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Chapter 498: Delusion (6)

—I am Hamel.

That was how he had phrased it.

Then again, just a few minutes earlier, in order to prove it to Gavid, and so that everyone present could hear him, he had loudly declared once more....

—I am Hamel’s reincarnation.

This meant that he had already made the same declaration twice today. But looking at the current atmosphere, it seemed like he might have to do it one more time.

Eugene furrowed his brow and glared at Melkith, who was suspended in the air. She was still struggling to try to get free from the binding of Sienna’s spell.

“...,” Eugene silently considered the spirit summoner.

In many ways, he did have a good opinion of Melkith. If Eugene had to be honest, their track record together had been so good that he couldn’t find any real reason to dislike her. That was just how much of a help Melkith had been for Eugene up until now, especially after considering the newfound strength[1] that Melkith had managed to reach, she would continue to be of great help to Eugene in the future as well.

That was why he didn’t want to sour their relationship. So Eugene was willing to go along with whatever Melkith wanted and listen to her requests, at least up to a certain line, so long as there was a clear exchange of interests involved.

However, now....

Eugene felt like he might be developing a bit of a grudge towards Melkith. His desire to keep up a good relationship with her was steadily growing thinner....

“Eugene! Why aren’t you saying anything?! I’m asking you, are you really the reincarnation of the Stupid Hamel?!” Melkith yelled down at him.

After listening to her shout like this, Eugene realized on second thought that Gavid had actually been quite the gentleman. Even though they were enemies, at least that bastard had spoken to Eugene in a tone full of respect.

Gavid had called Eugene Hamel of Extermination.

That was the epithet that had been given to Hamel by the demonfolk. However, Eugene was actually very satisfied with that name....

After all, it at least sounded much more impressive than a shitty title like the Stupid Hamel.

In that sense, Eugene couldn’t help but think that Melkith was quite impressive. To think that she would shout out such a nickname directly in front of the person, especially one that had no redeeming qualities to it....

“You really are the reincarnation of the Stupid Hamel!” Melkith loudly squealed.

She raised her arms above her head and began clapping her hands together, like a cheerleader trying to work up a crowd, and began to chant, “The! Stu! Pid!”

Melkith was enthusiastically clapping in time with her chants. She glared at her fellow wizards who were still sprawled on the ground next to her.

The wizards from the White Tower of Magic, who had been the ones closest to her, didn’t even have the right to refuse. So the wizards forced their tired and aching bodies to stand, and then they started clapping along with Melkith as they repeated her chants.

“Ha! Mel!”

“The! Stu! Pid!”

“Ha! Mel!”

Just what on earth was she trying to do? What was the meaning behind her chanting? Why did she then have to go and pull others into the chanting instead of just making a fuss all on her own? And why wasn’t she satisfied already with just the wizards from the White Tower of Magic? Why was she trying to attract even more people to join in?

“The!” “He!” “Ro!”

“Eu!” “Gene!”

“Li!” “On!” “Heart!”

Why had she changed the chanting from the Stupid Hamel to Eugene Lionheart? What on earth was the meaning behind such a change in designation?

Some of the people who hadn’t dared to move their lips out of tactfulness when she was shouting the Stupid Hamel were subtly beginning to respond more and more after the chanting had turned into the Hero Eugene Lionheart.

Was that why she had changed it?

Just what on earth was Melkith El-Hayah’s goal in trying to make everyone here cheer for Eugene?

Inside Eugene’s cloak, Wynnyd began to hum.

Tempest had been forced into an irrevocable and irresistible contract with Melkith. Now, his voice was heard inside Eugene’s head, [Hamel, that thing isn’t human. It’s just something wearing the face of a human. It might look like a human, but it doesn’t think like one. Whoever created that thing may have bestowed it with great talent, but in return, its creator left a huge hole where its fundamental nature as a human being should be.]

[During the implementation of Omega Force, when I was forced to become one with Melkith El-Hayah, it felt like I was drifting through an abyss. It was like peering into a deep ocean that didn’t have an end in sight. I don’t know how to put into words the terror of the unknown that that sight struck into me. When I and the other Spirit Kings fused with the great chaos that swirls within Melkith El-Hayah... my... my honor was...,] Tempest’s voice trailed off in a trembling murmur.

“The!” “Ra!” “Di!” “Ant!”

The number of people shouting had increased. The new voice belonged to Carmen. She had also been caught up in Gavid’s sword wind, so her face was covered in blood, but surprisingly enough, she didn’t seem to have any other injuries. This had to be because of the outstanding performance of her Exid, the Demon-Dragon Armor, which had been specially modified for her use.

So when Carmen, who was in a much healthier state than any of the others present, shouted, her voice rang out much louder than anyone else’s.

“The!” “Ra!” “Di!” “Ant!”

Carmen was very attached to the title she had come up with for Eugene all by herself. While she also liked some of his other titles, such as the Dragon Slayer and the Blood Lion, she was especially enamored with the Radiant Eugene Lionheart — so much so that she had unconsciously let out a shiver the moment she said those words.

As such, she wanted to make sure that everyone would start calling Eugene with that epithet.

The Great Vermouth.

The Brave Molon.

The Faithful Anise.

The Wise Sienna.

The Stupid Hamel.

And also....

The Radiant Eugene Lionheart.

“The!” “Ra!” “Di!” “Ant!”

A vein was throbbing on Carmen’s neck. Her voice, which was so loud that it could even be compared to a lion’s roar, rang throughout the night sky and shook the desert below.

Once Carmen started shouting like this, the Black Lions who were following her were left with no choice but to start shouting along with Carmen.

Boom, boom, boom!

Their feet all stomped together in a disciplined beat. However, no dusty clouds of sand were raised by their stomping. This was because Carmen and her Black Lions’ cries were so loud that they scattered any clouds of sand before they could form.

“Eu!” “Gene!”

“Li!” “On!” “Heart!”

Just... how on earth was he meant to react to this?

Eugene’s shoulders suddenly began to shake. Startled by this sudden development, Eugene glanced to the side at the cause of this vibration.

Ivatar still had a serious expression on his face, but Eugene could tell that the man’s cheeks were twitching slightly. It seemed that Ivatar had some concerns about whether or not it was appropriate to laugh in the current situation, so he was forcefully holding back his laughter, causing the shaking that Eugene had felt through his shoulders.

“This is...,” Eugene hesitated.

If things continued like this, the thousands of people gathered here would end up chanting the name of Eugene Lionheart. In fact, this wasn’t a bad thing for Eugene. Instead, it was actually something that Eugene should be hoping for. After all, that was how a cult usually formed.

However, now wasn’t the time for that. Eugene wasn’t in a state to handle all this. In fact, if his body had been in healthy condition, he would have slapped the cheeks of everyone who had started shouting his name. Naturally, Melkith, in particular, was deserving of a beating. Carmen had also left him with no other choice; Eugene would have to find the time to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget.

Eugene suddenly heard a deep voice amidst all of these loud shouts.

It wasn’t a part of the chanting, instead the voice quietly muttered, “The Radiant Eugene Lionheart....”

This voice came from Gilead. He was standing, supported from the side by Cyan, and softly muttering the name to himself as if to try and memorize it. Appearing to be extremely moved by something, Gilead’s eyes had even started to well up with tears. At his side, Cyan was already shedding thick streams of tears, and Ciel had also started sniffling....

After silently gazing at his family, Eugene couldn’t help but cancel his plan to slap every single person currently shouting his name.

Eugene let out a deep sigh as he turned to look at the Saints and Sienna.

He couldn’t tell which of the Saints was currently in charge of their body, but judging by their expression, whoever it was seemed very satisfied by the current situation....

As for Sienna, she was smiling right at him, openly finding amusement in Eugene’s situation.

“That’s...,” Eugene tried to find his words.

The Stupid Hamel.

The Hero Eugene Lionheart.

The Radiant Eugene Lionheart.

The voices shouting these three separate names sounded like they were gradually coming to an agreement and settling down on shouting the Radiant Eugene Lionheart all together.

Struggling to speak, Eugene finally squeezed out, “That’s... that’s enough.”

He was speaking in a low voice, but every single person who was passionately chanting his name still managed to hear what Eugene had said. Their chanting, which had seemed like it would last for several days, suddenly came to a stop. Thousands of eyes all turned towards Eugene.

“I’ve got it already, so... let’s just stop here...,” Eugene said with a sigh.

Just what had he gotten from their shouting? Even Eugene, the one who had personally said these words, didn’t know what he meant by them....

However, Eugene sincerely meant every single word that he said. He desperately hoped that they would just stop embarrassing him by chanting his name like that.

“Give us a speech!” Melkith shouted. With her eyes sparkling brightly, she appealed to Eugene, “Eugene! You, are you really the reincarnation of the Stupid Hamel?”

“That’s right...,” Eugene confirmed curtly.

“Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh! My! God! So that means reincarnation truly is possible?! Moreover, yours wasn’t just any ordinary reincarnation, was it!” Melkith screamed shrilly. “The ancestor of your family, whom everyone always brings up whenever there is an opening! The Great Vermouth! You were actually comrades with him?! And the hero that you’ve always said you respect more than Vermouth! The Stupid Hamel! You were actually talking about yourself?!”

To become a wizard, one needed to have a sharp mind. This was because if one wanted to become a wizard, one needed to be able to memorize more than just one or two formulas.

As for the Archwizards, who were the exceptions even among the other wizards, it would be no exaggeration to say that they possessed the keenest minds in the whole collection of wizards. Of course, there were many different ways in which such a sharp mind could express itself, but at the very least, all Archwizards had to possess excellent memories.

In other words, Melkith also possessed an exceptional memory. She could remember each of the compliments aimed at Hamel that Eugene had said in passing without even giving it much thought.

“No way, no freaking way! How could this be!? I always thought that reincarnation itself is absurd and unbelievable, but isn’t it even more absurd and unbelievable to actually use your reincarnation to pretend to be someone else, act all innocent, and then sing praises for yourself[2]?! How could you even do something like that?!” Melkith shouted as she placed her hands on her head in a look of utter shock.

Surprisingly enough, Melkith wasn’t even showing a single trace of malice as she said all this. She truly had simply said these things because she didn’t understand how Eugene could have had the guts to do such a thing in the past.

However, it didn’t feel that way to Eugene. He couldn’t understand what kind of malicious grudge Melkith must have been harboring to harass him like this in such a public location....

“Th-that is...,” Eugene stammered, unable to think of what to say in response.

To think that he would actually be cross-examined like this so publicly.

At that moment, Sienna stepped forward to speak for Eugene, “It’s understandable.”

“Huh?” Melkith said in confusion.

“It’s understandable.” Sienna just repeated herself.

What did she mean by that? Even Eugene turned to look at Sienna in confusion.

Eugene wasn’t the only one with such perplexed emotion in their eyes. Everyone was looking at Sienna with bewildered expressions.

Melkith frowned, “Big sis, what are you saying all of a sudden—”

Sienna’s hair slowly began to stand on end.

“It.”

Her eyes glowed with an inner light.

“Is.”

A galaxy opened up behind Sienna.

“Understandable.”

That was enough. None of the thousands of people present were willing to question Sienna any further. They just calmly nodded in acceptance. Even Melkith didn’t dare to demand a further explanation from Sienna. This was because Melkith personally knew all too well just how forceful and scary Sienna could be when she got like this.

“That’s right, big sis, of course, it’s understandable,” Melkith agreed with a nod, having quickly adapted her attitude.

No matter how much she thought about it, Melkith still couldn’t understand how shameless someone would have to be to do such a thing, but it was clear that if she continued to pursue this topic any further, she would just end up being scolded by Sienna.

No, perhaps it wouldn’t just end on the level of a scolding. She might even end up getting killed... that was just how intense the murderous intent dwelling within Sienna’s eyes was.

There’s no way that Melkith could have known this, but Sienna also had a desperate and unavoidable reason to step forward at this moment. If Eugene were forced to give an explanation for his actions, there was a very good chance that he would express how upset he was about the nickname given to him in the fairy tale. In that case, what if he publicly revealed who the author of the fairy tale was?

And after all, Eugene did have good reason to feel personally attacked due to the ruined reputation of his past life. Then what was so wrong about using a different identity to sing his own praises?

Sienna sincerely believed that such actions were understandable.

“...Ahem,” Anise awkwardly cleared her throat.

Anise was also in agreement with Sienna. After all, it was all because of the two of them, the Wise Sienna and the Faithful Anise, that Hamel had ended up with such an insulting title....

“How... how wonderful,” Lovellian said haltingly as he started sniffling in a corner all by himself.

The secret he believed was known only to him had finally been revealed. A relationship that transcended a whole three hundred years had finally been resurrected, and a new chapter was being written for the fairy tale that had once ended in a tragedy.

Lovellian started clapping as he pictured the course of their romance inside his head. He felt the urge to play the violin like he had in Shimuin, but the entrance to his Pantheon had been destroyed, so it was difficult for him to use any summoning magic right now.

So, instead, Lovellian just continued clapping with all his heart and soul. When the usually serious Red Tower Master started such a round of applause, it created a far different response than when Melkith had tried it. Almost all of the wizards present started clapping with him.

“All of this is the Light’s will,” Raphael declared, as he also started applauding with a sense of wonder.

All of the paladins and priests were already clapping for Eugene.

“The Radiant Eugene Lionheart!” Carmen also shouted once more.

Eugene’s only thought at this moment was that he just wanted to go home already.

“Reincarnation,” Balzac muttered to himself in awe, standing behind the rest of the crowd.

He wrapped his other hand around his trembling arm and squeezed down tightly.

Earlier, Balzac had faced off against some monsters of mysterious origin. Although they weren’t demonic beasts, they seemed more demonic than any of the other demonic beasts, and each of the monsters seemed to possess a closer connection to the power of Destruction than Destruction’s own vassals.

Balzac had used his new Signature, Gluttony, to devour all of the corpses of those monsters. Not only that, but he also swept up all the corpses of any deceased demonfolk that he managed to lay his eyes on.

This overindulgence that had pushed his body far beyond its limits had left his arm unable to feel any sensation other than pain, and the process of fusing these newly acquired resources into himself was so excruciating that it made him want to vomit them out right away.

However, at this moment, Balzac couldn’t feel any of his previous pain. His head, which had been clouded and throbbing in agony, instead seemed to have cleared up instantly.

Like everyone else here, he felt awed and mystified by the sudden news of Hamel’s reincarnation. Balzac could never have imagined that reincarnation was actually possible. Not only that, this wasn’t just any ordinary reincarnation either. Thanks to this reincarnation, the title of the Hero had actually been inherited many generations later by another member of the Lionheart family. Nobody could believe that this was just a coincidence.

It was definitely not a coincidence that a new Hero had been born after three hundred years.

It was fate that ensured Hamel Dynas would be reincarnated as Eugene Lionheart.

It was also fate that led the Demon King of Incarceration, who had upheld the peace for such a long period of time, to announce that the end of the Oath was approaching.

‘In that case...,’ Balzac shivered in excitement.

Soon, the final act of this era would be upon them. He didn’t know if everything would just end there or if they would be able to survive and move on to the next chapter, but even so....

Balzac, at least, felt grateful to be alive in this present era.

1. Just in case this is confusing, it refers to her development of the Omega Force ☜

2. The original text uses the Korean idiom of ‘put gold on your face.’ I had trouble thinking of a corresponding English idiom that means something similar, but I settled on this phrase as the one that seemed the most appropriate. ☜