Chapter 38 - 78-80

Chapter 78: The departing ominous bird covers its trail and secretly threatens the capital

"I understand it's harmless, but… what do we do with it?" asked Eleanora. "It resembles a Dungeon."

"We leave it," Vandalieu replied.

"Seriously? We're not going to try going inside?" asked Zran.

"This is too close to the city," said Vandalieu. "It would be troublesome to run into adventurers coming to investigate as we come back out, wouldn't it? Also, more importantly, we need to look for Princess Levia."

"That's true," Eleanora agreed.

Vandalieu decided that they would discuss his Labyrinth Construction skill later. It wasn't a skill that he could investigate near the city, anyway.

The day after the small incident where a Dhampir child fled the Adventurers' Guild for some unknown reason, the city of Niarki was experiencing an ordinary day as usual.

Other than the absence of addicts buying drugs and men going to the brothel that they were familiar with, it was supposed to be just another day like yesterday.

Daene's life had been a series of small misfortunes; things had never gone her way. Her father injured himself, forcing her to work to support her family. As soon as her father recovered and became able to work again, he forced her to get married.

Her mother-in-law worked her like a servant, and soon after that mother-in-law died, the man Daene had married died as well. Life remained busy for her.

Just when she thought that she might be able to be at ease as her son got married, her son turned out to be a thankless child, taking his wife and leaving, showing no sign of wanting to make life easier for his parent. The only one who would listen to Daene's words was her foolish nephew.

Nothing good happened after that, either… An endless cycle of growing apples and selling them…

Daene was walking at the front of the group as if dragging her legs along the ground.

That day, she had been selling apples in the marketplace as usual when she saw a kid with money passing by -

But you know… I never expected that I would be able to keep going after I died… To think that that person would entrust me with this after my death… I'm sure that I lived my entire life for the sole purpose of dying yesterdaaaay… That's why I was booorn…

Daene felt a sense of fulfillment that she had never managed to experience while she was alive. She even felt proud at the fact that she could be a part of something bigger.

Daene emerged from the dark, comfortable passage into a forest. This was a forest that she remembered; this was the forest where she had died.

If she passed through here, she would reach the city of Niarki. Daene could guide her 'companions' through this place while whispering the important mission that she had been entrusted with.

"… ill… ein…"

"Kill… hei…"

"KILL HEINZ!"

Daene, who had been selling apples in the marketplace up until yesterday, was walking forward as a part of a group of over a thousand Undead.

A Dungeon had suddenly appeared in what had been a normal forest up until yesterday, and a large wave of monsters overflowing from it, mainly consisting of Undead, was closing in on the city of Niarki.

"I am a cheerful mercenary-sa~an. Today's going to be cheery, heart-skipping fuuun~" a certain individual sang as he plowed the dirt with a hoe and spread fertilizer across the ground. "Eh? You want more broken shells? Leave it to me, honeeeey~♪"

Flark, who had once been a criminal slave owned by the Green Wind Spear Riley, was happily obeying the instructions of the Monster Plants.

Now that he had turned into a Zombie, it was impossible for his heart to be skipping. But for some reason, this was how he always was now. He even sang at night, so he was even shunned slightly by his Zombie companions.

Incidentally, it was a complete mystery as to how Flark could accurately and immediately interpret what the Monster Plants wanted despite the fact that they had no eyes or mouth to communicate. Flark gave a different answer each time he was asked, so nobody knew the truth. The most common answer that he gave was that he was able to hear the voices of fairies.

"Oi, Flark! We'll leave the fields to you guys!" shouted an Undead Titan whose entire body was radiating fury.

Apparently, the Undead Titans of Talosheim were about to initiate a plan to take back the children that had been stolen from them.

Flark didn't know the exact details of the plan. But he had no qualms with that.

"The Holy Son told us to leave the Monster Plants to you, so don't let us down!" the Titan told him.

"Of cooooourse!" Flark shouted back.

For some reason, Vandalieu trusted him and held expectations of him. Hearing this was enough to blow Flark's fatigue away.

Not that Zombies like him felt fatigue in the first place.

Skipping around the field, he harvested vegetables, used a Tractor Golem to harvest wheat and checked up on the Immortal Ents.

"Lookie here, lookie here~♪"

In the Immortal Ents' forest, there was a wooden gate made of numerous plants twisted together that certainly hadn't been there yesterday.

For some reason, a Dungeon had appeared.

Kanata, who was sitting in his carriage and traveling along the highway, was slowly approaching Vandalieu's location that he knew through his Target Radar, but… there were things that frequently bewildered him.

"What kind of tricks has that Undead bastard used?" he wondered.

Thanks to the Radar, Kanata knew the exact details of where Vandalieu was. It told him not only the distance, but even the difference in height between Kanata's position and Vandalieu's.

According to the Radar, Vandalieu had been traveling about three hundred meters above the ground last night. Kanata didn't have a clock, so he couldn't be completely accurate, but making a rough calculation based on the distance and time that Vandalieu had traveled, his speed was around sixty or seventy kilometers per hour.

He had traveled in this manner for several hours before finally coming down around sunrise.

As Kanata didn't have an accurate map, he could only make a rough guess, but it was likely that Vandalieu had stopped in the Hartner Duchy's capital.

The problem was not the place Vandalieu was in, but how he had traveled there."

"The fact that he has some crazy amount of Mana that's over 100,000,000 was included in the information that the god gave me, but he shouldn't be able to use any magic but death-attribute magic. How is he flying in this world that has no planes or helicopters?" Kanata wondered.

According to the information that Kanata had been provided, Vandalieu should have been unable to use any magic other than death-attribute magic. And what Kanata knew about death-attribute magic was the knowledge detailed in the documents that had been left behind in Origin and the incomplete information that Rodcorte had given him.

Kanata had analyzed that information to conclude that contrary to its title, death-attribute magic was specialized for use in medicine. He believed that he could deal with it as long as he had a way to block poison and disease, that it was the kind of magic that would be a seasonal exclusive ability in a game.

According to his analysis, there was no death-attribute spell that would allow the user to fly through the sky like a bird.

"He hasn't acquired an affinity for any other attributes. What method did he use to fly? Surely, he isn't going to tell me that he's created an airplane, is he?"

Kanata wondered if Vandalieu had used his knowledge from Earth to build a vehicle, but decided that it was probably too difficult to accomplish this after all.

In the army, Kanata had received all kinds of training and learned about advanced technology. If he wanted to, he could probably gather materials and create a glider or, with his magic, a hot-air balloon.

But it would probably be impossible to travel that distance at that speed with nothing but a glider, and doing it with a hot-air balloon was out of the question.

That was why Kanata thought that it must be an airplane, but he knew that it was probably impossible to build one, even if Vandalieu did have the knowledge required to do so.

No, it might be possible in theory, but… it would require all the tools to be built by hand, not to mention every single screw, and the airplane would have to be designed before being assembled. An airplane-otaku might be able to build a propeller plane given a few years, but it was difficult to believe that Vandalieu had been an airplane-otaku when he was still known as Amamiya Hiroto.

"Ah, come to think of it, this is a fantasy world, isn't it?" Kanata remembered. "Not simply a world in a primitive era. The god said something about Dragons, too. He might have tamed a monster or Undead that can fly around while carrying someone. Say, what do you think?" Kanata turned to ask the half-naked women lying in the carriage.

After stealing the merchant's carriage, Kanata had stocked up on food and equipment in the city. With that said, he hadn't really felt like wearing leather armor made of the hides of monsters that he wasn't familiar with, and he couldn't even stand the sight of heavy-looking metal armor. In the end, the only armor he bought was a pair of boots and some gloves made from the hide of a wild beast.

To make up for that, he bought a silver-coated knife as a countermeasure against Undead, a bow and arrows among other things as weapons. He also bought a short staff, which would be helpful as a medium to channel his magic, while complaining that in Origin, there were items like rings, gloves and arm implants that had the same function.

He also wanted a crossbow, but apparently those couldn't be purchased in the Hartner Duchy without identification papers, so he gave up on that.

He thought to recuperate his strength with a delicious meal and a clean bed, but no meals or beds of the kind that Kanata demanded were to be found in a city of Lambda with a population of just a few ten thousand people.

He didn't particularly want to eat the bizarre meat of monsters.

Deciding that he would have women instead, Kanata headed to the red-light district, only to be presented with Beast-person, Dwarf and Titan prostitutes.

"Does this world have nothing but trash?" he wondered.

Apparently, it just so happened that no human prostitutes were available, but Kanata decided that he wasn't interested in paying money to buy low-quality products and put the red-light district behind him.

The next day, he happened to see the Adventurers' Guild, remembered Rodcorte's words and decided to try registering, thinking that he would be able to buy a crossbow if he did.

Things went well until partway through. He was even calm enough to look at the Elf receptionist and think, "Come to think of it, I never got to watch the last movie in that trilogy about the ring."

But before he knew it, he was surrounded by soldiers and adventurers.

Apparently, among the goods that Kanata had sold, there were products that were only sold by the merchant that he had robbed. This had put the authorities on his track.

"Flame," Kanata whispered, unleashing a fire-attribute attack against the threatening soldiers around him. As the soldiers and adventurers who had assumed that Kanata was a simple bandit and the receptionists who were unlucky enough to be there were engulfed in flames, he used Gungnir to slip through the building, the ground surface and the outer walls of the city to make an escape.

They were probably still under the assumption that Kanata was inside the city and conducting a futile search.

And then Kanata traveled along the highway and encountered another merchant's carriage, which he attacked and robbed.

The half-naked women in the carriage now were the adventurers who had been guarding that carriage.

"It was surprising to me, but the Adventurers' Guild wasn't anything special," said Kanata. "I suppose it's only natural, since I'm still one of the Bravers despite being a degenerate."

Kanata's Attribute Values were equivalent to a D-class adventurer's, his skills to a Class adventurer's and his magic to a B or A-class adventurer's. He wasn't invincible by any means. If he didn't have Gungnir… No, even with Gungnir, if he had stayed in the city and continued his rampage, he would have been defeated by the Class adventurers and knights the moment he ran out of Mana.

He didn't know any martial skills or no-attribute magic, and he was unaware of the effects of many skills.

"By the way, aren't you going to respond?" he asked the women. "Oh, come to think of it, I've already killed you. Man, I don't remember killing that woman there, but… Ah, I guess I didn't stem her bleeding properly when I cut the tendons in her limbs to make sure that she couldn't resist."

The female adventurers whom Kanata had briefly enjoyed were all dead. Because he hadn't paid for them, he had even been able to enjoy the Beast-person and Dwarf woman to some extent.

It was certain that Kanata was already being searched for as a dangerous criminal. He had cast an advanced fire-attribute spell and killed many people inside the Adventurers' Guild, after all. To regain its honor, the Guild itself would be hunting him down even more zealously than the soldiers. Even if he used Gungnir, he would probably be caught and killed within a few years.

But how could Kanata behave like this despite this fact? How could he carry out such senseless violence without feeling any guilt or fear of being punished?

The answer to these was that Kanata had essentially been 'transferred' here, and he couldn't even perceive any value in this third life of his.

Vandalieu had previously thought that Amemiya Hiroto and the others reincarnating with him wouldn't be able to lay a hand on him without trouble because when they reincarnated in Lambda, they would be born to parents giving birth to them. They would have family and friends in Lambda, a society that they relied on. They would have to live in Lambda until they died. If they did anything reckless, they would simply be tightening a noose around their own necks, and they would even cause trouble for their family, friends and lovers in Lambda.

But someone transferred here directly from another world wouldn't have any bonds to the world of Lambda. To take extreme examples, such a person could vent his anger and kill innocent people, rob others because he doesn't have money and rape women for his own enjoyment before killing them as long as he ensured his own escape, since he would have no concerns for anyone other than himself.

Even if he was caught and punished, he wouldn't cause any trouble… there wasn't a single person that he wanted to avoid causing trouble for in this foreign world, so nobody would be troubled.

Kanata was technically someone who had been reincarnated and reborn, but he had come to Lambda with a physical body of the same age as the one he had in his previous life. There was essentially no difference between him and someone who had been transferred here directly.

Thus, he didn't have the common sense and ethics of this world that someone reincarnating and doing things over from childhood would learn. Such a person would - for better or worse - understand that the inhabitants of this world were humans, just like them, but Kanata hadn't learned that. Nor did he have any intention to.

Most importantly, for Kanata, this third life in Lambda was nothing more than a connection to his fourth life. He was also treating the people of this world with utter contempt. To him, they were primitives living in a world inferior to Earth and Origin.

No, he might not even consider them to be living beings. Statuses, skills, Elves, Beast-people, Dwarves - to him, Lambda felt like a very realistic game; he couldn't think of this world as reality.

"He's not going to fly off to somewhere else if I head for the capital now, is he? It would be a real pain to have to figure out a way to cross the mountain range," Kanata murmured to himself.

The information that Rodcorte had given him was full of holes, so although Kanata knew that Vandalieu's stronghold was beyond the mountain range, he had no idea how Vandalieu had crossed the mountain range, nor did he know anything about the stronghold itself.

"Well, if I have this 'destiny' or whatever, I'm sure I'll be able to kill him. Ah, but before that, I have to dispose of this carriage and these corpses."

The marketplace of Nineland, the capital city of the Hartner Duchy, was full of liveliness under the hot summer sun.

As the duchy was located inland, most marine products were dried, salted or pickled; there were only a few fresh products from the sea as they required Magic Items to preserve them as they were transported. But other than that, there was an abundant assortment of products available for purchase.

"That spice, I've never seen it before," said Eleanora.

"Yes, it's a special product of this country! It's not sold in other duchies!" the shopkeeper told her, ogling at her without any subtlety.

"Well then, may I have some?" Eleanora asked with a smile.

"Yes! Thank you," said the shopkeeper. "But wouldn't you prefer to have the powdered stuff?"

"It's fine; please give me the fruit," Eleanora requested.

"You're quite the connoisseur for a first-time buyer. Here you are."

After receiving a bag of the spice, Eleanora headed towards another store.

"Hey, the pretty lady over there," an accessory merchant called out to her. "Won't you come and take a look?"

Eleanora paid no attention to him. The task that Vandalieu had entrusted her with was the collection of spices, vegetables and fruit.

"Fufufu, your prided special products will lose their exclusiveness to Vandalieu-sama's magic!" she said to herself with a laugh.

With death-attribute magic, it was possible to prevent plants that were difficult to cultivate from dying. Although water was still needed, it was possible to grow alpine plants in deserts. Despite this, in Origin, even if the plants grew, it was difficult to make them produce flowers and fruit in such harsh conditions.

But organisms mutated much more easily in Lambda than in Origin. It was certain that if these plants were planted in Talosheim, they would turn into Monster Plants or Immortal Ents and produce fruit.

As soon as the bag in Eleanora's arms was handed over to Vandalieu and taken to Talosheim, the Hartner Duchy would lose its industrial strength!

… Although, that would only be meaningful once Talosheim began trading with other duchies.

Eleanora herself didn't actually really understand just how much suffering her actions would cause the Hartner Duchy.

"It sounds a little empty to say aloud," Eleanora murmured. "Vandalieu-sama did say that he would cause a 'calamity,' so he should be causing a proper calamity."

Eleanora and everyone else, who had traveled a distance that would take a month on foot in a single night with Vandalieu's spirit-form wings, knew nothing of the assault of the monsters that had appeared in the city of Niarki a few days ago.

"Now then, next is… That fruit, I've never seen it before."

"Are you a traveler, Ojou-san? This fruit is a special product of this duchy; it can't be cultivated anywhere else. It's the pride of my birthplace!"

"I see. Then I suppose I'll take some."

"In the end, I do have to reject the society of this duchy."

"Is… that… so…"

"That's right."

"Is… that… so…"

Though he was facing the Guild Master of the Mages' Guild, who was twitching with the whites of his eyes showing, Vandalieu was having a conversation that was very close to a monologue.

As for why the Guild Master of the Mages' Guild had entered a vegetative state, the reason was that he was an individual with connections to the Pure-breed Vampires.

Vandalieu, who had learned this information from the Vampire he had turned into an Undead in the city of Niarki, had attacked the Guild Master on the morning of his arrival in Nineland.

He had asked the Guild Master's whereabouts from the countless spirits that approached him the moment he arrived in Nineland, and assaulted his mansion.

He had covered the entire building in a Magic Absorption Barrier that ran along its walls before defeating the Guild Master. The Guild Master would probably have been a powerful foe if allowed to use magic, but inside the Magic Absorption Barrier, he was nothing more than an old man. Well, after having flown such a long distance with his spirit form wings, it had cost Vandalieu the rest of his remaining Mana to create the barrier, though.

Braga, Zran and Eleanora had used physical attacks to defeat the mages who couldn't cast magic and the Guild Master's guards.

After that, Vandalieu had thought hard about how to interrogate the stubborn Guild Master who possessed Poison Resistance, and decided to try using the Mental Encroachment skill.

With that said, all he had done was make additional heads and stare directly into Guild Master's eyes while whispering into both of his ears. For a mere hour.

As a result, the Guild Master had entered a vegetative state. Vandalieu had wondered whether it was alright to simply kill him after extracting information from him.

"Well, he did do a lot of bad things in order to learn forbidden knowledge from Ternecia, so I don't feel sorry for him at all," said Vandalieu.

"I… am… sorry."

"Hmm, the Mental Encroachment skill is powerful but hard to hold back with. I have to practice properly with it," said Vandalieu.

Strictly speaking, the effects produced by the skill were more due to the fact that Vandalieu himself had a personality of not forgiving his enemies rather than due to the special characteristics of the skill itself, however.

"I suppose it's fine since I got my hands on the forbidden archives, though," he decided.

Vandalieu had used Spirit Form Transformation on his entire body, used 'Possession' on the broken Guild Master and manipulated his body to successfully gain access to the Mages' Guild's forbidden domain.

Possession was a death-attribute spell that he had recently invented; rather than 'taking over' someone it was more like sharing their body. Normally, it wouldn't allow Vandalieu to steal control from the body's owner. However, he had been able to manipulate the body of the Guild Master whose will had collapsed.

Thanks to this, he had gained forbidden knowledge at a bargain sale price.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he has any knowledge that will be immediately useful, though," Vandalieu said to himself.

"Ah, I've found a way to create Homunculi," reported one of Vandalieu's clones. "But it seems that having a contract with an evil god is a requirement."

"A spell that controls the minds of others… Its procedure is troublesome, so it's unnecessary considering I have the Mental Encroachment skill," said another.

"This poison is… inferior to the poison I can already create, isn't it? Its Mana cost is needlessly high, too."

Just because it was forbidden knowledge didn't mean that all of it was useful. Much of the information here were things that Vandalieu was already capable of or inferior versions of things he could already do.

Well, it probably couldn't be helped considering that death-attribute magic had many spells that would themselves be considered forbidden techniques.

"But to think that spells artificially creating mutant variations of monsters would be considered forbidden… Wouldn't I be arrested if people found out about the things I've done in Talosheim?" Vandalieu wondered.

"No, I suppose it'd be fine as long as I'm not a member of the Mages' Guild. Well, it just means that I can't join them," one of his clones added.

"To have to consider how narrow each Guild's doors are… How sad."

Of course, the Adventurers' Guild here was the same as it was in the city of Niarki.

Admission into the Mages' Guild required the approval of an instructor or a letter of recommendation from a member of practitioner rank or greater, as well as from a nobleman. Alternatively, it required one to possess qualifications certifying graduation from a mages' school.

The Workers' Guild required applicants to perform manual labor under an instructor or supervisor.

The Commerce Guild required applicants to be prepared to conduct business and to pay an admission fee.

The Tamers' Guild required applicants to study under other members, have a recommendation or otherwise prove that they could indeed tame monsters to a Guild staff member.

Though their names differed a little, all of the Guilds required the same things for registration.

Among these, the one that Vandalieu could probably apply for was the Tamers' Guild, but if he were to show off the fact that he had tamed monsters like Eleanora, a Noble-born Vampire, he would be noticed by the Pure-breed Vampires' subordinates who were still in Nineland. If he were to show off his Zombie Ninja (Titan), Zran, or Braga and the other Black Goblins, he would cause an uproar.

There was also the option of simply creating a Golem to demonstrate his ability, but then he might simply be called an Alchemist.

"Registering at an Adventurers' Guild elsewhere after things have settled down is the most realistic option after all," Vandalieu concluded. "I'll think about registering for the Tamers' Guild and Commerce Guild after that."

"Well then, let's withdraw for now," said another of Vandalieu's clones.

Vandalieu, who had cloned himself to search the forbidden archives, gathered all of the forbidden tomes and cursed items that appeared to be of value and began preparing to leave with them in hand.

He had already used the allies of the Pure-breed Vampires, the high-ranking members of the Mages' Guild, as practice dummies for Mental Encroachment and turned them into vegetables.

Still using Possession on the Guild Master, he had summoned the mages one by one, telling them that there was something to discuss, brought the Guild Master's mouth close to their ears as if to whisper something confidential, undid the Possession over the Guild Master and extended his narrow tongue into the mages' ears to administer poison and capture them.

After that, he had used Mental Encroachment until they entered vegetative states.

"I always imagined mages to be mentally strong, though," said Vandalieu.

Ordering them to carry forbidden tomes and cursed items outside of the forbidden archives hadn't been difficult. They were all important individuals, after all.

"I've finally learned the whereabouts of the underground cemetery, so I suppose I'll start digging a tunnel tonight," Vandalieu decided.

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Chapter 79: Fanning the flames in the underground graveyard

"GAAAAH…" groaned the final monster, a Rank 7 Poison Zombie Giant that was a combination of multiple Poison Zombies.

Heinz, the man wielding the magic sword enveloped in blue flames that had cut the monster open, sighed as he confirmed that there were no more enemies.

The monster, whose core had consisted of a middle-aged female Zombie, had been conspicuously more powerful than the other monsters.

"It seems that the monsters' rampage has ended. Is everyone alright?" Heinz asked.

"Yeah, no problems here. I am tired though."

"I'm not hurt, either… but I'm tired, too."

Heinz's party was severely exhausted. Most of the monsters that had appeared were Rank 4 or 5, and the only Rank 7 monster was the Poison Zombie Giant that had been finished off a few moments ago. There had been just over a thousand of them, a smaller number than the average monster rampage.

They hadn't been enemies that the Five-colored Blades, an A-class adventurer party, would have had trouble with. In fact, they were small fry that would simply be scattered aside in a one-sided fashion. Even if there were over a thousand of them.

That was the power of an A-class adventurer party.

However, the monsters that had closed in on the city of Niarki were not ordinary monsters.

Seventy percent of the swarm of monsters had been Undead, while the other thirty percent consisted of plant-type and insectoid monsters. And the monsters that possessed the body parts required for speech had been repeatedly groaning, "Kill Heinz," as if these words were some kind of incantation.

A group of monsters led by a mighty commander with the title of King would move like a single creature, but this was a completely abnormal situation.

With that said, this could actually be considered fortunate. The monsters hadn't been fixated on entering the city of Niarki. The guards, knights and adventurers had hastily formed a defensive force and risen to meet the monsters in battle, but the monsters had ignored the city and charged at Heinz, who had been standing at the forefront of the defense.

Despite wounded, immobilized knights and completely exhausted adventurers being within their reach, they had continued aiming for Heinz.

But all of the monsters had been more individually powerful than their Ranks would have suggested, and no matter how many times they were defeated, they kept attacking endlessly.

Defeated insectoid monsters had turned Undead, mold and fungi had grown on the remains of defeated Undead to spawn plant-type monsters such as Poison Mushrooms and Venom Molds, and the remains of plant-type monsters had spawned insects which turned into monsters.

Thanks to this endless monster chain, Heinz and his companions had actually been forced to fight against over ten thousand monsters.

"Still… they seem to have hated you quite a lot. What have you done?" asked Jennifer, the unarmed human fighter.

"Us adventurers have defeated a countless number of monsters, so there could be any number of reasons as to why we could be hated," said Diana, an Elf priestess of Mill, the Goddess of Slumber. "But that was completely out of the ordinary, wasn't it?"

The two of them had joined Heinz's party after they moved to work in the Orbaume Kingdom.

Before responding to either of them, Heinz turned to look in the direction of the city of Niarki.

Because the monsters had only been aiming for the Five-colored Blades, for Heinz, the city's outer walls were unharmed and although there were some among the defense force who were severely wounded, only a few truly unlucky individuals had perished.

"If I had to make I guess, I'd say it was that Dhampir boy," said Heinz.

"The one who suddenly ran out of the Adventurers' Guild? Do you remember doing something that would make him hate you?" Jennifer asked.

"No, there isn't any connection between that boy and this monster rampage, is there?" said Diana.

Heinz paused for a moment to figure out how to phrase his thoughts correctly before opening his mouth again. "I don't think there is, either. But… His name was Vandalieu."

Jennifer and Diana blinked, not knowing what Heinz meant. Heinz wasn't sure of his own theory, either.

But the name of the Dark Elf 'witch' whom he had captured in the Mirg shield-nation was Darcia. That was an event that had occurred about seven years ago.

And what had been written on the registration form left on the counter in the Adventurers' Guild, which had now been disposed of after it was rejected, was the name 'Vandalieu' and an age of seven.

"It's possible that he was -"

"You're overthinking it, Heinz."

"Edgar?"

"No matter how you look at it, that Dhampir wasn't the child of any Dark Elf," said Edgar. "With how white his skin was, there's no way, right? You're just being too conscious of your sin, which is what's making you believe that."

"That… might be true."

The visible special characteristics of a Dhampir are eyes with different colors, one of which is blood-red, as well as fangs and retractable claws. Other than these, their characteristics are those that they inherit from their parents. If one parent of a Dhampir is a Dark Elf, it should be impossible for that Dhampir to have white, candle-wax-like skin.

And there was no way that a baby that was not even a year old at the time could have survived on its own in the wilderness. And how could it have crossed the Boundary Mountain Range to escape to the Orbaume Kingdom?

"I guess I'm overthinking it. And to think that I would suspect that Dhampir to be connected to this monster rampage. It seems that I'm more tired than I thought. It's not like he's the second coming of the Demon King or anything like that." Heinz gave a wry smile as he mentioned a rumor that was being whispered at the Church of Alda recently.

"That's right," said Edgar. But despite his words, he made a note of investigating Vandalieu further once he returned to the city.

If I recall, the information broker in the city of Niarki is run by an organization called the 'Fangs of Dark Nights.' I suppose I'll try asking them.

Edgar's actions would later bring an astonishing incident to light, revealing the fact that the organization had continued to operate after its leader and high-ranking members had become Undead.

"More importantly, after we get back to the city and have some rest, we need to go and find the Dungeon that these monsters came from," said Jennifer. "They came from a completely different direction from any known Dungeons, so a new Dungeon must have appeared. It might be Zakkart's Trials."

Zakkart's Trials. A Dungeon that first appeared a hundred years ago. It appears somewhere on the continent without warning, only to disappear again about a month later. It is the world's only confirmed moving labyrinth. It is impossible to categorize its class and nobody has ever entered and lived to tell the tale other than Heinz's party, the Five-colored Blades, who managed to escape at the cost of one of their members. It is said that a treasure left behind by Zakkart rests in its deepest chamber. According to another story, the Undead form of Zakkart himself awaits those worthy of challenging him, and the hero who defeats him will become a successor to the champion Bellwood.

"If that's true… We'll clear it for sure this time. For Martie's sake, too. But you're right. First, we need to go back to the inn where Selen is waiting," said Heinz, thinking of the Dhampir girl who was awaiting their return.

"No, the report to the Guild comes first… Yeah, yeah, I'll do it. Don't complain that I'm having the receptionist nee-san's attention all to myself," Edgar said with a wry smile.

"Haah… I see… That's terrible… Unforgivable. Worthy of death," said Vandalieu.

"Vandalieu-sama, what is this all of a sudden?" Eleanora asked.

"It's the members of the adventurer party, the 'Western Calm,' the receptionist Aria-san, Hannah-san and Hannah-san's father."

Vandalieu was currently digging a tunnel from the mansion of the Guild Master of the Mages' Guild to beneath Duke Hartner's castle by turning the ground into Golems and using Golem Transmutation to form a passage.

He had left the Black Goblins and their lovers in the mansion, while the Guild Master and his subordinates who were now in vegetative states prepared a 'parting gift.'

Incidentally, the Guild Master's mansion had contained valuable items such as first-class staffs, but Vandalieu was still unarmed. If he, who possessed a monstrous amount of Mana, were to use a staff designed for humans, he would have to exercise extreme care in casting spells, or the staff could explode, rot away or turn into dust.

In order to use a staff that assisted with magic, Vandalieu would need to concentrate as if he were writing kanji in miniscule letters, so he didn't use them. Weren't there any staffs somewhere that were designed to be used by beings more powerful than humans?

Leaving that aside, Vandalieu had begun talking to himself in the midst of creating this tunnel.

But the eyes of Zran, who was Undead, could see that Vandalieu had been surrounded by spirits in tragic states.

"They're part of the countless spirits that gathered around him when we came here," Zran murmured to himself. "The ones near him now look like they've all died recently, though."

Just like when he had arrived at the city of Niarki, all of the spirits in the capital city had flooded towards Vandalieu when he arrived here. There were so many of them that Zran couldn't hear what they were saying.

However, the spirits that were currently speaking to Vandalieu looked a little different.

"Eleanora, Zran, if a black-haired, black-eyed man in his thirties by the name of Kaidou Kanata appears, please leave things to me until I give you further commands," said Vandalieu.

"Kaidou Kanata?" Eleanora repeated. "… Could it be?!"

"One of the scum who killed you in your previous life, Holy Son?! That bastard. This is a great opportunity. Let's kill him, turn him into a Zombie and hear everything he has to say!" said Zran.

Vandalieu had already heard information regarding Kaidou Kanata from the spirits of his victims.

According to them, Kanata had already come to Nineland, and although it was unclear as to how he knew where Vandalieu was, he was drawing closer.

According to the other information given by the spirits, for some reason, swords, spears and spells hadn't worked on Kanata, while his attacks had passed straight through their armor to strike their bodies. He was a user of the Unarmed Fighting Technique and Short Sword Technique, as well as high-level fire-attribute magic and wind-attribute magic.

The penetration ability must be the cheat-like ability he got from Rodcorte. He must have improved his affinity for the fire-attribute and wind-attribute in Origin. Unarmed Fighting Technique and Short Sword Technique… is from his experience in Origin, I suppose? Jeez, so this is how it is for people who don't have curses.

Considering that Vandalieu had relearned everything from scratch through hard work, he thought that it was rather unfair that Kanata possessed all these abilities. But for now, he prioritized pacifying Eleanora and Zran, whose expressions had become bloodthirsty. Their abilities in combat couldn't be matched by the average adventurer or knight, but cheat-like abilities were dangerous enough to overcome such differences in strength.

That was why they were called cheats, after all.

"Like I said, leave things to me," said Vandalieu. "If we're going to kill him… no, he's been indulging in unforgivable acts of violence, so I'm definitely going to kill him, but I want to do it myself."

"I can tell he's quite the scoundrel just from looking at those spirits, but… is it really that bad?" Zran asked.

"Quite," Vandalieu replied. "To the point that I question his sanity."

But Vandalieu felt more bewilderment than hatred upon learning about Kanata. To summarize Vandalieu's thoughts, he was basically wondering, "What the hell is he doing?"

Kanata's acts were so cruel that they couldn't be considered the acts of a human, but more importantly, they were too reckless. He would simply kill, rape and steal if things became inconvenient or he thought that doing things that way would be quicker.

If he kept doing such things, even with a cheat-like ability, it would be impossible to live for very long.

Vandalieu was far more curious about this than the fact that Kanata had a far more adult-like appearance than him despite him having been the first to die in Origin, or how Kanata knew where he was.

Rodcorte probably had something to do with those, after all.

"For now, it seems certain that he has come to kill me, but… Let's make a habit of casting Detect Life periodically from now on," said Vandalieu.

The "work" that Kanata had apparently mentioned was probably the task of killing Vandalieu.

Vandalieu didn't really care, but why had he come to interfere now, of all times? It was good that he was aiming directly for Vandalieu rather than Braga and the others who were standing by in the Guild Master's mansion, though.

"If I recall, those people were acting like allies of justice, weren't they?" said Eleanora.

"That's how allies of justice are," said Vandalieu. "They'd be considered heroes from the point of view of the followers of Bellwood or Alda, but from our point of view, they're not."

"Indeed, you're right," Eleanora agreed.

As they were conversing, Vandalieu and his companions arrived in the deepest part of Nineland.

There was a dark stone corridor before them, and casting Detect Life ahead revealed no signs of human life. But Vandalieu's Danger Sense: Death was giving a response.

"Is it a trap?" asked Zran.

"No, with this shape, it's probably a barrier," said Vandalieu. "It's said that the champion left a barrier behind, too."

Continuing from the tunnel into the corridor, Vandalieu fired some weak Death Bullets into ahead into it.

A wall of light appeared in a spot that previously had nothing there, emitting flashes of light and noises as it repelled the Death Bullets.

"This is the barrier left behind by the champion Nineroad…!" Eleanora murmured.

"It repelled the Holy Son's Death Bullets!" Zran exclaimed.

"Well then, I'm going to remove it now," said Vandalieu.

"Eh?" Eleanora and Zran said in unison.

That quickly?

Right before the eyes of a surprised Eleanora and Zran, Vandalieu used his death-attribute Mana to steadily remove the champion's barrier.

He wasn't doing anything difficult. He was simply applying huge load that the barrier couldn't withstand, all at once, to break through it by force.

Nineroad's barrier resisted for a few dozen seconds, but in the end, it fell apart with a sound similar to the noise of glass shattering.

"Phew, it was harder than Ice Age's ice," said Vandalieu. "I used 300,000,000 Mana, too. Ah, give me one of the obentos, please," he requested.

"Sure," Zran said with an astonished expression as he took out a flask from the luggage. It contained the fresh blood of the protégé bodyguard of the Mages' Guild's Guild Master.

He had apparently benefited plenty from the fact that his employer was working with the Pure-breed Vampires, so his blood was particularly delicious.

"Phew, having a drink after doing some hard work really is something," said Vandalieu.

"Vandalieu-sama, that -" Eleanora began.

"Sounded like something that a middle-aged man would say?" Vandalieu asked.

"No, it was like a child trying to do his best to push himself past his limit, so it was rather adorable."

"I see…"

With his shoulders dropping a little at Eleanora's words, Vandalieu started walking forward again without waiting for his Mana to recover. He knew that Kanata was heading this way, but thanks to the Automatic Mana Recovery skill, he was recovering more than 10,000 Mana every second, so it wasn't a problem.

Past the barrier, the corridor ended in an unimaginably enormous underground cemetery. There were holes of various sizes containing bones and shells. It was a sight that made it difficult to call this a holy place.

The air lingering here was full of an unpleasant moisture and somehow felt sinister. Though there shouldn't have been any signs of life here, there were quiet noises that sounded like groans coming from somewhere.

"Hmm, the princess isn't here," said Vandalieu.

"Oooi! Levia-sama!" Zran called out. "It's me, Zran! You can come out now!"

But Vandalieu couldn't see any vengeful ghosts or evil spirits. Nor could he see the First Princess Levia.

"There might still be another barrier. It is not uncommon for there to be two or three barriers when something needs to be sealed inside," said Eleanora.

As they heeded her words and looked around, they found something that did indeed resemble a barrier.

A silver coffin bound by whips. This was likely the barrier's core.

"… I wonder whose idea it was to do this," said Vandalieu.

"Ah, Nineroad was apparently a user of the Whip Technique," said Zran. "Doesn't that explain it?"

"By the way, what do you think is inside the coffin?" asked Eleanora. "If it is a Pure-breed Vampire, then they might become a powerful ally… or perhaps not. It might be a Vampire who turned to the evil gods, after all."

"It would indeed be problematic if I were to undo the seal and someone we couldn't handle were to come out," Vandalieu agreed as he tentatively tried beginning to remove the seal, but there wasn't really any reaction from Danger Sense: Death. "Is it empty inside? It seems fine, so I'm removing the seal," he said.

And then he began removing the barrier in the same way he removed the outside barrier earlier.

Before he had even finished removing it, the whips snapped as the coffin opened forcefully from the inside.

"Vandalieu-sama!" Eleanora cried.

She and Zran tried to grab Vandalieu and retreat, but the red amoeba-shaped thing that had flown out of the coffin raised its head and looked down at Vandalieu, approaching him with incredible speed like a venomous snake!

Gargle, gargle, gargle… gulp.

It was swallowed by Vandalieu.

"… Eh?" Zran and Eleanora said in unison, dumbfounded.

Vandalieu finished drinking the coffin's contents, put his hands together, lowered his head and said, "Gochisousama."

"V-Vandalieu-sama? What was that?" Eleanora asked. "More importantly, why did you swallow it?!"

"Why, you ask… it did enter my mouth," Vandalieu replied.

"No, you'd normally spit it out, right?!" Zran exclaimed.

"But I don't think it's good to leave food unfinished," said Vandalieu. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't normally refer to blood that a champion sealed away a hundred thousand years ago as 'food.'"

"So at least you know - wait, so that thing you just swallowed was blood?!" Zran shouted.

"Then could it possibly have been part of the Demon King?!" asked Eleanora.

It was a well-known story that the champions had defeated the Demon King Guduranis, taken his body apart and sealed each part away individually. It was just blood, but considering that it had been sealed away, they couldn't think of anyone it could possibly belong to other than the Demon King.

In fact, the announcer in Vandalieu's head had said,『You have absorbed the blood of the Demon King!』He had been wondering whether he should tell Zran and Eleanora, knowing that it would shock them.

『The Bloodsucking skill has reached level 10! It has transformed into the superior skill, Bloodwork!』

『The level of the Bloodwork, Death-Attribute Magic, Superhuman Strength, Rapid Healing, Automatic Mana Recovery, Magic Resistance, Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue), Body Expansion (Tongue) skills have increased!』

『You have acquired the Title, 'The Second Coming of the Demon King!'』

Vandalieu wanted to strongly protest to the last part, the Title that he had gained. Who was the announcer calling the Second Coming of the Demon King? But -

"Vomit it out, you have to vomit it out, Holy Son!"

"Vandalieu-sama, spit it out, spit!"

Zran had grabbed Vandalieu's legs and was now shaking him while holding him upside-down, so he didn't have time to think about this.

"No, I mean, but, I've, already, absorbed, ah, hello." As Vandalieu was being shaken up and down, perhaps because he had removed the champion's seal, he could now see countless Ghosts. Upside-down.

Ghosts. Unlike the powerless spirits that could only be seen by Vandalieu, Undead and Spiritualists, these are beings that have turned into monsters without physical bodies.

They are Rank 2, and although most physical attacks are ineffective against them, they have no physical power of their own. But most of them still possess incomplete versions of the personalities and memories that they possessed in life.

"Who is it? A pawn of the Hartner family? … No, this presence that is both terrifying and comforting, just what could it…?"

"Look at that Titan. It's an Undead."

"Why is an Undead here? The barrier has been broken… Are we going to be set free?"

The semitransparent Ghosts with blurry outlines, whose legs were missing below their knees, were whispering amongst themselves. Vandalieu couldn't feel any hostility from them, but he could sense that they were frightened.

Zran unconsciously let go of Vandalieu's legs and began shouting in the Ghosts' direction. "Levia-sama, is Levia-sama here?! I'm Zran of Talosheim!"

Vandalieu, who had quickly been caught by Eleanora, saw a female Ghost with long hair extending past her waist, floating to the front.

"Levia-sama!" Zran exclaimed.

"Zran… I remember you. A Scout warrior, the most proficient in the use of short swords among our race."

Zran hadn't been intimate with Princess Levia, nor had he served in a position close to her. But in the city of Talosheim, with a population of only five thousand and society with loose hierarchies, exceptional warriors would have had opportunities to meet the princess in person.

Zran was a Scout, the kind of fighter that Titans lacked most, so it seemed that he had been easier to remember than others.

"You remained in Talosheim with Zandia and the others to fight until the very end, so why are you here?" asked Levia. "Ah, but now that you have been sealed in here, you are prisoners like us. We are forced to wander this place, unable to return to the goddess's side or rid ourselves of our regrets -"

"Ah, I've removed the barrier," said Vandalieu.

"Indeed, as long as the two barriers that have been set up are not removed…" Levia stopped speaking for a moment. "They have been removed?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for the late introduction. I'm Vandalieu, the current king of Talosheim."

And so, Vandalieu introduced himself, still being held upside down in the position that Eleanora had caught him in.

After hearing Vandalieu's explanation and seeing the rock salt originating from Garan's Valley that he had brought from Talosheim, Levia completely believed in his words.

It would have been problematic if she had refused to believe him, so Vandalieu felt relieved.

"I see," said Levia. "Everyone who stayed behind in Talosheim was valiant until the very end. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading Borkus and the others, and for protecting my homeland. But despite that, I was unable to protect everyone…"

"It's not your fault, Levia-sama!" Zran exclaimed. "The ones at fault are those traitors of the Hartner family!"

When Princess Levia and her small escort force escaped from Talosheim into the Hartner Duchy, they had been warmly welcomed by Duke Hartner and the inhabitants of the city that was now in ruins.

But Duke Hartner poisoned the meal that had been prepared for the Titans.

None of the Titans, who had believed that the Hartner family was a sworn ally, doubted the duke. They ate their meals, swallowed the poison. Although they tried to resist after that, they were captured by the duke's knights and the mages who served him, and Princess Levia's guards were slain on the spot. Princess Levia herself was accused of plotting to kill the duke and burned at the stake.

And then her remains had been buried beneath this underground barrier.

"I learned of what happened after that from those who were buried here like us and gained a good understanding of things," she said. "The knights and mages who killed us were also killed and buried here to ensure their silence, you see."

Apparently, the duke at the time had been exceptional when it came to conspiracy; he hadn't left anyone involved alive. Perhaps Old Lady Milan of the city of Niarki had heard the story from the wandering spirits who had managed to escape before being imprisoned here.

"So, about what comes next," said Vandalieu, changing the subject.

"It does not even need to be said by someone who no longer belongs in this world. The right to Talosheim's throne is yours. Please save everyone and guide them." Levia lowered her head towards Vandalieu. Each of her movements was so elegant that it was difficult to believe that she didn't have a physical body.

And yet, there was no trace of pride in her actions.

So, this is what a graceful princess is like, Vandalieu thought. She was a Titan, so she was still two meters tall despite having half of her legs missing, however.

Her appearance was blurred now, but she had probably been a beautiful princess when she was alive.

"With this, we can all return to the goddess's side," she said.

"Ah, please wait." Vandalieu stopped her, though this beauty wasn't the reason that he did so. "I need your help to save everyone at the slave-run mine," he said.

"My help?" Levia repeated. "But I am not capable of doing anything significant as I am now."

"We don't need you to," Eleanora told her. "What is important is for you to cooperate with Vandalieu-sama and be seen doing so."

Of course, the Titans being held captive in the slave-run mines knew nothing about Vandalieu and the current Talosheim. Most importantly, Death-Attribute Charm wouldn't work on them, so even if Vandalieu were to tell them, "I've come from Talosheim to save you," there was a high chance that they wouldn't believe him.

Even if the Undead Titans like Zran and Borkus convinced them, they would still have their doubts. They might believe the words of their families or relatives, but if they weren't closely related to the Undead Titans, they might simply think that the Titans had gone mad after becoming Undead.

The teachings of the goddess Vida said that Undead should be treated with open-mindedness, but not that Undead should be befriended without question.

Of course, there was the option of ignoring the feelings of the captive slaves and dragging them to Talosheim by force before explaining things, but if they resisted unexpectedly and there were injuries… or casualties, it would leave a bad aftertaste. It would be possible to turn them into Undead, but if it was possible to prevent them from dying in the first place, that would be best.

That was where Princess Levia came in. She had led the Titans two hundred years ago. Even though she had turned into a Ghost, her words would probably reach them.

"At the very least, you should be able to make them listen to us," said Eleanora.

"But why would they listen to the words of someone who failed to protect everyone…? And I no longer have any regrets or grudges needed to bind me to this world," said Levia. "My heart has already been saved. Your son will surely be able to free the slaves and -"

"Son?!" Eleanora repeated. "No, I'm not Vandalieu-sama's parent -"

"Is that alright with you?" asked Vandalieu, interrupting Eleanora who seemed to have been mistaken for his parent because he was a Dhampir.

"What do you… mean?" asked Levia.

"Are you alright with simply forgiving them? The ones who killed you, killed your guards and warriors and shut you in here for two hundred years. The ones who unjustly took your people as captives and continued to exploit them for two hundred years. Are you alright with the decision of not releasing your anger, resentment and hatred?"

"Th-that is…" Levia's voice trembled. The Titan Ghosts behind her appeared to waver as they trembled as well.

When they had been killed two hundred years ago, when they had learned that their people had been taken to the slave-run mines, they felt anger, resentment and hatred towards the Hartner family, just as Vandalieu said.

They had cursed their betrayal, screamed that they would never forget this grudge and seethed with hatred. To the point that the tiny amount of the Demon King's Mana leaking from the seal had reacted to it, turning them into Ghosts.

"But vengeance is -" Levia began.

"A reasonable act," said Vandalieu, interrupting her. "Especially in this case. I'm not telling you to take your hatred of two hundred years ago and take it out on the people living today," he continued, looking directly into the eyes of Levia and the other Ghosts. "I'm only telling you to use your current hatred and take it out on today's people."

Vandalieu conveyed to them the anger, resentment and hatred that he felt, awakening their own anger, resentment, hatred and regret.

"It's only natural to be angry, to resent, to hate. It's normal for any person. Someone you trusted betrayed you, showed contempt for you and robbed you of your lives. People important to you were unfairly turned into prisoners and exploited for two hundred years. If you feel nothing towards those who did this, I can only say that you have gone mad," said Vandalieu.

"Natural… Normal…"

"What did you feel when you realized that your food had been poisoned, when your guards were killed, when you were burned alive?" asked Vandalieu.

"I… Ah! Back then, I!"

"Inside you, there should be resentment, anger and hatred. Let it burn once more."

"Inside… me…"

"Our anger…"

"My… resentment…"

Even Ghosts that were completely unrelated were stirring, but Vandalieu took no notice of them as he continued.

"Please lend me your strength," he said. "In order to take back what was taken from us."

As he finished speaking, there was the sound of an igniting spark as light and heat spread across the underground graveyard that had been in complete darkness a moment ago.

"I've remembered, my anger, my resentment!" Levia cried. "Moving on without ridding ourselves of this hatred is impossible! Isn't that right, everyone!"

Princess Levia was burning. Not metaphorically, but literally.

Her unreliable-looking spirit-form body was now shining red, and her outlines and the details of her face were now clearly visible. She looked just like a goddess of fire, with hair and a dress made of flames.

『You have acquired the Dead Spirit Magic skill!』

"That's right, that's exactly right!"

"We cannot disappear until we deliver a calamity upon the Hartner family that has scorned and tormented us!"

"They'll feel my wrath for playing around with us and throwing us away! Don't underestimate a maid! KYIIIIH!"

There were some Ghosts getting fired up who were not among the victims of the Hartner family, but Vandalieu took no notice of this.

All of the Ghosts in the underground graveyard were burning, as if surrounded in flames.

"Did their Ranks increase?! But just how…?" Zran wondered. "No, I suppose it doesn't matter. In any case, it seems that Levia-sama and everyone else is going to stay to help us."

Vandalieu had used the Mental Encroachment skill to share his feelings of defeat with Levia and the others, setting alight the feelings of defeat that they themselves had once felt.

Influenced by Levia, who had been burned at the stake, they had become Rank 3 Fire Ghosts while Levia herself had become a Rank 4 Flame Ghost.

It was a phenomenon that would cause an uproar if witnessed by researching mages and scholars of the Mages' Guild.

"Vandalieu-sama has become an even greater figure," said Eleanora. "Isn't that just fine?"

"I suppose you're right," said Zran.

And so, this phenomenon was brushed aside just like that.

Well, Vandalieu himself was also very surprised at the way Princess Levia and the other Ghosts had gotten so fired up. He had shared his feelings of hatred and anger that felt like they were burning his body, but he hadn't expected them to actually burn.

He wasn't surprised enough to forget about everything else, though.

"Now then, let's get going and save everyone!" said Levia.

"Sorry, but there's a matter that I have to deal with first." Instead of taking Levia's burning hand, Vandalieu turned around to look towards the corridor that he had come through.

There was a man in his thirties with black hair and black eyes standing there, his empty hands raised in the air.

"Wait! Listen to what I have to say! I'm sorry for what I did back then, please forgive me!" said Kaidou Kanata. He kneeled before Vandalieu, pressing his head against the dusty floor.

Title Explanation:

[Second Coming of the Demon King]

A Title that indicates the second coming of the Demon King. One must not only be recognized as such, but also be able to perform the same feats as the Demon King Guduranis, in order to gain this Title. For example, breaking souls, generating new races of monsters and creating Dungeons. It is also possible to gain this Title by taking in, absorbing or being taken in by a part of the Demon King.

Those who acquire this Title gain bonuses to various techniques that are considered forbidden techniques and evil knowledge, as well as to the aforementioned acts that are part of the conditions of gaining the Title.

The ability of creating and altering new races of monsters receives a particularly large bonus. Princess Levia and her companions becoming a Flame Ghost and Fire Ghosts is another example of this.

However, this does not allow unconditional creation and alteration of new monsters; there are fine conditions and affinities for this that need to be considered.

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Chapter 80: The man who comes to an end with his third time

Kanata, who knew that Vandalieu was headed for the area beneath the castle through his Target Radar, clicked his tongue in frustration.

In an underground area with limited space, he couldn't use his abilities to their full potential.

If he were to release his magic with full power, his own life would be endangered by a cave-in. Even if he used Gungnir to pass through the dirt, he wouldn't be able to do anything about the lack of oxygen.

And the gun that he was so proficient with… in Lambda, it had become Archery, but he could imagine that it would be difficult to fire underground, where there would be many obstacles. He could use Gungnir to make the arrows he fired pass through such obstacles, but his eyes wouldn't be able to see through them.

That was why he had used infrared scopes and detection spells to identify his targets' locations in Origin, but… infrared scopes didn't exist in Lambda and if he recited an incantation for a detection spell, there was a chance that Vandalieu would sense it and Kanata would be the one being located.

Thinking that there was no other choice, Kanata had given up on sniping Vandalieu from afar and started to think about a close-range assassination.

He had decided to continue with the plan of attacking Vandalieu here rather than waiting for another opportunity with better conditions for the assassination or creating a better plan to create such conditions. He knew that Vandalieu's mobility was superior to his so there was a chance that Vandalieu would simply run away, but the bigger reason was that he wanted to get this job over and done with so he could begin his fourth life.

And in order to purify the spirits haunting him (although at this point, they had already left him to go to Vandalieu), he had poured holy water, which he had obtained from one of the female adventurers he had raped, over himself.

The moment he had on Target Radar and used Gungnir to pass through the walls and floor to get underground, he had realized that Vandalieu had noticed him.

It wasn't a skill that told him this. Despite being a degenerate individual, he was an experienced combatant who had been through countless battles to the death; it was his instincts that told him that he had been noticed.

"Wait! Listen to what I have to say! I'm sorry for what I did back then, please forgive me!"

Having revealed himself faster than he had planned, Kanata kneeled on the ground.

He's bigger than the information that the god gave me would suggest. And he's got so many monsters with him that I have no information about. What are those things that look like flaming people?

Kanata performed a desperate-looking apology. But Vandalieu, who seemed to have gained many pawns, was being held in contempt in Kanata's mind for having an interest in such bizarre creatures.

"… What are you playing at?" Vandalieu asked.

Kanata could feel his heart applauding the fact that Vandalieu had chosen to engage in conversation rather than attacking. He's naïve after all, Kanata thought.

"Don't you remember what happened in Origin? I'm Kaidou Kanata; I was one of the students from the same high school as you," said Kanata.

Of course, Vandalieu, who had already heard Kaidou Kanata's name from the spirits, had a good idea of who he was. There wouldn't be anyone in Lambda with the surname "Kaidou," after all.

Even if that weren't the case, everything about Kanata's words and actions were too strange, so Vandalieu hadn't been able to imagine that Kanata was anything but someone who had reincarnated from Origin.

"I'm one of the people who accidentally defeated you at the research laboratory back then," Kanata continued.

"… Ah, come to think of it, I do get the feeling that you were there," said Vandalieu.

He was hearing this for the first time. Back then, his eyes had only been looking at Naruse Narumi and the more familiar-looking among his former classmates; those whose names he hadn't even remembered, like Kanata, hadn't lingered in his memories.

Kanata was a little bewildered at Vandalieu's reaction, which had been weaker than he had expected, but he began speaking more smoothly now. "We didn't know that you were one of us back then. I'm really sorry, so please forgive me," he said. "If you can't forgive me, then I don't mind being killed by you. But won't you at least spare the others?"

"Sure," said Vandalieu.

"I'm begging - eh?"

"I mean that I'm accepting your apology for killing me in Origin."

Kanata raised his head without thinking and saw Vandalieu's emotionless eyes.

"The one at fault is Rodcorte, and as long as they apologize like you're doing now, then I'm alright with that," said Vandalieu. "As long as they don't interfere with me or my companions, I won't get involved with them. I have a mountain of things that I want to do and things that I need to do, so I don't have time for that."

Even now, he had to go and save the Titans that were being made to work in the slave-run mines. He didn't care about the others who would reincarnate from Origin as long as they didn't harm them, apart from Kanata. These were Vandalieu's true thoughts.

In fact, being invited to be their companion or them becoming his allies would be more troublesome. No matter how Vandalieu thought about it, their senses of values wouldn't match. He would consider it if they were willing to acknowledge each Zombie and Skeleton as an individual and respect them as such, however.

It was probably impossible, though. On Earth and in Origin, raising the dead as Undead was generally considered to be "desecration of the dead." In many stories, including the stories told by every religion, there were only tragic endings unless the undying were buried immediately.

Situations were frequently seen in the movies and games of Earth where characters would say, "That's not the real him anymore," as they fired a bullet into the Zombie's head. Such situations would likely become reality if the others were to try to join Vandalieu.

Wouldn't they only accept the use of Undead as weapons at best?

Such people would be too dangerous to allow near Talosheim.

"I-is that… right?" said Kanata. "Alright. I'll make sure to tell everyone else, too. Anyone who interferes with you is - barrier."

Kanata quickly pulled the trigger of the crossbow that he had been keeping hidden inside the floor with Gungnir. No matter how Vandalieu answered, Kanata had been planning to find an opening and shoot him to death anyway.

The bolt fired from the crossbow passed straight through the barrier that Vandalieu had put up instinctively, grazed his ear and bounced loudly off the wall behind him.

The bolt hadn't missed. Vandalieu had dodged it.

"I see," he said. "Your cheat-like ability is penetration… Not only through physical objects, but it can even penetrate my barrier."

Kanata had been certain that his surprise attack would go well, but now his face stiffened at how easily Vandalieu had avoided it. But Vandalieu's Danger Sense: Death had been reacting long before Kanata had even bowed before him.

That was why Vandalieu had been staring intently at Kanata. Kanata had only thought that there was an opening because he had been unable to read Vandalieu's expressionless face.

And Vandalieu had actually heard from the spirits that Kanata's cheat-like ability was a penetration ability, so he'd already had a good idea of what was coming.

At the very least, he had known that Kanata wasn't an enemy that he could let down his guard against just because there were obstacles and barriers between them.

Kanata clicked his tongue again. "Dance, sash of flames!" Recovering from his shock, he conjured flames to obstruct the view of Vandalieu and his allies.

"Bastard!" Zran shouted.

"Zran, Eleanora, just like I said earlier, leave things to me… because I want to know what kind of power I can expect from those who reincarnated from Origin like me," said Vandalieu. "Also, I have to test my new skill."

Vandalieu instantly extinguished the raging flames with Heat Leech. He used his tongue and claws to secrete a highly volatile poison that wouldn't work on Undead like Zran or those with the Status Effect Resistance skill like Eleanora, and then chased after Kanata.

"Floor, ground." Kanata used Gungnir to hide inside the floor, realizing that Vandalieu was faster than he had expected.

But Vandalieu instantly turned the floor around Kanata as well as the ground beneath into Golems. "Move out of the way," he ordered them. "Death Bullet." He fired Death Bullets at Kanata's location, which he had determined with Detect Life.

"GUAH?! He's fast!" Though Kanata was astonished as the ground surface that he was using as a shield moved, he moved out of the way. The Death Bullets grazed him, but he managed avoid a direct hit.

Considering that the Death Bullets contained enough Mana to cause instant death even with a graze, Vandalieu felt a little surprised to see Kanata still moving around quickly.

And it seemed that his poison was ineffective.

"Judging by the speed of your movements and the power of your spells, your Attribute Values seem to be around the same as mine or a little higher; you don't look like someone who would possess an unimaginable amount of Vitality," said Vandalieu. "Did Rodcorte give you some resistance skills or something?"

"Great Burning Destruction, Mana!" Without answering Vandalieu's question, Kanata cast a large-scale fire-attribute spell. It was a spell that produced high temperatures to incinerate everything within its large area of effect.

You'd normally be able to block it with that barrier and his heat-leeching spell, but I even used Gungnir after casting this spell! You can't block this scorching heat, so stay quiet and turn into ash along with the pieces of trash behind you!

Certain of his victory, Kanata held his breath. Once the flames had subsided to some extent, he undid Gungnir and used wind-attribute magic to create air to breathe. As long as Vandalieu was dead, his Job was complete, so he was intending to commit suicide in order to live the fourth life that he would be rewarded with. But he wasn't thoughtless enough to die without confirming that he had accomplished his mission.

"To think that you would even get caught up in your own spell. You're making some bold moves."

Vandalieu was standing there with a calm expression. Still surrounded in flames.

"Jesus!" Kanata shouted. "What kind of sorcery is this?!"

"It's just that these ladies protected me," said Vandalieu.

"These ladies?!" Kanata didn't understand, but as the flames surrounding Vandalieu died down, he could see the silhouettes of several women.

Their faces looked familiar to him.

"Those b*tches! Damn it, I poured holy water over myself for nothing!" Kanata cursed.

The women whose bodies were made of flames, including Hannah, were those that Kanata had killed after reincarnating in Lambda.

"You never made those Undead in Origin or this world!" Kanata shouted.

"I just became able to make them a short while ago," said Vandalieu. "I suppose I'll name this, 'Embrace of the Flame Spirits.'"

Behind Vandalieu, Zran and Eleanora had also been protected by the Fire Ghosts.

They had expressions of agreement on their faces.

"Someone like him isn't even a worthy enemy for Vandalieu-sama," said Eleanora.

"You're right about that," Zran agreed. "I feel foolish for panicking about him."

As they said, what was happening between Vandalieu and Kanata could no longer be called a fight to the death. Vandalieu was one-sidedly driving Kanata into a corner.

"Can you do it like this?" Vandalieu asked.

"Leave it to us!" Obeying the will in the Mana that Vandalieu transferred to them, the Fire Ghosts… the dead spirits of flames, attacked Kanata. Some of them became flaming spears, some crawled like snakes and others still transformed into giant skulls, moving to scorch Kanata with their dark red flames.

This was the effect of the Dead Spirit Magic skill that Vandalieu acquired a short while ago. One might assume that Dead Spirit Magic would be similar to the skills that allowed him to manipulate dead bodies and turn them into Zombies and Skeletons. However, it was effectively a skill similar to Spiritual Magic.

Just as Spiritual Mages would transfer their Mana and their will to spirits, allowing them to cast spells more efficiently than simply using magic of one of the attributes, Vandalieu transferred his Mana and his will to the dead spirits and had them cast spells on his behalf.

The Fire Ghosts, which had been charmed by his Death-Attribute Charm, attacked their enemy, Kanata, with no mercy.

Kanata tried to avoid them at first, but the Fire Ghosts had all changed their shapes to become spears, snakes and skulls made of flames. No matter how much he avoided them, they chased him persistently.

"Flames, Wind - GAH?!" Kanata's incantation was interrupted by his own scream. "Why can't I pass through them?!"

Unable to withstand the persistent chase of the Fire Ghosts, Kanata had tried to pass through them with Gungnir and attack with wind-attribute magic, but against his expectations, the dark red flames had wrapped around his body and begun to burn him rather than passing through.

"Ground!"

Kanata tried to escape beneath the ground's surface, but his legs didn't sink at all.

"What the hell?! Why isn't my Gungnir activating?!"

"It is," Vandalieu told him. "But it's just - it's called Gungnir, is it? - That penetration ability just can't pass through 'spirit form.'"

Kanata's Gungnir was an ability that allowed him to penetrate anything he designated as a target. If he designated weapons as a target, not only would his enemies' weapons pass through him, but his own weapons would slip through his fingers and fall to the ground.

Vandalieu had more or less figured this out from what the spirits had told him. Kanata had apparently fought barehanded when he had designated 'weapons' as the ability's target, and there were numerous similar examples in his use of Gungnir as well.

That was why Vandalieu used the one thing Kanata couldn't slip through. Spirit form.

Spirit form was something that resided within the bodies of all living creatures, including humans. If Kanata were to use Gungnir to pass through it, this would be an act equivalent to his physical body discarding his spirit and soul. It would be no different from committing suicide; it was something that Kanata's instincts prevented him from doing.

That was why Kanata couldn't avoid the attacks of the Fire Ghosts, whose spirit form bodies themselves were burning. And Vandalieu had used Spirit Form Transformation on a part of his physical body, extended it behind the walls, floors and ceiling and used Materialization.

"Ah, I have some other attacks that you can't pass through, too," said Vandalieu. "For example… ■■■■■!"

Vandalieu pursed his lips and released a Scream directed in Kanata's direction. Kanata, who was struggling to withstand the Fire Ghosts' attacks with his Fire-Attribute Resistance and Wind-Attribute Resistance and somehow trying to make a counterattack, took a direct hit and let out a scream as he covered his ears.

"MY EEEEEARS!"

His Mental Corruption mostly blocked Vandalieu's Mental Encroachment, but Scream was a skill rather than a spell. Thus, it was impossible for Kanata to block the direct attack on his sense of hearing, the harsh noise that sounded like fragments of glass being grinded against each other.

This was another of Gungnir's weaknesses. If Kanata were to designate sound as a target, he wouldn't be able to recite any incantations himself. He couldn't designate sound as a target for Gungnir if he intended to cast spells.

"Also, your final weakness is -" As Kanata suffered with blood pouring out of his ears, Vandalieu approached him defenselessly.

"Guh, Mana!"

Kanata drew his knife with his burnt, blistered hand and threw it at Vandalieu as his only way to recover from this hopeless situation.

Vandalieu effortlessly deflected it with his claws.

"No matter what kind of attacks you use, you can't designate your enemy's body as a target for your ability. If you did, you wouldn't be able to harm them, after all," said Vandalieu. "That's why I can just use my physical body to protect myself. Of course, my claws -"

"Claws!" Kanata shouted, throwing another knife.

This time, Vandalieu struck it down with his extended tongue.

"Even if you designate my claws as a target, I can simply use parts other than my claws to defend," said Vandalieu. "Well, I wouldn't die from a knife of that size hitting me, anyway," he added, speaking with his tongue extended out of his mouth and twisting around. As his skill had leveled up, he was now able to extend it even further.

"…?!" This time, Kanata was lost for words.

"Well, in summary… you showed off your cheat-like ability too much, when you're supposed to use it to kill the enemy the first time he sees it," Vandalieu concluded. "Also, why aren't you using martial skills? If you did, you might have been able to put up a better fight."

If Kanata hadn't killed anyone or used Gungnir before attempting to kill Vandalieu, he probably wouldn't have suffered such an utter defeat.

If he had used martial skills, there might have been a chance for him to kill Vandalieu. At the very least, he wouldn't have had his knife deflected by Vandalieu's tongue.

Truly exasperated, Vandalieu transferred his Mana to Levia and all of the Fire Ghosts, including Kanata's victims.

"I don't mind stabbing him with my tongue to finish him off, but… can you do it?" he asked them.

"Yes, everyone, aid me!" Levia cried. With her dress of dark-red flames expanding, she closed in on Kanata.

"Gih?!"

Levia's appearance changed in an instant; she turned into restraints that bound Kanata down in a crucified position. Starting from his legs, the dead began crawling their way up his body.

An unsightly scream came from Kanata's mouth.

"Burning Funeral… You seem to possess Fire-Attribute Resistance, but it appears that it is working against you now," said Vandalieu. "It's extremely painful and agonizing, isn't it? But you won't be able to die so quickly."

This isn't what I was told! Kanata screamed in his mind as his entire body burned little by little. Why is this guy stronger than me when I was forced to go through harsh army training in Origin?! Why can he dodge my knives so easily? He doesn't even feel any unrest or fear?! He's a guy who spent twenty years in Origin as a guinea pig! Weakened, my ass! Isn't he way more troublesome than when he was an Undead?! I have a body that can't be affected by disease or poison, but I'm still so powerless against him!

Kanata had assumed that he had known everything about Vandalieu from using his own common sense to interpret the information that Rodcorte had given him, but this had turned out to be a mistake.

The information that Rodcorte had given Kanata was only information that applied at the time he had gathered it. And that information had been gained by looking through the eyes of others. He had essentially watched a documentary with no commentary; it wasn't information that he had gathered firsthand.

Vandalieu had continued growing after this, and he had undergone much harsher experiences after reincarnating in Lambda than Kanata ever had.

Meanwhile, Kanata hadn't put in any effort after reincarnating in Lambda. He had no Job and his Attribute Values were just a little above those of the average individual who has leveled one common Job from level 0 to 100.

Kanata's Mana had already run out; he had no means of escape. He had no choice but to simply wait until he became a burnt corpse. But even so, Kanata didn't think back and regret his actions. For him, this wasn't the end.

"Damn it!" he screamed. "But don't get so full of yourself, you necrophile bastard! You thought you'd be able to turn me into an Undead and make me talk, right?! Hihi, too bad for you!"

"… What are you talking about?" asked Vandalieu.

"Those of us who are being reincarnated here, even if we die, we can return to the god before you can turn us into Undead! No matter how many times you kill us, there'll be no end! We'll just have the god reincarnate us over and over, and we'll definitely kill you!" Kanata screamed.

Kanata had no intention of dying quietly and giving up on his reward. He intended to request Rodcorte for another chance to get revenge on Vandalieu, who was looking down on him despite being a dropout of a reincarnated individual, and next time, he would certainly receive his reward, the fourth life that he had been promised.

"I won't let my guard down next time!" he shouted. "I won't face you alone, either! I'll cooperate with the others and we'll torture you before we kill you! The god promised a fourth life full of luxury to anyone who kills you, so everyone will be aiming for you! Even Amemiya, even Naruse!"

Vandalieu's tongue, which had still been extended outside, loosened and returned to the inside of his mouth.

Taking this as a sign that Vandalieu's mind had broken, Kanata felt such joy that he forgot the pain of his body being burned.

"PREPARE YOURSEEEELF! After I kill you, I'll kill those women around you - kaheh?!"

"- Sharp Tongue."

There was a wet-sounding noise that was lost in Kanata's scream of resentment, as well as the sound of a crack appearing in a hard object.

From Kanata's point of view, it appeared as if Vandalieu's tongue had pierced his chest. But there was no blood. Confused, he wondered whether he had accidentally used Gungnir, but Vandalieu returned his tongue to his mouth and continued speaking.

"I just used my spirit-form tongue to break your soul," he said. "It's my first time doing it with my tongue, so I couldn't break it into pieces with a single attack. But I put a deep crack in it, so I'm sure it will break soon."

"Eh? Huh? My soul?" Kanata repeated blankly.

"In other words, you are finished here. There won't be anything after your death, no reincarnation, no fourth life."

"You're lying! There's no way such a thing - GAAH!"

Kanata's face turned pale for the first time as he was consumed by a pain completely different from that of his body being seared by flames. The pain was intense, but he couldn't tell which part of his body was hurting.

"The god, GAAAH! Didn't mention… anything about…!"

Kanata's body was still resisting the flames, but the crack in the important thing that made up the being 'Kaidou Kanata' grew deeper and wider.

"So, you didn't know about it after all," said Vandalieu. "If you did, you wouldn't have said the stupid things you said just a moment ago. Well, even if you didn't say them, I did intend to break your soul anyway."

Kanata had been panicked and flustered up to this point, but he hadn't felt the raw despair that his face was filled with now.

"No, stop it, how, how can you do such a horrible thing?!" he cried. "To think that there's nothing left in the future for me… I-I still have a lot of things I want to do! I don't want to die, please spare me!"

Kanata screamed, feeling the terrifying sensation of his very being collapsing steadily.

Vandalieu gave a deep sigh. "Everyone thinks that," he said. "Including the people that you've killed and even the people that I've killed. Life isn't a game that you can reset, you know? You should have faced reality a little more."

For Vandalieu, who was doing his utmost to live his third life in Lambda because he didn't want a fourth one, the way Kanata lived was worthy of scorn.

Kanata felt anger take over his entire consciousness as he realized that there was contempt for him somewhere in the depths of Vandalieu's expressionlessness.

"DAMN IIIIIIT! I'LL TAKE YOU WITH ME, YOU SHEETTY FAILURE OF A BASTARD!"

Using the Assignable Active Skill* in his Status that he had made fun of for being like something out of a game, Kanata acquired the Surpass Limits skill at level 5.

Using this to overcome his limits, Kanata tried to deal Vandalieu a blow in return, but -

"- Pyuh." Letting out a comical noise, his head went limp and fell back against the ground. Though his heart was still beating, he was now completely motionless.

"Princess-sama," said Vandalieu.

He transferred Mana to Levia, who used it to burn Kanata's head clean off.

Kanata's decapitated head with a scorched, black neck rolled across the floor.

Not only Levia, but Vandalieu, who had been making little progress lately, suddenly leveled up with this influx of Experience Points.

『You have acquired the Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed (Small) and Enhanced Physical Ability (Claws, Fangs, Tongue) skills!』

『The levels of the Enhanced Agility, Commanding, Dead Spirit Magic and God Slayer skills have leveled up!』

Name: Vandalieu

Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf)

Age: 7 years old

Title:[Ghoul King],[Eclipse King],[Second Coming of the Demon King],[Taboo Name]

Job: Venom Fist User

Level: 100

Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker

Attributes:

Vitality: 344

Mana: 379,120,344

Strength: 188

Agility: 251

Stamina: 159

Intelligence: 784

Passive skills:

Superhuman Strength: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Rapid Healing: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Death-Attribute Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Status Effect Resistance: Level 7

Magic Resistance: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Dark Vision

Death-Attribute Charm: Level 7

Chant Revocation: Level 4

Strengthen Followers: Level 8

Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthen Subordinates: Level 4

Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Enhanced Agility: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Body Expansion (Tongue): Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed (Small) (NEW!)

Enhanced Physical Ability (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 1 (NEW!)

Active skills:

Bloodwork: Level 2 (Transformed from Bloodsucking!)

Surpass Limits: Level 6

Golem Transmutation: Level 6

No-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Mana Control: Level 4

Spirit Form: Level 7

Carpentry: Level 4

Engineering: Level 3

Cooking: Level 4

Alchemy: Level 4

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 5

Soul Break: Level 6

Multi-Cast: Level 5

Long-distance Control: Level 6

Surgery: Level 3

Parallel Thought Processing: Level 5

Materialization: Level 4

Coordination: Level 3

High-speed Thought Processing: Level 3

Commanding: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Farming: Level 3

Clothing: Level 2

Throwing: Level 3

Scream: Level 3

Dead Spirit Magic: Level 2 (NEW!)

Unique skills:

God Slayer: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Grotesque Mind: Level 4

Mental Encroachment: Level 3

Labyrinth Construction: Level 4

Curses

Experience gained in previous life not carried over

Cannot learn existing jobs

Unable to gain experience independently

Despite having a degenerate nature, Kanata was someone who had been granted cheat-like abilities by the god of reincarnation. It seemed that such beings yielded an amount of Experience points that couldn't be compared to normal monsters or humans.

"Vandalieu-sama, there are ninety-nine remaining, aren't there?" said Eleanora.

"Even cheat-like abilities are no match for the Holy Son," said Zran. "At this rate, won't you eliminate them all before you need to become a nobleman?"

"We will be your arms and legs and fight for you, our new king!" said Levia.

Everyone was excited over the fact that Vandalieu had so one-sidedly defeated someone from another world with cheat-like abilities, who was supposed to have been a powerful foe. But Vandalieu himself remained calm.

"No, I won't necessarily be killing the other ninety-nine," he said. "There might be people who don't want to fight me, after all."

"But this scum said…" Eleanora muttered.

"We can't trust the words of such scum," said Vandalieu.

Among the things that Kanata had said, Vandalieu didn't really believe the parts about the others who would reincarnate here.

Vandalieu didn't know what kind of social position Kanata had in Origin, nor did he know of his relationships with the others reincarnated by Rodcorte. But judging from his actions and words, it was difficult to believe that he had been an important figure. Even if he did have some close friends, they were probably few in number.

The others who would reincarnate here would probably already know, or soon know, about Kanata's demise and the fact that Vandalieu was the one who had caused it, but… Wouldn't there be some who changed their opinions given this information?

Other than keeping quiet about my Soul Break, I think Rodcorte is underestimating me when he tells the others about me. With that being the case, the fact that I've destroyed Kanata should be enough to make the others reconsider coming after me.

Of course, there would be some among them that would criticize Vandalieu for having broken Kanata's soul. Even if he told them about the inhuman things that Kanata had done, there might be some with flowery ideals in their heads insisting that Kanata was still a human.

It was unlikely that all of them would be like that, however.

"For now, we'll deal with the others reincarnating here with the same policy as we've done up until now… but what should we do if they all reincarnate here with adult bodies?" Vandalieu wondered.

If they were all to start in this world with no bonds with other people, the efforts that Vandalieu was planning to make in order to become an honorary nobleman, gain societal fame and create circumstances where it would be difficult to lay a hand on him…

"It won't be pointless, will it?" said Zran. "If you become great before them, Holy Son, even if they act like heroes and try to find faults with you, those around you will be your allies."

"Indeed," Eleanora agreed. "Even if they have incredible skills, if it comes down to choosing between people whose identities and origins are unknown and a well-known person, people will normally support the well-known person, won't they?"

"Eh? You already rule Talosheim, yet you want to become even greater?" asked Levia. "You are an unexpectedly ambitious individual."

"Our new king intends to reign supreme over this world…!"

"No wonder there's a god sending assassins after him."

"We have already perished. If we can become the cornerstones for our king's rule, nothing would make us happier!"

Princess Levia and the Ghosts of her bodyguards were stirring in excitement. It seemed that Vandalieu needed to discuss things with them a little more.

"Wait, I don't have any intentions of reigning supreme or ruling the world," he said. "For now, we'll destroy this place so that people don't make a fuss over the seal on the Demon King's blood being removed, make it look like this guy on the ground here was the one who did it… and I suppose we'll stop by the treasury where the treasures stolen from Princess Levia are being kept before we return."

It would be bad if it became known that Vandalieu and his companions had infiltrated the castle and removed the seal on the Demon King's blood, but with that said, slaughtering everyone in Duke Hartner's castle wasn't a good idea, either.

Vandalieu decided to be satisfied with these measures.

"Well then, tomorrow night, let's fly to the city ruins near the tunnel where Borkus and the others are headed," he said.

After retrieving the coffin in which the Demon King's blood had been sealed and the remains of the whips that had bound it, Vandalieu and his companions put Duke Hartner's castle behind them.

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