The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 387: The army of the Holy Nation of Amid vs the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal

On the battlefield where blood sprayed into the air like torrential rain, the collision between powerful forces continued.

“‘True Dark Night Sword!’” shouted Budarion, swinging his magic sword.

The Evil Boar Beast-King Bododo attempted to evade it, but failed. He howled as a large wound was carved into the side of his body.

“Impossible! How could the weapons of the descendants of Orcs, the race that I created, harm my body?!” Bododo shouted in disbelief.

He had a complete understanding of Orcs, the race that he had created. Their characteristics and their limits.

According to that knowledge, they should never be able to rival him in strength, no matter how much they raised their Ranks. His fur was as hard as Adamantite, and there was thick fat beneath that. It should have been impossible for any Orc’s blade to cut through that fur and fat to inflict damage on his flesh.

“Are you really an Orc?! That golden hair growing on your head, are you some kind of mutant race?!” Bododo demanded.

“I am a Noble Orc!” Budarion said proudly. “We are a superior race of Orcs! It seems that we did not exist before you were sealed away!”

“What?! A superior race?! Such insolence, to evolve without the permission of me, your creator!” Bododo snarled.

“You insult us with your presumptuous words!” Budarion shouted back.

Using the power granted to him by the Demon King Guduranis, Bododo had created the Orcs to serve as common soldiers as a symbol of his loyalty. Naturally, he did not view them as his children, and he made no attempt to hide that fact.

Those actions angered the Noble Orcs, who were driving Bododo into a corner.

“King Budarion! Let us remove this stain from the history of our race, right here!”

“We’ll cut him down and use his meat in a feast to celebrate our victory!”

Impossible! Even if they are a superior race, it is impossible for them to become this powerful! Orcs are no more than inferior, unintelligent monsters with nothing but physical strength, vitality, and exceptional reproductive capabilities! A superior race of such monsters cannot be this capable! Bododo thought to himself, his mind in a state of chaos.

And he was right. Indeed, if Budarion was an ordinary Noble Orc, it would have been impossible for him to make Bododo feel any danger to his life.

But Budarion was a special Noble Orc who possessed the divine protections of Mububujenge, Vida, and… Vandalieu. Vandalieu had granted him his divine protection as a friend, and he was capable of summoning a split entity of Vandalieu upon himself.

“Let’s stay calm, Budarion. You still need to give the Noble Orcs orders,” the split entity reminded him.

Those who possessed the divine protections of multiple gods were able to choose which god’s familiar spirit they summoned using the ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ Skill. A split entity of Vandalieu was one of the choices available to Budarion. ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ and ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ were Skills with almost identical effects. 𝙧₳₦ốꞖĘ𝒮

“Rest assured, I have learned from you and your companions. I have positioned a commander in the backlines,” said Budarion.

“Then you can fight at the front without worry, like me,” the split entity of Vandalieu said, before going on to provide information about the situation. “I’ve managed to save Luzemazela, but there are other places I need to be, so it will be a while longer before I can come over here. Is that alright?”

“It won’t be a problem for us, at least,” Budarion replied. “The Crusader Army might be destroyed by Ziggurat, however… Those who fled before the battle began are in danger. Should we protect them?”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. The holy symbols they’re wearing are those of gods like Botin and Peria.”

The worshipers of Botin and other gods on Vida’s side who had escaped the battle seemed to be somewhat confused, but they were sufficiently far away from the Crusader Army that was at the mercy of Ziggurat.

“… Well, if we leave them alone, they might come over here,” the split entity said.

Those who had fled had no intention of joining the holy war, but they seemed hesitant to flee any further. They were unsure whether it was alright for them to simply flee before these demigods who had fragments of Guduranis’s soul embedded in them.

But they were staying where they were. They were unwilling to fight together with the Crusader Army against Ziggurat at this point, and they weren’t sure whether the Noble Orcs fighting Bododo would accept them as reinforcements.

To begin with, those who had abandoned the ranks of the Crusader Army were made of countless small and medium-sized groups; they did not have a leader who could take command of all of them. Thus, it was impossible for them to act swiftly in this unexpected situation. But with enough time, it was likely that they would come to some kind of decision and do something.

Bododo howled angrily. “How dare you! I was willing to obey Vida if you saved me, but no longer! You vermin and Alda are both my enemies!”

Perhaps completely enraged by his pain, or perhaps due to the fragment of Guduranis’s soul infesting him, a part of his body expanded unnaturally. At the same time, the pools of his blood that had sprayed onto the ground began bubbling and frothing.

The enormous, pus-filled sac on the surface of his body split open, and Orcs covered in a disturbing-looking mucus crawled out from within, letting out hideous squeals and snorts as they dragged their bodies forward.

They had bluish-black skin, horns on their heads, and muscular bodies. The only things they had in common with Orcs were the shapes of their snouts and their squealing voices. At a glance, it was clear that they were a mutated variant.

And the puddles of blood turned into boar-like monsters that squealed ferociously as well.

Some were Rank 3 Huge Boars, which were nothing more than small-fry to the Noble Orcs, but others were boar-like monsters that even Vandalieu had never seen before, around Rank 7 to 9.

“I have been granted by Guduranis the power and authority to create Orcs and boar monsters. All of them are powerful monsters. And as you continue to wound me, they will grow in number!” Bododo said triumphantly. “Terrifying, isn’t it?!”

“No, not really,” Budarion and Vandalieu’s split entity said simultaneously (although the split entity’s voice was inaudible to anyone except Budarion).

“W-what?!”

It was likely that the process of being taken over by the fragment of Guduranis’s soul had allowed Bododo to directly utilize the Demon King’s circle of transmigration system in order to use his own flesh and blood as materials to create servants.

Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a terrifying ability indeed. One could not be blamed for feeling despair at the prospect of facing an enemy who produced powerful allies every time they were wounded.

However, each of the Noble Orcs led by Budarion was a powerful warrior, equivalent in strength to an A-class adventurer and capable enough to defeat at least a Rank 8 monster on their own. To them, the servants that Bododo had created couldn’t be considered ‘powerful’ foes.

With that being the case, learning that Bododo could create these servants wasn’t much to be surprised about.

… Vandalieu was already doing almost the exact same thing as Bododo. No, considering that Bododo was creating individual monsters rather than split entities of himself, it was more similar to Legion’s Izanami and her ability to create Yomotsushikome and Yomotsuikusa.

“Curse you! You were born from me and are using parts of me against me! How much must you mock me before you are satisfied!” Bododo shouted as he tried charging at Budarion.

He was like a moving mountain; his hooves tore into the ground, causing the earth to tremble, as he approached while his new, almost-born servants fell out of his body.

“… He is confusing himself with Guduranis. It seems that he is being taken over,” said Budarion, who was wearing equipment made from fragments of the Demon King.

He stood where he was, as if to clash with Bododo head-on… but it was a faint. A moment before the two collided, Budarion evaded with a hair’s breadth between them, and swung his sword. “‘Unseeing Blade!’”

Budarion’s sword moved faster than he himself could see, cutting deep into Bododo’s right flank and causing an enormous volume of blood to spray into the air. The Evil Boar Beast-King’s scream echoed across the battlefield – but the scream turned into an unpleasant laughter partway through. “Wounding me is futile!” he said with a cackle. “Wounding me only creates more true servants who are loyal to me! There will be no victory for failed creations like you who would betray their creator!”

But despite his declaration, it seemed that Budarion was right – his mind was being taken over by Guduranis. The servants born from his blood, the Orcs and boar-like monsters, were now being born with more than just simple variations like horns and wings.

But these servants were being kept at bay behind Bododo by the warriors of the Noble Orc army.

“Your Majesty! Let us keep the way clear for you!” one Noble Orc said.

“These lowly creatures are no match for us, no matter how many of them there are!” said another.

The Noble Orcs swung their spears and axes valiantly, hunting down Orcs and boars with Demon-like features… the Demonic Orcs and Demonic Boars.

Budarion even felt pity as he gazed upon Bododo, who was continuing to laugh, not even having taken notice of the strength of the Noble Orcs – whom he had just referred to as ‘failed creations’ – and the dying screams of the ‘true servants’ that had only just been born.

“… I may defeat him before you arrive. What should I do then?” Budarion asked the split entity of Vandalieu.

“It can be sealed away , so it’s fine,” the split entity replied.

“Is that possible?”

“Apparently, yes. But it will apparently only work if it’s a single fragment of his soul, so take care to not let it fuse with Ziggurat’s fragment.”

“I see. Then there’s no need to worry!”

Budarion raised his sword. His body was over three meters tall but small compared to that of Bododo, who was the size of a hill. He shot forward, moving like the wind.

Meanwhile, Borkus and the other Undead, and the Ghouls led by Vigaro, were fighting a difficult battle.

Ziggurat had taken his position in the air, and although he did not attack the Ghouls, he was attacking Borkus along with the worshipers of the gods of Alda’s forces.

“Ghouls! Get away from that Undead! It is dangerous!” Ziggurat shouted in warning.

“How many times do we have to tell you that these Undead are our allies?!” Vigaro shouted back.

“That’s right! We’re telling you, we’re allies! Do you want me to kill you?!” bellowed Borkus.

And even in this situation, the Crusader Army of the Holy Nation of Amid was still not attempting to disengage from combat with the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal.

One enemy soldier let out a war-cry as he charged forward. “Accept your divine retribution!”

“Shut up!” shouted a Ghoul.

“You guys are the ones receiving ‘divine retribution’ right now, aren’t you!” one of the Undead pointed out.

“Silence!” the soldier shouted back. “That thing is a servant of the Demon King, not a god – AGH!”

The Crusader Army’s morale remained high due to their fanaticism, but every Undead and Ghoul in the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal was an elite individual with strength equivalent to that of a B-class adventurer. To them, the soldiers of the Crusader Army were foes that they could not let down their guard against. But as long as they did not let down their guard, it would not be difficult to defeat them.

But if they focused too much on the Crusader Army, they couldn’t avoid Ziggurat’s lightning and the shockwaves it produced in time.

Another soldier screamed as he was struck down.

“Gah! He’s really done it, that damned Elder Dragon!” an Undead shouted angrily.

“You are in the way, Ghouls! I shall exterminate these Undead and the vermin who worship Alda! Ah, glory be to Vida!” Ziggurat declared as he rained lightning upon the battlefield once more.

His attacks were accurate; he avoided targeting the Ghouls and Noble Orcs and only attacked the Crusader Army and the Undead.

But it seemed that Ziggurat’s ears and mind were not functioning correctly.

“That bastard, why is he ignoring the Evil Boar Beast-King and his servants, and only attacking us? Obviously he himself is a threat to everything around him, but surely that pig is clearly more of a threat than these Alda worshipers,” muttered Borkus.

Although Ziggurat was screaming his hatred for Alda and his worshipers, and shouting words of praise for Vida, he was not reacting at all to the other being that had appeared alongside him – Bododo. He was ignoring the evil god to the point that it was unnatural.

And no matter how many times Vigaro shouted at Ziggurat to stop attacking the Undead, he did not do so. Even if one assumed that he was unable to hear anyone’s voice, considering that he had the eyes to target his attacks so accurately, he would surely be able to notice that something was unusual about these Undead.

Numerous Demon King Familiars were running around casting ‘Corpse Healing,’ the Undead-specialized healing spell, on wounded Undead.

“I’m sure Ziggurat has been infested by a fragment of Guduranis’s soul, too. It is likely that the fragments do not want to fight one another, so the one inside Ziggurat is directing his attention towards other enemies while ensuring that he can’t hear us,” one of the Demon King Familiars said, answering Borkus’s question.

“So, trying to talk sense into him is impossible,” said Vigaro. “With that being the case, it’d be great if we could get the mobile guys with proven results to pin him down, but…” he muttered, looking at the members of the Storm of Tyranny.

But they were locked in a fierce battle against members of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords.

Indeed, it was clearly impossible for them to change positions and suppress Ziggurat.

“It can’t be helped!” said Borkus, as if he had been waiting for this opportunity all along. “Jeena, Zandia, and Vigaro! We’re going to kill that goddamned Elder Dragon until it’s almost dead!” he declared, rounding up his party members along with Vigaro.

“Borkus, killing him would be bad!” said the ‘Tiny Genius’ Zandia, trying to calm Borkus down.

“Great, let’s do it!” said the ‘Saint of Healing’ Jeena, nodding in agreement with a battle-hungry grin.

“Wha–?! Jeena?!”

It seemed that Ziggurat’s lightning strikes had hit both of them, too.

“Hmph, it’s true that things will end up badly at this rate,” Vigaro said, deciding that it was necessary to suppress Ziggurat at once. “Bilde, Kachia, I’m leaving everyone else in your hands!”

“No way!” Bilde and Kachia shouted in unison, shaking their heads furiously.

“No way? Why not?” Vigaro asked.

“Are you seriously asking that?! I’ve never taken command of anyone in my life!” said Bilde.

“Yeah! I don’t have any experience or Skills related to that! Bring Zadiris or Basdia over here, then!” demanded Kachia.

Their protests were reasonable indeed, but this was an emergency situation.

“Both of them are fighting elsewhere. If you two use ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ and give orders as Vandalieu tells you to, that’ll be enough,” said Vigaro.

“Ah, that works,” said Bilde.

“I suppose we can do that. But we don’t have the ‘Commanding’ Skill, so its effects won’t be active, will they?” asked Kachia.

“It’s not a matter of having the Skill. Just having a commander that can be relied upon makes a difference… apparently,” Vigaro said.

If that were the case, Vandalieu’s Demon King Familiars – split entities of him – could simply serve as commanders. But in truth, Vandalieu was not suited for being a commander in the backlines. He was the kind to want to fight at the front, ahead of the soldiers who fought on the frontlines.

However, in this case, the commanders themselves would be Bilde and Kachia, with Vandalieu’s split entities only inhabiting them with ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall.’ As long as they did not move to the frontlines, Vandalieu’s split entities wouldn’t, either.

Meanwhile, Schneider and his party were locked in battle against the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords – mainly the Fourth Sword, the ‘Beheading Shadow.’

“Your movements have gotten better, haven’t they! Is that one of Alda’s blessings?!” Schneider snarled.

“I suppose they are,” Leonardo replied. “And you lot have improved much in a short period of time, it seems. Thanks to that, we’ve lost even more members.”

The Fifteenth Sword, the ‘Insect Sword’ Bebeckett. The Eleventh Sword, the ‘King Slayer’ Sleygar. The Third Sword, the ‘Light-speed Sword’ Rickert. And the Fifth Sword, the ‘Five-headed Snake,’ Ervine.  These four had been defeated by Vandalieu, leaving the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords missing members for a long period of time.

They had managed to refill these positions for the sake of the holy war, but they had lost members again while battling against the Storm of Tyranny.

The First to Third Swords, whose faces were shown to the public for propaganda purposes, weren’t here in the first place; they were with Pope Eileek. However… one of them had fallen to Ziggurat’s lightning earlier, reducing their numbers once more.

“Hah, you don’t have a great pool of people to choose from, do you! Isn’t that a sign of how unpopular your dear Pope is?!”  taunted Dalton, who had slain the replacement members in the blink of an eye.

A bald old man became red-faced in anger, making him resemble a boiled octopus, as he fired a barrage of spells.

This man was the Fourteenth Sword, the ‘One-man Mage Force’ Bjorson. He possessed two extra mouths that were special Magic Items, and combined with his own mouth, he was capable of reciting incantations using three mouths at once.

“You bastard! How dare you insult the great Pope, the incarnation of Alda himself! ‘Flowing Water Wave!’” he shouted.

“Unforgiveable! ‘Roaring Lightning!’” shouted his second mouth.

“Atone with your death! ‘Cutting Gale Force Barrage!’” shouted his third mouth.

“You have too many mouths, old man! Let me silence you forever!” Dalton snarled, turning his focus towards him.

But he was interrupted by the Eighth Sword – the ‘Shapeless’ Notres, an unarmed fighter who wore a jet-black body suit covering him from head to toe, who began attacking Dalton without a single word.

He appeared truly phantasmagoric, his body ignoring the limits of the human skeleton as it attacked. Rather than being a human made of rubber, he was more like a human-shaped mass of rubber.

“‘Heat Ray!’” shouted Dalton, firing a spell that conjured heat in the shape of a beam of light.

But Notres evaded it by changing the shape of his head – it caved in from the top, creating a space through which the spell passed through.

“You’re kidding me, right?! You don’t have a brain in there?!” Dalton exclaimed in astonishment.

But a moment later, he was forced to swiftly leap backwards as Notres’s head changed shape again, becoming a third of its original width in an instant and extending towards him.

The entirety of Notres’s body’s shape rotated. His left arm and left leg rotated to become his left and right legs. His right leg became his right arm while his right arm became his head, and his head rotated to become his left arm. His torso also changed shape to match this rotation.

“Are you really a human?! Even Vandalieu doesn’t do things like that!” Dalton shouted, but Notres continued to attack, taking no notice.

But these were the only evenly-matched battles; the Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Swords were struggling to hold back Zorcodrio, Merdin, and Lissana. However, this stalemate was brittle, and it was about to come to an end.

“… This will tire me, but there is no other choice. I will use my full power, so don’t step in front of me, Merdin!” Lissana warned.

“What?! You’re going to do that?!” Merdin shouted in alarm.

As Merdin hastily retreated backwards, Lissana unleashed herself.

Her white skin became covered in pink scales, and a forked tongue extended from her lips. The breath that escaped her mouth had a sweet scent and a venomous color.

This was her original form – that of Jurizanapipe, the Evil God of Degeneration and Intoxication, who had once belonged to the Demon King’s army but joined Vida’s faction.

The knights of the Crusader Army clamored loudly over the appearance of this new foe.

“Another evil god has appeared!” one shouted.

“Accursed Demon King, just how cunning can he be!” cursed a second.

“Curse… you…?” mumbled a third as he fainted.

As Lissana’s breath washed over them, they lost consciousness and collapsed, one after another.

They had taken measures to protect themselves from attacks based on disease and poison, but it seemed that these measures were insufficient against poison released by a god.

“What will you do now? The tables have turned,” said Schneider, taunting his opponent.

Indeed, with five members of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords dedicating themselves to defense, they had managed to stall Schneider’s allies, but that would be difficult now that Lissana was wielding her power as an evil god.

“You are right,” Leonardo admitted, showing no signs of vexation – in fact, the corners of his mouth rose in a smile. “With that being the case, I must fight seriously, too. Now then, this will be my end! And I will be sure to have you accompany me, ‘Thunderclap’ Schneider!”

The blood vessels on his face bulged unnaturally, covering his face with pulsing, black-red lines.

Seeing this, Schneider sensed what was happening. “So, someone placed a fragment of the Demon King inside you as well, you bastard!”

“Someone placed it inside me? No. I willingly placed it inside myself!” Leonardo declared as he became faster and more powerful than before.

A powerful gust of wind blew across the battlefield. But because of the fierce combat taking place across it, neither the Crusader Army nor the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal noticed how unnatural this wind was.

Enveloped in wind through Nineroad’s power, the Five-colored Blades flew instantly through the newly-created valley in the Boundary Mountain Range, and stepped foot into the territory of the Demon Empire of Vidal.

But with that said, they were inside a forest far from Talosheim and the other city states.

“So, this is the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range,” Heinz murmured.

“This is a surprisingly normal forest,” Jennifer remarked.

Even the explorers who would normally be venturing out to exterminate monsters and collect materials during times of peace were now on the battlefield or in their cities, as it was now a time of war. And because the Boundary Mountain Range was moving, causing the ground to tremor, they had sensed that something was wrong and fled.

That was why the party’s surroundings were even more quiet than an ordinary forest.

“We are able to remain shrouded in my wind for a while longer. Use this time to proceed further inside,” said Nineroad’s echoing voice.

She had descended upon the world and was doing her utmost to facilitate the party’s infiltration of enemy territory; she was currently residing inside Delizah’s shield.

“Alright. But the sounds of the battlefield are echoing all the way here from so far away. Do you know what Alda’s done?” asked Heinz as they walked forward.

Alda had infested sealed evil gods that were remnants of the Demon King’s army and gods of Vida’s faction with fragments of Guduranis’s soul, but Heinz knew nothing of it.

“I haven’t been told anything,” said Bellwood.

“Neither have I,” said Nineroad.

Alda had not given any prior knowledge of the reckless actions he would take to anyone, even his own subordinate gods.

The gods of Alda’s forces were undoubtedly in a state of complete astonishment.

“But I can offer a conjecture of what has happened, if you wish to hear it…” said Bellwood.

“Tell us, Bellwood,” said Heinz.

“I think Alda unleashed the evil gods that he had sealed away. He has probably infested them with fragments of Guduranis and made them go berserk so that they would rampage where he released them rather than running away,” said Bellwood.

In reality, Alda had used not only evil gods, but gods of Vida’s faction as well, such as the Goddess of Regeneration Luzemazera. And it was not ordinary fragments of the Demon King he had used, but fragments of Guduranis’s soul. But even Bellwood was unable to imagine that Alda would do such things.

“So what will you do? Will you turn back and fight against the evil gods?” asked Nineroad’s voice, echoing from Delizah’s shield.

Heinz remained silent for a few moments, and then began walking forward once more. “We will continue towards his main base. He should be there or appear before us on the way.”

Monster explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Demonic Orcs, Demonic Boars

Monsters that Bododo, the Evil Boar Beast-King, has become able to create after having a fragment of the soul of the Demon King Guduranis embedded within him. They are not Demons, but Orcs and boar-type monsters with Demon-like features.

They are generally stronger than Noble Orcs in terms of physical strength and Mana, possessing Skills such as ‘Rapid Regeneration’ and ‘Status Effect Resistance,’ as well as high intelligence and an aggressive nature. They have horns and blue-black skin reminiscent of Demons.

They are powerful, with a minimum Rank of 8, but because they have low Levels in combat and magic-related Skills due to having only just been born, it seems that they were not powerful foes to the elite soldiers of the Noble Orc army.

Their meat is soft and suited for simmered dishes. Their organs are pungent and not suited for eating as sashimi, but with the right seasoning, a unique acquired taste can be created that some people may find addicting.