James L. ($200) is today’s sponsor, thank you very much for your support.
Rock, an adventurer based in the city of Morksi, was busy hunting that day with the same D-class adventurer party that he was always with, the Iron Boulder Brigade.
Rock and his companions had been regularly visiting this Devil’s Nest since their adventurer school days; it was a familiar hunting ground for them.
“Alright, let’s go home after we bring down a few more monsters,” he said.
“Yeah,” agreed one of his companions. “We want to sell the ingredients before sunset.”
The value of materials sold to the Adventurers’ Guild didn’t change based on the time of day. However, the Guild employees certainly appreciated receiving meat and other food ingredients before the time of day when wholesalers would fill their stocks.
“Since I have a debt to the Guild, I have to show them that I’m earning good money,” Rock added.
“It’s just so unlucky that your old man got so badly injured right after you bought your new weapon,” said another. “Rock, apparently there’s going to be a beautiful Dark Elf giving a sermon at the Communal Church. How about you go and pray the bad luck away?”
Rock gave a grim frown. “Hey, are you trying to say that my old man’s injury was punishment for not being devout enough? You know I pray to the gods in gratitude every time I hunt monsters.”
“You should pray to gods other than the god of soldiers and the god of thunderclouds,” said his friend. “And according to the rumors, the Dark Elf is apparently a real beauty.”
“Not interested. If I have the time to attend something like that, I think it’s more worthwhile to go on a solo Goblin hunt –”
The party’s light conversation was interrupted by a loud, echoing howl coming from a short distance away.
“Did you hear that?!” He asked his companions.
“Yeah, it’s nearby… Over there!”
They braced themselves, picked up their belongings and headed towards the source of the sound.
They were greeted by the scene that they had imagined.
A gray-furred dog that was larger than a wolf. The fur around its mouth was stained with fresh, crimson blood. At its feet was a boy lying face-up, his neck covered in blood.
The boy’s eyes, which were turned towards Rock and his companions, were lifeless and empty.
“A Demon Dog… We were too late,” Rock muttered.
Demon Dogs were Rank 2 monsters, dogs that had been transformed by corrupted Mana. They were only about as physically strong as wolves or perhaps a little stronger, and they had no special abilities. Even rookie adventurers who had only recently become accustomed to battle could defeat them.
And since dogs rarely wandered into Devil’s Nests, such monsters were few in number.
But Demon Dogs were even more aggressive to humans than wolves, never mind ordinary dogs, and they did not falter even when wounded. Every year, rookie adventurers lost their lives to these beasts after letting down their guard.
And Demon Wolves would let out a howl of victory and joy after killing a human. Rock and his companions had rushed over here after hearing a howl, but…
“What the hell is the Adventurers’ Guild thinking, letting a child go hunting on his own!” one of Rock’s companions shouted, enraged.
“Don’t say that. Once someone has chosen to become an adventurer, anything that happens to them is their own responsibility, whether they’re a rookie or a child. It’s his own fault for underestimating the monster,” said Rock, but he raised his sword and shield nonetheless.
The Demon Dog let out a low growl.
“But we need to at least avenge him,” said Rock. “This is quite the end to our hunt, but –”
“Umm, excuse me. Don’t be so hasty. Aren’t you misunderstanding something here?” said Vandalieu.
“This is part of our duty as adventurers… Wait, did the corpse just talk?!” Rock shouted, jumping back in surprise.
“I’m alive. I’m not a corpse. I was just playing around with my familiar,” Vandalieu said, still lying on the ground as he looked up at Rock and his companions.
Through several hunts, Fang had successfully hunted Giga birds… Rank 2 monster birds that used their fangs and talons as weapons, without the help of Vandalieu and the others.
Being praised for this, Fang had let out a roar of joy, pushed Vandalieu down and began licking his face and neck despite still being covered in Giga bird blood.
Right at that moment, Rock and his companions had arrived on the scene and misunderstood the situation.
Vandalieu explained all of this to Rock and his party, who were all wearing looks of disbelief.
“I-I see,” one of Rock’s companions muttered.
Vandalieu was indeed alive, and although it was hidden from the view of Rock and his party by trees, there was a cart loaded with Giga bird corpses and other monsters that Fang had been hunting.
And although Rock and his companions had realized it too late, Fang was wearing one of the collars sold by the Tamers’ Guild for familiars.
Though they did feel some discomfort at the situation, there was nothing that called for suspicion and investigation.
“Sorry for misunderstanding things,” said Rock. “Still, if there was a conspicuous Tamer like you at the Adventurers’ Guild, there’d be rumors of you everywhere, but I’ve never heard of you.”
Tamer adventurers were rare. Though monsters varied in aggressiveness depending on their race, they were generally enemies of humanity, and yet Tamers made use of such creatures. They were far fewer in numbers than warriors.
Vandalieu was a Tamer of just over ten years of age who had an unusual appearance and was capable of taming a Demon Dog. Rock thought that it was strange that there were no rumors about him as a promising individual.
Even though I’m talking to him face to face, he has so little presence that it’s abnormal… Could it be that there are no rumors about him because he has no presence? Rock thought rather rudely.
“That’s because I’m not an adventurer,” said Vandalieu. “I currently have a temporary registration at the Commerce Guild, and I’m an associate member of the Tamers’ Guild.”
“You’re not an adventurer?!” Rock said incredulously. “An associate member of the Tamers’ Guild… Could it be that you tamed this Demon Dog today?!”
“No, Fang is a stray dog from the slums. We came to this Devil’s Nest today, and he mutated into a Demon Dog,” said Vandalieu, telling the truth but not all of it.
Rock and his companions opened their eyes wide in shock.
“He only just became a monster?! That’s… amazing,” said Rock.
In all honesty, it was difficult to believe. But Rock did not have the knowledge he needed to deny Vandalieu’s not-entirely-true explanation… his claim that Fang had been an ordinary dog, and mutated the moment they entered this Devil’s Nest.
It was common knowledge not only to adventurers such as Rock and his party, but to all people in this world, that animals such as birds, rabbits and dogs could transform into monsters under the influence of corrupted Mana.
But there were almost none who had actually witnessed this happening in person. Corrupted Mana wasn’t visible to the naked eye, and nobody knew just how much corruption animals could withstand.
Mages and alchemists had tried to understand this process since ancient times, but their vague descriptions only stated that animals had individual differences in tolerance, and that it would also depend on the attribute and density of the corrupted Mana.
Thus, there was nothing that could disprove a dog becoming a monster on the same day that it entered a Devil’s Nest.
… Incidentally, there was no law to punish the owners of animals that happened to transform into monsters. They only had to take responsibility if such transformed monsters were to kill people or destroy property.
“Well, maybe it got corrupted while eating Goblin or Kobold ears in the slums. And then once it came to this Devil’s Nest, it reached its limit and mutated,” said one of Rock’s companions. “Shall we get going, then?”
“I guess so. Sorry for asking so many questions. Demon Dogs aren’t weak for Rank 2 monsters, but Rank 3 monsters and hordes of Goblins and Kobolds sometimes pop up around here. Be careful,” said Rock, assuming that Vandalieu relied entirely on Fang for hunting, as he seemed to be an unarmed person who wasn’t an adventurer.
And then Rock’s party turned and left.
“… We’re lucky they were good people,” said Vandalieu. “Well then, shall we start heading home as well?”
Fang barked.
“You want to pull the cart? That would make you seem more like a tamed monster to others, so it would reduce the chances of any future misunderstandings,” said Vandalieu, nodding. “Give me a moment.”
Vandalieu quickly created a leash and muzzle to connect Fang to the cart with his ‘Thread Refining’ Skill.
When they returned to the gate at the city of Morksi, Kest and his senior were shocked to see that Fang, who was pulling the cart, had turned into a Demon Dog. They were also shocked to see that the cart was filled with disassembled monster corpses.
“Y-you needed to restock on meat…” Kest muttered in astonishment.
“Yes, though I did harvest some herbs as well,” Vandalieu told him.
The cart also contained herbs for the sauce used on the skewers… To be more precise, the herbs that Vandalieu had grown inside him with the effects of the ‘Tree Caster’ Job, put in the cart after entering the Devil’s Nest, and was now telling the guards that he had picked.
With this, if anyone were to try to investigate where Vandalieu had acquired the herbs he used, they would search the Devil’s Nest pointlessly rather than the people around Vandalieu.
“Umm… Is this kind of thing allowed, Senpai?” Kest asked the senior guard.
He wasn’t sure whether it was allowed for an underage person who wasn’t an adventurer to enter and hunt in a Devil’s Nest and bring in his spoils.
The senior guard rubbed his chin. “It isn’t a problem. There aren’t any laws punishing it, so…”
Of course, Devil’s Nests were inhabited by monsters, and they were dangerous. It was not a place suitable for underage people and ordinary civilians who were incapable of combat.
But there was no law in the Orbaume Kingdom that forbade civilians from entering Devil’s Nests.
Even without a law forbidding it, ordinary civilians did not normally enter Devil’s Nests.
But there were also cases of new Devil’s Nests forming, and existing ones spreading. It also wasn’t uncommon for Devil’s Nests to appear no different from ordinary grasslands or lakes.
It would be cruel to punish the villagers of a village in a forest or mountain that had become a Devil’s Nest, or travelers or victims who had accidentally wandered into a Devil’s Nest. That was why there was no law punishing such people.
“There aren’t any taxes for goods from hunting in Devil’s Nests if you’re just bringing them in, either. But… in ordinary circumstances, I’d be giving you a stern lecture,” the senior guard told Vandalieu.
“Yes, I’m sorry for making you think that I was just foraging for herbs rather than hunting,” Vandalieu apologized, lowering his head.
The senior guard sighed. “You’re free to pass.”
“We’ll let you get away with it because that Demon Dog was with you this time. If you go to a Devil’s Nest again, don’t forget to bring that Demon Dog with you,” said Kest, looking relieved. “And don’t take too long to go to the Tamers’ Guild to exchange your associate membership for a full one.”
“Yes, thank you,” said Vandalieu.
Fang gave a small bark.
Vandalieu gave a small wave at Kest, quickly returned to his house, sorted out the stocking of his inventory and headed to the Tamers’ Guild with Fang, where he had registered as an associate member just that morning, this time to become a full member.
“You have talent as a Tamer!” the Guild Master, Bachem, said fervently.
But Vandalieu somehow managed to leave, telling him that it was time to open his business, and opened his food cart, just as he had done yesterday.
“You’ve been busy today, haven’t you? Are you going to hunt in the Devil’s Nest every day from now on?” asked Darcia, who had been informed of Vandalieu’s visit to the Devil’s Nest by Chipuras.
“Yes, I’m going hunting again tomorrow,” replied Vandalieu as he grilled the skewers. “We were limited on time today, so we didn’t manage to get much meat. And I also need to rethink this city’s security net. Tomorrow, I’m going to adjust the security net from the outside and hunt several days’ worth of meat, as well as some Goblins and Kobolds, Leveling Fang up in the process.”
Fang barked in approval of this plan.
“Do your best, both of you. But if you’re busy, I could go and hunt for you,” Darcia suggested.
She didn’t have a membership card of any Guild, but the people of the city thought that she was a Dark Elf who had been living in a hidden village. If she were to hunt some monsters that D-class adventurers were capable of hunting, there would be more people who would assume that she was an exceptional hunter in her old village than people becoming suspicious.
“That’s a good idea… Alright, then I’ll ask you to do that once Fang has Leveled to a certain point,” said Vandalieu.
“Yes, leave it to me,” said Darcia.
“One skewer, please,” a customer said, approaching the food cart.
Even as Vandalieu and Darcia conversed, customers were coming to the food cart sporadically. During the week that it had been open, the skewers had gained a reputation as being delicious, and there were now customers other than people associated with the ‘Starving Wolf.’
“That’s three Baums,” said Vandalieu.
“Huh? You dropped your prices?” the customer asked in confusion; skewers had cost five Baums each up until yesterday.
But he handed over three Baums and purchased a skewer nonetheless. On his way back to the main street, he examined his skewer suspiciously.
The amount of meat hasn’t changed? No, it’s increased slightly. Then has the quality dropped? he wondered, having a bad feeling about the skewer.
But the moment he took a bite of the skewer, he realized that he had been wrong. The flavor had clearly improved.
“So delicious! It’s cheaper and the amount of meat hasn’t changed, so why does it taste better?!” he wondered incredulously. “I-I need one more!”
Despite having almost returned to the main street, the customer turned around and bought one more.
… Because I’ve changed the way I’m stocking meat, Vandalieu thought.
He had not purchased the meat from a wholesale store; he had hunted and butchered the meat himself, so it had cost him nothing. And since Vandalieu and Fang were the ones who had worked to acquire the meat, there were no labor costs involved.
Thus, he was making plenty of profit even while selling the skewers at three Baums each.
And the reason the skewers had become more delicious was simply because the meat’s quality had improved. Yesterday, Vandalieu had used the meat of Rank 1 monsters such as Giant Rats and Horn Rabbits. Today, he was using the meat of Rank 2 monsters such as Giant Horn Rabbits and Giga birds.
The taste of monsters’ meat and the usefulness of other materials harvested from them generally increased with their Rank. The difference between Rank 1 and Rank 2 monsters wasn’t drastic, but… that wasn’t the case with Vandalieu’s ‘Cooking’ Skill involved.
Perhaps making good food from inferior ingredients was one way a chef could display his skill, but using better ingredients did produce more delicious dishes.
“Why have your skewers become so delicious?!” the customer asked.
“My ‘Cooking’ Skill Leveled up this morning,” Vandalieu told him, giving him the shortest feasible explanation possible, not having the time to explain all of that.
“I see!”
“You’re not going to tell him the details? It might be convenient for us later if Joseph gets a bad reputation,” said Orbia.
If Vandalieu spread the news that Joseph had threatened every wholesale store in the city, his already-poor reputation would sink even further.
But Kimberley argued otherwise. “Orbia nee-san, if we do that, the reputation of the butcher’s store that Boss was buying his meat at before will fall as well. We don’t want that, do we?”
“Ah, you’re right. That person seemed like a good person,” said Orbia. “Then I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Though it was a small thing, Vandalieu had taken into consideration the circumstances of the old man at the butcher’s store who had yielded to Joseph’s threats in order to keep his livelihood.
As they were having this conversation, a thin, bearded man, wearing an overcoat that was dirty and torn in several places, approached the food cart not from the direction of the main street, but from the direction of the slum quarter.
“Welcome,” said Vandalieu.
“No, I’m not a customer… The name’s Simon, and the ‘Starving Wolf’ told me about yer,” the man said, lowering his head with a self-deprecating smile.
It was difficult to tell how old he was because of his beard and how dirty his face was.
“Ah, it’s you. Vandalieu, the person introduced to us by Michael-san is here,” said Darcia.
“Nice to meet you. But what business you got with a half-dead geezer like me? I’ll gladly work for you if there’s work to do, but… don’t think I’ll be of any use,” said Simon, his self-deprecating smile growing even wider.
“That’s not true,” said Vandalieu, shaking his head. “You still have your Adventurers’ Guild membership card, don’t you?”
“Yes… You can find work as long as you have one of these even if you’re missin’ your right arm, after all.”
The man named Simon, who had been introduced to Vandalieu by the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael, was a former adventurer. But before he could save up enough to retire, he had lost his dominant arm due to a severe injury and had become unable to fight.
These days, he was barely managing to feed himself by doing day jobs that involved things like cleaning, the kind of jobs that only rookie adventurers would be doing. He was what was known as a straggler.
“Then please go and sell these to the Adventurers’ Guild as proof of having exterminated monsters,” said Vandalieu.
His task for Simon was to go to the Adventurers’ Guild and sell the body parts of the monsters he had hunted in the Devil’s Nest today that served as proof of having exterminated them.
“Huh? Proof of extermination? Why would you go outta your way to have someone else sell ‘em? … You’d be able to sell ‘em right away, even with a temporary membership card,” said a bewildered Simon.
Indeed, the Adventurers’ Guild would purchase any proof of extermination as long as the seller was registered. Surely there was no reason to go out of one’s way to seek out a failed-adventurer-turned-beggar to sell them.
“None of us have one,” Vandalieu explained simply.
The Adventurers’ Guild would outright refuse to purchase proof of extermination from those who were not registered.
“Then you should just go and re – No, never mind. I’ll do it,” said Simon, still confused but realizing that Fang was glaring at him, and sensing that there was something in that gaze.
He lowered his head, pushing his questions and confusion aside.
He was likely mistakenly thinking that his life would be in danger if he became too interested in the matter.
“Then here are the parts you need to sell. Please return after the Adventurers’ Guild buys them from you. Your share will be half of their buying price,” said Vandalieu.
“You got it… T-this much?! I’ll go right away!” said Simon, his expression lighting up.
He took the bag containing the proof of extermination and headed towards the Adventurers’ Guild, half-running as he left.
The price for proof of exterminating Rank 1 and 2 monsters wasn’t anything extraordinary. But Simon had been able to tell that there was quite a large amount inside the bag, judging from how heavy it was. By selling such an amount, even if he received only half of the buying price, that would be several days’ worth of pay from day jobs. He wouldn’t starve for the next short while.
Considering the simplicity of the task being asked of him, the amount that Simon was being paid was extraordinary. But the money that Vandalieu acquired from selling the proof of extermination wasn’t income earned by his business, so he couldn’t write it down in his ledger. It was meaningless money.
Thus, his hiring of Simon was an act of charity, and he intended to donate the other half to an orphanage as well.
“I hope this serves as an explanation for why we have plenty of money to the region’s lord who’s sent spies to watch us,” said Vandalieu.
“I hope he believes that we were hunting monsters before we came to this city, and we saved up money to buy the food cart and the house by selling their materials,” said Darcia.
The last reason for Vandalieu doing this was to decrease any suspicions that the region’s lord might have towards him by showing himself acquiring funds, even if the amount acquired was small.
Just as Simon left, three human men in their thirties entered the back alley.
One of them gave a small laugh. “I’m telling you, it’s true. The food cart will either be selling skewers without any meat, or it’ll have closed up. All we need to do is make sure that that’s the case.”
“And then we’ll get paid by Joseph,” said another.
One of the men was someone that Vandalieu and Darcia recognized.
It was Aggar.
Up until now, Aggar had only stared at the food cart from afar with a frustrated gaze, but perhaps gaining confidence now that he had people with him, he approached Vandalieu.
“Long time no see, Vandalieu-kun, Darcia-san,” he said, a nasty smirk on his face. “Your business is – going well?! Why the hell are you still cooking meat?!” he shouted, his tone and expression changing completely as he saw that Vandalieu was still grilling skewered meat as he had done for the past week.
“Hey, what the hell’s going on, Aggar?” one of the men with Aggar whispered to him, scowling. “This ain’t how it’s supposed to be. How come they’re doing business just fine?”
“Yeah. The only thing you got right is that there’s a Dark Elf so beautiful you’d never think she’s got baggage with her, and that the kid looks really creepy,” whispered the other.
“Why, you ask… This is a food cart that sells grilled skewers. I don’t think there’s anything strange about that,” said Darcia, answering his initial question.
She was wearing a customer service smile, but it was stiff; she had noticed that there was something strange about the behavior of Aggar and his companions… She had good ears, and she was able to hear their whispered conversation.
But it seemed that Aggar was unable to hear her words. His eyes darted about restlessly as he tried to think of an explanation.
“That’s it!” he shouted suddenly. “You’re using that dog’s meat! You got rid of your guard dog and replaced your meat with –”
Fang, who had been hidden in the food cart’s shadow, gave a series of fierce, angry barks. Aggar’s words could have caused serious damage to the food cart’s reputation.
“What the hell?! Why is your guard dog alive, and why the hell has it grown bigger?!”
Fang had been keeping out of sight of his own will, thinking that customers might be afraid to come to the food cart if he was visible from the main street. But he wasn’t able to ignore Aggar’s accusation.
Though he was rotten, Aggar was still a guard. He didn’t fall over backwards in an unsightly way as Fang bared his teeth and barked at him threateningly; he immediately took a step back and put up his guard.
“As you can see, Fang is alive and well. Aggar-san, it seems that you and your colleagues have come to the entertainment district to enjoy yourselves after work, but… is there something inconvenient about the fact that there is meat at my food cart?” Vandalieu asked him as he glared at him with the Demon King’s Demon Eyes.
But unlike the rich upstart that Vandalieu had glared at last week, Aggar and his companions did have some combat experience. Perhaps it was this that made them more resistant to the fear, or perhaps Vandalieu had held back too much. Their reaction wasn’t quite as drastic; they turned pale and their voices shook, but there was nothing more than that.
“N-n-n-n-nothing at all. L-let’s leave, you guys!” Aggar said to his companions, and then he took off.
“Alright!” one of them said, turning to run as well.
“Wait for me!” said the other as he ran to catch up to the other two.
“Should I have put a little more force into it?” Vandalieu wondered.
“I don’t think you could have done any more,” said Kimberley. “It would have been more troublesome if they’d pissed or shit themselves or fainted right in front of our business.”
“Those people… They were hired by Joseph, right?” said Darcia.
“Eleanora and the others did tell us through the Demon King Familiar that one of Joseph’s family servants made contact with Aggar,” said Vandalieu.
Aggar was simply a crook guard; his personality and abilities matched that profile. But among the members of the criminal organization, he was known as one of the convenient guards who would look the other way for a bribe.
Joseph had likely paid him to carry out this excessive harassment on Vandalieu and Darcia.
Aggar had brought people with him to see whether Vandalieu’s business, which should have been completely bare of meat, was still operating. On the off-chance that it was, they were intending to accuse him of selling bad goods and threaten him into closing down, obstructing the inspection that was required for his temporary registration to become a proper membership.
… It seemed that Aggar’s two companions also intended to lay their hands on Darcia while they were here.
“Would it not be wise to dispose of those three?” suggested Chipuras.
“Hmm, it is indeed unpleasant, but when I think about whether it’s worth killing them for it… I’m not sure,” said Vandalieu.
Joseph was abusing his authority as Deputy Guild Master to carry out this excessive harassment of his own will. But Aggar was a small fry who had been hired for small change.
If Vandalieu were to bury Joseph, there wouldn’t be anyone similar replacing him for a while, but if he were to bury Aggar, similar small fry might appear again one after another.
And although Aggar was a crook, he was still a guard. If he were to die a strange death or go missing, it was possible that a large-scale investigation would be carried out.
“Yes… If he doesn’t cause a little more harm, it’s a little hard to decide,” said Darcia.
If she were an ordinary woman, she would feel a sense of danger from Aggar. But although she found him unpleasant, even she didn’t think that he was worth killing. Her current body would be completely unaffected by any paralyzing drugs or sleeping pills, and she had enough strength hidden in her slender arms to beat an armored knight to death with a single blow.
She didn’t really care about the interest that Aggar seemed to have in her.
“Hmm, you’re right in saying that the guards might investigate Vandalieu-sama if we were to dispose of them,” said Chipuras. “Not that they would find anything. They should just stay quiet.”
“They can’t do that, it’s their job… Speaking of jobs, they’re still there, aren’t they? The spies of the region’s lord,” said Orbia.
“Then the region’s lord is aware of the harassment that we are receiving. He should do something, shouldn’t he? It’s a problem involving his own uncle and the guards of the city that he rules,” said Princess Levia.
“You’re right about that. But Boss looks like he’s doing fine, so he might not make a move, thinking it’s not a big deal,” said Kimberley. “Hey Boss, maybe you should try looking at the window on the second floor of that building and saying, ‘This harassment is so tough.’”
“… That would do nothing other than make fun of the spies, wouldn’t it?” said Vandalieu.
As the conversation shifted from a discussion into light conversation, Fang, the only one who perceived Aggar as a threat, gave an unhappy bark.
Fang seemed to be insisting that Vandalieu never go near Aggar again.
“It’s alright, Fang. They can’t resort to direct violence. Power and authority are the only weapons both Joseph and Aggar have, and other than that, they’re unimportant,” said Vandalieu.
Joseph was a Deputy Guild Master at the Commerce Guild, and uncle of the lord of the realm. Aggar was a guard. Both of them were using their positions to harass Vandalieu and Darcia.
But Vandalieu couldn’t do too much to avoid the harassment. If he did, things would only become harder for himself.
“Well, it’s only human to not notice or forget about those kinds of things… I need to be careful not to as well,” Vandalieu told himself.
Fang gave a confused bark; why would Vandalieu need to be careful when he wasn’t a human being?
What Fang didn’t understand, no matter how many times Vandalieu said it, was that he truly thought of himself as a human being.
In a Divine Realm far away from the city of Morksi, Vida, the goddess of life and love, sat at a table with her close brothers and sisters.
“The reconstruction of his soul has been completed without problem. This week has been the period of greatest vulnerability for Vandalieu, but we can breathe easy again,” said Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, with a sigh of relief.
“He may have been vulnerable, but there is no way for Alda and his followers to exploit that. With only a week available to them, even if his heroes were to make a move immediately after that battle, only the ones already in the Alcrem Duchy would have made it in time. The reincarnated individuals do not seem to be nearby either, and Birkyne is not the type to make hasty moves,” said Zuruwarn, the god of space and creation as he polished a magnificently decorated silver cup. “You worry too much, Ricklent.”
“… Was there not a possibility of heroic spirits and gods descending directly upon the world?” said the gods’ newest sister… Gufadgarn, the evil god of labyrinths, formerly of the Demon King’s army.
Though the other gods had gathered here with their original appearances, she alone was present in this Divine Realm in her vessel.
“That wasn’t possible,” said Vida, shaking her head. “Even if the heroic spirits and the gods descended upon the city of Morksi to strike Vandalieu while he was weak, it would have been a wasted effort if you were to take Vandalieu and Darcia and teleport them inside the Boundary Mountain Range.”
Considering the energy that was expended when gods and heroic spirits descended upon the world, they would have been on the verge of death afterwards. Knowing that Gufadgarn was constantly nearby Vandalieu, this was a plan that would have been impossible to consider.
“And it’s unlikely that Alda and his followers would descend upon the world for a direct battle against Vandalieu; that would only happen if Vandalieu were to invade their Divine Realm,” said Ricklent. “Our brother Alda is trying to defeat Vandalieu under the pretense that it is for the world’s sake. But he would not risk destroying the world in order to achieve it.”
Indeed, the gods were necessary for the maintenance of the world. Alda did not wish to risk the gods being destroyed or exhausted to the point that they would no longer be able to maintain the world.
Of course, there was some room to work with, and even if there was some lack of gods, the world would still last for over a thousand years. But if the gods sustained more losses than they expected… in the worst-case scenario, the world could collapse and become extinguished within a matter of seconds.
“But the world collapsing and evaporating within seconds would also happen if all of us were to be destroyed, so I think you really do worry too much,” said Zuruwarn.
“It is you who is too optimistic,” retorted Ricklent. “More importantly, what is that cup? I have not seen it before.”
“It is my personal cup. I am intending to drink cola from it,” said Zuruwarn.
“… Vandalieu is busy; do not rush him so much,” said Ricklent.
“Zuruwarn, cola is that sweet ale-like drink, isn’t it? Won’t a deeper container be better so that the bubbles don’t spill over?” said Vida.
The serious, heavy-discussion atmosphere in the Divine Realm had loosened up all of a sudden.
“Leaving that aside, the form of Vandalieu’s soul has been settled. It should be easier for him to utilize the power of the death attribute from now on,” said Zuruwarn.
“His soul was distorted up until now, since Rodcorte just put it together carelessly… Well, his soul is still grotesque for a human’s soul,” said Vida.
“It was likely an impossible task from the very beginning to reconstruct the soul of a single human from the broken soul fragments of four,” said Ricklent. “It seems that there were no problems on the surface on Earth, where humans do not possess Mana, but… he awakened to the death attribute in Origin, where magic does exist, and now that he has been reincarnated in Lambda, which has the Status System that I created, he is as we see now.”
“Vandalieu’s death-attribute magic… His ‘Dark King Magic’ Skill is a Passive Skill. To him, the power of the death attribute is like his heartbeat or his breathing… No, it’s like his bones, muscles and organs. It’s a function that he can use unconsciously,” said Vida.
Humans were capable of standing without understanding the structure of their legs, and their organs functioned even if they did not understand how they did so.
The Status System had determined that the power of the death attribute was similar to these phenomena for Vandalieu.
“Even in the event that Vandalieu were to be reincarnated again, the power of the death attribute is unlikely to ever leave his soul. That should apply even if he were to be reincarnated in a world without magic, such as Earth,” said Zuruwarn.
“I am looking forward to what the future holds for him, but that means I can’t take my eyes off him,” said Vida.
“Great gods, there is something I wish to confirm,” said Gufadgarn, who had remained silent up until now. “Has the reconstruction of Vandalieu’s soul really finished? There appears to be parts that have spilled over, and others that have separated into countless pieces.”
Some fluids and eyeballs had overflowed and fallen off the enormous Vandalieu, creating a swarm of Vandalieus that varied in size between fitting in the palm of a hand to about three meters tall.
It seemed that Gufadgarn was worried about this.
“It’s fine. Those fluids and eyeballs are like an aura, or… something like the flames that Zantark’s body emits,” said Vida. “Also, the Vandalieus that aren’t a part of the main body are just separated from him to serve the role of familiar spirits and divine protections.”
“They will likely appear in groups in the dreams of those with his divine protection and become one with them. They do not seem to be performing any work other than that at present, however,” said Ricklent.
It seemed that the current state of Vandalieu’s soul wasn’t a problem.
“I see,” said Gufadgarn, nodding as she put her trust in the judgment of the gods of this world.
“Now then, Gufadgarn has finally allowed you into the Boundary Mountain Range, so I’d like to relax for a while, but… there’s so many things to do, like keeping an eye on Peria who should be reviving soon, searching for where Botin is sealed and trying to convert the people from Alda’s faction to ours,” said Vida.
“We should leave that last task almost entirely to our followers,” said Ricklent. “Even if we send Divine Messages or appear in their dreams, humans’ choices are their own. That is how it should be.”
“Yes, I must lead the priests in human societies properly now after having slept for so long… But there’s an unexpectedly small number of people who actually receive my Divine Messages,” said Vida disappointedly. “There are quite a few people who call themselves my followers but actually aren’t, too.”
“I shall return to being Vandalieu’s shadow,” said Gufadgarn.
The gods returned to their respective tasks, and silence returned to the Divine Realm once more.
Want to support Yoshi's translations? Head over to the Donations Page
NOVEL DISCUSSION
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
pandaman
God I love how just completely trivial Van current problems are. I also like just how chill all of the Gods Vida’s side are with how Zuruwarn is just waiting for his offering of cola for who knows how long.
RayneVilanore
right! Idk why but really cute!
Naberisu
Pepsi >>>> Coca-Cola
Zenden1st
i find the political conflicts and small acts of aggression of regular people very amusing
It night and day comparison of van hunting a hurricane dragon vs van being suppressed by a snobby noble
XPotato
“It is my personal cup. I am intending to drink cola from it,” said Zuruwarn.
I imagine four lion heads drinking coke from tea-cups with their pinky pointed out like nobles
Adddmeeee
His soul went through google translate too many times
Vitor
Come on, it’s not that- “remembers Rodcorte”… nevermind, it’s indeed google translate
Alke
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Adddmeeee: gosh I nearly chocked to death with laughter when I read your comment I was drinking cola and it passed through my nose 😅
Dr. Steel
“Fang gave a confused bark; why would Vandalieu need to be careful when he wasn’t a human being?
What Fang didn’t understand, no matter how many times Vandalieu said it, was that he truly thought of himself as a human being.”
This is wonderful. And kind of sad.
Baldingere
Awww, sibling meeting. But if they added Gufadgarn, why not some others too? Ricklent and Zuruwarn must miss their subordinate gods, they had no contact with the ones who fled with Vida up to now after all.
Draggador
> “Now then, Gufadgarn has finally allowed you into the Boundary Mountain Range, so .. ”
> Who is the “you” referring to?
Ryuutsukai
Ricklent and Zuruwarn. Or at least I’m like 99.9% sure it’s them.
ObserverBias
Them, yes. Because they were previously restricted from entering, as they were on the outside of the Barrier when it was set up and their side could not afford to let it down for the short time it would take to let them in, as that would also be time Alda’s side could use to invade/attack if they wanted to.
.
The previous instance of them showing up in Vida’s Divine Realm was Ricklent essentially Skyping in while Zuruwarn “ran” physically across the space to make it there. As Gufadgarn can do what she wants with portals, and has a physical form that can be there, they can daisy-chain a connection to be there properly… something along those lines.
Aircat386
Zuruwarn: This is my PeRsOnAl CuP!
Jason
I like this arc, it feels like van is building talosheim again
Making new connections and living a new life
polynesianvibez
thanks for the chapter
aye
SuprGofi
Just passing around divine blessing in the form of mini vans and excreting familiar spirits everywhere.
Eventually this would be his divine realm. Would it be creepy or scary. A bunch of different type of mini vans with expressionless face staring back at you.
And what buffs would people get with his familiar descent.
Yggdrasil
OPness🙃
WizziBot
Pen island
DarkCarnage
why do I have the image like from the movie village of the damned lol
A_wandering_otter
They gain the op ability of dead fish eyes
TruePath111
This “Mother Adventure” Arc might be the second best Arc of this novel. Maybe because the annoying girls aren’t here being clingy that make one suffocate to read.
I still feel that Garcia in her dead form had a lot of wasted potential, it was badass at first because she stayed with him in his darkest times but she was mostly away the entire time.
Halfsweat
Dude what is your problem?
We get that you dont like the girls but it gets annoying seeing you on almost every chapter talking about how you dont like them but at this point your like a broken record just stop
Zurric
“He had not purchased the meat from a wholesale store; he had hunted and butchered the meat himself, so it had cost him nothing. And since Vandalieu and Fang were the ones who had worked to acquire the meat, there were no labor costs involved.”
no no no! That’s so wrong. Time is money.
sorry, it just bugged me a lot since I wound up grinding that saying into my head when trying to get money in MMOs.
NjShade
If you can life more than 10 000 years I’m sure time is not matter to you
iunno
Still, it’s way less efficient
DarkCarnage
well it does cost some time, but fang did most of the hunting and they can stock up on meat in bulk quickly and storge it with his preserve spell. Kul drain blood and van can easy rip apart rank 1-6 mob no sweat. plus lvl up fang.
hungsayori
To put things into perspective, it’s the equivalent of a relatively young rich person set for life working casual side jobs that won’t amount to much for leisure. Besides, garnering good reputation may leave positive impression to better propagate Vida’s religion so there’s no downsides really, unless you wanna minmax a low income job for no reason lol
Chiu ChunLing
While it’s true that Van and Fang’s work is a ‘cost’, strictly speaking, it is not a “labor cost” that must be reflected on the ledger. The work a business owner puts in is paid back by the profitability of the business once everyone else involved has been paid. Thus no matter how hard the business owner works, it doesn’t affect the bottom line (this kind of thinking is part of why death by overwork is rather common in Japan, though, but it’s still less common than suicide, at least).
Fang gets ‘paid’ the same whether or not he helps Van stock meat for the cart. Legally, Van has no obligation to Fang himself, only to keep Fang from attacking citizens without cause. If he had purchased Fang, worked him to death, and needed to buy another Demon Dog to hunt, then that would need to be in the ledger. But Van acquired Fang free as a stray dog, and rather than dying, Fang is getting stronger.
Since Van is also enjoying hunting with Fang, the hunting itself could even be considered recreation, and the stocking of meat is just a happy side effect.
Kuro-san
How do normal people change from ‘jobless’ to ‘artisan’ or ‘farmer’?
Do they kill monsters until they reach level 100 of ‘jobless’, gain experience in other ways or undergo a change in forced labor, like slaves?
Kuro-san
They already answered me in the next chapter.
Nobody2
Any idea on when next chapter will be out. (Not complaining or rushing Yoshi just asking)
NachoFriend
It’s irregular since Yoshi has a lot of life stuff to deal with, but there’s usually at least 2 a month
Tejing
There’s a pin in the discord channel that Yoshi keeps updated with whatever info he wants to give out about that. No point asking the rest of us, we don’t have any more info than is there.
Vinzenz226
Who else is curious to know what the cover page illustrations look like for seven eight nine and ten
no1
I’m pretty curious to see how much older and changed Van is in the following volume covers
hungsayori
especially his reconstructed soul. irks me knowing I’ll probably never see all these great scenes illustrated 🙁
SheepySenpai
Anyone know when the next Banda POV is and how long it lasts?
no1
Banda is an interesting case, it is pretty much like Vandalieu returns to origin
no1
So it is going to be a while. Personally, I prefer the main story over the side story
Jonathan Hurd
The time lag is probably for the best. We need Mei to grow up a little for more interesting things to happen with her and Banda anyways. As cute as their interactions are now I am kind of looking forward to how Banda passes himself off later on when Mei can talk to others as well.
no1
So Mei is pretty much Banda way of maintaining his presence in origin. I wonder what would happen if Banda’s existence is discovered by Rikudou(Avalon)
Randomreader
Bravers van 8th guidance boss round
The demon King’s clone And the second true death mage of origin vs mere mortals with a few neat tricks
My prediction is the bravers are split in three camps. Those who watch, those after Mei, and those who protect Mei. Rodiot can do nothing but hope Banda shows mercy. God of origin who I will call goo is watching the struggle aiding Mei’s side
Ryuutsukai
“God of origin who I will call goo…”
“Oh great and powerful, Goo! Lend us your strength!”
Yep, I like it, mind if I use it as well?
NjShade
I’m sure she against her own parents if her parent reincarnated to lambda
Episode
I think everyone’s remember when the last battle between ‘The Bravers’ and ‘The Eighth Guidance’ happened in Volume 6, when 6 side chapters(15 – 20) was posted one after another. So if 10 side chapters(49 – 59) gonna come out after chapter 310 then i can already guess something big is going to happen in volume 13.
no1
So going back to Van’s newly reconstructed soul, I wonder how Rodcorte would react if he found out that a dozens of mortals and undead did a better job at reconstructing a soul than he did.
Tejing
He probably wouldn’t think much of it. After all, he wasn’t trying to do a good job, just trying to keep the soul fragments of the champions out of Vida’s hands.
PsychicBlast
So…I was hoping to find a discord server but couldn’t find any. Is there one?
dkuro
far below at the end of page.
Kaizer_Emperor
Well then will 2 Dhampir we know will have chance meeting ? I bet Van and Selen conversation will be great consider Van is enemy of her adopted father Heinz.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like a random meeting between the two at this point will be kind of hard. Heinz is going to be in that dungeon for a while and Selen is probably not going to move out of the town around the Dungeon till he comes out. Van doesn’t feel like trying to go for a final battle right now by rushing the dungeon… So the meeting will probably have to wait til Heinz comes out.
I am looking forward to Heinz’s internal debate about telling Selen about Van though. Probably he and the rest of the Colored blades will assume Van would hurt/kill Selen to hurt them. Seems like an assumption Heinz would make.
Entropy
Don’t know if heinz and company will assume that since heinz correctly figured out that Vand held back his attacks when fighting the two unrelated to his mother’s death, but they might assume that Vand would kidnap her to lead them in a trap. I am still curious of how Heinz will react when he learns that he was unknowingly working for the pure breed vampires that probably killed Selen’s parents when he handed over Darcia. What is funny, is that everyone with Vand knows this, but in all likelihood the five blades will dismiss this information as lies since it comes from races of Vida or undead.
no1
So Heinz and his group are still going try to complete the trial of bellwood? It isn’t much of a trial, all they did was fight imitations of Van and his allies repeatedly. I assume they will still do the same thing. If they fight more Van copies again I wonder if the real Van will show up in front of them again.
Entropy
I doubt that Alda will use Vand’s form in the dungeon for that very reason. Then again they might try it in order to entrap Vand in a weaker form as well as cut him off from his allies. Ether way, I don’t think Vand will fight in a fake form again. I suspect that Alda will try to use the original demon king and perhaps monsters made during that war if they are able to unlock them. I suppose any creature summoned by Curatos during the fight against Vand might be usable so even if the original demon king is impossible for the gods that take over the dungeon, Heinz and company might be able to fight themselves and the members of the fifteen blades
Jonathan Hurd
I think Curatos had already made a bunch of the images he was going to use. The problem for Alda and his bunch now though is they have no way of making more of them. They also can’t really program the false images that well so the tactics of the clones will probably suffer from that too. Also considering I think different images were assigned different floors, and Van basically broke the next thirty high tier floors, I’m not sure a majority of the images can be deployed now.
I think they’re probably out of Van clones. They labeled Van the Demon King mostly because of Soul Break, but they completely discounted his own fighting ability. The true threats on Vida’s side were supposed to be Randal and Schnieder so this was supposed to be the last time Van would be fought.
Even if they do have extra copies of Van though. It would be best just to destroy them. They could try capturing and sealing Van’s soul, but from what the story has said about seals. I think they would need to weaken Van up first and Van could always commit suicide to escape before they can pull that off.
Tejing
As I understand it, all the fakes made by Curatos disappeared when he was devoured, but it is possible for other gods to make them, just not nearly as well.
‘Randal’? Do you mean ‘Randolf the True’? If so, he’s not a devout believer of Alda or anything, but as far as we know he’s not on Vida’s side either. Alda included him in the trial because he’s powerful and thus a good test of Heinz’ abilities, and it’s possible he might turn out to be an enemy.
Jonathan Hurd
Knew I was going to get his name wrong and was to lazy to look it up, lol. Partly called him Randal because my first instinct is Rudolph and I don’t believe he’s a red nosed reindeer.
Alda was going to have Heinz fight Randolf because he believed Randolf would potentially get in the way of Aldas plan. Basically Alda and crew did label Van the Demon King, but he thought the true powerhouses that needed to be overcome would be the other S class adventurers Schneider and Randolf.
I think part of it is Alda has way more info and fighting data on Schneider and Randolf so it’s easier to share their fighting habits. The other part is they hold fairly high positions in human society so Alda needed to open Heinz and his party up to the idea they need to fight them.
From what they said in a previous chapter I think the leftover images are still around after Curatos died. They can’t just be remade sadly. I think others can make kind of make their own knock off versions, but no one can make replicas as complex as Curatos could. I believe this means that Heinz and crew can still do the trials but there will be no repeating the fights. Also I think if Heinz and crew destroy an image then wipe they won’t be able to fight the full group again.
Jonathan Hurd
Kind of funny that just indiscriminately killing is the only kind of trial Alda and Heinz understand. Gufadgarns trial tested things like knowledge of the champions you are trying to succeed. How you deal with harsh environments. As well as your overall mental strength as well. Whats Aldas trial? “Hey you! Kill this thing!” “Very good job now kill this next thing!”, lol.
I guess its just the difference of what both sides are searching for. Alda wants a weapon while Gufadgarn wanted a new master.
no1
I agree, Alda calling his dungeon the “trial of bellwood” was him trying to hard and a cheap imitation of the trail of zakkart
Lightnovelfan
Would be interesting, although I can only see Selen defending the FCB, pushing Heinz further down his guilt-trip
ExplodingPenguinDood
Called tiny Van’s being his familiar spirits which i think maybe better than the vanilla kind. I don’t remember if the vanilla ones can give you any kind of skills but Van looks like they can.
PS thanks a ton James L. you’re awesome
Phantom Knight
Thanks for the chapter!!!!!!!! I still lamenting about the loss of the Old Disquis comment section, but the Revelations in the chapter absolutely made up for it. The discussion of the gods explained so much!!!!!
Although, we have repeatedly seen how Vandalieu-sama gave pieces of himself to bequeath some skills to Vigaro and how he always had [Death-attribute Magic] as a passive skill, but this is the first time anyone actually explained the logic and confirmed our suspicions. His horribly constructed soul subconsciously forced his magic to become a passive skill and support its deficiencies. However, the deficiencies still hampered his [Mana Control] at the same time, and only after reconstructing his soul with the help of his friends and the Demon King Fragments was Van-sama finally able to better stabilize his soul and thus his magical capabilities.
Not to mention, I guess his soul was trying to find its own methods of acting god-like, because Van-sama stopped any possibilities for the traditional methods (if at all possible) after acquiring so many dangerous skills. It is also that the [Abyss] skill was one of the main culprits for opening up a new path of godhood. It is absolutely true that his [Grotesque Mind] and its evolution into [Distorted Soul] worked with his badly constructed soul to serve as the main reasons for why the soul was so fragmented, but the [Abyss] skill synergized with those aforementioned reasons/circumstances to create methods of producing blessings and subordinate gods.
His [Bestower] job, the [Group Control] and [Group Thought Processing] skills, and especially his passive magic properly just pushed his soul towards the current results more easily. He is now subconsciously creating subordinate gods by using his soul as the magic reagents rather than by using a familiar creation spell (like normal gods). His fragments will also give Divine Protections in his stead, and he can probably have them help in controlling the concepts related to death and undead across Lambda in the future.
…….The possibilities are truly endless. Lol
Vinzenz226
That’s some deep analysis
Guroga
Mama Darcia gonna power lvl Fang
Paps
Thanks for the translation. A fun chapter as always. I see how high the Gods priority is drinking soda.
Diggydawg
The adventurers Van met seem to be Vida worshippers, I wonder if they’ll show up again?
lazygeko
The guy who prays often, prays to the god of soldiers and the god of thunderbolts. Neither of which are under Vida. Though they seem more of a “we pray to gods. Alda? Vida? Yeah, we pray to them all.” And if they go to the sermon they will probably become converts.
Jonathan Hurd
From the story Rock apparently mostly worships Aldas God’s. I think that Rock might be Simon’s son. The timing seems to line up. One of Rocks party members comments how Rocks Dad got injured and he is indebted to the adventure guild. Then we meet a guy who lost an arm but has an Adventurer license.
I think Rick hears how Van helps his dad goes to see Darcia perform and then converts to become a Vida worshipper. I think Darcia will use Life Emperor Magic to heal Simon and restore his arm gathering more followers. After that the adventurers will all be on Vans side and the Tamer guild leader already loves him. I can hear the noose tightening around Joseph’s neck after he pisses off big shots from the adventurers and gamers guild.
Disclaimer: I have not read ahead this is all guesses.
Kazza
Honestly, I was just reminded of something as I read your comment. I’m not even trying to say you’re wrong, but Darcia doesn’t even need to use magic to heal that arm. Van’s got a literal body recreator in his basement.
Like, those Pluripotent cell things (was there more than one?) Gufadgarn had in the Trial of Zakkart. He built Darcia a body made of nonsense from scratch, surely a human arm that can be surgically reattached is much less effort, right?
Like, imagine that. Because of Van’s charm skill, literally the only kink it had is irrelevant. You need followers for Vida? Hell, her followers can give you a new arm in like, a month, tops. You dying of disease? Give us a bit and we’ll pop you in a new disease-less body.
Granted, if the life emperor magic works much quicker, then yeah, not as impressive, which is why I’m not saying you’re wrong or anything. Just popped in my mind as I read that.
Like, I’m honestly wondering if Van is trying to keep that a national secret. It’s probably the best negotiation tool/Vida-religion-spreader/Hey-look-what-I-got thing he has.
Jonathan Hurd
Honestly I don’t mind even if you disagree, lol.
I had also thought about the Root of Life and that it could be used. I’m pretty sure there was at least more than one in Zakarts lab. The only problem with using them though is Zakart was the only one who could make them. They would definitely work to restore the guys arm, but it seems like a waste to use something that could resurrect a dead ally on some random guy you met.
I also feel like Darcia healing the guy directly probably works better to show for Vidas church and spread the faith. The story of a beautiful Dark Elf woman preaching for Vida and healing cripples sounds nice. Compare that to some mad scientist Dark Elf woman took out this white substance and it regrew the guys arm.
Everyone is accepting of Magic fixing things. For science I think that’s a harder sell thanks to Alda.
You made a good point though and it was definitely something to think about. Feel free to raise any other concerns you might think of.
Kazza
Was it explicitly stated that the pluripotent cells were unable to be recreated? I’m willing to believe that Zakkarts writings/notes were lost/destroyed, but is it ever stated the vats don’t make more, or that Van could never reverse engineer the samples he has? Considering all he’s done so far, I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch for him to be able to. He basically created two of the three holy grails of alchemy by accident, after all.
Tejing
Chapter 177: While creating the root of life was only possible for Zakkart, the cells had the advantage in that transplantation into patients could be conducted for anyone who knew the procedure.
I can’t seem to find it, but I’m fairly certain somewhere it said that producing it required the use of Zakkart’s unique skill. Doesn’t mean with enough ingenuity it might not be produced another way, but the bar is pretty high.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Good eye dude and since they’re so generous on they’re job for Simon he will probably be converted first
theblasblas
“What Fang didn’t understand, no matter how many times Vandalieu said it, was that he truly thought of himself as a human being.”
THIS is what makes our little cosmic horror so great.
Really, right now he has the power to wipe out the two empires currently ruling Lambda, and no one but the gods can stand in his way. Other MCs from “edgier” series *cough* the spineless skeleton *cough* might view this as them having the leisure to carry out atrocities or play with human lives since no one can stop them, but Van views it as him having the leisure to be nice to total strangers just because he can.
QuantumQuilava
I understand your point about Ainz, but you must remember a lot of Ainz’ inhumane actions are because of the effects of becoming a skeleton. Though Van’s lifestyle was changed a lot, his personality was not affected by the change to a dhampir. It is well established in Overlord, Ainz is slowly becoming the Overlord character that he has created and losing his human self. It’s why later on in the series we hear less and less of his inner human voice.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Exactly, people seem to forget that a large part of being human is having flesh and bone that interact with your mind. Ainz is just a mind floating in space, hell that all he is. His natural reaction to stimuli are gone because of it, and a part of his body is suppressing his more extreme feelings/reactions. Ainz would have set aside his anger if he can benefit from it. Van won’t do it, doesn’t make him a better character just a different one imo. I like both stories a lot, just different flavours
theblasblas
Both Van and Ainz have skills that dampen their emotions, heck on top of that Van has skills that actively warp his personality. The difference between the two isn’t the state of their bodies, but rather the simple fact that Ainz didn’t even try to maintain his humanity. That is what makes him a spineless skeleton.
People do NOT just suddenly become monsters just from becoming unable to feel. The author of that novel made the same mistake that a lot of isekai authors make: erasing who the character was before they reincarnated.
theblasblas
Like Ainz, Van has a skill that dampens his emotions, on top of that he has skills that actively warp his personality. It’s the reason why he can so casually talk about killing a person, and why the various monsters and eldritch abominations that surround him just seem normal to him. The difference between the two is that Ainz never even tried to maintain his humanity.
Also, I doubt the transformation was gradual for Ainz, from the very beginning he’s made it clear he feels nothing for the people outside of Nazerik, simply using them or finding them amusing… at first I thought he was just being tsundere like Lee Shin Woo from “Stop! Friendly Fire” but his later actions makes it clear he was being serious… that or his characterization is just inconsistent because the story is adapted from the webnovel where he had a VERY different personality.
Kuro-san
Van-sama does not have an ability that distorts his personality. He has [Mental Corruption], which serves to show how ‘crazy’ he is.
PS: [Mental Corruption] evolved into [Grotesque Mind], which evolved into [Deformed Soul]. [Grotesque Mind], it serves to show that the mind of its owner is not crazy, just different. While [Deformed Soul], possibly, serves to show that even the soul of its owner is different.
theblasblas
Skills have effects, it is both something that represents his personality and something that affects his personality. In any case it doesn’t change the fact that he’s simultaneously more twisted and more likeable than Ains. Van is both more of an inhuman monster and a better person.
Jonathan Hurd
I will admit I haven’t watched/read all of Overlord, but I will say I think Ainz has a harder time being good than Van does because of a difference in the followers. Vans people aren’t actually set on massacre and world domination. Ainzs groups whole plan is to take over the world and give it to their God’s.
Another difference is the loyalty and understanding the minions have of their master. As far as I know Ainz has to hide that he isn’t really a God, but is actually a reincarnated human for fear his ‘minions’ might become disillusioned with him and betray him. Vans admitted everything to his group. After which the entire group still loves and respects him.
As far as the skill Mental Corruption and it’s evolutions go. The author has stated that Mental Corruption didn’t mean you are evil just different. Even Aldas group won’t persecute you just for having it. They will persecute you for a lot of other things admittedly just not this factor.
theblasblas
Ains doesn’t really have a skill that’s forcing him to be evil either, it just suppresses his emotions. But in essence, yes you’re right, one the main reasons Ains is evil is his followers… and is another reason why I call him a spineless skeleton. He’s a slave to his own subordinates and barely has any personality without them
Like he’s WAY to paranoid, he’s as dense as a shounen protagonist without having the courage and vigor of one. He’s the sort of guy that would immediately resort to cannibalism in a survival scenario despite having years worth of canned food.
Jonathan Hurd
I will say that I think Ains being a cowardly introvert seems pretty realistic if a random nerd was suddenly dropped into his situation. I mean everyone loves to think to themselves that we would be like Kirito in Sword Art Online, or any of the other wish fulfillment protagonists if we ended up being isekai’d. However, there is a reason why we wish to be those people. Its because in real life we are not that guy.
From what I remember of the story Ains with a bunch of online friends built up this amazing guild. They maxed their levels and role played being the big baddies. The fact that he stayed in the game even after all his friends left and he was alone seems to point to the fact that he really doesn’t have anyone to socialize with and no where to go in real life. Someone like that who spent most of his life stuck in nostalgia and escapism was suddenly dropped into this new world in the game character he used to play. I have to say if the same thing happened to me. My first reaction would also probably be confusion and fear.
An important point I saw someone on youtube bring up (can’t remember who might be explanationpoint or Gigguk) was that Ains isn’t broken. Hes strong and a max level character with a great understanding of the system, but hes not invincible in anyway. Part of the reason he needs to blend in and be accepted by his followers is if they teamed up against him he will die. Putting them killing him aside he is a living skeleton. The only people in the world who will accept Ains with the way he looks would be the guild. If he gets cast out then all that’s left is basically a witch hunt from all sides.
I will say though that even taking the problem of his minions killing him into account. He has made the conscious choice to take over the world and be the evil leader. If survival was the big concern he could just keep teleporting around or move to a remote region and live quietly.
Another reason for why Ains goes along and roleplays the character even after becoming it to me would partly be escapism. In a way if he acts like its all still a game he might be able to forget that he is trapped and alone. Having no idea how to get home and surrounded by people that can potentially kill him.
I also feel like Ains is playing the villian to find a place in this new world. While he is at it he can also use this role to accomplish a few different goals. The first is if they are taking over the world that means they will investigate everyone with any power. This could help him find a means to go home or figure out how he got here to begin with.
Another part is the guild will probably try to overthrow the world whether Ains leads it or not. As long as hes in charge at least he is holding the reins. He can try to avoid increasing the death count for innocents.
The final part I give for Ains going along with it is he can truly live out the fantasy he has been playing out in game for all these years. Sure it isn’t good to kill people and he probably wants to get home, but if there isn’t anyway to go home wouldn’t it be cool to see how everything would end? This guild was the accumulation of years of him and his friends work. If he really is stuck and there is no hope why not at least get to see the final chapter of the story he and his friends spent years writing.
Kazza
As someone who used to read Overlord religiously, I’ve got a few other things to add.
1. Nazarick isn’t invincible. Jonathan’s on the mark, here. Ainz knows this, but he didn’t always think so. When Shalltear was brainwashed, he learned a hard lesson in the existence of World-Class Items, and was so wrapped up in hatred that the emotional suppression couldn’t stop him from striking the very walls of Nazarick.
After he killed her, he felt such guilt – even though it was easily reversible – that he will not negotiate in any way with the Black Scripture. If he finds out who they are, the entire Theocracy burns.
That’s also why he’s so paranoid about the safety of his followers. After that incident, he gave all the floor guardians World-Class Items on the off chance they come into contact with those responsible. Every plan he enacts features constant monitoring and check-ins. He takes next to no chances.
2. The guardians betrayal. I will admit Ainz does consider the possibility, but the main reason he doesn’t want the guardians to know the truth is because he thinks of them as the children of his only friends. He doesn’t want to destroy the image they have because he believes they will be disappointed, not that they’ll jump to betrayal. He has discarded the identity of Momonga completely, and must adhere to how Ainz Ooal Gown would act.
This ties into what Jonathan was saying earlier. Ainz, as Suzuki Satoru, had no life outside of Yggdrasil. We are explicitly told that he worked a full time job only to survive, and the rest of the money was spent on Gacha tickets and certain cosmetics for his character. As such, he not only values Yggdrasil, but also the very idea of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown. That is why his guildmates are basically everything to him. And if he were to let harm come to the guardians in any fashion, it would be a betrayal to his guild mates.
3. Taking over the world. This is the goal that’s been kind of changed over and over as the series went on. At first, he just wanted to see if any of the other guildmates made it, then that changed to erasing any and all threats to Nazarick, and now it’s just the traditional take over these world because, as said, that’s what an Overlord is supposed to do.
However, Ainz isn’t just doing it for that reason. A big part of Volume 10 is him deciding what he plans to do. To stop with the Overlord bit, he talks to Pandora’s Actor, the only guardian who knows the truth. During this conversation (And, side note, if you think Selen’s gone to waste, she’s got nothing on the best boi Pandora’s Actor), he establishes the future he wants: A world of harmony and unity between races, much like the Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown on a larger scale. The world he was happiest in.
Because, and this wasn’t made abundantly clear, the guild Ainz Ooal Gown didn’t roleplay as human haters. They were primarily a PKK group who defended players who played as Heteromorphs from discrimination. They actually didn’t have a problem with humans, as the guardian of the 8th Floor (Aureole Omega) is a human and the entire wait staff are human-looking homunculi. It was just that you could not join as a guild member if you were human.
As such, despite the methods used to achieve this (and there’s arguments to be made on how drastic the actions would be if Demiurge wasn’t there), his goal is an inherently noble one.
So, if the question is “Is Ainz spineless?” I would answer yes, he is, but there’s way more to it than a simple yes/no. He has his reasons for his paranoia and need for control, and simply labeling it as bravery or cowardliness takes away from a lot of the actual subtext.
And then I was going to make a joke about “Course he has a spine, you can see it when he’s shirtless in the fight against the worker group,” but I ran out off steam.
theblasblas
Ainz has been paranoid long before the Shalltear thing and her getting brainwashed once is hardly justification for his paranoia especially considering how easy it was to revive her. Perhaps if the readers were given more of a reason to find Ainz’s paranoia justifiable I would have less of a problem with it, otherwise the whole thing just feels like Ainz is pretending he’s fighting against something. Note I stopped reading the volume Ainz summoned the big goat thing.
Overall I just find it hard to empathize with him or any of the NPCs of Nazerick. Reading the novel feels like an exercise in masochism because the characters who actually are sympathetic keep dying for stupid reasons, worse it’s not their stupidity but Ainz’s. It’s like he’s incapable of finding a solution that doesn’t involve the death and torture of good people. Even his Momon persona is mostly him acting the hero for solving problems he himself caused.
theblasblas
Ainz certainly has a funny way of “decreasing death counts for innocents”. Luring people into Nazarick so he can have “justification” to kill/ experiment on them, instigating the world leaders to wage war on each other so that he can then use those soldiers in his experiments.. because “lel they’re soldiers dying is what they’re paid for”.
Really, it just feels like Ainz is using inefficient and ineffective methods just so the author can show off how edgy he is.
Kazza
Ok, can’t tell if you’re trolling, but just in case you’re not.
The worker groups were not “innocent.” At best, they were entrapped. Yes, Ainz and Jircniv brought them there, but they were still willing to rob a mass grave for their own benefit, possibly killing whatever stood in their way. If the roles were reversed, do you think they would’ve provided Ainz the same mercy they were begging from him? They didn’t just wander into Nazarick, they were hired, and Ainz even went an extra step and asked them if they had a reason to do so besides money, which they denied – despite Arche having a rather noble one. In addition, even though he didn’t need to, he spared the slaves who were forced to step in Nazarick, showing clear mercy to whom he believed deserved it.
And ‘instigating the world leaders to wage war’? No. They were doing that for years before he even showed up. The battle in which he unleashed La-Shub Niggurath was an annual battle between the Kingdom and the Empire. Hell, if it wasn’t for him, the Theocracy would’ve assassinated the greatest warrior the Kingdom has, despite being human supremacists.
Now, the actual war crime, the Summoning, is actually debatable. I think it’s much like America’s decision to drop the nuclear bomb, a weapon only needed to be fired once (despite being used twice) as the bare threat is enough to guarantee no resistance. Despite the loss of life, he felt nothing and believed it was a necessary step to secure his rule.
If you want to talk about cruelty for cruelty’s sake, I would start with Demiurge, but the fact that you ignored him tells me you have some specific problem with Ainz. So, if you do, support it with some specific citations, not just contextless snippets. If not, I’m sorry if you think you’re sincere, but you’re trolling.
Would you be ok with the opposite accusation that, for instance, Van consciously decided to take no prisoners during the siege on Talosheim, therefore he has no capacity of mercy for those from the same country as his enemies?
theblasblas
A defensive war is different, and in that particular instance the undead horde he sent back was mostly a scare tactic, and it was specifically noted that it did not result in much casualties. See that’s the difference, Van managed to do the same thing, a show of force done to prevent further war, but does so without indiscrimate slaughter. The “annual war” was the equivalent of spear rattling before Ainz came along.
As for the worker group, in that world it is simply common sense that monsters like undead should be killed because everywhere else besides Nazerick they’re just mindless beasts driven by their hatred of life, killing them is the equivalent to putting their souls to rest. What Ainz did is the equivalent to inviting a pest exterminator into your house and then assaulting him because he killed your pet cockroaches that you just let roam around on the floor.
You ARE right though, I have beef with Ainz specifically. Simply put, Web Novel Ainz was much better, at least that version of Ainz tried to integrate himself into the world, much like Van is doing. Yes he still commits atrocities but he at least still actively maintains some level of humanity. I just don’t like how he was made edgier for edginess’ sake, and how much the author is a sadistic prick in showing off the changes he made.
Kiarthros Toveke
The effects of those skills do not alter Van’s mind. In fact, they prevent it. They are skills acquired from him deviating drastically from the norm but do not cause it to go further. His deviation is reasonable from a human perspective.
theblasblas
It doesn’t prevent insanity so much as maintain a certain level of insanity. It may be a relatively “reasonable” form. of insanity, but it’s still insanity. A majority of Van’s followers are insane in one way or another, just because itvs presented in a relateable. manner to us readers does not make it any less insane.
Tejing
I feel the need to point out here that although Van is mentally abnormal, that abnormality is not debilitating. So outside of a few moments of extreme emotional stress (such as when he sees Heinz in Niarki, or after he turns himself into an undead in Origin), Van is only insane in a colloquial sense at most, not a technical one. Van has no trouble accurately perceiving the world, predicting the results of his actions, acting as he decides will achieve his goals, or generally interacting with the world in a competent manner.
Insanity. n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.
Who Cares
Speaking of Van being insane there is something a shrink at the local hospital I did some work for told me:
Know those people who hear voices telling them to kill everyone? Then keep in mind that for every one of those you have a person that hears voices telling them how great people are and that they should be helped. But it doesn’t make them less crazy.
V4NQU1SH
Thanks for the chapter~!
this aggar is so lucky for being alive til now. tsk.
Jonathan Hurd
Less luck and more just how tiny and insignificant he is, lol. However, if he keeps pushing it. The annoyance of letting him live might out weigh the annoyance of covering his murder.
Daemon
No Spoilers
Nox
Thanks for the chapter.
Fang is taking small steps in order to become Cerberus but it is fine as he should take his time and then be a good Cerberus. Sadly for Joseph he is continuing his harassment against Van and thus making his possible outcome worse and worser as time passes. Wonder how he’ll end.
STICHH
Fang is likely become fenrir instead of cerberus
Sebas Tian
Fenrir is a wolf while Cerberus is a dog, so Fang as a dog is more likely to become Cerberus.
PalletPatrol
Fenrir’s myth seems like it meshes better though.
Fenrir. Fenrir, also called Fenrisúlfr, monstrous wolf of Norse mythology. He was the son of the demoniac god Loki (Vandeliu is kinda a demonic god at this point) and a giantess, Angerboda. … According to one version of the myth, Fenrir will devour the sun (fitting as the hound of the eclipse emperor) , and in the Ragnarök he will fight against the chief god Odin (Alda gonna get a whoopin’) and swallow him.
Jonathan Hurd
I don’t know I think we could argue a bit better for Cerberus being Van’s dog. Cerberus was the gatekeeper of the underworld. Van controls death. Cerberus is the pet of Hades. Fang is Van’s pet.
I will say I agree with Sebas that considering Fang is a Dog he will probably evolve closer to Cerberus than Fenrir. On the otherhand Miles has the Title Starving Wolf so maybe he could start heading in that direction…
Mitchelltrt
Hades’ pet dog is named after its Spots (Kerberus means Spotted in ancient Greek). Van’s pet dog is named after its Fangs (Fang means Fang in English, obviously).
Fenrir is a weapon, designed to kill gods. Cerberus is a guard dog, keeping the dead with the dead and the living with the living. Which better fits Van’s personality? Definitely Cerberus.
I can see the Rank 3 version of a Demon Dog being something like Black Dog or Hellhound, while Rank 4 is Orthus (two headed dog, brother of Cerberus) and Rank 5 is Cerberus.
Jonathan Hurd
I do find it pretty cute and funny that the Lord of Greece’s underworld ended up naming his dog Spots, lol. Its kind of adorable for someone with such a high position, hehe.
I like you ranking guesses. The only change I’d make to them is I would make is add one or two steps before Fang becomes an Orthus then Cerberus. Maybe he’ll become a rank three Huge Demon Dog for instance. I just fele like hitting Cerberus at Rank five might be to fast. Though that is just my gut.
Ryuutsukai
“Abyssal Pure-Breed Werewolf (Fenrir) Vampire”
… How chuni can ya get?
lazygeko
Evolution path. Demon dog -> Church Grim -> Barghest -> Cerberus -> Inugami -> Simargl
🙂
He could also be some kid with an iconic face scars godfather that was falsely accused of helping to kill the kids parents and ended up in prison for it eventually turning into a large black dog to escape and clear his name.
Bladist
Come on, that’ll never happen. Be Sirius for once.
no1
Thank you for the chapter Yoshi. The slow paced chapters are nice, but I hope to see some action soon. I am anticipating the confrontation of Murakami and Van.
Kazza
New chapter!
Aw… Aggar’s plan was just to watch the stall fail. That’s lame. I was expecting something that could blow up in his face more. Guess this chapter confirms he and Joseph are in cahoots, though.
Nothing much to speculate about. Van’s got some ifamiliar spirits now, which is cool. I’m wondering what the effects would be.
See, the only real familiar spirit descent we’ve witnessed was Gordan. All others were either interrupted (Leo/Gubamon/Ervine) or done offscreen so we doubt really get the contrast (Heinz and Co./Darcia). If memory serves, it was a boost to his mana and other stats, but did it give him new powers and techniques? I honestly don’t remember, mostly cause Van still wrecked him even with the descent on. I remember he had holy wings, or something… someone please correct me.
If the new powers thing is true, that opens up so many possibilities. Could someone under the decent use Death Magic, or even worse Soul Breaking? And Alda thought just Van was the problem…
Hell, even just the boost in mana is terrifying. Even if each Familiar Spirit only had 1/1,000,000,000 of his mana, that’s still a couple thousand, which we’ve been told is a high bar for Court Mages.
Jonathan Hurd
I gotta agree I’m a little disappointed by Aggar’s plan as well, but we should keep in mind that while he is a corrupt guard hes still a guard. So he won’t really take any actions that would be obviously illegal. He just mainly overlooks things or does his job in a way that inconveniences people like Van who have little social power. I think the biggest point of his visiting Van was to put the final nail in the coffin for Van’s food cart. While also keeping Joseph from being directly involved in it.
For the Familiar spirits from what I understand about them the biggest effect is a boost to overall stats and a large boost of Mana. I do think that there might be differences depending on which God sent the spirit and how strong the Familiar spirit is though.
As for gained abilities I think Soul Break is to strong of a skill to get just from a small off shoot like a Familiar Spirit. I can imagine that coming from something like Banda who is basically a Spirit Clone of Van. I think the best ability Van could provide others is his ever active Danger Sense Death. If your skilled enough that gives you an easy heads up on what direction any attack is coming from. That can easily help turn the tides of battle especially at higher levels.
Also considering this is Van we’re talking about I think his Familiar Spirit Descent could have some amazing effects on Spell Casting. Another possibility I can imagine is the Familiar Spirit materializing parts of itself and helping the user defend themselves.
Van has been out of the norm for everything hes done thus far. So why would his Familiar Spirits work just like everyone elses? lol.
NovaPulse235
No Spoilers
Tejing
You’re a few orders of magnitude off in your math there… 6,981,501,056 mana as of last status divided by 1,000,000,000 is 6 mana.
Kazza
Fair enough. I didn’t look and was just picking out a big number.
Chiu ChunLing
A more realistic number might be 1,000,000 which would be the majority of the population of his Empire.
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. I find it weird that Vand has not gained any animal tamer skills. Maybe he needs more animals or maybe they are listed under his other skills or they might unlock after he gains some unusual animal tamer job. Can’t wait to see what becomes of yupeon when his boss awakens, my bet is that he stays with Alda or his boss joins Alda’s group. I feel bad for Aggar and Joseph, they just keep digging themselves deeper and deeper. I suspect they won’t die quickly, but will get the joy of being part of Vand’s experiments. I can’t wait to see Fang’s rank increase.
Jonathan Hurd
For Animal Tamer Skills if I remember back to when Van first picked up the Undead Tamer Job he got Strengthen Subordinate. It was later fused to his Guidance skill so its hard to remember, but I believe that is one of the Major Taming skills. Insect Binding and Tree Binding also kind of count towards Taming as well in my book.
Add in that he now has Improved Attributes Ruling I think Van’s got improved versions of any basic skills Tamers would have and honestly more thanks to him also having Strengthen Followers. Usually a Monster only skill.
I think that Van has improved versions of just about all the vanilla taming abilities so he needs to do weird stuff if he wants to unlock other ones. I will say now that he has officially tamed a Beast (though you might be able to count Kobolds and the Anubis guys) I am looking forward to Van’s next Job Change. I’m guessing there is an ability called Master of Creatures or something or even Master of Life considering he has tamed the dead, animals, plants, and insects. Van has basically hit the entire spectrum of life. If we add in Golems then he can also tame just about every Element too (excluding Orichalcum).
Entropy
My main question is will Vand gain some kind of beast binding that allows him to equip animals in the same way he does bugs and plants. Does he already have something for undead or does he equip bugs to his undead friends, I know that is how he transported his vampire and human allies. With his plant, insect, and animals skill, maybe a job like druid, but with more focus on death rather than life, will become avilable. One title I suspect he will eventually gain is one man army since he is an army of creatures in one body.
Jonathan Hurd
So just a quick update. Van has the ability to bind anyone to his body. When he choose the job Corpse Demon Commander he got a new binding called Undead Binding. Afterwards Undead Binding, Plant Binding, and Insect Binding combined to form Group Binding Technique. I think Insects counted as living creatures/animals for the skill originally.
He did admittedly infect all of his allies(human and undead) with parasitic insects and plants to bring them into his body before, but now he can just absorb them directly into himself.
I completely agree with Van getting the One Man Army title some point. I think he might get that not just for the fact that he contains so many people inside himself, but also because he can make a clone army of himself, lol. Not only does he bring an army inside him, but he alone can become an entire army, hehe.
Entropy
That does answer how he was able to bring those made of bone with him like bone man and the bone fort or sam who doesn’t really have a body. I guess the bugs were just put holes or parts of their bodies. i honestly forgot about the group binding skill. I remember some of the skills, but with how long his stat list has grown, I tend to glance at it. What makes me laugh is that his stat list is longer than many of the S-rank adventurers. I wonder what his rank would be as an adventurer, I know he does not plan to be one now with Heinz being their poster boy, but they might need to create an SS or SSS rank just for Vand, and he still has about 3000 years to keep adding to it.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like Van just goes past all the S rankings for adventurer and eventually they just give him the title God Ranking Adventurer, hehehe.
I completely understand skipping reading the giant list that is Vans skills. They also haven’t really bothered to talk much about Group Binding Technique after Van got it. They just kind of went ‘Cool now he can bind everyone’ and left it at that, :D.
Tejing
Group binding technique still has limits on who can be equipped, though they’re not as clearly defined as before. The story keeps specifically pointing out which races can be equipped, implying that it’s still an issue and some can’t be.
We know that he can equip:
– insects
– arachne
– empusa
– scylla
– slimes
– plants
– fungi
– undead
– abyssal vampires
– chaos elves
We know that he cannot equip (without the workaround of a parasitic insect or plant):
– ghouls
– humans
– vampires
– noble orcs
He probably can equip:
– lamia, snakes (since they crawl)
– dark humans, dvergr, and dark beast-kin (since they’re races created through his blood, and we’ve seen that before with abyssal vampires)
He probably cannot equip:
– elves, dwarves (there’s no reason for them to be different from humans)
– titans, beast-kin, dark elves, drakonids, merfolk (no reason for them to be different from the original 3 races)
– centaurs, harpies, majin, kijin (their monster properties aren’t related to van)
– (high) goblins, (high) kobolds, orcs (extrapolating from noble orcs)
Unclear:
– black goblins, anubises, orcuses (you’d think it would have come up by now if they could, but they’re also races created by van, so…)
Tejing
I seriously doubt Peria will join Alda. Van is the reincarnation of her champion and Alda murdered her sister’s children for no real reason, and every waking great god other than Alda sees it that way too.
Jonathan Hurd
The problem is we don’t really know too much about Perias personality. If what the Goddess of the Flow was saying is true and Peria is likely to take the path of least resistance she might join Alda to avoid immediately fighting and being sealed by him.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, yes all the other great God’s we have seen sided with Vida but we have to keep in mind their personalities. Rinklent is obsessed with Magic and doesn’t bother to define things as good or evil leaving that to humans. Zuruwarn is a transgressor himself. He breaks rules and finds beauty in chaos. Zantark actually agreed with Alda and Bellwoods side until he fused with Dark God’s. Not to insult any of them, but Vidas side basically contains the God’s that were already basically crazy.
Alda has done an amazing deal of harm and hurt a lot of people. He in no way can be called sane himself, but his crazy might be more acceptable to the two remaining Great God’s than Vidas and her group. This also all depends on whether Alda gives them a choice.
One fear I have is that if Peria jumped ship to Vida as well Alda might start to truly lose all restraint. If he sees every Great God join the opposite side he might just assume everyone has been brainwashed against him and that Botin will also oppose him. So he might try to hurt her before she can be released and join Vidas side.
Tejing
I think the best window we have into Peria’s personality at this point is her choice of champion. Solder seems to have been a fairly measured person who thought things through, and thus didn’t think much of Bellwood’s good-sounding-but-ultimately-half-assed plans. Peria is also “praised for knowing the hearts of gods” which suggests she’s pretty perceptive about what makes people tick. Also, I don’t think Pargtarta was in any way making a prediction about how Peria will act when she said that bit about taking the easy path. It was more an observation of human nature, with the unspoken implication that the most capable and respectable people fight that tendency and act in a more deliberate way.
As for the gods on Vida’s side, other than Zantark, they haven’t really changed since before the DK came. They were always that way. You may call them crazy, but I don’t think Peria would. She knew them, worked with them, and trusted them back then. Even Alda did all that back then. Alda is the one who’s changed, so I think Peria, with her perceptiveness, would likely be most judgemental of him, even if she does reprimand Vida a bit for being reckless (Ricklent took a moment to do this too, but took it in stride because that’s the kind of person Vida has always been and it doesn’t really bother him).
I do also worry about what will happen to Botin if Peria joins Vida. I can only hope that Vida’s side will be able to pull off a rescue in that event.
Jonathan Hurd
I agree with you that it is probably a bit harsh for me to call Ricklent and Zuruwarn insane. Mostly I was just saying from Alda’s stand point of everything that original was here is good and anything foreign bad. It is easy to see how Gods like Ricklent and Zuruwarn can easily be classified as completely crazy. Those two basically started out with completely opposite values of Alda so there isn’t any real convincing needed for them. Others might be a little more sympathetic to Alda’s view.
While they might feel some sympathy to Alda’s values I don’t think anything can justify the actions hes taken to accomplish his goal. Considering Perin and Botin were both more the mediators in the gods relationships I think it would be even harder to try and convince her why such radical actions were truly necessary.
I think Peria might try to figure out a means to reconcile the two sides, but I don’t think there is any easy way to do so sadly. I mean Alda has been single mindedly attacking Vida and her children for over a hundred thousand years now. Not only would she need to convince Alda to stop which I don’t see going well. She would also need to convince Vida and her children who have been unjustly persecuted for so long to accept the ceasefire. I will say I think the second part is definitely easier than the first considering mostly Vida and her races just wanted to be left alone nothing more.
I would be really interested in reading a conversation between Alda and a God he respects who could hold an opposing view to him. One who he shouldn’t be able to write off as insane like he does with Vida, Rickilent, and Zuruwarn. That’s definitely going to be something to look forward to.
Entropy
I suspect you are right, but I do think a few of Peria’s servants will betray her especially yupeon if she does not side with Alda. The main reason I don’t know how Peria will react is that she was sealed at the end of the war with the demon lord so it really depends on who frees her. If Alda’s group gets to her first, they will probably say Vida went insane after her champion died and tried to take over the world, which could be suggested as being true since she copied the demon lord’s reincarnation circle and that was what the demon lord tried to do. Another factor is that Alda protected her subordinates while she was sealed. Another possibility is that she may not take either side and try to stay out of the fight in order to regain her lost power.
Jonathan Hurd
Currently she is being ‘protected’ by Alda’s forces and the Flow Goddess. So I agree with you that she will need a long catch up meeting. From what came up in some of the other chapters I think Peria and Botin were some of the more level headed Gods versus Alda and Vida who always bickered.
We’ll find out what she decides in the end, but I do doubt she is going to just take Alda at face value after she wakes up. Especially after she learns of what he has done all these years. If all else fails I can imagine Zuruwarn and Rickilent sneaking some messages to her.
I do think Yupeon and quite a few others have basically just pledged themselves to Alda at this point and not much will change that. We should remember though that Tristan and some of the other Water Gods actually joined Vida’s side as well. I think even if Peria joins Alda I can’t imagine Tristan turning his back on Vida at this point and joining hands with Alda to kill his kids.
No matter which side she chooses I think she’ll be fighting someone who used to be her subordinate. Even if she goes neutral I think Alda might be getting desperate and paranoid enough to try and lock her up to stop her from joining Vida later.
w1ck3d
Now that I think about it, Mage Masher is unlikely to have any effect on Van because of his death-attribute magic being the equivalent of an unconscious thought and even if MM sealed external DA casting, Van could simply sprout unlimited tentacles and fire off countless death cannons internally.
veradux1223
Yeah mage masher does not work all that well against Van
Ltshrek
Sounds like an enemy for Godzilla
Jonathan Hurd
Yeah Mage Masher is a powerful skill, but considering that Van can do something like Blood Lust as well or make diseases from his own Body. Mage Masher is just not that big of a hindrance to someone like Van. Add in that Van has evolved his hand to hand combat and most of the Bravers don’t have their Martial Skills past 5. Using Mage Masher would probably hurt more than help to kill Van. Though it could help get through the barriers.
Hobbes
Even though Van’s use of Death attribute magic is recognized in his Status as passive, that doesn’t mean Mage Masher can’t stop it from being activated externally. To be exact what this chapter confirms is that Van’s affinity for the death attribute is so deep seated that it’s unconcious for him to activate it and exude that kind of mana. That’s all it is really.
Tejing
Honestly I think the only combat abilities of van’s that mage masher would seal are death bullet, death cannon, and his 2 shield spells. Possibly also dead spirit magic, but also very possibly not. Honestly he hasn’t even been using those much lately. He has so many other options.
Kuro-san
Thanks for the chapter!
Jonathan Hurd
First off, Thanks for the chapter!
Second, Wooh! Called it on the Familiar Spirit Descent Yay!
I will say I really enjoyed this chapter and the points it made about Dark King magic being passive. I had noticed and thought it was a little weird that Van’s Dark King magic was in the passive slot, but his Neutral magic was in Active. Sadly hadn’t really thought much past that. Now knowing that Van has been using Death Attribute Magic more subconsciously than with actual intent. I get the feeling that Van losing the curse of ‘No Previous Life Experience’ might help him with Magic more than I gave it credit for.
The fact that Dark King Magic is passive might also explain why only Van has Death Attribute Charm while Mei, Banda, and I think Guduranis did not. I believe it was also mentioned at one point that Van is constantly and unconciously using Death Attribute magic to lower his presence in a manner similar to Ghost. This helps explain how he is pulling that off.
Also I will just say I find it adorable that Zuruwarn has his own personal cup ready for when Van finally recreates Cola, LOL. I get the feeling that one of Super Secret Agent Banda’s missions alongside looking after Mei is to taste as much Cola as possible and try to work out whats in it, hehehe.
Tejing
Van already got the recipe for cola from earth’s gods when he visited them, remember?
Jonathan Hurd
He did get the recipe but they did say that they weren’t sure how much of it he would remember when he was transferred back. The other problem is the differences in taste the ingredients will have so Van really needs Banda to taste test so that he can perfect his new formula.
Triduo
If it’s just [Death-Attribute : Charm], then she’s just something like a Shaman ?
Paradoxe : With the [Death-Attribute : Spiritual Familiar] Banda linked to her soul ? No way that that’s “just something like a Shaman” -___-
Well… In that case, she’s something like Legion but with two separated souls ?
Paradoxe : Stop trying to find a Codename for her abilities. For now, she can just see Dead Spirits and has the [Spiritual Familiar] Banda.
It still doesn’t feels right to just ignore the issue…
Paradoxe : You’re not ignoring it, you’re just reporting it to later, once she starts using magic.
Fair enough.
McDeathTheReapr
we know that she, in fact, doesn’t have Death Attribute Charm because when the dog attacked it means it wasn’t charmed cause if it was it would’ve been in Mei’s surrounding and it wouldn’t have attacked
Hobbes
Not true whatsoever… Not all dead spirits immediately subordinated themselves to Van either especially when his Charm skill was lower in level. You have to go back to early chapters to find examples, but they are there (like Isla’s attitude immediately after dying before her fear of Van forcefully chaged the direction of her fanaticism from Ternecia to Van; Or the Rank 3 and higher Undead in the first dungeon Van went into… they aided him and got out of his way, but they didn’t offer themselves as his subordinates).
And it’s more likely than not that Mei will have that quality to attract spirits before long.
The biggest thing Mei and Van have in common is that they are fundamentally kind souls and they would have had the death attribute from birth. Take that and the fact that neither of them are repulsed by the idea of ghosts, dead spirits, etc. and you have the foundational qualities for [Death Attribute: Charm].
Chiu ChunLing
Another issue is that Mei is still too young to give any appropriate commands even if she does charm something. Right now all it would do would prevent the spirit from attacking her directly.
Jonathan Hurd
Mei doesn’t have Death Attribute Charm. It was reported in our last look at the happy go lucky adventures of Mei and Ban that the dead spirits aren’t charmed by either of them. They have mentioned before that everywhere Van goes thousands of dead souls stay around him, but even when Mei and Banda got close to the dead spirit of the Dog he didn’t warm up to them.
Hobbes
Not true whatsoever… Not all dead spirits immediately subordinated themselves to Van either especially when his Charm skill was lower in level. You have to go back to early chapters to find examples, but they are there (like Isla’s attitude immediately after dying before her fear of Van forcefully chaged the direction of her fanaticism from Ternecia to Van; Or the Rank 3 and higher Undead in the first dungeon Van went into… they aided him and got out of his way, but they didn’t offer themselves as his subordinates).
And it’s more likely than not that Mei will have that quality to attract spirits before long.
The biggest thing Mei and Van have in common is that they are fundamentally kind souls and they would have had the death attribute from birth. Take that and the fact that neither of them are repulsed by the idea of ghosts, dead spirits, etc. and you have the foundational qualities for [Death Attribute: Charm].
Jonathan Hurd
It is true that Isla did resist Death Attribute Charm as a spirit… For five seconds. She was a powerful Vampire spirit who had an immense amount of animosity towards Van, but got charmed after those five seconds. For the undead in that first dungeon, the reason Van didn’t manage to fully charm them was because the Dungeon holds a strong sway over them. I would say the fact that they moved out of his way and offered him their items and stuff shows that they were charmed. The fact they didn’t leave with Van is because they couldn’t break free of the Dungeons control not that they resisted Van’s charm.
The only creature we’ve seen in the story that have resisted Van’s charm was Borkus who was around Rank Nine or Ten when Van first met him. Part of the reason he could resist was he had a body and power to help resist. No spirit has ever managed to resist against Van for more than those five seconds not even Terncia or Gubamon.
The dog ghost doesn’t have a strongly established will of its own and no predisposition against Mei. Even ignoring the Doggy no ghosts have been surrounding Mei and Banda even though Mei has been alive for over a year and Banda was with her for a full day.
I don’t believe being generally kind or affable has a lot to do with Death Attribute Charm. I mean when Van originally unlocked it in Origin he hated everyone around him. The first souls he charmed were even the people he hated the most the Researchers who tortured him.
Assuming it does have to do with personality then why isn’t Banda attracting the ghosts? He has the same memories and personality as Van.
Chiu ChunLing
We can’t make a viable comparison to Van’s ability because we have no information about Van’s life in Origin at Mei’s age (other than that he’d been sold to a lab by then).
Banda probably doesn’t have the ability for the same reason that any of Van’s other DK familiars don’t have it, Van can ordinarily just charm the death through the connection. Unfortunately, Banda’s out of range.
Alternately, while Banda has the power of a spirit clone, he seems to actually just be a Divine Protection in terms of how he’s been attached to Mei’s soul directly and cannot leave her rather than being in an Artifact or Descending on her. In other words, he’s more like a super-charged Divine Protection. So he can’t charm the dead for the same reason that ability isn’t conferred on everyone with Van’s Divine Protection.
Chiu ChunLing
Mei doesn’t have the Skill because Skills system doesn’t exist in Origin.
And she doesn’t have the years of experience with developing the ability that Van had after awakening to the Death Attribute in Origin, at Mei’s current age Van probably hadn’t even had his mana measured and lack of attributes noticed (or they’d probably have analyzed Mei’s mana by now as well).
But it’s too early to say she doesn’t have or won’t develop the ability. All we know is that Banda doesn’t have it for some reason.
Hobbes
The part about Mei not having the characteristics for [Death Attribute: Charm] is not true whatsoever…
Not all dead spirits immediately subordinated themselves to Van either especially when his Charm skill was lower in level. You have to go back to early chapters to find examples, but they are there (like Isla’s attitude immediately after dying before her fear of Van forcefully chaged the direction of her fanaticism from Ternecia to Van; Or the Rank 3 and higher Undead in the first dungeon Van went into… they aided him and got out of his way, but they didn’t offer themselves as his subordinates).
And it’s more likely than not that Mei will have that quality to attract spirits before long.
The biggest thing Mei and Van have in common is that they are fundamentally kind souls and they would have had the death attribute from birth. Take that and the fact that neither of them are repulsed by the idea of ghosts, dead spirits, etc. and you have the foundational qualities for [Death Attribute: Charm].
If you want to talk about why Banda, Van’s spirit clone, doesn’t attract dead spirits that’s a very good question that hasn’t been answered whatsoever by the author thus far.
And Guduranis might have been able to see and interact with dead spirits, but he would have likely used them in a cruel and vicious way. After all his MO was to rule over others by fear. Not exactly an attractive quality to anyone other than extremely vengeful spirits. So I’m willing to bet that any and all spirits that could avoid him did so.
Chiu ChunLing
You have to go back to the first chapter (chapter 0) for relevant examples, but they aren’t there. And Van’s conscious memories of his life on Origin don’t extend back to when he was Mei’s age, so we have no information on what level of ability to charm the dead he had at the time or when it developed. All his memories were from after his memories had returned, when he was several years older than Mei. It seems he had already developed the ability to a noticeable degree by then, but we can’t extrapolate back further.
All we can say is that Mei should have the innate properties necessary to eventually develop this ability, but it might take at least several years to manifest.
Tejing
Mei doesn’t have death attribute charm. There is zero evidence for this and a fair amount of evidence against it. Being able to see spirits never had anything to do with that skill anyway. Anyone with the affinity for the death attribute can see spirits.
Jonathan Hurd
To be fair you don’t even need to be a Death Attribute mage to see spirits. There is the job Spiritualist that lets people see spirits. From what we’ve seen in the story I think that job has existed for a while now in the past hundred thousand years since everyone assumed Van had that job to start with. Also considering how surprised all the spiritualists are when Van comes through and collects all the spirits I think he is the first to achieve Death Attribute Charm in Lambda’s long history.
Chiu ChunLing
Mei isn’t old enough for us to say whether she has it or not.
If we had evidence that spirits were hostile to her personally, that would be enough to say she doesn’t have it. But there is no evidence that any spirits have ever been hostile to her personally. And Banda is too cautious to experiment by allowing them chances to demonstrate hostility to her.
On the other hand, even Van’s repeatedly maxed out and Status system reinforced Skill doesn’t stop the dead around him from being hostile towards anyone other than him unless he orders it (and even then…Isla X Eleanora, or the Ghosts and Joseph). Conversely they become hostile on his command.
But since Mei’s not even giving them orders either way, instances of hostility to anyone else is not evidence.
Lord Rin
I really enjoy these slow-paced chapters.
Also Alda’s faction must be so confused right now. They can witness through their believers how the dreaded new Demon King that can break and eat souls is just operating a food cart. And quite successfully too.
What a smart puppers Fang is. He realizes that people might get scared of his new appearance and that that could affect Van’s business so he moves out of sight. Anyways I guess that when Aggar was talking about how “With this Darcia will be mine.” all he meant was that Joseph gave him a job to make sure Van’s cart wasn’t doing good and that he’d use that as a chance to take Darcia.
So now Zuruwarn and Ricklent can finally enter the Boundary Mountain Range and have meetings with Vida. It was also kinda funny how Zururwarn is really excited for trying cola and Vida advises him to get a deeper cup so it doesn’t lose its fizz. Anyways it sounds like Vida is aware that many people proclaim to be her followers but aren’t. I bet that all those Vida worshipers that are working with Alda’s Peaceful Faction like the guy we recently saw talking with an Alda worshiper guarding the Trial of Bellwood are who she is referring to. Also it sounds like Peria will join Vida’s side since they said they should keep on eye on her since she’s about to revive soon though she probably already has given how Pargtarta was informing somebody about everything while calling them “her true master” and she is a subordinate god of Peria.
So all the other Vans really are his divine protections and familiar spirits. I guess then that that means Banda can really be classified as a subordinate god like Curatos or Niltark. Only difference is that Banda is bound to Mei. I wonder if that can be considered a type of God Descent if Lambda’s system were applied to it? Also would this then also designate Mei as a heroic god under Van once she dies?
Jonathan Hurd
It does make me laugh just imaging Alda and his faction looking at Van’s actions and losing their collective shit trying to figure out the meaning behind his actions, lol.
I also find it really funny that the creature everyone in the city considers Fang the strongest between Van, Darcia, and him, but he is honestly the weakest by a giant margin.
I feel like Peria will probably join Vida’s side, but the key part is going to be the timing. We might see a rescue mission happen where Van has to bust in to help escort her out if shes going to join Vida. She is currently surrounded by Alda cronies and thanks to that surround the Evil Gods faction should also know about her… They might need to be careful how they go about this.
For what Banda is I feel like hes not quite up to being a Subordinate God. I think hes actually a Spirit Clone like what Ice Age had inside it. I think you can make both Spirit Clones and Subordinate Gods by splitting off a part of your soul. The difference though is the connection between the two though. Banda and Van are still sharing able to share Memories and thoughts. The connection is just a bit to far. I feel like Banda isn’t quite his own separate being quite yet. Given time though I can definitely imagine him becoming one though.
Hobbes
I think you’re right about Banda’s classification.
But honestly, I don’t know if Van would ever truly be capable of making an AI-like Familiar Spirit or Subordinate God or some similar feat. Reason being that Van’s strong perception of self is what enables him to effectively steal Guduranis’ body piece by piece from him. However, all his Demon King familiars, all his spirit-body clones, all his spiritual offshoots…, they’re all recognized by him as himself. If they weren’t then he probably wouldn’t be capable of creating such things in the first place.
Look at Twice from My Hero Academia for a good example of the possible identity crisis that could be caused by such actions without that strong sense of self.
I think Guduranis probably had a similarly strong sense of individuality and self like Van and that’s why the DK’s body and soul corrupts and takes over all other creatures including Gods.
Jonathan Hurd
I think Van has already made AI-like parts of himself in the Demon King Familiars that don’t have a Treasure Orb. They follow simple instructions and have no self identity or will. Van did limit the amount of Demon King Familiars with Treasure Orbs because his thoughts became muddled, but Van does have Group Thought Processing to help make stuff like that easier. So give that skill some more levels and he’ll probably manage.
The fact that Banda seems to have separate thoughts and his own will currently seems to suggest Van will eventually be able to make his own Subordinate Gods with their own wills. They would of course start with Van as the base, but they could grow to be a separate being. The only real downside is like Banda it would probably take a sizable chunk of mana from Van so it wouldn’t always lead to increase of power.
Chiu ChunLing
Just to be clear, the key distinguishing part of a pseudo-main body is the sub-brain assembly, not the treasure orb. The orb is convenient to ensure the effort of making a pseudo-main body isn’t wasted by having it run out of mana, which does make it more independent, but doesn’t provide the essential autonomous functionality.
Chiu ChunLing
When Van mentioned that none of them have Adventurer Guild cards, I briefly imagined Darcia trying to get one. It’s true that her Status isn’t as ‘scary’ as Van’s, but Vida’s Incarnation walking in to register as an Adventurer does seem like it might cause a stir.
I doubt they intend to hide that forever, but it needs the right buildup.
Hobbes
I think you’re getting ahead of yourself with relation to Banda. Van isn’t a God or Sub-god just yet (or at least the Status System hasn’t recognized him as such).
Therefore, while Van can do a lot of the things divinities can do (as well as a heck of a lot that they can’t even dream of doing) he isn’t on their level just yet – just a few more barriers to break and jobs to take until he is though lol
Jonathan Hurd
Technically Van is a Demigod going by the status system because he is classified as a Half Vampire Half Goddess. That’s probably better than the usual Demigod’s which are supposed to be half God half human.
At this point I’m not really sure what Van is lacking compared to the actual God’s. He has Mana rivaling theirs. He has a physical body, but that’s more of a plus and as Vidas Incarnation and Guduranis show even God’s can have physical bodies. He can control his Soul better than just about anything. He is worshipped and prayed to by large numbers of people. He gives Divine Protections and has Familiar Spirits. At this point I’m not really seeing any part Van really lacks to be called a God and do Godly things.
Mr.Darkness
“Also Alda’s faction must be so confused right now. They can witness through their believers how the dreaded new Demon King that can break and eat souls is just operating a food cart.”
I can’t stop laughing about this…
They must be thinking some bizarre things, like “Van is trying to infect everyone with pathogens!”, or “Van must be planing to make stealth brainwashes!”, or “Van is trying to make everyone addicted to his meat so then he can stealthily put his blood in it and transform everyone!!!!!!!!!!!”…
hahahhahahahahhahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahahhaha
I really can’t stop laughing about this… Just imagine them shouting “What’s he trying to do?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?”
hahahhahahahhahhahahhahahahahahhahahahhaa
Chiu ChunLing
To be fair, Alda’s Peaceful faction are even more heretical (especially that guy distrusting the Pope just cause he’s leading the enemy nation’s church), but Alda still considers them believers.
I expect that the Vida priest is in better standing with Vida than his counterpart is in with Alda, but neither of them is expected to be receiving Divine Messages or Protections.
Meanwhile, you have those that have fled the church to avoid being condemned by Vida…and also those who are just as faithless but more fearless as well who are sticking it out cause they haven’t been caught.
Skipping that, what’s this heresy I hear about Mei dying?
Lightnovelfan
Just perfect. A sunday morninng with a new chapter.. What could be better? THX Yoshi, I just hope this series is getting an official translation. This is definetly one of those I would like to have a physical copy of. BTW, does anyone know the diferences between the WN and the LN? Have been looking for ages, but couldn´t find a list.
Doom-sama
PRAISE VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR CHAMPION, OUR DEATH GOD! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
Soon, I shall economically dominate this town! Then the duchy! Then convert everyone to Vida!
And here is a supplemental message from High Priest Nuaza:
Van-sama is truly a god now! Let us begin the worship properly!
Randomreader
PRAISE VAN
iamleejn
Things I’m still looking forward to:
Fang meeting Isla (the dog vs the hound!)
Darcia’s sermon (magical girl shenanigans?)
Birkyne (haven’t heard about him in ages)
Triduo
I’m waiting for Murakami’s group attack, the Marionnette’s return and the discovering of Banda in Origin. ^^
Noctyrannus : I’m just waiting for more Bloodbaths ! OuO
bk3k
No Spoilers period.
ARandomReaderWithAFull-SpacedName
It’d be really cool if the false followers of Vida got a scathing Title like “Apostate”
Hobbes
Lol that WOULD be great… but I’m curious about the idea as a whole.
Alda or his cronies mentioned a few chapters back about Vida’s self-proclaimed false followers and I assume that he was either: speaking snidely with sarcasm, speaking of the rampant corruption in Orbaume which has the majority of humans/elves/dwarves who worship Vida supposedly, or speaking truthfully about followers who have strayed from her teachings.
But then Vida confirms it and I have the same general questions… Is she saying that there are many of her followers who have strayed from her teachings and mindset of goodwill? Or is she talking about the corruption in Orbaume as well?
Jonathan Hurd
I think what Vida is talking about with false worshipers is people who joined her church but never really had any faith in her. This group probably joined Vida’s church to try to increase their power or influence in society. Since Vida has been asleep for so long and unable to really act on the world they could probably make some lies about receiving Divine Messages. Not that easy to do that to someone like Alda because he could actually send a message telling people of your lies and then you could get hung.
Mr.Darkness
“And it’s unlikely that Alda and his followers would descend upon the world for a direct battle against Vandalieu”
Yeah, but i think they should! Every minute they waste, Van gets stronger… To the point that maybe it’s already
impossible to defeat him. DO SOMETHING ALDA!
“Also, the Vandalieus that aren’t a part of the main body are just separated from him to serve the role of familiar spirits and divine protections.”
See??? It’s getting worse!!!
Alda really needs to step up his game!!!
Darkhelios
He’s probably waiting for an opportunity. After all, even if someone is powerful, it doesn’t mean that this person doesn’t have weaknesses: Poison, women, …etc. There are quite a lot of ways to kill someone.
In Vandalieu’s case, one of those ways might be to wait until Vandalieu weaken himself in a fight (like he did against Heinz). However, in order to be able to use this chance, Alda must also have some pawns available.
Kiriaru
I think one of Vandalieus biggest weaknesses are the people that follow him, his friends and the ones that love him. If Alfa Targets them maybe Vandalieu will lose control and make a mistake, which is the exact logic that not only makes you look terrible but probably wouldn’t end well for you.
Poison or women wouldn’t work, but throwing a bunch of crazy powerful individuals at Van might work.
Jonathan Hurd
The problem for Alda to descend is the fact that hes put it off. If he did as Fitun suggested and attacked Van the moment they learned Van broke Yupeons spirit clone that would of been fine, but they decided to sit and wait thinking he would be swiftly dealt with. By the point they felt a true crisis Van had become to powerful. They told themselves hes too strong so we can’t do an all in attack. Then months pass and Van becomes even scarier and they tell themselves ‘Van’s even scarier it would be even worse now to all in!’ The cycle just keeps continuing.
Alda has spent too much time at the top of the food chain that he has no sense of urgency or danger. Van has spent his entire life being chased and hunted so he has spent all of his time trying to improve his strength. His enemies however are those who have lived for thousands of years. At that point the difference between a few days and a few years starts to mean very little to them.
VEreality
Alda had a point though(even a broken clock tells you the right time two times a day). Van’s growth in strenght is unnatural. It would normally take someone decades to become so strong. He SHOULD have been a problem that they could just wait to solve itself……. too bad he wasn’t lol. The one time the warmonger was right XD
Triduo
Of course his strength is unnatural, since he trained himself since literally his birth !
He wanted to survive in this 3rd life, of course he’ll start to gather strength as soon as possible…
Also, I think that his [Bloodwork] helped him in becoming so strong ? Not to mention his hellish trainings in order to obtain skills ?
Jonathan Hurd
It wouldn’t of been too bad to wait it out if Van couldn’t break Souls. I mean the fact that he destroyed Yupeon’s Spirit Clone meant he was already a threat. Even if it would take him decades to build up strength why would you let the first person in a hundred thousand years have the time to build that strength, lol. Even when Alda’s right hes wrong :P.
Chiu ChunLing
Keeping in mind that, if he wasted his power freaking out over every little thing, he wouldn’t have been able to stay at the top this long.
Building up heroes to take care of this kind of stuff is the strategy they’ve been using all along which has allowed them to conserve power while still dealing with threats.
It’s just that Van is greater than any hero or even Champion, he’s made of the souls of the four most creative and intelligent Champions combined with the powers of Guduranis, and he’s supported by dozens of heroes, four Great gods of Lambda and their faction, and the Gods of two other worlds with vastly more believers than Lambda’s entire population.
Chiu ChunLing
That’s why they’re raising Heroes and equipping them with Artifacts and stuff, so that they can fight without expending themselves. Meanwhile Fitun is attempting a dangerously accelerated version of this, while Alda watches in ‘silent disapproval’ to see if it actually works.
VEreality
Also, the Vandalieus that aren’t a part of the main body are just separated from him to serve the role of familiar spirits and divine protections.-Vida
Yes! YES! THANK GOD YEEEESSSSSS!-me
Ohhh the time has come. There is no going back from godhood at this point Van. Also, wholesome. This arc in general is wholesome. But again it is Van and Darcia working togheter sooooooo….. yeah it shoul be expected :3
Thanks for the chapter!
Rodrigo
Thanks for the chapter, this is getting more interesting as new chapters are posted.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
kagemao
Whenever it comes back to Van not registering at the guild I always think: he must be able to forge an id, right? Even altering the records should be possible with his ninjas, and he got guild personnel from the cultivation villages who could give him tips.
I think at this point he’s avoiding it less as a way to hide his crazy jobs/titles and more about becoming successful in their society without associating with the adventurers guild. Like an “I didn’t need you guys anyway” sort of reaction after they denied him.
Doom-sama
Guild Cards are special and can’t be forged
Jonathan Hurd
Remember hes going to get his Adventurer license hes just using a round about method. The reason hes insisting on following through with the full Merchant Guilds membership is that if you have that you can immediately become an Adventurer without having your status looked at.
It is possible for Van to basically go in, brainwash everyone in an adventurer guild. Then use them to register himself, but the problem with that is it requires brainwashing a bunch of innocent guild employees. The other problem is the follow up. What is he going to do with the whole group of brainwashed people? If their friends and family notice they’re acting weird then there could be an investigation. During that investigation they might revoke all the work those employees did around the time they started acting weird.
The last problem with the idea of sneakily registering is the amount of attention it would draw. We gotta keep in mind a major part of what Van is doing is trying to lure in Murakami and Birknye. For that he needs attention, but he needs to also not be chased out of town because hes spooked all the local authorities.
If you ask me the current plan is the best. It solves all the worries. Running the food cart gets Van attention to attract Birknyes eyes. It gives him an excuse for having a set routine and place so Murakami’s group has a place to aim for. It allows him to burn time while he waits for the above two groups to bite the bait. Once he finishes he’ll be able to finally register as an Adventurer. Officially belonging to not only the Adventurer’s guild, but also the Merchants and Tamers guild will increase his options and connections when he goes to other places as well.
Hobbes
Well I agree, but the other part of this whole thing is that Van doesn’t have much common sense and he’s very persistent. He will keep going with a plan or initial idea long past the point most others would drop it or look for other ways. And when Van finally realizes he’s long since passed his objective he just shrugs it off and thinks about things rather optimistically.
Jonathan Hurd
That is definitely true. It is one of the funnier aspects for us readers. We know why Van has been desperately trying to become an Adventurer to make it so others won’t hunt him, but to all his enemies they think this is some giant master plan he’s working on. Van thinks in some pretty simple terms and a lot of what he does is emotion based. His opponents on the other hand are trying to play fourth dimensional chess against him and look into undertext and subgoals behind his every move just leading them to be even more baffled.
I will say what I most appreciate about Van is he has some fairly harsh restrictions on his own actions. Especially against those he sees as innocent. This is one of the big reasons he doesn’t just mind wipe a bunch of people at an Adventurer guild and get his license the quick and dirty way. Or just register then wipe the town out. He always has the option but doesn’t.
Doing things this way is why I respect him way more than a hypocrite like Heinz. Heinz just takes the easy ride and then makes up excuses as to why that was okay after the fact. Van set these restrictions on himself and he hasn’t broken them. If anything they’ve gotten harsher.
bk3k
There is one more objective. Slowly introducing himself into human society in a non-threatening way. And that ties into some other objectives.
Shank Mugen
Thank you for the new chapter!
Lolice
Vandalieus of different sizes will appear in his followers dreams and enter their body, presumably after a dance.
Triduo
I’m waiting for Meh-kun’s turn to get his Divine Protection in Origin when Van tries to link his self to Banda ! ( OuO)b
Sebas Tian
Hope everyone enjoys today’s chapter, not much happened, but we got confirmation on a few things and we see Aggar’s list of shit he shouldn’t be doing is only growing, wonder when it’ll reach the point where Van decides he needs to be disappeared.
Superboy8338
Thank you for the update.
Doom-sama
Probably when the “great conflict” between Van-sama and Heretic Joseph happens
Jonathan Hurd
Thanks Sebas, Yoshi, and everyone else working on the Chapters, :D.
My guess is Aggar’s death comes when he tries to sexually harass Darcia. The question after that for me is who deals the finishing blow. Darcia herself, and enraged Van, or maybe one of the ghosts… So many gruesome ways to die so little time, lol.
Triduo
Noctyrannus : Why do you think that there’s only one person/ghost who’ll get the satisfaction of burying him ? Your sight is so narrow… Try to imagine a full course where Darcia put him to sleep. Van decides to pick him up to the mansion where a torture room will be improvised. When he wakes up, he’d try to free himself while threatening (or trying to at least) Darcia and/or Van just to receive blow after blow from them without being able to die, even once that his spirit has been broken, just to be finished by a smiling Darcia or the Ghosts guarding Van… Haaaaaaah, that would be soooooo goooooood ! ^^
Jonathan Hurd
We could also see a repeat of that one false Priests death. Be eaten alive by thousands of insects. Now that was a pretty cruel way to go, lol.
Zenden1st
bug infestation they eat his body from inside out…
reheal him everytime hes on the verge of death
Overlord style