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nThe battle against Rikudou, who had unleashed Guduranis’s instinct, was extremely fierce… for the Five-colored Blades, at least.

nJennifer grunted as she crossed her arms to protect herself from an attack from Rikudou’s arms of the Demon King. But although she managed to withstand the blow, she could no longer move.

nUsing that opportunity, Rikudou pushed the attack.

n“Die!” he snarled. “I shall kill you and become the only god of this world!”

nA countless number of arms emerged from his back and were fired as projectiles, sending death-attribute-Mana-filled fists flying out. But they were not directed at Jennifer.

n“The only god? It seems that you have finally lost the reasoning necessary to conceal your true intentions,” said Vandalieu.

nHe transformed his arms into the Demon King’s oviducts to deal with the black fists closing in on him.

n“‘Flame Prison Death,’ egg rapid fire.”

nHe fired a barrage of egg projectiles filled with the Demon King’s fat that exploded on contact with the black fists, causing small explosions that turned them into ash.

nAlthough the battle against Rikudou was not fierce for Vandalieu, he was forced to be cautious. Defeating Rikudou wouldn’t cause the monsters appearing in the city to disappear. If he tried to kill both Heinz and Rikudou at the same time, Heinz would end up aiding Rikudou to prevent that from happening.

nAnd the circumstances were different for Jennifer and Diana than for their other three party members.

n“Get back, Jennifer!” Heinz warned as he and Edgar swung their weapons at Rikudou.

nWith their support, Jennifer tried to regain her balance and get some distance from Rikudou, but someone interfered with that.

n“‘Mud Snake Binding!’ ‘Single Flash!’”

nA snake made of mud swiftly wrapped itself around Jennifer’s body, immobilizing her, and a staff with decorations in the shape of hearts and stars came swinging down at her.

nJennifer forcibly shook off the snake of viscous mud with her physical strength and Mana, which had been improved by ‘Heroic Spirit Descent,’ then grunted as she blocked the staff with her gauntlets.

n“Why are you aiming for me?!” she demanded.

n“Because you’re a nuisance, of course!” replied Kanako, the one who was attacking her.

n“Wha… You guys, your enemy is Rikudou too, isn’t it?!”

n“You and that Elf are nuisances that are stopping us from defeating Rikudou! ‘Fierce Talon Kick!’”

n“Me and Diana?! What are you talking about?!”

nAs Kanako performed a kick with her leg that she had transformed into a talon, Jennifer twisted her body to evade it. Kanako tried to give chase and continue attacking, but she was forced to fall back to avoid the ‘Death Bullets’ that had suddenly been fired her way.

n“… So that’s how it is,” Jennifer muttered with a vexed expression as she realized that the one who had fired the ‘Death Bullets’ was Rikudou, who had slipped past Heinz and Edgar’s attacks.

nShe and Diana were being used by Rikudou as shields to protect him from Vandalieu.

nVandalieu wouldn’t hesitate to kill Heinz, Edgar, and Delizah, the ones who had killed Darcia. He was currently prioritizing defeating Rikudou, but he didn’t care what happened to those three in that process. In fact, he wanted to kill them in the process.

nBut that wasn’t true for Jennifer and Diana. These two had joined the Five-colored Blades after Heinz and his remaining companions moved to the Orbaume Kingdom. In other words, these two were not responsible for Darcia’s death. Thus, Vandalieu was making a deliberate attempt not to kill them.

nRikudou had taken notice of this and was taking advantage of Jennifer and Diana in instances like this.

nThe proof of that was the ‘Death Bullets’ he had fired at Kanako to support Jennifer – so that he could continue to use her.

n“They hadn’t taken notice of it yet. You didn’t need to make it obvious to them,” Rikudou cursed at Kanako.

nHe had a bitter expression as he dealt with Heinz and Edgar’s continued attacks with the arms of the Demon King. But even so, he began to ridicule Kanako.

n“Tsuchiya-kun, who would have thought that you would be taking the initiative to willingly carry out the dirty work of disposing of these nuisances without even being asked, on behalf of an owner that you are very much unfamiliar with. How unexpected,” he said, his words dripping with contempt. “Quite the loyal dog, aren’t you? It seems that Vandalieu has been a more capable owner than Amemiya Hiroto was.”

n“Hey, stop praising me all of a sudden, you’re going to make me sick,” Kanako retorted. “Right, Van?”

n“Indeed,” Vandalieu agreed. “To be quite frank, it is disgusting… Have the fragments of the Demon King finally caused you to lose your mind?”

nThere were many who called themselves dogs, like Isla and Eleanora, so being called a dog no longer sounded like an insult to Kanako and Vandalieu.

n“And if you’re going to compare me to an animal right now, I’d be a bird, right?” Kanako added.

nWith her transformation equipment activated, she was like a bird of paradise with its beautiful wings spread. However, her wings and talons were parts of her actual body that she had transformed, and the transformation equipment’s design itself was rather simple.

nThe main part of it was a leotard-type suit that left her back almost completely bare to allow her to create wings. There was a short skirt-shaped decoration around her waist, and high socks that came up to halfway up her thighs. Her arms were concealed by long gloves up to her elbows as well, so they looked very ordinary compared to the wings that she had created using ‘Chaos.’

nRikudou made a discontented noise. “Always have a comeback, don’t you? Using fragments of the Demon King and death-attribute magic for such foolish things… Vandalieu! Why do you not realize that your deeds are acts of contempt against your own power?!”

n“I don’t know whether it’s because you’ve awakened your instinct, but it seems that you’ve become rather short-tempered,” Vandalieu remarked. “Also, your values are incomprehensible to me. I have no idea why you would think that I am showing contempt for my power by using it in a diverse range of effective ways.”

nVandalieu had created liquid metal with death-attribute magic, produced dyes with the Demon King’s ink sacs, and used ‘Golem Creation’ to turn the liquid metal into clothes. The beads and lamé fabric were also materials created from fragments of the Demon King.

nVandalieu felt no need to hesitate in using fragments of the Demon King and death-attribute magic for such things. He was simply using himself to carry out the things that he wanted to do.

nThat was Vandalieu’s reason to live; it was a way for him to connect to others, and it brought him joy. Although he could imagine what Rikudou’s values were, they weren’t something that he could understand or sympathize with.

n“There is no reason to criticize me when all I’ve done is create equipment that performs well for my companions using materials that I am able to produce freely. In fact, given what happened in Origin, aren’t you the one who has shown contempt for death-attribute magic?” said Vandalieu.

nRikudou had used his own companions who were reincarnated individuals like him, as well as innocent children, in human experiments. In the end, he had left the world of Origin in a complete mess.

nThanks to him, death-attribute magic had a considerably terrible reputation in Origin, and the only thing preventing that reputation from reaching rock bottom was the fact that Vandalieu had prevented Rikudou’s attempt to carry out an indiscriminate massacre of the world’s population. The part of Vandalieu that had joined the God of Origin was sighing heavily, wondering when Meh-kun and Hiroshi would be able to return to their own world.

nBut Rikudou did not reflect on his past actions. “You shameless bastard…!”

nHis anger grew even fiercer, proving that Vandalieu’s observation of him having become short-tempered was right on the mark. His anger towards Vandalieu and his subordinates was rapidly becoming uncontrollable.

nIn his previous life, Rikudou had carried out his conspiracy behind the Bravers’ backs for about ten years. He had acted as Amemiya Hiroto’s best friend. Where had that perseverance and mental fortitude gone? Even he was beginning to ask himself this question.

nMore importantly, the first priority is to kill these fools! Killing them will put an end to everything!

nHis insignificant bewilderment was erased by the rage that was endlessly welling up within him, the sense of omnipotence given by the Mana that came with that rage, and most of all, the screaming of his instinct.

nThat’s right! Now that I am in a state where I have fully unleashed the instinct for battle and survival, while my ability to reason is still intact, I am the most powerful being! There is no way I can lose!

n“… In that case, allow me to test whether that equipment or whatever you call it can withstand my magic!” Rikudou said, turning his overflowing anger into killing intent and concentrating his Mana to create a new death-attribute spell. “‘Killing Blade Swarm!’ These blades will reap your lives! Take thiiiis!”

nThe death-attribute Mana took the form of a countless number of blades, and Rikudou unleashed them to stab and slash any living thing in the area to death.

n“Damn it, an indiscriminate attack!” Heinz muttered.

n“‘Extreme Provocation!’ … No, it’s not working!” said Delizah.

nThe blades of ‘Killing Blade Swarm’ seemed to automatically seek to kill every living thing in the area other than Rikudou, the spell’s caster; several blades were also released towards Heinz and his companions, not just Vandalieu and Kanako. Perhaps seeing this as a good opportunity, or perhaps trying to attack the Five-colored Blades while he was at it, Vandalieu cast ‘Hollow Bullets’ to try and smash the ‘Killing Blade Swarm.’

nBut the blades of death conjured by Rikudou sliced through the ‘Hollow Bullets.’

n“How strange for that to happen, even though you have far more Mana, Van,” said Kanako.

n“I suspect that by concentrating his Mana into the form of blades, the amount of Mana concentrated on the edges of the blades surpasses that of the great Vandalieu’s spell,” Gufadgarn said, analyzing the spell.

n“I see, so it defeats the defensive power of a surface using an edge. He might be rotten to the core, but he’s got skill. Still, that just means that we have to avoid their edges, right?” said Kanako.

nKanako and Gufadgarn cast spells to repel the blades. Gufadgarn changed their direction by warping space, while Kanako manipulated boulders conjured by an earth-attribute spell to strike the flat sides of the blades.

nHeinz and his companions seemed to have grasped what was demonstrated by Kanako’s attacks; with Jennifer and Diana falling back to focus on defense, they managed to deal with the ‘Killing Blade Swarm’ as well.

nAnd since they had gathered in one spot, Vandalieu cast a ‘God Spirit Magic’ spell that caused Ghosts to take the form of a skull of black-red flames that closed its jaws on them.

n“I know that you pride yourself on your skill. Of course, it’s not to an extent that we can’t deal with,” said Vandalieu.

n“Indeed, the techniques that I have honed through much training are effective against you, but at the same time, your vast pool of Mana is problematic,” said Rikudou. “However, with the ‘Avalon’ ability, I am learning Guduranis’s power and expanding my own Mana pool as we speak! And not only that… My pawns have gathered!”

nMonsters took flight from the city below, which had largely turned into rubble. They flew using wings, special abilities, or spells, and were trying to gather at Rikudou’s command.

n“Do you really think there’s any point in bringing weak monsters into the fight at this stage?” Vandalieu questioned.

n“Though they may be weak now, with my Mana… With the Mana of the Demon King Guduranis strengthening them, even you will not be able to defeat them so easily,” Rikudou said.

nRikudou could cast ‘Strengthen Lethality’ to increase the monsters’ offensive power and ‘Death Delay’ to ensure that they would continue to move for a while even after being fatally wounded. And it was possible that he would be able to immediately create some other new spells to strengthen them.

n“Indeed, it would be a little troublesome if that were to happen,” Vandalieu said.

nHeinz and his companions, who were left out of this conversation, and Kanako, who was preparing for the incoming situation, grimaced. Things wouldn’t just be ‘a little troublesome’ for them.

n“Come monsters! Receive my power, and–”

nBut Rikudou’s voice was suddenly drowned out by the terrified screams and dying cries of the monsters.

nThe monsters were being struck down one after another by cannon fire from Cuatro, who had finished evacuating the people, as well as the attacks of Borkus and Godwin, who had given chase when they left the ground.

nThe most menacing of all was the Dragon-like being that was standing upright… Knochen, who had used ‘Elder Dragon Form.’ With his wings of bone spread out, he roared ferociously as he unleashed his ‘Elder Dragon Poison Breath’ at a corner of the city that the people had all left, including the adventurers and soldiers.

nHis poison was tremendously powerful, eating into even the Mythril and Adamantite Dragon Golems there, who would normally be considered immune to poison. They groaned as they rusted and fell apart.

nBut Knochen seemed to be uninterested in prey that did not have bones. With a bored groan, he tossed the wreckages of the Golems in a direction where there were no buildings, then headed for the next group of monsters to fight.

n“Damn it! Monsters! Hurry and come out from the Dungeon!” Rikudou shouted, panicking as he watched the monsters falling before his very eyes before they could come in range for him to cast his spells on them.

nBut the monsters showed no signs of answering his call. No change could be seen among the monsters that either didn’t have the ability to fly or couldn’t because they were engaged in battle, nor in the rate at which new monsters appeared from the gates in the city, which was now emptied of people other than the adventurers and the knights fighting them.

nRikudou groaned in frustration.

n“If your plan succeeded, it would have been a little troublesome, but… it doesn’t look like it will,” said Vandalieu.

nHis consciousness was connected to the Demon King Familiars that were fighting against the waves of monsters spawning inside the Dungeon. Thus, he knew that the rate at which new monsters entered the city would not increase.

nSuddenly, there was a familiar hiss.

n“Van, we’re here!”

n“Vandalieu-sama!”

nThe ones who had come to the battlefield were not Rikudou’s monsters, but Pete and Pain. Pain was carrying Pauvina, and Luvesfol and Isla had arrived as well. There was also the silent Randolf, who was flying using spiritual magic.

n“Vandalieu-sama, the king and his ilk have been safely retrieved by Sam’s group!” Isla reported.

n“The evacuation of the people in the city is more or less complete, and Sam-san and the others are searching for any that might have been left behind. Knochen and Cuatro said they’re going to keep some distance, just in case! Simon’s group are doing their best to make sure nobody interferes, too!” said Pauvina.

n“Ah, they’re keeping Asagi busy. Let’s let Simon know that if Asagi gets too disobedient, I don’t mind if he breaks his bones a few thousand times. Thank you, Pauvina and Isla,” Vandalieu said. “And Dandolip-sensei, what about the school… Hmm? Why have you dyed your hair, sir?” he asked Randolf, whose hair was back to its usual blonde color now that he had undone the spell that made it red.

nRandolf was silent for a few moments, then hardened his resolve as he opened his mouth to speak. “There are no problems at the school. The students, the teachers other than myself, and everyone who came running to the school have evacuated into the Dungeon. Meorilith and the others are guarding its entrance, so monsters won’t be able to get inside. And I don’t think this is something that I should be revealing in a situation as tense as this, but–”

n“Randolf ‘the True?!’ You’ve come as well?!” exclaimed Heinz. “Your aid will be most welcome now, given that the Demon King Guduranis might be on the verge of resurrection, even if you’re not our ally!”

n“Read the room, you little brat! I was about to tell him myself!” Randolf said angrily.

nThe effort he had gone through to reveal his true identity had gone to waste.

nI should have revealed my identity myself earlier after all, Randolf thought regretfully, but it was too late for that now.

n“Huh? You’re Randolf? Not Dandolip-sensei?” said Pauvina.

nHeinz’s voice had been loud enough for everyone present to hear the name “Randolf ‘the True.’”

nBut for some reason, there was someone who insisted otherwise.

n“Wait a second, this isn’t Randolf!” said Kanako, someone that Randolf had great respect for. “There’s no mistaking this voice. This person is Rudolf… the traveling bard!”

nRandolf had changed the tone of his voice and his mannerisms of speech since he began disguising himself, but it seemed that he couldn’t deceive Kanako’s ears.

n“To think that the true identity of Dandolip-sensei and Randolf ‘the True’ would be Rudolf,” Kanako said in disbelief.

n“I’m sorry, Kanako-sensei. Rudolf and Dandolip are both fake names and appearances that I disguised myself as. As that young brat over there blabbered just a moment ago, my real name is Randolf ‘the True.’ I’m an S-class adventurer who is supposed to be retired,” Randolf said.

nWhen Kanako was holding regular performances in the city of Morksi in the Alcrem Duchy, she had hired the blue-haired Elf bard Rudolf as a local staff member. She had discerned that he and Randolf were the same person, mostly by his voice. That was impressive in and of itself, but… the truth was that ‘Rudolf’ had been a disguise as well.

n“What?! You perform so spectacularly, but performing isn’t even your main profession?!” Kanako exclaimed in shock.

n“Yes, I’m truly sorry. But it’s no lie that I was deeply moved by your music and the way you taught that music to others,” Randolf explained. “… Vandalieu, it’s also true that you put me on edge. I’m sure there are things that you want to say to me, but please forget them for now.”

nThe traveling bard that Vandalieu had previously encountered and one of the teachers of the Hero Preparatory School that he was indebted to were actually an S-class adventurer. It was shocking, but it wasn’t a betrayal or anything. Kanako was surprised as well, but that was it.

nThus, Vandalieu had no reluctance to accept that Dandolip was in fact Randolf.

n“Very well,” he said. “This isn’t the place to be talking about those things. Of course, Rikudou himself seems to have enough on his plate as well.”

nRikudou was silent and staring at someone… A being so significant that it had stopped him from attacking and interrupting the ridiculous conversation between Vandalieu, Kanako, and Randolf.

n“Vida… To think that a great god has secured a vessel capable of allowing her to descend for an extended period of time!” Rikudou murmured in disbelief.

nHe was staring at Darcia, the beautiful, black-skinned Elf enveloped in a divine glow, standing on top of Legion, who had gathered into a single mass once more. Rikudou had been told by Rodcorte that she was capable of summoning Vida upon herself, but he was astounded at the realization that she was able to sustain it for a long period of time.

n“Umm, should I say it’s been a hundred thousand years? Or should I say nice to meet you? Either way, it seems that you are a being who is at odds with us,” said Darcia, who had summoned Vida upon herself and become one with the goddess, in a casual tone as she spoke to the being that was Rikudou, and at the same time, a mortal enemy. “By the way, the main owner of this body is Darcia, and I’m just lending her my power. Well, not that I care which name you refer to me by.”

nAlmost all of her tone of speech and behavior was Darcia’s, and her consciousness was mostly Darcia’s as well. But the presence and the power that was emanating from her entire body was immense.

nIn the past, Guduranis had been defeated by Bellwood, who had summoned Alda upon himself, with the support of Farmaun Gold and Nineroad. Rikudou possessed Guduranis’s memories, and he understood how powerful someone was when a great god was summoned upon them.

nDamn it. If it were just a familiar spirit or a heroic spirit, it would be different, but she has summoned Vida herself… and from the looks of it, she can keep her summoned for longer than I expected, with no side effects. This is an unexpected situation… There won’t be any point in me having kept the Five-colored Blades alive! Rikudou thought bitterly.

nHe had viewed Darcia and Vandalieu’s companions with disdain and contempt. Vandalieu being unable to sacrifice the people of Orbaume and spreading his allies across the city to save them had gone according to his plans. But Vandalieu’s allies defeating most of the monsters, evacuating the people, and gathering any surplus forces was an unexpected development.

nAt this rate, even if Heinz were to summon Bellwood upon himself, he and the Five-colored Blades would be removed from the battlefield by Darcia and the others, and Rikudou would be forced into a battle with Vandalieu with nobody to use as a shield.

nIf that came to pass, it would be difficult for Rikudou to survive, even with the Demon king’s instinct and memories. In fact, the instinct was screaming at him, ‘Things will be dangerous at this rate!’ and the response from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ was only growing stronger.

nBut Rikudou was not the only one who was in a corner – the Five-colored Blades were in a corner as well.

n“… Heinz, this is our cue to leave. Let’s go back to where Selen and the others are,” said Delizah, who could foresee that they would suffer the same fate as Rikudou – being removed by Darcia and Vandalieu’s other allies.

nThese were the allies of Vandalieu, who was trying to kill them along with Rikudou. Darcia in particular had previously told them that she would ‘never forgive’ them, and although it had only been a temporary body, they had dealt a killing blow to her. It was unlikely that they would just drive Heinz and his companions away without violence.

n“You might be right. I suppose it’s time for us to go,” Heinz agreed.

nIf Vandalieu were to be defeated, Heinz, who could summon Bellwood upon his own body, and his companions were the only ones who could stop Rikudou. Although Heinz had rushed to the scene, Vandalieu had refused to fight together against the common enemy… even though that common enemy was one that had threatened the destruction of the entirety of the city of Orbaume, and possessed fragments of the soul of the Demon King Guduranis.

nHe had carried on fighting despite this because he had not believed that Vandalieu was certain to defeat Rikudou. And even when he tried to retreat, Rikudou had been cleverly closing the distance between them, manipulating their positions, and making sure that he couldn’t get away so easily.

nBut now that Darcia, who was capable of summoning the great god Vida upon herself, and Vandalieu’s other allies had gathered here, Heinz was certain that they would be able to defeat Rikudou… Guduranis, who was on the verge of resurrection.

nAnd it was unlikely that Rikudou would be able to stop them from leaving the battlefield now. The problem was whether Vandalieu and the others would allow them to leave, but…

n“As covering our retreat–” Heinz began.

n“I’ll do it!” shouted Edgar, flying forward.

nNow is the time to put your life on the line, said a voice inside him that spurred him on.

nEdgar mistook this voice for that of his intuition as an adventurer, telling him that the one to help his party escape from unfavorable circumstances was him, the most experienced among his party.

nHe activated the fragments of the heroic spirit Luke inside his own soul, putting him in the same state as activating ‘Heroic Spirit Descent,’ and with a fierce roar, he leapt forth… towards Rikudou.

n“‘Million Sla–?!’”

nWhy have I started attacking this guy?! Edgar thought, so bewildered that he failed to perform his martial skill and froze in place.

nHe knew that he had moved forward to cover his companions’ retreat. But why had he tried to attack Rikudou, who was half-surrounded by Vandalieu and his companions? That would only get him killed by Vandalieu and his companions, along with Rikudou.

nHeinz and the others were unable to stop Edgar’s sudden charge – after all, he was the fastest member of the party.

nAnd although Vandalieu and his companions were surprised by Edgar’s actions, they didn’t stop him or try to remove him from the battlefield. To them, Edgar was an enemy. An enemy making a reckless move and putting themselves in danger didn’t require any immediate action from them.

nThe only one who didn’t think this way was Randolf, but in an emotional sense, he was on Vandalieu’s side. His feelings of wanting to save Edgar weren’t strong enough for his body to move reflexively to do so.

nAnd they were all unaware of what Rodcorte had done to Edgar.

nThe one to take immediate action was Rikudou.

nKill him! And make contact with him and his soul!

nRikudou did exactly as the instinct screamed at him to do. As Edgar froze in place, completely defenseless, Rikudou pierced his chest with the fingers of the Demon King’s arms, whose lethality had been strengthened.

n“Ah, damn it,” Vandalieu muttered, realizing his error.

n“EDGAAAAR!” Heinz screamed in heartbroken grief.

n“W-wh… a-a-a-a-aat–” Rikudou stuttered, astonished by both Edgar’s actions and his own.

nEdgar’s life ended, and at the same moment, Rikudou touched his soul. Of course, because of the curse that Rodcorte had placed on him, he was unable to break souls. However, he was able to touch them. Ordinarily, touching a soul would not even put a pinky-fingernail-sized scratch on it. But there was something inside Edgar’s soul, something that had been placed in there by none other than the same Rodcorte.

n“–IS THIIIIIIIIS?!” Rikudou screamed in bewilderment.

nHis body began convulsing ominously. Even he didn’t know what was happening. As he screamed, the presence of the Demon King emanating from him grew stronger.

n“‘Hollow Cannon,’ ‘Death Cannon,’ ‘Crimson Ice Execution Circle,’ ‘Dark Thunderbolt Spear,’” said Vandalieu, having a bad feeling about this and firing a barrage of offensive spells.

n“Everyone who can move, attack!” Randolf ordered.

nAt his command, Darcia, Isla and the others all attacked Rikudou as well.

nThese attacks tore at, pierced, sliced, and burned his body. But these wounds quickly closed, and the Demon King’s presence grew even stronger. Meanwhile, Rikudou’s presence was shrinking, and only a tiny trace of it remained.

n“I-I– IIIIIIIIII AAAAAAAM! R-RESURRECTED! Resurrection has come at last! I am the Demon King Guduranis!” the enormous black being that had once been Rikudou declared, radiating a wild and uncontrolled Mana that was different from Vandalieu’s or Mei’s, but even more powerful than Darcia’s with Vida descended upon her.

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