The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 375: The literal moving of mountains

Vandalieu had prepared a number of options for dealing with the Sauron Duchy. However, which option he decided upon would depend on whether Elizabeth had hope for the Sauron Duchy or not.

If she had hope for the Sauron Duchy, this hope was her desire to protect it, to want it to stay safe. If she had no hope for it, it meant that she had no interest in the Sauron Duchy and did not care what happened to it.

Even if Elizabeth did not have hope for the Sauron Duchy, Vandalieu and his companions would not actively try to destroy it or steer it towards its ruin. That went without saying. Vandalieu was a worshiper of Vida, who preached love, so he wouldn’t do something like deliberately driving innocent people into a corner and crushing them.

After the former Scylla territory was completely isolated, the Sauron Duchy would likely just go through the same things as the other duchies – Kanako’s concerts, Darcia’s visits, and Vandalieu himself wandering around would lead to the people being guided. All while ignoring the fact that unlike the other duchies, the Sauron Duchy shared a border with the Mirg shield-nation, a vassal state of the Holy Nation of Amid – a hostile nation.

After that, even if the army of the Holy Nation of Amid were to invade via the Mirg shield-nation and begin a war, Vandalieu wouldn’t respond in any way that was out of the ordinary. If the Orbaume Kingdom requested his aid, he would take action as the ruler of its allied nation. Like any other nation in an alliance with another, he would provide supplies, as well as reinforcements through the Adventurers’ Guild. But that was all.

He wouldn’t send Knochen to serve as a mobile fortress, Borkus and Vigaro to rampage on the frontlines, or Sam for logistical support.

Of course, he would do his best to save the people who had been guided, and lend his strength to retake the territories occupied by the Holy Nation of Amid. But by then, the government of the Sauron Duchy would have already been destroyed.

Vandalieu saw no value in Rudel Sauron and the others, who had cut off and abandoned the resistance led by the ‘Liberating Princess Knight’ Iris. He commanded Gufadgarn, who had the ability to open Teleportation Gates, as well as Cuatro and Sam, who could fly through the sky. The Sauron Duchy was not necessary in order for him to battle against the Holy Nation of Amid… the God of Law and Fate Alda and his hero, Heinz.

Some of his friends, such as Kasim and the others, were from the Sauron Duchy, but the village where they had been born no longer existed, as it had been destroyed in the Amid Empire’s previous invasion.

The hometowns of Iris and the resistance members no longer existed in the Sauron Duchy, either.

The only reason Vandalieu hadn’t killed Rudel Sauron and his servants was because he simply saw no value in doing so, and couldn’t think of a reason to.

He also felt that it would be wrong for him to kill them unnecessarily when even Iris and Elizabeth didn’t want them dead.

As for the Holy Nation of Amid, even if it were to invade and capture the Sauron Duchy, it would not be able to invade the Demon Empire of Vidal, as it was behind the Boundary Mountain Range. So it was possible that Vandalieu would simply leave the Sauron Duchy, as it was unlikely to be attacked – though there was always the chance that the enemy might invade it in an attempt to divide Vandalieu’s forces, assuming that he and his companions would move to defend it because there were many Vida worshipers there.

Nobody among Darcia and the others objected to this line of thought. They trusted that Vandalieu would probably end up stopping the Holy Nation of Amid if its soldiers began slaughtering civilians, and they knew that the war would quickly come to an end once the battle between Vandalieu and Alda reached its conclusion.

On the other hand, this meant that as long as civilians were not being slaughtered, Darcia and the others were willing to accept a short period of war and the bloodshed that came with it.

Vandalieu had kept Elizabeth unaware that these were his thoughts until the last moment. The decisions she made were important to her, and he had wished to avoid adding needless external influence in her making those decisions.

Vandalieu personally did not believe that Elizabeth had some kind of destiny. He did not even believe that she should become duchess. Neither did he believe that she simply needed to live a peaceful life.

He simply wished for Elizabeth to live as she wished to. And he felt the same way towards Mahelia, Zona, Macht, Yusef, and Taurus.

However, Elizabeth had truly chosen to become duchess of her own free will. After the graduation ceremony, she had faltered and said that she didn’t want to graduate, but in her heart, she had chosen to become duchess.

The proof of that was that she had never once said, “I don’t want to become duchess” – even though she knew that if she had asked him to, Vandalieu could have sorted everything out… by brainwashing Rudel and turning him into a puppet or by using Veedal as a pawn.

That was why Vandalieu had revealed it at that moment – to give Elizabeth the push she needed.

And Vandalieu was currently inside the Sauron Duchy’s castle. He had made a kind of appointment that no ruler should make with a friendly nation – simply informing that he had something important to discuss and demanding that they be there at a certain time. With a few of his subordinates, he had occupied the council chamber of the castle and tied up Rudel and his aides so they couldn’t escape.

“If you have any undercover spies in the Holy Nation of Amid or any of its vassal states, please order them to return immediately,” Vandalieu said.

“W-what are you saying all of a sudden?!” Rudel shouted.

“Wait!” exclaimed one of his aides. “I have no idea what you’re getting at!”

Rudel and his aides’ hands were free, but there were shackles on their ankles that prevented them from escaping. They were bewildered and confused by Vandalieu’s sudden demand.

“To begin with, I have already surrendered the position of duke!” Rudel protested.

“Please support Elizabeth-sama as her civil officials from now on. I don’t mind whether you do it alive or dead. Which would you prefer?” Vandalieu asked him.

“I will support her to my utmost ability while still living!” Rudel said immediately.

“Please keep me alive too!” said one of his aides.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I, too, would like to remain alive!” said another.

If they refused, they would be turned into Undead. Knowing this, they began shouting over one another to quickly return to their posts as civil officials. And of course, Vandalieu intended to also send Undead civil officials that would not betray Elizabeth – including the Undead who was once the prime minister, whose face had been changed to look completely different.

“We do have spies dispatched, but having all of them return…” said one of Rudel’s former aides hesitantly – he was the nobleman who had been in charge of intelligence. “There will be effects on the identities and information networks that they have built. If the fact that they are our agents is discovered, their lives may be placed at risk…”

“That may be true,” interrupted Vice-general Kurt, “but His Majesty intends to completely seal off the border between the Sauron Duchy and the Holy Nation of Amid, so he would like to have them all return before he does that.”

“… Huh?” Rudel said blankly.

Sealing off a border between nations was not something that was realistically possible given this world’s nature and the technology that humanity currently possessed.

‘Border’ was but a single word, but the actual border was vast. It did not consist only of flat plains; it went across rivers, through forests and over mountains, and most importantly, there were Devil’s Nests – regions inhabited by dangerous monsters.

It was possible to prevent crossing the border through fortresses or checkpoints at highways. But it wasn’t realistic to build a wall along the entire border and station enough soldiers to monitor its entire length.

That was why Rudel and the noble who had once been the head of Rudel’s intelligence network believed that they had misheard Kurt.

“If you are just going to seal it by increasing security along the border, there are passages that are only known to the spies. It shouldn’t be a problem,” said the former intelligence network head.

“Those belonging to this duchy’s intelligence network are not like those who try to smuggle illegal goods across the border,” added another noble who had worked closely with him. “They are well-trained and well-prepared enough to cross the border even during times when security at the border is very tight.”

But the truth far exceeded their imaginations.

“I’m saying that the Boundary Mountain Range’s shape is going to be changed in order to fully close the border off. Adventurers of A-class or above might be able to cross it, but I don’t think any of your spies or agents are that skilled, are they?” said Kurt.

The nation’s border would literally be sealed off.

“If it will take some time, then I shall open Teleportation Gates. Give us their current locations and any passwords or ciphers needed to contact them,” said Gufadgarn.

Her presence here indicated that Vandalieu did not intend to spend a long time accomplishing the task.

Miles Rouge, the Vampire who possessed the Title of ‘Kisser’ and now served as president of the Starving Wolf Security Company, watched as the earth trembled and listened to it groan. As he did, he remembered the words that he had once spoken: ‘Boss will become able to move the Boundary Mountain Range.’ He had spoken these words without any doubt in his mind that they were true.

“I wasn’t joking when I said that back then; in fact, I was completely serious, but… it sends chills down my spine to actually see him moving the mountain range,” he murmured.

A part of the Boundary Mountain Range was moving. Like an enormous serpent, it squirmed, slowly but surely shifting from south to north.

Its peaks were thousands of meters tall. Miles was some distance away, so he had a good view over the entire mountain range, but if he were closer, he would likely have to run for his life, with no time to be calmly reminiscing as he was doing now.

Indeed, there were things flying in the skies above the mountain range. Although he couldn’t say for sure, because they were quite distant, they were likely Wyverns and Hurricane Dragons.

The Boundary Mountain Range was entirely covered in Devil’s Nests. That included not only the land between the peaks, but the entire mountain range itself. The monsters were no doubt in a surprised, confused frenzy at the fact that the mountain range was moving. If there were any ordinary adventurers or knights caught up in it, they would be completely helpless.

But Bakunawa, Pete, and Vandalieu – aboard Sam – were present, so any monsters carelessly flying too close were being devoured.

Incidentally, there were monsters that were fleeing on the ground rather than into the air. To deal with them, Miriam and the rest who had come to perform concerts in the Sauron Duchy, leading Kasim, Hendriksen, and many others, had already been stationed preemptively along the border. They were also accompanied by large numbers of Demons and Undead, as well as Scylla including Privel. Any monsters attempting to flee the Devil’s Nests would be hunted long before they could reach any human settlements.

As for the Mirg shield-nation, which would soon be completely cut off by the Boundary Mountain Range… they would have to deal with things on their own. They had their fortresses that they were so proud of, after all.

In any case, it was of no concern to the Orbaume Kingdom or the Demon Empire of Vidal, as the Mirg shield-nation was an enemy nation.

“But even watching from this distance, we can see that there’s a lot of monsters flying out of the Devil’s Nests,” Miles said. “Is it because the ground is constantly moving beneath their feet? Or is it…”

… Perhaps the monsters were losing their minds not because the mountain range was moving, but because they were in a state of complete panic due to the presence of Bakunawa, Pete, as well as Vandalieu, who was expending a tremendous amount of Mana.

“If so, then I feel quite sorry for them. What do you guys think? Wait, why am I the only one who’s been talking?” asked Miles.

He wasn’t the only one standing at this vantage point that had a clear view over the border between the Sauron Duchy and the Mirg shield-nation.

Iris was here, as well as her blood-related father – Nemesis George, who resided in her sword. And they were also accompanied by Elizabeth and the others.

“Miles, Elizabeth-sama and the others have kind of… passed out with their eyes still open,” said Iris.

“I can’t blame them…” said George.

Elizabeth and the others had been completely petrified by the sight of the mountain range moving; they were completely motionless. It was possible that they really had fainted.

“I am more concerned about whether there were any people down there than about the monsters,” said Iris. “Though I suppose, knowing His Majesty, he checked thoroughly before he started,” she added.

“There shouldn’t be any people in the mountain range,” said Miles. “To begin with, there aren’t that many people reckless enough to try and cross the Boundary Mountain Range… It’s the mountain range behind the former Scylla territory, after all. Adventurers wouldn’t even be able to get over there unless they could outrun the ‘Head-hunting Demon.’”

“I see. Then the only way that anyone could get caught up in it is if they were near the border,” said Iris.

“And even then, none of them would be on this side of the border, Iris,” said her father.

“We did give proper notice, after all… and Boss is at the front of the mountain range, so even if there was anyone late to evacuate, they’d be fine,” said Miles.

The Boundary Mountain Range currently lay between the Sauron Duchy’s fortress and the Mirg shield-nation’s fortress. Although it was a border between nations, the two nations were enemies. Over roughly five hundred years of history, there had been numerous armistices, but not a single treaty of peace. In other words, there had been promises to take breaks from the war, but never any promises to cease the war entirely.

If nations with such a history with one another were to have fortresses adjacent to each other, there would be non-stop conflict all day long, exhausting tremendous resources on both sides. It was even possible that small skirmishes would escalate into unpredictable, full-scale wars.

That was why there was a buffer zone that lay between where each nation drew its border that wasn’t explicitly claimed by either side.

The mountain range ran through that buffer zone. The only people there were adventurers who went to gather materials or criminals conducting illegal smuggling.

The former had been sent warnings through the Adventurers’ Guild to not go near the buffer zone.

Of course, it was possible that there were adventurers who had departed before they could see the warning and were still working there right now. And although it was unlikely, it was possible that hunters or apothecaries had ventured into the area in search of prey or medicinal herbs.

Vandalieu and the others had preemptively checked to make sure that no such people were in the mountain range, so there was likely nothing to worry about.

As for smugglers, there was never any concern for them to begin with.

“Still, it really is a marvel to see,” remarked Iris. “I thought that I gained the strength to change the terrain as well, but the scale His Majesty is doing it on is in another dimension.”

“Well, of course,” said Miles.

The level of strength to change the terrain around oneself was fairly commonly possessed among people in this world. Any B-class adventurer or Rank 7 monster was capable of destroying trees, boulders, and buildings around them. A-class adventurers were capable of splitting mountains as long as they were less than a few hundred meters tall.

As she was now, Iris would be able to split a thousand-meter-tall mountain if she were to swing Nemesis George with every single ounce of her power. She could even create a crater with a diameter of several hundred meters. The same was true for Miles.

Terrain changes on an even greater scale would be possible for S-class adventurers such as Randolf ‘the True’ and the ‘Thunderclap’ Schneider; those with strength equivalent to that of an S-class adventurer, such as the ‘Sword King Borkus,’ the ‘Slayer of the Roaring Flames’ Bone Man, and the ‘Former Majin King’ Godwin; as well as gods such as Luvesfol and Fidirg.

However, such terrain changes would be strictly destructive in nature. Iris and Miles suspected that Vandalieu was about the only person in the world who could take a mountain range whose mountains were thousands of meters tall, alter its shape, and extend it to form an enormous wall.

Some capable mages were able to change the terrain to some extent, but not on this scale.

“W-wait a minute!” exclaimed Elizabeth suddenly, seeming to come back to her senses. “Can we really be doing something like this?!”

“We have been told that there is a barrier around the Boundary Mountain Range! Is it really alright to move it?!” asked Mahelia.

“And the crust beneath the mountains and the underground water sources have probably turned into a mess!” pointed out Zona.

“Very good points that you bring up,” said Miles as he looked at Macht and the others who hadn’t said anything, prompting them to speak.

They hastily faced each other and discussed things amongst themselves briefly, and then turned back to Miles.

“If a mountain range that tall moves, I think there will be changes to the climate as well. Will that not cause any problems?” asked Yusef.

All good questions indeed, thought Miles.

The terrain affected the ground beneath the surface, as well as the climate of the skies far above it. This knowledge was considered to be advanced and known only to specialist scholars and mages; even scholars and mages conducting research in other areas would be unaware of it, let alone commoners.

Miles himself had only learned such knowledge after becoming Vandalieu’s subordinate, exchanging idle talk with him and reading literature in the lands within the Boundary Mountain Range which contained the knowledge of the production-oriented champions.

“The answer to your concerns is that there won’t be any problems,” Miles said. “First, the barrier. The part that’s being moved isn’t covered by the barrier.”

The gods of Vida’s faction had created this barrier to shield the lands within the Boundary Mountain Range from the eyes of Alda’s forces and Rodcorte. But it did not cover all of the mountains that made up the Boundary Mountain Range.

A barrier created over a smaller area would require less power to maintain. Thus, the gods of Vida’s faction had created the barrier with its edges at the innermost mountains. Moving any other mountains would have no effect on the barrier.

“As for the crust beneath the mountains, Boss isn’t just turning the mountain range into Golems to change its shape and stretch it out. He’s also using ‘Golem Creation’ to create bedrock that will support the mountain range,” Miles continued.

After moving the mountain range, if the crust below it collapsed, the mountains would sink and become lower in height, becoming easier to cross and defeating the purpose. It would also be problematic if this caused pressure on the underground streams of water, as the wells in the villages and cities of the Sauron Duchy would dry up.

That was why Vandalieu was taking steps to prevent the mountains from sinking, such as creating bedrock beneath them, as he moved them. He hadn’t explained things in detail, but he wasn’t simply laying bedrock across the ground surface; he was also creating pillars for the bedrock around the underground streams of water.

“I see. As expected of His Majesty. I don’t really understand, but I’m sure everything will be fine,” said Iris, apparently not having grasped this information very well.

“Iris-chan, you…” said Miles in disbelief.

Was she really such a disappointing girl? he wondered.

“No, it’s all Godwin’s fault,” said Nemesis George, defending his daughter by pointing out the fact that it wasn’t that she was uneducated – it was just that she was spending all of her time doing paperwork as the queen of the Majin nation.

“The climate should be fine as well. I’m sure he’ll make sure there won’t be any natural disasters with too little or too much rain. It’s going to be your territory, after all,” Miles said to Elizabeth.

Vandalieu wouldn’t have gone to this much effort if it was simply a matter of putting the mountain range in between because it was bothersome that a vassal state of the Holy Nation of Amid was adjacent to the Orbaume Kingdom.

Miles and Iris were well aware that Vandalieu was willing to help people where he could, even if he didn’t know their names and faces. But he wouldn’t sacrifice those who were important to him in order to do that.

He was doing all of this because this was territory that Elizabeth would rule.

“I-I’m very grateful and happy about that, but… I have one more thing I want to ask,” said Elizabeth, her cheeks reddening.

She still has another question? Miles thought as he gestured for her to continue.

“Doing this will make people treat Vandalieu as a human even less, so I was wondering what he was planning to do about that,” Elizabeth said. “I mean, he hates being treated like a god, doesn’t he?”

Taken aback by her question, Miles turned back to look at the mountain range that was slowly but surely shifting across the ground.

A task that was absolutely impossible for any human to perform was being carried out right before their very eyes, in a location where everyone around could witness it.

On top of that, the one carrying out that task was also taking preemptive steps to prevent any potential future issues caused by it.

It was truly the work of a god. Nobody could be blamed for thinking that… In fact, thinking that would be the norm. Even Miles himself would have thought that it was a god’s power moving the mountains if he had witnessed it before he met Vandalieu.

“I-I’m sure he’s thought of a bunch of things,” Miles said uncertainly.

Maybe he brought Bakunawa and Pete not just to exterminate the monsters flying out of the mountain range, but also to show them to the people and have them think of them as gods rather than him, he thought.

But Iris disagreed. “Miles, His Majesty hasn’t put any thought into that whatsoever. I’m willing to bet on it.”

Her eyes were shining with the firm bond of trust that she had with Vandalieu.

“Oh. That’s what I thought,” said Elizabeth.

“But I don’t think we should tell him yet,” said Iris.

“You’re right,” Elizabeth agreed. “If we told him now and he messed up his control from the shock, the mountain range’s shape would change even more.”

• Name: Pete
• Rank: 15
• Race: Divine Steel Roaring Lightning Centipede Dark Beast King
• Level: 1

• Passive skills:
  • Hunger Resistance: Level 3
  • Super Self-Enhancement: Following: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Deadly Venom Secretion (Neurotoxin): Jaws: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Wind Attribute Immunity
  • Super Strengthened Body: Exoskeleton, Horns: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Monstrous Strength: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Rapid Healing: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Strengthened Attribute Values: Predator: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Night Vision
  • Strengthen Followers: Level 5 (NEW!)

• Active skills:
  • Silent Steps: Level 1
  • Ferocious Charge: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Transcend Limits: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Hundred Carapace Technique: Level 1 (Awakened from Armor Technique!)
  • Roaring Lightning: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Coordination: Level 8
  • High-speed Travel: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Shrink: Level 6 (NEW!)
• Unique skills:
  • Elder Dragon Devourer: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
  • Zanalpadna’s Divine Blessing
  • Vandalieu’s Divine Protection

Monster explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Divine Steel Roaring Lightning Centipede Dark Beast King

By reaching Rank 15, Pete’s race has joined the ranks of the Beast-kings.

It is unheard of for a monster to become a Beast-king, and if I hadn’t checked it myself, I would likely have considered it to be pure fiction, even for a completely theoretical premise.

After all, Beast-kings are the children of the Beast God Ganpaplio, one of the great gods who came into existence at the same time as Vida and Alda. Their title of Beast-king represents the fact that they are the kings of their respective species – bird, beast, or fish. There are some Beast-kings, such as the Boar Beast-king, who later joined the Demon King’s army and became the ancestors of races of monsters. But even so, they are generally beings with no connection to monsters at all.

However, there is no precedent of a monster becoming a Beast-king by increasing its Rank. To begin with, the only existing records of Rank 15 monsters are dubious legends and myths. According to Gufadgarn, there were almost no monsters of Rank 14 or above in existence when the Demon King’s army was ruled by the former Demon King Guduranis.

In those times, monsters served only as infantry for the evil gods of the Demon King’s army, and although they did build things like Dungeons as facilities to produce and raise monsters in great numbers, they were viewed as disposable forces. And after Bellwood and the other champions were summoned to this world, monsters were defeated in droves, making it difficult for any individual monster to reach Rank 13 – monsters with power rivaling the evil gods that created them.

There were some individual monsters created for a specific purpose, or raised as a pastime by certain evil gods, but these were apparently only a very small portion of monsters as a whole.

It is ironic that monsters are able to live more easily and freely now that the former Demon King, the one who ruled their creators, was sealed away.

Perhaps Pete’s becoming a Beast-king is a sign of the existence of new beings in this world – Master, who is the new Demon King, and the monsters who serve him.

Incidentally, Pete is now a Beast-king but still remains a monster, which means that he continues to exist in the physical world as he has always done.