After turning the ‘Five-headed Snake’ Ervine into Experience Points, Vandalieu took the fatally-wounded Iris to the place she needed to go to in order to be reborn. And upon returning to Talosheim, he entered the Job-changing room with unsteady steps.

Iris’s vital organs had been wounded by the holy sword Nemesis Bell; she had been in a state where she would have died within half an hour if Vandalieu hadn’t maintained the Death Delay spell on her.

She would be turned into a member of one of Vida’s races other than Vampires, using the reconstruction of her body during her transformation and her increased Vitality and healing abilities after her transformation in order to heal her.

Vandalieu had gone through a lot of effort to take her to the place to carry out the ritual, such as using Out-of-body Experience and then the Materialization Skill on the spirit form wings to take the form of a strange bird, and preparing the necessary amount of Mana.

“… I’m sleepy,” Vandalieu murmured.

The time it had taken was a bigger problem than the work he’d needed to do.

There wasn’t a target that Legion could designate for teleportation at the place where the ritual would take place, and Vandalieu hadn’t created a Dungeon there yet either, so he’d been forced to fly there which had taken a long time. In addition to that, the ritual hadn’t been conducted in a long time, so time had needed to be taken to gather the necessary tools and check the correct procedures.

Persuading the other party to cooperate with him hadn’t taken very long at all, shortening the process considerably, but even so, it was still harsh on Vandalieu.

It was fortunate that he had been able to use the time the journey took to break the seal on the Demon King equipment to acquire the Demon King’s antennae.

“I can use the Status Effect Resistance Skill to endure my sleepiness, but just because I can endure it doesn’t mean it’s not hard on me. But I have to do this task soon, so… before that, I’ll get my Job-change while I’m at it.”

He had received a considerable amount of Experience Points from Ervine, who had dealt the final blow to the ‘Insect Swarm’ Bebeckett. With the other Experience Points that he had gained by watching the ‘King Slayer’ Sleygar, the ‘Light-speed Sword’ Rickert and the members of the Hilt, Vandalieu’s Demon King User Job had reached Level 100.

As expected of a man who could have aspired to reach S-class and his companions.

It was fortunate that Vandalieu could gain Experience Points by watching battles through the Demon King’s eyes, just like he could with his own eyes.

“Well, I’ll eat them after I get information from them… my Attribute Values and Skills increased from eating Ravovifard, the evil god of release, but I didn’t gain his memories, so it will probably be fine. Leaving that aside…”

As Vandalieu slapped his hand on the crystal ball, the Jobs that he could change to were displayed inside his head.

『Jobs that can be selected:【Disease Demon】【Spirit Warrior】【Whip Tongue Calamity】【Vengeful Berserker】【Dead Spirit Mage】【Dark Healer】【Labyrinth Creator】【Magic Cannoneer】【Dark King Mage】【Divine Enemy】【Dark Guider】【Creation Guider】【Fallen Warrior】【Insect Nin】【Destruction Guider】』

“Yes, there’s a new one.”

Destruction Guider… from its name, wasn’t it a bad guidance? It sounded like he would lead others to all kinds of destruction.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve been breaking and eating souls… well, for now, I’ll select Dark Guider.”

The Danger Sense: Death spell made sure that he knew when someone was aiming for his head, but regardless of that, Sleygar’s movements had been too quick for him to deal with.

He’d noticed it the moment before it happened, but before he could move his body or cast a spell, Sleygar had appeared from behind him and performed a single slash with his specialized weapon… His specialized weapon was made of Orichalcum and that single attack had contained a lot of power, so even an instantly-cast barrier would likely have been futile, however.

If it wasn’t Vandalieu whose head had been cut off then, the target would have died in an instant.

It was Sleygar’s Artifact and superior Skill that had made that incredible speed possible. He had superhuman physical abilities.

It was unlikely that there were many assassins as skilled as Sleygar, but the number of such assassins would not be zero. So, what needed to be done was…

“First of all, I need to train myself to have physical strength equivalent to Sleygar’s.”

This wasn’t a problem that could be resolved easily, so Vandalieu would simply continue training steadily until he found an effective solution.

『The Level of the Mana Enlargement Skill has increased!』

『You have acquired the Guidance: Dark Path and Dark Path Enticement Skills!』

『The Guidance: Dark Path Skill and Guidance: Demon Path Skill have fused and transformed into the Guidance: Dark Demon Path Skill!』

『The Dark Path Enticement Skill and Demon Path Enticement Skill have fused and transformed into the Dark Demon Path Enticement Skill!』

Name: Vandalieu

Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf)

Age: 9 years old

Title:【Ghoul King】,【Eclipse King】,【Second Coming of the Demon King】,【Guardian of the Cultivation Villages】,【Holy Son of Vida】,【Monstrosity】,【Scaled King】【Tentacle King】【Champion】

Job: Dark King Mage

Level: 0

Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker, Venom Fist User, Insect User, Tree Caster, Demon Guider, Archenemy, Zombie Maker, Golem Creator, Corpse Demon Commander, Demon King User

Attributes:

Vitality: 9291

Mana: 1,516,260,108 (+758,130,054)

Strength: 1557

Agility: 1229

Stamina: 1675

Intelligence: 3100

Passive skills:

Superhuman Strength: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Rapid Regeneration: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)

Dark King Magic: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Status Effect Resistance: Level 10

Magic Resistance: Level 7

Dark Vision

Dark Demon Path Enticement: Level 3 (Fused and transformed from Dark Path Enticement!)

Chant Revocation: Level 6

Guidance: Demon Path: Level 5 (Fused and transformed from Guidance: Dark Path!)

Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthen Subordinates: Level 8

Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Enhanced Agility: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Body Expansion (Tongue): Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthened Attack Power while Unarmed: Large

Enhanced Physical Ability (Hair, Claws, Tongue, Fangs): Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Thread Refining: Level 3

Mana Enlargement: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Active skills:

Bloodwork: Level 4

Transcend Limits: Level 1 (Awakened from Surpass Limits!)

Golem Creation: Level 3

No-Attribute Magic: Level 9

Mana Control: Level 8

Spirit Form: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)

Cooking: Level 5

Alchemy: Level 7

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Multi-Cast: Level 8

Long-distance Control: Level 8

Surgery: Level 7

Parallel Thought Processing: Level 7

Materialization: Level 6

Coordination: Level 7

High-speed Thought Processing: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Commanding: Level 7

Thread-reeling: Level 6

Throwing: Level 6

Scream: Level 4

Dead Spirit Magic: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Artillery Technique: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Shield Technique: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Armor Technique: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Group Binding Technique: Level 2

Surpass Limits: Fragments: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Unique skills:

God Devourer: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Grotesque Mind: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Mental Encroachment: Level 7

Labyrinth Construction: Level 7

Demon King Fusion: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)

Abyss: Level 4

Hostility

Soul Devour: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Demon King fragments:

Blood

Horns

Suckers

Ink Sacs

Carapace

Scent glands

Luminescent organs

Blubber

Jaws

Eyeballs

Proboscis

Fur

Exoskeleton

Jointed legs

Antenna

Curses

Experience gained in previous life not carried over

Cannot learn existing jobs

Unable to gain experience independently

“Hmm, now that I look at it like this, my Attribute Values have increased as well. My Vitality is close to 10,000, and my Agility had gone above 1,000. I have my Skills as well, so as I am now, I might be able to win a fight against an average B-class adventurer in hand-to-hand combat without using magic.”

Of course, in the end, he couldn’t deal with Sleygar’s speed.

Even if he had about two billion Mana, he couldn’t forget that he could still die.

“More importantly, Guidance: Dark Demon Path and Dark Demon Path Enticement… the previous Skill names made it sound like I would guide living people to death, so I’m glad that it changed.”

TLN: The word for “Demon Path” can also mean “netherworld,” so the previous Skill names sounded like he would guide/entice people into the netherworld.

Did this mean that he had more targets that he could guide and entice? Well, he would probably find out soon.

“For now, the task ahead comes first. First, I need to smash the head before Iris is reborn.”

Duke Marme was spending the afternoon in a carefree manner in his office at the occupying army’s headquarters.

Because one of the problems that had been a constant source of trouble for him ever since he took this position in the Sauron region would be solved.

“It was humiliating to lower my head to Marshukzarl, but… it was a small price to pay.”

Duke Marme had lowered his head to Marshukzarl, his cousin who was also his political enemy, asking for the ‘Light-speed Sword’ Rickert and other members of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords to be dispatched.

And they had arrived yesterday. The one Duke Marme had seen and exchanged pleasantries with was Rickert Amid, someone who was an honorary noble with no land but a duke nonetheless, and, more importantly, a relative. But there should have been others with him, keeping themselves hidden.

And in the same day, Rickert had gone in the direction of the former Scylla territory that was now haunted by the resistance, along with the other hidden Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords.

The fort on the boundary of the former Scylla territory… had been attacked and destroyed by a swarm of Undead the previous year, so soldiers were stationed in a hastily-built temporary fort. According to their reports, there had been numerous bright flashes of light, explosions and the thundering noises of trees being destroyed coming from deep within the former Scylla territory, and they had even seen pillars of light descending from the sky on three occasions, signs that familiar spirits had been summoned… The accounts also said that two of those pillars of light had unnaturally disappeared, but that was probably just their imaginations.

“Hmph, I suppose we will need to have a party to celebrate Rickert and his companions’ victory. Let’s entertain the soldiers as well. No, I suppose showing the Princess Knight’s head to the foolish commoners comes first,” Duke Marme murmured to himself.

Having received such reports, he was certain in the victory of Rickert and his companions. He had no doubt that the foolish resistance that had gotten carried away would be exterminated, and that the heads of the little girl who called herself the Princess Knight and the traitor, Baron Ragdew, would be brought in front of him.

He was sitting here in the army’s headquarters just in case, but that was so that he could thank Rickert and his companions for their hard work personally as the top figure of the army, once they returned after finishing their mission. If he did that, Rickert and Marshukzarl’s impressions of him would at least improve a little.

This incident had caused his political influence to decrease, but he should be able to suppress that by appealing to the fact that he was a member of the same family of the emperor and the hero.

If possible, he would have liked to capture the Princess Knight alive and execute her by burning her at the stake in front of the people, but unlike Cuoco, a traitorous nobleman of the Amid Empire, the Princess Knight was apparently a young girl. It would be problematic if he executed her like that and this was used as a persuasion point by other rebellion movements.

And since he was the one who had asked for the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords to be dispatched, he wouldn’t be allowed to do anything that would darken the reputation of the ‘Light-speed Sword.’ He would have to resist his urges and settle for just making a display of the severed heads. As for Baron Ragdew’s family, he would make an exception and spare them… though he would have them enter priesthood, separate them from the rest of the world and then have them die of ‘disease’ later when the opportunity arose.

Drunk on his feelings of joy, Duke Marme gulped down the contents of his glass. “Bring the next bottle of wine. If possible, something better than this one,” he ordered his attendant behind him without turning around.

“Here you are,” said the high-pitched, quiet voice of a child as a cup filled with red wine was offered to him.

“Hmm, a pleasant scent – w-who are you?! A child, no, those eyes are those of a… Dhampir?! Why is there a Dhampir here?!” Duke Marme exclaimed, jumping back in astonishment.

Vandalieu, who had two horns of the Demon King growing from his forehead, looked up at the man in his late middle-age years with an expression of confusion. “Oh, he doesn’t know about me? … Ah, this guy wasn’t told about me, was he?”

“This guy, you say?! You bastard, I am a duke, and there is a limit to how much disrespect I will tolerate! You filthy Dhampir, even if you are a child, I will not forgive you!” Duke Marme turned to face the doorway, red with anger. “What are you doing, soldiers! Execute this insolent child!” he shouted.

He shouted, but nobody came.

“W-why? Why is nobody coming? Where are the soldiers that are supposed to be in front of the room? Where are my knights?!”

“Where are they? I’ve either killed them or captured them alive. Well, I used Deodorization to stop the smell of blood from reaching this room, so I can’t blame you for not noticing, though. Even this antenna wouldn’t be able to detect it, after all,” said Vandalieu.

“Killed–?! Don’t be preposterous! Unlike the soldiers of this area, the capable soldiers that I brought with me –”

The door opened while Duke Marme was mid-sentence, and a black Goblin, a man made entirely of bare flesh and a spearman with patches all over his body that was clearly an Undead at first glance entered the room.

“King, we’ve killed everyone except for the ones you said not to!” said the Black Goblin Braga.

“Working on my own for the first time in so long actually makes me restless,” said Ghost, who had temporarily separated himself from Legion.

“Borkus and the others were complaining that the fort is too small,” said Mikhail.

Each of them had their weapons in one hand and several decapitated heads in the other.

The heads were those of Duke Marme’s knights and officers.

“H-HYIH?! Monsters and Undead?!” Duke Marme turned pale and fell backwards onto his back.

Vandalieu simply stared at him. “The soldiers you employed locally, your servants and the list of people that Cuoco provided have been spared. That might not matter to you at all, though.”

So Vandalieu said, but it seemed that this really didn’t matter to Duke Marme. With the crotch of his extravagant clothes becoming drenched, he tried to crawl away from Vandalieu.

“Y-you bastard, could you be the Dhampir that’s supposed to be on the other side of the Boundary Mountain Range?! Th-that’s… how did you get past the headquarters’ defenses?! And how did nobody in my army notice you leading an army across the Boundary Mountain Range in the first place?!” he shouted.

Duke Marme finally realized that the Dhampir before his eyes was the same one that he had tried to hire the S-class adventurer Schneider to exterminate after the Mirg shield-nation’s expedition army returned as Undead.

“We secretly crossed the mountain range, snuck into the inside of the fort and then dealt with everyone by persuading them or through force,” Vandalieu explained.

Legion’s Teleportation had been used to cross the Boundary Mountain Range, and the Dark King Magic spell Blind Spot, Ghost’s power and the ninja techniques of Braga and the other Black Goblin Ninjas had been used to infiltrate the fort. After that, Vandalieu had released insects as well as Mikhail and the rest of the Undead.

Using force to kill and capture targets. The ‘capable soldiers’ mentioned by Duke Marme had been no match for Mikhail and the others. The more fortunate targets were the ones whose severed heads were being held.

The locally-hired soldiers and non-combatant servants had been brainwashed by the Mental Encroachment Skill and made to go outside.

“Ervine… or maybe it was Rickert? You probably let down your guard because you firmly believed that they would win, but that made things easy for me. If your defenses had been tight as usual, I might have needed to use rougher methods,” Vandalieu said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Even though this was the army’s headquarters, it wasn’t as if every soldier was stationed in a single building. Vandalieu’s forces had infiltrated and eliminated enemies swiftly and quietly, so the soldiers on the same premises but in separate buildings still weren’t aware of the situation.

If those soldiers in the other buildings had maintained a system so that they would immediately notice anything unusual, things would have been a little different.

Duke Marme was speechless for a moment, but then quickly returned to his senses. “W-wait! I surrender, I surrender! What are you after?! Is it fame in the Orbaume Kingdom?! Whatever it might be, I should be able to help you with