Chapter 117 (1/2)

When the Familiar Spirit sent after Gubamon activated the Familiar Spirit Descent skill was destroyed by Vandalieu, Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, felt both surprise and relief

Having a bad feeling, he had immediately dispatched a weak, replaceable Fae he suffered

If he had dispatched his own spirit clone to save Gubaht about now, experiencing pain si his flesh and bone smashed to pieces

“… I suppose he is destined to be broken like Ternecia now”

As Hihiryushukaka had predicted, Gubarasp But in return, he had ed to acquire more information for Hihiryushukaka than expected as well

Considering the overall benefits of Gubamon’s work over the past hundred thousand years, Hihiryushukaka thought that Gubaht have been a capable subordinate God

But seeing Gubao mad and kill his subordinates ere Hihiryushukaka’s believers, Hihiryushukaka had half-given up on Gubamon Gubamon hadn’t offered his believers as sacrifices; he had sihtered them and reduced their numbers too much

But since Ternecia had been destroyed and Hihiryushukaka had no plans to obtain a replace Guba the number of cards in his own hand

That hy he had watched things unfold for a while, but thanks to that, he had learned that the Dhaerous skills other than the ability to break souls

“First, he possesses an ability that allows him to tame Undead Because of this, the forces that Gubaless Second, he has an enormous a’s allowing himents masterfully”

The ability to tarade on Hihiryushukaka’s divine protection

The volume and properties of Mana that allowed the si, so Encroach through the wielder’s sanity and Mana and sending the Dee

The latter was extrements were powerful There were differences between individual fragainst a hero equipped with Upper-class and Legendary-class arms made of Mythril and Adamantite

But in the end, this was borrowed power Gubamon and Ternecia had come up ays to combine it with their own martial skills, but even so, it was difficult to say that they had used that power to their full potential

However, Vandalieu was using this power masterfully as if it ca’s blood that he had acquired and the horns that he had taken from Ternecia, he even possessed the suckers and ink sacs that were supposed to be in the possession of Merrebeveil, the Evil God of Slime and Tentacles

That God, who had been taken in by Vida, had only acted through the Scylla for the past hundred thousand years Considering this, the Deiven to Vandalieu rather than stolen

Through Gubamon’s eyes, Hihiryushukaka had seen that there was a Scylla Ghost a the Ghosts that followed Vandalieu

And noith the De’s carapace taken froments

This was troubling news The Dereater pohen ments were co Guduranis who had co Hihiryushukaka, in a difficult battle against the champions and even destroyed four of those champions

“And that Job is problematic as well It seems that he acquired a Guider-type Job, just as Ternecia feared in the moments before her death And he possesses the Hostility skill as well”

Hostility was a superior version of skills such as Goblin Slayer and Dragon Slayer that increased the daainst certain enemies

Its effect was siainst all enemies

Because of this skill, the reflected effect of the Dee to Gubamon And unfortunately for hi’s carapace and used his enhanced defense to try and endure his enemy’s attacks

He had deliberately chosen to receive attacks fro effect

In hindsight, Gubaht have had a better chance to win the battle if he had fought steadily using the space-attribute ic and martial skills that he was proficient with, rather than relying on the Dement Further instead of turning them into Undead, he would have hadhis subordinates as decoys to buy time

In other words, Guba hi his own subordinates to turn them into Undead

He had gifted his ene his subordinates into Undead, had the power of his Demon Eye that he was overconfident in reflected back onto hi’s carapace, adopting a strategy of defending against the attacks of an ene skill

Considering the sizes of Gubamon and Vandalieu’s Mana pools, it was probably also a poor move to try and attack the Vampires who had once been Gubamon’s subordinates and the monsters that Vandalieu had produced from his body

Gubaht have been able to buy some time with this, but he had paid an enormous amount of Mana to do so The aer than the amount that Guba Vandalieu’s total Mana pool, it wasn’t a significant amount

There had been no way for Guba a noose around his own neck

But the problem was not Gubamon, whose fate had already been sealed, but whether Hihiryushukaka’s only re pawn, Birkyne, would be able to kill Vandalieu

Birkyne was inferior to Ternecia in offensive power and inferior to Guba Vandalieu?

As a Pure-breed Vampire, Birkyne was equal to Ternecia and Gubaic and h it wasn’t suited for direct co

His qualities were not those of a warrior or ist In a way, he was a man who believed in himself

“… It would be difficult”

The probability wasn’t zero, but Hihiryushukaka thought that Birkyne, as inferior in fighting strength to the other two Pure-breed Va Vandalieu, who had already defeated both

Vandalieu hadn’t fought Ternecia or Gubamon head-on But his power had increased remarkably since the time he faced Ternecia

If Hihiryushukaka asked himself whether Birkyne would be able to deal with Vandalieu’s development, he could only answer that it would be difficult

“But no matter how slim his chances of victory are, he must be victorious, or there will be no future for me”

News of Ternecia’s defeat had already spread beyond the Bahn Gaia continent Guba, too

If people lost their fear of Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, and no longer saw a reason to fear him, only his onfall would await him

Froe, but for Hihiryushukaka and the other evil Gods ere the re’s ar treated with contempt would be their end

The three Pure-breed Vampires had been very effective as billboards to instill fear, but… now, that had backfired on Hihiryushukaka

There was also the option of si, but Vandalieu, whose mother was a Dark Elf, would live between three thousand and five thousand years It was difficult to ie to escape hi

With that being the case, the best plan was to amble while he still had a chance at victory

“I suppose I shall form a plan that works under the assumption that Birkyne’s plan fails”

Hihiryushukaka turned his gaze towards Birkyne, as still unaware of Gubamon’s destruction

Two days after being abducted by Vampires, Iris Bearheart reappeared before her companions of the Sauron Liberation Front

“I’ilant, but isn’t it about time you believe me?” asked a wet-faced Iris

Her co holy water over her the moment she had reappeared

“As you can see, the color of s, and I still have a pulse I’m not a Vampire or an Undead,” she said

Finally, Debis and the others lowered their silver weapons that consisted of silver tableware

“Ojou… I’lad you’re safe!” Debis exclaimed

“I thought it was over If you’d come back a day later, I would have been forced to becoht!”

Wiping her wet face with a cloth that she had been handed, Iris returned the happy smile of her cos would remain in order even if she died at any moment, but she hadn’t desired death She was truly happy at being reunited with her companions

“But Ojou, just how did you escape the Vampires?” Debis asked

“About that… Debis, everyone, the Sauron Liberation Front has always been acting with the resolve to accept both good and evil,” said Iris

From the point of view of those who currently ruled the Sauron Duchy, the resistance was undeniably a group of crih ideals they had, they hadn’t been able to get by through clean actions alone They had even stained their hands with acts that ignored the principles of chivalry altogether

Debis’s betrayal of the slave merchant had been a spectacularly murky act for a member of the Mercenaries’ Guild

“But I have gained the resolve to tread through even murkier waters Do you have the resolve to follow me?” Iris asked her companions

The Sauron Liberation Front had made sure not to step over a certain line, but Iris’s coh murkier waters

“Ojou, could you possibly be speaking ofpacts with the Vampires?!”

“Iris-ojou, we s, those Vampires that worshi+p the Evil God of Joyful Life, I’m sure they have connections with the A to make use of us and then sell us out to the Empire in the end!”

Iris’s cohdeals with the Vampires orshi+pped the Evil God of Joyful Life was such a contaminated river that it made all of the past deeds they had done look like clear spring water

They were beings who scorned and trampled over the most basic rules that even applied in the underworld They could not be trusted to keep up their ends of any bargains That hat Iris’s co to tell her

“No, they’re not the ones we’re going to bea deal with an organization led by the one who defeated Gubamon, one of the leaders of the Vampires orshi+p the Evil God of Joyful Life, and saved me They offered me conditions and promised to offer us aid if these conditions are fulfilled”

“Gubamon? You mean a Pure-breed Vampire was defeated?! There’s no way…!”

“But look, Iris-ojou was taken by Gubamon’s subordinates, but she’s safe and back with us now, so it ht be true,” said Debis “Iris-ojou, just who in the world is this e of the Gods and asked us to tread through murkier waters?”

Iris looked at her surprised companions as she answered “Vandalieu-dono, a Dhampir with the title of ‘Holy Son of Vida,’ who is responsible for slaughtering the Mirg shi+eld-nation’s expedition arion of the continent The conditions that he offered are –”

The extermination force led by Mardock Zet had defeated Raymond and Rick, the Paris brothers who led the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army

Having received this inforston decided that he should be happy about this

The Paris brothers had been thethe resistance The Sauron Liberation Front led by the Liberating Princess Knight was troublesome as well, but the Reborn Sauron Duchy Aranizational capability, and they were a powerful ene their ranks

Many units that had underestireat losses

This resistance organization had been exterminated, so as an uni that Kurt should be happy about

“But it is quite surprising that two such i in a place like this And even ht us their heads,” Kurt said with a s Mardock, who had come to deliver this report

Kurt was truly happy from the bottom of his heart

Now quickly, allow et out of this small fort, make a triumphant return to the army’s headquarters and then receive ht as he offered Mardock a drink

Mardock, whose face rapped in bandages, e “Not at all I lost many of my subordinates in the process This is all the result of their work”

TLN: There is randoh the sentences are all pronounced the saoes I interpret this as hi speech but I don’t really kno to convey this in translation… solish equivalent

Mardock’s tone of speech was strange due to his injuries, but Kurt felt more discomfort at the words that he had spoken Was Mardock the kind of man to say such admirable words?

It was true that nearly half of Mardock’s unit had died As a unit, these losses were enormous, and it was likely thattime This hy Kurt didn’t consider it co about the men who had been sacrificed

But would he show these ehly unpleasant towards up until now?

I was certain that he would at least say so in a place so close by, youin unarmed combat with the documents on your desk”

Taking no notice of Kurt’s suspicions, Mardock changed the topic of conversation to an entirely different one

“Come to think of it, are you aware of the incident in which a Hurricane Dragon’s roar was heard several days ago?” Mardock asked

“Yeah, since we could even hear it fro, so I suppose it is just theirseason, or perhaps a territorial conflict with another Dragon”

What is this about, all of a sudden? Kurt wondered, growing more and more suspicious

But Mardock continued speaking “… If I were to tell you that the Dragon’s roar was a sign that so crawled out froe, ould you do?”

“Mardock-dono? What are you saying?” Kurt asked

Monsters crawling out froe This was a phenomenon that occurred several ti shi+eld-nation These were mostly e and wandered outside after being expelled

However, a on to roar, a monster that would threaten not only this fort but the existence of the entire Sauron Duchy, had never ee

“There is no way that is possible,” Kurt said “If that was true, then ould have bigger things to worry about than the resistance We would need to send a ht now, send out requests to summon A-class adventurers –”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar noise came from the wooden door behind Kurt He immediately turned around, and then opened his eyes wide in surprise

A small silhouette so black that it looked as if it were enveloped in the darkness of the night itself had entered the roo wood

“In this world, s are usually wooden doors, so the ‘outside the !’ joke can’t be used, can it?” said the small silhouette that was covered completely in black with a flat tone that was very out-of-place

“Your Majesty, I cannot understand that joke”

Another figure completely covered in black, about the size of an adult man, entered the room after the smaller one

“Th-thieves!” Kurt shouted “Mardock-dono, the soldiers at the front –?!”

“I shall have you be quiet now” Mardock produced a dagger from his pocket and placed its blade at Kurt’s neck “The men at the front have already been replaced by my subordinates”

“Mardock, what are you playing at, you bastard?!” Kurt demanded

He had been personally distrustful of Mardock, but Mardock was supposed to be exceptional as a soldier Kurt was ry at Mardock’s betrayal

In this situation, what purpose was there in betraying Kurt, as nothing more than the commander of a small fort?

“Actually –” Mardock began

“I’m not Captain Mardock, you knooow,” said another voice, finishi+ng the sentence