Chapter 237 (1/2)

Death Mage 237 – The reincarnated individualsa move and the trapped heroic spirits

“Curse?!” Hajime Fitun repeated, and after a short silence, he burst into laughter “With Hajie, did you think that I wouldn't prepare ainst soic?!”

Still, Hajime Fitun twisted his body about to try and free hi a venolow

In the research laboratory in a in, the researchers had used death-attribute Mana extracted froic Items Some of that research had been related to military weapons whose existence couldn't be revealed to the public

It wasn't only research on creating immortal soldiers; there was research on viruses, venoms… and the possible application of curses as weapons as well

But the researchers had failed in all of these They had been first-rate researchers, but the investigation bodies of Origin had concluded that this research had failed because the researchers had been unable to fully control Mana that had been taken away froinal owner

Fitun, who possessed the meation bodies, had expected that Vandalieu would likely be able to use curses

Thus, he had taken as ainst curses in preparation for today's battle Not only had he created an Orichalcu a charm taken from the treasure house of a Church

Thus, he was confident in his defense against curses All he needed to do was get out of this current situation in which his arms had been bound

But the tongue wrapped around Hajihter and brighter, producing a white smoke

Suddenly, the tongue grew hot, burning his body

Hajime Fitun screamed in pain “Impossible! My talisman and charm don't have any effect?!”

He felt a sense of fear as he experienced the sensation of not only his skin, but the flesh beneath being seared by the curse

In the next instant, the tongue that had been binding Hajime Fitun's body like a rope turned to dust and cruue had been wrapped around turned black, causing an oozing pain

“Y-you bastard –” Hajiroaned

He tried to raise his sci theave a groan, clutching the right side of his chest He felt a pain that felt as if several of his ribs had been broken

Vandalieu watched Hajiave a satisfied nod at the fact that his curse was taking effect “The curse I placed on you is an extremely easy-to-understand one It returns back to you all of the pain that others have felt due to your actions… the 'Curse of Consequence of Action'”

The 'Whip Tongue Calamity' Job allowed Vandalieu to curse those he attacked with his tongue However, there wasn't a large variety of curses that he could apply

The curses he could use was one that decreased the Attribute Values of his target, one that blocked one of their five senses, and the 'Curse of Consequence of Action' that he had just used

“The pain that others have felt due to my actions? You don't look particularly wounded to ave Vandalieu a doubtful look

Indeed, Vandalieu didn't look like he had suffered any broken ribs Even the tongue that he had bitten off hienerated

“I'm sure there's someone out there, somewhere else Someone who's suffered broken ribs because of this plan of yours,” Vandalieu said in a matter-of-fact tone

Hajime Fitun let out a surprised noise and his face stiffened “… A curse that reflects not only the pain I have caused directly, but the pain that has been caused as a consequence of my actions!” hehow problematic the 'Curse of Consequence of Action' was

The 'Curse of Consequence of Action' reacted not only to haret, but harm caused indirectly as well

In this case, if anyone was to be har in Hajie that he had caused, Hajime Fitun would experience that pain himself

… But because it has such a broad effect, it fades away over time And even the 'indirectly caused haret hiht

The curse had these weaknesses But Vandalieu couldas Hajiht

The definition of 'indirectly caused harm' was unlikely to have any problems in Hajime Fitun's case either At the very least, he was the one responsible forup with this plan, executing the plan and giving the orders As long as Fitun hied that he had done that, the hars would remain under that definition

Still wearing a stiff expression, Haji around his neck to try and remove the curse

But the char noise and the Orichalcum talisman turned black as well

“… I see, so that's how it is The Dereat Gods were cornered one-sidedly, and there was no hope of defeating hi champions fro of that De; there's no way that I, soo, could stop it,” Haji around his neck and throwing the talisman away

Even as he spoke, several different pains assaulted hi his ar wounded deeply, being scorched by flames and frozen by ice

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Unable to suppress the e up from these sensations, Hajime Fitun looked up “I underestimated you… To think that you'd put such a convenient curse on me!”

He was noearing a sht have expected to s learned what the 'Curse of Consequence of Action' was, he raised his scimitars once more and threw himself at Vandalieu with no hesitation

“Convenient curse?” Vandalieu repeated

Caught off-guard by this totally unexpected reaction, his clahich he had turned into the De with the flesh of his fingers by the Orichalcum blades

That pain was reflected back to Hajime Fitun as well, but his movements were completely unaffected; his nimble attacks continued

“Indeed! Fro from my attacks! This pain tellsin battle, and whether the monsters have been exterh, as if he were enjoying hie I just did to your fingers is no great dae to you! And I now realize that little tricks are of no use against you! I will show you my final trump card! 'God Transformation!'”

A light emanated from Hajime Fitun, one that could be described as divine in appearance under nor the 'Heroic Spirit Transformation' Skill used by the heroic spirits, it wasn't difficult to iine what kind of Skill Hajime Fitun had just used

Enveloped with the light and now radiating an overwheled towards Vandalieu with even faster movements

“If you value the city behind you and the damned powerless insects that can live nowhere else, stop this with your own body, De a shockith a slashi+ng motion towards the city

“Die in pain, you God who is more evil than actual evil Gods,” said Vandalieu

He crossed his arms and stood in front of the shockwave to stop it, and blood sprayed into the air As he deliberately increased his sensitivity to pain with the De's nerves, it was Hajime Fitun who screamed in pain

But Hajime Fitun's moveh, he engaged in yet another, e of bloith the silent Vandalieu

Having learned of Hajime Fitun's reckless plan, Muraka the battle from a forest that had a view of the field All three of the telescopes

In this world, the technology of producing lenses wasn't widespread However, a limited number of merchants who did business with nobles and nations' ar them Murakami and his companions had stolen a number of such products

Of course, the lenses of Earth and Origin had far superior functionality, but… these lenses were still far better than the naked eye Considering that Vandalieu's 'Abyss' would detect theic, there were no better tools than these

Seeing the phenoht, the 'Chronos' Junpei Muraka to lose”

Murakami's exasperation was because he was certain in Hajime Fitun's defeat… and not because of his former second-in-co

“What makes you think that? He's not like Kanako and Melissa, but isn't this clearly a 'This is where the real battle begins' kind of power up?” said the 'Odin' Akira Hazamada

“Yes, I can hear hi like that He's not like Kanako and Melissa, but he h,” said the 'Sylphid' Misa Anderson

But Murakae “He used the same 'Heroic Spirit Transformation' as his subordinates or an even more powerful Skill No matter how you look at it, it's a power-up with a time limit”

“… Now that you mention it, he did shout 'God Transformation,'” said Misa

She possessed the 'Sylphid' ability which allowed her to turn her body into vapor She was applying this ability to transform just one se membrane of air like an elephant's ear This allowed her to pick up vibrations in the air with great precision, so she could hear sounds froreat distances away

She was using this to listen to what Vandalieu, Hajime Fitun, Vandalieu's co

She couldn't pick up the voices of Juliana, Borkus or Woren and the other heroic spirits that were inside a Dungeon, but she could even hear the conversation of Miles and Kizelbyne, ere fighting on a different battlefield

“Then 'God Transformation' probably has a similar effect to 'Heroic Spirit Transformation' If Fitun wields the power of a physical incarnation of a God in the body he's controlling, it won't last long,” said Murakami

“That's why I', won't he be able to defeat Vandalieu with that power of an incarnated God? Fitun was a legendary mercenary and adventurer in his previous life, wasn't he?” said Akira

They had learned of Hajime's current state from the God of reincarnation Rodcorte, the one who had sent the reincarnated individuals into this world Thus, Muraka Fitun since before they joined forces with Alda and his Gods… in order to investigate whether he could be used as a resource hich to fight Vandalieu

They had learned that Fitun was someone who had worked on the battlefield as atimes of peace His activities as an adventurer weren't well-known in the ht of them as a job on the side to earn a little extra money, and hadn't put more effort into them than that Even so, he had received numerous offers to be promoted to class

If the Adventurers' Guild had taken his achievements as a mercenary into account as well, there was no doubt that he would have reached S-class

He had gone through a war against a nation taken over by an evil God's cultists, another nation that worshi+pped the Gods of Vida's faction, and a powerful Majin who com In all of those wars, Fitun had raised the severed head of the enemy's leader

Even Murakami could not deny that he held some expectations for a God with such a history

“Akira, if Fitun can push through and overwhelh chance to win But to aainst him,” Murakami said “It's true that there are tierous plan Like the time we experienced in our previous lives”

In Origin, Murakami and his co the Bravers – especially Amemiya Hiroto's policies – and accepted the offer of the 'Avalon' Rikudou Hijiri, as secretly conducting research into the death attribute

They had carried out the extrehth Guidance by pretending they were going to cooperate with the the their corpses to the Federal States to sell

As a result, Muraka 'Marionette' and 'Death Scythe,' whoinning anyway And after that, he and the rest of his subordinates hadbetrayed by Rikudou Hijiri

Leaving aside the fact that the final outcoiven that they were betrayed by the one who hired thereat risks if they wanted to reap a large return

Like Murakaroup, there was no future for Fitun if he failed to defeat Vandalieu; even if his chances of victory were slith that he could muster

The current state of the battle was exactly that

“… In other words, we have no choice but to intervene shi+t It would have been the easiest thing for us if Hajime was just able to kill Vandalieu,” Murakami muttered

The reincarnated individuals had been promised a reward fro Vandalieu They were promised that they would be reborn into a wealthy environment on Earth or in a world with a developed civilization similar to Earth It was likely that they could even ask to be reborn with a talent in sports or art if they wanted

That reould be given to all reincarnated individuals, not just the ones who killed Vandalieu… though this would likely exclude Kanako Tsuchiya and the others who had joined Vandalieu's side, as well as the 'Mage Masher' Asagi Mina

This was a measure that Murakami had requested of Rodcorte, in order to prevent the reincarnated individuals fro one another

… Of course, Hajime Fitun was unaware of this as Hajime had already fallen to Fitun at that point, so he had not received the Divine Message fro him of this

However, If Haji been possessed by Fitun, Murakami and his companions would receive the reward This would have been the most convenient outco theer whatsoever, but… it see for this

“But e do if Haji us instead? Even if he's been possessed by a God, he's someone that we deceived and deliberately killed in our previous lives I can't i up a possibility that had prevented the group froan his plan

But Murakath to do that Besides, the God who's controlling Haji is more like an evil God I don't think he's so much of the virtuous type that he would refuse our help if we just ju him up”

“Then I suppose things will be fine until we kill Vandalieu,” Akira said with a nod

As for what happened after killing Vandalieu… Rodcorte would recover his soul before Vandalieu turned into an Undead and put the sa's soul Murakami and his companions didn't need to think about what came after that

With the Skill called 'God Transformation' activated by Hajime Fitun, his body would siuarantee that Murakami and his companions would all survive the aftermath, either

But even if that happened, their reould be happiness in their next lives They would be able to clai as their souls weren't devoured

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“Now then, let's show off the poe've gained in our third lives,” said Murakami

The three of thes on their fingers, which contained faainst their chests

“'Familiar Spirit Descent,'” they murmured

Vandalieu was not the only one engaged in a fierce battle; his allies were as well However, there were some one-sided matchups that seemed like they would be decided quickly

An Elf boy was fighting off a countless number of Skeletons, a sci

“'Dark Night Blade Wind!'” he shouted

The huroaned helplessly as they were cut down

But there was no composure in the boy's expression

“I guess I should have brought higher-class Potions,” he muttered

His ribs had been broken, and they hadn't recovered yet At this rate, his broken rib would pierce his lung and prevent hith No, at this rate, his body ht collapse from the side effects of 'Heroic Spirit Transformation'

With that in th, right now

See, a countless number of Skeletons flooded in towards him

The Skeleton of a four-legged beast dashed nimbly around the boy with and cast a venomous Breath towards him

With a groan, a Skeleton with spirit-fors fired bone and spirit form projectiles at the boy from the sky

And one enormous creature that could be more aptly described as a Bone Golem made of an assorted in towards the boy

The speed and power of the Skeletons' movements weren't those of any ordinary Skeletons They were so powerful that D-class adventurers would be completely overwhelmed by them, even if the numbers were even on both sides

But although the boy's body had once been that of a D-class Elf adventurer, it was now being controlled by a heroic spirit of Fitun, the God of thunderclouds

“'Transcend Liic Sword!' 'True Rapid Response!' Mana, i Star Blades!'” he shouted

He iic swords and his own reaction speed with a Skill and a ht-attribute enchantment on his weapons

“I shall show you ht Dance!'”

The heroic spirit's name was the 'Star Blade' Shestun When he was a human, he had been Fitun's adoptive parent and his instructor in beco a mercenary

He was capable of using all kinds of combat techniques and spells, but he washis praises, saying his swords were so fast that his swordsmanshi+p wasn't visible at all, and those itnessed hi other than the light reflected off his blades

The dual scimitars wielded by Shestun destroyed Skeletons one after another They split the hard skulls and severed the thick fe his foes to pieces

He cut through not only spirit-fors but the shapeless poison breath as well, and succeeded in defeating over a thousand Skeletons

His ferocity in battle could certainly be praised as being unmatched

But victory was not sorasp

A deafening groan echoed out across the battlefield

Shestun had destroyed over a thousand Skeletons… Skeletons that were a part of the 'Bone Pandemonium' Knochen, as reat loss

Even if his bones were severed, in the end, they were still bones They hadn't turned to dust or vanished They had sirown in number

And it took Knochen no effort whatsoever to put those sether to create more creatures that were still a part of him

On top of that, so the battle Shestun's sci into these black bones, but they did so with a dull noise

The scimitars, which only had their surfaces coated in Orichalcum, suffered chips in the blades as they 's bones

“… So, this is as far as I go,” Shestun chuckled “To think that I would face a foe who emphasizes quantity over quality to this extent”

In addition to his chipped scimitar blades, he had already overused the 'Transcend Lio The collapse of his body due to 'Heroic Spirit Transforressed considerably

His fateany foe other than Knochen, if his weapons were the ic swords that he had wielded in his previous life rather than imitations, or if he had not been separated from the other heroic spirits

Knochen let out another deafening groan

Still wearing a bitter smile, Shestun ed up into Knochen's swarm of bones

The heroic spirit Shestun's soul appeared, leaving behind the soul of the Elf boy, the original owner of the body Knochen immediately tried to catch it, but the soul, which had no physical substance, slipped through the bones

However, Shestun was unable to begin a counterattack against Knochen He had occupied a physical vessel in this world, albeit forcibly, so he had suffered considerably less dae than he would have if he had descended upon the world directly But even so, he had spent enough power that he would not be able to influence things in Lambda any further if he didn't return to his Divine Realm

Thus, Shestun floated up towards the sky, intending to return to his Divine Realm and recover

But since this was the inside of a Dungeon, spatially isolated from the outside world other than the entrance and exit It would take longer for a God inside it to return to his Divine Realm than it had taken to descend here

And before Shestun's soul could leave, a voice rang out

“As I thought, it seems that you will attempt to return to your Divine Realms once your bodies are destroyed,” it said

A hole ripped open in space, and spider-like legs erasped Shestun's soul In the nextShestun's soul with it

“Retrieval successful,” Gufadgarn murmured