Chapter 362: Occupation: Vandalieu

A discussion was taking place inside Vandalieu’s brain between a countless number of his voices that were lamenting what had happened.

“I can understand ‘True Demon King,’ but why has my name become a Job?” one of the Vandalieus said.

“I can’t believe that I would say such a thing. Are you fine with ‘True Demon King’ being one of the Jobs available, me?” asked another.

“I’m not fine with ‘True Demon King,’ but given that there have been ‘Demon King’ and ‘Great Demon King’ in the past, it was foreseeable,” the first replied. “And it is a small problem in comparison with the fact that my name has become a Job. I would like for that to be understood.”

“I see. I understand,” said the second.

“That’s right,” agreed the Vandalieu that was a part of the God of Origin. “Me, how about I consider this possibility? Perhaps in the distant past, there was an occupation known as ‘Vandalieu.’”

“I see,” one of the other Vandalieus agreed. “As expected of the me who is a god in Origin. You make a good point.”

“In other words, it isn’t that I have become a Job; it just so happens that there was an occupation that was known by the same name as my own. That would… not explain it,” another Vandalieu said.

“Me, have you forgotten that I have received the curse of ‘Unable to acquire existing Jobs?’”  another said to remind the others of this fact.

“Ah, curses. What have I done? To think that I would be so unfocused that I would be scolded by me,” said the Vandalieu in Origin.

“In other words, from the inception of the Status System to the present day, a Job named ‘Vandalieu’ has never existed,” one of the other Vandalieus said.

“It is difficult to admit, mes, but it seems that we have no choice but to accept that I have become a new Job,” another concluded.

“How could this have happened?” all of the others said tragically in unison.

Vandalieu himself, the false image Vandalieu, the shadow Vandalieu, Banda, the Vandalieu that was a part of the God of Origin, and other Vandalieus who didn’t have any particular name to be known by, were all clutching their heads. They tried pulling their heads off to exchange them with the Vandalieu next to them and spinning them around on their necks dozens of times, but they were simply writhing in agony.

Vandalieu’s physical body was also trying everything possible – growing a large number of eyes, washing his face, making more brains, taking a five-minute power nap to refresh himself – but nothing changed the reality before him.

《Jobs that can be selected: Fallen Warrior, Insect Ninja, Eclipse Cursecaster, Creator, Tartarus, Wild Spirit, Dark Battery Cannoneer, Dark Beast User, Hollow Shadow Caster, Balor, Apollyon, Demogorgon, Soul Devourer, God Devourer, Nergal, Ravana, Shaitan, Chi You, Ouroboros, Rudra, Blood Ruler, Demon Electricity User, Yin Guider, Juggernaut, Berserk Muscle User, Apophis, Azathoth, Taotie, Guiding Lord, Changing Guider, Spirit Guider, Hollow World God Mage, God Spirit Alterer, True Demon King (NEW!), Vandalieu (NEW!)》

The ‘Vandalieu’ Job was still there among the Jobs that he could select, as well as the ‘True Demon King’ Job.

“As truly regrettable as it is, let us accept the reality that a previously-undiscovered Job named ‘Vandalieu’ has appeared,” Vandalieu said.

“We have no other choice,” the other Vandalieus said with a collective sigh.

And so, Vandalieu reluctantly accepted reality.

“However, I cannot choose to acquire this Job while having no idea why I have become a Job.”

“Yes, it would be unpleasant if the same thing were to happen repeatedly. New Jobs like ‘High Vandalieu’ or ‘Neo Vandalieu’ would be nothing short of a nightmare.”

“Indeed. Though that would raise the question of what ‘Vandalieu’ with no ‘high’ or ‘neo’ attached is.”

“… Would it?”

“Leaving that aside, perhaps this situation is a sign that the Gods of Statuses have lost their minds, or there is something abnormal happening to them?”

“The Gods of Statuses have always been strange, haven’t they?”

“That’s true. With that being the case… Is it because I defeated Guduranis?”

“Isn’t that only true for ‘True Demon King?’”

“I think it could be presumed that the ‘Vandalieu’ Job is there not only because of my victory over Guduranis, but also because of everything I have done since I was reincarnated in this world.”

“Could it be that you’re saying that this is also true for all of the other available Jobs that are named after mythological beings?”

“As regrettable as it is to me, I believe that is correct.”

Several of the Jobs that were available for Vandalieu to change Jobs to, such as ‘Nergal’ and ‘Balor,’ were named after Earth’s gods.

Like them, Vandalieu had accomplished tremendous feats after being reincarnated in this world, such as liberating Vida, Botin, and Peria, and he had already completely destroyed parts of the Demon King Guduranis. The ‘Vandalieu’ Job had likely appeared because the Gods of Statuses had deemed the name ‘Vandalieu’ to be worthy of naming a Job after.

In other worlds, Vandalieu was reaping what he had sowed.

“… I know it’s impossible, but I would really like to raise an objection against the Gods of Statuses.

“Even their creator Ricklent apparently can’t make contact with them unless he returns to his own Divine Realm first, after all.”

And currently, Ricklent was unable to even do that because Alda knew that Ricklent had joined Vandalieu’s side. If he were to return to his Divine Realm and become surrounded by Alda and his subordinate gods, it was possible that he would have stakes driven into him and be sealed away. Thus, he was staying away from his own Divine Realm. Zuruwarn and the other great gods were also refraining from returning to their original Divine Realms for the same reason.

“But then, ‘Vandalieu’ would be a very useful Job for me, would it not? It’s a Job of being me, after all.”

“… As difficult as it is to admit, that is correct.”

‘Vandalieu’ was a Job that had materialized from all of the deeds that he had performed in the past. In terms of function, there couldn’t possibly be a better Job for Vandalieu.

He was a mage, but also engaged in close-quarters combat. He used a variety of peculiar Skills, and used fragments of the Demon King to transform his body to fight. His unique style of fighting would be completely covered by the ‘Vandalieu’ Job.

“Well, even if it doesn’t live up to that expectation, no harm will be done. I’m sure I will be able to change Jobs again soon anyway.”

Vandalieu could imagine that it would be easy to increase the Job’s Level, too.

“… It cannot be helped,” one of the Vandalieus sighed.

“There isn’t much point in putting it off, either…” said another.

“Ah, I will return to Origin now, so I leave the rest to you,” said the Vandalieu from Origin.

“Ah, I ran away! I will go after me,” said another one of the Vandalieus, running off after the Vandalieu from Origin.

“Ah, that me is also running away!” exclaimed another.

“Let’s keep this a secret from everyone… No, that won’t be possible.”

“Mom will hear about it from Vida, after all.”

“Then how about telling everyone and having them comfort us?”

“Excellent idea. I shall go with that.”

Finally coming up with a way to comfort himself, Vandalieu returned his consciousness back to his physical body. And with his mind made up, he opened his mouth to speak. “I select ‘Vandalieu.’”

《The Levels of the ‘Transcendent Strength,’ ‘Super Rapid Regeneration,’ ‘Underworld God Magic,’ ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Demon Thread Refining,’ ‘Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate,’ ‘Augmented Attack power while activating a Magic Cannon,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Reigning,’ ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Demon Empire of Vidal,’ ‘Self-Regeneration: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values when Enveloped in a Soul,’ ‘Murder Healing,’ ‘Self-Strengthening: Murder,’ ‘Blood Rule,’ ‘Hollow World God Magic,’ ‘Precise Mana Control,’ ‘God Cooking,’ ‘Divine Alchemy,’ ‘Greater Multi-cast,’ ‘Embodiment,’ ‘Group Coordination,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Super High-speed Thought Processing,’ ‘Vengeful Throwing,’ ‘God Spirit Magic,’ ‘Demon King Artillery Technique,’ ‘Demon World Binding Technique,’ ‘Transcend Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Spirit Therapy,’ ‘Muscle Technique,’ ‘Labyrinth Creation,’ ‘Soul Form,’ and ‘Surpass Limits: Soul’ Skills have increased!》

《‘Constant Mana Recovery’ has awakened to ‘Constant Super Mana Recovery!’ ‘Deadly Venom Secretion: Claws, Fangs, Tongue’ has awakened to ‘Divine Venom Secretion: Claws, Fangs, Tongue!’ ‘Augmented Attack Power while Unarmed’ Skill has awakened to ‘Enlarged Attack Power while Unarmed!’ ‘Strengthen Attributes: Worshiped’ has awakened to ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Worshiped!’ ‘Strengthened Magical Power while equipped with a Staff’ has awakened to ‘Augmented Magical Power while equipped with a Staff!’ ‘Transcend Limits’ has awakened to ‘Roar of Destruction!’ ‘Golem Creation’ has awakened to ‘Golem Genesis!’ ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ has awakened to ‘Soul Equipped Destructive Demon God Technique!’ ‘Surgery’ has awakened to ‘Aberrant Technique!’ ‘Thread-Reeling’ has awakened to ‘Death Thread-Reeling!’ ‘Scream’ has awakened to ‘Dark Scream!’》

With a series of cracking and creaking noises coming from his body, Vandalieu collapsed. It seemed that he had reached his limit from the changes brought about by the drastic increase in his Attribute Values.

“… It wasn’t this drastic even during my growth period, so why?” Vandalieu wondered, waiting for his body to regenerate before standing up again.

But it was likely because his Job had immediately reached the maximum Level, causing all of the growth to happen in a single instant.

Indeed, when he checked his Status, ‘Vandalieu’ had already reached the Level cap. One couldn’t expect anything less from Vandalieu himself.

“So many of my Skills increased in Level all at once. A lot of them awakened into new Skills, too.”

Things like ‘Constant Super Mana Recovery’ and ‘Augmented Attribute Values’ were easy to understand. ‘Divine Venom Secretion: Claws, Fangs, Tongue’ likely meant that he had become able to secrete venom equal to or more powerful than Knochen’s ‘Elder Dragon Poison Breath’… which was a poison that could even damage Ghosts and could not be completely nullified through ‘Status Effect Resistance.’ Vandalieu would have to be careful when secreting his venom.

It could be presumed that Skills like ‘Golem Genesis,’ ‘Soul Equipped Destructive Demon God Technique,’ and ‘Aberrant Technique’ were superior forms of their respective base Skills. But ‘Transcend Limits’ changing to ‘Roar of Destruction’ was too great a change in the Skill’s name. It was likely a Skill that placed an even greater burden on the physical body than ‘Transcend Limits,’ so it would be best to test it in advance.

But because ‘Vandalieu’ had already reached its Level cap, Vandalieu would need to change Jobs once more before going to test ‘Roar of Destruction.’

“… Well then, I select ‘True Demon King,’” he said, expecting it to reach its Level cap immediately as well, just like ‘Demon King’ and ‘Great Demon King’ had done.

《The Levels of the ‘Transcendent Strength,’ ‘Underworld God Magic,’ ‘Constant Super Mana Recovery,’ ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Enlarged Attack Power while Unarmed,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Demon Thread Refining,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Reigning,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Worshiped,’ ‘Augmented All Attribute Values,’ ‘Blood Rule,’ ‘Roar of Destruction,’ ‘Hollow World God Magic,’ ‘Golem Genesis,’ ‘Soul Equipped Destructive Demon God Technique,’ ‘Transcend Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Muscle Technique,’ ‘Magic Fighting Technique,’ ‘Soul Form,’ and ‘Surpass Limits: Soul’ Skills have increased!》

《‘Augmented Attack power while activating a Magic Cannon’ has awakened to ‘Enlarged Attack power while activating a Magic Cannon!’ ‘Demon King Artillery Technique’ has awakened to ‘True Demon King Artillery Technique!’ ‘Group Thought Processing’ has awakened to ‘Clustered Soul!’ ‘Group Control’ has awakened to ‘Clustered Existence!’》

And as expected, the Job did indeed hit the Level cap. There were cracking sounds coming from inside Vandalieu’s body, but his body finished regenerating that damage very quickly.

“‘I can understand ‘True Demon King Artillery Technique’… But what are ‘Group Soul’ and ‘Group Existence?’” Vandalieu wondered.

These were Skills that had awakened from ‘Group Thought Processing’ and ‘Group Control,’ but Vandalieu was curious as to what had changed. And so, he observed his thoughts and his split entities and found that something curious had happened.

“My thoughts and body being split into multiple entities has become my normal state?”

‘Group Thought Processing’ and ‘Group Control’ were Skills, so if he were to stop using them, he could gather all of his thoughts into a singular entity again, and his split entities would all stop functioning. Vandalieu had never done that before, but… now, he had become unable to do so, even if he tried.

To go into even more detail, Vandalieu now felt that it was natural for him to have a countless number of separate thought processes and physical bodies that all operated at the same time.

It was completely involuntary to him, like his breathing or the beating of his heart. He felt as if he had been born as an organism with numerous separate simultaneously-operating thought processes and bodies.

And him knowing even the state of the Demon King Familiars on other continents and perceiving all information they received from their sensory organs had become natural as well.

“In other words, my functions have received a version update. This should help with the rebuilding of Orbaume,” he said, nodding to himself repeatedly, not thinking for a single moment that he had stopped being a human being.

No matter how many separate, simultaneous thought processes he had, they were all Vandalieu, so none of them would ever think of denying it.

“Finally, I select ‘Yin Guider.’”

《‘You have acquired the ‘Guidance: Yin Path’ and ‘Yin Path Enticement’ Skills!》

《‘Guidance: Yin Path’ has combined with ‘Guidance: Manas-vijnana!’ and awakened to ‘Guidance: Alaya-vijnana!’ ‘Yin Path Enticement’ has combined with ‘Manas-vinjana Enticement’ and awakened to ‘Alaya-vijnana Enticement!’》

《The Levels of the ‘Divine Venom Secretion: Claws, Fangs, Tongue,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Self-Regeneration: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Cannibalism,’ ‘Murder Healing,’ ‘Self-Strengthening: Murder,’ ‘Aberrant Technique,’ ‘Demon World Binding Technique,’ and ‘High-speed Flight’ Skills have increased!》

《‘Augmented Vitality has awakened to ‘Enlarged Vitality!’ ‘Mental Encroachment’ has awakened to ‘Soul Encroachment!’ ‘Labyrinth Creation’ has awakened to ‘Labyrinth Domination!’》

Vandalieu had defeated Rikudou Hijiri and the resurrected Guduranis. Heinz, who was capable of summoning Bellwood upon himself, had escaped somewhere through Nineroad’s power. Vandalieu had decided that he would battle Heinz to the death one day, but now was the time to gather more strength.

If he devoted himself to pursuing Heinz, even if he found out where he was, there would be no end to it if Nineroad or some other god used their power to help them escape again.

In reality, it was possible that Nineroad had expended a great deal of her power to interfere with matters in the mortal world and would not be able to facilitate another escape for Heinz using the same method.

But Vandalieu had no desire to test that yet. He first wanted to prioritize becoming stronger and building a more solid foundation for himself and his companions.

That was why he had picked ‘Yin Guider’ – No matter what Job he picked he would have plenty of time now. He thought that because he had time on his side, it would be fine even if it ended up being a strange Job that provided no growth to his Attribute Values whatsoever, like ‘Destruction Guider.’

“My Attribute Values have increased tremendously,” Vandalieu observed. “My Mana has increased considerably, of course, but my Strength and Intelligence have almost doubled. I’m glad it happened after I acquired the ‘Super Rapid Regeneration’ Skill, the Demon King’s muscles, and the Demon King’s brain.”

If that hadn’t been the case, he might have ended up being bedridden for several days.

And I think I should refrain from participating in practice battles and sparring until I get used to my new physical strength. It’s possible that I’ll make a mistake in how much I should hold back, Vandalieu thought.

He was confident in his ability to hold back his strength appropriately, but he wasn’t confident that he would be able to hold back his strength with the same precision as before immediately after this sudden increase of his physical abilities, which had multiplied several times in value.

Fortunately, it seemed that it would be some time before school activities resumed. It would be best to use monsters in Dungeons as practice first.

“Now then, time to tell everyone… I should refrain from telling those Demons; they might talk about building a Church to worship me again. There are plenty of those in the Demon Empire of Vidal; I’d like to avoid them being built in Orbaume,” Vandalieu said to himself.

And with that, he emerged from the Job-changing room… Oblivious to the fact that the terrified head priest of the Church of Vida intended to ask him for permission to build a statue of Vandalieu in the Church of Vida to worship him as a saint.

Given that he had saved an entire nation, it was already too late to stop people from worshiping Vandalieu.

Several hours earlier…

A few moments after Heinz and his three party members were engulfed in a fierce gust of wind, they found themselves standing in a field of grass.

Heinz let out a surprised shout. “Everyone, are you all here?!”

“Yes, I’m right here,” Jennifer replied.

“We’re unharmed, and our equipment is intact. Is this his doing?!” Delizah muttered.

Heinz and his companions warily looked around at their surroundings, suspecting that Vandalieu had teleported them somewhere else for some unknown purpose. But Vandalieu and his companions were nowhere to be seen, and they could not sense any killing intent or Mana.

“Heinz, look over there. The Boundary Mountain Range can be seen to the east. This is not the Orbaume Kingdom,” said Diana, informing her companions that they were now in a different nation.

She had noticed that the Boundary Mountain Range was visible, and given the sun’s position in the sky, this was the conclusion she had reached.

The Boundary Mountain Range separated the southern region of the Bahn Gaia continent from its eastern and western regions. From the Orbaume Kingdom, which lay in the continent’s eastern region, the Boundary Mountain Range was always to the west.

But now, Diana could see the Boundary Mountain Range to the east.

“Then this is the western region of the continent… The region under the Amid Empire’s rule. To think that we would be moved all the way over here in a single instant,” Heinz murmured. “Ah, that’s right! We need to return to the Orbaume Kingdom right away!”

“Calm down, Heinz!” said Delizah. “I don’t know why we’re in the western region of the continent, but you need to rest and regain your strength! I’m sure even walking is difficult for you right now.”

Although Heinz’s second use of ‘Heroic Spirit Descent’ had already come undone, it had utterly exhausted Heinz’s Stamina and Mana. As Delizah said, his entire body screamed with every step he took.

“There’s no time to rest,” Heinz said. “Selen and the others are still in Orbaume!”

The others gasped. The Dhampir girl Selen, whom they had raised like their own younger sister or daughter, had been evacuated into one of the shelters by the adventurers that they had entrusted with protecting her. She had been left behind in Orbaume.

Bellwood’s voice spoke from the pendant that Heinz was wearing. “Wait, Heinz. Unless you still intend to give up your life, you should not head for Orbaume now.”

“Bellwood?” Heinz murmured in surprise.

“I do not intend to interfere with your will, but I have a message for you from Nineroad. She wishes for you to meet with Eileek Marme, the new pope of the Great Church of Alda in the Amid Empire,” Bellwood said.

“The Great Church of Alda?!” Jennifer exclaimed. “That’s in the middle of the Amid Empire! There’s no telling what will happen if we meet such an important person!”

That was how outrageous the instructions from Nineroad that Bellwood relayed to them were.

Heinz and Delizah had been born in the Mirg shield-nation, a vassal state of the Amid Empire, but the two of them had moved to the Orbaume Kingdom about a decade ago. There, they had acquired an honorary court rank and become S-rank adventurers.

If the Amid Empire and the Orbaume Kingdom had friendly diplomatic ties, there would be no problem for Heinz and his companions to enter lands ruled by the empire. But unfortunately, the Amid Empire and the Orbaume Kingdom had been enemies since their foundation.

If Heinz and his companions had only gone to the Orbaume Kingdom to accept more commissions as adventurers through the Guild, then it would still have been a gray area, and they could argue their way into the Amid Empire. But they had become honorary nobles of the Orbaume Kingdom… In other words, they were treated as nobles there. The Amid Empire was sure to see them as having defected to an enemy nation to become nobles.

And Heinz’s ideology – the peaceful faction of Alda’s advocation for granting rights to the races created by Vida – directly contradicted the ideology and the law and order of the Amid Empire, which persecuted Vida’s races.

It could be presumed that they would be praised for the accomplishment of awakening Bellwood, but it was also highly likely that the Amid Empire would try to kill them, mistaking them for accomplices of the Storm of Tyranny, who were currently on a rampage around the nation.

“Eileek has received a Divine Message from Alda. And apparently, Alda has something he wants to talk to you about through Eileek,” said Bellwood. “If you still intend to fight against Vandalieu, it would be best to hear him out. Of course, if you intend to stop fighting him and offer up your life to him once more, I won’t stop you.”

“… Alright. I’m afraid it will cause more trouble for our friends, but we need to be away from Selen for a while,” said Heinz.

When they came to this place, Guduranis had already been absorbed by Vandalieu, and there had been almost no dangerous monsters left in Orbaume. Heinz decided that Selen would be safe.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Diana.

“Yeah. Bringing her into lands ruled by the Amid Empire would be more dangerous for her,” Heinz said.

And standing in this nation where Dhampirs were treated as monsters and the Guild paid out a reward for killing them and bringing their crimson eye as proof, Heinz took out a waterskin and drank to moisten his throat. First, he would need to regain his strength.

“Sorry, Edgar. Your funeral will have to come later,” he said, apologizing to his fallen comrade, having failed to retrieve his body or even any of his possessions.

Job explanation:

Soul Fighter

A Job that represents that the bearer is a user of ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ who battles with their body encased in the physical manifestation of their own soul. Thus, it is currently impossible to acquire for anyone other than Vandalieu… To begin with, there would normally not be any use in fighting while exposing one’s soul, which normally resides inside the body, covered in their spirit form. No matter how effective it is in battle, nobody would normally fight with their brain or heart covering the outside of their body, after all.

Job explanation:

Vandalieu

A Job that represents that its bearer is Vandalieu. Naturally, it provides bonuses to the acquisition and improvement of Vandalieu-like Skills, and increases the bearer’s Mana.

It is certain that one needs to be a user of death-attribute magic in order to acquire the Job, but the other conditions remain uncertain. It can be presumed that Vandalieu was able to acquire the Job because he is Vandalieu himself.

In the world of Lambda, Jobs such as ‘Bellwood,’ ‘Farmaun,’ and ‘Nineroad’ have not appeared. These Jobs never appeared while these individuals were mortal, and nobody else seems to have discovered these Jobs.

Job explanation:

True Demon King

A Job that represents that its bearer is the true Demon King. Because Vandalieu has acquired this Job, he is the Demon King of the world of Lambda, and no other can become the Demon King.

If someone else wished to become the ‘True Demon King,’ they would either need to inherit the Title from him with his agreement or defeat him.