The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 355: The Demon King uses the power of humans

Guduranis was struck directly by Luvesfol’s rage-filled Breath attack, but with a furious roar, he leapt out of the raging torrent. “CURSE YOOOU!”

Vandalieu’s interference and Guduranis’s own discomposure had allowed Luvesfol’s attack to make a direct hit, but Luvesfol was still one of the more inferior Elder Dragons, and it seemed that his Breath attack had not dealt significant damage to Guduranis.

However, it seemed that Guduranis’s pride had been deeply wounded, having had his hand bitten by what he had thought to be a convenient, disposable pet dog.

“Why do you bare your fangs at me after I released you from your seal?!” Guduranis snarled, his fury and killing intent surging out around him. “You pitiful excuse of an Elder Dragon – Have you been domesticated to the very marrow of your bones?!”

Luvesfol spat forth another ‘Raging Torrent Breath’ at Guduranis. “It’s because you undid my seal! You’ve gone and returned me to my true form! Staying sealed is what allows me to be spared… Are you going to take responsibility if they punish me again afterwards?!”

Luvesfol felt no gratitude for Guduranis’s act of undoing his seal. In fact, he was infuriated by this unwelcome favor.

It was true that he had wished to grow past being a Wyvern, the most lowly of Dragons that were the inferior descendants of Elder Dragons. But he had never truly wished to return to his true form.

Although various events and compromises had led to Luvesfol’s current situation, he had originally been an enemy of Vandalieu – though it wasn’t him that had bared his fangs at Vandalieu first; he had been ruling over the marshlands within the Boundary Mountain Range after stealing Fidirg’s Lizardmen worshipers there, and Vandalieu was the one who had invaded them.

He was also a traitor who had betrayed the gods of this world to join the Demon King’s army a hundred thousand years ago, and even after Guduranis was sealed away, he had continued being hostile to Vida’s faction without any apology to them.

After Vandalieu reclaimed the marshlands Luvesfol had ruled, Schneider and the others of the Storm of Tyranny had encountered Luvesfol while he was trying to flee the continent. But the only retribution for his betrayal was being turned into ‘Pauvina’s Pet,’ and this was because his true form had been sealed away… or so Luvesfol thought.

Indeed, even though he had received terrifying remonstrations that made him freeze in fear from gods including the Mountain Queen Elder Dragon God Tiamat, the highest-ranking Elder Dragon in Vida’s faction, no force had been used to punish him because he had been sealed away into the form of a pitiful, feeble Wyvern that could be killed by a single light punch.

But Vandalieu and his companions who weren’t gods didn’t have much of an impression of Luvesfol before he was sealed away. And currently, they thought of him as ‘Pauvina’s Pet.’ He wasn’t even someone that they harbored emotions of hatred for anymore.

Vandalieu had even wondered if this was too much of a punishment for a being that was a god. But in the mythological tales of Earth, there were gods who committed crimes and were punished and forced to atone as mortal servants, so he thought that Luvesfol’s treatment was no different from that.

And of course, Luvesfol was someone Vandalieu considered to be a companion. If someone were to harm Luvesfol again because his seal had become undone, Vandalieu would defend him. Pets are family, after all.

But Luvesfol himself hadn’t thought of it like that. He regarded himself to be Luvesfol, the Raging Evil Dragon God. That was why he had completely ignored Guduranis’s offer.

“You only undid my seal so that you could use me as a disposable pawn, didn’t you?! Who would join a loser like you a second time?!” Luvesfol said.

“M-me, a loser?!” Guduranis stuttered in shock.

“A hundred thousand years ago, you lost! Who would obey you now after you suffered such a grand defeat, when you don’t even have the power that you had in the past! You’re nothing but a relic of the old world!”

As ‘Pauvina’s Pet,’ Luvesfol had obeyed her command and vented his anger and fear at Guduranis.

“… So, that Wyvern was an Elder Dragon,” Randolf murmured, not having taken notice of this before.

“Yeah. I’ve never seen him in that form either, though. I’ll have to ask for a new collar from Orlock-san later,” said Pauvina.

“Don’t do that to the poor man,” said Randolf. “Still, you never suspected that the Elder Dragon might betray you?”

Pauvina puffed out her chest with full confidence. “Even if he returns to his original form, Luves is still Luves. Luves is smart enough to know that Van is stronger.”

Beyond her trust for Luvesfol and her bond with him, she understood the nature of his character, and that was why she had never thought for a moment that he would betray them.

“… That, and the fact that his wounds still haven’t healed even after the seal was undone,” Fidirg added, seeming to have forgotten his fear for Guduranis. “I’m sure he knows that him changing sides won’t have any effect on the state of the battle.”

Luvesfol wasn’t foolish enough to betray Vandalieu and his companions when multiple of them were Rank 13 or above… in other words, more powerful than him.

Once a traitor, always a traitor, perhaps – but in this instance, Luvesfol had only betrayed Guduranis’s expectations.

Of course, they weren’t leaving the task of attacking Guduranis to Luvesfol alone. Vandalieu fired ‘Dark Thunderbolt Spears’ in conjunction with Luvesfol’s ‘Raging Torrent Breath,’ and Randolf and Darcia were casting spells as well. Please visit 𝓃𝑜vel-𝒏𝑒xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪 website to read fastest update

Guduranis made a noise of frustration. “I was a fool to expect anything from a traitor! You pitiful excuse of an Elder Dragon, I shall bury you along with the rest of the vermin!”

Guduranis hadn’t weakened enough for these attacks to be enough to finish him. He extended his fingers and moved his arms rapidly to perform chopping attacks.

“‘Million Slashes!’”

With a ‘Dagger Technique’ martial skill, he performed a countless number of attacks in an instant, cutting through and dispersing the ‘Raging Torrent Breath’ and the spells cast by Vandalieu and his companions.

“He is unharmed after using a martial skill to cut through magic – with his bare hands, no less! After everything that’s happened, I suppose he is still the Demon King,” Randolf muttered bitterly.

“No, Randolf-san,” Darcia said, shaking her head. “The thing you should be surprised about is the fact that he used a martial skill at all.”

Randolf wasn’t the only one taken aback by this; Vandalieu and everyone else gasped as well.

Guduranis was bare-handed, but his body was the Demon King’s body. It was the same in nature as the fragments of the Demon King that Vandalieu and his companions used as weapons. There was nothing surprising about him being completely unharmed or close to it after defending himself from spells with his bare hands.

However, Guduranis using a martial skill was strange. After all, Guduranis was the Demon King. In other words, he was a god. He did not exist within the scope of the Status System of the world of Lambda; he was a being that could not even possess a Status, let alone learn the Skills necessary to perform martial skills.

It was the same reason why Rikudou Hijiri, before being absorbed by Guduranis, had used spells but not a single martial skill.

“I am also a god, but by inhabiting a vessel that I spent many long years creating, I have disguised myself as a monster and acquired a Status. However, Guduranis should not have had the time needed to do that,” said Gufadgarn.

“I see. He must have absorbed Edgar’s soul so that he could use the Status System as well,” said Vandalieu.

Guduranis’s mouth twisted into a smile. “The Status System was something that only applied to my monsters a hundred thousand years ago, and one of the reasons I was defeated by the wretched Bellwood. I always found its existence to be infuriating, but now that I am able to use it myself, my opinion on it has changed,” he mused. “I can understand why Zerzoregin attempted to use it himself.”

Guduranis’s words confirmed that he had the Skills that Edgar had possessed. Vandalieu and his companions were now even warier of Guduranis than before.

Edgar had been an S-class adventurer with Skills awakened into superior versions. His soul had likely lost his divine protection and the ‘Heroic Spirit Descent’ Skill, but it still had many other Passive and Active Skills.

And Guduranis, the one using those Skills, had physical capabilities that far surpassed those of a human. Their power and speed would be on a different level compared to when they had been used by Edgar.

“You bastard… Just what are you treating Edgar as?!” Heinz said, his voice filled with anger as he raised his holy sword, understanding that his friend’s soul was being toyed with.

Delizah and the others were postured to engage in battle as well; it seemed that they no longer wished to retreat.

“What am I treating him as? Something convenient, of course… Just like these fools!” said Guduranis, and Rikudou’s Ghosts appeared around him.

“W-what are those Ghosts?” said a confused Heinz.

He didn’t know who any of them were, and they were wearing unusual clothes that were never seen in this world.

But Vandalieu, Kanako, and Legion recognized them.

“I personally have made an effort to gain quite fine control over my magic, but from the perspective of Zadiris and the others, it’s still quite crude, after all,” said Vandalieu.

Guduranis possessed a vast quantity of Mana, and Vandalieu possessed an immensely vast quantity of Mana. Neither of them was particularly proficient at fine control over that Mana, due to its sheer volume. As a comparison, one would not have to ask whether a giant or a human would be better suited to tasks that needed a delicate touch. And from the perspective of a human mage, Guduranis, Vandalieu, and the great gods such as Vida were like giants tall enough to move the heavens.

So then, why did Guduranis have such fine control over his Mana?

“I see. It must be Rikudou’s soul. His cheat-like ability allowed him to become one of the most skilled among the Bravers, after all,” said Kanako.

“Not only Edgar, but Rikudou’s soul is being used as well! How pitiful the top brass of our enemies are! If I had tear glands, I might cry for them!” said Izanami.

“Cry with laughter, that is,” said Isis.

Kanako and Legion couldn’t help but laugh at Rikudou’s fate after having control over his soul seized by Guduranis. If Asagi were here, he might have at least said something to pretend to express pity and wish him happiness in the next world, but… unfortunately, he was not here.

“Hmph. He has gained the honor of becoming a part of me!” said Guduranis.

“With that being the case, ‘Unlimited Development’ and ‘Increased Learning Speed’ might still be in effect… We must truly defeat him in this battle,” said Vandalieu.

Allowing Guduranis to escape here would not only mean granting him time to mass-produce monsters to use as pawns. He would undoubtedly further improve the Status that he had gained. It was even possible that he would use Edgar’s Status to undergo Job changes.

“Let us ensure that we destroy him here!” said Diana.

“We won’t let Edgar’s soul be used to threaten this world!” Heinz declared as he and his companions charged at Guduranis, having slipped past the swarm of blades.

“… This is extremely unpleasant, but this takes priority over destroying them,” Vandalieu said.

As infuriating as it was, he decided to take advantage of them until he could devour Guduranis’s soul and destroy him.

It would be unacceptable if he were to prioritize his own revenge and that were to result in allowing Guduranis to escape, granting him a chance to carry out a counter-offensive.

“Vandalieu, you filth! Do you really think I would flee in disgrace with my tail between my legs?!” Guduranis shouted in rage as Heinz’s sword clashed against his bare-handed attacks.

“There’s no proof that I can trust anything you say,” Vandalieu said flatly as he tore his own arm.

The Demon King’s blood welled up from the wound, and he mixed it with mucus produced from the Demon King’s mucus glands. The result was a viscous substance that he spread into a thin net, which he spread and threw at Guduranis.

“Ah, what a waste!” Isla said, looking at Vandalieu’s blood with a fervent look in her eyes.

The ‘Killing Blade Swarm’ that had been cast by Guduranis, enhanced by the ‘Artemis’ ability, willingly flew at the net. After all, the net was connected to Vandalieu, and it was a part of him.

Heinz hastily fell back outside the net’s range, but the net was large enough that the blades that were aiming for him and everyone else got caught in it.

“I see! Then allow me to give you a reason to trust what I say! First, by killing that foolish Elder Dragon!” shouted Guduranis. “‘Killing Round Blade!’”

Guduranis concentrated the same Mana he had used for ‘Killing Blade Swarm,’ but this time in a single disc-shaped blade, and fired it towards Luvesfol.

“Luves!” cried Pauvina.

Pain flew forward and Pauvina swung her club, but the ‘Killing Round Blade’ avoided them as if it had a mind of its own. It seemed that concentrating the Mana into a single projectile had improved more than just the spell’s power.

Luvesfol made a frustrated noise, unable to move properly because of his wounds. “Then I have no choice but to give up hope, and–”

But the moment he prepared himself to unleash three ‘Raging Torrent Breaths’ in defiant resistance, his entire body was swallowed whole – by Legion, who had expanded their body.

“No matter how precise the enemy’s control is, there’s no problem if we wrap ourselves around your whole body, is there?” said Pluto.

Guduranis, and even Randolf and Heinz were stunned to see a mass of flesh that was just ten meters in diameter expanding large enough to wrap around Luvesfol’s entire body, which was a hundred meters in length, in a single instant.

The ‘Killing Round Blade’ sank into Legion, who was now a mass of flesh that was larger than the castle. ‘Counter’ was activated, creating a deep wound in Guduranis’s chest, and murky nose-blood gushed out of the nose of the Demon King that was on it.

Guduranis roared in pain. “You impudent… However, the Level of my ‘Mana Control’ and ‘Death-Attribute Resistance’ has increased!” He chuckled elatedly. “To think that the day would come when I would understand why you mortal vermin changed Jobs over and over!”

Even while fighting Vandalieu, the Levels of Guduranis’s existing Skills was increasing, and he was gaining new Skills as well.

“Moriya! You’re next!” said Guduranis. “Come forth, spirits of death born from my Mana–”

“‘World Piercing Destructive Hollow Cannon.’”

“‘Divine Zenith Life Cannon!’”

Vandalieu and Darcia’s spells exploded upon Guduranis, along with the artificial spirits that were being created by his incantation.

A vast torrent of no-attribute Mana and a concentrated beam of life-attribute Mana tore large holes in Guduranis’s body.

But Guduranis screamed in agony, then shouted in exertion as he deliberately exposed himself to Darcia’s ‘Divine Zenith Life Cannon’ while protecting himself from Vandalieu’s ‘World Piercing Destructive Hollow Cannon.’

He possessed Edgar’s ‘All-Attribute Resistance’ Skill. Thus, although he was vulnerable to the no-attribute ‘World Piercing Destructive Hollow Cannon,’ he could withstand the power of the ‘Divine Zenith Life Cannon,’ a life-attribute spell.

“So, I have no time to even recite incantations… In that case, I am left with no choice but to use one of my trump cards!” shouted Guduranis, who was now missing the left side of his torso from his shoulder to his stomach, as well as the entirety of his right arm.

With an ominous noise, his head began swelling.

His face remained the same, but his brain became exposed from his forehead all the way around to the back of his head as it swelled up into a repulsive-looking shape.

“Is that the Demon King’s brain?” Vandalieu asked.

“You are correct… It seems that Rikudou refrained from using it, assuming that it would stimulate my instinct and memories. But by using this, I can use my magic with even more precision and without any incantations!” said Guduranis.

And as if to prove it, several artificial spirits appeared around him.

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