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With ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ activated and his soul materialized through ‘Embodiment’ and wrapped around him, Vandalieu was in a grotesque form.
“Talking to your own fragments… so, you think you have already won. YOU DAMNED MIDGET! DON’T LOOK DOWN ON ME!” Birkyne screamed furiously as he severed his own bound limbs.
Using the no-attribute spell ‘Strengthen Physical Ability’ deliberately in an unbalanced way, he snapped his own bones and muscle fibers, forcefully tearing them so that he could escape.
This would be a suicidal act for ordinary living creatures, but Birkyne was a Pure-breed Vampire. As he took to the sky with only his torso remaining, he was already growing back new limbs.
Vandalieu attempted to chase after Birkyne, but he stopped as he noticed Birkyne’s severed limbs escape their bindings and fly towards him like arrows.
“The ‘Long-distance Control’ Skill, huh,” he murmured.
Not particularly shaken by this, he repelled Birkyne’s limbs. ‘Death Bullets’ and ‘Throwing’ destroyed Birkyne’s arms, while the Demon King’s jointed legs emerged from his back to destroy the legs.
He tried to chase after Birkyne once more, but at that moment, his body became immobile.
Birkyne was delighted to see this. You fool! I hid the Demon King’s shadow inside my fist!
He was capable of using ‘Long-Distance Control’ to manipulate the Demon King’s fragment. Even if spells and Demon King’s fragments broke his flesh and bone into pieces, the shadows did not disappear.
The shape of the shadow hidden within his fist had changed shape and bound Vandalieu once more. Using this opportunity, Birkyne tried to get some more distance from Vandalieu.
But Vandalieu’s glowing, blue-white spirit form appeared right before his eyes, causing him to take back his internal words.
“I just noticed, but it seems that you can only bind physically existing objects… things that cast shadows,” said Vandalieu, who had used ‘Out-of-body Experience’ just in case.
Birkyne groaned as he took Vandalieu’s kick directly in the face, and he flew spectacularly across the sky once more. Even his shadows were unable to stop Vandalieu’s foot, on which he had used ‘Embodiment’ just before the attack landed and destroyed Birkyne’s attractive, young-nobleman-like appearance in an instant.
B-but I have gained some distance! Birkyne told himself.
Vandalieu’s physical body was still bound by the shadow. Birkyne used the momentum he had gained by being sent flying away, activated the ‘High-speed Flight’ Skill and successfully moved away from where Vandalieu was.
Once Vandalieu was out of sight, he used his newly-regenerated hand to reach for the Item Box in his pocket and gulped down the bottle of virgin blood inside.
His jaws and collapsed cheekbones immediately regenerated, and his broken neck cracked loudly as it returned to an ordinary angle on his shoulders.
Pure-breed Vampires had a phenomenal amount of Vitality… what would be known as HP in video games on Earth. It was more effective for them to drink blood than Potions in order to heal from injury.
“I’ve healed back to normal, but fighting is unwise… But still, this is…!”
Birkyne had never intended to fight Vandalieu. At the very least, he hadn’t even considered trying to defeat him here.
But now that he was actually facing Vandalieu, he was overwhelmed with anger, frustration and bitterness towards him, for not doing things as he had planned and putting him in this predicament.
This fury stopped Birkyne from choosing the option of surrendering, even though the situation was as bad as it could possibly be, with no hope of victory and the chance of escaping hanging by a thread as thin as a spider’s silk.
He did think that it would be better to beg for his life and lick Vandalieu’s shoes, and even if refused, being killed and turned into an Undead would be better than having his soul destroyed and being wiped from existence forever.
But Birkyne, completely dominated by his emotions of rage towards Vandalieu, could not do that. This was different from his usual temper. He felt a primitive despair and refusal towards the idea of yielding to Vandalieu, and was driven by his anger.
“That’s right. I will not yield to him. I am someone who can wield a fragment of the Demon King with my sanity intact! I can do it; I am no different from him!” he told himself.
His fury faded, and self-confidence rose within him. Spurred on by this confidence, he activated the Demon King’s shadow, which wrapped itself around him.
“… I did it! I did it! I have accomplished the same thing as him! I will not be defeated by him!”
He took control over his own body with the Demon King’s shadow, amplifying his physical strength. Looking like he was dressed completely in black, he laughed loudly at the sense of invincibility that dominated his entire body.
There was no more need to run or avoid battle. He needed to go back, kill Vandalieu and take the fragments that he possessed!
“It’s laughable that even your misunderstandings have come this far, Guduranis,” said a familiar voice.
Birkyne stopped in mid-air and turned around.
“Well, if it isn’t Eleanora. To think that you had come to this city as well… It seems that Vandalieu has disciplined you quite well,” he said, recognizing his former servant. “You call me the Demon King? That is quite the compliment for me when I’m covered in the Demon King’s shadow.”
Eleanora continued smiling coldly at her former master.
Bellmond and Isla arrived on the scene as well.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the last of the Five Dogs. It seems that Vandalieu had better qualities for being a Tamer than me or Ternecia. You are all very well-tamed,” said Birkyne with a tone of contempt.
“… He’s just suddenly started praising Van-sama,” said Eleanora, looking at Birkyne.
“Yes, and saying obvious things that anyone would agree with…” said Isla.
“It seems that he is not sane after all,” said Bellmond.
Though Birkyne had been speaking sarcastically, it seemed to not have sounded that way to Eleanora and the others… even though all of the people like Eleanora that Birkyne had betrayed so far had lost their composure and insisted that they were no longer Birkyne’s pets.
But it was Birkyne who lost his composure this time.
“Y-you wretches!” he screamed in fury.
With his claws covered in the Demon King’s shadow, he leapt at Eleanora.
Because of the Demon King’s shadow, his movements were faster than before and so efficient that it was difficult to believe that he was enraged. Perhaps this was to be expected of a master of the ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ Skill.
Eleanora barely managed to raise her sword in time, still inside its scabbard.
Wait, she has raised her sword still inside its scabbard? Birkyne thought, noticing something strange about Eleanora’s behavior.
But before he could do anything, Eleanora opened her mouth.
“Transform!”
In the next moment, the scabbard that looked as if it were over-decorated began squirming like a living creature, equipping itself onto Eleanora’s body. Feeling a sense of danger at this change, Birkyne swung his claws towards her neck.
“As I thought, you’re not as scary to me as you were in the past,” said Eleanora, deflecting his claws with her sword.
With her body covered in the liquid Dark Copper armor that was both hard and flexible, she launched her offense against the astonished Birkyne.
“‘Super Acceleration!’”
Accelerating time for herself with time-attribute magic, she unleashed martial skills one after another. Birkyne blocked most of them and engaged in what appeared at first glance to be an even battle.
Impossible! Even with all of that Dhampir’s training, even with these Magic Items that I’ve never seen before, Eleanora, a Noble-born Vampire… my ‘daughter’ that has received my blood, why is she able to keep up with me despite my new evolution?!
Birkyne’s strength and speed had increased dramatically after he covered himself in the Demon King’s shadow. Despite that, Eleanora, a little girl who became a Vampire less than a hundred years ago, was fighting evenly against him.
This was too bizarre, even considering her being strengthened by Vandalieu’s guidance.
Meanwhile, Eleanora was feeling strange. In the past, Birkyne had been fearsome to her, to the point that she feared nothing as long as she could keep him happy.
Indeed, Birkyne was a being from another dimension compared to the Eleanora of the past. She wouldn’t have stood a chance in a fight against him, and even escaping from him would be difficult.
But what about now? She was exchanging blows equally against him, wasn’t she? On top of that, all of his confidants had been separated from him and crushed one by one. Birkyne was isolated and helpless, like a rat in a cage.
She was not fighting him carelessly or underestimating him. But what she felt towards him was certainly far from fear.
It was a trivial emotion compared to the heart-numbing sensation that she felt towards Vandalieu.
“As I thought, you are nothing compared to Van-sama!” Eleanora declared.
Birkyne’s claws, unable to deflect the next blow from her sword, were severed. Her blade cut deeply into his chest.
Birkyne screamed in pain. “How dare you…! Don’t get so full of yourself just because you’ve been given some good tools!”
He fell to his knees clutching his wounded chest, and Eleanora swung her sword down at the back of his defenseless head.
But the Demon King’s shadow wrapped around Birkyne’s body extended like tentacles and attempted to latch onto her, forcing her to retreat with a click of her tongue in frustration.
“I know everything! That’s technology from another world, isn’t it?!” Birkyne shouted. “I spoke with Hillwillow and Solder; there are warriors in other worlds that transform into special forms! Li –”
“Silence, you fiend!” said Isla, throwing a chain over Birkyne that bound him tightly.
“We won’t let you say any more!” shouted Bellmond, slicing his torso and limbs with her threads.
“Wait! The plan was for me to stir him up, wasn’t it?!” said Eleanora, hastily resisting their interference.
But the two of them showed no signs of guilt.
“Even if he is cornered, he is someone who ruled over the darkness of human societies. We needed to avoid being called magical girls by such a person at all costs,” said Bellmond, fearing that this would cause the acquisition of magical-girl-related Titles or the appearance of magical-girl-related Jobs.
“Exactly. But to think that the champions who were summoned from a different world than Vandalieu-sama would know of magical girls… Are magical girls beings that transcend boundaries between worlds?” Isla wondered, shuddering.
It seemed that Birkyne had been referring to transforming heroes that were not magical girls, but… due to bad timing, they hadn’t noticed this.
TLN: Birkyne was likely referring to a series called Liveman, which is what the Power Rangers are based on.
Isla and Bellmond had both also activated their transformation equipment that had been created by Vandalieu and Tarea together. Bellmond was wearing a chic body-suit with butler-like decorations, while Isla was wearing armor and branching chains that were wrapped around her like bondage gear.
As Vandalieu had said before, their appearances, including Eleanora’s, were not magical-girl-like. But they may have resembled the transforming heroes and villainesses of Earth’s fictional works.
“Y-you… messing… around!” Birkyne groaned, glaring at the three of them.
His body, having been sliced into pieces, was being forcefully held together by the Demon King’s shadow. But Isla’s chains and Bellmond’s threads were already separate from their bodies, so he couldn’t use them to counterattack with the Demon King’s shadow.
What is this?! My wounds… They are taking too long to regenerate! Birkyne thought, frustrated by the fact that his sliced torso and limbs still hadn’t joined back together.
Until a few moments ago, he had been able to regenerate his severed limbs in a flash, but now, his bones were only just beginning to join back together.
Normally, someone’s severed limbs and sliced torso beginning to join back together within seconds would be considered an extraordinary regenerative ability. But it was unthinkable for Birkyne.
“What did… you do to… my body?!” he demanded, thinking that it was the doing of his foes.
Eleanora turned back to her former master and Vampire ‘parent.’
“Leaving the matter of magical girls aside… it seems that you’ve reached your limit. Even though we’re deliberately showing you an opening, you’re not even trying to escape, let alone attack,” she said.
“Indeed. Vandalieu-sama overestimated you, Guduranis,” said Isla.
Eleanora and the others hadn’t done anything to disrupt Birkyne’s regenerative ability. All they had done was use their equipment to transform and power themselves up, then attack him.
“What?! That’s, me, myself, I, have reached my limit?! You’re saying that this is it?!” Birkyne shouted. “That’s impossible –”
At that moment, the voice of Hihiryushukaka, the evil god of joyful life, echoed in Birkyne’s mind. His senses left his body, and time began to stretch.
“That’s right. You are finished, Birkyne – No, the being that has fooled himself into thinking that he is Birkyne!” the voice said.
Hihiryushukaka-sama?! W-wait, I can explain… I am your loyal servant! I have no intention to betray you whatsoever!
In response to the voice of the god he worshiped, Birkyne split his mind in two. On the surface, he submitted to Hihiryushukaka, and deeper within, he deliberated to think of a way to fool the evil god to not incur his wrath and use his power to find a way out of this situation.
Hihiryushukaka had ordered Birkyne and the other Pure-breed Vampires to destroy Vandalieu, and if he learned that Birkyne intended to form a pact of nonaggression with Vandalieu instead, Birkyne would receive divine punishment. That was why Birkyne had recently been doing his best not to peer into Hihiryushukaka’s thoughts.
He did not think that his plan would be revealed to Hihiryushukaka from the thoughts of Mortor and his other subordinates. He knew that the structure of the minds of evil gods differed too much from that of mortals, and so it would be difficult for Hihiryushukaka to read and understand the thoughts of mortals such as his subordinates.
The only ones whose thoughts Hihiryushukaka could read were those who exceeded the limits of mortals and approached divinity, such as Elder Dragons, Colossi, other evil gods and Pure-breed Vampires. That was why Birkyne had thought that his intentions would not be discovered, but…
“Your cunning is desirable to me. It is uninteresting to simply gaze upon those who have nothing but loyalty. To put it simply, those who plan this and that are more interesting,” Hihiryushukaka said. “This plan of yours came quite close to succeeding. Especially when you tried to manipulate his brain. If you had succeeded, I would have interfered and stirred his brain from the inside…”
Birkyne’s plans had not been discovered. Hihiryushukaka had known everything from the very beginning, and watched and waited in order to make use of Birkyne’s plan for himself – long before Birkyne bound Vandalieu with his shadow.
Th-then please, grant me your aid! At this rate, I will be defeated and you will no longer have any servants who can stand against Vandalieu!
There were still many Vampires in the faction that worshiped Hihiryushukaka. But many of them were either Subordinate Vampires or Noble-born Vampires of Baron Rank or less. A pitiful gathering of a hundred such weak Vampires would be no enemy for Vandalieu.
Without Ternecia and Gubamon and no outstanding Noble-born Vampires, Hihiryushukaka could not afford to lose Birkyne if he wanted to kill Vandalieu.
I am not finished yet! With your aid, I will turn this battle around before your eyes! Birkyne insisted.
But Hihiryushukaka laughed in amusement. “No, I have already said that you are finished. Have you not noticed yet? Your Mana and your body have already reached their limits. It seems that it was the wrong move to imitate Vandalieu by wrapping the Demon King’s shadow around your body and forcibly exceed the limits of your body and mind.”
Indeed, Birkyne had less than 30% of his Mana left. To properly imitate Vandalieu, he would certainly need the Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ Skill and the Demon King’s fragments, but most importantly, he would need the vast amount of Mana that Vandalieu possessed. Despite that, Birkyne had attempted to imitate him without any prior practice.
It was only natural for him to not know how to control his Mana properly and waste a lot of it in the process.
That’s why I need your power – Birkyne began.
“I have already told you that it is impossible. I am not an omnipotent, limitless god!” Hihiryushukaka said with a laugh. “In addition, your body… and your mind, will not be able to withstand it. Even if I forcibly revived your spent body, it would begin collapsing again immediately! Give up on Birkyne’s body, Guduranis!”
What are you talking about?! I am not Guduranis, I am Birkyne, a Pure-breed Vampire!
Hihiryushukaka began laughing uncontrollably. “You say such amusing things! Your ‘Demon King Encroachment Degree’ is Level 10! Your soul has been encroached upon by the fragment of the Demon King Guduranis’s soul to the furthest extent possible. Let me ask you this: Who are you, then?!”
Birkyne felt an impact that felt like a hard blow hitting his head. This impact shook him more than Vandalieu’s roundhouse kick or Eleanora’s slashing attacks.
“Had you fooled yourself into thinking that you had kept your sanity?” Hihiryushukaka continued. “Your hysterical behavior, when did it begin? Did you not realize that it was the Pure-breed Vampire’s body rejecting the Demon King’s mind, Guduranis? No, you are the Demon King’s shadow… a mere image of the Demon King Guduranis! Nothing more than a shadow of him.”
Birkyne’s true identity was a shadow of the personality of the Demon King Guduranis. To put it into human psychological terms, it was what could be referred to as a persona.
But naturally, the structure of the Demon King’s mind differed greatly to that of a mortal. In addition, the Demon King’s shadow was a hollow thing to Guduranis, void of memories, knowledge and emotion.
It had eroded Birkyne’s mind and taken over him, but it would have been unable to sustain itself that way, so it had fooled itself into thinking that it was Birkyne. That was what Birkyne was.
That was why he felt anger and rage towards Vandalieu. He felt a primitive sense of rejection towards the one who had stolen the fragments that should have been his.
“All along, I was a fragment of the Demon King Guduranis?!” Birkyne screamed out loud, his mind returning to reality.
Time began flowing as normal.
“… So, you really hadn’t noticed. Van-sama said that you didn’t seem unaware, so I was still half-in doubt,” said Eleanora.
She had not heard the conversation between Hihiryushukaka and Birkyne’s mind. But she had a good idea of the situation from Birkyne’s last, screamed words.
From the moment that Birkyne had proudly declared that he remained sane despite his ‘Demon King Encroachment Degree’ reaching its maximum, Vandalieu had suspected that his mind had been taken over by the Demon King.
Through telepathic communication, he had asked Gufadgarn, who had known Guduranis personally, and asked about how he behaved. Using this knowledge, he had lured Birkyne into this Dungeon.
“The Demon King Guduranis was calm and had a tactician aspect to him. At the same time, he had tremendous belief in his own power and was short-tempered, feeling a fierce anger towards those who disobeyed him and things that did not go as he desired. Thus, he will certainly chase after us if we embarrass him in front of his subordinates and take the hostages away,” Gufadgarn had advised.
And thus, Vandalieu had followed her advice to the letter.
“You are lying! That cannot possibly be true! I am the Pure-breed Vampire Birkyne! One of the three who has ruled the Vampire faction worshiping an evil god for over a hundred thousand years! Isn’t that right?! Tell me I’m right!” Birkyne shrieked, his eyes open wide, with no care for the fact that his sliced limbs and torso were becoming misaligned.
From the perspective of Eleanora and the others, it was merely a matter of Birkyne’s true identity being revealed, but to him, it was a shocking truth that instantly obliterated the pillars upon which his mind stood, a complete denial of his self.
And as a result, his mind had become distorted, and he didn’t possess the strength to prevent it from collapsing.
“That is why it is easy to take over you,” a voice said.
Without warning, Birkyne’s body twisted.
From Birkyne’s mouth came a scream of agony and, at the same time, Hihiryushukaka’s loud laughter.
“The past hundred thousand years have been very pleasant!” Hihiryushukaka said gleefully. “It was very pleasant, forcing the obedience of a part of the soul of the Demon King Guduranis whom I once served, and toying with it!”
Eleanora and the others made a move, realizing that Hihiryushukaka was attempting to use Birkyne’s body as a vessel as had once been done by Ravovifard, the evil god of release.
“‘Delay!’” Eleanora yelled, casting a time-attribute spell that slowed time around Birkyne’s body.
“Now, Danna-sama!” shouted Bellmond, binding Birkyne once more with her threads.
“Fire,” said Vandalieu, who had been watching the scene unfold the entire time.
He took aim and fired with ‘Demon King Artillery Technique.’
Although he had not realized this until Hihiryushukaka attempted to use Birkyne’s body as a vessel, it was possible that it was concealing some power as the Demon King Guduranis.
In order to draw this out, he had made Eleanora, who would stimulate his nerves the most, as well as Bellmond and Isla, to taunt him. And in the meantime, he had made preparations to fire his attack.
The Demon King’s horns were fired from the barrels made of the Demon King’s coagulated blood protruding from both of Vandalieu’s arms. They struck the immobile Birkyne accurately in the head and chest.
Small holes appeared in Birkyne’s forehead and sternum, sending bone, spinal fluid, flesh and blood spraying out from his back.
But Hihiryushukaka’s laughter did not stop. “You were not showing yourself, so I knew this was what would happen!” he cackled.
It seemed that he had already created a spare brain and heart inside Birkyne’s body.
When gods became physical incarnations, their bodies underwent change. They gained weaknesses in the brain and heart, which they did not possess when they existed only in the mind. Hihiryushukaka had been wary of these weaknesses being targeted.
But even with the surprise attack failing, Eleanora and Bellmond didn’t undo their restraints.
“Then let’s try again,” Vandalieu muttered.
The walls of the building next to the ones that Vandalieu had been hiding behind opened, and a large cannon barrel appeared from inside.
“Large Cannon-type Demon King Familiar, aim set.”
“Cannonball-type Demon King Familiar, loaded.”
Hihiryushukaka was shocked by the appearance of the large cannon barrel that he hadn’t seen anywhere in the memories of Birkyne and the other Vampires, but he maintained his composure and hastily tried to run away.
But as his transformation wasn’t yet complete, and his body was bound by Eleanora’s spell and Bellmond’s threads, he couldn’t move.
“Fire,” Vandalieu said once more.
With a thunderous noise, the Large Cannon-type Demon King Familiar fired the Cannonball-type Demon King Familiar, which had been created with one of the Demon King’s tumors as the base.
At the same time, Isla grabbed Eleanora and Bellmond, and used the ‘High-speed Flight’ Skill to get some distance from Hihiryushukaka.
Hihiryushukaka forcibly gained control over his new body with his Mana and muscular strength and screamed as he tried to descend towards the ground in order to escape, but the Cannonball-type Demon King Familiar followed his movement and collided directly.
“‘Flame Prison Death,’” Vandalieu murmured.
The resulting explosion and shockwave were enough to shake the entire Dungeon floor that was based on the city. The Demon king’s fat, packed inside the Demon King’s tumor in place of gunpowder, ignited to create a pillar of flame that formed a flaming prison.
“Vandalieu-sama… If you were to use this in the real city, half of it would be destroyed,” Isla said as she returned to Vandalieu’s side with Eleanora and Bellmond under her arms.
As this was just a Dungeon that was a replica of the city, the buildings and walls merely became sooty and dusty after being engulfed in the flames, but the real city’s buildings would have likely suffered tremendous damage.
Eleanora briefly thanked Isla and looked at the burning pillar of flame with a stiff expression. “More importantly, didn’t Miles, Saria and the others get caught up in it? They were supposed to be chasing and disposing of Birkyne’s confidants,” she said.
“There is no need to worry, Eleanora. Everyone except for myself, Chipuras and Berkert have returned to the fake orphanage,” Daroak assured her.
“And the fake orphanage should be protected from the shockwave by Melissa’s ‘Aegis,’” said Vandalieu.
The reincarnated Chaos Elf Melissa’s role was to remain hidden and use ‘Aegis’ from inside the orphanage building that was made from the Dungeon’s walls.
Normally, she would have joined the battle as well, but… since Birkyne had taken the orphanage’s people hostage, she was on standby together with Gufadgarn.
“I’ve made her play an unfavorable role, so I need to make sure she has a chance to fight on the frontline next time,” said Vandalieu.
“Van-sama, I think she’s happy with this. She doesn’t seem to like battle much,” said Eleanora.
“Is that so?” said Vandalieu. “… It looks like we’re not done.”
A humanoid silhouette leapt out from the blazing flames.
A mysterious, viscous fluid dripped from what was left of Birkyne.
It laughed. “Did you think it was over? It seems that you are more skillful at toying with Guduranis than I am.”
The Pure-breed Vampire’s body, which had been cut to pieces, was now being held together by shadows and tentacles of various sizes. It certainly did not look like an ordinary living organism.
“… So, it was you who stole the Demon King’s tentacles from Merrebeveil,” said Vandalieu.
“Stole?” Hihiryushukaka repeated. “I took that burden from her.”
He was speaking through Birkyne’s mouth, whose face above the nose seemed to have been blown away by the explosion.
Though the Demon King’s fragments were weapons, at the same time, they were dangerous objects… but this point was no longer valid when considering that Merrebeveil, the evil god of slime and tentacles, was the evil god best-suited for the Demon King’s tentacles.
“Then I’ll take the burden from you now,” said Vandalieu.
“That is a declaration… I don’t know how many foes you have defeated before. But don’t think that I am the same as them!” Hihiryushukaka screamed.
At the same time, the killing intent emanating from him increased drastically. Though he was another incarnation of an evil god, he was on a different level from Ravovifard, the evil god of release.
Hihiryushukaka and Ravovifard had been more or less equally powerful as gods, but the quality of the body used as the vessel was markedly different. Ravovifard had altered Bugitas over a short period of time, but Hihiryushukaka had surreptitiously altered Birkyne and the other Pure-breed Vampires for over a hundred thousand years so that even they themselves wouldn’t notice, in order to use them as vessels one day.
And unlike Ravovifard, who had not sent his entire soul into Bugitas, Hihiryushukaka had sent his entire soul into Birkyne’s body.
That alone caused a big difference, and more importantly, the Demon King’s fragments he possessed were different.
“Though it is a false image, I possess a fragment of the Demon King Guduranis’s soul and one of his physical fragments! It would not be an exaggeration to say that I am the new Demon King!” Hihiryushukaka roared, an extraordinarily sinister aura radiating from his entire body.
As he was now, it would not be impossible for him to face the entirety of the Five-colored Blades head-on or fight on even terms against Vandalieu.
But naturally, Vandalieu and even his companions remained unshaken.
Because they had her.
“Now then, shall we recreate the battle that took place in the age of the gods, Hihiryushukaka?” a voice said.
Hihiryushukaka froze as he saw someone who appeared to be a Dark Elf wearing a leotard and a skirt with strange ribbon-like decorations… Darcia.
“Y-you… Vida! You detestable goddess! Very well, I shall toy with you in front of Vandalieu, whose mother you have become incarnated within, and make you a sacrifice to myself!” Hihiryushukaka shouted.
Darcia had already used ‘Goddess Descent,’ and Hihiryushukaka was shaken, knowing that she was Vida’s incarnation.
“I say that, but we never fought each other directly… ‘Maximum Physical Ability Strengthening,’ ‘Life God Beast Summon!’” she cried, raising her staff to increase her physical ability to its absolute limit and create a divine beast made of life energy.
“‘Super Rapid Reaction!’ ‘Steel Form!’” Hihiryushukaka roared, activating ‘Armor Technique’ martial skills from his vessel Birkyne’s memories. “‘Screwing Overarm Swing!’”
Curling his tentacles together in place of fingers, he unleashed an overarm swing.
“‘Parry,’ ‘Fine Slice!’”
Darcia deflected and avoided the bundle of tentacles, and at the same time, she used a ‘Souryu Dagger Technique’ martial skill using the daggers she had made with her own Orichalcum bones through the ‘Chaos’ Skill. Attacking together with the divine beast she had created, she sliced Hihiryushukaka’s tentacles to pieces in an instant.
“Impossible! I expected life-attribute magic, but why can you use combat skills as well?!” Hihiryushukaka shouted in astonishment, but at the same time, he made a move to restrain Darcia using the Demon King’s shadow that he had hidden within his tentacles.
But Vandalieu stopped him.
“‘Evil Radiance.’”
His light-attribute dead spirit magic erased the Demon King’s shadow.
The divine beast’s fangs and claws tore into Hihiryushukaka’s body, and Darcia fired an arrow from the short bow she had been carrying on her back that pierced his chest.
“Impossible!” Hihiryushukaka shrieked again. “Vida has merely descended, while I have become a physical incarnation! I should be superior in power here! Why am I being overwhelmed?!”
Indeed, he had become a physical incarnation on Lambda and was able to wield his power as a god freely, and he should have been more powerful than Darcia, upon whom a mere part of the goddess has descended upon.
Hihiryushukaka had even reserved his power for a hundred thousand years, becoming even more powerful than he had been when he served the Demon King. He even had the Demon King’s fragments, which were weapons that he had not possessed back then.
There was no way that he should have been inferior to an incarnation of Vida, the goddess of life and love, who was unconnected in any way to combat.
“WHY, VIDA?!” Hihiryushukaka screamed.
“The reason is… something that you can’t understand, seeing as you’re not even saying my name!” said Darcia.
Hihiryushukaka should have known Darcia’s name, as he had read the memories of the Pure-breed Vampires and taken over Birkyne’s mind. Despite that, he did not call her by her name.
Darcia transformed her arms into wings and leapt at Hihiryushukaka, attacking him with her legs that she had transformed into talons.
“‘Flying Legs!’ ‘Dragon’s Tail!’”
Hihiryushukaka was torn up by the talons created from Darcia’s Orichalcum skeleton and struck down to the ground by the scaled tail that she had produced in an instant.
A part of Vida had descended upon Darcia, turning her into an incarnation of Vida. But naturally, she was Darcia at her core. She fought with Vida’s support, using her own experience and Skills. She was capable of engaging in direct combat that Vida herself was not proficient at, and had no problems with using her own transformed body as a weapon.
Meanwhile, Hihiryushukaka had become incarnated in Birkyne’s flesh. That was why he had taken over Birkyne’s memories and could use martial skills that he would not have been able to use otherwise.
But at the core, he was merely Hihiryushukaka, the evil god of joyful life. As a god who focused on nothing but playing and toying with others’ lives, the concept of training, learning combat techniques and improving one’s ability to fight did not exist in his mind.
This was evident in the difference in strength between him and Darcia that he had not expected. He had gained powerful weapons in the Demon King’s fragments, but at the same time, he was now unable to use any magic other than no-attribute magic.
This only made the difference in strength more striking.
But if I stop using the Demon King’s fragments now, Birkyne’s damaged body that has already passed its limit will fall apart! I need to get some distance for now and regenerate this body with my power –
“You don’t have time to be having a nice nap like this!” Isla’s voice shouted from overhead.
“What?!”
Before Hihiryushukaka could get off the ground, Isla’s chains rapidly wrapped themselves around him and threw him into the air once more.
“I don’t know where his weak point is anymore, but –” Bellmond began.
“We just need to tear him to pieces until he stops regenerating!” said Eleanora.
Bellmond’s threads and Eleanora’s sword laid into Hihiryushukaka’s airborne body. The Demon King’s tentacles and a part of Birkyne’s body were severed.
“Yes, this is it! This is it!” Eleanora shouted, the color of her eyes changing as she stared at the blade of her sword.
Having destroyed what remained of Birkyne’s head, she seemed to have grasped and awakened to something.
He screamed, unable to speak clearly now that Birkyne’s head had been destroyed. This was exactly like Birkyne’s own hysterical behavior. But this was interrupted by a heavier, thicker, more sinister voice.
“CURSE YOU! YOU UNFAITHFUL FOOLS WHO WORSHIPED ME AND YET DISHONORABLY SIDED WITH THE GODDESS AND THE BRAT!”
“Second cannon artillery to fourth cannon artillery, Cannonball-type Demon King Familiars, loaded,” said Vandalieu.
Hearing Vandalieu’s voice, Hihiryushukaka came back to his senses and looked around himself while still mid-air to see three more cannons like the one that had fired at him earlier, all in different buildings.
“W-wait! I surrender, I yield to you!” Hihiryushukaka shouted hastily. “So –”
“I can’t trust an evil god who tried to toy with my mother and called my companions ‘unfaithful fools.’ ‘Evil Light Cannonballs,’ fire,” said Vandalieu.
The Cannonball-type Demon King Familiars, enchanted by the light-attribute Ghosts’ dead spirit magic, were fired with a thunderous noise.
Berkert laughed maniacally. “We’ll turn you into Swiss cheese!”
“With our lord’s Mana flowing into me, my light is striking down a god!” said Daroak.
“Evil god of joyful life, be burned by your former servants!” shouted Chipuras.
Hihiryushukaka vanished among the bright light that resembled a second sun.
- Name: Chipuras
- Rank: 6
- Race: Evil Bright Ghost
- Level: 0
- Title: The Eclipse Emperor’s Fine Dog
- Passive skills:
- Spirit Form: Level 5
- Mental Corruption: Level 5
- Light-Attribute Immunity
- Light Form Manipulation: Level 5
- Mana Enlargement: Level 1
- Self-Enhancement: Subordination: Level 10
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Guidance: Level 3
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Demon King’s Light: Level 3
- Materialization: Level 3
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Creator: Level 5
- Active skills:
- No-Attribute Magic: Level 3
- Water-Attribute Magic: Level 10
- Mana Control: Level 10
- Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 7
- High-speed Flight: Level 6
- Surpass Limits: Level 10
- Projectile Fire: Level 4
- Light-Attribute Magic: Level 1
- Long-distance Control: Level 4
- Unique skills:
- Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
- Name: Daroak
- Rank: 6
- Race: Evil Bright Ghost
- Level: 0
- Title: Fighting Dog
- Passive skills:
- Spirit Form: Level 5
- Mental Corruption: Level 8
- Light-Attribute Immunity
- Light Form Manipulation: Level 3
- Mana Enlargement: Level 1
- Self-Enhancement: Subordination: Level 10
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Guidance: Level 4
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Demon King’s Light: Level 3
- Materialization: Level 3
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Creator: Level 5
- Active skills:
- Combat Slaughter Swordsmanship: Level 1
- Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 10
- Archery: Level 3
- Transcend Limits: Level 1
- Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 7
- No-Attribute Magic: Level 1
- Mana Control: Level 5
- Projectile Fire: Level 4
- Light-Attribute Magic: Level 3
- Unique skills:
- Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
- Name: Berkert
- Rank: 6
- Race: Evil Bright Ghost
- Level: 0
- Title: Mad Dog
- Passive skills:
- Spirit Form: Level 5
- Mental Corruption: Level 10
- Light-Attribute Immunity
- Light Form Manipulation: Level 7
- Mana Enlargement: Level 2
- Murder Healing: Level 10
- Self-Enhancement: Subordination: Level 10
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Guidance: Level 4
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Demon King’s Light: Level 3
- Materialization: Level 1
- Enhanced Attribute Values: Creator: Level 5
- Active skills:
- High-speed Flight: Level 7
- Projectile Fire: Level 6
- Surpass Limits: Level 10
- Light-Attribute Magic: Level 1
- Mana Control: Level 1
- Long-distance Control: Level 7
- Unique skills:
- Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
Monster explanation (Written by Luciliano): Evil Bright Ghost
As the name suggests, these are spirits of evil light. Master made Chipuras and the other Wisps increase their Ranks, causing them to go from Ghosts to Light Ghosts to Shining Light Ghosts, and they became Bright Ghosts after defeating Birkyne’s confidants. After that, the Ghosts experienced battle against Hihiryushukaka.
Naturally, Light Ghosts and their further variants are new races of monsters.
Chipuras has regained most of his memories from when he was alive, but Daroak has significant damage in his memories and knowledge, and Berkert seems to be an almost entirely different person.
That is why Chipuras has the ability to use water-attribute magic as well as any expert, and Daroak possesses advanced Skills such as an advanced Swordsmanship Skill, but Berkert has neither.
But perhaps because he has lost his sanity, he is more proficient in manipulating his own spirit form. His ‘Projectile Fire’ and ‘Long-distance Control’ Skills are at a high Level, allowing him to fire parts of his own body and control them after they are fired.
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Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Now that comments work again will remind you all, no spoilers are allowed in the comments section.
why your name is orange(?) and mine is green? … ¯_(ツ)_/¯
He is more or less part of the site staff.
Sebas is one of the editors I believe.
because he’s Sebas Tian, you insolent human. PEASANT.
Because oranges are full of vitamin C, and nowadays everyone packs themselves full of vitamin C. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Mortal minds are not fit to comprehend the reason.
It’s great to be able to comment again. I couldn’t find my old posts from when disqus was used, so it’s a bit sad.
At least a few of the old disquis comment sections still exist hidden somewhere on the internet. I know this cause once in a blue moon one of my comments from one will get liked
Considering throughout the fight, Van really did release his inner Okuu or Utsuho Reiuji from Touhou. Cemented with the fact he made an artificial sun!
Was chapter 223 posted on accident? I just read it but now it’s gone
Edit: It’s up now 🙂
Also, made an account to say thank you for the awesome translation 🙂
To everyone saying Hihi should have just left Birknye/Gufadgarn and not descend: It goes against its very nature to do so. They are the evil god that revels in manipulating and inflicting suffering on all that is under, as well as plotting and overthrowing those above. In this circumstance we have the soul of the DK that once ruled over them but now begging them for power. And they even get the chance to forcibly take over. I would assume that while killing or at least torturing it’s subjects is not that hard, likely unless they are weakened, physically and… Read more »
Thanks for the chapter. Thanks for the chapter😁❤️
Thanks for the chapter!
If the death-attribute can destroy souls, can the life-attribute create them?
My guess would be yes, and it would be something like “It is possible to colet energy to create a pseudo-soul (Basic form of spirit, possibly) that can be reincarnated repeatedly until it evolves into a real soul.”
Does anyone have any guesses?
Vida did say that it was possible for her to resurrect Zakkart and the others after their souls were broken. While she was likely unable to repair god-class souls due to the amount of power involved but mortal souls were another matter. Which is why Rodcorte snatched up the soul fragments of the champions to begin with. Vida utilizing her life attribute capabilities would have been able to glue the soul pieces back together and get them to heal back to being functional souls. Just like how Heinz was going through healing in the divine realm of the life attribute… Read more »
It is an interesting question to ask where the souls come from. We know Rodcorte mostly just keeps running souls through his system. After they die he wipes them clean and sends them out again. So he doesn’t seem to be creating souls as much as he is recycling them. What I find interesting though is the question then stands where did the souls Rodcorte recycles originally come from. It was stated he had plugged his system into Lambda even before the original God’s were born. It seems he gave a basic outline on humans and they followed that, but… Read more »
I think souls are basically generated by the universe, as even in Chapter 0 Rodcorte had mentioned that he got the idea to reincarnate the group with memories intact from other Gods of Reincarnation. Which would mean there is a lot of competition for souls to run through the reincarnation system, with entire worlds being first come first served speed races. Any gods that could manufacture souls would then be commodities that the Gods of Reincarnation would fight over to obtain. As that would basically mean that they can get ahead in soul count and thus get ahead in power… Read more »
Guys in the next chapter
Thanks for the translation. It is so much nicer to read.
Lol what a dumbass, sending not a part but his entire soul on the vessel, like you’ve gotta have a negative IQ to not realise that that was a stupid move
Well, It was an all or nothing gamble for Hihiryushukaka – if you recall Ravovifard’s case, he became a total cripple after having just a part of himself destroyed in the Bugitas fight, after which the remainder of his being was easily gathered and devoured. Maybe Hihiryushukaka might avoid being retrieved due to being outside the barrier, but he’d still be quite vulnerable.
Well the correct choice would have been to just leave Brykne for dead. Sure he spend tens of thousands of years preparing his followers as potential vessels but in this case he should have just cut his losses and stayed in hiding. It’s doubtful Van would have especially tried to hunt him down as Hihiryushukaka had never done anything to him directly before this point and Van has been shown to be the type to not entirely hold someone responsible for their follower’s actions. Although he might want to have a word with them, he won’t take their lives for… Read more »
While surrender was definitely the smart answer I don’t think pride would allow him to do that. A big part of it as well is that giving up Birknye would mean losing his favorite toy to someone else. I will say I think this was the only possible conclusion. Someone who could stand to lay low and cut his losses wouldn’t of backed himself into such a corner in the first place.
Feels great that we finally see one of Van’s objectives completed. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into a twist where Murakami finally makes his move.
I guess it would be draining to face another enemy after beating Birkyne, but considering how Van suffered no losses during his battle, except his expended mana, it should be something that he can do if Murakami were to show up
The expended mana would be irrelevant anyway since he’ll eat a soul that has an ancient vampire, an evil got, and a sliver of demon king soul on top. That should replenish his mana just fine or at least put back a good portion of it.
Even if that weren’t the case he’s getting two new fragments. One of which has good synergy with his group binding skill that manifests through his shadow and his mental encroachment skill.
Really the shadow is the fragment he’s probably most compatible with since he got the blood.
I want to point out that Van’s Group Binding Skill does not manifest through his Shadow. It manifests through his flesh and blood. The Shadow piece would enable him to manifest the group binding technique effects in his shadow.
Murakami does not even have a ghost of a chance, not even with the Death Scythe and Gungnir abilities Rodcorte salvaged and gave to him some volumes back when he was considering using the Demon King Soul Fragments.
I’m pretty sure they never said the abilities Death Scythe and Gungnir were salvaged and given to Murakami.
Chapter 194: ““I suppose I shall give this to Murakami’s group instead. It is far inferior to the Demon King’s soul, but… there is no use in giving them a power that they cannot wield.” Rodcorte turned his gaze away from the fragments of the Demon King’s soul and looked instead towards some distorted orbs. They were objects that looked as if the fragments of broken orbs had been forcibly gathered and joined together again. Two of them, one large and one small, floated in front of Rodcorte. “Some fragments of their previous owners’ souls may still be left inside… Read more »
I see. Well since their owners’ souls were broken, the skills probably wouldn’t work as well as before if at all. And I’m sure Rodcorte would fuck everything up more with his innate bungling when trying to give the skills to Murakami’s group.
I think Murakami can utilize them better, simply due to having a more ruthless and flexible mindset. Even if their cost efficiency got worse compared to before Murakami has Automatic Mana Recovery as a cheat skill to pay for the cost difference.
It is more of an issue for Murakami that once he shows he has them then Van will develop a counter to them mid fight since he has faced them before.
They might not have both been given to Murkami one could of been given to one of his helpers. I think Murakami would have the massive advantage of actually having learned something of the system of Lambda and using it. Rather than going off half cocked like Gungnir. He also understands his opponent much better than Death Scthye ever did. Still I have no clue how he plans to strike a fatal blow on someone like Van. Especially considering how little time they have had on Lamda and how few jobs they have. Van has literally had his head cut… Read more »
I would say there is an important part to how Gungnir and Death Scythes souls were broken. Gungnir he knocked cracks in it and let it break apart. So there should of been plenty of pieces left. While with Death Scthye, his was eaten away at until it was dealt one final big blow. Neither case did Van completely obliterate them in a similar fashion to how he killed people like Ternecia and Gubamon or of course Yupeon’s spirit clone. I think the blow most likely completely collapsed their personalities, but probably left some of their ability intact.
It is worth noting that God based powers tend to be given to Van when he eats a god, it is how he got Mental Encroachment and his amazing tongue extension skill.
So it is highly likely that when a soul is broken Rodcorte’s power in the cheat skills remains more or less mostly intact even if everything else breaks down. Due to being less “flimsy” then the mortal soul that was encasing said skills.
Their souls were broken very sloppily. It did destroy their personalities, but as Rodcorte said the fragments even have a little of that left. The cheat ability that Rodcorte put in should still be there. Escorted could give it a little boost if need be as well.
I vaguely remember this part. I had no idea Rodcorte was referring to the soul fragments of Death Scythe and Gungnir. Good to finally know
Personally I’m still in hypothesis mode since I haven’t read ahead. It does seem like the most likely answer though considering, Rodcorte stated Murakami couldn’t handle the dks soul and he used those fragments on Edgar.
Roddy is obsessed with the idea that his cheat skills will win the day. Add in that Gungnir and Death Scythe were two of the strongest combat abilities. There is no way he wouldn’t try to reuse them.
Rodcorte used the Demon King Soul Powder, which he considered to be leftover garbage and not a fragment. Using it as little more then glue to hold things together.
The comments have returned! Hallelujah! OK, great chapter. I think Hihiryu went down a little too easy, but honestly, that’s Van’s fighting style in a nutshell. Countermeasures on countermeasures on countermeasures on an UNO reverse card printed on the back of a Yu-Gi-Oh Trap Card. (I honestly never played Yu-Gi-Oh, is there an ultimate trolling trap card?) That said, I am disappointed that the city trap was made on such short notice and on the fly. One of my favorite aspects of Van is that he takes such extreme steps to ensure victory, that his inventive ways of defeating his… Read more »
The dungeon was there since Van got a house in this city and they were expecting Birkyne or someone to try something all along. Also, Gufadgarn was beside Van for a long time now. He could had asked about Guduranis anytime. As you said: countermesures. Van cannot afford to leave things be or relie on luck
The Dungeon Van made in his house for the past couple months was one made to copy the city but only with a good enough quality to fool someone who was focused on Van into thinking they were still in the city. It’s quality did not need to be that high. If Van was going to make a Dungeon City that was meant to be lived in then he would spend far more time working on it. As for the Encroachment, the set in stone rule is that level 10 Encroachment means you are under Guduranis’ control. So there was… Read more »
The city was probably made a month ago. The main reason Van was even in Morksi was because he wanted to flush out his enemies by using himself as bait. It’s not just Birkyne that he was expecting to fight. There’s also Murakami’s group and possibly Heinz’ group if they recovered quickly. There’s also Fitun and his puppet Hajime though Van isn’t specifically aware of them but he’s probably on guard against other reincarnators and gods from Alda’s faction. If Van was hoping to draw out multiple enemies then it would be safe to assume that they would fight in… Read more »
I mentioned it in the Discord Channel, but just in case, some corrections.
The reference is from (Kamen) Rider. The “Transform” Keyword used by Eleonora is the same “HENSHIN” used by Riders, hence the reference. The Katakana started with RAI, not from Raibuman (Which is a random sentai franchise), but from Raidaa (which is a whole tokusatsu category)
Souryu Dagger Technique was previous translated as Hearth-Style Dagger Technique (or something like that, check Darcia’s latest status)
That makes so much more sense
I’m surprised Birkyne referenced Liveman instead of Jetman since he’s similar to Radiguet.
Thanks for the chapter. I hope Van can get the (former)DK soul. This God really instead of just sending a part of him, so he can run he went all in?? He is crazier that I though.
Thnx for the chapter ♥️
Yoshi sama we love you <3
Eleanoras eyes changed colour after killing someone she was once close to and still somewhat regarded as an important figure in her life???
She just unlocked sharingan, calling it now.
yasssss
As amusing as that may be, or some reference to it is possible. I believe she just Awakened her Sword Technique, as she has been at 10 for awhile. A couple of chapters ago she said she felt close, she was just lacking something.
I’m just saying my dude, that stuffs probably even possible with some time magic jiggery pokery
More likely that she just lost the connection she had to her “parent”, awakened to a superior skill, and earned herself a princess related title.
All of those things then combined to give her Sharigen! Lol. To be fair considering how giant frogs have been referenced I wouldn’t put it past the author. Her charming demon eyes also seem the closest to illusions out of all the Evil Eyes Van has thus far.
On a more serious note. You’re probably right that she has finally unlocked her own advanced fighting skill.
So basically the DK’s Shadow is a bad copy of all of Guduranis’ worst traits but without the intelligence and strength that balanced it out in the real Guduranis. Anyways man Hihi-chan is even dumber than Birkyne. He knows Van can break souls and yet he thought it would be a good idea to completely descend his soul into Birkyne’s body. That just cuts off his escape route. Ravovifard didn’t shove all of his soul into Bugitas which is why he had been able to escape from Van with only serious injuries to his soul instead of it being completely… Read more »
The shadow is not a cheap copy. The shadow is a perfect copy of his PERSONALITY. The fact that Guduranis had a shitty personality to begin with is not Birkyne’s fault really(now I realized that we never seen what Birkyne’s personality is like huh)
As for Hihi-chan…. well he only knows what Tarnecia, Gubamon and G. Birkyne knew about Van. From the way they died we can agree that they knew nothing most of the time and some shallow information in their most genius moments.
No he is not a perfect copy. He’s not even a complete copy of his personality. At one point they mention a few of Guduranis’ essential soul fragments and one of them was Guduranis’ emotions. You can’t really have a personality without emotions. The DK’s Shadow is as the narration said, just a persona. It’s very existence is an anomaly that was compared to a miracle and just a tiny piece of Guduranis’ soul. It’s nothing more than an amnesiac fragment who is acting how it THINKS Birkyne would act without really being either Birkyne or Guduranis save for Guduranis’… Read more »
Van was able to predict what he will do by listening to what Gufadgarn said about Guduranis. This fragment thinks and acts like Guduranis would in this situation. It does think that it’s Birkyne, yes. And it has his memories. However it has Guduranis’ bad habit of lashing out when angered and that is from the DKF. It’s Guduranis but with someone else’s memories. This is why they refused to address to him as anything else but Guduranis during this chapter. This could also be backed by the fact that the other vampires were shocked to hear what he and… Read more »
It is a fact though that the Shadow only has elements of Guduranis that were too small to become memories, personality, or anything really. Even less then the Demon King Soul Powder used on Edgar.
And it was already explained in story that the rampaging was the conflict between Birkyne and Shadow Guduranis happening when the Shadow’s mental state was disturbed.
I think the way to think about it, and the author’s intent, is this. it is LITTERALLY the DK’s shadow so think about what that means. A shadow follows your actions and behavior to the letter. It doesn’t have your memories, thoughts, or feelings. But it mirrors your actions. The DK’s shadow is the same in that in mirror’s the DK’s actions even though he lacks the feelings and memories. And it’s why It had to take the vampire’s thoughts and feelings in order to function. So it’s not that it’s a bad copy holding only the DK’s worst traits.… Read more »
Daroak: With my lord’s light, I strike down a god!
Chipuras: Be burned by your former servants, evil god!
Berkert: I’lL TuRn You iNto SWISS CHEESE (btw, is there swiss cheese in that world?)
It seems there is. This flew over my head until you pointed it
If I’m not wrong cheese is one of the things that Van try to re-create in Talosheim so maybe he managed to create Swiss cheese?
Clearly introduced by Van or the previous champions.
imagine calling a child a midget
The reaction of the esper girl sums up the reaction of the child.
I’m going to be honest, I’m eager to see what Alda and his group think of Hihiryushukaka’s defeat. Since Van did something they couldn’t for the last hundred thousand years in no more than a few years of his adolescence. But given their blocky personalities, even if the wiser of his subordinates suggest otherwise, he’s still going to treat Van like a greater threat. I honestly thought that Hihiryushukaka would be smarter after the death of two of his subordinate pure-breeds but frankly its justified that he overestimated his own Guduranis’ fragment and underestimated Van’s. Hence, affording him a Disney-esque… Read more »
Could they even see the battle? I thought the Alda group could only see battles through the eyes of their believers and Hihiryushukaka is far away from a believer.
They won’t,but they would feel it if hihi-chan’s aura or some shit suddenly disappeared completely
Not to mention the entire organization he started collapsing into panic and leading to a lot of vampires suddenly being revealed in their panic.
So is the evil god actually dead or just returned to the astral plane?
Super dead. Unlike Ravovifard who only placed part of his soul into Bugitas, this idiot entirely descended on Birkyne so he can’t escape like Ravovifard was briefly able to right before the other gods ganged-up on him and sealed him.
IT’s really a case of wrong place wrong time. Decending fully WOULD have been a smart move if he had a proper escape plan because it made him stronger. Putting in only a part of him would just leave him weakened prey like good old Ravioli :P. But unlike with the Orc Van was WELL within the advantage and Birkyne had no possibility to escape. Even the power of an evil god meant little as there were multiple beaings that either held his weaknesses or were equal to him. It was stated he could Rival van at least in a… Read more »
Looks like the vampires are no longer a threat, for now.
I couldn’t say anything last chapter *cry because of it*, but this time non shall silence me. I have to praise how awesome the last two chapter were. Why the last one was awesome: We got to see how much did Van’s ‘pets’ grew. Both in strenght and quite literally in Pete’s case. To bad Birkyne didn’t have Saitama on his side. Miles is now the living proof that werewolves are now(to some extends) a thing in this story. Still waiting to see where all of this is going. We have a clear depiction of the difference between Van’s followers… Read more »
Maybe Van will use the tentacles to approximate a male Scylla. Wonder how Privel and Orbia would react.
They will get …. wet *finger guns* eyyyyyyy
Thanks for the chapter!!!! Lol. Hihiryushuka really didn’t think things all the way through. He should have encouraged Birkyne to get out or help him escape in the beginning of he was going to help. However, he thought it was the best choice to do so after all other comrades were dead, and he decided to fight against someone who had destroyed the souls of multiple gods……talk about hubris in its finest. On the bright side, Elenora seems to have finally awakened her [Sword Technique] into a superior skill. The way she reacted and looked at her sword during her… Read more »
Thanks for the chapter!
A part of D.K. soul huh? Nothing less to be expected from Alda and Bellwood,doing a bad job even at sealing their mortal enemy.
Personelly id say that its just a part of What they Are as charectors honestly.
I Mean one sounds like a eco terrorist and the other could be called the god of stagnation instead of justice.
Thanks for the chapter.
Power up from dead puny god, GET!
*inhales*
PERSONA!
sorry, I had to
Lol. Someone had to do it. You make your comrades proud. Lol
That flashed into my mind once i read the word…
And thus ends the pure breed trio of the three who do you guys got curb stomped the hardest? I think Gobuman got curb stomped the hardest (I think I misspelled his name). Out of the things Hihi could’ve done that was one of the dumbest he should’ve done what that other evil god did which was to go to sleep for a millennium or something and wait it out but the problem is by doing this he is vulnerable to attack but idk
Tough to say who got curbstomped the hardest. Van got more practiced at doing it as he went along, but they also underestimated him less so they at least put up a bit of a fight. I think Gubamon probably wins that one, despite Van’s slip up with the demon eyes of destruction, just because he half did himself in even before Van showed up.
It’s a hard question. Van got infinitely stronger between each fight. Honestly I’d say Birkyne was probably the easiest fight for Van simply because everyone got so much better by the time it happened and he got to set up a million preferable conditions ahead of time, but in a comparison of curb stompage it just feels like Gubamon got it the hardest.
Guess everyone has differing opinions here. Gubamon was the least stomped Purebreed imo, at least he caught Van out and dealt relatively lethal damage that bypassed his death sense, and he had to protect the threatened spectators, Gubamon’s (former) underlings included. It’s probably a tie between Birkyne and Ternecia, my pick being the latter simply because “hmm yes i got the gist of gugurandis’s personality after a brief lecture, can u quickly construct a replica of the entire city btw” is too fictional an asspull for me Whereas Ternecia along with Heinz felt like they were manoeuvred by Van like… Read more »
“I don’t know how many foes you have defeated before. But don’t think that I am the same as them!” The fact that this was said by a foolish god possessing the body of a delusional shadow who also thought he was on par with our Lord Van and tried to copy him a few minutes earlier adds so many layers of irony that you could use them as defense with Armor Technique. Hihi-kun really didn’t think this through. And looks like Eleanora got the skill awakening that she wanted (or at least got closer), yay! Needing to cut an… Read more »
Thanks so much 🙂
Thanks for the chapter! I’m excited to see what comes next and the power ups Van-sama gains from this DELICIOUS snack called a Hihi bar. Praise be to Vandalieu-sama! Long Live the God of Death!
Great chapter Yoshi, So Hihiryushukaka sent his entire soul into Birkyne. Didn’t think he would do that after Birkyne kept begging him and he kept refusing. Also Birkyne had been controlled by his fragment this whole time and the soul fragment that he had, had fooled itself into thinking it was Birkyne. That is really complicated, but it is glad to see this evil god get what he deserves. Hope to see the aftermath of the battle in the next chapter.
Wow! Thank you for that piece of heaven. Spoiler: Finally that god died.
That isn’t a spoiler. This chapter ended with that god being destroyed
He might not be dead just yet. ‘Vanished’ could mean he could no longer be seen, rather than that he was actually destroyed. Either way though, it’s clearly over for him, so not really a spoiler.
True. He still has control over Guduranis’ shadow, so… If he controls it good enough, he could potentially have hid in the shadow of his own body ?
Paradoxe : That’s thinking he had enough time for it and that his body wasn’t totally destroy by those Light-attribute cannons. -__-
Fair enough…
This Evil God is f###ing stupid … ¯_(ツ)_/¯ he watched Birkyne basically being rape by 10 people and suddenly he has the brilliant idea ” I should try this … just quick ride ” … ¯_(ツ)_/¯ now is time to confront the reincanators
In his defense losing Birknyes body would mean flushing the last of a hundred thousand years worth of effort and planning down the drain. Now did he stand a chance of winning? Heck no, but I can’t completely blame him for taking the best shot he was ever going to get. Though if he truly wanted to live he probably should of just gone into hiding and started from scratch. I don’t think his ego would have let him do that though.
Paradoxe : Taking into account the fact that he thought he could win by controlling Guduranis’ shadow, Vida’s vessel was as martially impotent as her and that he thought Van’s girls and ghosts would let him repair his body without doing anything… Yeah, no way he could accept those truth and choose to escape from a cage named “The Demon King’s city” Dungeon. -__- <Ah, I forgot that they were fighting inside a dungeon created by the evil god of labyrinth who have Space-attribute magic and could probably keep the exit option of the labyrinth unattainable… )
Thanks for the chapter!
It seems Hihi-kun was acting out of character in this chapter? Perhaps Guduranis’ soul fragment was encroaching on Hihi-kun whenever he talked to Birkyne. It was certainly encroaching while he was possessing Birkyne’s body.
But Vandalieu doesn’t need to worry about such things. He’ll just eat all 3 souls at the same time. Birkyne’s, Guduranis’ and Hihi-kun’s.
I wonder what ability he’ll get from Hihi-kun and if he’ll get one from Guduranis’ fragment? I’m not sure cause it’s just a fragment but it was also reallly powerful.
He’ll probably just get complete control of the shadow. All of Shadow DK’s power was within the shadow itself. The soul was just a hollow husk by itself. So once Van eat’s the husk the shadow will just bond to his own soul instead making his soul even more similar to the DK’s but not as it take over he’s just digesting and assimilating the traits into himself.
I’m not sure Hihi kun will give any abilities. Usually to get one of those from eating they have to be fairly pronounced. I don’t think Van really wants a skill called “mess with people”. He can already basically do that, lol. For the Shadow. It was such an insignificant part it couldn’t even support its own ego. It had to delude itself into thinking it was Birknye. However I think it will be able to work properly with Van once Van assimilate it. I think Vans shadow will work similar to a spirit clone. Moving with its own will,… Read more »
There might be an element of affinity involved in what Van gets when he ‘digests’ souls. If so, Hihi might give quite a lot, because on top of being a very powerful god, his powers are closely aligned with Van’s (creating and commanding undead, etc).
Alternatively, Hihiryushukaka might only give attribute bonuses, since the things he can do, Van can do better.
Birkyne’s soul has passed on a long time ago, Guduranis’ soul is nothing but a personality kept by its shadow… The only soul he could eat would be Hihiryushukaka’s. ^^ <Well… Only if that kind of god has a soul !)
His soul didn’t pass on it was corrupted by the shadow. Basically the shadow was like a hollow husk of the DK’s soul and it filled itself with Birkyne’s soul. This means he effectively died and became a kind of psudo clone of the DK. But the soul was still there… just altered.
So there would be two souls right now. The DK’s Psudo soul and the evil god’s complete soul.
I don’t think Van will get anything specific from Hihi-chan. He didn’t get anything from eating Ravovifard and most of the other gods. He’ll just get XP and maybe it’ll be enough to level up or awaken some of his skills along with probably maxing out his current job.
Most of them were weak though. though the previous theory of needing an affinity with van for him to inherit a skill seems plausible. it’s probably more like divine protections though. if van’s too strong, he can’t get anything but attribute bonuses and exp
Thank you!! I loved the fight! Is it really over now though?
I’d guess there’ll be a bit more struggling before Hihi is toast.
Yeah, considering we didn’t get the text ‘you have gained X000 stamina and X000 of other stat’. I don’t think Vans eaten him quite yet. He might be saving the body to allow Melissa to get the final strike and earn some easy exp for her efforts. Be pretty funny way for Hihi to go out. Literally having his life toyed with by Van.
But I thought that he could earns XP by eating the souls of his opponent ? O_O
Nope, soul eating has nothing to do with XP. He only gains XP when he watches his allies/subordinates kill things. Dead Spirit Magic counts as the ghosts killing it though, so it hasn’t generally been much of handicap lately.
Only this fight. Without spoiling, you won’t be disappointed for long. Consider this the appetizer.
Thanks for the chapter, figured Birkyne was long gone. So anyone that gets the 10 aside from Vand in demon king loses their minds to the fragments. I suppose even gods aren’t immune from it. Does make me wonder how long Edgar will last and if any of his allies will notice. The evil god should have retreated and gone back to hiding in Alda’s shadow until Vand and Alda fought each other.
Van never even got the Demon King Encroachment Skill. When the system was about to give it to him he went “No” and got Demon King Fusion instead.
I still wonder about the why Vand was immune to it. Maybe it was because of his high mana or the fact that he could use death mana or a combination. If I had to guess, I would say it was the death mana since the gods have high mana amounts relative to most and I think the original demon king was said to use death magic as well, not sure about that.
It was already explained: his death attribute mana is similar to Guduranis’ mana which allowed him to overwrite the fragments and claim them.
The fragments themselves excluding soul fragments only contain a vague base instinct that tells them to collect into the main body. Their “will” is the main body’s will. Which mean’s Van’s will since they misidentify him as the main body due to his mana.
My apologies, forgot about that. Still makes me wonder if anyone with death mana could pull off the same trick. That reincarnator is researching death magic so he might be able to pull the same trick as would Legion, though I doubt Legion would betray Vand like that. I also wonder if parts of Vand could be stolen by say the original demon king or a rival death mage.
Probably only if Van gets sealed the same way as Guduranis (body and soul split into many tiny pieces). Vida said that the fragments Van has are fused with his soul and can be called fragments of the Demon King Vandalieu.
It isn’t quite the case that they misidentify him. I can’t say too much without pretty serious spoiling. But remember some of the things the fragments have said such as “superior host”.
Hmmmm, so if a host comes along that has more death magic than Vand, the parts will abandon ship. I doubt that will happen, but i do wonder if other death mages will have an easier time controlling demon king pieces that are not already in Vand and if those mages would be immune to the corruption. I know currently Vand and maybe Legion are the only death mages with Legion being more of a heroic god to Vand than an actual death mage, but I suspect that when that one reincarnator, whose code name I think is Avalon, dies… Read more »
From what I remember since Van’s soul is so warped combined with him using Mental Encroachment is what convinced the DK fragments that Van is the main body.
That’s a common interpretation, but it wasn’t explained in the story. Another very reasonable interpretation is that Van used Mental Encroachment on the fragments.
The fight with Ravivofard showed that even God’s can get encroached by the DK fragments. Vans a special case because he fuses and becomes one with them rather than them trying to take him over. I think since Edgar is having the pieces directly mixed into his soul I feel like that would speed up the encroachment process. My guess is the revived Edgar is going to try and grab some fragments of the DK and add them to his own body becoming the second main body. I can’t wait to see Heinzs face if my guess is right and… Read more »
Second body sounds about right. As for Heinz reaction, I’m guessing something stupid (maybe not directly blaming Van but something still stupid)
He might seek van to fuse with him
Depends on how much of the demon king’s soul and persona remains. He might want to get rid of the competition. The more Vand gains, the more demon king loses his original body. Does raise the question of whether the original demon king would be able to regain parts that are inside Vand. I doubt Edgar will be able to get parts, since the body would be incompatible.
I don’t think so. I think Van would need to die before Guduranis could take back the fragments.
Vida already stated back when she first diagnosed Van that the Demon King fragments fused with his soul. So the only way the fragments could return to Guduranis is if he develops the ability to devour souls and eats Van’s soul. Otherwise if Guduranis attempts to get his fragments back the only thing he is doing is jumping right into Van’s stomach. The bigger problem is Rodcorte and Rikudou, if Rikudou manages to obtain the death attribute and then gets defeated by Amemiya Hiroto then Rodcorte is going to implement that idea he had back in Chapter 194 and implant… Read more »
Edgar is not getting any parts, Edgar is a part.
Man, I was not expecting Hihiryushukaka to come into play here. That was pretty stupid. Why the fuck would he do that?? I’m pretty sure that was the stupidest play anyone so far has ever done.
I think Gubamon destroying all his own subordinates was probably stupider. Still, the “incarnate and beat them up” plan was pretty awful.
Yeah… I mean even if he was a god he was taking over a broken body, surrounded by Van and his subordinates, in a dungeon controlled by another evil god. Even if Darcia didn’t show up to instantly counter him Van still had light magic to counter the shadow and the tentacles weren’t likely to turn the tide. But in his defense it was established the evil god had been preparing that body to be his host body for tens of thousands of years. So I guess he was too determined to not lose his investment to cut his losses… Read more »
It definitely felt like a do or die moment for Hihi. Birknye truly was the last strong pawn left. Without him or his confidants the whole organization will collapse. He was also the last host that Hihi had been cultivating for a hundred thousand years. Another part is remember Van has hidden his cards very well. No one other than his allies has ever seen a DK familiar. To Hihi he must have thought put in his full power and the DK tentacles he could at least use that to run away and gain some distance. As far as Vida… Read more »
Well there are 3 major factors that make it understandable. 1. That is a body he invested 100K years into, and was a top notch body prior to that. He’s not going to get something like that again. 2. Against most opponents, he + that modified body + 2 DK fragments + a small part of Guduranis’s soul really would be unstoppable. 3. He’s an Evil God who has toyed around with most all major societies and even an aspect of Guduranis for the last 100K years. He’s gotten “a little” full of himself. It would be stranger if he… Read more »
Another factor was what he was the god of. Being a god that toys with others’ lives, means he was always in control and tortured those weaker than him. He might as well be the god of bullies. I am guessing that most gods must be what they are and can not be something that goes against their being, for example the god of justice would not be able to break a law. With Vand being a child, he would be unable to retreat. Mind you that ties into your third factor.
Yeah, it was pretty stupid. But if he is going to commit suicide anyway, might go out with a bang. Why suicide? Because when a god runs out of believers, he will eventually disappear. How many believers is left for Hihiryushukaka? There are the vampires under Birkyne and that’s it, as far as I know. With Birkyne gone, nobody is left to worship Hihiryushukaka.
Lastly, call it divine arrogance and Hihiryushukaka how much of a threat Van is.
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Oooh, the demon king’s tentacles. I was wondering when those would turn up. They’re perfect for Van, especially with the ‘Tentacle King’ title. Also, that cannon move of Van’s is an excellent addition to his repertoire. It was very cool to see Eleanora hold her own against Birkyne; this confrontation definitely wouldn’t have been complete without it. Hihi, I expected more from you than “incarnate and beat them up”… Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped that he’s like that, since he normally only interacts with those he can toy with… in other words those too weak to be… Read more »
Forget the tentacles, I want to see the Demon King’s Muscles.
Dude, think it like this: he could try to wrap his body with the tentacles and use them like muscles. Like Muscular from BNHA/MHA.
Van would short circuit out of joy if he got a fragment like that.
Given Vans luck if he does find DK muscles it almost certainly wouldn’t workout (no pun intended) the way he’d want it too. Also if he could make himself super buff all the time he’d NEVER turn it off, even if he were in public, which would cause issues. Though him trying to claim he just had an early very aggressive puberty would be kinda funny.
I could see Van going “SIDE CHESTO!” and doing Jojo poses if the fragment worked how he wants it to regardless of if he’s in public or not.
Considering that Guduranis originally never had a human based form and was from a world that lacked said forms I would not be surprised if the muscle attempts to take the form van wants and then just explodes out of his arm like a tentacle in some odd shape.
Especially since Van will already have the Demon King Tentacles follow this fight and those are pretty much just muscle anyways.
Nothing feels better than an accurate guess, ;D. I gotta admit I didn’t think Hihi would descend like this but kind of glad he did. Allows Van to put to rest the entire evil vampire organization for good now.
I am looking forward to Privels reaction to Vans Do Tentacles, lol. I think they are going to also be used for some very interesting DK familiars as well, lol.
The god who toyed with a puppet whose identity was but a shadow of its former self…
Was humiliated by the teamwork of the holy mother receiving the power of her goddess, broken by those he thought as pawns and destroyed by the power of the God of Death and Retribution…
Noctyrannus : Now that’s how you slay evil gods ! ^^b
Dimhélios : But still… Van’s mother became quite strong at using her body’s properties and transformations… I fear that she’ll earn the Title : “Vida’s holy monstrous vessel”… O_O’ Mothers are scary…
Noctyrannus : Amen to that truth… O_O’
Yeah, we’re starting to see just how powerful the Chaos + Orichalcum Skeleton combo is. Good to know Darcia will never be without a weapon!
Silly Evil God, if you had just abandoned Birkyne you would have survived to try again later.
Now you are merely food for a superior being.
Paradoxe : He’s a sadistic player who thinks that strong vessels means true strength and that being a god gives you enough power to rule over mortals… Also, he wanted Van’s fragments, didn’t count on Vida’s apparition and literally fused his being onto Birkyne’s body. There was no saving him.
I don’t think he could ever have handled Vans fragments. I think he became drunk on his own feeling of superiority after so many years that he couldn’t imagine his own defeat. To bad for him Van is a careful planner and put together contingency plans for any situation.
I have Flashbacks on Talosheim’s defensive battle. ( OuO) It was a good day for a picnic… Oh, and to destroy a nation who thought that they could handle Van’s OP-ness, but that’s details.
Amazing chapter.
Hello comments, I missed you <3
PRAISE VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR CHAMPION, OUR DEATH GOD, AND THE ONE WHO DEFEATS HERETICAL EVIL GODS! BEHOLD HIS GLORIOUS VICTORIES AND DISPLAYS OF POWER AND STRATEGY, AND WATCH AS HE DECIMATES ALL IN HIS PATH! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
So was the true enemy of this fight Birkyne, Hihiryushukaka, or Guduranis? That is the real question.
Whoever Birkyne was he died a long time ago. His entire personality was just gurandis believing he was Birkyne with a bit of hysterical blood rages do to rejection thrown in
So any time Birkyne went on murderous rampages, it was due to the mind and body being incompatible. That could be why the other pure bloods thought he was behaving like himself. Makes me wonder if Vand will be taken over by the shadow or if the shadow will be swallowed by Vand. Maybe if the shadow kills someone, Vand could make spectors or phantoms out of the ghosts.
Keep in mind the Shadow is hollow. It does not have any parts of Guduranis’s personality, memories, or emotions in it. It is merely an image. Which means it is going to be even easier to overwrite it then other fragments. After all, it had to go to the host personality to be able to function to begin with which is why it thought it was Birkyne. The bigger benefit Van will get out of the Shadow would be the Shadow Movement ability. It will make it even easier for him to deploy the people he has equipped with Group… Read more »
If no one else is getting Seong Jin-Woo vibes here, I’m concerned
Who is Seong Jin-Woo?
Solo Leveling protagonist
Exactly. The other fragments were driven by pure instinct. It was why normally they couldn’t be controlled because like a PC that is password protected they only accepted Guduranis’s commands. Van changed this because his death attribute Mana was essentially the password so all he had to do was hack in and over write Guduranis’s username with his own making him the true owner. But the shadow is different. As it was like a hollowed out soul it lacked the insinct of other fragments and was more like the hollow remnant of the DK itself that wanted to draw the… Read more »
No mere Shadow will ever triumph over the Abyss. It just isn’t possible
Guduranis’ shadow was the sub-boss while Hihiryushukaka was the arc’s boss. OuO
Nah, the arc isn’t over. Hihi was relegated to being a mid-boss.
Midnight : Nah, he’s nothing more than a side-dish ! ^^
Birkyne was the Mid-Boss of the Mid-Boss of the Mid-Boss, the Shadow was the Mid-Boss of the Mid-Boss, with Hihiryushukaka being the actual Mid-Boss.
Got to suck for an evil god… being relegated to being little more then a Mid-Boss. Oh well, at least he had a couple Mid-Boss stages before his turn. So he could be a Mid-Boss Boss.
The whole thing was basically “This isn’t even my final form” just replace “my final form” with “the deepest hole I can dig for myself” for more accuracy
It was the shadow and then Hihiryushukaka. As this chapter mentioned the shadow was never truely Guduranis himself but just a hollow shadow of him. Like a shadow it mimicked his movements and behavior but it was never truly him. The thing to keep in mind is other fragments of the demon king possess no soul. They possess mere instinct to return to the main body. This is why Van could encrouch upon and take them over until the fragments saw him as the main body. Think of it like over-writing the user ID of the DK with his own.… Read more »
Good to see you again Doom-sama, I missed seeing your sacred messages for the longest time now. It keeps getting buried nowadays.
Preach Doom Sama so everyone knows Van Sama’s awesomeness
Thnx for the chappie, that cliff tho. i wanted to see the new frags get added.
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hey Master where are you from??? cuz here is still 26 april … ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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