Cherreads

Chapter 55 - 115-117

Chapter 115: Plunderer

"What am I to do?"

Hihiryushukaka was pondering his options, having confirmed that the one he could see through Gubamon's sight was Vandalieu.

No matter how much he thought about it, Gubamon's chance of defeating Vandalieu was less than ten percent; in fact, it was questionable as to whether that chance was even one percent.

Now that the Demon King's army had lost its powerful central figure, the Demon King, its remaining evil gods didn't have a community through which they could exchange information and cooperate with each other. Some of them might form alliances with their own self-interests in mind, but that was it.

Therefore, Hihiryushukaka was unaware that Vandalieu had already defeated a monster with the divine blessing of Luvesfol, the Raging Evil Dragon God, and his spirit clone, in the southern region of the continent.

But Hihiryushukaka had noticed that Luvesfol had fled the continent's southern region.

That event was probably not unrelated to this Dhampir. How much stronger had Vandalieu become after pushing the weakened Ternecia to the brink of death and stealing her fragment of the Demon King?

"I shall measure him by using up this broken body of mine."

The minds of the Undead were muddy. These artificially-created Undead had been made like this to begin with.

In the midst of that obscure mess, in which their own consciousness was mixed in, the order of their creator, Gubamon, was the only thing that resounded clearly. That was why the Undead instinctively obeyed his orders.

But the moment they saw that, Gubamon's voice had become terribly unclear for them.

And then the Vampire Zombies and Zombie Giants gathered around Vandalieu, as if it were only natural. They had no awareness of having betrayed Gubamon.

Gathering under Vandalieu's command was just as natural for the Undead as their own arms and legs obeying the commands of their brains.

But the Undead heroes that Gubamon had made through special methods remained on his side.

"Agh…"

"C… Come…"

"I-I am… eh… roo… support… shieh… mahi, maih."

"It seems that the Demon Path Enticement that I'm always letting out unconsciously can't overcome the obsessions of a madman that have carried on for tens of thousands of years," said Vandalieu, dropping his shoulders in disappointment.

"Fuhahaha! So it would seem! You appear to have a special skill, but it seems that it is not enough to steal the Undead heroes that I have taken great efforts to create!" Gubamon gloated.

But there were about forty Undead heroes around Gubamon. Meanwhile, Vandalieu had over a hundred Undead gathered at his side.

The situation looked clearly favorable for Vandalieu.

And blood was still dripping from the black horn that was still embedded in Gubamon's stomach.

"What is he doing? Can't he just push through with the numbers advantage…?" murmured one of Miles's subordinates.

"You idiot, try thinking a little harder," said Miles. He was still holding Iris, who was watching the situation quietly. "Even if he wanted to rely on numbers to suppress the Undead heroes, the ones that Vandalieu… Vandalieu-sama has with him are the mass-produced type. They are nothing but small fry for Gubamon, since he can wipe them out with a swing of his claws or a single incantation. No matter how many of those Vandalieu-sama has, it's pointless."

"I-I see," said Miles's subordinate.

"In other words, this battle is hopeless…" Iris murmured. For some reason, she was watching the scene with a tragic look in her eyes.

"No, I haven't said anything like that," Miles said to the woman in his arms.

The look in Iris's eyes didn't change; it seemed that she had interpreted Miles's words as a poor attempt to comfort her. "I don't know who that child is or what his objectives are," she said.

From Iris's point of view, Vandalieu and Miles seemed to be trying to save her. But they had used an absurd method to accomplish this, killing Raymond and utilizing his corpse as if it had been only natural to do so.

She had no doubts that they were Gubamon's enemies. But it was difficult to say that they were her allies.

But Iris couldn't help but wish for one thing.

"Please. Please win and set my father free!"

Alda. I have been unfaithful, turning away from preserving order by becoming a part of the resistance that sought to break it. But please, hear my prayer! Please bring victory to this Dhampir called Vandalieu!

Iris's prayer would have likely caused an enormous frown to spread across Alda's face if he were to hear it. As if this prayer was some kind of signal, Gubamon and Vandalieu both opened their mouths at the same time.

"My heroes, dispose of those good-for-nothing Undead and stop that brat's movements!"

"Please follow me and suppress the Undead heroes."

At that moment, Gubamon was certain that he would win the opening engagement. The Undead heroes were few in number, but each of them would be capable of fighting at least two of the lower-quality Undead at once and emerging victorious.

Once he stops moving, I will tear him to pieces with my Demon Eye! Gubamon thought to himself.

Gubamon didn't think that this alone would be enough; his enemy was someone who possessed fragments of the Demon King, the one who had caused Ternecia's death. He would activate his fragment of the Demon King first, force the level of his Demon King Encroachment Degree skill to increase to allow the fragment to go wild, and find an opening to use his fragment to defeat Vandalieu.

That was Gubamon's plan. A large part of his collection would likely be destroyed in the process, but it couldn't be helped. He needed to survive before hoping for anything else.

But Gubamon's plans began falling apart immediately.

"They are evenly matched with my Undead heroes?!"

To his disbelief, the mass-produced Undead that he had not spent any effort in creating were battling evenly against the Undead heroes.

Of course, the mass-produced Undead were fighting two-on-one and three-on-one battles, but they were still suppressing the Undead heroes that should have been able to overwhelm them.

"It seems that I can make better use of Undead than you," Vandalieu said to the astonished Gubamon.

The truth was that the Attribute Values of the mass-produced Undead had increased drastically under the effects of the Guidance: Demon Path skill. But Vandalieu had no obligation to politely tell Gubamon the truth, so he kept quiet about this… not to mention that outsiders like Iris were still present.

Right before Gubamon's eyes, a hero from a savage tribe with characteristic tattoos had his arms pinned down behind him by Vampire Zombies, and an elderly Dwarf hero disappeared inside a Zombie Giant as if being swallowed whole. A female unarmed fighter of a Beast-person race was surrounded on all sides and was being beaten to a pulp, unable to make use of her agility.

They were all heroes that had possessed imposing Titles such as 'Thousand-man slasher,' 'Boulder Cutter,' and, 'Genius of Claws,' but they had lost their ability to coordinate with allies and their decision-making abilities had drastically diminished after they became Undead, allowing them to be captured easily.

"No, that is not all," said Gubamon. "My Undead heroes' movements are poor; what is the meaning of this?!"

As Gubamon had realized, the movements of his Undead heroes were more sluggish, more exaggerated and clumsier than usual.

The Undead heroes were letting out groans that sounded as if they were fighting some internal struggle.

Vandalieu's Demon Path Enticement had lost to Gubamon's power over them, but by a smaller margin than either Vandalieu or Gubamon had thought.

The Undead were constantly in a dream-like state so that they would obey Gubamon's orders more easily, but Vandalieu's Demon Path Enticement was at least effective enough to give their own consciousness a form.

For the first time since they had been turned into Undead, they were mustering all of their strength to defy Gubamon's orders with everything they had.

"You bastard!" Gubamon said furiously, as if his precious lover had been stolen away from him.

"It seems that I'm more popular than I thought," Vandalieu joked casually - but he wasn't drawing closer.

He was standing at the front, but he had stopped there.

"Everyone, that's how it is, so please secure them," said Vandalieu.

And then a countless number of monsters and people emerged as if exploding from his back.

Pete let out a loud hiss, and the Cemetery Bees began buzzing.

It looked as if the insectoid monsters were attacking the Undead, but they were actually carrying the immobilized ones away.

"Good grief, you are being eccentric as usual. I do not think ordinary people would go this far," said Bellmond as she used her metal threads to sever the limbs of a skilled Undead hero, who was still struggling despite the fact that his movements had grown more sluggish. "But Danna-sama, it seems difficult to find opportunities to use the Petrifying Demon Eye that you were so kind to transplant for me."

"That's because it's a Demon Eye that's actually harder to use when capturing enemies alive, isn't it?" said Vandalieu. "Can't you just petrify their limbs or something?"

"If I concentrate, it may be possible, but… it is easier to simply sever the limbs if I wish to capture them," said Bellmond.

If she were to petrify the entire body, there was a chance that the thin parts such as the limbs or neck would break during chaotic battles. This was especially true when fighting enemies that could smash boulders just by carelessly swinging their limbs and weapons around; it was very possible that stone statues in unnatural positions would be turned into rubble.

Thus, it was easier to capture the Undead by severing their arms and legs if their conditions post-capture were of no importance.

"Please recover the severed limbs as well," said Vandalieu. "I'll be reattaching them afterwards. And please don't treat them too roughly."

"Certainly," said Bellmond.

Just what on earth was severing the limbs if not rough treatment?

Though it was likely not searching for an answer to this question, a Zombie hero mowed down the Vampire Zombies around it with a Mythril spear, which resembled the Orichalcum one that Sam was currently in possession of, and closed in on Bellmond with a screech.

"Ah, you can be rough with that one," said Vandalieu.

"Certainly," said Bellmond

"Gigih, stop… gagagah?!"

The Undead hero… the one who had once been praised as Mikhail, the Divine Spear of Ice, continued flying towards Bellmond with full force, even after she had severed each of his limbs at three different points and reduced him to nothing more than a dismembered torso.

And then, with a swing of Bellmond's tail, he was sent flying away with a dull sound, shards of his shattered Adamantite armor scattering across the floor.

But some Cemetery Bees recovered him from where he landed. Vandalieu apparently had an idea that could make use of Mikhail, depending on what Rank he possessed after becoming an Undead.

But there were other Zombie heroes like Mikhail who couldn't stop their own resistance because of how exceptionally powerful they were in combat.

The Zombie Bearheart groaned as it swung weapons using its three pairs of arms. Gubamon had seemed disappointed with how he had turned out, but the mass-produced Undead and the insects couldn't approach him because of his absurd strength and number of arms.

Jeena, the 'Saint of Healing,' who was spouting a shining gas of a poisonous-looking color from the numerous pipes protruding from various places on her body, was using a mace and shield of sinister design that was unfitting of her Title to repel the Zombie Giants and keep the Vampire Zombies in check.

Her back was being protected by the 'Tiny Genius' Zandia. Her wrist that had been severed by Mikhail had been fused with a strange-looking staff, and she was screeching loudly as if in pain.

She had been a genius mage with an aptitude for all attributes (except for the death attribute) while she was alive, but she was supposed to have lost the ability to recite incantations and the willpower needed to cast spells after becoming an Undead. Despite this, through some unknown principles, she was releasing spells from her staff.

All of them were simple, elementary level spells such as Flame Bullet, Wind Blade, Earth Spear, but each swing of the staff released another spell, repelling Vandalieu's monsters.

There were about ten other Undead that were resisting stubbornly as well.

"Now then -" Vandalieu began.

"I will not let you steal any more of my collection!" Even if Gubamon was willing to sacrifice his Undead himself, it seemed that he was unable to endure having them stolen by the enemy.

He attacked Vandalieu, who had stopped moving, with the Demon Eyes of Destruction.

Vandalieu reflexively raised his two layers of defense, the Magic Absorption Barrier and the Impact-negating Barrier, but this made Gubamon certain that his attack had succeeded.

The effect of the Demon Eyes of Destruction acted directly upon the target within its vision. Whether there was a sheet of glass or a magical barrier in front of its target, it made no difference. As long as Gubamon could see the target, the effects would not be blocked.

Vandalieu had been unaffected by Eleanora's Charming Demon Eyes, and he hadn't been exposed to the effects of the Petrifying Demon Eye. Because of this, he had been negligent in preparing a defense for Demon Eyes and put too much trust into his barriers.

There was no response from Danger Sense: Death, but sensing something unusual, he hastily turned the floor into Golems to use them as a shield. But it was too late. Of course, Bellmond and the others who were fighting the Undead heroes behind him wouldn't make it in time to save him.

"Now explode!" Gubamon cackled.

The image of Vandalieu that Gubamon saw twisted and then burst, painting his entire vision red.

"GYAAAAH!" Gubamon screamed.

"… That hurts," said Vandalieu.

Gubamon was clutching his ruptured eyeballs. Meanwhile, Vandalieu had suffered lacerating wounds from which he was bleeding, and though they were not deep wounds individually, they covered his entire body.

"Your Majesty?!" cried Princess Levia.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Orbia shouted in concern.

The two of them had been instructed to be on standby, but they showed themselves after seeing Vandalieu being injured for the first time. Vandalieu turned to them, dropped his shoulders and shook his head.

"Mentally speaking, I'm not alright," said Vandalieu. "I let my guard down. Even though I've been improving myself and training hard to be prepared for danger."

"Umm, you're covered in blood. What about physically?" Princess Levia asked.

"The wounds have not reached my bones or organs," Vandalieu told her. "My muscles and tendons have been severed in several places, but that's all… Ah, I'm so embarrassed that if there was a hole, I'd crawl into it. I need to do some serious reflection."

In truth, the fact that Vandalieu had almost died because he had let down his guard had caused more damage to him than the wounds themselves. But how had he managed to suppress the effects of the Demon Eyes of Destruction to this extent and reflect it back to Gubamon?

"Judging from the sensation, I feel like a skill activated… this is the effect of the Abyss skill, maybe?"

As Vandalieu had instinctively sensed, this was the effect of the Abyss skill. This skill, which stared back at those who tried to peer into its owner, countered effects such as Demon Eyes that activated through looking at the target.

"GYAAAAAH! MY EYES, MY EEEEEYES!" Gubamon was shouting words resembling those of a certain captain* as he writhed in agony.

If his eyeballs had simply been crushed, they would have regenerated in less than ten seconds, given the nature of the Pure-breed Vampires' immortality.

But because the eyeballs had burst while still in their sockets, the force had broken the bone surface behind them, sending fragments of bone backwards and damaging Gubamon's brain.

The optic nerves had been turned into mincemeat, and half of the brain behind them was now in a state resembling crushed tofu. It was surprising that Gubamon was still managing to writhe around so energetically. It was surprising, but it would likely be a while before his eyeballs regenerated.

But it would take Vandalieu a while for his severed muscles and tendons to heal as well, so his physical ability would be decreased during this time.

The actions that the two of them chose to take in this state were unintentionally very similar.

"This is the perfect opportunity. Demon King's fragments, activate."

"AAAAGH! Demon King's Carapace, activate!"

Both of them activated their fragments of the Demon King at almost exactly the same time.

With a burbling sound, Gubamon's body changed form in a sinister way, a black carapace growing around him as if bursting from the inside of his body. A large shell appeared on his torso, and smaller shells of appropriate sizes covered his upper arms, forearms, fists, thighs, shins and feet.

Rather than looking like a turtle, Gubamon appeared as if he had put on a suit of armor that had been made by joining a series of shells together.

"Guboaaagh! Defense… form!"

Gubamon tore out the sucker-covered Demon King's horn that was still piercing his torso, along with his own organs and spine, and then covered himself in this full-body carapace that even covered his head.

It had a misshapen appearance, but if Armor Technique martial skills were to be activated with this, this suit of armor would be unrivaled; even an Orichalcum weapon wouldn't be able to pierce it easily.

Gubamon was confident that it would hold strong, even if Vandalieu used the Demon King's horns.

If Ternecia was the one with the greatest fighting strength and offensive power among the three Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped the Evil God of Joyful Life, Gubamon was the one with the most powerful defense, capable of fighting in a steady manner.

"Divine Iron Armor!"

This is my most powerful Armor Technique martial skill! With this activated, even Ternecia herself would not have been able to break through my defense! Come, if you dare!

Now that his vision had been destroyed, he had no choice but to solidify his defense and use it to buy time for his body to regenerate. Even if meant activating a dangerous fragment of the Demon King.

"We're capturing more and more of them," said Vandalieu.

Gubamon had decided to defend himself, but although Vandalieu was wary of the strange new appearance that the linked shells gave Gubamon, he made no attempt to attack.

He had used Out-of-body Experience, using his spirit form to check what was happening behind him, and using the Demon King's blood that he had activated in order to capture the Undead heroes that were continuing to resist.

"Orbia, please help as well. Controlling liquids is your specialty, isn't it?" Vandalieu was requesting Orbia, who had become a Water Ghost, to help him with managing the Demon King's blood using the Dead Spirit Magic skill.

"I don't know if I have any specialties considering the fact that less than three days have passed since I became a monster, but… What is this?! Just touching it a little is making me go nuuumb~?!" Orbia went limp and started letting out unladylike noises the moment she tried to help.

"Your Majesty, this is Orbia-san's first time; using the raw liquid is too much of a stimulus!" said Princess Levia. Her words sounded like they could cause a misunderstanding, but their truth couldn't be denied.

"… Ah, so it's stimulating even without turning into a Potion," Vandalieu noted.

Despite this carefree-sounding exchange, the red-black Demon King's blood that was spraying from the wounds all over Vandalieu's body was forming bundles of tentacles and attacking the Undead heroes.

The tentacles coiled around the Undead heroes' legs, tied them up, covered them and then turned frozen solid.

Bearheart and his slow movements were helpless against this, and even Zandia's struggles were in vain as she, too, was imprisoned.

The ones who had succeeded in escaping were the heroes that were Harpies or Drakonids who could fly, and Jeena.

The moment the blood tentacles trapped both of her legs, her upper body separated itself from her lower body at her waist, leaving only her upper body suspended in the air. It seemed that she had the ability to use the shining gas that she was emitting from the pipes all over her body in order to stay afloat.

"How unlucky," said Vandalieu.

In the next moment, the Zombies who had fled into the air began falling back down, one after another.

Though the underground church was tall, it had numerous pillars and a ceiling that made it a poor environment for airborne combat.

The Undead heroes that had flown into the air were being surrounded by Cemetery Bees as well as Pete and Kühl, who had crawled up the pillars. They were brought down to the ground, where they were restrained by the Demon King's blood.

Even Jeena, perhaps unable to fight to her best ability with the lower half of her body missing, was easily caught by Bellmond's threads, which wrapped around her pipes and brought her down into the reach of the Demon King's blood.

"Was there any meaning to incorporating that trick into her?" Vandalieu wondered.

In some situations, it was probably advantageous to be able to separate the upper and lower bodies and having them act separately, but right now, it was nothing more than a futile act of resistance.

Gubamon would have said that it was the imagination and romance of a craftsman, however.

The Undead heroes' movements were considerably inferior to when they had been alive, but they wouldn't have been defeated so one-sidedly and even captured in the end if their own wills had been preserved like in Borkus's case.

But although they were once heroes, they had been turned into puppets made of dead flesh. And puppets could only move as well as the puppeteer.

And now that his vision had recovered a little, that clumsy puppeteer was currently looking through the gaps in his carapace with his eyes open wide in anger.

"You would go as far as to use a fragment of the Demon King to steal my entire collection from me?!" he howled.

Growing suspicious at the fact that no attacks were coming his way after he had activated the Demon King's carapace and waited, Gubamon had taken a look to see the astounding sight of Vandalieu ignoring him and collecting all of the Undead heroes.

Gubamon's ability to reason had been restored by the danger that Vandalieu had put him in, and he could see that Vandalieu had treated the Undead heroes as the main course while Gubamon was just a side dish.

"If they are going to be stolen from me, then I shall just crush all of you!" Gubamon shouted, pouring even more Mana into the carapace as the announcer in his head informed him that the level of his Demon King Encroachment Degree skill had increased.

The carapace that had a round appearance before was now covered in rugged protrusions. It was just like the shell of an alligator snapping turtle, a carnivorous species of turtle.

"He's going to throw it," said Vandalieu.

"Consecutive Spinning Chaotic Strikes!"

Despite his heavy appearance, Gubamon began spinning with light steps, throwing pieces of the Demon King's carapace everywhere.

The pieces of carapace were only a little larger than a person's fist, but they were spinning at high speeds and were covered in protrusions that were harder than Adamantite. Even a graze would gouge out a large chunk of flesh.

A countless number of these projectiles were fired haphazardly, but although they hit the Undead heroes as he intended, the Demon King's blood merely cracked; the Undead heroes remained mostly unharmed.

The same applied for Vandalieu himself.

"They are not as powerful as Ternecia's horns, are they," Bellmond remarked.

Using her metal threads, she was deflecting the projectiles from their intended trajectories far more easily than she had once done to the attacks of her former master. She was even able to protect the Undead and monsters around her.

"Kuh! So, this is the end," Iris muttered. Powerless against this fragment of the Demon King, she prepared herself for the worst.

Meanwhile, Miles gave a throaty scream, tears welling up in his eyes. "NOOOOO! I don't want to diiie~!"

They tried to use spells and martial skills to repel the projectiles, but unlike Bellmond, they were not capable of instantly performing any attacks that would be effective against a fragment of the Demon King that could even slay a god.

"We're done for~!"

The other Vampires were screaming in despair as well as the pieces of the Demon King���s carapace closed in. But before the spinning shells reached them, a wave of blood engulfed them and black horns flew in to repel them.

"KYAHAHAHAHA!"

Orbia seemed to be in a strange state due to the Demon King's blood.

"Ah, don't go any further past that point, okay?" Vandalieu said, pointing at Raymond's empty corpse.

Vandalieu had protected everyone, including Rick, who seemed to have gone from mad to dumbfounded.

"He… protected us? No, not just us!" said Iris.

She looked around the battlefield to see that all of the pieces of the Demon King's carapace that Gubamon had released had been blocked by the Demon King's horns and blood. Not only the insectoid monsters that Vandalieu had produced, but even the Zombie Giants and Vampire Zombies that were far away from Bellmond were unharmed.

"Is he intending to defeat a Pure-breed Vampire without suffering any losses?"

"Yeah! That person is a true hero! My hero!" said Miles.

Vandalieu seemed to have won over Miles's heart rather than the princess knight's.

Seeing that his attack had been completely blocked by Vandalieu, Gubamon quivered, and then gave a loud laugh. "Fuhahahahaha! The trouble you went through to protect not only the Undead heroes, but the pieces of trash as well! Very well, protect them as much as you like!

In his blurred vision, he could see that a large amount of liquid was still spurting from Vandalieu's body.

If Vandalieu wanted to say naïve things like wanting to protect everyone and refusing to make sacrifices no matter what, then Gubamon would let him say them as much as he wanted. It was convenient that he was exhausting so much of his power defending the slow-moving small-fry.

A second time, a third, Gubamon repeated the indiscriminate release of his carapace projectiles, and Vandalieu blocked all of them in the same way. And then Gubamon unleashed his secret technique to deal Vandalieu the final blow.

"It is time! Consecutive Spinning Chaotic Strikes! And take this! Great Demon Carapace Pulverization!"

After releasing yet another attack at Miles, Iris and the others who couldn't protect themselves, Gubamon began moving, turning himself into a projectile and launching himself at Vandalieu.

His secret technique was an original martial skill that he could only use while the Demon King's carapace was active, combining the Throwing and Unarmed Fighting Technique skills.

Vandalieu, who was already using several fragments of the Demon King simultaneously, wouldn't be able to block this easily. This was the reality in Gubamon's head.

"Err, Ice Blood Death Water."

Before Gubamon's attack could reach its target, Vandalieu cast a new Dead Spirit Magic spell that transformed Orbia into a cloud of intense cold that enveloped Gubamon. Even the carapace couldn't completely protect Gubamon from the cold; he let out a scream as the surface of his body froze.

But as expected, the Demon King's carapace had withstood the Dead Spirit Magic spell that Vandalieu had poured a lot of his Mana into. At this rate, Vandalieu's life would still come to an end after only causing Gubamon some moderate damage.

But Vandalieu cast a second Dead Spirit Magic spell.

"Bone Flame Jailing Destruction Bullet."

Princess Levia transformed into huge, black flames in the shape of a skull that engulfed Gubamon.

"GAAAAH!" Gubamon screamed. "But once I endure this… what?!"

The Demon King's carapace was a step behind in offensive power, but it possessed an absolute, impenetrable defense. And yet, cracks were loudly appearing on its surface, and it was breaking apart.

The contraction and expansion caused by rapid cooling and heating had damaged the Demon King's carapace.

"Have you heard of tortoise shell divination*?" Vandalieu asked.

An enormous lump of ice, Vandalieu's Death Ice Bullet, struck Gubamon's thin body that was now exposed.

"Your fortune is… so broken that I can't tell."

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

Chapter 116: The final revenge and the almost-forgotten princess knight

"GUAAAAH! Impossible, how can you cast elemental magic while using the Demon King's fragments?!" Gubamon shouted.

The Demon King's carapace had been shattered by being exposed to extreme cold and extreme heat, and all of the bones and organs of his body had been broken by the Dead Spirit Magic spell, Death Ice Bullet, that contained an amount of Mana that he had only seen a handful of times in his hundred-thousand-year-long life. In the next moment, he was sent flying in a random direction, where he crashed into a pillar and stopped.

"GEHAAH!"

He lost consciousness for a moment, and his use of the Demon King's carapace was interrupted. It was impossible for him to activate it again with his remaining Mana.

He felt like one of his eyes that had been in the middle of regenerating was now damaged as badly as the rest of his body. He didn't have an accurate sense of what kind of state he was in, and though it was far too late for this, he felt a sense of danger.

Now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to escape!

With his composure coming back with the warnings of his survival instincts, Gubamon decided to retreat and began reciting an incantation for a space-attribute spell. Fortunately, his use of the Demon King's carapace had already been cancelled, allowing him to cast spells.

However, this did not go as planned.

Due to the nature of space-attribute magic, it was completely impossible to cast if the caster didn't possess an accurate perception of the target space.

When teleporting in particular, the caster needed not only a precise perception of the place he wanted to teleport to, but also of the space that he currently existed in. However, with only one remaining eye that was still only partially regenerated, that was impossible for Gubamon.

I-I must somehow buy enough time for my vision to return! As long as my vision returns, I will be able to escape!

"How impressive, to corner me to this extent. What do you say to joining me? No, how about accepting me among your subordinates? I shall give you all the information I have on Birkyne, and I will be able to lure him out of hiding. With your abilities and my power, it will be simple to bury him," said Gubamon, offering sweet-sounding, persuasive words to Vandalieu, who was likely preparing to deal the final blow right this moment.

It didn't matter whether Vandalieu accepted the offer or responded with anger. Gubamon just needed to buy as much time as possible.

But no response came.

This made Gubamon's uneasiness grow rapidly. The fear of a lethal attack that could be coming at any moment made him lose his presence of mind.

"Wait, wait! Do you not wish to bring your parents back?! I shall lend you my power; I have been bestowed the divine protection of Hihiryushukaka! There must be a way!" Gubamon shouted. Unable to remain composed, his speech grew faster and higher-pitched the more he spoke. "And I am a master of space-attribute magic; if I join the ranks of your subordinates, you will be able to go anywhere in the Bahn Gaia continent, anywhere you wish, in an instant! What do you say - HYIH!"

Suddenly noticing a silhouette flying towards him from the corner of his still-blurry vision, he reflexively cast the no-attribute spell, Mana Bullet, towards it.

The amount of Mana he had put in it was small compared to the amount in Vandalieu's Dead Spirit Magic spell that he had been hit by moments earlier, but it still contained more than enough power, and it hit the silhouette directly. The silhouette broke and scattered with a disgusting noise that sounded as if a fluid-filled sack had been crushed.

"Ah… Have… have I done it?!"

Gubamon thought that he had possibly killed Vandalieu, but in the next instant, something invaded him, turning his spine cold.

"So, you can still use magic. I'm glad I checked just in case. But it seems that you can't use space-attribute magic."

The thing that had invaded Gubamon was Vandalieu, who had divided himself and used Spirit Form Transformation.

"You bastard! Then, just now…!"

"That was the Demon King's ink sac. I made the ink's color red and mixed blood with it to make it look like a severe wound and made it gush out," the spirit-form Vandalieu explained as he forcibly fused with Gubamon's body.

But that was an irrelevant detail to Gubamon now.

"I normally wouldn't be able to fuse with someone against their will, but it seems that it's possible even with a Pure-breed Vampire as long as your body and mind have been sufficiently weakened," said Vandalieu.

Gubamon screamed at the sensation of losing control over his body and senses with each passing second.

"Hihiryushukaka-sama! Save me, please save me! Please send me your Familiar Spirit!"

Gubamon seemed to be trying to forcibly overcome this situation with Familiar Spirit Descent; a rather thin pillar of light descended on him from overhead. But the physical Vandalieu was already prepared for this. A projectile made of the Demon King's horns was fired from the cannon barrel made of the Demon King's coagulated blood, shattering the pillar of light to pieces.

"I get the feeling that it was much weaker than the Familiar Spirit of Luvesfol that I shot before… Has Hihiryushukaka been investigating me?" the physical Vandalieu whispered to himself.

Gubamon didn't have the time to pay attention to Vandalieu's words; he panicked at the fact that the Familiar Spirit Descent had been broken and begged Hihiryushukaka for more help.

"O great Evil God of Joyful Life! Hihiryushukaka! Please send me a Familiar Spirit, a more powerful Familiar Spirit!"

But Hihiryushukaka did not answer Gubamon's prayers a second time.

"I-impossible! You would discard me here?! The one who has served you for a hundred thousand years?!"

"It seems that you've been abandoned," said the spirit-form Vandalieu. "Even though you've served him for a hundred thousand years."

Gubamon let out a scream. He could understand the intent in Vandalieu's voice now that the fusion… or rather, encroachment, was complete.

Vandalieu was delighted.

"Gubamon, it's very enjoyable to take things from you, whether they're physical or not," Vandalieu continued. "You have taken my parents from me and companions from Borkus and the others, and now I will take everything from you. I accidentally let my guard down, but this is a sweet pleasure. Your subordinates, your targets, your collection, your fragment of the Demon King. There are three more things left that I will take."

What more are you planning to take from me?! Gubamon wanted to scream, but his mouth would not move.

"And now I've acquired your body. There are two things left."

Before Vandalieu even finished this sentence, the scenery changed. Vandalieu had manipulated Gubamon's body to cast space-attribute magic, teleporting into the Sauron region.

Gubamon was surrounded by more spirit-form clones of Vandalieu that were approaching him without hesitation. Gubamon fearfully wondered what they were going to do, and in the next moment, they began attacking him mercilessly, even hitting the clone inside him.

Black Flame Spear, Death Water Slice, Dark Lightning. Vandalieu used Dead Spirit Magic spells, including the water-attribute and lightning-attribute ones that he had only recently become able to cast, to turn Gubamon into dust.

"And now there is only one thing left."

There should already be nothing left. Now there is nothing left for me but to regret my own actions and swear loyalty to this wonderful person, thought Gubamon, who had died and turned into a spirit, and was now under the influence of the Demon Path Enticement skill. But as if firmly denying Gubamon's desire, he used a hand with its claws extended to grasp Gubamon's soul.

"And now there isn't anything else left."

Vandalieu wanted to break Gubamon's soul right this instant, but he still wanted to learn various things from him such as information on Birkyne and what kind of treatments he had applied to the Undead, so that would have to come later.

He exhaled heavily as he returned to being a single body.

"Well done, Your Majesty," said Princess Levia.

"It was the highest of honors to be of use to you," said Kimberley, the former scout of the resistance extermination force.

"Danna-sama, if you are fatigued…" Bellmond loosened her tie and kneeled with her white neck exposed.

Blood Potions contained Vandalieu's own blood, so they weren't very effective on him. Bellmond indicated for him to suck her blood.

"I used a lot of Mana and only have about a tenth of it left, so I'll gratefully accept, but your wrist will do, you know?" Vandalieu pointed out.

"I cannot allow you to do such a thing, Danna-sama. Ever," Bellmond said firmly.

It seemed that drinking blood from the neck was a rule for Vampires. Perhaps it was something like table manners?

"But when Eleanora drinks my blood, she only drinks a little from my fingertip," said Vandalieu.

For some reason, Bellmond turned her gaze away, her cheeks flushed. "How shameless," she blurted out quietly.

Was sucking blood from the finger a shameless thing to do?

Vandalieu decided that he would ask Eleanora why she had sucked blood from his fingertip once he returned. Things might end badly if it signified something significant like an engagement and he didn't know about it.

"Well then, just a little," said Vandalieu.

Recovering from the battle came first. He didn't much feel like trying to wring blood out of Gubamon's remains, so he lightly pierced Bellmond's skin with his fangs and licked the blood that seeped out of the wound.

"Kuh, ah, this is… teasing…" Bellmond whispered.

Vandalieu didn't recall doing anything to tease her, however.

"Bellmond-san is making a face that cannot be shown to Pauvina-chan or Privel-san yet!" Princess Levia exclaimed.

Kimberley let out a wolf whistle. "It's so lewd that I can tell even after I've died - GYOH?!"

The Thunder Ghost took a direct hit from Princess Levia's large fist and rolled across the ground. It seemed that Ghosts could punch… or rather, touch each other.

Still, does it actually feel good to have someone drink your blood? I didn't really feel anything.

Vandalieu was very doubtful, but even small amounts of the blood of Bellmond, who was a high-Rank Vampire and even possessed the unique skill, Offering, restored Vandalieu's Stamina and Mana remarkably.

Vandalieu could understand why Ternecia had kept her.

"Danna-sama, more…" Bellmond had her tail wrapped around Vandalieu and was behaving like a spoiled child, even though he had already removed his mouth from her neck.

"No, I've had enough, and we're outside. We still have work to do," said Vandalieu, trying to get her to come to her senses.

He spotted Miles and the other Vampires watching him and Bellmond with fear in their eyes. It was very late for this, but perhaps he really should ask what sucking blood signified for Vampires.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar female person, whose age was somewhere between a girl and a woman, called out to Vandalieu.

"Vandalieu-dono, was it?"

Vandalieu froze for a moment as he struggled to remember who she was, and then realized that it was the one who had been captured by Gubamon.

He had captured her alive, so she was probably some heroic person from somewhere.

"My name is Iris Bearheart," she said. "I want to thank you. Not only did you rescue me from danger, you stopped my father as well."

"Father? Huh. I only did what I did to achieve my own goals, so please don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're safe," Vandalieu said humbly.

He didn't know anything about Iris, but he guessed that her father had been among the Undead heroes.

He felt slightly disappointed, wondering if it would have been best to leave behind the Undead that was apparently her father.

"… I am hesitant to ask these questions after you saved my life, but I want you to answer," said Iris. "You have Vampires under your command; just who are you? And what did you do to Raymond-dono?"

Now aware that Iris and Raymond apparently knew each other, Bellmond used the tail that was still wrapped around Vandalieu to try and separate him from Iris.

"I'm a half-Vampire called Vandalieu. After I captured Raymond alive, I remodeled his body while he was still alive and used him to kill Gubamon, and then killed him. He was a necessary sacrifice," said Vandalieu, answering Iris's questions before he had even been separated from her properly, answering the second question with a particularly large amount of detail.

"Is that… true?" Surprised, Iris took a step backwards in response to Vandalieu's answer that seemed inhuman towards Raymond. "Even if it was to defeat a Pure-breed Vampire, that is -"

"Mmm… MMMPH!" Rick, who had been staring into space while still tied up and gagged, suddenly got up and ran towards Vandalieu, as if to ram his body into him.

But Rick's reckless charge was stopped before Bellmond or Princess Levia could do anything.

"What are you so angry for?" Orbia asked.

She had made herself visible, materialized herself and seized Rick with her tentacles.

Perhaps he hadn't noticed her up until now because of the shock of having seen Raymond's gruesome body, but his handsome face twisted in horror now as he looked at Orbia, who was now a Ghost.

"MMPH?!"

"Ah, you can't answer like this, can you?" Orbia removed Rick's mouth gag.

For a few moments, Rick stared blankly at the smiling Orbia, whose face was a different color now. And then anger appeared on his face again as he shouted at Vandalieu in rage.

"You bastard! You bastards killed Ani-ue! Ani-ue was the hope of the Sauron Duchy! Ani-ue would have taken the Sauron Duchy back from the Empire, become the king one day and lead this country to become better and more powerful! Ani-ue did everything he could and fought for the people more than the other members of his family who fled! You're calling him a necessary sacrifice?! How dare you say that!"

Vandalieu remained expressionless and said nothing.

And the smile on Orbia's face slowly grew wider and wider as she watched the disgraceful behavior of the man she had once loved.

"Why did you kill Ani-ue?!" Rick continued. "Did you feel sympathy for this woman?! The Scylla have no loyalty for their own nation! Even as their motherland was endangered, even after it was invaded and taken, they made no attempt to fight! Despite being citizens of the Orbaume Kingdom, no matter how much the Sauron Duchy's soldiers and citizens bled, they kept their eyes shut! Yet when the blood of a few members of their own race was spilled, they made an uproar! How can you sympathize with them?! Why won't you realize that the fault lies with them for not moving before we had to dirty our hands?!"

Rick's body couldn't move because he was trapped by the cold, liquid tentacles, but his mouth had moved instead as he spat out all of the rage and hatred in his heart. His shoulders heaved up and down with his wild breathing once he was finished.

But he trembled slightly and his breathing grew shallower as he heard Orbia laugh.

The Orbia that Rick was looking at was laughing truly happily, so happily that it could even be called cheerful laughter.

"What, why are you laughing…"

"It's really you after all, Rick," said Orbia. "You're the Rick I know. No matter what I ask, you only ever talked about your onii-san in the end. I thought you might change after you saw your Onii-san being broken right in front of your eyes, but you haven't changed after all."

"What?! You -"

"No, it was Vandalieu-kun," Orbia continued. "Even though I don't have any blood anymore, all the blood rushed to my head and I couldn't think of anything but killing him on the spot. So, you know, we don't love you anymore, Rick."

"We?!" Rick gasped as Scylla faded into appearance around him, one after another.

They, like Orbia, were victims whom Rick had tricked, killed with the poisoned ring and had their corpses put on display.

"I've always been watching you closely…"

"How dare you…!"

With Vandalieu giving them Mana, they had gone from being mere spirits to Ghosts.

"None of us want to see your face anymore; we don't need you. So… bye-bye, forever," said Orbia in farewell, but contrary to her words, she wrapped her arms around him and held him closer.

"Stop, let me go! I will avenge Ani-ue…?!"

Rick was engulfed and trapped inside Orbia, who was a Water Ghost. With bubbles coming out of his mouth, he thrashed his arms and legs around to try and escape from inside her, but the other Scylla Ghosts used the Materialization skill and kept him trapped.

Being killed by the spirits of the women he had rejected. Of all the fates that he could have met, this was probably one of the better ones.

"Women's grudges are scary," whispered Miles. He had been watching with a horrified expression on his face, far away from Rick so that he wouldn't get involved.

Iris almost nodded in agreement before returning to her senses and hastily shouting at Orbia to stop. "Wait! Please listen to what I have to say!"

"Eh?" Vandalieu was surprised as he heard Iris's voice; he had completely forgotten that she existed.

The Thunder Ghost who was once a scout of the resistance extermination force whispered into Vandalieu's ear. "This woman is probably the Liberating Princess Knight of the Sauron Liberation Front.

"I see, so you're an important member of the resistance," said Vandalieu. "I'll listen to anything you have to say except for sparing Rick's life."

As expected, Iris gave a groan, as if she was lost for words. But it seemed that she wasn't actually lost for words; she quickly began speaking.

"It's true that he and his men did something unforgivable to the Scylla," she said. "But his power, the power of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army, is necessary to take the Sauron Duchy back. Although it is frustrating to admit, we can't do it alone. I will make him repent for his sins, so please stop them!"

"I'm really sorry, but no," said Vandalieu. "Ah, by the way, is there anywhere you'd like us to send you?"

"Danna-sama, before that, I believe she will need something to wear," said Bellmond.

"Now that you mention it, that's true. It completely slipped my mind," said Vandalieu. He turned to Iris. "I'll knit you something now. Do you have any requests for the color or design?"

Thinking that it would be morally problematic to abandon a half-naked woman, he produced threads with his mouth and began knitting.

"No, wait! I told you, listen to what I have to say!" Iris approached Vandalieu, looking like she wanted to say more.

Vandalieu stopped his knitting and directed his hollow gaze at her. Perhaps sensing something in that emotionless gaze, or perhaps realizing that Bellmond's Petrifying Demon Eye was pointed at her, ready to attack at any time, Iris stopped her feet.

The emotion that Vandalieu felt towards Iris was, for once, the same as those of his eyes. He was tired of this. This word was sufficient to describe how he felt.

But even if it's tiresome, maybe it's best that I explain things, Vandalieu thought as he started speaking.

"I don't think it's wrong to claim that Raymond and Rick's actions were for the purpose of retaking the Sauron Duchy," he said. "I know that the world doesn't move on pretty words and wishful thinking alone, and I know that it's necessary to accept both good and evil in order to protect your nation. The Amid Empire occupying the Sauron Duchy isn't a situation that I would wish for, either."

As Iris said, if Rick was used to gather the survivors of the Reborn Sauron Duchy army, they might have the power to one day overcome the Empire's army.

Furthermore, the now-deceased Raymond could have gone on to become a fine duke, develop the Sauron Duchy and rule the people better, just as Rick said.

Vandalieu understood this.

"Then -!" Iris began.

"But this is no reason to kill Orbia and the others, or force disadvantages upon the Scylla race. That is where you people of the resistance are mistaken," Vandalieu continued.

Vandalieu understood everything, but his response to all of that was, "So what?"

This was the uncomfortable feeling that Vandalieu felt whenever he talked with members of the resistance. They prioritized the great number of civilians in the Sauron Duchy over the Scylla race, but it was only natural for him to prioritize the Scylla like Orbia, Privel and Periveil over people he had never met, whose faces and names he didn't know.

And it was troubling to only discuss the possibilities of the future. The problem at hand was the crimes that had been committed in the past.

"And you say that you'll make him repent for his sins, but it seems to me that if the Sauron Duchy is retaken, you'll use that achievement as an excuse to spare his life," Vandalieu added. "For you people, saving everyone in the Sauron Duchy other than the Scylla will be a 'benevolent act' that can cancel out the crime of tricking Orbia and the others, killing them and putting their bodies on a gory display, won't it?"

Did I say too much? Vandalieu wondered as he looked at Iris's face, which was now pale. But it seemed that she hadn't given up yet.

"We are not ignoring the Scylla race," Iris said.

"Then if the Sauron Duchy was to be retaken, how would the Scylla be treated afterwards?" Vandalieu asked. "I would think that it's only natural to let the Scylla move in and out of their own territory freely and set up branches of every Guild for them, if not giving the chief of each village a court rank."

"That is… I can only say that we will do our best." This was the only answer that Iris could give.

She was nothing more than a resistance leader, born to a family of knights. Even if her efforts were acknowledged, she could never become duchess. Whatever she said now would only be empty promises.

And Iris knew that important noblemen had a strong tendency to hate members of races like Scylla, who had superior physical ability, Mana and lifespans compared to humans, being involved in the world of political and military affairs.

That was why the Scylla had been trapped in their own territory and why it had been ensured that no Guilds established branches for them.

"And as for reasons to kill Rick… I don't need to explain them, do I? I have the agreement of one of the chiefs, Periveil-san, on this," said Vandalieu.

In fact, the motive behind tricking and killing Orbia and the others had been to use the entire Scylla territory as their fort and utilize the Scylla as their soldiers, so it was actually harder to find a reason to not kill Rick.

Nobody, let alone Periveil or Privel, defended Raymond and Rick.

"A chief of the Scylla race… I see. Then I won't say anymore." Iris seemed to have given up on pleading for Rick's life. "But for a short while, can you make it seem as if Raymond and Rick died honorable deaths in battle?" she asked.

Raymond, an illegitimate child of Duke Sauron, and his younger brother Rick, had been pillars of the resistance movement. The truth behind their deaths would cause a huge scandal. The morale of the entire resistance was at stake, so Iris seemed to want to prevent this scandal from happening.

"We don't really mind that," said Orbia. She and the other Water Ghosts had thrown Rick onto the ground like a piece of trash after he stopped showing any signs of life.

It seemed that they didn't have any interest in anything related to Rick.

Vandalieu was slightly unhappy with this, but Orbia and the other Water Ghosts were the victims. If they didn't mind, then it was probably fine, so he gave Iris a nod.

"So, more importantly, Vandalieu-kun, I want to talk about the future of us Scylla, who think of you as someone who is reeeeeeaaaaally precious to us," said Orbia. "I heard from Levia that you're a real king! That's amazing, huh? So… apparently, you have some nice marshlands?"

"I do, but about half of it is land for the Lizardmen," said Vandalieu.

"But you still have the other half, right?" said Orbia. "So, the chiefs have been discussing things and preparing to search for a place that we can migrate to, you know?"

"King?" Iris said in surprise. "What are you talking about… No, you possess the fragments of the legendary Demon King, the power to kill a Pure-breed Vampire and the ability to rule Undead and Vampires… Really, who are you? Could it be, you're the Demon -"

"Iris-dono, there is something that we must discuss as well," said Bellmond. "Mainly things to do with confidentiality, and our relationship going forward."

"It will be quite a long discussion, so shall I make some tea?" said Princess Levia. "Ah, but before that, you will need something to wear, won't you?"

"It can't be helped," said Miles. "Just wear my cloak until Vandalieu-sama returns."

The bizarre Scylla serial-killing case had been resolved and the mad Pure-breed Vampire Gubamon had been defeated. The only remaining problems were the future of the Scylla, Vandalieu's future relationship with the Sauron Liberation Front, Mardock and the surviving members of the extermination force, and Chezare's younger brother Kurt who was still in the fort near the Scylla territory.

Incidentally, Alda, who watched the records of the battle between Vandalieu and Gubamon through Iris, was astonished by the 'monstrosity' that was growing in a far more twisted direction than he had expected.

『You have acquired the Demon King's carapace!』

『The levels of the Rapid Healing, Death-Attribute Magic, Status Effect Resistance, Magic Resistance, Demon Path Enticement, Guidance: Demon Path, Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed, Mana Enlargement, No-Attribute Magic, Mana Control, Spirit Form, Multi-Cast, Parallel Thought Processing, High-speed Thought Processing, Plant Binding Technique, Insect Binding Technique, Artillery Technique, Demon King Fusion and Abyss skills have increased!』

Job explanation:

[Demon Guider]

A peculiar Job among the Guider-type Jobs that are thought to be conditions for becoming champions. It is a Job that can be acquired by one who willingly walks on a path that is neither the path of righteousness nor the path of evil.

However, as a Guider-type Job, it has a problem. Guider-type Jobs greatly increase the Attribute Values of those who possess them, but their true nature is to influence and raise up those other than the Job owner.

However, many fear and avoid the guidance to the demon path. Thus, it is difficult for those with this Job to manifest its proper power.

Because Vandalieu has already attracted many to his side with skills such as Death-Attribute Charm, he has overcome this obstacle.

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

Chapter 117: Dear younger brother

When the Familiar Spirit sent after Gubamon activated the Familiar Spirit Descent skill was destroyed by Vandalieu, Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, felt both surprise and relief.

Having a bad feeling, he had immediately dispatched a weak, replaceable Familiar Spirit, minimizing the damage he suffered.

If he had dispatched his own spirit clone to save Gubamon, it was likely that he would be writhing in agony right about now, experiencing pain similar to having his flesh and bone smashed to pieces.

"… I suppose he is destined to be broken like Ternecia now."

As Hihiryushukaka had predicted, Gubamon had been defeated and his soul was in Vandalieu's grasp. But in return, he had managed to acquire more information for Hihiryushukaka than expected as well.

Considering the overall benefits of Gubamon's work over the past hundred thousand years, Hihiryushukaka thought that Gubamon might have been a capable subordinate god.

But seeing Gubamon go mad and kill his subordinates who were Hihiryushukaka's believers, Hihiryushukaka had half-given up on Gubamon. Gubamon hadn't offered his believers as sacrifices; he had simply slaughtered them and reduced their numbers too much.

But since Ternecia had been destroyed and Hihiryushukaka had no plans to obtain a replacement for her, cutting Gubamon off completely would have meant reducing the number of cards in his own hand.

That was why he had watched things unfold for a while, but thanks to that, he had learned that the Dhampir possessed dangerous skills other than the ability to break souls.

"First, he possesses an ability that allows him to tame Undead. Because of this, the forces that Gubamon created were almost meaningless. Second, he has an enormous amount of Mana that is similar in quality to the Demon King's, allowing him to use the Demon King's fragments masterfully."

The ability to tame existing Undead created by others was a complete upgrade on Hihiryushukaka's divine protection.

The volume and properties of Mana that allowed the simultaneous use of multiple fragments of the Demon King, something that would normally cause the Demon King Encroachment Degree skill's level to increase instantly, burning through the wielder's sanity and Mana and sending the Demon King's fragments on a rampage.

The latter was extremely dangerous in particular. The Demon King's fragments were powerful. There were differences between individual fragments, but a single fragment would allow the wielder to do battle against a hero equipped with Upper-class and Legendary-class arms made of Mythril and Adamantite.

But in the end, this was borrowed power. Gubamon and Ternecia had come up with ways to combine it with their own martial skills, but even so, it was difficult to say that they had used that power to their full potential.

However, Vandalieu was using this power masterfully as if it came to him naturally. And in addition to the Demon King's blood that he had acquired and the horns that he had taken from Ternecia, he even possessed the suckers and ink sacs that were supposed to be in the possession of Merrebeveil, the Evil God of Slime and Tentacles.

That god, who had been taken in by Vida, had only acted through the Scylla for the past hundred thousand years. Considering this, the Demon King's fragments had likely been given to Vandalieu rather than stolen.

Through Gubamon's eyes, Hihiryushukaka had seen that there was a Scylla Ghost among the Ghosts that followed Vandalieu.

And now, with the Demon King's carapace taken from Gubamon, Vandalieu possessed five fragments.

This was troubling news. The Demon King's fragments were powerful individually, but they displayed even greater powers when multiple fragments were combined. This was only natural, as it was the Demon King Guduranis who had combined all of these fragments and led the evil gods, including Hihiryushukaka, in a difficult battle against the champions and even destroyed four of those champions.

"And that Job is problematic as well. It seems that he acquired a Guider-type Job, just as Ternecia feared in the moments before her death. And he possesses the Hostility skill as well."

Hostility was a superior version of skills such as Goblin Slayer and Dragon Slayer that increased the damage dealt by the skill owner against certain enemies.

Its effect was simple; it increased the damage the skill owner dealt against all enemies.

Because of this skill, the reflected effect of the Demon Eyes of destruction had caused even greater damage to Gubamon. And unfortunately for him, he had activated the Demon King's carapace and used his enhanced defense to try and endure his enemy's attacks.

He had deliberately chosen to receive attacks from a foe who possessed a permanent damage-increasing effect.

In hindsight, Gubamon might have had a better chance to win the battle if he had fought steadily using the space-attribute magic and martial skills that he was proficient with, rather than relying on the Demon Eyes of Destruction and Demon King's fragment. Furthermore, if he had kept his subordinates ready and waiting instead of turning them into Undead, he would have had more tactics available to him, such as using his subordinates as decoys to buy time.

In other words, Gubamon had been continuously sabotaging himself from the moment he began killing his own subordinates to turn them into Undead.

He had gifted his enemy with more forces by turning his subordinates into Undead, had the power of his Demon Eye that he was overconfident in reflected back onto him by his enemy's Abyss skill and activated the Demon King's carapace, adopting a strategy of defending against the attacks of an enemy with a damage-increasing skill.

Considering the sizes of Gubamon and Vandalieu's Mana pools, it was probably also a poor move to try and attack the Vampires who had once been Gubamon's subordinates and the monsters that Vandalieu had produced from his body.

Gubamon might have been able to buy some time with this, but he had paid an enormous amount of Mana to do so. The amount of Mana that Vandalieu had spent to defend was larger than the amount that Gubamon had expended in terms of the raw numbers, but considering Vandalieu's total Mana pool, it wasn't a significant amount.

There had been no way for Gubamon to win a battle to the death where he was tightening a noose around his own neck.

But the problem was not Gubamon, whose fate had already been sealed, but whether Hihiryushukaka's only remaining pawn, Birkyne, would be able to kill Vandalieu.

Birkyne was inferior to Ternecia in offensive power and inferior to Gubamon in defensive power. Did he have any chance of defeating Vandalieu?

As a Pure-breed Vampire, Birkyne was equal to Ternecia and Gubamon in terms of power. He could use magic and martial skills to a high standard, and though it wasn't suited for direct combat, he did possess a fragment of the Demon King.

His qualities were not those of a warrior or mage, but those of a conspirator pretending to be a strategist. In a way, he was a man who believed in himself.

"… It would be difficult."

The probability wasn't zero, but Hihiryushukaka thought that Birkyne, who was inferior in fighting strength to the other two Pure-breed Vampires, had slim chances of defeating Vandalieu, who had already defeated both.

Vandalieu hadn't fought Ternecia or Gubamon head-on. But his power had increased remarkably since the time he faced Ternecia.

If Hihiryushukaka asked himself whether Birkyne would be able to deal with Vandalieu's development, he could only answer that it would be difficult.

"But no matter how slim his chances of victory are, he must be victorious, or there will be no future for me."

News of Ternecia's defeat had already spread beyond the Bahn Gaia continent. Gubamon's defeat would be well-known before long, too.

If people lost their fear of Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, and no longer saw a reason to fear him, only his own downfall would await him.

From a mortal's perspective, it might be a mere downfall in image, but for Hihiryushukaka and the other evil gods who were the remnants of the Demon King's army, there was no purpose if they were not feared. Being treated with contempt would be their end.

The three Pure-breed Vampires had been very effective as billboards to instill fear, but��� now, that had backfired on Hihiryushukaka.

There was also the option of simply fleeing, but Vandalieu, whose mother was a Dark Elf, would live between three thousand and five thousand years. It was difficult to imagine that Hihiryushukaka would manage to escape him for that long.

With that being the case, the best plan was to make a gamble while he still had a chance at victory.

"I suppose I shall form a plan that works under the assumption that Birkyne's plan fails."

Hihiryushukaka turned his gaze towards Birkyne, who was still unaware of Gubamon's destruction.

Two days after being abducted by Vampires, Iris Bearheart reappeared before her companions of the Sauron Liberation Front.

"I'm happy that you are so vigilant, but isn't it about time you believe me?" asked a wet-faced Iris.

Her companions had been pouring holy water over her the moment she had reappeared.

"As you can see, the color of my eyes hasn't changed. I haven't got fangs, and I still have a pulse. I'm not a Vampire or an Undead," she said.

Finally, Debis and the others lowered their silver weapons that consisted of silver tableware.

"Ojou… I'm so glad you're safe!" Debis exclaimed.

"I thought it was over. If you'd come back a day later, I would have been forced to become the princess knight!"

Wiping her wet face with a cloth that she had been handed, Iris returned the happy smile of her companions. She had made preparations so that things would remain in order even if she died at any moment, but she hadn't desired death. She was truly happy at being reunited with her companions.

"But Ojou, just how did you escape the Vampires?" Debis asked.

"About that… Debis, everyone, the Sauron Liberation Front has always been acting with the resolve to accept both good and evil," said Iris.

From the point of view of those who currently ruled the Sauron Duchy, the resistance was undeniably a group of criminals. No matter what kind of high ideals they had, they hadn't been able to get by through clean actions alone. They had even stained their hands with acts that ignored the principles of chivalry altogether.

Debis's betrayal of the slave merchant had been a spectacularly murky act for a member of the Mercenaries' Guild.

"But I have gained the resolve to tread through even murkier waters. Do you have the resolve to follow me?" Iris asked her companions.

The Sauron Liberation Front had made sure not to step over a certain line, but Iris's companions gasped at her mentions of treading through murkier waters.

"Ojou, could you possibly be speaking of making pacts with the Vampires?!"

"Iris-ojou, we mustn't! Those things, those Vampires that worship the Evil God of Joyful Life, I'm sure they have connections with the Amid Empire! They're just going to make use of us and then sell us out to the Empire in the end!"

Iris's companions had waded through murky waters numerous times, but making deals with the Vampires who worshipped the Evil God of Joyful Life was such a contaminated river that it made all of the past deeds they had done look like clear spring water.

They were beings who scorned and trampled over the most basic rules that even applied in the underworld. They could not be trusted to keep up their ends of any bargains. That was what Iris's companions were trying to tell her.

"No, they're not the ones we're going to be making a deal with," Iris told them. "We'll be making a deal with an organization led by the one who defeated Gubamon, one of the leaders of the Vampires who worship the Evil God of Joyful Life, and saved me. They offered me conditions and promised to offer us aid if these conditions are fulfilled."

"Gubamon? You mean a Pure-breed Vampire was defeated?! There's no way…!"

"But look, Iris-ojou was taken by Gubamon's subordinates, but she's safe and back with us now, so it might be true," said Debis. "Iris-ojou, just who in the world is this monster who defeated a monster from the age of the gods and asked us to tread through murkier waters?"

Iris looked at her surprised companions as she answered. "Vandalieu-dono, a Dhampir with the Title of 'Holy Son of Vida,' who is responsible for slaughtering the Mirg shield-nation's expedition army of six thousand in the southern region of the continent. The conditions that he offered are -"

The extermination force led by Mardock Zet had defeated Raymond and Rick, the Paris brothers who led the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army.

Having received this information, Kurt Legston decided that he should be happy about this.

The Paris brothers had been the most troublesome bunch among the resistance. The Sauron Liberation Front led by the Liberating Princess Knight was troublesome as well, but the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army led by the brothers had considerable organizational capability, and they were a powerful enemy with many former members of Knights' Orders among their ranks.

Many units that had underestimated them as another mere resistance group had suffered great losses.

This resistance organization had been exterminated, so as an unimportant part of the Empire's army, it was something that Kurt should be happy about.

"But it is quite surprising that two such important individuals were hiding in a place like this. And even more surprising was your skill that brought us their heads," Kurt said with a smile, praising Mardock, who had come to deliver this report.

Kurt was truly happy from the bottom of his heart.

Now quickly, allow me to get out of this small fort, make a triumphant return to the army's headquarters and then receive my promotion in the Empire, Kurt thought as he offered Mardock a drink.

Mardock, whose face was wrapped in bandages, emptied the cup given to him before speaking. "Not at all. I lost many of my subordinates in the process. This is all the result of their work."

Mardock's tone of speech was strange due to his injuries, but Kurt felt more discomfort at the words that he had spoken. Was Mardock the kind of man to say such admirable words?

It was true that nearly half of Mardock's unit had died. As a unit, these losses were enormous, and it was likely that many of the victims had been with Mardock for a long time. This was why Kurt didn't consider it completely unnatural that Mardock was thinking about the men who had been sacrificed.

But would he show these emotions to Kurt, whom he had been thoroughly unpleasant towards up until now?

I was certain that he would at least say something like, "For you to not notice such large figures hiding in a place so close by, you must really enjoy engaging in unarmed combat with the documents on your desk."

Taking no notice of Kurt's suspicions, Mardock changed the topic of conversation to an entirely different one.

"Come to think of it, are you aware of the incident in which a Hurricane Dragon's roar was heard several days ago?" Mardock asked.

"Yeah, since we could even hear it from here," said Kurt. "But nothing strange has been happening, so I suppose it is just their mating season, or perhaps a territorial conflict with another Dragon."

What is this about, all of a sudden? Kurt wondered, growing more and more suspicious.

But Mardock continued speaking. "… If I were to tell you that the Dragon's roar was a sign that something crawled out from the other side of the Boundary Mountain Range, what would you do?"

"Mardock-dono? What are you saying?" Kurt asked.

Monsters crawling out from the other side of the Boundary Mountain Range. This was a phenomenon that occurred several times a year in Kurt's homeland, the Mirg shield-nation. These were mostly monsters that lost the battle for a place in the mountain range and wandered outside after being expelled.

However, a monster that would cause a Hurricane Dragon to roar, a monster that would threaten not only this fort but the existence of the entire Sauron Duchy, had never emerged from the mountain range.

"There is no way that is possible," Kurt said. "If that was true, then we would have bigger things to worry about than the resistance. We would need to send a message to the army headquarters right now, send out requests to summon A-class adventurers -"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar noise came from the wooden door behind Kurt. He immediately turned around, and then opened his eyes wide in surprise.

A small silhouette so black that it looked as if it were enveloped in the darkness of the night itself had entered the room by breaking through the office door that was made of rotting wood.

"In this world, windows are usually wooden doors, so the 'outside the window!' joke can't be used, can it?" said the small silhouette that was covered completely in black with a flat tone that was very out-of-place.

"Your Majesty, I cannot understand that joke."

Another figure completely covered in black, about the size of an adult man, entered the room after the smaller one.

"Th-thieves!" Kurt shouted. "Mardock-dono, the soldiers at the front -?!"

"I shall have you be quiet now." Mardock produced a dagger from his pocket and placed its blade at Kurt's neck. "The men at the front have already been replaced by my subordinates."

"Mardock, what are you playing at, you bastard?!" Kurt demanded.

He had been personally distrustful of Mardock, but Mardock was supposed to be exceptional as a soldier. Kurt was more bewildered than angry at Mardock's betrayal.

In this situation, what purpose was there in betraying Kurt, who was nothing more than the commander of a small fort?

"Actually -" Mardock began.

"I'm not Captain Mardock, you knooow," said another voice, finishing the sentence.

A familiar-looking man emerged from Mardock's back like a larva emerging from its chrysalis.

"You're from the extermination force…!" said Kurt.

Kurt didn't remember the man's name, but he had been a scout of Mardock's unit. Kurt had seen him a few times, but he had always maintained a stiff expressionlessness, perhaps because he was earnest or perhaps because he was simply a gloomy individual.

"I am Kimberley, formerly of the extermination force, Commandant Kurt Legston~." The man had become quite transparent, but he was now giving a twisted smile, a grin that exposed his teeth.

As Kimberley emerged, Mardock collapsed onto the ground like a piece of rotten wood, but Kurt found himself unable to move.

Kimberley was far too close for Kurt to try anything.

Kurt was the third son of the Legston family of earls that had served as marshal for generations, but he himself didn't possess the fighting strength of a hero. He wasn't particularly strong compared to the average knight.

I might have been able to do something if I had some more space and my weapon and shield were nearby, but… Well, I was completely defeated the moment the captain got close to me, Legston thought.

But even as he gave up hope, his mouth asked another question on its own. "… To think that Mardock was possessed by a Ghost. What about the other members of the extermination force?"

"No, Mardock is the only one who has been taken over by a Ghost's Possession skill. I'm just manipulating the others," said the small, black figure.

"That makes no difference to me," said Kurt.

It seemed that over a dozen enemies had entered the fort. The morale of the soldiers holed up in the fort had never been high to begin with, and it was unlikely that they had felt any sense of caution towards Mardock and his men who had made a triumphant return after taking the heads of two important members of the resistance.

Thinking about future improvements that would likely never be made, Kurt turned his gaze towards the small figure. "So, what's your goal? Surely you're not going to tell me that you're after my head," he said in self-deprecation.

The small figure shook its head as it answered. "No, our goal is you. But with your head still attached, if possible."

A pale smoke rose from the small figure, and the blackness that looked like the darkness of the night rapidly began to disappear. What was left was a white Dhampir child.

Kurt himself had never seen this child before, but he remembered the top-secret orders that he had been given 'just in case.'

"You are Vandalieu?!"

Vandalieu blinked in surprise at the fact that his own name had come from Kurt's mouth. "Why do you know my name?" he asked.

"… It is a name told to me by the top brass of my homeland," said Kurt. "After doing all of those things… slaughtering the entire expedition of six thousand men, sending over half of them back as Undead and then destroying the cultivated land using the Undead and deadly poison, did you think that we would not be cautious of you?"

And for Kurt, Vandalieu was the killer of his older brother and the reason that he had been demoted.

He had wondered what kind of monster Vandalieu would be, but Vandalieu's appearance was truly that of a child. He had a well-featured face that could pass for a girl's, a doll-like expressionlessness and wax-like skin that didn't look like it belonged to a living person at all.

But he was a monster to be feared.

Kurt had heard from Thomas Palpapek, the Mirg shield-nation's marshal, that this monster haunted the southern region of the continent beyond the Boundary Mountain Range. Top secret orders had been issued to the commanders of the forts, checkpoints and garrisons near the Boundary Mountain Range, to be followed in the event that Vandalieu was discovered. Those orders were to report the Dhampir's appearance to the homeland and then prioritize avoiding battle and keeping casualties to a minimum.

But Kurt hadn't been seriously vigilant about this, as he hadn't expected that the Dhampir would appear in the former Sauron Duchy to the north of the Boundary Mountain Range.

He would never have dreamed that Vandalieu would come to the former Sauron Duchy in order to obtain rice.

"I see. Well, I suppose any place under the Empire's rule would at least do something like this," said Vandalieu, satisfied with this explanation. "So, this is the business that I've even gone as far as to use my 'ink' to sneak in here for… I want to recruit you."

"Recruit me, you say?" Kurt repeated, doubting his own ears. It seemed impossible in a variety of ways; he found it difficult to believe that he was even that valuable an individual. But then he voiced the greatest of the questions that he had. "Can't you do that after killing me and turning me into an Undead without making all this effort?"

Considering the expedition army's transformation into Undead and Kimberley's transformation into a Ghost, there was no doubt that the boy in front of Kurt's eyes could tame Undead. So then, why was he going out of his way to recruit a living soldier of an enemy nation? Wasn't this some kind of trap? Kurt couldn't trust Vandalieu at all until these questions were answered.

But it wasn't Vandalieu who answered Kurt's question.

"It's because I recommended it," said the larger figure, who had remained silent after the first words it spoke when it first entered.

A thin smoke rose from the figure. The Demon King's ink that had been used as camouflage disappeared, revealing a deathly-pale face that Kurt knew very well. Kurt's jaw almost dropped onto the ground.

"Ani-ue, Chezare-ani-ue?!"

"I received your letter before the expedition army departed, but it's been three, no, four years since we last talked directly? Or should I say that it's the first time? It seems that you've aged considerably since we last met." Chezare's gaze wandered as if lost, and then he shrugged his shoulders as if finally giving up on something. "Ah, it's useless. I can't remember what kind of face I made when I talked to you. Did I have a politer tone? Leaving that aside, have you gotten married yet?"

"… That is the face, Ani-ue. After you became an adult, you did have a politer tone, however," said Kurt. "The marriage proposal I reported in my letter was canceled after the expedition army was defeated and I was demoted."

"I see. That's convenient for us," said Chezare. "So, you were wondering why we made all this effort to recruit you, weren't you?"

"I would like you to apologize, Ani-ue, even if only as a formality."

From Kurt's point of view, the words and behavior of the Undead before his eyes were exactly like those of his older brother, to the point that they were exchanging these words so naturally.

Kurt was a believer of Alda; it was only natural for him to believe that Undead were evil beings. But he couldn't deny that this was certainly his older brother.

"The reason is because there is a possibility that your personality and memories will be damaged when you become an Undead," Chezare continued. "It's only natural, since it's something that happens after you die. I've changed quite a lot myself, haven't I?"

"No, that is not… No, you have indeed changed quite a lot," Kurt agreed. He felt that there was something decisively different about his older brother compared to when he had been alive.

While he was alive, Chezare would have never infiltrated a fort of the enemy army for any reason.

"There are some who become more useful after becoming Undead; that's true for me and Kimberley. But that doesn't mean it will be true for you. That's why His Majesty has come to recruit you."

"If I refuse, will I be killed and turned into an Undead?" Kurt asked with a bitter smile.

"Yes," Vandalieu replied. "It's already been decided that this fort will fall, so that's what will happen."

There wasn't any use in lying, so he answered honestly. The act of slaughtering six thousand people from Kurt's own nation and returning them as Undead might have been a defensive battle followed by a counterattack from the perspective of Vandalieu and his allies, but from Kurt's point of view, these actions were likely the act of a fiend.

"So, this is how you'll be treated if you accept my recruitment. My nation doesn't have an aristocratic system yet, so I can't guarantee you a court rank, however." Vandalieu handed Kurt a document.

Kurt took it, but before even looking at it, he gave Vandalieu a bewildered look. "Didn���t you think that I would be enraged and refuse you? You are my brother's killer."

"I did," said Vandalieu. "That's why I prepared plenty of fighting forces before coming here."

Princess Levia, Orbia and a large number of other Ghosts appeared around Vandalieu for a moment, and then disappeared again. Realizing that the creepily-smiling Kimberley wasn't the only Ghost around, Kurt's expression stiffened.

"But Chezare has told me that you're a calm, patient person," Vandalieu continued. "If you still hate me, then it can't be helped. It's fate that we're speaking face-to-face like this, so I would accept if you were to challenge me to a one-on-one duel. Would you like that?"

With his expression still frozen, Kurt thought… The strength left his face and shoulders as he gave his answer. "I shall decline. I am thankful for your consideration."

Even if they were to duel, Kurt did not feel like he could win against the child before his eyes. Chezare and Kimberley had been looking at him to silently urge him to decline as well, but the marshal's secret written orders had also read, "Avoid fighting him at all costs."

And Kurt had never particularly hated the 'Monstrosity' that had turned the tables on the expedition army.

Though he had felt seething emotions upon first hearing the news, once he calmed down and thought about it, he had realized that the Mirg shield-nation had simply lost a war.

It had invaded enemy lands, been completely defeated and then suffered an invasion in return. Excluding the Undead, these were events that had repeated themselves in history over and over again.

It wasn't as if he felt no grudge at all, but after talking to the Undead older brother before his eyes, even that grudge had grown weaker. It might have been different if his older brother had been rotting and letting out groans of suffering, but Chezare was almost exactly the same as he had been while alive other than the deathly-pale color of his skin.

Perhaps as an Alda believer, it was proper for him to be burning with anger, but before being a believer of Alda, he was a military man, a commander.

The king of the enemy nation had personally come to meet him and offered him a chance to change sides before killing him. This was a prestigious thing, and in this situation, he had essentially already been defeated.

Considering these facts, Kurt had no time to be enraged. Anger simply got in the way of his work.

"But what will happen if I sell out my subordinates and betray my homeland?" Kurt asked.

"The details regarding that are written in the document," said Vandalieu.

Kurt lowered his gaze to the document in his hands to find that the details were indeed written there.

If Kurt accepted Vandalieu's recruitment, all of his subordinates' lives would be spared.

And there were promises that would be fulfilled if the Mirg shield-nation went to war with Talosheim, the nation that Vandalieu ruled, such as actions being taken to persuade the Legston family to join Talosheim's side.

If all of the promises written here were kept, they were extraordinarily good conditions for Kurt.

However, there were also some points that concerned him.

"Why have you gone out of your way to write, 'I will definitely kill Thomas Palpapek, and this is not negotiable?'" Kurt asked.

"He has connections to the Vampires who worship an evil god, and he is one of the masterminds behind my mother's death," Vandalieu replied.

"… Would you care to tell me about this topic in more detail, 'Your Majesty?'"

It didn't take long for Kurt to renounce his faith in Alda and swear loyalty to Vandalieu and his nation while still alive.

Name: Eisen

Rank: 7

Race: Huge Skogsrå

Level: 1

Passive skills:

Superhuman Strength: Level 7

Rapid Regeneration: Level 6

Status Effect Resistance: Level 6

Magic Resistance: Level 6

Physical Resistance: Level 6

Augmented Vitality: Level 8

Enhanced Physical Ability (Bark, Branches): Level 7

Fruit Production: Level 10

Sap Production: Level 10

Branch Production: Level 10

Allure: Level 5

Active skills:

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3

Throwing: Level 3

Armor Technique: Level 1

Spirit Siphon: Level 1

Monster explanation:

[Skogsrå]

A plant-type monster of which none currently exist in Lambda other than Eisen. She appeared as a result of her Rank increasing from being an Immortal Ent, and this race name was given to her because her appearance is similar to fairies that appear in legends that Vandalieu heard in Origin. There are also similar legends on Earth.

Their base Rank is 6.

They are beautiful women with green skin, but the skin on their backs is replaced with bark, and several branches grow from there. Also, they possess tails similar to those of cows for some unknown reason.

There are no other Skogsrå in Volume 5, so it is difficult to inspect them as a race, but because Eisen was formerly an Immortal Ent, she possesses powerful regenerative abilities and a great resistance to status effects. When she was an Immortal Ent, she swung her branches and roots to fight, so she has acquired the Unarmed Fighting Technique skill. She has also learned the Throwing skill from throwing her fruit.

She can extend the branches on her back to use them as weapons, and produce fruit from them. Also, her sap can be used as an ingredient for a high-quality syrup. The wooden clothes that she wears were actually created by her, and can be replaced at any time.

Other than her simple fighting strength, she is also surrounded by a charm similar to that of a high-class prostitute due to her Allure passive skill, and she can touch any creatures she seduces to attack them with Spirit Siphon.

Also, it is thought that she can become capable of using earth-attribute magic, life-attribute magic or perhaps both.

She looks similar to a human in appearance, but she is essentially a plant, so she can survive for a long period of time as long as she has water and sunlight. However, she is also capable of eating.

Incidentally, it is a mystery as to why she only ever says, "Eat." It is thought that her vocabulary will grow in the future.

She secretly participated during the battle against Gubamon, and with the Experience Points gained during this battle, she has developed into a Rank 7 Huge Skogsrå.

As the Adventurers' Guild has never identified Skogsrå, the parts used as proof of extermination, how dangerous they are and the tradeable materials that can be obtained from them are unknown.

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

More Chapters