Chapter 358: I… *I* am Vandalieu

《The Levels of the ‘Transcendent Strength,’ ‘Super Rapid Regeneration,’ ‘Underworld God Magic,’ ‘Deadly Venom Secretion: (Claws, Fangs, Tongue),’ ‘Augmented Attack Power while Unarmed,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Demon Thread Refining,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Increased Magical Power while equipped with a Staff,’ ‘Augmented All Attribute Values,’ ‘Blood Rule,’ ‘Hollow World God Magic,’ ‘Precise Mana Control,’ ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ ‘Group Coordination,’ ‘Super High-speed Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Vengeful Throwing,’ ‘Scream,’ ‘God Spirit Magic,’ ‘Demon King Artillery Technique,’ ‘Transcend Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Whip Technique,’ ‘Staff Technique,’ ‘Muscle Technique,’ ‘Magic Fighting Technique,’ ‘Group Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Control,’ and ‘Soul Form’ Skills have increased!》

《The ‘Chant Revocation’ Skill has awakened to ‘No Incantation!’ The ‘Super Strengthen Subordinates’ Skill has awakened to ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates!’ The ‘Increased Mana Recovery Rate’ has awakened to ‘Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate!’》

As the fierce battle raged on, Vandalieu had witnessed his companions defeating numerous monsters of high Rank through the eyes of his Demon King Familiars. And he had also witnessed the destruction of the Rank 13 artificial spirits.

“Bocchan, how was it this time?” asked Rita.

The Demon King Familiar that had just left the Job-changing chamber looked somewhat puzzled as it replied. “I chose ‘Dark Demon King,’ expecting that it would reach the Level cap as soon as I chose it, like a few of my Jobs have done in the past. And as I expected, it did. Then, I chose ‘Pandemonium,’ and that reached the Level cap immediately as well. Finally, I chose ‘Soul Fighter.’ My Attribute Values increased, and the Level of my Skills increased as well. I know I should be happy about that, since it will give me an advantage in the battle against Guduranis, but… I’m a little torn on the matter, because it feels like the gods of Statuses are leading me to become less and less human.”

If the gods of Statuses were to hear this, they would have likely replied that no leading was necessary.

The Demon King Familiar started displaying some strange behavior, moving its front legs, back legs, as well as its jointed legs.

“… Is that a dance?” asked Saria.

“No, I’m seeing how my body feels now that my Attribute Values have increased… As I thought, there’s no way to tell because this isn’t my main body,” the Demon King Familiar said.

“Your main body is currently feeding now, right?” Rita made a discontented noise. “It’s at times like these that I detest my body for not having any blood.”

She was disappointed at the fact that Vandalieu could not drink her blood because, as a Living Armor, her body didn’t have any.

“Well, that can’t be helped,” Saria said. “Besides, we aren’t the only ones who don’t have blood. Princess Levia, Legion, and Silkie don’t have any, either. More importantly, Bocchan, didn’t you see any new Jobs available?”

“‘New Demon King’ after you picked ‘Dark Demon King,’ maybe? You’re fighting the old Demon King right now, after all,” Rita said, her mood changing immediately as she excitedly wondered what kind of Demon King Vandalieu would become next.

Vandalieu, who was listening through the Demon King Familiar, suddenly got a distant look in his eyes.

“There weren’t any new Jobs available this time. Let’s look forward to next time,” the Demon King Familiar said.

《The Levels of the ‘Shadow Group Binding Technique,’ ‘Augmented Attributes: Ruling,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values while Enveloped in a Soul,’ ‘Golem Creation,’ and ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ have increased!》

Suddenly, a change occurred in the Demons. Each individual Demon became significantly stronger, and the rate at which they regenerated and revived increased.

Guduranis shouted out loud in frustration. “You bastard, you have acquired some new Skill… No, could it be that you’ve acquired a new Job?!”

Vandalieu, who was on the other side of the horde of Demons, didn’t answer, but Guduranis was certain that this was the case.

Guduranis could also increase his power by changing Jobs, but… that was impossible. After all, the city of Orbaume, which had the facilities necessary to do so, had half-transformed into a mountain of rubble.

And Guduranis had only taken over Edgar’s Status. Thus, it wasn’t even certain as to whether Guduranis could change that Status’s Job through his will alone. And even if he could, the only new Jobs he could choose from were those available to Edgar.

He wouldn’t be able to acquire unique Jobs like Vandalieu.

Guduranis roared in anger once more, then decided to focus his thoughts elsewhere. He swept away the regenerating Demons and checked the current situation of the battle.

He could see Guduranis Shadow, the artificial spirit of the death attribute, being gradually cornered by Darcia and the others.

Darcia transformed her transformation equipment into a bow.

“‘Life Flame Arrow!’” she shouted, nocking and releasing an arrow made from concentrated life-attribute Mana.

The arrow was empowered by the skills taught to Darcia directly by Veld, a heroic spirit of Vida, and her life-attribute Mana which had increased due to Vida having descended upon her. Even if it only grazed Guduranis Shadow, it would inflict a great deal of agony.

This artificial spirit was not like the crude copy of Guduranis that was defeated by Heinz and his companions in Alda’s Dungeon of Trials; Guduranis had detested the crudeness of that copy, and he had created this artificial spirit with strength that made it worthy of being known as the shadow of Guduranis.

It roared as it cast a death-attribute spell to conjure a barrier in an attempt to block Darcia’s arrow. But it seemed that the burden of facing Darcia, with Vida descended upon her, was too great for a mere shadow. The barrier was slowly being pierced, and the Mana that made up its body was gradually being chipped away at.

“‘Mad Flesh Lightning Contact!’” shouted Legion.

With their entire body wreathed in lightning, they were flying around the sky in leaping movements, repeatedly performing body-slam attacks.

Guduranis Shadow made an alarmed noise as it produced yet another barrier to block the enormous mass that was Legion’s body as well as the electricity that had been generated through ‘Muscle Technique’ rather than created with Mana.

Legion laughed loudly. “Use as much Mana as you like! Until you disappear, that is!”

Guduranis himself possessed Rikudou’s cheat-like abilities and Edgar’s Status after having taken over their souls, but Guduranis Shadow did not. And it could not quickly recover its Mana, so at this rate, it would soon be erased from existence without ever being able to attack.

Meanwhile, Vepar, the artificial spirit of water and death, was being trampled by Knochen and Pete’s overwhelming mass, as well as the light-attribute Ghosts.

Knochen groaned and Pete hissed as they attacked.

“You can’t stop meee! My light beeeam!” Berkert shouted in a frenzy.

Because its body was made of liquid, Vepar was almost immune to physical attacks, but even that had a limit. Knochen’s countless bones scraped its body away, the lightning fired from Pete’s horns evaporated it, and Berkert and the other light-attribute Ghosts had turned themselves into light and were continuously unleashing rapid attacks that passed through its body.

Daroak gave a triumphant laugh. “You do not stand a chance against us, the warriors of light who serve the great Vandalieu-sama!”

“You are a creation of ill-conceived magic! I shall make you evaporate!” said Chipuras.

Daroak had become a beam of light that radiated an intense heat, and Chipuras had turned his plump body into a sphere of light that caused Vepar’s body to evaporate.

Vepar attempted to make a counter-attack, but… a moment later, it shrieked as it was struck by cannon-fire from Cuatro and disappeared in an explosion of flames.

Pazuzu, the artificial spirit of wind and death, was also in a predicament. One reason was that Randolf had acquired a new magic sword, allowing him to fight not only with spiritual magic, but in close-quarters combat as well. But the critical factor was the reinforcements that arrived to aid him – Kanako, who had left Vepar to Knochen and the others, and Zadiris, who had finished providing Vandalieu with her blood.

“‘Predatory Bird Kick!’ ‘Whip Kick Waltz!’ Zadiris-san, please stop showing off your kiss mark!” said Kanako.

“‘Wind Spirit Knight Spear!’ I’m not showing off anything! And the mark that was left by the blood-sucking… There’s almost no mark at all!” Zadiris said indignantly.

“Kanako-sensei and Zadiris, was it? It is good to see that you are eager to fight, but could you please leave the cat fight for later?” said Randolf.

Zadiris had already recovered the lost blood with ‘Strengthen Healing Ability,’ a ‘No-Attribute Magic’ spell, as well as a Blood Potion. And because Vandalieu had transformed his tongue into a proboscis rather than using his fangs, he had left almost no mark at all on her neck. Because of the years she had spent coordinating her movements with Kanako, the two of them were on the same wavelength, like comrades in arms.

But for some reason, they were verbally arguing.

If they were adventurers that he was acquainted with, or his own students, then he would shout at them to make them behave, but Kanako was a teacher that he respected, and Zadiris was the familiar of a master that was stronger than Randolf, so he couldn’t speak too harshly.

A moment later, Pazuzu screeched as Basdia arrived.

“‘Winged Axe Slice!’” she shouted, hurling a hatchet at Pazuzu. “He’s right, you two. Concentrate on the battle!” she said, agreeing with Randolf.

The battle against Pazuzu tipped even more heavily in Randolf’s favor with the addition of this new ally.

“Ah, you’ve got a mark on your neck too, Basdia-san!” said Kanako, pointing at Basdia accusingly. “Hmph, it looks like Van is the kind of person who goes in order! ‘Sticky Mud Prison!’”

“Kanako, it’s not a good look to say it out loud and point. And besides, Van is drinking Jeena’s blood now, so order doesn’t have much to do with it,” said Basdia.

“‘Light Blade!’ Jeena? But if I recall, Zombie blood does not have much of a healing effect,” said Zadiris.

“He apparently took out her blood and transfused her with Bellmond’s blood beforehand, with a spell to keep the blood fresh,” Basdia explained. “The same goes for Zandia and Borkus.”

The highly viscous mud conjured by Kanako stopped Pazuzu from moving, and before it could escape from the mud, Zadiris and the others concentrated their attacks to deal damage.

Zombies could function without a problem even when transfused with blood of a different type from their own. Having heard how Vandalieu was making use of this fact, Randolf made a strange expression as he swung his magic sword.

“I don’t know the exact details, but… don’t go spreading that. The idea of using Zombies with methods like that will be quite controversial in society at large,” Randolf warned them.

Vandalieu had removed the blood of Zombies and then transfused the blood of Bellmond, who possessed the ‘Offering’ Unique Skill, to store her blood inside them. It was an effective measure for when Bellmond wasn’t available or when a single feeding session wasn’t sufficient to recover his Mana, but it was a strategy that would certainly elicit disgust in ordinary people if they were to hear about it.

“It’s alright. We’re the only ones who know about it,” said Kanako.

Randolf tilted his head back limply as he realized that he was being recognized as one of Vandalieu’s followers… and then unleashed a series of attacks at Pazuzu. “‘Blade Storm!’ ‘Lava Bullet!’ ‘Hundred Life Sword Flashes!’”

Randolf was simply venting his emotions at Pazuzu, but this was a sharp series of attacks performed by an S-class adventurer’s magic and sword. With one final dying scream, Pazuzu evaporated.

Knowing that two more of his created pawns had been destroyed, Guduranis’s frustration was growing.

Luvesfol roared as he unleashed another Breath attack.

“Do you think I can be killed by the Breath of an insect like you?!” Guduranis shouted.

He dispersed the Breath attack with air cannon attacks from the noses of the Demon King, which also blew away Rapiéçage’s fists, which had been concealed inside the Breath attack.

“Now that I’ve got less blood, my body feels much lighter!” said Borkus. “‘Elder Dragon Slayer!’”

Godwin clicked his tongue. “I should have brought Iris with me after all!”

Borkus charged in with his sword raised, and Godwin with his fists swinging. Their attacks were far faster and more powerful than those of the horde of Demons or even Luvesfol, who had become able to use Skills such as ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ for some reason.

Guduranis groaned as he stopped the fists with the paw pads of the Demon King and deflected Borkus’s attacks with his hand-chopping blows, but the attacks that he didn’t manage to defend against were dealing damage that was gradually accumulating.

“‘Chaotic Frenzied Axe Whip!’” shouted Vigaro, swinging axes with his four arms, which were longer than his legs, and the spirit-form arm on his back.

“‘Flowing Willow!’” said Guduranis, and with a grunt of exertion, he tried to parry Vigaro’s axes with his knife-hand strikes, but due to the difference in their skill and the quality of their weapons, Guduranis’s arms were ripped apart in places and the noses that he had created to fire air cannon attacks were split open.

“Is this all you can give me?! Is this all that I can gain from the ally of Bellwood’s successor and the god who tried to use me?!” Guduranis snarled as his frustration grew stronger, cursing Edgar and Rikudou, the ones who were currently supporting his abilities.

But Edgar and Rikudou would likely find this to be very unreasonable if they were around to hear it.

Edgar’s Skills truly shined when used by Edgar. And Guduranis had lost ‘Niltark’s Divine Protection’ and the ability to use ‘Heroic Spirit Transformation.’ And although his entire body was made of fragments of the Demon King, he was fighting bare-handed. With this many unfavorable circumstances working against him, there was no way he could compete with Borkus and the others in sheer ability.

He did possess Rikudou’s cheat-like ability, but it was difficult to improve Edgar’s Skills within a short period of time, given that they were already highly advanced.

Guduranis understood this. But he could not endure this irritation and frustration that arose from the pain he was suffering, the fact that he was being toyed with by beings that would normally be inferior to him, and the fact that Vandalieu was rapidly recovering his Mana even now.

“Don’t be conceited, failures birthed by Vida and creatures who failed to die! Come forth, artificial spirits!” he commanded.

He had been fighting using martial skills and the fragments that made up his own body rather than using death-attribute magic, allowing him to recover some Mana, and he mustered as much of it as he could to create new artificial spirits.

He was still sensing almost no reaction from ‘Danger Sense: Death,’ but his instincts were whispering to him that it would be bad if he were to continue being at the mercy of the discrepancy in numbers. Malacodas, Pazuzus, Vepars, and Guduranis Shadows – two of each – appeared and roared as they began charging towards Vandalieu and his allies.

But at that moment, he felt a premonition of death and immediately halted his flight, allowing himself to fall.

“‘Evil-breaking Holy Radiant Zenith Flash!’”

Heinz’s holy sword, performing the most powerful of his martial skills, grazed and passed over the top of Guduranis’s head. The Five-colored Blades had been struggling in their battle against Malacoda, but they had also been waiting for a chance to catch Guduranis by surprise.

A dying groan could be heard, and Guduranis looked around to see Malacoda, the artificial spirit that they had been fighting, vanishing from existence after being hit directly by the ‘Evil-breaking Holy Radiant Zenith Flash.’ Heinz had been struggling against Malacoda despite Bellwood having descended upon him, and Guduranis had assumed that this was either because Heinz and his companions were very poorly matched against Malacoda, or because Heinz didn’t know how to use Bellwood’s power properly. But it seemed that in reality, Heinz had deliberately been waiting for the perfect moment to defeat Malacoda.

“You cunning insects!” Guduranis cursed. “Go!” he commanded his new creations.

In truth, Heinz and his companions had not been in such a comfortable position, but Guduranis re-evaluated how wary he should be of them, and sent one of the new Pazuzus and one of the Guduranis Shadows at them… As irritating as it was for Guduranis, both of the newly-created Vepars and one of the Pazuzus had been caught up in Heinz’s attack and destroyed.

The remaining two Malacodas and the other Guduranis Shadow roared as they began sending the Demons flying and scattering them across the battlefield, but Borkus quickly engaged them in battle, stopping them in their tracks.

But because his surroundings were now clear of Demons, Guduranis was able to directly see Vandalieu once more.

“To think that you could create eight in one go. Have you grasped how to conserve your Mana and create artificial spirits more efficiently?” Vandalieu asked.

“Do not speak nonsense! You have been drinking the blood of your servants, one after another. I am starting to see the meaning of the words ‘companion’ and ‘bond’ that you mortals love so much,” Guduranis said contemptuously.

“You may not be able to understand it, but it’s a relationship of supporting one another,” said Vandalieu.

“That’s right! Don’t be so quick to judge us!” said Yuuma.

Vandalieu had consumed her blood as well, and she had consumed a Blood Potion, half of which consisted of Vandalieu’s blood, to recover.

That sight was infuriating for Guduranis to see. Blood Potion was made from the blood of the Demon King, a fragment that Vandalieu had absorbed… In other words, it was made from Guduranis’s own blood.

“Just how much do you intend to take advantage of my body?!” Guduranis demanded.

“It’s my body now,” said Vandalieu. “More importantly, shall we put an end to this? … As unlikely as it is, it would be very unpleasant if Heinz were to snatch the kill.”

Having recovered sufficiently, Vandalieu cast a certain spell. It was not yet complete, but he had decided that he could cast it now.

“‘Great Killing World.’”

The moment Vandalieu cast this spell, Guduranis was enveloped in a killing intent and fear so great that it felt like it was scorching his brain. He began screaming in terror as he felt responses from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ from everywhere, from everything – even the slightest breeze. His consciousness was completely overwritten by the screams of his instinct to survive.

He felt killing intent coming at him from all directions, and even when he turned around and attacked in one of the directions that it was coming from, there was nothing there.

With Guduranis in this state, it was easy for Vandalieu to hit him directly with ‘Hollow Cannon,’ and Guduranis shouted out loud in pain as it struck him.

“I’ve tried for a long time to create a spell that completely erases my presence, but it never worked out,” said Vandalieu.

He had tried to recreate the ability of Legion’s Ghost, the limited death-attribute spell that rendered him undetectable by any of the five senses or any kind of mechanical sensor. But to this day, he had never succeeded.

“That’s why I thought of doing the opposite,” Vandalieu said.

A spell that enveloped the target in the fear and presence of death… one that made them perceive the entire world around them as dangerous. If such a spell existed, it would confuse even a foe with the sharpest of senses.

This was that spell. Vandalieu had never imagined that he would end up using it against an enemy who possessed ‘Danger Sense: Death’ like he did, but…

“You piece of vermiiin!” Guduranis screamed.

His consciousness was in an even greater state of discomposure and panic than Vandalieu had anticipated. He did not possess the mental fortitude necessary to withstand an overwhelming sense of danger, the likes of which he had never felt before.

After all, he was the Demon King Guduranis. From the moment his existence began, he had been overwhelmingly powerful, and his only defeat had come at the hands of Bellwood and his allies. Thus, he did not have the ability to withstand and resist fear.

“‘Cast!’ ‘Super Acceleration!’” cried Zandia.

With ‘Time Princess Magic,’ she had frozen seven different spells at the moment before they were cast, and they were all unleashed simultaneously. Meanwhile, her other spell accelerated Jeena’s movements to be even faster.

“‘God Shield Strike!’” shouted Jeena, slamming Guduranis with her shield.

Guduranis screamed in pain. “You Zombie filth!” he cursed.

But he could not evade or defend himself from their attacks. Due to ‘Great Killing World,’ his consciousness was completely filled with false information that he was being attacked from above, from below, from his right, from his left, from in front of him, and from behind… from all directions, constantly.

If his senses were a radar, it was like it had been completely filled with a countless number of targets. Thus, even though Jeena was closing in on him right before his eyes with her shield raised, he was in a state of utter chaos, not knowing which killing intent he should react to.

If it were Vandalieu himself being targeted by this spell, or the battle-hardened Randolf, Schneider, or Heinz, they wouldn’t have been in this much chaos.

However, Edgar’s soul had been absorbed by Guduranis and was still present within him. Edgar had returned to a state of being on the verge of complete collapse, Guduranis was reading his experience and looking for a way to escape this dangerous situation.

The one he decided upon was very much what one would expect from Edgar, who had been a scout – attacking Vandalieu, the leader of his enemies and the one who had cast this spell.

He shouted in exertion. “‘Transcend Limits!’ ‘True Rapid Response!’ … ‘Soul Armor!’”

With a Skill and a martial skill increasing his physical capabilities beyond their limits, as well as an improvised copied version of Vandalieu’s ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ he charged forward.

Zandia, Yuuma, and the Demons attacked him from the sides, causing more damage to accumulate, but he ignored everything and gambled everything on this one chance at making a comeback in this battle.

Vandalieu attempted to activate ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ and cover himself with his soul, but Guduranis’s suicide attack was faster.

“I did it!” Guduranis yelled.

His pointed hand pierced Vandalieu’s chest, and he let out a victorious roar.

But Vandalieu wouldn’t die from something like his heart being destroyed. He grew blood vessels of the Demon King to have his blood continue circulating while circumventing his destroyed heart, and at the same time, attempted to begin a counterattack.

However, Guduranis’s aim was not to kill Vandalieu. It was to make contact with the inside of his body.

“Come, fragments of my body! Converge upon me! Return and converge upon your main body!” he commanded them.

His aim was to reclaim the fragments of his body from Vandalieu. If he could reclaim the fragments, Guduranis’s stamina would be restored and he would be able to regain his power, while Vandalieu would be weakened. And if he reclaimed fragments like the Demon King’s treasure orb, which generated Mana, he would be able to recover his Mana within a short period of time.

And as he expected, the cores of the fragments of the Demon King moved from Vandalieu’s body into Guduranis’s.

Guduranis quivered in delight as he made an excited noise. “It is returning! My body! My… body?”

His delight quickly turned into confusion. The sensation he was feeling was not the feeling of satisfaction of his body returning. It was the uncomfortable sensation of something foreign invading him. At the same time, he realized that the reactions he was sensing from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ were growing abnormally loud, even accounting for the fact that they had been thrown into chaos by ‘Great Killing World.’

“W-why?! What is happen–”

I am not you. You are not me, a voice said – Guduranis’s own voice.

Indeed, you are not the main body we should converge upon, said another instance of his own voice.

Fall victim to us and converge upon us. I… *I*, said a third, turning into Vandalieu’s voice mid-sentence, am Vandalieu.

“Such a thing cannot be possible…” Guduranis murmured.

And a moment later, he screamed in agony as horns, bones, and fangs tore his body to shreds from within.