Chapter 514: Metamorphosis (2)

During Eugene's third visit to the Rainforest, nothing special happened on their journey to the elven territory.

The truth was, considering all of the dangers and other encounters that might occur in this vast forest, there wasn't possibly anything that could genuinely threaten the current Eugene. There might still be many monsters lurking in this forest, but unlike demonic beasts, these monsters knew the meaning of fear. As such, they would try to avoid facing any predators they were sure they would lose to, and even if such predators were to invade their territory, they would immediately give in and just run away.

There was also no need to be wary of the natives this time as they had been during their past visits. All of the tribes in the forest had been conquered by the Zorans. And all of the more barbaric tribes that had been engaged in criminal activities, such as human trafficking and even cannibalism in the most severe cases, had had all of their vile customs and ferocity castrated by the Zoran Tribe.

As a result of that, their journey through the forest had been peaceful and leisurely. The only surprise that occurred during the trip was the unexpected arrival of the Zoran Tribe's Great Chieftain, Ivatar.

Ivatar had asked Eugene why they had come to the forest without sending him word in advance, and he had immediately invited them to visit the Zoran Tribe, where they would be treated as official state guests.

"Next time," Eugene had promised as he refused the invitation.

He did hold a slight interest in seeing how far the Zoran Tribe had developed since he had last visited them a few years ago, but that wasn't enough to warrant adding the visit to their itinerary. After Eugene had given such a firm refusal, Ivatar could only choose to drop the suggestion. But this was only natural, as Ivatar had come mainly to accommodate Eugene's priorities and desires over his reputation as the Great Chieftain.

"May the blessing of the forest be with you," Ivatar had said as they left.

These weren't just polite words. In this forest, Ivatar's words held enough power that they could almost serve as a heavenly mandate. With just those few words, he bestowed a blessing on Eugene and the rest of their party, making the rest of their journey that much more peaceful.

"I wanted to take a look at the Zoran Tribe," Carmen muttered with some regret.

Carmen was well aware of how Ivatar and the rest of the Zoran Tribe's warriors were outstanding fighters.

Out of the many warriors that she had met, the Zoran Tribe's carefully selected elites were among the few capable of providing effective combat training for the Lionheart clan's Black Lion Knights, and despite their Great Chieftain Ivatar being around the same young age as Eugene, he had already risen to join the ranks of the continent's strongest heroes.

Due to that, Carmen had wanted to take a personal look at the Zoran Tribe. She wanted to see what kind of lives those brave, young warriors had lived and what kind of training they practiced to reach such strength. She thought that the experience as a whole might provide some of the nourishment necessary for her metamorphosis.

Eugene comforted her, "You can just look at them later, along with Ciel."

"Later, you say," Carmen snorted. "Oh, Radiant Lion, I really don't have that much time left."

The way Carmen had said this, she could have easily made the people listening to her come to the misunderstanding that she had some terminal illness.

Eugene had this thought inside of the privacy of his head, but he didn't dare voice the words aloud to Carmen. This was because, judging from Eugene's many years of observation of her, Carmen was someone who would definitely be extremely interested in playing out the terminal illness character trope.

Eugene began to imagine the scenario in his mind, 'Perhaps it'll go like this... she will walk around with an unlit cigar in her mouth like she usually does, and then she would suddenly look serious and start coughing heavily. She might even go so far as to spit up some blood....'

Then, if the person next to her was startled and offered her a handkerchief, she might put on a fierce expression and push the handkerchief away, or maybe... she might just shake her head with a forlorn expression and refuse the handkerchief in that way. If someone were to ask her what the name of her disease was, she would probably only give answers without any real substance to them, such as a disease that leads to death.

[Seeing how you were able to come up with such detailed ideas on the spot, Sir Eugene, you and Lady Carmen really do have a lot in common,] Mer observed. [Or would it be more accurate to say that you both think in the same way?]

As Mer let out a giggle from inside his cloak, without the slightest hesitation, Eugene responded rudely, 'Shut up.'

Yet he felt that this response wasn't enough so Eugene also stuck his hand inside his cloak and started punishing her directly.

As Eugene was occupied with fiercely tickling the trapped Mer inside his cloak, Kristina asked Carmen, "Wasn't Ciel disappointed to be left behind?"

"I have nothing more to teach that child. Because, from now on, she has to continue building on everything that she has accumulated thus far in order to perfect her own martial style," Carmen said with a serious expression as she pulled out a cigar and held it between her lips.

Eugene also found himself agreeing with those words. The twins, Cyan and Ciel, had already reached the limits of what geniuses at their ages could be taught. Breaking those limits and reaching the zone that went beyond mere genius was something that could only be left up to those two to accomplish by themselves.

Carmen sighed, "Cyan and Ciel are extremely lucky. There is probably no other child with better luck than those two twins in the entire history of the Lionheart clan. Except for you, of course."

"That's true," Eugene agreed, having no choice but to admit that the twins truly were blessed with good fortune.

Being born into the prestigious Lionheart family and having access to the White Flame Formula was already fortunate enough, but on top of that, the twins had received many other blessings as well.

While still holding the unlit cigar in her mouth, Carmen continued speaking, "This is just my opinion, oh Radiant Lion, but I think that meeting you might have been the greatest stroke of fortune for Cyan and Ciel."

One of Carmen's hidden talents was her ability to speak with clear and accurate pronunciation, even as she was holding a cigar in her mouth like right now.

"With your help, we kept the twins from becoming mired in an inferiority complex. So their inevitable sense of inferiority to you didn't turn into unseemly jealousy but was instead transformed into a positive desire for self-improvement. If they hadn't met you... or if you hadn't concerned yourself with those twins, then those two..." Carmen paused for a few moments, then took out her cigar and rested it between her fingers.

She let out a long sigh, as if she was actually breathing out the smoke from her cigar, then continued with a wry smile, "The two of them would have become people not much different from Eward Lionheart."

Eugene couldn't find any grounds to deny these words either. This was because Eugene was fully aware of just how terrible the personalities of the twins had been when they were only thirteen.

Cyan had been like a wastrel from an aristocratic family who had been steeped in an elitist mindset, and Ciel had been a vicious brat who used underhanded and indirect means to manipulate and prey on those around her. If the two had grown up in accordance with the personalities that they had while they were younger, they might have become a pair of cliched aristocratic villains like those commonly found in fiction.

"Of course, it's not just the twins who have been fortunate, oh Radiant Lion. I also consider myself to have been very lucky to have met you," Carmen confessed.

"That's far too high a praise, Lady Carmen," Eugene said modestly.

"No," Carmen firmly shook her head. "This is by no means an exaggeration. Your very existence is the fortune of the Lionheart clan. Due to your presence, the Lionhearts have undergone a new metamorphosis...."

It seems that she had recently become obsessed with the word metamorphosis. Eugene kept this thought to himself while silently listening to Carmen speak. Because, in any case, Carmen's words weren't giving off any sense of her usual pretentiousness and were ultimately a compliment to Eugene.

Carmen continued with her thoughts, "Because you showed us your martial prowess, and because you shined your light and illuminated the way forward into the future, the twins, myself, and the Patriarch... as well as everyone else in the Lionheart clan, are able to follow your back. It seems that the founder of our Lionheart clan, the Great Vermouth, meant to give you the gift of his White Flame Formula by reincarnating you as his descendant, but for us, your reincarnation has a different meaning. Oh, Radiant Lion, the very fact that you were born as a Lionheart is the greatest gift to the Lionheart clan."

Once Carmen had finished speaking, she placed her cigar back between her lips. It was obvious that each of the words that Carmen had spoken just now was full of her sincerity. In light of that, Eugene could not help but feel quite moved by Carmen's genuine gratitude.

[Despite his looks, Hamel is actually quite easy to butter up[1],] Anise commented.

'It's because his heart is just that pure,' Kristina defended him.

Anise responded skeptically, [No... in my opinion, it doesn't have anything to do with purity of his heart. He's just that hungry for praise. Isn't there an old saying for something like this? Compliments can make even a bear dance.]

'Sister, Sir Eugene is a lion, not a bear,' Kristina reminded her.

Anise sighed. [You should at least get the title right, Kristina. He's not just a lion; he's the Radiant Lion. Haven't you noticed? At some point, Hamel just started to accept his title as the Radiant Lion naturally....]

As Kristina and Anise continued to have their secret chat, Eugene wasn't paying them any attention; he was just exchanging glances with Carmen looking very moved.

"Thank you for those earnest words," Eugene said gratefully.

To think that Carmen had given such serious consideration to all that he had done for the Lionhearts.

In the lingering afterglow of his pleasure at her sincere praise, Eugene smiled and offered his hand to Carmen. "If you need my help, whenever that might be, just let me know. I'm not sure what assistance I'll be able to provide you, but I will do my best to help you with your metamorphosis, Lady Carmen."

"I've already shown such unbecoming stubbornness by forcing myself on your journey like this. As such, oh Radiant Lion, I didn't want to bother you any further. However... if at all possible, could I impose on you for some verbal sparring sessions during the journey?" Carmen hopefully requested.

Verbal sparring was a method of training where, instead of directly confronting each other with their bodies, both participants would imagine battling each other and reciting the actions they would take with only their mouths. Eugene didn't have much experience with this sort of thing, but he didn't worry about that for very long.

"Yes, I don't mind," Eugene generously agreed to her request.

An expert like Carmen could accomplish all of her necessary daily training through simple meditation without needing to physically exercise her body. Even if it were a verbal sparring session that was only taking place through their voices, Carmen would be able to instantly recreate the scenario in her mind and keep their imaginary battle going as she spoke.

The same things also applied to Eugene. When they had repeatedly challenged the Dark Room in the past, Eugene and Carmen had faced off against each other quite a few times. If they were to duel right now, Eugene would definitely win, but the focus of this type of verbal sparring was not to decide victory or defeat; it was to exercise their instantaneous judgment and battle instincts. The point of verbal sparring was to consider what kind of measures one would use to overcome various difficult challenges.

"In that case, let's get started right away," Carmen said, wasting no time as she immediately put her cigar back into its case.

This act was a sign of how seriously she was planning to take their spar. Eugene didn't have any reason to refuse and simply nodded in agreement.

In any case, they were on a straight path to the World Tree. In the past, it would have taken them several months just to get there and back, but now that they had Ivatar's blessing and the help of all sorts of spells, they should be able to arrive in a week at the very most. So, in that case, their verbal sparring could serve as some light entertainment during the journey.

By verbally sparring with an expert like Carmen, Eugene would be forced to examine his fighting style from a wider perspective than the battle in front of him.

"How should we begin?" Eugene asked.

"Let's decide who will attack first. Oh, Radiant Lion, do you mind if I take the liberty of the first move?" Carmen requested.

If this were the past, Carmen would have definitely yielded the first strike to Eugene, even if the difference in skill had been reversed long ago. However, now, Carmen wanted to take the initiative. And no matter what, Carmen felt like it would now be the height of arrogance to give up the first strike to a Great Hero like Hamel.

"Go ahead," Eugene easily conceded.

The moment that Eugene had finished his reply, Carmen took a deep breath before rapidly spitting out, "To start off, I will unleash a chain of iron fists when I am five steps in front of you, then I will target your waist, chest, and head at the same time with a Lunar Eclipse Kick and an Overlord Critical Strike[2]."

"...Huh?" Eugene grunted in confusion.

"Chain of Iron Fists, Lunar Eclipse Kick, and Overlord Angled-Strike," Carmen repeated.

Was she making fun of him right now? For a moment, this question went through Eugene's head, but it was obvious that Carmen wasn't trying to make some sort of joke. She appeared to be waiting for Eugene's response with just as much vigilance as if she had been standing on an actual battlefield.

In her head, she was already picturing how the chain of Iron Fists would first disturb Eugene's vision while also serving as a temporary barrier, then her Lunar Eclipse Kick, a kick that would fly out in a curve shaped like a crescent moon, would sweep across his waist, before finally her Overlord Angled-Strike, a punch that could swerve at an almost right angle, would target Eugene's head, cracking it into pieces.

Eugene took a moment to collect himself, "Uh... oh, right, I will draw my sword and start off with a kick—"

"Is your kick aimed at the Lunar Eclipse Kick or the Overlord Angled-Strike?" Carmen quickly asked.

"Um... it's aimed at the Lunar Eclipse Kick," Eugene eventually decided. "In any case, well, after blocking your Lunar Eclipse Kick, I will start to pressure you with some swordplay—"

"Swordplay, you say," Carmen hummed thoughtfully. "By swordplay, do you mean something like your Asura Rampage?"

Once more, Eugene was sent off-balance by the sudden question, and he weakly said, "Huh?"

"Eugene, it is very important to be specific during a verbal spar," Carmen lectured. "If you simply describe it as swordplay, it will be difficult to understand what you mean exactly, so if you're picturing something like your Asura Rampage, make sure to say it clearly."

Was verbal sparring really supposed to be this stressful and embarrassing? Since he had never done it before, Eugene couldn't be sure if this was really how a verbal spar was supposed to work....

Eugene hesitantly continued, "Ah... yes... then I'll perform my Asura Rampage...."

"In that case, I will respond to your Asura Rampage with my Lightning Bolt. My Lightning Bolt pierces right through the center of your attack, scattering the sword-light of your Asura Rampage and heading for your chest," Carmen described.

"But the sword lights of my Asura Rampage aren't weak enough to be scattered by a single punch...," Eugene slowly complained.

"In order for us to have a properly in-depth verbal spar, we have to make a few compromises with reality. Because the important thing to pay attention to during this exercise is to try and think up various solutions to different situations instead of simply relying on a contest of strength," Carmen explained.

After hearing Carmen put it like that, Eugene felt like her words made sense.

"In that case... I... will counterattack your Lightning Bolt with my own Lightning Counter...," Eugene responded carefully.

"To think you would counter my Lightning Bolt with your own Lightning Counter! What a brilliant and impressive move," Carmen said with a bright smile as she gave Eugene a thumbs up.

While these two were caught up in their childish conversation and swapping each other's embarrassing names for their techniques, Sienna was trailing along at the very back of the group. Normally, she would have been laughing at Eugene's foolish behavior or perhaps even joining in with the stupidity, but Sienna currently didn't have any attention to spare for that as she was deep in thought while holding on tightly to Bloody Mary.

In front of Sienna, Amelia was walking along while wearing a decent robe instead of her previous burlap sack. Her eyes were still vacant and empty, but at least she wasn't walking as if she was about to fall over at any moment like she had last time.

Crackle.

A black electric current crackled around Amelia as she continued to walk slightly ahead of Sienna. This was a sign that Sienna was drawing on Amelia's dark power. Sienna had her attention divided into several different directions and was casting multiple spells at the same time.

Upon looking into the ancient black magic recorded in Bloody Mary, Sienna had found that, past a certain point, there was a seal that made it difficult to dig any deeper. It was buried so deeply that most of the previous Staffs of Incarceration probably hadn't even noticed the seal that had been placed on Bloody Mary.

However, who was she? Only the Wise Sienna, the most exceptional wizard in this world. Whether it was the past, present, or future, it was impossible for any other wizard as exceptional as Sienna to appear.

But even with the Sienna devoting herself to breaking through the seal, it wasn't so easy to pierce through the layers of protection. On top of that, she found it impossible to break through the seal without also applying black magic to it.

But in that case, all she needed to do was to apply some black magic. As expected of her, Sienna quickly found a solution by using Amelia as her dark power battery. After boldly extracting this dark power from Amelia and applying a mixture of her own magic and black magic, it quickly became possible to get a clear glimpse behind the seal that had been placed on Bloody Mary.

'No human could have cast this black magic,' Sienna had come to realize after having spent nights working on the problem.

Although she couldn't completely open the seal or fully comprehend what lay in the depths of Bloody Mary, Sienna could at least reach a few preliminary conclusions.

'This is the magic of a Demon King. Or perhaps... the magic of some transcendent existence on the same level as a Demon King,' Sienna suspected.

Could it have been one of the gods from the ancient era? While she couldn't be sure of the precise details, Sienna was at least certain that this wasn't any human magic.

Sienna had used herself as the basis for this. If this were three hundred years ago — no, even just a few years ago — Sienna wouldn't have been able to understand the magic sealed within Bloody Mary. And even if she had been able to scratch the bare surface in her understanding of the spells within, she still wouldn't have been able to attempt to cast any of them herself.

However, now....

Sienna silently held up Bloody Mary in one hand while Frost was in the other.

She slowly crossed the two in front of her as she nervously licked her lips. Then she uttered a short chant that didn't sound like it was spoken in any known language. The spell that she cast had both the dark power that she had extracted from Amelia, and Sienna's own mana melded into it. Both the Dragonhearts fused into Bloody Mary and Frost glowed in different shades of color.

"Ugh...," Sienna groaned.

After a vibration that was strong enough to leave her palms tingling, the dark power and mana fused together to become a single crystal floating in front of Sienna. She intended to stop the spell at this point because her intuition instinctively sent her a warning.

'This isn't a power that I can control just yet,' Sienna thought to herself.

She might still be able to cast the full spell, but she wasn't sure what kind of backlash there would be.

If... if her adjustments failed and this power went out of control, then setting aside the danger of anyone here being killed, the forest itself might simply be erased.

'How could there be this much power from just mixing the two together...? No, that's not it. The fact that they were able to fuse like this is far from simple. It was only possible because the spell uses a method of mixing the two different forces together that is beyond my understanding,' Sienna thought quickly as she gulped.

Deciding to dissipate this mass of power that was too difficult for her to control just yet, Sienna let out a short sigh as she lowered both staffs.

Or at least she tried to separate the forces and lower her staff, but things didn't happen as she had intended.

The forces that had joined together somehow managed to escape Sienna's control.

At this moment, an uncontrollable fear flashed through Sienna's mind, 'Is it going wild?'

To think that these forces and the spell would actually go out of control! A shiver ran down Sienna's spine. It had been a long time since she had last experienced this kind of loss of control. To be more precise, she had experienced several failures and similar outbursts when creating her Eternal Hole, but she had never experienced any failures with magic since creating her Eternal Hole.

This outburst would be a particularly dangerous one. This wasn't just any ordinary spell going out of control. Considering the forces that had gone into the spell, the resulting force would be especially violent, powerful, and barbaric enough that it had already put Sienna off the thought of experimenting with it. So what would happen if this force ran wild and exploded? Eugene and the rest of the party might be able to protect themselves somehow, but the entire Rainforest might get blown away.

That was just how dangerous her current situation was, but Sienna didn't fall into panic. The moment this force escaped her control, Sienna immediately activated her Absolute Decree. She focused all her strength on somehow containing this force and dissipating it.

'What the?' Sienna was suddenly taken aback.

The results of her efforts, no, the intuition that her efforts would be fruitless, shocked Sienna. Although she had been able to respond to the loss of control without panicking, Sienna truly couldn't help but get flustered now.

She hadn't been able to contain the force. It was already running out of control. There was no doubt that it would burst at any moment now.

However, there wasn't any danger. Instead... instead, this power that had been on the brink of running wild now seemed to somehow be guiding Sienna. She had previously decided that she couldn't control it, so she had tried to take it apart and put the spell away for the moment, but it seemed as if the power itself had had its own will and was rejecting Sienna's decision.

'Hold on...,' Sienna suddenly thought.

A spark of inspiration illuminated the inside of her head. Sienna quickly changed her mind. She stopped trying to suppress this power that had gone out of control, and instead, she began to focus on the power's movement. Following its guidance, Sienna observed the flow of movement within the concentration of power. Even though all it was doing was moving in place, Sienna was slowly able to piece together something from its movements. She was learning how to use this power to fuel a spell and how to control it successfully.

Along with her fresh enlightenment, this phenomenon left Sienna with a strange sense of doubt. Why was something like this happening? Why was the out-of-control power moving as if it was trying to teach her something? And its guidance....

"...?" Sienna had sensed something strange.

Right at that moment, Sienna heard some kind of sound. Although it was fleeting, that sound had resembled someone's voice. To be more precise, it was the faint sound of laughter.

Fwoooosh!

Following the laughter, the power's movements changed. Ending the lesson it had been demonstrating to Sienna, it began to move in a different, less orderly fashion. That said, it didn't seem to be in any danger of going back out of control either. Sienna flinched in surprise but kept watching the internal movements of the power without interfering.

The crystal of power that was gathered in front of her crossed staffs swirled, and then...

Boooom!

...the power exploded.

But there wasn't any explosive force behind the explosion. Instead, thousands of colorful flower petals were scattered in all directions. Sienna blinked in surprise as she stared at the slowly dissipating flower petals.

"...Wh-what the?" Sienna couldn't help but stammer.

Sienna still didn't quite understand what exactly had happened. However, she was able to be clear about this much, at the very least.

Through the guidance that she had received just now, Sienna had learned how to control this power. Sienna wanted to give this matter some deeper thought before trying it, but that wasn't possible for now. This was because her head didn't seem to be in proper working condition.

Even though she hadn't been able to cast the spell fully, Sienna had still been left exhausted by it. She was having a hard time even walking, so she even momentarily considered getting Amelia to crawl on the ground so that she could sit on Amelia's back. Focussing through the pounding headache she had suddenly developed, Sienna raised her head to look forward.

Her eyes met with Eugene and Carmen, who were staring back at her with wide eyes.

"Um... that was nothing, really," Sienna said, trying to cover things up for now.

The moment she finished speaking, Carmen burst out in an awestruck exclamation, "What was that power just now?"

"That? Um... that was just a new spell that I, the Wise Lady Sienna, have created...," Sienna awkwardly lied.

"Oh, a special move spell...!" Carmen said excitedly. "You'll need an impressive name for that then."

"I-I'll think of one on my own, so please don't worry about it," Sienna stammered in alarm as she tried to back away from Carmen.

1. The original text uses the Korean idiom that his ears are actually quite thin, which carries the same meaning. I was considering using he's as easy to butter up as a piece of toast, but I felt that it was a bit too elaborate. ☜

2. This is a tricky term to translate. It uses a bit of internet slang that was first developed from MOBAs. It refers to the type of attack that comes in at the exact right timing and angle to hit the weak-point. ☜

Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts

OBW: It's weird how much of a family resemblance there is between Eugene and Carmen. Or maybe it's not that weird if you think about it?

Momo: Eugene definitely found a kindred spirit in Carmen.