. And what’s so wrong about asking them to pray for my victory?”

“Your attitude was so rude,” Sienna reproached as she clicked her tongue and shook her head. She had been listening quietly from the side. “What’s with telling them to ‘pray that I will be victorious’? You should have at least added a ‘please’ before that.”

Eugene sniffed, “What would be the difference?”

“It’s not just a difference of a single word. It’s a sign of your sincerity. In fact, even if you had to get on your knees and beg, it still wouldn’t have been enough,” Sienna claimed.

Eugene protested, “What have I done that’s so wrong or offensive that I need to kneel and beg, huh? Do you really want me to kneel in front of so many of my believers, start crying big fat tears, and shout, ‘Please! Please pray for me!’”

“I wasn’t trying to go that far, but after hearing you describe it like that, I kind of want to see you acting like that at least once before I die,” Sienna confessed.

“That will definitely never happen,” Eugene promised as he untied the red cape hanging off his shoulders. “Divinity isn’t something that you can grow by begging for it. As you naturally accomplish various feats, myths, legends, and other such things... just hearing about them will naturally inspire your believers into thinking about you, and the feelings that they associate with you will immediately feed into your divinity—”

“Even if that’s the case, you still directly told them to pray for your victory, didn’t you?” Sienna pointed out.

Eugene impatiently retorted, “So what should I have told them to pray for? My defeat? In the coming war, once the fighting starts, of course, we need to win!”

Eugene rolled up the cape he had pulled off his shoulders and tossed it at Sienna’s face, but Sienna naturally wouldn’t allow the cape to just fall on her. She clicked her tongue once more as she waved her finger at the cloak, stopping it midair.

“Too slow,” Sienna teased.

“You really make me want to teach you a lesson,” Eugene growled.

“Let me just tell you, during the three months that you were fast asleep, I have only perfected my magic even further,” Sienna bragged.

“Just how long are you going to keep harping on about those damn three months,” Eugene sighed in frustration.

Sienna pouted, “It’s not like me not bringing them up will erase the fact that you were asleep for three whole months, now will it? Because really, even thinking about it still makes me feel sick to the stomach.”

She wasn’t just joking when she said this. Those three months that Eugene had spent in a coma had been painful for everyone, as they couldn’t help but feel a mounting sense of anxiety and tension with each day he failed to wake up. Eugene hadn’t heard each of their individual stories of what they had experienced while he was in a coma, but after being subjected to their constant care and attention since he had woken up, Eugene was left with no other choice but to shrug his shoulders and accept the blame.

“Since this might even be your final speech, it would have been nice if it had been a bit more elegant and impressive...,” Anise sighed regretfully. “Could it be that you’re just incapable of such a speech?”

“What do you mean, my final speech? Why would you say something so unlucky? If you’re truly my Saint, shouldn’t you be happy to show unconditional trust in me?” Eugene complained.

Anise scoffed, “There are plenty of people who will nod their heads no matter what you decide while praising and flattering you. As your Saint, that means I need to be able to provide you with a calmer perspective than anyone else.”

“But still... in any case, the reaction to my speech was good, wasn’t it?” Eugene argued.

In fact, there was no need to question it because Eugene himself could already feel the rapid rise of his faith and his divinity.

It was a different sensation from forcibly expanding his capacity for divine power by using Ignition. The divinity inherent to Eugene’s very being was constantly growing stronger. All of the faith that had been accumulated by the Light since the very start of this world was slowly fusing with Eugene.

However, even this growth had its limits. Compared to three hundred years ago, the common sense of the world had drastically shifted.

In today’s world, the demonfolk, Demon Kings, and Helmuth itself were no longer seen as

pure evil

. Unlike Eugene, who had experienced the era of the war, the people of today’s era didn’t hold such great hostility and hatred towards the demonfolk.

This was all due to how, from three hundred years ago until now, the demonfolk had shown great kindness to humanity under the Demon King of Incarceration’s reign. So much so that, even though a state of war had just been declared, barely any of Helmuth’s immigrants had fled the country.

In fact, among the humans living on the continent, there were quite a few who hoped that Helmuth would be the one to win the war. They truly wished for Helmuth to conquer the entire continent so that all of humanity would fall under the rule of the Demon King of Incarceration. These people, ignorant of what the end of the Oath truly meant or of the circumstances behind the Demon King of Destruction, wanted to enjoy the same level of livelihood that the humans in Helmuth enjoyed, which was rumored to be no different than a Utopia.

‘There’s not much time left

,’ Eugene thought to himself.

The alliance and the Divine Army had been able to muster up so quickly, not just because Eugene Lionheart was serving as the focal point of their efforts. It was because Helmuth had been the first to declare a state of war, and then Pandemonium and Babel as a whole had been flown to the border to establish a frontline. Just like three hundred years ago, the Demon King of Incarceration had transformed into an invader, so the continent, which had no desire to be invaded once more, was forced to form an alliance.

The longer tensions were allowed to simmer on the frontline, the more likely it became that cracks would form in the hastily created alliance. Regardless of how the general staff held absolute trust in Eugene and would resolutely follow his orders, the common people would still grow anxious the longer they had to wait.

Currently, the alliance and the Divine Army were ignoring the spread of anti-war sentiment among the public, but if the anti-war sentiment was given time to spread from country to country, the Divine Army’s strength would be weakened before the war could even fully break out.

‘I might fall into a coma again,

’ Eugene thought in concern.

In the coming battle against the Demon King of Incarceration, he would need to make use of all the means he had available. If necessary, he might have to use Ignition multiple times.

The problem with that was what would happen afterward. Even if he barely managed to eke out a victory by using Ignition, like he had with Noir, if he ended up losing consciousness for several months — then the Demon King of Destruction might just wake up before he could even open his eyes.

“It can’t be helped,” Eugene let out a sigh as he turned his head.

Through the window, the Demon King’s Castle, Babel, could be seen floating in the distant sky.

***

The frontline that had been established across the border between Yuras and Helmuth could be seen clearly from the watchtower on top of Neran’s city walls. Alcarte Parish had once stood there, on the other side of the vast plains, that would take several days to traverse even when taking a carriage, but that was no longer the case.

Instead, waiting on the other side of those plains, there was now Pandemonium, the capital city of Helmuth.

But was that really true?

Eugene let out a snort as he shook his head. Although it was far away, Eugene’s eyes could still clearly make out the vista of Pandemonium that was lying straight ahead of them.

Eugene had visited Pandemonium in the past. It was a city that had seemed incomparably more advanced than the capital city of any other kingdom. There were concrete buildings with dozens of floors and mechanical fishes that used dark power as an energy source to fly through the skies over the city, watching over everyone and maintaining order. With its cars that ran on the roads in place of carriages and golems that kept the streets clean, the city of Pandemonium that Eugene had visited a few years ago was a city so advanced that it had even managed to surpass Giabella City and could not be fully comprehended with the existing knowledge of the times.

That was still the case even today. Eugene’s common sense was completely incapable of comprehending how a city like Pandemonium could exist.

The formerly ninety-nine-story skyscraper that was called the Demon King’s Castle Babel was now floating in the sky, having returned to its original appearance from three hundred years ago. Likewise, Pandemonium had also changed in appearance from when he had seen it a few years ago.

However, the city hadn’t changed back to the style from three hundred years ago. Instead, he could see various devices packed on top of the tall, black city walls. They appeared to be something different from ordinary cannons. Something that looked like huge metal... rods were now being aimed in their direction. And in the skies above, the flying fish that had once been charged with monitoring the city were floating there quietly.

Eugene spied on what lay inside the city walls. Nothing of the city he had last seen a few years ago remained. The skyscrapers had all been converted into other types of buildings, and there were no dark-powered vehicles in sight. Instead, there were many other differently shaped vehicles, ones that were heavily armored in metal and equipped with what looked like long gun barrels.

“Are those... tanks[1]?” Eugene speculated.

This was his first time seeing a tank that looked like that. And it wasn’t just tanks, either. There were a lot of other strange vehicles that Eugene was unable to recognize.

The streets were also packed full of demonic beasts and demonfolk. If the giant monsters that had once been trapped in Ravesta hadn’t been completely annihilated in Nahama, then those demonic beasts would surely have gathered in Pandemonium as well.

‘The city is under full martial law,’

Eugene noticed.

All of the immigrants who had originally lived in the capital, as well as the demonfolk who had refused to participate in the war, had been evacuated. Right now, every single entity within that huge city was dedicated to preparing for the war.

Eugene let out a snort as he shook his head. He had, of course, been expecting all of these demonfolk and demonic beasts to gather in Pandemonium like this, but... just what exactly was going on with all of those mechanical devices and vehicles of unknown purpose?

There was no way to know for sure. However, he could feel it instinctively. Eugene’s godhood included the domain of War, which enabled him to sense the strong scent of blood and ferocity that all of those various mechanisms gave off. He knew that each of those devices was a weapon of war.

“Just what exactly is that bastard trying to do?” Eugene muttered in concern.

The Demon King of Incarceration had to be the one who had created all of those weapons. The reason Helmuth had achieved such an unsurpassable level of development compared to other countries was all due to the existence of the Demon King of Incarceration. Helmuth, as an empire, had been created, led, and maintained by the Demon King of Incarceration all on his own.

‘Those things didn’t exist during the Age of Myth,’

Eugene recalled.

Since that was the case, it meant that those weapons had to be from a different era. Those were all ancient weapons that the Demon King of Incarceration had resurrected from an era that must have been destroyed long ago. Helmuth’s entire civilization was probably created using the various technologies that the Demon King of Incarceration had personally witnessed before they were ultimately destroyed.

Weapons like those hadn’t been used during the previous era of the war. Cold weapons had served as the mainstay for the human forces, with the support of artillery fire from battle wizards being rare and difficult to find. At the same time, cannons or ballistas were the best and most reliable source of firepower.

So why hadn’t the Demon King mobilized these kinds of weapons three hundred years ago? Eugene could vaguely guess the reason why Incarceration hadn’t done so. Although he wasn’t sure what the Demon King of Incarceration’s true purpose was, as long as the Demon King of Destruction still existed, even if Incarceration conquered the entire continent, the world was still doomed to end. Wouldn’t this mean that, in the first place, conquest and tyranny weren’t the true purpose behind the Demon King of Incarceration’s actions?

But in that case, what was the Demon King of Incarceration’s true goal?

“Hey,” Sienna suddenly called out from beside Eugene.

Eugene retracted the glare he had directed towards Pandemonium and turned to look at Sienna.

“Look up there,” Sienna said with a stiff expression.

The moment he heard those words, Eugene could sense what Sienna was talking about, even without looking up. He could sense the silent gaze being directed down at him. However, despite its silence, the presence behind that gaze was far from calm, instead exuding fierce and immense pressure.

Eugene clicked his tongue as he raised his head.

High up in the sky, the Demon King’s Castle Babel was floating completely motionless. Eugene saw the Demon King of Incarceration standing atop the castle’s walls. The Demon King wasn’t looking at the army gathered on the ground below him. Right now, the Demon King of Incarceration was staring directly at Eugene.

“Hah,” Eugene let out a huff, his shoulders trembling from the weight of that stare.

The Demon King of Incarceration’s current gaze was far removed from his usually expressionless demeanor. Right now, the Demon King of Incarceration was clearly expressing an emotion as he looked down at Eugene.

It was anticipation.

The Demon King of Incarceration was glaring down at Eugene as if eagerly expecting something from him.

The Demon King didn’t say anything. Everything was being conveyed through his gaze alone. However, as he felt this expectant gaze that didn’t have even the slightest trace of Incarceration’s usual boredom and weariness, Eugene grinned.

For a few moments, Eugene and the Demon King of Incarceration just stared at each other like this. But soon, the Demon King of Incarceration turned around. The chains that were draped down his back like a cloak wrapped around the Demon King’s body, and soon afterward, he disappeared.

In place of the disappearing Demon King of Incarceration, a shadow arose. Someone then proceeded to walk out of that wavering shadow.

It was the former Black Tower Master and current Staff of Incarceration, Balzac Ludbeth. He stood on one of the parapets on the castle wall and looked down at them. The eyes behind the transparent lenses of his glasses were drawn into smiling curves.

Balzac leapt off the parapent. He flew through the air in a controlled manner, but he wasn’t descending into Pandemonium. Instead, Balzac was approaching the walls of Neran, heading to where Eugene and Sienna now stood.

Eugene was so dumbfounded by Balzac’s actions that he unconsciously spat out, “What is that bastard thinking?”

Just how thick-skinned and confident must he be to approach them like this openly?

Eugene’s startled reaction was actually rather calm. Standing next to him, Sienna immediately stretched out her index finger and pointed at the black wizard when she saw Balzac flying over to them.

Crackle!

Sparks of mana spat out from the tip of Sienna’s finger. A huge amount of mana was compressed in a single instant before flying off of her fingertip.

Boooom!

A ray of light shot out from Sienna’s fingertip, accompanied by a loud roar. Eugene hadn’t expected that Sienna would suddenly fire off a spell like this. He felt his jaw drop as he turned to look at Sienna.

“What?” Sienna asked with a calm expression.

“That’s what I should be saying! What do you think you’re doing?” Eugene demanded.

Sienna casually shrugged, “You know full well what you just saw. I just fired off a spell at that bastard, Balzac.”

“But why?” Eugene protested.

“He was coming this way. Was I supposed to just let him make his approach?” Sienna pointed out.

Eugene hesitated, “No... that’s true, but....”

“I already made it very clear to him,” Sienna said, her voice lowering slightly. Glaring up at the sky with an annoyed look, Sienna continued speaking, “When Balzac was studying with me and the other wizards in Akron, I warned him very clearly. Someday, if he were ever to become my enemy and challenge me to a fight, then, at that moment, I told him that I would slay him without any mercy.”

Since Balzac Ludbeth was a black wizard who had signed a contract with the Demon King of Incarceration, it was inevitable that he would become their enemy at some point. Even though she recognized this fact, Sienna hadn’t killed Balzac on sight. At that time, Balzac’s positioning was closer to an ally than an enemy, and acting as if he were just another wizard, he had passionately followed Sienna around during the course of her research.

“He was quite an impressive wizard,” Sienna admitted. “It would have been better if he wasn’t a black wizard, but even as a black wizard, well, he was such an impressive wizard that I felt it might be alright just to leave him be, so long as he didn’t act like a black wizard in front of me. I also appreciated his deepest wish.”

That was why she had granted him permission to participate in her research. Sienna’s new Signature spell, her Absolute Decree, was a culmination of the entire team of Archwizards’ knowledge of magic, and Balzac’s own research was included among their number.

“If he has still decided to turn his back on me and become my enemy, doesn’t that mean he has a good enough reason and the confidence needed to do so? If he can’t deal with a spell of this level at such a distance, then he’s not even worth treating as an enemy,” Sienna scoffed.

In Sienna’s opinion, the spell she had fired off just now was both low-powered and weak. Of course, that was only based on Sienna’s standards.

Eugene let out a snort as he turned to look ahead. The ray of light that Sienna had emitted had already raced through the sky and was closing in on Balzac.

It was at that moment that one of the weapons that had been installed on Pandemonium’s city walls began to move.

Boomboomboom!

A metal rod was shot out, accompanied by a loud roar. Though it was fired off like how a ballista would fire its arrows, that thing definitely didn’t look anything like an arrow. A tail of flames shot out of its rear end as it cut through the sky.

Even Sienna couldn’t help but widen her eyes into circles and let out a surprised yelp, “What is that?”

Balzac, who seemed similarly surprised by the loud noise that had suddenly erupted from behind him, flinched as he turned around to look backward. Eventually, he let out a sigh and quickly flew through the sky.

The metal rod that had been launched from the city walls passed through where Balzac had just been floating.

It was fast. Or at least, that was the initial impression that Eugene got from it. It didn’t seem like it was powered by magic, but it was much faster than most common spells. But what about its power?

Eugene felt more curious about the power of those ancient weapons than he was about Balzac, who was still floating towards them in the sky.

“Sienna, stop chasing Balzac and send something to intercept that rod,” Eugene ordered.

Now that it had been fired at them, Eugene wanted to confirm its power. Sienna nodded as she bestowed her previous spell with the blessing of her Absolute Decree. The ray of light that had been weaving through the air as it tried to attack Balzac settled down and began to fly in a straight line toward the rod.

The two attacks collided.

Booooooom!

An explosion erupted with such a loud noise that it felt as if the sky was going to be torn into two. It was such a large explosion that a whole chunk of the ground below was overturned, and even from here, faint vibrations could be felt rumbling beneath their feet.

“What’s the status of your spell?” Eugene asked.

“It’s still in good condition,” Sienna said, even as her brow furrowed in a frown.

The power of the explosion had certainly felt impressive, but that hadn’t been enough to cancel out or destroy Sienna’s spell. The explosion didn’t have the power or sophistication to neutralize one of Sienna’s spells.

However, the problem lay with the rod’s combination of both power and numbers. There appeared to be hundreds of such weapons lining the city walls. What if they were all shot out at the same time? The general staff of the Divine Army might be able to withstand an explosion of such power, but there was no way that the ordinary soldiers would be able to resist.

“Take back your spell for now. After all, it seems like the Demon King is warning us not to attack Balzac,” Eugene muttered as he prepared to meet with Balzac.

After having risen to a height that was outside the radius of the explosion, Balzac was heading their way once more. Unlike when he first started his approach, this time Balzac was vigorously waving both of his arms above his head. It was an obvious hand signal telling them not to attack.

“Do you want to call him over and kill him when he gets close?” Sienna guessed.

“It seems you really want to kill him,” Eugene observed.

Sienna raised an eyebrow as she said, “What? Do you not want to kill him?”

“No, I also want to kill him. However, before we kill him, let’s hear what he has to say,” Eugene said as he glared at Balzac.

As if he felt that waving his arms like that still wasn’t enough, Balzac started shouting in an uncharacteristically loud voice, “Please don’t shoot!”

1. Not sure how Eugene even knew the word tank; maybe Aroth has some kind of medieval, magic-powered version of a tank? ☜