Damn Reincarnation

… Vermouth’s soul is being held by the Demon King of Incarceration,” Eugene speculated.

“If the Demon King of Incarceration promised peace in exchange for Sir Vermouth’s soul…,” whispered Anise.

“It’s just a wild guess, but if that were true, then I have no choice but to admit that this world itself is hell, just as you said,” spat Eugene in a tone full of resentment.

Vermouth had saved the world, albeit not in a way Eugene liked.
He deserved heaven more than anyone else in the world, but Vermouth had still failed to ascend.
Even when Eugene tried to track Vermouth by using the Draconic spell contained in Akasha, crimson eyes and the sound of dragging chains had obscured his path.

Demonfolks and Demon Kings received souls in exchange for their services and promises.
Helmuth urged humans to make contracts of the soul, and countless people became shackled to the demonfolks and Demon Kings of Helmuth.
Such humans could not ascend to heaven, nor could they reincarnate.
They could only live out their fruitless lives according to the contents of their contracts, slaving away for the demonfolks and the Demon Kings.

An empire of shadows robbed of their chance to reincarnate — that was Helmuth.
If this world truly was a hell of repeated reincarnations for souls that failed to reach heaven, Helmuth would be the greatest hell.

“Hamel.
I don’t know how you were projected a past life you didn’t recognize by the Dark Room.
Ordinary people don’t even remember their previous life, but you remember your life as Hamel,” said Anise.
Perhaps his specialty had affected the Dark Room?

Eugene tightened his grasp on the necklace.
“…I didn’t see it through.”

The Dark Room had projected Eugene’s life leading up to the current moment, starting from when he was a child until who he currently was as Eugene Lionheart.
The projection of Hamel’s life began from the moment he died at the Demon King of Incarceration’s Castle, then played backward.
The unknown man’s life had been displayed afterward, but Eugene had not seen how the man met his end.
Did he die of exhaustion while wandering in despair on the battlefield of corpses? Was he the same man as the one who had been sitting on the mountain of bodies? Eugene wasn’t certain of anything.
After all, the man’s life had been projected for only a short moment.

“Hamel.
A past life unknown to you isn’t that important, is it?” asked Anise with a worried expression.
She stretched out her hand, then stroked his clenched fist before continuing.
“I do not know the method to remember one’s past life, and I don’t want to know either.
Because it’s not important.
You are both Hamel and Eugene, but I won’t differentiate either.”

“Because I’m just me,” said Eugene firmly.

“Yes.
It’s the same for me as well.
Just as Kristina is Kristina, I am just Anise….
Isn’t that enough?” asked Anise.

“It just bothers me a little, that’s all,” grumbled Eugene, shaking his head.
“Vermouth was the one who made the Dark Room.
I don’t know when he started to plan my reincarnation, but that son of a bitch was very meticulous in making sure I was born as his descendant.
He planted the necklace in anticipation that I would naturally enter the treasure vault after getting to the main house.”

“Now, that wasn’t very hard to predict, was it? Hamel, knowing your personality, you would have definitely tried to break in to empty the treasure room,” Anise stated naturally.

“I didn’t, but I probably would have once I was old enough and strong enough.” Eugene couldn’t help but agree.
“But I don’t know if the White Flame Formula was made for me too….”

“But you would have mastered it regardless.
You felt a great sense of inferiority and aspiration towards Sir Vermouth during your past life, didn’t you?” asked Anise.

“Inferio-rity? As-piration?” Eugene sounded shocked.

“Don’t pretend that you didn’t.
Even if you deny it, everyone knows that you did.
Fortunately, the current head of the Lionheart clan gladly accepted you into the main house since he is a generous man, but what if that had not been the case? Do you think you could have given up on the White Flame Formula?” asked Anise.

Instead of answering, Eugene took on a stupid expression.
If he had never been taken in and never given the opportunity to learn the White Flame Formula… then he would have trained in the Red Flame Formula or the mana training method from his previous life.

But would he have been satisfied? Once he grew strong enough, wouldn’t he have attacked the main house under the pretext of curiosity? Then he would have robbed the White Flame Formula….
No, even for him, that was too brainless.

‘I could have convinced them that I was a friend of their founder to have them hand over the formula.’

Anise grabbed Eugene by the wrist with a chuckle.
“I can see exactly what you’re thinking.
The Dark Room was created by Sir Vermouth.
Do you think he might have left you a message or something similar?”

“…Only because I saw something strange,” answered Eugene.

“Do you think the past life you saw in there is a message from Sir Vermouth?” asked Anise.

“I don’t know about that, but I do know that the Dark Room is a gift for me,” said Eugene, raising himself out of his chair.
The phantom of the Dark Room wasn’t as strong as he had been in his prime, but it was close.
Moreover, the phantom fought well, according to how Eugene imagined himself fighting.

He remembered Gion explaining how the White Flame Formula changed once one overcame the phantom of the Dark Room.
Eugene wasn’t sure exactly how the White Flame Formula would change for him, but for now, he was focusing on the battle with the phantom itself rather than any changes to the White Flame Formula.
The phantom of the Dark Room was a little stronger and faster than Eugene, so the standard strategy for overcoming the Dark Room was to create something new that the phantom could not duplicate.
As long as he fixated on that, Eugene was certain he could overcome the Dark Room within three or four days at the latest.

But that wasn’t enough.

“…If I want to defeat Raizakia, I must at least become as strong as I was in my previous life.”

Raizakia was roaming somewhere between dimensions, and Eugene couldn’t count on Anise’s help in killing the dragon.
Although Anise resided within Kristina, Kristina could not yet create miracles on the same level as Anise from three hundred years ago.
Moreover, if she entered the gap between dimensions, in the worst-case scenario, Anise’s soul could well be expelled from Kristina’s body.
So Eugene had no intention of taking Anise along to hunt Raizakia.
The same was true for Kristina.
He knew that the girls weren’t convinced by his decision, but he had no intention of changing his mind.

‘Becoming as strong as Hamel isn’t enough.’

Hamel from three hundred years ago had been strong.
But had he been strong enough to kill the Demon Kings by himself? Clearly not.
Even the Demon King of Carnage, the weakest of the Demon Kings, required all five members of the Hero’s party to fight for several days before finally dying.
In fact, there was no need to even discuss the Demon Kings.
Kamash, the chief of the giants, one of Fury’s four heavenly kings, had presented a challenge for both Vermouth and Hamel working together.
Incarceration’s Blade, Gavid Lindman, was forced only to retreat even though Hamel and Sienna had placed their lives on the line.

Even though Hamel had been incredibly strong, he had not been strong enough to hunt high-ranking demonfolks and the Demon Kings by himself.
If he had to give a purely objective judgment regarding the power of Hamel from three hundred years ago, Hamel could slaughter Iris by himself but would fare badly against demonfolks stronger than her.

It was difficult to gauge exactly how strong Raizakia was.
Sienna had expelled Raizaki to another dimension while suffering from fatal injuries.
Although she failed and only managed to stick him in a place between dimensions, it was clear that she had performed great magic that the Black Dragon Raizakia failed to resist.
But such a feat had been impossible considering how strong Sienna had been three hundred years ago.
Had it been possible because she completed the Eternal Hole? No, according to what Anise saw at the time — Sienna had not been alone in expelling Raizakia.
Hundreds of elves present had protected Sienna, and the roots of the World Tree had protected Sienna and the elves while also giving strength to Sienna.

‘But I can’t do it like Sienna.’

Hamel had never been strong enough to kill Raizakia by himself, so he had to become stronger than Hamel in every way.

Two days later, Eugene once again descended to the Dark Room.
He was accompanied by Gilead, Gion, and Carmen.

[Great timing.
The injuries of the knights were so light that it wasn’t worth treating them.
Let’s practice your miracles on their bodies.] Anise chimed in.

Kristina accompanied the four people as well.
Naturally, she wasn’t allowed into the Dark Room but could wait by the entrance.
If Eugene ran rampant like last time, Carmen, Gilead, and Gion would stop him, while Kristina would assist and heal them.

‘Sister… Are you being serious?’

[Of course, Kristina.
In fact, the best place to train divine magic is the battlefield, but there is no war in this era, right? So you shouldn’t miss this rare opportunity to practice.]

‘But….
I’m not confident in miracles that allow reattaching and regenerating of severed limbs.’

[Don’t worry.
Who would blame you even if you can’t grow their arms and legs? They will resent Hamel instead for having cut off their arms and legs.]

Of course, Eugene had no intention of cutting off anyone’s limbs.

“Well, I’ll be back,” said Eugene cheerfully while walking to the door of the Dark Room.
Gion looked at Eugene with wonder.
Even if the battle was only taking place inside one’s mind, the battle against the phantom would likely result in a tragic defeat and death, a death that would feel as real as possible.
So how could he laugh and be so happy?

“Since we have Auxiliary Bishop Kristina’s divine magic, it wouldn’t be bad for us to fight one by one,” Carmen suggested.

“Then I will go first.” Gilead was the first one to step up.
Although Carmen and Gilead didn’t seem as enthusiastic as Eugene, they were also motivated.

“…Wouldn’t it be better for me to go first? I am the youngest here…,” Gion chimed in.

“Are you saying you’ll be considerate because I’m old?” asked Carmen.

“Auntie, I didn’t mean it like that….”

“I thought I told you not to call me that,” Carmen cut in with a glare.

[How cute.]

‘What?’

[They are descendants of my comrade, after all, right? Since it’s cumbersome to count the generations that passed by, I just think of them all as Sir Vermouth’s grandchildren….
They are very cute,] Anise said with a giggle.

Kristina hurriedly raised her hand to her mouth, afraid Anise’s thoughts would accidentally slip from her tongue.

Eugene walked across the white space and soon saw the magic circle on the floor.
He walked up to the magic circle, hoping to see his previous lives once more, but nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, the phantom appeared straight away.
It wasn’t any different from two days ago.

Eugene glanced at the phantom, the weapons surrounding them, and then at the sword in his hand.
“Hmm….” After a moment of pondering, he laughed.
Then he proceeded to discard the sword in his hand.

He clenched his fists and raised them to his chest.
“Should we go with our bare hands today?”