Thanks to gogorobot ($150) for sponsoring this chapter!
《The Levels of the ‘Transcendent Strength,’ ‘Super Rapid Regeneration,’ ‘Underworld God Magic,’ ‘Deadly Venom Secretion: (Claws, Fangs, Tongue),’ ‘Augmented Attack Power while Unarmed,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Demon Thread Refining,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Increased Magical Power while equipped with a Staff,’ ‘Augmented All Attribute Values,’ ‘Blood Rule,’ ‘Hollow World God Magic,’ ‘Precise Mana Control,’ ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ ‘Group Coordination,’ ‘Super High-speed Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Vengeful Throwing,’ ‘Scream,’ ‘God Spirit Magic,’ ‘Demon King Artillery Technique,’ ‘Transcend Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Whip Technique,’ ‘Staff Technique,’ ‘Muscle Technique,’ ‘Magic Fighting Technique,’ ‘Group Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Control,’ and ‘Soul Form’ Skills have increased!》
《The ‘Chant Revocation’ Skill has awakened to ‘No Incantation!’ The ‘Super Strengthen Subordinates’ Skill has awakened to ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates!’ The ‘Increased Mana Recovery Rate’ has awakened to ‘Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate!’》
As the fierce battle raged on, Vandalieu had witnessed his companions defeating numerous monsters of high Rank through the eyes of his Demon King Familiars. And he had also witnessed the destruction of the Rank 13 artificial spirits.
“Bocchan, how was it this time?” asked Rita.
The Demon King Familiar that had just left the Job-changing chamber looked somewhat puzzled as it replied. “I chose ‘Dark Demon King,’ expecting that it would reach the Level cap as soon as I chose it, like a few of my Jobs have done in the past. And as I expected, it did. Then, I chose ‘Pandemonium,’ and that reached the Level cap immediately as well. Finally, I chose ‘Soul Fighter.’ My Attribute Values increased, and the Level of my Skills increased as well. I know I should be happy about that, since it will give me an advantage in the battle against Guduranis, but… I’m a little torn on the matter, because it feels like the gods of Statuses are leading me to become less and less human.”
If the gods of Statuses were to hear this, they would have likely replied that no leading was necessary.
The Demon King Familiar started displaying some strange behavior, moving its front legs, back legs, as well as its jointed legs.
“… Is that a dance?” asked Saria.
“No, I’m seeing how my body feels now that my Attribute Values have increased… As I thought, there’s no way to tell because this isn’t my main body,” the Demon King Familiar said.
“Your main body is currently feeding now, right?” Rita made a discontented noise. “It’s at times like these that I detest my body for not having any blood.”
She was disappointed at the fact that Vandalieu could not drink her blood because, as a Living Armor, her body didn’t have any.
“Well, that can’t be helped,” Saria said. “Besides, we aren’t the only ones who don’t have blood. Princess Levia, Legion, and Silkie don’t have any, either. More importantly, Bocchan, didn’t you see any new Jobs available?”
“‘New Demon King’ after you picked ‘Dark Demon King,’ maybe? You’re fighting the old Demon King right now, after all,” Rita said, her mood changing immediately as she excitedly wondered what kind of Demon King Vandalieu would become next.
Vandalieu, who was listening through the Demon King Familiar, suddenly got a distant look in his eyes.
“There weren’t any new Jobs available this time. Let’s look forward to next time,” the Demon King Familiar said.
《The Levels of the ‘Shadow Group Binding Technique,’ ‘Augmented Attributes: Ruling,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values while Enveloped in a Soul,’ ‘Golem Creation,’ and ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ have increased!》
- Name: Vandalieu Ark HIllwillow Solder Zakkart
- Race: Dhampir (Mother: Goddess)
- Age: 13 years old
- Title: Ghoul Emperor, Eclipse Emperor, Guardian of the Cultivation Villages, Holy Son of Vida, Scaled Emperor, Tentacle Emperor, Champion, Demon King, Oni Emperor, Trial Conqueror, Transgressor, Black Blood Emperor, Elder Dragon Emperor, Food Cart King, Genius Tamer, True Ruler of the Entertainment District, Patron Saint of Transformation Equipment, Liberator of Goddesses, Colossus Emperor
- Job: Soul Fighter
- Level: 0
- Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker, Venom Fist User, Insect User, Tree Caster, Demon Guider, Archenemy, Zombie Maker, Golem Creator, Corpse Demon Commander, Demon King User, Dark Guider, Labyrinth Creator, Creation Guider, Dark Healer, Disease Demon, Magic Cannoneer, Spirit Warrior, Bestower, Dream Guider, Demon King, Demiurge, Whip Tongue Calamity, Divine Enemy, Dead Spirit Mage, String User, Great Demon King, Vengeful Berserker, Destruction Guider, Dark King Mage, Pale Rider, Chaos Guider, Divine Guider, God Destroyer, Hollow King Mage, God Spirit Mage, Dungeon Master, Qliphoth, Demon Ruler, Spirit Therapist, Magic Staff Creator, Artisan: Transformation Equipment, Underworld God Mage, Dark Demon King, Pandemonium
- Attributes:
- Vitality: 954,115 (+76,329) (Increased by 37,112!)
- Mana: 18,642,333,327 (+18,642,333,327) (Increased by 4,954,571,612!)
- Strength: 105,193 (+5,259) (Increased by 17,854!)
- Agility: 99,527 (+4,976) (Increased by 18,871!)
- Stamina: 112,603 (+5,630) (Increased by 20,145!)
- Intelligence: 142,954 (+7,147) (Increased by 24,216!)
- Passive skills:
- Transcendent Strength: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
- Super Rapid Regeneration: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
- Underworld God Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Status Effect Immunity
- Magic Resistance: Level 10
- Dark Vision
- Manas-vijnana Enticement
- No Incantation (Awakened from Chant Revocation!)
- Guidance: Manas-vijnana
- Constant Mana Recovery: Level 10
- Extreme Strengthen Subordinates: Level 1 (Awakened from Super Strengthen Subordinates!)
- Deadly Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Limitless Body Expansion (Tongue)
- Augmented Attack Power while Unarmed: Very Large (LEVEL UP!)
- Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs): Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
- Demon Thread Refining: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Mana Enlargement: Level 10
- Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 1 (Awakened from Increased Mana Recovery Rate!)
- Augmented Attack Power while activating a Magic Cannon: Large
- Augmented Vitality: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
- Augmented Attribute Values: Reigning: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Worshiped: Level 10
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Demon Empire of Vidal: Level 5
- Self-Regeneration: Cannibalism: Level 4
- Augmented Attribute Values: Cannibalism: Level 4
- Augmented Attribute Values when Enveloped in a Soul: Medium (LEVEL UP!)
- Murder Healing: Level 7
- Self-Strengthening: Murder: Level 7
- Increased Magical Power while equipped with a Staff: Very Large (LEVEL UP!)
- Augmented All Attribute Values: Medium (LEVEL UP!)
- Active skills:
- Blood Rule: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Transcend Limits: Level 10
- Golem Creation: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Hollow World God Magic: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
- Precise Mana Control: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- God Cooking: Level 1
- Divine Alchemy: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
- Soul Destruction Fighting Technique: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Greater Multi-cast: Level 8
- Surgery: Level 10
- Embodiment: Level 7
- Group Coordination: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
- Super High-speed Thought Processing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
- Group Commander: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Thread-reeling: Level 10
- Vengeful Throwing: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
- Scream: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- God Spirit Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Demon King Artillery Technique: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
- Shadow Group Binding Technique: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Transcend Limits: Fragments: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Spirit Therapy: Level 4
- Whip Technique: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Spirit Form Transformation: Lightning
- Staff Technique: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- High-speed Flight: Level 3
- Musical Instrument Performance: Level 4
- Dancing: Level 2
- Muscle Technique: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Magic Fighting Technique: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
- Unique skills:
- God Devourer: Level 10
- Deformed Multiple Souls
- Mental Encroachment: Level 10
- Labyrinth Creation: Level 8
- Great Demon King
- Root Source
- Divine Enemy
- Soul Devour: Level 10
- Vida’s Divine Protection
- Earth’s Gods’ Divine Protection
- Group Thought Processing: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Zantark’s Divine Protection
- Group Control: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Soul Form: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
- Demon King’s Demon Eyes
- God of Origin
- Ricklent’s Divine Protection
- Zuruwarn’s Divine Protection
- Perfect Record Technique
- Surpass Limits: Soul: Level 5
- Mutation Induction
- Demon King’s Body
- Demigod
- Botin’s Divine Protection
- Peria’s Divine Protection
- Inner Worlds
- Curses
- Experience gained in previous life not carried over
- Cannot learn existing jobs
- Unable to gain experience independently
Suddenly, a change occurred in the Demons. Each individual Demon became significantly stronger, and the rate at which they regenerated and revived increased.
Guduranis shouted out loud in frustration. “You bastard, you have acquired some new Skill… No, could it be that you’ve acquired a new Job?!”
Vandalieu, who was on the other side of the horde of Demons, didn’t answer, but Guduranis was certain that this was the case.
Guduranis could also increase his power by changing Jobs, but… that was impossible. After all, the city of Orbaume, which had the facilities necessary to do so, had half-transformed into a mountain of rubble.
And Guduranis had only taken over Edgar’s Status. Thus, it wasn’t even certain as to whether Guduranis could change that Status’s Job through his will alone. And even if he could, the only new Jobs he could choose from were those available to Edgar.
He wouldn’t be able to acquire unique Jobs like Vandalieu.
Guduranis roared in anger once more, then decided to focus his thoughts elsewhere. He swept away the regenerating Demons and checked the current situation of the battle.
He could see Guduranis Shadow, the artificial spirit of the death attribute, being gradually cornered by Darcia and the others.
Darcia transformed her transformation equipment into a bow.
“‘Life Flame Arrow!’” she shouted, nocking and releasing an arrow made from concentrated life-attribute Mana.
The arrow was empowered by the skills taught to Darcia directly by Veld, a heroic spirit of Vida, and her life-attribute Mana which had increased due to Vida having descended upon her. Even if it only grazed Guduranis Shadow, it would inflict a great deal of agony.
This artificial spirit was not like the crude copy of Guduranis that was defeated by Heinz and his companions in Alda’s Dungeon of Trials; Guduranis had detested the crudeness of that copy, and he had created this artificial spirit with strength that made it worthy of being known as the shadow of Guduranis.
It roared as it cast a death-attribute spell to conjure a barrier in an attempt to block Darcia’s arrow. But it seemed that the burden of facing Darcia, with Vida descended upon her, was too great for a mere shadow. The barrier was slowly being pierced, and the Mana that made up its body was gradually being chipped away at.
“‘Mad Flesh Lightning Contact!’” shouted Legion.
With their entire body wreathed in lightning, they were flying around the sky in leaping movements, repeatedly performing body-slam attacks.
Guduranis Shadow made an alarmed noise as it produced yet another barrier to block the enormous mass that was Legion’s body as well as the electricity that had been generated through ‘Muscle Technique’ rather than created with Mana.
Legion laughed loudly. “Use as much Mana as you like! Until you disappear, that is!”
Guduranis himself possessed Rikudou’s cheat-like abilities and Edgar’s Status after having taken over their souls, but Guduranis Shadow did not. And it could not quickly recover its Mana, so at this rate, it would soon be erased from existence without ever being able to attack.
Meanwhile, Vepar, the artificial spirit of water and death, was being trampled by Knochen and Pete’s overwhelming mass, as well as the light-attribute Ghosts.
Knochen groaned and Pete hissed as they attacked.
“You can’t stop meee! My light beeeam!” Berkert shouted in a frenzy.
Because its body was made of liquid, Vepar was almost immune to physical attacks, but even that had a limit. Knochen’s countless bones scraped its body away, the lightning fired from Pete’s horns evaporated it, and Berkert and the other light-attribute Ghosts had turned themselves into light and were continuously unleashing rapid attacks that passed through its body.
Daroak gave a triumphant laugh. “You do not stand a chance against us, the warriors of light who serve the great Vandalieu-sama!”
“You are a creation of ill-conceived magic! I shall make you evaporate!” said Chipuras.
Daroak had become a beam of light that radiated an intense heat, and Chipuras had turned his plump body into a sphere of light that caused Vepar’s body to evaporate.
Vepar attempted to make a counter-attack, but… a moment later, it shrieked as it was struck by cannon-fire from Cuatro and disappeared in an explosion of flames.
Pazuzu, the artificial spirit of wind and death, was also in a predicament. One reason was that Randolf had acquired a new magic sword, allowing him to fight not only with spiritual magic, but in close-quarters combat as well. But the critical factor was the reinforcements that arrived to aid him – Kanako, who had left Vepar to Knochen and the others, and Zadiris, who had finished providing Vandalieu with her blood.
“‘Predatory Bird Kick!’ ‘Whip Kick Waltz!’ Zadiris-san, please stop showing off your kiss mark!” said Kanako.
“‘Wind Spirit Knight Spear!’ I’m not showing off anything! And the mark that was left by the blood-sucking… There’s almost no mark at all!” Zadiris said indignantly.
“Kanako-sensei and Zadiris, was it? It is good to see that you are eager to fight, but could you please leave the cat fight for later?” said Randolf.
Zadiris had already recovered the lost blood with ‘Strengthen Healing Ability,’ a ‘No-Attribute Magic’ spell, as well as a Blood Potion. And because Vandalieu had transformed his tongue into a proboscis rather than using his fangs, he had left almost no mark at all on her neck. Because of the years she had spent coordinating her movements with Kanako, the two of them were on the same wavelength, like comrades in arms.
But for some reason, they were verbally arguing.
If they were adventurers that he was acquainted with, or his own students, then he would shout at them to make them behave, but Kanako was a teacher that he respected, and Zadiris was the familiar of a master that was stronger than Randolf, so he couldn’t speak too harshly.
A moment later, Pazuzu screeched as Basdia arrived.
“‘Winged Axe Slice!’” she shouted, hurling a hatchet at Pazuzu. “He’s right, you two. Concentrate on the battle!” she said, agreeing with Randolf.
The battle against Pazuzu tipped even more heavily in Randolf’s favor with the addition of this new ally.
“Ah, you’ve got a mark on your neck too, Basdia-san!” said Kanako, pointing at Basdia accusingly. “Hmph, it looks like Van is the kind of person who goes in order! ‘Sticky Mud Prison!’”
“Kanako, it’s not a good look to say it out loud and point. And besides, Van is drinking Jeena’s blood now, so order doesn’t have much to do with it,” said Basdia.
“‘Light Blade!’ Jeena? But if I recall, Zombie blood does not have much of a healing effect,” said Zadiris.
“He apparently took out her blood and transfused her with Bellmond’s blood beforehand, with a spell to keep the blood fresh,” Basdia explained. “The same goes for Zandia and Borkus.”
The highly viscous mud conjured by Kanako stopped Pazuzu from moving, and before it could escape from the mud, Zadiris and the others concentrated their attacks to deal damage.
Zombies could function without a problem even when transfused with blood of a different type from their own. Having heard how Vandalieu was making use of this fact, Randolf made a strange expression as he swung his magic sword.
“I don’t know the exact details, but… don’t go spreading that. The idea of using Zombies with methods like that will be quite controversial in society at large,” Randolf warned them.
Vandalieu had removed the blood of Zombies and then transfused the blood of Bellmond, who possessed the ‘Offering’ Unique Skill, to store her blood inside them. It was an effective measure for when Bellmond wasn’t available or when a single feeding session wasn’t sufficient to recover his Mana, but it was a strategy that would certainly elicit disgust in ordinary people if they were to hear about it.
“It’s alright. We’re the only ones who know about it,” said Kanako.
Randolf tilted his head back limply as he realized that he was being recognized as one of Vandalieu’s followers… and then unleashed a series of attacks at Pazuzu. “‘Blade Storm!’ ‘Lava Bullet!’ ‘Hundred Life Sword Flashes!’”
Randolf was simply venting his emotions at Pazuzu, but this was a sharp series of attacks performed by an S-class adventurer’s magic and sword. With one final dying scream, Pazuzu evaporated.
Knowing that two more of his created pawns had been destroyed, Guduranis’s frustration was growing.
Luvesfol roared as he unleashed another Breath attack.
“Do you think I can be killed by the Breath of an insect like you?!” Guduranis shouted.
He dispersed the Breath attack with air cannon attacks from the noses of the Demon King, which also blew away Rapiéçage’s fists, which had been concealed inside the Breath attack.
“Now that I’ve got less blood, my body feels much lighter!” said Borkus. “‘Elder Dragon Slayer!’”
Godwin clicked his tongue. “I should have brought Iris with me after all!”
Borkus charged in with his sword raised, and Godwin with his fists swinging. Their attacks were far faster and more powerful than those of the horde of Demons or even Luvesfol, who had become able to use Skills such as ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ for some reason.
Guduranis groaned as he stopped the fists with the paw pads of the Demon King and deflected Borkus’s attacks with his hand-chopping blows, but the attacks that he didn’t manage to defend against were dealing damage that was gradually accumulating.
“‘Chaotic Frenzied Axe Whip!’” shouted Vigaro, swinging axes with his four arms, which were longer than his legs, and the spirit-form arm on his back.
“‘Flowing Willow!’” said Guduranis, and with a grunt of exertion, he tried to parry Vigaro’s axes with his knife-hand strikes, but due to the difference in their skill and the quality of their weapons, Guduranis’s arms were ripped apart in places and the noses that he had created to fire air cannon attacks were split open.
“Is this all you can give me?! Is this all that I can gain from the ally of Bellwood’s successor and the god who tried to use me?!” Guduranis snarled as his frustration grew stronger, cursing Edgar and Rikudou, the ones who were currently supporting his abilities.
But Edgar and Rikudou would likely find this to be very unreasonable if they were around to hear it.
Edgar’s Skills truly shined when used by Edgar. And Guduranis had lost ‘Niltark’s Divine Protection’ and the ability to use ‘Heroic Spirit Transformation.’ And although his entire body was made of fragments of the Demon King, he was fighting bare-handed. With this many unfavorable circumstances working against him, there was no way he could compete with Borkus and the others in sheer ability.
He did possess Rikudou’s cheat-like ability, but it was difficult to improve Edgar’s Skills within a short period of time, given that they were already highly advanced.
Guduranis understood this. But he could not endure this irritation and frustration that arose from the pain he was suffering, the fact that he was being toyed with by beings that would normally be inferior to him, and the fact that Vandalieu was rapidly recovering his Mana even now.
“Don’t be conceited, failures birthed by Vida and creatures who failed to die! Come forth, artificial spirits!” he commanded.
He had been fighting using martial skills and the fragments that made up his own body rather than using death-attribute magic, allowing him to recover some Mana, and he mustered as much of it as he could to create new artificial spirits.
He was still sensing almost no reaction from ‘Danger Sense: Death,’ but his instincts were whispering to him that it would be bad if he were to continue being at the mercy of the discrepancy in numbers. Malacodas, Pazuzus, Vepars, and Guduranis Shadows – two of each – appeared and roared as they began charging towards Vandalieu and his allies.
But at that moment, he felt a premonition of death and immediately halted his flight, allowing himself to fall.
“‘Evil-breaking Holy Radiant Zenith Flash!’”
Heinz’s holy sword, performing the most powerful of his martial skills, grazed and passed over the top of Guduranis’s head. The Five-colored Blades had been struggling in their battle against Malacoda, but they had also been waiting for a chance to catch Guduranis by surprise.
A dying groan could be heard, and Guduranis looked around to see Malacoda, the artificial spirit that they had been fighting, vanishing from existence after being hit directly by the ‘Evil-breaking Holy Radiant Zenith Flash.’ Heinz had been struggling against Malacoda despite Bellwood having descended upon him, and Guduranis had assumed that this was either because Heinz and his companions were very poorly matched against Malacoda, or because Heinz didn’t know how to use Bellwood’s power properly. But it seemed that in reality, Heinz had deliberately been waiting for the perfect moment to defeat Malacoda.
“You cunning insects!” Guduranis cursed. “Go!” he commanded his new creations.
In truth, Heinz and his companions had not been in such a comfortable position, but Guduranis re-evaluated how wary he should be of them, and sent one of the new Pazuzus and one of the Guduranis Shadows at them… As irritating as it was for Guduranis, both of the newly-created Vepars and one of the Pazuzus had been caught up in Heinz’s attack and destroyed.
The remaining two Malacodas and the other Guduranis Shadow roared as they began sending the Demons flying and scattering them across the battlefield, but Borkus quickly engaged them in battle, stopping them in their tracks.
But because his surroundings were now clear of Demons, Guduranis was able to directly see Vandalieu once more.
“To think that you could create eight in one go. Have you grasped how to conserve your Mana and create artificial spirits more efficiently?” Vandalieu asked.
“Do not speak nonsense! You have been drinking the blood of your servants, one after another. I am starting to see the meaning of the words ‘companion’ and ‘bond’ that you mortals love so much,” Guduranis said contemptuously.
“You may not be able to understand it, but it’s a relationship of supporting one another,” said Vandalieu.
“That’s right! Don’t be so quick to judge us!” said Yuuma.
Vandalieu had consumed her blood as well, and she had consumed a Blood Potion, half of which consisted of Vandalieu’s blood, to recover.
That sight was infuriating for Guduranis to see. Blood Potion was made from the blood of the Demon King, a fragment that Vandalieu had absorbed… In other words, it was made from Guduranis’s own blood.
“Just how much do you intend to take advantage of my body?!” Guduranis demanded.
“It’s my body now,” said Vandalieu. “More importantly, shall we put an end to this? … As unlikely as it is, it would be very unpleasant if Heinz were to snatch the kill.”
Having recovered sufficiently, Vandalieu cast a certain spell. It was not yet complete, but he had decided that he could cast it now.
“‘Great Killing World.’”
The moment Vandalieu cast this spell, Guduranis was enveloped in a killing intent and fear so great that it felt like it was scorching his brain. He began screaming in terror as he felt responses from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ from everywhere, from everything – even the slightest breeze. His consciousness was completely overwritten by the screams of his instinct to survive.
He felt killing intent coming at him from all directions, and even when he turned around and attacked in one of the directions that it was coming from, there was nothing there.
With Guduranis in this state, it was easy for Vandalieu to hit him directly with ‘Hollow Cannon,’ and Guduranis shouted out loud in pain as it struck him.
“I’ve tried for a long time to create a spell that completely erases my presence, but it never worked out,” said Vandalieu.
He had tried to recreate the ability of Legion’s Ghost, the limited death-attribute spell that rendered him undetectable by any of the five senses or any kind of mechanical sensor. But to this day, he had never succeeded.
“That’s why I thought of doing the opposite,” Vandalieu said.
A spell that enveloped the target in the fear and presence of death… one that made them perceive the entire world around them as dangerous. If such a spell existed, it would confuse even a foe with the sharpest of senses.
This was that spell. Vandalieu had never imagined that he would end up using it against an enemy who possessed ‘Danger Sense: Death’ like he did, but…
“You piece of vermiiin!” Guduranis screamed.
His consciousness was in an even greater state of discomposure and panic than Vandalieu had anticipated. He did not possess the mental fortitude necessary to withstand an overwhelming sense of danger, the likes of which he had never felt before.
After all, he was the Demon King Guduranis. From the moment his existence began, he had been overwhelmingly powerful, and his only defeat had come at the hands of Bellwood and his allies. Thus, he did not have the ability to withstand and resist fear.
“‘Cast!’ ‘Super Acceleration!’” cried Zandia.
With ‘Time Princess Magic,’ she had frozen seven different spells at the moment before they were cast, and they were all unleashed simultaneously. Meanwhile, her other spell accelerated Jeena’s movements to be even faster.
“‘God Shield Strike!’” shouted Jeena, slamming Guduranis with her shield.
Guduranis screamed in pain. “You Zombie filth!” he cursed.
But he could not evade or defend himself from their attacks. Due to ‘Great Killing World,’ his consciousness was completely filled with false information that he was being attacked from above, from below, from his right, from his left, from in front of him, and from behind… from all directions, constantly.
If his senses were a radar, it was like it had been completely filled with a countless number of targets. Thus, even though Jeena was closing in on him right before his eyes with her shield raised, he was in a state of utter chaos, not knowing which killing intent he should react to.
If it were Vandalieu himself being targeted by this spell, or the battle-hardened Randolf, Schneider, or Heinz, they wouldn’t have been in this much chaos.
However, Edgar’s soul had been absorbed by Guduranis and was still present within him. Edgar had returned to a state of being on the verge of complete collapse, Guduranis was reading his experience and looking for a way to escape this dangerous situation.
The one he decided upon was very much what one would expect from Edgar, who had been a scout – attacking Vandalieu, the leader of his enemies and the one who had cast this spell.
He shouted in exertion. “‘Transcend Limits!’ ‘True Rapid Response!’ … ‘Soul Armor!’”
With a Skill and a martial skill increasing his physical capabilities beyond their limits, as well as an improvised copied version of Vandalieu’s ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ he charged forward.
Zandia, Yuuma, and the Demons attacked him from the sides, causing more damage to accumulate, but he ignored everything and gambled everything on this one chance at making a comeback in this battle.
Vandalieu attempted to activate ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ and cover himself with his soul, but Guduranis’s suicide attack was faster.
“I did it!” Guduranis yelled.
His pointed hand pierced Vandalieu’s chest, and he let out a victorious roar.
But Vandalieu wouldn’t die from something like his heart being destroyed. He grew blood vessels of the Demon King to have his blood continue circulating while circumventing his destroyed heart, and at the same time, attempted to begin a counterattack.
However, Guduranis’s aim was not to kill Vandalieu. It was to make contact with the inside of his body.
“Come, fragments of my body! Converge upon me! Return and converge upon your main body!” he commanded them.
His aim was to reclaim the fragments of his body from Vandalieu. If he could reclaim the fragments, Guduranis’s stamina would be restored and he would be able to regain his power, while Vandalieu would be weakened. And if he reclaimed fragments like the Demon King’s treasure orb, which generated Mana, he would be able to recover his Mana within a short period of time.
And as he expected, the cores of the fragments of the Demon King moved from Vandalieu’s body into Guduranis’s.
Guduranis quivered in delight as he made an excited noise. “It is returning! My body! My… body?”
His delight quickly turned into confusion. The sensation he was feeling was not the feeling of satisfaction of his body returning. It was the uncomfortable sensation of something foreign invading him. At the same time, he realized that the reactions he was sensing from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ were growing abnormally loud, even accounting for the fact that they had been thrown into chaos by ‘Great Killing World.’
“W-why?! What is happen–”
I am not you. You are not me, a voice said – Guduranis’s own voice.
Indeed, you are not the main body we should converge upon, said another instance of his own voice.
Fall victim to us and converge upon us. I… *I*, said a third, turning into Vandalieu’s voice mid-sentence, am Vandalieu.
TLN: The fragments generally use 我/ware, the same first person pronoun as Guduranis. The *I* (marked with asterisks) uses Vandalieu’s first-person pronoun, 俺/ore. This is also true in the title of the chapter.
“Such a thing cannot be possible…” Guduranis murmured.
And a moment later, he screamed in agony as horns, bones, and fangs tore his body to shreds from within.
Want to support Yoshi's translations? Head over to the Donations Page
NOVEL DISCUSSION
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
kenchan223
Guduranis used Uno mana reversal retort, it was very effective!
Vandalieu used Uno mana reversal retort with a +4 any card, it was super effective!
Supersanttu7
“Vandalieu, who was listening through the Demon King Familiar, suddenly got a distant look in his eyes.
‘There weren’t any new Jobs available this time. Let’s look forward to next time,’ the Demon King Familiar said.”
🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢
DarkCarnage
and we pretty sure that was a lie lol
Chiu ChunLing
But we’re also very sure that there was no new Job related to muscles.
no1
Alda should definitely be on top of this. In the previous chapter Asagi basically shouted that this is Rodcorte’s fault and a lot of his worshipers heard that. Since gods can gain information from their worshipers and since Heinz(Alda Worshiper) is right there. Then Alda should already realize that Rodcorte lied about sending Rikudou to Lambda and that Rodcorte basically aided in Guduranis’ resurrection by tampering with Rikudou’s and Edgar’s soul.
nico92
Alda must be waiting for a winner in the fight to attack him with everything he has and kill two birds with one stone.
Merashin
Ninety-nine… point nine, percent sure that Alda is giving Rodcorte one hell of a shouting match right now.
Lord Rin
Wow he actually took 3 jobs. Also looks like he can now switch jobs through his Demon King Familiars. Why do I get the feeling Van did actually gain a new job option when he was asked about it but it is something embarrassing? He got a distant look when they asked him if he did. I wonder what sort of job it could be? If Van was a girl then I would’ve guessed the job would be something princess related but he’s a dude so… Maybe “Human” complete with parentheses.
.
Meanwhile Kanako is just jelly she didn’t get a hickey like Zadiris and Basdia. Still they certainly have a lot of leeway if they can bicker about that even while fighting the artificial spirits. Heinz’ party on the other hand needed to use a powerful finishing move to finally deal with Malacoda. Yeah they were able to also defeat two other artificial spirits that Guduranis recreated but that just feels like a fortuitous accident and not that Heinz was actively planning to hold back until Guduranis made his move so he could deal with multiple obstacles at once. Him and his party were just pushed to the limit where Heinz had no choice but to bust out this finishing move and it’s probably going to have serious backlash.
.
In the end Guduranis lost more or less the same way Zeerzoregin did. He tried to absorb Van’s fragments but they’re all like, “Nah we’re Vandalieu. Time to eat you. Om nom nom.”
.
I do feel kinda sorry for Guduranis though. He couldn’t put up such a great showing because he had such inferior things to work with. The majority of his fragments that made up his body were minor things like a thumb or a wrist. The stats he inherited from absorbing Edgar are for a type of build that Guduranis’ fighting style isn’t really optimal. Edgar was a scout and not a vanguard or tank. It’s like a gamer trying to play a tank when they got their character specced as a squishy mage. Then absorbing Rikudou’s soul affected Guduranis mentally a significant amount. Rikudou had such an easily bruised pride and ego that made him easily lose composure over the slightest perceived insult. Guduranis inherited that mindset from Rikudou because previously he was the type of enemy who didn’t mind doing things like disguising himself as a lowly foot soldier to get the drop on Zakkart and the other creation heroes which suggest that dignity isn’t that important to Guduranis. Sure getting angry over his body being toyed with is understandable but how he acted was exactly like Rikudou getting butthurt when everybody compared him against Van and how inferior he was. Also I think it was Rikudou’s pride that was influencing Guduranis into staying to fight to the bitter end. Guduranis said one of the reasons he would stay and fight was because he didn’t think he would be able to catch up to Van’s strength even if he left to train but that reason doesn’t take into account Rikudou’s cheats which if given enough time probably could have closed the gap between their strength. However Rikudou’s pride wouldn’t let him admit that he needs to flee the battle even if only temporarily to train to get stronger and I think that influenced Guduranis into staying even though it would’ve been smarter to leave and use Rikudou’s cheats to train and close the gap in their strength before challenging Van again.
.
Anyways now that Van has defeated Guduranis, how will Heinz react to this and what excuse will he come up with so he can fight Van?
Doodads
No, I think you have to give Heinz a bit more credit than that. It was pretty clear that the timing he chose to go all out was deliberate. He knew that it would be difficult to kill the spirit without going all out, so he maintained the stalemate to wait for an opportunity to deal more damage all at once. Heinz might be a hypocrite when it comes to his ideals, but he’s not an idiot.
Chiu ChunLing
Excuse to fight Van?
☺☺☺
Maybe he should be thinking of an excuse to run the hell away instead. I mean, that could actually work since they just lost Edgar and all. “Um, was gonna offer you my head, but we need to have a funeral real quick first…I’ll be back, I promise.”
Kiriaru
Wow! The half resurrection of the demon king didn’t stand a chance! That was definitely unexpected. Thanks for the chapters!
bookworm12
Thanks for the very fun chapter, Yoshi! Van previously split off his spirit form in the middle of a fight to change jobs, and now he’s doing it with his Demon King Familiars, which are controlled by his soul inside his main body. It would have been convenient if he could just have the familiars suck the blood as well, but I remember the familiars can run out of mana and stop functioning if they don’t have a treasure orb installed or are recharged with mana. That means their mana is separated from Van’s, so them sucking blood would only restore their own mana, not his. Either way, he’s changing jobs multiple times and sucking blood from multiple partners, all while fighting the original Demon King Guduranis. Are you sure you want to fight this guy, Heinz?
.
.
I feel like Guduranis would have sensed something off and canceled his last move to take back the fragments if he wasn’t under the effects of Van’s mental attack. He was probably already sensing a quieter sense of death as soon as he came up with that plan, but it got completely drowned out by all the fake signals and Van’s regular attacks. In the past, when he first officially met Heinz, Van sensed that he would be the one to die if he attacked Heinz and Heinz’s companions got involved, no matter what method he used. So, Danger Sense: Death should react as soon as a plan is made, it’s just that Guduranis was incapable of noticing it this time. Were all those voices at the end fragments that were originally in Guduranis (since they all started with his voice), or was the first one a fragment he stole from Van, and the fragments inside of him agreed with it and turned against him? Not really important, I guess. Also, Van always seemed like a character who would use ‘boku’, but I suppose he’s trying to sound more masculine by using ‘ore’. It’s kind of funny picturing this small, skinny teenager using ‘ore’ so stubbornly. I’m sure they mentioned his pronoun use before, but it still seems funny to me.
bk3k
Those should be the fragments that Guduranis tried to take back from Van. But the prey’s meat becomes part of the predator, and this can’t be reversed.
.
But you would also say that Van is the superior host at this point. What fish would swim in a pond over a great lake?
.
Van knew this would happen. That’s why he cast ‘Great Killing World’, as a means to “finish this” as he said, and as you suspected. And that’s why Van left himself open for attack. It was a trap that Guduranis would have felt and avoided otherwise, but his very real warnings were drowned out by countless fake warnings.
.
And if Guduranis were more composed at that moment, he likewise would have questioned the opening from such an opponent, even without his survival instinct. But Van’s spell – along with the barrage of attacks from Van’s people – was entirely too successful in damaging Gururanis’s calm. So he reached for something that was too good to be true.
Doc
“Godwin clicked his tongue. “I should have brought Iris with me after all!””
Times when more context is needed. I will assume he meant so that Van could feed on her blood with the veiled implication that it would bring Iris and Van closer because Godwin wants Iris to be wife 467 or whstever… But damn could that sentence have so many other meanings.
no1
We’re probably going to find out next chapter why Guduranis was rejected by his own fragments. I have a few guesses. Since Edgar and Rikudou are a part of Guduranis soul for now, I may not know the exact ratio, but maybe his being is not the same Guduranis the fragments remeber. It’s at least 2/3 of other beings. Another theory is that Vandalieu has so thoroughly influenced the fragments and along with his demon king title and demon king jobs, the fragments won’t be swayed by an incomplete, diluted Guduranis. Before in origin I thought that Rikudou would die there and he came back again anyway. No matter the outcome of this fight, Alda and Rodcorte still have some of Guduranis soul fragments. Maybe we can expect him to come back again. If the author gave Rikudou another chance at a comeback then Guduranis should get another comeback too. Really looking forward to the next chapter
Xias1
The fragments that Vandalieu has have already recognized “Vandalieu” as the true “main body”.
So that is the defining issue Guduranis has overlooked.
After all the fragments have no memory or knowledge themselves.
They only act on the impression of “uniting together to become whole again” and the death attribute as their common feature.
That is why they mistook Vandalieu as the “main body” in the first place.
As such they have no reason to separate again to join a different “body”.
My guess is that Guduranis assumed that Vandalieu was only controlling those fragments somehow and was not aware that the fragments have actually recognized Vandalieu as the “main body”.
no1
Yeah I remember that. Normally fragments would invest the host in body and mind. When Vandalieu first used a fragment a long time ago, it tried to encroach upon his mind. Except Vandalieu, ironically, encroached on the fragments and made them think they should be part of him, rather than take over him. I’d say it was still a long shot. Contact with Guduranis soul could’ve reset those fragments back to their original mindset. And in a previous volume when guduranis was just a soul, he felt like someone was taking his fragments into themself rather than being taken over by them. So in the end he probably thought he could easily take his fragments back no matter what
bk3k
You’re both saying something that isn’t quite right.
1. The fragments aren’t making a mistake here. Van is the superior host now. What fish would chose a pond over a great lake?
2. These are not “Fragments of Guduranis,” but fragments of the Demon King, that were **formerly** Fragments of Guduranis. The meat of the prey becomes part of the predator. They aren’t infesting Van or awaiting a better opportunity – now they are part of Great Demon King Van. This is why they don’t rampage etc.
Chiu ChunLing
I’m thinking the whole “treat any beast I control with kindness and respect” factor deserves to be mentioned. If I were a body part choosing whether to be used by Van for happy things most of the time or used by Guduranis in constant battle, I know which I’d choose. Guduranis’ complaints about everything other than combat being “degrading” can suck whichever body parts choose to stay with him, I’m going with the body that looks set to make love, not war.
bookworm12
I think it’s the second of your two reasons. Van has been so thorough about convincing the fragments they are a part of him that they are now going berserk inside Guduranis just like the demon king fragments usually go berserk after infesting something. It would take him some time to convince them otherwise, time which Van will not give him. I think Rodcorte used up most if not all of Guduranis’ soul fragments that he had, but Alda should still have the other half of it.
no1
The fragments show up as demon king’s body in Vandalieu’s stats. That might also be why Guduranis own body parts rejected him
no1
Oh yeah and Vandalieu always ends up crazy powerful after fights like these. There’s an incomplete Guduranis plus Rikudou and Edgar. Then there’s Rikudou’s ghost minions that followed him to Lambda. Rodcorte is definitely gonna pass out for sure this time or maybe worse. Can’t wait to see how powerful Vandalieu becomes.
Thk
Guduranis only has one (probably strong) instance of Demon King, Van on the other hand has at least 4 in his status, the title Demon King, the jobs Demon King, Great Demon King, and the newly added Dark Demon King.
That is just way more Demon King per Demon King, real hard to compete with.
Darquesse
also the original demon king class that Van got “demon king user”
no1
That was awesome. First have the demon king familiars always been able to switch jobs for Vandalieu or is this the first time? Also YESSS!! He took the dark demon king job and it maxed out immediately, we all saw that coming. But that pandemonium job maxed out immediately too, first time seeing a non-demon king job immediately max put for Vandalieu. Awww he also sucked Basdia’s blood, how cute. But the storing Bellmond blood in his zombie companions is a little iffy with me. Also did Godwin say he wished Iris was here because of the fight or because he wanted Vandalieu to suck her blood too? Also did Isla get left out on the zombie blood sucking, feel sorry for her. Guduranis is in a bad spot. This is an exciting fight. Thanks for the chapter Yoshi, looking forward to the next one
bookworm12
I agree with the zombie thing. Van was keeping the blood fresh with a spell anyway, so why did he need to use zombies as containers for it? There must have been other things he could store it in. His inner worlds can store anything, so it’s not like the early days when he had to have parasites infect people to store them inside him. Just have someone carry it/hold it for him while he drinks. The part about Iris confused me too. I thought he wanted her to get in on the fight, but your idea makes more sense.
ObserverBias
Minding that it would be simplicity itself for him to just drink his own blood via blood potions, it depends on how the skill logics out ‘drinking blood from someone.’
.
If they could hold, like, a baggie of blood, all vampires throughout history that fed on a living being were pricks (which, by the numbers, they were anyway) when it was more a matter of lack of tech/ability to store blood away.
.
If it has to be ‘from’ a body, zombies work as a vector for transport of more blood than the one body could hold, and Van is the only being who could make it possible, let alone a tactic to be used for especially-refreshing blood.
bk3k
IIRC the mana restoration comes from sucking blood, not from merely drinking it out of a container. Maybe I’m wrong though.
MihaelZ64
I almost feel bad for Guduranis. Like DAMN to basically get uno reversed right when he thought he would win. That’s just rude plain and simple :D.
So no one gonna comment that Van basically created the spell equivalent of ecm that would make monsters commit seppuku? Just me? Kk.
Now to see how ungodly op Van will get getting all of Rikudo’s ghost buddies minus Da, rikudo’s cheat and guduranis’ instincts/brain. He was already dangerous but with the avalon cheat Alda’s faction has 0 chance of victory.
Phantom Knight
Thanks for the chapter!!!! Also, we FINALLY get to see the [Chant Revocation] awaken into a new skill.
.
Honestly speaking, I almost gave up hope, but. I am glad to see the emergence of this [No Incantation] skill. Van-sama just had to “create or imitate 2 high-tier spells (while expending a stupidly large amount of Mana in the process)” is all. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
.
Now, I do wonder how this [No Incantation] skill is any different from the [Chant Revocation] skill.
Thk
Yea I have been confused about how the skills with binary effects level up
phoenix559
Well, it’s been so long that I don’t remember if spells in the world need a chant to work, like, if I wanted to cast a fireball, I would need to say the little poem that would allow me to focus and cast it. Since an incantation is essentially the name of the spell, what comes to mind would be going from not needing to say the chant for the spell and just calling out the name (Chant revocation) to casting the spell subconsciously or by just thinking of it (No Incantation).
bookworm12
That’s what I was thinking as well. Going from not chanting to not even bothering to say the name for his spells. Van still said his spell names in this chapter, but maybe he just hasn’t had time to examine the skill yet and isn’t desperate enough to try to cut corners.
Doc
I don’t think “no incantation” is going to pop up very often to be honest with you. Saying the spell name is the peak anime thing to do and I don’t see how the author would convey what is happening without them. Or at the very least any time a new spell is used, the name will probably be said. For spells Van frequently casts, maybe the name will be omitted for those and just the effect will be written.
ObserverBias
There’s odds that the ‘chant’ is more of a thing in Origin, where there’s a whole haiku that needs to be said before activating a skill/spell by name. If so, most in Lambda have the capacity to get basic Chant Revocation (because they’re all skipping to the skill/spell name), but the vastest of majorities don’t cast ‘enough’ to get it, let alone level it.
.
If there’s some unspoken mana cost to leaving off the chant (AND presuming that chants are already left off by default in Lambda) it’d be more of a cost discount thing than a full on (silently casting waves of skills/spells).
stephenseiber
i think the chants are skipped. early on we found out that why chant revocation isnt common is because casting spells without mana cost many times the cost of the spell normally. van originally got it as a baby because he couldnt speak but was with his excessivly large quantity of mana forcing spells to activate anyways. also i think only people we know with the skill are people van help get it by subsidizing their mana. most mages do not have the mana required to learn this skill
Vaul
Thanks for the Chapter
As much as I want to see Guduranis’s defeat and the aftermath I also want to know if Rodcorte is once again foaming at the mouth and passed out or if Alda has finally put 2 + 2 together and snapped and gone to kick Rodcorte’s front door in .
bookworm12
At this point I’m guessing there will be a side chapter or two at the end of the volume covering the gods’ reactions. Not much time left for them to interrupt the action.
giliel
Thanks for chapter
Lucian
Thanka for the chapter !
Vandalieu’s status is getting so big that it will need its own chapter soon lol.
Irazori
Whoa, didn’t think the DK familiars would be able to act as a proxy for Van to change jobs. Though I guess with Van’s soul being a sort of hive mind and split into multiple spirit clones, it would make sense his consciousness is tied to them. I’m just as surprised that it is possible as much as Van insta-maxing another 2 jobs to get more OP mid-battle.
.
Van was trying to copy Ghost’s detection warding
Irazori
Seems kinda moot for Van to try and copy Ghost’s detection warding spell since he was already able to do that when starting adventurer school. “Great Killing World” kinda seems like an extension of the mental encroachment skill, but I guess it’s a more advanced version of the “Aura of Fear” skill that Fang and some other allies have.
.
Blood transfusion into Zombies? Well, I guess that could also be an experiment to help revive undead in the future.
ObserverBias
It still wasn’t “perfect” when he started adventuring school; it was very much ‘just’ him relying on people overlooking him, which there have always been exceptions to (in Vidal, he could pretend to be a statue randomly, but still got noticed, and in school, Peeper didn’t notice him, but had it mentioned to him later that he had just whiffed a spot check on his presence).
.
Mechanically, Shade can turn it on and go without notice in or out of combat, while Van has to not be trying, and that has a bad success rate in fights.
Yup yup
I wonder if he’ll absorb the Guduranis soul dust and instinct or if he’ll break the soul dust and absorb it along with Rikodu. Edgar would most likely be broken leading to real beef with Heinz who has been on the fence all this while.
CyberDre
That’s ironic given Van just wants to kill him anyways
Sailon
Well intead of simply absorby like the Guduranis body parts i think he will eat just like he eat the souls of the gods and evil gods he defeated before.
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. I did not realize that Van’s familiars could be used to change jobs. Handy trick, especially in combat. He gained three new jobs plus a ton of level ups for his skills. Not surprised by what happened to Guduranis, figured this would happen since that one god claimed that the demon king parts became Van’s body parts. I do wonder if Van will be able to steal parts now that Guduranis so kindly invited him into his body. Poor Guduranis has to create a knock-off shadow since Van already has his original shadow.
jmoreno126
Convergence. Make us whole Isaac… I mean Guduranis. Make us whole Guduranis.
Ltshrek
Guduranis: The risk i took is calculated but man, am i bad at math
Libio
Thanks for chapter, it was great as always!
CyberDre
Thanks for the chapter!
Men, this is a straight-up comedy now, I’d feel sorry for Guduranis if this wasn’t so hilarious! Seriously Luves was right, he is a loser! Hahaha! Men this is awesome.
But side note, wanna see Heinz’s internal monologue seeing Jane Doe and what’s going on down below as well as the realm of the gods.
Baru-san
thanksfor the chapter ..
ObserverBias
Man, that last second idea plant in Edgar really just Boomerang’d Guduranis in the braincase, didn’t it?
.
“Attack the being that’s more powerful than you are, they’ll never see it coming!” The guy who regularly makes more use of the 40~50 parts he has in new and fresh ways, or the guy who prioritizes a handful of his 30 ineffectively, decisions, decisions…
Baru-san
lol the situation has been reversed. rikudou and edgar influence and troll guduranis to the path of defeat without guduranis even notice it
FrogAku
In addition to that, remember back during the Orc Empire arc, where Ravioli (joke) god of release kept thinking it was his own idea to rampage and consume Van… only to find that it was the DK fragments within him wanting to join up with Van? Van has MORE of the DK fragments than the reborn DK! They may well be pushing (from the inside) to join up with the PROVEN superior main body. Which is what is being suggested by the tone of the fragments at the end of the chapter.
bookworm12
Considering that he was suffering a massive mental attack that made him hallucinate death threats in every direction, I think attacking the source of that attack to regain his composure/focus was a valid decision. His plan of taking back the fragments might have worked if Van was really just suppressing them, and that would have more than turned the tables. Plus, as they stated, Guduranis had never experienced fear like that before, so he just went with the first thought to pop into his head: MAKE IT STOP!
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…