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Fragments of Guduranis’s soul had infested evil gods who were remnants of the Demon King’s army, as well as the gods and demigods of Vida’s faction, and they were now causing chaos in the mortal world. Meanwhile, an uproar just as great was taking place in the Divine Realm in which the gods of Alda’s forces had gathered.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“Why have you unleashed the sealed fragments of Guduranis’s soul?! Multiple of them at once, no less!”
“Please answer us, Alda-sama!”
The undoing of the seals on Guduranis’s soul was an event of such enormity that every god, even the indecisive gods who had decided to see how things would turn out, had lost their minds and gathered in one place.
During the Dark Avalon incident, the seals of multiple fragments of Guduranis’s soul had been undone, causing Guduranis to be partially resurrected. But Rodcorte had been the culprit behind that.
This time, the one who had removed the seals was Alda, the one whom the gods had long revered as their leader. The shock they felt was incomparably greater.
“And although using evil gods who served the Demon King may be acceptable, why did you infest even gods of Vida’s faction with fragments of Guduranis’s soul as well?! Even after we defeat Vandalieu, hostilities with Vida’s faction will never end!”
Alda had told the gods serving him that defeating Vandalieu would result in the world’s salvation. But he had not told them that they would need to defeat Vida herself and the other great gods.
After all, the existence of the gods was essential for this world’s continued existence. Currently, the gods of Alda’s forces were barely managing to succeed in maintaining the world. But if another conflict were to occur – on a larger scale than the one that had taken place between Alda and Vida a hundred thousand years ago – it was possible that the surviving gods would lack the power needed to keep the world in existence.
Of course, the world would not be destroyed the moment their work to maintain it were to fail; it would begin falling apart at the seams and take at least a century. But gathering enough new gods to maintain its existence within a century was likely impossible.
And there was not even any guarantee that Alda’s forces would be victorious in this conflict.
Even now, the gods of Alda’s forces were expending the national power of the Holy Nation of Amid for this holy war. It wasn’t clear as to how many of the Crusader Army would survive, but there was no doubt that the gods would lose many of their worshipers. No, if it became known that Alda had unleashed gods with fragments of Guduranis’s soul inside them upon the various regions, the worshipers would likely all abandon Alda, with the exception of true fanatics like Eileek and those who lived in remote places that did not receive much news from the outside world.
The gods had been unleashed in locations that were distant from one another; Vandalieu and his companions were the only ones able to gather information and analyze the situation at every location. That was why Eileek was able to speak without much thought and fool the Crusader Army into thinking it was Vandalieu’s doing, and that was why Alda’s worshipers in their separate locations hadn’t grasped what was happening.
But once time passed and information made its way around, the people would understand that it was not the doing of Vandalieu, nor the gods of Vida’s faction, nor the remnants of the Demon King’s army, but Alda.
After all, the gods with fragments of Guduranis’s soul embedded within them had only appeared in locations where Vandalieu’s forces were likely to be – the only place in the Holy Nation of Amid they had appeared was over the heads of the Crusader Army and the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal.
As a result, the power of the gods of Alda’s forces could be expected to wane with the subsequent rapid drop in the energy received from their followers’ worship. If Vandalieu and his allies were defeated, the worship of Vida’s faction would likely weaken in the same way, but it was Alda’s forces that would be more heavily impacted.
In the worst-case scenario, it was even possible that the people’s distrust towards Alda’s forces, the ones responsible for undoing the seals on Guduranis’s soul, would result in them converting to Vida worshipers, and this could cause Alda’s forces to be defeated by Vida’s faction even if they defeated Vandalieu.
“We will be warring against Vida’s faction until the end of time!”
“Or is it that you intend to use this holy war to reduce the entirety of the Bahn Gaia continent into a burnt wasteland, rather than only the region within the Boundary Mountain Range?!”
“Alda, please answer us!”
The gods who had crowded into Alda’s Divine Realm were kept out by a sturdy gate. And standing in silence in front of that gate was Niltark, the God of Judgment.
“Niltark-dono! Please, allow us to speak to Alda-sama!”
“Were you given prior notice that he would take these actions?!”
Niltark had always been one of the upper-ranking gods among Alda’s subordinate gods, and after the destruction of Curatos, the God of Records, he had come to be known as one of Alda’s trusted confidants.
The other main gods loyal to Alda were Nineroad and Yupeon, the God of Ice, but Nineroad was absent from this Divine Realm as she was accompanying the Five-colored Blades, and it was unclear as to where Yupeon was; he was not here at present.
Thus, the attention of the gods of Alda’s forces fell upon Niltark, the only one standing before them.
“Unfortunately, Alda did not reveal his will to me, either,” Niltark said.
This only made the gods express their unrest more openly. Had Alda truly removed the seals on the fragments of Guduranis’s soul based only on his own judgment, without even consulting Niltark?
It was becoming even more unclear as to just what in the world Alda was thinking.
And some of the gods began advocating that what Alda was thinking no longer mattered, and the greatest priority was bringing the situation back under control.
“Sh-should we not be trying to stop Alda-sama now, then?!”
“We must attempt to bring the situation back under control! If Guduranis is partially resurrected again, this world may truly be destroyed this time!”
These gods were very much justified. Even if this was some deep and complicated plan, even if they succeeded in defeating Vandalieu, there would be no point if it would cause a drastic decrease in the power of the gods of Alda’s faction and the destruction of the world.
“… I see. Your intentions are clear to me. It seems that I must carry out my duty,” Niltark said in a solemn tone.
The gods believed that this meant that he would carry out his duty as Alda’s confidant and go to protest against Alda’s actions.
But with a stern expression, he swung the large scythe that represented him – cutting down the two gods that had insisted that Alda needed to be reprimanded and stopped.
One of them grunted in pain. “Huh…?” he said in confusion as he fell.
The two gods cut down by the large scythe collapsed. It took a moment for the gods to realize what had happened.
“W-what are you–?!” one of the other gods exclaimed in horror and fear.
“W-what are you doing?!” demanded another in a voice that was somewhere between an angry shout and a scream.
“I am merely carrying out my duty, carrying out judgment upon those who have sinned. What is there to question?” Niltark replied quietly.
Niltark was the God of Judgment. He was a god mostly worshiped by executioners, avengers, and bounty hunters. The large scythe on his back – the Death Scythe – was the symbol of judgment and his divine authority.
One god let out a moan of grief.
“W-what sins do you claim that we have committed?” asked one of the other gods in a trembling voice.
Its effects were a lesser version of the Stakes of Law, and it robbed those it wounded of their freedom. Naturally, however, it could not break their souls, though it could still inflict damage.
“Opposing the actions of our leader and attempting to rebel to hinder our holy war – What would you call that, if not a sin?” Niltark said.
“Wha–?! What sin is there in wishing for the world’s continued existence?!” the other god exclaimed.
“Any action opposing the law as defined by Alda is a sin, no matter what the reason,” Niltark said.
“Even if Alda has removed the seals placed upon the Demon King?!” questioned the other god.
“Precisely,” Niltark declared.
The gods of Alda’s forces were rendered speechless.
“It is law that defines what a sin is, and Alda is the god of that law,” Niltark continued. “If Alda says an action is a sin, then it is a sin, and if he says that it is not, then it is not. This is exceedingly obvious. What is it that you do not understand?”
TLN: The next bit makes a bit more sense if you keep in mind that in Japanese, “crime” and “sin” is the same word (罪/tsumi).
What was considered a crime, and how severe it was considered to be, differed depending on the country. There were nations that did not consider murder to be a crime if the perpetrator was a nobleman and the victim was a commoner, while others imprisoned those who took a life, even if it was a nobleman taking the life of a slave. There were nations where stealing a horse was punishable by death, and others where such a crime would be forgiven once reparations were paid.
It was the law that determined what was a crime and how it should be punished. And in this world, it was the statesmen who ruled the nation that decided what the law was.
Therefore, Niltark believed that the law of the gods was determined by Alda, the gods’ leader.
“If you understand, then go and carry out your own duties. These two will be dealt with by Alda in a fitting manner once the holy war is over, no doubt,” Niltark said coldly.
If the other gods of Alda’s forces continued to resist, they would only fall prey to the large scythe themselves. Understanding this, they left Alda’s Divine Realm.
“To think that things would come to this…”
“It is too late.”
Alda’s thoughts were so warped that he did not notice the contradiction in finding it acceptable to expose the world to danger as long as it meant defeating Vandalieu so that the world would be protected. The gods had realized Alda’s state of mind far too late.
But on the other side of the gate protected by Niltark, Alda let out a vexed groan as he looked upon the mortal world. “For them to put up this much resistance against remnants of the Demon King’s army and the gods of Vida’s faction with fragments of Guduranis’s soul embedded within them… Their fighting strength is far greater than expected…!”
Alda had planned on Vandalieu not moving from his main base in Talosheim, and the forces positioned in each region being pinned down. Heinz and his companions, with Nineroad’s aid, would use that opening to infiltrate deep within the territory inside the Boundary Mountain Range.
But Vandalieu had left Talosheim. Although Alda was unsure of the details, as he had no worshipers on the Demon King’s continent, the Goddess of Regeneration Luzemazera had been freed from the fragment of Guduranis’s soul infesting her. Vandalieu was the only one capable of doing something like that.
And the forces Vandalieu had deployed in each area were stronger than Alda had expected; they were more than an equal match for the gods that he had unleashed. Of course, this was unexpected for Alda, but not inconvenient. The inconvenient thing was that Heinz and the Five-colored Blades were not advancing swiftly towards Talosheim.
They were proceeding at a walking pace, as if they were on a stroll – even though they were protected by Nineroad’s wind, making them invisible not only to the eyes of monsters, but to those of Vandalieu and his familiars, too.
“What is the meaning of this, Heinz?” Alda muttered.
His expectation was for Heinz to defeat Vandalieu and acquire greater power than he already possessed, allowing him to seal Guduranis away once more.
A single fragment of Guduranis’s soul would not pose as much of a threat as the partially-resurrected Guduranis that had appeared in the past. All that was needed was for Vandalieu’s subordinates to keep the fragments of Guduranis’s soul from moving from their current locations and prevent them from fusing together until Heinz defeated Vandalieu. If they died in the process, that would be even more convenient.
And once the fragments of Guduranis’s soul were sealed away once more, having been the one that defeated Vandalieu, Heinz would guide the survivors of humanity as a new champion… or that was Alda’s plan.
“What is he thinking? Could he be waiting for Vandalieu to defeat the gods I unleashed and devour all of the fragments of Guduranis’s soul?!”
Alda expected that Vandalieu would devour several of the fragments of Guduranis’s soul. He believed that even after Vandalieu did so, there was still enough of a chance that Heinz could defeat him. But if Vandalieu devoured all of the soul fragments, it would be a different story.
“Is he confident that he can defeat a Vandalieu who has devoured all of Guduranis?” Alda murmured.
Although he was unaware of it, he was trapped in a state of madness. But even in this state, he was not able to trust Heinz and Bellwood blindly. However, there were few options remaining for him.
There were still sealed evil gods from the Demon King’s army and gods of Vida’s faction, but simply undoing their seals would not serve any purpose. It was highly likely that the remnants of the Demon King’s army would attempt to flee if given any opportunity to do so. The gods of Vida’s faction would simply attempt to rejoin Vida.
After all, there was no reason for them to stay in the locations where Alda released them.
In order to use these sealed gods as pawns, it was necessary to embed fragments of Guduranis’s soul within them. But there were only two fragments of Guduranis’s soul left – his ‘Reason’ and his ‘Wisdom.’ Even in his current state, Alda understood how dangerous it would be to unleash these two fragments.
And the most powerful of the remaining evil gods was Jarodipus, the Evil God of Sinful Chains. The tale of him and Bellwood defeating each other simultaneously had granted him power through worship in the form of fear.
But Alda believed that releasing him would be even more dangerous than releasing Guduranis’s ‘Reason’ and ‘Wisdom.’ He was an evil god who had endured the Stakes of Law for tens of thousands of years. It was possible that his strength of will would allow him to suppress the fragment of Guduranis’s soul and use his divine authority to return Bellwood to sleep.
As for the other evil gods… Evil gods and demigods possessed physical bodies, so fragments of Guduranis’s body would work. However, as unfortunate as it was, there were no sealed fragments of Guduranis’s body in Alda’s Divine Realm.
“If the situation calls for it… I will have no chance but to descend upon Lambda myself.”
Meanwhile, in a certain location in Lambda, a battle between gods was growing fiercer.
Enormous bodies clashed, angry bellows echoed, and explosions occurred in consecutive chains. The earth was torn asunder, mountains crumbled, and lakes were split apart.
One of them was an enormous bear that roared over and over – Urgus, the Bear Beast-King of Vida’s faction. Because Guduranis’s ‘Ostentation’ had been embedded within him, even in his frenzy, he was standing on his hind legs and swinging his front legs around to display his power.
A brown-skinned Colossus named Bazaaraza, the ‘Desert Giant,’ was shouting and screaming. He had Guduranis’s ‘Fear’ embedded within him, and his madness and fear had caused him to lose his reason and send him into a state of rampage.
Fighting against these two demigods, roaring with a noise that could not be discerned by any being in this world, was Zantark, the War-god of Fire and Destruction. He was on the verge of losing his reason as well, utterly enraged by Alda’s reckless actions.
“Zantark! Calm yourself!” shouted the Mountain Queen Elder Dragon God Tiamat, unable to endure this and trying to stop Zantark.
Like Zantark, she felt a fierce rage towards Alda for embedding fragments of Guduranis’s soul within the gods of Vida’s faction.
But Zantark’s rampaging was so violent that she had no choice but to take on the task of calming him down. This battlefield was sufficiently far away from the Demon Continent’s only city, but at the same time, Zantark was outside the pseudo-Divine Realm he normally spent his time in… his sanctuary.
Unlike demigods like Tiamat who possessed physical bodies, Zantark was a great god. He was undoubtedly expending tremendous quantities of energy by existing and moving in the mortal world, which had been corrupted by miasma and was thus completely different from how it was during the age of the gods.
Zantark had acquired something like a physical body after fusing with two evil gods who had appeared from another world, so the energy he was expending was considerably less than what a god would ordinarily need to expend, but it was certainly no small amount, either.
“Tiamat,” Zantark said, followed by unintelligible roars.
“Like I said, can you please calm yourself?!” Tiamat repeated. “I am begging you!”
Unfortunately, it was difficult for her to communicate with Zantark. She had spent much time with him since he came into his current state, so it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand Zantark’s words at all. But if he didn’t speak slowly and calmly, she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
On the other hand, Zantark was certainly able to understand Tiamat’s words. However, he showed no signs of stopping the battle. He was deliberately making large movements to draw Urgus and Bazaaraza’s attention while scattering black-red fireballs everywhere and swinging his fists that were enveloped in a black aura.
Now that it came to this, Tiamat wondered if it would be best for her to join the battle to end it as quickly as possible.
But the mountain of ice in front of her suddenly shattered to pieces. The Moon Giant Deeana rose from the shattered ice with a groan of pain. “Tiamat, if you’re not preoccupied, give me a hand!”
She was wearing the enormous transformation equipment given to her by Vandalieu, and she looked very beautiful indeed with the sparkling ice crystals covering her and refracting light in all directions, but there wasn’t anyone who had the time to pay any attention to that now.
Gyudojejuz, the Ten-thousand-eyed Evil God, was the one who had sent Deeana flying into the mountain of ice.
“KILL MEEEE! HURRY, WHILE I STILL REMAIN TO BE MYSELF!” he screamed.
At a glance, he resembled an enormous frog, but a countless number of eyeballs covered his entire body… the back of his head, his back, his elbows, his knees, and even the tips of his fingers and toes, giving him a grotesque appearance.
But he was begging to be killed swiftly because he was one of the gods who had left the Demon King’s army to join Vida’s faction, like Fidirg. He also looked somewhat similar to the form of Vandalieu’s soul – though he did not possess the power of the ‘Abyss.’
“As unusual as it is, I am preoccupied! Why are you of all people unable to restrain him?!” Tiamat demanded.
Deeana let out a vexed groan. “As truly ashamed as I am, I cannot defeat him! You understand, don’t you?!”
Because he had originally been an ally, Deeana couldn’t simply defeat him. If defeating him were to cause the fragment of Guduranis’s soul to take over his consciousness, there was no chance of saving him.
“Can you not bind him with spells?!” Tiamat asked.
“I tried, but he evaded them!” Deeana replied.
Gyudojejuz was an evil god said to possess every Demon Eye except for the ‘Demon King’s Demon Eyes.’ Among them was a Demon Eye that allowed him to see the flow of Mana. Thus, any attempt to cast a spell on him was easily evaded. Even unavoidable spells were detected and countered by spells of his own.
None of this was by Gyudojejuz’s will – he was being controlled by the fragment of Guduranis’s soul that infested him. However, his reaction speed was increasing as well. Gyudojejuz was slowly being taken over by the fragment.
“Hurry up and do it, you ugly old hags!” Gyudojejuz screamed.
“… I suppose he is angering us on purpose in order to have us kill him,” said Tiamat.
“How pitiful. We must have him take back those words once we save him,” said Tiamat.
Although the two goddesses understood what Gyudojejuz was trying to do, their veins still bulged in quiet anger. No progress was being made with spells, so they decided to suppress him in a hand-to-hand battle – but at that moment, Zantark made his move.
With a wordless roar, he charged at the fiercely rampaging gods, the ground crumbling beneath his feet.
He collided with Urgus and Bazaaraza and kept going, pushing them with him as he continued charging for a body slam on Gyudojejuz.
But since this movement was so large and obvious, it would be easy for the fragment of Guduranis’s soul to make Gyudojejuz evade the body slam. However –
“DON’T MOOOOVE!” shouted Gyudojejuz, resisting Guduranis’s control over him and using the ‘Demon Eyes of Petrification’ on his own body.
Zantark’s body slam landed on target, causing Gyudojejus’s petrified front legs to shatter to pieces.
“Tiamat, Deeana, I’ll leave the rest to you! Protect the city!” Zantark said in intelligible words.
And with that, he turned his body into flames as he suppressed the three rampaging gods.
“Wha–?! Wait, Zantark! Don’t tell me you’re going to seal yourself away with them?!” Deeana shouted.
That was precisely what Zantark intended to do. He would seal these three gods away along with himself, forcibly stopping them and preventing the fragments of Guduranis’s soul from encroaching upon them any further.
Zantark’s power was vast, and he was unable to control it very precisely. He was unable to fight outside the Demon Continent, as he would cause harm to nearby people and cities. That was why he was using himself to seal away these gods of Vida’s faction – to leave behind Deeana and Tiamat, who did have the ability to fight on other continents, thus reducing Vandalieu’s burden.
Zantark shouted once more, his words unintelligible.
If these were just remnants of the Demon King’s army, we could have just beaten them down, but… Alda, my foolish brother, your tactic has succeeded. I shall never forget this rage! Vandalieu, I am sorry for leaving my foolish brother Alda for you to deal with! Come and undo this seal later.
And with that, Zantark turned into an enormous mass of obsidian, sealing away the three gods of Vida’s faction with him.
Meanwhile, there was another god who was attempting to seal away rampaging gods along with themselves.
Darmatark, the God of Purifying Flames, was screaming as he rampaged in the skies above the Pilchkoff Duchy.
Although he was only half-conscious, he was making his flames blaze fiercely as he tried to reject ‘Guduranis’s Malice,’ the fragment that had been embedded in him. The problem was that each time he did this, he expended a great deal of his own power, and also scattered flames everywhere that were so hot they could turn a human into ash with a mere touch.
Although Darmatark’s flames were normally flames of purification that only took effect on Undead, the ‘Malice’ he had been infested by had changed their properties.
Alda had likely intended to have Darmatark descend into the skies above where Vandalieu’s allies were positioned in the Hartner Duchy or the Birgitt Duchy, with the properties of his flames unchanged.
But things hadn’t gone according to plan. The ‘Malice’ embedded in Darmatark by Alda himself had transformed his flames into something unintended. And despite his state of derangement, Darmatark had resisted and altered his trajectory as he descended, arriving in the skies above the Pilchkoff Duchy instead… though this made him an extremely unfortunate stray bullet for the people of the Pilchkoff Duchy.
Lafaz, the Bird Beast-King, crowed loudly as he flapped his wings and manipulated the wind so that Darmatark’s flames would not reach the ground. He was the king of birds of all kinds; with all his strength put into the speed of his flight, it hadn’t taken him long to travel from the Demon Continent to the Bahn Gaia continent.
But because he had done so, he couldn’t keep this up for long.
And that was precisely why a certain god was sealing Darmatark away.
Recognizing who it was, Darmatark screamed in rage and spoke intelligible words for the first time. “You bastard! How dare you!”
“I’m sorry it has to be me. Forgive me!” said Farmaun Gold, one of the champions of Alda’s forces who had attacked Darmatark and the other gods of Vida’s faction over a hundred thousand years ago.
“YOU BASTAAAARD!”
Darmatark’s flames had been burning fiercely in order to resist the ‘Malice,’ but he now sent them flying in Farmaun’s direction. But Farmaun himself was a god of the fire-attribute, and flames had little effect on him.
“And I can’t afford to take my time with this!” Farmaun said, charging down at Darmatark from above and cutting through the flames to use himself to seal the god away.
Indeed, he could not afford to take too long to perform this task.
The purpose behind it was to save Darmatark, and Farmaun himself had a limit on how long he could be in the mortal world, too. And most importantly, Farmaun did not want to be witnessed performing this task by humans.
Farmaun was the champion chosen by Zantark, and the one who had founded the Adventurers’ Guild. In the Demon Empire of Vidal, it was known that he had joined Vida’s faction fifty thousand years ago.
But in human society, including the Pilchkoff Duchy, he was known as a god of Alda’s forces.
If he were to be seen doing this – fighting Darmatark, a god of Vida’s faction who had been sealed away – the people on the ground would think that a god of Vida’s faction who had somehow escaped his seal was being sealed away again by the champion Farmaun, who had become a god of Alda’s forces.
That’s why I’m not supposed to play any active roles in this holy war, he thought.
“Lafaz, I’ll leave the rest to you! Make sure to come up with a good explanation to cover this up!” he said to Lafaz as he transformed into a jewel that shut Darmatark inside, successfully sealing him away.
Lafaz crowed loudly in response as he caught the orb in his beak. He then spread his wings wide so that the humans on the ground could see him clearly, flew in a trajectory in the shape of Vida’s holy symbol, and then flew away.
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