Chapter 212: The Dark Room (5)

Chapter 212: The Dark Room (5)

Gion and Gilead gave similar answers as well. Neither of them had ever seen anything similar to a past life in the Dark Room. Of course, it was impossible to know if the same held true for all those who were already deceased, but Eugene became certain that seeing one’s past life in the Dark Room wasn’t a common occurrence. It was something out of the ordinary.

“Maybe you were so immersed in the illusion that you confused it with a memory. It could be, right? Of course, I don’t know exactly what you saw in your vision, but from my experience…. Well… the phantom is a little different from your current self, right?”

No, that wasn’t it at all. What Eugene saw after tracing back the life he led as Hamel, all the way to the beginning, was a man other than Hamel. But Eugene didn’t know why the Dark Room had projected the unknown man.

‘I don’t have any memories like that.’

He thought long and hard but always reached the same conclusion. Neither Eugene nor Hamel possessed such a memory. Had he ever walked through a battlefield full of corpses or killed enough people to make a mountain out of their bodies? Well… perhaps, but he had never wandered around the battlefield with drooping shoulders full of despair.

Hamel had been a venomous man during his mercenary days, and he had never felt despair during his time with Vermouth either. Nor had he ever sat alone on a mountain of stacked bodies either. He knew that some of the mercenaries he had been acquainted with had distasteful hobbies similar to it, but Hamel preferred to simply slaughter his enemies before moving on instead of bothering to make a mound of their corpses. In particular, what if he had done such a thing while traveling with Vermouth? It would have definitely warranted a barrage of harsh words from Sienna, followed by a slap from Anise, and perhaps even a scolding from Molon….

‘A life… before my previous life?’

Eugene laughed at the thought. It was ridiculous. Well, since he had led a previous life as Hamel, it wasn’t out of the question that he had lived a life before that. However… why did the Dark Room show him that life as well?

After returning to his room, Eugene called for Kristina.

“Kristina, I would like to talk to Anise for a moment.”

“Yes, understood,” Kristina answered before yielding her body without any hesitation or reluctance. On the contrary, Anise seemed more uneasy at his request. As soon as she took control of Kristina’s body, she approached Eugene before slapping him on the arm.

“Why are you bothering someone who is taking a well-deserved break?” Anise scolded in disapproval.

“For a good reason, obviously. Do you think I would have called you because I was bored?”

Thwack!

Eugene’s brilliant response was greeted with another slap on the arm.

“That’s exactly why you deserve another hit. If you’re going to call me like this, why wouldn’t you just call me once or twice for the sake of it? Why is it that you only call me when you have a reason? How inhuman,” complained Anise.

“No, well…. I thought you didn’t like it when I called you out for no reason…?” muttered Eugene.

“That’s right. I don’t. I do not want to take Kristina’s place,” jabbed Anise before flunking down on Eugene’s bed. Immediately afterward, an expression of realization dawned on Anise’s face. Her eyes sparkled, and she gave a mischievous smile as she slowly looked around Eugene’s clean room. “Tempting a mature woman into your room. Isn’t your faith in Kristina’s virtues too blinded? Don’t you know that a wolf in sheep’s clothing lives inside her?”

“Are you talking about yourself?”

“Well, how about that? Hamel, what do you think? Do you think that I am a wolf?” Anise asked with a seductive smile while crossing her legs.

Eugene took on a dismal expression and gave a long sigh before waving his hands. “Do you want me to look at you as a wolf?” he asked.

“Are you saying you want to be devoured by me as a wolf? How brazen and insidious. I guess it’s your specialty to seduce women by acting like an innocent, clueless idiot, just like now.” Anise replied with a click of her tongue.

“Seduce? What on earth…?”

“Be honest, Hamel. How many women have you brought into this room so far?”

“Stop saying such weird things. What women? The only ones who ever came into my room are Ciel and Nina.”

Ciel and Nina… the two names were clearly imprinted in Anise’s memory. Nina was the servant girl in charge of taking care of the floor. Normally, older, more mature, and experienced servants would take on such positions, but Nina’s age was the same as Kristina's — twenty-three. However, she was given such an important role despite her young age because she had served Eugene as his personal attendant from the very beginning. As such, Anise had been on the constant lookout for Nina from inside Kristina.

“Hmm…. There shouldn’t be any problems with that girl,” said Anise.

“What does that even mean?” asked Eugene.

“She is thoroughly capable of distinguishing between public and private affairs. Hamel, the only thing she feels for you personally is something similar to a sisterly affection, very much unlike Ciel, that sassy lady,” answered Anise.

Kristina quietly agreed with Anise. The sight of Ciel acting cute toward Gerhard while leaving the room earlier that day was still fresh in her mind. The way she had said ‘Fa-ther’ wasn’t something Kristina could ever envision herself doing.

‘I can do it in your stead.’ Anise volunteered slyly, hearing Kristina’s thoughts.

[Sister… Please…!]

Anise gave an impish smile while enjoying Kristina’s horrified scream.

“Hamel, I’m sure there’s a good reason why you called me, instead of Kristina, in your room, right? I’m looking forward to it,” Anise said teasingly.

“What do you think about past lives?” Eugene asked without beating around the bush.

Anise stayed silent for a moment while glaring at Eugene. Although she said she was looking forward to it, to tell the truth, she held no expectations for Eugene. She remembered Hamel all too well. He had a dirty mouth and acted accordingly, but at the same time, he had been a complete moron and a blockhead who never crossed the line.

“…I might understand if it were anyone else…. But isn’t it funny that you, of all people, are asking me about past lives? Haven’t you already reincarnated?” Anise finally answered.

“It’s a special case for me. I’m asking about others,” Eugene continued earnestly.

“Well, I’m also a special case since… I’m a created being. But I’m sure your question isn’t about me, so I will give you a perspective of the general population,” replied Anise. Her expression changed, and she continued in a calm voice while slowly caressing the rosary around her neck. “According to the Doctrine of Light, the deceased are sent to either heaven or hell according to the lives they have led. And only those who paid the price of their sins in hell are reincarnated and reborn in this world. In other words, in the Doctrine of Light, the Cycle of Light is a journey to reach a painless heaven. So past lives, present lives, future lives, all of them are just struggles for those unable to enter heaven.”

“You’re not telling me to take that word-for-word, right?” asked Eugene.

“How could I? I’m only explaining the Doctrine of Light. From what I’ve experienced, heaven does exist, but you don’t have to go there unconditionally. Just like how I remained in this world,” answered Anise.

“Then what about hell?”

“Hell…. I’m not sure. I felt heaven, but I have never felt hell. Hamel, I won’t say that the Doctrine of Light is completely correct, but the teachings of the old Bible aren’t all works of fiction,” Anise continued with her explanation.

If it had been anyone else’s words, Eugene would have disregarded them with a snort. However, Anise had been born into the Church of Light, then experienced many things before becoming an angel after her death.

“I don’t know if hell exists, but heaven does exist. Souls who are undeserving of entering heaven or choose not to enter, remain behind and reincarnate into this world.” Anise paused, then continued with a twisted smile and a deeper tone, “Then Hamel, hell may not actually be a separate world. This world itself could be hell. It would be the punishment of hell to die and be reborn into this world without obtaining peace, right?”

Her words didn’t sound like a joke at all. Eugene stood silent while slowly digesting her words. Their lives were a struggle to enter heaven. Eugene’s case was special, but others didn’t remember their previous lives. Of course, they would have past lives, but in the process of dying and being reborn, their memories were wiped.

“…Then that means Vermouth dragged me back down to hell,” said Eugene with a bitter smile while taking a seat.

Originally, Hamel’s soul would have been wiped out by the lich’s curse. However, Hamel’s soul was returned when Vermouth made an Oath with the Demon King of Incarceration. As a result, his soul did not leave this world but was placed in a necklace, a relic, by Sienna’s magic.

“All of us together dragged you back down to hell,” murmured Anise.

Sienna had not made the decision to imbue his soul into the necklace by herself. Everyone had agreed. Anise had been doubtful regarding the existence of heaven at the time, but she had longed to enter heaven with all her colleagues after killing all the remaining demon kings.

“And Sir Vermouth himself chose hell.”

Eugene didn’t know what to say at this point.

“The same is true for Sienna and me. I don’t know about Molon, but all of us were qualified to enter heaven. But, even so, we chose to remain in this hellish world.”

“For the world?” Eugene finally asked.

“For you.” Anise laughed. “And for us, although that ended being for the sake of the world. We wanted to kill all the demon kings. I don’t know why… Sir Vermouth denied heaven and disguised his death.”

“You saw Vermouth’s body, right?” asked Eugene.

“Yes.”

Two hundred years ago, the Great Vermouth, founder of the Lionheart clan and the Hero, died. The Kiehl Empire held a grand funeral for the Hero, and processions to commemorate his death followed throughout the continent. Vermouth had cut off all communication with his comrades after returning from Helmuth. Anise, Sienna, and Molon had all attended his funeral. At the time, Sienna had cleared the sky of the pouring rain to deny it of mourning his death, and Molon, the Founding King of Ruhr, took off his crown and personally moved Vermouth’s coffin. Anise, the Saintess of the Holy Empire, had recited a tribute.

“Yes, I saw it,” Anise said once again.

Eugene had heard the story as well. There had been a body inside Vermouth’s coffin at the time. If it had been a fake, Anise and Sienna would have noticed, even if it deceived Molon.

“At that time, Sir Vermouth definitely was a dead corpse, and his soul was already gone. Naturally, I assumed he had ascended to heaven,” said Anise.

However, that had not been the case. Thus, Anise remained until this era and gave a revelation to Kristina to check Vermouth’s coffin in the Black Lion Castle.

“It may be possible that… 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?”