Damn Reincarnation - Chapter 575

“Why did you allow him to return?”

“One month?”

The questions came flying at Eugene at the same time. Which one was he meant to answer first? Eugene was left momentarily speechless as he could only blink his eyes in confusion.

“I asked you why you allowed him to return!”

“One month! That’s far too soon!”

While he was still blinking his eyes, the barrage of words continued. Although the other members of the general staff didn’t join in the questioning, all of their faces were covered in doubt and uncertainty.

“For now, you both should try to calm down,” Eugene said, raising his hands as he tried to get them to step back.

Because if they didn’t, Sienna and Anise seemed like they were about to take turns hitting him as they drew closer.

“I’ll answer your questions one by one. So Sienna, for now, please let your mana settle down. Also, you... Kristina, you should also lower your flail as well. Alright?” Eugene nervously pleaded.

It was Anise, not Kristina, who was glaring at him through narrowed eyes, but apart from Ciel, none of the other members of the general staff were aware of Anise’s existence. As such, Eugene was left with no choice but to use Kristina’s name instead.

“Fine then,” Anise huffed.

Although she didn’t retract her narrow-eyed glare, for now, Anise decided to lower her flail. Sienna also allowed her mana to settle down with a pout. Once that was done, Eugene was able to let out a deep sigh of relief as he took his seat.

“I allowed him to return because I felt like it wouldn’t matter even if I let him go,” Eugene explained.

“And I feel like you deserve a smack, Ha — Sir Eugene, would you mind if I gave you one?” Anise asked as her hand went back to the flail that she had just set down.

Eugene’s shoulders trembled as he flinched and quickly insisted, “No, really. I just thought that it would be okay to send him back, so that’s what I did.”

“And now I’m asking you why you would make such a foolish decision,” Anise said coldly.

“Because Balzac is still holding onto his humanity in his own way,” Eugene tried to argue. “He couldn’t do anything about the fact that he had already bound himself to the Demon King of Incarceration through his contract, so it seems that he took up the position as the new Staff of Incarceration to minimize the destruction from the war. Or so I believe.”

“So what, are you saying that we shouldn’t kill Balzac Ludbeth?” Anise asked doubtfully.

“No,” Eugene responded while shaking his head. “This is the last time I will show him mercy or give him a chance to escape. I gave you an explanation for why I made such a decision, but if Balzac does block our way up through Babel—”

“Then I’ll be the one to kill him,” Sienna spat out before Eugene could finish speaking. “Today, I was planning to allow him to return to Babel with his life, in any case. It doesn’t matter whether or not Balzac retains his human emotions. Now that he has become the Staff of Incarceration, so long as he stays in Babel and protects the Demon King of Incarceration, if he has truly given up his dream as a wizard to devote himself to his duty as the Staff of Incarceration, then as the Guardian of Magic, once we climb up through that damn Babel, I will be sure to take his life.”

Although her mana had settled down, her voice was still fierce. The other Archwizards who were part of the general staff looked at Sienna with admiring eyes upon hearing this declaration. Setting aside the overflowing murderous intent that was seeping out of Sienna, it seemed that they had been entranced by her title, the ‘Guardian of Magic.’

“Big sis, let me go with you. I also want to climb up through Babel! Until we reach the Demon King of Incarceration! Then I’ll show him the power of the Strongest Spirit Summoner of all time!” Melkith said as she clenched her fists excitedly.

Her motivation was impressive, but there was no way that they could allow this.

Eugene rejected her, “Sienna, Kristina, and I will be the only ones ascending Babel.”

“But why!” Melkith complained.

“That is because, Lady Melkith, while I acknowledge you as the greatest Spirit Summoner of all time, you won’t be able to use your amazing spirit-summoning skills freely while within Babel,” Eugene explained.

Babel was the location in which the Demon King of Incarceration could most powerfully exercise his full strength. While Eugene, of course, hadn’t managed the climb up to the Demon King’s palace three hundred years ago, he had heard from Sienna, Anise, and Molon about what the battle had been like back then. At that time, Sienna had had most of her magic sealed off during their battle against the Demon King of Incarceration, and Tempest had barely managed to remain active throughout the fight.

“You should take care of things on the surface, Lady Melkith. And if possible, please clear the walls of Pandemonium,” Eugene requested.

“The walls?” Melkith repeated quizzically.

Eugene answered her question by explaining the purpose of the missiles that had been installed on top of the walls. After hearing that they were aimed at all of the countries on the continent, the general staff’s expressions were filled with shock.

“W-we need to evacuate immediately...!” Honein stammered as he leaped up from his seat.

Among the general staff of the Divine Army, Honein and Aman were the only members of royalty who would be directly participating in the battle. Although he didn’t show any reaction to the news, Aman’s expression was also extremely dark.

“Is there any meaning to doing that? According to Eugene, those missiles are able to bombard the entire continent,” Ivatar pointed out.

Aman sighed deeply and shook his head in response to Ivatar's words, “Even so, we can’t just leave our citizens to burn in our cities.”

“If you really must evacuate, then send them to Samar,” Ivatar offered. “The land of the Rainforest is vast and, aside from the Lionheart’s estate, it is the place with the highest concentration of mana on the continent. You can use the rainforest as your main refugee camp if the Archwizards here are willing to step in and erect a defensive barrier to protect them.”

Everyone turned to look at Ivatar as if they were surprised to hear him give such a good idea.

Ivatar realized the meaning of the gazes being directed at him, and he furrowed his brow in a frown as he responded, “Those gazes feel extremely insulting.... Just because we are the native tribespeople of the forest doesn’t mean that we are barbaric and ignorant.”

Honein coughed, “Ahem, we weren’t going quite that far with our thoughts.”

Ivatar shrugged, “In any case, if you feel the need to evacuate, then come down to the rainforest. However, when you issue the evacuation order, it would be best not to mention the possible bombing. Doing so would only needlessly increase their anxiety and confusion.”

Eugene clapped his hands in approval at this insightful remark, which made it hard to believe that it came from an indigenous tribesman.

Ivatar raised an eyebrow, “What exactly do you mean by your applause?”

Eugene shrugged, “It just means, ‘Oh... You really are smart, aren’t you, Ivatar...?’”

In the face of this compliment made with seemingly pure intentions, Ivatar could only furrow his brow even further because he wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he should show. He was a hot-blooded man who would usually never allow any insult to go unanswered, but that being said, Ivatar couldn’t permit himself to take out his fiery personality against Eugene.

“What do you mean, you want me to clear the wall? What kind of boring request are you trying to make of me, Melkith El-Hayah, the greatest and most powerful Spirit Summoner of all time?” Melkith, who had finally realized the seriousness and gravity of the matter, began to grumble.

Eugene took a deep breath, “Lady Melkith’s amazing and powerful Infinity Force—”

“That name was for when there were only three Spirit Kings; now it’s called Omega Force,” Melkith insisted.

“Right.... I’m asking you to please destroy all of the missiles on the wall with your Omega Force. Then, if you get the chance, you can charge into Pandemonium and sweep them all away as well,” Eugene said encouragingly.

“Are you asking me, Lady Melkith, to charge straight into the enemy base and run wild?” Melkith demanded, her voice rising.

The broken cigar that Carmen was still holding in her hand was burnt into ashes and disappeared.

“Now isn’t the time for us to remain here, being crushed by the weight of the truth or cowering in fear. We must become the cornerstone of the brilliant future that the Radiant Lion has drawn for us. We are the vanguard! Of War, of Light, of Glory, and of Victory!” Carmen roared as she raised her clenched fist in front of the other members of the general staff. “In order to be victorious, our flames must burn brightly on the battlefield. Just how long are you all going to keep sitting there?! Alchester!”

“Y-yes?” Alchester stuttered.

“Draw your sword and come with me,” Carmen ordered. “It’s time for a spar. Then next, Lord Ortus, it will be your turn.”

Ortus was bewildered, “Why are you suddenly challenging us to a spar...?”

“That is a foolish question, Lord Ortus. For knights like us, apart from sparring, is there a need for any other type of training?” Carmen said as she spun around.

As she left the conference room ahead of everyone else, Alchester and Ortus, who had been directly named by her, also got up to leave.

Just like that, the general staff left the conference room one by one. It might be because they had all felt something stir within them during Carmen’s magnificent speech, but each of them walked with purpose.

To save the world. To prevent Destruction. They may have already firmed up their resolve, knowing that they must be victorious, but the stakes that had just been revealed had only caused their resolve to grow all the more desperate.

There was only a month left. Defeating the Demon King of Incarceration wouldn’t be the end of the war. The world could only be saved if the Demon King of Destruction, who had already destroyed the world several times over, was defeated.

Once they had all left, Eugene, Sienna, and the Saints were the only ones left in the conference room.

“Wouldn’t it have been better for Lady Carmen to have been the Commander-in-Chief rather than me?” Eugene said with a snort as he turned to look at the others.

They found themselves enthusiastically agreeing with Eugene’s words, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to nod and admit it.

“I also have to get going,” Sienna said as she stood up.

“Where to?” Eugene asked.

“The great Commander-in-Chief of the Divine Army did ask me to set up the barriers, didn’t he? That’s why I’m going off to do just that!” Sienna snapped.

“Come back safely,” Eugene said, not the slightest bit intimidated by her anger as he waved at Sienna in farewell.

“I will also be leaving,” Anise informed him.

Eugene looked at her in surprise, “Why you as well? It’s not like you’re needed to set up a barrier.”

“Please don’t say something so stupid. The priests of this era are extremely inexperienced when it comes to battling demonfolk. Do you know just how much of a hassle it is to teach them about such things?” Anise hissed as she glared at Eugene. “Then we also have to mass-produce holy water! Do you know just how annoying that is?”

“Well... if you need help, just tell me,” Eugene offered. “After all, it’s just a matter of me slitting my wrists a few times.”

“Instead of that, why don’t you chop off all of your limbs and go jump into a lake? A few days of that, and it might be enough to transform the entire lake into holy water.”

Eugene gulped, “If... if that’s what you need.

Anise just snorted at his stammered response and stood up to leave. “No, let’s just ignore that idea. Hamel, all that you should do during this month is conserve as much strength as possible. And think of a way to defeat the Demon King of Incarceration.”

“Mmm... alright,” Eugene conceded.

Anise frowned and said, “I’m asking this just in case, but the reason you only gave them a month is that you have the confidence to win, right?”

Eugene hesitated, “That’s... something I’ll only know once I’ve attempted it.”

Anise’s face twisted into a scowl after hearing his uncertain answer. She barely managed to hold back the harsh words she’d been about to blurt out as she glared at Eugene.

“Please don’t say such a thing in front of the general staff or the Divine Army,” Anise said through gritted teeth.

“Of course, I wouldn’t do that,” Eugene scoffed. “I know as well as you do how important morale is on the battlefield.”

Anise just let out a deep sigh at his thick-skinned response. “Sometimes, I truly despair at the fact that the fate of the world is in your hands.”

“You don’t mean that,” Eugene laughed. “After all, you trust me, don’t you?”

“It would be a whole lot better if you could just keep your mouth shut,” Anise let out another deep sigh as she left the conference room with one last look at Eugene’s grinning face.

After she had left, the smile disappeared from Eugene’s face. Without any trace of amusement on his face, he got out of his seat and walked over to the window.

“One month, huh,” Eugene muttered to himself.

Looking through the window, he glared up at Babel.

The confidence to win? Anything like that had always felt extremely faint, starting from his duel with Gavid. Eugene had never had the confidence that he would absolutely, definitely, without fail, be able to win. He had fought because he had to.

This time would be the same.

He needed to win.

He had to win.

If he didn’t win, everything would end.

And he didn’t want that.



“I need to win,” Eugene muttered to himself as he glared up at Babel.

One month passed.



Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts

OBW: Wow, Anise can be really vicious.

Momo: Hand it to Carmen to raise the morale! Eugene should learn a few things from her.