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nDeath Mage 298 – Time for food

nThe Boulder Colossus Gorn and his allies felt relieved after the battle of the previous day, which could only be described as fierce.

nVandalieu and his allies had attacked with such force, and yet, they had managed to drive them off. All of the force defending Botin believed that there would be some time before Vandalieu’s next attack.

nDuring that time, they would have to heal their wounds and replenish their fighting forces. Their strategy of using sound to relay commands across the battlefield, which had been seen through by Vandalieu, needed to be improved or replaced by a new strategy.

nMadroza had narrowly avoided death, thanks to the vast Vitality of an Elder Dragon, as well as the healing magic of her allies.

n99% of the monsters that were capable of flight had been lost, but Gorn and his allies could always gather more.

nThe gaps created by the loss of the God of War Horns Sirius and the Bronze Colossus Lubug could not be filled as easily. A request for reinforcements had been sent to Alda, the God of Law and Fate. However, Alda had sent word that he was still talking to the demigods who were busy with the maintenance of the world and culling monsters, trying to convince them to join Gorn’s forces, and that Gorn should not expect any significant reinforcements.

nAs a result of the request for reinforcements, Alda had sent the Orichalcum Golems that had been created by Botin and her subordinate gods and then destroyed by the Demon King’s army a hundred thousand years ago. The successor of the title of ‘Starfish Beast-King’ and the children of the Shellfish Beast-King Harinsheb had also answered the call, seeking to avenge their parents, as well as the siblings of the Sea Bird Beast-King, seeking to avenge their brother.

nBut it was difficult to say that their forces had been replenished.

nAlthough the Orichalcum Golems had been created by one known as ‘Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship’ and the gods who served her, they were objects that had already been destroyed once and then restored. They would not perform much better than the Golems used by the forces defending Peria, which had not been of much use other than as shields against Vandalieu and his allies.

nThe succeeding Starfish Beast-King was still young and by no means stronger than Repobilis had been, and needless to say, Harinsheb’s children were not comparable to their father. The same could be said for Valfaz’s siblings.

nThe demigods’ numbers were recovering, but their overall fighting strength had dropped.

nThey had no choice but to make up for that difference as best they could by using monsters. Gathering these monsters was a simple task, as the Demon King’s Continent was a treasure trove of monsters. There were even plenty of monsters that the demigods themselves could be wounded by, if they let their guard down.

nThe difficult part was taming them, but…

nStill, given enough time, it was possible to rebuild and recover.

nCurrently, the gods of Alda’s forces had three kinds of important locations that they needed to defend. The first was Alda’s Dungeon of Trials, where Heinz was – the one who had the potential to defeat Vandalieu and revive Bellwood. The second was the Demon King Continent where Botin was sealed, as well as the ocean where Peria slumbered.

nIn addition to those were the Churches of the gods of Alda’s forces located in the Amid Empire and the Orbaume Kingdom, though these were unlikely to be targeted by Vandalieu.

nThe last category of important locations was the Devil’s Nests and high-difficulty Dungeons that had appeared in places where humans could not reach. Places like the locations where evil gods and the gods of Vida’s forces were sealed away would be no problem in the short-term if left alone.

nEven if the demigods who protected these locations left them, monster rampages would not occur immediately. Powerful monsters had more limited reproductive capabilities, so these locations would not become problematic for at least a few decades.

nIf the gods protecting these locations could be persuaded to join Gorn’s forces, they could bolster not only their numbers, but their overall average strength.

nAll of that would be possible, but…

n“Impossible! There is a fleet of ten flying ships approaching?!” shouted Gorn, his eyes open wide in shock upon hearing the worst possible news.

n“Impossible… Do those ships not take time to build?!”

nThere had been periods of several days or even up to a month between Vandalieu’s previous attacks, so Gorn and his allies had suspected that the fake Cuatros took time to build.

nThey hadn’t imagined that Vandalieu was capable of building a fake ship every few hours as long as he had the wood.

n“Isn’t it some kind of illusion?!” Gorn muttered.

n“Unfortunately, all ten of the ships are real…!”

n“… So that means they are finally bringing their full strength. Yesterday’s attack… and all of the attacks before it, were pretenses to make us let our guard down!”

nGorn believed that Vandalieu and his allies had deliberately left significant lengths of time between their attacks in order to fool him into thinking that the fake Cuatros took a considerable time to build.

nHe believed that his forces would now need to bring out their own full strength in order to repel the enemy fleet of ten ships. However, at the same time, he understood that this would be difficult.

nHis allies, who were weaker than yesterday, would need to defeat an enemy that was stronger than yesterday. Among the ten enemy ships, perhaps some were carrying some enormous being, and the self-destructing ships… perhaps they contained ‘Bloodlust.’

nThe monsters, which had played the role of exhausting the enemy in yesterday’s battle, were now too few in number to carry out that role in this battle. It was possible to use magic to forcibly allow the normally flightless monsters to fly, in order to make up for the monsters that had been lost yesterday, but… would that be of any use?

nEven if we repel this attack at the cost of many of my brethren, what will we do after that? Gorn asked himself. Vandalieu has brought his full strength upon us. There will be no rest; he will attack again tomorrow… or even tonight. Will reinforcements arrive before then?

nGiven the difference in fighting strength and the ability to replenish that strength that had been shown thus far, was there even any point in fighting? Wasn’t it better to retreat and focus on the defense of Peria, even if that meant allowing Botin’s soul to be devoured here?

nSuch defeated thoughts ran through Gorn’s mind.

n“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of making an escape,” Brateo said provocatively, as if he had read Gorn’s mind.

n“Brateo,” said Gorn. “Even if we fight here -“

n“If we flee here, he will devour Botin, becoming even more powerful, and then he will come to the sea where Peria slumbers. Or perhaps he will target the mortals inside Alda’s Dungeon of Trials, and Bellwood who slumbers within,” said Brateo, cutting Gorn off before he could voice how hopeless the upcoming battle was. “We will remain standing, but with no hope of victory against the army of the Great Demon King Vandalieu, whose evil surpasses that of the Demon King Guduranis. They will bury us, and then transform this world into an underworld dominated by ‘new races’ created through breeding with evil gods, along with Undead, and monsters. No, there is no guarantee that they will stop at this world. According to Rodcorte, he is able to move between this world and another world, after all.”

n“… What do you mean to say, Brateo?” Gorn muttered. “Are you saying that we should charge in mindlessly, as there is no hope either way?”

n“Don’t be foolish. I am saying that it will be better for us to stand our ground here and believe that Alda will send us reinforcements, rather than flee. Though I must admit, it is partly because I cannot stand the thought of fleeing without a fight.”

nGorn and the other demigods saw some sense in Brateo’s words, agreeing with all but the last part.

nThis battle would not be fought to achieve victory, but to avoid defeat. This was not the first such battle that they had faced. They had already experienced countless hopeless battles in the past, against the Demon King’s army a hundred thousand years ago.

n“Very well. Let us meet the enemy. Send word to Alda-sama for more reinforcements! And until they arrive, we shall endure their attacks as many times as we must!” Gorn declared, having regained his vigor.

nThe other demigods gave a spirited roar in response.

nHowever, no matter how much morale they recovered, there was a difference that could not be made up for through sheer will.

nIt was common sense among mortals that in battle, an attacking force could only defeat a defending force if they outnumbered the enemy by at least three to one. But such logic did not apply in this battle.

nThe defending force in this case were enormous demigods, so they could not use defensive structures such as fortresses and castles.

nDoing battle in the air with no strategy was no different from suicide.

nThat was why Gorn came up with a new strategy.

n“But we shall fight on a lower battlefield! Rather than fight the enemy in the skies over the shores and seas of the continent, let us use one of the pseudo-Divine Realms as a defensive position!”

n“Hmph… That will allow us to utilize the flightless monsters and the Orichalcum Golems that have no flight ability beyond floating in place, but we will be suppressed from above,” said Brateo.

n“He is right!” said Madroza, who had still not healed from her wounds from the previous day. “And even if we do not take myself into account, as I am not in any state to fight properly, our water-attribute Elder Dragons and Colossi will lose strength!”

n“There is no need to worry about that,” said Gorn. “Our fortress will be the pseudo-Divine Realm at the base of that lake. It will be a double-edged sword, but… if we do not use it, then this battle will be over before it even begins.”

nGufadgarn, who had told herself that leaving Vandalieu’s side was necessary to carry out the plan, looked at her surroundings with confusion appearing on her usually expressionless face.

nFrom the bow of the real Cuatro, the flagship of the ten-ship fleet, the chaos of the Demon King’s Continent could be clearly seen below. But there was not a single demigod blocking the fleet’s path.

n“They should have taken notice of our approach…”

nThe eyes of Gufadgarn’s vessel, which had the form of a beautiful Elf girl, wavered with bewilderment. It was problematic if the enemy forces that were supposed to block the fleet’s path did not appear.

n“The second stage of the plan is for the ten-ship fleet to act as a decoy to draw Gorn and his allies out. Meanwhile, the great Vandalieu undoes the seal on Botin, and then assaults Gorn and his allies from behind, creating a pincer attack with the fleet. We must draw Gorn and his allies as far away from Botin as possible, but…”

nThe Four Dead Sea Captains began offering their opinions on the situation.

n“Perhaps they are too exhausted from yesterday’s battle to launch an assault on us?”

n“Maybe they’re so scared that they’re huddling around each other near Botin.”

n“Just in case, should we fire some cannons as a greeting? They might panic and start coming out.”

nGufadgarn took these opinions into account as she decided upon their plan of action.

n“… Continue on this path. Stay alert for any surprise attacks from directly below,” she ordered.

nThere was not even a need to consult with Vandalieu through a Demon King Familiar.

nWith a creaking noise, Cuatro resumed its advance, accompanied by the nine fake Cuatros.

nOn the ground’s surface, there were deserts with tornadoes raging freely across them and volcanic zones with magma floating around, defying gravity. But at a height of a thousand meters above ground, the ships could proceed safely.

nIf they continued towards the place where Botin was sealed away, they would likely reach it within half a day. Gufadgarn believed that Gorn and his allies would certainly make their move before then.

nBut against her expectations, it was not demigods, but monsters that attacked them.

n“Enemy attack! Multiple monsters, approaching from the sky above!”

n“There’s no need for the Demon King Familiar masters to come out! Look lively, you scurvy dogs! Nock your arrows!”

nThe approaching enemies were Rank 5 or 6 monsters, the likes of which would be considered small fry on this continent; the cannon-type Demon King Familiars weren’t necessary to deal with them – the Undead sailors with their bows and arrows were more than enough.

nThese monsters descended from beyond the clouds above the fleet, one after another.

n“Those clouds must be a Devil’s Sky,” Gufadgarn murmured.

nDevil’s Skies were regions of sky that had transformed into Devil’s Nests. At a glance, it was just an ordinary white cloud, but it seemed that it was actually a white nest of monsters.

n“Gufadgarn-san, what should we do?” asked Darcia’s voice, which was being transmitted via Goblin-head communicator. “Also, Godwin-san has started doing warm-up exercises. Maybe I should stop him?”

nDarcia was aboard one of the fake Cuatros, which was also carrying Vandalieu and Tiamat’s son… in other words, her grandchild.

n“Let us decrease our altitude and proceed onwards. And please do whatever you see fit to stop Godwin. As long as he stays alive, that’s all that matters,” said Gufadgarn.

nThere were only weak monsters like Wyverns for now, but if the fleet continued on this path at this altitude, it was possible that they would encounter monsters of around Rank 13, which could not be defeated so easily.

nIf Gorn and his allies were to attack while the fleet was busy dealing with monsters, the fleet would find itself in a disadvantageous situation. It was good to put on a pretense of being vulnerable in order to draw the enemy out, but it would not be good to actually be vulnerable and suffer damage.

n“Aren’t you treating me a little too carelessly?!” Godwin protested through the Goblin-head communicator.

n“… Is there a problem with that?” asked Gufadgarn.

nHaving seen the Majin King Godwin attempt to conquer the ‘Trial of Zakkart’ using methods that were appropriate but reckless, Gufadgarn knew that Godwin would not break even if treated roughly.

nIn any case, the fleet lowered its altitude by several hundred meters in accordance with Gufadgarn’s orders, and the monster attacks stopped immediately, almost as if they had never happened at all. It seemed that they had indeed appeared from around the Devil’s Sky.

n“It seems that there are numerous Devil’s Skies above the continent,” said Gufadgarn. “Proceed while maintaining this altitude, and be wary of attacks from the ground – so, they have made their appearance.”

nAs Gufadgarn was giving orders to the Four Dead Sea Captains, the space near a lake wavered and distorted.

nIn the next instant, lightning attacks, boulders, masses of ice, as well as acidic bubbles and Breath attacks of water and light, were launched towards the fleet.

n“Commencing cannon attacks. Fire,” said one of the large-cannon-type Demon King Familiars.

nIn response to the enemy attacks, the large-cannon-type Demon King Familiars on each ship began firing. This cannon-fire was aimed to strike the demigods beyond the distorted space, but they exploded in mid-air as they collided with the boulders and Breath attacks, causing no damage to the enemy.

nHowever, the enemy had also failed to inflict any damage.

n“Release the monsters! Leave the close-quarters fighting to them! We will keep up our long-ranged attacks! Do not let the enemy approach!” shouted Gorn.

nWith the destruction of the God of War Horns Sirius, it was once again Gorn’s voice that was giving orders. The beating drums of Zepaon, the God of War Drums, could also be heard, but perhaps he was unable to relay commands through the sounds of his drums.

nAs this thought occurred to Gufadgarn, a countless number of monsters emerged from the forests around the lake. From the mirror-like surface of the lake came Giant Gillmen, Gigant Flying Sharks, and water spirit kings that had lost their sanity, and from the forests came mutant Chimeras with the limbs of various animals protruding from their bodies and Chaos Basilisk Kings that possessed countless eyes. In the past, these monsters had been used as front-line fighters by the evil gods of the Demon King’s army and inflicted much suffering on the champions’ army.

nWhat these monsters all had in common was a limited or non-existent ability to fly.

n“I see. They used the Devil’s Skies above the continent to make us lower our altitude,” said Gufadgarn.

n“Then does that mean we fell right into the enemy’s trap?!” one of the Four Dead Sea Captains shouted in alarm.

n“No, that is not the case,” Gufadgarn said, pointing at the horde of monsters.

nSome of the monsters were heading in the direction of the pseudo-Divine Realm, whose space-distorting camouflage was fading away.

nThese were not pet dogs running to greet their master, but carnivorous beasts attacking prey that had shown itself.

n“By attacking from within the pseudo-Divine Realm, they revealed the connection between it and the outside, and the monsters took notice,” said Gufadgarn.

n“I see. But still, there are more than twice the number of monsters than what we faced yesterday, coming our way now,” said the Dead Sea Captain.

n“It is time for the honorable son to make an appearance. Darcia-sama, please go ahead,” said Gufadgarn, giving the signal through the Goblin-head communicator.

nOne of the fleet’s ships stopped its cannon-fire, then fell into pieces as if exploding from within.

nWhat emerged from the ship’s falling wreckage was what appeared to be an ordinary Elder Dragon.

nIts overall appearance was more similar to an enormous Lizardman than a Dragon. It had dark-blue scales, four golden eyes, four limbs, two pairs of gray wings protruding from its back, and a long tail with a sharp spike on its tip.

n“What is that Elder Dragon?” said the Ice Colossus Mugan, shocked that it was not an Undead or evil god inside the crumbling ship. “I am not aware of any Elder Dragon like that existing on Vida’s side.”

n“It must be a young one that was born sometime in these past hundred thousand years! Tiamat is on the enemy’s side, so it would not be strange for the enemy to have a dozen or two of her brats!” said Brateo, unrelenting in his continuous attacks.

nDarcia was standing on the shoulder of Vandalieu and Tiamat’s child, her first grandchild.

n“It’s time to wake up, Bakunawa-chan,” she said gently to the sleepy child. “Look, it’s time for food.”

n“Food…?” said a rumbling, drowsy-sounding voice, coming from beneath Darcia’s feet. “Food… which one?”

n“All of the moving things in front of you are food. You can eat as much as you want, until your tummy is nice and full.”

n“All of them… are food?! Really?!”

nBakunawa’s eyes opened wide in excitement as he took in the sight of the monsters and the demigods behind them.

nA vertical split appeared from his neck to his abdomen, and the front of his body opened wide.

n“YAAAAY! Itadakimasu!”

n‘Itadakimasu‘ – a word spoken before a meal – followed by the appearance of a red tongue. Bakunawa’s mouth was located not on his face, but on his torso.

nSeeing Bakunawa’s true form, the monsters stopped their approach and turned around to flee, acting on an instinctual fear. But their attempt to escape was in vain; they let out screams and shrieks of terror as they were sucked into Bakunawa’s mouth.

nBakunawa was inhaling to suck up his ‘food.’ The monsters, the trees and dirt in his surroundings, and even the lightning attacks and acidic bubbles being unleashed by Brateo and his allies, were all torn to pieces by his teeth, crushed by his tongue, dissolved in his saliva, and then swallowed.

nThis insatiable appetite was the power of Bakunawa, who had been named after a dragon in earth’s mythology who was said to have eaten the moon.

n“Deliciiiious!” Bakunawa said happily.

nThe taste of blood and entrails filling his mouth! The crunchy texture of the bones and trees! The rich feeling of living creatures passing through his throat! The numbing aftertaste of lightning! Bakuwana was completely immersed in these sensations.

n“Impossible! He ate my lightning?!” exclaimed Brateo, shaken by what he had just witnessed.

n“Stay calm! Aim for its head and limbs rather than its body! Don’t use magic that produces physical attacks; use lightning and light attacks!” shouted Gorn, giving orders to Brateo and the other demigods, having realized that attacking the enormous mouth on Bakunawa’s torso would be futile.

nThe demigods’ attacks began focusing on Bakunawa’s head and limbs.

n“I will not let you!” said Darcia.

n“Indeed. We have already transformed, after all,” said Zadiris.

nThe two of them repelled the demigods’ attacks with their own spells. Meanwhile, the nine remaining ships were continuing their cannon-fire. The monsters that had escaped from Bakunawa’s suction, as well as Gorn and his allies who had remained safe from it due to being far away from him, were now being aimed at.

n“Oh dear,” said one of the Demon King Familiars.

n“Ah, sorry, Papa. But you’re delicious,” said Bakunawa.

n“I’m glad to hear that,” said the Demon King Familiar.

n“Vandalieu, be careful! Don’t go out in front of Bakunawa-chan!” Darcia warned.

nBut several cannonball-type Demon King Familiars had already disappeared into Bakunawa’s mouth. … The fake Cuatro that had been carrying the Demon King Familiars had long since been swallowed as well.

n“As expected of the son of the great Vandalieu. He is dominating the battlefield single-handedly,” said Gufadgarn, emotionally moved by the sight before her.

nMeanwhile, the Four Dead Sea Captains were wearing strained expressions.

n“… It’s true that the enemy seems to be unable to move, but we’re not able to move either,” said one of the Four Dead Sea Captains.

n“If we accidentally go out in front of Young Master Bakunawa, we’ll get turned into food as well.”

nBut Gufadgarn didn’t seem to be particularly concerned. “That is not a problem. There is no need for us to defeat the enemy on our own.”

nIn fact, it would be even more of a problem if they attacked too strongly, causing the enemy to retreat to where Botin was sealed away.

n“The seal has not yet been undone, after all,” said Gufadgarn.

nHaving finished digging the last length of the tunnel, Vandalieu was now examining the black wall that was in his path.

n“This seems to be physically manifested Mana. I see. Botin and the subordinate gods who were near her when she was sealed away are likely inside here.”

nBotin had been sealed away by the Demon King Guduranis during the battle against his army. Botin and her subordinate gods had served as the rear guard for the champions’ army, who were in a disadvantageous situation, and Guduranis had appeared and sealed them away before they could withdraw.

nVandalieu had heard this from Vida and the other gods when he was summoned to her Divine Realm.

nIt was a testament to the Demon King’s power that he had been able to seal one of Lambda’s great gods away with no sealing equipment or magic circle drawn on the ground, using nothing but his own Mana.

n“Do you think you can remove it?” asked Juliana, looking worried.

n“It does seem like I will be able to, but… it might be harder than I expected,” Vandalieu replied honestly as he began the task of removing the seal.

nThe parts of the wall that came into contact with his Mana began melting away and vanishing, but progress was slow.

n“Unlike the seals used by the champions and their allies, which can be broken by destroying the sealing equipment, I must destroy the entire seal that the Demon King created,” said Vandalieu.

nThe seals used by the champions and their allies on Demon King fragments and evil gods were like complicated machines. Such seals lost their effect and were removed if several of their crucial components were undone.

nBut this seal, which had been created by the Demon King, was like a mass of coal tar. There were no crucial or non-crucial components; the entire seal had to be removed.

n“Can’t you use a fragment of the Demon King to break the whole thing in one go?” asked Borkus.

n“That may cause harm to Botin, who is slumbering inside, so I’ll keep that method as a backup,” said Vandalieu, not outright rejecting Borkus’s reckless suggestion.

nIt seemed that this method could be used once enough of the seal had been removed.

n“But let’s try this direct method first,” Vandalieu added.

nSeveral clones of Vandalieu emerged from his shadow. Now, there were multiple Vandalieus removing the curse, not just one.

n“Is this really the direct method?” one of them asked.

n“When doing it alone isn’t good enough, doing it together is surely the direct method,” said another.

nThis seemed to work; the removal of the curse was proceeding smoothly.

n“To think that it would take this much time… Could it be that the miasma of the Demon King’s Continent is having an undesirable effect on the seal?” said the Pure-breed Vampire Zorcodrio, who had accompanied Vandalieu and the others here because he was acquainted with Botin, giving his own hypothesis.

nThe miasma of the Demon King’s Continent was potent enough to distort even space and gravity, and gave rise to monsters that were as powerful as demigods. Perhaps it was not so strange to think that this miasma had strengthened the Demon King’s seal.

nBut Vandalieu shook his head. “That’s unlikely. The Demon King’s Mana, which created this seal, has completely different properties from the miasma of the Demon King’s Continent. Even if the miasma did have an effect on the seal, it would be very slight.”

nThe miasma corrupting the Demon King’s Continent had spread after the Demon King Guduranis was defeated and the continent was destroyed by Bellwood and his allies.

nIn other words, this continent was called the Demon King’s Continent, but the miasma corrupting it was completely unrelated to the Demon King Guduranis.

n“With that being the case, the fact that Alda’s forces apparently gathered the miasma of the entire world on this continent has likely had no negative effect on Botin’s seal. That is a relief. I was a little worried about how Botin might have been affected by the miasma,” said Zod.

n“There’s no need to worry about that, is there? If gods were so easily affected by miasma, the gods on Vida’s side inside the Boundary Mountain Range and on the Demon Continent would have all gone crazy ages ago,” said Borkus.

n“Yes. I think gods generally stay sane as long as they don’t fuse with an evil god,” said Vandalieu.

nThough not to the extent of the Demon King’s Continent, the region within the Boundary Mountain Range and the Demon Continent were also corrupted by miasma. Gods had resided in those regions for over a hundred thousand years, so if miasma was capable of influencing gods, it would have influenced those gods long ago. That was especially true of Vida, who had been slumbering in a wounded state, even more vulnerable than Botin, who was completely covered by a seal.

n“Indeed, you are entirely correct,” said Zod.

n“I’m glad you’re convinced,” said Vandalieu. “… But it seems that I should make more clones. I would like to remove the seal before Bakunawa finishes his meal… ah,” he said in surprise as a part of the black wall collapsed, revealing a white mist-like substance.

nThe main Vandalieu was completely engulfed by it without a sound.

n“V-Vandalieu-sama!” Juliana cried in panic.

nShe immediately tried to follow him inside the white mist, but Kimberley and Princess Levia appeared and held her back.

n“Now, now, calm yourself,” said Kimberley.

n“His Majesty is fine. Orbia-san has gone with him.”

n“Indeed. The clones are still continuing their task, which means that he is fine,” said Zod.

nIndeed, the clones of Vandalieu were still continuing to remove the seal. These clones shared the memories and personality of the real Vandalieu, so the fact that they were behaving as if nothing was wrong meant that Vandalieu was perfectly safe.

n“… Well, he would behave like he’s fine even if one of his arms or legs is torn off, so I wouldn’t put too much trust in them,” Zod added.

nThis slightly-too-plausible hypothetical scenario caused the Vandalieu clones to hastily make things clear.

n“I’m really okay this time.”

n“My real body doesn’t have a single wound on it.”

n“I’m in front of Botin right now.”

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