Chapter 372: Facing graduation

The Amid Empire abolished the imperial rule and became the Holy Nation of Amid, where the Great Church of Alda governed not just religious worship, but the nation’s politics as well. On top of that, the entirety of the Holy Nation of Amid shifted policies to adopt the teachings of Alda’s peaceful faction. This news shook the Orbaume Kingdom.

The Orbaume Kingdom’s dukes, with the exception of Duke Farzon, had all imagined that the forces of Vida within the nation would unite, that the nation would form an alliance with the Demon Empire of Vidal, and that they would need to fight against the Amid Empire. And yet, all of a sudden, this unexpected turn of events had occurred.

Of course, they knew that the beliefs of Vandalieu – and the Demon Empire of Vidal – were based on Vida fundamentalism, which acknowledged that Vampires and Majin had rights as people. And they knew that there was a deep-running hostility between the Demon Empire of Vidal and Heinz, who had mobilized the citizens of the Holy Nation of Amid.

In contrast, some members of Vida’s races and some of Vida’s worshipers in the Orbaume Kingdom thought that perhaps there was no need for a war if the Amid Empire had accepted Alda’s peaceful faction; that it might be possible to make peace.

And on top of that, Heinz, who could summon the heroic god Bellwood upon his body, had joined forces with the Holy Nation of Amid, as well as the gods and Church of Alda, the God of Law and Fate. With that, the enemy’s fighting forces had been united, and this was a headache-inducing problem for the dukes – especially given that their own fighting forces were currently weakened due to the desertion of some members of their elite fighting forces, including the Seven Mountain Generals of Jahan.

… But few believed that this should be used as an opportunity to end the long years of hostility between the two nations and make peace. That was how wide the divide was between them.

If there were a powerful enemy, and the two nations were forced to bury their old grudges and join forces in order to defeat it – with gods descending directly and heroes chosen by the gods using their overwhelmingly impressive past achievements and the authority of the gods to lead the people to join forces and fight together – then it might have been possible. People would stop fighting one another once a common enemy appeared – though there would still be a conflict either way.

This was likely what Alda, the God of Law and Fate, had initially planned.

But Vandalieu, who was supposed to become the powerful enemy that the people would unite to defeat, had defeated the Demon King Guduranis and formed an alliance with the Orbaume Kingdom before the Amid Empire could. That was likely why these events had taken place.

And there had also been good things for the Orbaume Kingdom. The citizens remained willing to oppose the Holy Nation of Amid, and the reputation of the Five-colored Blades had fallen drastically without any proactive action on the dukes’ part.

To the Orbaume Kingdom’s citizens, the Amid Empire and its vassal nations had been enemies since the Orbaume Kingdom’s foundation. The nation’s name changing and its adoption of the teachings of Alda’s peaceful faction were irrelevant. An enemy nation was still nothing more than an enemy nation.

Heinz and his companions had been born in the Amid Empire, but they had earned a good reputation and the trust of the people through their years of work as adventurers in the Orbaume Kingdom. But they had returned to the Amid Empire – or rather, the Holy Nation of Amid, and this had caused their support from the Orbaume Kingdom’s citizens to plummet.

Even so, there were those who had received much help from Heinz and his companions through their activities as part of Alda’s peaceful faction, and they were willing to defend them. But it was a fact that he and Alda’s peaceful faction, who had used him as their banner, had received harsh criticism – except in the Farzon Duchy.

Indeed, Heinz was still considered a hero in the Farzon Duchy.

Once it was officially known that the Five-colored Blades had gone over to the Amid Empire, Duke Farzon had been expected to change his stance, but his stance of opposing the Demon Empire of Vidal hadn’t changed in the slightest.

In fact, according to the reports of the spies sent to the Farzon Duchy by the other dukes, Duke Farzon praised Heinz as a true modern champion sent by Alda himself. He was no longer a ruler, but a fanatical worshiper of Alda.

The spies and the Storm of Tyranny led by Shneider, who had focused on gathering information for a short while, hadn’t managed to gather much detailed information about Duke Farzon, but that seemed to be a sign that none of his citizens criticized him.

They had either become fanatical worshipers like Duke Farzon early on, lacked the will or strength to go against the duke and his allies, or had been disposed of already. Either way, it was likely that the only way to change the Farzon Duchy’s policies was through external interference, including military action.

The nobles who ruled the other ten duchies of the Orbaume Kingdom had steeled themselves for the potential outbreak of the first large-scale civil war since the Orbaume Kingdom’s foundation.

Meanwhile, Vandalieu and the others from the Demon Empire of Vidal weren’t particularly shocked by the changes occurring in the Amid Empire. 

However, there were still large changes that had taken place among the enemy, so a meeting was being held in Talosheim’s royal castle.

But instead of Vandalieu’s main body, it was being attended by a main-body-type Demon King Familiar that looked exactly the same as Vandalieu’s main body.

“In fact, I think that the Amid Empire changing to become the Holy Nation of Amid has more positive aspects for us than negative,” he said.

“Is that because it has leaned towards Alda’s peaceful faction? If so, I would like to raise a counter-argument,” said Chezare, who served as the nation’s general and prime minister.

Before his death, Chezare had been a member of the Legston house of earls in the Mirg shield-nation. He knew that even if the Amid Empire changed its name and became the Holy Nation of Amid, and even if it adopted the teachings of Alda’s peaceful faction as its national religion, the minds of those in the vassal states would not change so easily.

“Among the information we received from the Orbaume Kingdom was a report that many witnessed Bellwood’s descent in the Holy Nation’s capital, and the impact of that event has made it so that very few remain who oppose the policies of the Great Church of Alda. However, that is not so true for those who did not witness Bellwood’s descent… particularly the nobles and royalty of the vassal nations where the news arrived indirectly, who rule over distant cities or whose people have pent-up frustration and discontent. There is no doubt that they would perceive this great change as an omen of the collapse of their rule and aim for independence in order to prevent that,” Chezare said.

“… I am in agreement with my elder brother. Even if the change of policies in the Holy Nation of Amid were to go well… Honestly, I don’t imagine that it will last very long. Five to ten years, at most,” said Kurt.

He was Chezare’s younger brother who had become a Dark Human and married someone from a nation of one of Vida’s races; he was a citizen of the Demon Empire of Vidal through and through.

But Vandalieu understood what they were saying – the Holy Nation of Amid changing its policies to adhere to the teachings of Alda’s peaceful faction was a good thing.

“All of those things are positives for us as well,” he said.

The values of those who hadn’t had the significant experience of directly witnessing a god’s descent were unlikely to change much. But even so, the members of some of Vida’s races, who had previously been subject to legally allowed discrimination, were now ordinary citizens who were protected by the law.

It was likely that they would still face much abuse in their daily lives, as well as discrimination in things such as the kinds of employment they could find and the amount they were paid. But there would be less cases where they were suddenly abducted and turned into slaves, so things would at least be better than before.

The peaceful faction did not consider Vampires, Majin, or Ghouls to be protected races. These races would be treated as monsters – but that had always been the case, so there was no negative change here.

To begin with, the residents of the hidden villages of Vida’s races had already fled to the Demon Empire of Vidal, thanks to Schneider and his companions.

And if the current situation would not last long-term, that was a positive thing as well. After all, the enemy nation would collapse in a few years to a decade, with no action required on Vandalieu’s part – though he had no intention of simply continuing to wait until it did.

“The Amid… The gods on Alda’s side are trying to gather their fighting forces and they intend to use them against me, but we’ve always known that. No matter what Alda intends, no matter what actions Eileek takes, it’s almost certain that they’ll come at us within a few years’ time,” the main-body-type Demon King Familiar said.

“You did not mention Heinz; does that mean that Alda and the pope Eileek are the ones behind this?” asked Chezare.

The main-body-type Demon King Familiar nodded. “Heinz is unlikely to have the ability to create such a movement in the Amid Empire unless he summons Bellwood – though he might have been able to do so with his ‘Guidance’ if given a few years, like he did in the Farzon Duchy. That’s what Takkard and Hadros told me.”

Vandalieu knew little about ordinary politics. He knew from his repeated defeats by public opinion that rulers could not do whatever they pleased with their nations. But because the policies of the Demon Empire of Vidal generally moved in the direction that Vandalieu wanted, he had never experienced any political resistance or genuine, strong clashes of opinion.

That seemed to be why he wanted the opinions of his knowledgeable friends and acquaintances.

“Leaving aside the question of whether it’s a positive or negative thing for us that Heinz is just a figurehead that is not actually involved in the politics of the Holy Nation of Amid… Your Majesty, what should we do? Will we make our move first, or wait for the enemy to make theirs?” asked Kurt.

“Now, now, let’s calm down,” said the main-body-type Demon King Familiar. “There’s no reason to rush things. Let’s wait for our opportunity. Let’s wait for the anti-Amid, anti-Farzon-Duchy momentum to build in the Orbaume Kingdom to the point that war is inevitable, or for the enemy to make their move. I don’t know what Alda plans to do with this world, but we will be living in this world for hundreds and thousands of years to come, so we shouldn’t make more enemies than we need to.”

It would be an unwise move for the Demon Empire of Vidal to attack the Holy Nation of Amid or the Farzon Duchy without good reason to convince the Orbaume Kingdom. It would be best to not be thought of as a nation that invaded other nations at the whim of its ruler… even if it was partially true.

Even if it came at the cost of reducing humanity’s population to the three thousand that were left immediately after the battle against the Demon King Guduranis… even if it was reduced much further than that, if Vandalieu could just be defeated, it was possible that Alda was intending to just rebuild the world again over another hundred thousand years or more. It was unclear as to whether that would be possible, but in Alda’s mind, it likely was.

However, Vandalieu and his companions couldn’t allow this to happen. They couldn’t afford to not care what came after defeating Heinz, the Holy Nation of Amid, and Alda.

To Vandalieu, defeating Heinz and Alda were conditions to achieving his own happiness; they were not objectives to him. And naturally, he had to think about the continuation of his nation and maintaining diplomatic relations after the battle.

“After the Holy Nation of Amid and the Farzon Duchy are crushed, Heinz and the Five-colored Blades will have nowhere left to run anyway. If they’re going to come at us, it’ll be more difficult for them to escape if we meet them in battle there,” the main-body-type Demon King Familiar said.

Killing Heinz and his companions would need conditions to be met. It seemed that they were in the capital of the Holy Nation of Amid for now, but it would be unacceptable if Vandalieu were to attack and allow them to escape again – though if Heinz had caused any harm to Aradia by striking down her Demon Eye, Vandalieu might have been leading the charge into the Holy Nation’s capital right this moment.

Having tested Aradia’s Demon Eye on the Demon Continent, they had determined that it was an ability that allowed her to view distant places using the moon as her own eye. This caused the moon to transform into an enormous eyeball, but this was an illusion created by the Demon Eye, and even if it were attacked, the effect was simply undone with no harm being caused to Aradia herself.

The ability could be used anywhere in the world where the moon could be seen. It also required the moon to be at least faintly visible in the location she wished to view. It could be used even on cloudy or rainy days, but Aradia would be able to see nothing but clouds. And the area she could view in a single use of the ability had a diameter of about a few dozen kilometers.

And although it was just an illusion, the moon did indeed appear to transform into an enormous eyeball, so it would be very clear to anyone on the ground that they were being watched. It was likely impossible to use it to gather information discreetly.

“Then let us continue strengthening our fighting forces and our relationship with the Orbaume Kingdom,” the Demon King Familiar said.

“About that… you will graduate at this month’s graduation ceremony, won’t you?” asked Kurt.

“I intend to, yes,” the Demon King Familiar replied with a disappointed sigh. “Ordinarily, I would stay for a year after achieving enough credits… until next March. It is very regrettable that I couldn’t kill Heinz back then.”

Vandalieu had refrained from being a special exception to graduate from the Hero Preparatory School after just half a year.

If he had been able to kill Heinz and his companions and devour their souls, he would have had far less on his mind to worry about, and he would have stayed at the Hero Preparatory School until next March.

Meanwhile, as the main-body-type Demon King Familiar attended this meeting in the meeting room of the Demon Empire of Vidal’s castle, Vandalieu’s real main body was changing Jobs at the Job-changing room.

“I select ‘Guiding Master.’”

《You have acquired the ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Guiding’ Skill!》

《The Levels of the ‘Transcendent Strength,’ ‘Constant Super Mana Recovery,’ ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates,’ ‘Divine Venom Secretion: Claws, Fangs, Tongue,’ ‘Super Strengthened Body Part (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs),’ ‘Super Increased Mana Recovery Rate,’ ‘Enlarged Attack Power while activating a Magic Cannon,’ ‘Enlarged Vitality,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Reigning,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Worshiped,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Cannibalism,’ ‘Self-regeneration: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values when Enveloped in a Soul,’ ‘Augmented Magical Power while equipped with a Staff,’ ‘Augmented All Attribute Values,’ ‘Roar of Destruction,’ ‘God Cooking,’ ‘Embodiment,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Clustered Existence,’ ‘Super High-speed Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Demon World Binding Technique,’ ‘Soul Encroachment,’ ‘Labyrinth Domination,’ ‘Soul Form,’ and ‘Surpass Limits: Soul’ Skills have increased!》

As the voice in Vandalieu’s head announced these changes, his body creaked and snapped loudly as his bones and muscles twisted and broke, and his capillaries burst, causing blood to drip from his eyes and ears.

“Oh dear,” he said.

But the blood returned back to Vandalieu’s body, like footage being played in reverse. Not a single drop of blood stained the floor of the Job-changing room.

‘Guiding Master’ had lived up to its name – It seemed that he had absorbed a portion of the Experience Points earned by those who had been guided by him, causing his Level to instantly hit the cap.

“I suppose ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Guiding’ is a Skill that increases my Attribute Values if I’m guiding someone. In any case, I need to choose my next Job.”

Vandalieu had acquired all of the Guider-type Jobs available. Next was…

“I select ‘Fallen Warrior,’ then.”

“‘Fallen Warrior’ hasn’t caused any of my Skills to improve… I suppose I’ll look forward to what it brings in the future, then.”

From the Job’s name, it seemed to be a frontline-type of Job that involved using weapons, so Vandalieu could likely expect it to improve his Vitality and Strength, as well as combat-type Skills.

For now, there were no Jobs like ‘Neo Vandalieu’ or ‘High Vandalieu.’ He should be happy with that.

“… There’s still a little time left until the agreed meeting time, so I suppose I’ll head to the workshop,” Vandalieu said to himself.

Job explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Spirit Guider

A Job for one who guides spirits. Unlike Jobs such as Destruction Guider, it does not seem to be for guiding the living to death, but it seems so specialized for spirits that it is presumably difficult for it to have any effect on the living.

Perhaps it is easier for it to have an effect on those who have acquired Jobs that involve daily contact with spirits, such as ‘Spiritualist.’

Job explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Guiding Master

From the Job’s name, it is presumably… not a Job for someone who mainly guides and is specialized in guiding, but a Job for a master of guidance.

It can be assumed that experiencing multiple Guider-type Jobs is a requirement for this Job to appear, but it is likely impossible for anyone other than Master to acquire it.

It is possible that another condition for acquiring the Job is to guide other Guiders or those with the qualities to be Guiders. In that case, Bellwood, who led Nineroad and Farmaun, partially met this Job’s requirements. However, given that he did not become a ‘Guiding Master,’ experiencing multiple Guider-type Jobs is likely a crucial requirement.