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Yoshi

One’s pulse, one’s breathing. Rhythms.

Randolf exhaled in exertion. With deft steps, he evaded the enormous fists of flame, the lightning attacks, and venomous sprays sent flying his way. It was all about the rhythm.

He was facing Destruction Kaiser Rex Zombies – an Undead dinosaur-type monster with horns, a mane that emitted lightning, and the ability to spew venom – and Blaze Giant Ghosts, whose bodies were made of flames so powerful that would instantly burn anyone to a crisp unless they possessed a high-Level Resistance Skill.

“‘Thundering Wind Blade Storm!’”

His words to call upon the wind spirits, his offensive spell that summoned a storm of countless blades of wind and tore his enemies’ entire bodies to shreds. These were also rhythms.

Even now, the horde of monsters he faced was performing a chorus of howls and roars.

“In other words, battle is music,” Randolf said.

“Randolf… Are you sure that attack didn’t land directly on your head or something?” sighed Meorilith, casting an exasperated look at her companion in response to the stupid words he had just uttered.

But their enemies were too powerful for them to enjoy a leisurely conversation, so she quickly returned her focus to the task at hand.

The two of them were currently undergoing training in the S-class Dungeon that Vandalieu had created.

Randolf had previously said that there were no suitable enemies to fight, but that was only true in the world that he knew. In the Demon Empire of Vidal, there was the S-class Dungeon that Vandalieu had created, and Gufadgarn had permanently placed the Trial of Zakkart in the Dark Elf Nation (whose citizens were now all Chaos Elves, but the nation had not been renamed yet).

Much of the difficulty of the Trial of Zakkart lay in the sheer number of floors and the riddles that needed to be solved; the monsters themselves weren’t that strong. Thus, they had instead been thrown into the S-class Dungeon that Vandalieu had created.

This training was different from that of Borkus and Bone Man, who were fighting against Demon King Familiars. Vandalieu had told them that they first needed to regain their feel for combat.

That hadn’t sat well with Randolf, but he hadn’t been able to object, as he was aware that his feel for combat had indeed dulled.

And being thrown into this Dungeon had made him realize the truth. If training against Demon King Familiars was more difficult than this, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Yet another monster roared fearsomely as it approached.

All of the monsters that spawned in this Dungeon were unknown to Randolf, despite the fact that he had slain countless monsters as an S-class adventurer. And they ignored the rules of Dungeons, being focused solely on attempting to kill the challengers with everything they had.

“No, I am a little tired, but I am in good form,” Randolf said.

The monsters spawning here were Vandalieu’s creations, but they truly did everything they possibly could to try and defeat the intruders.

It was already a core assumption that the Dungeon Boss and the Mid-Bosses of this Dungeon would leave their chambers to coordinate with one another and attempt to defeat the intruders together with sheer numbers and strength.

Recently, the monsters had started removing the treasures from the treasure chest beyond the Dungeon Boss’s chamber, stacking boulders to create fake treasure chambers in front of the Boss chamber, then ambushing intruders when they let their guard down, thinking that they had already cleared the Dungeon.

They were extremely cunning and highly lethal.

The most surprising thing was the discovery that this was the monsters’ behavior while they were under Vandalieu’s guidance. They attacked and tried to kill anyone who entered the Dungeon, relentlessly and mercilessly, and without hesitation – even Vandalieu himself.

It seemed that the monsters had determined that attacking any intruder without mercy was Vandalieu’s request, and they were carrying it out for his sake.

In other words, trying to kill intruders was how they showed their love.

The Undead were charging at Randolf and Meorilith with their fists raised and their sharp teeth bared, and they were doing it out of love. And because of this love, Randolf’s feel for combat was rapidly returning.

“And let me prove that now,” Randolf murmured as he charged at a Blaze Giant Ghost… a giant of flame that had become Undead and turned into a Ghost.

“Wait, you’re being too reckless!” Meorilith shouted, but her warning was drowned out by a Destruction Kaiser Rex Zombie.

Monsters that spawned in Dungeons usually did coordinate with one another to some extent, even if they were of different races, but the monsters of this Dungeon worked together as if they had been teaming up for years.

The Destruction Kaiser Rex Zombies unleashed a rain of lightning in Randolf’s direction as he approached the ghostly flaming giant. Randolf was not the kind of foe who would be hit by such an attack, but his approach would have to halt in order to avoid it, and the flaming giant would use that opportunity to strike. That was likely their strategy.

But Randolf’s approach did not stop.

“‘Water Maiden’s Pillars,’” he muttered, using spiritual magic to conjure numerous pillars of water to block the lightning attack. “‘Water Maiden’s Thundering Flow.’”

His second spell manipulated the lightning-infused pillars of water, sending them crashing into the ghostly flaming giant, who let out a groan.

The Destruction Kaiser Rex Zombies hastily moved to try and back up its ally, but Meorilith’s spells showered down upon them.

The monsters were defeated; their plan to create an opening to strike at Randolf had failed, and they had left themselves wide open instead.

“It does seem that you are in good form, but what were you planning to do if I hadn’t reacted quickly enough to coordinate with you?” Meorilith asked.

“I went for it because I believed you would be able to,” said Randolf. “And being able to do that is part of being in good form.”

Ever since his retirement, Randolf had only ever fought enemies weaker than himself, on his own. He had spent too much time away from situations where he used strategy to coordinate with allies during battle.

Thus, he had unconsciously stopped considering the option of coordinating with his allies when making decisions.

Even Schneider wouldn’t be able to fight a fragment of Guduranis’s soul without working together with his party members. With Randolf having a dulled feel for combat and an inability to work with allies, he wouldn’t even stand a chance.

“… Come to think of it, we did work together to complete commissions back before you retired,” said Meorilith.

“Yeah. It seems that your senses are returning as well, Meorilith,” said Randolf.

“Then shall we move on to the next room? Or should we take a break first?” asked the Demon King Familiar that was accompanying them as it offered them Potions.

Randolf and Meorilith sighed as they focused on their training once more.

“… Before we move, I’ll make sure our surroundings are safe first,” said Randolf.

“We need to check behind us, too. The monsters in this Dungeon are always hiding behind doors or under the staircases to ambush us,” said Meorlith.

“No, I’m not trying to trick you or anything,” said the Demon King Familiar.

“I know, but we have no time to rest,” said Randolf.

Knowing that they needed to quickly move on from this Dungeon and begin training against the Demon King Familiars, Randolf and Meorilith began thoroughly checking their surroundings.

“That was quite… No, it was very good, Bashas-san!” said Kanako.

Bashas, the Goddess of Rain Clouds, wanted to sing and dance… and become an idol. But it wasn’t simply because she wanted to enjoy singing and dancing – her goal was to be of aid to her beloved Arthur, Vandalieu, Miriam, and their companions.

One might question whether singing and dancing would have anything to do with that, but it certainly did.

Bashas had asked Mari to create a physical body for her in exchange for her divine protection, and she had inhabited it with a spirit clone of herself that was extremely close to her own true form. All of this had been done so that she could spread her worship.

“R-really? I-I’m still not used to the new dance…” Bashas said.

“It’s okay, Bashas-san!” Kanako said reassuringly. “You have very strong, characteristic traits! Though of course, there’s no harm in perfecting your dancing as much as possible.”

Gods were unaffected by the Status System; no matter how many monsters they defeated, they did not receive Experience Points. What they needed to become stronger was worshipers.

With more worshipers, gods received the power of their worship, increasing the number of individuals they could grant their divine protections to and the familiar spirits and spirit entities they could send to descend upon their worshipers.

But Bashas, the Goddess of Rain Clouds, was one of the lesser-known gods, with few worshipers even in the Alcrem Duchy, the main place where she was worshiped… There was no large Church that mainly worshiped her, and although she was enshrined in Churches worshiping Nineroad and other gods, there were only small shrines to her located here and there.

However, the deeds of Arthur and his companions, who had received her divine protection, were spreading the name of Bashas, the Goddess of Rain Clouds. And because of Vandalieu, who had accepted her into Vida’s faction, her worship was becoming more widespread in the Demon Empire of Vidal as well.

However, despite her being far more worshiped than before, that didn’t change the fact that she was still very much a minor god.

“I-I’ll do my best! Even though I’m so embarrassed that I think I might die!” Bashas said.

She had decided to take action on her own. And the method she had decided on was to sing, dance, and become an idol.

Arthur, Vandalieu and the others were going to fight, so she couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. She wanted to be of aid to them.

A goddess… well, technically, a spirit clone that was very close to her true form… would be spreading her own worship. Zuruwarn had laughed his head off at the idea while giving his approval, and the other gods also supported her, praising her determination.

In ancient times, the gods had dwelled in the physical world and instructed the people directly. That wasn’t possible now because it required a tremendous quantity of power to descend upon the physical world. If one could solve that problem, there was no reason to stop them.

Of course, this was only possible if approved by Mari, who created the necessary vessel, and Kanako, who provided the stage needed for the worship-spreading.

But because Kanako had seen that Bashas had strong characteristic traits, and because she saw this as an opportunity to start producing goddess-type idols, she had welcomed Bashas with open arms.

“… Is this really okay?” wondered Miriam, unsure if she was supposed to support Bashas or not.

She couldn’t help but question whether it was alright for the Goddess of Rain Clouds, who had granted Arthur and Miriam her divine protection, to be dancing while wearing frilly mini-skirts or skirts that were long but had long slits down the sides.

But Darcia, who was the ‘Incarnation of Vida,’ also sang and danced while wearing similar costumes. In fact, she was one of the first members to do so.

With that said, she was the ‘Incarnation of Vida’ and not Vida herself.

But if one would argue that, then the Bashas who would become an idol was not the goddess herself, but a spirit clone that was extremely similar to Bashas’s true form who shared her memories and personality.

“… It’s fine, isn’t it? It looks like we’ll be able to keep it a secret, after all,” said Natania.

Bashas’s true identity had not been made public.

The official story was that Bashas belonged to a family descended from Bashas, the Goddess of Rain Clouds, and inherited her name every generation.

Although she resembled the statues in the Churches, nobody thought it strange that someone descended from Bashas resembled her.

“And although it’s not something to be happy about, there isn’t anyone who would argue about it,” Natania added.

Since there were almost no clergymen who worshiped Bashas, even if there was a woman who shared Bashas’s name and claimed to be descended from Bashas making her debut as an idol, there was nobody who would question it.

“Well, personally, I have to wonder whether it’s okay for her to do nothing but take singing and dancing lessons when she said she’ll fight,” Natania said.

“Ah, Natania-san, that’s just because Bashas-sama has no combat-related power or authority, so she is unsuited for combat,” said Miriam.

Indeed, Bashas was a goddess of weather who predicted evil omens; there were no stories of her ever accomplishing anything in battle.

As a mortal, Bashas had used her knowledge, experience, and her own intuition to predict the weather, gaining the respect of the people, and she had become a goddess of the wind attribute after her death. As a human, she had almost no experience in combat at all. She had no knowledge of combat techniques, and although she had dabbled in magic to some extent, she had learned almost no spells that would be of any use in battles.

And even after she became a goddess, Fitun, the God of Thunderclouds who was also a god of war, was already among the new generation of wind-attribute gods. Thus, she had not received any worship related to combat, as warriors worshiped him instead.

She was a goddess, so if she drew forth all of her power to descend upon the physical world, she would be able to create a calamity in the form of rainstorms over a wide area, but… that would come at the cost of weakening to the point that she would be on the verge of her existence being extinguished.

And even if she wanted to train for combat now, there was too little time.

“With that being the case, given that she doesn’t have any heroic spirits and it’ll stay that way at this rate, it would be difficult for her to be of more aid to Arthur-san and the others than she is now. So she decided to at least gather more worship,” Miriam explained.

“I see. Goddesses really do have a lot to think about,” said Natania.

“Ah, I forgot to mention that you can’t say a word of this to Bashas-sama… You’ll end up becoming her ‘true friend’ through some mysterious series of events in a short period of time, and she’ll end up carving her stigmata or something on you,” Miriam whispered.

“S-stigmata? I’m not really familiar with that word. What is that?” Natania asked.

“According to Vandalieu-san, it’s a form of blessing from a god. I don’t know what exactly its effects would be, but… it’s probably a type of divine protection,” said Miriam.

In the world of Lambda, it was widely known that gods sent their worshipers Divine Messages, dispatched their familiar spirits to come to their aid, and granted them their divine protections. However, stigmata were not so well known. Sometimes, clergymen would show strangely-shaped bruises on their bodies and claim that they were proof that they had received a god’s blessing, but the exact effects of such blessings were not explained.

But as Miriam warned her with an empty look in her eyes, Natania felt a chill as she imagined Bashas, with disheveled hair and a crazed look in her eyes, approaching her to carve a stigmata upon her.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” Natania said.

“Ah, you two, we’re going to take it from the top with everyone all together! Once we’re done, we’ll be taking a break and then move on to training in the Dungeon!” said Kanako. “Come on, Bug-Brain-kuns, you’re on standby!”

“Okay,” said the nearby Bug-Brain-Kun-type Demon King Familiars as they started preparing the instruments. These Demon King Familiars, which consisted of brains with insect-like legs, had been introduced to replace Randolf and the others who were absent due to training.

Knochen’s split entities had replaced the actual musicians, but because Knochen was not able to control his split entities across long distances like Vandalieu could, the Demon King Familiars controlled them.

And because they only came out for rehearsals, they were of use even for performances in places where the audience was not well-familiarized with them.

And so, Miriam and the others began their busy days being both idols and heroes at the same time.

Those who did not perform on stage were just as busy.

“Come, Van-sama! Spit out more and more!” said Tarea, in a good mood as she extracted a certain substance from Vandalieu.

Vandalieu’s main body was spitting out threads while Demon King Familiars produced materials created from the Demon King fragments – blood, horns, bones, and crystals – which were harvested by Demon King Familiars who were also consuming the fragment-producing Demon King Familiars as they came close to running out of Mana.

One Demon King Familiar loudly munched on another.

“I guess I’m going to be munched on next,” said another Demon King Familiar.

Multiple Demon King Familiars were busy loudly spitting out more thread.

“I’ve finished pulling out the horns, fangs, and bones,” reported a Demon King Familiar.

“The crystals are done,” said another.

Vandalieu spat out some more thread, then stopped to speak. “Tarea, this is quite the demanding request.”

The volume requested by Tarea was so great that even Vandalieu couldn’t help but lightly complain like this. But Tarea wasn’t squeezing materials out of Vandalieu because she wanted to.

“It cannot be helped, Van-sama,” she said. “After all, the equipment must be well-prepared before the decisive battle.”

The arms smith Tarea had been tasked with the creation of the weapons to be used by Vandalieu’s companions. Thus, she had stopped receiving lessons from Kanako for now and was fully focused on her work to produce them.

“And we don’t know when that decisive battle will happen, do we? The chance to defeat Heinz and Bellwood. So we need to hurry as much as we can,” Tarea said as she wound up the threads produced from the tip of Vandalieu’s tongue in her spinning wheel.

Indeed, they needed to hurry while there was still time.

The decisive battle was approaching.

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