Chapter 476: Hauria (11)

As the holy sword's brilliant light illuminated the underground lair, a red light suddenly appeared behind Eugene.

Eugene wasn't caught by surprise by this, as he had sensed that an intruder would be arriving sometime soon. Instead of continuing to aim at Amelia, Eugene twisted his body and swung the Holy Sword behind him.

Schink!

The holy sword split apart a spreading, red cloud of light. Eugene realized something before he had even finished swinging his sword through it.

This wasn't a cloud of light.

The moment his sword sliced through it, Eugene was hit in the face by a terrible bloody stench.

Eugene grimaced, 'The Blood Fog.'

This fog could seep through a person's skin through contact alone. If one didn't have any tolerance for it or a way to resist it, this fog would cause all of the blood in one's body to run wild, and eventually, their blood would spray out of the pores on their body, leaving them dead. This was an ability that could almost be considered symbolic of high-ranking vampires, who were known for their strong control over blood.

There was only one high-ranking vampire who could have suddenly appeared here and spread this Blood Fog.

Eugene gave a cheeky smile, and once the Holy Sword had finished its swing to the side, he held it in front of him once more.

Fwoosh!

The Holy Sword stood tall in Eugene's hands, illuminating the darkness like a torch. The Blood Fog, which had continued its spread throughout the underground lair even though he had sliced through it, was completely dissipated under the light of the Holy Sword.

Within the now-illuminated underground lair, Eugene spotted the figure of a man who was squinting in the face of the bright light.

It was Alphiero Lasat.

Glaring at Eugene, who was still shining the light at him, Alphiero muttered, "This is far too bright."

Any normal vampire would have disintegrated just by being struck by this light. However, Alphiero wasn't a vampire who could be categorized as ordinary. He was someone who could convincingly claim to be the strongest among all living vampires, and he was also the strongest of all the vassals serving the Demon King of Destruction.

"Mosquito bastard," Eugene cursed.

Mosquito was a derogatory term for vampires that had been in use for the past three hundred years. No, it may have actually been around for much longer than that. Naturally, vampires would become infuriated upon being called mosquitos.

Alphiero had the same reaction. His red eyes began to emit a chilling aura.

Eugene sneered, "Are you here to save this bitch? I didn't know that you two were that close."

"Don't make that mistake," Alphiero growled, revealing his sincere displeasure at such an insinuation. "The Incarnation desires your death. That is the only reason why I have come here to kill you."

"But I feel like that bastard would probably prefer to kill me with his own hands," Eugene expressed his doubt.

"Don't you dare address him so casually with your foul tongue," Alphiero snarled as his hair stood on end.

Without hiding his disgust and rage, Alphiero took a threatening step forward.

"I doubt that you two are all that chummy, so it's funny to see you get all worked up by yourself on his behalf," Eugene said with a snort as he shot a glance behind him.

Eugene caught a glimpse of Amelia, who had had both her legs and her left arm cut off, silently wriggling on the ground. Her body was undulating like a slug as she tried her best to crawl forward with her only remaining right arm for support. She was also giving it all that she had to keep herself from panting heavily as a result of her exertions. The reason for this effort was that she was worried she might be caught by Eugene in the middle of her escape.

But such efforts were meaningless. Eugene had already turned around to look back at Amelia. Without even needing to turn her head, Amelia could sense the terrifying scent drifting off of Eugene as he turned his attention towards her, even as she kept up her attempt to escape.

Since she was crawling on the floor like a bug, should he just stomp her to death like the bug that she was? Or perhaps he should restrain her so that she couldn't escape... then after he was done killing this mosquito bastard, should he spend a bit more time torturing her to death?

After considering these questions for a few moments, Eugene just smirked and turned his gaze away from her. He stopped paying further attention to Amelia and kept his eyes squarely on the person in front of him.

Such an attitude seemed quite surprising to Alphiero. Although this was his first time meeting Eugene Lionheart in person, Alphiero had learned quite a lot about this man.

Naturally, he also knew about the ill-fated relationship between Eugene Lionheart and Amelia Merwin. Based on the rumors, Alphiero judged Eugene to be someone who held no mercy for his enemies. And currently, there was absolutely no reason for Eugene to spare Amelia's life.

'I should have revealed myself after he was done killing her,' Alphiero thought regretfully.

Although Alphiero had this thought, he had actually been left with no choice but to strike so early to launch a surprise attack. This was because, at the time, he had judged that Eugene's attention had been completely focused on Amelia.

But he had failed.

Truthfully speaking, Alphiero didn't care whether or not Amelia died. But if he had to add the weight of his personal feelings, he felt that it would be better if she had died.

The war had already begun. Although Amelia herself might not think so, this meant that Amelia was no longer of any use to them. So even if Eugene were to take the time now to execute Amelia, Alphiero had intended to take a few moments and just watch it happen.

However, Eugene hadn't killed Amelia. Currently, his golden eyes were fixed solely on Alphiero.

"There's something that I'm curious about and feel like I have to ask," Eugene began speaking. He lowered the point of the Holy Sword until it was aimed directly at Alphiero, "You, did you really come here because you thought that you'd be able to kill me?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by those words," Alphiero eventually responded.

Eugene raised an eyebrow. "What do I mean? You should be able to understand exactly what I mean. It's not like I said anything too difficult to understand, right?"

The grin on his face had disappeared. Eugene's eyes didn't have even a trace of amusement remaining as he glared at Alphiero. Instead, they conveyed a chilling killing intent that made Alphiero feel like all of the blood in his body had frozen into ice.

"I'm asking if you have the confidence to kill me," Eugene challenged.

Alphiero had seen what Eugene looked like when he was fighting. When facing Eugene, Kamash, the King of the Giants from three hundred years ago... hadn't even been able to land any blows on him and was all too easily sliced into pieces.

Helmuth's twenty-sixth-ranked high-class demonfolk, along with his dozens of subordinates, had all perished after not being able to withstand even a single one of Eugene's sword strikes.

There was also the barrier that had covered the skies above Hauria. A barrier that hadn't been broken even by a dragon's Breath or the Wise Sienna's spells had been torn apart after a single slash of Eugene's sword.

Eugene's presence when in battle was worthy of being called divine. Alphiero had no intention of belittling Eugene's strength and skills; rather, he acknowledged them.

"I don't have the confidence," Alphiero admitted honestly.

He knew he was strong, and vampires were the strongest of all the races. He was also the strongest of all of Destruction's vassals. His name might not be listed in Helmuth's ranking system, but as long as his opponent wasn't a Duke, Alphiero was confident that he would be able to defeat any of Helmuth's nobles in a fight.

However, Alphiero couldn't be sure of his victory against this human. Because he had seen for himself just how strong this man was.

Moreover... it didn't seem like Eugene had ever revealed what his 'maximum effort' looked like. Whether it was when he had killed Kamash, when he had killed the twenty-sixth-ranked demonfolk from Helmuth, when he had shattered the barrier, and even at the moment when he had burst apart the head of the Centipede Mountains, Eugene always had seemed very relaxed. He had never shown the sense of urgency that came from someone who was giving it his all. Furthermore, even after going through all of these battles, he had never once been inflicted with any wounds.

Could such a person... truly be called human? Alphiero didn't feel like that was the case. Just like how the specter waiting ahead in the palace was truly the Incarnation of Destruction wearing the disguise of Hamel, this human known as Eugene Lionheart had to be the same type of creature. This was a monster wearing the mask of a human, pretending to be the Hero.

"Even if there were a hundred of me, I probably still wouldn't be able to kill you," Alphiero calmly acknowledged this fact. "Yet I still plan on attacking you with the intent to kill. Because this war must be fought for the sake of the Incarnation, for the sake of our Demon King of Destruction. Your existence is a hindrance to the war. Everyone who has crossed through the walls and entered the city will be a sacrifice of this war. And among all those who have entered... your life is the most valuable."

If he didn't kill Eugene now, then Eugene would definitely head straight to the palace without any hesitation. But Alphiero couldn't even imagine how the Incarnation could possibly be defeated. No matter how strong this monster was, he would still return to being a weak human in front of the Incarnation of Destruction.

But did that mean Alphiero could just let him go without trying to obstruct him? Alphiero definitely wouldn't allow himself to do that. His life had already been offered up to the Demon King of Destruction a long time ago.

What Alphiero Lasat wanted most was to devote his life to the cause of the Demon King of Destruction. If this monster insisted on heading towards the Incarnation, then there was only one thing that Alphiero could do.

He would need to give up his life to stop Eugene Lionheart. And if at all possible, Alphiero would kill Eugene and offer him as a sacrifice to the Incarnation.

He had made his decision. Taking a deep breath, Alphiero drew on his dark power. Dark power with a blood-red shade quickly engulfed Alphiero. In the center of this mass of dark power, Alphiero's eyes glowed with a sinister light. The metallic scent of blood now filled the entire underground lair.

But this wasn't enough. Alphiero continued unleashing his dark power, and soon, the dark power of Destruction began to overflow from him.

This dark power could even harm the demonfolk who were contracted with Destruction. If they mustered up more dark power than they could control, both their body and soul could end up being disintegrated. Naturally, Alphiero was also well aware of this fact.

Alphiero had already surpassed that limit. His body, which had endured the past three hundred years with ease, was about to break down under the pressure of the weight of all this dark power. However, he wasn't broken just yet. Alphiero took a deep breath and raised his arms.

Cracrack, cracracrack...!

Alphiero's hands twisted grotesquely. His bulging, deformed fingers were now curved like scythes, and his nails were long and extended outwards like actual blades.

Eugene just stood there quietly as he observed Alphiero's appearance. This mosquito bastard looked prepared to die. At the same time, it seemed that he had resolved himself to kill Eugene no matter what.

Honestly speaking, Eugene couldn't really understand why he would go so far. Alphiero should be well aware that this was a fight he absolutely wouldn't be able to win. No matter how strong he was, Alphiero was still just at the level of an ordinary demonfolk. Compared to the remaining two Dukes of Helmuth, who had even surpassed the likes of the former Demon Kings, Alphiero's strength was laughable.

Eugene's head slowly tilted to the side in curiosity.

The dark power of Destruction that Alphiero had drawn out, the same dark power that had been amassed beyond Alphiero's ability to endure, was now being concentrated down into a single point. This concentration of dark power was so strong that it had even begun to distort space itself, causing distortions in Eugene's vision.

"Hah," Eugene parted his lips to let out a soft laugh.

With a mischievous smile, Eugene lowered the holy sword to the ground. The light that had been illuminating this underground lair had now completely disappeared.

However, the scene wasn't plunged back into darkness. The crimson dark power emitted by Alphiero cast this whole underground scene in a hellish hue. A terrible stench of blood filled the room, and it wasn't fresh blood either, but blood that was set to boil.

Alphiero watched as Eugene lifted his right hand into the air just after laying down his sword. A black flame wrapped around Eugene's hand and began to burn fiercely.

Eugene had put down his sword. It seemed that he didn't intend to use that bothersome Holy Sword against Alphiero. He hadn't taken out Vermouth's Moonlight Sword, which he had used to slay the Centipede Mountains, either.

Alphiero tensed, 'How arrogant.'

No, this wasn't arrogance. It was a completely natural confidence that came from having proven his strength time and time again.

Such confidence was good news for Alphiero. Thanks to it, he had been able to finish all of his preparations.

Alphiero was at his limits in the truest sense of the word; if even a single drop was added to the weight of the dark power he was already holding, it would be enough to crush his entire existence into nothing in a mere instant. His blood was boiling, and his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode. Alphiero slowly lowered his body into a crouch.

When Alphiero leapt forward, he reached a speed even faster than light. He entered a zone where the very nature of time stopped working. For a moment, he even managed to pierce through space itself.

Alphiero wasn't planning to approach and then swing his claws at Eugene. All of his actions, from start to finish, were completed as part of a single movement. That's right, just one. Alphiero had no thoughts of continuing to attack after his first blow. This one attack had been filled with every last drop of Alphiero Lasat's remaining life and everything that he had left.

Bam!

Alphiero's thoughts cut off here. Right after his one movement and one attack. He was unable to comprehend what had happened to him after he had made his move or what might have happened to his body.

This was because Alphiero was already dead. Just like how he had intended to finish everything in a single attack, so had Eugene.

The moment Alphiero charged at him after concentrating all of his dark power into a single point... Eugene had also swung his hand at Alphiero.

The black flames that were launched from Eugene's hand condensed as they burned through the air, causing a small explosion when they landed.

That was all that was needed. Just like a moth throwing itself into a flame or like someone swatting a buzzing mosquito with his bare hands. Eugene just swung his hand at Alphiero, then as Alphiero's dark power was devoured by the flames and extinguished, Eugene's outspread hand smashed apart Alphiero's head.

Demonfok, especially the high-ranking demonfolk, all possessed powerful Sources of Immortality within them. Even if their heads were shattered into pieces, they usually wouldn't die from it.

However, it was impossible for the current Alphiero to withstand even a single blow from Eugene. At this moment, with his dark power drawn out to its very limits, it had become a deadly poison rather than a source of strength for Alphiero.

The delicate balance collapsed. Unable to endure anything more, Alphiero's soul was shattered by his own dark power. Even at that moment, the Demon King of Destruction, whom Alphiero had admired and followed for so long, remained indifferent to Alphiero's plight.

"Hmm," Eugene, who had just killed Alphiero in a single blow, hummed thoughtfully as he shook off the mess that had been left on his right hand by his earlier swing.

It hadn't just been some casual blow. At the moment of the attack, Eugene had used both Prominence and Ignition. Because this had allowed him to explosively amplify his strength for a single moment, he had been able to wipe out Alphiero and his dark power of destruction with just a single swing of his hand.

"I should have introduced myself before killing him," Eugene muttered regretfully.

Eugene thought it was a pity he hadn't remembered to do so. This was because Alphiero had known Hamel. If Eugene had said, 'I am Hamel,' before killing this guy, he would have been able to see quite an amusing reaction from him.

"Well, it's not like it's really all that important," Eugene said with a click of his tongue as he raised his head to look around.

There were no traces of Amelia left within this underground lair. Eugene had cut off both her legs and her left arm. Thanks to the flames he had embedded deep into her body, she should have been left unable to use her dark power as she wished, but it seemed that she had managed to recover her magical abilities in the nick of time. Thanks to that, it appeared that she had managed to escape by using her magic.

Eugene smirked, "It would have been cleaner for you if you had just died here at my hands."

Eugene had known that Amelia was trying to escape. However, he had just allowed her to do so. He had already seen all that he wanted to see from Amelia. He had also enjoyed sampling all the negative emotions that he had been anticipating wringing out from her.

I need to kill her with my own hands. That was what Eugene had been thinking before he arrived here — but after having reached the point right before he had been about to personally take her own life, only to be interrupted, he didn't actually have many regrets remaining.

Instead, now that things had turned out this way, they actually turned out exactly as Eugene had truly desired. Eugene wished for Amelia to die as ugly a death as possible.

'This leaves her with some hope for survival,' Eugene thought with a merciless grin.

After struggling to stay afloat, she would meet with despair in her final moments and experience such agony that death would be a mercy.

Eugene wasn't the only one who wanted to kill Amelia Merwin.

* * *

She had barely managed to escape the underground lair. That was where Amelia Merwin finally hit her limits.

Her magic wasn't working properly.

While gasping for breath, Amelia clutched at her chest. That damn bastard had left sparks of his flames inside her body. These embers continued to burn on the fuel of her dark power without going out, and every time she tried to use a spell, they cut off the flow of dark power.

Amelia panted, "That son of a bitch... son of a bitch... son of a bitch...!"

If she had been left with just one of her legs, she would have still been able to walk while using Vladmir as a crutch.

As Amelia was crawling on the floor, she had to stop for a moment to cough up some blood, "Gaghk... haaaaah...."

What should she do? She didn't have any hopes of Alphiero managing to kill that monster. The best that the vampire could manage would be to win her some time. Even that wouldn't buy her all that long. Maybe ten minutes at the most?

'Will I be able to recover by then?' Amelia desperately asked herself.

Her severed limbs weren't regenerating. That... that was alright. If they refused to regenerate, she could just attach someone else's limbs to herself.

As long as she didn't die here.

As long as she somehow managed to survive.

Booooooom!

There was a loud explosion.

"Aaargh...," Amelia groaned as the huge vibrations transmitted through the ground caused even her body to shake.

As the vibrations ran through her internal organs, Amelia felt agonizing pain. As she coughed up even more mouthfuls of blood, Amelia struggled to lift her head.

In the distance, she could see a wyvern and a pegasus flying through the sky. Nearby... some people experienced a moment of utter confusion.

But those weren't the only things now racing through the city. Amelia just couldn't see any of the rest because she was crawling along on her stomach. After getting past the city walls, the knights who had entered Hauria were probably charging straight toward the royal palace while slicing through all of the demonfolk and undead.

'Why hasn't he done anything?' Amelia wondered.

Could it be that the specter was still sitting on the throne in the palace? But why, just why? If he would just make a move himself, he would be able to annihilate the entire enemy army in an instant. So why was he waiting for Eugene to come to him instead of making that move?

'The palace...,' Amelia told herself, 'I need to return to the palace....'

But would it really be the right move to try and escape there?

Amelia recalled how incredibly strong Eugene had been. She also remembered what the Wise Sienna had looked like with a galaxy at her back. Finally, she thought of the Saint, who was flying high up in the sky, standing on the back of a shining dragon.

Amelia still couldn't imagine how the specter could lose. However, she didn't have the confidence that she would be able to survive in the battle that was about to take place in the palace.

Would the specter really protect her? As she was now, would she really be able to survive in that undoubtedly chaotic battle? If she, who didn't even intend to participate in that battle, got caught up in that fight and died just by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time... just what kind of shitty death would that be?

'I need to escape. Not-not there, but somewhere else. That's right... if I can just hide in a dungeon for a few days...,' Amelia thought hopefully.

Once a few days had passed, the battle for Hauria should have ended in the specter's victory. All Amelia needed to do until then was hide somewhere and wait, giving her body time to recuperate before returning....

But how? Amelia wasn't able to use any flying magic. It was also impossible for her to use Blink in rapid succession. It was hard for her to even control her body....

Amelia realized that it was impossible for her to escape Hauria without the support and protection of someone else.

"...Ah...," Amelia gasped in surprise.

As she crawled on the ground, a foot had suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the way forward.

Trembling in fear, Amelia raised her head to look upwards.

"Grrk."

Only to be met with the sound of grinding teeth.