Gufadgarn remembered the very moment he came into existence.

He was born as a result of the instinctual behaviors of the beings that were equivalent to ‘parents,’ and as he continued living on while following the same instincts, coincidence after coincidence brought him to the status of a god. That made up half of Gufadgarn’s life.

Gufadgarn was born as a race that could be compared to Earth’s spiders or perhaps its antlions. The difference between his race and these Earth species was that his race could instinctively manipulate space-attribute magic, distorting space to create traps for members of other species that they would then feed upon.

They were a primitive race that possessed almost no ability to think, simply obeying their instincts. Gufadgarn was the first of his race to become a god. But the moment he became a god, he lost his instincts.

Because his was a race that simply set traps and waited for their prey, he had weak instincts for battle or hunting, and as they reproduced by binary fission, he had no sexual desires. And by becoming a god, he even lost his need to eat and sleep.

What he gained in return was abilities that his original species did not possess – the ability to think and remember, and the power of a god.

But Gufadgarn could not make use of these. His servants, those of the species that he had once belonged to, were unable to understand his desires. He found no meaning in bringing them prosperity or even in toying with them.

Despite having become a god, he could not think of anything else to do with them, and so he simply spent his days doing the same things that he had done before becoming a god. The only difference was that his traps became larger and more complex.

Before long, Guduranis became the new Demon King, took control over the world and began the invasion into other worlds. Not even understanding the concept of disobeying, Gufadgarn naturally obeyed the Demon King and joined the invasion of Lambda.

In Lambda, with the circle of reincarnation system created by the Demon King and the monster generation that utilized that system, the traps created by Gufadgarn functioned effectively as Dungeons.

But there were already others who possessed such power, far more powerful than Gufadgarn, such as the evil god of demon castles. In addition to that, many evil gods gained the ability to create Dungeons due to the Demon King’s influence.

Thus, Gufadgarn simply remained forgotten among the other gods.

That was when the champion Zakkart called out to Gufadgarn. Zakkart accepted Gufadgarn, acknowledging him as a desirable and necessary ally.

Gufadgarn remembered that moment as the moment that he had truly been born.

Now, he was looking directly at Vandalieu. He realized that Vandalieu was the soul created by combining the soul fragments of Zakkart and the other creation-oriented champions.

“This is the place that is the equivalent of this Dungeon’s treasure chamber; it is Zakkart’s workshop, brought here in the exact same state that it was left in,” he said, remaining calm on the surface as he guided his new master and his companions.

But his master’s party stopped in front of the treasure chamber.

“Why are there countless Ghosts gathered around this place, letting out groans of anguish?” asked Vandalieu.

Indeed, the reason they had stopped was because for some reason, there were over a thousand Ghosts, groaning in anguish as they drifted about the treasure chamber that Gufadgarn had led them to.

It was an orchestra of anguish performed by over a thousand human souls that only vaguely resembled human faces, having lost their original appearances. Ghosts were merely Rank 2 monsters, but their presence was dreadful.

“These are what remains of those that believed in the gods of Alda’s faction and perished in the trial,” said Gufadgarn.

This was an even more dreadful truth to Alda and his believers.

“In order to prevent them from delivering information regarding the Trial of Zakkart to the gods of Alda’s faction, and in order to prevent them from becoming a part of the enemy’s forces as familiar spirits and heroic spirits, I am imprisoning them here and using them as a source of power,” Gufadgarn explained.

The power of gods came from religious belief, but fear and awe counted as religious belief as well. Gods would gain less power from this than prayers, but every little bit counted.

This swarm of Ghosts was one of the things that allowed Gufadgarn to maintain the Trial of Zakkart, a unique Dungeon whose difficulty was matched by no other.

But now, they had already served their purpose.

“My apologies. I will banish them into some empty space and dispose of them right away,” said Gufadgarn, with the air of someone telling their guests that they would quickly clean their dirty room as he began his task of exterminating the Ghosts.

The Ghosts trembled with dread and despair.

“Wait a moment, I might be able to use those Ghosts. Please leave them as they are,” said Vandalieu.

“Very well,” said Gufadgarn, canceling his space-distorting spell.

The Ghosts let out sighs of relief and, under the influence of the Dark Demon Creation Path Skill, gathered around Vandalieu.

They had no hair, but it was just barely possible to tell that they were human souls by the black holes where their eyes and mouth were supposed to be. Eleanora and Iris, who had regrouped with Vandalieu, grimaced as they watched them surround Vandalieu.

“What an amazing scene… Do you think you can tell them apart?” asked Eleanora.

Eleanora and Iris were accustomed to the presence of Undead, but the Ghosts Tamed by Vandalieu appeared the same as they had while they were alive apart from the fact that their bodies weren’t physical. They had never seen Ghosts whose forms had weakened to this extent.

“Hmm… It’s almost impossible,” said Vandalieu as he stroked the neck of one of the Ghosts, causing it to let out a moan of pleasure.

He wasn’t sure that he could even make out what their race, age or gender was, let alone their individual features.

The Ghost of Martina, the female Elf spiritual mage who had once been Heinz’s companion, should have been among them, however.

“Is an Elf by the name of Martina present?” Vandalieu tried asking them just in case.

But the Ghosts simply groaned, unable to answer with words that could be understood.

No, there was one Ghost who had died relatively recently who answered.

“I don’t knoooow…” it said.

“… Thank you,” said Vandalieu.

It looked hopeless.

“Is there a Ghost that you are searching for? I apologize for this,” said Gufadgarn.

He had noticed what Vandalieu and his companions were doing, but he still didn’t seem to know the details. He had been sure that they had been looking at the stone statues and ice statues earlier in the Dungeon because Vandalieu wanted to choose corpses to use as materials for Undead.

Of course, he knew that Ghosts such as Princess Levia were among Vandalieu’s companions, but they were high-Rank Ghosts the likes of which Gufadgarn had never seen before. He had never thought that Vandalieu would need

these

Ghosts. Some of them had been A-class adventurers when they were alive, but they were nothing more than Rank 2 Ghosts now.

“Could it be that even Gufadgarn cannot tell them apart?” muttered Gizania, a citizen of the region within the Boundary Mountain Range.

Gufadgarn heard her and his shoulders trembled. “I am terribly, terribly sorry,” he said, lowering his head to Gizania to beg for her forgiveness. “They blinded themselves to their own shortsightedness and their hatred grew. Being in contact with my Mana, they became Ghosts. I wanted to ensure that they do not do anything unnecessary… that they did not try to destroy the relics or give advice to the other challengers. Thus, I induced them to quickly lose their personalities and memories,” he explained. “I do remember hearing the name ‘Martina,’ but I am no longer able to tell which of these is her. This is all because I lacked the ability to manage them properly. Gizania-dono, please punish me as you see fit.”

“P-punish?! Th-that’s unthinkable; please raise your head! Even now, all races within the Boundary Mountain Range, including those of Zanalpadna, are receiving your blessings! It is I who should apologize for making such a thoughtless remark!” Gizania said in shock, shaking her head so violently that it looked like her head would be torn off.

But Gufadgarn remained as motionless as a rock, still bowing. “I am grateful for your words, but the things that I accomplished in the past are unrelated.”

“Why?! You have performed many great deeds over the course of history!” Gizania exclaimed.

Gizania was not the only one; the Empusa Myuze and Iris, who had become the adopted daughter of the King Godwin by becoming a Majin, joined in to try and stop Gufadgarn’s gesture.

“That is right!” said Myuze. “You are the one who created the Dungeons around the Kijin nation, the Drakonid nation and the Majin nation to preemptively suppress the contaminated Mana, containing it in a state that can be managed! And you created ‘Vida’s Resting Grounds!’”

“Father has told me that Zantark is our father, that Xerxes is our uncle and you, Gufadgarn, are our master! Please raise your head!” Iris insisted.

Their flustered behavior made it clear just how much respect and emotion the people living within the Boundary Mountain Range felt towards Gufadgarn.

But it seemed that Gufadgarn himself did not intend to take that into consideration. “No, before I am a god, I am Vandalieu’s servant. You are my senpais. Is it so strange for me, the newcomer, to bow to you? Everyone, please think of me as a newcomer servant or attendant.” He raised his face for a moment, saw Eleanora and Legion in addition to the other three who had been protesting, and quickly looked down again.

“Wait a moment! Are you talking about us as well?!” Eleanora exclaimed.

“No, that does not bode well at all…” Zadiris murmured.

The rest of the party had been watching nervously, but their faces stiffened now as they realized that Gufadgarn was talking about them as well.

“Of course, Eleanora-sama, Zadiris-sama,” said Gufdagarn.

“Why are you adding -sama to our names?!” Eleanora demanded.

“It is only natural for Vandalieu’s servant to show respect for those who will become his future wives.”

Though Vandalieu’s companions were disturbed by this, Gufadgarn truly considered them to be higher in the hierarchy than himself. The only ones who weren’t were the Ghosts of the previous challengers.

He was a newcomer who had only been accepted as Vandalieu’s subordinate a few minutes ago, while the others had been serving him since before they faced the trial of Zakkart. It didn’t need to be said which of them had more seniority.

The matter of being a god or a mortal was meaningless… though everyone but Gufadgarn might have disagreed.

“E-even if I am a Vampire who once belonged to a faction who worshipped an evil god, a close aide of the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia who betrayed you?!” said Bellmond.

“Of course, Bellmond-sama,” Gufadgarn replied.

This applied to not only those of Vida’s races, but the mysterious Legion, the humans as well as Bellmond and Eleanora, who had once been Vampires belonging to a faction worshipping an evil god.

Vandalieu had acknowledged them as allies and had them at his side, after all.

In Gufadgarn’s eyes, the only being in this world with any value was Zakkart, and right now, that was Vandalieu. With that being the case, his way of thinking, his basis of good and evil, his philosophies and his preferences needed to match Vandalieu’s.

“Ah, I think almost all of the women here are going to marry the kid. Are you really going to add -sama to all of their names?” said Borkus.

“Is that so? Gizania-sama, Myuze-sama, Iris-sama, please forgive my insolence,” said Gufadgarn.

“I would prefer if you did not say unnecessary things, Borkus-dono!” said Gizania.

It was a chaotic situation; the men of Legion were troubled by this development as well.

“… What do we do if he calls us with -sama, Shade?”

“… I get the feeling that he’s trying to get rid of all of his obstacles. Am I just imagining it?”

“I’ve been thinking recently, isn’t it easier for us to just go with the flow?”

Meanwhile, Darcia was appealing to Gufadgarn. “Gufadgarn-san, I am different,” she told him. “I am his mother.”

“Yes, I am aware of that,” Gufadgarn said.

Vandalieu remained silent, at a loss for what to do.

I thought that he might have conflicts with Eleanora and Bellmond, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this. What should I do?

To think that Gufadgarn would be even more humble than Fidirg, the dragon god of five sins… Vandalieu would have never imagined a god that was this unwilling to be intimate.

“Umm, I would like you to be more frank. Stop using -sama; please use -san, -kun or no honorific at all. Also, don’t kneel,” Vandalieu said finally, knowing that he couldn’t just stand there and say nothing.

He intended to repeat this request until Gufadgarn accepted it.

But Gufadgarn accepted it immediately.

“Very well. I shall do that from now on,” he said, standing up. “Now then, what shall we do with these Ghosts? They have already served the purpose that I intended for them, so I will leave the decision in your hands.”

His stance towards the Ghosts seemed to have softened as well. As the Ghosts had been charmed by Vandalieu, Gufadgarn acknowledged them not as enemies to be made use of, but as junior servants of the same master.

“… For now, let’s take them with us. They don’t need to be fed since they’re Ghosts, and I don’t mind taking them with us even if we don’t know which one of them is Martina,” said Vandalieu. “But you can identify her corpse, right?”

“Yes,” said Gufadgarn. “I may not remember the insignificant ones that died immediately after entering the Dungeon, but I have not forgotten those who progressed a certain amount. The one that you are searching for was a part of the party of Alda’s believers that made it the furthest into the Dungeon, so I remember her clearly.”

“Then there are no problems,” said Vandalieu.

An Undead made from Martina’s corpse would be sufficient for tormenting Heinz and his companions. They wouldn’t be able to tell whether the spirit inside the Undead was really Martina or not, anyway.

And since she had already become a Ghost, she could Possess the corpse, but it wouldn’t be possible for her to become a Zombie.

Vandalieu decided that he would pick a suitable spirit and have it pretend to be Martina.

“Now then, I shall guide you to Zakkart’s workshop,” said Gufadgarn.

Vandalieu