Chapter 552: The Invitation (3)

The sound of grinding teeth echoed sharply as Eugene finished speaking. Sienna pounded the desk with her small fist as she stood up in anger and exasperation.

"Break that stubbornness of yours!" she demanded while looking at Anise for help.

Sienna turned to glare at Eugene. Anise couldn't help but anticipate how many heated arguments had already passed before she woke up.

"How am I supposed to do anything about his stubbornness?" Anise asked with a deep sigh.

She was well aware of Hamel's obstinacy. In fact, she had known for over three hundred years.

"If his stubbornness could be swayed by words, Hamel wouldn't have ended up dead like that, would he now?" Anise mocked.

"Oh, come on, how long are you going to milk that story? It's already been three hundred years," Eugene complained in annoyance.

"I'll milk that tale till you turn three hundred. It's a story that needs to be told over and over again," retorted Anise.

Eugene ignored the piercing gazes and smacked his lips before saying, "Yeah, well, you two know best how stubborn I am. So, no matter what you say, I am—"

"Let's hear your reason first," Anise cut him off.

"Hey! Anise!" Sienna shouted back, clearly upset that Anise, whom she expected to side with her, seemed to be leaning toward Eugene's argument. The mere thought was intolerable to her.

"Your voice is too loud, Sienna. What will you do if someone gets startled and comes in?" questioned Anise.

Although no one outside the room would likely notice any commotion, Anise rolled her eyes and effectively silenced Sienna with that one comment.

"Try to think rationally and not get too worked up. Hamel is stubborn, impulsive, emotional, and reckless, but he knows his limits," Anise continued.

"Are you supporting me or insulting me?" Eugene complained.

"Hamel, just shut up and listen. I'm not finished yet. Anyway, I believe Hamel has his reasons for being stubborn," Anise said as her frosty gaze turned to Eugene, pressing him for an answer with her look. But instead of waiting for a reply, she decided to drive the point home herself. "Right?"

Eugene didn't respond immediately but met Anise's gaze. Sienna felt awkward and embarrassed with how the atmosphere had changed since she had stood up while slamming the desk. Eventually, she sat down while clearing her throat.

"There's a reason." Eugene nodded and finally spoke, "Simply put, it's better if I go alone."

Sienna's gaze darkened at his succinct reply, and Anise pursed her lips while glaring at Eugene.

"Don't look at me like that. There are more reasons why it's better I go alone. First off, I can resist Noir's dreams," he explained.

"How can you do that?" Sienna asked with a frown.

"It must be because of the divinity I possess," Eugene responded.

"But I couldn't manage that," Sienna said with a frustrated expression.

"It wasn't exactly that resistance was impossible, was it?" Eugene challenged.

"How can you call that resistance? I was barely maintaining consciousness," Sienna retorted with a scoff.

"Well, that's true," Eugene conceded lightly.

"Why is it that you can, and I cannot?" Sienna asked, her frustration palpable.

"Isn't it obvious? My divinity is of Agaroth and the Light. I understand that wizards worship you, Sienna, but you are hardly a match for me."

Eugene's words, though true, sounded inexplicably irritating. Sienna clenched her fists and trembled as she glared at him.

"Are you certain?" Anise's tone softened, her gaze turning calm and inquisitive.

"Absolutely. Even before I was aware of my divinity, I had already escaped from Noir's dream," he answered confidently.

Eugene recounted the time Noir showed him her experiences in Ravesta in the form of a dream and how he had come to self-awareness within that dream, much to Noir's astonishment.

"And this time too... I wasn't ensnared by the nightmare," he continued.

Despite his composed facade, both Sienna and Anise seemed to see right through him.

"But there was some disturbance, it seems," Anise murmured.

Sienna exhaled deeply, scratching her head in frustration.

"What kind of dream was it?" she asked while pouting.

"You didn't hear either?" Anise asked in surprise.

"I asked, but he didn't answer," Sienna grumbled, pouting in annoyance.

Anise leaned closer to Eugene, her eyes narrowing with interest.

"Was the dream so unspeakable that you can't even tell us?" she pressed.

"It's a dream I'd rather not talk about," Eugene said. His reluctance was very clear.

"What was it about?" Sienna persisted.

"The last of Agaroth," Eugene replied with a bitter smile, recalling the vision filled with corpses strewn across a barren wasteland. "My dream was a repetition of the despair Agaroth felt. Back then, Agaroth commanded all of his Divine Army to die. And they did, as did Agaroth himself."

Before his death, Agaroth had snapped the neck of his Saint.

"It was that kind of dream. There was no embellishment," Eugene explained.

Unlike the nightmares that Sienna, Anise, and Kristina experienced, which were modified with additional horrors, Eugene's dream was starkly real. It repeated the harsh reality he had experienced multiple times.

He experienced Agaroth's failure, defeat, and despair again and again.

"I couldn't control my emotions. I don't know if Noir intended it that way, but I didn't feel compelled. I could have escaped easily if I had tried," Eugene finished his explanation as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

"Why? Why didn't you?" Sienna's voice was barely a whisper.

"Just because," he said.

"Did you want to feel the pain? Or was it despair?" Sienna probed.

"It wasn't really about wanting to feel pain. It was about acceptance," he answered.

"Was there any meaning to it?" Anise asked, seeking some deeper understanding.

"Yes." Eugene nodded, affirming the profound significance behind his acceptance.

"There was a disturbance, yes, but it was entirely my own and also within my control. Every emotion I felt in that moment belonged to me alone. That alone was meaningful enough," Eugene declared with a firm conviction.

Silence followed his words.

"That's why I must go alone," Eugene stated, breaking the silence.

Unlike Sienna and the Saints, he could resist the dreams. The nightmares shown by Noir could not dominate Eugene's emotions.

"Facing Noir Giabella with a numerical advantage is meaningless. We learned that three hundred years ago," he said.

Going together would only mean being individually overpowered if they were dragged into a dream. Naturally, Eugene's divine knights could not accompany him either. If they were pulled into the nightmare, their terror would only serve as fodder for Noir.

Eugene continued his persuasion, "What I fear most is this: I can fight effectively in Noir's dream, but you are different. You will be influenced in one way or another."

Anise changed tacts and said, "Hamel, Kristina and I are your Saints. We were swallowed by nightmares separately this time, but together with you... we could resist."

"There's a possibility of that. But can you be certain?" Eugene questioned, his gaze piercing.

"No, there is no certainty. I understand your words. If her god commands it, how could his Saint resist? We can only obediently follow," Anise replied.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like a taunt," Eugene responded.

"Don't misunderstand, Hamel. I'm not being sarcastic. I truly believe this. We do not want to be a hindrance to you," Anise explained.

"The way you're speaking, you would think I'm fighting alone," Eugene said, letting out a hollow laugh as he straightened his chair. Sienna blinked at his response.

"I thought you were fighting alone?" Sienna echoed.

"When did I say I was fighting alone? I said I'd go into the city by myself," Eugene corrected.

"Ah... right, isn't that what it means?" Sienna questioned.

"Are you really the Goddess of Magic? After all, you're the one who named yourself the Wise Sienna. Maybe you're not the Goddess of Magic, but a b—" Eugene cut himself off, not finishing his thought as Sienna glared at him, her eyes blazing.

"A what?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he responded.

"What were you going to say after 'a'? What is it?" Sienna questioned.

"I meant to say that I am bald," Eugene repeated, though the statement didn't really make sense in context.

He stuck with it because saying 'Goddess of Blockheads' might have led to one of them not surviving the day.

"Of course, I'll support you from outside the city," Anise remarked while stealing a pathetic glance at Sienna. "Hamel, you said it yourself, didn't you? For Levantein to be used effectively, you need Kristina and me. Even though I cannot join you in the city to face the nightmare, I will pray for your victory from outside."

"I... I..." Sienna started, hesitating for a moment as she pondered, seemingly coming up with a clever plan. "What about slamming a meteor into that damned city?"

Silence lingered momentarily.

Continuing with her half-serious suggestion, Sienna proceeded to boast, "Back in the day, it took hundreds of wizards to summon a meteor, but this Goddess of Magic doesn't need such preparations anymore."

"But didn't the meteor get stopped by a mere gesture from the Demon King of Incarceration?" Eugene retorted.

"Ah, not just a gesture! He blocked it with his chains. He must have panicked when the meteor was about to crash down on Babel. He rushed out just in time to stop it," Sienna explained.

"I really don't trust this meteor business. It seems all show and no power..." Eugene muttered.

"What do you know about Meteor?" Sienna questioned angrily.

"I know enough. I am an Archwizard myself, oh Miss Goddess of Magic. I still think my sword might be more effective than dropping a meteor," Eugene suggested.

"That... might be true, but there's a certain romance to Meteor," Sienna argued, her voice quivering slightly with excitement, but Eugene could only scoff.

"Romance, my foot," he said.

"If you can't see the romance in Meteor, then you're not a true wizard. Every wizard has a romantic notion about meteors. Everyone wants to drop one at least once. I-I'm sure of it. If we called all the tower masters of Aroth right now, all of them would want to drop a meteor," she argued.

"Why a meteor, of all things?" Anise chimed in.

"It's cool! Dropping a meteor from space! By a single wizard! With magic! That's why it's the very essence of romance," Sienna explained.

"True. It's not like there are many opportunities to cast such magic," Eugene agreed.

"See? You get it, right? And you can't just drop a meteor into the sea or a desert. It has to be on a city. The massive mass crashing down! Civilizations built by humans obliterated by cosmic energy.... That's the kind of apocalyptic romance it is," Sienna said, her voice spirited and impassioned.

Even her eyes gleamed dreamily.

Eugene couldn't quite sympathize with this apocalyptic romanticism, but he could somewhat understand the thrill of obliterating something colossal. He remembered when he had crashed the Dragon Demon Castle years ago.

"So, Meteor. What do you think about it?" Sienna asked.

"It'll be blocked," Eugene answered.

"We won't know until we try," Sienna retorted.

"And what about me? I'll be inside the city," said Eugene.

"Hamel, why are you only thinking about yourself? There are millions of hostages who went to Giabella City voluntarily," Anise reminded.

"They have probably all left Giabella City by now," Sienna suggested hopefully.

Eugene and Noir had had such a conversation in the past about Giabella City. Noir had promised to evacuate all the tourists from the city when Eugene arrived.

"Indeed," Anise nodded in agreement. "That crazy whore is obsessed with being alone with you, Hamel. The hostages in the city would just be in the way then."

"Then we could drop the meteor, right? Eugene, you wouldn't die from a meteor strike," Sienna said happily.

"Stop suggesting strange things. Use another spell. Something that would likely disrupt Noir's powers from outside the city," Eugene suggested.

With that, Sienna stopped pushing her argument, although she still pouted slightly.

"...When are you planning to go to Giabella City?" Anise asked, her tone a mix of curiosity and concern.

"I could go right now, but I need to make some final adjustments," answered Eugene.

The rites for the Saints had concluded. The power of Levantein could now be reliably drawn upon, but he still needed to make some adjustments.

"I can handle it alone," Eugene said as he rose from his chair. This time, he managed to hide his expression and emotions well enough that neither the Saints nor Sienna noticed.

"Are you returning to your room?" Anise asked.

"No. I'm going to the leyline beneath the lake," Eugene replied.

It was a place connected to the roots of the World Tree sapling, a place Eugene had often used for the practice of the White Flame Formula and meditation. Although Eugene no longer needed meditation or practice, this place in the Lionheart estate was the best for uninterrupted focus.

'I really don't want to write a will,' Eugene thought with a click of his tongue.

More precisely, he hoped there would never be a need for one. Yet, he thought it prudent to prepare. Noir was that powerful.

With Iris, the specter, and Gavid, the thought of death had never crossed his mind — but now, it was different. He felt the reality of death more acutely than ever, even more so than during his battle with Raizakia.

So, he intended to write a will, just in case he were to die in defeat. He wanted to somehow plan for what would come next.

[Sister,] Kristina spoke up, watching Eugene's back as he left the conference room. [Are you not going to tell Lady Sienna about Noir Giabella's blasphemies?]

'The question itself holds the answer. That whore's ramblings are nothing but nonsense. There's no reason to relay them,' Anise said.

Jealousy? That was nonsense. Anise, Kristina, and Sienna had never felt jealous of Noir.

Qualifications? That, too, was laughable. Noir had no right to question the qualifications of the Saints or Sienna.

However....

There was one piece of Noir's ramblings that had truly gotten under Anise's skin.

If Noir were to die, Hamel would remember her for the rest of his life. Noir knew this all too well.

That was why she had mocked the Saints.

'How vile,' Anise thought while clenching her rosary.