Death Mage 233 – Time is needed to protect one"s reputation

Monster rampages. In the world of Lambda, these were disasters that were feared more than earthquakes or tsunamis.

It was a phenomenon in which monsters multiplied excessively inside a Dungeon and were released to the outside world, and during such events, monsters became more ferocious and loyal to the instinct that commanded them to harm humans.

Thus, rampaging monsters would almost never fight one another as long as there were humans nearby, and despite being of different races, they would form a single horde that advanced upon places inhabited by humans.

Depending on the cla.s.s of Dungeon in which monster rampages occurred, they could destroy not only villages and cities, but entire countries.

Thus, humans of this world had always been alert against the possibility of monster rampages since ancient times. They would make commissions for adventurers to cull monster numbers in Dungeons, and at the same time, they had conducted research into them as well.

The research had shown that the higher the cla.s.s of Dungeon, the longer it took for a rampage to occur in it. Thus, monster rampages did not occur very often in the modern era.

It was impossible for a monster rampage to happen without any warning whatsoever.

And yet, there was a group of young men and women desperately running for their lives, with the sounds of Dragon"s howls, Giants" groans and trees being felled behind them.

“Why?! Why are there Dragons, Giants and all kinds of other monsters?!”

“Who cares about that! We need to get back to the city before the gate closes!”

“Where did those Dragons come from?! Thunder Dragons are supposed to live in mountains and valleys, aren"t they?!”

“Isn"t it a monster rampage from a Dungeon?!”

“There"s no way!” said one of the young men.

The truth was that it was indeed a monster rampage from a Dungeon, but such a thing was normally impossible, so the young man strongly denied this possibility.

There were no Dungeons around the city of Morksi that would sp.a.w.n Rank 8 Thunder Dragons and Mountain Giants. Of course, Dungeons were things that appeared spontaneously, so it wasn"t entirely impossible for a new B-cla.s.s Dungeon to have appeared.

But there had been no precedent of a monster rampage occurring in a Dungeon immediately after its appearance.

“I know something about this! I heard that a monster rampage occurred right after a Dungeon appeared near some city in the Hartner Duchy!” said one of the young women.

Indeed, the exception to the norm was when Dungeons were created through some being"s will or under some being"s control, rather than appearing spontaneously.

Examples of this were the Dungeon that Vandalieu had created near the city of Niarki in the Hartner Duchy, and Fitun"s Labyrinth of Trials.

“What the h.e.l.l?! What are we supposed to do about that?!” the young man shouted, but he and his companions were incapable of doing anything with their current strength.

“Shut up and run! This is completely different from hunting Goblins!”

The young men and women were rookie adventurers who had come out on a commission to hunt Goblins. They were not very capable, and wouldn"t have been able to slow down any of the monsters a single second, never mind the Thunder Dragons and Giants.

Of course, because of this, they had been in a shallower part of the Devil"s Nest, so this was why they had been able to escape despite their weaker physical capabilities.

“Come to think of it, I heard that when there"s a monster rampage from a Dungeon, you can hide inside another Dungeon!” one of them shouted.

Once monsters emerged from Dungeons, they could never return again. Thus, hiding in Dungeons to escape from trouble was advice that had been pa.s.sed down among adventurers.

However, the unlucky adventurers could not execute this plan.

“The closest Dungeon is close to that horde of monsters!”

“Where"s the second closest Dungeon, then?!”

“It"s way further than the city! We won"t make it!”

“s.h.i.t, we"re done for!”

But at that moment, the Thunder Dragon among the group of monsters that was leading the horde suddenly screeched and tumbled into the ground.

“Huh?”

The young adventurers turned around for a moment, but immediately realized that they didn"t have time to be looking and faced forwards once more. Thus, they were unable to see the black lightning coming from the gra.s.slands.

Several other large monsters that could be targeted from afar were brought down, becoming obstacles that hindered the remaining monsters behind them. But the monsters did not change directions; Ogres and Trolls broke through the obstacles and began chasing after the young adventurers.

But at the exit of the forest, an old woman with a crooked back and very hoa.r.s.e voice called out to them. “You youngsters over there! You must hurry and leave!”

She had likely been hunting Goblins here, just like them, working as an adventurer on the side. She was wearing leather armor and was holding a spear.

“You need to get out of here too, old lady!” one of the adventurers said to her.

“D-don"t worry about me! I"m no good at running! I"ll make sure to take at least one of them down with me, so make use of that time and get back to the city!” she shouted back.

The young adventurers fell silent for a moment as they looked at the old woman, whose hood had been drawn low over her face, but in the end, they ran past her.

“We"re sorry,” one of the young women said to her.

This decision couldn"t be helped; they wouldn"t have been able to escape while carrying the old woman with them.

A smile appeared on the old woman"s wrinkled face as she realized that the young woman was crying. “Hmph! I"ve done a terrible thing! But I hope that they will overcome the guilt and powerlessness they felt today to become brave fighters in the future!” she muttered to herself.

With that, she began walking towards the approaching horde of monsters.

“I won"t call this an atonement, but I must fulfil my duty! I did expect that the enemy would strike when Vandalieu was not inside the city, but I never imagined that a horde of monsters would arrive without warning! But it matters not!” she told herself. “Come, beasts! I will not let you into the city! I"ll send you to a different place –”

A Troll"s club crushed the old woman with a single strike, scattering blood… no, just flesh, into the surroundings. The huge volume of bloodless flesh splashing around covered the Troll as well, but then, the Troll vanished like mist.

The other Trolls looked around, bewildered by the sudden disappearance of their brethren, but they disappeared in the same way in the next instant.

With the time given to them by this interruption in the monsters" chase, the young adventurers succeeded in escaping to the city of Morksi.

Elsewhere, Thunder Dragons suddenly stopped heading towards the city and Giants began fighting each other. Old adventurers, adventurers with wounded legs and other adventurers who weren"t well-known succeeded in escaping to the city as well.

The battle between Vandalieu"s side and Hajime Fitun"s side began with long-range attacks from Hajime Fitun"s side.

“"Lightning Beast a.s.sault!"” shouted Hajime Fitun, summoning a ferret-like beast made of lightning.

The heroic spirits who had taken possession of the bodies of the Flame Blades fired arrows and cast spells as well.

They were equipped with far better equipment than Vandalieu and his companions had antic.i.p.ated. As Vandalieu may have heard news of them if they purchased equipment in the city, they had obtained it in Fitun"s Labyrinth of Trials.

“Let"s probe things out first! "Air Point!"” shouted Gordon Bobby, unleashing a thrusting martial skill with an Adamant.i.te spear longer than his own body height.

The range of this martial skill was normally not very far, but perhaps the ability of the "Mountain Breaking Strong Spear" Bobby controlling the body was displaying itself; the attacks could reach their distant targets with ease.

“Melissa, Doug, I"m counting on you for now,” said Vandalieu.

“No problem,” said the "Aegis" Melissa.

Her barrier repelled not only Gordon Bobby"s "Air Point," but the other arrows and spells as well. However, the lightning beasts ran around the barrier to target Vandalieu and the others.

“I guess I"m in charge of dealing with the lightning beasts!” said the "Hecatoncheir" Doug, trapping the lightning beast with a telekinetic fist.

The invisible fist crushed the lightning beast, erasing it from existence.

“Commander, is that the "Aegis" and "Hecatoncheir?!"” one of the heroic spirits asked.

“That"s right, and the other two are… They were supposed to have been reincarnated as Elves, but they"ve become black, those d.a.m.ned wenches,” said Hajime Fitun. “Leaving that aside, the other Dark-Elf-looking one is "Venus!" And the other is… Isis?! Why is she in the form that she had in her previous life?! anyway, that human woman is Legion! Deal with them just as I told you! But don"t chase them down too far!”

Hajime Fitun was surprised by the fact that Isis was in the form she possessed in her previous life when she was supposed to be a ma.s.s of flesh made of flesh mannequins entwined around each other, but decided that it was likely to be Legion"s new form.

“Yes, sir!” said Gordon Bobby, continuing his attacks, unfazed by the fact that the previous attacks had been repelled with ease.

The heroic spirits continued firing arrows and throwing their short spears, but not using any martial skills.

“… Considering that he"s not surprised by our abilities, I suppose it has to be Hajime after all. But…” murmured Doug, who had been teleported here by Gufadgarn"s magic using the Demon King"s shadow as a gate.

Hajime was his former companion that he had infiltrated the Eighth Guidance with, but Doug was perplexed.

“Is that really Hajime? I know that he"s become younger after being reincarnated, but it"s hard to believe,” Doug said. “Even if you ignore his punk hairstyle, he"s way too different. I last saw him in Rodcorte"s Divine Realm, and even though that was two years ago, he"s changed too much!”

“… Yes, more than we heard,” agreed the "Aegis" Melissa.

The two of them had worked with Hajime for years, but his appearance had changed drastically since then.

He had been a fair-skinned, indoor-type, sensitive young man, but he was now a boy with tanned skin and well-developed muscles.

On top of that, his bloodshot eyes and maniacal laughter as he commanded his subordinates was very different from how he had been in his previous life.

“I"m sure he"s gone through some tough things. Although it looks like he isn"t aware that they were tough,” said Isis.

“Just what drove him into a corner so badly?” Kanako wondered.

Melissa and Doug looked at Isis and Kanako with incredulous expressions.

“… Maybe it"s something to do with the fact that he was fatally wounded by an explosion and then finished off with an acid attack?” said Melissa.

“We"re just as guilty of using him as a disposable p.a.w.n as you, so I can"t really blame you, but… you guys are the ones responsible for it, aren"t you? Especially you, Kanako!” said Doug.

“Well, it was a long time ago, wasn"t it?” Kanako said casually.

It had been less than three years since she had put an end to Hajime"s life in Origin.

“Th-those d.a.m.n b.i.t.c.hes!” Hajime Fitun muttered.

They were now close enough to see each other, and he could tell what Kanako and the others were saying by reading their lips.

Anger instantly rose to his head, and at the same time, his legs began shaking.

“C-Commander? Are you trembling in antic.i.p.ation for battle?” one of the heroic spirits asked.

Hajime Fitun clicked his tongue. “… It"s because of the original owner of this body.”

Fitun had taken over Hajime Inui"s body, but it wasn"t that Hajime"s soul was asleep. It had been swallowed by Fitun, continuing to exist as a part of him.

That was why Fitun had acquired the knowledge from other worlds that Hajime possessed, but at the same time, he now shared the trauma that Hajime suffered from.

I got complacent because I"m fine around ordinary women now. But to think that we would be facing the two people who killed Hajime in his previous life… d.a.m.n it, Hajime Fitun cursed to himself.

He had overcome the trauma to some extent, but the impact of the trauma when coming face to face with the people who had created it was greater than he had expected.

Meanwhile, Vandalieu and his companions who were focused on their defense were talking amongst themselves in confusion inside Melissa"s barrier.

“The others are strange in various ways as well. The people around him are the Flame Blades and the "Strong Arm" Gordon, aren"t they? … They"re far too skilled to be D-cla.s.s adventurers, and Gordon was supposed to be an axe-user, not a spear-user,” said Melissa.

“You"re right. Their movements are quite good; maybe around C-… no, better than B-cla.s.s but a little short of cla.s.s,” said Kanako. “And the way Gordon"s using his spear doesn"t seem like he learned those skills in a hurry.”

“Are you serious? Is it even possible to improve your skills in that short a time?!” said Doug.

“That would normally be impossible. Though it wouldn"t be out of the question if Hajime awakened to a Guider-type Job, guided them and the Flame Blades all have genius-level talent, with the divine protection of a G.o.d and a perfect place to train,” said Vandalieu.

“In other words, it"s pretty much impossible,” said Melissa.

As Vandalieu said, it would be almost impossible for someone to go from a D-cla.s.s adventurer to someone with the ability of a B-cla.s.s adventurer in the s.p.a.ce of just over a month. Even Simon and Natania were far from being B-cla.s.s adventurers. And even Vandalieu"s adventurer friends, Kasim, Fester and Zeno, had taken years to hone their skills.

“Gordon"s improvement is completely impossible,” Vandalieu added. “I don"t know what his Status looks like, but… he"s almost certainly gone through several axe-technique-related Jobs, like "Axe Warrior." A little over a month is not enough time to become a master with a spear after that.”

“Is it possible that he was just hiding his ability?” asked Doug.

“I find it hard to imagine that he"s capable of doing something that clever,” said Vandalieu.

Vandalieu and his companions were perplexed by the strange circ.u.mstances surrounding the Flame Blades and Gordon. Kanako tried using Venus through the barrier to try and learn the cause of those circ.u.mstances, but… she shook her head after a few moments.

“It"s no good. They won"t make eye contact with me. It seems like it will be impossible to copy their memories with "Venus." … I did manage to randomly paste my own short memories onto one of them, though,” Kanako said.

In the next moment, the t.i.tan shield-bearer of the Flame Blades screamed and stepped back. His face had been healthy and filled with a hunger for battle a moment ago, but it was now completely pale.

“What did you show him?” Vandalieu asked.

“It was only a few seconds long, but it was a piece of art that enriches the heart,” said Kanako.

It seemed that she had shown the t.i.tan shield-bearer a memory of the pictures drawn on the roofs of Talosheim"s buildings.

“I thought that if it went well, I could pull him over to our side, and in the worse-case scenario, it would crush his desire for battle. But it seems that it didn"t work,” said Kanako.

Before she even finished speaking, the t.i.tan shield-bearer let out an angry roar and began throwing stones with a sling, using the "Long Throw" martial skill. It seemed that he had overcome his fear with anger.

However, even with an increased range due to the martial skill, the stones were broken by Melissa"s barrier just like the arrows and spells, so they didn"t reach Kanako.

“Attacks like these don"t really faze me, but you do realize that I"m the one blocking them, right?” said Melissa.

“Ah, sorry about that. But the response was a little strange,” said Kanako. “It was similar to when I used Venus on people with multiple personalities in the past… Have you heard anything from Natanisan?”

“No, not in particular,” said Vandalieu as he shook his head while also recalling the Thunder Dragons and Mountain Giants that he had been using to help the people who had been late to get back to the city. “

“Ignoring the multiple personality thing, we didn"t know anything about that shield-bearer being able to use "Throwing"… It"s likely that something has been done to him with the "Marionette" ability,” said Kanako.

“I"m all for speculation, but how long are we gonna stay on the defense? Isn"t the city in danger if we take too much time here?” asked Doug, pointing at the city"s walls around two kilometers behind them.

Vandalieu shook his head. “Doug, the monster rampage won"t stop even if we defeat these people in a hurry… I asked the monsters" spirits, and it seems that they"re not being controlled.”

Indeed, Hajime Fitun had merely caused a monster rampage from a Dungeon; he was not controlling the monsters himself. He only needed them to head towards the city of Morksi, so he wasn"t exerting any detailed control over them at all.

“And if we don"t take our time, our position in society is in jeopardy… This place is too close to the city,” Vandalieu added.

“There are no binoculars or telescopes in this world, but there are spells that strengthen your vision or enlarge images in order to let you see from afar, after all,” said Melissa.

There were watchtowers with soldiers stationed at them at regular intervals along Morksi"s outer wall. Vandalieu and his companions were certainly visible from those watchtowers.

“… d.a.m.n, that"s a pain in the a.s.s!” said Doug.

“There are currently soldiers that are watching us using magic. We can"t do anything flashy until the situation becomes desperate enough for them to not have the time to be watching us… until the battle to defend the city begins,” said Vandalieu. “"Black Lightning."”

“Life in society is a difficult thing,” Kimberley remarked as he turned into a bolt of black lightning that flew towards Hajime Fitun and his heroic spirits.

Using the "Abyss" Skill to stay aware of how many soldiers were watching him, Vandalieu continued this series of attacking and defending in a way that he could play it off later as normal with some excuses.

The Dragon Zombies and Giant Zombies had just been struck by "Black Lightning," so it would merely look as if they had killed each other by mistake unless one observed very closely.

There were all kinds of explanations that Vandalieu could give if he were to be questioned about Kimberley as well.

But there would be no way to explain things if he were to use "Soul Destruction Fighting Technique" or spells that caused great damage to the surroundings.

“Then what about the pathogens you used before?” Doug suggested. “A disease that only works on humans, Elves and Dwarves would work on most of them, right?”

“… Actually, I"ve already tried that. It seems that they"re somehow preventing themselves from being infected,” said Vandalieu.

“Clean freaks after becoming outdoor-types, huh!” Doug muttered.

Hajime Fitun and his heroic spirits, prepared for the pathogens that Vandalieu had used against the Mirg shield-nation"s expedition army, continued their attacks.

Of course, this time-buying was only possible because Vandalieu had some room to work with.

There were individuals in the city of Morksi who were capable of putting on the act of fighting a difficult battle but still winning against a horde of Rank 8 and 9 monsters… Darcia, Miles, Eleanora, Basdia and Zadiris. And Gufadgarn and the others were prepared to deal with any unforeseen circ.u.mstances as well.

Vandalieu didn"t have to worry about the defense of the city.

But if Hajime Fitun and his heroic spirits were to cast a powerful spell that could cause damage to the city or endanger the lives of Kanako and the others, Vandalieu wouldn"t hold back either.

… Hajime Fitun and his heroic spirits were likely aware of that.

“But fortunately, it seems that they have a reason that they want to buy time as well,” said Isis.

Indeed, Hajime Fitun needed time… for something other than suppressing the trauma that she and Kanako had inflicted upon him.

“Commander, aren"t we ready yet? At this rate, we"re just wasting our arrows and Mana!” said one of the heroic spirits impatiently.

“Not yet!” said Hajime Fitun.

He was continuing to wait because his other subordinates, who were stationed in a way that surrounded the city of Morksi, still hadn"t moved.

Hajime Fitun had ordered them to follow the monster rampage to the city and destroy the city"s walls in as conspicuous a way as possible.

The purpose of this was to direct Vandalieu"s attention towards the city and draw even more of his companions away from him.

It would actually be more dangerous if the watching eyes and the lives of the city"s people weren"t a factor anymore, so I won"t slaughter them all, but it should cause him to panic if the city"s walls are destroyed and several dozen people die, Hajime Fitun thought. My subordinates all have time limits, after all. I"ll chip away at your forces as much as I can, then bring you down!

Some time before the standoff between Vandalieu"s side and Hajime Fitun"s side.

The soldiers at the watchtowers on the city"s walls were busily moving about. But most of their attention was directed upon the horde of monsters that was approaching the city"s main gate.

That was also true for the watchtower closest to Vandalieu.

The soldiers, surprised by the appearance of the Thunder Dragons, had frozen in place out of fear… and were unaware that Vandalieu was the one who had defeated the Thunder Dragons.

“At least we"re fortunate in that the big ones started killing each other by mistake.”

“Yeah, I thought for a second that something defeated the Thunder Dragons, but… what was that?”

“Who knows. I thought I saw something black for a moment, but… maybe he threw some poison that confused them?”

The soldiers were aware that Vandalieu had done something, but the defeated Thunder Dragons had risen up once more and begun to attack the other monsters, so they were under the impression that he had somehow managed to confuse them.

The truth was that he had turned the Thunder Dragons defeated by "Black Lightning" into Undead, allowing him to control them, but… the Dragons had died by electrocution, so from afar, it looked as if they were unharmed.

Vandalieu had used "Black Lightning" to defeat other Dragons and Giants, but since that was the main spell he used, the soldiers believed that it was the doing of a Thunder Dragon or some other monster tamed by Vandalieu that they didn"t know about.

“If there were a lot of Thunder Dragons and other flying monsters left alive, these walls wouldn"t do a thing.”

“The same is true for the Giants. It would be different if they were Hill Giants, but these walls would be like thin planks to those Mountain Giants.”

“Yeah, it"s my first time seeing them, but… high-Rank monsters are crazy.”

The soldiers who protected the city generally didn"t have any opportunity to see any monsters other than low-Rank ones living nearby, like Goblins. Rank 7 and 8 monsters were things straight out of fairy tales and bards" songs.

The soldiers couldn"t be blamed for not knowing much about their detailed biology and their abilities.

And it was often the soldiers with good eyesight and those who could use spells to enhance their eyesight that would be chosen to be stationed at the watchtowers. However, exceptional individuals would be posted near the city"s main gate. Thus, there was n.o.body who could observe what Vandalieu was doing over two kilometers away in detail at this tower, which was positioned partway along the wall.

“But I guess he"s not returning to the city because he"s the one confusing the monsters after all?” asked one of the soldiers, thinking this was strange.

The alarm signaling a state of emergency was ringing. Though Vandalieu was some distance away, he should have been able to hear it, but he was making no effort to leave the gra.s.sy area.

“What"s going on, Daniel?” the soldier asked one of the other soldiers who was focusing his eyes on Vandalieu.

The soldier named Daniel, who was enhancing his vision with a life-attribute spell, was barely able to discern the fact that the boy left out in the fields was Vandalieu, and even then, only because the enormous Fang had been nearby until a few minutes ago.

“Even if he tried to make it back now, he"d run into the horde of monsters… He might have better chances of surviving by staying outside the city on his own,” said Daniel.

Daniel spoke the truth – as rampaging monsters instinctively attacked humans, they would first target the city that had a large number of people living in it. They would likely take no notice of a single boy out in a gra.s.sy field.

“… I suppose you"re right,” said the other soldier.

A number of the large monsters had fallen, but the monster horde was still going strong. There were even reports that there were Rank 7 Ogre Kings and Troll Berserkers.

The soldiers felt as if the fate of the city of Morksi and the fate of their own lives were in a precarious situation.

“Hmm? What are those guys… What are those guys doing?!” Daniel suddenly shouted, his expression turning into a scowl.

“What"s wrong?! What do you see?!” one of the other soldiers asked.

“It looks like Vandalieu and his friends are being attacked by a group of bandits!”

“Bandits?! At a time like this?!”

“Yeah, there"s no doubt about it! I don"t know if they were hiding in the gra.s.s, but there are some other people around Vandalieu as well. But it seems that they"re his allies… I guess we can"t go and rescue them.”

“What b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Attacking a Tamer who doesn"t have his familiars with him!”

Daniel had taken notice of the attacks of Hajime Fitun and his heroic spirits, but naturally, he was unable to see the "Aegis" barrier or the telekinesis of "Hecatoncheir." Thus, it appeared to him as if Vandalieu and his companions were being attacked one-sidedly and only barely managing to block the attacks somehow.

Just then, a messenger came running with orders.

“We"re abandoning this tower! All hands, to the front gate! All soldiers capable of using magic have been ordered to move!” said the messenger.

“… Roger that!” Daniel said in frustration. “To think that we can see the city"s savior in danger, and yet we can"t do anything about it…!”

Daniel had only dabbled in magic a little, but he was unable to disobey orders, so he undid his "Vision Enhancement" spell and descended the tower with his comrades to head towards the front gate.

He did so, unaware that this was the greatest act of support that he could do for Vandalieu.

Vandalieu had been aware of Daniel"s gaze with the "Abyss" Skill, so he was now also aware that there was no more need to buy more time.

Job description (Written by Luciliano):

Demiurge

A Job that symbolizes that one is a demiG.o.d. In the world of Lambda, there has not been a single mortal who ascended to G.o.dhood while still living.

Mortals who become G.o.ds live out their lives and then ascend to G.o.dhood after death. There are some extremely rare exceptions, when they become something other than a mortal through a peculiar process such as fusing with an evil G.o.d or transforming from a mortal to an Elder Dragon or true Colossus.

There has never been a precedent of a mortal (Dhampir) becoming a demiG.o.d like Master has. Thus, I hypothesize that the G.o.ds of the Status produced the "Demiurge" Job after much trouble.

Well, it is also my opinion that Master became a demiG.o.d at the point where he was giving out his divine protection to various people.

Like "Bestower," it is a special Job that gives people other than the Job holder himself a new Skill ("Familiar Spirit Demonfall") once they meet certain conditions.

And the Job also converts religious worship of Master into Experience Points. He is cursed with "Unable to gain Experience Points independently," but it is likely that acquiring Experience Points pa.s.sively through religious worship directed towards him is not cla.s.sified as independently gained.

Considering this, it can be a.s.sumed that Master will no longer be able to strongly oppose the construction of holy statues of himself.

Gordon, whose body has been possessed by the "Mountain Breaking Strong Spear" Bobby, one of the heroic spirits of Fitun, the G.o.d of thunderclouds. Gordon"s soul continues to exist, but he is in a vegetative state.

His current state is as if Bobby is wearing him like a full-body suit and manipulating him, and Bobby is unable to manifest his original abilities.

However, with "Heroic Spirit Transformation" active, he is able to manifest those abilities. But once he does, Gordon"s body will be unable to withstand this and begin to collapse.