n

n

n

nThis was the despair of being faced with an overwhelmingly powerful predator… No, it was the despair of being inside the jaws of the predator, impaled by its sharp teeth.

n“Why?! Why do the fragments of my body speak with your voice and refer to themselves by your name?!” Guduranis shrieked as he desperately resisted that despair.

nHe was irrationally angry and seething with hatred for Vandalieu.

n“Well, I’m rather confused about that myself…” Vandalieu said.

nThe development of the Demon King fragments submitting to him rather than Guduranis, who was supposed to be their main body… was something that he had expected. But he had not expected the fragments to actually truly become him.

n“I expected that if you were to make one last desperate attempt to get out of this situation using the little Mana you have remaining, you would make a suicide attack towards me and try to reclaim the fragments, so in the end, your attack ended up landing,” Vandalieu said.

n“This must be some kind of joke! Why has my body become yours?! Why have I, the Demon King Guduranis, had my body stolen from me?!” Guduranis shouted, attempting to counterattack against Vandalieu and try to escape.

nBut his arms that he had been swinging with such power, the nose that allowed him to fly and fire air cannon attacks, the brain that assisted him in casting magic, the sebaceous glands, the paw pads – none of them were doing as Guduranis willed them to.

n“I don’t think the question of ‘why’ needs to be answered,” Vandalieu said.

nEven now, he was absorbing Guduranis’s body. With the dull sound of flesh and bone creaking, he was absorbing the arms that had pierced his heart.

n“Survival of the fittest. It’s the law that you preached, and all that is happening now is that the strong is devouring the flesh of the weak. There’s nothing questionable or outrageous about that, is there?” said Vandalieu.

nIn the past, Guduranis had begun his invasion on the world of Lambda in order to live. He had no pretext for doing so, and he showed no mercy, no understanding, and no desire to coexist with this world’s inhabitants; he had simply waged war on them, contaminated the world, created monsters, and carried out slaughter.

nAnd in this case, Vandalieu was a more powerful being, and he was crushing Guduranis and taking everything from him. There was nothing mysterious about it.

n“Silence, you cowardly monster who is obsessed with being a human!” Guduranis snarled.

nHe was not the kind of being who would accept this retribution and gracefully resign himself to his fate. He gave up on attempting to regain control over his body, and with the Mana that was freed up, he created another Guduranis Shadow – an artificial spirit of death – and had it attack Vandalieu.

n“You lot too! Go!” he commanded the Ghosts of Moriya and the others.

n“Yes, Rikudou-san!” said Moriya.

nMoriya created more artificial spirits of his own, while Johnny, Iguchi, Katherine, and Sugiura began using their abilities and reciting incantations.

nBut although their experience from Origin was reflected in their Skills, they were still just Rank 2 Ghosts, so their attacks were very much lacking in power compared to when Guduranis had been supplying them with Mana.

nBut with his Mana completely depleted after creating the Guduranis Shadow, Guduranis had no other way to keep up his futile resistance.

n“GOOO!” shouted Nishikaga, who hadn’t been put to much use by Guduranis thus far.

nHe possessed the Guduranis Shadow and activated ‘Sleipnir,’ improving its strength even further.

nThe Guduranis Shadow howled as it attacked.

nVandalieu was unable to move while he absorbed Guduranis, and he had no way of resisting the Guduranis Shadow’s attack… or so it seemed.

n“Arm, paw pad.”

nAn arm grew rapidly from Vandalieu’s back, and the paw pad attached to it deflected the Guduranis Shadow’s fist.

n“What?!” Guduranis uttered in shock.

nThere was no mistaking it – this was an arm and a paw pad of the Demon King. But that wasn’t all. Vandalieu produced a tentacle from his back… or rather, an elephant-trunk-like nose of the Demon King, which swelled up as he pointed it at the Guduranis Shadow.

n“‘Flame Prison Tornado Cannon,’” Vandalieu said.

nA tornado of black-red flames erupted from the nose. Unable to avoid the attack, the Guduranis Shadow shrieked as it was engulfed in the flames.

n“Ri-Rikudou–” Nishikaga gasped.

nBut he could not withstand this attack, as he was a mere Ghost, and he vanished from existence as his soul was devoured. The Guduranis Shadow, which survived, was sent flying in the direction of Heinz and his companions, who had just finished defeating the other artificial spirits.

nThe artificial spirits created by Moriya were swept away by Vandalieu’s overwhelming firepower, and he and the other Ghosts vanished from existence one after another as they were struck by ‘Hollow Bullets’ that had been cast with more power than usual. Johnny attempted to resist by using ‘Balor’ to sap the energy from the attacks, but the sheer volume of Mana contained in Vandalieu’s attacks were overwhelming – beyond what Johnny’s ability could absorb – and his ability was ultimately powerless.

nEven with the abilities and the experience that they had gained in their previous lives, there was nothing these Rank 2 Ghosts could do.

n“Y-you are already able to use the fragments of my body with complete freedom…” Guduranis muttered, more shocked at the fact that his body had been stolen from him than at the loss of Moriya and the others. “You! You’re watching, aren’t you?!” he suddenly shouted up at the heavens. “Rodcorte! Release the other fragments of my soul that you hold, and allow them to converge upon me! If you aid me now, I can defeat Vandalieu! If I am devoured here, you will never have a chance to defeat Vandalieu for the rest of eternity!”

nHis words were not directed at the heavens, but at Rodcorte, who was undoubtedly watching from his Divine Realm. If Guduranis could regain the other fragments of his soul that Rodcorte held, he could recover his Mana and fight against Vandalieu once more.

nIn fact, if his soul were to become whole again, he might even be able to successfully reclaim the fragments of his body again.

nBut there was no response from Rodcorte.

n“W-why?! As long as you destroy Vandalieu, you don’t give a damn about this world, do you?!” Guduranis screamed.

nRodcorte was listening. But he had been in a state of utter panic ever since Guduranis took over Rikudou and became resurrected, and he had lost the ability to calmly make decisions. Even so, he had hoped that the resurrected Guduranis might defeat Vandalieu, but Guduranis was already on the brink of defeat.

nWith his state of panic as deep as it was now, even with Guduranis offering him the choice of releasing more of the fragments of his soul, he wasn’t capable of taking action right away.

nNo, to be more accurate, he did try to do as Guduranis told him to, but the desire of self-preservation surfaced in his mind and prevented him from doing so.

nIn order to release the other fragments of the Demon King’s soul and deliver them to Guduranis, Rodcorte would need to embed the soul fragments in someone and have them reincarnated near Guduranis. The only candidate available was Da Long, the only remaining one of Rikudou’s subordinates in Rodcorte’s Divine Realm, but unlike Rikudou, he was just a human. He would not be able to withstand the fragments of Guduranis’s soul; he would be taken over the moment they were embedded in him.

nAnd once this incomplete form of Guduranis was resurrected, would it really go to try and aid the Guduranis who was in this dire predicament? Would it not abandon it and attempt to escape from Rodcorte’s Divine Realm into another world? In doing so, would it not attempt to steal power from Rodcorte?

nGiven that danger, Rodcorte was unable to make a decision, even if it was for the sake of killing Vandalieu. From the very beginning, Rodcorte’s highest priority had always been himself. He didn’t have the time to implement a curse on Guduranis’s other soul fragments to prevent them from breaking souls, and if he were to resurrect them, they might take his power from him… In the worst-case scenario, they might even destroy him. If that were to happen, whether Vandalieu died or not, the fate of the world – none of that would matter to Rodcorte anymore.

n“To think that you would be begging for the help of a god – the help of Rodcorte, no less – It seems that you’ve exhausted not only all of your Mana, but all of your options as well,” Vandalieu remarked.

nGuduranis gritted his teeth in frustration. “Become hesitant, have you, Rodcor…” He stopped mid-sentence and began groaning in agony as he felt a terrible pain that was difficult to describe. But when he realized what that pain was, he felt a true despair and fear. “You bastard, you’re trying to devour my soul? The soul of the Demon King Guduranis?!”

n“Yes,” said Vandalieu. “It’s safer to devour and erase you from existence than to seal you away. I can’t just let Rikudou’s soul go free, either, and Edgar is a mortal enemy of mine, too.”

nGuduranis was not a human, and he would not die even if his body was torn into countless pieces and his soul was broken into fragments. But the destruction of his soul would mean a true end for him… a death that he could not be resurrected from.

nGuduranis felt a primal, instinctual fear – a fear that he had believed he had conquered a hundred thousand years ago, before Vandalieu’s appearance in this world, by calling himself the Demon King and ruling over this world.

n“How dare you! How dare you, how dare you do this to me?! This is why I hated you! More than that coward Bellwood! More than Alda, who was obsessed with that coward! More than that false champion chosen by Alda! I hate you!” Guduranis seethed.

nVandalieu tried to devour Guduranis, Rikudou, and Edgar’s souls as quickly as possible, but as one might expect from the soul of the Demon King, it was tough to chew and thrashing about wildly. It would need some time to chew properly.

nHeinz and his companions had been forced to fight the Guduranis Shadow that Vandalieu had sent flying at them, but it was only a matter of time before they came this way.

nThe destruction of Guduranis was something that they would surely welcome, but it was unlikely that they would overlook their companion Edgar’s soul being broken… though this was convenient for Vandalieu, as it was better than them simply abandoning Edgar and fleeing.

n“Great Vandalieu, I have cast a spell to close off space, with the Five-colored Blades and the Guduranis Shadow sealed inside. I believe that this should buy some time,” said Gufadgarn.

n“Thank you, Gufadgarn. This guy is rather stubborn, so that helps a lot,” said Vandalieu.

n“You piece of vermiiiin!” Guduranis shouted, the flames of his hatred burning fiercely.

nThat was all he could do; it was the only way he could withstand the fear and despair of his imminent erasure from existence.

n“I curse you! I curse you, Vandalieu! Even if you devour my soul, I will never be destroyed! I shall become your blood, your flesh, and one day, I shall claim your soul and body as my own and be resurrected!” Guduranis screamed.

nFidirg, who resided in the Staff of Five Sins, shuddered at Guduranis’s terrifying curse. Any ordinary person would know that such a thing wasn’t possible, but even so, they would certainly become fearful and anxious of the ‘what if.’

nBut Vandalieu continued chewing Guduranis’s soul without hesitation. “You’re very welcome to try,” he said. “Try for ten years, a hundred, as long as you like. During that time, I will devour the rest of the fragments of your soul and continue to absorb fragments of your body. And in a thousand years’ time, your name will live on only in mythological tales.”

n“Vanda–”

nWith the harsh noise of something being crushed, Guduranis’s voice was suddenly cut off.

n“Thank you for the meal,” said Vandalieu.

nGuduranis’s enormous black body disappeared, as if being sucked into Vandalieu.

n“I hear words of hatred and curses on a regular basis. Though perhaps you’ve never listened to what spirits have to say,” said Vandalieu.

nVandalieu was surrounded by spirits every day, and he had grown sick of hearing words of hatred and curses. Thanks to his ‘Death Attribute Charm’ and ‘Guidance,’ almost none of them were directed at him, but… he was used to hearing those that were, due to his experiences since being reincarnated in this world.

nThus, he was entirely unfazed by the words of hatred and the curse spoken by Guduranis. However, he wasn’t one to let his guard down, so he began carrying out some checks.

nHe began checking with the numerous thought processes inside himself, examining himself and even the part of him that existed in Origin.

nMe, have there been any changes to me after I devoured Guduranis’s soul?

nMy Mana has increased and new Skills have fused with others, but that’s about it. There is nothing that I should be anxious about.

nI haven’t observed anything, either. I don’t think any change has occurred to me.

nWell, I should observe periodically just in case.

nThere was nothing to suggest that Guduranis’s curse had become a reality.

nThe only thing that had occurred was an increase in Mana and the acquisition of new Skills, which hadn’t resulted from an increase in his Job’s Level. These abrupt changes were the result of him devouring Guduranis’s instinct, memories, and soul dust, as well as the souls of Edgar, Rikudou, and the other reincarnated individuals as well.

n《Your Mana has increased by 20,000,000,000!》

n《The Demon King’s nose, sebaceous glands, paw pads, right arm, left arm, and brain have fused with the Demon King’s body!》

n《You have acquired ‘Demon King’s Instinct’ and ‘Demon King’s Memories!’》

n《 ‘Demon King’s Body’ has awakened to ‘True Demon King!’》

n《‘Demon King’s Instinct’ and ‘Demon King’s Memories’ have fused with ‘True Demon King!’》

n… I see, so that’s what that curse meant.

nHow evil, to call someone a ‘True Demon King.’

nCould it be that the gods of Statuses hate me?

nUp until this point, Vandalieu had considered himself to be a human who possessed the Demon King’s body, so being called ‘True Demon King’ was something of a shock to him.

n《You have acquired ‘Unlimited Development,’ ‘Increased Learning Speed,’ ‘Artificial Spirit Creation,’ ‘Copy,’ ‘Double Power,’ ‘Energy Absorption,’ ‘Sleipnir,’ and ‘Perfect Accuracy!’》

n《‘Unlimited Development,’ ‘Increased Learning Speed,’ ‘Artificial Spirit Creation,’ ‘Copy,’ ‘Double Power,’ ‘Energy Absorption,’ ‘Sleipnir,’ and ‘Perfect Accuracy’ have fused with ‘True Demon King!’》

nThe Skills that he had acquired fused with ‘True Demon King.’ Of course, there was no way of losing a Skill that had been learned other than losing the divine protection that had been granted by a god, and it wasn’t as if he needed to announce every Skill he had gained, so he simply needed to keep it to himself.

n“Vandalieu! It seems like you’ve eaten Guduranis! Are you alright?! Are you feeling unwell at all?!” Darcia asked, looking concerned.

n“Bocchan! I have arrived!” said Sam, who had appeared after finishing his rescue operations.

n“I’m alright, Mom. ‘Demon King’s body’ has changed into a Skill called ‘True Demon King,’ but I’m still me,” Vandalieu said reassuringly.

nThe sky was blue and beautiful, and the wind felt refreshing. He felt empty and pitiful as he looked at the mountain of rubble below him, but he was relieved to see that Silkie Zakkart Mansion, the Hero Preparatory School, the Adventurers’ Guild, and the buildings that he had built emergency shelters in were intact.

nHe felt affection for his family and companions, healing his heart that had become wild and uncontrolled during the battle.

nThus, Vandalieu was completely certain that he had not lost a single piece of his human nature or sanity.

nThere were surely some who would be willing to question his sanity, but there was nobody around who would do that now. After all, something even more important than that had happened.

n“Vandalieu… You have accomplished the greatest thing in the history of this world,” said Vida, the Goddess of Life and Love, who had descended upon Darcia.

nShe praised Vandalieu, her child that she was so proud of.

n“There are still fragments of Guduranis’s soul that remain, but you have ensured that that Demon King will never become fully resurrected for the rest of eternity. No matter what anyone may say, you are the savior of this world! On behalf of the gods, I thank you!”

n《You have acquired the ‘Savior’ and ‘Demon King Slayer’ Titles!》

nAt that moment, the world of Lambda was freed from the fear of Guduranis ever becoming fully resurrected. It wasn’t just that the instinct, memories, and soul dust had been erased from existence. It had also been clear that the fragments of Guduranis’s body that Vandalieu had absorbed would never return to Guduranis, even if Guduranis were to make direct contact with them and call for them to return to him.

nGuduranis would never again regain the fragments of his body, even if he were to kill Vandalieu. No matter how fortunate Guduranis was, no matter how cleverly he conspired, and even if all of his schemes were succeeded perfectly, he could only ever be resurrected with not only parts of his soul missing, but with a significant part of his body missing as well.

nAs Vida had said, there were still fragments of Guduranis’s body that Vandalieu had not absorbed, and there were still fragments of Guduranis’s soul that were in Rodcorte and Alda’s possession. It was likely that these fragments would rampage out of control in the future.

nThis entire incident had been caused by the unsealing of the soul fragments that Rodcorte had been keeping in his Divine Realm, outside the world of Lambda. There was no guarantee that this would never happen again.

nBut if it did, the world would be able to survive it as long as Vandalieu was there.

nVandalieu interpreted these titles as signs of praise and trust, as well as a request that he carry out that role. “I am honored,” he said.

nThere were no cons for Vandalieu in accepting the roles of ‘Demon King Slayer’ and ‘Savior.’ He would simply keep doing what he had always done.

nAbsorbing fragments of the Demon King posed no risk to Vandalieu. If Guduranis were to be resurrected even in an incomplete form like in this incident, even large nations would fall… And if he were left alone, he would threaten even more danger upon this world. Thus, no matter where in this world he was resurrected, he could not be allowed to remain free.

nRikudou and Edgar had been destroyed, but it was still possible that Guduranis might somehow absorb the souls of this world’s people or monsters and artificially gain a Status again.

nAnd the Titles of ‘Savior’ and ‘Demon King Slayer’ would surely be useful to him in his activities as the emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal.

nThe howl of an artificial spirit echoed, bringing Vandalieu back to his senses.

n“It’s troublesome that they don’t disappear even after Guduranis is destroyed,” Vandalieu said.

n“It is likely that by gaining Statuses and Ranks, they became monsters that serve Guduranis, rather than creatures that were conjured by magic,” said Gufadgarn.

nYuuma, Borkus and the others were fighting the remaining artificial spirits. They had already learned how to deal with them, so they would likely be defeated soon enough.

nThe problem was the Five-colored Blades.

nA harsh dying scream rang out, and at the same time, Gufadgarn’s barrier that she had created by manipulating space was broken. On the other side was the Guduranis Shadow, which was already vanishing, and Heinz’s party, who looked considerably exhausted.

n“It looks like his ‘Heroic God Descent’ has come undone,” said Darcia.

n“That’s good,” said Vandalieu.

nHaving devoured the Demon King’s memories, he was already able to see Guduranis’s very recent memories. According to them, Heinz’s attack, with ‘Heroic God Descent’ active, had produced a slight response in Guduranis’s ‘Danger Sense: Death.’

nIt was possible that it had only responded because being damaged by Heinz’s attack would ultimately result in him being killed by Vandalieu, but Vandalieu didn’t intend to put his own life at risk to test that possibility.

n“Vandalieu-sama, if he is not using ‘Heroic God Descent’…” said Eleanora, who had come out of Sam’s carriage.

nHaving finished defeating the artificial spirits, Borkus and the others began pointing their weapons towards Heinz and his companions as well.

n“Eleanora, everyone, I will be the main one to fight Heinz. Even without Bellwood, he has that holy sword,” said Vandalieu. “Randolf-sensei, you can watch, if you’d like.”

n“Very well,” said Eleanora. “Allow me to accompany you to the battle.”

n“The fate of you and your friends has nothing to do with me, but… you are still my student. It would be a problem for me as a teacher to do nothing but watch,” said Randolf.

nHeinz was at an overwhelming disadvantage to Vandalieu in terms of the fighting forces each side had available, but Heinz was still an S-class adventurer. On the other hand, Vandalieu had a public position in society as the son of Darcia, an honorary noble, and as an underage student. Thus, if Heinz were to challenge Vandalieu to a battle, it would be problematic for Randolf, who had been temporarily hired as a teacher, to not stand on Vandalieu’s side.

nOf course, that business-like logic wasn’t the only reason that he was standing on Vandalieu’s side.

n“… Is Edgar’s soul already gone?” asked Heinz, who had apparently recovered from the fatigue of his battles, or the after-effects of ‘Heroic God Descent’ coming undone, or whatever it was.

n“I crushed it with my teeth, devoured it, and destroyed it. Along with Rikudou and Guduranis’s souls,” Vandalieu replied as he immediately activated ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique.’

nAfter devouring the souls of Guduranis and the others, his Mana had already fully recovered. Even if Heinz were to charge at him, enraged by Edgar’s death, he was confident that he could defeat Heinz.

nBut Heinz did not become enraged as Vandalieu expected. “I see… What happened to Edgar is unfortunate, but I don’t have any right to complain about it to you. I’m sure Edgar would have preferred that to continuing to be used by Guduranis. Besides, if I want to blame anyone for what happened, I should be blaming that god named Rodcorte, the one who messed with Edgar’s soul.”

n“I think I’m the reason Rodcorte messed with his soul, since I’m the one who damaged it so severely in the first place,” Vandalieu pointed out.

nDon’t you dare suggest that we should try talking it out again, he thought, groaning with hatred on the inside.

nBut Heinz shook his head. It seemed that he truly had no intention of blaming Vandalieu for Edgar’s death.

n“I was willing to give my life to you once the crisis with the being who would do great harm on this world… once the crisis with Rikudou Hijiri was resolved,” he said.

nVandalieu could feel surprise and confusion coming from Eleanora and Randolf.

n“And in exchange, you intended to request that I don’t harm any of your companions, the people of Alda’s peaceful faction, or Selen?” Vandalieu asked.

n“Exactly,” said Heinz. “I wanted you to spare Delizah and Edgar as well, but…”

n“No way! If you’re offering up your life, Heinz, it doesn’t make sense that I don’t offer up mine as well!” said Delizah in surprise, not having been told that this was Heinz’s intention.

n“I see. If those are your terms, then I am willing to agree,” said Vandalieu. “However, I will also destroy the holy sword that you’re holding in your hand right now. And I can’t promise that I will never lay a hand on them under any circumstances. After all, I can imagine someone trying to plan and do something after your death out of resentment for this deal, or someone doing something undesirable after your death for other reasons.”

nHe was optimistically considering Heinz’s proposed deal. If he could destroy Heinz, who was capable of summoning Bellwood upon himself, then he could go after Delizah’s life later, as she was only capable of summoning a heroic spirit upon her body. And in the first place, he had never intended to try and do anything to those with connections to Heinz. Regarding Selen, he wanted to avoid any involvement with her as much as possible.

nAnd as for his companions and Alda’s peaceful faction… That didn’t include the worshipers of Alda in the Amid Empire… nor did it include the God of Law and Fate Alda himself.

nEven if he were to corner Alda and take his power from him after he lost the trump card that Heinz represented, or even if he were to declare war upon the Amid Empire and destroy it, the deal would not be broken.

nIt was likely that Heinz had never even thought of the concept that he, a worshiper, should be begging for the life of the great god that he worshiped. And as for the Amid Empire, even though he had originally come from the Mirg shield-nation, one of its vassal states, he had moved to the Orbaume Kingdom and become an honorary noble here, despite the fact that the Orbaume Kingdom had been an enemy of the Amid Empire since its foundation. He didn’t have any sense of belonging with the Amid Empire, so it was only to be expected that he had not thought about it when coming up with the terms of this deal.

nAnd if the deal took place and Vandalieu killed Heinz, if Delizah and the others were to try and avenge Heinz, he could just kill Delizah then.

nHe didn’t intend to do anything to incite them to do so, and even if Delizah intended to live a quiet life without plotting anything, he would just need to wait a century and a few decades until she died of old age.

n“So then, why are you still pointing your weapon towards Vandalieu?” Darcia asked.

nIndeed, the tip of Heinz’s holy sword was still pointed towards Vandalieu.

n“That’s because… the situation has changed,” Heinz said, gripping his sword more firmly. “I can’t make this deal with you now! You didn’t just destroy Guduranis’s soul; you devoured it, didn’t you?!”

nVandalieu was simply confused by this. “That’s right, but… don’t tell me you believe the nonsense that Guduranis spouted?”

n“How can you be certain that it was just nonsense?” Heinz asked.

nVandalieu and his companions were shocked by this. They were lost for words at the stupidity of what he was saying.

n“Guduranis is cunning and terrifyingly tenacious. Alda asked for Edgar’s soul to be treated, and the god called Rodcorte messed with Edgar’s soul – but I’m sure neither of them intended for Guduranis to be resurrected! And yet, his resurrection happened, and I think that can only mean that even the gods failed to take notice of the Demon King’s plans. I don’t believe that you can suppress the Demon King’s soul, since you’re not even a god,” said Heinz.

n“Being told that I’m not a god by you doesn’t make me happy one bit, but… I suppose it’s reasonable for you to think that way,” said Vandalieu.

nHeinz did not believe that Vandalieu could remain completely unaffected after devouring Guduranis’s soul. Vandalieu was a little confused by this, but at the same time, he accepted it as a result of the complete lack of trust between him and Heinz.

nIn truth, the reason was that how Vandalieu and his companions perceived Guduranis differed from how Heinz and his companions perceived Guduranis.

nTo Vandalieu, the act of devouring and absorbing Guduranis’s soul was an extension of eating food… In other words, it was just eating. After all, someone eating a broiled fish dish, wouldn’t mean that the fish could take over their brain. The same was true for tonkatsu, beef sirloin steak, and yakitori, and eating Guduranis alive.

nBut Heinz and his companions regarded the act of absorbing Guduranis’s soul as allowing him to exist in the same state as Rikudou Hijiri and Edgar had. That was how terrifying Guduranis was to them, and how little they knew about him. There was no telling what kind of power he had kept hidden.

nEven if Vandalieu told them that he had crushed Guduranis’s soul with his teeth and devoured him, Heinz did not have the ability to see souls, so there was no way for him to believe that. Guduranis was capable of existing as fragments even after being broken to pieces, so he could not help but suspect that his consciousness was intact and simply lying dormant now that he had been absorbed by Vandalieu.

n“Don’t you think Guduranis being absorbed by you went too much as you expected? If he allows himself to be absorbed by you, he can lie dormant and wait for an opportunity to take over your body, just like he did with Rikudou Hijiri’s,” Heinz continued. “By doing that, Guduranis can acquire the fragments that you gather and absorb, and be resurrected in a more complete state–”

nThere was some logic to Heinz’s argument. It was likely that others would think the same – gods of Alda’s forces and their worshipers… In other words, those who hadn’t been guided by Vandalieu.

nThinking about the matter a little more, Vandalieu had probably suspected that this would happen, deep down. Even if he hadn’t, those around him, like Darcia and Zadiris, would have taught him and encouraged him to reach a deeper mutual understanding. And he would have likely done as they said… if the one that he needed to reach that mutual understanding with wasn’t Heinz.

n“Then there isn’t any meaning in saying anything more,” said Vandalieu.

nPutting his confusion aside, as it was meaningless, Vandalieu transformed his armor into a more offensive form so that he could kill Heinz and his companions, and began activating Skills such as ‘Transcend Limits.’

n“… Your current appearance, and more importantly, the sinister presence that you are radiating, looks just like Guduranis’s to me,” said Heinz.

n“The perception of good and evil is easily influenced by one’s position and values. And more importantly… I don’t care about what you think!” said Vandalieu.

nFirst, he attempted to close the distance between himself and Heinz. He knew that Heinz was a swordsman, and it would be more advantageous to fight at a distance, but he believed it would be more effective to keep Heinz suppressed in close-quarters combat while having Darcia, Eleanora and the others disrupt his coordination with Delizah and his other party members.

nDespite his fatigue, Heinz drew forth what strength he had left and activated ‘Heroic God Descent,’ and Bellwood, who resided in an accessory that he wore, entered his body once more. He was using the Skill immediately after its time limit had already run out once, so it would last less than a minute this time. But he had decided that if he didn’t activate it now, he would be defeated by Vandalieu in seconds.

nThe moment before Vandalieu and Heinz collided, a fierce wind enveloped their surroundings without warning. There was no dust or mist in the wind, and yet it blocked everything from view, and then it stopped just as suddenly as it started.

nBut the members of the Five-colored Blades were gone.

n“What is this…?” murmured Vandalieu.

n“It seems to be Nineroad’s doing. I felt powerful Mana of the wind attribute. She descended for just a single moment to allow Heinz and the others to escape,” said Darcia and Vida.

nWith no target to bring his fist crashing down upon, Vandalieu’s face fell in disappointment.

n“My apologies, great Vandalieu. Because it was the wind attribute used rather than the space attribute, I could not interfere in time,” said Gufadgarn.

n“No, the interruption was too sudden. It’s only natural that you couldn’t respond in time,” said Vandalieu, undoing his ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique’ with a great sigh as he looked up again. “Well then, I suppose we should get to dealing with the aftermath of the battle… Helping with the reconstruction of the Church of Nineroad can come last… And first, we need to do something about those gates.”

nUnlike Guduranis, who had been killed and was now gone, the countless gates still remained on the ground below, and Vandalieu began thinking about what to do about them.

n

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