"NOOO!! Don't puke on me!"
"Uwaaak, Kai… don't shake me more—Ahk!"
Albert winced and turned away at the sight of his old friend puking horrendously on someone else. He almost worried about showing such a sight to Lethe and wondered if he should cover for him, but the veiled lady herself just laughed gently.
"Anyway, while Kai is dealing with that guy," Albert clapped his hands and brought their attention back.
Of the top ten, Kai and Lushan, Bael and Yvas, and Charlotte, only these guys were actually aware of Eugene. It was five, but they shared rankings and only took out three slots.
"This kid… isn't he the one… that day?" Asked Han Jun Ho. Albert held in a sigh, he wasn't just a random kid but the man's own son, unfortunately, no one had any plans to tell him.
It was simply because Lethe had never done so herself, and neither had Eugene. Albert wasn't sure what the reason was, but he was not going to cross the boundary that they had set, implicitly as it was.
"He is the same one, he never died."
Charlotte seemed slightly out of it too, she was hesitating between walking over to Eugene and staying frozen.
How tiresome.
Albert sighed once more. He really knew what was going on Eugene's mind usually, but he never knew how it would affect things, Eugene's actions had always possessed that kind of power, it was incomprehensible.
If it were completely emotional or completely pragmatic, he would have been able to guess, but somehow he had always made the most correct decision for any time.
Somehow.
It seemed to be a mystery to him, but Albert could tell what was going in Eugene's mind. And he knew the same mystery did not exist in there.
Eugene knew something he hadn't told him yet.
"Alright, as I was saying," Albert continued, ignoring Eugene's continued antics with Kai and Luka. "Please get ready to leave Avalion, all of you."
The Elf King, the ruler of this world, raised his voice once more.
"Do you mean that this place won't be attacked?"
Albert shook his head.
"It will be attacked."
"You won't suggest that we abandon a world of our comrades, the Vampire I can understand…" The Elf King said, though his words were those of understanding his tone was anything but. He spoke a clear threat, that the answer better be something he would agree with.
And if it wasn't, the Elf King would flip this place.
A palpable tension filled the space that brought everyone to their heels, including the puked on Kaiser.
"Who do you suggest stays here, Albert Pinot?"
The Elf King growled.
"Who will protect my people's land?"
"Haaaahm!" Eugene yawned again then, with utterly horrible timing. The palpable tension only grew as the ruler felt a sense of disrespect directed to him.
"I'll handle that," said Eugene, the newcomer.
Unfortunately…
"Haha… you will? You… what was your name?"
"Eugene Hall," he said as he stood up and removed the sunglasses from his shirt and put them on.
It was an answer… not to the Elf King's liking.
"I have never heard the name—"
"Come to think of it," Eugene muttered, dusting his hands. "You guys are supposed to be the strongest amongst all the worlds, isn't it?"
A chill ran down Albert's spine.
Eugene's smile was one of absolute confidence, confidence that he had never seen before.
"Let's settle the ranks, since I am here. The number one should belong to me."
The one observing the charade in silence all this while finally took a step ahead. Everyone turned toward the green-scaled Dragonnewt whose arms remained hidden in his robes.
With one eye open, the gruff number one of the Worlds Alliance parted his lips.
"Are you asking for a duel? I am not inclined to accept—"
"Duel?" Eugene chuckled. "Of course not."
Rathnaar tilted his head to the side.
"All of you, all at once. In fact, go and bring others too. Kai, Cosmos and the Death Queen. All of you are free to bring your armies or whatever."
He stretched his hand out and beckoned them over.
"I'll take you on together. Oh and, of course, no lethal attacks. You all can try, but I don't wanna kill you by mistake."
Albert immediately jumped ahead ran toward Mamon and Lethe and pulled them away.
"Let's get away! Luka!"
Luka did not answer Albert, instead, he removed his own sword and glared at Eugene.
"If its with so many people, I can finally kick your ass."
Eugene was fairly shocked at Luka's claim.
"You little cunt, it was because of you that I lost in the tower, I am the one who gets to beat you up."
The tower incident seemed to have reminded someone else of the past. Lushan, who had held Eugene down just five years back realized that the kid, while much stronger after learning ancient magic and going through the last five years, was maybe still suppressible.
The Elf King smirked then.
"Do you think this is a joke?"
"Why? Hoping it is one? Aren't you too scared for a king?"
It was then, the forest in the distance started trembling.
Away from the clearing, a tremor shook the entire ground.
An enormous giant stood up from the midst of the trees and glared down at Eugene.
The being, the giant king, ninth of the ten strongest was laying in wait all this time.
"You who I can't sense anything from, you dare question the King of Giants!?"
The Giant King's temper was as great as his size that dwarfed everyone else. The being's horns touched the skies and hands could grab the clouds. Enraged, that being jumped up high and came crashing downward at Eugene, ready to slam his fist to the ground and crush everyone else with it.
If that wasn't enough, a sea of Ki covered his feet, sending heat bursting out akin to the explosion of a volcano.
Eugene gently shifted his gaze to the side, his fiancée was not out of range yet.
The hastiness pissed him off.
In the blink of an eye, Eugene disappeared from below.
Everyone ready to run away froze in surprise, except the Elf and the Dragonewt.
A loud thud resounded. It seemed the heat closing in on them stopped still for a while.
And in the next moment.
"AGHAAAAA!"
The Giant King flew through the skies and was launched away.
Eugene fell right back in the center of the crowd and cracked his knuckles.
"Careful there, don't wanna hurt others, do we?"
That signified the start of the battle.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺