It went just as Noir had promised.
Eugene wasn’t investigated for his involvement in the fall of the Dragon Demon Castle or the eradication of Karabloom, nor was there any investigation into the identity of Raimira, someone without any apparent relations to the rest of their group. They were able to check out of the hotel and leave for Pandemonium without any problems whatsoever.
They needed to go to Pandemonium to use the international warp-gate that was located in the capital city in order to leave Helmuth. Because they had first entered Helmuth through its border at the Alcarte Parish, this would be Eugene’s first time seeing Pandemonium in this life.
Eugene compared Pandemonium, which he had last seen three hundred years ago, with the current Pandemonium that he was standing in front of now.
“It really has changed a lot,” Eugene observed.
Even within this concrete jungle, the ninety-nine-storied building stood out. A towering Demon King’s Castle that seemed like it could even touch the sky, this was Babel. Eugene clicked his tongue as he compared the current Babel with the Babel from his previous life.
There had once been a red plain in front of the castle, which had somewhat served as the front courtyard of Babel. The horrors of the black fog that had once shrouded this land finally ended only after the ground had been layered with the corpses of humans, demonfolks, and demonic beasts.
Now, countless high-rises had been erected here, and at the center of it all stood a memorial park dedicated in remembrance to all those who had died during the war.
‘Where did the Centipede Mountains go?’ Eugene wondered.
Three hundred years ago, the Centipede Mountains had once surrounded the borders of this fief, but now those disgusting, hideous, and capable-of-crawling mountains were nowhere to be seen. Had they really cleared away the entire mountain range while they were building the city?
‘Or perhaps they just stuffed them away somewhere,’ speculated Eugene.
The notorious Centipede Mountains from his previous life had been closer to gigantic demonic beasts than to any normal terrain. Those giant centipedes might even still be buried beneath those neatly paved roads.
As his thoughts continued in this direction, Eugene let out a bemused snort at his own bewilderment. The changes he had witnessed throughout Helmuth were remarkable, but the changes that had occurred here in Pandemonium were particularly startling. Why had the Demon King’s Castle transformed into a ninety-nine-storied high-rise, and what were those things floating through the sky… those hundreds of small fish?
“They’re watching us…,” Mer reported with a worried expression as she grabbed onto Eugene’s collar.
These were the Air Fish, Pandemonium's prided perfect security system that had been introduced in the tourist booklet that they were provided with before they had entered Helmuth.
“Look at all those fish up there, Sir Eugene. It’s said that they keep an eye over this vast city 24/7, covering every square inch of land. Everything they see is then sent to the control office in Babel, the Demon King’s Castle,” Mer recalled from the brochure.
“Hehehe, it seems that you’re well-informed, Mer. As you’ve just said, those Air Fish are the perfect security system that Pandemonium is so proud of. If anything illegal is spotted inside of the city, Babel’s Bureau of Control will immediately dispatch their security forces,” Raimira, whose head was covered by an oversized hood, laughed with a proud lift of her chin.
Although her forehead was usually crowned by her winding golden antlers, currently, her horns weren’t out on display. This was because Eugene had told her to hide them due to the fact that they were far too eye-catching.
Naturally, Raimira had protested this order. Because to her, as the daughter of a Duke, the Black Dragon, and as a dragon herself, the red jewel and horns on her forehead were part of her identity as a dragon.
However, after being told that if she didn’t get rid of her horns right away, he would slash her red jewel with his sword, Raimira had agreed to set aside her dignity as a dragon, at least for a little while.
“However, Mer and Sir Eugene, this Lady insists that you be more tactful in your treatment of this Lady. Should this Lady be subject to unjust violence and harassment, I will be sure to raise a high-pitched cry that everyone in Pandemonium will hear….” Raimira’s voice gradually sank as she kept talking.
This was because Eugene’s eyes had widened, and he was glaring at Raimira. Although her red jewel hadn’t even been struck yet, his savage gaze alone was enough to fill Raimira with fear.
“Of… of course… of course I won’t scream.” Raimira stammered, “Th-there’s no way I would do something like that.”
Squeeze.
“Why do you have to keep scaring her?” Kristina complained with a glance towards Eugene as she wrapped her hands comfortingly around Raimira’s own.
At this sight, Raimira felt deeply moved, and she looked up at Kristina. Although Raimira had never known her mother, she wondered if this was what it would feel like to have a mother.
“She’s the one spouting nonsense,” Eugene protested.
“Even if that is the case, it’s still not right for you to resort to violence,” Kristina chided. “Children are sensitive and special care needs to be taken when disciplining them.”
Eugene scoffed, “You’re calling her a child…? Her age should be around four times older than yours and mine combined….”
“Since her personality hasn’t properly developed and she still thinks in a childish fashion, that means she is a child,” Kristina insisted.
Kristina hadn’t denied that Raimira had been spouting nonsense just now. She had also admitted in a roundabout way that, even for a dragon, Raimira acted in a childish manner that didn’t match her age.
However, Raimira wasn’t able to see through the meaning behind Kristina’s words. Instead, she gently returned Kristina’s grip on her hands and pulled them close to her chest with a giggle.
“I kind of want to call her mother,” Raimira muttered to herself.
Kristina responded distractedly, “Huh?”
Raimira’s face reddened as she stammered, “N-no… I… I didn’t say anything….”
In fact, this was all due to conscious guidance on Anise’s part.
Although she didn’t think it was possible for the Black Dragon Raizakia to have any fatherly love for his daughter, even so, the Dragon Duchess still had some value as a hostage. Because, setting aside any fatherly affection, Anise was sure that Raizakia did feel a possessiveness over Raimira, though because of her value as a sacrifice first and as his daughter second.
Apart from that, Anise had also decided that she could use Raimira as a counterforce to Mer. It had been a clever move on that chick Sienna’s part to leave behind a familiar that closely resembled her childhood self.
It should have been because of her obsession and longing for the happy ending that they had talked about during their journey, and Sienna herself couldn’t have imagined that her familiar would end up getting close to Eugene, but….
In any case, hadn’t Mer still ended up accompanying Eugene. That cunning and cheeky familiar that so resembled her owner, Mer had managed to establish her character by acting like a child that had been born to both Hamel and Sienna.
Even now, Mer was stuck to Eugene’s side as if that position naturally belonged to her, so what would happen when Sienna was someday resurrected? How destructive would the actions of two people acting like a mother and a daughter be?
Kristina hesitated, ‘...No matter what, Sister, pretending to be a mother and daughter with a Dragon Duchess who has no relation to us is a little—’
Anise snapped at her, [Kristina! There’s no need to go so far as to pretend to be mother and daughter. You just need to fake playing house enough that we can fight back against Sienna and Mer. You should know by now that Hamel has a soft heart, so there’s no way he’ll get rid of this Dragon Duchess with such a tragic backstory.]
‘That might be the case, but….’
Kristina and Anise had slightly different perspectives when it came to the Dragon Duchess.
While Anise saw her as a valuable hostage and a counterforce to Mer, Kristina instead felt only pity for the situation that the Dragon Duchess was in.
Anise continued to persuade her, [Isn’t that more reason why you should take care of her? In fact, if at all possible, I want you to have a child with Hamel before Sienna returns—]
“Huh?” Kristina yelped.
She was so surprised and embarrassed that she unconsciously spoke out loud.
[What are you so surprised about?] Anise asked. [Kristina, don’t you secretly want that as well—?]
‘When did I ever say that?!’ Kristina protested.
[One of the cute things about you is that you can still panic and try to lie to me even though we share the same consciousness. Or perhaps, Kristina, how about you play Mer’s role instead?] Anise proposed.
‘P-p-please don’t say something so ridiculous…!’
[Yeah, I thought you would respond like that. Since you don’t want to call Hamel your daddy… hmm… I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if I tried it out myself…. Kristina, I just thought of a really great idea. What if I pretend to be you and act like a child to Hamel… then I’ll make kissing noises and—]
“Aaargh!” Kristina let out a shriek, unable to keep listening to Anise, her face flushed with embarrassment and shame.
What unbelievable shadiness for someone who was once called a Saint!
“There she goes again,” Eugene sighed.
He had seen this sight so often that it didn’t surprise him anymore. Eugene pondered what in hell Anise was saying inside her head to cause Kristina to go into such a seizure, but Eugene held back the urge to ask as he didn’t feel confident that he was ready to face the truth.
“I-if you shout like that, we’ll get caught…!” Mer panicked and clutched at Eugene’s arms, but Eugene just clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“We won’t get caught,” Eugene reassured her.
This was thanks to the black casino coin he had received from Noir. Because it came from such a suspicious source, Eugene had done a lot of research on the coin.
There was no magic infused into this coin. Instead, it had been embedded with Noir’s immense dark power and fused with her authority. Just holding the coin alone was enough to influence any outside ability to perceive their group.
‘The Demoneye of Fantasy,’ Eugene thought silently.
While it couldn’t cause such a drastic change in perception as when Noir herself opened her Demoneye, the coin could still easily fool Helmuth’s strict background checks.
Even now, it was still at work.
Pandemonium’s Air-fish were designed to continuously examine the identities of every target that they observed.
The fall of the Dragon Demon Castle and the eradication of Karabloom were at this very moment being reported on the news being broadcast from Pandemonium’s billboards and holograms.
However, even though the Dragon Duchess, the only survivor of the Dragon Demon Castle, was right in front of them, none of the Air-fish had been drawn to her. In other words, the black coin that Noir had given him was even able to fool the Air-fish’s detection.
‘The power of her Demoneye is far too strong,’ Eugene observed. ‘If I’m going to fight Noir, then I need to prepare some countermeasures for her Demoneye….’
Right now, he didn’t have any solutions available to him. Just the other day, when Noir came looking for them at their hotel, Eugene hadn’t been able to resist when the power of her Demoneye of Fantasy was released right in front of his nose.
[Lalala~ Lalala~][1]
[Happy happy happy Giabella~]
[Everyday~ Giabella~]
[Welcome to the Giabella Park~]
[Dreams come true~~]
Eugene was struck dumb as he watched the demonfolk idols dance on the hologram screens.
This group was the Dream Girls, who had just debuted under the Giabella Entertainment Agency. In front of their five-member girl group, who seemed to embody the concept of liveliness, Noir Giabella was promoting her Giabella Park while wearing a costume identical to the idols….
“Th-that… that shameless hussy… how could she wear such an outrageous outfit…,” as a priest, Kristina stammered violently as she experienced a sense of acute culture shock.
Eugene was also feeling a similar sort of shock. After glaring at the perfect choreography being displayed on the holographic screen, in the end, he just turned his head away and left.
“...Let’s go.”
Thanks to the coin, he didn’t have to worry about being caught by an inspection, but even so, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down completely.
This was the Capital City of Pandemonium. As the place where the Demon King of Incarceration’s Castle was located, this was also where his loyal henchman, Gavid Lindman, could usually be found. Especially since Gavid was the Grand Duke and the Chief of Security here in Helmuth.
If they needlessly lurked around in Pandemonium and got caught by Gavid or his Black Fog, then it could become a pain in the ass. Because no matter how strong Noir Giabella’s authority was, it still wouldn’t be enough to fool Gavid’s eyes.
“You were planning on returning to the Lionheart Estate, right?” Kristina asked.
“It won’t take too long. I’m just going to stop by shortly to borrow something,” Eugene explained.
They had headed to the Dragon Demon Castle in such a hurry because they needed to investigate the identity of Raizakia’s hatchling. Fortunately, things had worked out well, and they had even managed to kidnap the Dragon Duchess, and they had also confirmed that Raizakia was still connected to the land within the Rainforest.
Although he had considered just heading to the Samar Rainforest like this, Eugene decided to make a few more preparations in order to be sure of defeating Raizakia.
“I’ll return by myself, so you should keep an eye on this brat, Kristina,” Eugene instructed.
Kristina nodded, “Yes, understood.”
They had already discussed this beforehand. In terms of pure combat power, Kristina might still be lacking, but Anise could add her own strength onto Kristina’s. On top of that, since they had already received a Draconic Promise from Raimira, it was impossible for her to escape.
‘Well, in the first place, I don’t think that this hatchling with such a low mental age will even think of running away,’ Eugene thought as he headed towards the warp-gate.
Raimira, who was holding on to the hem of Kristina’s robe as they walked, pouted her lips.
“This Lady also wants to see what the Lionheart Estate is like,” Raimira demanded. “From what this Lady has heard, the Lionhearts are the strongest martial clan on the continent, and their estate is quite magnificent. I have also heard that there are a lot of rarely-seen elves living there.”
“You’re really well-informed,” Eugene observed.
“This Lady has perused a lot of information while resting in my villa,” Raimira declared proudly.
By that, she meant that she had usually watched TV all day. Raimira was acting smug while puffing out her chest, but Eugene didn’t even bother to expose her.
“The Lionhearts will hate you,” Eugene stated bluntly. “There’s no place for you there.”
Raimira protested, “What are you talking about? What has this Lady done for the Lionhearts to hate me so?”
“Isn’t it only natural when you consider who your father is?” Eugene pointed out.
“Uh… um… th-this Lady might be the daughter of the Black Dragon, but I don’t think that any dislike of my father should really reflect on me…,” Raimira said in a tearful voice.
However, no matter how pitifully she begged, Eugene had no intention of taking Raimira home with him for the moment.
The reason for this was simple. It was because Eugene was trying to be tactful.
Although it had never been his intention to do so, whenever Eugene left the main house and traveled somewhere, he had always ended up bringing guests with him on his return.
There was Laman from Nahama, over a hundred elves from Samar, and Kristina from the Holy Empire. What if he brought the Dragon Duchess home with him this time? Ancilla’s fan might just end up flying out of her hands in anger.
‘...Though maybe she’ll actually be pleased…,’ Eugene considered hopefully.
Now that she was the main lady of the Lionheart house, Ancilla had lost much of her poisonous thorns. This meant that her personality had become much more flexible. Judging by her attitude towards Mer, she seemed to be particularly fond of children. As such, she might find Raimira quite cute as well. But for Eugene, that would just make things even more stressful.
Although Eugene didn’t go so far as to think of Raimira as a hostage, that didn’t mean he was going to treat her with any sort of affection. He still hadn’t come up with an answer of what to do with her once they killed Raizakia, but according to common sense, there was no way that she would feel comfortable with her father’s killers.
“Mer, how dare you act so unpleasantly towards this Lady. If you keep that up, this Lady shall be forced to discipline you by informing the Black Dragon,” Raimira threatened.
Mer scoffed, “What are you talking about? Sir Eugene is going to kill your father.”
“There is no way that Duke Black Dragon will be slain by humans. If you choose to submit to this Lady now, even if that human dies, this Lady can spare your life by taking you in as my personal maidservant,” Raimira generously offered.
The back-and-forth conversation between the two was causing Eugene to clench his fist in irritation….
* * *
Eugene’s purpose for dropping by the Lionheart Estate was to borrow Geddon’s Shield, which was currently in Cyan’s possession. When he left for Helmuth, Cyan had yet to return from Ruhr, so he hadn’t been able to borrow the shield back then.
Geddon’s Shield was able to redirect all the attacks that it blocked into empty space. This meant that as long as the wielder’s mana held up, it could block any attack.
While its ability was absurdly powerful, the mana consumption was just as significant. Anytime the shield was used in defense, the stronger the attack that it blocked, the exponentially greater the amount of mana that was required. So much so that even someone like Vermouth wasn’t able to use Geddon’s Shield repeatedly.
‘Though his opponents were the Demon Kings,’ Eugene admitted.
Raizakia, who was trapped within a dimensional rift, couldn’t be in his normal condition. However, Eugene still didn’t think it was definite that Raizakia would be any weaker than he was in his prime.
As such, he needed to prepare as thoroughly as he could. If he used Geddon’s Shield, he would be able to block Raizakia’s breath attack a few times.
‘The dimensional rift won’t be an advantageous battlefield for me either.’
In a place like that, there was no mana or primal spirits. It would be an environment similar to the other side of the Lehainjar, where Eugene had his fight with Molon.
‘That means I won’t be able to use Prominence to its full potential.’
It would be impossible for Eugene to use it in replacement for Ignition like he had in the Dragon Demon Castle.
‘Any Spatial Leap using the feathers… might also be impossible.’
Even if the feathers could still be used as a replacement for the spatial coordinates, it was unlikely that a Spatial Leap would work properly within a dimensional rift.
What if he made a mistake and accidentally jumped from one rift to another?
[If that happens, even if it is you, Sir Eugene, you’ll be sure to perish if you can’t get any help. Or perhaps you’ll get stuck in a rift somewhere just like Raizakia,] Mer chipped in.
‘Hmph,’ Eugene snorted mentally.
It was too early to make any precise assessments, but there was a high possibility of just such a danger.
Eugene assessed the situation gravely, ‘If Prominence is sealed, the battle will be extremely difficult. No matter how much mana I might have, it's impossible for me to match a dragon in terms of firepower.’
[That dragon has been trapped there for hundreds of years,] Mer pointed out.
‘But Raizakia is an Ancient Dragon,’ Eugene argued back. ‘His Dragonheart should be able to emit a near-infinite flow of mana, and if he managed to endure those hundreds of years of being trapped by going into hibernation, then his mana consumption wouldn’t be too great.’
If Eugene couldn’t use Prominence to its fullest, then he could still try a head-on challenge by releasing his full firepower. Still, Eugene felt that under the current conditions, a head-on confrontation should be avoided if at all possible. If he could overcome any unavoidable attacks with Geddon’s Shield, then he could use other weapons, such as the Moonlight Sword to—
A voice interrupted his thoughts, “Sir Eugene?”
While he was in the middle of his contemplation, Eugene had arrived at the Lionheart estate. Eugene raised his head in response to the startled cry that came from in front of him. The Knights of the White Lion, who were standing guard at the front gate, approached him with surprised expressions.
“Are you back from your journey to find yourself?” one of the knights inquired.
Another added, “If you had sent us a message in advance, we could have opened the warp-gate within the estate for you… no, more importantly, why have you arrived on foot? Without riding a carriage or even a horse….”
After safely leaving Pandemonium, their group had arrived at the capital of Kiehl. Leaving Raimira in Kristina’s care for a short while, Eugene had headed to the Lionheart’s Estate on foot. This was because Eugene could travel much faster on foot than if riding in a carriage.
While it might be more efficient, traveling like this still lacked in noble dignity. Of course, Eugene really didn’t care about something like that.
So he casually came up with the excuse, “I needed some time to think.”
He thought it was just a simple answer, but the knights’ expressions grew strange for some reason.
“Is that… so,” they slowly replied.
Was this a sign of delayed puberty? Or perhaps Eugene really did take after Carmen Lionheart.
After recalling Eugene’s nicknames of the Lightning Flash and the Blood Lion, the knights felt even more convinced of their suspicions.
“You can’t imagine how fervently the Patriarch and the Lady of the House searched for you, Sir Eugene…,” the knights said, changing the subject. “It’s a blessing that you have returned safely.”
Eugene tilted his head in curiosity at these words.
“The two of them were looking for me? Didn’t they read the letter I left behind for them?” Eugene inquired.
The knights hesitated, “Ah… they did. However, a guest came looking for you a few days ago, Sir Eugene.”
“A guest?” Eugene repeated.
Another guest had come looking for him? When he tried to think of who it might be, no one immediately came to mind.
Eugene decided to ask straightforwardly, “Who on earth came looking for me?”
“He says that he is the next chieftain of the Zoran Tribe from the Samar Rainforest,” the knights replied. “He gave his name as Ivatar Jahav. He came looking for us four days ago on his own, saying that Sir Eugene had left him an invitation.”
Eugene remembered who this was. Two years ago, when he brought the elves back with him from the Samar Rainforest, he had received protection from the warriors of the Zoran Tribe, who were led by Ivatar.
—I don’t want any material compensation from you. Just someday, if I ever come looking for you at the Lionheart Estate, I want you to welcome me as your guest.
—I can at least do that much.
After they parted ways with that, they hadn’t exchanged any contact over the past two years.
“I told him to at least send me a letter before he came over,” Eugene grumbled.
The knights informed him, “Several letters did come for you, Sir Eugene, before Ivatar Jahav himself arrived here.”
“Seeing how he came looking for me right away without even waiting for a reply, there must be something urgent,” Eugene muttered as he furrowed his brow.
‘What could it be?’ he silently asked himself.
It didn’t seem like a simple coincidence that Ivatar would come looking for him just as he was preparing to leave for the Samar Rainforest.
1. Just as a note, this little ditty was apparently sung in English. ☜
