Chapter 30 - side chapter

Side Story Chapter 3: The conspiracies of three parties

"You've gone and done it now, Dhampir!" An outraged Ternecia smashed her fist onto a table that was sturdier than it looked, destroying it. "How dare you, how dare you, how dare you!"

"Calm down," Birkyne told her. "Although you do seem calmer than when I am having a fit."

"Indeed," Gubamon agreed. "Even if you howl from here, it cannot be heard in Talosheim."

Ternecia clicked her tongue in response to the carefree words of Birkyne and Gubamon, but she didn't swing her fist a second time, lowering it gently instead.

"So, what are we discussing today? Are we going to have a review meeting about the lost war?" asked Ternecia.

It had been around a month since the Undead expedition army had closed in on Balcheburg and was destroyed. The Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, were surrounded by identical tables.

"Of course, we are going to do that, but… We also need to discuss how we will kill the Dhampir at this point," Birkyne replied.

"Hihi, we have to share information, after all," said Gubamon.

Indeed, the Vampires had been defeated. They had manipulated the Amid Empire from the shadows, made the Mirg shield-nation send out an army and attempted to kill Vandalieu with overwhelming numbers. However, this plan had ended in a spectacular failure.

Despite that, Birkyne and Gubamon remained quite composed, in contrast to Ternecia's angry mood. The reason for this was simple - the one who had come up with this plan and suffered the greatest losses was Ternecia.

The Mirg shield-nation's elite soldiers, Balcheburg's guards, the assets of the villagers in the cultivated lands and their future - these were all trivial matters to the Vampires.

But the loss of a cooperative individual, who had allowed them to sink their claws deep into the Empire, wasn't a happy event for them.

Ternecia had numerous allies apart from Earl Mauvid who had returned as an Undead, but this incident had apparently allowed the Empire to catch their tails. Not all of them had been caught, but quite a lot of them had been disposed of.

It seemed that Earl Mauvid had investigated other Vampire allies and leaked information about them to protect himself.

He had leaked information not only of individuals linked to Ternecia's faction but also those linked to Birkyne and Gubamon's factions. These individuals had all been eliminated by the Emperor's subordinates and the Thunderclap Schneider. However, Ternecia was still the one who had lost the most.

And then there were the Noble-born Vampires that had been dispatched as part of the expedition army. Birkyne and Gubamon had provided ten each, while Ternecia had used ten of her own with Isla as their commander.

Their deaths were a painful loss indeed.

Isla had been a Noble-born Vampire with the court rank of countess. As her Title of 'Ternecia's Hound' suggested, she had been a loyal retainer who supported Ternecia's faction for tens of thousands of years.

She hadn't been insignificant among Ternecia's close aides - she had been performing important duties within Ternecia's faction. In terms of strength in battle, she had been among the three most powerful of Ternecia's subordinates.

One might think that Ternecia's subordinates were relatively weak, considering that she had ruled from the darkness for over a hundred thousand years, but this wasn't the case.

Though those in lower positions obeyed the ones in higher positions, they were always looking for opportunities to take down those above them.

Those in higher positions trampled those in lower positions underfoot so that those below them wouldn't surpass them.

Raising a new generation of capable individuals in a society with such values would take a miracle. And, since none of the Vampires had a limited lifespan, the older generations would never be replaced.

Vampires of Leader or Baron status weren't particularly unusual, but those of Viscount status and above competed with each other fiercely, leaving very few that survived more than several centuries.

Of course, many also lost their lives to the tempers and whimsical, unreasonable orders of the Pure-breed Vampires.

In such an environment, a subordinate like Isla who had reached Countess status was precious… It was possible for Noble-born Vampires to increase their Rank further and become known as Marquises or Dukes, but they would actually be eliminated because they caused problems by being so powerful.

In any case, there was no mistaking that Ternecia's faction had lost a lot of its power.

Gubamon cackled. "I have my regrets as well. I had my eyes on the one who was called the second coming of the hero, but he was completely destroyed on the battlefield and burnt to ashes. I cannot even claim him as an Undead."

Though Gubamon said this, nobody believed that he had ever been truly interested in a falsely-created hero like Riley.

Ternecia glared at him, grinding her teeth loudly.

"The most painful thing is that information has been concealed from us," said Birkyne, interrupting. "Though we have learned one thing. The Dhampir… Vandalieu, is able to control Undead like us."

As he said, they had gained very little information despite the great losses suffered in this incident.

No matter how much they didn't want to admit it, the fact that Vandalieu could control the Undead was clear from the way the expedition army had risen as Undead.

However, how Vandalieu was creating Undead was still unclear.

"The Pure-breeds who worship Vida are cooperating with him," said Ternecia. "I'm sure they've come up with a new technique over the past hundred thousand years."

"Hmm, but I wonder, isn't the number of Undead simply too large?" asked Gubamon. "I have heard that there were thousands of them coming out of the tunnel. Even we would need to invest a considerable amount of effort to create that many Undead."

"We might manage if it was just Rank 1 Undead," said Ternecia. "Not all of them, but some were apparently Rank 3 and 4, weren't they? Even if we used the corpses exactly as they were and created one Undead every hour, it would take us a year to create that many."

Birkyne nodded. "Yes, that's what the surviving soldiers who had been on lookout reported. Good grief, what an unbelievable turn of events. With this, tempting humans will probably be impossible as well."

"The most problematic thing is that Isla and the other Vampires were not among the Undead," said Gubamon.

The Noble-born Vampires and their commander Isla hadn't been among the expedition army that had come back as Undead.

Birkyne nodded. "Eighty or ninety percent of information about us has probably been leaked."

Vandalieu had likely turned the Vampires into Undead and gained information from them. It had already been confirmed that he was capable of creating Undead above Rank 3. This was a headache-inducing problem for everyone present here, not just Ternecia.

Though none of the other dispatched Vampires had been as powerful as Isla, there had been a need to send reasonably strong subordinates. This meant that the locations of several bases, meeting places and information regarding other subordinates had been leaked.

The fortunate thing was that the Vampires sent to Talosheim had been working in the Empire and its vassal nations; these were regions that Vandalieu couldn't freely wander into.

But in contrast, the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped the Evil God of Joyful Life would find it difficult to gain information about Vandalieu. The lookouts that had been left around had all been hunted down, and the ritual that revived dead Noble-born Vampires as Undead couldn't bring back Isla and the others that had gone to Talosheim.

They were already Undead at Vandalieu's side.

Even if Isla and the others were somehow destroyed, the ritual wouldn't work on Vampires who had already become Undead once. Even if that wasn't the case, Birkyne expected that Vandalieu would have used some kind of trick.

"Fortunately, though we don't know whether he's connected with Vida's lot or another evil god, it seems that he is planning to seclude himself in the southern region of the continent for a while," said Birkyne.

Ternecia nodded. "You're right. He wouldn't have destroyed the tunnel himself otherwise."

"We must come up with a plan in the meantime," said Gubamon. "My word, how troublesome."

They needed to gather a great amount of information and fighting strength.

The next few decades will be busy, thought Ternecia, Gubamon and the Noble-born Vampires who were present.

But Birkyne alone had a different opinion.

He destroyed an army of six thousand, created thousands of Undead… Perhaps I should persuade him to become my pawn, even if it means disobeying Hihiryushukaka's Divine Message. Fortunately, the ones who killed his parents were Gubamon's subordinates, and the one pulling the strings in the expedition was Ternecia. Depending on the conditions, it is likely possible. The next few decades should be quite enjoyable.

Two months had passed since the extermination of the Undead expedition army that attacked Balcheburg.

"He got us good," Thomas Palpapek whispered to himself, looking down at a single document in his office.

The expedition with General Mauvid as its supreme commander had ended in a far greater failure than he could have imagined, and the losses were far greater than he had predicted.

He wanted to go back in time and call the Thomas Palpapek of one year ago a fool.

Not a single member of the expedition army, comprised of six thousand of the Mirg shield-nation's nine thousand elite soldiers, had returned alive. This was quite a painful loss. It would take years to train that number of soldiers to the same level of ability, and knights couldn't be easily replaced as they were men of noble families.

There was no way that the sons of heads of exceptional families who had died in battle could be told that they needed to become commoners as great adventurers would become knights in their place.

There was also the equipment the soldiers had been wearing, the war expenditures paid for the expedition to take place and the cost of building the forts at the mouths of the tunnels… Yes, the loss of the men's lives had been great, but the economic damage wasn't small, either.

The next painful thing was the setback of Viscount Balchesse's cultivation project.

For some reason, the Undead that came out of the tunnel had taken their time going through the villages in the cultivated lands instead of just heading straight for Balcheburg… Their marching speed was reasonable, but for an army of Undead that could move day and night with no need for rest or sleep, it was slow.

That was why the inhabitants of the cultivated land had all been evacuated successfully. All of the Undead were defeated at Balcheburg, and once they were all burned so that no diseases would spread, the people were supposed to return to the cultivated land.

At that point, the villagers and Viscount Balchesse would have been prepared to see the fields laid waste to by the Undead, the houses destroyed and perhaps even a few Undead remaining in the villages.

But who would have guessed that there would still be a thousand Undead left behind?

Because of this, soldiers and adventurers were gathered once more and organized into an extermination force to get rid of them. Fortunately, the extermination itself went without any problems.

As some of the Zombies had been Poison Zombies that spewed venom from their mouths, a mage investigated the dirt in the fields and the water in the irrigation channels to check whether they were poisoned.

For some reason, all of the dirt in the fields had been contaminated with deadly poison, and the water reservoirs and aqueducts were polluted as well, rendering them unusable. This was the worst possible outcome.

Purifying this poison was so difficult that even a renowned master of the Mages' Guild had said it was hopeless, and leaving it to degrade naturally would take decades or even a century.

The same applied to every village in the cultivated land. There was no way that the cultivation project could continue.

The cultivation project itself was the project of Viscount Balchesse's family, but he had received significant financial assistance from the nation, as well as many noblemen who had been interested in the project. Though it hadn't shown that great an interest, the Palpapek family of earls was one of them.

The fact that all of this had vanished was a shock not only to those in Viscount Balchesse's territory, but to the entire nation.

To top it all off, Gordan and Riley had been leading the Undead in the attack on Balcheburg.

Those who had been called heroes by the people moved in ways too cruel to watch, killing those same people. It could only be described as a nightmare.

That was a thorn in the Mirg shield-nation's side, and blood was flowing freely from the wound.

"Two hundred years ago, we could at least tell ourselves that we were victorious. But now, we are forced to admit that we were defeated," Thomas murmured. "Because of those fools who kept shouting loudly even after death, mud has been thrown at the faces of the army, the adventurers, the Church of Alda, all of them."

Keeping such information secret was almost entirely impossible, as soldiers and adventurers had been gathered from numerous different towns to defend Balcheburg.

False information was being spread so that the uproar would be extinguished, but it would be a topic of conversation among the people for some time to come.

Because of this, the air in the Mirg shield-nation was continuing to become darker.

And unfortunately, there was no small number of people in the royal capital and the army shouting that revenge needed to be taken for this incident.

If the target of this revenge was the Amid Empire that ruled the nation, it would not be a stretch to call it a step towards Thomas's dream, that of the Mirg shield-nation's independence.

However, the people were directing their hatred beyond the Boundary Mountain Range, towards Talosheim.

"This isn't a joke. The Dhampir… Vandalieu. He really got us good. I'm sure it can be said that everyone was dancing on top of that half-Vampire's palm."

Thomas was certain that the numerous losses suffered by the Mirg shield-nation had all been caused by Vandalieu.

The unusually slow movements of the Undead, the unusually low casualties apart from the expedition army and the unusually strong effects of the poison in the cultivated land that was too strong to have been created by the Poison Zombies among the Undead.

Everything was too unnatural to be put down to coincidence.

"He has driven this nation into a corner and baited it into a reckless battle for revenge. And then I suppose he intends to lie in wait, just as he did previously. The reason he killed so few outside of the expedition army was so that there would be as many people left as possible to advocate revenge. I have heard that he is a young child, but he is crafty to the point of being terrifying." Thomas made a strange misunderstanding of Vandalieu's intentions.

Oblivious to the misunderstanding, of course, he returned his gaze to the document on top of his desk.

"And I'm sure this is all within his calculations."

There were all kinds of things written on the page, but it was essentially a request from the Mirg shield-nation for Thomas to be reinstated as marshal following these difficult events.

Earl Legston's second son, Chezare, had been the second-in-command of the expedition army. Legston had been forced to pass on his family leadership to his eldest son who had quit his job and retired. But because Chezare hadn't been seen among the Undead army, and because the Amid Empire had hastily named General Mauvid as being primarily responsible, Legston had suffered no further punishment.

The problem was that the position of the next marshal had come around back to Thomas.

"Vandalieu, it seems that you are under the impression that you will be able to dispose of me like you did General Mauvid, but things will not go your way. I will prevent a foolish battle for revenge no matter what it takes. And one day, as you make your nest in the continent's southern reaches, I will teach you your place in this world."

A little while after Thomas Palpapek was reinstated as marshal, it became the time of year where the season was transitioning between the beginning of summer and the middle of summer. In a room that was easily three grades higher in quality than Thomas's office, a handsome man was sitting with his hands clasped together, listening to the report of his close aide.

His face was young with thin lines in his features, but his eyes contained a strong light and there was an extraordinary air of charisma around him.

His ears were long and pointed, though not as much as an Elf's.

"Is that everything you have to report?" he asked in a beautiful voice that made it difficult to tell his gender.

"Yes, Amid Emperor Marshukzarl von Bellwood," said the man who appeared to be from the army.

Indeed, this young half-Elf man was Marshukzarl, the current emperor of the Amid Empire.

Vandalieu would likely be surprised if he knew this. In most fantasy works he had seen on Earth, half-Elves were subject to discrimination and persecution. But in the majority of the world of Lambda, half-Elves were not treated this way.

In this world, humans, Elves and Dwarves were comrades who had fought against the Demon King's armies alongside the champions, and the Church of Alda labeled these three races as races of 'people'. Many written records still remained, detailing how the champions had formed true friendships with numerous Elves and Dwarves.

And as for races to discriminate against and persecute, the races created by Vida provided plenty in the Amid Empire.

Of course, despite this, there were noblemen who would object to a half-Elf with a long lifespan being on the throne, and there were those who believed in human superiority.

But Marshukzarl had silenced his opposition with his sheer capability and ascended to the throne.

The report he was listening to was about the expedition.

"It seems we have accomplished our first objective of revealing and disposing of the traitors who allied themselves to the Vampires hiding within the Empire, but… this is a rather unexpected situation," Marshukzarl commented, having finished hearing the report.

When the expedition had first been brought up, Marshukzarl had already been aware that General Langil Mauvid was allied with the Vampires.

While the Vampires' attention had been focused on the expedition proposed by the general, he had been gathering evidence and ordering his close aides to dispose of the traitors.

As a result of unofficial offers, searches and secret maneuvers, the names of many individuals with deep connections to the Mauvid family of earls had come up. From there, several of the Vampires behind the scenes had been arrested and tortured, allowing Marshukzarl to gain information about many more Vampires and traitors.

As a result, the Vampires' influence in the Empire had successfully been reduced a considerable amount.

That was something to be happy about. It was not an achievement that could be celebrated openly, as news that many noblemen had been involved with Vampires wasn't information that could be made public, but it was a great achievement nonetheless.

However…

"Are you referring to how the expedition army was annihilated, with the vast majority of them turning into Undead and attacking the town, the setback of the Mirg shield-nation's cultivation project and the sudden collapse of the tunnel in the Boundary Mountain Range?" asked another aide.

"Of course," replied Marshukzarl. "The original plan was to have the expedition succeed, take Mauvid's head and offer the Mirg shield-nation financial assistance with its cultivation project as an apology, was it not?"

Marshukzarl and his aides had expected the expedition to succeed. At the very least, the Dhampir who had led several hundred Ghouls across the Boundary Mountain Range was supposed to have been killed. The Mirg shield-nation should have lost a moderate amount of its elite soldiers and the power of Earl Palpapek, who desired the Mirg shield-nation's independence, should have been cut down - In exchange, the cultivation project would have been greatly supported, but the fangs of Palpapek and his supporter would have been blunted.

Marshukzarl wanted a foothold in the continent's southern region, but a foothold that would become unusable with the collapse of a single tunnel would be even riskier.

Also, preventing the independence of a vassal nation and making it easier for the Mirg shield-nation to merge with the Empire in the future would provide greater gains in the long run.

That was what Marshukzarl had thought.

"But who could have expected that an army that outnumbered the enemy almost ten to one would be repelled… overwhelmingly, at that. Just what methods did this Dhampir, Vandalieu, use?" Marshukzarl wondered out loud.

"That is still unclear," replied the aide. "There were no survivors, and the Necromancy of all of the Spiritualists we had prepared has failed."

"I see. The only thing we do know is that he tames the Undead… No, he turns corpses into Undead and controls them." Seemingly greatly interested, Marshukzarl ran his eyes down the document detailing the little available information regarding Vandalieu. "How curious. If possible, I want to acquire him -"

"Would the Church of Alda not forbid such a thing?"

"It will be fine if we have them turn a blind eye to it. It is just as well that the Vampire hunter has fallen. Those priests are too fussy, anyway."

Unlike the Emperors before him, Marshukzarl was not a devout follower of Alda, the god of law and fate. He didn't believe that he was truly a descendent of the champion Bellwood, either.

He was a realist by nature, a pragmatist.

That was why he always took policies that would benefit the Empire most.

The teachings of Alda that emphasized law and order were effective as a tool to rule the people, so he used them. The name of Bellwood was also effective for maintaining his authority.

Vida's races, including Dhampirs, were convenient scapegoats to discriminate against, keeping the people happy, so he had kept things as they were up until now. Changing things would have great effects, and Vida's races were a minority in the Empire anyway.

"But would it not be difficult to capture him?" another aide asked.

"Of course," replied Marshukzarl. "Who said we're going to be capturing him? I said I want him as a subordinate."

"As a subordinate?!"

Some of the aides had served the Emperor for a long time and heard all kinds of outrageous words spoken by him as a result of his realism and rationalism. But even they were taken aback by the Emperor's expressed desire to take the Dhampir as a subordinate.

"I-it is too dangerous! The Empire could collapse if this were ever discovered!"

"You're exaggerating," said Marshukzarl. "How far I will go depends on how much use this Dhampir called Vandalieu can be of to me. Everything can be sorted out if I just have the Pope of the Church of Alda authorize it by saying that it has been allowed by the god."

"This is certainly impossible!"

"I can simply appoint someone willing to say it to the position of Pope. My beloved citizens can't tell whether he has really received a Divine Message or not, can they?"

As Marshukzarl's tone became terrifying, cold sweat began to form on the backs of his aides.

"However, it would be easier to have him work for me from the shadows," he continued.

The aides all sighed in relief.

"But Your Majesty, the only thing we know at present is that this Dhampir can create Undead and control them. Would it not be difficult to make use of him with only this much information?"

In fiction works on Earth, there are sometimes powerful people or companies that turn the dead into undying soldiers and use them for military purposes. However, even if that were possible, Marshukzarl would never do this.

The reason for that was because the Amid Empire was an empire of living people.

It was easy to imagine that doing such a thing would cause religious and moral problems, and more importantly, that the soldiers and people would never accept it.

If the soldiers were told to become Undead and continue fighting after they died, they would begin doubting whether their commanders were building battle plans designed to have them die.

The people wouldn't accept their husbands and sons being made to continue fighting after their deaths.

And it wasn't certain whether the Undead soldiers would swear loyalty after their death, either. All of the Undead could rise in rebellion with a single whispered word from Vandalieu.

"Well, I'm not really planning to turn the Undead into soldiers," said Marshukzarl. "I just thought it would be interesting if we could turn all of the bones lying around on ancient battlefields into Skeletons and sent them all towards the Orbaume Kingdom."

"I see," said an aide. "Undead would rise and head to the Orbaume Kingdom, without any relation to us. This would cause no problems."

"But wouldn't the realistic problem be the difficulty in making contact with the Dhampir?" asked another. "Even if it is possible, there is a possibility that the Dhampir resents you, your majesty."

As for the incident of the death of the Dhampir's mother, it was possible that the Dhampir's hatred would soften when he learned that Marshukzarl's true sense of values differed from the teachings of Alda, no matter what his official stance was.

However, though Mauvid had been allied with the Vampires, he had still been a general of the Amid Empire and the expedition was something that had been authorized in Marshukzarl's name.

"In that case… that simply means that this is the extent of the worth of this child called Vandalieu," said Marshukzarl. "One cannot do great things without casting aside his personal grudges. However, he is likely planning to spend at least a decade secluded in the Boundary Mountain Range. When he comes out, do not let him get away and make sure to make contact with him."

"Understood. We will observe in secrecy."

"Also…" Marshukzarl turned his mind towards other matters. "The Mauvid family of earls must be crushed. His eldest son who is being held captive, have him commit suicide after leaving a note saying that he regrets allying himself with the Vampires."

"Certainly. There is also a movement saying that the Thunderclap Schneider should be requested to investigate the continent's southern region."

"Ah, my cousin, huh." Marshukzarl sighed as he recalled the face of his cousin with whom he had argued over many things. Schneider was an eyesore, but he was a strangely convenient person. As long as he was kept alive, those opposing Marshukzarl would rely on Schneider and gather around him, making them more conspicuous.

But sending that man to the southern reaches of the continent was too dangerous.

"Schneider would refuse… probably. If he does accept the request, stop him. But do not make him an enemy, no matter what," Marshukzarl warned his aides. "Now is not the time."

"As you will. What will be done about the Mirg shield-nation?"

"Hmm…" Marshukzarl thought for a moment. "I suppose we need to give them something sweet."

He had heard that there were movements in the Mirg shield-nation to fight a war of revenge.

If the Mirg shield-nation did something like that, it would lose more than a moderate amount of its power as a nation. They needed to be given something sweet enough to dissolve their desire for revenge.

"Then how about constructing a fort in Viscount Balchesse's territory to keep watch over the Boundary Mountain Range?" an aide suggested. "It would also serve to keep an eye on the Dhampir that you have set your sights on, Your Majesty. Of course, the Empire would fund its construction."

"I see, that is an excellent idea," said Marshukzarl.

The people's broken hearts would consider the fort as more than a defense; it would allow them to regain their composure. It would tell the people that the incident hadn't been taken lightly, and could even soften the people's opinions towards the Empire.

Most importantly, the Empire would only pay for the fort's construction. The Mirg shield-nation would still have to use its own money to maintain the fort and pay soldiers to man it.

In the future, it would also help deter the Mirg shield-nation from acquiring too much military power.

"Well then, make it happen," Marshukzarl ordered.

And so, thanks to the fort construction project led by the Amid Empire, Viscount Balchesse's region narrowly managed to recover from its loss.

��� In the future, the clearly pointless fort in this territory would only cause suffering, but it would likely be the viscount's son's generation who would have to worry about that.

The Pure-breed Vampires, Earl Thomas Palpapek and the Amid Empire. These three parties had two things in common other than having acknowledged Vandalieu's existence.

The first was that like Alda and the other gods, they were cautious to not carelessly refer to Vandalieu by other names and derogatory terms, ensuring that he didn't acquire a Title.

The other was that they were all under the assumption that Vandalieu was planning to spend at least a decade secluded in the Boundary Mountain Range, gathering strength.

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Side Story Chapter 4: At the same time, an S-class adventurer…

A waterside town in a maritime nation called Kalahad, in the Amid Empire's southern region.

This place in that waterside town, which resembled a bar, was the base of the only S-class adventurer in the western region of the Bahn Gaia continent, the Thunderclap Schneider.

It seemed rather unfitting to be used as a base by an S-class adventurer, but he was not using it as a 'guest'. He had bought the entire building and was using it as the 'owner'.

Four men faced each other in seats placed far inside the bar.

Two of them were sitting in the seats. One of them was a man in his thirties with numerous scars on his face, and it was easy to tell even through his clothes that his body was well-trained. Standing behind him were two men who appeared to be accustomed to fighting.

The man facing them was a tall man with blonde hair who appeared to be in his early-to-mid-twenties.

His face appeared to be well-featured and feminine on close inspection, but his body was packed with enough muscle to dilute that impression and there was a wild air about him.

If the beauty and ferocity of a large, wild carnivore were turned into a person, this man might be the result.

"So, you're saying that you're messengers from Duke Marme?" said the man.

He was the Thunderclap Schneider. He was sitting with his legs outstretched and crossed over each other as he gestured for the messenger from a duke of the Amid Empire to continue speaking.

"That's right. We want to request that you investigate the southern region of the Bahn Gaia continent." The man who gave this response had sweat forming on his forehead. As he was a lesser nobleman himself, he should have been reprimanding Schneider for his arrogant behavior, but this was something that he would never do.

Schneider had the privilege of the 'strong'.

Numerous noblemen who had incurred Schneider's wrath in the past had been buried.

Among them was an earl who had been directly punched to death in a public place without any schemes or hidden plans.

However, Schneider received no punishment whatsoever. No, the earl had forced him to accept an illegal request that would normally have ended in his death, but… he had completed the request easily and returned quickly.

Marshukzarl, the current Emperor, had acknowledged Schneider's results, acquitted him of his crimes and crushed the family of the earl who had been punched to death.

That had been the moment the Emperor declared that Schneider was more important than foolish noblemen.

"Investigate, huh? How long do I have to investigate for and what am I supposed to investigate?" Schneider asked. "If you just tell me to investigate, all I'd have to do is go there, come back and say, 'I've investigated the continent's southern region,' and that'd be it, messenger."

In reality, however, anyone with superficial skills would become monster food on even a short trip to and from the continent's southern region.

Even if one took the sea route from Kalahad, there would be numerous Devil's Seas, seas that had become Devil's Nests, along the way. They would be crawling with enormous monsters such as Krakens and Sea Dragons that were capable of sinking large ships.

So even if Schneider was able to perform the investigation that he had described, even though it wasn't really an investigation at all, it would be a great enough achievement to leave his name in history.

"… We want you to dispose of a certain Dhampir, and then come back," said the messenger.

This was what Duke Marme, the man who had sent the messenger, truly wanted to request. Not an investigation, but the murder of a Dhampir.

Duke Marme, Marshukzarl's cousin, was a devout follower of Alda and held the honorable position of Cardinal himself.

High Priest Bormack Gordan had become an Undead and attacked a town as a result of the expedition. For Duke Marme, this was a problem that needed to be dealt with immediately.

"Oh? I'll have you tell me all the details," said Schneider. "Lissana, it seems that this conversation is going to take a while. Bring some drinks."

"Okay~♪"

An Elf woman with a sensational, dancer-like appearance brought a pot and cups. The men standing behind managed to resist running their eyes over her mostly-bare legs and bouncing breasts, but the jaw of the messenger dropped.

"Schneider-dono."

"Ah, sorry, but you'll have to make do without alcohol. I'm abstaining for health reasons, you see," said Schneider.

"No, it's not that. This is a private conversation. If possible, people should -" The messenger suddenly became unable to continue speaking. Being stared down by Schneider's gleaming eyes, his tongue had become immobilized.

"Did you not investigate properly at the Guild before coming?" Schneider asked. "Lissana is one of my party members. If you can't trust her, hurry up and get out. Or would you like me to help you with that?"

"No! Stop! It was a slip of the tongue! Lady Lissana, I humbly offer my apologies! Please forgive me!" The messenger poured everything he had into his apology. If his apology had been a moment too late, Schneider would have grabbed him by the head and thrown him outside. Schneider's Title of 'Person Launcher' was famous in the Empire.

"It's fine, I'm not bothered by it." Lissana seemed unfazed as she poured tea into the cups, as if this was a regular occurrence.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Schneider asked, his bloodthirst vanishing as if nothing had happened at all.

The men moistened their dry throats with the tea they couldn't taste or smell to calm their minds, and the conversation somehow continued.

Duke Marme had a pride that couldn't overlook a being who had damaged the dignity of the Church of Alda, but another very probable reason that he had gone out of his way to ask Schneider to exterminate the Dhampir was that he couldn't simply leave a dangerous individual who was somehow capable of taming thousands of Undead.

The reason he had asked Schneider to carry this out was because the Dhampir lived in the southern region of the continent that was full of unexplored Devil's Nests that couldn't be reached by incapable individuals, and, most importantly, because the Dhampir could apparently tame Undead.

If large numbers of men were dispatched in the hope of overwhelming the Dhampir with numbers, there was the possibility that the dead would switch over to the Dhampir's side. Considering that the expedition army of thousands had come back as Undead, this was almost certain.

In other words, it would be preferable to send a small number of powerful individuals.

"So, you want me to do it, huh?" said Schneider.

"That's right," said the messenger. "And this isn't certain, but the Divine Message from Alda could be related as well."

"Divine Message? Ah, 'Be prepared for disease,' was it?"

The Divine Message that had been made public several days ago was sent by Alda, who had seen through the Records that Vandalieu had rendered the expedition army helpless with a disease, but… Strangely enough, its true meaning hadn't been understood.

But supplementary budgets had been granted to mages of the Mages' Guild specializing in the research of disease, and the priest-warriors were trying to acquire the Disease Resistance skill. The Divine Message hadn't been entirely meaningless.

"No, not that one," said the messenger. "The one before it."

"The one about the Demon King… So, you're saying he's the Dhampir?" asked Schneider.

"Duke Marme believes so."

"I see…"

As Schneider looked to be deep in thought, still holding his cup, the messenger saw hope and pressed him for an answer.

"Schneider-dono, you are someone so great that Alda worries for your safety. I believe that you are interested. And the fees paid will be substantial. The Duke will pay 100,000,000 Amids, and I have received word that you will be allowed to take up to ten women from the duchy and Amid's Church. Of course, anything you acquire while completing the request is yours without question."

The messenger's words made it clear just what people all over the Empire thought of Schneider.

A worldly-minded person who loved money and women despite being loved by Alda, the god of law and fate. This was the nobles' image of Schneider.

"No, I have to decline." Schneider's answer was one of refusal.

"Why?! If the Pope-sama accepts this, you can take as many as you want from the monastery; if you want priestesses, they can be made to live secular lives!" the messenger exclaimed. "Please reconsider!"

"Hey, hey…" Lissana whispered. The messenger was saying something that would become a terrible scandal if it ever became public, but she was the only one to take any notice of it.

Alda was prone to being thought of as a god with strict teachings as his teachings included, "Uphold law and order." But in reality, this teaching could be interpreted as, "As long as law and order are upheld, everything else is fine."

The reality was that excuses such as, "This is for maintaining order," and, "This is what the law has decided," were becoming more commonly used among the Great Church's high officials lately.

One reason High Priest Gordan had refused the position of Cardinal and continued working on the frontlines was because he hated these high officials.

"No, it's not that I'm dissatisfied with the rewards being offered," said Schneider.

"So why?!" the messenger demanded.

"… I've become rather sensitive to the cold lately." Schneider opened his hands for some reason as he answered the question.

"It's summer now, but it will be autumn and then winter soon. Whether I cross the mountain range or take the sea route, it will be cold, won't it?"

"… I-it can't be, you're refusing for that reason?"

The men's jaws dropped.

Schneider gave them a frustrated frown. "Look here. Despite my looks, I'm in my fifties and my body is on the decline. Are there really people who make faces like that when a well-aged old man is worrying about his sensitivity to the cold?"

In fact, Schneider was well over fifty years old. He looked like a man who was only in his twenties, but remaining records showed that he had been registered at the Adventurers' Guild over forty years ago.

His Guild Card and Status displayed the same thing, so it was impossible to doubt this information.

There were all kinds of rumors about how he maintained the strong, well-trained body of a man in his twenties despite his age.

A rumor that he had killed and bathed in the blood of so many Dragons and Elder Dragons that he had become immortal.

A rumor that one of his mistresses was a master of love-making, and it was thanks to her that he was staying young.

There was even a half-slandering rumor that he had signed a contract with an evil god that he was supposed to defeat, gaining perpetual youth.

But if anyone asked him, he would simply answer, "I just look young," and he was a troublesome man who used his age as an excuse at every opportunity he got, as he was doing now.

"Can your eyes not see these white hairs? They used to be blonde back in the day…" Schneider pinched his platinum-blonde hair that he was calling white. There was indeed proof that his hair had once been blonde, but because it was so glossy and abundant, nobody other than him thought that it was white hair.

"Schna*, you've been complaining about the same thing for ten years, you know?"

"Yeah, my hair had already turned white ten years ago."

"… This is hopeless." Even Lissana, who referred to Schneider by a nickname, gave up on convincing him.

"That's how it is," Schneider told the messenger. "Sorry, but you'll have to leave. Tell Duke Marme that I've refused because I'm worried about my old age."

"Alright… Well then, excuse us." The messenger and his men slowly got up and left the bar. They were thoroughly unconvinced by Schneider's reason for refusing the request, but there was nothing that they could do.

They didn't have the strength to do anything against a superhuman capable of defeating Elder Dragons and evil gods, and if they tried to threaten him, it would be them who ended up destroyed. In the worst case, something could even happen to Duke Marme himself. There would be no need for the Emperor to make a move to defend his cousin who opposed him.

That was why the messengers left, with only the news that the offer had been refused to report.

"Now then, what do you think of the conversation just now?" asked Schneider.

People who had stayed inconspicuous in the background until a moment earlier now opened their mouths to speak.

"Let us see… It seems that the Pope is simply being impatient, rather than Alda being involved."

"But it's not a problem, is it? It won't make any difference no matter how much noise that fool makes, and if he makes too much noise, he might be erased by that Emperor."

"That would actually be problematic. What will we do if the next Pope is actually competent?"

"Indeed."

They chuckled amongst themselves. Those gathered around Schneider and Lissara looked to be an ordinary bartender and waitress, if disregarding the fact that they were beautiful and sinister-looking, and a drunkard who had been drinking and talking drunkenly to the waitress.

But in reality, all of them shared a certain secret.

"Still, they expected quite a lot, didn't they… hic. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't want to go to the southern parts of the continent," said the drunkard with a mohawk. He was actually a Dark Elf. As he was concealing his long ears with a special Magic Item, he simply looked like a muscular, dark-skinned man.

He was Dalton, a warrior from the great tribe of Dark Elves.

"You drank too much, Dalton. Tea, drink some tea."

"Geh, you can't expect me to drink colored water! And if you're going to complain, complain to Zod for providing me with this delicious drink."

"My apologies." The bartender, who had no notable features other than a slim figure and small moustache, smiled. But those who learned of his true identity would likely scream and flee.

His real name was Zorcodrio. He was a Pure-breed Vampire.

"Here you are, a refill," he said, handing Dalton a drink.

"Ah, thanks," said Dalton, drinking a mouthful. "Kah, delicious!"

"Hey, aren't you letting him drink too much?" Lissara complained.

"That is water flavored with mint," Zod replied to her in a small voice.

Indeed, he had never said, "This is alcohol," when handing Dalton the drink. Even though the cup contained water, it was a refill nonetheless.

"Health problems aside, the curious thing is that Dhampir, isn't it?" The Dwarf waitress, Merdin, returned the conversation to its original topic. She was an ordinary Dwarf.

Her occupation was that of an A-class adventurer rather than a waitress, however.

"Leaving the Divine Message of the foolish Pope aside, I can't stay uninvolved if he has some relation to the Demon King. If by some chance the Demon King were to be revived, I might really be destroyed this time," said Lissana as her appearance suddenly changed.

Her white skin turned blue-black and a third eye opened as if opening a fissure in her wide forehead. Her red tongue turned a fluorescent pink and her already-abundant chest expanded further.

"Oi, you're returning to your normal form," Dalton warned her.

"Sorry, sorry, I was remembering the past and I couldn't help it." Lissana giggled and withdrew her tongue back inside her mouth as she returned to her previous Elven appearance.

As written on her Guild Card, she was an Elf woman.

She often skipped introducing herself as the incarnation of Jurizanapipe, the Evil God of Degeneration and Intoxication, however.

She was the evil god supposedly defeated by the Thunderclap Schneider.

"So what are we going to do, Schna?" she asked. "It seems like you've refused to exterminate him, but are we going to go and meet him?"

"I do want to go, but… I can't, can I? There a lot of things to do over here as well," said Schneider. "And unlike Duke Marme, the current Emperor has become aware of my true nature."

Schneider. He was without a doubt a human man. He wasn't a Vampire, an evil god or a member of Vida's races.

However, he was a follower of Vida.

"That Emperor has known for a long time that I'm not a devout follower of Alda," he continued. "He knows that the Pope's Divine Message of me being in danger actually means that I'm a dangerous person and that he should be wary of me."

In the past, Schneider had been told numerous times by the Pope that a Divine Message warned of danger, but nothing had happened. Alda was warning the Pope that Schneider was a dangerous person.

Schneider was aware of how difficult it was to fully understand the meaning of a Divine Message, however, so he wasn't particularly inclined to call the Pope a fool.

As a mortal, Schneider was unaware of the gods' circumstances, things like the circle of transmigration systems. But despite being unaware of them, he had always held doubt towards Alda's teachings since he was a child.

He had never understood why Vida's races had to be hated so fiercely. After he became an adventurer and encountered members of one of Vida's races, Lamias, he became certain.

Alda was wrong.

… It might have simply been that his late first love was a beautiful Lamia.

Leaving that reason aside, he made contact with the Lamias, and during the time he spent in their village, his belief became firmer.

But thinking that perhaps these Lamia were just special, he made contact with other members of Vida's races.

And then Schneider chose Vida over Alda.

He hid his true beliefs, trained himself and built his achievements as an adventurer. There was the option of crossing over to the Orbaume Kingdom, where the religion of Vida and the existence of Vida's races were acknowledged to some extent, but that would have been a foolish move for him.

If he ran to the Orbaume Kingdom, he couldn't help the members of Vida's races who were currently suffering in the Amid Empire.

There were things he could only do in the Amid Empire. A single adventurer from a commoner background likely couldn't achieve much, but even so, he would be satisfied with helping as many as possible.

Before he knew it, he had become an S-class adventurer.

Life is full of surprises.

"Well, he likely hasn't noticed the truth about you, Lissana," said Schneider.

"Yes. I wonder why. Nobody ever notices, do they? That there are some among the evil gods who have changed sides to join the champions."

Legends told of gods, giants and Elder Dragons who had surrendered and joined the Demon King out of fear. But they didn't tell of the considerable number of evil gods who betrayed the Demon King and fought him alongside the gods and champions of Lambda.

They were indeed called evil gods, and they possessed powers that most in this world would consider abominable and wicked.

But they weren't the incarnation of pure evil or anything like that.

The champion Zakkart had called the Demon King and his followers, 'Invaders from another world.' This was the truth.

For the inhabitants of Lambda, the fight against the Demon King was a holy war to defend this world. However, looking at it objectively, it was a war between invaders and the native people.

Of course, it could not be said that the Demon King and his followers were innocent and had done nothing wrong. After all, they had come to another world and chosen not to ask its people politely to allow them to move in or make any effort to assimilate by adopting their morals, sense of values and manners.

But there were some who had no choice but to obey the Demon King out of fear despite wondering why a war was being started so suddenly.

One of them was Jurizanapipe, the Evil God of Degeneration and Intoxication.

Zakkart had persuaded her to join the champions' side.

The former evil gods who had changed sides allied themselves with Vida and the resurrected Zakkart when her conflict with Alda began.

They were thoroughly defeated by Alda and Bellwood. They were either sealed away after having their powers reduced, or forced to discard their bodies and physically incarnate themselves.

And Bellwood, who had opposed the evil gods joining them but had no choice but to reluctantly give in due to their strategic value, buried them in the darkness of history.

"If I headed for the continent's southern region, the Emperor would probably make a move, thinking that I'm planning to finally make contact with the Pure-breed Vampires who worship Vida," said Schneider. "He's letting me swim around because I'm useful to the Empire, but it'd be troublesome if he were to think there was a chance that I'd cause the Empire harm."

Though Schneider was an S-class adventurer and an evil-god-killer (though in reality, this was equivalent to being a lady-killer), the Empire wasn't small enough for him to defeat on his own. There were imperial guards as strong as A-class adventurers, and it was certain that there were ten or twenty more individuals being kept hidden as extra fighting strength who even Schneider wouldn't be able to defeat easily.

"And I've received a Divine Message as well," Schneider continued. "I'm going to obey it."

"Divine Message, you mean that one?" asked Dalton. "The one that told you to save the mothers and children…"

It had been ten years since Schneider had received this Divine Message. He had been surprised upon receiving a Divine Message for the first time. He deciphered the cryptogram-like combination of vast information and intent that had entered his mind, and somehow managed to understand its meaning, the words spoken by Dalton.

To be more precise, it was a Divine Message saying, "Become a shield, help the mothers and rescue the children from the blood, but without crossing the peak or the sea."

"Haven't you already fulfilled that?" asked Merdin. "You saved plenty of mothers and children, and because of that, you found Zod who had been sealed up."

"Yes, you really saved me back then," Zod added.

Schneider, having thought that the Divine Message meant, "Stay on the western side of the Bahn Gaia continent and risk your life to protect mothers and children," saved numerous mothers and children as Merdin said. There were incidents where he simply saved them from bandits, and in one case, things developed into a great adventure, as a result of which he ended up undoing the seal on the Pure-breed Vampire Zod.

Of course, wondering if there were other ways to interpret the Divine Message, Schneider had visited the grave of his mother who rested in his birthplace and searched for signs of danger approaching the women around him, thinking that one of them might be pregnant.

As a result, it became clear that Schneider had unknowingly fathered children among the Lamia, Scylla, Arachne, Centaurs and Mer-people. Dalton had said, "How's that for a man?" and Schneider had only been able to retort with, "I was young back then!"

There were funny stories like this, but Schneider finally calmed down, having interpreted the Divine Message as being intended to have him undo Zod's seal.

However, from the request brought to him by the messengers from Duke Marme, Schneider realized that he had failed.

Schneider shook his head. "No, the meaning of that Divine Message was, 'Save the mother in the Mirg shield-nation and rescue the half-blood child.'"

"That's…" Dalton looked doubtful. "But then, what about the second part about the peak and the sea?"

"That meant, 'If you fail to save the mother, don't go near for a while.' Actually, if I'd participated in the expedition, things might not have gone well for me, either," said Schneider.

"Are you trying to say that the Dhampir is able to kill you?" asked Zod.

"He somehow killed six thousand men; he's not a normal kid. Well, speaking as an S-class adventurer, Vida probably wanted to stop me from becoming an enemy for that Dhampir, didn't she?"

"If that's true, then at least he has no relation to the Demon King," said Merdin. "There's no way that Vida would help the Demon King, after all."

"That's how it is… I feel bad that I couldn't save his mother, but I'm not all-powerful, either. I'll apologize when I meet him one day, but until then, I'll just have to do everything I can."

There was no time to be worried over it.

Having finished speaking, Schneider set about making preparations for tomorrow's work - exterminating a group of Krakens to help a clan of Mer-people.

"Hey, do you think it's true that seaweed is good for your hair -"

"Zakkart said so, but I'm telling you, it's a superstition."

"But you know, lately, my hairline has -"

"It's just your imagination; it hasn't receded at all."

"Is that so? But I get the feeling that my hair has become thinner recently -"

"YOU'RE HALLUCINATING!"

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Side Story Chapter 5: Vida

Vida, half-asleep and half-awake, couldn't tell whether she was looking at a dream on the back of her eyelids or whether her eyelids were open and she was hallucinating.

Though gods were not omniscient and omnipotent, she was still a goddess. But she was in this pitiful state because of her battle against Alda that had taken place a hundred thousand years ago.

A hundred thousand years… Even before that…

After being born in this world, Vida spread the power of the life attribute throughout it, and before she knew it, she was praised by the people as the goddess of life and love.

Everything was peaceful back then. Everything was gentle and quiet.

However, that peace was broken by the invasion of the Demon King. Vida had no choice but to fight alongside the other gods against the Demon King's army, the invaders from a foreign world.

During that time, at Zuruwarn's suggestion, it was decided that champions would be summoned from another world. She agreed with the plan while Alda opposed it, but in the end, things went well and seven champions were to be summoned.

Permission had been granted from the god of that other world, but only Rodcorte, the one who ruled the only circle of transmigration, continued to oppose it. But none bothered listening to a god who could do nothing other than complain.

The one Vida had chosen was a young man who was trying to hang himself in a small backstreet workshop, Sakado Keisuke. He would later become Zakkart.

"Ah, the goddess has come for me. Mother, Father, I'm coming now," Sakado whispered.

"Stop, don't go, please!" Vida cried.

I was in quite a panic back then.

It seemed that an organization known as a 'bank' had betrayed Sakado and the workshop he had been running went out of business, so he was trying to kill himself.

Vida thought that he would happily become a champion with no lingering desires in this world, but Sakado exhibited a fixation on mysterious things.

"Umm, does that mean that you're going to give me special powers and things like that, then?" he asked.

"Of course."

Bestowing powers upon humans chosen to become champions was already an established procedure. In fact, if they were to be invited to another world without being given anything, they would simply die.

Different worlds would have different laws of physics and even different compositions of air. There weren't such great differences between Lambda and Sakado's world, but if Sakado was simply taken to Lambda without any adjustments being made, it was possible that his lifespan would be shortened or he would transform into a bizarre creature due to the Mana floating about in the air.

Vida would adjust his soul to prevent that, but these adjustments would become what were referred to as "champions' powers." The "blank space" of the soul upon which adjustments could be made were called, "the qualities of a champion."

… The adjustments could have been made more freely if Rodcorte, an expert on this matter, had cooperated, however.

Also, magic didn't exist in this world called "Earth" that Zuruwarn had made a connection to, so none of its inhabitants were able to use Mana. In addition, only a miniscule number of individuals were capable of fighting with swords and spears; it was already known that there were none among Earth's inhabitants who had the individual fighting strength to stand up against the Demon King and his army.

Earth's weapons couldn't be taken to Lambda (If they were, since the laws of physics were different in Lambda, it was certain that they would break after being fired once, misfire or even explode), so it was decided that each champion would be granted powers.

That was why even if Sakado never asked for it, Vida was planning to give him things like physical abilities that would allow him to treat protagonists of action films as small fry, an aptitude for magic and powerful equipment that only champions could use.

In addition, the Job and skill system created by Ricklent had already been implemented in Lambda.

With enough experience, one could gain unimaginable powers.

"Well then, please give me a cheat that lets me create things," said Sakado.

"… Huh? Err, we're in the middle of a war."

For some reason, Sakado showed a strong fixation on things related to 'creating'. Wouldn't one normally desire the power to cut down enemies one after another with a sword, or the ability to freely cast powerful spells? In fact, those are the kinds of champions that we are looking for.

Vida told Sakado this, but he stubbornly refused to yield on this matter.

"I'm weak when it comes to fighting," he said.

"That's why I'm telling you that I'll make you strong!"

"But I get the feeling that it'll be a waste… I'm not really athletic, either."

Vida sighed. "Even if you say you want to create, I'm the goddess of the life attribute, so it'll have to be something like agriculture, animal breeding, forestry or woodworking. Is that alright with you?"

She had no choice but to give in. There wasn't enough time for her to spend days convincing him and she didn't have any other candidates.

"Please give me those. I'm more knowledgeable about the manufacturing industry than I look."

And so, though this wasn't what was originally planned, Sakado was summoned to Lambda as a champion who placed more importance on productivity and technology than individual fighting strength.

Vida felt disappointed, knowing that she was probably the only one to summon such a strange champion, but contrary to her expectations, the champions chosen by Ricklent, Peria and Botin had also desired cheats for creating things.

To think that four of the seven had desired creation-related abilities. Perhaps the image of heroes on 'Earth' was fundamentally different to what the gods had imagined? It was very perplexing.

Alda and Zantark had scolded them angrily for not making more serious choices, however.

After that, it was fierce battle after fierce battle.

Numerous islands had been sunk, nations were destroyed and Shizarion's soul had been broken. Even so, Vida, Sakado and the other champions fought earnestly, defeating and sealing numerous evil gods and somehow keeping the war even.

Sakado… had reluctantly changed his name to Zakkart in order to have a more typical Lambda-style name under the recommendation of Suzuki Shouhei, the leader of the champions. Zakkart had distinguished himself in these battles.

"If this world's gods and people are willing to betray us and join the Demon King, the reverse should also be possible!" As he made this outrageous declaration, he began trying to recruit the evil gods obeying the Demon King.

"Zakkart, what are you thinking!" Bellwood demanded. "Their very existence is evil! There is no way that they can be converted. And have you forgotten what they have been doing to innocent people up until now?!"

"Precisely," said Alda. "Even if they were to join our side, it would only be a trap or a wretched way to beg for their lives. Accepting those who have sinned without delivering any punishment is an unthinkable, reckless act."

"Please, come to your senses!" Vida begged him.

Not even Vida's words stopped Zakkart from trying to recruit the evil gods; in fact, the champions who had desired abilities of creation began to actively cooperate with him in his efforts.

And unbelievably, more than ten evil gods, though not in important positions within the Demon King's army, crossed over to the champions' side.

"No way?!" Vida exclaimed in surprise.

"I mean, don't things like this happen often in wars?" said Zakkart, wearing a nonchalant expression.

The evil gods who had changed sides were not particularly exceptional in direct fighting strength, but the fact that there were traitors seemed to have caused greater shock and disturbance in the Demon King's army than expected.

The Demon King was a being who ruled not with charisma, but through overwhelming power and his secret ability that allowed him to destroy souls. There were some who worshipped his power, but many of his subordinates feared him or were simply obeying him to serve their own purposes.

The existence of the traitors caused doubt to spread throughout the Demon King's army, making them wonder, "Has the Demon King's power grown weaker?" and, "Have they betrayed the Demon King because they believe that the champions have something capable of defeating him?"

And the Demon King was successfully driven into paranoia that his other subordinates would betray him as well.

The coordination of the Demon King's army that had been bound together like iron came apart, more traitors appeared and the war that had been even up until now began leaning in the champions' favor. But the champions couldn't let down their guard. They needed to attack before the Demon King's army restored its iron-like bonds.

Under these circumstances, Zakkart declared that he would begin the manufacture of 'weapons from another world.'

"With our knowledge and skill alongside magic, we should be able to create the modern weapons of Earth in Lambda!"

He advocated that these weapons should be used to defeat the Demon King. One of the reasons for this was because the Demon King possessed numerous troublesome special abilities that made him difficult to defeat through normal methods.

A barrier that nullified all magic and a barrier that nullified all physical attacks. With these two different barriers, he would be surrounded by an impregnable defense.

Because of this defense, even the holy sword of Bellwood, who was the most gifted in combat, wouldn't reach him. It would even stop the attacks of the gods.

Zakkart had thought of a way to pierce through those barriers and inflict damage on the Demon King.

"Even if the Demon King came from another world, he has not known a world with a technology-driven culture like Earth," said Zakkart. "If we press him there, it might work."

After investigating the barriers, he had noticed that they were not like hard walls that repelled attacks, but had properties resembling membranes that absorbed energy.

He had also determined that the simultaneously-present barriers, the anti-physical-attack barrier and anti-magic barrier, were independent and didn't affect each other at all.

In other words, if the anti-physical-attack barrier was broken by an extremely powerful attack it couldn't absorb completely, the anti-magic barrier would continue functioning as normal.

Only one of the barriers needed to be pierced to make an attack reach the Demon King.

So, Bellwood would use his ability to copy another champion's ability once a day to copy Zakkart's power of nullifying damage taken from a target weapon, targeting Earth's modern weapons.

After that, Bellwood, now impervious to the damage of those weapons, would attack alongside the weapons being fired at the Demon King.

The Demon King's anti-physical-attack barrier would be pierced and he would be defeated. This was the plan that Zakkart drafted.

However, Bellwood was vehemently opposed to this plan. The weapons that Zakkart was trying to create had proved to be problematic on Earth, causing irreversible damage on the environment when they were used.

Invisible poison would be scattered across vast areas and linger for tens of thousands of years. They were terrifying weapons.

"Zakkart, have you gone insane?! You would only create a disaster in this beautiful world of Lambda in the Demon King's place!" Bellwood exclaimed.

"Disaster? At this rate, the Demon King will take everything!" said Zakkart. "And unlike Earth, this world has magic, and it isn't as if the entire world is going to be contaminated. It will be only the continent the Demon King is residing in, and there's not a single person left there anyway, is there?"

"But there are people who were evacuated from that continent! Some of them are in the volunteer army that is fighting with us! Can you say the same to them, when they are risking their lives to reclaim their homeland? Can you tell them that even if the Demon King is defeated, they will never have a homeland to return to?!"

"… I do feel bad for them. I really do, but if we aren't prepared to make sacrifices, we can't win. And Suzuki, aren't you just unhappy with the fact that I want to make weapons from Earth?"

And so, the four creation-minded champions led by Zakkart, who were in agreement with the creation of the weapons, separated themselves from the three battle-minded champions led by Bellwood.

The two groups were prone to argue with one another over various things, and it was always Bellwood who would calm the unyielding, dissatisfied creation-minded champions down, telling them that victory couldn't be achieved without helping each other.

But it seemed that they couldn't put up with it any longer.

Alda and Zantark agreed with the opinions of Bellwood's group, while Vida, Zuruwarn and Ricklent agreed with those of Zakkart's group.

Vida was confident that if she and the other gods did everything in their power, the pollution caused by the weapons could be erased within a few thousand years, or even a few centuries if things went well.

And though those evacuated from that continent deserved pity, the continent was already filled with seas and deserts of poison, and contaminated with forests of monster fungi. Vida believed that they had to give up on the continent to some extent.

However, Alda's side wondered, was it really possible to purify a poison that had never existed in this world before? What if that poison were to combine with the Mana of this world and transform into a new disaster? They advocated that victory was possible without utilizing such a dangerous plan.

The fact that the war had begun leaning in the champions' favor had created room for such arguments to arise.

Meanwhile, Zakkart began creating Earth's modern weapons in order to change the minds of the battle-minded champions and the gods who supported their opinion. To be more precise, he began creating the poison that those weapons would scatter.

He was trying to create a far smaller amount of diluted poison to determine whether it would be possible to purify it with this world's magic and the power of the gods, and if so, how long it would take to do so.

The other creation-minded champions cooperated in this task, while Vida and her companions continued to try and persuade Alda's side to accept this plan.

At this time, the Demon King's army suddenly went on the offensive.

The Demon King separated his army in two and began a large offensive movement with no hesitation to make sacrifices. One of them was a large force that charged at the volunteer army's camp where Bellwood and his companions were, commanded directly by the Demon King himself.

The other was a smaller army that closed in on the weapons manufacture workshop where Zakkart and his companions were, led by the Demon King's close aide.

Bellwood and his companions, alongside the volunteer army, accepted the challenge of defeating the Demon King that was approaching them. Vida tried to leave in order to help Zakkart and his companions, but Alda and the other gods stopped her.

"Zakkart and the others are champions as well. They will be able to deal with a small army on their own. In fact, they should kill all of the enemies and come here to support us. And shouldn't we prioritize defeating the Demon King above all else?"

At the time, I thought Alda's words were right. That's why… but…

Bellwood and his companions drove away the large army. However, the army had been composed of large numbers of sturdy small-fry and monsters specialized in stamina and defense, designed to hinder the champions. The Demon King leading them was a fake.

Zakkart and his companions had their souls broken by the Demon King who had been disguising himself as a low-Rank monster, and the workshop was destroyed.

"With this, the champions capable of defeating me have perished!" The Demon King Guduranis was said to have made this loud declaration after breaking Zakkart's soul.

The Demon King had considered Zakkart's group more powerful than Bellwood's, and feared them more. He had been worried that the plan that they had made would one day threaten his life.

That was why he had been fixated on defeating Zakkart's group, despite having to make large sacrifices to do so. He had even destroyed their souls so that they could never be revived.

Vida, Zuruwarn and Ricklent desperately tried to revive them. They planned to piece together the broken fragments of their souls in an attempt to resurrect them.

But Rodcorte had already retrieved the fragments of their souls by then.

"Reviving souls not part of my circle of transmigration system without permission, souls pieced together from broken fragments at that. There is no telling what kind of flaws doing such a thing would cause in the system. If possible, I wanted to return them to their original world, but I do not have the power to interfere with worlds outside of my jurisdiction. For this reason, I have restored four souls' worth of fragments into a single soul and placed it in my system. This needed a considerable amount of effort, but not as much as fixing unexpected errors and bugs."

The souls of Zakkart and his companions had already gone to a place where Vida couldn't reach them.

"What happened to them is a pity. But for their sake, we will defeat the Demon King Guduranis with our own power and save the world!" Bellwood declared, holding his holy sword high.

After that, events that I don't even want to remember kept happening one after another, didn't they…

In terms of results, Bellwood was victorious. Lambda was saved.

But too many sacrifices had been made.

Bellwood and the other two battle-minded champions survived. However, all of the eleven gods other than Alda and Vida had lost so much power that they had essentially died.

Not a single member of the volunteer army led by Bellwood had survived.

There were numerous regions that remained contaminated, including the continent that the Demon King had made his domain. Many of them remained unpurified even a hundred thousand years later, spreading and becoming known as 'Devil's Nests.'

The surviving people, all of the humans, Elves and Dwarves, numbered less than three thousand.

"Our losses were indeed great. But we're still alive. We have to continue forward. Please cooperate with us, for the sake of the future," said Bellwood, extending his hand. But Vida rejected him.

Time cannot be rewound; no matter how much I regret, what has been lost will never come back. To make up for our losses, I should have taken his hand. Alda wasn't wrong when he said that. But I could no longer trust them.

Wasn't there supposed to be no sacrifices made?

It was true that there was no guarantee that the Demon King would have been defeated if Zakkart's plan had been put into practice. But shouldn't Bellwood have listened to his opinions?

Gunpowder and matchlock weapons, land mines and steam engines - Bellwood had opposed Zakkart at every turn, stopping all of his ideas.

It was true that what Zakkart had in mind was dangerous and would spell disaster for this world if misused. After hearing it, even Vida had countless discussions with him about it, thinking that it would be dangerous to put the plan into practice exactly as he had suggested it.

But even so, she had discussed it with him. She hadn't denied him without hearing what he had to say.

And no matter what she did, she couldn't let go of her doubt surrounding the events when the Demon King had closed in.

Didn't Bellwood and Alda abandon Zakkart and his companions on purpose?

Wasn't it possible that they had intentionally allowed themselves to be deceived by the Demon King's trap?

There was no evidence. If someone told her that she was delusional, that would be the end of the discussion. And even Vida thought that it would be ungrateful of her to accuse Bellwood of such a thing, when he had come to Lambda from a completely unrelated world, risked his life and finally defeated the Demon King.

However, she couldn't trust him.

But she distrusted Rodcorte even more. What was important to that god was the souls being reincarnated in the worlds he had jurisdiction over; he probably wasn't interested in anything else. Even with these events occurring, he probably thought nothing more than, "I'm glad the Demon King was defeated."

If the Demon King had told Rodcorte, "I will create as many humans as you want in place of the gods that were originally in this world, so lend me your strength," then perhaps Rodcorte would have accepted. Vida couldn't help but to think this.

And the loss of Zakkart and the other creation-minded champions was great not only to Vida, but to Lambda as a whole.

After they had fallen, Bellwood was forced to fight a harsh war that was once again tipped in the Demon King's favor. Gods, members of the volunteer army and the refugees that they had been protecting were lost in rapid succession.

And even now, Bellwood and the others were struggling to restore this ruined world. Because their powers were specialized for battle, though they were able to exterminate the monsters left behind by the Demon King, they were nothing more than amateurs when it came to agriculture and manufacturing.

That was exactly why they needed Vida to cooperate with them, but…

Instead of cooperating with them, I made a different decision.

Vida thought of creating her own circle of transmigration system for this world and creating new "people" who could survive even in this world that was overrun by monsters.

She planned to rebuild and restore this world, and reunite with Alda and the other gods.

Alda and Bellwood opposed her as usual, but this was something that she had expected.

They would have acknowledged me if my endeavors paid off. I thought that I had no other way to convince them when words wouldn't reach them.

That was why she didn't listen to the words of Alda and the others. If one asked her whether she wanted to get back at them, she wouldn't have denied it, however.

And then Vida gave birth to numerous new races. She poured Vitality into Zakkart's remains and successfully turned him into an Undead.

She had wanted to fully resurrect him, but her attempts failed thoroughly. It seemed that without the soul at hand or someone who could control death itself, reversing life and death was impossible.

That was why she was only able to create a puppet with fragments of Zakkart's memories and knowledge, that moved based on the few residual thoughts remaining in his body.

But I don't think he would be angry. He was always saying that whatever can be used should be used, as if it was his favorite phrase.

And so, with the help of the former evil gods who had joined her as subordinate gods, she imitated the circle of reincarnation system left behind by the Demon King, creating her own original system.

Though it did work, it was nothing more than an imitation of the Demon King's system that was itself an imitation of Rodcorte's system, so bugs would constantly appear. It was a dangerous product that she couldn't take her eyes off.

Vida was forced to realize that no matter how unpleasant Rodcorte was, he was a specialist when it came to this field.

But I didn't want to give up. I looked for more help. I created new races with those who cooperated with me, and loaded the souls of the new children onto my system.

Vida thought that the system needed experience to improve. Though it would cause them discomfort at first, it was necessary for the children she had created to turn the wheels of the system and be born anew.

But fortunately, at this point in time, the incomplete system was working well, considering that it was incomplete.

The number of children given birth to by Vida was steadily increasing as well.

Maybe it's because I imitated the Demon King's system, but my children are stronger and live longer than I expected, and some of them undergo large changes in appearance when their Rank increases. But I always intended to produce stronger children, so I thought that it was fine, didn't I?

Things were not fine. It was when Alda and the champions attacked her that she realized that she should have sat at a table and discussed things with Alda and the others sooner.

Bellwood and the other champions should have reached the ends of their lifespans long ago, but Alda had deemed them to be necessary for this world and preserved their youth.

Alda led the subordinate gods and followers who now supported him after their masters had perished or fallen into slumber, while Vida led the gods allied with her and the children she had given birth to. The two of them formed two separate groups that fought against each other.

Vida was defeated. In the end, her fate was determined by the fact that her enemy had champions on his side while she did not.

And the city for her children that had been created using Zakkart's knowledge was destroyed. Vida's divinity was stolen from her by Alda… Her authority as a goddess was revoked, and she suffered a deep wound.

Even so, she mustered all of her remaining strength, created a tall mountain range to the south of the Bahn Gaia continent and led her remaining children to take shelter there. After that, she collapsed and fell into a slumber.

I wonder how much time has passed since then?

Ten thousand years, twenty thousand years or perhaps even a hundred thousand years. She didn't know. Her power had failed to return, to the point that she couldn't tell.

As Vida's equal, Alda shouldn't have had the power to inflict an irreparable wound on her, but it seemed that he and his followers had brought her followers, the source of her power as a goddess… the ones who offered her prayers, to ruin by preventing them from growing in number.

Currently, all of the gods who had cooperated with Vida had fallen into slumber after having their divinity taken from them, or were worshipped just enough to lie dormant. Vida didn't know whether Talos and the others were unharmed or not. Vampires were strong among Vida's children; there was no small number of them who had fallen to the temptations of those who still tormented this world.

Why did things turn out this way? Why has Alda continued to do such harsh, cruel things?

The Demon King no longer exists, and the gods that were part of his army betrayed him and became our allies. They were doing their best to make up for what they did. So why do you still hate them? The one who tore their chance to atone into pieces is you. The one who teaches that criminals should atone for their wrongdoings, and that they are no longer criminals once they have finished atoning, is you.

Why do you hate the knowledge and technology from Earth so much? It's thanks to none other than the champions we summoned from that world, Earth, that we even still exist.

Why do you criticize my endeavors so much? The one who couldn't trust Rodcorte, the one who doubted him, is you.

Why do you try to destroy my children? Why haven't you noticed that the truly evil gods have taken advantage of that and built a nest inside your pocket?

At this rate, everyone will become exhausted and only destruction will await us, so why?

I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand.

At that moment, a certain premonition crossed Vida's mind. Perhaps it was caused by Zakkart's remains that were resting next to her, or a little of her power had been restored, or perhaps Ricklent and Zuruwarn were lending her some of their power from wherever they were gathering it. She didn't know. But it was a premonition nonetheless.

He will come back. I don't know why, but Zakkart… Keisuke will come back to this world!

The soul that had been formed when Rodcorte forcibly pieced together the broken fragments of the four champions' souls, the one that had been released into his system, would return to Lambda.

But…

In her premonition, Vida could see that he would be reincarnated into tragic circumstances and that he would end his own life, tormented by his own powerlessness. All of this would be instigated by Rodcorte.

"I can't let that happen."

This wasn't something that she could overlook.

He currently didn't have even fragments of memories from the past. His personality was completely different as well. But Vida couldn���t abandon him.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't been able to do anything for Keisuke and the others. She hadn't been able to repay them for anything.

So, to make up for it, she would repay them just a little bit now.

With this in mind, Vida sent several Divine Messages. She was worried that there wouldn't be anyone left to hear her voice, but it seemed that the Divine Messages had been delivered.

And the moment her premonition became reality, Vida mustered all of her power. Her hand was so powerless that her heart felt as if it would break from how pathetic she was, but even so, she extended it.

She supported the soul that had fallen into this world with her hand and scooped it up. As she did so, she noticed that three troublesome curses had been placed upon it.

"Rodcorte…!"

Vida couldn't undo the curses. But before she could feel disappointed, she noticed something peculiar about the soul.

She noticed that the soul was imbued with the Mana of an attribute that didn't exist in Lambda and yet was somehow familiar, and that the soul had an unusually large amount of blank space.

"I see, it has four champions' worth of blank space. And because Rodcorte forcibly put the pieces together, it created even more blank space. Even so, there is simply too much blank space, I have to fill it with power so that he isn't defeated by the curses… ah?"

To begin with, Vida tried to place the power of the life attribute that she had once ruled over into the soul. However, the peculiar Mana that the soul had already been imbued with engulfed that power and absorbed it.

"How strange. I wonder if it's because my power has waned. Well then, my divine protection… This isn't working, either?!"

When she tried to bestow it her divine protection, that was quickly engulfed as well. She had been aware that divine protections were difficult to bestow upon those who didn't believe in the god granting the divine protection, but the divine protection had been engulfed. Just what could this mean?

"Umm… Well then, what should I do?"

There were few things Vida was capable of doing now. She had previously been able to grant special powers and cheat-like abilities, but she didn't have the power to do that now. If she pushed herself she might be able to grant the soul a single power, but it would be terrible to see it being engulfed as well.

"Alright, let's do this!"

Vida scooped up the tiny amount of residual thoughts that were left in Zakkart's remains. In those residual thoughts, she wrapped some of her own blood that was running from her wound.

And then she added these to the soul. Perhaps because they had once been a part of the same soul, this time, they unified with the soul without any interference from the Mana.

"With this, this soul has received my blessing. Its unhappy destiny should become a little better. And though his growth may face walls, it won't face any limits. It will become easier for new Jobs to appear, and it should affect the people around him, too. Well, the bad luck in his future will get stronger, though. But this Mana, I've felt it somewhere before… No, it can't be."

And then Vida released the soul into the system that she had created herself. With his soul's compatibility, he would be born as either a Vampire or a Dhampir. And since most Vampires didn't make children normally now, it was likely that he would be born as a Dhampir.

He might be born into even harsher and crueler circumstances than if Vida hadn't interfered at all.

"Now, I just need everyone to hear my Divine Messages and make their move… I'm sorry that this is all I can do for you."

You risked your lives to save a world you had no connection to and even had your souls broken. I'm sorry that this is all I can do.

If possible, I want you to love this world.

The air, the wind, the earth, the greenery, the animals, the people, I want you to love everything.

I'm sorry that I'm burdening you with more expectations after I've relied on you so much already.

And then, Vida's consciousness sank into slumber once more.

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