Chapter 200 (1/2)

Chapter 200 – A conversation for so very important

Murakareed to Rodcorte's request to kill Vandalieu, had a daily routine of scouting his location with their Target Radars, which detected masses of over 100,000,000 death-attribute Mana

Rodcorte had created the Target Radar ability based on the assumption that nobody other than Vandalieu possessed death-attribute Mana It was an excellent ability that allowed the user to concentrate and sense which direction the source of death-attribute Mana was and how far away it was

However, with Legion's appearance, Vandalieu's creation of large death-attribute devices (such as the devices that automatically created Undead in the for Familiars, there were now more sources of death-attribute Mana

On top of that, Vandalieu used Legion's Teleportation to travel between various places Thus, Murakaroup had becoet Radars was created by Vandalieu

Thus Murakami had requested that Rodcorte make theh Rodcorte hadn't been able to allow them to see exact numbers, he had improved the ability to allow thereatest With this, they had become able to tell where Vandalieu was

“… So, he's staying in the Alcre his hand it to the death-attribute Mana source that he could sense

The doion that contained the royal capital However, the only things marked on it were the boundaries between the duchies, the cities and the h in

However, it was a map created by the 'Sylphid' Misa Anderson, who had used her ability to turn her body into gas to infiltrate noblee companies to copy their maps

“That's unexpected I was sure that he would choose either the Birgitt Duchy because it's the southerne, or the Jahan Duchy because it's the farthest,” said Misa

Duke Birgitt was a Beast-person, and Duke Jahan was a titan

The Alcrem Duchy was one of the northerndom; it was located just east of the Sauron Duchy It didn't have a particularly large population of Vida's races, nor was it particularly influential within the nation

Regardless of what Vandalieu was doing, Misa couldn't understand why he had chosen the Alcrem Duchy

“The Birgitt Duchy is just east of the Farzon Duchy, right? Where the guy who killed hishim, doesn't it? Jeez, first 'Metamorph' and now Vandalieu, are parents really that important? To us, the parents in worlds that we're reincarnated in are just victims of our brood parasitis his head as if he couldn't understand this way of thinking

Misa frowned at his cos in other birds' nests “We don't really need to sy back on-topic, even if that's the reason he didn't choose the Birgitt Duchy, why did he choose the Alcrem Duchy?”

“Who knows Maybe there's some reason that we don't know about? Maybe there's a Devil's Nest or Dungeon in the Alcrem Duchy that spawns Undead-type monsters frequently, or maybe the Alcrem Duchy is part of the territory of one of his Va

“Stop an

“He'sto figure it out here,” said Muraka her “Rodcorte's information is perfect when it co else On top of that, it's not like we've even been given that information… There's a limit to how much we can hear each time we use Familiar Spirit Descent And we can't use it over and over without drawing a lot of attention to ourselves,” he pointed out “We're heading to the Alcrem Duchy tomorrow He's been in the Alcrem Duchy for ten days He's returned to the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range once, but went back after just a few hours He's probably still intending to do so to this world's Gods or so, so there's no information for us, but… it's a waste of time for us to sit still and wait until it's all over”

“You're right,” Misa agreed “It'll take us a month to reach the Alcrem Duchy from here, even if we take the side road… Wait,” she said suddenly “The signal's suddenly moved south”

“Yeah, I can sense it too It's … U our current location, the Farzon Duchy,” said Akira, pointing to the signal's location on the ht, whether he's above or below us?”

“It's obvious, right?” Muraka “He's in a special space where there is no up or down, the inside of a Dungeon But… why did he Teleport to the inside of a Dungeon all of a sudden? In the Farzon Duchy at that, even though he hasn't ever been there as far as we know I don't think it's very likely that he's gone to avenge his mother”

Murakaeon that the Five-colored Blades were facing; he was oblivious to the fact that his last words were actually a little close to the truth

Curatos, the God of records, was bewildered

Heinz was now on the 65th floor, on the second battle against Vandalieu Curatos had inputted theVandalieu in order to create the fake Vandalieu for this trial

And Heinz's party had begun trying to clear the 65th floor, but… there was soe about the fake Vandalieu's movements

“… What is theof this? The copies I have created so far may have had some flaws, but they never failed to fulfil their function,” he muttered to himself

Utterly perplexed, he checked the program that he had executed, but no h it, he could not find any problems

But the reality was that the copy of Vandalieu was continuing to move in a way that had not been planned

“This… cannot be helped I must take the copy down and restart it,” Curatos decided, executing a command that would terminate the copy

But the copy of Vandalieu did not disappear

Curatos executed the command twice, three times, but it had no effect

“Impossible! No matter how elaborate the copies are, they are reproductions based on my records; there is no way that they can disobeythe copy's movements?!” he shouted in astonishment

He wasn't the only one; the Five-colored Blades were as bewildered as he was

Vandalieu was ht them at all

What is he thinking? Edgar wondered as he continued fighting off against the 'King Slayer' Sleygar, asto take the Five-colored Blades' heads

On the 50th floor, Vandalieu had stood behind Guba spells and attacks with the Dements

Edgar and his party had never seen such peculiar spells before; they had caused the partyeven without their mental unrest at the situation

That hy the party had been on their guard this ti spells or activating the Dements

He picked up the head of a fenize and held it to his chest for a few seconds until it turned to dust and vanished

But in the nexthis fists at some invisible enemy

“DRAGON SLAYEEEEER!” roared the 'Sword King' Borkus

“This titan Zorunted as she was forced to stop in place and stop his deadly martial skill

The greatsword, , unleashed a shower of sparks as it collided with her Artifact shi+eld

“Del, this lump ofto fend off Legion on her own

“Jennifer, you think this is a competition?!”

Vandalieu was having a boxing ainst empty air as he watched this scene unfold The reason for this was that he are that he was being watched by soar

“This gaze eon,” he murmured “Fins, tumors, membrane… They won't come out Antennae… They don't work either My body's reactions are dull I can't check my Status… possibly because this is a fake body, after all And even if I close my eyes and focus, I can't return to my real body”

Once he finished checking the status of his current body, he stopped boxing the air and started casting a spell… Telekinesis, justa small pebble at his feet up and down

“The sensation of using ic… the same as a little earlier I can't see my Skills with my Status, but I can use them just as I could yesterday In other words, my real soul has entered this fake body? Yes, my soul is real, my soul is…”

As Vandalieu was busy thinking and not participating in the battle, there were openings in the copied Borkus and Legion's attacks Curatos had prograh efficiency, so they were greatly affected by the fact that Vandalieu was not participating despite being the core part of their formation

And Heinz and his coion numerous times between the 51st floor and this one

“DIIIIIIE!” the copied Borkus roared

Delizah gritted her teeth as she resisted Borkus's fierce attack

Of course, even though this was a copy, Borkus was ato forcibly crush Delizah underneath her shi+eld through sheer force; his blade moved in skillful arcs in an atte protected by Delizah's shi+eld

On top of feeling no fatigue due to being an Undead, he had activated the Transcend Liic Sword Skills to improve his own Attribute Values and the power of his sword

Even an above-average class adventurer would be slaughtered in an instant by this foe

“Mill, grant this warrior your power! Physical Ability Fortification! Awakening!” cried Diana

“True Rapid Reaction! Diana, don't you leaveso small!” shouted Delizah

“I know!” Diana shouted back

Delizah was an class adventurer, but she possessed the strength of so the status of S-class, and she was supported by Diana's advanced enchant Borkus in his tracks

Meanwhile, the copied Legion opened theirscream They tore off pieces of their own body to throw at Jennifer, then began spinning rapidly to try and ram their body into her

This was an attack pattern that was unique to Legion; even a skilled adventurer who had fought against all kinds of monsters previously would be confused

But Jennifer reacted instantly

“This meaty bastard! How many times do you think you've done et in everyone's way!” Jennifer ion contained to one side of the battlefield

Indeed, despite Legion's enormous size, their role was to disrupt the party's movement and keep them distracted

They threw masses of flesh that included fat, transformed those masses of flesh into Yo, and buried their eneet stood still for a moment

They allowed their enemies to beco to crush them with their body, then suddenly Teleport beside the copied Borkus or Sleygar and crush Delizah or Edgar to death

They had far too much hter, and yet they could fly through the air with great force to execute this battle strategy

On top of that, even if their plan was read and a deadly bloas thrown at thee back upon their attacker

This ability ignored distance and there was no dodging or defending froe, they returned the sae back with absolute certainty

Jennifer and the rest of the party had been defeated by Legion numerous tiion in the a way to defeat theion would defeat them on these attempts

“Steel-piercing Overar one of the upper-body-halves protruding froe chunk of flesh from their body mass

She siainst another one of the upper-body-halves immediately after her fist

Legion immediately activated their Counter ability, but the attack reflected upon Jennifer was not the heavy blow inflicted by her fist, but the light kick that was not even strong enough to leave a bruise

Heinz and his party had realized that Legion's Counter only reflected the last instance of dae that they had received Thus, they had co up powerful attacks with a light one immediately afterwards

They had also co enchant to theanic matter

But even after all of this, Jennifer was only able to stop Legion fro her companions

“daood!” she cursed

The daion's Super-speed Regeneration

The anti-Legion strategy was normally employed with at least two people; Jennifer alone was not capable of outputting enough daenerative abilities

The other members of the Five-colored Blades knew this, which is why they wanted to back Jennifer up as soon as possible, but… Delizah and Diana had their hands full fending off Borkus's fierce attacks, and weren't really able to ar

As for Heinz, he was crossing swords with Eleanora, Isla and Miles at once while also enduring Bellmond's attacks at the same time

“Sorry, hold out a little longer!” he shouted at his companions

He blocked Eleanora's blade with his own blue, fla slashi+ng attacks of his own in the few openings that he was given

He had already defeated the Vampire Zo If he were to fight the as he did not let his guard down in a big way, and even in a four-on-one situation, he was stillto hold on

“Die, for the sake of the De Vandalieu-sama!” Eleanora cried

“How dare you do that to ht off your skull!” Isla snarled

“Before that, I'll leave a little kiss hed “Steel Bite!”

Heinz evaded Eleanora's black sword, Isla's claws and Miles's fangs that could rip his head right off rather than an his own counter-attack

“Oh dear, your feet are wide open,” said Belled directions

Heinzso, lost his opportunity to strike back

If he hadn't moved, his head would have been turned into a series of thin, round slices

“Pardon me, I meant your head, not your feet, didn't I?” Bellmond said with a sneer

Heinz gritted his teeth, and a frustrated expression appeared on his face

The evil-God-worshi+pping Vampires that he had faced up until now had been less cooperative and more crudely-coordinated with their allies the more powerful they were

But these four de theths On top of that, they all somehow possessed incredible physical abilities and unleashed martial skills and spells one after another

Ordinarily, such coordination would be the strength of adventurers like Heinz and his coht individually with the exception of Delizah and Diana

Of course, if they had rerouped up, there would have been the probleion'sto assassinate them from behind, but…

They are preventing us froth That is the kind of trial this is… But if that's the case, why is he notdiscons of joining the battle

He was completely aware that the only reason he and his companions were still able to endure this situation despite being separated was because Vandalieu was not doing anything

This was a trial, so why? It wasn't as if the trials' difficulties were adjusted in the middle of battle

Perhaps sensing Heinz'sthe battle unfold Meanwhile, he cut his own finger lightly and saw a drop of blood forer's surface

“So, I can hurt myself If that's the case, it seems likely that I'd be able to kill myself… Hmm, it seems that the soul, my soul, is the key Out-of-body Experience… Materialization… No, that's not right,” he muttered to himself

He tried creating a clone and then erasing it, then began doing this over and over

Meanwhile, the tides of battle changed

An arrow had pinned Sleygar's leg to the ground

“Infinity Slash!+ How et used to this, you know!” Edgar shouted as he unleashed countless slashes upon Sleygar with his dagger “Next… Rapid Fire!”

Before the cut-up pieces of Sleygar's body even touched the ground again, Edgar fired a crucial arrow at Eleanora as she lunged at Heinz

Eleanora instinctively avoided the arrow “An arrow like this would never hit – GAH!”

Her evasive ap in her coordination with her allies Heinz cut her torso in tith a diagonal slash froan his offense on Isla and Miles – and Bellain control over the battle

Things ended quickly fros around slip away, Heinz defeated Miles, Bellmond and Isla one after another Delizah and Diana joined up with Edgar, while Heinz regrouped with Jennifer

Legion's abnorh to overco Legion with their coth

From this victory, it was clear that the Five-colored Blades had becoht-speed Sword' Rickert of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords

“The combination of attacks that we just used, we don't really want to use it outside of a Dungeon if possible… the terrain around us has changed too ar muttered

“This side of the mountain has become completely barren If ere in the outside world, some of the mountains would have split and collapsed… a ht have even co to catch her breath

The party was staring at Vandalieu, the only one left standing, not letting their guard down

It see other than protect himself from the shockwaves produced by their attacks

“Long… live… the great De the bottom half of her body, before she turned into dust and disappeared

Vandalieu finally spoke “You've already finished Shall we talk, then, if it's alright with you? We both need soht, don't we?”

An expression of astonishment appeared on the faces of all of the Five-colored Blades

“… Ae? You're probably quite exhausted after defeating the fake copies of everyone, and I still need to test sos and do so Out-of-body Experience to leave his body and return to it again

Heinz realized that this Vandalieu was different to all the copies that they had faced so far “Are you the real Vandalieu?” he asked

“Yes This body is the same as the other fakes, but it's the real me inside Ah, as for why this has happened, it's a secret, so don't ask,” Vandalieu replied “H no signs of stopping his testing

Heinz went deep into thought for a an to ask another question “Then tell me Are you –”

“I am the son of Darcia You captured and handed my mother over to a fanatic I a over in the Hartner Duchy I'm also the one who controls the former Scylla territory, and the one who destroyed Ternecia and Gubamon”

Heinz made a surprised noise

“Ah, I really can't concentrate because talking to you ry… Her into focus, so it's not going very well,” said Vandalieu

“… What about the Dements and the Undead?” Heinz asked quietly

“I acquiredby coincidence when I headed underground, beneath the castle in the Hartner Duchy, in order to free the spirits of Talosheim's titans ere accused of false cri enemies like Ternecia,” Vandalieu explained “As for the Undead… At the very least, all of the ones that you fought just now areTernecia and Gubah”

He was answering Heinz's questions, but he didn'tHe had said, “Shall we talk?” but he was not being completely honest

“Why have you done such things… Is it because we killed your , created these repulsive Undead and conspired with Vampires orshi+p evil Gods?” Heinz asked

“Heinz, we only accepted a request –” Edgar began, trying to stop Heinz's questions

“No, even if you didn't capture my mother… Even if my mother was never captured by anyone and never killed, I think I would have still created Undead and sought out the fragar “I'm not sure if I would have met Eleanora and everyone else, however”

Vandalieu was a death-attribute e; even if Darcia had never died, it was likely that he would have gone on to create Undead And it was almost certain that he would have eventually absorbed the Dements as well

From the moment of his birth, he had been destined to be depended upon by Vida and the other Gods, for Rodcorte to desire his death, to become the enemy of Alda's forces

Events may have been delayed if Darcia had never died, but it was unlikely that he would have lived a peaceful life… Even if none of this was true, it was likely that there would have been no paths for him that did not lead to a turbulent life due to his personality and vast Mana pool

“Also, Edgar, was it?” said Vandalieu “As you say, you simply accepted a request You capturedof the sort You only did as obvious If that's what you want to say, you're coht”

Vandalieu was answering questions at length because he wanted to buy as much time as possible However, the astonishar's faces did not disappear in the slightest

This wouldn't have bothered Vandalieu, but to him, their lack of response appeared as if they weren't listening to hi him to become even more irritated