The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 303: The battle of the Demon King’s Continent reaches its conclusion

“We must avenge our lord –”

“If I could just land even one blow!”

With Zepaon’s soul devoured by Vandalieu, in their outrage, they had tried to close the distance between themselves and Vandalieu to avenge their master, so his God Spirit Magic spell struck them directly, giving them no chance to avoid it.

One of the heroic spirits that had been relatively far away from Vandalieu managed to avoid it.

“He wiped out everyone with a single blow?!” he uttered in disbelief. “Curse you! Now that things have come to this, I shall use my secret technique and –”

“A technique passed on directly from Legion-dono! ‘Meat Bullet!’” shouted Zorcodrio, the Pure-breed Vampire who had pioneered ‘Muscle Technique.’

Having been thrown by Peria, he slammed his entire body into the heroic spirit, who let out a brief groan of pain as he exploded like a ripe fruit and scattered into the wind.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Beast-king and Swan Beast-king, who had been flying high in the sky and out of the range of Vandalieu’s spell, were attacking the frozen-earth snakes from the air and attempting to aid their allies.

But Rita and Saria came flying in, thrown by Ricklent and Zuruwarn.

“This is preeeeeeetty roooooough! ‘God Flash!’” Rita shouted, swinging her glaive as she flew past her target.

“‘Helix Charge!’” said Saria, doing the same with her Halberd. “… Phew, I thought I was going to die.”

Their attacks cut deep wounds into the wings of the Beast-kings, who screeched as they plummeted towards the ground where the writhing snakes of frozen earth were waiting.

And another bird-type Beast-king tried to fly higher in order to escape, but one of the enormous snakes cut him off. He gave a shriek of terror as it wrapped itself around him and began crushing him.

The enormous shellfish… the children of the Shellfish Beast-king Harinsheb, charged forward to try and break apart the frozen-earth snakes, putting their faith in the hardness of their shells and the sheer momentum of their huge bodies. But rather than breaking, the snakes wrapped themselves around them, and they screamed as they were dragged deeper into the battlefield.

“We cannot break them! This frozen earth will not be broken by feeble attacks!” one of the demigods shouted in warning.

The snakes of frozen earth had been created using Vandalieu’s vast Mana as well as Orbia’s own power. Even an attack from a Colossus or Beast-king, which could easily destroy an entire mountain, could not easily break these snakes.

And even if they put all of their strength into an attack that was powerful enough to destroy them, the raw materials needed to make more – the lake’s water and the mud at the lake’s bottom – were abundantly available.

The snakes of frozen earth continued to expand at a terrifying pace and gradually restricted the movements of the demigods further and further.

“Don’t separate from one another! He’s trying to divide us!”

“Could it be… that was his plan all along!”

One of Vandalieu’s aims in using ‘Great Death Ice Mire Chaos Snakes’ was to divide the enemy. Unlike attacks made of flames and lightning, this spell would use the ice left on the battlefield to prevent the demigods from moving and coordinating with one another.

Vandalieu’s other aim was to get rid of the source of water that was being used by the water-attribute demigods.

“How dare you…!” Madroza muttered, trembling in anger and panic.

With one of her greatest sources of power being rapidly taken away, she unleashed a furious breath attack of compressed ice.

It was a violent stream of ice with enough power to easily crush any cannonball-type Demon King Familiars in its path, but the enemy she was fighting was not a good match for her.

The breath of ice collided with one of the snakes of frozen earth, but rather than breaking it, it did the opposite – the snake simply became larger and even more solidly frozen.

But Madroza, having lost control over herself in her fury, continued to fire more breath attacks.

“How dare you! How dare you! How dare yoooooou!” she screamed.

“Madroza! Don’t lose yourself to anger!” Gorn shouted from the other side of the wall of frozen-earth snakes, having realized what was happening.

Unfortunately, Gorn’s voice wasn’t reaching Madroza – but it seemed that her children’s voices were.

“Mother! Gorn-dono is right!”

“Please suppress your anger!”

These were the siblings of the now-deceased Zvold, the Great Vortex Dragon God. Now, they were doing their best to hold back their mother, who was unleashing breath attacks one after another despite not having fully recovered from the wounds she sustained in the previous battle.

Still, Vandalieu had no intention of sparing them. “There’s no need for me to go through the trouble of letting you live, after all.”

In previous battles, Vandalieu had held back, careful not to kill Madroza and Brateo as doing so would have caused the forces defending Botin to become more united under the single leadership of Gorn.

But this was to be Gorn and his allies’ final battle. There was no need to hold back any longer.

“I’ll leave it to you,” Vandalieu said to Orbia.

“Are you sure about this? The frozen earth will stop growing,” said Orbia.

“They’re long enough, aren’t they? The lake is almost completely dry now, after all. Now then, it’s the first time we’re trying this, so be sure to let me know if it’s too much of a strain.”

“Alright. I’ll do my best!”

Vandalieu began pouring even more death-attribute Mana into Orbia – to kill the demigods that were now trapped and separated.

“‘Icy Death Spear Torrent.’”

A countless number of sharp spears made of frozen earth protruded from the outer surface of the snakes, so that they resembled thorny shrubs.

Unable to twist their bodies to escape their fate, the demigods groaned and screamed as the frozen-earth spears pierced their bodies, their tips reaching their organs and bones.

The hard scales of the Elder Dragons, the tough feathers and shells of the Beast-kings, the armor-like muscles of the Colossi – none of these were of any use. The spears were simply too sharp.

On top of that, simply being in contact with the icy spears was sapping the demigods of their body heat and life force. And if the spears weren’t removed from their bodies, their regenerative abilities would not be of any use, either.

All of this was also true for Gabildes, despite being protected by his tough shell. “So formidable… Demon King… Vanda… leiu!” he groaned as he glared at Vandalieu, completely immobilized by the spears piercing his legs and pincers. “A-Alda. Hurry… If you do not hurry, no matter how many heroes you nurture… Do not send us… reinforcements.”

And with that, Gabildes’s body became lifeless and limp.

“Tonight’s dinner will be crab hot pot… No, crab shabu-shabu, I suppose?” said Vandalieu.

There wasn’t a pot in the world that was large enough to boil a whole crab this large, so he thought that it would be best to peel the shell, cut up the meat and do a shabu-shabu hot pot instead. It would be delicious with the kanimiso mixed with soy sauce as a dip.

“No, the first thing I need to do is turn him into a Live-dead like Dolstero so that I can continuously harvest the meat and kanimiso,” Vandalieu said to himself as he turned his gaze back to Madroza.

He was now looking at an Elder Dragon that had been impaled by numerous spears of frozen earth, clearly fatally wounded. Blood was pouring freely from her mouth, creating a river of blood on the ground below her.

It seemed that she no longer had the strength to roar or unleash breath attacks; she simply let out a low growl and glared at Vandalieu with hatred in her eyes.

“Madroza!” shouted Gorn, trying to get to Madroza and help her.

But he himself had suffered fairly deep wounds from the countless spears protruding from the sides of the frozen-earth snakes. It was impossible for him to get past the wall of frozen-earth snakes before him.

“Damn it! Fall back, fall back, will you!” shouted Pozeri, who had been fighting in the air and was thus out of the reach of ‘Great Death Ice Mire Chaos Snakes.’

He wanted to rush to Madroza’s aid, but Godwin would not allow that to happen.

“Go if you wish! But know that I will dig your entrails out of your back if you do!” Godwin said.

Pozeri roared in frustration.

He had been fighting in a one-on-one battle with Godwin, but he knew that if he rushed to Madroza’s aid now, Godwin would use that opening to strike. He couldn’t get to Madroza.

Zanaffar, who had also been doing battle in the air, was as close to death as Madroza was. Bellmond’s threads and Eleanora’s sword had inflicted wounds all over his body, and he had already lost one eye and two limbs.

“‘Cursed Blade Illusion Strings.’ Quite a resilient enemy,” Bellmond remarked as she continued her attacks.

“‘Super Acceleration!’” said Eleanora, slashing him again.

Zanaffar screamed in agony.

Unlike Godwin, Bellmond, Isla, and Eleanora were not obsessed with battle, so the cannonball-type Demon King Familiars had rained mercilessly upon Zanaffar and contributed significantly as well. In fact, he deserved praise for still being alive.

But now, Isla was charging towards Zanaffar’s forehead with her sword raised.

“‘God Slaughter!’”

She unleashed a martial skill of her own creation, one so deadly that it could slaughter even a god, driving her sword into Zanaffar’s head.

This thrusting attack, strengthened by her martial skill, destroyed his skull and created a hole in his brain.

Zanaffar let out a voiceless scream as his remaining eye rolled back and blood erupted from his ears and nose.

And so, the Whirlwind Dragon God fell.

There were none left to save Madroza. If Zepaon was still alive, he would have been able to send the monsters in, but he had already been devoured by Vandalieu.

The few surviving heroic spirits were fighting against Darcia, Bone Man and the others who were free to fight now that Bakunawa had stepped back, and that battle looked like it would reach its conclusion at any moment.

“How dare you… do this to my children…!” Madroza snarled.

There were two Elder Dragons near her who were motionless now, impaled by the spears of frozen earth. These were Madroza’s children who had tried to come to her aid.

“Even if you say that, I don’t feel a single shred of guilt, which surprises even me, actually,” said Vandalieu. “Oh well, I suppose that’s fine.”

“Ah, Van-kun. I’ve already done my part, so I was thinking that we should let the newcomers deal the finishing blow,” suggested Orbia. “What do you think?”

“That’s a good idea. Even by just dealing the last blow, their Ranks should increase,” Vandalieu agreed.

“You bastards! You dare disgrace… me…!” Madroza choked, coughing up blood once more, the humiliation igniting the fire in her eyes once more.

Her pride was greatly wounded by the fact that although she was a powerful being even among the Elder Dragons, Vandalieu and his companions saw her as nothing more than a source of Experience Points.

But Vandalieu was entirely unmoved by Madroza’s fury.

Madroza viewed Vandalieu as nothing more than the successor to the Demon King Guduranis; a new incarnation of him. He felt no empathy for her whatsoever.

“Come out, Jane Doe,” he said.

The space-attribute Ghosts – whom he had given the name used for unidentified, deceased women on Earth – appeared at his command with a whispered groan.

At a glance, they resembled a Legion that was made of mercury. They were a single mass with various human body parts, heads, arms, and legs protruding from it.

The reason they had this form was because one of the people responsible for Darcia’s death was among these space-attribute Ghosts.

Jane was the swarm of the spirits of those who had died in the Trial of Zakkart, and one of them was Martina, the Elf spiritual mage who had belonged to the Five-colored Blades. But the spirits themselves had forgotten which of them was Martina, so Vandalieu had no way of telling which one was her.

The spirits of Jane had lost not only the physical appearances they’d had when they were alive, but their memories and personalities as well.

Vandalieu had thought that their memories and personalities might return if their ranks increased, but that hadn’t been the case. That was because the spirits of Jane, rather than wanting to discover which of them was Martina, had been terrified that it would be discovered that they were Martina, and their soul would be broken by Vandalieu.

This fear had united the spirits of Jane into a single aggregation of consciousness… a Ghost Legion.

With such a drastic mutation occurring, Vandalieu had been left with no choice but to give up and accept that Martina had died and been reincarnated.

Jane Doe had thus gained Vandalieu’s acceptance and were now his companions like the other elemental Ghosts.

Now, Vandalieu was pouring his Mana into them.

“‘Death Space.’”

A deadly space expanded, a space that silently drained the life force of all within. ‘Death Cannon’ and ‘Death Bullet’ were concentrated spells, but this ‘God Spirit Magic’ spell scattered the condensed power of death throughout the entire space.

Impaled by the spears of frozen earth, Madroza was unable to escape and perished helplessly.

“Curse… you…” Madroza whispered with her last breath.

And so, the Great Vortex Dragon God Madroza, who had survived the war against the armies of the Demon King Guduranis, died at the hands of Vandalieu, whom she and her allies viewed as the new Demon King.

“Now then… Gufadgarn, do you sense any signs of anyone teleporting this way?” Vandalieu asked, feeling no emotion whatsoever towards the fact that he had defeated Madroza.

Through his Demon King Familiars, he was communicating with Gufadgarn to check whether Alda’s forces were sending reinforcements.

“They are trying, but I am blocking all teleportation in this area,” Gufadgarn replied.

“… Do you think we should consider retreating?” Vandalieu asked.

“No. The sensation I feel is weak, so I do not believe these reinforcements are being sent at Alda or Nineroad’s orders. I suspect that some gods and heroic spirits are attempting to descend in direct disobedience of their orders, like Zepaon’s heroic spirits did.”

Naturally, Alda did not want to lose Zepaon and the demigods who had been defending Botin. But even if he were to send reinforcements to the Demon King’s Continent, it was clear that these demigods could not be saved and it would only result in more losses.

Talos, Deeana, and Tiamat were present, and they were among the most powerful demigods on Vida’s side. There were also numerous allies of Vandalieu who were of Rank 13 or above – in other words, beings who could fight on even grounds against gods.

If Alda’s forces attempted to save their allies through teleportation gates, Gufadgarn would interfere, and they were likely wary of the fact that if powerful gods were to descend onto the battlefield, Peria and the others would not stand by and do nothing.

And even if they were able to get past the interference and obstacles, there was no point if Gorn and his allies had no desire to escape in the first place. Despite having the choice to walk away unharmed, they had chosen to remain and die.

Thus, Alda’s forces were unlikely to be motivated to rescue Gorn and his allies.

“Yeah, they’re the ones who chose to stay behind,” said Orbia, sounding confused.

A warrior might view it as a glorious death, but this was a view that she couldn’t understand.

Though Gufadgarn did understand this view, she didn’t go out of her way to defend it.

“There are no others trying to descend directly rather than cross space with teleportation like those heroic spirits did, so… I do not believe the enemy will interfere any further,” said Gufadgarn.

“I see. In that case, let’s go ahead and finish them,” said Vandalieu.

For a moment, he considered leaving Brateo alive to continue provoking Alda’s forces. But he decided against it, knowing that Brateo likely wasn’t as much of an influential voice among Alda’s forces as he was among these demigods.

Brateo’s fate was closing in on him.

“What’s wrong, you unsightly ball of flesh?! Are these attacks the best you can do?! I will continue fighting even if I stand alone!” Brateo declared, a wreath of lightning enveloping his entire body.

He was covered in wounds, but his fighting spirit was only growing fiercer. It was likely because he was consumed by a misdirected desire for revenge against Vandalieu and feeling a mental content and pleasure at the fact that he was in a battle to the death.

The resolve needed to be willing to sacrifice one’s life for their pride and their beliefs is beautiful. If the enemy could at least not see Vandalieu as being the same as Guduranis, Brateo could have been praised for this.

But seeing how repulsive it was when that pride and those beliefs were so mistaken, Legion’s Valkyrie frowned in disgust. “I see. This is how those people from the Bravers saw us! How absurd and unsightly it is!”

“It does help us reflect on our past mistakes, but… Knochen seems to be free now, so let’s combine with him and defeat this enemy, shall we?” said Pluto.

“Yes, we shall!” Valkyrie agreed.

Knochen groaned as his largest bones gathered at Legion’s position, weaving through the gaps between the snakes of frozen earth.

“Do you intend to become a fake Colossus like you did when you fought against that foolish youngster Fitun?!” shouted Brateo.

“Exactly! But it’s going to be a little different from back then!”

The bones recovered from the fallen Colossi who had been among the forces defending Peria were now a part of Knochen. Legion’s flesh wrapped itself around a skeleton formed from these bones, transforming into a hundred-meter-tall flesh Colossus.

Sensing that something was different, Brateo used the lightning covering his body to stimulate his own nerves and muscles, enhancing his body past its limits as he charged in.

It was a poor imitation of Zod’s ‘Muscle Technique,’ but this technique would allow Brateo to keep moving his body until his muscle fibers were torn to shreds – even if his organs burst or his heart was destroyed.

Brateo was now literally a dead man walking.

“You pitiful fake Colossus, I shall break you apart!” he roared.

All Legion had done was attach themselves to bones to take on the shape of a Colossus. Believing that they wouldn’t be able to avoid his attack, Brateo threw his fist at them.

“‘Flowing Willow.’”

The Colossus Legion parried Brateo’s punch with a swift and deft movement.

“‘Tornado Kick.’”

As Brateo lost his balance, Legion performed a fierce, tornado-like spinning kick that landed on Brateo’s torso, causing him to scream in pain.

With several of his ribs smashed, a mixture of saliva and blood sprayed from Brateo’s mouth as he was then struck by one of the frozen-earth snakes with spears protruding from them.

As he opened his eyes wide with astonishment, blood sprayed from holes in his belly as the tips of the frozen-earth spears pierced through him from behind. But what ran through Brateo’s mind was not the agony of the pain he felt, nor a fear of death. It was pure bewilderment. Legion’s movements were completely different from the reports he had heard about the battle against the God of Thunderclouds Fitun.

Although their body was now enormous, their skillful movements were as if they were a master of martial arts with complete control over their body, and their speed was enough to best Brateo, despite the fact that he had accelerated the function of his nerves and muscles with electricity.

How in the world…?!

Brateo was perplexed, but Legion’s movements were only as skilled as they were because they were not the movements of Legion alone.

“Good work, Knochen! As expected of a warrior who has served Vandalieu for a long time!” said Valkyrie.

Knochen gave a proud groan.

During the battle against Fitun, Legion had attached themselves to what were mere Giant bones. They were freshly-killed, but they were nothing more than masses of calcium.

But now, they had attached themselves to bones that were a part of Knochen – a Rank 15 Bone Pandemonium Gigant Gigas that was capable of moving by his own will.

And because of Valkyrie’s ability to command Undead, Knochen was exhibiting his power to its fullest.

The other personalities of Legion used ‘Muscle Technique’ to finely control the entire body while Valkyrie used ‘Command’ over Knochen, and Legion and Knochen used ‘Coordination’ to move in unison. As a result, they were capable of movements that combined the movements of a master of ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ with strength exceeding that of the average Colossus.

“Now then, before you die, let us show you our ‘Muscle Technique’ martial skill!” Valkyrie declared.

With the sound of creaking flesh and bones, the Colossus Legion’s torso suddenly compressed into a very thin shape. Seeing this, Brateo instinctively raised his arms to protect his own head and torso.

I don’t know what this is, but if this lands, it’s over for me!

His instincts told him that this was the case.

“‘Accelerated Projectile Fire!’”

Legion’s compressed torso suddenly expanded again, and with the force of the expansion, they expelled ribs like spears with tremendous momentum. This was Legion’s ‘Muscle Technique’ –their martial skill did not produce electricity through vibrations or greatly expand their muscles; it simply strengthened the movements of their muscles.

The fact that they were expelling their own ribs as projectiles meant that ordinary organisms could not acquire this ability… but Knochen provided unlimited ammunition for them to fire.

“… A pitiful… death…” Brateo gasped.

One of the enormous ribs had pierced through his arms and driven itself deep into his skull through his forehead.

With those final words, the Colossus of Roaring Thunder Brateo died while still standing, his body pinned to the snakes of frozen earth.

“Both Madroza and Brateo have fallen?!” one of the demigods shouted.

The deaths of the two demigods who had served as deputy commanders caused a great deal of unrest among the few surviving demigods. Brateo was the one responsible for dragging them into this suicidal last stand, but they still viewed him as a deputy commander who had served Gorn faithfully.

“So, we cannot be victorious after all…!” muttered Gorn, the commander, who was also on the verge of death.

Although he had been commanding these forces, he had not been able to do so effectively due to the snakes of frozen earth dividing them, and he had been fighting against Darcia and the others who were free to fight now that Bakunawa had stepped away from the battle.

“If you surrender, I shall promise that your soul will be safe,” said Darcia, pointing her staff at her enemy.

Gorn smiled. “And then spend the rest of eternity serving your filthy son? That is not what I am. I will remain true to myself, and I shall fight and face my end! That is a far better fate!”

He filled his ragged body with Mana, covering it completely with a layer of rock. Having turned himself into an enormous boulder, he performed a body slam towards Darcia and her allies.

This attack was primitive, but the best attack to make use of Gorn’s enormous body. The rock created by the Mana of a demigod was difficult to break even for an A-class adventurer who was capable of splitting mountains.

But the one in the sky above him was the being he feared as the Demon King, someone who was far more powerful than an A-class adventurer.

“Face your end as you wish,” Vandalieu said. “‘Helix Fist Throw.’ And one more – ‘Helix Fist Throw.’”

He severed his own fists and hurled them with ‘Throwing Technique,’ which spun rapidly and drilled themselves into Gorn’s rock from behind, and then expanded with ‘Muscle Technique.’ A third of the rock crumbled into small pieces.

The ones in front of Gorn were more powerful than A-class adventurers as well.

“I thought this would be your answer…” Darcia murmured. “‘Strengthen All Abilities!’”

“‘Mana Stimulation!’ ‘Strengthen Senses!’ ‘Super Strengthen Muscular Strength!’” said Jeena, who had entered the battle with Borkus.

Darcia and Jeena’s enchantment spells were strengthening everyone.

Gorn let out a panicked yell as the impact from Vandalieu’s attack drove him forward, causing him to lose his balance.

“Leave it to us! ‘Giant God Severer!’”

“Jyuoooh! ‘Bone Blade Mountain Crusher!’”

“I gotta show my good side to my step-grandchild! ‘Roaring Demon Death Flash!’”

A large swing of Basdia’s axe, a stream of attacks from Bone Man’s sword and blades made of his own bones, and a series of four axe attacks from Vigaro that even used his spirit-form arm all pierced through Gorn’s rock armor.

“‘Ice God Spear Torrent!’ ‘Flame Light Destruction Flash!’”

“‘Light Princess Super Split Entity!’ ‘Swift Wind God Spear!’”

Zandia conjured spears of ice that came raining down, followed by a beam of light and flame that broke down Gorn’s rock. Zadiris conjured split entities of herself that had a physical form, and every single one of them began casting spears of wind.

With his rocky exterior crushed, Gorn emerged from within, screaming in pain. And then Cuatro’s cannon-fire, beams of light created by Chipuras and the other light-attribute Ghosts, Princess Levia’s flames, and Kimberley’s lightning all came raining down on him.

“As you wished, you may remain true to yourself as you become a part of the great Vandalieu,” said Gufadgarn as she dealt the final blow – a blade of space that severed Gorn’s neck.

And thus, the battle on the Demon King’s Continent reached its conclusion.

Active skills:Unique skills:Active skills:Unique skills:

Monster explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Bone Pandemonium Gigant Gigas

Knochen has worked together with Legion and acquired the ‘Flesh and Bone Colossus’ Title. On top of that, he has even cleverly acquired the ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ Skill.

In previous battles, he has acquired numerous enormous bones belonging to demigods, so it seems that he has become able to turn into even more enormous fortresses and concert venues.

… The largest building in this world is surely Knochen, is it not? This seems likely, as Colossi apparently do not build their own dwellings.

I asked Kanako whether buildings of such sizes exist in the other worlds she lived in, and she informed me that it is certainly the largest concert venue, at the very least.

Incidentally, he has even acquired the divine protection of the Evil God of Bone Fangs Rojefifi, one of the guardian deities of Gartland, so further evolution can be expected.

Race explanation (Written by Luciliano): Eclipse Dark Moon Legion

In combination with Knochen, Legion has gained the ‘Flesh and Bone Colossus’ Title. If they wanted to, they would be able to form a body several times the size of a Colossus… one that is several hundred meters tall. However, this would cause issues with maintaining balance and their muscles would become less flexible, so a height of around a hundred meters seems to be best.

I have begun to wonder whether I can continue titling Legion’s explanations as ‘race explanations.’

Most of them seem to be indifferent about such matters, but Enma is the one who at least has some common sense, so perhaps it would be better not to label them as a monster just yet.

Speaking of Enma, he was shocked that Legion acquired the ‘Allure’ Skill as a result of gaining the divine protection of Jeryubufan, the Evil God of Degenerate Flesh. It seems that the ‘degenerate flesh’ that Jeryubufan rules over includes indulging in lustful desires.

He helps me with my research from time to time, and I once comforted him by saying that Legion have just become a little more seductive and it is nothing to be concerned about, but I have the feeling that all of Legion have been avoiding me since then. Or am I just imagining things?