Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 204

After the situation settled down, Maia, Rusalka, and I sat facing each other.

I explained my situation to Rusalka in as much detail as possible.

“So to summarize, Eugene, no, you… are Noah’s reincarnation?”

Rusalka asked after I finished explaining.

“I’m not sure about that either. I could be a reincarnation, or an avatar, or perhaps Noah himself became who I am now. It’s hard to say definitively which it is. I can’t remember that far back either.”

My last memory as Noah is having my throat cut by Belle.

Even I don’t know exactly how I was reborn as Eugene after that.

While I understand that Belle punished me for trying to escape as a human, why wasn’t I annihilated or reincarnated through the cycle?

If I had prepared to be reborn as a human before I died, that would make sense, but it ended without even time for that, and there was no need for the complicated process of dying and becoming human in the first place.

“Could it be Belle perhaps? Until now I thought she just killed you, but maybe she wanted to make you into the current Eugene to monopolize you…”

“Hmm… did Belle have that kind of ability? At least I never gave her such authority.”

If it was Belle, she could have killed me back then.

But only Noah himself could turn a god, Noah, into Eugene.

When anything with consciousness dies, its soul is collected by the higher system called reincarnation, reprocessed, and redistributed.

This applies even to creators.

Since even gods were originally human, when they die their souls are collected and reborn as something else.

Only the power of the system can interfere with this process.

Bari’s necromancy and similar arts are closer to irregularly delaying the collection and reprocessing of souls on a small scale, but they can’t do anything about the fundamental aspects.

That must be why Bari became even more obsessed with necromancy…

“There are too many strange parts, both with the memories and everything else.”

The most suspicious thing is the very existence of Blue Paper Moon.

That mysterious prophetic simulator that not only copied the current world but turned it into a game, sent it to the past, and spread it across the world.

Moreover, the protagonist’s name was Noah, and the female protagonist’s name was Hilde.

Just who could have created such a thing?

…Of course, only Noah had such ability, but I have no memory of creating it and no reason to have done so either.

That’s why I thought that perhaps I’m an avatar with some of Noah’s memories and soul… but even that has no definite proof.

At least I can guess I’m not a fake based on the fact that the more I consider myself as Noah, the more authority I gain to control the system.

“Then that’s enough. If you are Noah…”

“I’ll say it again, I’m not Noah anymore. I don’t want to go back to being Noah either.”

“…”

“I didn’t exactly mean to abandon you all. Just, well… I only failed in so many ways. Rather than me, I thought it would be better to step back and let the next creator…”

“The next creator? Who would that be?”

“Huh? Well, the next creator would be… huh?”

Wait what?

“Doesn’t the system always need a creator as its central axis? Can the position of god really be left vacant?”

Maia asked.

“No, of course not. Someone needs to control the system. It’s not a matter of using it or not, they at least need to possess it… but…?”

“Well, you have the control rights now.”

“Um… that’s… something’s strange?”

If I wanted to become human, I must have designated my successor creator.

Otherwise, I couldn’t have just left the position of god vacant and departed.

But why… don’t I remember?

Someone definitely needs to take over, and my past self couldn’t have been unaware of that?

There must be a next creator somewhere?

If I had died by Belle’s hand without a successor, the higher system would have sent my soul back to this world.

But I died and was reincarnated as a human.

That would be impossible without a successor.

“Could it be… Belle?”

Rusalka asked.

“While that’s likely, if Belle was really the creator, she wouldn’t have struggled to seal you all. She could have just stripped away all your powers and completely annihilated you with a single gesture.”

“That’s true…”

By the way, hearing Rusalka speak formally feels quite strange.

Of course she used honorifics with me in the Noah days, but now my identity as Eugene is stronger.

“…It’s also strange how I gain more system control authority the more I become aware of being Noah.”

“Is it strange? I thought it was quite natural.”

Maia said.

“Not really. If I had control rights all along, I wouldn’t have struggled so much living as Eugene. Setting up authority manifestation based on awareness like this is quite complicated, and I never did such a thing. To begin with, I stored all the creative power I could use in that moon.”

I pointed at the large blue moon floating in the sky.

While the range of creative power extends across our entire galaxy, I can’t manipulate all of it.

Even if the power itself is infinite, the creator’s own existence handling it is finite.

It’s like how even with an infinitely flowing water jug, you still couldn’t turn all land into sea.

“So does that mean there’s a new god with creative power somewhere else? After Noah?”

“Maybe…? But that’s what’s strange. If so, why do I also have control rights…”

In the end, finding out who my successor is seems important.

While I’m curious why the new creator is giving me power, what’s most important is how they want to create the next world.

I just hope they don’t follow the same mistakes I did.

“Let’s focus on the current situation for now and think about the successor issue later.”

“You mean about the sisters?”

“Yes. First I want to know, how exactly did you end up fighting each other? Was it really to become the protagonist of the next world?”

“Yes. Though you were killed by Belle, you left your creative power intact in that moon. We were planning to get revenge for you too… but who would have thought there was already a successor…”

So they didn’t know it was impossible to leave the creator position vacant.

Well, I never specifically told them that.

To begin with, none of them ever directly told me they wanted to be the next creator.

“…I need to meet Belle first.”

There are too many things I need to ask Belle.

I can forgive her trying to kill me itself.

If she acted out of anger feeling abandoned, I understand.

But what if it wasn’t so simple?

What if she already knew who my successor was and killed me with other intentions?

Moreover, it seems no one except Belle and Karen knows I tried to become human.

Why did Belle hide that fact while taking on her sisters’ resentment?

“Should I tell the other sisters that you’ve returned?”

“…No, don’t tell them yet.”

“Why not?”

“There are too many suspicious points. What if I’m not really Noah? If I’m just an avatar created with some of Noah’s memories and soul, in the worst case it could lead to an even bigger fight.”

“…I see what you mean.”

“Huh? I don’t really get it. Why would there be a bigger fight? Even if you’re an avatar, you’re still part of Noah. Isn’t that enough?”

Maia asked.

“That’s exactly the problem. It’s a chance to monopolize even a small part of Noah.”

“Ah… is that how it is.”

Right now they’re in a standoff over the creative power stored in the moon, but if they could claim Noah’s avatar, they might risk all-out war.

If that happens, this already unstable world would become their battlefield.

I put effort into creating this current world too, so that would be too unfortunate… wait?

Come to think of it, how did I create the current world?

The last world I created was Vasilisa’s, wasn’t it?

And even that burned away completely.

“I’ll come find you again after I meet Belle and learn something more.”

“Yes. Please come anytime.”

Rusalka smiled brightly.

“…”

Right.

In the beginning, Rusalka was a child who smiled like that too.

There was a time when Vasilisa was pure innocence itself.

Bari’s intentions and purpose were simply kindness.

Margarete was just a child with high self-esteem.

But why?

How did everything end up like this?

…It could have been different if I hadn’t given up from the start.

“…Yes. I’ll definitely come.”

So this time, I won’t give up.

Even if I failed as Noah, I’ll definitely succeed as Eugene.

* * *

“…Lady Rusalka.”

As Rusalka was leading her forces back, the royal guard representative came forward and spoke.

“Speak.”

Rusalka’s submissive and bright demeanor shown to Eugene had completely vanished as if it was all an act, returning to her usual dignified and cold expression.

“What did you discuss with that… human just now?”

The royal guard had been kept at a distance from their conversation and ordered absolutely not to eavesdrop.

“…I learned some information.”

“I see…”

If their master didn’t want them to know, that was enough.

“And about Eric…”

“You all must have let him go. Otherwise there’s no explaining his absence here.”

“…Yes. For that crime…”

“It’s fine actually.”

“Pardon…?”

“Eric is still a behemoth after all. His loyalty to me probably hasn’t disappeared. But it is troublesome.”

“If you want to organize a pursuit team…”

“No, we don’t have the resources to spare for that. The upcoming battle is the issue. An all-out war, no… there’s a high chance of a war over acquisition.”

“What would they be fighting over?”

“…”

“Surely not… that human…?”

“He’s not just any human. My sisters will definitely try to monopolize him too. So we need to prepare. It’s fortunate that I found out first and have time to get ready.”

A war of acquisition.

That was exactly why Eugene told them not to tell the other witches about him right away.

Unlike before, the current Noah is small and weak enough to be ‘monopolized’.

Then there’s no reason not to possess him.

“Kehehehe…”

Rusalka grinned.

It was such a vulgar smile that it was hard to believe she made it.

The royal guards flinched seeing that expression.

“I finally found him.”

My prince.

From the moment she came into existence, no, she was born to find him from the very beginning.

Of course she needed to find a good prince, but no one met her standards.

That was inevitable, since the first man she saw upon being born was the creator of this world, the greatest existence.

The baseline was set far too high.

In the end, the princess’s journey to find her prince turned into an obsession.

“It’s my prince. Finally…”

On Rusalka’s lips, there wasn’t even a trace of the purity she had shown to Eugene.