The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

A stimulating flavor, as if spices have been added. That flavor is covering the bland-flavored parts. The subtle flavors are also pleasant, stimulating my hunger. And yet, it is not overly oily and doesn’t have a heavy aftertaste. Gods’ souls are extraordinary after all, Vandalieu thought to himself.

Feeling very satisfied, Vandalieu chewed Hajime Fitun’s soul and swallowed it.

If he were to describe the soul of Hihiryushukaka, the flavor and texture had been like seafood... like fresh squid and octopus, served with a rich, unique cream sauce.

In contrast, Vandalieu felt like the soul of Fitun, the god of thunderclouds, was close to something like a chicken dish cooked with spices. The divine protection and ability bestowed upon Hajime’s soul were considerably pleasant as well.

It was difficult to say which was better, but Vandalieu did feel like Fitun’s was more delicious.

I wonder if this is because I’ve acquired the ‘Demon King’ Job and acquired a Skill of that name as well. And the ‘Demon King’s Body’ on top of that, Vandalieu thought.

Perhaps he found the soul of Fitun, a god of Lambda, more delicious than that of Hihiryushukaka, one of the remnants of the Demon King’s army, because he was the Demon King. Vandalieu thought that this must be the case, as one’s physical constitution and state of health affected one’s tastes on Earth as well.

“It seems that you are very satisfied, Bocchan,” said Sam, who had returned to the ordinary dimension.

“You’re in a total trance...” said Isis, who had left Akira’s corpse and joined with the other fragments of flesh.

As always, Vandalieu’s face was like one of an expressionless doll, but every other part of his body was expressing his emotions.

“Incidentally, what differences are there between the souls of gods, heroic spirits, familiar spirits and humans?” asked Kanako.

“Mmm... Let’s see,” Vandalieu said, his cheeks still stuffed. “If I were to use examples to describe it, a god’s soul is like a banquet that fills up a whole large table, a multi-course meal, or something like the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. Heroic spirits’ souls are light meals, like hot dogs or sandwiches. One familiar spirit’s soul on its own is like a bland piece of bread or steamed bun. People’s souls are like... tiny specks of food?”

TLN: The Manchu Han Imperial Feast was a three-day feast in China during the Qing Dynasty.

“I see,” Kanako said with a nod.

“Specks, huh,” Doug muttered, grimacing as he looked at the corpses of the three dead enemies. “I know I’m the one that finished them off, but I do feel pity for them after all.”

“By the way, do you feel more of a desire to eat souls compared to ordinary food?” asked Melissa.

“I see, you’re worried that I might lose my mind out of a hunger to feed on souls one day...” Vandalieu said, still continuing to munch on the contents of his mouth. “That’s not a problem. I’m only eating souls because it’s necessary. The flavor can be replicated with high-quality food... and souls don’t contain any calories or vitamins.”

Vandalieu had noticed the real reason for Melissa’s question. Eating souls increased his Attribute Values and caused him to learn Skills. But they did not provide him with any physical nourishment.

“I see. That’s a relief to hear,” said Melissa.

“More importantly, Your Majesty, it is impolite to speak with your mouth full,” said Princess Levia, keeping herself invisible.

“I suppose you’re right... I’ll just spit them out already,” said Vandalieu.

He stopped moving the object inside his mouth and stuck his tongue out. A small, faintly-glowing sphere was resting on it, and it floated off and began floating around him.

“Is that... a spirit?” Princess Levia asked.

“Yes, these are the souls of Gordon, the Flame Blades and the rest of the people who were turned into vessels for the heroic spirits,” said Vandalieu.

“Oh my. So, you were rolling those around inside your mouth in order to separate the human souls that had fused with those of the heroic spirits, and only ate the heroic spirits’ souls?” said Daroak.

“That’s unexpected. I was sure you’d already chewed them up and eaten them. Especially that Gordon person and those Flame Blades,” said Doug in surprise as he stared at the souls. “Or did they taste so terrible that you couldn’t eat them?”

Perhaps because they had separated from Vandalieu, they gradually faded away and became invisible to the naked eye.

But their souls certainly still existed, just like the spirits that were gathered around Vandalieu.

“The people who were turned into the heroic spirits’ vessels weren’t enemies; they were just victims. Even though I wasn’t able to save them, I thought it would be cruel to crush even their souls inside my mouth along with the ones who harmed them,” said Vandalieu. “I don’t resent Gordon and the Flame Blades enough to break their souls, and I don’t accept that it is necessary to do so.”

Vandalieu did not think well of the Flame Blades, who were deeply involved with the loss of Natania’s limbs. But their crimes had been atoned for in accordance with the Adventurers’ Guild’s rules, though it was likely the heroic spirits who had done that so that the Guild wouldn’t monitor them anymore, allowing them to move freely.

Still, their free wills had been robbed and their bodies had been taken over, and in the end, they had been killed by Legion. Surely this was enough of a punishment.

As for Gordon, Vandalieu had even less ill sentiment towards him. He was nothing more than a man who happened to cross paths with Vandalieu, duel Miles and suffer a humiliating defeat. Vandalieu felt no resentment or malice for him.

He had likely done various evil deeds in the past, but having his body taken over and being killed was enough of a punishment for that.

The same applied for the others who had been used as the heroic spirits’ vessels. They were likely adventurers and mercenaries who had just happened to get involved in this mess, but there was no guarantee that they were guiltless victims. It was possible that some of them had a history of criminal activity.

But now, they were nothing more than mindless souls. Vandalieu didn’t know their victims, and he hadn’t been asked to take vengeance on them by anyone.

And even if he released these souls like this, Rodcorte wouldn’t use them as assassins. Though heroic spirits could one day return to the mortal world, these souls were different.

There was no reason to devour them.

“I’ll likely turn them into Undead or pseudo-reincarnate them. Like the space-attribute Ghosts, there’s no hope of their memories and personalities from when they were alive coming back, though,” said Vandalieu.

Even when the memories and personalities of Undead were damaged or lost due to the fear and shock felt during their deaths or due to the passage of time, there were some cases in which these returned following a Rank increase.

However, Gordon and the others had been rendered disabled while still alive. The memories and personality that could be restored would be those that they had just before their deaths – they would never return to the states they were in before the heroic spirits took over them.

《Your Mana has increased by 100,000,000!》

《You have acquired ‘Divinity: Thunder God,’ ‘Divinity: God of War,’ ‘Chronos,’ ‘Pseudo-Death Scythe,’ ‘Pseudo-Gungnir,’ ‘Odin,’ ‘Sylphid’ and ‘Marionette!’》

《The ‘Divinity: Thunder God’ and ‘Divinity: God of War’ Skills have fused with ‘Demigod!’ You have acquired ‘Spirit Form Transformation: Lightning!’》

《‘Chronos,’ ‘Pseudo-Death Scythe,’ ‘Pseudo-Gungnir,’ ‘Odin’ and ‘Sylphid’ have fused with the ‘Dark King Magic’ Skill; ‘Marionette’ has fused with the ‘Golem Creation’ Skill!》

Vandalieu heard these announcements inside his head. Eating the souls of Fitun and his heroic spirits was likely the cause of this.

He considered that the increase to his Mana was just a little bonus. His Mana had already reached the territory of gods... and soared over it. Among the gods belonging to Alda’s religion, Fitun had been above average in rank, but that was all.

Well, I don’t really mind. It’s not like I’m eating souls for the purpose of increasing my Attribute Values and acquiring Skills, Vandalieu thought.

His objective in devouring souls was to take his resentment and hatred out on his enemies, and to destroy beings that had no physical bodies and could not be killed. It was not to increase in Attribute Values and Skills.

Thus, Vandalieu didn’t feel unnecessarily disappointed, nor did he feel happy.

He had acquired the ‘Divinity: Thunder God’ and ‘Divinity: God of War’ Skills, which were likely related to Fitun’s qualities as a god, and these had fused with his ‘Demigod’ Skill. Their effects were... far from unclear. Vandalieu suspected that once his companions learned of this, their worship of him would increase even more.

He didn’t think he could handle it if gaudy decorations were added to the giant statue of him that was currently being built, and a second and third statue were built in addition to that.

The ‘Spirit Form Transformation: Lightning’ Skill seemed useful. It was likely a Skill that allowed a human to replicate what Kimberley and the other lightning-attribute Ghosts could do – turning their own spirit form into electricity.

Vandalieu was already able to use lightning attacks with ‘Dead Spirit Magic’ as long as Kimberley and the others were there, but it seemed that this Skill would be more useful in medical treatments using his spirit form rather than attacks... In combination with ‘Mental Encroachment’ and ‘Golem Creation,’ it was possible that he could even replicate the effects of ‘Marionette.’

More importantly, Vandalieu had acquired ‘Chronos’ and the other cheat-like abilities.

“You look disappointed,” said Orbia. “Did you get some strange Skills or something?”

“Did you not get the Skill Level increases that you were hoping for?” asked Rita.

Before answering, Vandalieu looked around to make sure that they were the only ones around. “Yes, I’ve acquired ‘Chronos,’ ‘Sylphid’ and other Skills. They fused with my other Skills right away, though.”

“Huh? Those are the abilities that those guys were using, right? Then it’s...” Orbia began, looking confused.

“I see. That’s inconvenient,” said Kanako, folding her arms. “If Van eats reincarnated individuals, he acquires their abilities. If Rodcorte learns about this, he’s going to start telling the reincarnated individuals that come in the future that Van intends to devour their souls to acquire their abilities.”

“Wait, Kanako-san! His Majesty wouldn’t do something like that! If there was an ability that he really wanted no matter what, he wouldn’t devour the person’s soul! He would spare them and persuade them to join him, brainwash them or do surgery on them!” said Princess Levia.

“Levia-san, I agree. I agree, but the reincarnated individuals being fed this lie won’t know what Van is really like. And the reality is that he has already devoured the souls of reincarnated individuals before,” said Kanako. “This should be enough to set the reincarnated individuals against us.”

“No way...!” Princess Levia murmured, unable to conceal her shock.

“Persuading them would be fine, but you just mentioned brainwashing and surgery, didn’t you?” Doug said with a wry smile.

“Well, that would apply for people with abilities that you want ‘no matter what,’ right? I think that would be more gruesome than killing them and eating their souls. What do you think?” Melissa asked Vandalieu.

“I’m glad there are some people who understand me,” said Vandalieu.

An ability that Vandalieu wanted no matter what – in other words, an ability that would bring ruin upon Vandalieu and those around him if he did not obtain it – If someone with such an ability existed, Vandalieu would consider every option available and attempt to bring that ability under his control.

Princess Levia and Kanako believed that this was the case.

“Well, I’ve already heard about the abilities of the other reincarnated individuals, and there aren’t any abilities that I would want ‘no matter what,’” said Vandalieu. “At the very least, there aren’t any abilities that I would want so badly that I would force them to obey me, brainwash them or devour their soul.”

There were some abilities that Vandalieu considered troublesome and others that he thought would be convenient to have, but there weren’t any that he believed that he needed to have at all costs. That was what he thought of the reincarnated individuals’ abilities.

“But it doesn’t matter what I think. What’s important to the reincarnated individuals is what I am capable of doing,” Vandalieu said.

Vandalieu was... the reincarnated individual that none of the others had noticed in Origin. He had already killed Murakami and the others, and was capable of acquiring cheat-like abilities by devouring the souls of their owners.

None of the reincarnated individuals would have a positive impression of Vandalieu upon hearing that, even if that alone wasn’t enough of a reason for them to try and kill Vandalieu as Rodcorte wanted them to.

“So, can you use ‘Chronos’ and ‘Sylphid?’” asked Kanako.

“No, they’ve already fused with my other Skills, so I can’t use them just like that... though I might become able to produce something close to their effects,” said Vandalieu.

He tried activating the abilities in the same way that he used his Skills, but he was unable to turn a part of his body into vapor or see several seconds into the future.

This was likely because the abilities had been fused with other Skills and transformed.

“I think they will be useful when I use ‘Dark King Magic’ and ‘Golem Creation,” Vandalieu said.

“I see. I think that’s for the best, actually. If you achieved similar things to what the abilities could do only while using magic or creating Golems, they’d just think that you’re imitating the abilities,” said Kanako.

“Yeah,” Doug agreed with a nod. “Even in Origin, there were people who tried to invent spells similar to my ability. They mostly failed, and the ones that succeeded made spells that required too much Mana or were too difficult to use, so most of them were shelved and never used.”

“But various things are different in Lambda... They might think that imitating the abilities is possible with Vandalieu’s Mana,” said Melissa.

“I see. Well, even without proof, Rodcorte... and some of the reincarnated individuals might mistrust me out of ill will, but if we keep thinking like that, there would be no end to it,” said Vandalieu. “Let’s treat this matter as a national secret.”

“Very well, Bocchan. This information will never be leaked,” said Sam in a serious tone.

“The only ones who know about it are all of us who are present here, the Ghosts that are staying invisible, and the countless spirits around Bocchan!” said Rita.

Vandalieu looked away in exasperation in response to Rita’s words.

Gordon and the others used as the heroic spirits’ vessels had just joined a vast swarm of countless invisible spirits surrounding Vandalieu. However, the majority of them were the spirits of insects and plants, and even the human ones could not be heard by any living people who didn’t have the ‘Spiritualist’ job other than Vandalieu.

“Well, it’s a national secret anyway. Though I’ll let Mother and the others know, and I’ll probably be telling the people who join me and the reincarnated individuals I accept to my side at an early stage,” said Vandalieu.

“That’s fine, isn’t it? Even if everyone in the country were to know, Rodcorte and the reincarnated individuals would never find out,” said Legion as they stood up.

They were currently taking the appearance of Isis, as a way to trick the eyes of the soldiers looking on from the watchtowers.

Incidentally, the Mountain Giant’s bones that Legion had been using as their skeleton were lying in pieces on the ground.

《The Levels of the ‘Monstrous Strength,’ ‘Rapid Regeneration,’ ‘Dark King Magic,’ ‘Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue), ‘Enhanced Agility,’ ‘Mana Enlargement,’ ‘Transcend Limits,’ ‘Hollow King Magic,’ ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ ‘Embodiment,’ ‘Super High-speed Thought Processing,’ ‘Throwing,’ ‘Dead Spirit Magic,’ ‘Armor Technique,’ ‘Shield Technique,’ ‘Shadow Group Binding Technique,’ ‘Surpass Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Whip Technique,’ ‘Demon King’ and ‘Soul Devour’ Skills have increased!》

《You have acquired the ‘Staff Technique’ Skill!》

《The Levels of the ‘Monstrous Strength,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Multi-Cast,’ ‘Surpass Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Armor Technique,’ ‘Shield Technique,’ ‘Whip Technique’ and ‘Group Control Technique’ have additionally increased!》

《The ‘Rapid Regeneration’ Skill has awakened into the ‘Super Rapid Regeneration’ Skill!》

As the battle had been divided into two parts, it seemed the Leveling up of Vandalieu’s Skills had also been divided into two parts.

The Levels of various Skills had increased, but... leaving aside ‘Staff Technique,’ the ‘Super Rapid Regeneration’ Skill was a big change. Vandalieu wondered how many humans had acquired this Skill... No, had anyone else ever done so before?

Probably nobody that was actually a human in the normal sense. It seems likely that there would have been some Vampires and Majin who did, Vandalieu thought. It’s all because Hajime Fitun was hacking me to pieces... Speaking of which.

“Doug, please bring the equipment that contains the Demon King’s bone marrow,” Vandalieu said.

“You’re going to go ahead and absorb it, huh? Alright,” said Doug.

While Doug fetched the quiver from the corpse of the female archer, Vandalieu picked up the curved-sword-shaped equipment that Hajime Fitun had used.

“If the people of the city found out about the Demon King equipment, they’d just go and seal it away in some Church, after all,” said Kanako.

“They won’t be able to tell what kind of equipment it is from the watchtowers, so now’s your chance,” said Melissa.

“It’s not really all that interesting,” Vandalieu said, noticing that the two of them were watching him.

He poured his death-attribute Mana into the seal on the equipment and gripped it strongly, and that was enough to cause it to crumble to pieces. It was unclear whether this was because the seal was already in tatters, or whether it was because Vandalieu was the ‘Demon King.’

“I shall not be released from this seal!” a voice shouted in defiance. “In order to merge with the main body, I shall... THE MAIN BODY?!”

“The main body? Oh, main body! OH, MAIN BODY! MERGE! I SHALL MERGE WITH THE MAIN BODY!” screamed another.

The curved blades of the weapons in Vandalieu’s hands and the bone marrow in the quiver pierced through his body! But they slipped into him without causing him any harm, and were absorbed.

《You have absorbed the Demon King’s scale, the Demon King’s scale and the Demon King’s bone marrow!》

《The Demon King’s scale, the Demon King’s scale and the Demon King’s bone marrow have fused with the Demon King’s Body!》

“It seems that both of Fitun’s curved swords were equipment made with the Demon King’s scales,” said Vandalieu.

It might have been an unusual idea to turn scales into blades rather than defensive equipment, but perhaps it was possible if using large, hard scales... or perhaps there had been a problem in the equipment creation process that made it impossible to make armor from the scales.

Kanako and Melissa had fallen completely silent.

Vandalieu turned to face them. “It wasn’t very interesting, was it?”

“It surprised the heck out of me!” Kanako exclaimed. “The blades went right into your head! I know you don’t need to use your brain, but are you really alright?!”

“It looked like the bone marrow went right into your stomach... Do you not need to use your internal organs either?” asked Melissa.

“Kanako, Melissa, I’m using both my brain and my organs right now. Not using them is really tiring, and if I’m not careful and accidentally stop moving my heart or something, I’d die. It’s very troublesome in a lot of ways,” said Vandalieu.

“That really makes me appreciate the fact that our brains make our hearts beat without us needing to think about it,” Doug murmured, nodding in agreement.

With the Demon King’s fragments removed, only Orichalcum fragments were left of the equipment.

Vandalieu got to work. “I’ll just fix the external appearance with ‘Golem Creation,’ and put one scale of the Demon King in each. As for the other one, I’ll use the marrow... I’m finished. With this, it looks like the real thing again.”

“Huh? Why are you fixing them? Nobody knows that they were using Demon King equipment, so isn’t it better to just pretend you don’t know anything about it?” Rita questioned.

“Rita, if he does that, it would be a problem if there are people who were in charge of storing the equipment before they were taken. If they ever spoke out, things might become very troublesome,” said Saria.

“Saria is correct. And it would be best to leave as many clues regarding these guys’ true identities as possible for the people from the city of Morksi who will investigate the incident later,” said Vandalieu.

The Demon King equipment had been given to Hajime Fitun and his subordinates by other people. Vandalieu wanted the investigation to find these loyal servants of the gods.

“After all, it might become even more complicated if us and Vandalieu himself were to give information in the form of verbal testimonies,” Isis added.

“The Dhampir Van claiming that the bandit’s true identity is Fitun himself, or even just claiming that it’s one of his heroes or someone who’s received his divine protection, would cause a huge fuss regardless of whether it’s true or not,” said Kanako.

“There isn’t any physical evidence, either. Their ‘Heroic Spirit Transformation’ just made their bodies glow a bit; there isn’t anything visible from a distance like the pillar of light that comes with ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’” said Melissa.

There was no irrefutable evidence that Hajime Fitun and his subordinates were the physical incarnations of Fitun, the god of thunderclouds, and his heroic spirits.

Hajime and the others were now nothing more than corpses. It was possible that there would be traces indicating that they had been used as vessels for a god and his heroic spirits if the corpses were examined in detail, but... unfortunately, nobody, not even Vandalieu, had any idea what kind of characteristic signs would be left in a corpse used as a vessel for a god or his heroic spirits.

Even if Vandalieu and his companions were to testify the truth, even if they were trusted by the people of the city, the people outside the city... worshippers of the gods of Alda’s forces and people related to the Church of Fitun, had only ever heard rumors about Vandalieu. They would simply suspect Vandalieu of trying to break the faith of the believers of gods related to Alda for some devious plan.

“So that’s why you’re not going to testify, and just leave them a trail of evidence to follow. But even if you do that, nobody will realize that this was an actual god? Even the guys who handed the Demon King equipment over might have just believed that Hajime was a young man with Fitun’s divine protection,” said Doug apprehensively.

“No, that would be enough, you know,” said Kimberley. “A hero with the divine protection of a god went as far as to take Demon King equipment and formed a group to attack an innocent Dhampir while ignoring the monster horde that was attacking the city. That’s certainly enough of a scandal already.”

The Demon King equipment was the crucial detail. Removing seals from Demon King equipment came at the cost of allowing fragments of the Demon King to run loose. It was terrifying to imagine that a group of individuals wielding such powerful weapons were fighting a raging battle near the city while the city was trying to fend off the monster horde.

Even in the worst-case scenario, the monster rampage would have destroyed just the city of Morksi and the area surrounding it. But there was no telling how far the destruction caused by the rampage of Demon King fragments could spread.

“Incidentally, aren’t you afraid of them figuring out that these pieces of equipment are fake?” asked Orbia.

“I don’t think there’s any chance of that, Orbia,” said Vandalieu. “I replaced their contents with the real scales and bone marrow, and I’ve restored the Orichalcum parts to how they were originally. They’re just parts that I took from my own body, so the scales won’t regenerate and the bone marrow won’t bleed if they’re damaged, but... you wouldn’t discover that unless you were to try to use them.”

Demon King equipment weapons were taboo, so nobody would try to use them... If it really were discovered, Vandalieu would deal with it when the time came.

“Now then, Sam, I’m going to change Jobs again, so let me inside your carriage,” said Vandalieu.

“Oh, your Level has already reached 100, I see!” said Sam.

Even a tenth of the Experience Points Vandalieu had received for defeating three reincarnated individuals and Fitun could be considered a vast amount. Though he had only just acquired the ‘Divine Enemy’ Job, he had reached Level 100 again immediately.

“I don’t mind changing Jobs at the Adventurers’ Guild when we get back to the city, but... it would be troublesome if people ask me to register at the Adventurers’ Guild while I’m at it, and also troublesome having to lie if some important person asks me what Job I chose,” said Vandalieu.

Laying low and staying inconspicuous... Vandalieu had given up on that long ago, but he did want to avoid any troublesome problems that he could, even if it was only for temporary peace of mind.

“Indeed. There seem to be two heroic spirits still alive at the front gate, so it would be best to change Jobs before Darcia-sama and the others dispose of them,” Sam added.

“... Ah, so there were some over there as well,” said Vandalieu.

Incidentally, Kizelbyne had already been defeated by Miles, and his soul had been devoured by Vandalieu along with the other heroic spirits.

Miles was still in the forest, as it would take time for his ‘Beast Transformation’ to come undone and his appearance to return to normal.

“I will create an illusion while you’re inside, so go quickly,” said Daroak.

His light produced an illusion that made it appear as if Vandalieu was standing on the spot, while the real Vandalieu climbed into Sam’s carriage and placed his hand on the crystal in the Job-changing room.

《Jobs that can be selected: Vengeful Berserker, Dead Spirit Mage, Dark King Mage, Fallen Warrior, Insect Ninja, Destruction Guider, Chaos Guider, Hollow King Mage, Eclipse Cursecaster, String User, Demon Ruler, Creator, Pale Rider, Tartarus, Wild Spirit, Dark Battery Cannoneer, Magic Staff Creator, Soul Fighter, God Destroyer, Qliphoth, Dark Beast User, Spirit Therapist, Artisan: Transformation Equipment, Hollow Shadow Caster (NEW!), Balor (NEW!), Apollyon (NEW!), Demigorgon (NEW!), Great Demon King (NEW!), Soul Devourer (NEW!), God Devourer (NEW!), Nergal (NEW!), Ravana (NEW!), Shaitan (NEW!), Chi You (NEW!)》

“... There are more new ones than when I changed Jobs to ‘Divine Enemy,’” Vandalieu muttered to himself in a monotonous voice, but his complaint didn’t reduce the number of Jobs displayed.

The ‘Great Demon King’ Job... had been there when Vandalieu changed Jobs to ‘Divine Enemy.’ Vandalieu suspected that it would not reach the Level cap in an instant like the ‘Demon King’ Job had, however.

‘Soul Devourer’ and ‘God Devourer’ were Jobs that had appeared for the first time. They had likely appeared because Vandalieu had devoured the soul of Fitun, who was neither human nor an evil god, but a god born in this world.

‘Nergal,’ ‘Ravana,’ ‘Shaitan’ and ‘Chi You’ were likely Jobs related to myths and legends of Earth. Vandalieu could try and remember the details of those legends later.

... One thing he did remember was that ‘Nergal’ was the husband of Ereshkigal, the goddess whose name one of Legion’s personalities went by.

Of course, Ereshkigal wasn’t the goddess from that mythology herself, and the ‘Nergal’ Job was unlikely to actually turn Vandalieu into the god ‘Nergal.’

“In any case, I select ‘Dead Spirit Mage’ this time,” Vandalieu said.

‘Dead Spirit Magic’ was a highly applicable, useful Skill, as it had just proven in the previous battle with the space-attribute spell. Considering that Vandalieu would continue using it in the future, it was likely a good idea to take this Job.

《You have changed Jobs to ‘Dead Spirit Mage!’》

《The ‘Dead Spirit Magic’ Skill has awakened into the ‘God Spirit Magic’ Skill!》

Name: Vandalieu Zakkart

Race: Dhampir (Mother: Goddess)

Age: 11 years old

Title: Ghoul Emperor, Eclipse Emperor, Guardian of the Cultivation Villages, Holy Son of Vida, Scaled Emperor, Tentacle Emperor, Champion, Demon King, Oni Emperor, Trial Conqueror, Transgressor, Black Blood Emperor, Elder Dragon Emperor, Food Cart King, Genius Tamer, True Ruler of the Red-light District (NEW!)

Job: Dead Spirit Mage

Level: 0

Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker, Venom Fist User, Insect User, Tree Caster, Demon Guider, Archenemy, Zombie Maker, Golem Creator, Corpse Demon Commander, Demon King User, Dark Guider, Labyrinth Creator, Creation Guider, Dark Healer, Disease Demon, Magic Cannoneer, Spirit Warrior, Bestower, Dream Guider, Demon King, Demiurge, Whip Tongue Calamity, Divine Enemy

Attributes:

Vitality: 367,648 (Increased by 132,145!)

Mana: 7,190,583,119 (+6,471,524,807) (Increased by 3,258,539,890 in total!)

Strength: 42,816 (Increased by 13,658!)

Agility: 38,953 (Increased by 14,192!)

Stamina: 46,353 (Increased by 14,833!)

Intelligence: 54,494 (Increased by 13,119!)

Passive skills:

Monstrous Strength: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Super Rapid Regeneration: Level 1 (Awakened from Rapid Regeneration!)

Dark King Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!) (Merged with Chronos, Pseudo-Death Scythe, Pseudo-Gungnir, Odin and Sylphid!)

Status Effect Immunity

Magic Resistance: Level 9

Dark Vision

Dark Dream Demon Creation Path Enticement: Level 8

Chant Revocation: Level 9

Guidance: Dark Dream Demon Creation Path: Level 8

Constant Mana Recovery: Level 1

Super Strengthen Subordinates: Level 2

Deadly Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)

Enhanced Agility: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Body Expansion (Tongue): Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed: Very Large

Enhanced Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs): Level 10

Thread Refining: Level 7

Mana Enlargement: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 9

Strengthened Attack Power while activating a Magic Cannon: Large

Augmented Vitality: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Enhanced Attribute Values: Reigning: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Enhanced Attribute Values: Worshiped: Level 2 (NEW!)

Active skills:

Bloodwork: Level 10

Transcend Limits: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Golem Creation: Level 6 (Merged with Marionette!)

Hollow King Magic: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Precise Mana Control: Level 1

Cooking: Level 8

Alchemy: Level 10

Soul Destruction Fighting Technique: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Greater Multi-cast: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)

Surgery: Level 8

Embodiment: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Coordination: Level 10

Super High-speed Thought Processing: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Commanding: Level 10

Thread-reeling: Level 6

Throwing: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)

Scream: Level 7

God Spirit Magic: Level 1 (Awakened from Dead Spirit Magic!)

Demon King Artillery Technique: Level 3

Armor Technique: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Shield Technique: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Shadow Group Binding Technique: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Surpass Limits: Fragments: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Spirit Therapy: Level 1

Whip Technique: Level 3 (NEW and LEVEL UP!)

Spirit Form Transformation: Lightning (NEW!)

Staff Technique: Level 1 (NEW!)

Unique skills:

God Devourer: Level 7

Deformed Soul

Mental Encroachment: Level 9

Labyrinth Creation: Level 4

Demon King: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Abyss: Level 8

Divine Enemy

Soul Devour: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Vida’s Divine Protection

Earth’s Gods’ Divine Protection

Group Thought Processing: Level 6

Zantark’s Divine Protection

Group Control: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Soul Form: Level 4

Demon King’s Demon Eyes

Origin’s Gods’ Divine Protection

Ricklent’s Divine Protection

Zuruwarn’s Divine Protection

Perfect Record Technique

Surpass Limits: Soul: Level 1

Mutation Induction

Demon King’s Body (Merged with Demon King’s scale x2 and Demon King’s bone marrow!)

Demigod (Merged with Divinity: Thunder God and Divinity: God of War!)

Curses

Experience gained in previous life not carried over

Cannot learn existing jobs

Unable to gain experience independently

Having taken a look through his Status, Vandalieu left the room, pondering ‘God Spirit Magic’ – the superior Skill that had awakened from ‘Dead Spirit Magic.’

God spirits... Does that mean spirits whose Ranks are as high as those of gods? Gods consist of only a soul, and so do Ghosts. So then, a Ghost of Rank 13 or above is similar to a god, or something?

That was likely the reason behind the name of the Skill. In reality, there were various differences, such as gods being able to grant divine protections. But even with such differences, powerful Ghosts were certainly similar to gods in some ways.

“Well, let’s just think of it as a straight-up more powerful version of ‘Dead Spirit Magic,’” Vandalieu decided. “Okay, please retrieve the souls of the heroic spirits defeated by Mother and the others,” he said to Sam as he got off the carriage.

“At once!” said Sam, and with that, he and his daughters vanished into his other dimension.

“Now then, let’s stay here for a while longer... I suppose we should pretend to be healing our wounds. I’ll make some empty Potion bottles with my ‘Golem Creation’ Skill,” said Vandalieu.

Even from afar, the battle that had just taken place would have looked like a fierce one. It was likely better for Vandalieu to make up various reasons for staying here and creating a solid alibi rather than simply returning on his own, looking completely fine.

“Creating porcelain bottles out of thin air just to pretend to be drinking from them seems to be a wasteful use of your Skill,” Kanako remarked.

“Then should I pretend to have been lucky enough to avoid being trampled by the Giant’s foot but lost consciousness, and pretend to just be waking up now?” said Melissa.

“What a detailed setting. More importantly, what are we going to do about Orbia-san who’s been seen, and the Dragon and Giant Zombies?” asked Kanako.

“... Apparently there is an explanation for the Dragon and Giant that involves me having poisoned them to make them lose their minds. I’ll make them hide in the forest and then retrieve them later. Entry into the forest will probably be banned for a while, after all,” said Vandalieu. “As for Orbia... Mother and I are supposedly from a hidden Dark Elf village, so let’s say that Orbia is a highly secret spiritual magic spell that the great elder of that village cast on us before we left.”

“G-great elder?” Kanako repeated in disbelief.

“Yes, the great elder,” said Vandalieu.

He had the feeling that the words ‘great elder’ somehow made explanations more plausible.

“... That would probably be where I’m from, too. We need to make sure we all tell the same story,” said Kanako, who, unlike Melissa, could not turn her skin white.

As she began reciting the words ‘great elder’ under her breath over and over, Doug looked over at Vandalieu with a troubled expression on his face.

“Hey, more importantly, when are you going to come and get this back?” Doug asked.

Vandalieu’s arm, the one that he had severed himself, was floating next to Doug.

The Demon King’s exoskeleton was still active on it, so at first glance, it appeared to be some kind of gauntlet.

“Ah,” said Vandalieu, clapping his hands together as if he had just remembered. “Come to think of it, that thing was still over there, wasn’t it?”

“You forgot about it, huh. Wait, the arm that you cut off has grown back!” Doug exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes, it has, so I don’t need that one anymore. I suppose I can give it to you, if you like?”

“Why would I need it?!”

“You’re the Hecatoncheir, after all, and I guess you could make it your 101st hand. I think it would be quite useful as a weapon, you know.”

“It definitely is useful, but I refuse! The guards will take me away if I have something like this on me, won’t they!”

And so, Vandalieu and his companions waited for someone to come from the city of Morksi to check on them.

Job explanation: Whip Tongue Calamity

A Job that can be acquired by those who use their tongue as their weapon. It provides bonuses to Skills such as ‘Body Expansion (Tongue)’ and ‘Enhanced Body Part: Tongue,’ as well as ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ and ‘Whip Technique.’

Some monsters that use their tongues as weapons currently exist, such as amphibian-type monsters and rare kinds of Demons, but as Vandalieu is the only human that does so, he is effectively the only one who can acquire this Job.

In theory, it would be possible for someone other than Vandalieu to acquire this Job if they were to continuously train themselves in using their tongue as a weapon, but... learning combat techniques involving the arms and legs would be thousands of times more efficient, so nobody would bother.

Job explanation: Divine Enemy

A Job that symbolizes an enemy of gods. It is nothing more and nothing less than that. It provides a broad but shallow range of bonuses to various combat-related and magic-related Skills.

One might think that evil people might have acquired this Job in the past, but... as evil gods are included in the definition of ‘gods’ that the Job owner would consider enemies, those who worship the evil gods that are the remnants of the Demon King’s army would never see this Job available to them.

This Job can only be acquired by someone who is considered as an enemy by both this world’s gods and the evil gods from the Demon King’s army as enemies, or has destroyed or sealed away such gods before.

If he were a human, his current state would be equivalent to being unconscious, with his eyes rolling back into his head and foam dripping from his mouth.

… But to the eyes of a human, he looked like nothing more than an enormous silhouette that was radiating light, so none would be able to tell whether he was unconscious or simply lying down. However, his disgrace was clear to see for the eyes of familiar spirits.

“So, gods can lose consciousness as well… That’s surprising,” muttered Aran as he glared at the god who was in this disgraceful state… Rodcorte.

“He probably pushed himself past his limits in various ways. Three of his familiar spirits, even if they were just humanoid ones created with his own Mana, as well as four reincarnated individuals with his divine protection,” said Izumi.

“The fact that he changed Jobs might have had a big effect as well. Just what kind of Job did he choose… Well, it’s good that he made Rodcorte lose consciousness. I might have been the one fainting if he just continued screaming like that,” muttered Kouya.

The three of them lowered the hands that were covering their ears.

Of course, the three familiar spirits… equivalent to Earth’s angels, did not truly have ears.

They had simply covered their ears out of the habit that had remained from when they were humans.

“He looked fine the last time… when the ‘Death Scythe’ Konoe Miyaji’s soul was broken here. Is that because it happened before he was reincarnated?” Aran wondered.

Murakami, Hajime and Kouya had all died in Origin at around the same time. Konoe Miyaji had tried to attack Vandalieu from the Divine Realm, and his soul had been destroyed by Vandalieu’s counterattack.

“You should ask Rodcorte yourself… or so I’d like to tell you, but it doesn’t look like he’ll come to his senses for a while,” said Kouya. “I’m just guessing, but it might be as you say, Aran. He might not have felt any pain when his soul was destroyed because it was before he was given new divine protections and reincarnated.”

The other possibility was that Rodcorte had indeed felt pain and simply endured and kept it hidden… but considering his current state, it seemed fair to assume that such a thing was impossible for him.

Rodcorte had let out a loud scream when Misa’s soul was devoured. It had not been the scream of someone who was capable of suppressing and enduring pain – and an agonizing pain, at that.

“The ‘Gungnir’ Kaidou Kanata’s soul was broken after he was reincarnated. What about him?” asked Izumi.

“That’s another thing we wouldn’t know without asking Rodcorte himself, but… either he was writhing in agony, or he’d made preparations for the possibility that Kanata’s soul would be broken. I wonder which it is,” said Kouya.

“So that means that Rodcorte is currently unconscious because he was expecting Murakami and Hajime to win against Vandalieu,” Izumi sighed.

Rodcorte had given Murakami and his companions three familiar spirits created with his own Mana for use with ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ as well as the powers of ‘Gungnir’ and ‘Death Scythe,’ repaired for Murakami. He had even given them the ability to kill themselves if needed in the worst-case scenario.

In addition to that, he had provided them with all kinds of information through Divine Messages. He had gone to considerably extensive lengths and spared nothing.

Considering that, Izumi was likely correct in saying that Rodcorte had placed a lot of hope in Murakami.

And it was likely that the suicide mechanisms Rodcorte had placed in the three of them had prevented him from blocking the pain that would come with their souls being devoured along with his divine protections and familiar spirits, causing him to lose consciousness.

Izumi and the others did not know whether the destruction of the soul of Hajime Fitun, which had been absorbed by the god of thunderclouds Fitun, had also affected Rodcorte. Rodcorte had already been unconscious at that point.

“Well then, what should we do? I’ll be putting together a summary of the information we need to give to Asagi’s group and Mao,” said Aran.

“I understand informing Mao, but are you sure about Asagi? Won’t he start getting all fired up with some strange sense of justice?” said Izumi, apprehensive about this idea.

Asagi felt indignation at the fact that Vandalieu broke souls… and the fact that he devoured them. Izumi was worried about the risk that he would do something rash in his desire to stop Vandalieu, succumbing to some strange sense of justice and duty.

“Well, I think that’s possible, but… even if we stay silent, Asagi’s group will probably find out that Vandalieu’s gone and done something,” said Aran.

“Ah, you’re right. Fitun’s statues are cracking and falling apart across the whole continent,” said Izumi.

There had already been numerous incidents in which the statues of wounded gods would become cracked or bleed from the eyes. But in this case, a god himself had died.

The effect of this event had not stopped in the Alcrem Duchy in which the city of Morksi was located; it had spread across the entire Bahn Gaia continent and even beyond, to statues on other continents.

Naturally, it had also spread to the Birgitt Duchy where Asagi and his companions were. Fitun was not particularly widely worshipped in the Birgitt Duchy, and there were few statues of him there, but it wasn’t something that would be overlooked by Asagi’s group.

With that being the case, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that they would wonder whether Vandalieu was involved.

“I suppose you’re right. In that case, it would be best to give them clear details as fast as possible,” said Izumi.

“And I feel bad for saying this, but the ones who were killed are Murakami’s group and Hajime. I’m sure Asagi won’t be happy about it, but it won’t be enough to make his blood rise to his head and head straight towards Vandalieu,” Kouya added.

Murakami, Akira, Misa and Hajime – to Asagi and Kouya, these four had been people from the same school, and individuals who had shared their fate of reincarnation. They had also been allies in the Bravers.

But they had betrayed Asagi and Kouya, and Aran and Izumi had been personally killed by Murakami. Though they were all reincarnated individuals, the relationship between the familiar spirits and the reincarnated individuals who had been destroyed was close to being enemies.

Even the hot-blooded Asagi wouldn’t lose his cool over such people being devoured.

Kouya felt almost no grief at their loss as well, though he wouldn’t say that it had served them right, as he had already seen them die in Origin.

He felt pity for them, but he didn’t feel any anger towards Vandalieu. In fact, Kouya felt apologetic towards Vandalieu for the fact that he was the one who had been forced to clean up Kouya’s betrayers.

Kouya had perhaps unconsciously considered that Murakami’s group had paid for what they did through their deaths in Origin.

And Kanako, Doug and Melissa, who were supposed to have been allies of Murakami, seemed to have been accepted by Vandalieu. Thinking about it too deeply would make Kouya question himself.

But whose idea was that ‘transformation?’ Was it Kanako, after all? If that’s the case, Vandalieu must have taken a great liking to her, Kouya thought, but he quickly put these matters that he had no answers to aside for now.

“In any case, as long as we tell Asagi and the others what Hajime and that Fitun god did as well, he’ll understand that Vandalieu didn’t devour their souls unreasonably,” he concluded.

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to explain that in detail… Come to think of it, what are we going to do about Gotouta now that she’s left Murakami’s group as well?” asked Aran.

“Let’s tell Asagi and the others that the ‘Super Sense’ left Murakami’s group and doesn’t seem to want to get involved with Vandalieu anymore. There wouldn’t be any point in telling him where she is; they’d never meet, since she’s left the Bahn Gaia continent,” said Kouya.

“What will we do after that?” asked Izumi.

Aran and Kouya looked around at their surroundings.

Recent events would likely cause a meeting with Alda and his forces, and the treatment of the wounded soul of Edgar hadn’t finished yet.

It seemed that the ‘Avalon’ Rikudou Hijiri had made a move on the children of Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi in Origin as well.

“We won’t do anything in particular,” said Aran.

“Just our usual duties,” said Kouya.

There was nothing that the familiar spirits could do. The one heading to the meeting with Alda and his forces would be Rodcorte, and they were unable to leave this Divine Realm without Rodcorte’s permission. They couldn’t do anything about the treatment of Edgar’s soul, either.

… It would be possible for them to interfere with the treatment, but it would certainly be discovered by Rodcorte if they did, so it was effectively impossible.

The familiar spirits could only watch over Origin; they could not offer any concrete forms of help. Fortunately, the children were being watched by something like a clone of Vandalieu’s. They would probably be fine as long as nothing too drastic happened.

And if they paid too much attention to the children, it was possible that Rodcorte would become aware of the existence of Vandalieu’s clone – Banda.

Incidentally, it was also impossible to kill Rodcorte while he was unconscious. The three of them were merely familiar spirits; they were unable to harm him. The moment they tried, their bodies would become completely immobile, as if turned to stone.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Izumi agreed.

They would completely devote themselves to understanding the circle of transmigration system, preparing themselves for the future, as if Rodcorte was hallucinating and nothing was out of the ordinary at all.

The forces of Alda, the god of law and fate, had gathered in his Divine Realm – and there was a huge fuss inside, as if someone had opened a beehive.

“That god of war – the god of thunderclouds Fitun-dono, who was said to have been able to defeat numerous evil gods remaining from the Demon King’s army if he were just blessed with the opportunity – was devoured?!” one god shouted.

“Fitun-dono physically incarnated upon the world, leading more heroic spirits than most gods are in charge of… and they were all exterminated! Not only did they fail to slay the Demon King, but they did not even defeat a single one of his subordinates. All of the heroic spirits and Rodcorte’s reincarnated individuals had their souls devoured… Is this reality?!” said another god in complete astonishment at Fitun’s defeat.

“Impossible – to regenerate even with his head, his brain, cut almost in two… Even the Demon King Guduranis’s movements slowed when his head was wounded; what in the world is he?! Will he not die unless body is pulverized, burned to ash and then scattered across the world?!” a third god screamed.

“Putting aside the fact that he has no weak spots… Just what is he?! Even without using the technique that materialized his soul in the battle against the ‘Blue-flamed Sword’ Heinz or the spell that destroyed the Dungeon and destroyed Curatos-dono – without using his full power – he destroyed Fitun-dono!” muttered a fourth, clutching his head in fear of Vandalieu’s immortality and the power he possessed.

“To devour the heroic spirits before Fitun-dono’s very eyes…! Even if it was to strike fear into him and affect his mind, what a repulsive method!” another god said in criticism of what Vandalieu had done to mentally corner Hajime Fitun.

“Fitun-dono looked to be in real pain as his heroic spirits’ souls were devoured. Can we assume that this is because he had bestowed some kind of power to strengthen either the heroic spirits or their vessels directly…? Or was it the effect of some kind of power of the Demon King’s?” murmured yet another god, trying to analyze the situation perhaps in an attempt to regain some composure.

This analysis was largely useless however, with its frequent use of ‘some kind of.’

“Vandalieu’s subordinates are a problem. Undead, monsters, Vampires and other races created by Vida that are able to fight against physical incarnations of heroic spirits. With such subordinates at the Demon King’s disposal, any ill-prepared force we send will certainly be swept away before they can even reach the Demon King,” one god continued.

“But even if you say that, what can we do? If the Demon King returns to the other side of the Boundary Mountain Range, defeating him will become a truly hopeless prospect! We must vanquish him while he is still inside the Orbaume Kingdom… but even if we send the heroes that we have been nurturing, they will put up no resistance and simply die in vain…” another murmured in fear of Vandalieu’s powerful subordinates.

“Everything is strange to begin with. What are they? I can understand the Vampires. There are precedents of Noble-born Vampires surpassing Rank 13. I have heard that the ancestor of the Ghouls was the twin of the ancestor of the Vampires, so they likely had latent potential. And I can understand the carefully raised Undead specimens that are designated as disasters. But why is there a Skeleton who can slay a heroic spirit in a single strike, even if he had not undergone ‘Heroic Spirit Transformation’ at the time?! And why is there a plant-type monster, Ghosts of all kinds, and an Undead carriage that is able to travel between ordinary space and another dimension?! How are such subordinates even created?!” a third shouted, bewildered by the existence of Bone Man, Eisen, the Ghosts, and Sam.

“The fact that he is powerful and defeating him would be a near-impossible undertaking is something that we already knew! The more important thing is his mother! She has Vida’s divine protection and is respected by the city’s people as a ‘Holy Woman!’ This is a more troublesome problem than actual strength!” another god pointed out.

“Indeed. She has no influence outside of the city of Morksi and its surroundings yet, but at this rate, it may reach other duchies and even the entire Orbaume Kingdom. The balance of power will be completely overturned!” agreed another, fearing Darcia’s religious influence and its imminent spread across the land.

“The reincarnated individuals that Rodcorte was so proud of amounted to nothing more than this… Is his help not unneeded after all?” another god murmured, moving past the topic of Vandalieu and bringing up the issue of their cooperative relationship with Rodcorte.

This question sparked talk about the usefulness of the reincarnated individuals.

“That is a hasty judgment. Though Fitun-dono was defeated, he was only able to corner the Demon King as far as he did because he had incarnated within a reincarnated individual, was he not?”

“But in the end, because of that same reincarnated individual, Fitun-dono met that pitiful end that we all witnessed.”

There were many gods who belonged to Alda’s forces. Thus, this was not an orderly discussion of recent events; it was a disordered clashing of differing opinions.

That was how much of a great shock Fitun’s complete defeat had inflicted upon the gods.

Several months after Hajime’s reincarnation in Lambda, Fitun had slipped out of his Divine Realm, left Alda’s forces and acted as he pleased with no heed for the opinions of others.

Alda had given up on convincing Fitun to return, but he had left Fitun to his own devices with the expectation that he would be able to produce some results when he faced Vandalieu and his allies. At that point in time, the gods had thought that it would be difficult for Fitun to defeat Vandalieu.

Vandalieu was the Demon King that succeeded Guduranis, who had been capable of destroying even the great gods. It had seemed unlikely that a single god would be able to defeat such a foe.

But he would produce some results. He would take down some of the Demon King’s subordinates, and even if he did not take the Demon King’s life, he should at least be able to succeed in wounding him heavily or retreat without having his soul devoured.

The gods had expected at least this much from Fitun.

The god of records Curatos, who had been destroyed by Vandalieu, had been a close advisor of Alda’s and held an important position. However, he was unskilled in combat and was not supposed to be on the front line of battle.

Hihiryushukaka, the evil god of joyful life, had been one of the top-class evil gods among the remnants of the Demon King’s army. After taking a Pure-breed Vampire as his physical vessel, he had been in the same state as Fitun. But it could not be said that he had been proficient in combat.

Hihiryushukaka’s role had not been physical or magical combat. It had been using cunning methods to entrap his enemies, torturing and tormenting them to a slow death.

Thus, Hihiryushukaka had always fled from battles against the gods of Alda’s forces. It was surprising, but not incredibly shocking, that such a god had been defeated when facing the Demon King.

But Fitun was a god of war, not impaired in such ways. He had stood on battlefields as a mortal, and he had physically incarnated within a human body with which he could fully utilize his prowess in combat.

His weapons were not particularly deserving of praise, but they were two curved Orichalcum swords with Demon King equipment sealed within. His vessel had been one of the reincarnated individuals that Rodcorte was so proud of.

If he had faced evil gods that had once been in the Demon King’s army, he would have likely defeated and sealed them away unless there was an extremely powerful god.

And yet, he had been defeated and his soul devoured, failing to achieve anything to speak of. It was no wonder the gods were in an agitated and discomposed state.

If even Fitun had failed, could the Demon King even be defeated? Perhaps there were some gods that were beginning to doubt this.

But Nineroad, formerly a champion and currently a heroic god of the wind attribute, said in a sharp tone: “Calm yourselves!”

The gods stopped their unproductive discussions and turned their attention to her.

Alda, the god of law and fate, was looking upon the world with a sorrowful gaze in his eyes.

Nineroad looked away from the gods, faced Alda, knelt down and bowed. “Fitun has been destroyed, but it is I who found him and entrusted him to serve as the god of thunderclouds. I bear the responsibility for his numerous chaotic actions.”

The chaotic actions taken by Fitun – Nineroad was not referring to the fact that Fitun had left her and Alda to challenge Vandalieu on his own, nor was she referring to the fact that he had used one of the reincarnated individuals sent by Rodcorte.

The fact that he had been aware of the reincarnated individuals’ existence and remained silent about them was indeed problematic, but… in this case, Nineroad was referring to something else.

What she considered to be problematic was the fact that he had forcibly robbed Gordon, the Flame Blades and others of their free wills in order to use them as vessels for his heroic spirits, and the fact that he had taken the city as a hostage, regardless of being on the verge of defeat at the hands of Vandalieu and his subordinates.

It may be an exaggeration to say that such methods were unsurprising in wars between humans, but it could not be described as strange, either.

By sacrificing twenty or thirty people, fighting forces equivalent to Rank 12 to 14 monsters could be readied. A country faced with war would take such an option without hesitation if it were available.

Once war began, the sacrifices would number not in the tens, but in the thousands… perhaps even in the tens of thousands. Considering that, forsaking the lives of a mere twenty or thirty people to produce a powerful force that could end the war in its early stages would be an incredibly small sacrifice.

What’s more, in this case, the enemy was not an enemy nation. It was the Demon King and his subordinates.

During the war against the Demon King Guduranis, 90% of the entire population of Lambda at the time had been lost. Considering that, the lives of twenty or thirty individuals was an almost negligible sacrifice.

Fitun taking the city hostage was, again, not a rare tactic in wars between humans. Unlike on Earth and in Origin, there was no law of war in this world. Villages and cities would be plundered in large wars, and in some cases, completely destroyed with their inhabitants massacred… though admittedly, deliberately causing a monster rampage and setting the resulting horde of monsters onto a city was almost unheard of.

Directing a monster horde into an enemy nation would certainly produce results, but nothing would be gained from it, as monsters would take over the lands. In fact, it was highly likely that the monsters would then multiply and set their sights on the nation that began the rampage.

But as the enemy was the Demon King, it was a different matter entirely. If he could be defeated at the cost of turning a single city into a Devil’s Nest, even many humans would accept it.

Fitun’s actions were not problematic as a strategy for a human war. Thus, the problem… was the fact that Fitun was not a human, but a god.

He had been a legendary mercenary as a mortal, but as a god, he had been a god who fought against evil gods – the god of thunderclouds, under the command of the heroic god Nineroad, who served Alda, the god of law and fate.

He had been a god who was supposed to teach mortals what was right, to show them the gods’ ideals, to punish them at times and forgive them at others, leading them onto a better path.

Gods did not ask their believers to be dreamers that ignored reality or be overly optimistic.

The gods knew that their believers couldn’t sustain themselves on air, that they could not uphold the gods’ teachings at all times, and that there were times when they needed to commit the sins that the gods warned them about.

But there would be no hope for the world if the gods did nothing but explain the reality before the believers’ very eyes. The people would lose their knowledge of good and evil; they would no longer know what was the correct path; their hearts would fall into chaos and the world would face ruin.

That was why the gods constantly defined their teachings and strove to lead people onto a better path. That was what Alda and the gods serving him believed.

And yet, as a god, Fitun had declared war upon Vandalieu using the same methods that humans would use. That was the problem.

The gods began murmuring among themselves.

“Indeed. It would be a different matter if Fitun-dono’s teachings were of a sense of self-sacrifice, the importance of the devotion to offer up your life for the greater good, but…”

“To begin with, there wasn’t a single one among the vessels that offered up their body willingly. They were rendered disabled by the very god they worshipped so that their bodies could be used. It would not be an exaggeration to call this betrayal.”

Indeed, if Fitun had been a god whose teachings were of self-sacrifice and devotion, his actions could have been defended to some extent. But he had never taught anything like that. However, he had also never taught them the self-serving cruelty that he had shown in the battle against Vandalieu.

Fitun’s teachings had been about the importance of having the perseverance to continue improving oneself day by day, of valiance and bravery.

Ever since becoming a god, Fitun had concealed the lust for battle he had possessed as a mercenary.

That was exactly why his actions were so deeply sinful.

“I am willing to accept any punishment. You may even impale me with the ‘Stakes of Law’ and strip me of my divinity,” said Nineroad, offering to pay the price for Fitun’s sins.

But Alda shook his head. “There is no need for that, Nineroad. After all, the one who did not punish Fitun and let him do as he pleased is me. And it was also a failure on my own part that I did not realize his true intentions.”

“But –!” Nineroad began to protest.

“And in this current situation, we cannot afford to punish you,” Alda continued.

Nineroad was the leader of the wind-attribute gods, having taken the role from Shizarion, the god of wind and art, who had been destroyed by the Demon King Guduranis.

With the emergence of the Demon King Vandalieu, Alda’s forces were spending the days gathering their strength. They could not afford to pass a heavy punishment upon Nineroad, impaling her with the ‘Stakes of Law’ and stripping her of her divinity, when she held such an important position.

“Nineroad-dono, every god that has gathered here understands the extent of your sincerity. But I want you to understand that we must fill the gap that has been left by Fitun’s destruction, and that your atonement will be achieved through the defeat of the Demon King Vandalieu,” said Niltark, the god of judgment.

“… Understood, Niltark-dono,” said Nineroad, nodding and stepping back.

“But what will happen now?” asked Niltark, continuing the discussion. “If the humans learn of Fitun-dono’s actions, will they not all lean towards Vida’s faction? Vandalieu is concealing his true nature from them, and already has a grasp over the hearts of the city’s people.”

“Would the humans not be unaware that this incident was caused by Fitun-dono?” one god suggested optimistically. “Most of the heroic spirits were also defeated by the Demon King’s subordinates without being able to reach the city; only two of them were seen approaching the front gate by the city’s humans. Would this incident not be treated as though it were caused by a mere bandit attack, unrelated to the gods?”

Fitun had used the reincarnated individual Hajime as a vessel, while the heroic spirits had used adventurers such as Gordon and the Flame Blades. Ordinary humans had only been able to perceive them with the appearance of the vessels themselves.

The ‘Heroic Spirit Transformation’ and ‘God Transformation’ used by the heroic spirits and Fitun had not produced any visible signals such as pillars of light descending from the sky; from afar, the only difference visible was that their bodies glowed a little. They may have had a mystical appearance, but one could plausibly assume that they had cast light-attribute enchantments on themselves.

But Niltark rejected that view. “It is too optimistic to think that will be the case. Fitun took the Orichalcum weapons stored in his own Church… as well as Demon King equipment. This will likely confirm a connection between him and his Church.”

“Indeed… To that city’s people, this was a great incident. If a thorough investigation is conducted not only into the two heroic spirits that appeared at the front gate, but those who challenged Vandalieu as well… the truth will likely be revealed in the near future,” Nineroad agreed. “Even so, it is unlikely that they would realize that it was Fitun-dono himself, but… they may believe that the reincarnated individual named Hajime Inui was a hero who was nurtured by Fitun-dono. After all, many humans have become aware that many gods are currently nurturing heroes.”

“Would Vandalieu not absorb the Demon King equipment? If he does, then the connection to Fitun-dono could be concealed. No matter how influential he is in that city, without any evidence, his words will not be believed in other cities and other duchies!” the optimistic god said.

“Perhaps, but… either way, there will be no hiding the fact that this incident was related to Fitun from those with good eyes and ears,” said Alda. “Look for yourself – another statue of Fitun has crumbled like sand.”

Now that Fitun had been destroyed and his soul devoured, the statues of him were cracking, breaking and crumbling, one after another. And this was occurring more quickly and in more prominent ways in areas where the worship of Fitun was more widespread.

This was not limited to just the city of Morksi and the Alcrem Duchy. It was something that was occurring across the Orbaume Kingdom, across the Bahn Gaia continent, across the entire world of Lambda.

There was no social media or internet that allowed for the sharing of information in this world. But Fitun’s statues were being destroyed on a scale where such things were not necessary for the news to spread.

Those who were aware that the gods had been more active since several years ago would be particularly interested in this incident.

Pargtarta, the goddess of flow – the subordinate god who protected Peria, the goddess of water and knowledge as she continued to slumber – was not present at the gods’ meeting.

However, the young gods sent by Alda and the other gods as her ‘reinforcements’ had all headed for Alda’s Divine realm.

Pargtarta was the only one left here.

But there was a god who had concealed himself and come here after sensing that there were no longer any obstacles present.

“Welcome, Onee-sama,” said Pargtarta.

“… Since when have I been your older sister?” asked Ricklent with a frown. “I am indeed your superior, but you were once a familiar spirit created by my sister Peria, and now ascended as a god. It would be more correct to refer to me not as sister, but as aunt, or uncle. I am a god of both sexes, or neither.”

Ricklent often took the form of three beautiful women, or of three males – one elderly, one young adult and one young boy. This was a symbol of the present, past and future – in other words, a symbol of time.

Thus, the people considered Ricklent to be of both sexes or of neither.

“As always, your tone of speech is one of an aged being, Onee-sama,” Pargtarta remarked.

“… It seems that you have become more obstinate since we last met a hundred thousand years ago,” said Ricklent.

“So, what is your business here today? Have you come to compete in board games against my master Peria to win my heart?”

According to myths, Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, had taken a liking in Pargtarta and spent centuries challenging Peria in board games in order to have Pargtarta handed over to them.

But in truth, this was nothing more than fiction.

“It bewilders me that the myths fabricated by the humans while I slumbered are told as if they are truth. This is why a world ruled by mortals, where there is a distance between them and the gods, is very interesting,” said Ricklent.

Unlike the age during which the gods directly ruled over the people, it had become difficult for mortals to directly exchange words with the gods since a hundred thousand years ago. Thus, they had grown to invent an enormous number of myths and legends.

There were all kinds of reasons for this, such as misinterpretations of what had actually happened, and songs created by bards to be funny and amusing being told later as myths and legends.

“Interesting, you say?” asked Pargtarta.

“It is a phenomenon that did not occur when we gods resided upon the world’s surface. It is interesting indeed,” Ricklent replied. “Incidentally, the fact that you would mention something like that to befuddle me seems to indicate that the ‘flow’ is yet to come.”

“Yes, it seems that way. Though I do understand that if we desired to join your side, now would be the ideal opportunity.”

The young gods that would normally be in the way were not here, and the attention of Alda and his forces was focused on the chaos that Fitun had caused. This was the perfect chance for Peria to leave this place and join Vida’s faction.

But Peria showed no signs of movement. She likely believed that it was not the time yet.

“Then I shall return. There is no meaning in dragging Peria out by force if she does not have her own thoughts,” said Ricklent.

“Do you not believe that my master would decide to remain on Alda’s side?” asked Pargtarta.

“If I did, I would not have come to this place on my own. As I am now, you alone would be enough to pin me onto the ground.”

“Oh my. Is that an invitation, Onee-sama?”

“… You are persistent,” Ricklent sighed.

“I think the champion Ark would have been deeply knowledgeable about culture such as yuri and boy’s love, you know,” said Pargtarta.

“That was Solder.”

With that, Ricklent disappeared as if he were an illusion.

And thus ended the clandestine meeting that took place in the shadow of the meeting of Alda’s forces.

Name: Junpei Murakami

Race: Human

Age: 2 years old (17 years old in appearance)

Title: Reincarnated Individual

Job: Magic Sword User

Level: 27

Job history: Thief, Assassin, Mage, Dagger User, Magic Swordsman, Magical Fighter, Fire-Attribute Mage

Attributes:

Vitality: 149,647

Mana: 247,005

Strength: 5,822

Agility: 7,365

Stamina: 6,455

Intelligence: 6,938

Passive skills:

Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10

Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5

Detect Presence: Level 4

Fire Attribute Resistance: Level 4

Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Dagger: Small

Increased Agility while equipped with Non-metal Armor: Very large

Active skills:

Surpass Limits: Level 10

Silent Steps: Level 7

Dagger Technique: Level 9

Throwing: Level 5

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 5

Archery: Level 5

Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 9

Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Mana Control: Level 9

Lockpicking: Level 5

Trap: Level 7

Survival: Level 3

Lifesaving: Level 5

Mount: Level 3

Coordination: Level 5

Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 9

Armor Technique: Level 8

Assassin Fighting Technique: Level 3

Magic Fighting Technique: Level 3

Chant Revocation: Level 1

Unique skills:

Chronos: Level 8

Super Mana Recovery: Level 5

Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana

Rodcorte’s Divine Protection

Status Concealment

Pseudo-Gungnir

Pseudo-Death Scythe

Emergency Escape: Suicide

Name: Akira Hazamada

Race: Human

Age: 2 years old (17 years old in appearance)

Title: Reincarnated Individual

Job: Magical Fighter

Level: 99

Job history: Warrior, Swordsman, Light Fighter, Mage, Archer, Earth-Attribute Mage

Attributes:

Vitality: 184,915

Mana: 141,189

Strength: 6,955

Agility: 7,001

Stamina: 6,327

Intelligence: 6,564

Passive skills:

Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10

Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5

Intuition: Level 2

Detect Presence: Level 5

Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Sword: Small

Increased Defensive Power while equipped with Metal Armor: Medium

Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Bow: Medium

Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 3

Active skills:

Dagger Technique: Level 6

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 7

Archery: Level 6

Throwing: Level 3

Earth-Attribute Magic: Level 8

Mana Control: Level 7

Coordination: Level 7

Silent Steps: Level 6

Survival: Level 5

Lifesaving: Level 5

Mount: Level 4

Swordsmanship: Level 8

Armor Technique: Level 7

Shield Technique: Level 4

Surpass Limits: Level 5

Surpass Limits: Magic Sword: Level 4

Magic Fighting Technique: Level 4

Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 7

Chant Revocation: Level 2

Unique skills:

Odin: Level 10

Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana

Rodcorte’s Divine Protection

Status Concealment

Emergency Escape: Suicide

Name: Misa Anderson

Race: Elf

Age: 2 years old (Approximately 15 years old in appearance)

Title: Reincarnated Individual

Job: Wind User

Level: 0

Job history: Mage, Wind-Attribute Mage, Thief, Spy, Explorer, Staff Wielder

Attributes:

Vitality: 109,274

Mana: 200,016

Strength: 950

Agility: 7,948

Stamina: 4,719

Intelligence: 8,110

Passive skills:

Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10

Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5

Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 6

Detect Presence: Level 6

Intuition: Level 4

Self-Enhancement: Vapor Transformation: Level 10

Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 5

Active skills:

Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 10

Mana Control: Level 9

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3

Archery: Level 5

Dagger Technique: level 3

Coordination: Level 5

Silent Steps: Level 10

Survival: Level 4

Lifesaving: Level 6

Lockpicking: Level 2

Trap: Level 3

Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 6

Surpass Limits: Level 2

Spiritual Magic: Level 1

Unique skills:

Sylphid: Level 10

Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana

Rodcorte’s Divine Protection

Status Concealment

Emergency Escape: Suicide

Murakami, Akira and Misa. Three reincarnated individuals.

Murakami and Akira tried to improve their Skills and Attribute Values in a diverse way within a short time.

Misa abandoned the thought of engaging in physical combat and aimed to specialize in the use of ‘Sylphid’ to gather information. As she acquired mage-type Jobs, she learned spiritual magic by chance – perhaps because she was reincarnated in the body of an Elf.

In order to shorten the time that he needed to acquire Skills, Murakami used his ‘Assignable Active Skill’ to acquire ‘Assassin Fighting Technique.’ Thus, he has not acquired the ‘Assassin Technique’ Skill that would normally be necessary to acquire ‘Assassin Fighting Technique.’

However, despite their efforts, the three of them managed to acquire Attribute Values equivalent to those of A-class adventurers, but their Skill Levels did not increase as they wanted them to. Their main combat skills remained un-awakened, so their overall strength was equivalent to B-class.

They received tremendous support from Rodcorte – rings to house familiar spirits so that they wouldn’t be destroyed by Vandalieu during their descent, and the ‘Emergency Escape: Suicide’ Skill that would allow them to commit suicide immediately to have their souls escape to Rodcorte’s divine realm. Murakami was even given the imperfect abilities ‘Pseudo-Gungnir’ and ‘Pseudo-Death Scythe,’ which Rodcorte put back together and repaired from their broken fragments. (The transfer of these abilities occurred when Murakami used the ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ Skill.)

However, during the actual battle, the fighting was left to Murakami, who was the most capable among the three in close-quarters combat. Akira backed him up with predictions of the future using ‘Odin,’ while Misa used ‘Sylphid’ to try and exploit any gaps in Vandalieu’s defense.

As a result, they were defeated by Vandalieu without even managing to get a blow in.

Murakami’s Level being low, Akira being just on the verge of a Job change and Misa only having just undergone a Job change are all because the three of them have hit barriers in their development, preventing them from increasing their Levels any further.