A horde of enormous monsters advanced forward. They were grotesque-looking apes, covered in scales with countless tentacles emerging from their necks instead of heads.
Heinz, whose Attribute Values had been enhanced through Heroic Spirit Descent, slashed through one of them with a Radiant God Swordsmanship martial skill.
"Evil-destroying Radiant True Strike!"
The monster's body was split cleanly into two pieces, sending purple blood spraying into the air. But the other apes continued closing in, unperturbed by the death of their kin.
Another of the apes let out a roar that was unintelligible to humans, and swung both of its abnormally long arms down at Heinz.
"Heinz, don't concern yourself with the small fry! Hundred Roaring Shining Fists!" shouted Jennifer, unleashing a series of fist-blows that pierced the ape's hard scales.
"Jennifer's right, you need to finish off that evil god! My knife and bow don't have enough power to take him down!" said Edgar, looking up at the enormous, grotesque-looking Elder Dragon that was flying in the sky above them.
The Elder Dragon, the boss of this floor, had the overall shape of a hand, with five one-eyed heads.
"Alright!" Heinz told his companions.
"I shall support you," said Diana, and then she offered a prayer to Mill, the goddess of slumber. "My goddess Mill, suppress the power of slumber… Full Ability Awakening!" she chanted, casting an enchantment on Heinz that awakened the power that was sleeping inside him.
Perhaps becoming aware of this, the evil god's five eyes were filled with killing intent and it opened its mouths, pointing their fangs towards Heinz. An evil light, different from the blue light used by Heinz, ignited in the evil god's throats and expanded in an instant.
But Delizah forcibly drew the evil god's killing intent towards herself with a Flaming Light Shield Technique martial skill. "Super Provocation!" she cried.
The projectiles of light unleashed from the evil god's five pairs of jaws were all aimed at the small Dwarf woman. Each of these projectiles contained enough power to annihilate a modern fortress without leaving a single piece of rubble behind, and they closed in on Delizah with a speed that would make them impossible for her to avoid.
But Delizah raised her Orichalcum shield and doubled both its defensive power and magical resistance with her martial skills. "Radiant Steel Wall, Radiant Steel Form!" she shouted, withstanding the evil god's attacks and holding her ground.
This seemed to infuriate the evil god; even though the effects of Super Provocation had worn off, it tried to release projectiles of light in Delizah's direction once more.
But its attention was too focused on Delizah. Heinz, using a Magic Item to climb into the sky, raised his sword.
"Transcend Limits, Transcend Limits: Holy Sword… Luminous Slash!" he shouted, cutting the evil god in two.
The evil god shrieked and struggled in vain with its four uninjured heads, but in the end, every single head was slashed off its neck by Heinz's blade.
After defeating the grotesque, giant apes that had appeared with the evil god, Heinz and the rest of the Five-colored Blades treated their injuries. Now, they were sitting on the stairs to the fiftieth floor, having a meal.
"So, that was the 49th floor. Considering what the heroic spirits were saying, I still can't see the end being anywhere near," said Heinz.
"You're right. In fact, it was as if the real challenge is only just about to start," said Edgar.
In this Dungeon, they were returned unharmed to a safe 'town' whenever they died, but during their runs, they had to treat their injuries and recover from their fatigue on their own. The most efficient way might have been to simply kill themselves and return to the 'town' after clearing a floor, but… none of them actually did it.
Even if they knew they were not really dying, the pain that they felt was real, and if they became too accustomed to this abnormal situation, there was no guarantee that their senses would return to normal when they left the Dungeon.
In any case, this was a trial given to them by a god, designed to make them surpass the champion Bellwood. Using such a cunning method would go against the expectations of the god who had given them the trial.
"Joshua was kind of like, 'You've got a long way to go.' What about the rest of you?" Heinz asked.
"Gorsh was similar," said Jennifer.
"I think Firlietta was the same," said Diana.
They were talking about the heroic spirits, who descended upon them through the Heroic Spirit Descent Skill that they had gained. It seemed that the heroic spirits standing in their way on the 30th floor was a trial for that purpose.
As the heroic spirits were former humans, they had a more powerful consciousness than many familiar spirits. Thus, when Heinz and his companions used Heroic Spirit Descent, they could feel the heroic spirits' wills.
It wasn't enough to have a conversation, but enough to have a vague idea of what the heroic spirits felt… Incidentally, spirit clones of gods possessed more power than heroic spirits, and in cases when they descended upon a human, the human would not be able to completely understand the will of the god's spirit clone. Unless the human had incredible compatibility with the god, they would not understand anything at all.
"That bastard Luke… I feel like he was snorting at me," said Edgar.
"I wonder why that heroic spirit even responds to you activating the Skill," said Delizah.
"They're probably deliberately being harsh on us to push us harder. After all, it doesn't seem like this Dungeon is going to end at the next floor," said Heinz.
The party had tried to estimate how far through this Dungeon the current floor was, but they had arrived at the conclusion that they were still far from the final floor.
In fact, the floors they had been clearing recently all felt easier than the 30th floor where they had fought the heroic spirits… though this might have been because the heroic spirits were abnormally powerful, making them more formidable opponents than the powerful monsters led by evil gods.
"But I think we're about halfway through," said Delizah, running a finger along a scratch on her Orichalcum shield. "After we fought the heroic spirits on the 30th floor and acquired Heroic Spirit Descent, we've only been fighting against monsters that have almost no information documented in the archives of the Mages' Guild and Church. I think they're monsters created directly by the Demon King Guduranis and the evil gods that were his subordinates."
"You're probably right," said Edgar. "After all, I have no idea how the giant tentacle-apes we defeated just now were even alive. I tried to tear up their organs with my martial skill, but there was only muscle inside their abdomens, you know? It's like the evil gods are trying to make a bad pun, saying "there are no organs."
TLN: "There are no organs" is a pun that doesn't translate to English at all. The word for "organs" is 内臓/naizou, and the sentence is also ended with "naizou" so the sentence is "naizou ga naizou." Yes, it's a Japanese dad joke.
Indeed, monsters were creatures too. They could undergo extreme physical changes by increasing their Rank and possess peculiar abilities from birth, but they were no different from other organisms in the fact that they had to eat to nourish themselves and reproduce to produce offspring and preserve their own species.
However, these monsters didn't possess the organs for these things.
"It is said that in the age of the gods, the evil gods frequently created monsters that had more power in exchange for being unable to do anything but fight, in order to combat the powerful champions," said Diana. "It is written that most of them were defeated by the champions and their followers, but the few surviving monsters could not even survive for long after their creation, let alone leave offspring behind, so after the war against the Demon King, all that was left of them were the memories inside the minds of the gods."
These monsters had only appeared during the war; no official names had been given to them and no research into them had been conducted. They were merely creatures that had come into and disappeared from existence according to the needs of the evil gods that created them.
"… Even though I know the ones we just fought were illusions rather than the real thing, I feel pity for them. And we know what a grave sin it is to create and play with life at your own whim, even if they are monsters," said Heinz. "… I wonder if Bellwood noticed this and was bothered by it as well? Perhaps Alda wanted to teach that to us?"
"Heinz, you're going off-topic. What Delizah and Edgar are trying to say is that we're facing evil gods and monsters from the age of the gods, so maybe we've made it quite deep into the Dungeon," said Jennifer. "Right?" she added, looking at Delizah and Edgar, who nodded.
"Well, Bellwood and the other champions apparently defeated those monsters like… D-class adventurers hunting Kobolds, and even defeated the weaker evil gods without a problem," said Delizah. "Still, I'd like to think that we've at least made it about halfway through."
"Yeah. We could make a guess if we knew what kind of evil god that was, but… Diana, do you have any idea?" Edgar asked.
"Unfortunately, that evil god is not in my knowledge. It did not name itself either, after all," said Diana.
She did not know of any Elder Dragon evil god with five one-eyed heads… Fidirg, the dragon god of five sins.
"There were apparently several evil gods serving the Demon King whose existence was deliberately left unrecorded. If their names were left behind, the people would fear them and that fear would become power for them," said Diana. "However, I have heard that most of those gods were those that were weak."
"It doesn't seem likely that the evil god we faced was an exception, and actually a high-ranking god," said Edgar.
"Of course not. If we could defeat a high-ranking evil god like that without sustaining a lot of injuries, we'd have been able to go into the deeper floors more quickly," said Jennifer.
"You're right," Edgar sighed.
All of their faces relaxed a little. They were aware that they were becoming stronger.
This Dungeon was an environment in which they faced numerous enemies that needed them to use all of their strength to defeat, the likes of which they now almost never encountered outside the Dungeon.
Even among people who possessed the Familiar Spirit Descent Skill, only one in a thousand could acquire the superior version, Heroic Spirit Descent. Heinz's companions had acquired this Skill on the 30th floor.
They had also changed Jobs twice more after clearing the 30th floor.
As they were now, Heinz believed that they could have conquered the Trial of Zakkart. However, he still could not fathom the intentions of the god who had created this Dungeon.
Does he want to turn us into warriors who could even face the Demon King? I've heard rumors that the Demon King has been resurrected, but… even if that's true, why would he go as far as to create this Dungeon and make it appear before us? And it said 'Bellwood's successor.'
No matter how much Heinz thought about it, he couldn't think of an answer. Knowing that the answer would be past these stairs, Heinz and his companions finished their rest and proceeded to the 50th floor.
"This is… a reproduction of some kind of underground temple or ruins?" Heinz murmured.
He and his party were standing in a dim space filled with rows of thick stone pillars that continued as far as the eye could see. The floors up until now had often contained large monsters, so most of them had been outdoors environments. They were slightly perplexed by this sudden change.
Their bewilderment grew as three silhouettes appeared from the shadows of the pillars. With the exception of the heroic spirits, they had mainly been fighting very much non-humanoid enemies up until now. On top of that, the silhouettes didn't look powerful at all.
But the silhouettes drew closer, and the moment they were clearly visible, Heinz and his companions' bewilderment turned into vigilance.
"Oi, isn't that her?! The one we finished off, the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia!" shouted Edgar.
There was an evil-looking woman with an abundance of sex appeal, her plump figure dressed in clothing with numerous slits. It was the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia, approaching Heinz and his companions mercilessly, as if she had left her hysterical personality behind.
"Then is the one next to her Gubamon? He matches the recorded description perfectly, an old man with large eyes, thin as a withered tree," said Delizah.
"But according to the rumors, he was defeated by someone. Though this is surely not the real Gubamon," said Diana.
The old man they were looking at… The Pure-breed Vampire Gubamon, didn't answer them either. It was as if he were an elaborately-crafted mannequin.
"Then this brat is the last Pure-breed Vampire that worships Hihiryushukaka, Birkyne… or not. I vaguely recognize him," said Edgar.
The last of the silhouettes was the smallest.
A lifeless-looking Dhampir boy with white hair, empty odd-colored eyes and wax-like skin.
"Vandalieu… Why are you in this Dungeon?" Heinz whispered, despite knowing that like the monsters and evil gods that had appeared before, this Vandalieu was not real.
He and his companions had only met him once, in the city of Niarki, but they had never forgotten him.
"Demon King's horns, activate."
"Demon King's carapace, activate."
"Demon King's blood and horns, activate."
This was the response from Vandalieu and the Pure-breed Vampires.
Curatos, the god of records, was the one who was largely in charge of managing and running the Dungeon that the Five-colored Blades were currently inside. The book he held was his symbol and also his divine authority, and he had it open as he watched Heinz and his companions.
"The Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia, recreated from the records of Heinz and his companions themselves, and the Pure-breed Gubamon and the Vandalieu from back then, recreated from the records of the Liberating Princess Knight before she fell into darkness," said Alda, joining Curatos.
"Yes. The Pure-breed Vampires would no longer be a worthy foe to Heinz and his four companions if they faced them one by one… I made them appear on the same floor to emphasize how much of an anomaly Vandalieu is," said Curatos. "Of course, the Vandalieu that I have recreated will fight even more harshly than the real Vandalieu from back then, so Heinz and his companions should not be able to defeat him so easily."
The Vandalieu and the Pure-breed Vampires recreated by Curatos did not possess their original personalities. Unlike the heroic spirits, they had not descended upon the Dungeon directly, so they were little more than puppets in the end.
However, because of that, the recreated copy did not have the naivety that the real Vandalieu had. It would not hold back in consideration of the allies that fought alongside it, and it would likely utilize poison and disease-creating spells that the real Vandalieu had not used back then.
Of course, Dead Spirit Magic had been recreated as well.
"Are you not going to recreate the other Pure-breed Vampire, Birkyne?" Alda asked. "If I recall, there should be records of him, even if they are from the very distant past."
"He is still alive," said Curatos. "If I recreated him based on information from ancient records, and he was considerably weaker than his present self, Heinz and his companions might make incorrect assumptions about him if they were to encounter the real one. Thus, I have left him out."
"I see… Your divine authority is a thing to behold," Alda said in praise. "Without you, stimulating the development of Heinz and his companions using this Dungeon would not have gone so well."
"No, my lord," said Curatos, shaking his head. "This divine authority is only able to create these elaborate illusions inside a special Dungeon such as this. It served no purpose during the battle in the age of the gods, and it will serve no purpose in the approaching war against the new Demon King. I am merely making as much effort as I can while I may still be of use."
There were no Churches for Curatos himself; there were no specific believers of the god of records. He had recorded a great deal of knowledge since the age of the gods, but he did not possess a single authority related to combat.
He knew with certainty that his power had no place to be used other than here.
"After this, I shall have them fight against monsters and evil gods of the Demon King's army once more from the 51st floor, and then from the 60th floor, their enemies will mostly be Vandalieu's servants. I will place the Vandalieu that defeated the 'Five-headed Snake' Ervine on the 65th floor. From the 66th floor onwards, it will be the Demon King's army from the age of the gods, Vida's faction as well as the Storm of Tyranny and Randolf 'the True.'
"… We decided that nothing could be too difficult, after all," said Alda.
Curatos was forcing Heinz and his companions to face the ones that they would have to face once they left this Dungeon. The Storm of Tyranny, who were secretly believers of Vida, were a particularly large threat; it was possible that they would become an even larger threat than Vandalieu himself.
Unlike Vandalieu, who utilized Undead and grotesque monsters, the Storm of Tyranny were proper adventurers other than the fact that their actions were unprecedented.
Those unprecedented actions… passing immediate judgment on corrupt merchants and nobles that were incompetent politicians, were supported by the general public.
Even if it became public that they were believers of Vida and there was a Pure-breed Vampire and a Dark Elf among them, there would be those who would not stop supporting them.
It wasn't as if every single human living in lands controlled by the Amid Empire was a fanatical Alda believer, after all.
Randolf 'the True' wasn't a believer of Vida by any means, but… he was a man who took unpredictable courses of action when incidents occurred. In the past, he had been a promising young man, but he was now a shadow of his former self.
The gods watching over the area surrounding the Dungeon that Heinz and his companions were inside had once given a report that Randolf had appeared nearby, but he had apparently simply looked at the Dungeon from afar before disappearing once more.
The current Randolf was likely a withered version of his former self. As long as he could not be counted upon to fight, Alda would have Heinz and his companions face him along with Schneider.
And considering Vandalieu's development so far… Considering his abnormality, Alda needed Heinz and his companions to become powerful enough to defeat Randolf 'the True,' the Storm of Tyranny and a Vandalieu recreated from the latest records.
"More importantly, what about the other hero candidates? I am worried about them, as they are not able to complete trials like Heinz and his companions," said Curatos.
Zaress, the god of soldiers who had converted to Alda's faction, among other gods that were a part of Alda's forces, had chosen and given their divine protections to a number of heroes. These heroes would become fighting forces to face Vandalieu alongside Heinz and his companions in the future.
However, there were so many of them that they could not be given trials in special Dungeons like Heinz and his companions. Alda was a great god, but there were limits to his power.
"It seems that things are largely proceeding smoothly," said Alda. "By the time the coming battle is upon us, many of them will possess strength worthy of heroes… though the hero of Zaress, the god of soldiers, is a little behind," he added.
"The youngster who sealed away a rampaging fragment of the Demon King? In a way, that was rather unfortunate," said Curatos.
If that soldier had simply died, Zaress would have dispatched his spirit clone and his Artifact directly. The soldier had the right properties, but he was still just an average soldier in terms of ability, inferior even to a D-class adventurer. Thus, he had been unable to withstand Zaress's spirit clone descending upon him, suffering muscle pain in his entire body and stress fractures in a dozen or so places.
Of course, Zaress himself, having forcibly used this soldier, had spent more power than he had intended to.
It seemed that the soldier had regained consciousness after several days, but his development was considerably behind that of the other hero candidates.
"But it was a far better outcome than losing him. We have almost no time to search for other hero candidates, after all," said Curatos. "Have there been any changes inside the Boundary Mountain Range?" he asked.
"I have heard that there are not. However, it seems that it is true that Vida has been resurrected," said Alda.
There was a barrier covering the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range, so Alda and the other gods could only look upon it from afar. The eyes of gods could see things on the world's surface in detail even from above the clouds, but the barrier almost prevented them from seeing anything at all.
… Weaker familiar spirits and even heroic spirits insisted that their minds were abnormally affected when they spent long periods of time gazing at Talosheim, so even that was of no use.
However, Alda's forces did know the details of events inside the Boundary Mountain Region.
"There are several believers of Vida in the Orbaume Kingdom and outside the continent who have received Vida's divine protection. Among them, some of them have received Divine Messages. Some of them are frauds, but not all," said Alda.
"So, when your blood was spilled that time, it was the effect of the divine authority that punished Vida being destroyed," said Curatos.
"It is a difficult situation to acknowledge, but it seems that she is recovering her power after being released… recovering it far too quickly," Alda murmured.
After being wounded and weakened by Bellwood and Alda himself, Vida was impaled by numerous Stakes of Law, Alda's divine authority. On top of that, believers of Vida had been reduced to only small groups within human societies. Even if the divine authority was destroyed, Vida should have required at least a hundred years to regain enough power to grant individuals divine protections, unless she were to draw souls to herself before they were reincarnated and bestow her own flesh and blood upon them.
However, though it was only for a few individuals, Vida had granted her divine protection upon people after less than ten years. She was likely taking reckless actions like telling her believers of her own revival and trying to restore her religion once more, but according to Alda's plans, she shouldn't have even been able to do any of this.
"It is likely Vandalieu. He has united Vida's races within the Boundary Mountain Range and even made the monsters and Undead he has created worship Vida, which becomes her power," said Alda.
"To think that one of the glorious great gods… has now become accomplices with wicked evil gods," Curatos muttered, looking down miserably. "Could it be that he has corrupted her?" he asked, not expecting an answer.
"I do not know," said Alda, knowing that the 'he' that Curatos referred to was… Zakkart, the champion chosen by Vida. "As your records show, he always possessed eccentric ideas, but he was never evil. In fact, he often strived to preserve peace between his companions, but… he began to conflict with Bellwood and became more unable to restrain himself from doing so. I thought that Vida went insane from the moment that he was lost, but now that I think upon it, perhaps she had been deceived by Zakkart from the beginning."
It was a dreadful scenario to think about. It was unclear as to whether Zakkart himself had done it intentionally, but he was a mere human who had skillfully deceived many gods, including Vida, in a way that was so secret that even Curatos possessed no records of it.
As Alda and Curatos were pondering this, a familiar spirit appeared.
"My lord, there has been a report regarding movements inside the Boundary Mountain Range," the familiar spirit said, giving a bow. "There are monsters that have never been seen before stationed in Talosheim. There also seems to have been a large-scale celebration. In addition to the grotesque monsters patrolling the city's surroundings, the members of Vida's races and repulsive Undead are making noise and throwing something into the air."
Even though the barrier covering the Boundary Mountain Range was to blame, Alda frowned at the lack of clarity in the information that had been presented to him as he brought his thoughts back to the present.
"It is not a ceremony for an army's departure, is it?" he asked.
"Though we cannot be certain, that is unlikely," the familiar spirit replied. "There have been no signs of anything like an army being formed."
"Curatos, is today Vida's festival day?" Alda asked.
"… No, there should be no special occasions on this day," said Curatos. "However, I do not possess any records from after Vida's races escaped into the Boundary Mountain Range, so it is possible that some new festival day has been created."
This sounded plausible, and Alda was almost satisfied by Curatos's explanation. Festival days were important events for gods. They were essential for maintaining religions that did not change from day to day.
However, Alda suddenly realized something. "… Something was thrown into the air? Explain to me what that was, in detail," he ordered the familiar spirit.
Performances in Lambda's festivals often included using magic to scatter flower petals in the wind or decorate building walls and the night sky with colored light. Firing spells that produced loud sounds towards the sky was another popular celebratory method. However, the familiar spirit had referred to these mundane things merely as 'something.'
The familiar spirit didn't seem to understand the significance of this, either. "That is… they threw spherical objects about the size of human heads. They appeared to be Magic Items that explode with a loud noise and scatter unusually-colored flames into the night sky. We are observing from outside the barrier, so we cannot say what exactly they are, however," the familiar spirit explained. "However, there are some who have previously observed several humans testing the explosive power of these spheres; I believe these are the same spheres."
"It seems that they are using Magic Items created as weapons in a festival performance, Alda," Curatos said, summarizing the familiar spirit's explanation.
But the familiar spirit's words had ignited an old memory inside Alda's mind.
"It cannot be… Fireworks," Alda muttered. "Are you saying that they contain gunpowder?"
Curatos was aghast.
"Fireworks? My lord, what are fireworks –?" the familiar spirit began to ask.
"I forbid you to speak of anything that you have just heard! Leave! Leave, immediately!" Curatos ordered the familiar spirit.
"As you will!" the familiar spirit shouted hastily, and then he vanished.
Once he was sure the familiar spirit was gone, Curatos turned to Alda. "My lord Alda, carelessly speaking words that must not be spoken is most unlike you," he said. "Could it be that Vandalieu has even created gunpowder… The thing that Bellwood described as the most terrible invention?"
Most technology from foreign worlds was denied by Alda and Bellwood's teachings. That was a rule that was in place in order to ensure that Lambda had the space to develop its own culture and civilization, but there were also some technologies that were designated as forbidden in order to protect the world itself.
In Bellwood's world, steam engines had destroyed forests and polluted the atmosphere. Fossil fuels had polluted the atmosphere and ocean, and had even become a resource that wars were fought over. But the most terrible invention, gunpowder, had given birth to countless weapons that had taken countless lives.
Unlike the nuclear weapon that the champion Zakkart had tried to recreate, these weapons could be mass-produced even without the special powers of a champion as long as one possessed the knowledge of how to create them. Thus, this was considered a dangerous technology.
"However, even Vandalieu is a being who was born in this world. Is it not impossible to create gunpowder from nothing? No, it is possible that inside the Trial of Zakkart… Gufadgarn, who protected Zakkart's relics, could have preserved it. It is possible that Vandalieu saw it and recreated it from that," said Curatos.
But another fearsome possibility occurred to Alda.
Vandalieu had accomplished incredible feats, possessed astounding ideas, wielded a power that no others had, and was a Guider who knew of technology from foreign worlds. Based on all of this, there was only one possible conclusion.
"Could it be that Vandalieu is a being who has been summoned here from another world?" Alda murmured.
If this was true, if Vandalieu was the same as Bellwood and the other champions, that would explain his abnormality.
"That cannot be true, Alda!" Curatos shouted, unsettled. "It has been recorded that he was born in this world as a Dhampir! Unless he was reincarnated here… No, that cannot be. Rodcorte himself was so infuriated by our summoning of the champions from a foreign world; there is no way that he would do such a thing without consulting us at all…!"
However, Curatos and Alda both knew that Rodcorte could have done this.
It was true that Rodcorte had been against the summoning of the champions. However, the reason for that was that the summoned champions had been inhabitants of a world that his circle of transmigration system did not manage. He did not oppose the summoning of inhabitants from other worlds entirely.
Wouldn't Rodcorte have no qualms with reincarnating souls from another world within his own circle of transmigration system into Lambda, most likely with their previous memories and knowledge intact?
"I do not want to believe it, but… Curatos, keep this matter only between you and myself. Do not cause a fuss, and do not make any hasty moves," said Alda.
"Understood, my lord," said Curatos.
This was merely a suspicion, and there was no proof. However, if this suspicion turned out to be true, then Alda could not trust a single child in this world.
"So, Rodcorte has sent reincarnated individuals into this world. And he is either planning something using Vandalieu, or he has been unable to completely control him," said Alda. "We must first confirm what is true and what is not."
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"The Levels of the Multi-Cast, Armor Technique, Shield Technique, Unarmed Fighting Technique, Group Binding Technique and Surpass Limits: Fragments Skill have increased!"
Vandalieu had recently been having very unpleasant dreams. His life was going very well – He had achieved one of his life goals, the resurrection of his mother Darcia, and he had recently changed Jobs to Spirit Warrior. And yet, despite that, he was seeing extraordinarily terrible things in his sleep.
He wasn't entering the dreams of others to hand them something (like a divine protection), nor had his senses become entangled with those of one of his Demon King Familiars.
They were dreams of a fight to the death against the Five-colored Blades, led by the detestable 'Blue-flamed Sword' Heinz. However, if that was all, the dreams would not have been that unpleasant… There were several unpleasant things in the dream, and these made the dreams very unpleasant for Vandalieu.
First of all, he could not move his body freely. His field of vision and even his mouth did not reflect Vandalieu's will. No matter what he tried, his body was controlled by someone else.
Well, it was a dream, so perhaps this could not be helped. However, the unpleasant parts of the dream could not be excused with 'Because it's a dream.'
"I don't know why you've appeared here… nor do I know why you carry the Demon King's fragments," said the Heinz in Vandalieu's dreams.
Heinz and his companions were slightly older in Vandalieu's dreams than they had been when Vandalieu encountered them in the city of Niarki and when they fought against Ternecia. The magic sword that emitted blue flames hadn't changed, but it seemed that the rest of the party's equipment had been replaced by higher-quality items.
Perhaps this was the reason, but the Five-colored Blades in Vandalieu's dream were very clearly stronger than when he had observed them through Lemures.
Back then, the Five-colored Blades had allowed Ternecia to escape from a five-on-one situation despite having her cornered, but if they had been as they were now, they would certainly have been able to slay her without giving her a chance to flee.
I don't really hate that part of the dream, either. In fact, it's realistic and reassuring that they've become stronger than they were four years ago. But what I can't accept is… the fact that 'these guys' are treating me as an ally, Vandalieu thought.
The 'these guys' that Vandalieu referred to were the Pure-breed Vampires Ternecia and Gubamon, who were quietly cackling beside him. He fiercely refused to accept this.
They had never considered him as an ally, let alone fought alongside him.
"But we shall defeat you today!" Heinz declared as he and his companions faced Vandalieu with resolve in their expressions.
Against Vandalieu's will, the Vandalieu inside the dream moved in unison with Ternecia and Gubamon to engage the Five-colored Blades in battle.
It was true that Vandalieu had transplanted parts from the Live-dead Ternecia into Bellmond and Eleanora, and that he had used the Demon Eye of Destruction recovered from Gubamon as one of the materials for Darcia's new body.
But why did he have to fight alongside these enemies whose souls he had destroyed, even if it was a dream?
The thing that made this even more unpleasant was that the Vandalieu in these dreams was far weaker than the present Vandalieu.
Among the fragments of the Demon King, I mainly use only the blood and horns. The ink sacs and suction cups are thrown in only occasionally, and I'm not using the eyeballs or antennae. I can use Dead Spirit Magic, but I can't summon Princess Levia and Orbia herself, nor can I call on Pete and the others from Group Binding Technique. I can't use Dark King Magic or Hollow King Magic like Death Cannon or Hollow Cannon. Most importantly, the Levels of my other Skills and my Attribute Values are much lower! Vandalieu cursed in his mind.
He wasn't looking at his Status in the dream, but the dream Vandalieu's movements were clearly slower and feebler than the current Vandalieu's, and his attacks were of poorer quality.
He wasn't even using the advanced Unarmed Fighting Technique martial skills that the current Vandalieu was capable of performing.
And for some reason, he had become unable to use Soul Devour. Even when he landed blows upon Heinz, Delizah and Jennifer, there were no signs of any damage to their Mana. It seemed that he could hinder their activated Heroic Spirit Descent Skills; there were shattering sounds as his attacks landed, but he didn't feel the sensation of actually destroying the heroic spirits' souls, so there was no point in this.
On the other hand, Heinz and his companions had clearly become more skilled than they had been when Vandalieu observed them fighting Ternecia. Their Attribute Values had become higher, of course, and they were even attacking Vandalieu with martial skills that he didn't know.
On top of that… this wasn't the first time that Vandalieu was having this dream. He had had dreams of this scenario numerous times. Each time, Vandalieu and the two Pure-breed Vampires had killed Heinz and his companions.
But every time Vandalieu had this dream, every member of the Five-colored Blades was growing stronger. To be more precise, it wasn't that their actual ability was increasing a significant amount. At first, they had seemed to be hesitant to attack, but that behavior had disappeared as Vandalieu kept having these dreams.
Using their experience from the previous day, they would come up with plans, prepare items… Yesterday, Vandalieu had been using surprise attacks with Sharp Tongue – an Unarmed Fighting Technique martial skill utilizing the effects of the Body Extension: Tongue Skill – to great effect. But in the dream that he was having now, it was largely ineffective.
The puppets created from ink using the Demon King's ink sacs were seen through straight away.
The Five-colored Blades were clearly learning from their experiences.
Perhaps they were learning how to fight against Ternecia and Gubamon as well as Vandalieu; they had become able to deal with the use of the Demon Eyes, spells and even martial skills that utilized the fragments of the Demon King.
Despite that, Ternecia, Gubamon and the Vandalieu inside the dream were not learning anything from the previous battles. They were showing the same openings they had shown in the previous dreams, and in tonight's dream, they were being wounded because these openings were being utilized.
It feels as if I've become an enemy in a video game that only moves according to a thought-process routine that someone has programmed, and Heinz and the others are the game's players. It might not be surprising for this to not make any sense. It's just a dream, after all. But… even for a simulation inside my dreams, isn't it too favored for my enemies? Vandalieu complained to himself in his mind as he watched Gubamon fall beside him, his Demon King's carapace shattered and his Demon Eye of Destruction crushed.
But it seemed that Heinz did not hear these words.
It wasn't that he wanted to talk to Heinz and his companions in a dream. He at least wanted to convince Jennifer and Diana to leave the Five-colored Blades, and ask them what relation they had to that Dhampir girl, but these things were meaningless to ask in a dream.
However –
"If you hold the Demon King's fragments in the real world as well… no matter what your circumstances are, even if you are the child of the woman that I let die, we must defeat you. The Demon King's fragments… We can't leave them be!" Heinz declared, seemingly shaking off his doubts as he closed in on Vandalieu.
It was extremely unpleasant for Vandalieu to hear such things without being able to respond.
This unpleasant feeling filled Vandalieu as Heinz cut through the wall of the Demon King's blood, the Impact-Negating Barrier, deflected a futile Unarmed Fighting Technique martial skill and buried his sword inside Vandalieu's body.
But the blade of Heinz's magic sword cut through Vandalieu's body, diagonally downwards from the shoulder. Vandalieu felt himself fall to his knees… felt the strength leave his body. In the corner of his vision, he could see pieces of what was Ternecia just moments ago, lying on the ground. The pieces showed no signs of regenerating.
It seemed that Heinz and his companions had finally achieved victory in tonight's dream.
"… From the bottom of my heart, I pray that this is just an illusion, and that things are different in reality," said Heinz, averting his gaze from Vandalieu and closing his eyes.
Indeed, things were different in reality. The real Vandalieu had become far stronger than the one that had been defeated in this dream. He had absorbed numerous fragments of the Demon King and increased his Attribute Values as well as his Skill Levels. He even had the Gyubarzo staff, and he had true companions at his side.
He would never allow a situation where things were so convenient for Heinz.
I'll definitely kill you, Vandalieu thought, and he got the feeling that his mouth finally managed to move; the dream Vandalieu managed to utter the same words.
But in the next moment, Vandalieu's consciousness faded.
"The Levels of the Rapid Regeneration, Enhanced Agility, Surpass Limits: Fragments, Transcend Limits, Materialization and Abyss Skills have increased!"
"Spirit Form has awakened into Soul Form!"
"Artillery Technique Skill has awakened into Demon King Artillery Technique!"
Heinz turned his gaze back towards Vandalieu in surprise, but Vandalieu was already turning into dust and disappearing.
"Heinz, are you alright?" Edgar asked.
"Y-yeah, it's nothing," Heinz replied, but he looked dumbfounded; it certainly did not look as if it was 'nothing.'
After arriving at the 50th floor, Heinz and his companions had suffered ten consecutive defeats against Vandalieu and the two Pure-breed Vampires that had appeared there.
Approximately four years had passed since they fought Ternecia. During that time, Heinz had awakened his Guider Skill, and the entire party had undergone Job changes, gained divine protections and even acquired Heroic Spirit Descent. Despite that, they had been defeated ten times.
That was because the Vandalieu that could not possibly exist in the real world and the two Pure-breed Vampires had displayed incredibly advanced coordination, and yet each of them was prepared to sacrifice their allies without a moment's hesitation.
The carelessness and hysteria that Ternecia had displayed in reality had been absent during these battles, and Gubamon had remained calm throughout, never making any poor decisions as a result of anger or fear.
More importantly, Vandalieu had been an absolute anomaly. He had the appearance of a young boy, but he had created countless clones, freely cast spells that Heinz and his companions had never heard of, unleashed elemental spells (though these were actually Dead Spirit Magic Spells) while simultaneously using the Demon King's fragments, and attacked with a tongue that was coated in a deadly, venomous saliva and extended several meters.
On top of that, he had turned the ground, walls and ceiling into Golems. These Golems themselves were nothing more than small fry that Heinz and his companions could defeat with a single light swing of their weapons, but they had not been able to avoid losing their footing when the ground beneath them began to move.
However, the greatest reason that Heinz had suffered defeat to Vandalieu and the two Pure-breed Vampires ten times was a mental problem.
Long ago, Heinz's party had captured and handed a witch… a Dark Elf woman who had given birth to Dhampir, over to a high priest of Alda at the request of the Adventurers' Guild. Facing the boy who might be her son, Heinz's limbs had trembled and his swordsmanship had been dulled.
That had been taken advantage of, until yesterday.
"Are you really alright, Heinz? I have said it many times, and I think you know this yourself, but that was not the boy we met in the Adventurers' Guild in Niarki. It was just an illusion," said Diana. "And if the real him also possesses the Demon King's fragments, multiple of them, then… we must defeat him, as we have done up until now. That is the right thing to do. And doing so will become an act of atonement for you."
The fate of those infested by the Demon King's fragments, no matter who they were, was a loss of sanity and going on a rampage in a desire for the other fragments. Those with multiple fragments would undergo this process faster, and would become a greater threat once they did so.
The only thing that others could do for such individuals was to kill them as quickly as possible… This was common sense in human society.
"… I do understand that. That's why I was praying that things are different in reality," Heinz managed to say.
"Diana says that, but I personally can't believe that that was the real one," said Jennifer, controlling the tone of her voice so that it was bright, but not unnaturally so. "I mean, think about it. He cast spells that we don't know as well as strange elemental spells, created countless clones and used his tongue like a frog. In what world does a Dhampir like that exist? And those were all separate abilities from the Demon King's fragments, weren't they? Don't lose hope."
"I don't think the chance that he coincidentally found the Demon King's blood and got infested by it is zero, but I think the other things are simply impossible no matter how you think about it," Delizah added. "The fact that he had other fragments… No matter what kind of a genius he was, casting spells like that with Chant Revocation at that age… Turning the surrounding walls and pillars into Golems at will… All of those would be impossible, even for the kinds of mages whose names are written in legends."
It seemed that Jennifer and Delizah believed that such a Vandalieu could not exist in the real world. At the very least, this Vandalieu could not possibly be the Dhampir they had met in the city of Niarki, the son of the witch – Dark Elf – that Heinz was thinking of.
Heinz finally managed to take his mind off Vandalieu and got to his feet.
"Alright, once we've had some rest, we'll move on to the next floor – ugh!" he groaned mid-sentence, staggering.
"What is the matter, Heinz?!" asked Diana.
"Th-that's… It seems that he turned his own blood into poison as he was dealt the fatal blow…" Heinz muttered.
"That brat! How can he use such a cowardly trick when he's just an illusion!" Edgar spat.
"Diana, neutralize the poison! If Heinz dies here, we might have to start over from here tomorrow!" said Jennifer.
Diana managed to neutralize Vandalieu's parting gift that put Heinz on the verge of death, and the Five-colored Blades headed for the entrance to the next floor.
Watching them, Curatos, the god of records, felt disappointment at the failure of his plan.
Because the Pure-breed Vampire Birkyne was still alive, Curatos had not reproduced him. However, Curatos had reproduced Vandalieu, even though he was quite possibly still changing and becoming even more of an anomaly right this moment. He had done so to make the Five-colored Blades realize that Vandalieu was just as evil as – no, more evil than – the Pure-breed Vampires.
Unlike the Dhampir girl Selen who was under the protection of Heinz and his companions, Vandalieu played with lives, defiled the dead and put the entire world in danger. Curatos had wanted to show that to Heinz and his companions.
That was why Curatos had made Vandalieu use the Demon King's fragments at the beginning of the first battle. He had wanted to show the Five-colored Blades that Vandalieu possessed the Demon King's fragments and make them realize that Vandalieu was the one who had taken the horns from Ternecia, the one they had let escape.
However, this had not been enough to make Heinz and his companions completely change their perception of Vandalieu.
"As there is the trial on the 65th floor, there is no need for impatience," Curatos murmured to himself. "If they still possess doubts after that, there is also the option of recreating the Mirg shield-nation's battle against Talosheim and showing it to them."
Curatos was the god who governed records. It was a simple matter for him to show Vandalieu's wickedness to Heinz and his companions.
He knew that this would not be a pleasant experience for them. But it was necessary.
"Because eventually, they must awaken Bellwood who slumbers in the Labyrinth of Sin, a place that even my lord Alda cannot step foot into," Curatos reminded himself. "But… was that just a coincidence?"
Curatos was slightly suspicious. Had he programmed the recreated Vandalieu to attack with a trap even after it was destroyed?
But Vandalieu had been known to cast a spell that turned his own blood into a deadly poison, so Curatos turned his attention to planning the structure of the trials of the 51st floor and beyond, convincing himself that the recreated Vandalieu had simply happened to do so the moment before it was destroyed.
"That's an unpleasant, or rather, scary dream," said Kanako, who had been transformed into a Chaos Elf by Darcia.
That was her opinion about the dream that Vandalieu had just had, which he had told her immediately after waking up.
"… I didn't feel like it was scary, though," said Vandalieu, blinking several times in surprise.
"No, we thought they were scary when we heard about them, too!" said Isis.
"Yeah, Hitomi-chan said she thought they're scary, too," said Jack.
"They are scary, right?" said Kanako, putting her hands on her hips as the others agreed with her. "I mean, they're dreams where you fought enemies that were weak at first but got stronger and stronger, and in the end, you were killed. Those are nightmares! Like a horror story!"
"I see. If you think about it that way, they are indeed scary dreams," said Vandalieu.
"… It seems like you imagined it and understood, but you're still not convinced, right, Onii-chan?" said Kanako.
Vandalieu narrowed his eyes as he ignored a certain part of Kanako's sentence, then nodded. "Well, yes. It's just a dream, after all."
A dream where he was wounded and eventually killed. No matter how vivid and realistic the dream was, Vandalieu had not felt any fear, as his constantly-active Danger Sense: Death had given no response.
It was a spell that detected any kind of danger of death, and since it had not given any response, Vandalieu had known that he would not actually die, no matter how gruesome a death he died in the dream. As he had been sure of this, he felt no fear, even if he did find the dreams unpleasant.
"But if it was a dream of Heinz killing Mom and everyone else, then I probably wouldn't have been able to stay calm, even with no response from Danger Sense: Death," Vandalieu added.
Another large reason why he had felt no fear was that the ones dying in the dream were only himself as well as Ternecia and Gubamon, who had been hated enemies and certainly could not be called his friends. No matter what kind of horrible fates those two met, Vandalieu felt nothing.
If they had been Darcia, Eleanora, Zadiris, Borkus or any of his other companions, he would not be as composed as he was now.
Kanako hesitated a little before asking: "… Onii-chan, am I included in that 'everyone?'"
"There's no way that you wouldn't be included," Vandalieu replied immediately, ignoring a certain part of her sentence once more. "Kanako, you are one of my companions and a citizen of Talosheim."
"Th-thank you so much, Onii-chan!" she cried emotionally, embracing Legion and rubbing her cheek against the cheek of Vandalieu, who was buried inside Legion with only his face sticking out.
Kanako's behavior seemed to set Legion's members off, too.
"Vandalieu, what about us?" asked Isis.
Berserk gave a questioning growl.
"Yeah, what about us?" asked Baba Yaga.
Legion moved forward, burying the top half of Kanako's body in them as well.
A minute later, Legion realized that Kanako was performing a frantic dance with just her legs, and released her. She gasped for air, shoulders heaving, before finally speaking again.
"So, Onii-chan, there's a reason for this sneaky event where the younger sister goes to wake up her sleeping Onii-chan," Kanako said.
"… Was it that kind of event?" Vandalieu asked.
Kanako suddenly averted her gaze.
"Kanako just came in while Vandalieu was sleeping with us, right?" said Pluto.
"Who's the one who saw us and screamed?!" said Isis.
"It can't be helped! Anyone would be shocked if they saw Onii-chan buried inside Legion up to his neck!" Kanako shouted defensively.
Indeed, due to his recent unpleasant dreams, Vandalieu had been sleeping with Legion… buried inside them from his neck down.
Incidentally, he had slept with the Patchwork Hydra Zombie Yamata the previous night, and with the larvae in the Gehenna Bees' nest the night before that. It was like a reverse body pillow effect.
"Ah, these dreams are to be kept a secret from Mom. I don't want to make Mom worry over something unimportant like this," said Vandalieu.
"Yes, yes," Kanako said quickly. "So, the reason I'm here is, I wanted to put you in a good mood so that I could ask you to make a personal transformation staff for Darcia-Mama too, Onii-chan."
"… I think Vandalieu would operate the same as always if all you did was put him in a bit of a good mood after waking up," said Shade.
"Shade's right. Especially since you're trying to put him in a good mood all the time anyway," Enma pointed out.
"Ugh, I've become such a cheap woman…!" Kanako lamented, hanging her head.
"By the way, it's become pretty difficult to ignore now, so I have to ask. Why are you calling me 'Onii-chan?'" Vandalieu finally asked.
Kanako recovered immediately, looking energetic again in an instant. "About that, Darcia-san turned me into a Chaos Elf, didn't she? I didn't gain an Orichalcum skeleton, but thanks to her, my Night Vision has turned into Dark Vision, I've gained the Rapid Regeneration Skill, I've become able to change the shape or color of a part of my body using Chaos… So, when someone transforms another person into a member of one of Vida's races, they're like parent and child, right? That's why Darcia is Mama, and you're Onii-chan," she said happily.
"… You don't have to force yourself, you know. You're my former classmate, Kanako-san," said Vandalieu.
"No, I'm not really forcing myself," said Kanako. "Ah, could it be that you'd prefer 'Nii-san' or 'Ani-gimi?'"
TLN: I'm sure you've all heard 'Nii-san' before; 'Ani-gimi' is an uncommon and very formal way to refer to your older brother.
"No," said Vandalieu, immediately shaking his head.
"Really? But Aniki or Ani-ue doesn't really work with my gender…"
"Please call me by my name."
"Hmm, I see. Vandalieu, you're developing your secondary sexual characteristics and you'll go into puberty soon, and you'll eventually have twice as many women as you do now. So I was thinking that I should make you seem as impressive as possible," Kanako explained.
It seemed that she was having similar worries to the Four Drakonid Elders of the Drakonid nation.
"I don't think I'll have twice as many. I postponed those kinds of talks with the people from the Drakonid nation, too," said Vandalieu.
"But Vandalieu, Schneider and the others are going around the villages of Vida's races on the Amid Empire side of the continent, so won't you have more relationships from that?" said Pluto.
Her point was reasonable, though it was unlikely that there would be a candidate from every village.
"… So, a personal transformation staff for Mom," said Vandalieu, forcibly returning to the original topic. "I won't ask why you want me to make one and give it to her, since I can imagine your reasons."
"You can, right?" said Kanako with a nod, making no attempt at hiding them.
Having been resurrected as 'Vida's incarnation,' Darcia had gained a passionate popularity among the nations inside the Boundary Mountain Range.
There was a movement to erect a statue of Darcia beside the statue of Vida in every nation's Churches, and although sermons and festivals were being held back for now because she had only just been resurrected recently, there were many proposals to hold them once a certain amount of time had passed.
Schneider had heard the news of Darcia's resurrection through a Goblin communication device. He had said that Vandalieu, Darcia or both might need to come to the villages that the Storm of Tyranny could not persuade.
That was how great an impact the goddess's incarnation had. If Darcia were to wield a transformation staff, the popularity of magical girls would not remain among children and a small group of fans; it would spread among all of the people inside the Boundary Mountain Range… and even possibly among Vida's races that lived on the outside, as well as believers of Vida in human societies.
There was no way that Kanako would miss that possibility.
"Which means the answer is no after all, right? Well, it can't be helped, can it," said Kanako.
"Yes, it hasn't been long since Mom's resurrection, so it will take some time to complete," said Vandalieu.
"You're right. No matter how effective transformation staves are, you won't let your mother become an exhibition… wait, you will?!" she asked startled.
She had actually come here assuming that the answer would be no, but Vandalieu had already begun work on creating a transformation staff for Darcia.
"Kanako, since I'm the emperor, I fully understand that my mother will draw a lot of attention," said Vandalieu. "In any case, transformation staves are liquid metal clothes that serve as armor and magical support equipment, what you would have called 'media' in Origin. They're not dubious items."
That was how Vandalieu perceived transformation staves. It was true that the post-transformation clothing of the transformation staves was a little revealing by Earth's standards.
But Zadiris and Zandia had always worn highly-revealing clothes from the beginning. Darcia had also worn tight clothes that revealed the curves of her body back when she was a Dark Elf.
That was why Vandalieu did not really mind… though there were technical problems involved as well. Increasing the surface area of the cloth too much would add a lot of weight, as they were made of liquid metal, and it would become more difficult to maintain the bonds between the fibers of the clothing.
That was why he did not really have any objections to giving Darcia a transformation staff. In fact, he was building it with the desire of making it his mother's best outfit.
"Then is it alright for Darcia-Mama to become a Magical Girl?" Kanako asked.
"Mom is free to make her own choice as to whether to take that Job, and it's up to her whether she wants to use a transformation staff," Vandalieu replied. "As a severe mother-con, it's only natural for me to try to provide her with the best equipment possible."
"Even if you're aware that you are one, you don't have to actually say it out loud…" one of Legion's members muttered.
"Then I'll do my best to invite her on-stage once her transformation staff is done!" Kanako said happily.
It seemed that the possibility of Darcia becoming a magical girl and making a stage debut was now on the table.
"By the way, where's Melissa?" Vandalieu asked.
"No way! You prefer Melissa over me?!" Kanako cried.
"No, that's not what I mean. I was just asking because I thought that it's unusual for you two to not be together."
"Melissa is out shopping with Doug today. She said she wants to buy new clothes because her skin color's different now. She also said she wanted to have a meal with him to cheer him up from the fact that he's still a human despite drinking Vandalieu's blood," said Jack. "I think it's just a date, though," he added.
"You're right, Jack. Melissa and Doug have gone out on a date," said Hitomi.
It seemed that the two of them were busy with their own matters.
Suddenly, Vandalieu realized that Kanako had never invited Melissa to join her idol activities.
Though past events had brought them together as companions that got along well with each other, perhaps their private lives were separate.
Incidentally, Doug had tried drinking Vandalieu's blood together with Luciliano to see if they would transform from humans into a new race, but this had ended in failure.
This was a reproduction of the ritual in which a Pure-breed Vampire turned a human into a Noble-born Vampire, but no change had happened to them after they drank Vandalieu's blood while bathing in the sunlight.
If one were to ask Vandalieu, he would have said this was an obvious outcome, however. In fact, he would have liked to ask in return why they thought that doing this would bring about a transformation in the first place.
"Never mind Doug and Melissa's date; where is Darcia-Mama?" asked Kanako. "I want to hurry up and invite her into my idol unit."
"She was in a Dungeon until early morning, increasing her Level and testing her new body out, and she's inside the Job-changing room of the Explorers' Guild now because she's Level 100. It seems that she's having a hard time deciding which Job to take," said Vandalieu.
Meanwhile, as Vandalieu expected, Darcia was struggling to choose a Job, having made the Demon King familiar accompanying her wait outside the Job-changing room.
"What a hard choice… Who knew there would be so many! What should I do?" she murmured to herself.
Darcia's resurrection had reset her Job history. When she touched the crystal ball, a countless number of available Jobs had been displayed in her head, far more than she could have imagined.
There were apprentice Jobs of every kind, mage-type Jobs, warrior-type Jobs and even multiple creation-type Jobs. There weren't any peculiar Jobs that Vandalieu had made appear, nor were there any special Jobs like Guider Jobs, but there were many Jobs that Darcia had never heard of.
This was because Darcia's Attribute Values and Skill Levels were high, thus meeting the requirements of acquiring numerous Jobs even though it was her first Job change. But the biggest factor was that unlike Vandalieu, she did not bear the 'Cannot learn existing Jobs' curse.
"There's even the Spirit Warrior Job. Vandalieu has already acquired this Job, so it's alright… and it doesn't seem like there are any other Jobs that Vandalieu hasn't acquired yet."
It was unclear as to up to which point the 'Cannot learn existing Jobs' curse deemed Jobs as 'existing,' but the truth was that if someone else were to acquire a Job, Vandalieu would certainly become unable to acquire it. Worried about this, Darcia had asked Vandalieu which Jobs were currently available to him at this point in time.
"The 'Wild Spirit' and 'Dark Battery Cannoneer' Jobs that he said were there when he acquired Spirit Warrior aren't there," Darcia continued to mutter to herself. "Then I just need to choose a Job from here, but… which should I pick? Should I start with the reliable 'Mage' Job? Or should I choose a Job that seems like it will increase the Levels of superior Skills? It wouldn't be bad to improve my water and wind attributes, which haven't awakened yet… I haven't learned Armor Technique or Shield Technique yet, but maybe I should take Demon Eye User to become more skilled in using the Demon Eye of Regeneration."
The Spiritual Magic Skill that Darcia had once possessed was only Level 2, as real spirits did not exist in Vida's Divine Realm and she had only managed to practice with fake spirits. The Levels of her Skills allowing her to use water- and wind-attribute magic were Level 10, but they had not awakened into superior Skills yet. Perhaps she ought to improve those?
Or should she acquire a combat-type Job with the aim of awakening superior Skills that would allow her to fight in close-quarters combat? Or should she take Guardian Warrior in order to make use of the resilience granted to her by Divine Metal Skeleton, and acquire the Armor Technique and Shield Technique Skills… thus making up for her weaknesses?
As a third choice, perhaps Demon Eye User was a good idea.
The Demon Eye of Destruction taken from Gubamon had become the Demon Eye of Regeneration, a Demon Eye with the complete opposite properties, as a result of the reconstruction of Darcia's body. The cause of this was unknown, but it was likely because Vandalieu had combined the root of life with all kinds of materials, or because Darcia's mind had spent time in the Divine Realm of Vida, the goddess of life and love, or a combination of all of these factors.
Darcia considered the benefits of becoming skilled in the use of this Demon Eye. It was a Demon Eye that regenerated those that it gazed at, allowing her to use it to heal others, but there were also all kinds of other uses for it.
If she stared at them for a while, cracked vases, torn paintings and broken swords would all return to their original form; she could even restore such items from numerous fragments, as long as they were a certain size… though she wasn't able to regenerate missing Orichalcum from broken fragments, which would allow her to produce infinite quantities of it.
But even that might become possible to some extent if she improved her skill in the use of the Demon Eye of Regeneration.
"But still… Hmm…"
Looking from option to option, Darcia was having difficulty making a decision. She had never had problems deciding when she was a Dark Elf, since there hadn't been so many Jobs, but…
"But I'm happy just to be able to change Jobs at all. I've heard that there are people who struggle after going to the Adventurers' Guild because no Jobs appeared… but are there any Jobs that look like they'll give bonuses to both combat-type and magic-type Skills?" Darcia wondered. "I want to be useful when Vandalieu goes to the Orbaume Kingdom, after all."
Soon… Likely sometime after next year, Vandalieu would go to the Orbaume Kingdom.
His objectives there were things that he had failed to achieve before – creating allies within the kingdom, registering at a Guild like the Commerce Guild to obtain identification and guarantee his place in society, setting up a base to gather intelligence… as well as the objective of disposing of Murakami and those with him, who had apparently been reincarnated there. If possible, he also wanted to erase the Pure-breed Vampire Birkyne.
Vandalieu had also explained that he wanted to unite the believers of Vida inside the kingdom as the 'Holy Son of Vida' if he could.
"It'll be after me and Vandalieu's bodies become stable, and he's received the Demon King's fragments from the Pure-breed Vampires that are sleeping in Vida's Resting Grounds… so the start of next year, I suppose," Darcia murmured. "I want to become able to fight alongside Vandalieu by then. Not that I know if there'll be an opportunity for that."
While Vandalieu was away from Talosheim, it was possible that the Storm of Tyranny might ask her to help convince the members of Vida's races on the outside.
They were having trouble convincing the elder chieftains of the hidden Dark Elf villages, including the one that was Darcia's birthplace.
The truth was that Darcia was actually related to one of the elder chieftains. From that chieftain's point of view, Darcia was just one out of his many dozens, many hundreds of descendants; he had only met her once when Darcia was a child, but that was the extent of the relationship between them.
Well, she did imagine that Schneider and Dalton were relying on her status as Vida's incarnation.
"If possible, I want to take Vandalieu with me and have him meet Mother and Father, though. Ah, oh no. I need to focus on choosing a Job right now," said Darcia, starting to look for a convenient Job once more.
But she was having trouble finding such a Job among the ones available to her.
Should she try out several Jobs that gave widespread bonuses, or should she stop here and consult Vandalieu first?
As Darcia pondered this choice, one Job suddenly caught her eye.
"… Magical Girl, the Job that Zadiris-san and Kanako-san have acquired. If I recall, it's a Job that apparently gives bonuses to combat-related Skills as well as magic-related Skills. And it seems like it would be easy to gain popularity from those around me… Maybe it would help me with my work as the incarnation of the goddess?" she wondered. "The problem is that I'm not a 'girl…' Well, that's fine, right? I'm 0 years old again now that I've gained a new body, after all."
And so, Darcia changed Jobs to Magical Girl.
Far away, in Vida's Resting Grounds, Vida may have been shouting, "Wait a second! You might become known as the goddess of magical girls!" But these words did not reach Darcia's ears.