The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 393: The gods of the earth and sea

Venom Gusts and Venom Slimes, poisonous gases and liquids that had turned into monsters. Cursed Shadows, moving entities of shadow and darkness inhabited by curses.

These improvised monsters were created by Dobopezepaluo, the Evil God of Cursed Poison, and they were all Rank 5 or 6. To Dobopezepaluo, an evil god, or Bakunawa, who was continuously swallowing up the evil god’s poison, these monsters were nothing but small fry that they might accidentally crush underfoot without noticing.

But what made these monsters problematic was not their strength, but the fact that they spread poison and curses around them. Venom Gusts and Venom Slimes corrupted the air and earth with their presence alone, and living creatures were cursed in all sorts of ways just by being near Cursed Shadows.

Thus, they needed to be defeated quickly, but since they also spread poison and curses into their surroundings the moment they died, it was not a simple matter of just defeating them.

The champions, such as Bellwood and Zakkart, had adopted the strategy of defeating them while using spells to cleanse the poison and curses. But not everyone was capable of attacking and performing this cleansing at the same time.

That was why the heroes of the Sauron Duchy had decided to divide these tasks between them.

“I’m counting on you, everyone!” said Amelia Sauron, who was wearing a transformation equipment that appeared at first glance to be a dress decorated with frills and ribbons.

As she raised her peculiarly-shaped staff, the armed knights, adventurers, and warriors of the church who had come from the Sauron Duchy’s capital shouted in a unified war-cry.

“Now is the time to show the willpower of the Sauron Duchy’s army!” Amelia declared.

The ranks of the Sauron Duchy’s army included the Undead force that had been defending the former Scylla territory, as well as Privel and the other Scylla. The clattering and creaking noises made by the Undead filled the air.

“Let’s go, everyone!” Privel shouted. “Let’s show everyone that Scylla fight just as well on dry land, too!”

It seemed that the inclusion of the Undead and the Scylla caused no problems… but in truth, there had been problems on the Sauron Duchy’s army’s side. There had been soldiers who were reluctant to ally themselves with the Undead force defending the former Scylla territory, as they had been enemies just months ago.

However, Vandalieu had then very naturally said that he would send more forces to replace every soldier who was dissatisfied with this arrangement. That had caused most of the soldiers to change their tune.

Nobody wanted to lose their current jobs and societal positions.

Vandalieu had simply wanted to prevent a decrease in fighting forces with the final battle against Alda’s forces approaching, even if it was only temporary. He hadn’t intended to fire any of the dissatisfied soldiers – he had merely intended to take measures to make up for the missing soldiers while they took a leave of absence.

On top of that, many worshipers of the gods of Alda’s forces all over the nation had already fled to the Farzon Duchy; even the few remaining dissenters had changed their tune, fearing that they would be perceived the same way.

But although the knights and adventurers of the Sauron Duchy had the numbers to defeat the monsters, they did not have the numbers to also purify the spreading poison and curses.

That was up to the Demon King Familiars that had been placed in the cities of the Sauron Duchy.

“I’m counting on you, dear,” said Amelia.

“Leave it to me,” a Demon King Familiar replied. “‘Poison Erasure’ for the poison.”

The horse-type and insect-type Demon King Familiars cast the poison-erasing death-attribute spell ‘Poison Erasure,’ cleansing the earth and the air and treating their allies who had been poisoned and cursed.

… In truth, the Demon King Familiars alone would have been enough to deal with Dobopezepaluo’s hastily-created monsters. They were refraining from doing this so that the knights and adventurers of the Sauron Duchy could take credit for the achievement and build their confidence, and also so that they could feel a sense of unity in fighting alongside the Undead and Scylla.

It was all for the sake of stabilizing Elizabeth’s rule.

“By the way, isn’t Mother’s outfit too revealing?! Why?!” demanded Elizabeth, wringing the neck of a nearby true-main-body-type Demon King Familiar.

“Gueh,” the Demon King Familiar choked.

Elizabeth was putting all her strength into the chokehold, knowing that it wouldn’t result in any negative consequences.

As she pointed out, Amelia’s transformation equipment looked like a dress at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was just a leotard with decorations. It was indeed highly revealing. Râ𐌽ỘᛒĘṥ

“But Amelia said she wanted the same type of equipment as Mom. I attached lots of decorations enchanted with defensive magic, resulting in its current form,” the Demon King Familiar said.

Elizabeth continued her questioning of Vandalieu, the one who had given her mother such revealing transformation equipment. “I understand the reason, but you don’t have to do exactly as everyone requests! Couldn’t you have done more to make it a little better?!”

“… I don’t think it’s anything to get so upset about. It’s much less revealing than what Privel normally wears.”

“Well, of course it is!”

Privel was a Scylla, and her lower body consisted of eight tentacles with dragon heads at their tips. Naturally, it was completely exposed… though her chest and upper body were properly clothed.

“Can you stop talking about me like I’m some kind of pervert?! This is normal for Scylla!” Privel protested.

“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for leaving Mother to this guy,” Elizabeth apologized. “Transform!”

Still holding the true-main-body-type Demon King Familiar in the air by the neck with one hand, she activated her transformation equipment.

“I’m giving you command of the army, Mother. We’re going to the frontlines!” Elizabeth declared.

“My La–… Duchess, the general of the army standing at the front is…” one of the knights began, before changing his mind. “Never mind, it’s nothing. We shall accompany you.”

Amelia was there to serve as the general… or rather, it would be the Demon King Familiar near her. That was enough. Elizabeth was still young and had no experience as a commander, so it was better to have her near the frontlines as a symbol to raise the morale of the knights and adventurers. And she was still holding the true-main-body-type Demon King Familiar by the neck, which would be more than sufficient as a bodyguard if an emergency were to occur.

And most importantly, her presence would raise Bakunawa’s spirits.

“Onee-chan…!”

Bakunawa had forgotten his anger and hunger for Dobopezepaluo, perceiving him as a magical tap that provided him with an unlimited flow of juice, but the hunger and will to fight returned to his eyes once more.

The emotions of anger and hatred were a part of Bakunawa’s hunger. Being angry made him think his enemy looked delicious. He felt the desire to eat his enemy because he hated them. And his ordinary hunger also existed within him without contradicting that.

That was why he wanted to devour Dobopezepaluo and be complimented by his papa, his big sister, and his third mother (Amelia).

With a roar, he ignited the poisonous fluid in his body, which he was absorbing, and unleashed a deadly breath – the same as that of the Dragon-emperor God Marduke, which he had not been able to produce before without conscious effort.

This breath engulfed Dobopezepaluo’s entire body, burning him and sending him flying towards the Ark Mountain Range.

It burns! My body, my poison, and my curses are burning and being erased?! Curse you, curse you! How dare yoooouu!

Dobopezepaluo screamed as he was sent flying several kilometers, and then he finally crashed upon the ground in an uninhabited location. Writhing in agony, he cursed Bakunawa in his mind as he tried to stand back up, but his body would not obey him.

However, Bakunawa didn’t seem to feel Dobopezepaluo’s curses.

“First, I’ll break that shell with my teeth!” he said as he flew after the evil god at a tremendous speed. “I’m sure it’ll be all nice and soft on the inside! Looks delicious! Time to eat!”

As Dobopezepaluo saw Bakunawa flying towards him, his heart was filled by the primitive fear that living organisms feel, a fear that he had not felt since before he became an evil god… the despair felt by prey before they were eaten by a predator.

But the Demon King’s ‘Narcissism’ that infested him would not allow him to simply let himself be devoured.

Now that it has come to this, I shall use all of my Mana to spread deadly poison and curses across this land! It doesn’t matter if it is purified later! If I can inflict even a tiny amount of pain on a single human, a single living creature, then it will be worth it! I shall torment and torture!

His final act was the same as that of a venomous insect – releasing as much of his poisonous liquid as possible, even if it was meaningless in the end. But the moment Dobopezepaluo began to carry it out–

“I can’t overlook that,” a voice said.

Two enormous arms emerged from the ground.

“You, you’re Botin?! Why are you here?!” Dobopezepaluo exclaimed in astonishment.

“If the boy devours your body, you will be neutralized, but I don’t know what will happen to the fragment of Guduranis’s soul that has infested you. It would be a big problem if it were to infest the boy, so I will have you sleep here for now.”

Botin wrapped Dobopezepaluo’s entire body with her two arms to seal herself away along with the evil god, just as Zantark had done.

“Wait until your papa comes before you eat him, boy,” Botin said to Bakunawa. “And I’m sure the children of Sauron can’t handle the monsters that this evil god has created on their own, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”

And with those words, the seal was complete.

“Alright. I’ll go and help Onee-chan and the others, then,” Bakunawa said, obediently following Botin’s instructions.

But by the time he returned, most of the monsters, who had lost the source of their strength, had already been cleaned up by the heroes of the Sauron Duchy.

On the battlefield where the Farzon Duchy’s navy was fighting against forces of the Demon Empire of Vidal’s army led by Tama and Gyoku, a bizarre evil god had appeared. It let out an eerie laughter as it looked around at its surroundings.

Like the other gods that Alda had removed the seals from and embedded a fragment of Guduranis’s soul into, he was bewildered, not understanding the situation he found itself in.

Below him, there were humans that seemed to have been in combat, some strange beings that he could not tell whether they were humans or monsters, and monsters that he had never seen before.

Incomprehensible. Incomprehensible and therefore unpleasant. Why are humans fighting against one another? No, no, are those really humans? They feel like humans, but they look like monsters. What are these things? And are there really monsters that I do not know of?

He was Vejogash, the Evil God of Distortion. He had been the superior of Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, and he had created many monsters in contribution to the Demon King’s army. He was the one who had created much of the suffering of the people of this world at the hands of monsters.

That was why he had a deep knowledge regarding monsters, and he took pride in that. But naturally, he did not know of the new races of monsters that had been born after he was sealed away… or of the new races created by Vida after the Demon King Guduranis was sealed away.

I see! An absurd length of time must have passed after I was sealed away! Which means that Guduranis-sama was defeated by the champions! he thought, laughing and cackling uncontrollably.

The fact that he did not recognize these creatures allowed him to realize that a tremendous length of time had passed since he was sealed away. And he understood that the continued existence of humans despite such a length of time passing could only mean that Guduranis had been defeated.

The overwhelmingly powerful, cruel, ruthless, sly, and evil tyrant Guduranis! Defeated by weak and feeble humans and foolish gods who could only create such inferior creatures! Though I suppose I am not one to talk, as I myself was defeated by the champions summoned from another world by the very same foolish gods!

He could not stop his shrill laughter. He was filled with disappointment at the defeated Guduranis, anger at the champions who had defeated him, and joy.

W-why am I so pleased?! I do not understand! But my joy is only becoming greater!

Despite his confusion, Vejogash continued his happy, shrill laughter. His enormous lips were wide open, exposing the enormous eyeball that was inside his mouth, and he was waving his tentacles as if he were dancing.

Vejogash’s presence was affecting the minds of the Farzon Duchy’s navy. It was not just Vejogash’s grotesque appearance – his enormous lips that were wrapped around an enormous eyeball, and his countless tentacles. It was his eerie laughter as well.

One of them let out a high-pitched scream.

Another shouted in agony. “Make it stop, make it stop! Please, make it stop!”

On the other hand, his presence had no effect on those of the Demon Empire of Vidal.

“What is that? One of the remnants of the Demon King’s army?” asked Doraneza.

Gyoku and Tama gave curious squeaking noises.

Those who had encountered Vandalieu in their dreams would not receive any mental damage from someone like this.

“That is an evil god who was sealed away a hundred thousand years ago, released with a fragment of Guduranis’s soul embedded inside him,” Vandalieu explained through his Demon King Familiars and his split entities that had been summoned through ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall.’

The relay of this information prevented chaos within his allies’ ranks.

“In other words, an enemy. But will we be able to defeat it?” Doraneza asked.

The appearance of one of the commanders of the Demon King’s army with a fragment of Guduranis’s soul embedded within him was an entirely unexpected situation. Tama and Gyoku were overwhelmingly more powerful than the Farzon Duchy’s navy, but they had not reached Rank 13 – the Rank one would need to reach as a minimum before being considered as powerful as a god.

“It might be a little dangerous for just you guys, Doraneza,” said the split entity of Vandalieu that had descended upon the Merfolk leader. “So–”

“Leave him to us!” a voice echoed.

The sea split as an iceberg… an iceberg held by a Colossus, emerged. A Colossus with pale, white-blue skin, white hair, and a white mane. It was Zozaseiba, the Colossus of Demon Snow Mountains, who had once betrayed this world to join the Demon King’s army. But after Guduranis was sealed away, Zozaseiba had become one of the guardian deities of Gartland.

His body carried the wounds from his battle against the champions a hundred thousand years ago, but these had now been treated, sewn shut with black threads.

With a shout of exertion, Zozaseiba hurled the iceberg at the evil god. Vejogash, who was still busy laughing, choked mid-laughter as he was struck head-on.

Marisjafar, the Righteous Evil God of the Crimson South Sea, let out a wordless shout as he emerged among the waves. “Fall back, my beloved children!” he shouted in warning as he threw his trident at the staggering Vejogash.

Vejogash let out another mad cackle as his lip was pierced by the trident.

Are those the ones who joined our side? Or am I mistaken? Either way, how dare they attack me! I am so angry that I cannot stop laughing!

Driven by an incomprehensible combination of joy and pain-induced anger, he attempted to make a counter-attack.

But he had become a commander of the Demon King’s army through his skill at creating monsters. He was neither proficient at melee combat, nor skilled with magic.

However, he was able to induce mutations in all kinds of powerful monsters. Other evil gods could only create races of monsters that were related to them in some way; Vejogash’s monster production ability was far superior in comparison.

That was precisely why he decided to try using the humans and monsters as materials. The fierce battle and the appearance of multiple gods – including Vejogash himself – had killed or driven away all the fish in the nearby seas, so the only materials available were humans.

However, he was confident that making contact with monsters and injecting miasma into them would make them mutate into monsters strong enough to fight for him.

If he used humans as materials, they would likely perish less than an hour after mutation, but he only needed them to last long enough to overcome this battle.

However, he quickly realized that the Farzon Duchy’s navy had already been almost wiped out – by their own comrades who had been turned into Undead.

“S-stop! We’re allies, aren’t we?!” one of the navy’s soldiers pleaded.

“That’s right! So let’s make you one of us!” one of the Undead snarled.

“Let’s all become Undead, everyone! All you need to do is die!” another Undead shouted at his still-living comrades.

“Becoming Undead would be better than turning into one of that evil god’s monsters, right?!” shouted a third Undead.

Impossible! The corpses are turning into Undead one after another?! Vejogash thought in disbelief.

Even he could not turn corpses that had already become Undead into monsters. And even he did not possess the ability to control Undead.

If it was an inferior Undead with no sense of self, possessing nothing but a hatred for the living, then he might be able to vaguely direct it at a target, but…

“The evil’s god’s tentacles! Tear them to pieces!” one of the Undead shouted.

Another Undead snarled as it buried its teeth into the nearest tentacle.

The former officers of the Farzon Duchy’s navy possessed a strong sense of self, which made them clearly target Vejogash.

“T-to think that someone as great as I would be left with no choice but to flee… HAHAHAHAHA!” Vejogash laughed uncontrollably.

But it was far too late for him to realize that.

As he attempted to flee into the sky to create a pseudo-Divine Realm, several pillars of water appeared around him.

“If we let you escape, you will create many pitiful but dangerous monsters. Slumber here until the one who will destroy you arrives!” echoed the voice of a goddess that was gentle but filled with anger.

“Peria?! Why are you here?!” Vezogash exclaimed. “I see, so much time has passed that you have been revived!”

He had expected that ten thousand or perhaps twenty thousand years might have passed; he had not expected that enough time had passed for Peria to be revived.

As the pillars of water closed in on Vezogash, he laughed maniacally once more. “To think that I have been released from my seal, only to be helplessly sealed away once more without any way to escape my fate! I cannot stop laughing! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

With a laugh of despair, Vezogash was sealed away by Peria, the Goddess of Water and Knowledge, along with the Demon King’s ‘Joy.’

And fortunately, the surviving handful of members of the Farzon Duchy’s navy surrendered unconditionally, thus ending the battle of the Holy War taking place on the sea.

• Name: Amelia Sauron
• Race: Dark Human (Transformed from Human!)
• Age: 32 years old
• Title: The Gluttonous Elder Dragon’s Third Mother (NEW!), The Great Demon King’s Wife (NEW!)
• Job: Magical Idol
• Level: 41
• Job history: Apprentice Maid, Maid, Lady, Apprentice Mage, Magical Lady, Transforming Lady, Fire-Attribute Mage
• Passive skills:
  • Mental Corruption: Level 7
  • Status Effect Resistance: Level 1 (NEW, combined with Poison Resistance!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Guidance: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-Strengthening: Husband: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-Strengthening: Transformation: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Night Vision (NEW!)
  • Superhuman Strength: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Rapid Regeneration: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Mana Enlargement: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Increased Magical Attack Power when equipped with a Staff: Medium (NEW!)
• Active skills:
  • Housework: Level 3
  • Etiquette: Level 2
  • Dancing: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Bedroom Skill: Level 1
  • No-Attribute Magic: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Mana Control: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Life-Attribute Magic: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Staff Technique: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Singing: Level 3 (NEW!)
  • Coordination: Level 1 (NEW!)
• Unique Skills:
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection

• Name: Elizabeth Sauron
• Race: Human
• Age: 13 years old
• Title: Princess, Illegitimate Child, Great Demon King’s Daughter, Possessed by Vandalieu, The Gluttonous Elder Dragon’s Older Sister (NEW!)
• Job: Magical Sword Princess
• Level: 63
• Job history: Apprentice Mage, Warrior, Mage, Magic Swordsman, Transformation Mage, Transformation Swordsman, Magical Girl, Magical Princess
• Passive skills:
  • Fatigue Resistance: Level 2
  • Mental Fortitude: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 3 (LEVEL UP)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Guidance: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-Strengthening: Transformation: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Mana Enlargement: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-strengthening: Ruling: Level 1 (NEW!)
• Active skills:
  • Housework: Level 2
  • Etiquette: Level 1
  • Horseback Riding: Level 1
  • Spear Technique: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Surpass Limits: level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • No-Attribute Magic: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Mana Control: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Earth-Attribute Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Life-Attribute Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Swordsmanship: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Shield Technique: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Dismantling: Level 1
  • Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Surpass Limits: Magic Sword: Level 2
  • Dancing: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Singing: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Surpass Limits: Magical Staff: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Armor Technique: Level 1 (NEW!)
• Unique skills:
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
  • Vida’s Divine Protection