Damn Reincarnation

but she’s not normal.”

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“Eugene is right,” Ciel piped in, nodding.
“Princess Scalia is not normal.
Even now, she almost attacked us, right? It means she’s incapable of distinguishing what’s right in front of her eyes.
She’s not in the right state of mind.
However, it’s even more annoying because she’s Shimuin’s princess.
So even if we are the Lionhearts, there’s nothing we can do against her.”

Kristina and Cyan did not argue any further after hearing Ciel and Eugene’s opinions.

[Can I come out now?] Mer asked from inside Eugene’s cloak.

Instead of answering, however, Eugene tightened the cloak around him.
But it wasn’t out of spite.
Mer realized Eugene’s intent and let out a small, surprised sound.

“…Ah,” Kristina exclaimed as well.
Although she could not read Eugene’s mind, Anise had spoken from inside her mind.
Kristina placed her hand on the flail on her waist with a stiff expression.
They found themselves in an even stronger snowstorm once they exited the tent.
Abel took the lead once more, and the group began cutting through the blizzard.

“Don’t get too far from the group,” Eugene cautioned.

It wasn’t their first time traveling through a snowstorm, but the warning felt quite unusual for Cyan and Ciel.
However, they didn’t ask any questions.
Eugene’s voice was as cold as the swirling snow; the finality in it meant the table wasn’t open for any discussions or questions.
The following silence only intensified the tension.
Cyan took off Gedon’s Shield from his back and placed it on his left arm, though he couldn’t give an exact reason for his behavior.
Ciel grabbed the pommel of the Phantom Rain Sword, which was hidden inside her cloak.

Eugene was the first to sense the change.
But instead of speaking out, he activated the White Flame Formula.
Cyan and Ciel halted their steps at the sudden activation of mana.

Fwoosh!

Kristina called on the Light and pushed the blizzard away.
Wings of Light unfolded brilliantly to encompass their surroundings, and a large cross enveloped in a circle appeared beneath their feet.

Eugene turned around.
The snow did not invade the holy formation, and he could see that someone stood on the far side of the blizzard outside the circle.
It was none other than Princess Scalia.

“Something’s…” mumbled Cyan.

He stared at Scalia while holding Gedon’s Shield.
Although the blizzard was raging quite strongly, he could make out her face if he focused hard enough.

Something was wrong.
It was similar to what he had felt before, but Scalia was even stranger now.
Her eyes were rather dim and out of focus earlier, but now, they had no focus at all.
Even though Scalia’s eyes were open, they were utterly devoid of any light, as if they belonged to the dead.

“Where is Sir Dior…?”

“Pay for your sins with death!” Scalia roared before Cyan could finish.
Her face was displayed inside her helmet, and dark blue mana wrapped and soared from her figure.

Boom!

The snow around her scattered and evaporated in an instant.
Scalia charged forward through the blizzard.

“Princess!” However, Dior ran forward and blocked her path before anything else happened.
He opened his arms wide in front of Scalia and shouted in a bewildered voice.
“P-please stop! They are from the Lionheart—”

“Do you dare to stand in the way of my royal self!? You are not worthy!” roared Scaila before swinging down at Dior without hesitation.
She wasn’t attacking to threaten him but rather trying to cleave his body in half.
Dior belatedly drew his own sword in surprise.

Clang!

Although he had been late to draw his blade, Dior managed to deflect Scalia’s blow without any difficulty.
Moreover, his posture wasn’t disturbed even the slightest, even though he had received her blow from the bottom.

“Ah…!” Cyan stepped forward to help, but Eugene raised his arm and blocked his path.
Cyan looked at Eugene with shock.
“What!? Why?”

“Hold on a second,” said Eugene without any further explanation.

Boom!

Another explosion resounded.
Scalia had swung down her sword like an axe with a grimace, and Dior received her blow once more without backing down.
He was quite skilled.
Eugene had assumed that Dior had been hiding his skills earlier, and as expected, Dior showed prowess befitting or even greater than what was expected from the son of Shimuin’s First Knight to block Scalia’s fierce offensive.
It was difficult to estimate exactly how much mana he was outputting, but it was pretty clear that Dior had an advantage over the Vice Commander of the Violent Tide Knights when it came to sword-light.

Scalia was out of her mind, but her blade was not dulled by the influence on her mind.
Instead, Scalia was wielding her sword with all her might precisely because she was not in her right mind.
But, even so, she could not best Dior.

“Ugh…!” Dior was genuinely at a loss.
Although he had intervened in a hurry, he had no idea why Princess Scalia was running rampant.
The only thing that was clear was that Princess Scalia did not recognize the Lionhearts or him.

“You dirty, scumbag pirates.
Have you followed my royal self out of the sea all the way to this white land? You, aren’t you the mercenary I killed earlier? How is it that you’re still alive? Aha! That’s right! You must have sold your soul to an evil demon!” shouted Scalia.
It was impossible to understand what she was saying at all.

That wasn’t the only problem either.
Dior didn’t want to expose himself to the young lions of the Lionheart clan.
However, it wasn’t as if he could leave Princess Scalia to turn her sword against them either.

‘Let’s focus on subduing her…’ Dior thought fast.

There would be no end in sight if he only focused on defending.
As such, Dior was left with no choice but to come to a compromise.
He would properly subdue Princess Scalia.
After making up his mind, he tightened his grip on his sword.

He made one last eye contact with Princess Scalia as if to ask for her understanding.
He could see her dull eyes nesting inside her helmet, her lifeless, dim eyes….

“Princess Scal—”

Dior was never given an opportunity to finish.
The distance between him and Princess Scalia was short enough for proper eye contact, and as soon as he peered into her eyes, it felt as if the distance between them had shortened.
Had it, really? No, the only thing that had approached him was the gaze.

‘Her eyes.’

Dior stiffened up like a stone statue.
He found himself unable to control his body, let alone wield his sword.

“This body is too weak.”

He heard a voice coming from inside Scalia’s helmet.
The voice belonged to her, but the one speaking wasn’t Princess Scalia.

“Or is the host too weak? Well, there’s nothing to be expected from a low-ranking incubus.”

Scalia’s Exid helmet opened wide, and she raised her head as her coral hair spilled out like a waterfall.
Countless stars were born in her lightless eyes.

This was Forced Slumber, Oneric Cascade.
There were no warning signs nor any wavering mana.
As soon as the target was captured in sight, they could be forced to slumber at will.
It was a power that any high-ranking Night Demon could use, and she was stronger than any of the Night Demons.
In her case, she could force almost anyone to sleep.
The activation of the ability signaled the end.
Just like its name, Oneric Cascade, the one afflicted would be led to a world of endless, cascading dreams the moment they fell asleep.

“Oh my,” said Scalia with surprise.
She had planned to put everyone to sleep but had clearly failed.
Only two people had fallen asleep, and her skill had been interrupted as well.
The two people on their knees were simply sleeping, not affected by Oneric Cascade.

“Divine barrier….
It sure is amazing, but I didn’t think something made quick and dirty could block me like this.” The one speaking was the Queen of the Night Demons, Noir Giabella.
She painted a smile on Scalia’s face while tilting her head.

Although she gave a relaxed smile, Noir’s mind was turning nonstop.
Her main body was in the Forest of Dark Shadows, located far from here in Helmuth.
She could be here solely because she was using the body of a low-ranking incubus, one active in Rosrok, as a vessel.
As a result, Noir wasn’t capable of using the full extent of her power nor her Demoneye of Fantasy.
But she had never imagined she would need it in the first place.
Bullying Scalia in her dreams had only been a mischievous prank, though she had eventually taken control of Scalia’s body after she fell asleep.

‘I was going to lead them to their dreams and have a taste….’

Noir’s smile grew deeper.

“That’s funny,” she said.
Even at this moment, she was continuing to use Forced Slumber.
However, Kristina and Eugene were unaffected.

“What are you?” asked Noir with curiosity.

1.
The original Korean text had Ortus’ last name as Neumann (though Dior was always Hyman), and it was initially translated so.
But the subsequent chapters made us realize that it must have been a mistake, as Ortus is mentioned as Ortus Hyman.
☜