The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time Chapter 267: The evil god Zerzoregin reveals himself

Chapter 267: The evil G.o.d Zerzoregin reveals himself

There was an uproar in the Divine Realm of the G.o.ds of Alda’s forces.

“There they are!” a G.o.d shouted.

“After them! Don’t let them descend to the world’s surface!” shouted another.

Forzajibal, the Evil G.o.d of Pillaging, and Zerzoregin, the Evil G.o.d of Cannibalism, were supposed to have been sealed away by Borgadon, the G.o.d of Mountains. But in truth, Zerzoregin had devoured and absorbed both of the other two G.o.ds, and only pretended to be sealed away.

The G.o.ds of Alda’s forces had just learned of these facts.

While astonished, they had moved quickly to capture the spies lurking among them.

The spies were the familiar spirits of Borgadon, the G.o.d of Mountains. Or rather, the familiar spirits of Zerzoregin that had disguised themselves as such. His familiar spirits did not have the ability to freely change their appearance or absorb other familiar spirits like Mimic Humans, but they were excellent spies.

After all, they had fooled the eyes of the G.o.ds for over a hundred thousand years. Some of them had even met with the other earth-attribute G.o.ds and directly exchanged words with them on numerous occasions, but the fact that they were actually servants of an evil G.o.d had never been discovered.

With vexed expressions, the heroic spirits who served the G.o.ds of Alda’s forces stared at the familiar spirits of Zerzoregin that they had captured.

“Is this all of them?”

“It is all of the familiar spirits that are within our reach, at the very least. However, it seems that the ones left were all familiar spirits made of Mana that are not self-aware.”

“Which means that he foresaw that his secret would be discovered, and withdrew them in advance… Even if these were impaled by the Stakes of Law, the G.o.d himself would not be affected. What a cunning enemy.”

Considering the number of familiar spirits that the G.o.ds had managed to capture, one might think that they had been quite successful, but all they had done was equivalent to picking up and gathering a bundle of lizards’ tails that their real prey had left behind.

“How did n.o.body realize what they truly were for over a hundred thousand years – a long time even for G.o.ds?! Even if the enemy used the Mana and divinity taken from Borgadon when he was absorbed, isn’t it strange that n.o.body noticed?!”

The G.o.ds of lambda were far from omniscient, omnipotent beings. However, there was no mistake that they were beings that transcended humans.

Given that, should they not have been able to notice Zerzoregin’s existence earlier?

“If his existence had been known earlier, Fitun-dono, the G.o.d of Thunderclouds, wouldn’t have abandoned hope…!” said a heroic spirit who served a G.o.d of the wind attribute, lamenting this twist of fate.

Fitun had left the true battle and strayed from his path as a G.o.d; if he had noticed Zerzoregin’s existence, he would have gladly stepped into battle against this evil G.o.d, and perhaps he would have found satisfaction in that. Perhaps he would not have met a fate so unbefitting of a G.o.d.

But another heroic spirit, one who held a spear, shook his head. “There is no use in saying such things. It is true that the G.o.ds should have been able to notice any wicked schemes. But none of Zerzoregin’s familiar spirits, including the ones who escaped, had any wicked schemes in their heads.”

“What are you saying?! Are you saying that the evil G.o.ds are not evil?!”

“No. I am simply saying that for the past hundred thousand years, the familiar spirits we captured and the familiar spirits that escaped did nothing other than what ordinary familiar spirits should do. Thus, the G.o.ds never saw them as suspicious.”

“W-what? That isn’t…”

The wind-attribute heroic spirit thought back and realized that he had never noticed any suspicious words or actions from the familiar spirits of Zerzoregin. In fact, they had appeared to carry out their duties as familiar spirits with incredible diligence.

There hadn’t been a single incident where they carried out particular investigations in an unnatural way, concealed information they had learned, or caused chaos by pa.s.sing on false information to the familiar spirits of other G.o.ds.

They had been respectful towards other G.o.ds, carried out the work necessary to maintain the world’s existence in place of their supposed master Borgadon who had been believed to be in a slumber, and reported all information regarding Vandalieu.

“You’re right… There wasn’t a single strange thing about them,” the wind-attribute heroic spirit admitted.

“They have been acting strange for the past few days, but I’m sure that’s because Zerzoregin informed them that he would be making his move,” said the heroic spirit with the spear.

“If that’s the case, what were these guys trying to do?” wondered a heroic spirit carrying an axe on his back, putting a hand on his chin.

“Keeping an eye on the actions of the G.o.ds who serve Alda, the G.o.d of Law and Fate, I a.s.sume,” said another familiar spirit. “They were making sure that Zerzoregin wasn’t under suspicion, and checking for any weaknesses that could be exploited… Other familiar spirits also report what information they have to their masters, so this wasn’t considered suspicious, either.”

“Is that all? If they wanted, they could have created a large-scale disaster. Not a single one of us were aware of their true ident.i.ties, after all,” the heroic spirit with the axe said.

“Indeed, Zerzoregin was cautious to the point of cowardice, which is very unusual for one of the evil G.o.ds that were under the command of the Demon King Guduranis, even if you take into account the things that he had his Mimic Human servants do,” said the heroic spirit with the spear. “But that cowardly caution is the reason why none of us noticed his existence, is it not?”

The other heroic spirits nodded in agreement. If not for this recent series of events… If Zerzoregin had not gone after Vandalieu’s ‘Demon King’ Skill, the G.o.ds would have remained unaware of Zerzoregin’s existence. And perhaps in several hundred or several thousand years’ time, he may have created the previously-mentioned ‘large-scale disaster.’

“Considering that, it seems that we are in Vandalieu’s debt. I have mixed feelings about being saved by the Demon King who destroyed many heroic spirits, including Luke and Joshua.”

“Hmph. We call him ‘Demon King’ but he is still a mortal. Even if he was reincarnated here from another world, he is not an invader. If terrible things were to happen to this world, he himself would be in trouble. That’s all it is. There is no need to feel grat.i.tude for him.”

“But what are we going to do now? Are we to simply stay here and watch? The situation would become out of control if Zerzoregin were to emerge victorious and absorb Vandalieu.”

“The situation would also become out of control with the opposite outcome. If Vandalieu devours Zerzoregin, his power will only continue to increase.”

As this exchange took place among the heroic spirits, the heroic spirit with the spear let out a sigh. “You say ‘stay here and watch,’ but I believe you meant to say that we have no choice but to stay here and watch. Even if we wanted to descend upon the world’s surface, the potential heroes who have received our G.o.ds’ divine protections have all left the capital of Alcrem; not a single one is left. Not even in the area around the ‘Sacred Wastelands.’”

The G.o.ds were not done nurturing their potential heroes, so they had sent them away from Alcrem, away from Vandalieu, in order to prevent them from being harmed.

There were some who hadn’t interpreted the G.o.ds’ instructions correctly and were only three days away from Alcrem in the city of Morksi, but even if they headed to Alcrem right now, it would likely be too late.

“That is true, but… if the alternative is to entrust the matter to the Demon King, then we should just…!” one of the heroic spirits muttered.

“Descending on your own would be futile, so don’t do that. Even if you did, it’s possible that the Demon King himself would simply strike you down before you even finished your descent,” said the heroic spirit with the spear.

But it wasn’t that he felt nothing towards the current situation.

“More importantly, we need to first return to the G.o.ds in order to have them seal away these spies that we have captured,” he continued. “After that, our next task will likely be checking whether the seals on the other evil G.o.ds are working as they should be. If there is a second or third Zerzoregin out there, this world will be in peril.”

In the end, the reality was that the heroic spirits were entrusting the matter to Vandalieu, the one whom they called ‘Demon King,’ the one who had devoured the souls of heroic spirits and G.o.ds.

They could only hope that Vandalieu and Zerzoregin would destroy each other, but they knew that such an outcome was impossible.

The ambition of Zerzoregin, the self-proclaimed third Demon King, was to replace the Demon King Guduranis. But in truth, even that was just the first step in a series of goals.

He wished to become the Demon King, then use his power to devour and a.s.similate Alda, the G.o.d of Law and Fate who called himself the greatest of the G.o.ds.

If he accomplished this, Zerzoregin would be the Demon King and the G.o.d of Law and Fate at the same time; he would become an unparalleled being who controlled both this world’s light and darkness, and rule over humanity.

He would then manage the world and its people. He would not destroy them meaninglessly; Zerzoregin would be troubled if the world were to be destroyed. He intended to continue maintaining this world just as it had been maintained thus far, and he intended to protect humanity so that they would not fall to ruin.

As the Demon King, Zerzoregin would create monsters, cause disasters, spread disease, and make fools fight wars against each other. He would cause calamities to mortals out, curbing their population and strength.

And as the G.o.d of Law and Fate, Zerzoregin would answer the people’s prayers, grant divine protections to great individuals among his wors.h.i.+ppers to have them defeat monsters, grant the people the strength to rise up and recover from disasters and disease, and heal those who were injured in war.

Humanity would fear the Demon King Zerzoregin, and pray to the G.o.d of Law and Fate Zerzoregin to be saved.

Once Zerzoregin became the object of both humanity’s wors.h.i.+p and fear, this world would become a farm of humans that provided him with sustenance.

This was the plan for which he had spent over a hundred thousand years waiting, staying quiet in a way that no evil G.o.d normally would. This world would become his farm one day, and this was an experiment… a rehearsal for that. For this purpose, he did not mind thinking about how to make his mortal livestock prosper or using his Mimic Human servants.

In truth, the people had feared the Evil G.o.d of Pillaging Forzajibal and prayed to the G.o.d of Mountains Borgadon, unaware that both were actually Zerzoregin.

Having realized how well this system worked, Zerzoregin had formed a definitive plan to rule over both this world’s light and darkness.

During the time he had spent concealed, he had made the people believe that the ‘Sacred Wastelands,’ his main base, was a holy place. He had attempted to have them place sealed fragments of the Demon King and seals of evil G.o.ds there, and he had succeeded to some extent.

After that, all that had been left to do was mend his wounds and gather his strength. In several hundred years’ time, once a conflict broke out between Alda and Vida once more, he would inhabit a vessel, travel to every region to steal the sealed Demon King fragments, and use their power to defeat the G.o.ds of Alda’s forces and a.s.similate them to increase his power even further.

If a large conflict between the G.o.ds of Vida and Alda’s forces had begun, Zerzoregin would likely have begun making his move to realize his ambitions.

But Vandalieu’s reincarnation had made all of his plans go awry. He was a reincarnated individual from another world who had gained power at an astounding rate, with the ability to break souls and even destroy G.o.ds, just like Guduranis.

It was convenient that he had defeated G.o.ds that served Alda and weakened his forces, but the fact that he was gathering and absorbing Demon King fragments one after another was inconvenient.

There was no question he would one day come here, to the ‘Sacred Wastelands.’ The fact that Zerzoregin was in fact not sealed away and the existence of the Mimic Humans would be revealed, and the efforts Zerzoregin had made over the past hundred thousand years would be all for nothing.

First, he needed to escape so that Vandalieu wouldn’t devour him, but even if he were to escape and survive, he would lose his Mimic Human servants and the wors.h.i.+p of the people.

On top of that, he would need to continue running to avoid being impaled by Alda’s Stakes of Law.

If that was the case, Zerzoregin had decided that it would be better to defeat Vandalieu, devour him, obtain the Demon King fragments and Vandalieu’s power, then go on to devour Alda, the G.o.d of Law and Fate. Thus, he had embarked on what seemed like a reckless plan.

In order to improve his chance of victory, Zerzoregin had decided to execute his plan on the day when Vandalieu would meet Duke Alcrem for discussions.

The G.o.ds of Alda’s forces had instructed their potential heroes to leave Alcrem, and with the Mimic Humans committing crimes imitating the Face-tearing Demon, the people’s faith in Alda’s laws had dwindled. And whether the people praised the Face-tearing Demon as a just killer or feared him as a criminal who caused unrest in society, both would provide strength to Zerzoregin.

And finally, he had acquired the ‘Demon King’ Skill, the Skill that made Vandalieu the Demon King.

“Tremble before the power of the new Demon King!”

Zerzoregin’s laughter echoed from his vessel, and at the same time, the body of his vessel began swelling. Its spindly limbs and thin torso and neck became thick and st.u.r.dy.

Seeing this, Vandalieu realized what Zerzoregin had done. “Fragments of the Demon King?”

“Correct,” Zerzoregin replied. “I have absorbed and a.s.similated the fragments that humans have brought to me over the past hundred thousand years!”

At first, Zerzoregin’s plan had been to absorb and a.s.similate fragments of the Demon King.

Unlike other users of the fragments, Zerzoregin made them a part of himself by a.s.similating them, and thus the fragments would never rampage out of control… although the flaw with this had been that it took over a thousand years to a.s.similate a single fragment.

“However, thanks to your ‘Demon King’ Skill, I can use the fragments that I was not able to a.s.similate in time!” Zerzoregin said with a triumphant laugh. “With these, and the Skills that my servants have acc.u.mulated over a hundred thousand years, defeating you is not impossible!”

Zerzoregin had absorbed the remaining Mimic Humans in the ‘Sacred Wastelands’ into his Vessel, and all of their Skills now resided in him.

He had given exceptional Skills to Goldie and the partner that was a.s.sisting him, so most of these Skills were Level 5. But stacking multiple instances of the same Skills forcibly increased their Levels.

“Come, former Demon King! Surrender your throne to me!” said Zerzoregin, the power of his presence far exceeding the appearance of his physical body.

With deft movements that left no openings to take advantage of, he began closing the gap between himself and Vandalieu, and raised a fist to strike.

But before he could –

“‘Death Cannon,’” said Vandalieu, forcefully casting the spell with the sheer volume of Mana he was putting into it.

However, perhaps because the Level of his Skill wasn’t high enough, the black beam of light failed to condense and turned into a countless number of ‘Death Bullets’ that scattered in all directions.

Zerzoregin let out a surprised shout, stopping his advance and focusing on dodging the scattered projectiles, but several of them struck his body – and Gufadgarn began a follow-up attack.

“You think that someone of your mediocre stature can take the throne of supremacy? Your arrogance is limitless. Learn your place,” she said, materializing her vessel that had the appearance of a beautiful Elf girl.

Her body split open along a vertical line in the middle, and spider-like arthropod legs emerged from the sub-dimension within.

The legs were so long and thick that it was impossible to believe they were coming out of the body of a small girl, and each of them had a sharp claw at the tip. They swung left and right, swiping at Zerzoregin.

“Throne of supremacy?! You wors.h.i.+pped Zakkart, not the Demon King!” Zerzoregin shouted.

He used the ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ martial skill, ‘Flowing Willow,’ to parry Gufadgarn’s arthropod legs, then grasped them and crushed them in his hands. The exoskeleton crumbled, sending a blue liquid spraying into the air.

Perhaps Gufadgarn didn’t feel pain, or perhaps her arthropod legs being broken was not a significant amount of damage to her; she remained calm as ever.

“I still do. The throne of the great Vandalieu Zakkart is the throne of supremacy,” she said, no signs of discomposure in her voice.

“… I don’t really mind handing over the throne of the Demon King though, personally,” said Vandalieu. “By the way, will your Skills not be stolen if your legs are eaten?”

“I considered that risk,” Gufadgarn said. “I am the vessel of Gufadgarn; even if my Skills are stolen, I can re-inhabit my vessel later and I will return to my usual state.”

To Gufadgarn’s vessels, a few of her arthropod legs were equivalent to a single pinky finger for a human. Even if a Mimic Human were to consume them, it was unlikely that Gufadgarn’s Skills would be stolen.

But the enemy was not a Mimic Human; it was the vessel of Zerzoregin, the creator of Mimic Humans. It wouldn’t be strange to think that he could possess a Skill-stealing ability that was more powerful than that of his creations.

Wanting to check whether this was the case, Gufadgarn had engaged in close-quarters combat rather than the s.p.a.ce-attribute magic that she was so proficient with.

“However, it does not seem that there is a danger of that happening. Even if our enemy is the vessel of an evil G.o.d, I believe we can a.s.sume that its Skill-stealing ability is the same as that of Mimic Humans,” Gufadgarn said, basing this conclusion on the fact that her broken legs had not been consumed.

“What nonsense. I am simply uninterested in your Skills!” said Zerzoregin, continuing to break more of Gufadgarn’s legs as she produced them.

However, these words were nothing more than a bluff; Gufadgarn’s conclusion was correct.

The ability to steal Skills was something that had been created by coincidence when Zerzoregin absorbed Forzajibal, and his ‘Cannibalism’ was combined with Forzajibal’s ‘Pillaging.’

The Status System had been created by Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic, the Demon King Guduranis had interfered with it, and it was currently being managed by the G.o.ds of Statuses. The Skill-stealing ability of Zerzoregin and his Mimic Humans was an invalid application of Skills within that system.

Thus, Zerzoregin himself possessed no greater ability to steal Skills than the Mimic Humans he had created. It was possible that this would change if he were to devour the G.o.ds of Statuses, but… currently, his current ability was the limit.

“There is no chance that you would have no interest in my s.p.a.ce-attribute magic,” said Gufadgarn, proudly calling Zerzoregin’s feeble bluff.

“In that case, there’s no need for us to continue watching cautiously!” shouted a woman, leaping forward. “For your sin of uttering the blasphemy of replacing Vandalieu-sama, atone by filling Vandalieu-sama’s stomach!”

It was the Vampire Zombie Isla, the ‘Eclipse Emperor’s Hound.’ She was wearing a choker around her neck and armor that resembled a prisoner’s restraints and chains. The criminal organization in Morksi was almost entirely under her control, so she had taken a day off and spent it hiding in Vandalieu’s shadow.

She was joined by Rapiéçage, who had been made by combining the corpses of multiple humans and monsters, and Yamata, the Hydra whose heads had been replaced by the upper bodies of beautiful women of different races. Realizing that their appearance would be too shocking for Duke Alcrem and the others, they had not emerged from Vandalieu’s shadow at the villa with Pauvina, but they were here now.

“I’ll do enough killing for Pauvina, too!” Rapiéçage growled.

“You have brought Undead with you…!” Zerzoregin shouted, the revulsion audible in his voice.

Vandalieu and his companions were not aware of this, but Zerzoregin was unable to steal Skills from Undead. Undead were not alive to begin with; some of them had once been human, but they were not human anymore.

That was why Zerzoregin had made Goldie steal Vandalieu’s Skills in the capital, where he expected Vandalieu to not bring his Undead, but…

“It’s fine as long as n.o.body finds out,” said Vandalieu.

His att.i.tude towards laws was that he wouldn’t break them for no reason, but if there was a good reason to, then it was inevitable that he would. Thus, Zerzoregin was now in the predicament of having to fight against powerful Undead.

However, Zerzoregin was an evil G.o.d who had absorbed two other G.o.ds. He moved to deal with them, avoiding taking heavy damage from the transformed Isla’s ‘Corpse Ma.s.sacre Swordsmans.h.i.+p,’ Rapiéçage’s superhuman strength, and Yamata’s multiple sound cannons.

But even then, he was too late.

“No signs of life inside the temple. There is no risk of collateral damage, so… ‘Great Corpse Flame Prison Destruction Barrage.’ You three, I’ll put you away again,” said Vandalieu.

A number of enormous skulls made of black flames appeared around Vandalieu. In the next instant, they changed shape, defying the laws of physics of light, extending and enveloping Isla, Rapiéçage, and Yamata in their shadows.

“How in the world are you able to use such a powerful spell with a Skill you only just regained – ?!” Zerzoregin uttered in shock.

“This is ‘G.o.d Spirit Magic,’” said Vandalieu. “Well then, I’m counting on you,” he said to Princess Levia.

“Yes! Here we go, everyone!” said Princess Levia.

She and the other Ghosts, who had transformed into black skulls, charged at Zerzoregin. This spell had once destroyed a slave mine in the Hartner Duchy; now, it engulfed Zerzoregin and the temple behind him, and a thundering noise echoed across the wastelands.

For a moment, it looked like the fight was over, but… black blades cut through the dust cloud, flying towards Vandalieu.

The battle left behind by Vandalieu at the villa was quickly reaching its conclusion.

“I’ll be d.a.m.ned if I let everyone else have the glory! I shall turn you to ashes with my ‘Roaring Flame Swordsmans.h.i.+p!’” declared the ‘Knight of Roaring Flames’ Bravatiyu, swinging his weapon at a Mimic Human with the appearance of a previous ‘Knight of the Collapsed Mountains,’ from a generation even further back than Goldie’s grandfather.

“You’re right! At this rate, there won’t be any good parts left for us!” agreed the ‘Knight of Distant Thunder’ Serjio as he crossed swords with the Mimic Human who had the appearance of his great aunt.

As the duke was being protected inside Sam’s carriage, Bravatiyu and Serjio had left Ralmeya to protect the duke and stepped onto the frontline.

“It seems that we have been underestimated. Your current strength is no more than the average standard of the Five Knights of Alcrem,” said the Mimic Human engaged with Bravatiyu.

“Though the difference is slight, our ability is superior to yours. Do you understand what this means?” said the Mimic Human fighting Serjio.

The Mimic Humans unleashed their own attacks on Bravatiyu and Serjio. Indeed, their movements were refined and efficient; even though they were the enemy, Bravatiyu and Serjio had to admire their technique.

However, Bravatiyu defended himself against the slas.h.i.+ng strike from Goldie’s predecessor, grunting as he stopped the blow with his sword, and Serjio avoided Jistina’s skilled spear attacks with his s.h.i.+eld.

“Your technique is indeed impressive, and you possess strength. But as you were one of the Five Knights of Alcrem, you are not much different from us!” said Bravatiyu.

Indeed, the Mimic Humans who had served as ‘Knight of the Collapsed Mountains’ over the generations had made sure not to become overly powerful. If their achievements were too great, they would have attracted attention from the G.o.ds, increasing the risk that their ident.i.ty as Mimic Humans would be discovered.

“You probably have the same Skills and Attribute Values that my real great aunt did, but… what you’re using is the spear technique that has been pa.s.sed down in my family! It’s easier for me to predict than other fighting styles!” said Serjio.

Mimic Humans were able to steal the Skills of others, but this also made them unskilled at creating their own fighting techniques and spells. Thus, after stealing Skills, they simply kept using them exactly as they were without adding anything new of their own.

“I suppose this is all of the fakes of everyone,” said Gizania, exhaling as she stepped over a pile of Mimic Human corpses.

“Most of them were all show,” said Myuze. “Simon-dono and Natania-dono were able to defeat their own fakes with ease by transforming, too.”

The Mimic Humans had been aware of the transformation equipment that Darcia and the others had shown off in the city of Morksi. But naturally, being aware of the equipment didn’t mean they were able to reproduce their functions… though they had reproduced their appearances, at least, so some of them had been able to ‘transform’ in appearance.

“Zadiris… I’m sorry your transformed appearance was revealed when you’re not even here, because I was too slow to defeat your fake copy,” Privel said in apology to the real Zadiris.

The fake Zadiris had been frozen solid by Privel’s spells and Breath attacks, and one final strike caused her to crumble to pieces.

Everyone’s work had paid off; the only ones left were the handful of Mimic Humans with the appearances of people from the past, including the ones fighting Bravatiyu and Serjio. Goldie’s partner had already been defeated as well.

“We have already accomplished our goal! Us Mimic Humans are nothing more than p.a.w.ns of our creator, Zerzoregin-sama. We shall give our lives to slow you fools down!” declared Goldie, who was locked in combat with Darcia, not creating any more new Mimic Humans.

There was no fear of death in his eyes.

“I admire your resolve,” said Darcia. “I don’t think there is any point in slowing us down, though?”

“There is certainly a point in keeping fighters as powerful as you occupied here,” Goldie retorted.

“Well, that might normally be the case. But my son has a lot of allies!”

With a grinding noise, Darcia’s kitchen knife that she used in combat dug into Goldie’s sword. The sword was the treasured sword that he had recovered from his defeated partner, but…

At this rate, Goldie’s treasured sword would break. Realizing this, he activated the ‘Chant Revocation’ Skill and cast several spells.

“d.a.m.n it! Enemies with advanced Skills are so troublesome. ‘Conjure White Flame Beast!’ ‘Conjure Ice Dragon!’ ‘Steel Blade Storm!’” he shouted, conjuring a wolf made of scorching hot flames, a Dragon made of ice, and a countless number of blades.

Mimic Humans were unable to split a single Skill into multiple instances of the same Skill, but they were able to combine multiple instances into one. Goldie had increased the Levels of his Skills to some extent with this ability.

However, the only superior Skills he possessed were the ones he had awakened himself – ‘Crumbling Mountain s.h.i.+eld Technique’ and ‘Mountain Wall Guard Technique,’ which had been awakened from ‘s.h.i.+eld Technique’ and ‘Armor Technique.’

Awakening a superior Skill required not only proficiency, but experience as well. This could not be achieved by combining dozens or even hundreds of Level 1 or 2 instances of a Skill.

On top of that, there were cases where instances of the same Skill were completely different in nature.

For example, there was ‘Swordsmans.h.i.+p’ for thrusting attacks using a thin-bladed sword like a rapier, and ‘Swordsmans.h.i.+p’ for swinging large swords like b.a.s.t.a.r.d swords. Both were ‘Swordsmans.h.i.+p’ under the system, but they were completely different.

Mimic Humans were unable to combine Skills that were different in this way, even if they were named the same Skill.

However, they were able to combine magic-related Skills as long as they were of the same attribute. Goldie attempted to attack Darcia and the others with this, but –

“‘Conjure Ice Arm Swarm!’” said Privel, conjuring a countless number of arms made of ice that crushed Goldie’s flame wolf.

With a fierce grunt, Pauvina struck the ice dragon with her Orichalc.u.m club, sending it crumbling into pieces.

“‘Transcend Limits,’ ‘Thousand Blade Axe Chaos!’” shouted Baldiria, unleas.h.i.+ng a martial skill that struck Goldie’s blades out of the air.

“I feel like you’ll be troublesome for us later if you manage to escape, so we’re not going to capture you alive!” said Darcia. “‘Mincing Slice!’ ‘Lightning Claw Kick!’”

The slas.h.i.+ng attacks from her kitchen knife caused blood to spray into the air from every part of Goldie’s body, and she transformed the heel of her foot into a bird-like talon with ‘Chaos,’ then sank it into Goldie’s stomach.

“I-If that’s the case… I’ll take some of your Skills with me!” Goldie groaned, realizing that death was upon him.

He transformed his stomach and tried to consume Darcia’s leg, just as he had done to Vandalieu’s arm.

But unlike Vandalieu, Darcia had bones made of Orichalc.u.m, and Goldie was unable to sever them.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What is this bone?!” Goldie shouted in confusion.

“Have you finally realized why I’ve been fighting you at close range?” said Darcia.

She lifted her leg into the air, along with Goldie, whose newly-formed mouth at the stomach was still wrapped around it. He was helpless and immobile, and Darcia decapitated him with her kitchen knife.

With this, the battle was essentially over… but in the next moment, the sound of a distant explosion echoed across the villa.

• Name: Gizania
• Age: 38 years old
• t.i.tle: Warrior Princess (NEW!), Us.h.i.+ Princess (NEW!)
• Rank: 9
• Race: Great Us.h.i.+oni Samurai Master (Large-build Arachne)
• Level: 90
• Job: Blade Maiden
• Job level: 7
• Job history: Apprentice Warrior, Warrior, Swordsman, Samurai, Magic Sword User, Samurai Master, Onimusha, Berserker, Arthropod Leg Fighter
• Pa.s.sive skills:
  • Dark Vision (Transformed from Night Vision!)
  • Monstrous Strength: Level 1 (Awakened from Superhuman Strength!)
  • Strengthened Agility: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Augmented Attack Power when equipped with a katana: (Medium) (Awakened from Strengthened Attack Power when equipped with a katana!)
  • Strengthened Body Parts (Carapace, compound eyes, body fur): Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Loyalty: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Demon Path: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Thread Refining: Level 2
  • Rapid Healing: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Venom Secretion: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
•  Active skills:
  • Katana Technique: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Armor Technique: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • High-speed Travel: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Surpa.s.s Limits: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Coordination: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Surpa.s.s Limits: Magic Katana: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Parallel Thought Processing: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Cooking: Level 1 (NEW!)
  • Archery: Level 3 (NEW!)
• Unique Skills:
• • Za.n.a.lpadna’s Divine Protection
  • Garess’s Divine Protection
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection (NEW!)

•  Name: Myuze
• Age: 73 years old
• t.i.tle: Crystal Blade (NEW!)
• Rank: 10
• Race: Crystal Empusa Kunoichi Master
• Level: 95
• Job: Crystal Kunoichi
• Job level: 12
• Job history: Apprentice Thief, Thief, a.s.sa.s.sin, Dark Fighter, Kunoichi, Kunoichi Master, Illusion User, Sickle-arm User, Crystal Swordsman
• Pa.s.sive skills:
  • Superhuman Strength: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Dark Vision
  • Augmented Agility: Level 3 (Awakened from Strengthened Agility and LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Duty: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Enhanced Body Parts (Carapace, sickles): Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attack Power while equipped with ninja equipment: (Very Large) (LEVEL UP!)
  • Crystal Refinement: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Fire-Attribute Resistance: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Detect Presence: Level 4 (NEW!)
  • Poison Resistance: Level 3 (NEW!)
• Active skills:
  • Camouflage: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Crystal Blade Arm Technique: Level 1 (Awakened from Unarmed Fighting Technique!)
  • Throwing: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Armor Technique: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Silent Steps: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Lockpicking: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Trap: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Surpa.s.s Limits: Level 7
  • a.s.sa.s.sination Technique: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • No-Attribute Magic: Level 1
  • Mana Control: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Luminescence: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 2 (NEW!)
• Unique Skills:
• • Za.n.a.lpadna’s Divine Protection
  • Lioen’s Divine Protection
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection (NEW!)