The sound of water guzzling down the faucet filled her ears, but Hoya did not move her back away from the walls.
She didn't want to move, nor did she want to think.
The small little worldview she held came crashing down.
The last time, destruction hit within three years. Her land did not even have the chance to stand up, let alone fight.
She had already amassed power incomparable to before, and facts about the Fonias weren't lost on her, though the black market and its dealings were too guarded even for her.
But demons?
"Demons? Seriously?"
And it didn't end there.
The one person who had been trusted with not just hers, but her entire family was not just a normal doctor.
But. A damned. Demon Lord.
This was too much, way too much.
She had deemed them reasonable but never trusted them. She had deemed them her comrades, but never accepted them.
It was all.
A mess.
But now that she had seen.
The demons crying, embracing, squealing in joy and liberation. When she had witnessed loyalty borne by the beings of anarchy and pleasure, how could she call them any different?
Action that she and the others failed to take, not just in her last life, but also in this.
Those actions were being taken by their number one enemy.
It already felt strange to know that the demon Dantalian was no more and that she was killed by none other than her eternal pawn Eugene Hall.
But then.
What was she supposed to face now?
Nothing? Eugene Hall was an ass, but he wasn't a problem anymore. And her lover had already gotten more than comfortable with that man. Personally, Hoya didn't mind him either and as for whatever happened with Anatolia, while she was angry, it was something she had no right to put into as Anatolia was a person of her own.
It seemed as if something was missing
Something key was missing.
In the first place, just what were the outer gods?
Invaded and deviled they had no choice but to take on things as they came. A totally failed defense that ended with only Eugene Hall's victory.
But what were the outer gods? Where had they come from?
She was now faced with questions she held no answers to and that she had never even thought of getting answers to. Ones that she couldn't face before she was met with her demise.
'What did we even come back for?'
The words of her friend, Adelia, rang into her mind.
It was funny.
Even that time which seemed hopeless and bleak with the death of their comrade, Noa was again saved by Eugene Hall.
Hoya had gotten the full account of things from Luka and knew just well how and what Eugene had faced.
Everything.
Everything was being fixed by him.
The sight of the demons flashed yet again.
And just like the clenched fists of the demons, Hoya grit her teeth and stood up.
She had to make a move too.
And there was no one other than herself and her team of time travelers that knew of the identity of the outer gods.
If there was a step to be taken, it had to be done by them.
School life, uniting the people, slowly gaining power, and defending correctly this time, all of that was bullshit.
Eugene Hall had proved that enough for not just her but for everyone.
Like a torch in a dark night, he had shown them a destination, the path, was for their own to choose.
Unfortunately, the destination was being shown by the worst person possible. But Hoya was corrupted too far. Mad rage, a sense of not being enough plagued her.
Just sitting back wasn't going to be enough. Thinking that she could do things one thing at a time, at her own pace, as long as it was bringing the right results.
Were those not the words of the weak?
They may be sensible.
No, they were sensible.
Hoya puffed her cheeks.
Her hands clenched down again and she stood up in her room. With a single tap, she shot off the ground and dashed out the door.
The door slammed behind her—
"Faucet!"
Hoya charged back in, closed the faucet, and then charged back out.
Her destination? Her previous self's greatest enemy. The object of all her hate.
She ran down the stairs and over to the office of Eugene Hall, where he remained alone.
"Princess?" He asked.
He wasn't sitting.
He was doing a headstand, on his fingers, on a block made with air magic. Balls of water and fire floated around him at speeds that would make the ones with the fastest visual acuity light-headed.
"What are you up to?"
"What do you want?"
Hoya took in a breath. Yes, this guy wasn't that amicable. Right.
"Eugene Hall, what do you work for?"
"Myself."
"Not who, what."
Eugene Hall stopped his sets and stood up straight. He snapped his fingers and the blobs of flame disappeared as he wiped his forehead with his shirt.
"What's this about, princess?"
"Soul searching?"
The boy grinned.
"I work to be the strongest."
Hoya lowered her gaze.
"And what kind of person… is the strongest?"
Eugene Hall then raised his gaze to the ceiling and hummed.
"I would have had tens of answers over the last ten months. From pure unbridled strength, ignoring consequences, doing whatever you want, not hiding things… I think there are many things that can be the strongest."
Hoya nodded.
But her thoughts weren't allowed to complete.
"If you ask me now, the strongest is just an ideal."
A serene smile spread on Eugene Hall's usual cold face.
"You can chase after rationality all you want, something tangible will come to you, and what then? Is that truly the end? Is a life where you do reach your goals satisfactory at all?"
"Your strongest is just a dream…" Hoya muttered, then quickly covered her mouth.
Instead of getting angry, Eugene Hall only laughed.
"Yes," he said. "I chase after a dream. I keep chasing and chasing. I have learned full well that what is a dream will only be a dream."
She knew he couldn't see faces.
She was as well aware as anyone else.
Yet, his eyes were peering straight into her own.
"But the strongest can even make a dream come true."
Hoya grinned.
She had received all the answers she wanted.
"Outer gods," she said. "If you want to defeat them, you will have to bring every realm and every continent together."
"Funny, that was my plan." Eugene Hall turned his back away from her, and so did Hoya.
"I'll help you."
"You don't have a choice."
"Aw always such an insufferable bitch, aren't you?"
"Get out."
***
[A/n: Some clarity on this for some people. Eugy describes strength as just an idea, something one could never reach but says that what is the point of action if you do not chase an ideal? It can be and is meant to be interpreted with some other meanings too. The strongest won't be satisfied by becoming the strongest, or maybe, with the last line, that his definition of strongest is one that can make such ideals come true, or maybe that even if it is an ideal he would still foolhardily continue chasing it to give things meaning. There are some other interpretations too that I will not elaborate on. The point is, all of them are correct and all of them have relevance. Thanks for reading, I hope you can reach your strongest like Eugy or find it like Hoya]
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om