Chapter 282: A thrilling battle

Chapter 282: A thrilling battle

The battle commenced, but before swords were actually crossed, Vandalieu stood on Cuatro’s bow and called for Gorn and his allies to surrender, his voice amplified by a Magic Item.

“If you surrender now, I give you my word that I will spare your lives and your souls. We will seal you away until we settle things with Alda, or we will have you wield your power for our side, but we will acknowledge your positions as gods when it’s over. If you don’t accept this offer –”

Vandalieu’s offer was cut short by the sound of Sirius’s majestic war horn and Zepaon’s drums, and the simultaneous attacks from Gorn and his allies.

Their lightning attacks, boulders, and compressed water blades were strengthened by the music. Vandalieu blocked all of them by sending out a huge number of ‘Barrier Bullets’ – a new death-attribute spell that compressed ‘Impact-negating Barrier’ and ‘Magic Absorption Barrier’ into a projectile – but it didn’t seem like any further discussion would be taking place.

“What now? You promised the gods you would call for the enemy to surrender, but you got cut short. Are you going to try again?” asked Ereshkigal from within the mass of Legion, who were floating in front of Cuatro to provide cover.

Vandalieu shook his head. “No, I didn’t expect much to come from it, so it’s fine. Let’s go.”

Legion agreed with this decision, and the two people riding on top of them did as well.

“Yeah! I didn’t know what I’d do if everything got solved through talking!” said Godwin enthusiastically.

“My sentiments exactly!” Zod said in agreement.

Godwin and Zod leapt from Legion and charged straight towards the demigods.

No matter what kinds of skills an insect had, there was no way it could defeat an elephant.

So then, would it be possible for a single person to exchange blows with an enormous creature that stood over a hundred meters tall? Would they be able to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a god?

The answer to that was told in the skies above the Demon King Continent’s coastline.

The ‘Majin King’ Godwin laughed in amusement as he stopped the punches and kicks of Brateo, who was much larger than him, head-on. “What, is that all you’ve got?!”

“What?! Is this guy really a Majin?! He is incredibly resilient!” Brateo exclaimed in shock.

Brateo’s punches and kicks were imbued by lightning, and they were not only capable of pulverizing a fortress, but tearing apart the ground beneath it. And yet, Godwin showed no signs of struggling.

“I’ve heard stories from a hundred thousand years ago, but you really are nothing special! Even my grandma’s punches are stronger, never mind those of old man Xerx!” said Godwin.

Godwin possessed the Title: ‘One who has been punched by a god.’ In order to punish certain unpleasant behaviors, Xerx, the guardian deity of Godwin’s nation and race, had brought his fist down upon Godwin in his Divine Realm, and Godwin had resisted that attack.

Xerx found himself exasperated. He told himself that the Majin were partially responsible for accepting such a king, and began to overlook some of Godwin’s delinquent behavior… though he ended up bringing his fist down upon Godwin numerous times.

Such a legend did exist, but that did not mean that Brateo’s punches and kicks were actually weaker. Godwin was stopping these attacks through the effects of ‘Transcend Limits,’ ‘Magic Armor King Technique,’ enchantments, Magic Items, and he had even used ‘Familiar Spirit Descent.’

“You bastard! Let me show you, you little fledgling who has only lived for a few thousand years!” Brateo shouted in rage, preparing to take a large swing.

Faced with an attack that was more powerful than those that had come before it, Godwin smiled.

Meanwhile, Zod was fighting Gorn.

The Boulder Colossus Gorn bellowed a war cry as he threw a fist, and Zod shouted as he charged in with his entire body to clash against it. Gorn’s fists were covered in diamond gauntlets that he had apparently made himself, but Zod wasn’t even wearing armor – just a shiny bodysuit.

The difference between their masses was clear. Anyone watching would be able to predict the next moment – Zod’s life immediately ending as his body exploded, his flesh and blood being scattered everywhere.

But that didn’t happen. Gorn let out a shout of surprise as lightning ran through his right fist, and Zod was sent flying back in the direction that he had come from. However, he had not spilled a single drop of blood. He stopped himself in mid-air with a fearless smile on his face.

“Your lightning has become even more powerful than it was a hundred thousand years ago?! And your appearance… I see, so you’ve undergone ‘Transformation’ as well!” Gorn muttered.

Looking at his opponent, he realized that the current Zod had surpassed the Zod he had known… the Pure-breed Vampire Zorcodrio who had received countless attacks and survived. And Zod’s appearance reminded him of the equipment that Vandalieu had given to some of his subordinates.

“Precisely. I received this transformation equipment from Vandalieu-dono mere days ago,” said Zod.

The suit that clung tightly to Zod’s body was a piece of transformation equipment that Vandalieu had made for him. Its comfort of use could be described in one word as ‘spectacular.’

Zod’s body, with its sturdy muscles and a skeleton that was strong enough to support it, was so tough that even Botin, the Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship, had said that he needed no armor. Even Orichalcum armor would accomplish nothing for him other than impede his movements.

After becoming an Abyssal Pure-breed Vampire, his muscular strength and regenerative capabilities had improved even further, and the toughness of his body had continued to improve as well.

What was effective for Zod was something that fit tightly to his skin… in other words, an extremely elastic liquid metal armor that didn’t hinder the movements of his muscles at all. Vandalieu’s transformation equipment.

It improved his defense, enhanced his offensive spells, and even prevented excess electricity created by the vibrations of his muscles from dispersing and going to waste. He lost the effects of his ‘Augmented Defensive Power when unarmored: Very Large’ Skill, so his overall defense actually decreased, but the transformation equipment granted him extra offensive power, agility, and most importantly, it increased the power of his ‘Muscle Technique.’

It was the best possible armor for Zod, and it was a weapon. In compensation for the equipment, Vandalieu had requested him to become his mentor in ‘Muscle Technique,’ but that was no burden for Zod.

Gorn let out a groan. “Vandalieu does not match Guduranis in power, but it seems that the rumors are true, he is a far more problematic Demon King in other ways!”

His right fist was severely burned beneath the diamond gauntlet. Even for a Pure-breed Vampire, a demigod just like Colossi, Zod possessed fearsome power.

Zod had used lightning attacks a hundred thousand years ago as well, but… to Gorn, he had posed no threat other than his extreme defense and resilience.

“Gorn-dono, allow me to dispose of this fool who is reliant on his equipment!” shouted the Sea Bird Beast-King Valfaz, as he flew in to attack.

“W-wait, Valfaz!” said Gorn, trying to stop him.

Valfaz, who had the appearance of an enormous black-tailed gull, was one of the sons of the Bird Beast-King Lafaz, who had joined Vida’s faction. Lafaz had survived battle against the Demon King’s army by fusing with an evil god, one of the enemies who had slain their great ancestor, the Beast-God Ganpaplio. All of Lafaz’s children, who were supposed to have become Beast-Kings, denounced him as a degrace, and Valfaz was one of them.

I’m not going to wait! Valfaz thought.

Valfaz had become the Sea Bird Beast-King, and the bird-type Beast-Kings of Alda’s faction, including Valfaz, were praised more for their cunning and their ability to conspire rather than their valor and the beauty of their feathers.

Valfaz was dissatisfied with this.

It was true that a hundred thousand years ago, he had conducted himself cunningly. That was because it had been impossible to surpass his elder siblings who were all but destined to take the position of Beast-King.

But now, a hundred thousand years later, things were different. Valfaz had spent long years gaining experience and training. He would not lose even in a competition of valor. And yet, the way those around him perceived him did not change, and that was because there were no opportunities for him to achieve great things in battle.

That was why he had joined the group that guarded Botin. And instead of aiming for Cuatro, where Vandalieu was, he was aiming for the less dangerous target in Zod.

“Die! I’ll tear your entire body apart!” he screamed, attacking Zod with his sharp beak and talons.

This attack struck Zod, sending him flying higher into the sky. But that was all.

“I did it… What?!” Valfaz uttered in shock.

“I admire your spirit … only your spirit, I should say,” said Zod.

Valfaz’s attack had indeed landed. However, Zod’s body was protected by his transformation equipment, and had received no damage other than that of a hard blow. And thanks to his ‘Super Rapid Regeneration,’ that damage was healed in less than a second.

“And it was foolish to send me flying above you. ‘God’s Roar!’” Zod shouted, unleashing the ‘Muscle Technique’ martial skill that he had used at the church of Alda in Duke Marme’s domain. With the effects of ‘Revenge: Battle against Alda’s Forces’ Skill and all of its electrical energy converged rather than dispersed due to the transformation equipment, the lightning bolt of ‘God’s Roar’ was far more powerful than ordinary lightning as it pierced Valfaz. A scream of agony that could have been his dying scream filled the air.

At the same time, Brateo screamed as well, clutching his fist. He looked down at his right hand to see that all of its fingers, which were thicker than logs and far tougher than steel, were all bent and broken except for the thumb.

Godwin gave a triumphant laugh. “You fell for it! You Colossi are so big that you have so many blind spots! You clueless fools!”

The damage to Brateo’s fingers had been from a counterattack by Godwin. Brateo’s fist had hidden Godwin from his own vision, and in that moment, Godwin had attacked the fingers that were curled into a fist.

“This is not good! Fall back, Brateo! Your wounds from the previous battle have not fully healed!” shouted Gorn. “Nabanga, switch places with Brateo! I’ll help Valfaz, the rest of you, back us up!”

The Iron Colossus Nabanga charged in to help Brateo, while Gorn charged in to help Valfaz, whose entire body was emitting a stream of white smoke. The other Colossi and Beast-Kings moved to support them. However, Cuatro’s cannon fire kept them back.

Or rather, they were kept back by Schneider and others who were riding atop the cannonballs.

“Let’s go! Follow Zod!” Schneider yelled.

“W-what?!” shouted Gorn, his eyes wide in shock.

“Impossible! They’re riding the exploding projectiles?!” exclaimed Brateo.

They had little knowledge regarding cannonballs; Schneider and the others looked like they were committing an act of suicide.

“I agree,” said the cannonball-type Demon King Familiar Schneider was riding on.

Vandalieu, their creator whose personality inhabited the Demon King Familiars, was equally surprised.

“How reckless. How do you intend to get back to the ship?” the Demon King Familiar asked.

Naturally, the cannonball-type Demon King Familiars were a one-way ticket to the enemy. They were capable of pursuing enemies that ran around trying to escape, but they were unable to return to Cuatro.

“I’m counting on you!” said Schneider.

The Demon King Familiar sighed. “Very well.”

“Alright! We’re your seniors when it comes to being an adventurer, so we’ll give you a lecture on how to fight huge monsters!” said Schneider.

Even as this amusing conversation was taking place, the cannonball-type Demon King Familiars were chasing the enemy and exploding. The explosions likely reminded Gorn and his allies of the self-destruction of the fake Cuatro; they chose to strengthen their defenses in order to protect themselves from the spray of shrapnel rather than keep their eyes on Schneider and the others. It seemed that the fake Cuatro’s self-destruction had caused a significant amount of pain.

Having withstood the impacts and explosive flames, Nabanga let out a groan. “Where are they?!”

“Where?! And there were no fragments in the projectiles?!” shouted an Elder Dragon.

They looked around for Schneider and the others, whom they had lost track of, and they swung their arms and tail around to try and clear away the smoke.

As the smoke began to clear, Lissana appeared, having returned to her original evil god form rather than being in her usual Elf form.

“First, some commotion!” she said, pursing her lips and blowing a thick pink breath.

The breath turned into a fog that spread unbelievably far, completely covering and obscuring the demigods.

Nabanga coughed. “This is… poisoned alcohol! Is that Jurizanapipe, the Evil God of Degeneration and Intoxication?!”

The Elder Dragon made a surprised noise. “Alda said that you were not an Elf, but to think that it was you!”

Surrounded by a mist of poisoned alcohol that would cause ordinary people to lose consciousness and never regain it ever again, the demigods immediately closed their eyes.

“‘Great Ice Giant Spear!’ And I’m never going to fight you head-on!”

“‘Flying Lightning Heavenly Kick!’ I’m aiming for the weak points at either the sides or the back of the joints!”

An enormous spear of ice that looked like an iceberg, conjured by Dalton, pierced through the fog and buried itself in the belly of the Great Ocean Dragon God Madroza, and Schneider’s kicks landed on the side of Nabanga’s knee.

A dull scream came from Madroza as her snake-like torso folded over itself, and Nabanga’s face twisted in pain as his knee was destroyed.

“And now, retreat before the enemy regains their composure!”

Merdin, who was wearing a Magic Item that allowed her to walk on air, retrieved Dalton and Schneider. As their positions would be given away if they dispersed Lissana’s mist of poisoned alcohol, they couldn’t use spells that allowed them to fly, so Merdin had been waiting to extract them.

And Legion appeared there to pick them up.

“Yes, yes, we’re here to do what we can in Vandalieu’s place,” said Pluto.

“Come, return, brave warriors!” said Valkyrie.

“Damn it! That cursed, lowly human who pretends to be elderly!” shouted Nabanga, raising his spear to throw it at the enormous Legion as revenge for his crushed knee.

“W-wait, you must not carelessly attack that mass of flesh!” said Madroza, stopping him.

The demigods were aware that Legion possessed the Counter, which returned all damage caused to Legion to the one who dealt it, and that this ability had defeated the ‘Light-speed Sword’ Rickert, the First Sword of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords.

Nabanga made a frustrated noise.

The Demigods were enormous and possessed superhuman strength and resilience that matched their size. However, that also resulted in a lack of maneuverability.

Heinz of the ‘Five-colored Blades’ had come up with a countermeasure to the Counter ability possessed by the copy of Legion in Alda’s ‘Dungeon of Trials.’ This countermeasure was to use a powerful attack, then inflict a small scratch on Legion immediately afterwards before the powerful attack was countered.

The countered damage would be equivalent to the small scratch.

However, given Nabanga’s enormous size, it was impossible for him to imitate such a tactic. He groaned as he returned to the task of saving Valfaz.

But Cuatro had begun its cannon-fire once more, and Vandalieu had begun to fire ‘Hollow Cannon’ and ‘Death Cannon’ as well, so it wasn’t easy to make an approach.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself just because you destroyed one of my fists!” roared Brateo, firing a bolt of lightning at Godwin.

But Zod, using Valfaz as a platform to leap from, put himself in between Brateo and his target.

“‘Electrification!’” he shouted. “Godwin-dono!”

“Yeah! I’m ready!” Godwin said in response.

Zod looked like he had leapt forward to cover Godwin, but Brateo’s lightning did not burn him; it simply disappeared into his muscles as if it had been absorbed.

In the next moment, Zod’s body was generating enough electricity to cause the very air itself to shake, and Godwin murmured an incantation.

“‘Karmic God’s Roar!’”

“‘Conjure Demonic Hellfire Beast!’”

Zod absorbed Brateo’s lightning attack and returned it along with the electricity generated by his own body, and Godwin’s spell gave birth to a demonic-looking beast made of flames that charged towards Nabanga.

“Wha–?!”

Nabanga was struck by lightning and the flaming beast charged into him, sending him falling towards the Demon King’s Continent at an intense speed.

“Brother!” shouted the ‘Bronze Titan’ Lubuug, his younger sibling, as he tried to chase after his falling brother, but it didn’t look like he could make it in time.

Meanwhile, Valfaz regained his consciousness a moment before landing in the ocean, and took to the sky once more. He quickly attempted to make an escape, but… something attacked him from within the sea.

Knochen, who had separated into his numerous pieces and stayed hidden in the water, roared as he attacked.

Valfaz screamed. “S-STOP!”

He was the Sea Bird Beast King. But that did not mean that he was adept at being in the water. If he were to be attacked by a countless number of bones while he was already wounded, he wouldn’t even be able to swim.

On top of that, Knochen possessed several leftover Elder Dragon bones that Pete had left after devouring their flesh, as well as bones of the Demon King that Vandalieu had given him. These pierced Valfaz’s tough feathers and buried themselves in his body.

As Valfaz screamed in agony, he heard Vandalieu’s voice.

“Valfaz, is it? Your father Lafaz has requested that I show mercy to his unworthy son,” the voice said.

“W-what?! Y-you are going to spare me?”

“Yes, of course. Knochen, strangle him to death at once.”

“Wha–?!”

Before Valfaz could react, the bones that made up Knochen’s body wrapped themselves around Valfaz’s neck and wrenched it sideways, breaking it with a loud snap.

“As Lafaz requested, I will spare your soul. Gufadgarn, please recover Valfaz’s corpse, and then make an attempt to take us back,” said the Demon King Familiar floating near Valfaz’s head.

“Yes, great Vandalieu,” said Gufadgarn.

Gufadgarn was the evil god in Vandalieu’s shadow, and the words of a Demon King Familiar were the words of the only being in this world that she worshipped. Not a single word spoken by the Demon King Familiars escaped her ears, and she appeared on Cuatro’s deck immediately.

As she retrieved Valfaz’s corpse, the space around Cuatro, as well as Zod, Godwin, Schneider and the others who were aboard Legion and hadn’t returned to Cuatro yet, began to warp.

“I will not allow you! It is time for us to show our worth!” shouted Larpan, the God of Mirror Images.

He and the other space-attribute gods, who had been lying in wait rather than aiding their comrades, blocked Gufadgarn’s teleportation. The distortion occurring in space around Cuatro and Legion slowed, and no further change occurred.

“Now! Strike the ship that Vandalieu is on!” Gorn ordered.

“Valfaz! We will avenge you!” shouted one of the other demigods.

The demigods began to move to defeat Vandalieu, who was aboard Cuatro. It seemed that Gorn and the others had interpreted his attempt to escape as a sign that there was some reason that made it difficult to continue the battle.

The main objective of Gorn’s defense force was to protect Botin from Vandalieu, but if Vandalieu and his companions carried out these hit-and-run attacks over and over, his forces would be whittled away before his plan bore fruit.

They had to defeat Vandalieu here, and if that wasn’t possible, they had to at least deal some heavy damage. If they didn’t, there was no doubt that he would come back and attack again in the near future. They couldn’t afford to be naive enough to not attack simply because the enemy was retreating.

Meanwhile, Vandalieu and his companions weren’t shaken by these events at all. Their attempt to retreat had failed and they were facing a horde of demigods flooding in, but they were completely unfazed.

“As you predicted, great Vandalieu, my teleportation has been prevented,” said Gufadgarn.

“It seems so,” said Vandalieu. “How long will it take before we can teleport?”

“At this rate, approximately three minutes. However, I believe the enemy still has more space-attribute gods lying in wait.”

“We have Legion too, after all. Legion, please try teleporting.”

The attacks of Gorn and his allies were being stopped by Cuatro’s cannon barrage, the beams of light Vandalieu was firing from his eyes, and his ‘Barrier Bullet’ and ‘Death Cannon’ spells, but these defenses could be broken through at any moment. Still, Vandalieu and his companions were composed and were speaking calmly. Legion, and everyone aboard them, were showing no signs of panic either.

“Hmm, it’s not working. Rather than being blocked, it feels more like we’ve been grabbed so that we can’t move,” said Jack.

“To think they can interfere with Jack’s teleportation…!” said Hitomi.

“There’s a space-attribute spell that immobilizes the target by fixing the hands and feet of the target in place, so this is probably an improved version of that. I did warn you about it before, didn’t I?” said Dalton.

“But since they’re casting it while blocking Gufadgarn’s spell at the same time, I think we’ll be able to teleport in less than a minute,” said Lissana. “Well, I think they’ll break through before that, though.”

As she predicted, the demigods endured the cannon barrage and beams of light, blocked ‘Death Cannon’ with their own spells, broke through the ‘Barrier Bullet’ projectiles with the sheer quantity of kinetic energy generated by their enormous bodies, and closed in.

“Well then, fake-Cuatro-type Demon King Familiar, charge. Everyone else, inside my shadow,” said Vandalieu.

In response to Vandalieu’s orders, the stern of Cuatro… the fake Cuatro, exploded. With this explosion as a propelling force, it charged boldly at the demigods.

“Alright. Schneider-san, everyone, please get off,” said Pluto.

Vandalieu leapt off the fake-Cuatro-type Demon King Familiar and his shadow expanded, ignoring the light around it.

“Zod! Godwin! We’re gonna leave you behind!” Schneider yelled as he leapt off Legion into Vandalieu’s shadow.

“Oh, I would not be pleased with that!” said Zod as he and the others followed.

Meanwhile, Gorn’s eyes opened wide as he saw Cuatro accelerating towards him and his allies.

“No! That’s a fake! It is going to explode!” he shouted.

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Baba Yaga, who had transformed mid-air and was now clinging to Vandalieu. “Burn!”

In the next moment, she detonated the huge volume of blubber aboard the fake Cuatro.

Pushed downwards by the flash of light and explosive noise above, Vandalieu used the ‘Flight’ spell to slow down and stop right above the sea’s surface.

“Can you teleport?” he asked.

“I am able,” replied Gufadgarn’s voice.

“Probably because Larpan switched from blocking our escape to protecting the Colossi,” said Baba Yaga.

“Then it’s likely that Gorn and the others are wounded but not dead… Laparn is more troublesome than Gorn, Brateo, or Sirius, isn’t he,” muttered Vandalieu.

Laparn had chosen to protect Gorn and the others over stopping Vandalieu and his companions from teleporting. He had immediately made the decision that preventing the enemy’s teleportation would be meaningless if Gorn and the others were wiped out. That decision-making ability was more troublesome than pure strength in combat.

“But we’ve found out how long Laparn and the other space-attribute gods can stop our teleportation, so let’s go back. First, to the basement Dungeon in Morksi,” said Vandalieu.

But Legion weren’t too happy with this idea.

“… Could we go to a different city?”

“Fine, let’s go to the Majin nation to take Godwin back first.”

“Yes! I love you, Vandalieu!”

Vandalieu knew how Legion felt about Morksi ever since a statue of the ‘nameless heroes’ was built there, and the statue was the result of a plan that he himself had put together, so he decided to prioritize what they wanted.

“What?! I’m not in the mood to go home today!” Godwin said in protest.

“Your daughter is waiting for you at home,” said Vandalieu, showing him no lenience. “Also, the clone I sent to act as your representative in your absence is busy working as we speak.”

Godwin groaned from inside Vandalieu’s shadow that almost matched the groan Knochen let out as Vandalieu retrieved him.

And with that, they retreated using Gufadgarn’s teleportation.

《You have acquired the ‘Murder Healing’, ‘Self-Strengthening: Murder’ Skills!》

《The Levels of ‘Constant Mana Recovery,’ ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Reigning,’ ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Worshiped,’ ‘Murder Healing,’ ‘Self-Strengthening: Murder,’ and ‘Greater Multi-cast’ Skills have increased!》

After Vandalieu handed the reluctant Godwin over to Iris and the government officials of the Majin nation, Schneider and his party left Vandalieu’s shadow in Talosheim.

“By the way, I have a question for you, Schneider, since you’re a veteran adventurer,” said Vandalieu.

“What is it? Did some troublesome monsters show up in Gartland? Do you need advice on how to eat them?” asked Schneider.

“The stronger variants of Mudmen… No, that’s not it. Recently, my Attribute Values haven’t been increasing even though my Level is increasing, so I just thought it was odd,” said Vandalieu.

What Vandalieu wanted advice about was the fact that his Attribute Values hasn’t increased ever since he acquired the “Destruction Guider” Job.

His Level was increasing as it has always been, as he received one-tenth or so of the Experience Points his companions earned. However, his Attribute Values… They weren’t increasing at all, not even his Mana.

“Your Attribute Values aren’t increasing?” Schneider repeated. “Not like just your Strength or Intelligence, but all of them?”

“None of my Attribute Values are increasing at all.”

“None of them are increasing at all, huh… I’ve heard of cases where some of them don’t increase, but I’ve never heard of cases where none of them increase at all.

It was said that the way Attribute Values increased was closely related to individual qualities and ratios determined by Jobs. If two different people both acquired the ‘Apprentice Warrior’ Job, it was possible that one would gain more Strength than other Attributes Values while the other gained more Agility than Strength. A third person might not even experience much of an increase in Strength, Agility or even Stamina.

The first might be suited to being a power-type fighter, the second a lightly-armed fighter focused on speed, and the last might be someone who was lacking in physical talent altogether, being more suited to being a mage.

Such cases occurred even for apprentice-type Jobs, which were highly versatile, so it was certainly possible that someone with a Job with very skewed Attribute Value ratios could get no increases to certain Attribute Values. An example would be a muscle-head who was proud of his strength acquiring the ‘Berserker’ Job and increasing its Level to 100 without gaining a single point of Intelligence.

“But to not get any Attribute Values… Maybe you were just extremely unsuited for your Job?” Schneider suggested.

“No, it’s my fifth Guider Job so I don’t think I’m unsuited for it,” says Vandalieu.

“That’s amazing, and you say it so casually. Well, isn’t it just that kind of Job, then? Maybe its Attribute Value ratio is just really low. If not, then you’d have to be aged to the point where you have no room for development at all, including in your brain, but… I’m nearly sixty and I’m still able to increase my Attribute Values by increasing my Level, and you’re barely over ten, so I can’t imagine you’ve aged too much. Even if you have just as much white hair as me.”

“I was born with white hair,” said Vandalieu. “Well, I’ll just change Jobs and see what happens.”

The level of his ‘Destruction Guider’ Job had already been maxed out. He had acquired a large quantity of Experience Points in today’s battle.

“I see. If you need anything else, let me know,” said Schneider as he walked off.

He and his party would be checking in on the slaves that they had freed the other day, and then spending some time with their families.

They were planning to attack a mine to free more slaves the day after tomorrow, so they had made a request for Gufadgarn to teleport them there.

Vandalieu had asked them, “Aren’t you working too much?”

But Schneider had replied, “No, not as much as you.”

After parting ways with Schneider, Vandalieu headed for the basement Dungeon in Morksi as originally planned, accompanied by Gufadgarn and the others. After all, they had only just departed Alcrem, so it would be unnatural for them to be out in Morksi’s streets.

He planned to change Jobs in the Job-changing room in Sam’s carriage, as he had come to Morksi through teleportation beforehand, and then make preparations for the next attack.

However, Darcia alerted him to something more important, forcing him to change his plans.

“Vandalieu! Kana-chan has something important to discuss with you!”