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Two months had passed since Vandalieu and his companions appeared in the city of Morksi, and the third month began. At this point, his existence was becoming known across the Orbaume Kingdom, even by those who were not powerful figures with intelligence-gathering organizations and information networks.
However, various embellishments were added to his description when word of mouth passed from one person to another, and in some cases, details and accuracy were lost. In duchies that were far away from the Alcrem Duchy, the stories had become considerably exaggerated.
However, the stories did all speak of a Dhampir boy and his Dark Elf mother being in the Alcrem Duchy.
These rumors also reached the ears of Alda’s radical worshippers hiding across the Orbaume Kingdom’s various regions. They considered members of Vida’s races to be worthy of contempt, and Dhampirs were detestable creatures that ought to be buried. Thus, these rumors were very unpleasant for them to hear.
However, they could not make any concrete moves. Although such worshippers were all lumped into one group, they were not one cohesive organization. They were individuals in small groups scattered across different regions. And unlike the Amid Empire, the Orbaume Kingdom’s law stated that Dhampirs were considered to be people.
Alda’s radical worshippers considered this to be an evil law, but their opinions did not matter to the judicial branches of the government.
And thanks to the actions of Heinz, the leader of the Five-colored Blades, the Orbaume Kingdom’s peaceful faction of Alda that tolerated Vida’s races had grown in influence. The radical worshippers, who had been in the minority to begin with, had grown even smaller.
They did not have the influence or the organizational capability to deploy assassins to the distant Alcrem Duchy, although it was likely that trouble would occur if Vandalieu and his companions were to visit cities in which these worshippers lurked.
Incidentally, the Alcrem Duchy itself had also persecuted Beast-kin until just a few years ago, so there were a considerable number of Alda worshippers with radical ideologies. They were less common in commerce cities like Morksi, but there were also some remote regions that rarely interacted with other regions, governed by uninfluential noblemen, where all of the people were radical worshippers of Alda.
However, with the Alcrem Duchy leaning towards Alda’s peaceful faction overall in recent years, people with radical beliefs were decreasing in number. But even so, assassins hired for money were deployed to the city and radical Alda worshippers visited, pretending to be travelers. The fact that this problem had not become publicly known was because the assassins were dealt with by the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael (also known as Miles Rouge) and Isla, and because Earl Morksi’s spies were removing Alda’s radical worshippers from the city.
As far as groups that could be a threat to Dhampirs went, there were particularly radical – or perhaps even fanatical – worshippers of the heroic god Bellwood. However… although people had heard of them, they did not exist as an organization in the Orbaume Kingdom, at least not currently.
A farming village being burned to the ground and its inhabitants massacred for the simple crime of growing rice; an inventor and his entire family being murdered because they had invented something that was essentially the same as the technology of other worlds; countless gruesome crimes committed towards Vida’s races – such events had been recorded in history alongside every instance where Bellwood’s fanatical worshippers surfaced. They had been detested even by other worshippers of Bellwood and Alda, and in some cases, they had been executed as criminals who perpetrated violence with the false claim that it was in Bellwood’s name.
However, the heroic god Bellwood whom they worshipped had fallen into a slumber approximately fifty thousand years ago. He did not send Divine Messages to his worshippers or give them his divine protection. Thus, Churches of Bellwood had been converted to Churches of Alda with the exception of a few that had great historical significance.
As Churches of Alda also housed statues of Bellwood, radical worshippers of Bellwood had combined with the radical believers of Alda, becoming one group.
And as for Vampire organizations that worshipped evil gods and targeted Dhampirs for being creatures of impure blood, the one that had worshipped Hihiryushukaka and ruled the Bahn Gaia continent had recently been destroyed.
It was likely that evil-god-worshipping Vampire organizations would spread here from other continents, but that would not occur until later in the future.
Thus, as long as Vandalieu was in the city of Morksi, the only group that was hostile towards Vandalieu was the gods who worshipped Alda, the God of Law and Fate, and their heroes.
However, there were organizations that were Vandalieu’s allies… or at least those who believed that they were his allies.
“How is this? Have I written this properly? Are there any mistakes?” said Selen, the Dhampir girl under the protection of the Five-colored Blades, as she showed a letter that she had written herself to the three adults around her.
One of them was Rembrand, the leader of the Thundering Armaments – the adventurer party that was currently responsible for her guard.
The other two were a man and a woman wearing robes that signified that they were high-ranking clergymen. Each bore a holy symbol on their chest; one of them was that of Alda, the God of Law and Fate, and the other was that of Vida, the God of Life and Love.
“You’ve used kanji, and it’s easy to read. Your studying has paid off,” said Rembrand.
In Heinz’s absence, he was interacting with Selen as if she were family, not just as her guard. His praise prompted a happy smile from Selen.
“Rembrand-dono is correct. It is a letter that expresses what is in your heart,” said the gentle-looking young man wearing the robe bearing Vida’s holy symbol… High Priest Pietro Farzon, nephew of Duke Farzon.
“Yes, I’m sure the Dhampir boy who has appeared in the Alcrem Duchy will accept a letter if it’s from Selen,” said Cardinal Megan, the woman in her twenties wearing the robe bearing Alda’s holy symbol.
They were in the Farzon Duchy, and after hearing rumors that a Dhampir boy and his Dark Elf mother had appeared in the Alcrem Duchy to the north, they had conducted a detailed investigation. They were now certain that this Dhampir boy really existed, and his Dark Elf mother was a holy lady who could summon a familiar spirit of Vida.
This was good news for Cardinal Megan, who belonged to Alda’s peaceful faction, and High Priest Pietro who had proactively formed a cooperative relationship with the peaceful faction.
However, at the same time, there was some news that was not very welcome. The Dhampir boy and his mother were Vida fundamentalists – in other words, in direct opposition to those who sought peace between Alda and Vida such as Megan and Pietro.
With that being the case, it was likely that even if Megan and Pietro sent a messenger to make contact, the Dhampir and his mother would not even hear them out.
However, as a member of Alda’s peaceful faction and a High Priest of Vida who was cooperating with them, they wanted to avoid a confrontation – especially Darcia, who was able to summon Vida’s familiar spirit.
They were aiming to convert all believers of Alda to the peaceful faction, and have Vida’s followers be in a cooperative relationship with them, and they were gradually making that a reality.
“But wouldn’t a letter from me be rude? I’m a child, after all…” said Selen, sounding uncertain.
She was legally considered to be the adopted daughter of Heinz, who held the title of honorary earl. As honorary court ranks could not be inherited, many saw her to be nothing more than a commoner of an uncommon race, even if she was a noble by law for as long as Heinz lived.
Selen was worried that a letter from a child in such a social position would be rude for Vandalieu.
Pietro gave her a smile. “It’s alright. We’ll include our letters as well, and have a messenger deliver them properly, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
He bore the surname of the Farzon house of dukes, but he had renounced his right to succeed the family. He was a noble by law, but his children would be commoners unless they were adopted or married into other noble families.
And although Megan was a cardinal, her authority was that of a clergyman. In the ordinary legal system, she was nothing more than a commoner as well.
Both of them understood Selen’s current position.
“Still, fundamentalists… they are unusual these days,” said Megan.
Vida had been defeated by Alda a hundred thousand years ago, but her believers had not vanished. However, until very recently, Vida, her subordinate gods and the gods associated with her had not sent Divine Messages or granted divine protections to their believers.
Thus, much of the people’s interest was directed towards the glorious heroes of Alda, the God of Law and Fate, and the gods associated with him.
There had been heroes among Vida’s believers, like the Dhampir ‘Mercenary King’ Veld, but people like him were exceptions, not the norm.
Thus, even if the majority of Vida’s believers kept an appropriate distance from Alda’s believers and proactively engaged in debates with them, they did not show any desire to clash with them in armed conflict.
“She is apparently a Dark Elf, so perhaps she lived in a village that was isolated from society. The new races created by the goddess… those created by her greatest mistakes, such as the Majin, are still insisting on destroying Alda and eradicating mankind,” said Pietro, using the example of the Majin – the race that clashed with humans the most after Vampires.
Perhaps he was refraining from mentioning Vampires because Selen was present.
“Perhaps you are right,” said Megan. “If that is the case, let us pray that the good people of the Alcrem Duchy soften her way of thinking.”
“How do I put this… It’s kind of tricky, isn’t it? I always wonder, why can’t we just leave the issues of the gods aside and get along?” Rembrand wondered aloud.
He wasn’t a believer of any god in particular. He was superstitious, praying to various gods before departing on his adventures, and when he earned money, he donated to various Churches, making sure that he wasn’t donating an unevenly large sum to any particular god. He had done these so that clergymen didn’t give him dirty stares.
As a result of these habits, he had come to know more and more people of the peaceful faction who wished for peace to come and the conflict between Alda’s forces and Vida’s faction to cease. He had also grown close to Heinz. But he didn’t have any strong feelings towards one side or the other himself.
A bitter smile appeared on Megan’s face. “I wish that this were possible, but… once you’re a clergyman, you start thinking in complicated ways,” she said.
“While he was alive, the champion Zakkart once said, ‘Even gods make mistakes,’” said Pietro with a serious expression. “Alda and Bellwood’s actions resulted in the loss of Zakkart and three other champions, and Vida gave birth to not only Beast-kin and Titans who became new allies of mankind, but to races like Majin that became mankind’s enemies, too. Even great gods make mistakes such as these. It is only natural for mere mortals such as us to be cautious so as to not make mistakes of our own.”
His quote from the champion had indeed been spoken by Zakkart a hundred thousand years ago. Some believers of Alda saw these words as proof that he had not been worthy of being a champion, even before he was considered to be a ‘fallen’ champion.
Meanwhile, many of Vida’s believers taught that these words were a warning to not blindly believe in the gods.
Although, in truth, these had been words of criticism directed at Alda for selecting Bellwood as his champion.
“… You only ever talk about such complicated stuff. This is why people say you should talk to male clergymen for holding wedding ceremonies and leave the life counseling to the nuns,” Rembrand remarked.
“Women will offer kinder words when giving life counseling. But for wedding ceremonies, you should ask a male clergyman of senior age so as to cast no doubts that the new bride is cheating on her groom. Not that I really believe these things,” said Pietro.
“I actually think that some women will be harsher,” said Megan.
While the adults were having this conversation, Selen recalled her faint memory of Vandalieu.
The newly-appeared Dhampir is probably him, isn’t it? Maybe we’ll be able to talk next time? she wondered.
She had not mentioned to Rembrand the Dhampir boy whom she had encountered by coincidence in Niarki, who had fled when he was spoken to.
That was because Heinz and his companions had told her to keep it a secret. There had been many ominous events following Vandalieu’s fleeing of the city, such as the appearance of a Dungeon and the subsequent monster rampage that came from it.
Being careful to not give Vandalieu a strange, bad image was also… about half the reason.
And Heinz had told Rembrand and the others that he had once worked as an adventurer in the Mirg shield-nation, and captured and handed over the mother of a Dhampir to a High Priest of Alda during one of his jobs.
However, he had not told them that Vandalieu may be the child of that mother, nor had he told them that her name was Darcia.
To Heinz and his companions, it was a painful stain on their past, but… they had never imagined that Darcia would be resurrected and appear in human society.
If all went well, big profits were certain.
Following the monster rampage, there were fewer monsters in the Devil’s Nest, and since entry into it had been banned, there was no chance of running into any adventurers.
Others in the same business had apparently been captured or disappeared, so perhaps now was the chance to enter into the upper ranks of the underworld.
Telling himself this, the man had loaded his ‘goods’ into the carriage, hired two mercenaries as guards and entered the Devil’s Nest to avoid the patrol stations along the highway.
But he soon learned that he had been naïve.
“This isn’t what I signed up for!” he screamed.
There had indeed been few monsters when he entered the Devil’s Nest. But gradually, monsters such as Goblins and Kobolds had started to appear, and he was currently being chased by a troop of Rank 3 Baboons.
They were monkey monsters, not demi-humans, but they were ferocious and, more importantly, tended to attack in numbers. A Rank increase would cause them to become Large Baboons, which were a little larger than gorillas. However, these were considered easier to defeat than regular Baboons, as they tended to not form groups.
Some regions referred to these Baboons as Killer Apes or Goblin Apes.
And there were forty of them chasing the man’s carriage, shrieking and screaming.
The man’s mercenaries had already been killed by other monsters. The Baboons had their fangs bared and an insatiable hunger in their eyes, bent on claiming the carriage’s horse and driver as their own feast.
“Run faster, stupid horse!” the man shouted in panic, but he knew that the horse was at its limit.
It had inhaled the illness-causing spores of a mushroom-type monster the previous day, and yet the man had pushed on without giving the horse a chance to properly recover.
He’d figured that he just needed the horse to last until they reached the city of Morksi, but that seemed impossible now.
“Damn it, why are there so many monsters?! Aren’t there supposed to be less monsters once a monster rampage is killed off?!” he screamed to himself.
Indeed, there would normally be less monsters after a monster rampage was eradicated. However, it was no ordinary monster rampage that had attacked the city of Morksi.
A heroic spirit of Fitun, the God of Thunderclouds, had connected the entrance of his Dungeon to a Devil’s Nest near the city. Fitun had then manipulated the Dungeon to cause the monster rampage. This meant that the majority of the monsters killed after attacking the city of Morksi were from Fitun’s Dungeon, not the ones inhabiting the Devil’s Nests.
With that said, some of the monsters of the Devil’s Nest had joined the rampage and others had been killed after trying to defend their territory from the new, unfamiliar monsters.
However, this had had little effect on monsters that were plentiful in number to begin with, such as Goblins, and monsters that had been smart enough to hide warily in their nests from the unfamiliar monsters, such as Kobolds and Baboons.
The Baboon at the front of the troop gave a frenzied shriek and hurled a stone in front of it. The stone, having been thrown with the physical strength of a monster, hit its mark in the horse’s leg, causing it to tumble and the carriage to topple sideways.
The man screamed as he was thrown from the coachman’s seat onto the ground. However, the Baboons did not flood in towards him.
He looked up to see his horse neighing loudly, its legs kicking the air, seemingly unable to stand up. The horse and the ‘goods’ that had scattered from the toppled carriage were drawing the Baboons’ attention away from the man.
“N-now’s my chance!” the man groaned.
Doing his best to ignore the pain he felt across his whole body, he began trying to get away. The loss of his ‘goods’ was a painful one, but there would be no use in dying here.
He was surely near the edge of the Devil’s Nest by now. If he could just somehow make a run for it and reach the city, he would be saved. With nothing but this thought on this mind, the man ran. But there was no way the Baboons would not notice him…
Suddenly, a voice echoed out from somewhere.
“‘Flying Sword!’”
A sword held by an arm made of black metal flew in to pierce the chest of one of the Baboons.
The man stopped in his tracks with his eyes wide open in shock. But the Baboons were even more astonished than he was.
“‘Rocket Punch!’” a woman’s voice shouted.
Some kind of rapidly rotating object began mowing down the Baboons.
Before the man and the Baboons could recover from their shock, a man wearing black armor and a Beast-kin woman appeared among the trees.
“A troop of Baboons, huh,” the man murmured. “Back in the day, I’d have hated to fight these, even with both my arms, but…!”
“Against us as we are now, they don’t stand a chance!” said the woman.
With that, the two of them charged in towards the Baboons.
As they defeated the Baboons one after another, Vandalieu and his companions arrived onto the scene.
“Less than ten days have passed since they first transformed, but they’ve already become quite good at sending their arms flying. Natania has become able to use the Rocket Punch I told her about as a martial skill, too,” Vandalieu observed.
“The training of Borkus-san and the others was pretty fierce, after all. Doug got caught up in it near the end, too,” said Melissa.
“Yeah, seriously. I’m totally different from those two, but they kept saying we’re similar…” Doug grumbled.
The three of them were walking around Sam, whose carriage was being pulled… or rather, pretending to be pulled, by Mähne.
To the man, the troop of Baboons had been a threat that had caused him complete despair when he first saw them, but to Vandalieu and his companions, they were nothing more than suitable enemies to see the results of Simon and Natania’s training.
The man, relieved that the Baboons had been wiped out and praising his good fortune, turned towards his rescuers. “Y-you saved me… Hey, are you guys adventurers? I’m sorry, but can you help me out?”
He had been surprised by Fang and Maroru, and his voice was shaking, but he forced himself to be calm as he continued, telling himself that there was no problem since they were wearing the collars that showed that they were tamed familiars.
“As you can see, my carriage isn’t usable anymore. Could you please load and carry my goods that are still intact? In return, I’ll give you a third – no, half of my profits when I sell them. What do you say?”
He had already intended to give up on his ‘goods.’ And the goods he had to keep up appearances were different from his real ‘goods.’ It wasn’t painful for him at all to lose half of his profits from his official goods.
“Your horse still looks healthy, though?” said Kanako, pointing at the horse that was still neighing loudly in dismay.
Darcia climbed out of Sam’s carriage, and she and Vandalieu approached the horse.
“No, its leg is broken and it’s ill, so it’ll never get from here to the city –” the man began.
Darcia examined the flailing horse’s leg. It was indeed broken and twisted.
“It’s not that bad, and not much time has passed since it was broken, so it’ll be simple to fix,” she said.
With that, she activated her ‘Demon Eyes of Regeneration’ and healed the broken leg in seconds.
“I’ve cured the illness,” said Vandalieu, before the man even knew what was going on.
“You can use healing magic! I’m very grateful. If I put my remaining goods on the horse, I think I can make it to the city,” said the man, delighted.
“Are these your goods?” asked Vandalieu, picking up a broken piece of a porcelain vase.
“Yeah, they are. It’s salt from the Arthaba Duchy that’s just east of this duchy. There’s a port there, though it’s a little small. The salt made there from the seawater apparently tastes slightly different from rock salt, so I came here thinking that I’d be able to sell it for a high price around here!” said the man, reciting an explanation that he had prepared beforehand.
“Really? It tastes the same as the rock salt from around here to me. And this vase looks like it’s made of porcelain, but it isn’t. When I lick it, it tastes like drugs,” said Vandalieu.
The man, who had been planning to carry drugs into Morksi and sell them there, laughed nervously. “Is that so? I see…” he murmured, turning away from Vandalieu.
Letting out a panicked noise, he ran past Kanako and leapt onto the coachman’s seat of the carriage that was now empty since Darcia had gotten out.
He tried to make his escape… but this carriage was no mere carriage.
“A worm crawling into the flame,” said Sam, his spirit form appearing behind the man.
TLN: This is a wordplay/variation on a figure of speech that means ‘a moth flying into the flame.’
The man couldn’t even resist as Sam put him in a chokehold, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“Bocchan, what shall we do with this man?” Sam asked. “He was smuggling drugs, so it is possible that he consumes them himself, so I would not advise using him for food. Shall we use him as fertilizer for the forest?”
“Let’s tie him up and have Fang take him to the city along with a letter to explain the situation and a piece of his goods as proof,” said Vandalieu. “I’m counting on you,” he said to Fang.
Fang let out a happy bark.
“More importantly, are you alright after licking those drugs?” asked Kanako.
“I have ‘Status Effect Immunity,’” said Vandalieu. “Anyway, let’s take the gift he left us.”
He turned to face the horse. Its leg had been fixed and its illness was cured, so it was standing once more, but it was unable to move because it hadn’t recovered its stamina.
Mähne and Fang had pity in their eyes, and the rat sisters were squeaking to cheer the horse up. Vandalieu reached a hand out to pat it and calm it down.
The horse let out a startled neigh and reflexively kicked its legs out, striking Vandalieu with a hard hoof.
“Master!” said Natania, who had just finished taking the Magic Stones and body parts as proof of kills.
But Vandalieu felt no pain. “Hmm? Did he think I was asking for a shake?” he said, mistakenly thinking that the horse had taken his extended hand as a signal for a shake.
TLN: ‘Shake’ is the trick commonly done with dogs to have them put their paw in your hand for a ‘handshake.’
Mähne and Fang were expressing a sense of kinship in their eyes, and their pity grew deeper.
“He’s friendlier than I thought,” said Vandalieu. “Shake,” he said to the horse.
With another alarmed neigh, the horse kicked Vandalieu again, but Vandalieu was completely unfazed. The horse’s confusion gradually began turning into fear.
“I know you said you wanted another horse, but are you really going to take this one?” asked Doug.
“Horses made of my spirit form have crimson eyes and do not breathe. And if they are touched, one will realize that there is no heat in their bodies. Considering the size of my carriage, even if you take into account that Mähne has grown in strength after becoming a monster, it would still be best to have one more horse,” said Sam, explaining why the horse was needed. “I suppose I could use ‘Size Alteration’ to make my carriage smaller, but…”
Meanwhile, the horse seemed to have yielded to Vandalieu. It wasn’t attached to him; it had merely yielded.
“What are you going to name him, Vandalieu?” asked Darcia.
“If I name him ‘Hoof’… people would mistake his name for ‘married couple.’ Let’s name him ‘Hof,’” said Vandalieu, choosing a word that meant ‘hoof’ in one of Origin’s languages.
TLN: In Japanese, the English word ‘hoof’ would be spelled フーフ/fuufu, which is pronounced the same as the Japanese word for “married couple,” 夫婦/fuufu. Incidentally, I tried Google translate but couldn’t find any existing real-life language that spells/pronounces the word ‘hoof’ as ‘hof.’
Now that Hof had suddenly stopped doing ‘shakes,’ for some reason, Vandalieu patted his face.
With the addition of Hof, the group waited for Fang to return from his errand and set out once more, and found the Dungeon entrance with ease.
The horde of monsters, which had included Mountain Giants, had created a path in the forest that was wide enough for the carriage to pass through.
“So, this is the entrance to Fitun’s ‘Labyrinth of Trials’… How simple,” said Vandalieu.
If it weren’t in the middle of a forest, it looked like nothing more than a large cave.
“It doesn’t have a sign outside like the ‘Trial of Zakkart,’ said Darcia.
“Vandalieu, Darcia-dono, I created that sign because there were too many who challenged the Dungeon while misunderstanding its purpose. Dungeons created by gods are made so that only chosen individuals are able to enter, so there would be no use in creating a sign,” explained Gufadgarn, who remained invisible but was always in Vandalieu’s shadow.
“Shall we go in? We can gain prestige for being the first ones to clear the Dungeon, get Kanako and the others promoted to C-class, and take control over the Dungeon to turn it into property of Vida’s faction,” said Vandalieu.
“Alright! We don’t have much prestige as D-class adventurers. There are malicious rumors that I’m just a dancer imitating bards’ work because I’m having no success as an adventurer,” said Kanako.
“Master, leaving the matter of the lady Kanako and the others aside, we only recently turned down a promotion to C-class because we are not worthy…” said Simon.
As this conversation continued, the party entered the Dungeon with no hesitation. This Dungeon was likely equivalent to a B-class Dungeon for them; there was no danger as long as they were with Vandalieu.
The only ones who were afraid were Mähne and Hof.
“Mähne and Hof, you have nothing to fear. If necessary, I can simply take you into my alternative dimension or take you inside my carriage and move on my own!” Sam said with a triumphant laugh.
Even with the encouraging words of their carriage, the two horses couldn’t conceal their fear, but they entered the Dungeon regardless, as they would not be allowed to stay outside.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Naberisu
Vida’s fundamentalists are simply those who follow Vida’s teachings about respecting and loving life, caring about the others and other simple stuff like that, why is it something that needs to be changed?
Sailon
Because many of vida teachings like respect all her bew races and allow technology from other world(knowledge from Zakkart) are direct against Alda teachings, and the alda peaceful faction cannot accept this, they have to change to avoid conflict, because Alda faction dont ever accept compromissed in theyr way only what Vida religion to submit to them because to them Alda is the leader of all gods, so Vida should obey him too
Korath
Some people just cant have others doing things they dont like. And some even have so low tolerance disguised as “belief”, they kill people for it. And yeah, obviously this still happens today. And I already dont want to continue writing, because just thinking about it makes me mad. ^^
Winter
I feel like something should click inside the heads of the clergy of Vida’s peaceful faction that they might not be following their goddesses teaching correctly, since there’s now Vida fundamentalists with Vida’s divine protection and her familiar spirits after she resurrected, but non of their own faction have gotten any positive attention at all from their goddess.
Also Alda’s radical worshippers remind me of immigrants, who move to another country with different values, and are then shocked and appalled that people there don’t follow their rules and religion.
Sailon
“She is apparently a Dark Elf, so perhaps she lived in a village that was isolated from society. The new races created by the goddess… those created by her greatest mistakes, such as the Majin, are still insisting on destroying Alda and eradicating mankind,” said Pietro, using the example of the Majin – the race that clashed with humans the most after Vampires.
Perhaps he was refraining from mentioning Vampires because Selen was present.
“Perhaps you are right,” said Megan. “If that is the case, let us pray that the good people of the Alcrem Duchy soften her way of thinking.”
“How do I put this… It’s kind of tricky, isn’t it? I always wonder, why can’t we just leave the issues of the gods aside and get along?” Rembrand wondered aloud.
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Funny how they put all the blame in afew races a evil when they constatly hunt them down, i mean i bet has many evil Majin but they geberalize and Vampire case well the ones that follow Vida are all in mountain range so is natural they see evil god worshippers as evil. But soften her view would mean not consider races like ghoul, scylla, arachne, and other vida races with rank as people mening consider them as monster caused by Vida mistakes. Is funny because to peace betwen two faction means ignores the rights of many of her children, so she soften by doing that but they can not wven thinks possibility of accept them and treat the ones that harm humanity, simply as being criminal just like would to humans that cause harm to other be bandits or evil gods worshippers.
.
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While he was alive, the champion Zakkart once said, ‘Even gods make mistakes,’” said Pietro with a serious expression. “Alda and Bellwood’s actions resulted in the loss of Zakkart and three other champions, and Vida gave birth to not only Beast-kin and Titans who became new allies of mankind, but to races like Majin that became mankind’s enemies, too. Even great gods make mistakes such as these. It is only natural for mere mortals such as us to be cautious so as to not make mistakes of our own.”
.
Is this guy really a Vida priest? Alda only mistake is the death of the creation oriented champions? The 100 000 of genoicide teachings are not a mistake? Even if ignore the hunt of races like majin he incited the hunting of all vida races including titans and beast-kin that this priest mention as friends of mankind. Also funny how he frased as new friends of mankind, this means dont really sees them as part of mankind(worth mention vida races likes Titan, best-kin and Merfolk are created by two Lambda gods the same way of elves by Peria and Shizarion and dwarves Botin and Zantark). And he pretty much put all races of Vida with monster rank as enemies well Vampires and Majin many cause problem to humans, especially vampires most living outside boundary mountain range follow evil gods, but has many humans that willing work with them to recieve power from evil gods and immortality, like that general from amid empire tha attack taloheshein, i mean Vida races are like any other race with good and evil, but to a priest of Vida see her races as inherently evil, prove that the Vida priests that allied with Alda faction dont really follow Vida teaching, i mean basic of Vida faction should see all Vida races as simple new species of Mankind. And Vida fundamentalists are causing conflict simple because whant to protect vida races rights, so to avoid conflict they should accept that Scylla, Ghouls and even Majin are to be hunted down even if they did nothing wrong.
stewiRow
I think, the author wanted to use the German word “Huf”, not “Hof” (courtyard, farm) 😉
JKingSniper
I’d rather Vand devour Heinz and get rid of this annoyance.
Damn brain washed idiot
Rasho
I don’t hate Selen, and I hope she doesn’t die, but I don’t think Van will forgive Heinz anytime soon, or at all
Chiu ChunLing
If Heinz were able to admit that killing Van’s mom was [i]wrong[/i] rather than simply embarrassing and give up on it, Van would probably give up on killing him if he kept his distance.
But Heinz is incapable of admitting that he did something wrong. He’ll [i]never[/i] give up on killing Darcia, or Vida, or anyone else important to Van, and in light of that Selen will probably come to terms with the logical consequence.
NsP7737
I think Van might kill Heinz but not devour his soul and let him be a Spirit or Undead for Selen’s sake
lazygeko
I feel this is impossible. Unless Heinz gets smarter and ‘nopes’ out of the whole war. If he sticks around he will spearhead the war with his god Alda and best friend Bellwood. Ain’t no way Van would leave such a person around in any form.
TralliE
Hof might refer to Hóf, which is the Icelandic way of saying hoof.
Hunt3rm4n
“hof” could be a reference to the german word “Bauernhof”, which means farm. This fits with the other german horsename “Mähne”, but doesn’t make a lot of sense with the comment about the name “Hoof”
Necessarius
I guess the author meant to use “Huf” instead of “Hof”, which, like “Mähne” is german and means “Hoof” (while “Mähne” is the german word for “Mane”).
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, probably. Wonders of katakana, it somehow doesn’t work at all for the one purpose it was designed to fulfill.
Hobbes
Well it does work… just in a much more limited capacity than it should…
Crimson1997
Hi, I’m new here and just caught up and was wondering if there are a Schedule and subscription for early access can anyone please reply?
Matchu
I do not belive there is Any kind of early access, but if you join the discord you can get a notifikation for when a New chapter is uploaded, also i don’t think there is a schedule.
JeKeBe
Dude’s lucky he’s being turned in rather than shipped off to Talosheim as a test subject, target dummy, or Quinn food.
Selen… I can’t imagine things are going to work, she and Van are highly unlikely to click. She’s been raised and protected by Ketchup, shown nothing but his good sides that he shows to the public as a ‘Hero’, so I could honestly see her trying to convince Van that he should forgive him for the ‘oopsie’ of handing his mom over to be tortured and burned at the stake. I mean, he didn’t have to go to hell and back to resurrect her or anything, right?
Van, on the other hand, his most recent encounter with condiment-man at this point was when he and his party were being trained at the dungeon using he and his followers as kill targets. Not the best of recent impressions. But hey, at least he got one good memory out of that as his mom, dear, somewhat derpy Darcia came storming in to his defense and ended up labeling 57 varieties as an enemy of Vida. Nice.
Chiu ChunLing
I doubt that she and Van can click right away, at least.
But I also don’t see her as being capable of even seriously contemplating vengeance on Van for killing Heinz. She at least can see that Van killing Heinz is way more justified than Heinz having Darcia tortured to death for refusing to assist in the murder her own baby.
Even Heinz realized that looked bad.
Maikraks
Thanks for the chapter.
I think the name of the second horse ist “Huf” with ” u ” witch is German for “hoof” and “Hof” with ” o ” means “court”.
Hope this helps with the name confusion.
conscript117
Thank you very much for the chapter!! Also to the sponsors!!
Quintessential_Person
“Even gods make mistakes” – Zakkart
100,000 years later.
Alda believers “He clearly has no faith in the gods and should never have been a champion.”
Vida believers “He meant a warning to not blindly believe the gods and think for ourselves.”
Zakkart faintly within Vandalieu’s soul “I meant Alda was a f****** idiot for choosing Bellwood.”
gomezseba37
The problem Is that alda Is supposed to enforce justice. but justice Is not a thing set In stone. the definition of what justice Is changes with society. what alda Is doing is enforcing his own justice and bellwood’s justice. wich is basically a dictatorship thats not justice at all thats just abusing power
Unianonanymity
Well, to be fair, blind justice, which alda propagates, is still justice. And though it is wrong on a fundamental level, no one has the balls, or the power(since his human superiority worshippers put down dissent with extreme violence) to correct who is basically king of the gods
Wsteven7o7
Well well see when a certain Death God appears.
Hobbes
I would’ve said the same thing in Zakkart’s position tbh. But ihmo, in this series deities account for far more and much more egregious mistakes than mortals do on average.
Darquesse
Just cause they are immortal does not make them immune to making mistakes, or that they properly learn from the mistakes that they have made, it just gives them more time to make even more mistakes.
Lord Rin
Honestly I doubt that Selen and Van will ever reach any sort of amicable terms. Heinz and everybody else seems to keep lots of things from her. She’s overly sheltered like a hothouse orchid with very little knowledge of how the real world works. She’s likely still unaware how Heinz seems to like using her as bait to draw out Alda Fundamentalists so that he can give them a slap on the wrist as he “guides” them to Alda’s Peaceful Faction and we’ve even seen this happen one time on-screen with Edgar then implying how Heinz does it all the time. Also Selen probably hasn’t even been told about how Heinz is directly responsible for the death of the mother he tells the story of to the public as the reason why he has joined the Peaceful Faction. Well even if Selen did get told, she seems to be too much Sunshine and Rainbows that I could totally see her telling Van that he should forgive Heinz because Darcia isn’t dead anymore. For Selen and Van to reach any sort of amicable terms I think she would need to first have her spirit shattered by the revelations of how much Heinz has been lying to her. Also personally I think that Heinz let Selen’s parents die just so he can have her as a trophy daughter that can be used as a mascot for the faction he just so happens to be the figurehead of. I mean I find it way too suspicious how they said that Heinz found out about Selen and only showed up at the nick of time to save her but not be fast enough to be able to save her parents too.
Well that drug smuggler picked the wrong city to try to smuggle drugs to. Also the wrong route to get there too.
On another note, “Hof” along with “Mähne” sounds kinda German. It might not be actual German though and rather some similar-sounding fictional language from Origin since I think Van previously said the name “Mähne” originated from Origin as one of the languages that either he or Legion knew. Anyways looks like this is a repeat of what happened with Fang. They need two more horses so they can have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Ah so they have been looking for Fitun’s dungeon. I guess they were assigned this quest as an excuse to give Van and his group a more official accomplishment since there might be people who might look down on them once they go to the Alcrem capital. Simon should give up trying not to stand out. He’s already got a transforming metal arm that he can do Rocket Punches with. Now he just needs to dress in black clothes, wear an eyepatch and dye his hair white. Embrace the chuuni.
CyberDre
So he should basically turn to Hajime Nagumo
Irazori
heinz may just still see Via’s races as equals, but I doubt that he let Selen’s parents die just for her to be his half-assed atonement sentiment for killing Darcia. I hate the guy, but he’s not THAT shitty.
Chiu ChunLing
Keep in mind that one of her parents was Vampire. If he hadn’t ‘let’ her be killed, he’d have finished her off himself, no matter how ‘Reconciliation’ he is.
That would have made things awkward for raising Selen, though. He’d have had to hand her off to someone else to raise in a stable situation rather than drag her around as a mascot for his party.
A_wandering_otter
I despise heinz and want him killed but heinz isn’t evil in the traditional sense he is slightly better than alda and Bellwood He won’t go out of his way to use and manipulate Selen I’m very sure he withholds information but not to that extent
Kettern
Thanks for the chapter!
Regarding the hoof/hof note: Only my assumption but in German we do have the word Hof. It does not mean hoof (that would be Huf) though. It means some sort of ranch/barnyard. Maybe an author slip-up/Van misunderstanding certain words or just me being wrong.
Tejing
Hmm, Selen is getting involved with Van beyond simply being Heinz’ trophy daughter. I wonder how that’ll turn out?
Ditto for the peaceful factions of both gods… they want peace but don’t realize what needs to be addressed to get it. Hopefully Darcia will make them think.
Another horse? I wonder if they’ll end up with some sort of duality going on, like fire and ice, or light and darkness, or something.
Doc
I don’t really get calling Van and Darcia “fundamentalists”. I don’t recall Van or Darcia ever publicly denouncing Alda. Like, Alda and his faction are out to kill Van so Van is obviously not a fan of the guy but that’s all behind closed doors. Darcia has been spreading Vida worship/stories, not bashing Alda. Like, all Vida followers are against Alda’s hard-line view of Vida Races being evil. I don’t know what makes Van or Darcia any more extreme than any other Vida worshipper (at least to the public eye). Van would be more than happy to coexist with Alda. He just wants to be left alone and for his friends to be happy. It’s Alda’s side that won’t tolerate him or Vida’s races. Thus he has to defend himself.
Also, while I realize it’s comic relief, sometimes I’m confused by Van’s lack of common sense. Like, even if the horse’s kick does zero damage to Van, it’s still obvious that the horse is trying to attack him. Like if somebody punches you, but you felt nothing from the hit, that doesn’t mean you don’t understand the concept of being struck with intent.
CyberDre
I think the reasoning behind calling them Fundamentalist, is cuz they are pro Development, Progression and acceptance, something Alda’s faction is definitely against given how their followers Ban Dubious looking technology that might or might not resemble earth tech or how they preach acceptance of the undead, something Alda and pretty much most humans fear and hate , not to mention a whole lotta things the Alda followers wouldn’t like, after all , their whole deal is returning the world to a pre Gurudanis state, impossible and counter productive but that’s their goal.
I mean we know why Van’s side is preaching it but Pietro’s reasoning is they are completely against what the peace faction are trying to achieve, which is coexistence, he feels that by them being open about these things it would cause discord on their own end. It’s gonna blow up soon anyways but they don’t know that, they’re under the assumption that Alda is “Forgiving” and will accept Vida if she admits her mistakes unbeknownst that Alda would still strip her of followers even if that works out for him. If the peaceful faction were in the know bet me it’ll blow up real fast, the moment Heinz return to them , they’ll have some idea of what’s going on, and many would either run or join Van outta fear (for the Vida side that is) The Alda side of the peaceful faction would either run or try to fight Van alongside Heinz, cuz Van has pretty much made it clear he isn’t letting him go.
As for hof, well TBF , many of his living Allies were wary and sometimes violent until they got to know him, in comparison, the horse is pretty tame.
Doc
You know, I’m not actually sure what Van’s take on undead in general is. I mean any undead he personally meets will get charmed by his death charm ability and become docile. Often gaining increased intelligence or their original personality in his presence. And he obviously wants peaceful undead to be treated with respect. But “wild” undead are usually not like that and attack the living. Vida attempted to turn Zakkart into an undead but that doesn’t prove Vida was cool with all of them either and “undead” is not a Vida race.
CyberDre
It’s pretty vague , but my guess is , they shouldn’t be contempt or hatred towards the undead as they do not choose to be the way they are, they are created from the lingering souls of those with unfinished Business. If I dive deeper I guess it’s a “They don’t get to choose what they become” kind of deal.
Mostly I think they’re just preaching you shouldn’t show cruelty or hatred when facing an undead , even if you are to fight them , no need to be brutal about it , they were once living too, y’know? At least that’s the gist I got.
Lord Rin
If I recall, they mentioned why they are labeled fundamentalists back when Darcia started giving her sermons in Morksi and the Earl had originally wanted to partner with her and Van. Basically Vida Fundamentalism is the doctrine where ALL of Vida’s races are considered people. Vida’s mainstream religion don’t acknowledge or barely acknowledges Vida’s races that descend from monsters and evil gods. We’ve already seen it where ghouls, kijin and majin are considered monsters while other races like scylla are pushed onto remote and harsh lands and Vida herself even laments that many people that supposedly worship her aren’t really believers or also discriminate against some of her races. Darcia hasn’t outright denounced Alda as a racist prick in her sermons but the content of her sermons makes it clear to anybody really paying attention that what she is saying is that there can be no reconciliation with Alda and thus that is why she and Van are being labeled fundamentalists. Van apparently acknowledges this and that he doesn’t plan to fight the label right now because there’s no point but he plans that once the majority of people switch to the same mindset, that he’ll change the name to something less bad sounding.
Chiu ChunLing
“Fundamentalist” is really only bad sounding if you have no intention of seriously basing your life on the actual teachings of a religion.
It has poor implications in modernity because we simply don’t take religion seriously as a guide to how people should live.
SchmidtNation
Chapter 213 is about Darcia’s first sermon in Morski, it might be worth revisiting. She thinks of herself as a fundamentalist, and makes it apparent in her sermon. One of Earl Morski’s spies walks away thinking “it was very clear that her stance was not friendly towards Alda’s peaceful faction; in fact, it was the exact opposite”. She’s been in Morski 3 months and has done multiple sermons, all presumably with the same stance. It’s not surprising that the high ranking member of a church who is also from a duke family was able to confirm her public religious stance.
ObserverBias
On Van vs Common Sense (specifically with animals), reminder; he has no experience in previous lives with pets, or anything similar. His initial closest comparisons in this series were his undead Bone creature compatriots that have culminated into Bone Man and Knochen (possibly just Bone Man, but I’m not certain).
In comparison to the mentioned Shine Horses, Hof “kicking” at him would be instead comparable to Fang (or, potentially, the Rat Sisters, but iirc we either didn’t see their process, or they were part of the blood potion/living-undead breeding project).
So saying, his current experiences with animals consists of ‘initial hostility then fast-track acceptance,’ and ‘outright Nope’.
Not including Pete or Kuhl as they were monsters to begin with, and the Cemetert/Gehenna Bees are now closer to their own beings of comparable sentience.
Doc
No experience with pets has nothing to do with not understanding the concept of something attacking you. We’re not talking about Van not understanding how to take care of a horse. All living things understand intent to harm and fear.
Again, it’s done for comedic relief, it’s not like I don’t understand why that’s written. My point is sometimes Van displays very inconsistent denseness when it comes to common sense.
(also, for the record, he might not have had much of a loving relationship in his previous lives but he still had a somewhat normal upbringing in his Earth life to understand basic human and animal concepts. It’s not like he was raised out in the wilderness by wolves.)
Chiu ChunLing
The horse isn’t intending to harm Van, it’s a defensive reflex.
Yes, it’s afraid of him, and Van gets that. But he doesn’t get that it’s trying to harm him because it isn’t seriously trying to harm him. Horses are capable of overtly intentional attacks, but that doesn’t mean that all incidents where a defensive reflex causes a hoof strike are intended as attacks from the horses perspective.
For a horse, rearing and waving it’s hoofs in front of it are similar to a human holding their hands palm out in front of them, it’s a warding gesture (people who work with horses have to understand this). So Van is misunderstanding something here, but not to the degree that you’re assuming.
Also, I think you need to go back and read what happened to his upbringing on Earth, because if you think anything about that was normal you really shouldn’t be accepted in human society.
Chiu ChunLing
They explain this pretty concisely.
Alda’s Reconciliation faction isn’t just a perversion of Alda’s actual teachings. It completely ignores Alda’s actual program of complete genocide and and replaces it with something less unpalatable. The genocide program is unpalatable for two reasons. First, to the morally sane, it appears evil on the face of it to indiscriminately murder woman and children just because they happen to be a different race.
Second, it’s been proven over and over again that human nations cannot survive without Vida races to settle areas humans find less appealing and mitigate the Devil’s Nests there. Vida’s reasons for creating new races were sound and compelling, no amount of Alda’s insistence on genocide will ever change the fact that it dooms those nations that attempt it.
Marshkuzarl isn’t a ‘good guy’ who cares about the first reason. Nor is he some kind of superlative genius with insight no other national rulers have ever possessed. He’s a cynical pragmatist who abhors the doctrine of genocide because he knows enough history to know how utterly incompatible it is with the prosperity of his Empire. Or any human civilization, but he isn’t a good enough guy to care about any civilization that he doesn’t personally control.
In other words, Alda’s doctrine is literally incredibly evil and stupid, in that even most of his own ‘believers’ cannot believe that could be his real doctrine.
But it is.
Chiu ChunLing
The view of ‘Vida worshippers’ in human societies is that Vida erred by creating new races that have Ranks, so everything other than the Dark Elves, Titans, and Beastkin. They further believe that she is being lawfully punished for her error and is penitent, that she fundamentally agrees that the Vida races with Ranks are basically monsters and can only be accepted if they are properly ‘tamed’.
The difference between them and Alda’s Reconciliation faction is merely that Vida worshippers generally believe Vida will return to managing the Life Attribute as a Great God once she has paid for her crime, while Alda Reconciliation faction does not necessarily believe she will ever return to the position of managing the Life Attribute, which currently ‘belongs’ to Alda.
Darcia, by teaching stories that clearly indicate that Vida’s races with Ranks are to be considered “people” in their own right rather than readily tamable monsters that exist for the convenience of humanity, is clearly diverging from the doctrine taught in human societies.
Flesh Sculptor
You know. Even if Bellwood was the fanatical eco terrorist everyone seems to think he was… What would he say if he saw that he basically inspired this world’s KKK into existence?
Doc
For the record, Bellwood was not an eco terrorist. People keep misinterpreting the tiny bit of backstory that said Bellwood was very pro environment in college and likely would have joined more extreme groups had he not been summoned to Lambda. Meaning he at no point actually committed eco terrorism.
Eddy
And being an ecoterrorist requires discipline and planning skills, Bellwood was a charismatic subject who gathered a lot of people for a march, and already at the place he asks them why we should fight, he had no idea of logistics and leadership, that’s why it was harmless on earth, but became a threat when they gave him weapons and an army.
Something similar happens with that there are people who think it was a world of magic, because they confused Farmaund Gold’s desire to travel the world with the profession of fantasy.
And although the fanatics were for misinterpreting and twisting his doctrine, it does not mean that from the beginning, the doctrine that he promoted is the type of thing that drives these types of people to extreme decisions, and although we could say that if he had not been defeated It would not have happened, if he had not been defeated, they would all be dead or at least, by the time Bellwood came to his senses, the damage would be irreversible.
Irazori
Oh shit, that essentially is what alda’s true followers are.
Really wish we could read more about how those assholes died by the Morski assassins, Miles and Isla
Chiu ChunLing
He was fine with it for 50,000 years, till the Evil God of Sin Chains shut his trap.
Botats
Obrigado pelo cap. Gostei muito, por favor continue.
Absolute Zer0
I forgot about existence of this Dhampir girl until now, lol. I think this girl will be serve as example of victim of conflict between two forces. I really love Author-sama’s world building! And character developments are great! I still can’t believe learning more about society than I ever did in my entire life
graustier
Glad to see more of Selen. Hopefully, this is a taste of things to come for her becoming a more prominent character.
I may just be spitballing here, but I have a growing suspicion that she might play a prominent role in the future in quelling the conflict between Alda’s and Vida’s factions, hopefully achieving a new “Balance” for the world of Lambda.
Irazori
Maybe. But she’ll have to first accept that heinz has to own up to the grave mistakes he made to Van, the ghouls, and Majin with his and the other two orginals of the 5 with their deaths/destroyed souls.
graustier
Agreed, Heinz and his group have been mucking things up rather spectacularly as far as their purported goals might be. Selen’s got some future hurdles to jump through, and that’s a fact, but I do hope that she turns out to possess adequate judgement and persuasiveness to bring Heinz’s stubbornness to heel, as well as at least somewhat calm Van’s hatred towards the Five Colored Blades.
Heinz may be a tool at present, but if his aim toward virtue proves authentic, and his devotion toward Selen holds true, then I could see the making of a compelling redemptive arc. He and Van don’t ever have to be friends, but for the sake of Lambda and their respective loved ones, I can see them putting their grudges aside.
The proper stewardship and balance of the Attributes, as well as the future stability of the system(s) of reincarnation, are somewhat more prevalent a concern towards everyone’s well-being, and I think that Heinz and Van might be able to reach an accord over that, if nothing else. Granted, they have to be fully apprised of such things first. 😉
CyberDre
The thing about Selen is well, she’s Sheltered , Heinz has Protected her from the reality of their world , she hasn’t seen nor directly heard of the plights of other races of Vida , she’s merely being told that her presence and identity as a Dhamphir is enough to bring about a change for these people, which let’s be honest isn’t nearly enough.
Now the only thing other than being a Dhamphir , her and Van have in common is their parents were killed , if Darcia hadn’t been resurrected , I could see Selen being disgusted by what the five coloured blades did, but since she has been , if Selen finds out this info , I can see her saying Van should forgive Heinz since Darcia isn’t dead anymore, which would send him into a rage , given how Absurd what she requests is.
For anything to improve or change , Selen has to mature and face facts b4 she can interact with anyone from Van’s side , which isn’t happening anytime soon apparently. Besides more than anything, even if Van does let go and even if Heinz does get penance, what about Alda and Rodcorte? Those two would interfere to the extent that Heinz would have no choice but to fight Van , which Van would welcome.
Eddy
They know that the most unreal thing of all this is that Bellwood has made it to college. Even if his worshipers misrepresented his doctrine, it seems that nowhere is there at least one verse, one footnote, where he speaks of common sense.
There is something more ironic than the followers of the god of law and light, complaining that the law that protects is blasphemous and unjust and sending assassins to break it?
ObserverBias
Based on this I suddenly get the bad feeling Bellwood was retroactively flanderized heavily by everyone that knew him personally. Like, was he still a dismissive prick to Creation based champions? Likely. Was he this obsessed with technology never advancing? I’m starting to doubt it, but stuff gets lost in history all the time.
SchmidtNation
He was active as a god for 50 thousand years, after his unnaturally extended lifespan of several centuries. It wasn’t people who knew him personally that created his doctrine and teachings, it was he himself.
graustier
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. Has anyone noticed that all of the members of the peaceful group are Alda approved races except for the dhampir mascot. There have been no Vida created races that joined the peaceful fraction to my knowledge except maybe the beast men races. Mind you since most are killed on sight, I suppose this makes sense. Found it funny that the two priests were discussing how maijin race attacks humans on sight. Are they forgetting humans do the same. Kind of curious if Hof will go a different evolution path like what happened with the rats. I also wonder if the drugs could have alternative uses that Van might try for his empire. Does Fitun’s dungeon have a god in control of it. I would guess yes but probably a lesser god that will soon be eaten.
Doc
We have no way of knowing so it’s best not to make assumptions on a lack of information. The monster born Vida races generally don’t hang around Human cities to begin with, so of course none of them would be in the peaceful faction. The peaceful faction is made up of Alda believers, therefore only Humans and Elves would be the main constituents of that. Titans and Beast-men are only recently getting better treatment but that doesn’t mean there’d be a lot of them joining with a slightly less unpleasant group. Doesn’t mean none would though.
Utsuho
Humans does not kill Majins on sight. Humans only ‘saves mankind’ for a dangerous threat that ‘obviously’ can’t be reasoned with.
Irazori
Yep, typical aldiot faulty reasoning.
Entropy
Yeah, humans kill majins in self defense before the Majins know what is happening. Love the logic of Alda worshippers, they have to kill them before the Vida races have the chance to kill them.
Badasssal
I have a question. Does anyone know if it’s mentioned whether Selene has the sunlight immunity skill like Van and every other vampire under him. To my knowledge it’s never stated that she could walk out in the day, or if she can must avoid direct sunlight by standing under a shadow
Entropy
I would surmise she has sunlight resistance since she was in the adventure’s guild hall during the day, but no clue.
Kazza
I believe it was stated somewhere (I believe when the three big bad vampires were introduced) someone said Dhampirs “had less weaknesses” than their vampire parents. So I assume Dhampirs are naturally immune (or at least resistant), and Darcia was just being a bit paranoid at the beginning.
Flesh Sculptor
No and no. It was said that dhampires take some traits from both parents and, do not really need to drink blood or at least not that much. The more blood they drink, the closer they are to their vampire parent.
Van’s dad was a valued member of the evil god club because of his skills almost entirely nullifying the effects of the sun, never mind being a low rank bloodsucker. That is why Van is ok despite drinking a lot of blood. Darcia didn’t know that he will be inheriting traits of his DAD and not just VAMPIRE traits – thus she was being careful.
Selene on the other hand, probably just monitores her blood intake
Kazza
I’m sorry, but isn’t that basically what I said? At base, Dhampirs like Selen would be more on the human side, thus not suffering the weakness? Especially since I would assume Heinz has an anti-blood drinking policy.
Chiu ChunLing
Dhampirs don’t develop all the racial characteristics of their Vampire parent unless they suck blood regularly. That applies to the major weaknesses and some of their strengths. This was a concern for Van that limited his dependence on sucking blood till he learned that he would inherit Valen’s particular special characteristic of Sunlight Resistance.
WholesomeAF
Reading “two months have passed” as a start relates me to a spiritual level
VEreality
Thank you Yoshi-sama!
New pets!!
By the way:
Vandalieu is gathering horses
Horses become powerful
Vandaliu is gathering allies
Allies become powerful
Strong allies get strong horses
Horsem of the apocalypse anyone???
Kazza
Wha? A Selen chapter? I thought they were a myth!
Mostly joking. I actually really liked the beginning bit, even if she didn’t really take that much part in it.
This Pietro guy actually does (I think) a pretty good job of detailing why Heinz faction is doomed to failure. Besides all the lies, of course.
I think it’s interesting that he calls Van and Darcia “Fundamentalists” when they’ve hurt nobody (that he knows of) and at most have turned away some Alda priests offering protection. Yet, for some reason he expects an armed conflict from them?
And it’s all because they’re not worshiping Vida “the right way”. And that’s the problem with the peaceful faction. It places itself as a moral arbiter, when in actually might makes right. And like all organizations that run that way, the second someone has enough might to challenge, they are a threat that must be destroyed.
Anyways, I’m going we get to read the letter. I want more Selen!
Also, anyone else notice that this Rembrand guy isn’t the same one Heinz left Selen with when he went into the Trial of Bellwood? That guy’s name was Bellbotro. Wonder if we’ll get any word on what happened…
CyberDre
I think they’ll be divided into two sides , one who’ll stand with Vida’s faction and one who’ll simply run away, cuz let’s be honest , you’d have to be just as Crazy to join Alda’s side willingly, after all , it’s not a Gurudanis situation where everyone banded together to defeat him, Van is actually pretty Chill , so even if they don’t follow him, they have no reason to attack him either, and the way the story is going, it seems he’ll have every living Great God other than Alda on his side, will they say stuff like they’ve all be driven Mad?
Well the way I see it, the Way people would see it, joining Alda is riskier than joining Van, at the end of the day he’s the One looking for a fight while Van is just Chill, heck his goal is to spread his reach so people won’t come after him for no reason, the more I think it through the more I realize how weird Alda’s faction is , the whole situation can be solved over a pint, infact they have more to gain in a truce than to lose cuz:
1) They can now control the Vida’s Circle better, with the help of Alda’s forces , maintenance would be more efficient. Infact no more Rodcorte! That’s a blessing if I ever see any!
2) The general life of their followers would improve.
3) Incase another Gurudanis appears, they would have a united force against them.
4) Maintenance of the world would be better taken care of.
Literally nothing to lose , Alda is weird, really weird.
Eddy
Bellwood guided him for 50,000 years, when he left the guide, even when he regained his ability to think, he thought it was too late and that the plan had to be followed, as if the officer in charge of a concentration camp felt guilty about it. hit and decided that out of mercy he would put them all in the oven at once, only that Alda is doing it in the slowest and most painful way possible for both parties.
And if you think that Alda’s way of leading is bad, it is because he should never have been a leader, since the war all he did was blindly trust Bellwood and his current strategy is to patiently accumulate strength while waiting for Bellwood to wake up and guide them. to victory.
Zenden1st
I think its weird he even allowed his own hero to lead him didn’t the great gods summon the heroes so I was thinking it should’ve been the other way around
Chiu ChunLing
It was.
Yes, Bellwood Guided Alda…but it was Alda that chose him and made him a Guider.
In other words, Bellwood was just telling Alda what Alda wanted to hear all along. That the ‘order’ of the world before Guduranis was ‘perfect’ and that there was no need to change or adapt to the situation. That all of Zakkart’s actions that allowed them to win the war were ‘too dangerous’ because they weren’t consistent with keeping the world exactly as it was before the invasion. That betraying him and the other creation Champions to their deaths was ‘necessary’. That Vida was insane for creating new races that had the strength to fight monsters in places where humanity couldn’t prosper.
All of these were things Alda believed, but could never convince any of the other great gods to follow.
Irazori
alda isn’t weird, just a massive idiot like his equally short-term plan idiot of a champion.
ObserverBias
Think the damage Pietro’s worried about is to the version of Vida’s religion that he’s privy to, which (in reaching any sort of middle-ground with the peaceful faction) is decidedly… different, from what Darcia (and Van by proxy) are preaching. Something like Catholic vs Protestant vs Orthodox for Christianity (I guess, I’m not too sure on the particulars but I imagine they’re different branches for clear reasons).
It’s likely they less expect an armed conflict, and more a clash of ideologies… which is a given, as there’s a clear divide between the two. And… they’re less trying to destroy the version Darcia and Van are preaching, and more going “Please don’t come at us,” I’d bet because on some level they understand the fundamentalist way isn’t wrong, just different from the version they’ve had to iron out for years to make palatable to having any exchange with something like the peaceful faction.
Maybe. That’s what I got out of it, anyway, to say nothing of the exact damning details of their own perception of Vida.
Kazza
Yeah, that may be more what was intended. I still think the line:
“…they wanted to avoid a confrontation – especially Darcia, who was able to summon Vida’s familiar spirit.”
Kind of jumps out at me, because the main purpose of the familiar spirits are the increase of stats. Maybe it’s more like you said, they don’t want a literal angel pointing out their contradictions, but I still think the line is suspicious.
ObserverBias
It’s mentioned that rumors of Vandalieu and Darcia have spread about, doubtless including accounts of their contributions to defense of a town against a rampage (with extra details having a range of variety).
Probably technically more wise of them to expect a confrontation than not expect one, but what I meant was that if this group is expecting a fight, they don’t for a moment presume they’ll be the ones to win.
While it went unsaid, I reckon the vast majority of priests of Vida neither have a protection from her nor receive messages from her (as those are, iirc, rare things to begin with, and she was only “recently” released from her punishment by Van, so they were likely priests in her name without being vetted in any way). By comparison, someone that is on record as being closer to the goddess than anyone else alive… is not a fight, physical or social, one wants to pick.
SchmidtNation
Fundamentalists are different from extremists (the violent ones). He calls them Vida Fundamentalists because that is the stance Darcia has taken during all of her sermons at the communal church in Morski. And it makes sense that Darcia has a fundamental view of Vida’s teachings, because she had extended lessons directly from Vida and her subordinate gods during her reincarnation. So she believes in the direct, unaltered teachings of Vida, while every single priest of Vida above the Boundary Mountains is working with a version of the doctrine that has been through 100,00 years of personal interpretation, regional variance, the need to survive in a world dominated by Alda’s faction, and zero support or input from Vida or any of her allies. Chapter 213 details her first sermon, and it shows that Darcia herself and Morski’s spies recognize that she does not have a friendly stance towards anything Alda.
“Nobody, including Vida’s priestess, had expected Darcia to talk about the history of the religion or the ‘correct’ interpretation of her doctrine.”
“she also made sure to properly tell the audience of Vida’s original teachings.
She did not want the audience to think that her teachings were similar to the mainstream teachings of Vida’s religion in the Alcrem Duchy, which were taught by those who had a friendly relationship with Alda’s followers.
Needless to say, Darcia was an enemy of Alda, the god of law and fate… a Vida fundamentalist.”
“If one listened to her words without being distracted by Darcia’s charisma, the novelty of her stories and her performance with ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ it was very clear that her stance was not friendly towards Alda’s peaceful faction; in fact, it was the exact opposite.
The concepts that all of Vida’s races should be acknowledged as people, that new technology should be accepted, and Devil’s Nests should be adapted to rather than fought against.
All of these ideas were against Alda’s religion.”
All three of these excerpts are from ch213, it could be worth a re-read to confirm what their public religious stance is.
Kazza
Ah, fair enough. I didn’t remember much about the sermon because it was a bit of Tell-Don’t-Show.
I’d still say Pietro’s jumping the gun. I think he’s still confusing opposition with a desire for destruction. And the fact that he thinks that someone who has a familiar spirit of the goddess of life and love would resort to violence as a first option is a bit “red flaggy” for me.
SchmidtNation
I think it’s pretty natural, considering the 100,000 years of only hearing Alda’s side of things. 100,000 years of Vida’s teachings being watered down and weeded out. I have no hesitation believing their history has plenty of instances of Vida Fundamentalist movements committing unjust violence against Alda believers, when in reality it was Alda forces who attacked first then retroactively justified it. Kinda exactly how Bellwood led an unprovoked attack against the completely unaware city of Vida’s races immediately after the war against the Demon King, saying it was ‘for the sake of the world’ or some similar sounding bull.
Also, Vida and Alda’s last interaction was waging war against each other. The goddess of life and love will resort to violence to protect the lives of her beloved children, believing her fundamentalists would do the same is not really a stretch. And when over half of Vida’s races are viewed as extermination targets by Alda’s believers, violence is to be expected.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s not just Vida’s teachings that have been watered down.
Keep in mind, the Bellwood and Alda “extremists” are really just doing exactly what Bellwood and Alda commanded (and what Alda at least still commands, in the absence of Bellwood).
The only problem with Bellwood extremists is that ‘sometimes’ they wiped out people for developing indigenous Lambda technology because they mistook it for “otherworldly knowledge” because they literally have no way of knowing the difference because there actually isn’t any.
But their program of genocide is clearly approved by both Bellwood and Alda. The only reason to think otherwise is the inconvenient fact that 100,000 years of trying it has proved that human nations that achieve some degree of success in this endeavor end up destroying themselves because it turns out Vida races function exactly as she intended, they provide a buffer by mitigating Devil’s Nests in areas where humanity cannot. Where they are exterminated or driven out, a human nation will inevitably become unable to maintain their existence.
This doesn’t mean that Alda and Bellwood never commanded it, it means that their commands are stupid and ignore reality.
Doc
Well, that was fairly comprehensive an answer. Kudos.
ExplodingPenguinDood
I can see 3 endings in the future.
1. Heinz goes full Alda and bloodbath ensues
2. Heinz gets disillusioned and joins Van or leaves
3. Heinz get Alda’s power when the dust settles
CyberDre
It’s definitely not 2, Van will never accept him and his pride won’t let him run. 1 is the easy choice and 3 well , it all depends on how the story settles , personally, I believe it should be either Schneider or multiple new gods that govern Alda’s power at the end , with Alda being imprisoned and forced to suffer for his crimes, Death will be too kind for him as he has to experience what he put everyone through under his tyrannical reign, besides Alda isn’t evil , he’s touched in the head and needs discipline not true death, perhaps he’ll be the first inmate if Van ever creates this story’s equivalent of hell
gomezseba37
Alda talked about gods being guided. maybe that was a hind and alda Is just wrong because he was guided by bellwood even if he doesent notice. so the true final enemy will be bellwood
Badasssal
One I’ve always considered was Bellwood awakening and possessing Heinz like Fitun did Hajime but Heinz was more willing
Entropy
I strongly suspect option 1 while Heinz still claims to be a member of the peaceful fraction. Maybe he will allow some of Vida’s races to remain as slaves or pets.
ObserverBias
I’ve been of the idea that No Blocking Amemiya will wind up being mainlined into possessing Heinz directly (once he eventually dies in Origin) for all the iffyness that will cause, based on their parallel trends of being Failure Heroes.
graustier
Personally, I hope that Heinz eventually reaches a begrudged, but firm accord with Van and Vida, with more than a little help from Selen. This might, in turn, force him to either reform or usurp Bellwood and Alda, and finally enable the Alda and Vida sects to find a new “Balance” for the world of Lamda, ensuring proper stewardship of the Primary Attributes.
Doc
I mean 1 seems far too simplistic for the way this story is. Besides, they wouldn’t be bothering with all the character development for Heinz if he just goes simple villain route. My guess is that he fights Van, possibly getting his body taken over by Bellwood, but Van ends up not killing him.
I think the author has made it pretty apparent that Heinz is not a bad guy. Just misled.
Lord Rin
I think option 1 is the most likely. The dungeon he and his party are trying to clear has been specifically set up to emphasize a genocidal mindset against Vida’s races. To clear each floor requires them to kill members of Vida’s races like ghouls, vampires and majin as we’ve seen in previous chapters. Basically Heinz and his party are being taught to kill others on sight instead of gathering information or trying to open dialogue. That coupled with Heinz’s Never My Fault tendencies where he gets immediately defensive and confrontational when his actions get pointed out just makes me think he would go on a genocidal rampage just so he doesn’t have to admit his wrongs when Van points them out.
SchmidtNation
Don’t forget that Rodcorte is currently tampering with Edgar’s soul by splicing fragments of the original Demon King’s soul onto it. There’s always the possibility that Rodidiot lives up to his nickname and messes up. Of course, even if Edgar goes on a Demon King rampage upon awakening, it could really go either way with who Heinz decides to blame. Does he lose all faith in Alda’s faction and renounce them for even considering that plan? Does he focus everything at Van for damaging Edgar’s soul in the first place? Does he get lied to and believe Van is the sole cause? Is he consumed by grief and despair over having to kill his best friend and realizing the gods view them as nothing more than puppets, thus ending his own life and forever denying Van his revenge? Should I stop piling guesses on top of speculation?
Personally, I kind of want him to end up being killed by Darcia.
SmolBeowFren
4.Bellwood wakes up and does a Fitun with Heinz, kills Selen, and dies after fighting Van.
no1
Nice, a new chapter.Caught a drug dealer and Selen is not really doing anything noteworthy. Van and group might challenge Fitun’s dungeon in the later chapter. Nothing much happening, thanks for the new chapter Yoshi
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Superboy8338
I’m okay with Van and Selen being friends, but there’s also a chance that they’ll be enemies
Badasssal
I have a feeling that if Van manages to kill Heinz and his crew he’ll spare Selene cus she’s one of Vidas races but she’ll want revenge and a vicious cycle will start between the two. Or she’ll interfere with his plans to kill Heinz by becoming a human shield like how Van was tricked by that Darcia copy
Nobody2
Remember that van was originally gonna spare At least the souls of the other two party members of Heinz who weren’t involved in darcia’s death. He’s definitely not gonna kill selen unless she makes him
Irazori
It isn’t because selen is a dhampir, it’s mainly because she, the priestess, and fighter girl are just not related to what happened to Darcia. The remaining 3 of the 5-colored assholes are the ones that gotta die.
CyberDre
Thanks for the chapter my dude! The Chuuni vibes this series gives is something, Rocket punch!? There’s no way Van taught Natania that just for defense!
Selen, poor poor Selena, there’s no way I can see Van and her coming to an understanding given he is trying to Kill her adopted dad and said Dad is probably gonna be instinctually hated by all of Vida’s races given you know [Vida’s mortal enemy!] And [Holy mother killer!] Let’s just hope she doesn’t die in the process. Also I don’t want something convenient like Heinz suddenly turns on Selen, nope , my best part about Heinz and Van’s whole dynamic is that fundamentally speaking neither are “bad guys” , one is insane and the other is a pseudo rascist but that’s about it. It isn’t gonna end well for Heinz but I so don’t want him to die a Villain’s death.
Van’s naming prowress doesn’t disappoint , Hof? I’m surprised no one has called him out yet!
ExplodingPenguinDood
Really who’s gonna call Van out for his naming sense? If Doug hasn’t done it then no one in his circle would do it 🤷 the price to pay when you have cheat skills
Entropy
Well not like Van had any pets in either of his past lives. Plus he is better than the scientists that used him as a test subject. What did they name him, experiment 42, or something like that. Besides that I would love to see the peaceful fraction’s reaction to Heinz not only having tried to already killed Van twice in the past, but also still trying to kill him. Kind of wonder how Heinz’s pet dhampir would feel if she knew the truth about Van’s history.
Shadowfang
— scientists that used him as a test subject. What did they name him, experiment 42
42 somehow sounds familiar … … …
hitcher hikers guide to the galaxynot that one. there was a manga with mc as an middle aged man going for an adventurer exam/test and his number was 42. a LT note was added (or something) saying it’s a play with word of 4 and 2 added together, as in 42 not read as fortytwo, but read as fourtwo and this would/could be read as -> deathis that a thing author of that manga pulled for his manga, or is that a real thing/wordplay
and did the author of this novel pull the same wordplay here to?
maybe i’m the one almost 250 ch late x.X?
Shadowfang
Japanese wordplay – Wikipedia
Japanese Meaning of 死に, しに, shini | Nihongo Master
apparently it is 4(shi) + 2(ni) = 42(shini) = death
Chiu ChunLing
She’s not going to find out the truth till all the people lying to her are long dead and she’s gotten over that.
SchmidtNation
I’m hoping he doesn’t ignore her letter and goes to visit, quickly. Imagine the mindf*ck Heinz would experience if he comes out of the labyrinth after Mill’s soul repair slumber only to find that his guilt relief poster child has been guided by Van and switched sides.
Also, neither are bad guys? Van is completely and irreversibly insane, while being obsessed with revenge homicide. Heinz hunted down his mother and knowingly handed her over to be brutally tortured and executed, for a crime he doubted was valid. But neither of them are “bad guys” in this situation?
CyberDre
When I think bad guys, I think Doffy from one piece, I think light from Death note, I think the phantom troupe from HXH , I think Kira yoshikage from JJBA Part 4 , I think Nosferatu Zodd from berserk, neither Van or Heinz exactly think like these guys nor is their intentions purely malicious like these guys.
Van is malicious to people who seek to harm him , seek , he doesn’t make other people’s lives miserable for shit or giggles nor does he use them to achieve some master goal or plan, he simply leaves in peace with his people and if you’ve openly made yourself his enemy or wronged him a way he finds unforgivable….. Well enough said, he’s insane but not unreasonable.
As for Heinz , he wronged Van in the beginning, cuz Van is the main character, we see things from his POV , hence why we end up taking hisbsidesb, it doesn’t help that his efforts in atoning for that crime is quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things, heck cuz of his way of thinking along with the doctorine of his religion, he comes across as a bit racist and naive, but he does try to do right tho it’s not as effective as Schneider , who not only does right by Vida’s races but actually sees things from their POV, I mean , who likes hearing that their entire existence is a mistake?
Now if these two come together, their efforts would be centered around “TRUE” coexistence, where everyone involved benefits, but each see the other as too dangerous an entity to let loose , talk less of working together. Van doesn’t forgive and Heinz isn’t impartial or a long term planner, if these things were addressed, they would get alonged. It’s cuz of these I can’t see either as “bad guys”
Irazori
Pretty sure heinz is still bad, considering he only listens to the humans rather than what the demi-humans say. Which has been established when Van kicked all their asses in the aldiot dungeon.
Doc
It wasn’t that he doesn’t listen to non-humans. If you’re referring to specifically the Ghouls which Van pointed out to Heinz during their fight that they are an intelligent Vida race, Heinz, like most humans in this world thought they were monsters (not going to go into the whole debate again where people bring up Heinz “suspected” that might be the case). Heinz was brought up completely under Alda dogma that all monsters are evil and that Vida races spawned from monsters are also evil. However, like with Dhampirs, Heinz is obviously backing down from that hard-line view as he learns more. He’s clearly not being written like a bad guy, just misled.
Irazori
It isn’t just the ghouls, it’s the fact that heinz hasn’t done anything to correct what the humans had done wrong. Specifically he did not bother to look into the cases where members of Vida’s races were falsely accused and then forced into slavery like the titans of Talosheim.
The Syclla were essentially left alone in their own territory, but were overall isolated from interacting outside their territory and would’ve been used as a scapegoat for some idiocy the humans were planning.
(I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it involved some bro-con soldier trying to have his brother gain some achievements or something).
Entropy
My main complaint about Heinz is his foolish desire to both keep the status quo and desire for humans and Vida’s races to come together. Can’t let the humans lose their enslaved ghouls. Sure things are slightly better with him, but like Van suggested the society would always be centered with Alda’s races as nobles and Vida’s as servants or corpses. His adopted daughter will live a century past Heinz and his crew in a world where she is constantly treated like a second-class citizen. That is the best case whereas in the worse case, she will be kept as a mascot to show that they are “equals.”
Irazori
Van isn’t insane, just a bit unorthodox.
Zenden1st
I think he’s insane but not in a bad way
Chiu ChunLing
If Heinz wants to avoid a villain’s death, he needs to stop being a villain.
That starts with renouncing Alda (and especially Bellwood), which he will never do.
Doom
PRAISE VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR DEATH GOD, OUR CHAMPION, AS HE DEFEATS CRIMINALS AND TAUNTS THE ENEMIES WHICH HIDE IN THE SHADOWS! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
Maybe Hoof would also be bad because it rhymes with Woof?
reisben55
What a friendly horse 🙂
Eddy
It must be remembered that Van is often hugged by 3-meter women with the force to crush trucks, this is the caress of a baby
DarkCarnage
also smoothed by legion when he get a hug lol.
Brainlet
i hope that van and selen actually do meet and talk, bc she doesnt seem to be a bad person, she was only saved by the people that van happen to hate for killing his mother, and does seem to want to get along with van himself, also the meeting would be interesting to read, which is the main concern here
Chiu ChunLing
It’s probably inevitable that they’ll meet and talk.
If only because Heinz is liable to think of trotting her out as a ‘Dhampir Shield’ at some point.