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nDeath Mage 301 – Peria’s resurrection and the resumption of battle

nFollowing Botin’s declaration, the Demon King’s Continent fell into complete silence, as if time itself had stopped.

nIt was Vandalieu and his allies that made the first move. Vandalieu’s main body remained stationary by the feet of Botin and the other gods, but through the Demon King Familiars, he gave orders for everyone to fully focus on defending themselves.

nNaturally, those orders didn’t directly reach Knochen, Bone Man, and Godwin who had only just started fighting on the frontlines and hadn’t yet activated ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ or ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ but Gufadgarn made sure to relay them.

nThe monsters on the Demon King’s Continent that had been tamed by Gorn and his allies were unable to move, but the untamed wild monsters fled as fast as they could upon seeing the appearance of the great gods.

nEven the monsters that possessed strength rivaling that of gods could not help but tremble in fear at the overwhelming, intimidating aura that the great gods radiated. And they had no reason to resist the fear that they felt – without hesitation, they obeyed the warnings of their survival instinct.

nThus, the gods that had been defending Botin, the ones that revered the God of Law and Fate Alda as their leader, were uninterrupted by anyone as they stood in place, utterly dumbfounded.

n“That’s… impossible…”

n“What… have we been fighting for?”

n“Th-this can’t be happening. A hallucination… I must be hallucinating, right?!”

nThey did not even have the composure to think about how Vandalieu could have possibly evaded their watchful eyes to reach the place where Botin was sealed away. There was no chance for them to come to the realization that there was an enormous underground cavern named Gartland inhabited by members of Vida’s races, and a tunnel had been dug from it.

nThat was how shocked they were.

nThey had formed this force and fought these battles to defend Botin at the orders of Alda, who had assumed that Vandalieu was determined to reach her in order to devour her soul.

nThey had believed that if the Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship were to be released from her seal… she would join them to fight against Vida’s faction.

n“Could it be that they were aiming to release Botin the entire time? But then, all of those attacks… they were distractions to misdirect us, rather than attacks of invasion?” muttered Gorn, the leader of the forces that had defended Botin.

nHe was not in a complete state of stupefaction – though with half of his mind working furiously to process these events, he also became aware that it would have been easier for him to not realize the truth.

nHe and his allies had perceived these battles as fierce, and they had believed that they were “repelling” the enemy despite taking casualties. But all of those battles had been nothing but distractions. A farce.

nComing to that realization, Gorn tasted a despair so deep that it felt as if his entire body was rotting away.

n“But why… There is no way you could have reached a mutual understanding with Botin while she was still sealed away. How were you so certain that she would side with you?” Gorn muttered, still in a daze.

nBut thinking about it calmly, he realized that the belief that Botin would side with Alda’s forces had been an illusion.

n“Wait. Botin was freed from her seal only moments ago. Perhaps this is only a temporary confusion. If she is persuaded… not by us, but by Alda directly, then she should come to her senses –”

n“That is unlikely,” said the God of Mirror Images Larpan, extinguishing the last ray of hope… or rather, the delusion, that Gorn was clinging onto. “Gorn, it may be difficult to imagine for you demigods, but us gods have access to everything that is seen and heard by our believers. Botin-sama… Botin’s decision is presumably based on the information that she has learned from her worshippers, everything from a hundred thousand years ago up until the present day. Even if Alda-sama himself were to try and persuade her, it is unlikely that she would retract the declaration that she just made.”

nUpon hearing these words, Gorn felt a shock so sharp that the world started spinning. In her declaration, Botin had indeed praised Alda’s actions as the ruling leader of the gods to protect the world and restore it little by little. But even so, she did not accept Alda, the God of Law and Fate.

nHer declaration was as good as a declaration to sever all ties with him.

nGorn had held hope that the resurrection of Botin and her subordinate gods would change the disadvantageous situation they were in and turn the battle around, and that made his shock at this outcome all the worse.

nGorn fell to his knees, and all semblance of order among the demigods was lost.

nThe first to flee were the gods who had descended upon the area around Botin’s seal.

n“… Retreat. We must retreat!”

n“Run! Everyone, flee!”

n“We have no hope of winning now! We have been defeated!”

nThese gods and demigods had turned the area surrounding Botin’s seal into a pseudo-Divine Realm to use as their final line of defense; other than Vandalieu, they were the ones that had been physically closest to Botin when they witnessed her resurrection and her declaration.

nHaving been pushed outside of the pseudo-Divine Realm by the shockwave created by the undoing of Botin’s seal, they were continuously expending power at a tremendous rate.

nBotin, the one whom Gorn and his allies had been trying to protect, had sided with Vandalieu and was now their enemy. There was no hope of victory for them, not in terms of the sizes of each side’s fighting forces, nor in terms of an objective to achieve.

nIf they were able to defeat Vandalieu, that would be a victory, but… the battle thus far had proved that this was impossible for Gorn and his allies in their current state.

nBotin and the others watched in silence as Gorn and his allies fled. There was no telling as to whether they would do as Botin had told them to – leave Alda’s forces and be neutral in the conflict.

nIn fact, it was highly likely that they would return to Alda, continue nurturing their developing heroes, focus on recovering their power, and come back as enemies once more.

n“Just to be perfectly clear, let them go if they want to flee,” Vandalieu said, despite knowing this.

nHe felt no urge to attack them from behind – because doing so would harm Botin’s reputation.

nTaking the opportunity to destroy a handful of lesser gods who had already expended a significant amount of power to fire projectiles from their pseudo-Divine Realm was too small a reward in exchange for displeasing Botin.

nAnd Botin had said: “Demigods, return to your homes, and gods, devote your efforts to the maintenance of the world!” In other words, if these enemies did not do as she said and came back to fight another day, Vandalieu would not have to spare them next time. If they presented themselves as enemies once more, he would simply devour their souls or seal them away then.

nAnd Vandalieu had another purpose for sparing them… a hopeful expectation.

nNow that Botin has become my ally, other gods among Alda’s forces might change their way of thinking as well. If gods allied to Alda that aren’t here right now change their stance to a neutral one, the enemy will have less fighting forces, and it will be possible to create cracks in their unity, he thought.

nAlda’s forces were likely already shaken by the Goddess of Rain Clouds Bashas and two other gods betraying them to join Vida’s faction, but Botin joining Vandalieu as an ally would be even more impossible for the gods serving Alda to accept calmly.

nSome gods would certainly leave Alda’s forces to take a stance of neutrality, if not join Vida’s faction like Bashas had.

nThese ones might do that as well, Vandalieu thought as he watched the gods leave.

n“Bocchan, may I come out now?” asked a voice from Vandalieu’s shadow.

n“Ah, Sam. Yes. And please let me use the Job-changing room,” Vandalieu replied.

nNo demigods had been defeated during this battle, but Bakunawa had devoured a large quantity of monsters, causing Vandalieu’s ‘Chaos Guider’ Job to reach Level 100.

nThey were technically currently still in battle, but the enemy was still in a state of shock, and they were showing no signs of recovering. And besides, they were literally standing at the feet of the gods. In a way, this was the safest place in the entire world.

n“Ah, so you have mastered yet another Job! Congratulations, Bocchan!” said Sam as he emerged from within Vandalieu’s shadow.

nMähne and Hof came out of the carriage, and their harnesses began assembling themselves.

n“Come on in, Bocchan,” said Rita as she and Saria welcomed Vandalieu into the carriage.

nVandalieu changed Jobs quickly. The Job he chose was ‘Divine Guider.’

nIt was yet another Guider Job, but given the current state of Gorn and his allies, it was possible that the battle would end here, so it seemed to be a more appropriate choice for the situation than ‘God Destroyer.’ And besides –

n“I’ve just gained the ‘Great Demon King’ Title, after all,” Vandalieu said to himself.

nSeveral seconds after Vandalieu disappeared into Sam’s carriage, Gorn and his allies stirred.

n“I shall take my leave. Everyone, let us flee.”

n“There is no use in fighting any further in this situation.”

n“I’m telling you this for your own good: Gorn-dono, and everyone else, we must escape now.”

nNone of the demigods wished to resume the battle; they followed in the footsteps of the gods who had already fled.

nThey fled, as there was no purpose in them fighting any longer, and many of them were thinking of immediately joining up with the forces defending Peria.

nThey intended to meet Vandalieu in battle once more if he were to come to them with the intent of reaching Peria, but… such thinking was too naïve.

nStill, perhaps it would be too harsh to blame them for their thoughts not yet having caught up to the reality that Botin had joined Vandalieu’s side.

nMeanwhile, chaos was unfolding in the seas where a portion of the forces defending Peria were preparing to join the forces defending Botin.

nThe holy grounds were shaking, and the underwater dome looked as if it were on the verge of collapsing.

n“What in the world is the meaning of this?!” shouted one of the younger gods. “Someone, please answer me! Pargtarta-dono, Goddess of Flow! What is happening?!”

nThese questions were directed at Pargtarta, a goddess who had long served Peria as one of her closely trusted subordinate gods. Her beautiful long hair resembled Peria’s, and she had the appearance of a warrior, wearing blue armor and holding a trident in her hand.

nPargtarta laughed, as if with joy.

nHer expression was not the gentle smile that she always had. It was a laughter of genuine delight, with the corners of her mouth rising high into her cheeks.

n“What are you flustered about?” she asked, still wearing this overjoyed grin. “We have been waiting more than a hundred thousand years to witness this moment, and it is finally upon us. The time has come for our master Peria to show herself and cease her pretense of slumber!”

nThe gods defending Peria opened their eyes wide in astonishment at the words ‘pretense of slumber,’ learning for the first time that Peria had actually been awake.

nBut they did not have the time to confirm if what Pargtarta said was true or not.

n“This… Peria-sama’s resurrection is what we have all been hoping for! I am most overjoyed! But why is Peria attempting to remove us?!” the young god shouted.

nThe water flowing through the holy grounds had turned into a raging current that threatened to sweep the gods away.

nAs the holy grounds were underwater, many of those defending Peria were gods and demigods of the water attribute. Together, they were trying to stop the flow of the seawater around them, but it was taking all of their effort just to remain in place.

nThe young god suspected that the only one capable of creating such a raging current was Peria, the Goddess of Water and Knowledge – and he was right.

n“Why is Peria trying to remove you, you ask? The answer to that is obvious. It is because you are the enemy, and she cannot simply leave you at her side,” said Pargtarta.

n“W-we are the enemy?!” the young god uttered in shock. “Th-then, Peria-sama… it cannot be!”

n“Very clever of you to realize the truth,” said Pargtarta, her smile growing even wider. “Now then, it is about time I bid you goodbye. But depending on what paths you choose for yourselves, perhaps we may see each other again sooner than expected.”

nIn the next moment, the raging flow of the water became even more violent.

n“What do you mean by that?! Are you saying that we should join Vida’s side?!” shouted the young god, on the verge of being swept away.

nBut before he could hear Pargtarta’s answer, the current swallowed him and carried him away.

n“… I am urging you to make a choice on which flow you will choose to follow. You should be grateful that you are so fortunate. After all, no matter where the flows may lead, you are able to choose with your own free will. And Botin-dono has even granted you the choice to sit on the fence, if you so wish. My master would not have allowed that.”

nAs if hearing these words spoken by her close servant, the violent current burst forth and swallowed Pargtarta as well, becoming a pillar of water that reached over the sea’s surface and pierced the sky.

nAnd so, Peria awakened.

nPeria descended from the sky along with a pillar of water in the pseudo-Divine Realm that had been created just on the edge of Botin’s seal on the Demon King’s Continent… the place that she had described to Juliana in a Divine Message – From above, the surroundings looked like a pair of unpleasantly-colored jaws.

nWith Pargtarta accompanying her, she had manifested in a form as enormous as a Colossus or Elder Dragon, just like the other great gods. Her hair and eyes were as blue as the sea, and her beauty was flawless.

n“It appears that I have kept you waiting,” she said, quietly greeting her brothers and sisters.

n“It’s been a long time, Peria,” said Vida, happily smiling back at her.

n“… It seems that your power has returned,” said Zantark with a stiff expression on his face, which now had a prominent blue bruise.

n“Yes, we have been waiting. We have been waiting for a very long time,” said Ricklent.

n“I heard that you were pretending to be asleep – even ignoring Ricklent and Zuruwarn. Bit of a bad prank, isn’t it?” said Botin.

n“Peria, allow me to offer some words to commemorate your awakening. ‘Hah, Peria, you were dead last!’” said Zuruwarn, taunting her with a serious expression.

n“Yes, yes, I’ll listen to your words of joy at our reunion, as well as your scolding and complaints, later. But I had no choice, did I? When I came to, Alda had gone all crazy, and as for Vida and Zantark, I had no idea what had happened to them or where they were. Botin was still sealed away. Ricklent and Zuruwarn were still just barely alive when they were moving around. The only thing I could do in that situation was to pretend to be asleep,” said Peria.

nShe had completely recovered her power – but complete only in relation to her power as it had been a hundred thousand years ago. On the other hand, Alda, the God of Law and Fate, had eliminated Vida and Zantark, and received the worship of humanity as the sole remaining great god.

nThe people had prayed to the subordinate gods, as well as Botin in her seal and Ricklent, Zuruwarn, and Peria as they slumbered. But heavy impressions were made on their hearts by Alda, who acted as the leader of the gods, and the priests who praised Alda.

nThus, even though people worshiped all of the gods, it was under the premise of Alda being their leader, so a part of all worship went to Alda, causing Alda to gain greater power than he had possessed a hundred thousand years ago. The only exceptions were the worship of Vida and Zantark, which had been revived in later generations by those who opposed the worship of Alda, and the worship from the residents of the Boundary Mountain Range, the Demon Continent, and Gartland.

n… But even with such power, Alda had likely struggled with ruling over not only the light attribute but the life attribute as well, in addition to the messy battles with the remnants of the Demon King’s army and remaining alert and wary of Vida’s faction.

nStill, when Peria awoke and found herself in this situation, she had faced no choice other than to work with Alda or pretend to still be slumbering.

nDue to the barrier over the Boundary Mountain Range, she had been unable to enter it or send Divine Messages inside it. She had been unaware of Gartland’s existence. And even if she had made her way to the Demon Continent, if Zantark was still in a state of insanity, she would have been in a difficult position.

nRicklent and Zuruwarn had sought to contact her, making their moves in the shadows despite still being powerless, but following them would have been risky. Trying to respond to them in secret would have been a poor idea, as Ricklent and Zuruwarn would have been at risk if Alda and his servants were to find out.

nThus, she had simply waited until Vandalieu was born and for him to accomplish what he did. After learning of Vida’s resurrection, she had waited for her chance.

nIf Peria had joined Vida straight away, Alda would have focused the forces that had been guarding her to guard the still-sealed Botin instead. It was even possible that he would have gathered additional forces to strengthen Botin’s guard.

nIf this had happened, then even Vandalieu would have had to fight a difficult battle to reach her.

nThus, she had sent a Divine Message to Juliana and led Vandalieu to remove Botin’s seal first. After that, all she’d needed to do was wait until Botin’s resurrection before making her move.

nStill, Vida’s new races and the former members of the Demon King’s army… they’re sturdier than I thought. It seems that Zakkart was right to have the enemy join us as allies, and Vida was right to create these new races, Peria thought.

nShe hadn’t known about Gartland’s existence; she was impressed with the gods of Gartland and the people living there who had allowed things to progress even faster than she had anticipated.

n“Of course, all of that might have been unnecessary,” Peria remarked.

nIn the distance, she could see a fleet of flying ships, as well as several beings who had stepped into the realm of godhood – including the incarnation of Vida. She could also see Tiamat’s child, who had inherited the power of Marduke and the blood of the ‘Great Demon King.’

nAnd then there was the ‘Great Demon King’ himself, who was standing by Peria’s feet. Peria had the feeling that he could have simultaneously fought both the forces that had been defending her and those that had been defending Botin, and won on both fronts.

n“You are giving me too much praise. A simple doubling in the enemy’s numbers would have been a great threat; my Mana isn’t unlimited. And… the first battle was dangerous,” said Vandalieu as he stepped out of Sam’s carriage, having heard Peria talking.

n《The Levels of the ‘Constant Mana Recovery,’ ‘Deadly Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue),’ ‘Augmented Attack Power while Unarmed,’ ‘Augmented Vitality,’ ‘Strengthened All Attribute Values,’ ‘Cooking,’ ‘Group Coordination,’ ‘Group Commander,’ ‘Transcend Limits: Fragments,’ ‘Group Thought Processing,’ ‘Group Control,’ and ‘Soul Form’ Skills have increased!》

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

n《‘Divine Path Enticement’ has combined with ‘Dark Dream Demon Creation Destruction Path Enticement’ and awakened to ‘Manas-vijnana Enticement!’ ‘Guidance: Divine Path’ has combined with ‘Guidance: Dark Dream Demon Creation Destruction Path’ and awakened to ‘Guidance: Manas-vijnana!’》

nVandalieu had changed Jobs to ‘Divine Guider,’ but he didn’t have any sense that it had affected any of the shocked gods and demigods who had been defending Botin.

nIn fact, he felt like his guidance’s effect on Sam, Rita, Saria, Borkus, and Juliana had grown.

nCome to think of it, what is Manas-vijnana? Vandalieu wondered.

nWith ‘Divine Path’ combining with his guidance and enticement Skills for a total of seven components each, they had awakened into Skills with a name whose meaning Vandalieu didn’t understand. Even with the ‘Perfect Record Technique’ Skill, there was no way for him to recall something that he didn’t know.

n‘Manas-vijnana’ refers to something deeper than one’s consciousness, the self that is aware of oneself. It was possible that the awakening of this Skill was appropriate for Vandalieu because he possessed the ‘Root Source’ Skill and a soul with a strange form… though Vandalieu himself was unaware of this.

n“Oh really?” said Peria, taking Vandalieu’s focus away from his Skills and back to reality. “I think that your claim that your Mana isn’t unlimited is particularly questionable. You use a lot of big spells that consume a lot of Mana, but I feel like you can manage even if that causes a Mana shortage for you.”

nIndeed, even if Vandalieu were to cast multiple large spells in rapid succession, he had numerous ways to get by in battle.

nHowever –

n“However, even if he is able to manage through some methods, he should not fight under the presumption that he can afford to run out of Mana,” said Ricklent, before Vandalieu could refute Peria’s assertion. “In a situation where he actually does run out of Mana, it is uncertain as to whether he will still be in a state where he can use such methods.”

n“It seems that battles where the general fights on the frontlines aren’t very common these days, even though I personally like such battles. Generals tend to look down on the battlefield from a safe place and flee for their lives at the first sign of danger, though I think it is questionable as to whether such generals can really be called generals,” said Zantark.

n“Ricklent is being reasonable – so reasonable that it’s funny, in fact,” said Peria. “But Zantark’s opinion is too similar to those of Vida’s races. Or maybe it’s just outdated.”

n“That can’t be helped, Peria. More than half of human society now thinks of Zantark as an evil god, and most of his worshippers are members of Vida’s races. The mortals that he considers to be unworthy of being called generals don’t worship him,” said Zuruwarn.

n“I think Vandalieu is fine, though,” said Vida.

n“… Zuruwarn, you haven’t changed, but Vida, you’ve been influenced by your new incarnation too much. Vandalieu, don’t worry about us and do what you need to do. If there’s anything you want to ask me, we can talk later,” said Peria.

n“Alright,” said Vandalieu.

n“Bocchan, everyone is here,” Saria informed him. “Juliana-chan is… kinda brown, isn’t she?”

n“It’s winter, but we’ve been at sea, so maybe she got a tan? I’m a little jealous,” said Rita.

nWith the conversation taking place above his head coming to an end, Vandalieu returned his eyes to ground level to see Borkus, Juliana, Princess Levia, and Kimberley, who had traversed the entire length of the underground tunnel and the space that had been occupied by Botin’s seal.

n“Hey, kid! The little girl’s Rank suddenly increased!” said Borkus.

nJuliana was sitting on his shoulders, and her skin had become a dark brown color that contrasted with the waxy skin of Saria and Rita.

n“Vandalieu-sama! After receiving Botin-sama’s divine protection, my race has changed from half-Minotaur to ‘Hathor!’” said Juliana.

n“Oh, that’s a good thing… right?”

n“Yes!”

nJuliana was beaming happily, showing no signs of concern at the change. Perhaps the changing of her skin’s color was a small thing to her.

nSomewhere in Vandalieu’s memory was the knowledge that ‘Hathor’ was a goddess in Egyptian mythology with the head of a cow. That did offer some explanation in regards to the race’s name, but… it was still something of a mystery as to why acquiring the divine protection of this world’s goddess of the earth attribute would cause Juliana to become a Hathor.

nI have a strong suspicion… Could it be that it’s because of me, rather than Botin?

nIn the Demon Empire of Vidal lived Anubises, which had transformed from Kobolds, and the new generation of Lizardmen, Ammits. Both were gods from Egyptian mythology, and what both races had in common was Vandalieu’s death-attribute magic.

nTLN: I translated “Ammit” as “Arman” a very long time ago (it is アーマーン

/āmān in Japanese). It turns out that the mythical being in question here is known as “Ammit” in English. You might see Arman used in older chapters, but the race name will be Ammit in future mentions.

nIt was likely that Vandalieu himself was the cause. When he changed Jobs a few moments ago, he had seen a new Job, ‘Apep’… There was also a new one called ‘Azathoth,’ but he planned to not think about that one for now.

nIncidentally, Botin was secretly a little surprised. It seems that her body is more similar to a monster’s than a human’s, but I didn’t think my divine protection would cause her to mutate! she thought.

n“So, Peria has joined Vida as well… It is hopeless! We have no choice but to flee!” shouted one of the last of the fleeing demigods.

nThey had paused once more in shock upon seeing Peria’s descent, but as their minds started working again, they had remembered their fear once more.

nThe bird-type beast-kings had joined the battle to avenge the Sea Bird Beast-King Valfaz, but they were now fleeing while leaving their backs defenseless. If Vandalieu’s fleet had any intention of attacking them, they would certainly be struck down.

nBut at Vandalieu’s orders, no cannon-fire met the backs of the beast-kings. With their enormous wings, they flew to try and leave the Demon King’s Continent as quickly as they could. Some of the other demigods began moving as well, to follow them.

nBut one of the beast-kings screeched as he was struck down – not by cannon-fire, but by lightning.

n“You cowards!” Brateo – the one who had fired the lightning attack – spat in disgust.

n“B-Brateo, why are you attacking our allies? Have you lost your mind?!” Gorn shouted, dumbfounded.

n“These cowards are fleeing in the face of the enemy! I am simply dealing with them in your place!”

n“Fleeing? In the face of the enemy? You fool, do you still intend to fight?! There is no hope for victory!”

n“Then are you telling me to run? Are you going to tell me to flee here, and look for another opportunity? Answer me, Gorn!”

nThe two Colossi began arguing. Brateo had attacked one of the beast-kings rather than any of Vandalieu’s allies; Gufadgarn and the others were bewildered, but continued watching the enemy while maintaining a defensive stance.

n“If we flee here and look for another opportunity, what will we do then?! Will the situation become any better than it is now?! Any better than it is now, where every single living great god other than Alda has joined Vida’s side as an ally of Vandalieu?!” Brateo roared. “It is true that we may have hope for victory if Bellwood is resurrected. But will that resurrection happen before the enemy has the world in the palm of his hand?!”

nWhat Brateo spoke was tragic, but the truth. Vandalieu had the support of six great gods, but Ricklent and Zuruwarn’s power had not yet returned. If the champion and heroic god Bellwood were to be resurrected and fought against Vandalieu, victory was possible.

nAfter all, no matter what else could be said about Vandalieu, he did not yet match the Demon King Guduranis in pure fighting strength.

nBut despite the dangerous situation Alda and his allies found themselves in, Bellwood’s resurrection was yet to come. Brateo couldn’t be blamed for losing faith that it would ever come at all.

n“Can you answer me, Gorn?!” Brateo demanded. “If you can’t, then now is our best chance for victory! Zuruwarn and Ricklent have not yet recovered all of their power, and Botin has only just been resurrected! And most importantly, they can’t leave the pseudo-Divine Realm that we created!”

nThe other demigods began showing signs of agreement. The more time they gave to Vandalieu, the more power the great gods on his side would recover, the more the worshipers of the gods of Alda’s forces would dwindle, the more allies Vandalieu would gain, and the stronger Vandalieu’s allies would become.

nNo matter how small or non-existent their chance of victory was now, it was the best chance they would have. This argument was convincing to the demigods, who knew how rapidly the strength of Vandalieu and his allies grew, and had experienced the threat represented by the latest addition to Vandalieu’s fighting forces – Bakunawa.

n“… Yes. It is exactly as you say,” agreed Madroza, who was still in a heavily wounded state. “Calm yourselves. If we try to escape this place with the intention of distancing ourselves from Alda, do you think they will spare us as Botin claims? It’s obvious that they will wait for us to separate from one another as we flee and then strike us down one by one!”

nThe demigods who had been defending Botin opened their eyes wide at this realization.

nVandalieu and his allies frowned. They knew that Madroza’s claims were nothing more than paranoid delusion. But the demigods that had been defending Botin had been assaulted repeatedly, and they had just learned that all of those assaults had been distractions to trick them. To them, Madroza’s paranoid delusion sounded very much like reality.

nIf he were to be completely honest, Vandalieu didn’t know if he would believe that he would be shown mercy if he were in their position.

nI suppose I can’t be called an honest, proud enemy who keeps my promises, with my past deeds being what they are, Vandalieu thought.

nHe couldn’t recall ever having used any clearly dirty attacks or cowardly traps, but he had frequently used surprise attacks to catch his enemy off-guard. And even though he and his companions had always intended to fight head-on with all of their strength, their enemies would have surely perceived them as using tricky plans and foul tactics.

nOf course, Vandalieu was not particularly dissatisfied with this. Alda’s forces already saw Vandalieu as negatively as they possibly could, just from the fact that he had absorbed fragments of the Demon King and commanded Undead and monsters as allies. And given that these demigods had decided that they couldn’t trust him due to the battles that had taken place thus far, he didn’t want to make them his allies, as they would obviously oppose him later.

n“You are right… Fighting until we are broken and turned to dust is the only path to our future!” declared Gorn, agreeing with Brateo and Madroza as well.

nBotin gave a heavy sigh, and Peria shook her head. Vida gave a sad smile of resignation.

n“I see. So, they had already chosen a different path, without me realizing it,” Botin said, taking half a step back.

n“Well then, please leave the rest to me,” said Vandalieu. “Resume battle.”

nAnd with that, the cannons began firing once more.

nMaster only held this Job for a short period of time, so there is nothing that I can say about it for certain… It is unclear as to whether it is a Job for guiding others into chaos, or whether the chaos guides them.

nMy guess is that perhaps the chaos (Master) is the Guider who guides those who have lost their names and forms (spirits), and those who have not decided where they will go, into chaos.

nThough this is just a suspicion, I believe that this Job cannot be obtained by anyone who is sane, nor by anyone who is insane. They would need to be both sane and insane at the same time, like Master is.

n