Chapter 49 - 100-102

Chapter 100: Dungeon-clearing is effective against back pain

With rattling sounds, the people were doing training runs, swinging spears in practice and firing practice shots with bows and arrows while wearing plate armor made of metal.

This wouldn't be an unusual sight if knights were training, but it was actually ordinary people who were receiving training, and the trainees were not only young people, but middle-aged men and women who were over thirty years old as well as white-haired elderly people.

Perhaps because they normally made their livings through physical labor such as working in the fields, stonemasonry or carpentry, they didn't appear to be weak. Still, performing vigorous exercise while wearing metal armor that was dozens of kilograms in weight should have been tough on them.

"Phew, my body is so light! It's like I've grown wings!"

"It's like I've grown younger!"

"Training is pretty fun, isn't it?"

However, these ordinary people were experiencing the pleasant sensation of sweating it out, as if they were enjoying some casual sports. Inexperienced knights would certainly lose their confidence if they saw these people.

Such inexperienced knights would likely regain their confidence once they heard the voices of the suits of armor that the people were wearing, however.

"You have excess tension in your body. Relax more."

"We'll work on your form from the beginning one more time. Ready stance, thrust, come back into ready stance, sweep."

The people were training while wearing Living Armors, Undead consisting of suits of armor haunted by spirits.

"This training method is more effective than I'd expected," remarked Vandalieu, the proposer of this idea. He gave a satisfied nod as he watched everyone enjoying themselves.

The Living Armors that now housed the spirits of the former knights of the Red Wolf Knights' Order from the Hartner Duchy who had worn them while they were alive had mostly regained their Spear Technique and Archery skills. They were level 4 on average, better than most but not first-rate, but this was enough for them to be instructors for the ordinary people from the former cultivation villages.

Also, the Living Armors were essentially powered exoskeletons for the people wearing them, so they could train for long periods of time while retaining their stamina.

This also allowed the Living Armors that were teaching them to be sensitive to what kinds of tensions and muscles needed instructions, allowing them to demonstrate their leadership abilities.

And, of course, they were suits of armor, so they also protected people's bodies.

"Living Armor training drills… let's keep doing this from now on," said Vandalieu.

"Can't you make an exception for me?!" Lina begged with red cheeks. She was wearing a Living Armor as well, so it wasn't that she was particularly tired.

"I don��t think that you need to be so embarrassed," said Saria, the Magic High-leg Armor that Lina was wearing.

There hadn't been enough Living Armors of the Red Wolf Knights' Order, and there hadn't been any that matched Lina's size.

"It isn't as if you're wearing me over your bare skin," Saria pointed out.

"That's true, but it's somehow still embarrassing," said Lina.

Lina was wearing Saria over simple clothes that were easy to move in, but Saria's design left Lina's cleavage, navel and back exposed, which appeared to be the cause of her embarrassment.

"At least let me wear a cloak over the top," Lina insisted.

"But that will make it hard to move, you know?" said Saria. "Unlike me, you aren't used to this, Lina-san, so it would be dangerous if your arms and legs were to get caught in it."

Saria couldn't understand why Lina was so embarrassed. The problem was the shape of Saria's own body. She had stopped being a human around seven years ago; the things she considered embarrassing had changed drastically from when she was alive.

But Saria's words weren't wrong. Wearing a cloak that covered the body could cause problems for an inexperienced beginner like Lina. Saria would do her best to try and prevent injury, but she wasn't perfect, either.

"Aren't you the one who chose Nee-san over me, saying that she's better?" asked Rita.

"Indeed," said Tarea, who was wearing Rita because of a lack of Living Armors of suitable size, just like Lina. "There is nothing to be so embarrassed about."

And Tarea wasn't even wearing Rita over her clothes like Lina; she was wearing Rita over the undergarments that Vandalieu had created in experiment.

It was the kind of undergarments that clung tightly to the body like a second skin, allowing for unobstructed movement, and while it didn't expose anything, the shape of her chest and waist were clearly visible.

"Just like me, you are not exposing your skin," said Tarea. She showed no signs of embarrassment despite wearing clothes that, in some ways, were more arousing to members of the opposite sex than having her skin completely exposed.

Despite being formerly human, she had completely absorbed the Ghouls' preference for wearing highly-revealing clothes.

"Ah… Mhmm, I've started to feel that it's not really something to be embarrassed about," Lina said.

It seemed that she had changed her mind after seeing Tarea showing no signs of embarrassment despite her deep cleavage drawing the eyes of men other than Vandalieu.

Perhaps it was similar to feeling more calm after seeing others in a more panicked state.

Of course, Tarea had tied a ribbon from the top of her undergarments so that her thick, muscular arms didn't stand out. It seemed that she was embarrassed not by her chest or waist, but by her upper arms.

Feeling slightly disappointed about this, Vandalieu began producing strings from his mouth.

"Should I add some decorations to make it harder to see your body?" he suggested.

Since Tarea wouldn't always be by Lina's side, he quickly knitted something with Thread-reeling.

He also felt apologetic towards Fester for making his girlfriend so embarrassed.

Incidentally, Rita, whom Tarea was wearing, was in a bad mood. This had begun when Tarea had said, "It is a little tight around my chest, can you not adjust it a little?"

"Kuh, as to be expected of you, Tarea-san. It seems that I cannot defeat you in size just yet," Rita said.

"Rita, Tarea-san's abdomen is just as large to make up for it -"

"But Nee-san, those are abdominal muscles, not fat!"

"… You two, I can hear you clearly," said Tarea.

Lina and the others became accustomed to moving while wearing the Living Armors after around an hour of warm-up exercises. Now they were going into the E-class Dungeon that Vandalieu had created to test his Labyrinth Construction skill, named the 'Ghoul King's Experimental Grounds.'

Of course, they weren't being told to polish their skills in real battles right away.

"Now then, begin," Vandalieu ordered.

"Alright!" said Ivan, thrust his spear towards a Kobold despite feeling a little scared. The tip of his spear pierced the chest of the Kobold that was standing as still as a wooden dummy, emerging from its back.

The others were also thrusting their spears and firing their crossbows at unmoving monsters. The monsters made no attempts to avoid the attacks and simply fell to the ground.

"We defeated them…"

"My arrow hit?"

"I've exterminated Goblins before, but now I've beaten an agile Kobold…"

"Ugh, it feels more unpleasant than I'd expected."

There were those who felt exhilarated by the sensation of gaining Experience Points and the sense of accomplishment, and others who grimaced at the feeling of killing living creatures made of flesh and blood… humanoid creatures, even if they were monsters.

"It seems that having them get accustomed to combat by attacking dummies first was the correct choice," said the Living Armor of the former squad leader of the Red Wolf Knights' Order.

Vandalieu nodded.

The monsters that Ivan and the others had just defeated were soulless dummy monsters created by Vandalieu's Dungeon.

They were normally set to attack detected intruders, just like normal Dungeons. However, Vandalieu had set restrictions such as that they would not finish enemies that were unable to fight and would not chase fleeing enemies.

But now they were complete dummies for the purpose of training… just like real wooden training dummies, they wouldn't move no matter what was done to them.

For those with a certain level of combat abilities, defeating monsters in this state would be like harvesting plants; their skill levels wouldn't increase much.

But for amateurs with no skills, this was physical training to polish their skills.

The most efficient way of acquiring combat-oriented skills was in real battle. This was because defeating enemies while using weapons would grant large amounts of Experience Points.

The Labyrinth Construction skill was convenient because it allowed this to be done without any risk.

And the people could become used to not letting their guard down due to the exhilarating post-battle feeling or the feeling of disgust that beginners experienced, and get rid of their hesitation, risk-free.

Ivan and his companions had experienced killing Goblins once or twice in order to create Gobu-gobu. They had killed rats, hares, fish and birds for food countless times.

However, this wasn't enough to be able to ignore the Experience Points gained from defeating monsters of Rank 2 and above or ignore the unpleasant sensation of killing humanoid monsters in order to deal with the next threat without letting their guards down.

"Well, against Rank 2 monsters, even if you let your guards down, the Living Armors can just punch the monsters to death," said Saria. "Ah, Lina-san. There is too much tension in your back. Please relax."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Now please pull the trigger."

Lina, who was wearing Saria whose armor Vandalieu had attached frills and laces to, made of his strings that wouldn't obstruct movement so that she could feel less embarrassed, pulled the trigger of a small crossbow. The arrow flew straight ahead of her into the chest of a Kobold.

"I-it hit…" she murmured.

"Please load the next arrow," said Saria.

"Okay."

Incidentally, Tarea was next to them, wearing Rita who was also now covered in frills and laces, firing a crossbow at a Huge Bone Rabbit in the same way.

"Incidentally, is it alright to only train in using spears and crossbows?" Tarea asked. "If we are preparing for emergency situations, would it not be better to train with short swords and throwing weapons?"

"It's true that nobody is going to be walking around with spears on their backs or crossbows in their hands," Rita agreed.

Neither the spears as long as people's heights that Ivan and the others were swinging nor the crossbow that Tarea was currently using could be called exceptionally portable weapons. They were too large and heavy for ordinary people to carry around.

Making them collapsible would increase their portability, but as the weapons were supposed to be used in emergency situations, it would defeat the purpose.

But according to the former squad leader of the Red Wolf Knights' Order, it wasn't really a problem.

"No, once you have acquired skills, that problem will be solved," he said. "The gods are generous. After you have acquired the Spear Technique skill, you can switch from a long spear to a short one and still use them as long as you remember your form. The crossbows can also be replaced by easy-to-carry short bows once you have acquired the Archery skill.』

Lambda's skill system was quite broad in terms of martial skills.

For example, both a spear as long as a person's height and a short spear of less than a meter in length could be used for the Spear Technique skill. There was no such thing as Long Spear Technique or Short Spear Technique.

There was no Crossbow Technique; crossbows used the Archery skill.

Both clubs and hammers used Club Technique. Bladed weapons were separated into Swordsmanship and Short Sword Technique depending on the length of the blade, but both a one-handed, thin rapier and a two-handed claymore used Swordsmanship.

Of course, the martial skills that could be used were different between weapons even if they used the same skill; in fact, even the ways they were used were different depending on the most appropriate time to use them and the weight and shape of the weapons.

For instance, a warrior who was skilled in the use of Triple Slash to unleash consecutive attacks with a claymore couldn't suddenly become a master of the rapier, which wasn't suited to making slashing attacks.

That was why it was considered best for those who were soldiers and knights by occupation to learn to start off using the same weapons as the ones they would be using in the future.

However, the ones being trained were ordinary people. Though this was a little inconvenient, they were not professionals that lived in battle.

"Thus, we will first have you learn skills and then have you learn how to use weapons suited for carrying around. This will allow you to receive the benefits of the skills and learn to use them in a short period of time," the former squad leader explained.

It seemed that this was the standard way to prepare ordinary people for battle in a limited period of time.

Lambda was a world considered inferior by the gods, but because monsters and nations had fought each other throughout its history, training exercises had been thought about considerably.

"I see," said Tarea. "But I believe a light short spear will be easier to use than a long, heavy one, am I wrong?"

"That is true, but in this case, we are providing everyone with physical strength and stamina, so even the long spears do not cause any problems. And though they are not moving, we are training everyone with live monsters rather than dummies, so… we thought that it would be best for you to be far away from them."

"Ah, indeed, that is true."

Short spears were easier to use, but that would mean having to kill monsters from a closer distance. That would mean being sprayed by the monster's blood and witnessing its dying moment up-close.

That would likely weaken the willpower of Ivan and the others, who were inexperienced in battle.

"Is that true?" asked Saria. It seemed that this had never occurred to her and Rita, who had been Undead for a long time, because they only felt hunger in response to the smell of blood.

"Apparently so," said Vandalieu.

Incidentally, the reason they weren't training in Throwing Technique was simply because few of the Living Armor instructors possessed the Throwing Technique skill.

"Killing enemies with throwing weapons needs knives, short spears and axes, but we didn't have the budget for providing enough of these to be discarded with each use," the former squad leader explained. "And bows and arrows are easier to carry many of."

"Oh my, could we not simply throw stones if we have no arrows? If we gather appropriately-sized stones beforehand, we will have no inconveniences regarding ammunition. Isn't that right, Van-sama?" said Tarea.

"You're right," Vandalieu agreed.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," said the former squad leader. "We did not possess the Superhuman Strength skill when we were alive, so throwing stones was impossible for us in various ways."

Stone-throwing was an effective method of fighting for ordinary people on Earth, but it apparently wasn't very effective in Lambda without the Superhuman Strength skill.

This could be compensated for by high Attribute Values, but… those with such high Attribute Values would be able to defeat enemies without having to resort to stone-throwing.

And so, in just one day, Ivan, Lina and the others acquired the Spear Technique and Archery skills.

On the next day, they switched to short spears and short bows for fundamental training. After that, they trained in real battles against Rank 1 monsters in the Ghoul King's Experimental Grounds. Once they became accustomed to this, they engaged in real battles against Rank 2 monsters.

Within ten days, everyone had acquired level 2 skills.

"I feel kind of refreshed around my stomach!"

"My level increased as well. I will be able to undergo a Job-change soon."

"At this rate, I could aim to become an explorer and… Ouch!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself! You'll just end up getting injured and causing trouble for everyone!"

Ivan and the others went back home, taking the short spears, bows and arrows that they had used for training with them as well as ten days' worth of average pay.

"To think that ordinary people who are not even young would be able to gain level 2 skills in just ten days, without any bonuses to skills from Jobs…" Because he was an empty suit of armor, it was difficult to tell that the former squad leader was surprised, but he probably was.

"Is it something that's never happened before?" asked Vandalieu.

The former squad leader's helmet clattered as it moved up and down in a nod. "Something that has never happened before, or rather… if it had, regular soldiers would not be able to afford to feed themselves."

There would be no reason to pay high wages to those with skills that could be attained by amateurs in the space of ten days.

It was generally expected that the average soldier would have combat-oriented skills at level 2. It wasn't that this was a standard that had been decided upon for regular soldiers. It was simply that level 2 was where their skills settled at as a result of various circumstances.

Those circumstances were the quality and amount of their daily training and experience in real battles. Even soldiers didn't spend every day fighting. Their jobs included policing, escorting, patrolling and deskwork as well. Soldier quality was important for those who hired them as well, but they couldn't spend money and time endlessly to improve the quality of those soldiers.

As a result, the skill level of the average soldier was level 2.

Thus, if it was common for ordinary people to acquire these skills in just ten days, statesmen would be forced to pay large amounts of money to have soldiers train their skills to level 3.

"Well, they trained using a method that has never been used before, so I suppose that's how it is," said Vandalieu.

The Living Armor instructors, monster targets that allowed Experience Points to be gained safely and real battle experience with the instructors' support.

Vandalieu was likely the first in history to go this far to train ordinary people in combat.

"I think you being a Guider has something to do with it as well, Bocchan," said Saria.

"That might be the case, but… I don't get a feeling that I'm using the Guidance: Demon Path skill other than the constantly-applied bonus to everyone's Attribute Values," said Vandalieu.

He wasn't aware of the effects of the Guidance skill… In fact, he wasn't even aware that he was walking on a demon path. It was a skill that Vandalieu couldn't sense.

As Vandalieu watched Ivan and the others leave, Fester, who had come to pick Lina up, called out to him.

"Hey, Vandalieu, I wanted to ask you… could you make clothes for Lina in the same shape as Saria? With the laces and frills."

"… If it's clothes rather than armor, I can, but has Lina agreed to this?" Vandalieu asked.

"No, I mean, it's hard to talk to her about it -"

Smack.

"Stop asking for stupid things and hurry up! You're the one who came to pick me up, right?!"

Lina dragged Fester back home. It seemed that the training had placed her even more firmly in her position above Fester in their relationship.

"Muh, why Nee-san?" Rita wondered. "I'm sexy, too."

"Bocchan, when you do make such clothes, please make it possible to tell them apart from me, like making them a different color!" said Saria.

"You really are young, aren't you?" Tarea remarked.

Incidentally, in the days to come, Lina would send a request for Vandalieu to estimate some costs through Zadiris, who visited the trading post regularly as an explorer.

It was possible that the time for her wedding ceremony was close.

In the Bahn Gaia continent, there were apparently no rules against premarital sexual relations as long as both individuals were adults.

The working Ghoul women had also raised their skill levels to 2 within ten days. They hadn't particularly tried to learn these skills up until now, but they had possessed the qualities to do so, so it wasn't particularly surprising.

"Umm, Van-sama, my Archery skill has also become level 2," said Tarea. "I would love to always be by your side, but I must return to my work -"

She possessed incredible skill as a craftsman but had been level 0 as a Ghoul, but she had acquired Experience Points for the first time during this ten-day training, increasing her level dramatically.

It wasn't enough for her Rank to increase, but her Attribute Points had increased considerably. It didn't have any direct effect on her Arms Smith skill, but her increased physical strength would be useful for her work.

Most importantly, it was good for her back.

"You should continue with this to get rid of your back pain," said Vandalieu. "I was just planning to clear the two Dungeons in the marshlands, too."

"Wha-?! I will die if I enter a high-difficulty Dungeon where Earth Dragons begin appearing from the first floor!" Tarea exclaimed.

"That's true for the one called the 'Scaled King's Nest.' I'm not talking about that one, I'm talking about the 'Lizardmen's Nest.'"

"A D-class Dungeon is only one class above the Ghoul King's Experiment Grounds, so it will be fine for you as you are now, Tarea-san," said Saria.

"We'll support you as well," said Rita.

The two of them had decided that Tarea would be able to follow Vandalieu in his conquest of a D-class Dungeon as long as she was just staying behind and firing arrows.

In fact, the boss fight would be difficult with a skill level of two, but it would be enough to deal with the monsters they would encounter in the upper floors. And Tarea's Attribute Values alone were equivalent to a D-class adventurer's.

"But that Dungeon is not one that you created, is it, Van-sama?! The monsters will attack us normally!" Tarea protested.

It seemed that a different level of determination was needed to go from practicing real battles to actually fighting them.

"It will be fine," Vandalieu reassured her. "We'll protect you. Do your best so that your Rank can increase."

Tarea seemed dissatisfied, but finally agreed. "Very well. Very well… so please say it one more time. Say 'I' instead of 'we.'"

"It will be fine because I'll protect you," Vandalieu said.

"Yes, Van-sama~♪"

The reality, however, was that Vandalieu could solo-clear a D-class Dungeon with ease.

"Ghouls act like maidens despite their age, don't they?" Rita remarked.

"But Rita, wouldn't you like him to say it to you as well?" said Saria.

"Hmm, it's not like I'm not interested, but we're suits of armor, aren't we? I feel like suits of armor being protected is quite a contradiction."

"That is true… The conflict between a suit of armor's heart and a maiden's heart. A difficult problem."

"Is it really difficult?" Vandalieu asked, confused. He was willing to say it as many times as they wanted if it would make them happy.

As the weather became colder, Vandalieu visited the marshlands once more in order to clear the Dungeons. The first thing he did was have Bone Man and Shashuja take him around so that he could inspect each area of the marshlands.

He wanted to see whether the training of the Lizardmen to work on the Capricorn farm was going well and whether the Lizardmen had any requests or problems with their lives here.

Of course, the Lizardmen were genuine monsters rather than members of Vida's races. Many of them were astounded that the one who had conquered them was even taking the effort of coming and asking such things.

"Monsters are quite easy to rule over, aren't they?" Vandalieu muttered.

Monsters' ways of thinking were quite different to those of people. They thoroughly believed that the strong were always right.

For instance, if their friends, parents, siblings and children were killed or eaten for stupid reasons, people would hate rulers and plot betrayal no matter how strong the rulers were.

But monsters wouldn't consider it unless they were pressed or forced to betray rulers by someone who seemed even stronger. They would only think of betraying rulers if the rulers showed signs of weakness.

For them, their friends being killed by rulers for pointless reasons and their friends being killed by other monsters or people were completely different things.

"Shuu?" Shashuja, who seemed uncertain as to whether Vandalieu was dissatisfied with something, licked his own eyes with his tongue.

"My lord, as monsters, we are the more peculiar ones," said Bone Man.

As he said, the Undead who possessed their personalities from their previous lives as well as the members of the new races created through the influence of the death attribute, who could understand the values of people, were more peculiar as far as monsters went.

In fact, the Demon King Guduranis, the ancestor of monsters, had created them to use as an army. There would be no value in an army that would betray him and his servants, who were more powerful than the monsters.

It was better than hearing complaints from the Lizardmen for years over how their companions had been killed, so Vandalieu didn't particularly mind. He didn't intend to do anything unreasonable to them just because he ruled over them now, but it was nice and simple that they would obey him just because he was strong.

Though it was unusual, the Lizardmen did report one thing that was troubling them. Vandalieu went to look at it and found himself looking confusedly at the sight of Lizardmen children who had emerged from their eggs only a few days ago.

"They look healthy to me?" he said.

Gyuu, kugyuu, kugyuu.

Lizardmen children were adorable. But the children that were crying energetically seemed perfectly healthy to Vandalieu. They were eating plenty, eating frogs and fish by biting their heads to begin with.

But Shashuja pointed at the children's heads.

"Now that I look carefully… their heads are shaped differently?"

Shashuja nodded. The children's heads weren't same shape as ordinary Lizardmen.

To put it simply, they were crocodile-shaped.

There was no mistake that their parents were Lizardmen, but all of the children hatched after the Scaled King's defeat had apparently been born shaped like crocodiles rather than like lizards.

"That is how it is, my lord… Do you have any memories of secretly immersing them in death-attribute Mana?" asked Bone Man.

"None at all, but… Considering the timing, this should be the effect of Guidance: Demon Path," said Vandalieu.

It seemed that a new race had been born yet again.

"Let's name them Armans for now," said Vandalieu.

『The level of the Guidance: Demon Path skill has increased!』

Job explanation:

[Tree Caster]

A Job that can be acquired by having a certain amount of knowledge regarding plants and taming many (over a hundred) plant-type monsters.

This Job makes it easy to increase the Vitality Attribute Value.

Also, this Job allows the acquisition of the Plant Binding skill, which grants the ability to equip plant-type monsters inside the body.

This Job has an effect of allowing plants to be cultivated inside the body. This includes fungi, molds and phytoplankton.

Those who acquire this Job are likely to be able to produce exceptional results in farming, the making of bread and certain pastries, fermented food, forestry and fishing involving the use of seaweed, aquatic plants and phytoplankton.

However, it would normally be considered impossible to tame over a hundred plant-type monsters, and even those praised as wise men in Lambda do not possess the required amount of knowledge (There is not enough known about fungi, molds and fermentation), so it would be difficult for anyone other than Vandalieu to acquire this Job unless he were to directly teach them the required knowledge.

Liked it? Take a second to support Novels on Patreon!

Chapter 101: The meeting between those who crawl on the ceiling

Traps set in Dungeons generally targeted those who walked on the ground and those standing near walls. There were very few that targeted those flying through the air.

The reason for this was that for the Demon King Guduranis, the creator of the Dungeons, they were breeding grounds for the monsters that formed his army and traps for treasure-seeking humans.

It was said that Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, changed this so that Dungeons were a place to train and acquire resources and treasures.

But Ricklent had fallen into slumber before the end of the war, and, of course, the Demon King had been sealed.

Neither the Demon King nor Ricklent had imagined that people would be able to fly.

There were currently races created by Vida that could fly, such as pterosaur-type Drakonids and bat-type Beast-people, but before those races existed, no people could fly except for those with precious Magic Items, those with the ability to use advanced magic and those who had tamed flying monsters.

For the Demon King and Ricklent, it could be safely assumed that there were many more flying monsters than people with any method of proceeding through a Dungeon other than walking across its floors.

Even so, some B-class and A-class Dungeons contained traps targeting those who could fly, but such traps didn't appear in Class Dungeons and below.

However, there were some monsters in Dungeons resembling caverns and ruins that clung to the ceilings and looked to take adventurers by surprise.

A mucus-like monster called a Slime was clinging to the ceiling in this particular Dungeon.

This Slime, whose instincts as a monster generated by the Dungeon made it prioritize the repulsion of intruders over its own life, patiently waited for its prey to pass by beneath it.

But the Slime heard the rustling of something crawling along the ceiling. It ignored this sound, thinking that it was just some other monsters.

But the source of the sound drew closer to the Slime.

Monsters born in the same Dungeon didn't share any feelings of companionship. Though they prioritized other monsters less than the repulsion of intruders, they were still just prey.

The Slime obeyed its instincts and decided that this approaching monster was prey.

But what approached it was not a monster. It was an intruder with spider legs protruding from its back and bee legs extending from its sides, crawling along the ceiling.

The Slime did not see things as people did, but the presence it sensed was so bizarre that even its instincts stopped functioning.

"Hmm? The reaction suddenly disappeared?"

Vandalieu, who had gone on ahead to use Danger Sense: Death in order to see whether there was any danger such as traps on the ceiling, was confused by the sudden disappearance of the reaction that he had sensed and his gaze began to wander around.

He had been certain that there had been a trap or a monster waiting for an ambush from the ceiling, but… there was no way that a trap would disappear on its own, and even if the monster fled, it was unnatural for it to do so without making a single noise.

He tried using Detect Life and found a response, but it wasn't a very strong one. He hadn't sensed a large danger to begin with, so it was likely a venomous insect or something.

Coming to this conclusion, Vandalieu decided to continue, but then he froze as he felt a wet sensation on his hand.

Vandalieu and his party had challenged the D-class Dungeon, the Lizardmen's Nest, in order to power-level Tarea and to have the Lizardmen become absolutely loyal to him, and they had gained immediate results.

"I have tamed a Slime," Vandalieu announced happily, having brought back a Slime with a washbasin's worth of fluid volume and an internal core the size of a child's fist.

"Oh, that's definitely a Slime."

"It really is! It's my first time seeing one."

"How rare."

"This is also my first time seeing a Slime."

"It's certainly a Slime."

Kasim, Zeno, Fester, Tarea and Rita were all surrounding the Slime, impressed.

"It is true that it is rare, but why does Bocchan seem so happy?" Saria asked, and everyone looked at Vandalieu, suddenly wondering the same thing.

For him, Slimes were indeed rare. This enormous, amoeba-like Rank 2 monster was an enemy that would be dangerous for beginner adventurers if they were caught by surprise. Attacks with farming tools and improvised weapons were ineffective, as Slimes possessed great resistance to impacts.

But in the end, they were only Rank 2. They could be defeated by brute force using martial skills, and a thrusting weapon could be used to pierce the core to defeat them easily.

They could be exterminated even more easily using offensive magic spells.

Superior Slime races such as Metal Slimes and Poison Slimes were enemies that one would need to stay vigilant against, but ordinary Slimes were nothing but small fry as long as they weren't handled carelessly.

In fact, even in Devil's Nests, they often concealed themselves in hidden places and scavenged corpses rather than actively hunting other monsters.

That was why they were simply rare monsters that were seldom encountered.

It was difficult to imagine that anyone would be happy about taming them. Especially Vandalieu, who had already tamed numerous high-Rank monsters.

"It's because it's a Slime," said Vandalieu.

For him, Slimes were a great example of monsters that appeared in fantasy works, just like Goblins.

Unlike the Slimes that appeared in an extremely popular international game on Earth, the jiggling, quivering Slime in Vandalieu's arms wasn't comical or cute in appearance. In fact, it was dark-colored, viscous and odd.

But it was still a Slime.

"It's weak now, but I'm sure it will become strong," said Vandalieu. "Just like Bone Man, the other Undead, Pete and Pain."

Bone Man, who now rode Demon Horses and Leo (formerly the Scaled King), and the calamity-designated Bone Fort Knochen, had originally been Rank 1 Living Bones. Though the Slime was currently Rank 2, there was more than enough of a chance it could become a calamity-designated race surpassing Dragons in the future.

Click-click.

Pete and Pain, a former Pain Worm, emerged from Vandalieu to agree.

Pete had become a Rank 5 Lightning Centipede that emitted electricity from the horns on his head, while Pain had become a Rank 4 Fur Worm with a lot of fluffy hair covering his body.

"That's true…" everyone said simultaneously. Given Vandalieu's track record, they had no choice but to agree.

"Then we'll have to be careful to make sure that the Slime doesn't catch up to us," said Kasim.

"If I recall, Bone-Man-san took eight years to… Won't it be difficult?" asked Zeno.

"I do not mind in the slightest if he catches up to me," said Tarea.

"Bocchan, please raise us properly too!" said Rita.

Kasim and the others hadn't been opposed to the idea. They were satisfied by Vandalieu's explanation and seemed certain now that this Slime would one day become a big figure.

Normally, those of Rank 5 or 6 would already be considered big figures.

"Incidentally, your Majesty, what will you name it?" asked Princess Levia, who was floating a short distance away as the Slime seemed to be frightened of her.

Vandalieu thought for a moment before answering. "Let's name him Kühl."

It was the name of a military nation in Origin, sounding like a German word that meant "cold." It seemed that Slimes were genderless, so this name was probably fine.

"I see. Nice to meet you, Kühl," said Kasim. "By the way, are we going to walk on and have it follow us? Or are you going to have someone carry it?"

"Ah, it's alright," said Vandalieu. "I can equip him with Insect Binding Technique." The moment he finished saying these words, the Slime Kühl was absorbed into his arms.

"… Were Slimes always insects?" asked Zeno.

"That's the biggest surprise of the day," said Rita.

"The Insect Binding Technique probably includes all creatures that move around by crawling, not just insects," said Vandalieu.

If Slimes counted as insects in this regard, it was possible that Vandalieu would be able to equip snakes and lizards as well. Dragons would likely be impossible, however.

There were no historical records of the D-class Dungeon called the Lizardmen's Nest, but it was likely to be quite old.

According to the information passed by mouth to the wise Lizardmen like Shashuja, the Lizardmen produced by this Dungeon were their ancestors.

In Talosheim, directly north of the marshlands, it had been recorded on stone tablets that Lizardmen had existed nearby for tens of thousands of years, so this Dungeon had likely appeared before then.

The Lizardmen, who had emerged from the Lizardmen's Nests in a monster rampage, had won the battle for survival in the marshlands and settled there. And then they had conquered the Lizardmen's Nest in order to gain a reliable source of food and experience in battle.

It was quite ironic that a Dungeon would be conquered by monsters that had emerged from it in a monster rampage.

And the Lizardman who had cleared this Dungeon on his own was a being acknowledged by the god who had created him (whose name was not known), so there was apparently a custom among the Lizardmen of these marshlands where they paid their respects to this exemplary member of their race.

This Lizardman had been the chief of the group who had formed the non-aggression pact with Talosheim in the past.

"Then isn't it likely that you won't be recognized as an exemplary individual if you clear the Dungeon with us?" asked Kasim.

"That's not a problem," said Vandalieu. "I'll be soloing when I clear the B-class Dungeon that Leo (the Scaled King) came from, anyway."

The above-mentioned honorary custom had fallen out of use when the B-class Dungeon that had given birth to Leo appeared.

"Though you say you will solo, we will be with you," Princess Levia reminded him.

Click-click.

And so they cleared the Dungeon up to the twelfth floor with ease. Befitting of the birthplace of the Lizardmen, most of the monsters in this Dungeon were Lizardmen, so Kasim and the others would have found it difficult on their own, but the Rank 5 Levia, the Rank 6 Living Armor sisters and Vandalieu himself were with them.

There was no chance that a D-class Dungeon would give them problems. And the Labyrinth Construction skill informed Vandalieu of each floor's layout as he stepped into them, so they never even lost their way.

If they wanted to, they could have even done a complete run through the Dungeon in just a few hours.

Their objectives were the leveling of Tarea, Kühl, Kasim and his friends and to check the value of the resources in the Dungeon. Tarea's Night Vision skill had transformed to the Dark Vision skill under the effect of the Eclipse King Title along the way, and Kasim and his friends had acquired the Night Vision skill thanks to the Title's effect as well, so they spent two days in the Dungeon for them to get used to their new vision as well.

As a result, their levels increased significantly. Most importantly, Kasim had become able to actually use Shield Bash rather than just screaming the skill's name in pretense.

"Did you see my Shield Bash?! I shattered the Lizardman General boss's greatsword!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, I saw it!" Tarea shouted. "I saw you take the Lizardman General's attack directly from the front and your shield shatter along with its sword! How can you have your defensive equipment broken as a shield-bearer, even if your opponent is the Dungeon boss?!"

"Eh, I mean, I couldn't help it?"

"You could! If you wish to boast proudly, make sure you become able to repel the boss and his martial technique without breaking your shield!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Though Kasim had made great efforts, those efforts had resulted in his shield breaking, so Tarea scolded him.

Vandalieu had wanted to warn Kasim as well, but he hesitated, seeing that he was too late. Seeing Kasim feeling depressed after Tarea's nagging, he thought that lecturing him further would be a bad idea, so he ended up comforting him instead. "… Well, that shield was full of scratches, anyway. It has been holding out against similarly powerful opponents since you came to Talosheim, so I'm sure it was nearing the end of its lifespan."

"Van-sama, how can you be so soft on him?" Tarea asked. "I am saying these things to him for his sake -"

"I'm sure Kasim already understands," said Vandalieu. "Isn't that right, Kasim?"

"Yeah. I'll be careful from now on, Tarea-san," said Kasim.

Seeing Tarea and Vandalieu's conversation reminded him of the times he was scolded by his parents. Back then, his mother had been angry as well, while his father calmed her down.

Tarea looked to be only a few years older than Kasim in appearance, and Vandalieu was less than half his age, so it felt significantly out of place, however.

Of course, Tarea's real age was over two hundred and seventy and the number of years that Vandalieu had lived in total was over forty years.

"Well, let's replace our equipment when we get back to Talosheim. My sword has started to fall apart, too," said Fester as he looked at the chipped blade of his longsword. He and Zeno had been talking to each other about how they should clear the Dungeon without Vandalieu's supervision next time.

"Will you be upgrading to Death Iron equipment?" Vandalieu asked.

"Hmm… It's tempting, but I still think it would be a waste for us to use it," said Fester.

If they were to indulge in exceptional equipment, they would become negligent in the training of their techniques. It seemed that they planned to do their best with iron and steel equipment for a while longer.

"So, was there anything that seemed useful in this Dungeon?" Zeno asked.

"There weren't any minerals, but there were fish like catfish, swamp prawns and swamp crabs that can also be found in the marshlands, and mud," said Vandalieu.

"Mud?" Princess Levia repeated.

"Yes. The grey mud that can be found in a part of this Dungeon has fine dirt, so I think it will be good for beauty products."

The mud-packs that had been available on Earth. Of course, Vandalieu had no experience with mud packs or beauty salons that had used mud products, but wouldn't he be able to do the same thing with this mud?

"Oh my, is that true?!" Tarea exclaimed.

"That's good for you, isn't it, Tarea-san?" said Princess Levia.

"I see," said Saria.

"More importantly, Bocchan, you said that catfish are delicious when cooked with the kaba* method, but how are you supposed to cook them with the kaba method?" asked Rita.

"Come to think of it, I heard from Hannah-san that there are Lava Hippopotamuses that live in boiling lava, but… I wonder if you use those to cook them?" Princess Levia wondered.

The only one interested in skin beauty among the women present now was Tarea.

After all, the other four didn't have skin. What appeared to be skin was actually spirit form.

"Kabayaki takes time, so I'll try it when we return. It will be my first time doing it myself, too," said Vandalieu. "Incidentally, I won't be using hippopotamuses."

Meanwhile, Tarea and Kühl had both increased in Rank.

Tarea had become a Rank 4 Ghoul Artisan first, and now a Rank 5 Ghoul High Artisan. There hadn't been any large changes to her appearance, but tattoo-like patterns had appeared on her skin, centered around her arms.

And as expected of the Artisan in her race name, it seemed that there were bonuses to her crafting skills.

Kühl had become a Rank 4 Venom Slime. The volume of its body had increased and its color had become a poisonous-looking purple, but Vandalieu was expecting it to develop even further.

"Fufufufu, once we get back, we must have the working Ghouls level up in turn and have their Ranks increase," said Tarea, spellbound by her arms that moved more nimbly and powerfully than before. It seemed that her memory of how opposed she had been to leveling around half a month ago had vanished into the distance.

"Please be careful when leveling them," said Vandalieu. "Have them wear the armor of the Red Wolf Knights' Order, and don't forget to post requests at the trading post to recruit people to support them."

"Of course," said Tarea. "You should do your best in clearing the B-class Dungeon as well, Van-sama."

"Once we get back, we need to get new equipment and find new party members," said Kasim.

"Things went well this time because Vandalieu and everyone else were with us, but things will be tough with just the three of us," said Zeno.

"Yeah, do your best," said Fester. "I'm sure you two can find nice girls like my Lina as well."

"That's not what we meant!" Kasim and Zeno shouted together.

The Dungeon that had given birth to Leo, named the Scaled King's Nest, was in the depths of the cavern that Leo had been using as his burrow.

"Well then, here I go," said Vandalieu as he entered without any particular signs of enthusiasm, being watched by a large number of Lizardmen.

The Lizardmen who had served the Scaled King seemed skeptical that he would really be alright on his own as they watched him go. They were intelligent and had an advanced society for monsters, but they were still monsters.

They would not recognize those who were not strong as superior beings, as rulers. With that absolute instinct in mind, Vandalieu hadn't fought the Scaled King directly, so some of the Lizardmen had their doubts whether he had the qualities of a ruler.

He had fired the projectile that had killed the Familiar Spirit (actually the Spirit Clone) of the evil god that had given the Scaled King his divine protection by smashing its heart, but it wasn't as if the Familiar Spirit's (Spirit Clone's) corpse could be found lying around, so naturally, some had begun to doubt Vandalieu's abilities after some time passed.

This was especially true for those that had served the Scaled King.

Vandalieu could always have Bone Man and the Black Bull Knights' Order use physical force to convince them if they caused problems, but it would be troublesome to have to repeat this over and over, so Vandalieu had decided to solo the Dungeon, leveling himself and his monsters in the process.

Though he had told them that he would be soloing, the Lizardmen would not be able to see him once he entered the Dungeon, so he would be letting everyone out once inside.

"As expected of a Dungeon where Dragons appear; it is quite large, isn't it?" Princess Levia remarked as she appeared.

Pete gave a hiss as he emerged from Vandalieu's body.

"It's quite different from Barigen's Fall Life-Mountain, even though they're both B-class Dungeons," said Rita. "Barigen's Fall Life-Mountain's internal structure was all mountains."

"Well, it is a mountain," said Saria.

The two sisters had simply been stored in Vandalieu's luggage. The suits of armor that were their actual bodies actually had very little volume, so once they erased their spirit forms, the armors folded up and were easily carried.

Bone Man had insisted that his bones could be taken apart and absorbed by a large worm, but there was a chance that they would be digested, so he had been stationed in the marshlands.

"Is everyone alright?" Vandalieu asked.

"Ugh… We are alright, but… This is something that I cannot get used to," said Zadiris.

"It's quite harsh on us," said Vigaro.

The two of them had emerged from Vandalieu's body after Pete, and Basdia was with them as well.

"Being infested by the parasite is alright, but… being equipped inside you with your Insect Binding Technique, Van, is a little…" Basdia muttered.

"Now that you mention it, what is it like inside me?" Vandalieu asked.

"… It's dark and we can't see anything. While we're equipped, we can't move, but the other creatures can, so we can feel them crawling around on top of our bodies… we can hear the sounds of the insects' wings in our ears, too."

"Wow."

It wasn't just that they found insects unpleasant; it seemed that the inside of his body was an extremely unpleasant place for people to be.

"Well, it is called the Insect Binding Technique," said Zadiris. "The insects are the main part. Also, we could not hear the sounds made by the Ents and Monster Plants, so the ones equipped by the Plant Binding Technique are likely in a different place."

"It's amazing that Eleanora and Luciliano were always willing to be equipped," said Vigaro.

"That's true," Vandalieu agreed. "Well, Luciliano's unlikely to care about a little discomfort once his ambition for research is fired up."

"Hmm, was it really that unpleasant to have insects crawl around on you?" Rita wondered.

"I wonder? I do recall that it is unpleasant, though," said Saria.

"The normal sense of touch… I lost my body two hundred years ago, so I cannot remember," said Princess Levia.

"It was certainly unpleasant," said Darcia.

As the four of them didn't have skin to speak of, they only felt confusion during this discussion.

As if the monsters had heard the noise, the ground suddenly rumbled.

"It seems that the first monster has appeared, so let's leave the talk for later… and let���s begin our leveling," said Vandalieu.

And so the power-leveling on the stage of the B-class Dungeon that nobody had cleared in over a hundred years began.

Name: Tarea

Rank: 5

Race: Ghoul High Artisan

Level: 17

Job: Arms Smith: Skilled Artisan

Job Level: 90

Job history: Apprentice Arms Smith, Arms Smith → Slave (Forced job change at level 47), Apprentice Prostitute, Prostitute, Arms Smith (Level 48)

Age: 271 years old (18 years old physically and in appearance)

Passive skills:

Night Vision → Dark Vision (Transformed!)

Pain Resistance: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Superhuman Strength: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Paralyzing Venom Secretion (Claws): Level 1

Allure: Level 4

Active skills:

Estimation: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Armor Smithing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Weapon Smithing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Bedroom Skill: Level 5

Dancing: Level 2

Love-making: Level 2

Archery: Level 3 (NEW!)

Title explanation:

[Monstrosity]

A name acquired by those feared by numerous influential beings.

But those with this Title are not simply feared; the Title cannot be obtained unless a strange, ominous aura surrounds them.

Those who acquire this Title are often monsters whose true identities are not known to the higher-ranking individuals and bosses in societal organizations, including the Adventurers' Guild, so those with this Title are treated with caution once they are known to possess it. However, they might simply draw attention in the underworld. When monsters possess this Title, it becomes easier for them to acquire subordinates.

Those who have acquired this Title attract the attention of those who fear them more easily, and more individuals in the underworld take notice of them and draw closer.

In the past, there have been numerous cases where statesmen deliberately gave the Monstrosity Title to bosses of criminal organizations that had become so tremendous that gaining more subordinates made no difference to them in order to watch out for their movements.

Chapter 102: A chance meeting with a god

As the Scaled King's Nest was an unconquered Dungeon, monster encounters in it were more frequent than in Barigen's Fall Life-Mountain, which was being cleared every month.

The powerful monsters that appeared one after another were not simply strong; many of them had special abilities such as scattering poisonous spores and firing lasers from their bloodshot eyes or used dangerous spells such as firing projectiles of fire or ice and creating illusions to make their enemies let their guards down.

The traps that had been set in the Dungeon were all highly lethal and the floors' environments were harsh as well. The upper floors were simply large caverns and valleys, but from the middle floors onwards, there were scorching-hot deserts, forests of giant mushrooms that scattered poisonous spores, rocky areas with lava erupting in various places followed by intensely-cold ice fields and there was even a floor that was a swamp of deadly poison.

This Dungeon could only be cleared by someone with more Vitality than a Dragon or -

"That's the thirty-eighth floor clear."

A party with a death-attribute mage who possessed a Mana pool that transcended common knowledge.

The poison and disease among the monsters' special abilities were neutralized beforehand, their offensive spells were rendered useless by the Magic Absorption Barrier and the Grotesque Mind skill prevented illusions from even being seen in the first place. The Labyrinth Construction skill revealed the locations of the larger traps the moment the floors were set foot into, and even the smaller ones were detected by Danger Sense: Death before they were triggered.

The forests of enormous mushrooms were neutralized by Disinfect and Detoxification. The sunlight of the scorching-hot deserts had been blocked by Sand Golems while a cool temperature was maintained by the Demon Fire spell that absorbed heat from its surroundings as it burned. The lava-filled areas were nothing more than slightly hot rocky areas once Demon Fires were used unsparingly to absorb most of the heat.

In the intensely-cold ice fields, Princess Levia and the other Ghosts did their best to burn in order to maintain warm temperatures as they proceeded.

The marshlands that produced endless amounts of deadly poison couldn't be detoxified, but they weren't a problem when Immortal Ents were summoned with the Plant Binding Technique to go over them.

The monsters that were simply powerful and monsters that released heat rays or breaths were dealt with by Vigaro, Rita and the others, however.

"It's unexpectedly easy," Vandalieu remarked.

"We regularly fight enemies of this level in Barigen's Fall Life-Mountain," said Vigaro. "The fights aren't easy, but they're not tough enough for us to need to ask you for help, Vandalieu."

"Well, having everything other than the battles themselves taken care of for us makes it hard to be boastful," said Zadiris.

"Well, we're all in the same party, aren't we?" said Rita.

Creeeaaaak.

"Eisen-san agrees, so I don't think you should worry about it," said Rita, interpreting the words (creaking?) of Eisen… The Immortal Ent that produced iron-hard, apple-like fruits, to her liking.

Incidentally they had discovered during the exploration of this Dungeon that the iron-apple fruits became softer when boiled. Now even Princess Levia, who had lost her Augmented Muscular Strength skill upon becoming a Ghost, could eat them.

"Anyway, I wonder how many floors are left," said Vigaro. "Since it's a B-class Dungeon, it should be less than forty."

"The next time we see a monster that's stronger than the others, it might be the Dungeon boss," said Vandalieu.

When they descended to the thirty-ninth floor, they found the boss of the Scaled King's Nest, a Rank 10 Genocide Rock Dragon that was considerably larger than a normal Rock Dragon, with countless drill-like spikes protruding from its carapace.

The enormous Dragon gave a deafening roar that would cause most ordinary people to lose consciousness.

"Even though this is the Scaled King's nest, the Dungeon boss doesn't have scales," Vandalieu murmured.

The body surface of the Genocide Rock Dragon was covered in a thick, boulder-like carapace.

Leaving that aside, even this boss didn't give them a fight that could have been called difficult.

After all, even though the Genocide Rock Dragon was a Rank 10 monster, it was just a Dungeon boss. It wasn't like Leo, who had received a divine protection from a certain god.

They were even able to weaken it without killing it to turn it into a target dummy and then have everyone deal the final blow together.

As the Potions were gulped down, they healed the wounds of those who drank them.

"Kah, there's nothing like a drink right after work."

"It's surprising that these special Potions that Bocchan made even work on us Undead."

The crimson Potions in porcelain containers… the limited-volume Potions were highly effective, had a sweet, fruity taste and even worked on Undead; they were the perfect Potions.

"Fifty percent of the raw materials are taken from me," said Vandalieu.

The raw material for this special Potion was Vandalieu's blood that had been collected with the Demon King's blood active, all sorts of medicinal herbs and fruit juice, as well as powdered Demon King's horns. It had been named 'Blood Potion.' It was not half-made of kindness, but of Vandalieu*.

Its effects weren't limited to injuries; it was a cure-all item that was effective against fatigue, lack of Mana and even poisons and diseases as long as they weren't special varieties.

And as he had discovered from giving these Potions to Zadiris and the others, there were no side effects of products using the Demon King's fragments. Vandalieu had experimented for around a month using the soulless monsters from the Eclipse King's Orchard, Goblins captured alive near Talosheim and bandits captured from outside, but no negative effects on the body or mind had appeared.

Just like the products created from the Demon King's horns, it seemed that the Demon King's fragments that were separated from Vandalieu did not gain their own individual wills.

It was likely that the parts that Vandalieu produced were nothing more than derivatives; it was likely that the core-like parts didn't leave Vandalieu's body.

If that wasn't the case, the large number of Demon King's horns that Vandalieu had produced up until now would have infested a lot of living creatures by now.

Basdia licked her lips once she was sure that not another drop would come out of her bottle. "It's no wonder Eleanora and Bellmond are obsessed with Vandalieu's blood," she said. "After using these Potions once, you can't go back to using ordinary Potions."

"Indeed," Zadiris agreed. "It heals wounds about as well as a third… no, second-grade Potion, but it even restores Mana. And most importantly, it tastes very pleasant."

Normal blue-colored Potions tasted worse the more effective they were. Even fifth-grade Potions would cause an "uegh" of disgust upon touching the lips, while third-grade Potions would numb the sense of taste for a while. The taste of second-grade Potions often caused trauma more than the emotions of fear felt upon sustaining the serious wounds that required their use.

In that regard, Blood Potions were far easier to drink, so it was likely that they would be highly sought-after. Even if they were diluted and only as effective as fourth-grade Potions in order to be able to produce more of it, there would still be plenty of people wanting to buy them.

"Not that I have plans to sell it to the outside world," said Vandalieu. "This is a Talosheim-only product."

If he sold the Blood Potions carelessly, there would be a flood of alchemists wanting Vandalieu's blood. It would be far too ironic for a half-Vampire to have his blood taken from him.

They would likely be less popular if it became known that the Demon King's fragments were used as raw materials for it, however. No, perhaps that would cause it to become even more popular in the underworld.

Though Darcia hadn't thought that far, it seemed that she was in agreement with making it a limited product. "It's true that you can't sell these Potions irresponsibly."

She was looking at the quivering Kühl, who was now so large that it looked as if it could swallow a bear whole. Its body had been purple when they entered the Scaled King's Nest, but now it was the dark-red color of venous blood.

It seemed that Kühl had become a Rank 5 Blood Slime after licking the few drops of Blood Potion that had been left in a bottle.

Blood Slimes were fearsome Slimes that particularly enjoyed blood, being more sensitive to the smell of blood than sharks and squeezing blood from their prey more avariciously than Vampires.

『...』

But it seemed that what Kühl desired avariciously was not blood, but Blood Potion. It extended a tentacle to hold out an empty bottle towards Vandalieu. It was like a drunkard hiccupping as he asked for another drink.

"That's all for today," said Vandalieu. "Please make do with the Dragon blood for now."

As if giving up, Kühl went off to slurp up the puddle of the Genocide Rock Dragon's blood that was on the ground.

"Does the Potion that I made from my blood taste better than the blood of a Rank 10 Dragon?" Vandalieu wondered.

"I'm sure it has a sweet tooth," said Princess Levia. "Maybe it's a girl."

Pete hissed in agreement.

Both of them had increased in Rank as well.

Princess Levia was a Rank 6 Blood Flame Ghost. Like Kühl, her Rank had increased immediately after drinking the Potion.

Pete was a Rank 6 Great Black Lightning Centipede. His appearance was becoming more and more fiendish.

"Potions that cause an increase in Rank when they're consumed are too dangerous to sell," said Darcia.

"But they did not cause an increase in Rank when tested on Goblins and such," said Zadiris.

Perhaps some kind of affinity was involved, or perhaps it was the effect of Guidance: Demon Path.

Even if it was the latter, it wasn't a skill that Vandalieu could consciously choose the targets for, so it would probably be best not to sell the Potions.

Everyone else's Ranks had increased as well.

Vigaro had become a Rank 8 Ghoul Great Tyrant and Zadiris had become a Rank 8 Ghoul Wizard. Neither of them had changed much in appearance, but their Attribute Values had increased significantly.

Both of them had hit a wall with their levels as monsters despite their Job levels increasing, so they were happy that their Ranks had finally increased.

Basdia had become a Rank 7 Ghoul Amazoness Leader. Her appearance hadn't changed other than the patterns on her skin becoming darker in color, but her Mana and Intelligence seemed to have increased drastically. There was a dignified air about her now, fitting of someone with 'leader' in their race title.

"Leader, huh… I would have liked a race title like 'Amazoness Queen' or something," said Basdia. "I'm right next to the Ghoul King Van, after all."

Her dignified presence quickly faded away when she laughed as she lifted Vandalieu into the air, however.

"By the way, Van, Jadal has been wanting a younger brother or sister," she said.

"Then when we get back, I'll ask her to wait another eight… no, around ten more years," said Vandalieu.

"Muh, how cold of you, Van."

"How can I not be?"

It's still impossible for my body, so I wish you wouldn't demand such careless things, Vandalieu thought.

"If there is a queen next to the king -"

"There must be maids to serve them, right, Bocchan?"

Saria and Rita had become Rank 7 Living Maid Armors. Vandalieu had made decorations, laces and frills out of Dark Copper and the threads that he produced from his mouth, and Saria and Rita had gained this race title after fighting with these attached to their armors.

"My Housework skill has increased as well! Now nobody will call me a fake maid!" Rita exclaimed.

"Fake maid… but I get the feeling that you've been more often called a murderous maid?" said Saria.

The additional lace and frill-shaped pieces of armor had fused with their bodies, and at a glance, less of their bodies were exposed and they looked more adorable.

But this was simply an illusion; their abundant cleavages and the shapes of their hips were still clearly visible.

They might even appear as if they were wearing a remodeled maid uniform created by a nobleman with peculiar tastes.

"Hmm, then it is best for a knowledgeable mage to be by their side as well," said Zadiris, casually drawing closer to Vandalieu.

"Ah, umm, where am I supposed to be?" wondered a flustered Princess Levia as she shifted around in confusion. "Since I am the princess, that would make me their daughter."

There's no path for me other than becoming a lustful king in the future, Vandalieu thought as he looked into the distance, remembering that Eleanora, Tarea, Kachia and Bilde would join in once he returned to Talosheim. Incidentally, Bellmond would likely be watching from behind a pillar without saying anything or approaching.

"Well, this has started to make me a little happy recently," said Vandalieu.

He was eight years old, an age where it wouldn't be strange for him to experience his first love. It wasn't as if he was completely uninterested in these things.

"Everyone, we are still inside a Dungeon, so please leave it at that," said Darcia. "Vigaro-san, don't just stand there watching while eating Eisen-san's fruit. And Vandalieu, keep it up."

"Okay."

Kasim and his friends would have asked her, "Eh, aren't you going to stop him?" but Darcia was a passionate person who had an illicit love affair with the Subordinate Vampire Valen.

She wouldn't say anything that would make things difficult as long as both parties felt the same way. And everyone was saying that they would wait until Vandalieu became an adult, so there was nothing to stop.

The insectoid monsters like Pete and Pain, as well as the plant-type monsters, had increased in Rank as well. The Cemetery Bees were now all Cemetery Bee Soldiers, but it seemed that they didn't intend to return to the nest in Talosheim.

They would follow Vandalieu, who kept the egg that the queen bee had been reborn in inside his body, and help care for the larva once it hatched.

"Now then, let's finish dismantling the corpse and take a rest before looking at the treasure chamber and heading back," said Vandalieu.

『The levels of the Rapid Healing, Death-Attribute Magic, Magic Resistance, Chant Revocation, Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue), Enhanced Agility, Body Extension (Tongue), Enhanced Physical Ability (Hair, Claws, Fangs, Tongue), Thread Refining, Surpass Limits, Golem Transmutation, Alchemy, Unarmed Fighting Technique, High-speed Thought Processing, Plant Binding Technique, Thread-reeling, Throwing, Scream, Dead Spirit Magic, Insect Binding Technique, Artillery Technique, Labyrinth Creation and Mana Enlargement skills have increased!』

The treasure chamber that Vandalieu and his party went to was full of treasures and Magic Items worthy of the Dungeon's first clearance.

But perhaps because the main race that had inhabited the surrounding areas had been Lizardmen for a long time, there were quite a lot of things that were suited for the Lizardmen's physiques and tastes.

Defensive equipment that was supposed to be attached on flexible, sturdy tails were of no use to humans or even Beast-people.

"Rapiéçage and Yamata will be happy, won't they?" said Vandalieu.

He did have people to give these to. Tarea and Datara would likely find it difficult to make armor specialized to be worn on tails, so it was fortunate that he had found it.

There were no gold or silver coins, but there were plenty of gold and silver nuggets lying around instead, as well many gemstones so large that if they were attached to a ring, they would tire the finger wearing it.

These non-Magic Item treasures alone were valuable enough to buy a court rank on their own.

In fact, clearing a B-class Dungeon that had never been cleared before was a great enough achievement to become an honorary nobleman. If the achievement was recognized, that is.

Fortunately, Vandalieu didn't realize this.

"That large crystal, no, is it an orb? What are you going to do with it?" asked Vigaro, drawing Vandalieu's attention to a large orb by pointing at it.

"For now, we'll carry it out… no, stop. That's a dangerous item," said Vandalieu.

There was a reaction from Danger Sense: Death. In other words, this orb was a dangerous item that could cause death for Vandalieu and his allies.

Cracks began to loudly appear on the orb.

"What?!"

"Get away from it, Vigaro!"

"Everyone, get near Bocchan!"

Everyone gathered near Vandalieu and braced themselves as he put up a barrier.

And then the orb crumbled to pieces.

With a deafening roar, an enormous, grotesque-looking Dragon appeared from the orb.

It looked as if it were a giant person's hand that was covered in enormous scales, its fingers replaced by the heads of one-eyed snakes. As it roared, Vigaro, Zadiris and the others, whose Ranks had increased, felt their minds tremble as their bodies froze despite being inside Vandalieu's barrier.

Their eyes widened as they looked upon the Dragon's grotesque form.

Darcia, who was a weak spirit, quivered feebly.

Vandalieu decided to kill it.

"GAAAOOH - Wait wait wait wait waaaait!"

"Calm down!"

"If we just talk, you'll understand if we talk!"

"I didn't mean any harm! It's true, please believe me!"

Seeing Vandalieu produce numerous gun barrels made of coagulated Demon King's blood from both arms, the grotesque Dragon stopped roaring and began pleading for its life.

Fidirg, the Dragon God of Five Sins, like Luvesfol, the Raging Evil Dragon God, had changed which side he was on. The difference between them was that they had been on different sides to begin with.

Luvesfol, the Raging Evil Dragon God, had originally been a subordinate of Marduke, the Dragon Emperor God, one of the original eleven gods. But when Marduke was destroyed by the Demon King Guduranis, Luvesfol had sworn loyalty to the Demon King out of a desire to live.

Fidirg, the Dragon God of Five Sins, had originally been one of the evil gods serving the Demon King. But he hadn't sworn loyalty to anyone. He had simply been serving the Demon King because there had been no other way for him to survive.

And so, for the purpose of surviving, he had obeyed the Demon King's command and invaded the world of Lambda, to make it a place that would replace his own world that had been destroyed.

But the champion Zakkart had offered them a new choice.

"Gods from foreign worlds, if you will separate yourselves from the Demon King and become our allies, we will welcome you into this world as new gods."

This proposal that contained no signs of lies was astonishing and made Fidirg's heart dance with joy.

The Demon King was a tyrant who had no mercy for those who defied him or failed to meet his expectations. He had broken the souls of useless subordinates to make an example of them on numerous occasions. The only reason there hadn't been any rebellions despite this was the Demon King's overwhelming strength.

But it was a different story if the gods of this world were willing to accept them.

This offer was not a joke made by a mere human. These were the words of a champion who could fight against gods on even terms. There were none that thought lightly of this fact.

And so, Fidirg accepted this offer.

But although victory was achieved against the Demon King afterwards, Zakkart and three other champions had their souls broken by the Demon King. Now that his benefactor had perished, it was only natural for Fidirg to cooperate with Vida.

However, in the following battle against Alda, four of Fidirg's five heads were crushed and he lost a substantial amount of his power.

He barely managed to escape being sealed away and fled for his life to the Bahn Gaia continent with Vida. He was then forced to slumber for tens of thousands of years.

When he finally recovered enough to make a move, he squeezed as much Mana out of himself as he could to create the Dungeon that had given birth to the Lizardmen, the Lizardmen's Nest. He needed a large number of followers in order to make a full recovery; he had decided that he would use Lizardmen for that purpose rather than people.

Fortunately, there were no followers of Vida or the other gods nearby. Though the Lizardmen grew in number, they would be able to avoid killing each other by mistake.

Things went as Fidirg had expected and two of his crushed heads recovered. It was still uncertain as to whether he would be able to descend upon the world again, but it was possible that he would be able to fully recover in another ten thousand years.

However, that was when Luvesfol, the Raging Evil Dragon God, appeared. Luvesfol created this B-class Dungeon called the Scaled King's Nest, sealed Fidirg inside an orb, selected a Dragon to grant it his divine protection so that it could act as his priest and stole the Lizardman believers from Fidirg.

And then over a hundred years passed -

"You got fired up by the feeling of release from the seal being removed and roared in happiness?"

"Precisely."

"I meant no harm. It is just that my tension had reached a maximum."

"Please forgive me, I really meant no harm."

The three recovered heads among Fidirg's five were all rubbing against the ground as he knelt down before Vandalieu.

He was the one known as the Dragon God of Five Sins, but he still hadn't recovered enough to possess a physical form other than in certain places, such as the inside of this Dungeon. Even so, he normally wouldn't have gone so far to keep himself hidden from ordinary people or monsters.

The one Fidirg was facing was the one who had released him, and though it hadn't been intentional, it was certainly true that he had caused this person and his companions harm. But Fidirg was a god. No matter how apologetic he felt from the depths of his heart, he would not bow down.

But the one before his eyes was not a person.

If I don't behave properly, I-I'll be killed!

That was the kind of being that was in front of him.

Vandalieu gazed at Fidirg with empty eyes, as if thinking about something, or perhaps thinking about nothing.

The Demon King's blood gun barrels near both of his arms, loaded with bullets made of the Demon King's horns, were still pointed at Fidirg, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Looking into their muzzles, Fidirg realized that these might be the 'guns' that Zakkart had once tried to create.

During the war, Zakkart had actually completed several prototype products, but in the end, they proved too weak to be used against powerful monsters, and production had never increased to the point that they could be distributed to his allied soldiers to be used against weaker monsters.

Although they had been effective against weaker monsters, they had no effect against the monsters of Rank 13 and above that the champions had faced back then, despite the bullets being made of Mythril, Adamantite or even Orichalcum.

The cause of this was likely the gunpowder. Although the bullets had been specially made, the gunpowder used to fire them had lacked explosive power.

If the guns that Vandalieu possessed were the same as Zakkart's, there was nothing for Fidirg to fear. However, as a former subordinate of the Demon King, Fidirg knew that they were made from the Demon King's fragments.

These were the fragments of the fallen Demon King who had destroyed many gods, including Marduke and Shizarion. As simple materials, they wouldn't be as incredible as Orichalcum, but they would have similar abilities.

And, of course, they would be enough to take Fidirg's life.

But what he feared was not just Vandalieu's fragments. It was the enormous amount of Mana that Vandalieu possessed.

It is more than double the Mana I have in my complete form; is this guy really a person?!

Fidirg doubted his own senses as he estimated the total amount of Mana that Vandalieu was exuding in his anger.

But no matter how many times he redid the calculations with all three of his heads, the total amount he came to was more than what he himself possessed as a god.

What would happen if Vandalieu were to use that tremendous amount of Mana and the Demon King's fragments that he was somehow able to manipulate like his own limbs? There was no need to calculate the answer to this.

"Please, please have mercy!" begged all three of Fidirg's heads, left with no choice but to discard the last of his pride as a god and plead for his life.

"How about calming yourself for now, boy?" said Zadiris.

"Don't be so angry, Van," said Basdia. "Your horns are getting bigger."

"That's right," Darcia agreed. "I was a little surprised, but look, I'm feeling just fine now."

Fortunately for Fidirg, the damage that Darcia had suffered had been light, and she had recovered quickly after Vandalieu supplied her some Mana.

And it seemed that she and the others felt sympathy for Fidirg; they were trying to calm Vandalieu down. The fact that he was the original god worshipped by the Lizardmen that were now their allies likely had something to do with this, too.

"Your Majesty, he was an ally of the goddess, so please settle down," said Princess Levia.

"… You're right," Vandalieu said finally, and the gun barrels made of the Demon King's blood silently crumbled and collapsed.

"I'm saved," Fidirg gasped as he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

"Now that I think back, I remember making a similar mistake," said Vandalieu, remembering the great rampage that he had gone on after becoming an Undead in Origin.

Now that he looked back on it, that had been a mistake. There had been something wrong with him back then.

He had become high and intoxicated on the sensation that ran through his entire body, as if he were an all-powerful god, after acquiring freedom for the first time in his second life. He had then worked hard to gain his revenge, but… as a result, the reincarnated individuals who were supposed to be his companions had ended up disposing of him.

Now that Vandalieu thought back to it, he realized that he couldn't blame them, as he would have appeared to be a monster without the ability to reason.

If only he had maintained his composure after becoming an Undead, if only he hadn't killed any of the researchers that he hated or the guards that had been in his way, if only he had simply escaped the facility while causing as little damage to it as possible and then concealed himself. He should have gathered information about the outside world and then made contact with the other reincarnated individuals himself. It would have been best to show that he possessed the ability to reason and a sense of self that would have allowed him to perform relief work for humanity, such as rescuing other victims who had been in the same circumstances as him.

… This was only something that could occur to him now, and this was not even taking into account whether all of this would have been possible or not. And he could calmly reflect upon this himself, but if he were to point this out to others… especially the other reincarnated individuals, they would only have a desire to kill him.

But in any case, Vandalieu was able to accept Fidirg, who was lying before his eyes.

"I'm forgiving you because of my mother's words, but don't do that again," said Vandalieu. "And though this is a separate matter, can I expect some thanks for sparing you?"

"Yes, of course."

"Since I have not fully recovered yet, I can only maintain my physical form in this Dungeon, but…"

"For now, I'll give you my divine protection and a Title. Let's see, first of all, I'll give you the Title of being the next Scaled King."

"… I don't have any scales. Is it really alright?" Vandalieu asked.

『You have acquired the 'Scaled King' Title!』

Title explanation:

[Scaled King]

A Title bestowed by a god to the leader of the Lizardmen who rule over the great marshlands in the southern reaches of the Bahn Gaia continent that is separated from the rest of the continent by the Boundary Mountain Range.

As the Title suggests, it represents a king who possess scales, granting a charisma that is effective against Lizardmen and other scaled monsters such as reptilian monsters and Dragons. (This does not include fish-type monsters.)

It also normally has the effect of making the scales of the Title's possessor more beautiful, but this effect is adapted when the Title is possessed by someone without scales.

Name: Kühl

Rank: 5

Race: Blood Slime

Level: 92

Passive skills:

Blunt Damage Resistance: Level 6

Hunger Resistance: Level 2

Predator's Restoration: Level 5

Body Form Manipulation: Level 3

Venom Secretion: Level 5

Active skills:

Silent Steps: Level 4

Bloodwork: Level 1

Surpass Limits: Level 2

Grow: Level 1

Name: Pete

Rank: 6

Race: Great Black Lightning Centipede

Level: 14

Passive skills:

Hunger Resistance: Level 2

Self-Enhancement: Following: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Venom Secretion (Neurotoxin): Jaws: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Wind Attribute Resistance: Level 2 (NEW!)

Enhanced Body: Exoskeleton, Horns: Level 4 (NEW!)

Superhuman Strength: Level 2 (NEW!)

Active skills:

Silent Steps: Level 1

Charge: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Surpass Limits: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Armor Technique: Level 1 (NEW!)

Lightning: Level 6 (NEW!)

Unique skills:

Dragon Devourer: Level 1 (NEW!)

Monster explanation:

[Great Black Lightning Centipede]

Enormous centipede monsters that are large enough to wrap themselves around an average-sized house. Their black exoskeletons are impervious to superficial attacks, while their charging attacks using their horns as weapons are so powerful that even shield-bearers must be careful.

Also, even if they are fought from a distance, it is capable of releasing long-ranged lightning attacks, so caution must be taken when exterminating these monsters.

They are far more intelligent than their appearance would suggest, and while they cannot speak human language or cast spells, they are capable of using skills such as Armor Technique.

For some reason, Pete has even acquired a unique skill, granting him increased attack power and defensive power against Dragons and allowing him to increase his own Attribute Values by devouring them.

Liked it? Take a second to support Novels on Patreon!