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The sensation of bubbles gently tickling the tongue ensured that the addictive sweetness of the caramel wasn’t overwhelming, and the result was a refreshing experience. Also, as each bubble burst, a unique fragrance burst forth and expanded inside the mouth.
Zuruwarn had consumed carbonated alcoholic beverages before, such as ale, but this beverage was different from those, and he became immersed in its flavor. Three quarters of his consciousness was swept away by it.
One of his four heads was busily gulping the cola from his personal cup, while a second was smacking its lips. A third let out a loud burp.
“Pardon me,” the third head said, before continuing to drink.
“So, this is cola… on Earth, the world where it originated, this drink and pizza are symbols of gluttony. It is a drink that drives people to depravity!” said his fourth head.
Vandalieu, the creator of the cola, gave a satisfied nod. “It’s good that you’re happy with it. To be honest, I was worried because it isn’t as fizzy as the cola on Earth.”
The aroma and flavor of the cola that he had created himself was almost identical to the cola on Earth that he barely remembered… No, he had used Gehenna Bee honey as the sweetener, so the flavor was clearly superior.
But there had apparently been a problem with the way he made it; it wasn’t as strongly carbonated. The carbonation wasn’t mild, but it was weak enough to feel insufficient compared to the carbonated drinks that he remembered.
He would later come to realize that he could solve this by increasing pressure during the process of carbonation – the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in the fluid.
He would likely be able to create proper cola by setting up a proper Golem factory to manufacture it rather than a prototype setup using barrels.
However, other than the carbonation, there was no problem with the flavor and aroma of the cola.
Kanako, Doug, Melissa and Legion had all given their seal of approval, saying that it had the same aroma as the cola they had consumed in Origin but with a better flavor… Unlike Vandalieu, the reincarnated individuals’ reference point was the cola of Origin rather than that of Earth, likely because they had consumed the cola of Origin so much that it had overwritten their memory of Earth’s cola.
If one thought about it, it was peculiar that cola’s existence was a common feature in two different worlds. But Earth and Origin were very similar worlds, with the only differences being the existence of magic and the presence or absence of a number of historical events. The tastes of the people and the ingredients that existed in the two worlds were therefore very similar as well, which was why similar carbonated beverages had been produced and become a global phenomenon in both worlds.
Indeed, cola was the same in both worlds, but they were manufactured by different companies.
“Also, it might be true that it’s a symbol of gluttony, but I think it’s an exaggeration to say that it drives people to depravity,” said Vandalieu. “And pizza can be healthy depending on what you put on it and how thin the base is.”
“Mmm. I was joking, of course. But you are fine with it being a symbol of gluttony?” Zuruwarn asked.
“It’s a fact that cola has a lot of calories. And the cost of the ingredients needed to make it is quite high, too.”
The sweetener Vandalieu had used was Gehenna Bee honey, which they had produced by gathering nectar from the flowers of Skogsrå like Eisen, Leshi, Monster Plants and Gante Ents. It was incredibly delicious, but this made the cost of the ingredients very high. Its current price was equivalent to not 100 yen, but 100 Lunas per glass (approximately 10,000 yen).
If one were to attempt to procure ingredients of the same quality in the Orbaume Kingdom, it would likely cost several thousand Baums (approximately 100,000 yen.)
TLN: 100 yen is about $1USD. A 500ml bottle of Coke is typically 160 yen in Japan. 10,000 yen is about $100USD. 100,000 yen is about $1000USD.
“The manufacturing costs will go down if I manage to make it possible to mass-produce, and I intend to turn it into two separate products – a common variety that uses ordinary sugar as the sweetener, and a variety targeted at the wealthy, made with Gehenna Bee honey,” said Vandalieu.
“Even so, it sounds like it will be expensive. Sugar is not as cheap in Lambda as it is on Earth,” said Zuruwarn.
Indeed, sugar was highly valuable in this world. It was similar to paper; it wasn’t so exorbitantly pricy that ordinary people could never buy it, but using it on a daily basis would put a strain on one’s wallet. It was something of a small luxury item.
“… Do you intend to import the sugar needed for it from the Majin nation, like you are doing with rambutan fruits from the High Kobold nation?” asked Xerx, the God of Battle Flags.
“Yes,” Vandalieu said with a nod.
“There’s no need for you to be so reserved. I am sure you would be able to produce your own sugarcane or beet sugar in your own Dungeons,” Xerx said.
“That’s true, but we’re already importing sugarcane to meet our current needs. But I think it would be shameful to steal the local products of allied nations… That’s not something we should be doing in such times,” said Vandalieu.
It would be rather meaningless to steal wealth from allied nations when the entire empire was at war with Alda, the God of Law and Fate, and Rodcorte, the God of Reincarnation.
“Very well, though I do not think it is something you should concern yourself with,” said Xerx.
“I agree. Perhaps it would be better to create a cola factory in each nation and have each nation produce their own flavors. Local specialty cola – I think this could work,” said Zozogante, the Evil God of the Dark Forest.
“… Do you have the will to make a profit or not?” Zuruwarn questioned.
Fidirg, the Dragon God of Five Sins, suddenly looked up. He had been even more immersed in drinking cola than Zuruwarn.
“Five-head land?! Is this something related to me?!” he said in alarm.
TLN: ‘Local specialty’ is ご当地/gotouchi, and ‘five-head land’ is 五頭地/gotouchi.
“I said ‘local specialty.’ Though it would include the great marshlands of the Lizardmen that you protect,” said Zozogante. “… Perhaps my Ghoul nation’s flavor would be Gante Ent flavor?”
He was absorbing cola through his roots, and his eyes that were attached to his branches like fruit looked like they were spellbound.
“Assuming that we are ruling out a tentacle flavor, would a rice flavor work?” wondered Merrebeveil, Evil God of Slime and Tentacles, guardian deity and mother of the Scylla.
“What would work with the nation of my children? Meat, or perhaps fat…” murmured Mububujenge, Evil God of Degenerate Corpulence, guardian deity of the Noble Orc nation.
“The local specialty cola of my children, who live by the sword…?! Is this not a more difficult problem than any fierce war?!” said Garess, God of Warriors, guardian deity of the Kijin nation.
“I do not think we can add thread or pieces of carapace to it. Perhaps it is necessary to send out Divine Messages and instruct our children to borrow the Holy Son’s wisdom?” said Zanalpadna, Evil God of Carapaces and Compound eyes, parent of the Arachne and Empusa races and guardian deity to their city that bore her name.
Multiple gods were all enjoying Vandalieu’s cola.
“Then should I tell Queen Donaneris myself?” said Vandalieu.
“That would be helpful,” Zanalpadna said.
“Alright,” said Vandalieu, and he decided to take advantage of the current topic to bring up the main reason he had come here. “Speaking of Divine Messages, I didn’t come here just for the cola-tasting today. I was hoping I could ask some questions about a Divine Message from Peria…”
“What do you believe that Divine Message means?” asked Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic.
But Vandalieu had already made a guess as to what the Divine Message meant.
“The goddess is sealed away on the opposite side of the planet from the Alcrem Duchy, in a strangely shaped or strangely colored valley, mountain or gulf. That’s what we think it means,” he said.
“You are likely correct,” said Ricklent, whose three forms – representing past, present and future – nodded in agreement.
“Peria is the goddess of knowledge, but she doesn’t like unintelligible riddles and wordplays. From a very long time ago, her favorite saying was that knowledge should be taught simply and accurately,” said Vida, the Goddess of Life and Love. “If textbooks were like indecipherable code filled with similes and metaphors, you’d feel sorry for the children having to study them, right? That’s why her Divine Message should be what she came up with after doing everything she could to make it as easy to understand as possible for the person receiving it. It would normally have been difficult to realize that the world is round, but… she likely thought it wouldn’t be a problem, since Juliana and the reincarnated children are with you,” said Vida.
“I see,” said Vandalieu.
It seemed that Peria, the Goddess of Water and Knowledge, was the type to prefer quizzes over mysterious riddles.
“Ricklent and Zuruwarn are actually the ones who often make difficult riddles,” Vida added. “They made a lot of riddles that were difficult but meaningless to solve during the age of the gods, after all.”
“That is because we were often asked to teach the people the truths of the world. I wanted to tell them, ‘I do not know, so think for yourself,’ in the most difficult way possible,” said Ricklent.
“I did so for similar reasons,” said Zuruwarn. “If they wished to attain techniques that even I did not know of, they would not stand even the tiniest of chances if they were not even capable of immediately solving the most difficult riddles I can create.”
Gods possessed great power and authority. They had been born before people, and they had created them. However, even today, they were not all-knowing and all-powerful, and they had not been born in an omniscient state.
Even the gods, who taught and guided their believers, learned over time.
And the gods did not teach and guide the people solely for the religious faith of the people that served to sustain the gods. If that were the case, humans would be no more than livestock.
If Ricklent and the others had intended to simply use the people as livestock, they would not have given them such advanced intelligence and the capability to learn and grow. They would have given them the bare minimum intelligence required to fear and pray to the gods, and limited their ability to learn – creating them as creatures that simply danced on top of the gods’ palms.
But looking at people now, it was clear that this was not the case. The gods had created mortals as beings who had the potential to one day stand beside them – or even surpass them.
“… I’m starting to understand why mages of the Mages’ Guild keep their secret arts and techniques to themselves,” said Vandalieu, suspecting that Ricklent and Zuruwarn were the source of mages’ secretiveness.
“That is likely true. I have heard that mages in today’s era often choose to worship myself, Zuruwarn or our subordinate gods,” said Ricklent. “I personally would prefer those who receive Divine Messages to decipher them on their own, however.”
His honest opinion was, ‘I am not the god who sent the Divine Message, but do you not think it to be cheating to ask me for answers?’ It seemed that this was the reason that he (or she) had spoken relatively little so far.
“Well, Vandalieu is special in the fact that he is able to come to us and question us directly. Would it not be unreasonable to expect him to not do something in order to decipher a Divine Message, when he is perfectly capable of doing it?” said Zuruwarn, seemingly more tolerant of Vandalieu’s approach.
But he was a mood-driven God, so perhaps this was more because he was in a good mood after having tasted the delight of cola rather than his opinion differing from Ricklent’s.
“… It seems that you have already discovered the answers you seek on your own, so I shall overlook it,” said Ricklent. “But why have you come to ask us about the Divine Message when you have already found these answers?”
“I wanted to confirm things with you just in case, and I was hoping someone could tell me if they know who is slumbering there,” Vandalieu replied.
He had come to the gods’ Divine Realm bearing gifts not to ask for the meaning of the Divine Message, but to ask what would come after they reached the place it mentioned.
He had already sent Cuatro and her crew to serve as a marker for teleportation and carry out reconnaissance, but it would be better to obtain as much information as possible beforehand.
“I see. If that is the case, I shall tell you,” said Ricklent.
“… You’re so delighted that I can barely recognize you. Are you really allowing him to ask us gods?” said Vida.
Like Vandalieu, Ricklent appeared to be expressionless, but according to Vida, he had suddenly become in a very good mood. All three of his forms began answering her question.
“My sister Vida, what I saw as problematic is the thought of asking the answer directly from the gods. In this case, it is merely a matter of information gathering, and I see no problem with gods providing information,” they said.
“Umm, I’ve always thought this since a very long time ago, but I don’t really get that part of you…” said Vida.
“Vida, it is a simple matter of preference, so thinking so hard about it will not get you anywhere no matter how many heads you have. There is not a single god who is not fixated on their own preferences and rules,” said Zuruwarn, patting her shoulder lightly with his tail.
Meanwhile, Ricklent produced a book from somewhere.
“Partway through the battle against the army led by the Demon King Guduranis, I too used up all of my power and fell into a slumber, so I do not know the details of what happened around then. But I have observed this world since I awoke fifty thousand years ago, and more so recently now that Zuruwarn has taken charge of other worlds,” said Ricklent. “What Peria’s Divine Message refers to is the land that is no longer known by its original name, the land that none set foot in. The Demon King’s Continent.”
“The Demon King’s Continent… a separate continent from the Demon Continent that Zantark and the others are on?” Vandalieu asked.
“The Demon King’s Continent is the land that the Demon King Guduranis gained control of first, the land from which he began his invasion upon this world. It is the land where the Beast-God Ganpaplio, the Colossus God Zerno and the Dragon-Emperor God Marduke were destroyed. It is the place in this world that is the most corrupted by dark elements, and it is the place where Guduranis was defeated by Bellwood,” Ricklent explained.
“The Demon Continent is just a big continent with all of its land and its surroundings covered in Devil’s Nests. It was the site of fierce battle during the war against the Demon King, which caused the corruption to advance. Neither I nor Alda had the strength to stop the Devil’s Nests from spreading after the Demon King’s defeat, so they spread across the entire continent,” said Vida. “That ended up working in our favor, though, since Zantark and the others used it to hold off the attacks of Alda’s forces.”
The Demon King’s Continent was almost never mentioned in myths and legends. The battle against the Demon King had been fierce, and the corruption had been so great that the continent lost its original form and ecosystem.
Perhaps even the champion Bellwood had decided that purifying the Demon King’s Continent would be impossible; the continent was not even mentioned in legends telling the tales of his deeds following the recovery of the Demon King’s fragments.
Both Alda and Vida’s Churches taught that it was a forbidden land, and there was not a scrap of information about it or its location even in the Mages’ Guild’s archives.
That was why most humans in the present age had forgotten its existence or mistakenly thought that the Demon Continent was the Demon King’s Continent.
“That is where our sister Botin, Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship, is sealed away,” said Ricklent.
“So, it’s Botin after all, not Peria?” said Vandalieu.
He wasn’t surprised that the slumbering goddess was Botin rather than Peria, even though she was the one who had given Juliana her divine protection and sent her a Divine Message.
He had imagined that it might be a goddess other than Peria herself, as the Divine Message had said ‘a goddess’ rather than ‘I.’ He hadn’t mentioned it up until now because it had been possible that Juliana had misinterpreted the Divine Message or the Divine Message hadn’t come through completely, causing a change in the wording.
“Yes,” said Ricklent. “I visited the place where Peria slumbers not long ago. Alda has deployed a force to protect her, mainly composed of gods that are as young as Fitun.”
“Are you sure they’re not there to keep an eye on her?” asked Vandalieu.
“I am sure that her protection is their intention, at the very least.”
“I see. So, is there a force guarding Botin as well?”
“When I investigated before in the past, gods of war allied with Alda were gathered there. Even in the ‘jaws’ mentioned by the Divine Message. But there are several other gods sealed away on the Demon King’s continent, as well as relics of Ganpaplio, Marduke and Zerno. There are also evil gods of the Demon King’s army and powerful monsters. Thus, gods and their servants are stationed in other locations as well. And Alda is already aware that Zuruwarn and I have allied ourselves with Vida. It is likely that he sent these gods and their servants as part of a plan to keep me from learning of the location where Botin is sealed.”
“Also, some of my children moved there from somewhere while I was sleeping, and are now living underground, so Alda might be looking for them… but that’s unlikely. He probably hasn’t even realized that they exist,” said Vida.
It seemed that some of Vida’s races, who had not existed a hundred thousand years ago, were now living underground on the Demon King’s continent. Surely none other than Vida’s races would think to live on a continent that even Bellwood had given up as hopeless, one whose very existence people had forgotten.
“The one protecting the seal directly is the Boulder Colossus Gorn, the God of Soldiers Zaress and the like… but it is unclear as to whether that is still the case, as I cannot easily approach the area,” Ricklent continued. “I have recorded this information here. As you have acquired ‘Perfect Record Technique,’ you will be able to retain it in your memories even after leaving this Divine Realm… but do not trust it too much,” he warned.
“A god views things from a god’s viewpoint. It is common for things to be seen when walking along the surface on the ground even if there appears to be nothing when looking down from above,” said Zuruwarn.
“Thank you,” said Vandalieu, accepting the book that Ricklent offered him and absorbing it into his body for storage.
With that, Vandalieu bowed and turned to leave the Divine Realm, but Fidirg and the others, who seemed to have been waiting for an opportunity, stopped him.
“Wait! We also wish to speak with you!”
“Vandalieu, we shall lend you our power –”
“Hear our request!” said Fidirg, cutting the others off.
“You are being too straightforward, Fidirg,” said Vida.
“Umm, what is it?” asked Vandalieu, stopping and turning around in bewilderment.
Zozogante’s countless eyes sparkled. “To put it concisely, we are jealous of your Gyubarzo staff.”
“Huh? You want it?”
“No, it is not that we want your staff, it is that we want to become your staff.”
“… So that’s what you mean.”
Vandalieu was a little perplexed by a god who took the form of a tree expressing a desire to become a staff. He had destroyed Gyubarzo, the Evil God of Dark Seas, and turned some of his bones into a staff.
It would be reasonable to want the staff, but considering these past events, Vandalieu couldn’t understand why one would feel envy towards it.
“Fidirg and Lioen, all of you feel the same?” Vandalieu asked.
Both of them nodded.
“Yup,” said Fidirg.
“Yes,” said Lioen.
“… I don’t think you need to give up parts of your own bodies, do you?” said Vandalieu.
Zozogante was a god with the form of a tree, so a single sturdy branch would suffice. But the staff-making process seemed like it would be painful for the other gods, as it would require their bones.
“Zozogante, Fidirg. You should explain the important things first,” said Merrebeveil, slapping the two chidingly with a thick tentacle. “In summary, this is a request for you to create Artifacts. Ordinarily, we gods would forge Artifacts with our own hands, then place our own spirit clones or familiar spirits into them before bestowing them upon our believers. However, it would be possible for you to create Artifacts suitable of being a vessel using roughly the same process with which you create transformation equipment. We would simply need to place our own spirit clones into them to complete them.”
“I see. If I create the arms that will act as vessels, that would reduce the burden required from you,” said Vandalieu.
“To put it bluntly, yes, that is correct. Even gods have things that they are good at and things that they are not so good at… though great gods are apparently able to skillfully accomplish almost anything.”
After becoming a god, Bellwood had left many Artifacts named after himself, such as Nemesis Bell, and there were many tales of Alda, the God of Law and Fate, bestowing Artifacts upon heroes as well. Although the Goddess of Life and Love Vida hadn’t necessarily created any Artifacts, her creations included things such as her resurrection device and Orichalcum Dragon.
But it would be a tremendously difficult task for weak gods such as Fidirg, Zozogante and Lioen to create Artifacts.
And what kinds of Artifacts gods could create was affected by their authorities and characteristics. For example, Zozogante would need a relatively short amount of time to create a high-quality wooden Artifact that amplified the power of the life attribute and granted the power to control plants.
But if he were to try and create an Artifact in the form of a metal axe that amplified the power of the light attribute, it would take him more than double the time and effort, and the resulting product would be an Artifact only in name, inferior in function to items that could be purchased with the income of a high-ranking adventurer.
However, if Vandalieu were to create arms that could serve as vessels for spirit clones, the gods could produce Artifacts at no cost other than the spirit clones themselves.
“But why do you want to create Artifacts so badly?” Vandalieu asked. “I would certainly find them helpful, but I’m sure it’s not easy for you to create even familiar spirits, let alone spirit clones.”
Vandalieu’s total Mana had decreased by a total of 100,000,000 as a result of creating Banda, his spirit clone – another version of himself. The only reason it had only cost him this much was because his soul was unique or because it had an abnormal form; for other gods to do this, it would require not only their Mana but a part of their own flesh as well.
Why would the gods go through all of that to create an Artifact just because they were jealous of Gyubarzo? This was the question that Vandalieu had.
“In the parade, we felt the people’s interest gathered upon Gyubarzo due to the fact that you are using the Gyubarzo staff,” Merrebeveil said in answer to this question. “In terms of the people’s worship, it is an attractive prospect for us.”
It seemed that the gods’ feelings of jealousy were a stronger motive than Vandalieu had initially suspected.
“Vida-sama and the others… and even Gufadgarn might be able to accept this, but Gyubarzo was a remnant of the Demon King’s army, an old enemy of us and our children, and he is now destroyed with no hope of resurrection. We cannot help but feel that the people’s attention is wasted on him,” said Tristan, God of the Seas, father of the Merfolk and guardian deity of their nation.
The other gods nodded in agreement.
“Of course, we do wish to be of aid to you and your companions, Vandalieu-dono. Or rather, you being victorious against the heroes of Alda and his subordinates is important for the victory of us gods of Vida’s faction. Thus, we would like you to create Artifacts for us.”
“We do not ask that you create them right this instant. You do not need to use every Artifact yourself. We would be pleased if you could create them when you have time, as equipment for your companions.”
The gods’ eyes were fixed on Vandalieu as they waited for his response.
“If you do not mind what kind of weapons they will be, who uses them – or if I make them transformation equipment or magical girl costumes – I will accept your request to create vessels for Artifacts,” Vandalieu said.
Lioen gave a small groan, perhaps not having anticipated the mention of magical girl costumes, and Zuruwarn gave an amused laugh. But nobody refused these terms, so it was decided that Vandalieu would accept the gods’ request.
The holy sanctuary of Talosheim, where he was meditating in order to visit the gods. It was the place where the Sun Giant Talos had slumbered, a space that was constantly filled with warm sunlight. But as Vandalieu opened his eyelids, he found that his surroundings had become filled with darkness. He felt a soft sensation, something fluffy, something cold, something hard and something wobbly. He could also smell a pleasant scent.
He heard a variety of yawns, groans, squeaks and wobbling noises.
“Have you returned, My Lord?” said Bone Man’s voice.
It seemed that during his meditation, Darcia, Maroru and her sisters, Quinn, Knochen, Pete and Kühl had all formed a big ball around him.
Bone Man, who had left just his skull nearby, went on to explain that Darcia had sat next to him first, followed by Maroru and her sisters snuggling up to him. The three-meter-tall Quinn had then taken them all into her arms, and then the Undead assembly of bones Knochen, the enormous centipede monster Pete and the Slime Kühl had gathered around them. Everyone had then fallen asleep.
“I’m surprised we all didn’t get crushed,” said Vandalieu.
From the outside, all that was visible was a mountain of countless bones and an enormous sleeping, curled up centipede.
“Knochen possesses the ‘Construction’ Skill, after all. And it seems that Kühl’s body is acting as a buffer zone,” said Bone Man.
“You all didn’t really have to go that far… Well, I suppose I made everyone feel a little lonely,” said Vandalieu.
Quinn and Kühl, monsters who were unknown to human societies, did not go out in the open – never mind Knochen, whose appearance human societies would consider to be a natural disaster. Thus, the amount of time they spent with Vandalieu had decreased lately. There were a countless number of Demon King Familiars in Talosheim, but they certainly preferred Vandalieu himself.
“Jyuuh, Eisen is sending her flowers’ scent from outside, with Fang and Gufadgarn waiting for you,” said Bone Man.
… It seemed that there were others outside this mass around Vandalieu as well.
“And Kanako was here earlier. She realized that there was quite literally no gap for her to get inside. She clicked her tongue in displeasure and declared that she ‘would not lose next time’ before leaving,” Bone Man continued.
“… I see,” said Vandalieu.
“And your friend Matthew and the others were booing before they left as well. I am sure they are playing with Pauvina, Luvesfol and the others now,” Bone Man said, finishing his report. “Now then, My Lord, there is something that I wish to inform you of. My Rank increased just yesterday, and my race title has changed from ‘Emperor!’”
“Ah, that’s good.”
Bone Man had always been displeased with the fact that he was a Skeleton Blade Emperor, as he considered this to be disrespectful towards Vandalieu. Vandalieu didn’t care at all, and had said as much, but… there had been nothing to be done, as it had still bothered Bone Man.
The fact that this had changed was unmistakably good news.
“Henceforth, I am a Rank 13 Skeleton Blade Kaiser. JYUOOOOH!” he shouted in triumph as he announced his new race title.
… Didn’t ‘emperor’ and ‘kaiser’ mean the same thing?
“I’m happy for you,” said Vandalieu, seeing Bone Man’s happiness and deciding not to point that out.
To begin with, it had been a problem that nobody other than Bone Man himself cared about, so it being resolved for Bone Man meant that it was resolved for good.
Indeed, Vandalieu didn’t care whether Bone Man was an ‘emperor’ or a ‘kaiser.’ He was simply happy that his companion had grown stronger.
“Jyuh, Talos-dono is currently peeking inside with a troubled expression,” said Bone Man.
“At this rate, there’s going to be more and more visitors coming and leaving… wait, did you say Talos?” said Vandalieu.
“Vandalieu Zakkart, great savior of my children. I currently do not possess the ability to speak directly to your soul when I cannot see you, so I shall speak to you while taking utmost care to not wake those sleeping around you,” said a lowered but still rather loud, echoing voice from outside.
It seemed that Talos was doing his best not to wake Darcia and the others.
But the Sun Giant’s voice was still loud despite being suppressed, and Pete and the rat sisters made hissing and squeaking sounds as they blinked and opened their eyes.
Darcia, however, let out a quiet mumble and showed no signs of waking.
“Yes, I can hear you. Do you have some business with me?” Vandalieu asked Talos.
“Yes. I apologize for speaking to you when you have just returned from the Divine Realm and for interrupting your physical bonding with your family, but I have a suggestion. I have been finding it difficult to find the determination to bring it up to you, but… I wonder, would it not be possible to change the name of this nation from Talosheim to something like ‘The Vandalieu Great Empire’ or ‘The Great Vandalieu Demon Empire?’” said Talos, his voice growing progressively smaller as he continued speaking.
Vandalieu put his hands together as if begging. “Please, spare me from having to do that.”
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Hobbes
The Gods are to Cola as Homer is to Donuts.
Eru
Why do I get the feeling that Vandalieu will do something even more amazing than freeing Vida? The soul of those three gods might be in pieces but Vandalieu himself was made form the pieces of four souls and it was (very powerful but still) just some human souls so how about god souls?
NjShade
Spoiler alert!!
Probably he will resurrect the dragon god together with Tiamat, the resurrected new dragon god a new race of dragon and will treat Van as his father.
prnewt
Boneman is such a chad, goes from as low as Rank 1 to wooping Rank 13 now
Wolfwood824
From sod to god.
Adddmeeee
Tentacles and transformation equipment? I think we know where this is going.
Talos, a massive giant with a booming voice, is begging a small child to change the name of a nation because he’s embarrassed. Why do all the characters feel so huggable?
Blackpercher
The chapter title sounds ominous…and it’s just coke
Ozarazil
They can always name it “Vandalheim”, it sounds kind of cool
Zenden1st
take out the L
Alex-dono
JYUOOOOH YOH HO HO HO!!!!! SKULL JOKE!!!!!!
Thanks for the chapter!!!!!!
Tonatsi
My guess is that the empire would be called the Eclipse Empire, in favour of Vandalieu’s title of eclipse emperor
bk3k
Thanks for the translation.
I’m a bit worried that there hasn’t been a new raw since 2020. In the last release the author did say there would be a delay, but the normal time is a chapter every 5 days or so. Over 2 months is well over the delay I’d expect… I worry that something happened instead.
Absolute Zer0
Let us pray!
Sturmi
“Yes. I apologize for speaking to you when you have just returned from the Divine Realm and for interrupting your physical bonding with your family, but I have a suggestion. I have been finding it difficult to find the determination to bring it up to you, but… I wonder, would it not be possible to change the name of this nation from Talosheim to something like ‘The Vandalieu Great Empire’ or ‘The Great Vandalieu Dark Empire?’” said Talos, his voice growing progressively smaller as he continued speaking.
Vandalieu put his hands together as if begging. “Please, spare me from having to do that.”
what about eclips empire
Doc
I do like that Van can just chill with Vida’s allied gods whenever. Also, very cute scene with Darcia, Quinn, and some of the other monsters who saw less action in the previous arcs.
And it always makes me giggle whenever Bone Man makes mouse noises. Like, I know he was originally a mouse or rat spirit that inhabited a human skeleton when baby Van needed fighting aid, but since he acquired like regular human sentience eventually, continuing the mouse sounds just seems silly.
Jonathan Hurd
I find it funny that Vida’s allied Gods are the nervous ones when talking with Van, hehe.
Its kind of nice that the author never forgot Bone Mans origins. I found it really adorable that Bone Man considers the Rat triplets his little sisters.
killerqueen
Boneman is now a “Kaiser” huh, wonder when will he gona get a picklehaub and charge at the enemy with it.
Also is this hinted that he gona have anything related to “Prussia/German Empire”, just curious.
G o o d c h a p t e r thank u very much yoshi.
junior1210
Always thought the same about the helmet, but didn’t know it had an actual name. Thanks for the education.
Metazoxan
Well what a welcome surprise. I just finished a major exam I spent weeks killing myself studying like mad for. I didn’t have time to enjoy myself at all.
And the day after I finish Death Mage gets a new chapter.
Thanks for the great timing.
Malkav0
Poor Vandalieu, after the great statues, it’s now the name of his empire xD
ravelphenex
so bone man has been released from his burden. although the name still mean emperor, it’s fine as long as it not sounded like emperor and he didn’t know the meaning. now it’s just talos who embarrassed about a country’s name that named after him but didn’t participate to develop it to the current development. and there’s another one who is a granny already and didn’t want princess in her race title.
lalnax
Lmao i thought Talos had something important to say, but hes still going on about thatz
Kazza
Oh no! Van’s finally done it. We’ve got V-Cola now. First we’ve got V-Cola, then Diet V-Cola, then New V-Cola which everyone hates, then V-Cola Blue, then back to OG V-Cola.
Pretty neat chapter. Good to see some of the old gods we haven’t seen in forever.
Now, call me an idiot if you think so, but did anyone else get confused when Ricklent said “Zaress” was guarding Botin, because in your addled mind you thought that was the name of the Kijin god? And you were wondering when they switched sides? Anyone, please?
Ah, whatever. I’m actually really interested in this underground society of Vida Races. They have me just enough for me to want to know so much more: When they say Vida Race so they mean miscellaneous races, like Vampires/Ghouls/etc.? Or is it a new mole-like race? Do they have their own patron god (evil or not) watching over them, or is that a liability on the DK Continent? After being cut off for so long, are they even able to receive messages from Vida? Will they even know who Van is?
Man, I honestly wasn’t excited about this finding Peria-but-wait-its-actually-Botin arc, but now I’m starting to get into it.
bk3k
I’ll answer only a little. [spoiler title=”The underground society”] The underground society is actually being watched over by 3 Evil Gods. They where still members of the Demon King’s Army at the end of the war – having never had a good opportunity to switch sides. But they want to join Vida’s faction. However it wouldn’t be easy to earn the trust of Vida’s faction since they hadn’t joined them in wartime. So they had the idea to watch over/protect some of her people. And so they’ve been doing so generation after generation underground on that continent.
Doing so above ground on that continent would be hard all considered, and being underground serves to hide from the eyes of Alda.[/spoiler]
Ninjacow
Thank you. Could I ask where you got ahead?
Vitor
The guardian deity of the Kijin is Garess, a different war god, thought both might be fire gods, but Zaress is the god of soldiers, who allied with Alda, and who we saw (read) granting his divine protection upon a random soldier to stop a fragment of the demon kink (needles) and turning him into his hero, in Alda’s desperate attempts to mass create heroes in order to face Vandalieu
gomezseba37
My god all the interactions with gods are hilarious. because they are not perfect and not all powerfull all knowing.
“That is because we were often asked to teach the people the truths of the world. I wanted to tell them, ‘I do not know, so think for yourself,’ in the most difficult way possible,” said Ricklent.
this has to be the absoute best line said by a god the entire novel
and this one Is by far the funniest interaction
“Yes. I apologize for speaking to you when you have just returned from the Divine Realm and for interrupting your physical bonding with your family, but I have a suggestion. I have been finding it difficult to find the determination to bring it up to you, but… I wonder, would it not be possible to change the name of this nation from Talosheim to something like ‘The Vandalieu Great Empire’ or ‘The Great Vandalieu Dark Empire?’” said Talos, his voice growing progressively smaller as he continued speaking.
Vandalieu put his hands together as if begging. “Please, spare me from having to do that.”
I like The progress of the story overall There is always something to be done and it never reaches a dead end. and van isnt even an adult yet
Jonathan Hurd
First off, Thanks for the Chapter Yoshi!
So time for fun prediction times…
First thing I think we need to remember is the Gods are blessing equipment not people directly. So while it makes a lot of sense for Merribevil to give children like Perviel her Divine Protection. It makes less sense for her to try and give Periel a whip like weapon. So with that in mind my guesses are…
Zozogante: Zadris’s staff. Zadris is the strongest wizard on Vans team so having a staff enchanted by the Wood God makes some sense to me here.
An alternative could be a transformation staff for Eisen. This one would make some sense in the sense that Eisen’s abilities have more to do with Wood magic than Zadris who has Light and Wind. So it might line up better for Eisen.
Fiderg: Axes and Shield for Vigaro. Vigaro’s fighting style is four axes and one shield. Fiderg has five heads. The synergy for the two just makes sense to me.
Mubugenje: Legion. This one is going to be a bit out there and a bit weird. I think Van will use Demon King Fat and Death Metal to make a transforming outer layer of flesh to help protect Legion and be able to transform around and with Legion. I think the major purpose of the armor will be to help protect against Fire and Lightning two of Legions biggest weak points.
An additional point could be the outer armor could also come inside and solidify to act as a skeleton for Legion. Legion showed in the last fight that having a skeleton can definitely up their power, but they need that skeleton to be able to survive the transformation. An alternative to the skeleton is the Flesh armor of Mubjenge could act like a container for Legions mass. Basically working in the opposite direction.
Overall I can’t really think of a better equipment for Mubugenje to inhabit. Her area of expertise doesn’t really seem usual for armor and is definitely not a weapon.
Zanalpadna: Suit of Armor made of Carapace with some DK eyes mixed in. No clue who will equip it, but I think that’s the kind of equipment Zanalpadna will make.
Lioen: Gun for Vandalieu. I think part of this is because Lioen still wants to make up for his previous upsetting Van. A big part though is Van currently fights primarily with four skills Magic, Fists, Whips, and Guns. Out of those Van already has a stave. He has the Demon Kings Claws so no need to make some kind of glove weapon. Whips he just recently got the skill so still learning to use that. Guns however are a tried and true weapon, but the problem is Van’s never had a Gun Barrel that could handle his power much less help increase it. Its a similar situation for Van before he got his Stave.
Merribevil: Chains for Isla and/or Strings for Bellmont. I think there’s a higher chance of the Chains for Isla, but these would be a major upgrade for these two weapons and seem like they would match well with Merribevil’s character.
Xerx: Just a random guess for this one, but I think armor for Iris. I think this partly because she is the Daughter of Godwin and the only Majin in Van’s close allies. I think he would also make a good fellow mentor with Georg.
Tristan: Armor for Juliana. Mainly because she was chosen by Peria.
That’s about it for my guesses currently. If I think of any more I’ll add them later.
Tejing
Xerx inhabiting armor for Iris makes sense. I hadn’t thought of that, but I like it. Lioen inhabiting a gun barrel for Van makes sense too.
Doc
I think you’re getting a bit too restricted in thinking the artifacts Van makes must be related to or using aspects of the gods that would inhabit them. For example, while Zozogante might struggle to produce a metal axe, being a tree God, Van doesn’t have that issue. An artifact Zanalpadna inhabits doesn’t need to be made from carapace to be able to provide carapace like protection or to produce string. As he said to them, if he wants to make a magical girl uniform out of Fidirg, he absolutely could do that and the gods already agreed to inhabit whatever he makes.
That being said, who he gives those artifacts to and how they would go about using the powers those gods instill in them seems reasonable enough for your guesses.
Jonathan Hurd
I do agree there is probably some flexibility thanks to the fact Van will be the one crafting them. Also add in the fact that probably most of the materials will involve Demon King parts the quality is also unquestionable. I think the power a Spirit Clone can give will probably be affected by their Domain.
Basically taking Ice Age the spear Yupeon made into account. It could create ice because he is a God who rules over ice. The shape being a spear and the material being orichalcum probably doesn’t matter.
This could mean that someone like Merribevil could cause the gear her Spirit Clone inhabits exhude slime or grow tentacles. Mubujenge could also enchant an armor and be able to make a protective layer of fat/flesh come out to block attacks. Who gets what could depend more on elemental synergies. I feel like Fiderg and Vigaro’s axes/shield is my favorite synergy though.
I also like Xerx and Iris considering their connection through Godwin and Majin race. Other than that though it might come down more to magical properities.
Lord Rin
It’s a bit surreal having all these gods discussing the manufacturing of cola and what sort of flavors they should make. Well at least they’re having fun unlike those sticks-in-the-mud gods from Alda’s faction.
So we got confirmation that the Divine Message Peria sent to Juliana is about the location of Botin. Since Peria is actually free and just pretending to still be asleep, I guess that she may have sent the message to free Botin so they can both escape at the same time. That way Alda won’t be able to do something to one of them if both do a runner. Anyways apparently the location of Botin is somewhere on the Demon King’s continent which was the first continent Guduranis set foot on and conquered. There’s also apparently members of Vida’s races that live there underground and are probably waiting to make contact with Vida’s faction. Meanwhile apparently Alda has stationed multiple gods there to protect Botin so I guess Van and friends will be embarking on a massacre of gods from Alda’s faction. Just imagine how they’ll react. I mean they almost lost their shit when Fitun and his subordinates died and they’re relatively new gods so imagine what it’ll be like when veteran gods like Gorn get killed.
In that regard, since Van will undoubtedly be facing multiple gods then it makes sense that the gods from Vida’s faction want him to make artifacts that they can send familiars or spirit clones to inhabit so they can participate in the fight. Well given how much they didn’t want to work on making the artifacts themselves, I feel like they wouldn’t want to spend much more effort making familiars or spirit clones to inhabit the artifacts and would instead personally inhabit the artifacts themselves. That said, I wonder which god will get stuck inhabiting the magical girl costume artifact? It’s a pity that Luvesfol is trapped in the body of a wyvern so he can’t be shoved into a magical girl costume. Bully him more because it’s funny.
Meanwhile everybody was hugging Van while his physical body slept as he was communicating with the gods. Kanako wanted in on the skinship too but there was no more room. Bone Man is happy he’s no longer an emperor and is now rank 13 like the vampires. Nobody better tell him that ‘kaiser’ is also a word that means ’emperor’ otherwise he’ll get depressed and his shoulders will fall -literally.
Meanwhile Talos is still being incredibly embarrassed and humble and wanting to change the name of Talosheim to something that has Van’s name in it. Van wouldn’t want that however. If he can’t stop his citizens from building giant statues of himself then he’ll at least stop his nation being named after him.
Jonathan Hurd
While it would be totally sweet for the Gods themselves to enter the artifacts themselves. Sadly I don’t think that will be possible for a few reasons. The first issue would be the materials wouldn’t be able to contain a full Gods power. The second and probably most pressing issue would be that the Gods of Vida’s factions are needed to lend their power to keep up the barrier around the Boundary Mountain Range. If too many of them left with Van and showed up on the other side of the world. Alda in desperation might take that as the perfect time to attack Vida while she and Van are separated.
I am looking forward to Van meeting the underground Vida’s races and also what Alda’s response to Van showing up there will be. Will he retreat and give up on Botin or will he send more Gods down to get eaten. I can’t wait till we get to read the look of panic on Alda’s face as he finds Van moving to where Botin is, hehehehehe.
Isn’t it hilarious though while Alda and his group are collectively shitting themselves over Van killing Fitun. Van is just sitting around with Vida’s Gods having a nice party enjoying the invention of Cola, lol.
Eddy
I’m funny about Rincklent and Zuruwarn looking for the most scientific way to say, I have no idea or I just can’t tell you.
I imagine everyone coming in and one by one falling asleep and laying around Van was cute (and would have made an alda follower put out their eyes, but that applies to 90% of what Vandeliu and the people of talosheim do).
So, with this we must close the arch of the message for now and start the trip to the capital.
Jonathan Hurd
Rincklent and Zururwarn amuse me a lot, heh. Basically they gave people a riddle saying if you answer that then we’ll give you an answer. Little did people know if they can solve the Riddle that IS the answer.
nadirku
Note for those in the US, who are wondering about the cola unit conversions, there are 1000 ml in 1 L, so a 500ml bottle is one fourth of a 2 liter bottle. Alternatively, a 20 fluid oz. bottle is about 567 ml.
no1
Yay another chapter before the end of the month, probably the last chapter before the end of the month, still a good chapter, thanks Yoshi. Van completes his cola project, might be below, might be above regular earth cola, who really cares. Van is talking with gods about the divine message. How confusing, until now I thought it was Peria sending it, but now we hear it is probably Botin, then why did Juliana get Peria divine protection and get a divine message from Botin, coincidence. Also the dark continent and the demon king continent are different? Probably should have realized that since the dark continent was only the battle ground, not the demon king’s home base. Apparently, the other gods want staffs to be able to put their spirit clones into and Van could give them to this companions to strengthen them, cool. Van is spending some quality bonding time with family and does not want to name his own empire after himself, that might kill him as much as it did to act like the demon king in front of the kids. Anyway thanks for the chapter Yoshi, hope to see the next one soon.
Nobody2
Peria did send the message. The message is from Peria telling him where to find botin
Doc
Along with what Nobody2 said, it isn’t necessarily staves that the gods want to inhabit. Any artifact Van creates will do. Well, some might be disappointed if they have to inhabit a magical girl uniform, but they all agreed to it.
VEreality
Thank you Yoshi-sama!
I love this chapter. It was the best way to present what the gods are as a whole. Their personality and everything. Great chapter.
As for the new artifacts… I think that Lioen is going to be given to someone from his nation/religion. The same for the other gods. I think it’s important for the one who wields it to have a bound or faith in the god.
But I am going to take a guess and say that Fidirg’s artifact is going to be used by Van. Or perhaps Merrebeveil’s.
While he does have his staff, Van doesn’t have a close range weapon. Ofcourse this is because no weapon is good enough to hold his absurd amount of mana. This might change with the artifacts.
I say Fidirg because he is eager to have an artifact and get some glory out of it and is one of the first gods Van encountered(Additionally having a god that has Sin in his title working next to the Demon King makes sens). The same for Marrebeveil and Van does have some whip techniques from using his tongue in combat if I remember correctly.
Jonathan Hurd
A lot of Van’s direct subordinates have Divine Protections from Vida’s allied Gods. I do agree with you that the Spirit Clones would probably work best with those who have a connection to those Gods, but I think a important part of these Spirit Clone Weapons is to show they are helping the Champion Van. So I think they’d lose some of the point if they aren’t wielded by Van or people near him.
I’m not sure Van will bother with the made weapons mostly because all his attacks use Demon King Fragments already. Basically he mass produces weapons on Par with Orichalcum from his body with his massive mana so there is less point trying to wield only one weapon for him. The Staff is useful because he can use it to focus all his mana through, but still cast multiple spells while wielding it.
Vans main combat focus has been Spells, Fists, Guns, and now Whips. So it might be interesting if Van makes a custom Gun for himself and gets the Spirit Clone of a Dragon for it. Some guns have been constructed with the motif of a dragon spitting fire. That could be really cool, imo, lol.
Another weapon could be a whip. Though Van is still a beginner in that department so I think that one would be lower on the list. As for Melee I think Van will always be most comfortable with his own Claws and considering he has the Demon King’s Claws too, I don’t think gloves would really help him.
Thinking about it I think a Spirit Clone Gun makes the most sense for Vans personal weapon. The reason he made the Gyubarzo staff was because normal staffs couldn’t withstand his power. Considering the end results of any gun barrel Van has fired thus far, he seems to have the same issue with Guns too. Having a gun that could withstand his power and even enhance it could greatly increase Van’s shooting force.
I do kind of like the idea of Merribeviel’s Spirit Clone enchanting something like a whip. Thinking about it I think the person her powers might have the best compatibility with Bellmont and her strings or Isla and her Chains. Adding Meribeviel’s spirit clones to those weapons could drastically increase their power and flexibility.
BlueStalli0n17
9th
i guess
Edit: nope im 11th
HeyaUser
Hahah, just give up Van!
Superboy8338
Give up on trying to make Van give up.
LmaoLN
Give up on giving up on trying to make Van give up
ExplodingPenguinDood
Oh poor baby Van, his ulcers must be massive 😂😂
Tejing
So it’s Botin after all. I figured as much. I’m still going with the theory that Peria wants to have both her and Botin leave Alda’s side at the same time so he can’t do anything to the one remaining.
The Demon King’s continent, huh? Sounds like a good environment for leveling Van’s top subordinates. I’m anticipating some interesting stuff will go down there.
I love that the various minor gods are going to have more of a role to play helping Van now with this whole artifact idea. I wonder which gods will get matched up with which if Van’s subordinates (or Van himself), and in what kind of artifacts?
Dawww… it’s a big family hug. And even Kanako wanted to join in! She really is attached to him now isn’t she?
I’m glad Bone Man is happy, and that he’s caught up in rank to the 3 vampires.
Poor Talos, and poor Van too. Neither of them wants to have a whole empire named after them, but it’s hard to believe they’ll convince others to name it after anyone or anything else… I think Van’s going to have to man up here.
Nii07
My guess for which subordinate gets what is
Eisen gets Zozogante
Privel gets Merrebeveil
Pauvina gets Lioen
Basdia or Vigaro gets Xerx
Legion gets Mububujenge
Zanalpandna is hard because it can fit Quinn, Gizania, Myuze, and Bellmond
As for Fidirg I have no idea
And this is just assuming that they can only make one artifact for each god currently
Tejing
Maybe Yamata would match with Fidirg? Yamata isn’t really one of the main high-rank subordinates though, so idk.
Nii07
Yeah you’re right and she’ll probably also receive a blessing from him which will probably be able to give her nine bodies the ability to think independently from one another like legion.
Ltshrek
I’m impressed that you remembered all of them
Jonathan Hurd
I think I might change Eisen with Zadris since I’m not sure Eisen actually uses weapons/armor. Zadris could probably have a spirit clone of Zozogante in a staff for her.
I do love Legion with Mububujenge that seems like a match made in weird heaven, lol. Could be a weird form of armor that is a mass of flesh that works as an outer shell for Legion. It could be used to protect Legion from its weaknesses of Lightening and Fire.
For Zanalpandna I think their’s would be some kind of suit of full body armor using Carapace and probably a few Demon King Eyes. Not sure who will equip it though since most of Van’s group go minimalistic for armor…
Nii07
I considered Zadris for Zozogante but ultimately chose Eisen over her because of she’d have a better affinity for earth and nature. For a mage like Zadris something made with a piece of Ricklent fits her better in my opinion.
Baldingere
I like Fidirg’s straightforwardness. He feels comfortable to get along with.
Cola flavors… In my country, there’s lemon, cherry, and vanilla (but it’s hard to find). And that’s it.
What do they have in other countries? Maybe raspberry. It would taste good with grape too. And cinnamon!
I wonder what flavors Vida’s faction will create. I wish it’s delicious but not too much, since we won’t get to drink it.
Maybe they can call his empire Family or Friends Empire? Something fluffy.
Thank you for the chapter!!!
Superboy8338
In the USA, I mostly just see regular, diet, and cherry coke. I’m sure that there are other flavors, they’re just not in my area.
Jonathan Hurd
I went to I think its called ‘World of Coca Cola’ at one point in USA. It had Coke with basically any food flavoring you could ask for. It was weird but interesting.
Personally I’ve seen Lime, Orange, vanilla, Orange Vanilla at one point, and Rasberry.
Kazza
Don’t know how relevant this is, but my local Fast Food joints (5 Guys, Wendy’s, etc.) All have dispensers with multiple flavoring settings. Don’t know if that really counts, but eh.
Yoshi
Back when I was a kid, there was one called Coke Citra. Google tells me it was in New Zealand in 2005 and discontinued in 2006, and the only other countries that had it were Japan and Mexico. But it was definitely the best one!
lucj
in my country we also have peach
Who Cares
It is a bit seasonal (so spring coming up is a good time to start checking) but Japan tends to have some interesting takes on how to flavor cola.
I know that they have their own version of cherry cola (based on the blossom), their own version of vanilla, peach, strawberry, salted melon. And those are the normal ones that are were good enough to get out of the limited edition test phase. Most of the crazier flavors are limited edition trial runs, for example red bean paste or mont blanc (the dessert) flavored cola, and those are most likely the more normal ones else the local specialty importer won’t bother importing them based on the very real risk of not being able to sell enough units to recover costs.
Brainlet
next episode prediction: in depth third person perspective of van making a tentacle god and a tree god’s pieces into a maid outfit and putting it on a random citizen and making them a powerful weapon devoted to serving him (bonus points if its a loli trap)
ExplodingPenguinDood
Seems like Eisen is gonna get an equipment, maybe transformation staff so that she could look more human? 🤷
Brainlet
maybe, but from what the transformation staffs have done so far hed have to do some new things to make one that isnt just clothing and instead a disguise artifact, which he iirc hasnt made before
Jonathan Hurd
See that’s the true brilliance of Van. He builds the tentacles into the maid outfit!
Dust
Van’s name shall be spread throughout all