Chapter 62 - 123-125

Chapter 123: They're coming! But let's prioritize going south for now

"A number of the guys who will possibly become my enemies… the reincarnated individuals, have died in Origin. About ten of them."

Upon hearing Vandalieu's words, everyone's eyes suddenly sharpened and became tense.

"Ten people like that Kaidou Kanata person… Your Majesty, we must kill them as quickly as possible!" Princess Levia exclaimed.

"Please calm down, we don't know where they are yet. I understand how you feel, but it's impossible to go and search the entire continent," said Eleanora.

These two were the only ones who had seen a reincarnated individual other than Vandalieu in person.

That reincarnated individual, Kaidou Kanata, had been quite the degenerate; he had repeatedly committed senseless murders and rapes before he showed himself before Vandalieu. On top of that, he had used extremely dirty methods, such as getting on his knees to try and make Vandalieu let his guard down.

However, in the end, he had been tormented and killed without being able to land a single blow back against Vandalieu, and he had been extinguished by having his soul broken.

But the ability that Kanata had received from Rodcorte, Gungnir, had been powerful. It was a penetration ability that allowed the user to choose objects to phase through; it was theoretically possible for attacks to be one-sided, passing through any kind of armor, walls or spells. Depending on the object to be phased through, it could consume large amounts of Mana, but the ability itself didn't have any weaknesses.

The reason Vandalieu had been able to defeat Kanata in a one-sided fashion was because Kanata had completely underestimated Vandalieu, and because he had used Gungnir recklessly when committing his crimes, giving information regarding the ability to the spirits of Hannah and his other victims.

In other words, if the other reincarnated individuals possessed cheat-like abilities as powerful as Kanata's but were careful, cautious and patient unlike him, they could become formidable enemies.

"Hmm, special life-forms that have acquired the divine protection of the god of reincarnation… Master, once you kill them, could I please receive pieces of their flesh or their hair, or even their ashes if that is not possible?" said Luciliano.

"Luciliano, you're being too hasty. We don't know where they are yet, either," said Vandalieu.

"Umm, for now, let's think about things after we hear what Van-kun has heard from this… Legion-chan? I don't really understand these cheat-like ability things," said Privel.

"It's a long story," said Vandalieu.

He told everyone everything that he had heard from Legion. Because he'd gained almost no information from the previously-defeated Kaidou Kanata, this was the first substantial information that he had received regarding the reincarnated individuals.

And for Vandalieu himself, this was the first information that he had gained regarding what had happened in Origin after his death.

Honestly, he didn't care about what had happened after he died in a world where he had spent his whole life as an experimental animal until he turned into an Undead and went on his rampage. However, the fact that the entire world had fallen into chaos after the loss of death-attribute Mana, and the fact that the military nation in which the research laboratory was had been dismantled, was good news.

But the fact that the other experimental animals that he had saved were secured by Amemiya Hiroto and the others, only to be handed to a different laboratory to become experimental animals again later, was not good news.

According to Legion, Amemiya Hiroto and the others had formed something like an international rescue team, just as Vandalieu had predicted. Weren't they a little too incompetent?

"Well, when I saved them, I accidentally gave them some of my death-attribute Mana, so I'm not entirely irresponsible for the fact that they became experimental animals again - buh."

"Oooohhh…" Legion groaned.

"Wait, Legion! I know you're trying to say that it's not his fault, but Vandalieu's going to be buried!" Darcia cried.

Leaving aside the question of how effective Amemiya Hiroto and the others were as superheroes, it was difficult to say that the deaths of the reincarnated individuals that followed was good news for Vandalieu as well.

"The three who died after Kaidou Kanata… The 'Skanda' Tanaka, the 'Urðr' Mackenzie, the 'Perseus' Sameshima. What happened to those three? If they died within a few months after Kaidou Kanata, then almost two years should have passed after they were reincarnated here," said Basdia with a puzzled expression, referring to the reincarnated individuals that Legion had mentioned to Vandalieu.

One had an ability that accelerated time around the user to enable high-speed movement; one had an ability that allowed the user to look into past events that had occurred within a designated space; the other had an ability whose principles were not known, but could stop the movement of any target the user was aware of.

… Vandalieu didn't know what criteria were used to decide the Bravers' codenames, so he thought that Sameshima should have been named Medusa rather than Perseus, but thought that Sameshima might have been opposed to that, as he was apparently a man.

"Unlike Kaidou Kanata, I can imagine that they were reincarnated normally as babies, but it's possible that they were reincarnated into adult bodies, found out that Kanata was killed and then decided to change their plans. It's possible that they are gathering their strength in preparation to kill me… they're a fearsome group of people," said Vandalieu from among Legion's arms and legs, urging his companions that these enemies could be a threat in a serious manner.

"Umm… Your Majesty, is there a possibility that they fear you and are in hiding or have escaped to another continent?" asked Princess Levia.

The truth was that her suggestion was quite close to reality.

As a result of the chaos in Origin caused when Kanata's evil deeds became known and the 'Metamorph' Shihouin Mari took things into her own hands, Tanaka and the other two had been on missions on their own, where they were forced into extremely unfavorable situations and made fatal mistakes on top of that. Even the fortunes that Rodcorte had given them hadn't allowed them to survive.

The truth was that the 'Avalon' Rikudou Akira had manipulated information to have these three sent on solo missions in order to experiment and find out what it would take for reincarnated individuals to die. However, only Rodcorte, the three individuals themselves and those who had died after them knew of this.

And after learning about all of this, Tanaka and the other two felt not anger and hatred, but fatigue from a life full of fighting.

And the 'Gungnir' Kaidou Kanata had been one of the most capable reincarnated individuals when it came to combat. After finding out that even Kanata had been defeated by Vandalieu one-sidedly, Tanaka and the other two had decided that they couldn't defeat Vandalieu, so they had refused to get involved with him and were reincarnated normally as babies.

But Kimberley, a former soldier, and Basdia, who had strong warrior-like thoughts after she learned how to use magic, didn't seem to think that this would be the case.

"No, no, it's not wrong to assume the worst-possible situation," said Kimberley.

"And they're self-named heroes with titles of heroes from other worlds, aren't they? It seems that Kanata was quite the low-life, but there is no guarantee that the others will be the same," said Basdia.

The two of them had images of the Bravers being a fearsome group of warriors with a persistent fighting spirit and a conviction of steel.

Legion didn't make any attempts to correct them.

Neither the members of the Eighth Guidance nor the 'Gazer' Minuma Hitomi knew what kind of personalities Tanaka and the other two had.

Back when they died, the Eighth Guidance had begun their activities and started collecting information, and they were 'Gazer' Minuma Hitomi's former allies, so they at least knew their names and abilities. However, this was information that had already been announced to the world. Thus, they didn't know what kind of people they had really been.

And even Murakami and his group hadn't deemed it necessary to gather information about dead people, so they hadn't been investigated in detail.

… In addition, as it had only just been reincarnated, Legion was not particularly adept in understanding the Japanese that was being used in Lambda. It was the language that the Bravers used primarily, so the Eighth Guidance had learned it to some extent, but only to a certain extent. They could read the characters, but they could only gain partial understanding of conversations when words were spoken too quickly.

"Indeed… I do not know what kind of a world Origin is, but if they are all degenerates like that Kanata, then they could hardly call themselves heroes, could they?" said Princess Levia, convinced by the theory that they were a threat as well.

It was common for people to have natures that were different from what their appearances would suggest. Levia had experienced being tricked and murdered two hundred years ago by Duke Hartner, so she knew this all too well.

However, it seemed that she thought there wouldn't be too many people as evil as Kanata. In reality, there were some who were not so different from Kanata, like Marionette and Death Scythe, but… since they had been told by Rodcorte just how Kaidou Kanata died, there was a chance that they would act cautiously and hide their true natures.

"So, what kind of people are the reincarnated individuals other than those three?" Eleanora asked.

"It seems that Legion knows a little about their personalities in addition to their names and abilities," said Vandalieu. "Legion allied itself with them, though it was under the assumption that they would be betrayed. Until they started killing each other."

"… Considering its appearance, it seems that it can express itself quite well," said Eleanora, impressed despite Legion having an appearance that made it doubtful as to whether it was intelligent.

"It has a lot of stomachs, after all," said Pauvina.

"That's not what I meant, Pauvina."

Note: The word for "express oneself" that Eleanora used includes the kanji for "stomach."

Pauvina started hugging Legion. It seemed that Legion didn't dislike being hugged.

"For now, I'll explain things through words. Ah, Yamata, please hand out the documents."

As Vandalieu explained verbally, Yamata handed out documents that contained the same information that he was explaining. She was a Patchwork Hydra Zombie, created by decapitating the heads of a mutant Hydra and replacing them with the upper bodies of nine beautiful women of different races.

"Distribute~♪"

"Many, lots…"

"Strooong?"

She seemed to be interested in Legion, who had many upper body parts like she did.

"Auuuh?" Legion was simply bewildered by the fact that it was gathering interest.

Meanwhile, Vandalieu continued his explanation.

The 'Inspector' Shimada Izumi, who sees through any falsity that she perceives through her five senses.

The 'Laplace's Demon' Machida Aran, whose Calculation ability was greater than a supercomputer.

The 'Noah' Mao Smith, who could store and transport a great amount of materials and personnel in a special space.

The 'Oracle' Endou Kouya, who could receive prophecies from a god.

The 'Marionette' Inui Hajime, who could take control over the body of anyone he touched.

The 'Death Scythe' Konoe Kyuuji, who could stop the heart and cause instant death in anyone whose face he could see.

The 'Sylphid' Misa Anderson, who could transform her body into gas.

The 'Super Sense' Gotouta Kaori, who could strengthen her five senses at will.

The 'Odin' Hasamada Aki, who could see a few seconds into the future.

The 'Clairvoyance' Tendou Tatsuya, who possessed numerous vision-related abilities such as X-ray vision.

The 'Mage Masher' Minami Asagi, who could erase the effects of all kinds of magic.

The 'Ifrit' Akaki Akiko, who could manipulate heat and flames.

These were the deceased Bravers that Legion was aware of.

In reality, four more - the 'Chronos' Murakami Junpei, the 'Venus' Tsuchiya Kanako as well as Hecatoncheir and Aegis - had died as well, but Legion didn't know about this because the last Eighth Guidance member to die, Pluto, had died before any of them.

Also, the information that Legion had provided Vandalieu regarding the functions of some of the Bravers' abilities was not accurate. This was because the Eighth Guidance that made up Legion didn't possess the correct information regarding those abilities.

After hearing this explanation, everyone present had a mutual opinion.

"Van-sama, I don't really understand what the Calculation ability is," said Tarea, mentioning what was on everyone's mind.

Of course, the concept of computers didn't exist in Lambda. The field of physics was underdeveloped as well, and the mathematics level of the average person didn't go beyond basic arithmetic.

"As I thought. Umm, it's an ability that allows super-fast calculations," said Vandalieu.

"That might be amazing, but… what use does it have?" asked Basdia.

"Anyone can calculate how many times they can cast their spells and use their martial skills with their remaining Mana," said Borkus, looking perplexed.

Everyone else had similar expressions.

It wasn't that they thought that a calculating ability would be useless. However, they couldn't be blamed for thinking it strange that it would be an ability given by a god, worthy of being a unique skill.

A professional architect might have understood how valuable it was to some extent, but the only such person in Talosheim was Vandalieu.

And since Vandalieu had been nothing more than a high school student on Earth, he didn't possess advanced knowledge in physics or mathematics, so it seemed that he couldn't explain this in detail.

"It's probably useful for advanced construction and public works," he said with a vague memory of past knowledge, still not knowing exactly how it was used.

"Is that right?" said Borkus.

He and the others seemed convinced by this explanation.

Well, they did have some doubts as to why someone with such an ability was considered a 'hero.' But they quickly decided that there were some who played roles other than in battle.

"If the others have only one power each, then it seems like things might work out. As long as we're not taken by surprise," said Eleanora.

"Yeah, and some of them are clearly inferior versions of Vandalieu-kun," said Privel.

"No, my abilities are magic," said Vandalieu.

"The fact that you can easily recreate the effects of unique skills using magic is amazing," said Princess Levia.

Just like the previously-exterminated 'Gungnir' Kaidou Kanata, if the reincarnated individuals only possessed a single cheat-like ability each, then it seemed like something could be done about them.

Especially for Vandalieu.

Even if Death Scythe's instant-kill cheat-like ability stopped his heart, he could simply fight while using Out-of-body Experience. After that, he would just need to resuscitate his cardiovascular system before any fatal damage was done to his brain.

The same applied for Marionette; it was apparently an ability that manipulated others by controlling their neurons, so it wouldn't be a problem with Out-of-body Experience.

And these two abilities would have no effect on Bone Man, Rita and Saria, who were made of nothing but bones or armor, nor would they be useful against Princess Levia and the other Ghosts.

The Mage Masher that erased magic would be problematic, but against him, Vandalieu could activate the fragments of the Demon King and kill him through physical means. Of course, he wouldn't mind letting Borkus and Bellmond beat him to death, either.

In that regard, the Oracle and Clairvoyance would be problematic to find if they devoted themselves to running and hiding, but if they did that, Vandalieu would just leave them be.

"But they are likely aware that Danna-sama has erased Kaidou Kanata, so would they not cooperate with each other if they were to attempt to take Danna-sama's life once more?" said Bellmond.

"That would immediately increase our problems," said Darcia.

It would be immediately problematic if the Bravers formed a team and combined their abilities when fighting Vandalieu. And they weren't a group of people that were completely reliant on just their cheat-like abilities, either.

Rodcorte had granted them increased physical qualities and, more importantly, a talent for magic.

"Ooauuugh."

Seeing everyone's reactions, several of Legion's heads hung downwards in apology. It was probably regretting killing so many reincarnated individuals at once.

It wasn't that it was suffering from the pressure of being hugged by Pauvina.

"From what I heard from Hannah and the others, Kaidou Kanata tried to register at an Adventurers' Guild and tried to acquire a Job, though he was stopped partway through. Thus, I do not think they can acquire Jobs naturally, even after reincarnating in this world. However, he was apparently quite a capable magic user, with numerous other skills as well," said Princess Levia.

The Bravers had all been first-rate magic-users in Origin, and had even received military training. But in Lambda, gunpowder-based firearms didn't exist, nor did Origin's state-of-the-art miniature magical media that could be fit into a glove, so it would likely be difficult for them to display their abilities right away.

Using Kaidou Kanata as a reference, if they were adventurers, they would be between Class and B-class.

"It's amazing that there are a hundred of them, but are they really great enough to be called heroes?" asked Eleanora.

In Lambda, there was a tough hurdle to make if one wanted to be known as a hero. Even if one became an A-class adventurer capable of cutting down mountains and splitting the sea, they would not be called heroes. One would have to become an S-class adventurer to call themselves a hero.

"But if their base abilities are between Class and B-class, if they acquire Jobs and spend time training in Lambda, they'll become A-class within a few years, and S-class within a decade," said Vandalieu.

Lambda had bonuses from the Jobs and skills that didn't exist in Origin, as well as monster materials and metals that didn't exist in Origin either. If the reincarnated individuals used those to gather their strength and equip themselves fully, it was possible that they could indeed gain the strength of A-class adventurers.

And if the reincarnated individuals cooperated with each other, they would become an extremely dangerous fighting force.

"Well, it doesn't seem that all of the reincarnated individuals are on good terms with each other," Vandalieu added. "Apparently they betrayed and killed each other back in the other world. Well, considering that, it's still uncertain as to whether they will try to kill me."

Even if Rodcorte promised them rewards, it was unlikely that they would form a party to challenge Vandalieu without facing risks of conflict.

"Speaking of which, couldn't you predict what they'll do since you know what they're like, Your Majesty?" said Kimberley.

"What are they like?" asked Orbia.

"I don't know," said Vandalieu, shaking his head. "I was never close enough to them to know what kind of people they are. And almost thirty years have passed; it wouldn't be strange if they've changed… in fact, it would be more normal if they have."

Vandalieu had been a loner without a single friend, but he at least remembered the names and faces of the classmates and teachers that had stood out.

But looking at it another way, he couldn't remember anything other than that. And Legion's information had made it clear that since they had already been reincarnated once, there were some whose names and races had changed.

Who in the world were Mackenzie, Misa Anderson and Mao Smith? If there had been students with those names at his high school, Vandalieu wouldn't have been able to forget them, no matter how much of a loner he was. It was difficult to imagine that the passengers and workers on the ferry had these names, either. Though Vandalieu's memories were faint, he had the feeling that everyone on the ferry had been Japanese.

And, of course, there was no way that Vandalieu knew the names and personalities of the ferry workers.

"Ah! That's right, what will we do if those reincarnated people are reincarnated as babies born here?!" said Privel.

Everyone was startled by this idea. The gods who knew of the secret of the circle of transmigration systems would be able to assure them that this couldn't happen, but that was a secret of gods.

The people and monsters living in Talosheim had been guided to Vida's circle of transmigration system by Guidance: Demon Path, and Rodcorte couldn't interfere with them. But nobody knew this.

"It's fine. Everyone loves Van," Pauvina declared, and the tense atmosphere diffused immediately.

"That's true," said Basdia.

"There's no problems there," said Borkus.

"I suppose you're right," said Eleanora.

"You did it, Vandalieu! It's because you behave well," said Darcia.

The truth was that this was due to the Demon Path Enticement and the Guidance: Demon Path skills, however. All of Talosheim's citizens were currently under the influence of Vandalieu's Demon Path Enticement skill.

If any foreign beings not under the effects of these skills were to appear among the citizens, Vandalieu would be able to know right away.

"Behaving well is important, isn't it," said Vandalieu.

Of course, this was a needless worry as the reincarnated individuals were in a different circle of transmigration system, however.

"Returning to the original topic, I think Legion knows more about the reincarnated individuals' natures than I do," Vandalieu said.

Legion had considered the 'Chronos' Murakami and the other nine reincarnated individuals under him as targets for revenge, so it hadn't colluded with him much at all, but they had been on cooperative terms for over a year.

It was aware of their personalities to some extent.

"According to Legion, Marionette is considerably different from Kanata and Death Scythe is a little different, but both are similar to him," said Vandalieu.

"I see… they are serious enemies of women," said Princess Levia; she was close to Hannah and the other Ghosts who had fallen victim to Kaidou Kanata.

"Van-kun, if they are scum bastards like Rick, we have to proactively go and kill them," said Orbia, a victim of a conspiracy involving sham marriages and serial murder.

"Danna-sama, it seems that they possess dangerous abilities, and as these two ladies say, I believe they should be disposed of immediately," said Bellmond, who had been a victim of a gang rape.

It seemed that their past traumas were provoking their emotions, causing anger to well forth.

"Indeed, if we can kill them, we should," said Vandalieu.

The 'Marionette' Inui Hajime had apparently spoken to the female members of the Eighth Guidance about the sex crimes he had stained his hands with using his cheat-like ability during his time with the Bravers, telling the stories as if they were tales of his own bravery. It had been serious harassment.

The 'Death Scythe' Konoe Kyuuji was similar. Since Vandalieu only knew that Kyuuji's ability could cause instant death by stopping the hearts of his targets, he assumed that Kyuuji had threatened his victims with death, or perhaps killed them and defiled them afterwards.

… The truth was that Death Scythe was an ability that could stop any moving objects, like limbs and engines, not just hearts. Konoe Kyuuji's method had been to use this ability to stop the movements of his victims to commit his crimes.

Because of his own behavior, the evilness of his crimes had been exaggerated. He had gotten what he deserved.

"Also, the 'Oracle' Endou Kouya… Legion doesn't know what his personality is like, but due to various reasons, it's unclear as to whether he'll hear us out," said Vandalieu.

"Aoohhh…"

One of Legion's faces was changing shape as it let out its voice.

The 'Oracle' Endou Kouya had set up the way Vandalieu had died in Origin, and for that reason, the Eighth Guidance member Shade had taken over his body and killed him.

He seemed logical in nature, but Shade didn't know what he'd been thinking when he died. It was possible that he felt that his own death would offset what he had done to Vandalieu, or even cancel it out.

"On Earth, Shimada Izumi-san was a person of firm character and a strong sense of justice. A class representative - kind of like a stubborn government official," Vandalieu recalled as he patted one of the grieving Legion's heads.

Borkus and the others looked confused at first, but then seemed to understand once he gave the comparison.

"I don't really get it, but… is that bad?" said Basdia.

"It doesn't seem good, Basdia-neechan," said Kimberley.

"It means she has the kind of personality who would feel opposed to how fearsome Vandalieu-sama is," said Eleanora.

Kimberley and Eleanora were frowning; it seemed that they had only negative impressions of stubborn government officials.

If one thought about it using the common sense of someone from Earth, the things that Vandalieu had done were nothing but evil deeds. Vandalieu didn't know how much Shimada Izumi had changed in Origin, but wouldn't his past actions cause her to grimace now?

The truth was that Endou Kouya and Shimada Izumi were both people who would be relatively willing to discuss things with Vandalieu, but… as long as Rodcorte was the way he was, Vandalieu's ways of gaining information about what was happening on Rodcorte's side was horribly limited. Because of this, he had actually ended up concluding that the opposite was true.

"Well, her ability is apparently the 'Inspector' which allows her to see through falsities, and she's apparently not good at fighting, so she won't even be a threat if she appears before me," said Vandalieu. "The other one that I know about is Minami Asagi… to describe him in a word, he's annoying."

"Annoying as in he's a troublesome person?" asked Pauvina.

"They're all really troublesome people, aren't they? Van-kun, you suddenly seem really tired," said Orbia.

Indeed, Vandalieu's impression of Asagi was that "troublesome" or "annoying" would describe him in a word.

He was a sports-oriented person in the sports club, enthusiastic in everything he did and constricting in his friendships, with a hot-blooded personality. And he forced his sense of values onto others… no, he was a man who believed that it was a good deed to force others to do what he thought was right, and believed it was his duty to do so.

To those with the same or similar senses of values as Asagi, or those who found comfort and happiness in companionship, Asagi was probably a good person.

However, in the past, he had been nothing more than a nuisance to Vandalieu.

Vandalieu didn't care about the fact that he had organized a signed card to be given to a reserved teacher in training when he returned to his university.

But what about the fact that he would force students who weren't in any club to join as a trial, and then give a fervent speech about the significance of high school life to those students when they quit?

Back then, everyone liked him except for our homeroom teacher, and he was respected among the class, so nobody stopped him and it was really troublesome.

Back on earth, Vandalieu had always become caught up in the arguments that Asagi started. It wasn't that Asagi had been really targeting him, but because he had been living a completely opposite school life to Asagi, he had always been given instructions by him.

"Time has passed since then and he should have gone through a different environment, so I don't think he would have the same personality that he did back then, but… including his time on Earth, he should have lived a total of forty-seven or forty-eight years. If I lived in that environment the whole time, I might have died of mental fatigue," said Vandalieu.

He got an unpleasant feeling just remembering Minami Asagi. That was the kind of person Asagi was.

However, from the actions and words of Asagi in Legion's memories… Vandalieu got the strange feeling that he had become even worse.

"Vandalieu, die of fatigue?!" Darcia exclaimed.

"For Van, who is fine after doing three days' worth of work in a day, to say that he'd die of fatigue…" Pauvina muttered.

"Quite the troublesome person, isn't he…" said Princess Levia.

"Danna-sama, could that not be considered a unique skill?" Bellmond asked.

"No, it's not that bad," said Vandalieu.

Everyone was shuddering; they seemed more shocked than Vandalieu had expected they would be. Vandalieu had told them what kind of a world Earth was, but it seemed that they couldn't help but to think of it in terms of Lambda and the current Vandalieu.

"Well, it's fortunate that Murakami-sensei didn't die," said Vandalieu.

Murakami Junpei, the homeroom teacher of Vandalieu's high school class on Earth. From Vandalieu's memory, Murakami had done his duties as a teacher in an ordinary way, but outside of that, he was an extremely troublesome person.

He had completely left the task of guiding the students to Asagi, and he was certainly not the type that students could consult regarding their family situations or their futures.

Vandalieu's uncle and aunt wouldn't give him the money needed for the school trip. He still remembered what Murakami had said to him when he came to school with the documents he needed to be allowed to work part-time in order to earn his own money and pay for the trip himself.

"It'll make no difference whether or not you're there; do you really want to go on this school trip that badly?"

And then he had shown great annoyance as he signed it for approval.

Vandalieu's life on Earth had ended as a result of participating in the school trip, so he didn't resent Murakami for this, however.

What I'm concerned about is that Murakami-sensei is the one who changed the most after reincarnating in Origin.

It wasn't too difficult to imagine someone in his teenage years like Kaidou Kanata, drowning in his suddenly-acquired power in his second life and recklessly committing crimes.

But Murakami Junpei had been an adult at the time of his death, and though he hadn't been a good teacher, he hadn't been a criminal or a low-life, either.

He had betrayed, tricked and killed his fellow reincarnated individuals, the students of the class that he had been the homeroom teacher of. How had he fallen so far? Vandalieu found this strange.

Therefore, he couldn't imagine how Murakami would think or act when he reincarnated in Lambda.

It would have been fortunate for Vandalieu if Murakami had stayed alive in Origin, giving him time to gather more information about him from the other reincarnated individuals.

That was what Vandalieu thought, unaware that Murakami had already died.

"Now then, that's the complete report for the present situation," said Vandalieu. "If Legion remembers any new information, please listen to me as I explain it once more. Also, I'm going to publish this information on the front page of the 'Eclipse King Post.'"

The Eclipse King Post. This was the newspaper that had recently started to be published in Talosheim. It was generally published monthly, and contained news of events in the various regions of Talosheim, events being held and information of the outside world delivered by the Sauron Liberation Front that was led by Iris.

Incidentally, the editor-in-chief and reporter was Vandalieu himself. There was an open position for people worried about the unification of the government and the press.

"Hmm, that thing has too many kanji, so I don't do well with it. Can you use more hiragana?" said Privel.

"And Your Majesty, I accidentally burn it sometimes, so I would like you to make the Eclipse King Post more fire-resistant!" said Princess Levia.

"Ah, I'd like it to be more water-resistant!" Orbia added.

"Van, add more crossword puzzles!" said Pauvina.

"Privel, you should learn more kanji. But it might be true that it's not really well-suited for the general population, so I'll take that into consideration. Princess Levia and Orbia, please put a little more effort into controlling your flames and water. If you really can't, then I'll consider your suggestions. Pauvina, I'm planning to publish a compilation of the crossword puzzles that you like. Please wait a little longer. Ah, incidentally, the second page will be an introduction of Legion," said Vandalieu.

"Indeed, if you don't introduce it and someone were to encounter it, they might mistake it for a new species of monster," said Basdia.

"Aaaahhh."

And so, the head of the nation and those close to him determined the newspaper's contents. Nobody had the role of monitoring the authority of Talosheim's information source.

And then just as Vandalieu tried to end the morning debriefing session in a peaceful manner, Chezare came to deliver some news.

"Your Majesty, there has been a report from Bone Man, who has been patrolling the marshlands. It seems that there is something strange occurring at the southern end of the marshes," he said. "It is likely that there is something unusual going on in the Noble Orc Empire. I believe we should deal with it immediately."

"Indeed, it seems better to deal with that than the reincarnated individuals, since we don't know when they'll arrive," Vandalieu said. "Station guards at the southern end of the marshes. After that, let's form a squad to see what's going on."

There was the possibility that the reincarnated individuals had reincarnated in Lambda in adult bodies like Kaidou Kanata, but even if they did, their abilities would be around B-class level. With abilities on that level, it would be difficult for them to cross the Boundary Mountain Range, even if they formed a party.

Thus, Vandalieu thought that it was best to leave the Sauron Liberation Front to stay on guard while he and his companions dealt with the neighboring Noble Orc Empire.

"Now then, I'll announce the criteria for being selected for the squad," he said.

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Chapter 124: The Sword King's determination, the hound's glory, the lips that form an arc

Vandalieu, the king of Talosheim, would participate in dealing with the Noble Orc Empire.

Normally, not just the heads of states, but anyone with a relatively high position in a nation should avoid standing on the frontlines. However, things were different in Vandalieu's case.

First of all, Vandalieu possessed the Demon Path Enticement skill, and if he wasn't present, gathering information from the spirits of the dead was highly likely to be impossible.

Undead could see spirits. However, just because they could see them didn't necessarily mean that they could hear what the spirits had to say. Even if they asked the spirits questions, there was a high chance that the spirits wouldn't answer or just give meaningless answers.

The spirits of the dead were not often friendly or honest to other dead beings unless they were very sociable.

Second of all, Vandalieu was the 'Holy Son of Vida.'

Mububujenge, the Evil God of Degenerate Corpulence, was suspected to be the chief god in the Noble Orc Empire. If he still felt a sense of duty to serve Vida, then Vandalieu being present increased the chances of negotiations happening.

And third of all… he was unmistakably Talosheim's greatest source of fighting strength.

There were all kinds of other reasons, but these were the main ones.

And the criteria to be chosen to join Vandalieu in dealing with the Noble Orc Empire - whether it was diplomacy or war - was to possess the strength to defeat Noble Orcs, which were Rank 6 at minimum.

The Noble Orcs of the Empire had rulers, but when it came to war, it was likely that they would come out in large numbers.

And strength was necessary, even in diplomacy.

Though this was a nation of those descended from an evil god and his servants who betrayed the Demon King's army and joined Zakkart, they were still monsters. And what monsters regarded as important was not appearance or economic power, but strength.

Military strength was an important factor in negotiations between human nations as well, but for monsters, it was the most important thing.

In other words, for smooth discussions to take place, it was important to not be looked down upon.

The exception was the Black Fang Knights' Order, which was composed of Gorba and the other Orcuses.

Orcuses, which were a new race created when Vandalieu exposed Orc fetuses to death-attribute Mana, looked like black Orcs at a glance. Thus, Vandalieu had decided that they may feel compatible with the Orcs that were likely to be present in great numbers in the Noble Orc Empire.

And Orcuses had a base Rank of 4; they were generally stronger than Orcs, which were normally Rank 3. And the members of the Black Fang Knights' Order had increased their Ranks to become Orcus Tamers and Orcus Riders; they were a group of knights that were mounted on monsters.

"I'll do my best, on my honor as a knight," said Gorba, who had been selected as the captain of the knights.

He was now a Rank 7 Orcus Master Tamer with a massive body that was almost three meters tall, and powerful fangs protruding from his mouth.

The monster that he was mounted on was a Rank 5 Diatryma, an enormous carnivorous bird that had been created through years of laborious breeding from the Rank 2 Giga birds that resembled chickens. It was five meters tall from its claws to the crest on its head; it was a bird that simply looked like a dinosaur.

Gorba had also tamed several other small bird monsters that could be used as messengers; he was well-equipped outside of combat as well.

The other members had all tamed Rank 4 monsters that could still move about with the heavyweight Orcuses riding them. Though there were only ten members, their fighting strength and mobility was not at all inferior to a group of a hundred knights.

"Captain Gorba, I don't really understand this 'knight's honor,'" one of the knights said.

"A knight's honor is doing what King says," Gorba explained.

"I've always listened to what King says."

"Then you're very honorable."

"Bufufufu~♪ I'm happy."

With conversations such as these, Gorba and the other members of the Black Fang Knights' Brigade were enjoying a barbeque in Talosheim's town. It had been at Chezare's suggestion that these mobile Orcuses were gathered and a Knights' Order formed, but it seemed that they didn't really understand the ways of a knight yet.

In a shadowy street corner, there was a man watching Gorba and the others enjoying their seafood and roast meat with tare sauce.

The enormous, three-meter-tall, bald man with a shadow cast across his face watched Gorba and the others for a while. However, he didn't reveal himself to them; he turned around silently and left.

There was impatience on the half of the face that the man had.

The Zombified Mikhail, who had been a hero of the Mirg shield-nation until his death two hundred years ago, was serving his role as a training dummy in the specialized training grounds today, just as he had done yesterday.

Mikhail had started becoming accustomed to this role of simply fighting, instructing his opponents in order to be able to defeat him and destroy his body.

As an Undead, his sense of pain was different from when he was alive, but it was also because when he watched those who came to him for training become more skilled and reach new heights, he felt happiness that was not just to console himself, but true happiness from the bottom of his heart.

He felt a sense of fulfilment at having served his role and being useful.

I do not really intend to complain that you have come here again, but…

Mikhail, who was forbidden from speaking any words other than the pre-decided words that he said to all challengers, faced his opponent that was looking at him with a somewhat complicated mixture of emotions in his gaze… the Sword King Borkus.

Borkus awkwardly tapped his bald head with his finger. "No, well, I mean… when you get as strong as me, there aren't any really good opponents."

I do understand that.

Borkus was a Rank 10 Zombie Hero, who had been an A-class adventurer while he was alive. In addition to that, his Attribute Values were enhanced by Guidance: Demon Path, and he had awakened to the superior skill, Sword King Technique. It was nearly impossible for him to find a good opponent.

"The only ones that put up any resistance are the bosses of B-class Dungeons, but even those aren't enough, and once I defeat them, they don't appear again for a while," Borkus continued, mumbling his words for some reason. "Despite that, the kid said this morning that next week, he's going to choose those he's taking to the Noble Orc Empire."

Is this supposed to be an explanation for me, since I am always confined to this place? In that case, is it alright for me to speak? This is a matter of national importance, after all, Mikhail thought to himself as he continued standing there.

From an outsider's perspective, Borkus simply appeared to be an Undead, talking endlessly to a training dummy.

"I'm Rank 10; I won't say that I'm the strongest if you count out the kid, but I'm among the top three. So, it's not that I'm anxious that I'll be left behind… Apparently, Bellmond-jouchan isn't participating this time," Borkus said, raising the Obsidian training sword that he was holding. "But you know, I'm doing this just in case."

In the end, you are anxious, aren't you? And the last time you came here, did you not say that you would only strike me down once?

"Shut up! You bastard, you're saying it all with your eyes! If you're going to complain, do it with words!" Borkus shouted.

"The training will begin," Mikhail said.

"Are you making a fool of me?!"

I cannot speak of my own will… well, at least become strong in my stead, and become of use to that person. I will have no complaints if you do that, Mikhail thought as he attacked Borkus with his blunt training spear.

Incidentally, Borkus appeared before Mikhail every day for the next week to repeat this training.

It was time to remain in obscurity for a while.

Compared to the length of her life so far, a mere three years was supposed to be nothing more than an instant. However, she had been impatiently waiting for this time to come.

A new life given to her by a new master. She would never forget the words spoken to her when she was given a body for a second time.

"You are mine."

What sweet words. I have been stolen by this person from my previous master. My body, my heart and even my soul.

However, what had awaited her was endless days of cold treatment.

After she had spat out all of the information that she had seen and heard while serving her previous master, she had been placed under the command of a little girl who was far younger and weaker than her.

And that little girl had never possessed subordinates before; there was no proper work for her to do.

The only thing she had been given was the position of 'chief of torture.' She was proficient when it came to torture, so this should have been a perfect job for her, but…

What need is there for torture here in Talosheim?

Her master was Vandalieu. As long as he was present, there was no need for torture. Any prisoner of war would spill everything once he secreted truth serum from his tongue into their ears or their eyes.

Even if the truth serum was ineffective for whatever reason, he could simply kill them. Prisoners of war turned into spirits would gladly betray their former masters and companions for Vandalieu's sake. Just like she had.

Thus, prisoners of war were never brought to Talosheim, nor was she ever called for to torture prisoners of war.

Torture wasn't necessary as a punishment, either. The rate of crime in Talosheim was so low that she found it impossible to believe. There were some crimes that occurred due to carelessness and accidents, but there were none who broke the rules out of ill intent.

Other than the fact that the citizens had been charmed by Vandalieu, there was also no need to turn to crime. The nation was developing, and everyone could become wealthy without needing to resort to theft, fraud or robbery.

And even if they did want to commit crimes, everyone knew that there were surveillance Golems stationed in the city.

And Vandalieu, the ruler himself, often roamed the city.

If anyone committed a serious crime and lost their place in Talosheim, they wouldn't be able to survive. Since the city was surrounded by the Boundary Mountain Range, ways of reaching the outside world were limited.

Committing crimes under these circumstances would be plain foolishness. Impulsive fights and drunken brawls were the worst of it.

Thus, the few criminals were given a verbal warning, and then were made to pay a small amount of money in compensation and perform some community service for a short period of time. Even the punishment of a hundred lashes hadn't been carried out.

Thus, her daily work was to clean the empty dungeon with her companions and write "Nothing unusual" into a logbook.

But I haven't become useless!

She had used her excess time to the best of her ability. She had retrained herself in Dungeons and the surrounding Devil's Nests to reacquire the power she had possessed in life, and successfully increased her Rank.

She had analyzed Vandalieu's roaming patterns around the city and casually tried to show off to him that she was working hard, and that she had undergone a change of heart, building favorable relationships with the other citizens.

Even when a child ran into her while holding a frozen dessert, ruining her clothes, and then called her "Oba-chan," she had smiled and forgiven the child.

She picked up lost items and returned them to their owners, and she even cleaned up trash and removed weeds of her own initiative.

These were deeds that would have been unthinkable for her, someone who had previously held an important position in the underworld while she was alive.

She had instructed her companions to do the same, and even ordered a group of men with particularly exceptional bodies to casually show their bodies off to Vandalieu while he was bathing in the public bathhouse.

And then the turning point had come last year. Her companions… those similar to her, drastically grew in number.

Thanks to that foolish Gubamon, we've grown in number. Enough for us to be useful as a fighting force, not just in quality, but in numbers as well.

And her steady efforts had been recognized, and today, the day had arrived.

"Now then, I will confer the knighthood. Isla, step forward."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Isla, 'Ternecia's Hound,' former servant of the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia, who had used General Mauvid and joined the expedition force with the Mirg shield-nation's army at its center three years ago, plotting to kill Vandalieu and the traitor Eleanora.

She was now a Vampire Zombie. Resisting the urge to skip out of happiness, she stepped forward in front of Vandalieu and kneeled.

Vandalieu took the ceremonial sword he had made for knighting purposes from Chezare.

I always think this every time, but isn't such a ceremony rather unnecessary? Vandalieu said secretly to Chezare, extending his spirit form to connect with him.

What are you saying, Your Majesty? The ceremony is important. Even if the actions themselves have no meaning, it is important to perform them and show them off.

I see. The ceremony is important.

Vandalieu remembered that in Lambda, ceremonies and rituals had practical purposes even outside of showing power and bestowing honor on the recipient.

In fact, in order to acquire the Equestrian and Knight Jobs, one needed to reach level 100 in the Apprentice Knight Job and then be knighted. In other words, receiving a knighthood fulfilled the conditions for acquiring the Job, so the ceremony had a practical use.

Isla was a Vampire Zombie, so she couldn't acquire Jobs. However, there was the possibility that her Rank would increase and her race title would change to Vampire Zombie Knight in the future, so it wasn't completely meaningless.

"Isla, as the Eclipse King, I bestow upon you the position of knight," Vandalieu declared as he touched Isla's shoulders with the body of the blade.

A pleasant numbness spread throughout Isla's entire body, and she shivered slightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty! I am fortunate and most grateful!" she said.

"At the same time, I remove you from Eleanora's command and appoint you as the captain of the newly-formed Dark Night Knights' Order," Vandalieu continued.

"Oooh…!"

This was the new post that Vandalieu was giving her. The Dark Night Knights' Order was… an advanced fighting force of Vampire Zombies.

As all of them had been Noble-born Vampires in the past, they could fly at will and possessed the strength to tear steel with their bare hands. And since they had become Zombies, they had conquered their weaknesses of sunlight and silver. Isla's former superior, Eleanora, had thought to have the Vampire Zombies acquire the Sunlight Resistance skill, but there had been no need.

Because there had been almost no precedents of Vampires becoming Zombies, even Isla and the other Vampire Zombies themselves hadn't known this fact, so it was a misunderstanding that couldn't be avoided.

Unfortunately, there were many who couldn't use magic as well as they had been able to while alive, but they were more than enough compared to ordinary Knights' Orders with human knights.

Now, Isla was the leader of this Knights' Order and she would have tasks that made use of her abilities and skills!

Isla was wearing a delicate armor that closely matched the curves of her body. It wasn't for ceremonial purposes; it had been created by the blacksmith Datara, and Vandalieu had used Alchemy to imbue numerous death-attribute spells into it, turning it into a Magic Item.

The same applied for the sword hanging at her waist.

She was bathing in glory right now. However, there were still two things missing.

"Your Majesty… I am thinking of receiving the promised item," she said.

"Eh? Here?"

Vandalieu and Isla were the only ones speaking, but Chezare was present, and the eyes of Eleanora, the Zombie Vampires of the Dark Night Knights' Order and many others were watching.

Vandalieu was hesitant to hand it to her in front of all of these people.

"Then are you saying that you will hand it to me personally when we are alone?!" Isla exclaimed, her lightless eyes opening wide.

"Ah, I'll hand it to you here."

Apparently, it was better for people to be watching.

"In addition to your promotion to captain of the knights, I praise your loyalty and diligent self-improvement, and reward you with this chok-"

"Your Majesty, it's a collar," Isla corrected him.

"… Collar, and grant you the Title of 'The Eclipse King's Hound.'"

Vandalieu attached a collar to Isla's neck, hiding the seams where her head had been reattached to her body after she died by decapitation.

"Aaaah! It is an honor, Your Majesty!" Isla exclaimed.

The collar and the Title of 'Hound.' These had been the two things that Isla requested when Vandalieu asked her, "Is there anything you would like to celebrate your promotion?"

The Title was something that Vandalieu couldn't grant her until he declared it to the whole of Talosheim, but if he put it in the Eclipse King Post, wouldn't she acquire the Title within a few days?

If it doesn't work, I'll go to Fidirg and Merrebeveil and report it to them, Vandalieu thought.

Isla ran her fingers lovingly across the collar. Seeing her looking so happy, Vandalieu vividly imagined a tail protruding from her waist, wagging furiously from side to side.

"Even I haven't received one!" Eleanora whispered in frustration, glaring at Isla with fierce jealousy. Her dangerous eyes would have been enough to make even a seasoned war veteran tremble like a puppy.

"… Hmph." Isla gave a proud snort towards her former superior, Eleanora. She even tilted her head upwards to show the collar off.

Vandalieu felt like he could practically hear the sparks of tension flying between them.

However, it seemed that even Eleanora didn't dare shout abuse at Isla at a knighting ceremony.

And it's true that there is nothing about her for me to speak ill of…!

Eleanora didn't think of Isla as having done anything unfair to gain Vandalieu's favor. She'd simply done what was needed for success.

In fact, Vandalieu valued Isla despite being aware of her various tricks. She was capable of such tricks and flattery, which meant that she could use her head and get along with the humans, Black Goblins and the rest of Talosheim's citizens, so he thought that there weren't any problems with her.

Eleanora couldn't mention that Isla had once been an enemy; she herself had once been an assassin sent to Talosheim to kill Vandalieu.

Eleanora looked at Isla once more, grinding her teeth in anger.

Before, I would have been able to call her an old woman, but now, it would only sound like the barks of a defeated dog.

Isla was resplendent enough to make Eleanora acknowledge this.

Unlike the armor she had worn while she was alive, the close-fitting armor that Isla wore now emphasized rather than concealed the fact that her body had both power and abundant feminine curves, emanating an attractiveness that Eleanora, who physically appeared to be around twenty years old, couldn't.

And yet, her skin was smooth and springy, not wrinkled. It was because Vandalieu hadn't held back in treating her from when he'd turned her into a Zombie, but…

Isla had lived around thirty thousand years, and her external appearance should have been that of a woman in her mid-thirties. Now that she had become a Zombie, she had clearly become younger than she had been when she was alive.

I would like to become Vandalieu-sama's dog if I could, but I don't want to become a losing dog!

"Vandalieu-sama, I have training to do, so I shall excuse myself," Eleanora declared as she turned around, not even concealing her feelings.

"See you later," Vandalieu said towards her back.

"I know it is strange for me to ask, but is it really all right?" Isla asked.

"It'll be fine. Eleanora is more of a hard worker than me (when I was on Earth)."

"More of a hard worker than you, Your Majesty? Won't that little girl die from fatigue?"

"More importantly, I have a mission for the Dark Night Knights' Order right away. Isla, I would like you and the rest to rendezvous with Bone Man at the southern end of the marshlands and patrol the area."

"Please leave it to me, Your Majesty." Isla got down on both knees this time and brought her face close to the sandals on Vandalieu's feet -

"Ah, please do it on my hand," said Vandalieu.

"How can this be?! You will not accept my vow of obedience and servitude?!" Isla exclaimed.

"Isla-dono, this is a place for knighthoods to be bestowed, so I would like you to perform it on the hand to show loyalty, not obedience and servitude," said Chezare.

In the end, Isla's cold but soft lips were placed on Vandalieu's fingers, and then he sent the Dark Night Knights' Order out on their mission.

"Incidentally, your Majesty, I was also killed by having my throat torn, so I was thinking of wrapping something around my neck. Kurt makes a pained expression as he looks at me from time to time, you see," Chezare said.

"Chezare, I think that if I gave you a collar, Kurt would be even more pained… he would look at you with pity," said Vandalieu, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

The bad feeling that receiving a collar from him would become a popular trend among a certain group of individuals.

The sun's scorching light burned his body like a curse. His lips, which were painted with his favorite rouge lipstick, smiled.

"More… Burn me more… Ahh… That's right, deeper, burn me deeper."

Miles Rouge, whose entire body was emitting white smoke, gave a heroic smile even as he experienced intense pain and his survival instincts were warning him of danger.

He was a Noble-born Vampire formerly under the command of the Pure-breed Vampire Gubamon, and he possessed the unique skill known as Warning. It was a skill that produced an alarm bell that only he could hear when he sensed danger.

However, Miles did not hear alarm bells right now.

He could only hear his own footsteps as he approached new heights.

However, the one thing he couldn't endure was how dry his throat was. He extended his burnt, blistered hand outwards to bring a mug to his mouth.

He filled his throat with a thick, blood-colored liquid… the Blood Potion that had been created with Vandalieu's blood with the Demon King's blood activated as a base, with the Demon King's horns and Demon King's carapace added to it in powdered form along with various medicinal herbs and Magic Stones.

The moment he did, the pain receded from all over his body, and his burns began to heal. However, as he was a Vampire, Miles's body would continue to burn as long as he stood in the sun's light - or at least, it was supposed to.

"Aaaah… Uooooh!"

As Miles looked up at the sky and gave a particularly large shout, the white smoke rising from his body stopped. His burns began to heal rapidly.

And then, Miles was standing in the sunlight, not a single wound on the skin covering his spectacular, muscular body.

A wide smile appeared on his face that was already wild-looking to begin with.

"Wonderful… What a pleasant feeling of victory! My entire body is filled with strength; I feel like I've become an all-powerful, unrivaled being! This excitement is far greater than what I felt when I went from being a human to a Noble-born Vampire! Right now, at this moment! I, Miles Rouge, am certain that I am worthy of being known as a true Vampire!"

Miles stood there with his crimson eyes blazing, wearing only the single pair of boomerang underwear that had recently started being sold.

Bellmond called out to him. "It seems that you have finished. Miles, this is a celebratory present from Danna-sama."

She gestured towards a silver tray with a silver pendant on it. It was a Magic Item with death-attribute Mana imbued in it, but silver was another weakness of Vampires alongside sunlight.

Of course, silver-inflicted wounds caused pain, but even touching the skin would cause burning and blistering. Giving a Vampire a silver accessory was like declaring hostility.

"Oh my, that makes me happy~♪"

Miles took the silver pendant and put it around his neck without hesitation.

But the silver necklace around Miles's thick neck, resting against his heavy chest, didn't burn him.

"What do you think of my silver camouflaging accessory, Onee-sama?" Miles asked.

"It looks very good on you," said Bellmond. "But could I ask that you stop referring to me as 'Onee-sama?'"

"Oh my, why is that? We are both Abyssal Vampires, are we not?"

Miles, who had repeatedly endured his body being burned while drinking Blood Potion to heal, had become an Abyssal Vampire.

He had already confirmed this through his Status, and though his appearance hadn't changed, his biology had clearly changed from when he had been a Noble-born Vampire.

"How wonderful… There have been no changes to my Rank or level, but my Attribute Values have increased, and I have overcome my weaknesses to sunlight and silver. We have erased two of the main reasons us Vampires could not replace humans on the front stage of the world. If us Abyssal Vampires increase in number, the power balance between humans and Vampires could be reversed," Miles said excitedly.

"Blood Potion takes a considerable amount of time and effort to produce. More importantly, more than half of the base ingredients come from Danna-sama himself," Bellmond reminded him in a calm tone. "It is not an item whose production can be increased so easily."

The Blood Potion that was necessary for Vampires to become Abyssal Vampires was currently being made by several of Talosheim's resident Alchemists, including Vandalieu himself and Zadiris.

Vandalieu, who had over one billion Mana, could activate the Demon King's fragments as much as was needed to produce the ingredients. However, it seemed that this was not enough to enable mass production on the scale of something like Earth's soft drinks.

… Considering that it was a Potion that could not only heal broken bones but rejoin severed limbs, the current production rate was already beyond what could be reasonably expected. If Vandalieu increased Blood Potion production to its maximum possible rate and distributed it cheaply to every nation, the world's Alchemists would likely lose a great portion of their income.

Miles was well aware of the manufacturing process and ingredients required to produce Blood Potion, so he quickly withdrew his words. "I know," he said. "I'm talking about the future, the future. And it's not easy to become an Abyssal Vampire, is it? I experienced first-hand that drinking Blood Potion isn't enough on its own."

In order to become an Abyssal Vampire, one needed to drink Blood Potion and make it exhibit its effects… in other words, the Blood Potion needed to heal wounds.

However, Vampires were a race with the Rapid Regeneration skill. Wounds like cuts would heal within seconds.

Drinking Blood Potion while undergoing drastic surgery like Bellmond's where she had all of her skin and the underlying components replaced or continuing to be damaged by sunlight or silver so that the Rapid Regeneration skill would not take effect were the effective methods.

It was also possible to suddenly undergo the transformation if one regularly drank Vandalieu's blood like Eleanora did. However, with this method, a large amount of time, blood and Blood Potion was necessary.

"Though it's strange for me to say this after I insisted on doing it, it's quite the torture," Miles continued. "It's fine for a tough guy like me who's resistant to pain, but normal Vampires would lose consciousness partway through."

"My surgery was also something that normal Vampires would not be able to endure," said Bellmond.

These two, who were resistant to pain (or so they thought), shook their heads at the thought of the predicament of other Vampires.

"Come to think of it, what about that girl? Is she leveling?" asked Miles.

"Yes. She is a little disappointed with the fact that her Sunlight Resistance skill is only useful as sunscreen, and she is now aiming to become Rank 10," said Bellmond.

"She's working hard, isn't she? Maybe it's a difference in youth. Ah, how delicious," Miles said as he licked the last few drops of Blood Potion left in his mug. "Now then, I shall go to the bathhouse to let out some sweat," he said, picking up his change of clothing. "I'm going to the Sauron Duchy with Vandalieu-sama tomorrow and meeting with Iris-chan and the others, after all."

It had been decided that Miles would not be going to the Noble Orc Empire; he would be joining the Sauron Liberation Front to make preparations against the reincarnated individuals.

He had been speeding up his transformation into an Abyssal Vampire so that the fact that he was a Vampire wouldn't be revealed to Iris's supporters and her enemies, the Amid Empire's army.

Even with pale skin, crimson eyes and long fangs, nobody would suspect that a man exposing himself to sunlight and wearing a silver necklace was a Vampire.

Of course, he had transformed to provide more data on Abyssal Vampires as well as to disguise himself, but that was a bonus.

"I will be transported inside Vandalieu-sama, so I must purify my body."

One of the other characteristics of Abyssal Vampires was that they could be equipped by Vandalieu's Insect Binding Technique and Plant Binding Technique skills, and they would not experience any discomfort during this.

Thus, the plan was for Vandalieu to transport him by teleportation using the Labyrinth Construction skill.

"… I do believe that you should put on some clothing before thinking about purifying your body," Bellmond said.

It seemed that her words didn't reach Miles, who left holding only a single pair of boomerang underwear to change into.

Name: Isla

Rank: 9

Age: Approximately 30,000 years old

Title: The Eclipse King's Hound

Race: Vampire Viscount Zombie (Broken)

Level: 85

Passive skills:

Dark Vision

Status Effect Resistance: Level 10

Superhuman Strength: Level 9

Rapid Regeneration: Level 5

Mental Corruption: Level 7

Slaughter Healing: Level 7

Intuition: Level 5

Strengthened Attribute Values: Loyalty: Vandalieu: Level 6

Active skills:

Bloodwork: Level 1

Water-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 5

No-Attribute Magic: Level 1

Mana Control: Level 5

Swordsmanship: Level 10

Armor Technique: Level 9

Surpass Limits: Level 8

High-speed Flight: Level 5

Pursuit: Level 8

Torture: Level 5

Commanding: Level 3

Housework: Level 2

Unique Skills:

Transformation: Level 7

'Ternecia's Hound,' Isla, who has now become a Zombie.

She was originally Rank 10, but her Rank decreased all the way to 5 when she became a Zombie. After that, she regained her power back to Rank 9 through training in Dungeons.

However, she still cannot display her original abilities. Incidentally, Vandalieu and Luciliano noted that the "Broken" in her race title means "Undead that are weaker than when they were alive." After this, "Broken" began appearing in the Statuses of all Undead that match this description.

In addition, she has already acquired the Title that Vandalieu thought would take more time for her to obtain. This is because Vandalieu himself acknowledges her by this Title, and because he has increased influence over those under the effects of Guidance: Demon Path.

She should be weaker than when she was alive, but her Bloodsucking skill has transformed into the Bloodwork skill, and her Status Effect Resistance, Mental Corruption and Surpass Limits skills have increased. She is growing stronger in a different direction from when she was alive.

Also, she has acquired the Commanding and Housework skills.

The design of her equipment is a little seductive, but this is because Vandalieu had used his personal image of what an "evil female boss" should look like. The reason for this was because "it seemed like it would fit."

Title explanation:

[The Eclipse King's Hound]

Receives favorable bonuses when tracking or searching for those that have been deemed as prey or enemies by the Title possessor's master, the Eclipse King.

In addition, the Title possessor gains positive bonuses to all Attribute Values, attack and defense when fighting under the Eclipse King's command.

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Chapter 125: The eyes of heaven that look this way. And a great scythe is raised

She didn't want to let it out.

She used reason as a weapon to firmly resist her instinctive urge.

Letting it out was, in itself, a very natural thing; it wasn't something to be embarrassed over. In fact, it was one of the essential processes in development, and reaching that stage was something to be happy about.

In fact, her companions and kouhais like Pete and Pain, the ones taking care of her and even Vandalieu were happy and congratulated her when told that she would soon let it out.

However, the timing was terrible. Once she let it out, she wouldn't be able to move for a while, at least for a few months. It was difficult to say that she was "able to move" now, but she would become completely immobile.

That was why she didn't want to proceed through this stage until the matter of the reincarnated individuals, which was apparently a large problem, and the matter of the Noble Orc Empire, were settled.

"Pigiih~"

Quinn, who was several times the size of a regular larva, let out a frustrated cry inside her chamber in the Cemetery Bee nest.

"There, there. Unlike the business with the Noble Orcs, the reincarnated individuals will take at least a decade… no, depending on how they act, multiple decades, to deal with. I'm sure you'll make it in time," Vandalieu said as he used his extended tongue to lick Quinn, stimulating her growth.

Indeed, Quinn was about to finally become a pupa.

Bees didn't form cocoons, but they closed their chambers with lids made of string-like fibers, with the soon-to-be pupa inside. It was no different for the monster bees that were Cemetery Bees.

And it seemed that the same applied to Quinn, the Cemetery Bee queen who had undergone a pseudo-reincarnation into an egg filled with death-attribute Mana.

"Pigih, pigipigippigih."

"You're worried about the time during which you're a pupa? It does seem like it will take longer than ordinary bees," said Vandalieu.

Normal Cemetery Bees took about a month to emerge with wings. Even the pupa that would become the queen bee would apparently take half a year.

However, Quinn, who had undergone a pseudo-reincarnation, was already a member of a different race that was not the Cemetery Bees. Her biology was similar, but that didn't mean everything was the same.

It was possible that she would stay in pupa form for over a year.

"But that doesn't mean I can keep you equipped with Insect Binding Technique as a pupa…"

"Pigih…"

The inside of a pupa was completely liquid other than the nerve cells. Thus, excessive movement would cause the pupa to die.

The pupa would be isolated from any vibrations from the outside world while equipped inside Vandalieu's body, but there was the possibility that it would slip outside of Vandalieu's body.

Knowing this, Quinn reluctantly backed down.

And then, seemingly having made up her mind, she began producing thread from her mouth.

"Pigih…"

"I'll come and visit you every day when I can," Vandalieu said reassuringly as he looked at Quinn's beautiful eyes.

Vandalieu's image reflected off Quinn's beautiful compound eyes until the lid made of her thread blocked him from her vision.

Once the lid completely covered Quinn, Vandalieu suddenly looked to the side.

Buzz-buzz-buzz.

Cemetery Bees used their jaws to chew up what appeared to be enormous caterpillars, rolling the minced meat into spheres. It seemed that this was the replacement for the tea cakes that Vandalieu had been feeding her.

"Fire shouldn't be used here should it…"

It seemed that the Cemetery Bees knew better than to feed Quinn meatballs made of the meat from the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army. It might simply have been because all of that meat had already been eaten, however.

The night before the journey to the Sauron Duchy, Vandalieu had Zadiris, Tarea, Datara, Luciliano and the Lich Nuaza, the leader of the Church of Vida, gather in his workshop.

"Now then, we will begin the investigation to find out the reason Lump-of-flesh-chan turned into Legion, as well as examining the Life Gold and the disappearing silver," Vandalieu said.

This was the topic of discussion.

It seemed that Legion itself didn't really remember why it had been reincarnated in another world with Lump-of-flesh-chan as its body, as a single organism.

But if Vandalieu could figure out just why Legion had been reincarnated into the living lump of flesh that was a failed attempt to create Darcia's body, it was possible that it could lead to Darcia's successful reincarnation that Vandalieu desired so badly.

"Well, not that I expect that much to come from this," Vandalieu added.

"Indeed… Even if it is possible, it could simply result in more Legions," said Zadiris.

"More importantly, where is this 'Legion?' I wanted to hear more about the time it ate the mysterious silver," said Datara.

Legion was not present in the spacious underground workshop. The pool that she(?) had been in as Lump-of-flesh-chan was currently empty.

"Legion seems to be tired from her first leveling session, so she is sleeping with Pauvina and Privel, who were also leveling with her," said Luciliano with a distant look in his eyes.

"First? I heard that in that 'Origin' world, she was a group of warriors that went wild and massacred over a hundred elite soldiers and even killed a number of that world's heroes, but… have I misremembered?" Datara said, scratching his head with a baffled expression.

"It seems that in this world called Origin, there were no levels, Jobs, Ranks, skills or Experience Points," Zadiris said. "That is why she never gained Experience Points no matter how many enemies she killed, and, of course, her level did not increase."

"What?! It is surprising that there are more of such strange places other than 'Earth.'"

Everyone in Lambda understood the concepts of levels, Jobs, skills and Experience Points the moment they became aware of themselves. Even toddlers who couldn't read letters and foolish Goblins and Orcs.

The Status that could be seen through the no-attribute spell 'Status' that could be cast by anyone was displayed in kanji and numbers for those who could read them, like Vandalieu. For those who could only read hiragana and katakana, it would automatically be displayed in only those characters rather than kanji.

Statuses were perceived orally for those who couldn't read at all, and those who didn't understand words at all or those with extremely limited vocabulary simply felt a vague feeling that allowed them to understand their own Status.

For monsters with the intelligence of animals or even lower, they simply instinctively understood that they could become stronger by eating others.

However, beast and insectoid monsters instinctively understood the concepts of Ranks and levels.

That was how ordinary these concepts were in Lambda.

It seemed that it was difficult for Datara and the others to imagine a world without these concepts.

"Well, I don't know whether there are more worlds with levels and Experience Points than without, but at the very least, Earth and Origins were worlds without them," said Vandalieu. "So, Legion has been feeling the sensation of gaining Experience Points and hearing the announcer informing her that she has learned skills non-stop for the first time, so she seems to have become tired."

"Experience Point intoxication, isn't it? That once caused me an embarrassing experience while I was alive," said Nuaza.

"Yes, that is something that all who acquire battle-related Jobs must experience at least once," said Zadiris.

There was a certain pleasant sensation associated with gaining Experience Points. For Vandalieu, it felt something like a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment.

And that pleasant sensation became a sense of exaltation when gaining a large amount of Experience Points at once. One entered a state similar to a runner's high, or the high-tension state that resulted from staying up all night.

Apparently, this had caused troubles for Nuaza and Zadiris while they were young.

"During my first real battle, I experienced terrible Experience Point intoxication; my fatigue vanished and I went on a rampage while facing weak monsters, but… when I became sober, my fatigue returned and I felt exhausted. I made quite the embarrassment out of myself in front of the other priest-warriors of my age," said Nuaza, reminiscing.

"I experienced something similar," Zadiris said with a nod. "When I experienced my first battle, I gained a large amount of Experience Points no matter what I was defeating."

"I remember that as well," said Tarea. "It was not enough to put me into high spirits, however."

"Oh? You have not acquired a combat-related Job, but you have experienced Experience Point intoxication?" Luciliano asked her, as she had only ever acquired creation-related Jobs.

However, his question was soon answered.

"Van-sama took me with him to level up, after all. I experienced it then," Tarea said.

When the non-combatant civilians of Talosheim were made to level up while wearing Rita, Saria and the Living Armors of the former Red Wolf Knights' Order, Tarea had become a Rank 5 Ghoul High Artisan. Apparently, she had plainly experienced Experience Point intoxication in doing so.

"Ah, that time. Well then, that means that all of Talosheim's citizens have experienced Experience Point intoxication," said Luciliano.

"No, I haven't," said Datara.

Those with creation-oriented Jobs such as craftsmen or farmers gained Experience Points at a slow pace. Those with such Jobs earned Experience Points by performing work related to those Jobs. They couldn't perform advanced work that would earn them a large amount of Experience Points while their levels and the levels of their skills were still low.

That was why they didn't normally suffer from Experience Point intoxication. The citizens of Talosheim were a rare exception due to the advanced leveling that Vandalieu had made them do.

However, the craftsmen among the Undead Titans, like Datara, were already far stronger than the average soldier if they were to swing their hammers as weapons, so they hadn't required such training.

"Well, not that I want to experience it. More importantly, the topic at hand is the investigation, isn't it? Apologies for getting off-topic," Datara said, trying to return to the main topic, having sensed that Vandalieu might suggest that they leave the investigation until after the business in the Noble Orc Empire was dealt with.

He was more interested in spending his time in the workshop with the Ghoul crafting team, which was made entirely of women, than increasing his level and Rank.

"Ah, yes. First, the cause of Lump-of-flesh-chan becoming Legion. It's probably the doing of a god. That's all," Vandalieu concluded.

"Master, that is too vague," said Luciliano. "Well, it seems to be the result of the actions of multiple gods."

Legion's Status displayed the divine protections of three gods.

The divine protections of Zuruwarn, the god of space and creation, and Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, who were two of Lambda's original gods, just like Vida and Alda. Plus, the divine protection of the god of Origin.

It was commonly thought that Zuruwarn and Ricklent had fallen into slumber in order to recover their power after the battle with the army of the Demon King Guduranis, but surprisingly, it seemed that they were working actively.

According to legends, Zuruwarn had manipulated space and opened a door that connected worlds with one another when he summoned Zakkart, Bellwood and the other champions from the foreign world known as Earth. With him acting, it would have been possible to bring the souls of the Eighth Guidance and Gazer, Legion's form in its previous life, to the world of Lambda.

Ricklent was a god who ruled over the time attribute as well as magic, and statues of him were enshrined in every Mages' Guild branch. He had almost certainly used some spells to assist Zuruwarn.

However, the god of Origin was a mystery.

"Master, what kind of a being is the god of Origin?" Luciliano asked, looking curious and confused. "I have never heard you mention him at all."

"In fact, the Holy Son once told me that it is possible that no gods exist on Earth and Origin," Nuaza added.

But Vandalieu gave them a puzzled look himself. "I don't know, either," he said. "As Nuaza said, I thought that they didn't exist, or at least that there are no gods with their own personalities and individual intentions like the gods of this world."

When he was on Earth, he hadn't really been a religious person. However, he hadn't been an atheist, either.

He had simply vaguely thought that there was probably a supernatural, transcendental, divine being somewhere that was beyond human wisdom and knowledge.

It was only after he died and learned of Rodcorte's existence that he had become aware that gods existed, however. But this had actually made him more doubtful that Earth and Origin had their own gods.

He had thought that if a god with its own personality like Rodcorte existed on Earth and in Origin, there would be more miracles and tragedies and such.

Particularly in Origin, where not only science, but magic existed as well. Even though utilizing spirits had been impossible until Vandalieu awoke to the death attribute, their existence was known.

However, hard proof that a god existed had apparently never been found in Origin.

Leaving aside the existence of religious figures, it had only been recorded in small writing in specialized books that a god likely existed, as various phenomena could be explained by the existence of god from a magical perspective.

"That's why I thought that there wasn't a god. The reincarnation of souls is something that Rodcorte should be in charge of, too. But this has made it clear that a god does exist in Origin," Vandalieu said.

It was a great discovery if it could be shared worldwide. There was no way to share it with the people of Origin, however.

"And it seems that it is interested in you as well, boy," said Zadiris.

"I'm thankful for that," said Vandalieu.

Legion hadn't received any messages from Zuruwarn and Ricklent, and she didn't have any memories of being saved in the first place. Immediately after her individual souls died, the next time she awakened, she had been in that state.

However, Vandalieu couldn't think of any other reason that Zuruwarn and Ricklent had made the effort to have Legion reincarnated where Vandalieu was.

Their exact motives for them acting as his allies was unclear, but… perhaps they were more loyal to Vida than the myths said, or perhaps they wanted to declare that they stood on Vida's side, not Alda's.

And the reason for the god of Origin cooperating with them and granting Legion its divine protection was even more incomprehensible.

After all, Vandalieu had no knowledge on what kind of being it was. He had the feeling that if by some miracle it had taken a liking to him, it was fine whether that was due to something that had happened while he was alive in Origin, or perhaps after he became an Undead.

After considering things up to this point, Vandalieu shook his head. "Well, I'm sure gods have their own circumstances, there are not enough materials to work with to conduct an investigation into the god of Origin, so let's set that aside for now," he said.

"Indeed, we do not know what kind of god it is, so it cannot be helped. If only we knew the effects of the divine protection it gave Legion, we might have a hint," said Zadiris.

With that, it was decided that the matter of the god of Origin would be set aside. It was a mystery as to why that god had lent its assistance. Perhaps Zuruwarn had offered something to it in negotiation, or perhaps it just hated Rodcorte.

Rodcorte didn't appear in the myths and legends of any world; he was simply a god who ruled over reincarnation. Thus, his relationships with the gods of the various worlds was unknown.

At the very least, according to what Vandalieu had heard from Fidirg and Merrebeveil, the gods of Lambda… those on Vida's side, apparently didn't think of him very favorably.

"I cannot go into detail, but he is sheet."

"Scum."

"Worse than vile."

This had been Fidirg's response when Vandalieu asked him about Rodcorte.

"I cannot speak in detail, but if he existed in a place my tentacles could reach him, I would wish to strangle him to death. That is the kind of god he is."

This had been Merrebeveil's response.

It seemed that Rodcorte had been making a mess of things in the past as well.

As gods, Fidirg and Merrebeveil hadn't been able to explain matters regarding souls, reincarnation and past events to Vandalieu in detail, but he got a clear picture of what they thought of Rodcorte.

"There are statues of Zuruwarn and Ricklent in the Church of Vida, aren't there?" Vandalieu asked.

"Of course, Holy Son," said Nuaza.

Gods other than Vida had also been enshrined at the Church of Vida that was currently being run by Nuaza. Statues of Alda, the god of law and fate, who was responsible for heavily wounding Vida, as well as his subordinate gods and other subordinate gods who were said to have joined his side had been destroyed, and the other statues remained as they were.

Of course, Zuruwarn and Ricklent's statues were enshrined there.

"Well then, let us make sure to pray to them the next time we visit the Church. It seems that prayers reach the gods in Lambda, after all," Vandalieu said.

It was difficult to imagine that the gods understood all of these prayers, however. Perhaps they would eventually send Divine Messages or something similar.

"Now then, next is Lump-of-flesh-chan that became Legion's base, the Life Gold and the disappearing silver," said Luciliano. "For now, let's discuss what we know -" He began announcing what was known about each item. "First is Lump-of-flesh-chan. I believe that it was likely one of the three holy grails that Alchemists are trying to create - the base form of life."

"… What is that?" Vandalieu asked.

"… If the one who created it does not understand, that makes things difficult, Master."

Vandalieu had simply created Lump-of-flesh-chan as a result of using the goddess-created resurrection device after magically reconstructing it in an attempt to fix it. That was how Vandalieu felt, but Luciliano looked at him with a gaze that was as if he were looking at something disappointing.

"The three holy grails are the supreme Alchemy techniques that are considered impossible unless one becomes a god. It is said that the gods used one of these techniques when they created new life. It is otherwise known as 'life with no soul,��" Luciliano explained.

"Is it more incredible than the Homunculus that Van-sama is trying to create as a body for Darcia-Ogibosama*?" asked Tarea, referring to Darcia as her mother-in-law.

Note: This is an honorific that means "mother-in-law."

Luciliano nodded. "A Homunculus is 'artificial life.' It would normally be considered the step before creating the 'base form of life.' A Homunculus is also 'life with no soul,' but the versatility after creation is what makes them different. A Homunculus can only become an artificial human, but the 'base form of life' can theoretically become any form of life. From a mouse to a true Elder Dragon or Colossus."

"Even an Elder Dragon! Borkus says that he can only defeat regular Dragons… Holy Son, you've gone and created something incredible," said Datara. "Wait, why are you sleeping?"

Vandalieu had been attempting to create a Homunculus for the purpose of Darcia's resurrection; it was apparently a great shock to learn that he had created something a step above Homunculi in doing so.

"No, it seems that he has simply gone limp like a dead tree from the shock," said Zadiris, stopping him from falling onto the ground with her arms.

Why was it that he had managed to achieve a holy grail of Alchemy but failed to create a Homunculus, the step before that holy grail? It seemed extremely absurd to Vandalieu.

Still being held from falling onto the ground by Zadiris, he asked Luciliano a question. "If I created a new Lump-of-flesh-chan and put my mother's spirit into it, would it be possible to resurrect her?"

Luciliano looked not at Vandalieu, but at Zadiris. "Zadiris, make sure you hold Master properly," he told her. "Master, it is theoretically possible. It is possible, but it is impossible for you as you are now. That Lump-of-flesh-chan… even after it was complete, it did not accept the souls around it at all. You even tried to put spirits into it yourself, did you not? But the fact that it was impossible means that both creating it and making use of it are impossible without becoming a god or acquiring the supreme techniques of Alchemy."

Incidentally, Vandalieu would later ask the gods that he was able to go and meet, Fidirg and Merrebeveil, to see if they could help him, only to find that it was impossible as he had expected. It was apparently possible if he didn't mind Darcia becoming a Lizardman or a mass of tentacles, however.

"How tragic, Van-sama…" said Tarea.

"… Say, Tarea. Stop embracing both me and the boy," said Zadiris.

It was as if Vandalieu had somehow created a nuclear fusion reactor while trying to build a steam engine.

The result was incredible, but the technology was too advanced and he couldn't make use of it.

"Well, it is unlikely to become a living organism on its own without powerful gods acting as they did in this case, so there is no harm," Luciliano added.

It seemed that it wouldn't be either harmful or beneficial at this point.

"… Now then, let us pull ourselves together and move on to the Life Gold and disappearing silver," said Vandalieu's spirit form, which had floated out of his body.

"Judging from the fact that you've used Out-of-body Experience, it seems that you haven't really pulled yourself together, but… Anyway, what I can say as a blacksmith is that both are metals, but at the same time, they are things that aren't metals," said Datara. "Life Gold would be simple if it were simply a metal that could change its shape. It's as soft as clay, you see. But whether I heat it up or cool it down, it stays soft, and it keeps moving around and its shape keeps changing. If I try to hit it with my hammer, it ends up running away."

Unlike the Death Iron and Dark Copper that Vandalieu had previously created, which were liquid metals that solidified as they were heated, Datara had struggled to make something out of Life Gold.

It was completely unaffected by the temperature. It was meaningless to put the slime-like Life Gold into a mold, and it couldn't be forged with a hammer, either.

Tarea had also struggled to process Life Gold.

"I tried mixing it with monster materials to create paints and adhesives, but it was a complete failure. No matter what I mixed it with, it wouldn't stop moving around," she said. "But I found out something interesting when Datara ate the Life Gold."

"I'm not sure if it can be called a processing method, though," Datara said with a strange expression before opening his mouth wide, showing his teeth. There were several golden teeth among his thick, white ones.

"Are those gold teeth made of Life Gold?" Vandalieu asked.

"Yeah, these have made me feel better. Hmm, the moment the Life Gold entered my mouth, it went and became teeth for me. After that, it stopped moving on its own and stayed solid," Datara said.

Vandalieu, who had regained his willpower, looked to see that Datara's golden teeth were indeed motionless, staying in the shape of teeth.

"Ever since I got these gold teeth, my body's been feeling good. My Vitality has increased; it's like I've become younger," Datara said.

"Judging from this, Life Gold cannot be used like normal metals; I think there are plenty of ways to use it other than having it eaten by Undead," said Tarea.

It seemed that the living metal, Life Gold, could be used to repair missing parts of non-living beings such as Undead. Apparently, it even increased the Undead's Vitality and improved their health.

"If Undead can use it, could Living Armors and Cursed Weapons not use it?" said Zadiris. "Why not test them on Rita and Saria? It could even become an accessory for them, killing two birds with one stone."

"Indeed. I'll test it next time," said Vandalieu, who was still being held in Zadiris's arms. "By the way, Luciliano, is this Life Gold another one of Alchemy's holy grails?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea," Luciliano said, shaking his head. "Since it is a life form without a soul, it is likely something similar to the 'base form of life,' but I am not a specialist when it comes to Alchemy… though I do not believe any Alchemist would know anything about the mysterious things that you create, Master. However, the disappearing silver is likely one of the holy grails, the 'base form of spirit.'"

The disappearing silver that only Legion had been able to notice and absorb. Judging from that result, Luciliano had guessed that it was the 'base form of spirit.'

It had been recorded in myths that in the age of the gods, the gods had used the 'base form of spirit' to create their own Spirit Clones and familiar spirits. When they created the humans, Elves and Dwarves, they had used the 'base form of life' for their bodies and the 'base form of spirit' to create their minds.

"However, among the three holy grails of Alchemy, the 'base form of spirit' is the one that is shrouded in the most mystery. To the point that most Mages believes that it is a mere concept that does not actually exist. There is not a single detailed description of it in any myths or legends," Luciliano continued. "That is why I cannot make a certain conclusion, but Legion is likely an organism that was born when Zuruwarn and Ricklent drove the souls from the foreign world of Origin into the object that was a combination of the 'base form of life,' Lump-of-flesh-chan, and the 'base form of spirit.'"

That was apparently how things were. The technology was excessive even for Luciliano, so this was the only conclusion that he could make.

"For the work of a group of gods, I feel like it was rather crude," Tarea commended. "If they were going to do this, it would have been better to have them separate one by one and be reincarnated as humans or something similar."

"Now, now, there is no need to say that. I am sure there were some circumstances that did not allow them to do this. And it is possible that if they were not put into that form, something might have prevented the reincarnation from being successful," said Nuaza.

If Zuruwarn and Ricklent had been listening, they might have winced at Tarea's words and then given the thumbs up to Nuaza's response.

"In that case, I can't think of any way to use the silver. For now, let's try using it on Undead like the Life Gold," said Vandalieu. "We'll lose track of it without Legion holding it for us, so we'll have to test it later, though."

"So, Holy Son, what will you name it?" Nuaza asked.

"Let's call it 'Spirit Silver.'"

The 'disappearing silver,' or 'mysterious silver,' was now known as Spirit Silver. It was apparently one of Alchemy's three holy grails. But creating it from silver caused even Vandalieu and the Undead to lose sight of it, so it was a slightly troublesome metal that needed Legion's assistance to find a way to make use of it.

"Incidentally, what is the other holy grail of Alchemy?" Vandalieu asked.

"The creation of the divine metal, Orichalcum," Luciliano replied. "Thanks to you and some others in Talosheim, it seems to have become less impressive, however."

"There was a Dragon-shaped Orichalcum Golem, after all," said Zadiris. "Even my staff is made of it."

"And with the Holy Son's fragments of the Demon King, there are plenty of materials that are easy to smith despite rivaling Orichalcum," Datara added. "It's only natural that Orichalcum seems less impressive now."

"Now that I think about it, we are truly blessed," said Tarea.

Since the investigation couldn't be carried out in any more detail, it came to an end and idle chatter began.

At this rate, Vandalieu would enjoy the idle chatter for a while and then say, "See you tomorrow" and dismiss everyone.

At that moment, Vandalieu suddenly felt a gaze from above his head and looked up at the ceiling.

The ceiling of this underground workshop was incredibly high. However, it appeared to Vandalieu as if there was a distorted 'hole' open at a height below the ceiling.

"That's…"

Through the 'hole,' Vandalieu could see an enormous, shining, familiar-looking silhouette as well as a dozen more silhouettes lined up in front of him, some that looked familiar and some that didn't.

They matched the descriptions of the deceased Bravers that Vandalieu had heard from Legion… though there were some among them who were supposed to still be alive.

Leaving that aside, this was an emergency situation.

"Is there someone's spirit or something there, boy?" Zadiris asked curiously.

Vandalieu didn't know what Rodcorte and the reincarnated individuals were intending to do before they were even reincarnated, nor did he know what they were able to do, and there was no reaction from Danger Sense: Death, either. But for now, he decided that everyone should step back.

"Everyone, step back -"

The moment Vandalieu felt a pain that felt as if something was gripping his heart, and he felt Danger Sense: Death reacting, he realized what they were trying to do.

This wasn't a declaration of war, a call for discussion or reconnaissance.

It was an attack.

Material explanation:

[Life Gold]

A living metal that has transformed from gold after being imbued with death-attribute Mana. It is something similar to one of Alchemy's three holy grails, the 'base form of life.'

In this form, it is something resembling slime with the same mass as gold; it is alive but does not possess the ability to fight, nor can it multiply. It continues moving even when exposed to temperatures that would evaporate gold or absolute zero, but it simply moves and is not able to do anything.

Also, it does not possess a mind or a sense of self. It is impossible to have spirits inhabit it.

Its first use is that it can be eaten. Eating it grants a small amount of Experience Points. Also, it causes a slight increase in the Vitality Attribute Value.

It possesses the ability to improve health; it does not produce effects in healthy children and young people, but it improves the condition of unhealthy creatures and incomplete Undead.

By ingesting enough Life Gold, it is possible to replace chipped or missing teeth, heavily-damaged organs and bones. Also, it works as a medicine to boost sexual function.

When ingested by monsters, it can cause special evolutions as their Rank increases.

For monsters without mouths (Cursed Weapons, Living Armors), there are cases where it takes effect just through direct physical contact.

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