The sponsors are Rashid A. ($8), Johari N. ($2), Alexander T. ($10), Jeffery M. ($10), Wesley S. ($20), Fabian O. ($5), Hjalte A. ($25), John M. ($20), Trevor G. ($50), Emir Z. ($50) [Extra length]
The grotesque form that Vandalieu had transformed into… It had the silhouette of a human, but the black skin that reflected no light had tumors and tubes with unknown function on its surface, and there were large eyes and mouths placed haphazardly on it as well.
It was far too bizarre, even when compared to the most grotesque monsters. Heinz and his companions’ brains froze, as if to prevent them from acknowledging what they were seeing.
Thus, they were one step late in reacting to Vandalieu leaping towards them. With a swift movement that left no openings, unimaginable for a being with such a strange form, he threw a fist in Heinz’s direction.
There was a dull thud.
“What are you spacing out for?! This guy has always been our enemy from the very beginning! Hurry up and get ready to fight!” shouted Delizah, who had blocked Vandalieu’s fist with her Orichalcum shield.
She had not participated much in the previous conversation; she had been keeping an eye on the situation so that she would be ready to act whenever Vandalieu made his move.
“Y-yeah, you’re right!” said Heinz, coming to his senses and raising his sword.
“Sorry!” said Edgar, getting ready for battle.
The party had been exhausted after fighting the copies of Vandalieu’s allies, but thanks to the conversation that had just taken place, they’d had time to drink Potions to completely heal their wounds and recover their strength.
However, Vandalieu had started that conversation knowing that this would be the case.
The mouths that were scattered all over the surface of his body simultaneously opened to let out a brain-piercing scream. It was Vandalieu’s Scream Skill, loaded with the effects of Mental Encroachment.
Edgar groaned and covered his ears. “Status Effect Resistance doesn’t block this?!”
“He’s simply attacking our minds with his scream! It’s not a Status Effect!” said Heinz, having been stopped in his tracks.
But Delizah was the one closest to Vandalieu; she was the one affected by the scream the most. She let out a pained groan and staggered.
With the opening given to him, Vandalieu aimed a kick towards her.
“Mill, grant peace to our minds. Mind Protection!” recited Diana, praying to Mill, the goddess of slumber, for her protection.
At the same time, she strengthened the party’s mental defenses with a life-attribute spell.
Heinz, Edgar and Jennifer recovered from the mental attack of Vandalieu’s Scream and unleashed attacks of their own.
“… Instant Shining Slash!”
“Shining Slash!”
“Shining Thunder Fist!”
Vandalieu blocked one attack with his arm, another with his knee and avoided the third. Releasing a few Death Bullets to keep Heinz and his companions back, he fell back and put some distance between himself and his foes.
But he hadn’t gotten away unscathed; several wounds had appeared on his black body. The wounds themselves disappeared quickly, but Vandalieu’s movements had given Heinz’s party a lot of information.
His appearance is strange, and his spells are bizarre as well, but… his movements themselves are nothing spectacular? thought Heinz.
His physical abilities are not poor. They’re equivalent to an A-class adventurer; in other words, they’re not much different from ours. But we still have Heroic Spirit Descent. And his speed is worse than mine, never mind that head-hunting demon, thought Edgar.
His technique isn’t anything special… Mine is better, thought Jennifer.
He’s strong, but not as strong as that Undead Titan, thought Delizah.
Vandalieu’s Attribute Values were not much different from those of Heinz and his companions except for his Mana. In fact, his Agility was lower than theirs.
On top of that, his Unarmed Fighting Technique had only just awakened into Soul Destruction Fighting Technique a few moments ago. It was far inferior to the Skills of Heinz and Edgar, never mind Jennifer who’d possessed a superior Unarmed Fighting Technique Skill for a long time already.
And for some reason, he was currently not using the fragments of the Demon King.
In other words, putting together all of these facts, Vandalieu was not an undefeatable foe. In this five-on-one situation, Heinz and his party could definitely defeat him.
“If that’s all you have, maybe you should have just come at us with the other fakes rather than use them to buy time, Emperor-san,” Edgar taunted as he looked for an opening.
The party had decided that it was possible to defeat him, but they could not decide on a method to do so.
He said that’s his soul, but what does that mean? Does it mean that this form is his ‘soul,’ and we should destroy the body on the inside? Or should we be thoroughly destroying the outside layer? Edgar wondered, carefully thinking the situation through despite smiling arrogantly on the outside.
But before he could find an opening or an answer to his own questions, Vandalieu responded.
“Those were elaborate copies of my allies, but they were being controlled by a god. With that being the case, it was possible that they would have attacked me rather than you,” said Vandalieu. “It was convenient that you defeated them for me. I saved myself the pain of having to kill them, even if they were fakes.”
His words sounded very calm. His voice was so steady that it was hard to believe that it was coming from the grotesque being before Heinz and his party.
“Now that’s not why I’m asking this, but I’ll just make sure… You won’t commit suicide?” Vandalieu asked, looking at Jennifer.
“W-what are you saying?! Of course we won’t!” Jennifer shouted.
“I see… That’s a pity. I definitely wanted you and Diana back there to do so,” said Vandalieu.
“Cut your crap! Why would we do –”
“Jennifer, he is confirming whether we’re going to run away or not,” said Heinz. “This is a special place, after all.”
Indeed, this was a Dungeon in which Heinz and his companions could be resurrected in the ‘town’ no matter how many times they died. If they killed themselves right now, they could escape to the ‘town.’
“But why are you asking this? You want to kill us, don’t you? What do you intend to do if we really did kill ourselves?” Heinz asked Vandalieu, thinking that perhaps Vandalieu intended on killing them after they were resurrected, but then he realized that the god who managed this Dungeon would certainly seal the stairways between the floors.
However, he could not have predicted Vandalieu’s response.
“If you all commit suicide, I will destroy this Dungeon.”
Destroying a Dungeon, which could be purified or sealed away, but was not considered to be destructible.
That was possible for Vandalieu.
It would be problematic if Heinz and the others became stronger than they were now, and… Vandalieu was displeased with the god who managed this Dungeon.
Thus, if Heinz and his companions were to flee the battle, Vandalieu intended to fire his Hollow Cannon until he ran out of Mana or the Dungeon collapsed, whichever happened first.
“Destroy the Dungeon?!” Jennifer exclaimed. “There’s no way you can… no, maybe this guy can do it?!”
“Jennifer, please calm yourself. I do not know if he really can do it, but… as long as there is the smallest possibility that he can, then we cannot flee,” said Diana.
The objective of Heinz’s party was to overcome this Dungeon’s trial, become Bellwood’s successors and question the gods directly.
They could not let this chance escape them.
And even if it were possible to escape this Dungeon… Vandalieu would be waiting for them somewhere in the outside world, and they would face each other once more.
They needed to become stronger than they were now. They could not run from Vandalieu here.
“So, you confirmed whether we had any intention to kill ourselves and retreat, but you already had our way out sealed. I’m surprised; you’re calmer than you look,” said Edgar, giving a bitter smile, reaching behind his back and activating a Magic Item that continuously replenished his Stamina.
He understood that he and his companions were left with no choice but to defeat Vandalieu here.
But Vandalieu’s next change was far less subtle than Edgar’s.
“Calm?” Vandalieu murmured. “Me… Calm… Soul optimization.”
In the next moment, Vandalieu’s appearance changed once more. His previously flat, featureless, humanoid silhouette transformed into what resembled a full-body suit of metal armor, with dark, ominous red lines appearing all over the surface of his body.
Edgar clicked his tongue. “So, you still weren’t giving us everything you have –” he began.
“Screw Bullet, Rapid Response, Hundred Furious Overarm Blows.”
Edgar stopped mid-sentence and hastily deflected the Demon King’s horns that had been fired towards him. Using the opening that had been created, Vandalieu used the Armor Technique martial skill to improve his reaction time and charged at Heinz, unleashing a series of overarm blows.
In his mind, he was cursing Edgar and the rest of his enemies for daring to assume that he was calm.
There was no way that he could be calm; he was here, fighting against Heinz and his companions. He no longer had the ability to make decisions in a calm fashion.
Vandalieu remembered his previous dreams, where Heinz and his companions had been clearing the 50th floor. He now realized that these dreams had been real, and they had happened here in this Dungeon.
Here, Heinz and his companions would be resurrected somewhere no matter how they died, and they would keep all of their memories and experiences leading up to their deaths. But they weren’t actually being brought back to life. Vandalieu didn’t know how exactly this was done, but this was the reality.
Thus, even if he was able to kill the entire party, they would be resurrected as they had been before, with the knowledge of how they fared against him in battle.
That’s why I need to destroy their souls.
Since there was no use in destroying their bodies, he had to destroy their souls. If he failed to do that, then even if he were to win the battle, he would be accomplishing nothing but gifting them information about himself.
But would Vandalieu be able to destroy their souls in his current state, while they were capable of being resurrected endlessly? He didn’t know the answer to that. He instinctively felt that he could, but there was no guarantee or proof that this was the case.
On top of that, the circumstances of this battle heavily disfavored him. He was one against five… There were no spirits nearby that he could create Golems with, nor could he borrow the aid of Princess Levia and the other dead spirits, nor could he summon Eisen and Kühl who were normally equipped inside his body, nor could he hear Gufadgarn’s voice.
“Shit, he’s suddenly lost it!” Edgar cursed, continuing to repel the Demon King’s horns.
Heinz grunted as he deflected Vandalieu’s overarm blows with his blue, flaming sword.
Delizah moved beside Heinz to try and protect him, while Jennifer and Diana sprang into action to support him as well.
“Twisting Bullet… Fire,” Vandalieu muttered, unleashing a Demon King Artillery Technique martial skill that used the blood vessels protruding from his back as gun barrels.
The party had already faced Vandalieu’s Artillery Technique on the 50th floor; Jennifer immediately retreated to the safety of Delizah’s shield.
“‘Suddenly’ you say,” Vandalieu whispered incredulously.
He was gambling on the chance that he would be able to destroy his enemies’ souls.
He didn’t even know if he could win this battle. He had watched how Heinz and his companions fought while they were dealing with the copies of Borkus and the others, but there was only one other thing that was advantageous for him in this situation.
If Vandalieu were calm, he would likely have killed himself the moment the other copies were destroyed. After all, he was aware that his real body would suffer no effects even if this fake body were to die.
But he had not done that; he had awakened the Soul Destruction Fighting Technique and made himself capable of fighting with his own original Attribute Values. He was certainly not calm anymore.
“I have always been thinking of nothing but destroying you three!” Vandalieu shouted.
“Three? Don’t go ignoring us!” Jennifer shouted back, leaping backwards from behind Delizah’s shield.
She had already activated her Super Rapid Response martial skill and her Transcend Limits Skill, and Diana’s Enhanced Agility enchantment had already been placed on her.
“The Five-colored Blades is a five-man party! Shining Flying Slicing Kick!”
Having read the projectiles’ trajectories from the angles of the tubes, she unleashed a crescent-shaped slashing kick.
“Iron Wall.”
Seemingly unwilling to take a direct hit from this attack, Vandalieu produced the Demon King’s carapace on his arm and activated a Shield Technique martial skill. However, Edgar and Heinz saw this as an opening and made their move.
“Hundred Slashes!” Edgar roared. “Even with the Demon King’s fragments, don’t think you can withstand this with a martial skill like Iron Wall!”
“That’s right!” Heinz shouted.
A crack appeared on the carapace of the arm that Vandalieu was using as a shield, straight through the Demon King’s carapace, as Jennifer’s slashing attacks and Edgar’s dagger repeatedly struck it.
“Furious Shining Instant Slash!” Heinz roared, and his shining blade crashed down into the same spot that Jennifer and Edgar had been attacking, shattering the entire carapace to pieces.
“Impact-negating Barrier, Magic Absorption Barrier,” Vandalieu muttered, raising his protective barriers as he stumbled backwards.
These barriers were supposed to be able to block even the martial skills and spells of Heinz’s party.
But Heinz had faced Vandalieu’s spells on the 50th floor… around ten times, experiencing a temporary death each time.
“Those barriers won’t work anymore! Radiant Life Blade!” Heinz shouted, casting a spell that he had developed using those experiences.
It was a spell that imbued his sword with the power of both the light and life attributes.
He did not know that Vandalieu’s spells were of the death attribute, but he had instinctively realized that a combination of the life and light attributes formed the opposite attribute to the death attribute – despite the fact that even Bellwood, a champion who had fought the Demon King Guduranis on multiple occasions, had never discovered this.
With his two barriers cut down with ease, Vandalieu immediately raised his left arm to protect himself. As a result, his torso remained unharmed, but his arm was severed just below the elbow, sending his dismembered forearm spinning into the air.
Vandalieu clutched his severed arm with his opposite hand and threw his head back, screaming into the air.
“Heh, your belly’s wide open!” Jennifer said with a smirk, closing in to land a follow-up attack on Vandalieu’s exposed torso and end the battle right here.
“Wait, it’s a trap!” Delizah shouted.
“Sharp Screw Tongue, Severing Mouth Sphere.”
“What – GAH!” Jennifer screamed, blood gushing from her mouth as she was impaled by the slippery, twisting tongues, the tubular organs and proboscises that had protruded from Vandalieu’s body.
“Jennifer?!” shouted Edgar.
“Wait, I’m coming!” said Heinz as he and Edgar tried to rush to help her.
But spider-like legs sprouted from Vandalieu’s back, keeping them from coming close.
“No way… A trap…” Jennifer groaned.
“I thought it was quite forced, but it seems that my acting skills aren’t so hopeless after all,” Vandalieu remarked.
He had used the Scream Skill and deliberately left an opening. Now, with his tongue piercing Jennifer’s heart and his proboscis buried in her stomach, he tried to suck her blood, but he couldn’t. Or rather, he could, but he could not taste anything, nor did it recover his Mana.
Maybe it’s because we’re both in fake bodies. In that case, I have no more use for her, Vandalieu thought.
He regrew his left arm, curled his hand into a fist and transformed it into a tumor of the Demon King as he raised it into the air.
“Damn it, he’s even regenerating… So quickly, too…” Jennifer gasped.
“Jennifer!” Heinz shouted.
“Heavy Fist,” Vandalieu murmured.
His left fist, which had now transformed into a blunt weapon covered in sharp spikes, crushed Jennifer’s head. Before the fragments of her skull could even hit the ground, her body turned into dust and disappeared.
Heinz and Edgar were fighting against Vandalieu’s eight skillfully-controlled jointed legs, but upon Jennifer’s death, their attacks became fiercer.
“Jennifer should be back at the ‘town!’ Both of you, please fall back for now!” Diana warned them.
“Alr –” Heinz began.
“I know that, but if we fall back over every little thing, we’ll always be fighting at this guy’s pace!” shouted Edgar, continuing his attacks. “Spiral Sonic Blow!”
Vandalieu exploited weaknesses and often employed surprise tactics; it seemed that Edgar had decided it was best to defeat him with brute force right here, right now.
It was difficult to say that Edgar’s decision was incorrect. In fact, Vandalieu also wanted to put some distance between himself and his foes for now.
But I suppose I’ll give them a warm welcome, Vandalieu thought.
“Steel Tear.”
With two of his eight joined legs having been severed by Edgar, Vandalieu used the sharp ends of the remaining six legs to try and cut Edgar down.
“Hah, you’re too slow!” said Edgar.
Edgar had been saving his Transcend Limits and Transcend Limits: Magic Sword Skills; he activated them now and cut down Vandalieu’s jointed legs with his Orichalcum dagger one after another.
Vandalieu threw the blunt weapon that was his left fist at Edgar, but he was interrupted by Heinz.
“Flying Slash, Radiant Life Blade!” Heinz shouted, unleashing a slashing attack that flew towards Vandalieu while also enchanting Edgar’s dagger with anti-death-attribute properties.
“It cannot be helped! Strengthen All Attribute Values!” cried Diana, giving Edgar another enchantment.
Heinz’s slashing attack landed directly on Vandalieu’s left arm, and though it did not cut all the way through, it cut through more than halfway and stopped its movement.
Edgar now had his Attribute Values greatly increased, and his dagger was enchanted.
“Thousand Slashes!” he shouted, unleashing an advanced martial skill.
“Anti-Blade, Death Bullets, Infinite Thrusts, Tongue Blade,” Vandalieu muttered as he covered his entire body with the Demon King’s fur, activated an Armor Technique martial skill and repelled his enemy’s attacks with his jointed legs and tongue.
But Edgar’s dagger cut through Vandalieu’s spells and the body parts that he was defending himself with, and the fur that had turned into a bundle of anti-blade fibers was cut to pieces.
I feel like I’m made of butter, Vandalieu thought as he looked up.
“Spiral Blow!” Edgar roared, thrusting his dagger into a gap in Vandalieu’s helmet.
Feeling the sensation of his blade penetrating bone and striking soft flesh, a satisfied smile appeared on his face… and in the next moment, his body was penetrated by numerous beams of light emerging from Vandalieu.
“Edgar!” Diana screamed. “I’ll heal you right away!”
“I need that healing quick! Sorry!” Edgar apologized, jumping away from Vandalieu.
He had managed to twist his body around at the last moment before the beams of light appeared; they had narrowly missed his vital organs.
But this had come at a great cost.
“Are you alright?” asked Heinz.
“No, I’m done for. My dominant hand is gone… and I don’t know why, but I have almost no Mana left,” said Edgar.
He fastened the short-bow on his back to his severed right wrist. With this, he could at least fire arrows, and he could still wield his dagger with his left hand, but he would lack fine control.
But even Diana’s healing magic would take too much time to restore a lost limb. Edgar’s hand would not return during this fight.
On top of that, the effects of Transcend Limits had worn off, leaving his entire body almost overwhelmed by fatigue. The effects of Radiant Life Blade had worn off, too.
“To be able to protect your vital points from rays of light released at almost point-blank distance… You monster,” Vandalieu murmured as brain matter dripped from his helmet.
He had sacrificed several of his eyeballs to unleash rays of light with the effects of Soul Devour, only to have them avoided. To have only taken Edgar’s dominant hand and his Mana… Vandalieu acknowledged the strength of the Five-colored Blades, who were indeed powerful adventurers.
“Shit, you’re the monster here… How can you still move after your head has been crushed?!” Edgar demanded.
That’s because my body is inside the torso of my soul-form, Vandalieu thought to himself.
His soul-form had formed an armor around his body, and although his outward appearance was now slightly larger than a human male, his real body on the inside hadn’t changed size. The entirety of his body was contained inside the torso of the soul-form body.
His head and arms did not contain anything; they were dummies that Vandalieu had created from the Demon King’s bones and sub-brains.
Of course, Vandalieu was not naïve enough to reveal that. Instead, he covered his entire body with the Demon King’s fur once more and made it expand.
“Chaotic Fire,” Vandalieu muttered.
His Throwing martial skill sent his fur, which had transformed into something resembling a hedgehog’s quills, flying in every direction.
“Diana, get down!” said Delizah, shielding Diana, who was unable to move because she was casting healing magic, from the rain of needles.
“But Heinz and Edgar! I haven’t even finished sealing Edgar’s wounds!” Diana cried.
Delizah’s martial skills that diverted enemies’ hostility towards herself did not work on Vandalieu; she was unable to leave Diana’s side.
But Heinz’s sword swung through the air in a martial skill that repelled the projectiles, protecting himself and Edgar.
However, as if already expecting this, Vandalieu dashed forward and began a follow-up attack… not on Heinz and Edgar, who had their hands full defending themselves from the needles from this relatively close distance, but on Delizah who had raised her shield and committed herself to defense.
“God-metal Wall! God-metal Form!” Delizah shouted, activating her martial skills and thinking it was convenient that Vandalieu had come for her of his own will, and preparing to stop the blow from Vandalieu’s raised, tumor-covered fist.
The tumor came bearing down on her with tremendous force and let out a thundering crash as it collided with her shield. However, Delizah was unharmed, and did not feel any impact.
I withstood it! Delizah thought. Now I just need to force him back with Shield Bash – my arm won’t move?!
She was astonished to find that her arm would not move.
“I used them last time as well, didn’t I? The suction cups,” said Vandalieu.
He had activated the Demon King’s suction cups at the moment he swung the Demon King’s tumor down at Delizah, and her shield was now attached to them.
Vandalieu had more Strength than Agility, and also possessed the Monstrous Strength Skill. He was a mage who prioritized power when it came to physical combat.
Despite her small build, Delizah was denser in mass than a human, and her entire body was covered in solid equipment. But Vandalieu raised her along with her shield into the air with a single movement.
“U-uwah!” she cried.
The shield was fixed to her arm by a belt so that she would not drop it easily; she was raised into the air, unable to discard her shield and escape.
“Diana, stop the healing! Attack!” shouted Edgar.
“Tree Bind!” Diana cried, interrupting her healing magic and casting a life-attribute spell that produced tree branches to stop Vandalieu’s movement.
“I’m coming!” shouted Heinz, trying to close in on Vandalieu.
However, Vandalieu regenerated the jointed legs at his back which smashed the branches and kept Heinz at bay with their long reach.
“Diana, run –”
“Power Throw,” Vandalieu murmured, swinging his left arm and detaching the tumor from it, sending Delizah and her shield that was attached to the suction cups flying. “Flame Prison Death.”
The tumor detonated in mid-air.
“D-Delizah!” Diana cried.
Vandalieu had ignited the Demon King’s fat that filled the inside of the tumor.
“No way –” Diana began.
But her reliable shield was now gone. Vandalieu swung his right arm with the claws of the Demon King bared, severing her defenseless neck. As the Elf priestess’s decapitated head fell and rolled across the ground, it turned into dust and disappeared along with her headless body.
“Diana!” Delizah cried softly as she got up from the ground, covered in burns here and there. “How dare you!” she shouted, her face twisted in anger as her pride as a shield-bearer was left in tatters along with the companion that she had been protecting.
But she had not lost her composure; it seemed that she was not searching for a path to Vandalieu, but for a path to regroup with Heinz and Edgar.
Heinz and Edgar also felt anger but maintained their composure; they remained wary of Vandalieu and were trying to figure out a way to fight together with Delizah.
The only reason that they managed to stay composed was because they knew that Diana and Jennifer had not really died, however.
“With this, the hindrances are gone… This is the first time that I have been outnumbered, so it was quite troublesome,” said Vandalieu, exhaling.
Eliminating Jennifer and Diana was a great achievement for him.
Jennifer, the nimble martial artist who overwhelmed her enemies with the sheer number of her attacks, and Diana, who provided support and healing for the entire party, played large roles in the Five-colored Blades. On top of that, they displayed a truly advanced level of coordination that was worthy of an S-class adventurer party.
With the two of them gone, there was a large hole in the party’s coordination; it would be accurate to say that half of their combat effectiveness was gone.
But it was not for strategic reasons that Vandalieu had wanted to eliminate them.
Jennifer and Diana had joined the Five-colored Blades after Heinz and the others had moved to the Orbaume Kingdom. They were not the targets of his revenge.
Thus, he had no intention of destroying their souls. It seemed that they had played their own parts in killing Ghouls and Majin, but… the Ghouls and Majin were not powerless victims. It would be going too far to devour Jennifer and Diana’s souls over the deaths of these Ghouls and Majin when Vandalieu didn’t know all of the circumstances around them.
Thus, Vandalieu had not applied the Soul Devour Skill on attacks that had any chance of hitting Jennifer and Diana. He had only applied it to the rays of light that he had used on Edgar.
But now, there were only his three targets of revenge remaining on the battlefield. He could devour their souls without holding back.
“This is troublesome… It’s quite easy for you, isn’t it? There’s no sign of you having taken any damage at all… We’ve lost face as an S-class adventurer party,” said Edgar as he watched Vandalieu’s left arm regenerate and return to normal.
It was likely that he was trying to use himself as bait and divert attention away from Heinz and Delizah, as he only had one hand and almost no Mana left.
It was a futile effort however, as Vandalieu had several of the Demon King’s compound eyes placed on the surface of his body, allowing him to see the entirety of his surroundings.
“There’s no need to lose heart; this is the expected outcome,” said Vandalieu, responding to Edgar and pretending to have fallen for his tactic.
“Expected? Facing us one-on-five and defeating two of us with ease is the expected outcome?” Edgar asked incredulously.
“Yes. You were already exhausted after fighting Borkus and Legion, after all,” said Vandalieu.
“We recovered our stamina and healed our wounds while we were talking –” Edgar began.
“Your Mana, your Skills’ duration limits and the fatigue you feel from using them should have been almost the exact same state,” Vandalieu pointed out.
The corner of Edgar’s mouth twitched a little. Vandalieu could also see Heinz and Delizah also being clearly shaken by the truth that he had spoken.
This was the one other advantageous circumstance for Vandalieu.
Indeed, Heinz and his companions had been exhausted. They were powerful adventurers, so capable that the gods of Alda’s forces had held high expectations of them. But in the end, they were bound by their races – they were humans, an Elf, and a Dwarf.
They could not regenerate Mana at an abnormally fast rate like Vandalieu, nor could they ignore their fatigue.
And if they used the Surpass Limits or Transcend Limits Skills, they would become overwhelmed by a terrible sense of fatigue as soon as the Skills wore off, and their movements would become dull.
“Since your Mana is limited, you did not use advanced martial skills or spells that require a lot of it except in critical moments. Even that problematic ‘Radiant Life’ enchantment consumes a lot of Mana; either its effects don’t last very long or you’re deliberately casting it that way to save Mana,” Vandalieu continued. “And the duration of your Heroic Spirit Descent is almost up, isn’t it? You activated it before you even entered this floor as a precaution against me, after all.”
Heinz, Edgar and Delizah were clearly shaken – Vandalieu had seen through their current state, as well as the reason for Edgar’s hasty attack earlier.
“Your Attribute Values, especially your Mana, will decrease significantly. High Priest Gordan once said that his Mana increased to 100,000 after having a familiar spirit descend upon him. If it’s a heroic spirit, perhaps that’s 1,000,000 or 2,000,000? But once Heroic Spirit Descent is gone… you won’t be able to use even the most basic martial skills or spells,” said Vandalieu.
I’m quite exhausted myself, however, Vandalieu thought to himself.
This Soul Destruction Fighting Technique, which materialized his own soul, had consumed more Mana than he had expected. On top of that, his Mana decreased by considerable amounts each time he attacked or received attacks. Even his 6,000,000,000 total Mana and abnormal Mana regeneration didn’t completely make up for these Mana expenditures. The amount that he had absorbed from Edgar wasn’t even a drop in the bucket.
The reason for that was because Vandalieu’s projectile attacks, the parts of himself that he had detached and detonated, the parts of his body that were severed by his enemies’ attacks – they were all a part of his soul.
“… So what. Jennifer and Diana will be back soon, and we can be resurrected no matter how many times we die in this Dungeon,” Edgar said as a bluff, unaware of Vandalieu’s exhaustion.
But it was just a bluff in the end.
When they died and returned to this Dungeon’s ‘town,’ their wounds were completely healed. But their expended Mana remained the same.
Damn it, if we were on the outside, we would have brought some Mana crystals, but… Edgar thought, thinking of Mana crystals, which could be made from Magic Stones and allowed for the recharging of Mana.
But in this Dungeon, no materials could be gathered from defeated monsters, including their Magic Stones.
On top of that, they had been able to recover their Mana in the safety of the ‘town’ when they died.
Even when they had little Mana left, they had not been forced into battles in which they absolutely needed to win. Even in this battle, if Vandalieu had been another copy like all the other copies up until now, they would have likely cut their attempt early and decided to try again tomorrow.
Thus, the party had not bothered to prepare Mana crystals in large numbers to prevent themselves from running out of Mana.
However, Vandalieu had declared that he would destroy this Dungeon somehow.
They could not allow him to do that.
“No matter how many times you kill us, we’ll definitely kill you,” said Edgar, nocking an arrow into his bow and pulling back the string.
With his compound eyes, Vandalieu could see Delizah and Heinz preparing to make some kind of move as well.
However, they were unaware that Vandalieu could devour their souls. Their Mana was drained considerably whenever Vandalieu attacked them, but they simply assumed that these were Mana-draining attacks.
“… Bloodlust,” Vandalieu murmured, casting a deadly spell.
All of the black-red blood that he had spilled during the battle turned into dust and danced in the air.
“Take this, my final –” Edgar began, but his words turned into a scream of pain.
He was covered by this dust; he let go of the arrow in his bow and dropped to the ground, writhing in pain.
“GAH! AAAGH! Why… Status Effect Resistance should protect me from poison or disease…!”
Heinz groaned in pain as well as he and Delizah began to suffer as well. “That’s not it! There’s something, something coming in underneath our armor…!”
Vandalieu licked his lips as he watched them.
He had turned his own blood into blood-hungry, carnivorous microbes.
He was able to turn parts of his own body into microbes with the effects of the Disease Demon Job; while this had applications in pest control, he had hypothesized that he would also be able to use this ability to fight against enemies with Status Effect Resistance or Status Effect Immunity.
He had thus invented the Dark King spell ‘Bloodlust,’ which transformed his own blood into carnivorous microbes. The Status Effect Resistance Skill and anti-disease Magic Items were worthless against this spell.
Heinz and his companions were being eaten alive by a countless number of microbe-sized Vandalieus. This was not a Status Effect; it was a physical attack. But the microbes that were attacking them were too small to be seen by the naked eye; they could not be swatted away by their hands.
It was a cruel, fiendish trump card, one that could not be escaped once it attached itself to its victims’ skin. But unlike Vandalieu’s pathogens, he could not choose targets for it; he had been unable to use it while Jennifer and Diana were present.
In a few minutes, the souls of Heinz, Edgar and Delizah would be devoured and destroyed.
“… Sharp Tongue,” said Vandalieu, unable to wait that long and deciding to finish off Edgar by piercing him with his tongue.
“Instant Response! Blue-flamed Sword!” shouted Heinz, leaping off the ground and repelling Vandalieu’s tongue with his magic sword.
His face was twisted in pain, but he remained standing before Vandalieu.
“I won’t… let you do… as you please!” he gasped.
“You forcibly ignored your pain and forcibly activated Transcend Limits or something else… I thought it would be best to take care of you one-by-one in a guaranteed fashion, but it seems that it’s best that I destroy you first,” said Vandalieu.
Despite the pain that was tormenting him, Heinz raised his sword. Vandalieu began closing the gap between himself and his enemy.
But in the next instant, an armored Noble Orc appeared next to Vandalieu and swung an enormous sword down at him.
“BUGAAAAH!” it roared.
“A-a Noble Orc?!” Heinz exclaimed, bewildered.
The greatsword struck Vandalieu’s head and fell to pieces with a smashing noise like the breaking of glass.
“B-bugoh… Bobyuh?!” the Noble Orc grunted.
“Just when I thought the god wouldn’t be able to interfere because he hadn’t done anything up until now…” Vandalieu murmured as he swung his claws to dispose of the Noble Orc… Bugogan.
But copies of people and monsters appeared one after another around Vandalieu, and at the same time, a wall appeared that separated him from Heinz, Edgar and Delizah.
The god that managed this Dungeon had begun to interfere.
Of course, Vandalieu had been wary of this possibility, but he could not ignore the copies that had appeared.
“Don’t underestimate the strength of us humans!” shouted the ‘Five-headed Snake’ Ervine.
“You evil Dhampir! I shall smite you with divine punishment!” roared High Priest Gordan.
A Goblin King shrieked as it threw itself at Vandalieu.
“Become food for my insects!” cackled the ‘Insect Swarm’ Bebeckett.
“Let’s go, Kasim, Zeno!” said Fester.
“Yeah!” responded Kasim and Zeno.
Copies of enemies whose souls Vandalieu had destroyed, copies of enemies that he had no particular attachment to, and copies of his friends. These copies varied greatly in strength; even High Priest Gordan was nothing but a small fry to Vandalieu now, just like Bugogan, but…
“It seems that you are intent on angering me… even though I am already enraged!” Vandalieu muttered. “Transcend Limits, Surpass Limits: Fragments, Instant Response!”
Deciding that this was the final ambush, Vandalieu threw himself at the copies with all his strength.
Behind the wall, Heinz could hear terrifying screams and the sounds of people dying, but he was speechless. “Martina… Riley… why are you…?” he murmured.
Two of his fallen companions had appeared before him.
“Heinz, those are copies of Martina and Riley,” said Delizah, who had been carried to Heinz by Riley’s copy.
Heinz suddenly returned to his senses.
“Indeed. I am temporarily using the copies of these two to act on my behalf,” said Riley, speaking in an intellectual and somewhat cold, inhuman tone that Heinz, Edgar and Delizah had never heard from him while he was alive.
At the same time, the fierce pain assaulting them disappeared.
“… It seems that these separated body parts that are no longer under his control, with no will other than primitive hunger, can be erased like any other copy. I shall make a record of this,” Riley continued. “Five-colored Blades, I am Curatos, the god of records. I apologize for being late to assist you.”
Hope appeared on the faces of Heinz and his companions at the appearance of Curatos, the god who was currently occupying Riley’s copy. It had been a hopeless situation, but with the help of a god, it was possible that they could defeat Vandalieu.
“Leave this to me,” said the copy of Martina, as she lifted the breathless Edgar onto his feet.
“Thanks. Sorry, but can you heal –” Edgar began.
But in the next moment, Martina’s copy snapped his neck.
“W-what are you –?!” Heinz and Delizah shouted in surprise.
“Leave this to me. Return to the ‘town’ before your souls are devoured, and escape from this Dungeon,” said Curatos in his cold, inhuman tone. “This Dungeon has been isolated by that cursed evil god of labyrinths. The other gods cannot help us now. This is my defeat.”
As if confirming Curatos’s declaration of his own defeat, Edgar’s body turned into dust and crumbled away.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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emergency3808
F*ck… I really wanted them to be destroyed here. Well at least the dungeon is useless now
Winter
Van in final boss mode is so hype haha
I love that even now that he became so strong, the fights are still exciting.
God-stealth0
Hahahaa we have gods too Mother fuckers
Alke
😩😩😤Looks they are not going to die, at least not all of them 🤬🤬🤬. I hope the god and at least one them will 😩. It really isn’t fair! 😤😤. I hope that he can kill them next time before they create ruin and death on their path, these “peaceful” pieces of sh*t! 🤬.
Zenden1st
van 5v1
scootnoot
Feel like this isnt in line with what vandalieu has shown so far, no need to hold back so he doesnt harm the souls of those who are allied with some of the people he hates most in the world, putting himslef at a didadvantage which could cost him incthe long run. He’s destroyed souls for less no? Its not like he’s just sparing their souls he intentionally disadvantaged himself
Chiu ChunLing
I think you might be forgetting the utter fiendishness of the people whose souls Van’s crushed in the past. I’m not going to defend Jennifer and Diane as completely innocent, but while they’re certainly more responsible for their support of Heinz than Selen is, they’re still just supporting him.
Sure, turnabout would be fair play, Van could just indiscriminately attack them the way they’ve been attacking his allies in this dungeon (and outside it).
But if Van were going to use that logic, he would have already simply exterminated all the non-Vida races already and turned them into Undead and so forth. Because that’s the exact same as what Alda and Bellwood did. Except that Van’s way has a chance to the world to survive, so it’s actually still less pointlessly immoral.
As much as it would be justified, Van has decided against that because he doesn’t HAVE to.
Alke
Chiu Chun Ling, yeah ! Somebody else would devour their souls, just counting them in the lot, but he never was like that, he isn’t like Alda and Alda’s dogs. He has ethics and doesn’t kill people just because he doesn’t like them, even if it can seem like that. He kills just the ones who did something to him and his pple or deeply endanger his life and happiness and the life and happiness of his pple. If somebody didn’t attack him, he doesn’t attack them
JKingSniper
Damn it really wish he could’ve killed and devoured one
FunniFear
I hope the Curatos dies here and gets eaten.
Chiu ChunLing
“It would be going too far to devour Jennifer and Diana’s souls over the deaths of these Ghouls and Majin when Vandalieu didn’t know all of the circumstances around them.”
And right there, Van demonstrates his categorical superiority to Heinz, Asagi, Alda, Bellwood, Rotcortex, and all their ilk.
Especially Amemiya.
It’s not that Van’s never wrong, but at least he never carelessly discards the responsibility of at least trying to find out.
TypicalReader
Did this man really just dodge a light attack???
MintyMints
That monster!!!
Hobbes
He channeled Raditz lol
unwanted child
But Vandalieu raised her along with her shield into the air with a single movement.
look at our van picking someone else up instead of being picked up
Baldingere
As expected of Van! His unarmed fighting technique could not have awakened into smth normal! He just had to look even more grostesque!
unwanted child
damn did van turn himself into a dark souls boss!
Vitor
Taking his grotesque appearance and way of fighting, I think Bloodborne would be more fitting, but heah, thought… I think he has always been one
lazygeko
The kind that you get rekt by, then later meet him again finding out he was only using half his abilities in your first fight. Although he took over, it is only his soul that is there, in a body created based on records from a while ago.
Jason
Well fuck, they’ll be stronger and more prepared now
But i guess that just makes the story more exiting and more worth it when they finally die
polynesianvibez
fuck, i want at least one of the three to have fallen here. oh well, revenge will be more satisfying in person anyways
thanks for the chapter
WolfLord_Jordon
Unfortunately it’s going the way I thought it would go.Thanks for the chapter on a good story
no1
I just realized something about the blood lust spell.I just reread it more closely just now and it looks like the spell involved microbe-sized Vandalieus. I first thought it was just microbes, but now I’m imagining very small Vandalieus biting and scratching the 3 of them. Kinda funny in a way
Hobbes
I think it’s supposed to be more of a metaphor, but I agree that it’s amusing imagery.
DarkCarnage
or mini van’s hacking at them with claw or even pickaxes like their mining lol.
Lord Rin
I’m just hoping that this Soul Destruction fighting style leaves some permanent effects on Heinz’ group. At least it sounds like Edgar got parts of his soul devoured by Van. Out of the entire group, he’s always been the most asshole-ish one.
I don’t know why Heinz’ group are boasting that they can beat Van in the real world. Did they not see the curb stomping they just got? They can’t even get stronger unless they beat this dungeon that probably has 50 more floors. Also they would have to be incredibly naive to think that this current Van is at full power. Even weakened, he still kicked all of their asses. Exactly what gives them hope that they could beat Van in the real world?
So now that Curatos is here, looks like he’s about to get his soul devoured. Alda’s about to lose a very important member of his forces. Without him, the dungeon can’t be updated and Alda has specifically mentioned that he can’t gather and manage information anywhere near as well as Curatos.
On another note, how exactly can Heinz’ party escape this dungeon? Didn’t Curatos say that the dungeon has been isolated by Gufadgarn? Is the ‘town’ that they respawn at separate from the dungeon?
Sebas Tian
They can still run on foot if the entrance has been opened.
Jonathan Hurd
From what I understand there are certain set in stone rules of the world. You can somewhat bend those rules but it is almost impossible to break them. For example how Rodcorte could limit how Van gets exp and classes but he couldn’t make it so Van can’t get those things. One such rule is Dungeons need to have exits. I don’t think its possible to seal off the stairs/entrance/exit of a dungeon completely so I feel like Heinz and Co will be able to run out.
What Curatos means by the dungeons sealed is more likely that Gufadgarn has cut the dungeon off from the divine realm. So while you can physically enter and exit the place I don’t think Gods can get in unless they descend onto the planet and walk in the front door. I feel the reason why Curatos is admitting his defeat, and why it took him so long to interfere, is because he has descended and walked into the dungeon to save Heinz and the rest. I think he created copies of Heinz old companions and then manifested himself and probably a spirit clone to possess them.
Lord Rin
No Rodcorte could have made it so Van can’t get XP in any way but the guy is an idiot and didn’t think everything through well enough which is why his curses have loopholes. He just half-assed the curses because he figured that it’d be enough.
Hobbes
I think that’s a misinterpretation, but I can’t remember the part of the story that indicates it.
SuicidalSkeletin
No it is clearly said that even gods can’t take actions that defy the rules of the world. In other words, you didn’t read correctly.
Chiu ChunLing
I believe what you mean is that Rotcortex could have made the curses a bit more ironclad by putting more effort into them.
After all, a curse that would have been inevitably fatal to a baby shouldn’t really have been too difficult with a bit of real effort. Alternatively, he could have just directly reincarnated him into a certain death situation instead of leaving it up to chance so he got a seriously unfortunate but still loving mother.
Or he could have, you know, just spared Van a couple of hours of real apologies and made a sincere effort to make up for leaving him to be tortured for a couple of decades, avoiding the whole need to kill him that only ever existed because it was the most expedient way to cover rather than address his own mistakes.
no1
Yeah it is kinda cool that his unarmed fighting technique now as the effect of his soul devour skill
kagemao
“In a few minutes, the souls of Heinz, Edgar and Delizah would be devoured and destroyed.”
Does that mean they’re taking soul damage from the blood spell? I don’t think their souls would hang around once the copies are destroyed.
I respect Curatos a bit for being so quick to sacrifice himself. I can’t tell if he is more like an AI than a person though, with how he acts. Maybe he just doesn’t value his own life that highly.
Hobbes
He was Alda’s first familiar spirit; he had no ego to begin with before ascending to proper godhood if I remember correctly.
Vitor
I think people aren’t understanding soul break… well, it was a lot of chapters ago… it allows ANY attack of Vandalieu to have those effects, either it’s the unnarmed fighting technique, his awakened soul fighting technique, his death atribute, the dead spirit magic, the fragments of the demon king, or even if he were to take a sword and hit with it, as long as he deals damage
Paps
HAHAHAHAHA Sorry for the delay, thanks for another wonderfull chapter Yoshi, this figth was amazing, and the declaration of defeat at the end was just……
antonio
today we kill a god” shulk xenoblade
Shank Mugen
I have a little bit of respect for Curatos if he came here knowing he will die
InfernoHomura
goddammit
Ozarazil
Guys don’t get too excited, Gufadgarm left Vandal’s body unnatended while Murakami’s group is getting too close!!!
Sebas Tian
That’s not a concern as the radar is telling them that Van is in the duchy where the dungeon is, not in Alchem where his body is.
Jonathan Hurd
Also didn’t Murakami’s group say it’d take them months to get to Van where he left his body. That would also be assuming they knew to go to his body and not follow the radar to begin with.
Even ignoring that I feel like Gufadgarn probably isolated Vans body for safety sake. There is also Eisen, Khuul, and Quinn in his body. He should be good and safe unless Alda goes insane and decides to descend on top of him right now.
Hobbes
Yup! I appreciate your comments Sebas! Thanks for correcting misinterpretations of the translation man!
gomezseba37
Curatos is done he is isolated in the dungeon. I love how van only focuses on the original members and does not devours souls for the sake of it
Feniz
Today I reread the prolouge of death mage and i got so pissed off at Rodcorte more than ever. Everything is his fault and yet he said Vandalieu to not resent and to suicide so that he can live his normal life in 4th life? No compensation at all but a curse? Fuck that god
Madparadox99
For someone who looks at living beings as receptacles of his “divine power,” he thinks so
Kazza
Hey, new chapter. Our prayers have been answered.
This was a fun one. Good to see Van at a handicap can still utterly wreck an overconfident opponent.
As for next chapter, I’m really excited. God, this Volume started slow but ramped up near the end.
As for predictions, I’m guessing Curatos is going to try a Taking-You-With-Me Dungeon Selfdestruct. Don’t know if that would actually work, as Van’s only a soul. Maybe Curatos could trap the soul?
Honestly, I’m confused about his endgame. He seems to acknowledge that the Dungeon is basically already destroyed, as the Blades need to get out, but what’s his plan? He can’t destroy Van’s soul, as he doesn’t have Death Magic, and I don’t think he can seal it, as Gufadgarn is apparently aware of the dungeon and stands ready to assist Van. So, is it just buying time to help the Blades escape?
I don’t know. What do you guys think?
gomezseba37
I dont think he can control the whole dungeon whith the interference of the god of labyrinths hes probably done for because its stated that the only two persons who can destroy a soul are vandaliu and gurudanis ahd i don think he has enogh mana to seal somebody whith a 6000 million mana pool i bet alda an the major gods have arround 15000 million mana
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like Curatos might be doing the heroic last stand to get Heinz and co out then after that maybe self destruct. He can’t destroy Vans soul but that doesn’t mean detonating his own wouldn’t hurt Van.
He might be thinking better to do that than have his soul devoured. Though I’m not sure if Aldas faction knows that Van can eat whole God’s. They know Yupeon’s spirit clone broke and that Van destroyed Aldas stakes in Vida, but those aren’t on the same level of a full fledged God. As far as I can remember Vans only really eaten evil God’s this far. I’m looking forward to what he says Curatos tastes like.
Vitor
well, if they didn’t know, they are about to learn it, the bad way
Ltshrek
Correction,he got 6 billion of mana
Diabell
and remember “banda” has half so.. i think he has almost/exactly/little over 12 billion mana in a complete state
Niemand
Banda has “only” 100 million.
havok038
What I find hilarious is the way the Five coloured blades tried to gloat him with “😛Even if you kill us here, we won’t die for real!”
Vandelieu: Really? Why don’t you come over and say it to my real face?
While many have been dissatisfied by the outcome of Curatos “saving” them. I think that the next chapter, this god might not make it out alive. Also that fella Edgar……. His attitude and bigotry seems to foreshadow corruption by a higher deucebag power.
Bob, Son of Bob
Literally bragging about infinite lives a training simulation, SMH
Jonathan Hurd
Not just that. They’re bragging about infinite lives to the guy who can make ‘if you die in the training mode you die in rl’ possible lol.
Lord Rin
He is literally using the same type of threats that the Gungnir used before on Van right before he broke his soul.
Kendov
Look at what happened to the last one who boasted about that… First one to get his soul shattered, wasn’t he?
@Jonathan Hurd well they don’t know about that quite yet, aside from what Curatos said at the end
Jonathan Hurd
Doesn’t make it less funny to me, hehe.
It also seems pretty stupid to me that they decided to stop trying to talk to Van at this point if they assume they can’t die here and that he probably also can’t die. The only thing Heinz and crew seem to do for problem solving is violence.
Ltshrek
Curatos is pretty much done after he showed himself in front of van
Nobody2
That bloodlust spell is amazing.
Triger
..
QuantumQuilava
The translator uses this as a source of income and as you can tell by the quality of the translation they spend a lot of time working on these. And by consuming their time t work on these they dont have time to work in real life and make a living. Its just a source of income to this sort of part time job they do.
Seinvolf
I think they didn’t wait for donation to pile up but the donations already pile up up to 2-4 chapter later, they will still release the chapter even without donation at their pace but the people keep donate to them so u got it…
Sebas Tian
You aren’t waiting for donations. Join the discord if you want updates. Yoshi has a real job in Japan and it’s very time consuming right now because of the Rugby World Cup.
UndeadAnonymous
They are actually behind. The problem is the one translator they have Yoshi has a life and cannot spend all day translating like he used to due to irl obligations such as work and family
Diggydawg
Tsk! Saved by their Gods. Oh well, that just means Van now has time to come up with a more painful death than Bloodlust.
Mr.Darkness
Whoa, more painful than Bloodlust? o.O
Jonathan Hurd
Yup. Bloodlust is painful but Van needed to kill them fast because he’s in an enemy God’s dungeon not sure when they’ll interfere. Outside Van can savor their death and kill them over hours not just minutes.
Kendov
Time for the Hollow Cannon to tear down some enemies for good. He wanted to save it for the end but now seems as good as ever
V4NQU1SH
Damn. Van defeated them in a Super Handicap match. So OP. haha
Rogal Dorn
Reading that Heinz and his party got their ass kicked is really satisfying. And it seems another god is going to be destroyed by the Eclipse King
kazamakj
Your suppose to be still lost in the warp with only one arm. ^_^
Riguru121
All enemies Shall Perish Before The Violator.
That Includes The Gods.
VEreality
GG Heiz and co. All that training and leveling did nothing in the end!XD
BTW, here is a question that is now bothering me after reading this chapter: what would happen if Banda would try to posses someone in Origin? Would this be like someone gaining multiple demon king fragments? It would be cool to see the Bravers’ reaction to it.
Thanks for the chapter Yoshi-sama!
AA
And then the bravers have firsthand experience working with demon king fragments which may influence their choice about what to do with their life when they reach Rodcorte’s Realm
Cibaras
Banda could encroach them XD to his side
Jonathan Hurd
I think Banda just possessing someone wouldn’t necessarily have them taken over by DK encroachment. From Vans experiments a while ago DK encroachment won’t happen unless the piece of the DK is attached to someone and Van has given up control over that piece. Considering there was no encroachment on the bodyguard of the Hyena Bandits even after he had DK nerves and Subbrain implanted seems to point just having pieces added is not enough, but the organ transplants on Duke Mardak immediately having them taken over.
VEreality
I didn’t want to make it sound like said person would immediately turn into a monster controlled by Banda. What I was saying is that Banda would enter in someone’s body and that person would be able to access the Demon King fragments. Like a demonic version of a Heroic Spirit with Banda talking with said person inside their mind during this time. THAT would gain a lot of support for those that worship Unded, Pluto and the others.
Jonathan Hurd
I think the easier method is puppet a human and have him pretend to summon Banda. Then Banda casts materialize on himself. Add a few spell effects and you could probably pull off a convincing decent of the Almighty Undeads Messenger.
Another fun trick would be to fake psychic NonMagic powers. Banda can move stuff without setting off mana detection after all. I think the best one would be make Mei into the second coming of Pluto by healing the sick. It would be Banda doing the healing but he can make it look like it’s Mei’s doing so she gets the credit.
CCaprice
I don’t see Van defeating Heinz so I hope he can let it go and just live separately.
Mossy Stone
…but Heinz has no intention of letting Van go; unless he stops using death attribute mana, allows the killing & enslavement of Vida’s races (including the residents of Talosheim), and rips the DK fragments from his body.
AA
Im wondering how do you not see Van defeating Heinz when he just wiped the floor with Heinz and his entire team in his weakened state. That aside your hopes probably fall on deaf ears as Van has been shown to be the type not let grudges go
Sebas Tian
Van has already defeated him, that’s not the issue here. The issue here is that with Curatos getting involved Van isn’t likely to succeed in soul devouring Heinz or Delizah. Letting it go is also not an option unless Heinz and co give up on becoming stronger and never try to fight Vida’s races or monsters ever again, which we both know isn’t going to happen with how dumb and stubborn Heinz is about this.
Jonathan Hurd
I’m confused as to why Van should give up his grudge. It wasn’t Van who started this fight. That was Alda. Alda has spent the last hundred thousand years trying to exterminate all of Vidas races and the goddess herself. He ain’t stopping now. Even if Van stops his revenge and focus with his friends on being happy. That just means they get a repeat of the recurring tragedy that keeps happening.
Vida and her people happy after the war with the DK over suddenly Alda comes to kill them. Taloshiem happily prospering on their own. Then Aldas forces come to kill them. The time for forgiveness is over. Alda and his fanatics have trampled on people for a hundred thousand years. Now is not the time to roll over again. It’s time to fight.
Van didn’t start any of these wars they were brought to him. His only goal has been to be happy. People have constantly gone out of their way to shut down that goal. Well the only way Van can be happy is destroying those who are trying to destroy him.
Sebas Tian
I think you replied to the wrong person as I didn’t say Van should give up on his grudge. I just clarified the whole defeat bit, the issue currently at hand in this chapter, and said that Van would only give up on the grudge if something impossible happened, not that Van should or would be better off for giving up on it.
Mossy Stone
Van will surely learn from his mistakes and improve his sides training regime. 6v1 and he still kicks ass …reminds me of the time Vegeta got turned into candy and still beat up his enemy!
Kazza
ERHEM!
*Raises Glasses*
AKSHULLY, that was Vegito, the fusion of Goku and Vegeta. Please get your facts right, fake fan.
.
.
.
God, I thought that would be funny. Now it just hurts. Down vote me, please.
Jonathan Hurd
Thanks for jumping on that grenade. My inner perfectionist was poking me to correct that too lol.
Ace
Guys chill I’m sure It was a spelling error😂also I read the raw chapter after this one and all I gotta say is momma comes in clutch.
mythmaker12687
It’s kind of sad that it’s come to this. Heinz and Co. aren’t bad people, but Van will probably end up destroying them in the end anyway. I do like that the story at least acknowledges that Van isn’t doing this for any greater purpose.
Shame too that the peaceful faction comes to nothing in the end, since I doubt they’re going to be endeared to Van after he massacres their most vocal members. Unfortunately, the story isn’t too interested in morality or ethics, so the fact they’re good people trying to do the right thing doesn’t count for anything.
AA
On the contrary the novel seems heavily invested in morality and ethics. A person’s moral principles and such are heavily determined by their environment. A person surrounded by petty criminals growing up would almost without a doubt believe stealing to survive is alright. As such Heinz believes what he is doing is justice while Van believes himself to at least not be committing a sin by his standards. The most fascinating part is when characters are confronted with the dissonance between their morals such as Van acknowledging his actions can be seen as a sin by others and Heinz’s crew realizing they’ve killed innocent monsters oppressed by humans.
mythmaker12687
To a degree, maybe. But then, Van usually ruminates on the morality of his actions, and then just does what he was going to do anyway, regardless of his conclusion, which usually involves something excessively cruel happening to someone who doesn’t really deserve it. The ones that take things like ethics and morality seriously are usually regarded as fools or hypocrites, and are treated thusly.
Jonathan Hurd
I would say Van quite often changes his actions after consulting and discussing with others. It wasn’t so long ago that Van was planning to murder the entirety of Mirg Shield nation for its attack on Taloshiem only to be talked down by the undead titans. He then talked them down from annihilating the Hartner Duchy after they learned of the betrayal. He also changed Mikaels sentence after Borkus asked him.
He actively asks for differing view points even from foes. Going so far as to talk to Heinz as well as a General in Gartner Duchy to test his views and see if he is wrong. I mean he even talked to Ice Age that foul mouthed artifact and confirmed its views before killing it.
Overall Vans personal code is very forgiving to those who haven’t crossed the line. The line with him usually being murdered his or his friends loved ones. As well as trying to kill him. I will say I think only the most extreme pacifist would fault him for killing then and no one else in the entire story seems to have a problem with this til they talk about Van.
Vans actions may seem unethical but honestly violence and blood shed was never his first resort. Most times his hand was forced. In the Hartner Duchy they held his friends loved ones hostage and considered him and all his acquaintances less than human. He had no choice but to take back the loved ones by force. He even went out of his way to help the normal townsfolk along the way as much as he could.
It really is a matter of knowing all the facts. Van punished those who did evil and profited off of others suffering. These people not only hurt Vidas races but humans as well. Even if you don’t value Titans and Ghouls lives Van has done more for humans than Heinz crew ever has. In fact most of the good Heinz was even able to do, killing evil vampires, only worked because Van leaked the info.
UndeadAnonymous
The peaceful faction is still an extension of the Alda faction. While the extremist faction is more aligned to the real Alda’s beliefs, the peaceful faction is the limit of what Alda is willing to compromise (and that is only cause of the threat of Vandalieu). In other words, Alda is willing to accept the Veda species that are spawned from non monster species (temporarily) in order to have enough forces to kill Vandalieu and Vida. But the problem here is that temporarily and limited. Looking at the extremist turned “peaceful” Heinz, this acceptance is limited to slavery, oppression, and letting them live. At the drop of a hat, it is alright to kill, enslave, or remove this mercy if they inconvenience the lives of the races. As Vida races such as Majin, Ghouls are allowed and recommended to be slaughtered if found, despite being found out to be Vida races.
You can make a 99% guaranteed guess that in a few hundred years or just a few decades, Alda will change his policy to extermination if Vandalieu and Vida were gone. (Considering he did the same to the Evil gods that switched sides during the war against the first demon lord)
mythmaker12687
Vida’s races, at least the violent ones, aren’t just slaughtered because they’re monstrous races. Remember, before Van, the ghouls were sex-crazed cannibals who regularly kidnapped and murdered passing humans.They live exclusively in environments specifically designed to kill humans that are steadily encroaching on human habitats. To be blunt, they are a hostile, invasive species that could never have reasonably coexisted before Van arrived on the scene. Under those circumstances, “letting them live” is already a big ask.
Be aware that a lot of this is being filtered through Van’s POV. Heinz is undertaking this whole quest in order to figure out why Alda is so hostile and try to convince him to stop. His priority until now was deescalating tensions and spreading awareness because unlike Van, he doesn’t have literally ungodly powers to force the issue. He couldn’t have forced the issue on the Scylla, or the Titans, without basically going to war with factions that would just steamroll him, and potentially earning the gods’ displeasure to boot.
And remember also that Alda doesn’t want to kill these races just because “ew, monsters,” but because they’re propping up the Demon King’s circle of reincarnation. Before Van arrived, the only practical way to destroy the remnants of the Demon King’s Army was to destroy that circle by wiping out the monstrous races. And because of the communication problems between gods and mortals, trying to split the difference between Vida’s races and the monstrous races was basically impossible.
The only reason any of this is even in question is because of Van. Without him, it would all be a moot point and Alda’s beliefs would just be the unsavory, but inevitable, reality.
Jonathan Hurd
I gotta ask mythmaker are we reading the same story? You’re describing a completely different set of ghouls than the ones in the story. The story clearly stated with Zadris group that they don’t attack humans because that makes them a threat to humans and they show up with more people to wipe you out. We also learned from Schiender that a lot of Vidas races just want to be left alone without adventurers showing up to kill them.
I won’t say you aren’t right about some groups raiding humans but considering how much humans have dominated the northern part of the continent. Anyone acting like you described is basically just going for death by human at that point.
Another point I feel I need to make towards the cannibalism claim…. cannibalism is when you eat your own race. Therefore Ghouls eating humans ain’t Canabalism.
Second part to the Canabalism thing is you say it’s terrible that ghouls eat the flesh of humans they kill, but humans are using the ghouls for their parts as well. People were making coats from ghoul skin and using them as sex slaves. At least Ghouls are using the dead to live and not exploiting them for money.
Last part about kidnapping women. First that’s a last resort because of aforementioned human attack force threat. Also after conversion the women are completely accepted as one of the ghouls. Considering humans are kidnapping ghoul women and turning them into sex slaves…
Kind of makes me wonder whose the real monster here. The group of natives who want to be left alone and are accepting of all who join their ranks, or the humans who vastly out number and out gun them. Humans who burst into their homes without a second thought to slaughter everyone, woman and children included, to sell their body parts or even bodies for money.
Brian P.
I’m… not quite sure how you’re defining “being a good person” or “trying to do the right thing” here.
As far as I can tell, “doing the right thing” involves murdering whole groups for existing as far as Heinz and company are concerned. The speed at which they went “Oh, Ghouls are people” last chapter shows that they already knew, intellectually, that they were slaughtering and enslaving sentient beings but did so anyway because it was easier to go along with their society’s arbitrary definition of personhood.
They are mass murderers supporting a genocidal society and religion. The “peaceful faction” only wants to shift the priorities of the planned extermination of whole species, not actually live peacefully with all of them.
Jonathan Hurd
I also don’t agree with Hienz being a ‘good’ person. I mean honestly what has he done that has been good. The only real merciful act we’ve seen him do is adopt Selen and even that has become a publicity stunt.
They talk about how they’re the peaceful faction but they haven’t done anything different from the extremists. I mean compare them and Gordon’s behaviors. Other than Selen they basically have done the same thing. Hunt down Vampires and monsters of Vidas races. I mean if you want to say they don’t outright hunt beast people, titans, or dark elves then you’d be right but we never hear them helping those types either.
To me what clearly differentiates them from Van is how they justify their actions. Van accepts that his wanting revenge is not justice. He could try and hide that with fancy words about his mother’s honor or blood debt but he doesn’t. Van knows what he is doing is not a good thing, but also realizes it is necessary. He has lost too much. Therefore he will take every precaution to make sure none of it will be taken again.
Now compare that to Heinz and his party. At every turn at every criticism they stated that they run or make excuses. They say they didn’t make a mistake killing Vans mom because it’s legal, but milk her story for fame. They say they are great people because of a change of heart, but they haven’t done anything different. They never even bother to apologize to Van. They also went a step further than that and assumed Van wasn’t upset facing his mom’s killers.
Heinz is a lot of things but a good guy is not one of them.
mythmaker12687
My definition of a good person is someone who recognizes right and wrong, and tries to do good. Heinz and Co. know that the treatment of Vida’s races is wrong, and they’re doing everything short of armed revolution to bring about peaceful coexistence. At this point, they’re far below Schneider, who is a full-on Vida supporter, and even he isn’t in a position to be more proactive than Heinz is.
As for the ghouls issue, that’s just bad writing. Vampires, which are considered a form of undead, can have children, so the idea that ghouls having children proves they’re not undead makes no sense. In “reality”, they had no reason to see the ghouls as anything other than what society said they were. Blaming them for wiping out what they thought were monsters, but which were in reality people who only looked and acted like monsters, isn’t very constructive.
Brian P.
Edit: Y’know, after reading some of your other replies, especially that bullshit above about Ghouls, you ain’t worth further thought.
Either your reading comprehension skill is somehow in the negatives or you’re just trolling for the lulz.
Rootbear
Well by that definition, Heinz isn’t actually a good person. He’s just a hypocrite. He says pretty words that make him sound just but he hasn’t actually done much for Vida races outside of rescuing a single Damphir. Actions speak louder than words.
You compare him to Schneider but Schneider has done far more for Vida races than any other human. A prime example was when he misinterpreted Vida’s Divine Message. Although he didn’t save Darcia, he was still saving mothers from other Vida races.
You can still blame them for their ignorance. All Vida races that we know of so far are all capable of communication. At the very least he should’ve attempted to talk with some of them instead of none of them at all. There’s also the fact that he saved a Damphir so there’s no reason he shouldn’t consider the Ghouls regardless if they’re deemed Undead or not.
Sankyuu
Well, morality is defined by perspectives. Heinz and the co. ARE good by their standard, but by Vida race? Evil by a long shot. My point is where your stand matter a lot when discussing this points.
I will admit that Heinz is kind and caring but he is perfectly willing to let the Scylla, the Titan, etc, suffer if that mean the people doesn’t have to. Is that good, is that justice? I would say that is fully dependent on who you are rooting for.
Now about the greater purpose, there are. Heinz is the champion of Alda, which mean he must die sooner of later. Sooner is better since if will save many of Vida supporter in the upcoming war unless you are telling me Heinz would not participate. Alda peaceful faction is entirely useless and really doesn’t matter if Alda himself doesn’t want to reconcile which he isn’t.
Heinz is trying to do the right thing in HIS view but not in the grand scheme of thing. Moreover, this is practically a war already and he is a combatant. His death is inevitable. Anything more is just Van’s revenge which i would not say is just.
Jonathan Hurd
My biggest issue with saying Heinz is a good guy is that he fails even by his own standard. He trumpets how he’s part of Aldas peaceful faction and making changes but he hasn’t made a single one. He hasn’t changed anything about Aldas church or even himself. He claims to have felt guilty about a new mother dying but then goes and massacres more of them without a shred of guilt because it’s legal to do so.
Now there isn’t anything wrong with following the law and the current way of things, but then you shouldn’t be running around claiming you’re shaking things up. All in all what Heinz and his team are doing is just distracting from and taking advantage of real issues they have no intention of addressing.
VEreality
Morality and ethics shouldn’t have a place in this story. We can’t expect Van to think about any of those. Even if he has a happy life to protect now, he is still affected by his traumas from the past and this makes him such a great protagonist. His ultimate belief is that the best judge for a criminal is the victim. PERIOD.
In Van’s mind, every man, woman, child and elder has the right to forgive or condemn those that have wronged them.
As for saying that someone is good or evil in this story…I think we all should give up on that. The battle between good and evil ended when the first Demon King was defeated. This is a battle between Law and Love. Alda vs Vida. This my friends has always been a conflict of interest. It was like this since Alda first defeated Vida and it will be like this until Van will win or die trying. After all both Alda and Vida want the best for the world that they created with their siblings. Their vision of what is the best outcome is what differs. We just root for Van and he happens to be on this side of the battle. At least this is what I think that the author wanted to make when he made this story.
This world is a place where plot armor and the power of friendship doesn’t exist (At least not when it comes to Van). We saw this since the battle with Bugogan (the first person to ever push Van into the corner in a fight). His win was not a miracle or the result of many weaker individuals fighting together. That was Vandalieu gritting his teeth, taking one for the team and killing the enemy with mana left to spare.
What is going to determine who will win this war is not who has justice by their side or which side will help the most people. The victor will be the one greedy and determined enough to accumulate the most power and hold onto their ideals by the time the last battle arrives.
YohaoShakur
THANK YOU A LOT FOR THE CHAPTER !
I really though that Edgar was fone, since his mana was almost all gone after the eye lasers. But whatever I Will be so happy when Van eats Curatos’s soul, that will be beautiful.
adabana
thank you for the chapter
Angel
Hm.. it seems Van will Eat this God and increase his stats again ~ 😀
Thx for the chapter ^^
Zienn
Let’s see…
Their stat was about equal with Van at disadvantage in a few area.
Van can’t use many of his cards and still not used to his new fighting style while they’re all mastered their own.
They’re more experienced fighting Van and has knowledge about many of his skill and even has some ways to counter them. Van didn’t.
Yet they still managed to get their asses handed to them
Truly incredible. I expected no less from Alda’s heroes
Jonathan Hurd
What I find the funniest about the fight is they’re all bragging to themselves how much stronger they are than Van while ignoring they’re trying to kicking the crap out of a ten year old kid. Oooh aaah. Watch the amazing adults team up against a child and still lose, lol. Wait till Vans 20 he’ll be able to fight them off with both hands behind his back.
Bob, Son of Bob
Well, they were low on mana and stamina and they’d wasted their best buffs and skills on Van’s fake companions, but the point stands. That was their battle to lose and they fumbled so critically a god had to step in and save them from their own fuckup.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Locke25
It’s funny that Alda and his lackeys made a dungeon to help his pets… I mean, Heinz and Co, when the opposite side has an Evil God that specializes in dungeons. They were lucky that Gufadgarn didn’t interfere or hijack the dungeon earlier.
AA
As far as i know they didn’t have any knowledge of Alda’s trial until now, but please correct me if I’ve forgotten.
Sebas Tian
You’re correct, no one on Vida’s side knew about the dungeon till now.
Jonathan Hurd
Well Van did know Heinz was in a trial and where it was. The major thing stopping Van from going there and bombing it with Hollow Cannons was the fear that Alda and a few God’s would descend and it’d be all out war at that point.
I also think it’s less that Gufadgarn didn’t take over the dungeon til now and more that she couldn’t. If she approached from outside to interfere with the dungeon I think we’d have the previously mentioned war. I think Gufad traced Vans coordinates as a backdoor to get into the dungeon then locked the front door from the inside.
Sebas Tian
Van thought those were dreams, he didn’t know they were real and he never knew where the dungeon was as he didn’t know there was one. I want you to also remember that Legion can sense Van and would have been able to tell Gufadgarn which direction to look for Van in.
DogeRangler
He better fuck Curatos up or I’m going to be pissed.
bk3k
Well without spoiling, you won’t be disappointed at least.
ricks
Tbh i really wanted that van kill edgar first.
This guy really pissed me off 😠😡
Alda peaceful faction my ass
bk3k
I think you’ll feel better about Edgar soon. Not spoiling, but connect the things you already know. Keep in mind his unique ability (well him and Gundaris). I think you’ll get the hint. Then reread the part after he removed the first 2 (who where not in the party when his mom was captured).
Ozarazil
I think Edgar was cripled in this battle. I think Vandal destroyed a part of his soul, the part that controlled his dominant hand or something.
If im correct, Edgar will no longer be able to fight…
Zing
Chapter 200: 7677 words.
Chapter 201: 6454 words.
Is there some kind of rule for when a chapter is extra length?
Kiriaru
This chapter $200
Previous chapter $250
AA
Aren’t those donations for the translator, not the author Kiriaru?
AA
Random differences in english and japanese characters for writing perhaps Zing?
Superboy8338
I REALLY wanted Van to erase at least one of them.
Superboy8338
Thanks for the chapter.
frozen ink
funny enough the reason van loses in this fight is cause of his lack of experience on the many strong people vs him cause its usually cannon fodder vs him his pets and ghosts or some mentally unstable person/ dark god/ both vs him ,his pets and ghosts this is his legit first time fighting solo
AA
I don’t think Van “lost” in this fight, he did wipe the floor with them after all. The reason i think he couldn’t finish the job before curatos appeared is not because of the limits of his experience fighting strong opponents solo as Van has proved time and again that through his intellect he can adapt to enemies equal to and stronger since Bugogan. Such intellect and adaptability doesn’t just disappear once you’re alone as shown by him shifting the tides in his favor with waiting for Heinz to kill the fakes and stalling until he could bring out a fraction of his strength despite being alone in an unknown situation. No, I believe the reason lies in the last few lines of the previous sentence: he was fighting at a fraction of his true strength, no matter what he did his strength would be capped at weaker than normal; on top of this his enemies were a team dedicated solely to killing him and were familiar with his techniques
frozen ink
although i agree with u on some regard I’d still say he lost since his goal was to kill em and probably the biggest reason would be because he held himself back on account of the two unwanted participants, where he could just devour all five of em quicker he had to kill the 2 because they technically aren’t directly related to his mom
Sebas Tian
A positive take away from the matter is that Van sticks to his standards and doesn’t bend on them just because it’s easier or convenient to do so, unlike a certain five member group who shall be named the two idiots and the condiment trio who will be placed upon the god burgers Van will be making out of Curatos if he gets the chance.
Jonathan Hurd
I gotta say Sebas the idea of a God Burger makes me hungry…. for REVENGE! Lol. Do love the two idiots and three condiments. Now I want to figure out which condiment they each are.
Heinz is Relish because Van is truly going to Relish killing him. Delizah could be jalapeno peppers. You have to overcome her to really enjoy the burger. Edgar is Bacon cause eating him will always taste good.
Lord Rin
Didn’t Van already make some god burgers from that one noble orc that got taken over by an evil god?
Sebas Tian
That was part of the reference on the joke.
JeKeBe
Haaah, I was hoping he’d be able to crush at least ONE of their souls. I suppose I’ll have to settle with the decimation of Curatos and his dungeon. Pity.
Thanks for the chapter.
RipDisqus
Yeah damn shame, Van didn’t take one fool down that would have wiped their dumb little smirks thinking they’re immortal against Van. Hopefully he eats Curatos
bk3k
The result is at least better than you’re thinking. You’ll see soon.
Jonathan Hurd
So just going to preface this guess with the fact that I haven’t read ahead and don’t need confirmation if I’m right. So considering that Heinz and crew were technically fighting with clones inhabited by their souls and Edgar took multiple soul devour attacks at close range from which he lost a spirit hand. That might have had an effect on his real soul and his real body.
Nox
Thanks for chapter.
Making an angry Van even angrier while decending (?) in the dungeon van wants to destroy and preventing him to get his revenge
—> Curatos is in big trouble
ReikoLupus
Well, it was to be expected, but I wanted atleast 1 of them to be devoured XD.
Atleast he’ll get to devour a god as a consolation prize XD.
Jonathan Hurd
For a second there I thought Edgar was about to be devoured, but then Curatos jumped on that grenade. Ah well Alda about to lose his favorite little lapdog so still brightside, :D.
Lord Rin
Oh yeah, isn’t Curatos a being Alda created himself? I wonder if his destruction would have any effect on Alda?
lazygeko
Thanks for the chapter. Great as always. I want more. But I know the basics of what is coming and for a long while this thirst for “just one more chapter” is not going away. Lots of good stuff upcoming.
I hope the two that got out realize his mercy. I find it funny how they get upset and rage when their companions are killed even though they know said companions are still alive and well in reality. Given the fact that they brush off the handing over of his mother for torture and burning by a fanatic. “Not our fault, just doing a job. But damn you for sending our companion back to town. We’ll kill you. Then find you and kill you again.” Just what you’d expect from the 5 Hypocrite Blades after all. 🙂
Looking forward to more soon. Thanks Yoshi and doners and all else involved in bringing this to us.
Feniz
Yep. I feel like that too
Wyverius
I mean to be fair, when the Trial of Zakkart showed him a vision of Heinz and co. killing his people and he knew it was clearly fake, he still blew up the dungeon.
mexgema
Praise Van-sama! Praise Yoshi-sama! The new chapter has arrived!!!
Rifaman
Thanks for the update
Vandeliu is to merciful, he deliberately kill those 2 and not devour their soul. At least Curatos will definitely die, right?
lazygeko
I wouldn’t call it merciful, he just has a set standards of right and wrong. He judged, what they did has not reached the point of punishment by soul devour. And I, personally, agree.
bk3k
Mercy to a degree. He’d still kill them – especially since they’re a danger to his friends/future enemies. But he doesn’t plan on going as far as destroying/devouring their souls.
I pretty well agree with that.
kazamakj
Unless they really power up, there is no chance that they can beat Van outside of this dungeon. Outside the dungeon Van basically has an army of ever improving companions whom can probably take on Heinz and his team.
Tirirism
Also, unless something happens to their souls, Van can basically resurrect them as many times he wants as long as he has Mana.
lazygeko
Heinz and his band of idiots don’t know it yet, but barring an ambush of Van, the plan of attack is gods vs. gods, nation vs. nation, Heinz and co. vs. Van. Well, they still have a low chance of winning with all the power amassed by Van at this point.
Jonathan Hurd
To be fair the fight is probably going to work out more as…. Gods vs Van, Nations vs Van, and Heinz plus co vs. Van. Heinz and co can think highly of themselves but they are pretty much fighting a stupidly handicapped Van and still lost. That was even after being given half a cheat sheet about some of his attacks which none of his other opponents were lucky enough to get.
I think the people that will fight Heinz’s crew will probably be generals of Van’s army… for instance Borkus Vs Heinz, Delizah vs Jeena, Edgar vs Kingslayer zombie, Jennifer vs Basida(Kharma for all the Ghouls they killed), and finally I feel like Zadris vs Diana.
UndeadAnonymous
From a story telling standpoint, Heinz has to fight either Van or Darcia in some way. Whether alone or part of a group. You don’t have Darth Vader fight the cousin of a classmate of Luke. It doesn’t make sense narratively. Who Heinz fights has to have some kind of connection to him and Van the kid he orphaned, and Darcia the literal mother he got killed are the only ones who have any real connection to him.
Sure you can argue Schneider the other S class adventurer and foil works but that cannot be Heinz final fight because the deep connection he and Van have. At most this can be a prefight or warm up.
Jonathan Hurd
I like the idea of Darcia killing Heinz and crew. I think Van watching her beat him would help finally put a rest to Vans trauma of losing her. It would be a nice finish and would be fun to force Heinz to stare down the woman he helped kill.
lazygeko
Have Darcia capture them, hand them over to Talosheim citizens to burn at the stake for his crimes. Just before they do, she can bring a random human kid over and tell him she feels bad about this and so she will adopt this human kid to make up for the guilt.
🙂
Mr.Darkness
This is great read ^^
Soundwave
Ty for the chapter 🙂 Argh I know what happens but damn I want to read the next chapter already that is translated normally and not machine translated because that was a pain to read.
bk3k
Yes reading this properly translated is SO MUCH BETTER. It is well worth re-reading.
But still I lack the patience to not read MTs at all despite the pain involved.
Feydt
Thank you for your hard work!
“This Dungeon has been isolated by that cursed evil god of labyrinths. The other gods cannot help us now. This is my defeat.”
Good work Gufadgarn, don’t let those muscle head deity interrupt Van!!
AA
I don’t know why but that quote gives me the same feeling as those japanese novels with really long names that are basically the entire plot
Rollrock
“Heinz and his companions were being eaten alive by a countless number of microbe-sized Vandalieus.”
This is a wonderful mental image.
Jonathan Hurd
I just keep imagining all their little microbe faces with the same dead pan stare that van has while they eat them, lol.
KING PLORK
Praise be Van sama as he strikes down the heretics who slaughtered the holy mother.
Superboy8338
Amen.
Kuro-san
AMEN !!! (Read with the voice of Alexander Anderson of Hellsing)
vamptacus
AMEN!!!!!
Sebas Tian
Hope you all enjoy the fight, though Curatos is a poor sportsman.
Crimson Nanashi
I’d laugh if Van ends up devouring Curatos’s soul. Seems like a good trade for not being able to devour those three’s souls
Darkhelios
If he does that, I wonder what will happen to the dungeon. Will it be able to continue operating? Or will it be erased once the god-in-charge is dead? Normally dungeons can’t be removed so I guess it will still exist unless Vandalieu decides to destroy it (he probably won’t be able to due to the lack of mana… after all, we still need to met Alda’s most powerful pawn).
AA
Probably the same thing that happened to the demon king’s dungeons Darkhelios, though I can’t remember if we’ve seen any so far.
Sebas Tian
Curatos is an admin, but he’s not the owner of the dungeon. Alda owns the dungeon and it’ll still be his if Curatos does end up getting nommed.
Mr.Darkness
So, if Curatos die, the dungeon will be unable to be updated, right?
Alda will also lose a great deal of information without Curatos :O
Sebas Tian
Yeah it should be the case that Alda can’t really manage it despite being the owner with Curatos being gone and yeah he’ll lose all those records too.
Lord Rin
I can just imagine Alda being like one of those old people who don’t understand how to use technology when he tries to use the dungeon.