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Having flown in the air for a short while to put on a show, Cuatro landed back in the water and approached the harbor.
“It’s just as the prophecy said!” the people gathered on the harbor cheered, and a human man who seemed to be their representative stepped forward.
“Welcome, brethren from the surface! We welcome you to – What is wrong with your face?!” he shouted, his words of welcome turning into words of astonishment mid-sentence as he saw the members aboard Cuatro. “The skin on the right side of your face has been torn off! Your bone is exposed! H-hurry, we need to treat you!”
“Wait, Mayor! This person over here is completely made of bones! And everyone else is all pale, and their eyes are hollow!” said someone else.
“Bring as many Potions as we have! And gather everyone who can cast healing magic!” the mayor shouted.
“Wait, calm down. Don’t worry about my face,” said Borkus, the one with the right side of his skull exposed, trying to calm down the people of this underground world and explain to them that he wasn’t an injured person.
“Jyuuh, we appreciate the sentiment,” said Bone Man, who not only had a head that was just a skull, but was in fact composed entirely of bones beneath his armor.
The people of this underground world had come to welcome Cuatro, the ship that soared across the heavens, which had been guided here by Doraneza at the instructions of a Divine Message. However, they had not noticed that most of the people aboard Cuatro were Undead.
From afar, Cuatro had a somewhat ominous atmosphere around it, but it still looked like an ordinary ship other than its enormous size. The Titan Zombies and Undead sailors also looked like ordinary, living people from afar. They were wearing armor and clothes, and there was nothing unnatural about the way they moved.
Doraneza explained this to the young man who was apparently this town’s mayor.
“Many of those aboard the ship are Undead, but there is no need to worry,” she said. “These Undead are as powerful as gods, having exchanged blows with Colossi and Elder Dragons, but they are very capable of rational thought. I can vouch for them, Mayor Yurak.”
The mayor, whose name was Yurak, recovered from his shock and nodded, his previous calm expression returning to his face once more. “I see. If you are willing to do that, Doraneza-san, then I am sure there will be no problems.”
None of the people gathered at the harbor had any objections to the mayor’s decision. It seemed that Doraneza was significantly trusted by them.
“Still, to think that you are an Undead… even though you are so young. I am sure you suffered many hardships before your death,” Yurak said sympathetically.
“… Excuse me, I’m still alive,” said Vandalieu.
“Huh? Really? Pardon my rudeness,” Yurak apologized. “Your skin is the color of candle wax, so I was sure that… Well then, are you the younger sister of that Scylla over there? You have quite a lot of tentacles.”
“No, these are Tama and Gyoku’s tentacles. I am a Dhampir, and my name is Vandalieu Zakkart. Also, I’m a boy,” said Vandalieu.
Tama and Gyoku made squeaking noises in greeting.
“What?! To have inherited the name of the champion Zakkart, you must be in a very special position. Again, I am sorry for all of the rude things I have said,” said Yurak, apologizing for mistaking Vandalieu for an Undead and a Scylla. He scratched his head with a troubled expression. “Well then, could we bring you to the temple? We call this place Gartland, and we have an ancient custom of guiding visitors to the temple when they first arrive here. Meanwhile, we will prepare your accommodation and a welcome for you, so we will arrange for someone else to accompany you as well. Ah, come to think of it, are our Undead guests able to eat food?”
“Very well. The Undead can eat, so please include them in your preparations,” said Vandalieu.
Borkus and Bone Man could enjoy food. It wasn’t essential to them like it was for the living, so it was nothing but a recreational activity for them. Still, they were happy when there were feasts precisely because it was a recreational activity, and it would provide an opportunity to interact with and speak frankly with the people of this underground world.
However, Vandalieu felt that things were moving along too quickly, and something occurred to him.
He had explained the situation regarding the Undead in the cities of the nations within the Boundary Mountain Range and on the Demon Continent, and the people had accepted it. However, this acceptance usually took more time… though it was still considerably quick, as the people trusted Vandalieu and were guided by him.
However, Mayor Yurak and the rest of the people here had needed only about ten minutes to accept the situation. If they were all members of Vida’s races, it might have been possible that the effects of Vandalieu’s guidance was stronger on them, but Mayor Yurak was a human as far as Vandalieu could tell.
Unless he was in an extreme state of despair in life, it was difficult to imagine that he had been guided when Vandalieu had barely even conversed with him.
“Are you sure about this? Most people have an aversion to Undead,” said Vandalieu, intending to simply satisfy his curiosity.
“Yes, it is fine,” said Mayor Yurak, nodding. “The Divine Message did not clearly explain the existence of the Undead, but it said, ‘the Abyss will come, leading death.’ And I am also a being whom Alda would consider to be evil, just like Undead.”
“You are?” Vandalieu asked.
Mayor Yurak gave a smile that looked like that of nothing but any ordinary human. “Yes. I am Yurak Shimon. I look just like a human, but I am a Homunculus. And I am not the only one. Every human, Elf, and Dwarf in this underground world… well, almost all of them, are either Homunculi or mixes between Homunculi and other races.”
Homunculi. Artificial life forms created through evil life-attribute magic. However, many Homunculi were failed creations, unable to leave the containers in which they were created, and they were incapable of growing beyond the size of an infant or toddler.
However, it was said that Homunculi created by those who had gained the power of evil gods or mages who had studied evil magic for long periods of time looked exactly like humans and possessed advanced intelligence.
The Church of Alda defined Homunculi as monsters rather than humans, but naturally, Homunculi were not discovered in Devil’s Nests or Dungeons. Or rather, Homunculi that looked exactly like humans were half-considered to be myths, and in the Bahn Gaia Continent, the only evidence they existed was records in literature found in the Mages’ Guild’s archives.
As for whether they were actually monsters or not… the records in literature had scarce details, and it wasn’t known whether they possessed a Rank in their Status, whether they were capable of increasing their Rank, or whether they could acquire Jobs.
Vandalieu had looked into Homunculi in the past as a possible way to create a new body for Darcia.
But since there weren’t any resources to go on, and because he didn’t have any concrete knowledge on how to enter a contract with the necessary evil gods, he had put that on hold, and he had completely forgotten about it.
“I didn’t realize that you and all of the other residents are Homunculi,” said Vandalieu in surprise.
It seemed that he would learn the mysteries around the Homunculi here in Gartland.
“Yeah, you look just like an ordinary person. And there were so many people… at least dozens, if we’re just counting the ones who were gathered at the harbor, right?” said Zandia.
“Indeed,” said the Majin woman who had been chosen to accompany Vandalieu and his companions. “Like Doraneza and the others, I was surprised when we first came to Gartland. I was particularly surprised because although I have not created a Homunculus before, I did possess knowledge regarding them.”
With a distant look in her eyes, she looked up at the sky.
This Majin woman’s name was Dediria. She was a Beast-Majin, a race known as Vandals – Majin who possessed various beast-like characteristics. She was of a large build and had the tail of a lion, claws on her feet, and fin-like ears. If it weren’t for the horns on her head and her blue skin – the characteristics that all Majin had in common – one would mistake her for a Beast-kin with parents who were of different types of Beast-kin.
She was the chief of the Majin clan who had formed an alliance with Doraneza’s clan, and had apparently been known as the ‘Saint of Darkness’ on the Bahn Gaia Continent.
“Creating a single ordinary Homunculus would cost approximately a million Baums, and yet there are so many… and there is a variety – humans, Elves, and Dwarves – and they have the intelligence and the ability to conduct business needed to act as the mayor of a town. I can’t even imagine how much money and what kind of facilities would be needed to create them,” Dediria said, walking straight ahead, about to enter a narrow road between two buildings.
“… Umm, the temple is that large building, right?” said Privel. “If we go that way, I think we’ll go past it.”
“M-my apologies. It has not been very long since I came to this town,” said Dediria, making an excuse to conceal the fact that she had become engrossed in calculating just how much money so many Homunculi would cost.
Apparently, a currency known as ‘Garts’ was used in Gartland, but this was likely a habit of Dediria’s since before she left the Bahn Gaia Continent.
Having left Cuatro and the Four Dead Sea Captains at the harbor, Vandalieu and his companions were following Dediria to the temple. Vandalieu could have stored Cuatro in his shadow, but the people at the harbor had been staring at Cuatro with great interest, so he’d decided to leave Cuatro behind.
Bone Man, the Undead sailors, Orbia, and Princess Levia were currently conducting a “We aren’t bad Undead” show at the harbor.
They had improvised a show involving Bone Man letting participants take part in a bone puzzle activity and doing sword dances, as well as a fire, water, and space-attribute display to show the people of the underground world that it was possible to become friends with some Undead.
“Why are we not participating? You even let the space guys join in,” the ‘Mad Dog’ Berkert complained.
“He is right, my lord. We should deceive them with our light shows and make them wish to become like us!” agreed the ‘Fighting Dog’ Daroak.
But Vandalieu shook his head firmly. “No. If you are saying things like ‘deceive’ and ‘make them wish to become like you,’ then definitely not.”
It was a Ghost-like desire to turn the living into more Ghosts. Vandalieu didn’t mind them doing that to enemies, but Vandalieu could not take his eyes off them, as they were liable to do it to people who weren’t their enemies.
… These two were good examples of cases of personalities not changing even under Vandalieu’s guidance.
“What?! What is wrong with my idea?!” Daroak protested, still unaware of this problem.
“It’s because you say such things that Vandalieu-sama keeps us within his sight! You are doing well, keep it up!” said the ‘Fine Dog’ Chipuras.
Vandalieu had brought Chipuras along to keep Berkert and Daroak in check in the unlikely event they went berserk, but Chipuras seemed to be delighted that he was able to stay with Vandalieu.
“I will pretend I did not hear these disturbing words… In any case, not all of the Humans, Dwarves, and Elves here are Homunculi, and Mayor Yurak and the others are not pure Homunculi created through alchemy,” said Dediria. “The mayor said it himself; they are people who were born as the mixing of blood between members of Vida’s races and their Homunculus parents took place. They were nurtured in their mothers’ wombs, not grown in tanks. It is likely that they are quite different from ordinary Homunculi.”
“I see. That might be why they look just like ordinary people,” said Vandalieu.
Homunculi had emotions, expressed those emotions, and felt empathy. If these things were not commonly-made artificial creations, and they were the same as those of ordinary people, then it was possible for people to believe that Homunculi were people as well.
“There are all kinds of saints out there, huh,” Borkus murmured.
“Hmm? Borkus, did you say something?” asked Jeena, who possessed the Title of ‘Saint of Healing,’ a little confused to see Borkus’s gaze shift towards her.
One of these saints was a Majin who almost took the wrong path because she got so caught up in monetary calculations. The other was a Titan Zombie who had struck down a flying boulder that was more massive than her own body.
Neither of their appearances gave off any of the purity or gracefulness that one might expect of an ordinary saint.
“Well, I may be a saint, but I call myself the ‘Saint of Darkness.’ More than half of the meaning behind it is just sarcasm towards Alda. I haven’t made any great saint-like achievements, nor have any gods recognized me. I can cast healing magic, but only for temporary relief. I’m nothing like Jeena-dono,” said Dediria.
There were cases where mercenaries, adventurers, and criminals called themselves by Titles that they did not actually possess in order to add prestige to their names. ‘Saint of Darkness’ had been one of these false Titles that Dediria had used, but as time passed, it had been recognized and appeared on her Status.
“That’s not true. Being able to use healing magic isn’t a requirement to be a saint; if it was, nobody would bother with calling me a saint of ‘Healing,’” said Jeena, who was quite far from the image of what most of the world would consider a saint.
“She’s right. And you’ve led the surviving members of your clan from your home continent to travel a great distance to come to this place. Even if you did so with a god’s divine protection and Divine Messages to guide you, that’s a great achievement on its own,” Vandalieu said in agreement.
Jeena and Vandalieu were correct. It was true that many clergymen who served at temples were able to use healing magic – after all, that made them more popular among the people. However, other than that, they were simply mages who wore priests’ robes and hung holy symbols from their necks. They could not preach the teachings of the gods.
“I’m happy that you’re willing to say such things about me, but we reached this place thanks to Doraneza and the god she and her kind worship. I did not contribute much… and it is the fault of us Majin that we had to flee the Bahn Gaia Continent in the first place,” said Dediria.
According to her, she and her kind had originally lived in the Orbaume Kingdom’s Farzon Duchy.
However, they had not simply lived there in peace. Their settlement had not been in a territory that had been assigned to them. They had worshipped an evil god and secretly held a fragment of the Demon King.
On top of that, they had interfered with human society in questionable ways.
“I will tell you because it is not something we keep hidden now – we bribed and honey-trapped local influential people such as the lord of the region and the Guild Master of the local Adventurers’ Guild branch,” Dediria explained. “The Obscene-Majin – Succubi – of our clan would disguise themselves as humans, approach the targets, create things to blackmail them with, and use their bodies as well as bribes to ensure the clan’s safety. If we had simply tried to stay hidden, we would have been found eventually.”
Among Majin who lived hidden near human societies, there were some who plotted extreme conspiracies – from the scale of subverting the nation they lived in to simply taking over a remote village or town. However, it seemed that Dediria’s clan had not gone that far.
“… Doesn’t that fit under the category of staying hidden in peace?” said Vandalieu.
But it seemed that Duke Farzon had not thought so.
“It likely does not. If we wanted, we could have created as much corruption as we wished using the individuals we had in our palm, and it would have been simple to erase individuals who caused us inconvenience. In fact, we actually did do such things in the past,” said Dediria. “In addition, our existence was inconvenient to nobles who cared about their lineage. Despite our appearances, both Doraneza and I have some blood of the nobles of the Farzon Duchy.”
Honey-trapping someone was the act of having a one-night relationship with an important person, and in some cases, this had resulted in children being born. Such children had been raised and lived their lives as members of the clan. They would then go on to marry other Majin close to them as well as Merfolk from the allied Merfolk clan… thus spreading and mixing that blood.
Dediria and Doraneza both had the blood of nobles of the Orbaume Kingdom.
“And then one of the people we were blackmailing betrayed us, or perhaps they slipped up – there is no way of knowing now. Our existence was discovered. An extermination force, made up of the duke’s knights and adventurers of the Adventurers’ Guild, was sent after us. We could not repel them; we were forced to escape, and even that was just narrowly possible with the help of Doraneza and her clan,” Dediria said. “At first, we didn’t intend to go as far as to leave the continent, but… Doraneza received a Divine Message from Marisjafar. It told us that we should ‘seek a new land,’ and gave us instructions to get there.”
After that, for the sake of those who couldn’t swim, they had attacked a pirate ship that they had fortunately come across, then taken over it to sail to this place.
“Quite the grand, epic adventure,” said Vandalieu.
“Everything that happened after we left the continent has been thanks to Doraneza and her people. Including the fact that I’m alive,” said Dediria.
In the battle against a certain adventurer from the force sent to exterminate her people, Dediria had suffered a deep wound. If Doraneza hadn’t covered the wound with mucus she secreted from the Demon King’s mucus gland to stop the bleeding, Dediria would likely have died.
“But what did you do about the Flying Krakens?” asked Jeena.
“I can’t imagine you would’ve been able to fight them and win in your state, so did you just happen to not encounter them, or did the Divine Message teach you a path where you wouldn’t run into them?” asked Borkus.
“You mean the guardians,” said Dediria with a nod.
“Guardians?” Borkus repeated.
“Yes. They are the monsters that Gartland’s gods put here, and their descendants. We only learned of their existence after we arrived here and Yurak-dono and the others told us of them,” said Dediria.
It seemed that the Flying Krakens were a protective measure like the invisible cave entrance; they were monsters placed here by Gartland’s gods to prevent enemies like demigods who served Alda’s forces from approaching the Demon King’s Continent.
The Flying Krakens had intentionally been made to respond to and attack beings of a certain size… such as Colossi and Elder Dragons, when they swam through the sea or flew across the sky above. Thus, neither the Merfolk nor Dediria’s people, who had sailed using a medium-sized pirate ship, had been targets for them to attack.
On the other hand, Cuatro was an extremely large ship created by joining four originally large ships together, and had thus stimulated the Flying Krakens’ instinct to attack.
“Your-Majesty-kun, couldn’t you tell when you asked their spirits questions?” asked Zandia.
“The ones we defeated were probably the descendants of the Flying Krakens created by the gods. Unlike demi-human monsters, the Flying Krakens don’t possess language and have no way of passing on history or culture, so the ones we defeated didn’t even know where they came from,” said Vandalieu. “Even if they’re charmed by me, there’s no way they could tell me if they didn’t know in the first place.”
It was likely that the gods of Gartland had chosen to create Krakens as monsters to guard the continent so that Alda’s forces would not become aware of their presence on the continent through the presence of guards.
As this conversation took place, the temple they were heading for came into view.
This town was apparently something like the capital of the underground world of Gartland. Each race had their own separate village, but as the people gathered to have discussions, trade, maintain the harbor and their ships for fishing at the underground lake, and set up places to process the things they gathered from the sea, this place had eventually developed into a town.
Thus, the temple was enshrined with the god of each race, as well as Vida, the Goddess of Life and Love, and Zantark, the War-god of Fire and Destruction. Vandalieu’s overall impression of it was that it was similar to the Communal Church in the city of Morksi… though its architecture was a little sinister-looking.
“This is the temple,” said Dediria. “I believe this is where Divine Messages from the gods are sent. That is how it was when we came here.”
“In the kid’s case, I suppose he’ll be able to talk to them directly, right?” said Borkus.
“Directly? Just what do you mean by –”
But Vandalieu didn’t hear the end of Dediria’s sentence; in the next moment, he had been summoned to the gods’ Divine Realm.
“I see. As I thought,” he said to himself, seeing the gods before him and realizing that they were evil gods who had belonged to the Demon King’s army in the past.
Creating Homunculi that perfectly resembled ordinary people and placing Flying Krakens some distance from the continent to guard it were not things that gods of this world were likely to do, so Vandalieu had suspected that this would be the case.
One of the gods who had revealed themselves was a two-headed shark whose heads had been replaced by the upper bodies of men; another was a monkey… no, a giant, whose entire body was covered in white fur. Another god, in contrast, had no eyes or nose and not a single hair on his body but had attractive-looking skin. There was a god who looked like internal organs of every kind piled together in a humanoid shape, one who was beast-shaped and made of countless bones like Knochen, and one that was like a Dragon made entirely out of flesh. One god was like a group of mushrooms with eyes and mouths on their caps.
And for some reason, all of them were raising their hands – or the parts of their bodies that corresponded to hands – into the air, as if they were cheering.
Maybe it’s a greeting in Gartland? Vandalieu thought, imitating them and raising both hands into the air.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Vandalieu Zakkart,” Vandalieu said in greeting. “I was in a bit of trouble, so you saved me by summoning me here.”
For some reason, the gods flinched, looking frightened.
After a moment, the two-headed god with the lower body of a shark steeled his resolve and opened his mouth to speak. “It is our honor to welcome you here. I am Marisjafar, the Righteous Evil God of the Crimson South Sea, the god who has kept Doraneza’s clan safe. The other gods are all also gods who have protected members of Vida’s races for a hundred thousand years. Thus, we ask you to please calm yourself, remain composed, and listen to what we have to say.”
“Of course. As you can see, I’m calm and composed. I’ll listen to what you have to say… Is there something wrong?” Vandalieu asked.
“What are… those numerous arms that you have raised into the air?”
“I was just imitating you guys. I thought it was some kind of greeting or sign of welcome.”
“No, we raised our hands into the air to show that we submit to you and bear no hostile will.”
“… I see.”
It seemed that the meaning of this action differed between Vandalieu and the gods. Vandalieu quietly lowered his hands, and Marisjafar and the others breathed a sigh of relief as they lowered their own.
“But why would you do something like that as soon as we met? I’m not intending on harming you… I don’t recall becoming a beast that eats the soul of just anyone I come across,” said Vandalieu, under the impression that Marisjafar and the others feared him because they had witnessed him devouring Radatel’s soul.
But there was another reason they feared him.
“No, Holy Son of Vida, successor of the champion,” said Marisjafar. “We fear you because we are not gods of Vida’s faction. We are gods who would be considered as remnants of the Demon King’s army.”
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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EjPuzatiy
Him: We’re evil gods
Van: Nah, join me.
Naberisu
If the homunculus are growing in the wombs of their mothers wouldn’t that just be some kind of artificial insemination? 🤔
Alke
Anyway, it’s not he cares about any of these things, you didn’t harm his pple so for him you’re ok. Besides, when he was Zakkart (and other people) he worked with other evil gods, I don’t think that he could contact everyone last time, and I’m pretty much sure that there was other evil gods that would have liked to get away from Guduranis’ reach but couldn’t run away
Alke
Well, you can be remnant of the Demon king army, and he is the demon king now so it’s not too late to join the party! 😏😈😇😇. Besides, you don’t seem like very bad guys, at least you have more dignity than Bakalda’s pple! 😒(wich is not so difficult when you think about it 😅)
Zenden1st
hmm homunculus
happy van made darcias body darcia wouldve been too weak
Adddmeeee
Do I still assume Van towers over them as an enormous monstrosity?
I know no one wants to hear it again after all this time, but does “____ said” and the “said ____” ruin the immersion for anyone else? I still think it’s awkward and repetitive.
It’s weird how Van has a very specific moral compass where blackmail, murder, etc. are fine, but he’s not okay with… No, wait, is there anything he’s not okay with as long as it doesn’t happen to him or innocents?
Hobbes
Those were largely methods to survive & stay hidden for Dediria’s clan… of which she seems to be either the lone survivor or one of a few other Majin. Not saying they’re truly morally white (definitely a grey), but to survive a genocidal god & cult accompaniment for 100,000 years, you usually need more than ideals to get by…
Ronin
Actually see stated all they did was blackmail and bribery. They never disposed of the people. So really I think it would fall into an acceptable grey area. When you have a religion that basically dead set on killing you even if you’ve never done anything wrong. I would think many would find it ok to bribe or blackmail others to stay hidden from existence and safe.
ref
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1745ct/343/
Cap 277
DarkCarnage
i 99% sure Van does not give 1 f_ck about you being ex-demon lord army gods. as long you are not against him or after people he loves, go nuts, hell you even helping the goddesses people so that is some brownie points right there 😛
Irazori
The majin ‘Saint of Darkness”, actually was doing some rather evil things, but not they most likely only did that out of resentment towards the aldiots and their human supremacy garbage stance
Side note:
Anyone else kept thinking about “Full-Metal Alchemist” during this chapter?
Black Diablo
Today’s divine message is, RAISING YOUR NUMEROUS ARMS IN THE AIR IS A DIVINE GREETING.
Phantom Knight
Thanks for the chapter!! I guess it is now understandable why Heimz and the others were attacked by adventurers. The circumstances are unavoidable and reasonable from the current POV, but the humans will obviously feel a sense of fear with such governmental interference.
As for the evil gods, I am honestly surprised on this subject. I thought they were going to be the persecuted Evil Gods who helped to fight the Demon King, but they were really a part of the Evil God Army who fought against the gods until the end.
I can’t even defend the anymore. We can only hope that Vandalieu helps them to make more amends and contribute to new developments in their world.
Damoniil
The first chapter I had to wait for. Thx for the chap!
I love the designs of Evil Gods. They always give you that feeling of being wrong and yet trying to adapt to the world around them. Correct me if I am wrong, but did we ever get a description of the design of Evil Gods who were still evil? We never get their divine realm designs. The story basicly shows us that reformed Evil Gods are changing for the world they now live in, meanwhile evil Evil Gods are so stagnant, that we dont even have to care about them/their look
Den Tweed
Well afair there is the background story of Gufadgarn where some details are given? Should be chapter 177 but got no time to reread it.
ObserverBias
The bit of it is that the ones that get described will be around for a while, while the ones that get eaten… well, won’t (Hihi-shake man being an exception due to being relevant for so long but never being ‘witnessed’ in his true form).
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On a technical level, the Evil Gods aren’t so much “changing” (in their appearance) to fit the world, but instead naturally looked like eldritch abominations from the beginning. The only one that has undergone a full makeover is Gufadgarn, and that was an unintentional troll move.
ObserverBias
AH, and Jurizanpipe, think her original form is described once while they’re smacking Farmaun around.
Lord Rin
Evil Gods don’t have to physically change appearance in order to reform. Doing so has be described as normally very dangerous because that is basically changing their very nature and carries a great risk of either the soul of the god dissipating permanently or they end up as an entirely different being that won’t have the memories or personality they used to have. Apart from two examples so far, all other Evil Gods look like Lovecraftian entities. Merrebeveil changed her nature from an Evil God to a Heroic God by starting a story that she’s always been a Scylla who happened to then be elevated to godhood all as a risky gamble so that the rest of the Scylla wouldn’t be persecuted for worshipping her. Meanwhile Jurizanapipe specifically chose to reincarnate as an elf and has lived as one for a long time and she doesn’t face the risk of changing her nature because of it. Gufadgarn meanwhile doesn’t count as she still has her original form and she’s only possessing an avatar that houses part of her being.
Lord Rin
Interesting. So the majority of elves, humans and dwarves there are actually homunculi.
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OK so while the majin aren’t entirely good, they never did anything particularly major. They may have blackmailed and occasionally killed people that threatened their community but it’s not like they were planning the destruction of the duchy or kingdom. It’s obvious they were attacked because of racist noblemen. And while yes it is legal to kill majin on sight in the Orbaume Kingdom, they were living together with merfolk which cannot be killed on sight according to the law yet they were still targeted. I wonder how Heinz justified it to himself that it was totally fine to kill merfolk when he’s supposedly championing them? I say Heinz because let’s not kid ourselves here, he is the only person they could be referring to, what with constantly referring to the perpetrator as a ‘certain adventurer’ like we may know their identity. Plus in a previous chapter Heinz talked about how they fought a majin woman who now we know is Dediria since they have the same title.
.
So these gods that want to contact Van are actually remnants of Guduranis’ army. I guess they’re either evil gods who just didn’t have a chance to accept Zakkart’s offer to switch sides before Zakkart got killed or they are evil gods who just decided to turn over a new leaf and atone for what they’ve done. There is precedent of a god who allied with Guduranis and didn’t switch sides during the two wars to only then join Vida’s faction later: Luvesfol the Raging Evil Dragon God. OK sure he did it because he was basically forced to in order to save his own skin but whatever. Anyways I guess these guys are gonna be joining Van and Vida’s faction.
Strowy
> he is the only person they could be referring to
Chapter 274 explictly stated it was the Five-coloured Blades, which makes it kind of odd they keep using ‘a certain adventurer’ instead of just using his name.
ObserverBias
Not that odd; generally in stories with a significantly lengthy list of character names, they tend to refer to a character’s offscreen involvement without actually naming them, unless they’re about to be directly involved in the immediate sense. Sometimes even then.
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In this case, as said, she directly thinks of them by name in 274, and we’re expected to have kept that in mind instead of factory-resetting our knowledge of what has ‘recently’ be stated between chapters.
Damoniil
I think in this particular case he dosn’t have to justify hunting merefolk. Don’t forget he dosn’t have an omnicent narrator in his head and from his view he hunted majin and misguided merefolk, who worrship evil gods of the DK army and manipulated politians. Who knows what they could do.
What he needs to justify in my opinion is that he didnt question the contract or the nobles who were blackmailed. I don’t believe he would have needed to do a lot of detective work to find out that this generations long conspidacy never went beyond protecting a few hidden villages. Now that he would know that, he would have to mediate between the factions if he fancies himself as Aldas peaceful faction and (or yk, be a thunderclap chad, but thats too much for ketchup)
Damoniil
… and (…) defend Vidas races.
(Forgot to end sentence lul)
Utsuho
“While the majin aren’t entirely good, they never did anything particularly major.”
“It’s obvious they were attacked because of racist noblemen.”
The problem is the potential threat. Just like Rodcorte want to destroy Vandalieu because he Could wipe out all life if he wanted to, the duke of the Kingdom purged the Majins because they Could take city for themselves if they wanted to.
“I wonder how Heinz justified it to himself that it was totally fine to kill merfolk when he’s supposedly championing them?”
Easy.
‘They are worshipping Evil Gods and are teaming with Majins.’
Yes, Heinz and his team did participate in the Majin purge, but the Five colored blade were not the only adventurer team recruited to do so, and it is said in the chapter, the duke’s knights were also in the bloody party.
Lord Rin
Farzon Duchy where this happened is a hardline Alda worshipping duchy. The other adventurer parties based there and the duke’s forces don’t have to justify anything to persecute Vida’s races. Don’t forget that Alda’s mainline teachings state that ALL of Vida’s races are bad. Meanwhile Heinz’ group are part of the Alda Peaceful Faction splinter group that supposedly claim that some of Vida’s races should have some human rights so they would need some excuse to justify what they did that can hold up under an investigation which they’re unlikely to have. All they got is the personal claim of Farzon’s Duke but there is no other evidence to support it. There was nothing said about it being common knowledge that the merfolk worshipped an Evil God or had a Demon King Fragment. The only thing they could say is that they were coexisting with some Majin which probably didn’t amount to more than a handful since Majin have a very small overall population.
Chiu ChunLing
Basically, as long as Heinz is a good little Nazi, we shouldn’t be surprised that he acts like one. The problem is that being a good little Nazi in the first place is entirely his own choice, the vast majority of people even in the Amid Empire aren’t particularly committed to being good little Nazis.
EZ_CRIMSON
my god…. Pichu has sponsored 4 chapters in a row for a total of $600…. why do i have to be so fucking poor? (Not a serious question, because i know the answer already…. but im still sad.)
EZ_CRIMSON
awaiting moderation….
ohhh… didnt realize curse words were a threat to our social fabric…. my bad XD
Firsan
Thnx for the Translations~
no1
Okay so relatively chill chapter. This time Van is meeting evil gods from the demon king’s army. I think I know where this is going next chapter, but I need more decent quality death mage translation in my life. Hope the next chapter comes soon. Thanks for the chapter Yoshi.
Tejing
So they’re remnants of the DKs army… I probably should have seen that coming, but I totally didn’t. Looks like Vida’s faction will be getting a nice boost in numbers soon.
.
I wonder what the author’s going to do with that majin’s connection to Heinz though. I can’t help but feel it will figure into things in an interesting way later…
Humble Bumblebee
It was referenced earlier! Remember when Heinz’s party were trying to figure out why Heinz, Edgar, and Delizah got the “Holy Mother Killer” title? They considered who the “Holy Mother” referred to and brought up a majin called “The Holy Woman of Darkness” before ruling her out because she got away from them.
Humble Bumblebee
Looks like Yoshi went back and changed the reference to Dediria in Chapter 197 to “Saint of Darkness” for consistency’s sake, bless him.
ObserverBias
Wasn’t it also referenced ‘almost’ directly when Van wound up fighting them while nerfed? Van questions them on whether or not they actually investigated the validity of that job, and then admits that he can’t be certain there was no fault… or maybe that was a more general net for the jobs they took, rather than specifically these majin?
ravelphenex
yeah they definitely want to join vida’s faction.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
monkeyfur69
Van’s soul form is so scary even evil gods get scared.
Irazori
Well it did go through a re-construction after Van ate his own soul while fighting the 5 colored aldiots of fake peace.
Buphido
Wow, I love that the remnants of the Demon Kings Army refer to Van as the successor of the champion. Not the successor of the Demon King, but of Zakkart. Meanwhile Alda‘s Forces are still referring to him as the coming of the next Demon King and either imagining a threat that isn’t there or continuing on a wrong train of thought for the sake of not acknowledging that they were wrong all along. They are creating their own self fulfilling prophecy, a prime example of the sunken cost fallacy, a bunch of bumbling baboons too blinded by their own fear/pride/prejudice to recognise what is obvious even to the former antagonists of their world that weren’t smart enough to jump ship in the war 10,000 years ago.
ObserverBias
Recall that Alda is fully aware of Van’s actual nature, and intentionally maintaining the impression that it’s negative, spinning it much like a cult leader would to his followers (who, in turn, have “few” reasons to doubt the god with the lion’s share of “humanity’s” faith backing him).
HauntingHyena
Common psychology tricks. One is trying to become an ally and one is trying to make him out to be an enemy. If you watch anything about politics you’ll see this all the time. It’s a way to manipulate or guide people to think a certain way without saying it directly. Similar to the glass being half full or half empty means both the same thing and different things at the same time.