Novel

Eugene’s face twisted when he heard the word ring. Why would she suddenly bring that up out of the blue? Eugene was just about to let out a curse, but a sudden thought passing through his head caused him to flinch.

Could it be that memories from her past life, which hadn’t completely been erased and had instead been buried somewhere deep, had suddenly pricked her heart?

‘A ring?’ Eugene thought.

He recalled the final moments of the Twilight Witch. Agaroth had given her his ring, his holy relic, and ordered her to flee. However the Twilight Witch had rejected his divine commandment. Instead of accepting the ring, she had returned it and then requested a kiss and expressed her last wish to be able to die at his hands.

After snapping her neck with his own hands, Agaroth had placed his ring on the Twilight Witch’s chest. Then he had turned his back on her corpse and went to face the Demon King of Destruction.

What could have happened to the ring after that? The world had been destroyed. A fog followed by a giant wave had engulfed the whole world, leaving only corpses in its wake.

After that, a long, long time had passed. Although the details weren’t fully known, the world was reborn once more. Perhaps the ring had been buried deep beneath the sea, or maybe it was carried along by the ocean currents.... Eventually, the ring had fallen into the hands of a dragon before it had been fatefully returned to Eugene.

“Why a ring of all things?” Eugene eventually asked.

There was no way that Noir Giabella could have retained any memories of her life as the Twilight Witch. No matter the fact that Noir Giabella was a being who possessed truly absurd levels of power, there was no way she could still have memories of her past life, which had ended with her previous death.

“Who knows?” Noir said with a shrug.

It was just as Eugene had guessed. Noir really didn’t have any memories of her past life.

She didn’t remember Agaroth’s name, the Twilight Witch, or anything at all, really. However, after seeing how Eugene’s divinity had grown stronger and more distinct... her soul had just seemed to react on its own. Even then, her soul hadn’t awoken any clear memories or even the broken fragments of a memory.

It was just a feeling.

A very vague and fleeting feeling. Noir felt an inexplicable desire to possess a ring. She simply couldn’t tell why she was having such an unusual feeling.

“Why a ring of all things?” Noir repeated. “I wonder why.... Earlier, I just suddenly had the thought that I wanted one.”

When she thought about it, most of the emotions that had come over her today were sudden and impulsive.

However... Noir didn’t think that this was particularly strange. Because she had always been like that. She was the Queen of the Night Demons. She had already been impulsive, lustful, and emotional for the past hundreds of years now.

“That’s right, come to think of it, Hamel,” Noir turned to look at Eugene, having suddenly realized something. “Didn’t you also wear a ring?”

Noir was also able to clearly recall what kind of ring it was.

Eugene had worn that ring on the ring finger of his left hand. It was no ordinary ring. Noir hadn’t known what its exact identity was, but she had guessed it was probably a genuine artifact. It wasn’t an item that had been enchanted with magic either, but instead, a holy relic with connections to an ancient god.

“A ring?” Eugene feigned ignorance.

“Are you really pretending to have forgotten about it? I’m talking about the ring that was destroyed in your battle with Iris. It had the ability to heal injuries,” Noir reminded him with a grin. Fôllôw 𝒏ew stories at n𝒐/v(e)lb/in(.)com

Noir could clearly remember seeing it at that time as she watched Eugene and Iris fight.

Instead of replying, Eugene just glared directly into Noir’s face.

Right now, Eugene was experiencing a huge inner turmoil. This was because of Noir’s desire to own a ring and also because he couldn’t fully see through her intention to ask about Agaroth’s Ring.

There was no way; he didn’t think it was even possible, but... could it be that Noir really had recalled her past life? Were her current actions prompted by those recollected memories?

‘No way, there’s no way,’ Eugene tried to convince himself over and over again.

In the first place, if Noir really had managed to remember, she would have addressed it head-on instead of probing around indirectly like this.

Eugene calmed his inner turmoil and began to speak, “I’m not pretending to have forgotten. It’s just that you started asking about my ring without any warning.”

“Is that so?” Noir said doubtfully. “Hmm, it just suddenly occurred to me. Since I’ve decided to get a ring, I thought it would be nice if I could get one similar to yours. Ah, that’s right. This actually works out for the best. How about it? Should we get an identical pair of rings?”

Although she had just come up with the idea herself, Noir couldn’t help but picture the beautiful and wonderful image that would make. Noir turned to look at Eugene, both eyes sparkling with light, as Eugene’s face instinctively twisted into a disgusted scowl.

“I—” Eugene began.

Only for Noir to interrupt him, “You’re going to say that I’m crazy, right? Fufu, Hamel, I can already predict everything you’re going to say. Of course, you don’t want to wear the same ring as me.

Noir walked past Eugene, her hips swaying as if she was dancing.

While staring down at Eugene’s completely bare hands, she laughed and said, “I also feel like it would be fun to try and force it onto your finger. Don’t make that face, Hamel. I’m not going to try and force it on you now, you know? I’m saving that for later, hmm, that’s right, for later. When you eventually die in my arms.”

“...,” Eugene held his tongue and the mounting irritation.

Noir smiled brightly, “At that moment... I will put the ring on your finger as you die in the throes of your own despair. As I slip it on, I will whisper into your ear and say, ‘I love you.’”

“Crazy bitch,” Eugene cursed.

“But I think that would be quite a beautiful and romantic gesture, no? Of course, you won’t want to accept that ring, but... fufu, at such a moment, you won’t even have the strength to refuse it. What do you think, Hamel? If, and I really do mean if, when the two of us reunite to try and kill each other, if, in the end, you are the one who emerges victorious...,” Noir tilted her head to the side as she looked up at Eugene.

Beneath her long and thick eyelashes, Noir’s purple eyes, which were as beautiful as jewels, sparkled with intense anticipation.

“You and I, at the moment when our long, long relationship comes to an end... is there anything that you would want to give me as a final gift?” Noir asked.

“There’s nothing,” Eugene flatly denied.

“Even if I say it as my last wish?” Noir pouted.

“It doesn’t matter to me what your last wishes are,” Eugene answered with a surly expression.

Noir snorted, “Hmph, well, I also predicted that response.”

Eugene couldn’t sense any real disappointment coming from her. Even if Eugene wasn’t going to prepare a gift to commemorate her final moments, couldn’t Noir herself just prepare one for him to give her? Since she had already decided to buy a ring, Noir decided to just buy a pair at the same time.

Then, when she someday killed Hamel....

“I will place the ring on my own hand. Then I will place the other ring on your hand as you lie there dying. Also... after you die, I will remember you for all eternity each time I look at the ring on my finger,” Noir said dreamily.

“...,” Eugene silently scowled.

“If you do win, then I hope you would do the same thing that I would,” Noir said, looking at Eugene with a bright smile.

Eugene found himself unable to face that smile directly. He also didn’t feel any desire to keep staring at it either. He didn’t think that there were any other intentions hidden behind all of the words that Noir had just spouted, but even so... as Eugene listened to her speak, it felt like something heavy and sharp was landing in his heart.

“Stop talking nonsense, and let’s go already,” Eugene said gruffly after a slight pause.

“It’s taking so long because we’re walking there,” Noir explained. “If we had taken the train or a taxi, we would have already arrived a long time ago.”

Although she said this, Noir had no intention of taking any transportation. Instead, Noir slowed down her walking pace so that she was now shoulder-to-shoulder with Eugene.

The street ahead was sparkling with light. At present, all the streetlights in Giabella City had been adjusted to their most beautiful colors such that these beautiful lights surrounded Eugene and Noir.

Naturally, this wasn’t all just a coincidence. It was all due to the Giabella-Faces in the sky that were connected to Noir. Thanks to the system that managed the entire city, Noir could manipulate her surroundings according to her will.

On top of that, since all of the people who had been influenced by Noir’s suggestion were keeping their distance, the entire city seemed to have become a world just for Noir and Eugene.

“Do you want to... link arms together?” Noir asked shyly, her cheeks blushing in an obvious show as she extended one hand towards Eugene.

Naturally, Eugene just retorted with a grim expression, “Get lost.”

* * *

The Saint of the God of War.

The Twilight Witch.

She may have had a real name, but there was no way for Eugene to find out what that name had been. This may have been because all of Agaroth’s memories that had reawakened in Eugene’s mind while he was in the Ragurayan were very fragmented and vague, but Eugene also felt like there might be other reasons apart from that.

Within the memories that Eugene had recalled at that time, Agaroth wasn’t the only character present in the memories. There had been many other people besides Agaroth.

However, the only one with an actual name was Agaroth himself. Even the Great Warrior, Agaroth’s oldest friend, was only known as the ‘Great Warrior’; and the Saint, who had been someone special to Agaroth, was also only remembered as the ‘Saint’ and the ‘Twilight Witch.’

It wasn’t just the humans. The other gods that Agaroth had respected and relied on to some extent were also remembered by their titles as the ‘Sage’ and the ‘God of Giants.’

Perhaps Agaroth was just a person with a mental disorder who couldn’t even remember the names of anyone other than himself but... Eugene thought that there was little chance of that actually being the case.

Eugene thought to himself, ‘It feels like my subconscious may have rejected recalling their names.’

For now, that was the only guess he could come up with. Eugene didn’t want to accept the emotional influences that came with Agaroth’s memories. He wanted to keep the self of the current era distinct from who he might have been in the ancient era. Eugene felt like that desire may have influenced the memories he had reawakened.

It hadn’t fully worked. If he really, truly wanted to keep his sense of self distinct... then all of Agaroth’s emotions should have been stripped from those memories. Of course, if that had happened, it may have been difficult to fully inherit those memories.

Even though their names were forgotten, Eugene could remember everything else in great detail.

The Saint of the God of War, the Twilight Witch, had been a beautiful woman. She had grown her beautiful, orange hair long, its color reminiscent of a vibrant sunset, and she had sky blue eyes that didn’t belong to either day or night but were more of a dusky hue.

Her face... didn’t resemble Noir’s at all. If he examined her personality in detail, there were many differences between the two. However, there were similarities in the way that they would openly flirt with him, often sought skinship, and liked to whisper into his ear.

‘Even if you’re reincarnated, does your true nature remain the same?’ Eugene’s brow furrowed as he thought about this.

Noir and Eugene were currently in a department store located on the border between Fantasy Square and Gamble Square. They were on a VIP floor that dealt solely in expensive and luxury goods that couldn’t even be entered unless you possessed a considerable amount of wealth.

Even though it was a VIP floor, there were actually quite a lot of people having fun shopping when they arrived. There were nobles from all over the continent, a few royal family members from smaller countries, and even a couple of the demonfolk of Helmuth.

“No way... is that really....”

“Eugene Lionheart?”

Even though they were causing quite a spectacle and drawing the eyes of everyone present, could Noir really intend for them to just keep shopping here regardless?

Feeling annoyed, Eugene shifted his gaze towards a target. Although many pairs of eyes were blatantly staring at him and whispering, the one that really bothered Eugene belonged to one of the demonfolks.

Said demonfolk was a Baron. This wasn’t a very high-ranking title, but this Baron was said to possess quite a prosperous fief by Helmuth’s standards.

For those in possession of such a territory, most would have likely lost control of it in a territorial battle with other demonfolk. Still, in the case of this Baron, he was able to maintain his ownership of his territory by getting other higher-ranking demonfolk to extend ties of fealty towards him in exchange for material support.

As Eugene silently unleashed his killing intent toward the man, the blood began to drain from the Baron’s bright red face as he turned slightly pale.

Eugene rolled his shoulders, glared at the retreating Baron, and spoke in a loud voice that was meant to be overheard, “Isn’t the very presence of a bastard who looks that ugly an obstruction of business?”

The Baron’s appearance indeed was hideous. His hide was red, he had three eyes, and he had goat legs in place of his lower body.

Although Eugene was openly hurling insults at him, the Baron did not respond and merely departed from the floor.

The Baron wasn’t the only one frightened off by Eugene’s irritation. The other guests on the VIP floor stopped whispering and kept their mouths shut, acting as if they hadn’t just been gossiping earlier. Even with that, Eugene’s mood didn’t improve.

“As long as they can pay, all customers are equal,” Noir said with a considering hum as she stretched out all ten fingers. “Of course, I also have to admit that Baron Horst does look hideous. However, even that hideousness can become a unique aesthetic as long as he has enough money.”

Eugene complained, “Why haven’t you covered this area in your suggestion?”

Noir smiled, “It’s all for your sake, Eugene.”

Since there were ears listening from all around them, Noir didn’t call Eugene by his other name, Hamel. This was also a fortunate thing for all of the customers in the department store.

If Noir had made a slip of the tongue and said the name ‘Hamel,’ Eugene would have had to capture or kill everyone around them to stop the rumor from spreading.

“As the kind person that I am, allow me to directly inform you. Baron Horst has donated money to several other demonfolk, and included among those are a few of the demonfolk who have crawled into the desert,” Noir tore her eyes away from her fingers to take a look at Eugene’s face. With a smile, she continued, “Baron Horst will be sure to convey your situation in a very natural manner.”

“By my situation, are you talking about how I, the Hero, and you, Noir Giabella, came here, just the two of us, to buy rings?” Eugene hissed while trying to keep his insides from boiling over in rage.

At these words, Noir let out a cackle and nodded, “That’s right!”

“And if these... facts... were to become known, how exactly would that help my position?” Eugene growled.

“Who knows? No matter what, something will change, right?” Noir gave an awkward cough, “Ahem, first of all, let me make this clear. Did you know that Amelia Merwin doesn’t like me all that much? And I don’t really like Amelia Merwin either. In fact, we both hate each other. And you, Eugene, you hate her as well!”

“...,” Eugene stayed silent.

“Well... you’ve heard the phrase, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, haven’t you? I’m sure that Amelia Merwin will have no choice but to feel upset when she learns that we’re close enough to buy rings together,” Noir tried to convince Eugene.

Eugene eyed her suspiciously, “Are you being serious right now?”

“Hey, of course, I’m not being serious. I’m just talking for the sake of talking,” Noir said, sticking out her tongue with a playful smile.

Eugene suppressed the thought of going up to her that very moment and kicking her in the chin, thus chopping off said tongue.

“If you’re done looking around, can we head out already?” Eugene asked impatiently.

“Why are you in such a rush? After all, the night is still long. Also, Eugene, If we leave now, it’s not like there’s anything else for us to do, no?” Noir pointed out, wriggling her fingers as she looked at Eugene.

Perhaps realizing what it meant for a gaze to feel like it was ‘burning,’[1] Eugene was so disturbed that he started getting goosebumps.

“Of course...,” Noir slowly drew out. “I could make this long night seem to last for both a moment and an eternity. Eugene, no matter how arrogant you may act, when you climb into my bed, I—”

“Grrrr,” Eugene growled in the back of his throat.

Noir sniffed, “Hm, I could have made sure for you to not have any regrets. Fine, fine, I won’t say anything more about taking you to my bed, but instead, come here and stand next to me.”

“I can see everything clearly from right here,” Eugene insisted.

“Even if that’s the case, it would still be better to see it from up close, right? After all, this has to do with the final moments of both of our lives, so I don’t want to make the choice all by myself,” Noir said persuasively.

“You’re just going to do what you want, anyway,” Eugene said, not moving from his spot.

All ten of Noir’s fingers now had rings adorning them, and she had already spent quite some time picking out these rings. Moreover, these ten were left after Noir had extensively pruned her selection. Even going back just a few dozen minutes, Noir had been considering dozens of different rings.

These ten rings were what had been left after a long and lengthy filtering process.

They all had similar shapes. None of them had any large jewels embedded into them, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a few smaller jewels used in their design. Most of the rings had simple designs without much embellishment. Honestly speaking, they were all ordinary-looking rings that were difficult to distinguish from each other at first glance.

“They seem a bit too plain for you,” Eugene eventually gave his opinion.

“Right? I think so as well,” Noir agreed.

“Then you should just choose something different,” Eugene suggested.

“However, for some reason, I feel like I’m being drawn to rings like these,” Noir muttered, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

After continuing to think about it like this for some time, Noir made up her mind and chose one of the rings. The ring that Noir chose was a gold ring that gave off a soft glow. She nodded her head with a satisfied expression.

Noir turned to him, “Eugene, you should try wearing one as well. Since it will need to be able to fit on your finger.”

Eugene scowled, “Get—”

“You’re going to say ‘get lost,’ aren’t you?” Noir spoke over him. “Fine, I get it. I’ll make the choice on my own. Even without you wearing it personally, I can roughly tell what your ring size is just by looking at your fingers, you know? In fact, there’s no need to even measure it. It’s not like this is some cheap ring, so it will be able to adjust to the circumference of your finger no matter which finger it is put on.”

Noir clapped her hands, and one of the waiting staff stepped forward.

“There’s no need to wrap the rings up. We’ll take them away like this,” Noir instructed.

“If you desire it, we can also engrave the rings, Your Highness,” the staff offered.

“Engrave? An engraving, hmm...,” Noir pondered the possibility for a few moments before smiling and shaking her head. “I’ll just do it myself.”

Noir could have had the store engrave Eugene’s name onto her ring, but rather than that name, she wanted to engrave the name ‘Hamel’ instead.

The rings floated above her palm as they were wrapped up in layers of her dark power. It didn’t take much time to engrave his name on the inside of one of the rings.

“This one is mine,” Noir said with a bright smile as she held her ring up towards Eugene.

The name ‘Hamel Dynas’ was written on the inside of the small ring that was sized to fit around Noir’s ring finger.

“And this one is yours,” Noir said, holding up the other ring.

This one had the name ‘Noir Giabella’ engraved on the inside. While watching as Eugene’s expression twisted, Noir giggled and placed her ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.

“I’ll keep your ring with me,” Noir informed him. “Because if I give it to you, you will definitely just throw it away.”

Her long, outstretched fingers pulled out a strand of her own hair. The broken strand of hair was pulled through Hamel’s ring and turned into a black necklace.

In fact, Noir wanted Eugene to hang this necklace around her neck, but Noir was well aware that there was no way the man would be willing to do so. So she hung the necklace around her neck with her own hands as she walked over towards Eugene.

“Let’s go,” Noir said.

“Where to?” Eugene asked.

Noir smiled, “Since we’ve already come to the department store, wouldn’t it be a shame to end our shopping trip and return after just buying some rings? Isn’t there anything that you want me to buy for you?”

“There’s nothing,” Eugene flatly denied.

“I feel like those two kids have a lot of things they might want, though,” Noir teased.

“I’m also very wealthy,” Eugene said defensively.

“But there are some things that even money can’t buy,” Noir said as she walked past Eugene.

Although he didn’t have any desire to follow her — in the current situation — Eugene had no choice but to do so.

Eventually, Eugene let out a sigh and followed Noir out of the store.

1. The original text uses ‘sticky’ instead of burning, but since that isn’t really a thing in English, I felt it was best to change it to this. ?