The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 124: The Sword King’s determination, the hound’s glory, the lips that form an arc

Vandalieu, the king of Talosheim, would participate in dealing with the Noble Orc Empire.

Normally, not just the heads of states, but anyone with a relatively high position in a nation should avoid standing on the frontlines. However, things were different in Vandalieu’s case.

First of all, Vandalieu possessed the Demon Path Enticement skill, and if he wasn’t present, gathering information from the spirits of the dead was highly likely to be impossible.

Undead could see spirits. However, just because they could see them didn’t necessarily mean that they could hear what the spirits had to say. Even if they asked the spirits questions, there was a high chance that the spirits wouldn’t answer or just give meaningless answers.

The spirits of the dead were not often friendly or honest to other dead beings unless they were very sociable.

Second of all, Vandalieu was the ‘Holy Son of Vida.’

Mububujenge, the Evil God of Degenerate Corpulence, was suspected to be the chief god in the Noble Orc Empire. If he still felt a sense of duty to serve Vida, then Vandalieu being present increased the chances of negotiations happening.

And third of all… he was unmistakably Talosheim’s greatest source of fighting strength.

There were all kinds of other reasons, but these were the main ones.

And the criteria to be chosen to join Vandalieu in dealing with the Noble Orc Empire - whether it was diplomacy or war - was to possess the strength to defeat Noble Orcs, which were Rank 6 at minimum.

The Noble Orcs of the Empire had rulers, but when it came to war, it was likely that they would come out in large numbers.

And strength was necessary, even in diplomacy.

Though this was a nation of those descended from an evil god and his servants who betrayed the Demon King’s army and joined Zakkart, they were still monsters. And what monsters regarded as important was not appearance or economic power, but strength.

Military strength was an important factor in negotiations between human nations as well, but for monsters, it was the most important thing.

In other words, for smooth discussions to take place, it was important to not be looked down upon.

The exception was the Black Fang Knights’ Order, which was composed of Gorba and the other Orcuses.

Orcuses, which were a new race created when Vandalieu exposed Orc fetuses to death-attribute Mana, looked like black Orcs at a glance. Thus, Vandalieu had decided that they may feel compatible with the Orcs that were likely to be present in great numbers in the Noble Orc Empire.

And Orcuses had a base Rank of 4; they were generally stronger than Orcs, which were normally Rank 3. And the members of the Black Fang Knights’ Order had increased their Ranks to become Orcus Tamers and Orcus Riders; they were a group of knights that were mounted on monsters.

“I’ll do my best, on my honor as a knight,” said Gorba, who had been selected as the captain of the knights.

He was now a Rank 7 Orcus Master Tamer with a massive body that was almost three meters tall, and powerful fangs protruding from his mouth.

The monster that he was mounted on was a Rank 5 Diatryma, an enormous carnivorous bird that had been created through years of laborious breeding from the Rank 2 Giga birds that resembled chickens. It was five meters tall from its claws to the crest on its head; it was a bird that simply looked like a dinosaur.

Gorba had also tamed several other small bird monsters that could be used as messengers; he was well-equipped outside of combat as well.

The other members had all tamed Rank 4 monsters that could still move about with the heavyweight Orcuses riding them. Though there were only ten members, their fighting strength and mobility was not at all inferior to a group of a hundred knights.

“Captain Gorba, I don’t really understand this ‘knight’s honor,’” one of the knights said.

“A knight’s honor is doing what King says,” Gorba explained.

“I’ve always listened to what King says.”

“Then you’re very honorable.”

“Bufufufu~? I’m happy.”

With conversations such as these, Gorba and the other members of the Black Fang Knights’ Brigade were enjoying a barbeque in Talosheim’s town. It had been at Chezare’s suggestion that these mobile Orcuses were gathered and a Knights’ Order formed, but it seemed that they didn’t really understand the ways of a knight yet.

In a shadowy street corner, there was a man watching Gorba and the others enjoying their seafood and roast meat with tare sauce.

The enormous, three-meter-tall, bald man with a shadow cast across his face watched Gorba and the others for a while. However, he didn’t reveal himself to them; he turned around silently and left.

There was impatience on the half of the face that the man had.

The Zombified Mikhail, who had been a hero of the Mirg shield-nation until his death two hundred years ago, was serving his role as a training dummy in the specialized training grounds today, just as he had done yesterday.

Mikhail had started becoming accustomed to this role of simply fighting, instructing his opponents in order to be able to defeat him and destroy his body.

As an Undead, his sense of pain was different from when he was alive, but it was also because when he watched those who came to him for training become more skilled and reach new heights, he felt happiness that was not just to console himself, but true happiness from the bottom of his heart.

He felt a sense of fulfilment at having served his role and being useful.

I do not really intend to complain that you have come here again, but…

Mikhail, who was forbidden from speaking any words other than the pre-decided words that he said to all challengers, faced his opponent that was looking at him with a somewhat complicated mixture of emotions in his gaze… the Sword King Borkus.

Borkus awkwardly tapped his bald head with his finger. “No, well, I mean… when you get as strong as me, there aren’t any really good opponents.”

I do understand that.

Borkus was a Rank 10 Zombie Hero, who had been an A-class adventurer while he was alive. In addition to that, his Attribute Values were enhanced by Guidance: Demon Path, and he had awakened to the superior skill, Sword King Technique. It was nearly impossible for him to find a good opponent.

“The only ones that put up any resistance are the bosses of B-class Dungeons, but even those aren’t enough, and once I defeat them, they don’t appear again for a while,” Borkus continued, mumbling his words for some reason. “Despite that, the kid said this morning that next week, he’s going to choose those he’s taking to the Noble Orc Empire.”

Is this supposed to be an explanation for me, since I am always confined to this place? In that case, is it alright for me to speak? This is a matter of national importance, after all, Mikhail thought to himself as he continued standing there.

From an outsider’s perspective, Borkus simply appeared to be an Undead, talking endlessly to a training dummy.

“I’m Rank 10; I won’t say that I’m the strongest if you count out the kid, but I’m among the top three. So, it’s not that I’m anxious that I’ll be left behind… Apparently, Bellmond-jouchan isn’t participating this time,” Borkus said, raising the Obsidian training sword that he was holding. “But you know, I’m doing this just in case.”

In the end, you are anxious, aren’t you? And the last time you came here, did you not say that you would only strike me down once?

“Shut up! You bastard, you’re saying it all with your eyes! If you’re going to complain, do it with words!” Borkus shouted.

“The training will begin,” Mikhail said.

“Are you making a fool of me?!”

I cannot speak of my own will… well, at least become strong in my stead, and become of use to that person. I will have no complaints if you do that, Mikhail thought as he attacked Borkus with his blunt training spear.

Incidentally, Borkus appeared before Mikhail every day for the next week to repeat this training.

It was time to remain in obscurity for a while.

Compared to the length of her life so far, a mere three years was supposed to be nothing more than an instant. However, she had been impatiently waiting for this time to come.

A new life given to her by a new master. She would never forget the words spoken to her when she was given a body for a second time.

“You are mine.”

What sweet words. I have been stolen by this person from my previous master. My body, my heart and even my soul.

However, what had awaited her was endless days of cold treatment.

After she had spat out all of the information that she had seen and heard while serving her previous master, she had been placed under the command of a little girl who was far younger and weaker than her.

And that little girl had never possessed subordinates before; there was no proper work for her to do.

The only thing she had been given was the position of ‘chief of torture.’ She was proficient when it came to torture, so this should have been a perfect job for her, but…

What need is there for torture here in Talosheim?

Her master was Vandalieu. As long as he was present, there was no need for torture. Any prisoner of war would spill everything once he secreted truth serum from his tongue into their ears or their eyes.

Even if the truth serum was ineffective for whatever reason, he could simply kill them. Prisoners of war turned into spirits would gladly betray their former masters and companions for Vandalieu’s sake. Just like she had.

Thus, prisoners of war were never brought to Talosheim, nor was she ever called for to torture prisoners of war.

Torture wasn’t necessary as a punishment, either. The rate of crime in Talosheim was so low that she found it impossible to believe. There were some crimes that occurred due to carelessness and accidents, but there were none who broke the rules out of ill intent.

Other than the fact that the citizens had been charmed by Vandalieu, there was also no need to turn to crime. The nation was developing, and everyone could become wealthy without needing to resort to theft, fraud or robbery.

And even if they did want to commit crimes, everyone knew that there were surveillance Golems stationed in the city.

And Vandalieu, the ruler himself, often roamed the city.

If anyone committed a serious crime and lost their place in Talosheim, they wouldn’t be able to survive. Since the city was surrounded by the Boundary Mountain Range, ways of reaching the outside world were limited.

Committing crimes under these circumstances would be plain foolishness. Impulsive fights and drunken brawls were the worst of it.

Thus, the few criminals were given a verbal warning, and then were made to pay a small amount of money in compensation and perform some community service for a short period of time. Even the punishment of a hundred lashes hadn’t been carried out.

Thus, her daily work was to clean the empty dungeon with her companions and write “Nothing unusual” into a logbook.

But I haven’t become useless!

She had used her excess time to the best of her ability. She had retrained herself in Dungeons and the surrounding Devil’s Nests to reacquire the power she had possessed in life, and successfully increased her Rank.

She had analyzed Vandalieu’s roaming patterns around the city and casually tried to show off to him that she was working hard, and that she had undergone a change of heart, building favorable relationships with the other citizens.

Even when a child ran into her while holding a frozen dessert, ruining her clothes, and then called her “Oba-chan,” she had smiled and forgiven the child.

She picked up lost items and returned them to their owners, and she even cleaned up trash and removed weeds of her own initiative.

These were deeds that would have been unthinkable for her, someone who had previously held an important position in the underworld while she was alive.

She had instructed her companions to do the same, and even ordered a group of men with particularly exceptional bodies to casually show their bodies off to Vandalieu while he was bathing in the public bathhouse.

And then the turning point had come last year. Her companions… those similar to her, drastically grew in number.

Thanks to that foolish Gubamon, we’ve grown in number. Enough for us to be useful as a fighting force, not just in quality, but in numbers as well.

And her steady efforts had been recognized, and today, the day had arrived.

“Now then, I will confer the knighthood. Isla, step forward.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Isla, ‘Ternecia’s Hound,’ former servant of the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia, who had used General Mauvid and joined the expedition force with the Mirg shield-nation’s army at its center three years ago, plotting to kill Vandalieu and the traitor Eleanora.

She was now a Vampire Zombie. Resisting the urge to skip out of happiness, she stepped forward in front of Vandalieu and kneeled.

Vandalieu took the ceremonial sword he had made for knighting purposes from Chezare.

I always think this every time, but isn’t such a ceremony rather unnecessary? Vandalieu said secretly to Chezare, extending his spirit form to connect with him.

What are you saying, Your Majesty? The ceremony is important. Even if the actions themselves have no meaning, it is important to perform them and show them off.

I see. The ceremony is important.

Vandalieu remembered that in Lambda, ceremonies and rituals had practical purposes even outside of showing power and bestowing honor on the recipient.

In fact, in order to acquire the Equestrian and Knight Jobs, one needed to reach level 100 in the Apprentice Knight Job and then be knighted. In other words, receiving a knighthood fulfilled the conditions for acquiring the Job, so the ceremony had a practical use.

Isla was a Vampire Zombie, so she couldn’t acquire Jobs. However, there was the possibility that her Rank would increase and her race title would change to Vampire Zombie Knight in the future, so it wasn’t completely meaningless.

“Isla, as the Eclipse King, I bestow upon you the position of knight,” Vandalieu declared as he touched Isla’s shoulders with the body of the blade.

A pleasant numbness spread throughout Isla’s entire body, and she shivered slightly.

“Yes, Your Majesty! I am fortunate and most grateful!” she said.

“At the same time, I remove you from Eleanora’s command and appoint you as the captain of the newly-formed Dark Night Knights’ Order,” Vandalieu continued.

“Oooh…!”

This was the new post that Vandalieu was giving her. The Dark Night Knights’ Order was… an advanced fighting force of Vampire Zombies.

As all of them had been Noble-born Vampires in the past, they could fly at will and possessed the strength to tear steel with their bare hands. And since they had become Zombies, they had conquered their weaknesses of sunlight and silver. Isla’s former superior, Eleanora, had thought to have the Vampire Zombies acquire the Sunlight Resistance skill, but there had been no need.

Because there had been almost no precedents of Vampires becoming Zombies, even Isla and the other Vampire Zombies themselves hadn’t known this fact, so it was a misunderstanding that couldn’t be avoided.

Unfortunately, there were many who couldn’t use magic as well as they had been able to while alive, but they were more than enough compared to ordinary Knights’ Orders with human knights.

Now, Isla was the leader of this Knights’ Order and she would have tasks that made use of her abilities and skills!

Isla was wearing a delicate armor that closely matched the curves of her body. It wasn’t for ceremonial purposes; it had been created by the blacksmith Datara, and Vandalieu had used Alchemy to imbue numerous death-attribute spells into it, turning it into a Magic Item.

The same applied for the sword hanging at her waist.

She was bathing in glory right now. However, there were still two things missing.

“Your Majesty… I am thinking of receiving the promised item,” she said.

“Eh? Here?”

Vandalieu and Isla were the only ones speaking, but Chezare was present, and the eyes of Eleanora, the Zombie Vampires of the Dark Night Knights’ Order and many others were watching.

Vandalieu was hesitant to hand it to her in front of all of these people.

“Then are you saying that you will hand it to me personally when we are alone?!” Isla exclaimed, her lightless eyes opening wide.

“Ah, I’ll hand it to you here.”

Apparently, it was better for people to be watching.

“In addition to your promotion to captain of the knights, I praise your loyalty and diligent self-improvement, and reward you with this chok-”

“Your Majesty, it’s a collar,” Isla corrected him.

“… Collar, and grant you the Title of ‘The Eclipse King’s Hound.’”

Vandalieu attached a collar to Isla’s neck, hiding the seams where her head had been reattached to her body after she died by decapitation.

“Aaaah! It is an honor, Your Majesty!” Isla exclaimed.

The collar and the Title of ‘Hound.’ These had been the two things that Isla requested when Vandalieu asked her, “Is there anything you would like to celebrate your promotion?”

The Title was something that Vandalieu couldn’t grant her until he declared it to the whole of Talosheim, but if he put it in the Eclipse King Post, wouldn’t she acquire the Title within a few days?

If it doesn’t work, I’ll go to Fidirg and Merrebeveil and report it to them, Vandalieu thought.

Isla ran her fingers lovingly across the collar. Seeing her looking so happy, Vandalieu vividly imagined a tail protruding from her waist, wagging furiously from side to side.

“Even I haven’t received one!” Eleanora whispered in frustration, glaring at Isla with fierce jealousy. Her dangerous eyes would have been enough to make even a seasoned war veteran tremble like a puppy.

“… Hmph.” Isla gave a proud snort towards her former superior, Eleanora. She even tilted her head upwards to show the collar off.

Vandalieu felt like he could practically hear the sparks of tension flying between them.

However, it seemed that even Eleanora didn’t dare shout abuse at Isla at a knighting ceremony.

And it’s true that there is nothing about her for me to speak ill of…!

Eleanora didn’t think of Isla as having done anything unfair to gain Vandalieu’s favor. She’d simply done what was needed for success.

In fact, Vandalieu valued Isla despite being aware of her various tricks. She was capable of such tricks and flattery, which meant that she could use her head and get along with the humans, Black Goblins and the rest of Talosheim’s citizens, so he thought that there weren’t any problems with her.

Eleanora couldn’t mention that Isla had once been an enemy; she herself had once been an assassin sent to Talosheim to kill Vandalieu.

Eleanora looked at Isla once more, grinding her teeth in anger.

Before, I would have been able to call her an old woman, but now, it would only sound like the barks of a defeated dog.

Isla was resplendent enough to make Eleanora acknowledge this.

Unlike the armor she had worn while she was alive, the close-fitting armor that Isla wore now emphasized rather than concealed the fact that her body had both power and abundant feminine curves, emanating an attractiveness that Eleanora, who physically appeared to be around twenty years old, couldn’t.

And yet, her skin was smooth and springy, not wrinkled. It was because Vandalieu hadn’t held back in treating her from when he’d turned her into a Zombie, but…

Isla had lived around thirty thousand years, and her external appearance should have been that of a woman in her mid-thirties. Now that she had become a Zombie, she had clearly become younger than she had been when she was alive.

I would like to become Vandalieu-sama’s dog if I could, but I don’t want to become a losing dog!

“Vandalieu-sama, I have training to do, so I shall excuse myself,” Eleanora declared as she turned around, not even concealing her feelings.

“See you later,” Vandalieu said towards her back.

“I know it is strange for me to ask, but is it really all right?” Isla asked.

“It’ll be fine. Eleanora is more of a hard worker than me (when I was on Earth).”

“More of a hard worker than you, Your Majesty? Won’t that little girl die from fatigue?”

“More importantly, I have a mission for the Dark Night Knights’ Order right away. Isla, I would like you and the rest to rendezvous with Bone Man at the southern end of the marshlands and patrol the area.”

“Please leave it to me, Your Majesty.” Isla got down on both knees this time and brought her face close to the sandals on Vandalieu’s feet -

“Ah, please do it on my hand,” said Vandalieu.

“How can this be?! You will not accept my vow of obedience and servitude?!” Isla exclaimed.

“Isla-dono, this is a place for knighthoods to be bestowed, so I would like you to perform it on the hand to show loyalty, not obedience and servitude,” said Chezare.

In the end, Isla’s cold but soft lips were placed on Vandalieu’s fingers, and then he sent the Dark Night Knights’ Order out on their mission.

“Incidentally, your Majesty, I was also killed by having my throat torn, so I was thinking of wrapping something around my neck. Kurt makes a pained expression as he looks at me from time to time, you see,” Chezare said.

“Chezare, I think that if I gave you a collar, Kurt would be even more pained… he would look at you with pity,” said Vandalieu, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

The bad feeling that receiving a collar from him would become a popular trend among a certain group of individuals.

The sun’s scorching light burned his body like a curse. His lips, which were painted with his favorite rouge lipstick, smiled.

“More… Burn me more… Ahh… That’s right, deeper, burn me deeper.”

Miles Rouge, whose entire body was emitting white smoke, gave a heroic smile even as he experienced intense pain and his survival instincts were warning him of danger.

He was a Noble-born Vampire formerly under the command of the Pure-breed Vampire Gubamon, and he possessed the unique skill known as Warning. It was a skill that produced an alarm bell that only he could hear when he sensed danger.

However, Miles did not hear alarm bells right now.

He could only hear his own footsteps as he approached new heights.

However, the one thing he couldn’t endure was how dry his throat was. He extended his burnt, blistered hand outwards to bring a mug to his mouth.

He filled his throat with a thick, blood-colored liquid… the Blood Potion that had been created with Vandalieu’s blood with the Demon King’s blood activated as a base, with the Demon King’s horns and Demon King’s carapace added to it in powdered form along with various medicinal herbs and Magic Stones.

The moment he did, the pain receded from all over his body, and his burns began to heal. However, as he was a Vampire, Miles’s body would continue to burn as long as he stood in the sun’s light - or at least, it was supposed to.

“Aaaah… Uooooh!”

As Miles looked up at the sky and gave a particularly large shout, the white smoke rising from his body stopped. His burns began to heal rapidly.

And then, Miles was standing in the sunlight, not a single wound on the skin covering his spectacular, muscular body.

A wide smile appeared on his face that was already wild-looking to begin with.

“Wonderful… What a pleasant feeling of victory! My entire body is filled with strength; I feel like I’ve become an all-powerful, unrivaled being! This excitement is far greater than what I felt when I went from being a human to a Noble-born Vampire! Right now, at this moment! I, Miles Rouge, am certain that I am worthy of being known as a true Vampire!”

Miles stood there with his crimson eyes blazing, wearing only the single pair of boomerang underwear that had recently started being sold.

Bellmond called out to him. “It seems that you have finished. Miles, this is a celebratory present from Danna-sama.”

She gestured towards a silver tray with a silver pendant on it. It was a Magic Item with death-attribute Mana imbued in it, but silver was another weakness of Vampires alongside sunlight.

Of course, silver-inflicted wounds caused pain, but even touching the skin would cause burning and blistering. Giving a Vampire a silver accessory was like declaring hostility.

“Oh my, that makes me happy~?”

Miles took the silver pendant and put it around his neck without hesitation.

But the silver necklace around Miles’s thick neck, resting against his heavy chest, didn’t burn him.

“What do you think of my silver camouflaging accessory, Onee-sama?” Miles asked.

“It looks very good on you,” said Bellmond. “But could I ask that you stop referring to me as ‘Onee-sama?’”

“Oh my, why is that? We are both Abyssal Vampires, are we not?”

Miles, who had repeatedly endured his body being burned while drinking Blood Potion to heal, had become an Abyssal Vampire.

He had already confirmed this through his Status, and though his appearance hadn’t changed, his biology had clearly changed from when he had been a Noble-born Vampire.

“How wonderful… There have been no changes to my Rank or level, but my Attribute Values have increased, and I have overcome my weaknesses to sunlight and silver. We have erased two of the main reasons us Vampires could not replace humans on the front stage of the world. If us Abyssal Vampires increase in number, the power balance between humans and Vampires could be reversed,” Miles said excitedly.

“Blood Potion takes a considerable amount of time and effort to produce. More importantly, more than half of the base ingredients come from Danna-sama himself,” Bellmond reminded him in a calm tone. “It is not an item whose production can be increased so easily.”

The Blood Potion that was necessary for Vampires to become Abyssal Vampires was currently being made by several of Talosheim’s resident Alchemists, including Vandalieu himself and Zadiris.

Vandalieu, who had over one billion Mana, could activate the Demon King’s fragments as much as was needed to produce the ingredients. However, it seemed that this was not enough to enable mass production on the scale of something like Earth’s soft drinks.

… Considering that it was a Potion that could not only heal broken bones but rejoin severed limbs, the current production rate was already beyond what could be reasonably expected. If Vandalieu increased Blood Potion production to its maximum possible rate and distributed it cheaply to every nation, the world’s Alchemists would likely lose a great portion of their income.

Miles was well aware of the manufacturing process and ingredients required to produce Blood Potion, so he quickly withdrew his words. “I know,” he said. “I’m talking about the future, the future. And it’s not easy to become an Abyssal Vampire, is it? I experienced first-hand that drinking Blood Potion isn’t enough on its own.”

In order to become an Abyssal Vampire, one needed to drink Blood Potion and make it exhibit its effects… in other words, the Blood Potion needed to heal wounds.

However, Vampires were a race with the Rapid Regeneration skill. Wounds like cuts would heal within seconds.

Drinking Blood Potion while undergoing drastic surgery like Bellmond’s where she had all of her skin and the underlying components replaced or continuing to be damaged by sunlight or silver so that the Rapid Regeneration skill would not take effect were the effective methods.

It was also possible to suddenly undergo the transformation if one regularly drank Vandalieu’s blood like Eleanora did. However, with this method, a large amount of time, blood and Blood Potion was necessary.

“Though it’s strange for me to say this after I insisted on doing it, it’s quite the torture,” Miles continued. “It’s fine for a tough guy like me who’s resistant to pain, but normal Vampires would lose consciousness partway through.”

“My surgery was also something that normal Vampires would not be able to endure,” said Bellmond.

These two, who were resistant to pain (or so they thought), shook their heads at the thought of the predicament of other Vampires.

“Come to think of it, what about that girl? Is she leveling?” asked Miles.

“Yes. She is a little disappointed with the fact that her Sunlight Resistance skill is only useful as sunscreen, and she is now aiming to become Rank 10,” said Bellmond.

“She’s working hard, isn’t she? Maybe it’s a difference in youth. Ah, how delicious,” Miles said as he licked the last few drops of Blood Potion left in his mug. “Now then, I shall go to the bathhouse to let out some sweat,” he said, picking up his change of clothing. “I’m going to the Sauron Duchy with Vandalieu-sama tomorrow and meeting with Iris-chan and the others, after all.”

It had been decided that Miles would not be going to the Noble Orc Empire; he would be joining the Sauron Liberation Front to make preparations against the reincarnated individuals.

He had been speeding up his transformation into an Abyssal Vampire so that the fact that he was a Vampire wouldn’t be revealed to Iris’s supporters and her enemies, the Amid Empire’s army.

Even with pale skin, crimson eyes and long fangs, nobody would suspect that a man exposing himself to sunlight and wearing a silver necklace was a Vampire.

Of course, he had transformed to provide more data on Abyssal Vampires as well as to disguise himself, but that was a bonus.

“I will be transported inside Vandalieu-sama, so I must purify my body.”

One of the other characteristics of Abyssal Vampires was that they could be equipped by Vandalieu’s Insect Binding Technique and Plant Binding Technique skills, and they would not experience any discomfort during this.

Thus, the plan was for Vandalieu to transport him by teleportation using the Labyrinth Construction skill.

“… I do believe that you should put on some clothing before thinking about purifying your body,” Bellmond said.

It seemed that her words didn’t reach Miles, who left holding only a single pair of boomerang underwear to change into.

Name: Isla

Rank: 9

Age: Approximately 30,000 years old

Title: The Eclipse King’s Hound

Race: Vampire Viscount Zombie (Broken)

Level: 85

Passive skills:

Dark Vision

Status Effect Resistance: Level 10

Superhuman Strength: Level 9

Rapid Regeneration: Level 5

Mental Corruption: Level 7

Slaughter Healing: Level 7

Intuition: Level 5

Strengthened Attribute Values: Loyalty: Vandalieu: Level 6

Active skills:

Bloodwork: Level 1

Water-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 5

No-Attribute Magic: Level 1

Mana Control: Level 5

Swordsmanship: Level 10

Armor Technique: Level 9

Surpass Limits: Level 8

High-speed Flight: Level 5

Pursuit: Level 8

Torture: Level 5

Commanding: Level 3

Housework: Level 2

Unique Skills:

Transformation: Level 7

‘Ternecia’s Hound,’ Isla, who has now become a Zombie.

She was originally Rank 10, but her Rank decreased all the way to 5 when she became a Zombie. After that, she regained her power back to Rank 9 through training in Dungeons.

However, she still cannot display her original abilities. Incidentally, Vandalieu and Luciliano noted that the “Broken” in her race title means “Undead that are weaker than when they were alive.” After this, “Broken” began appearing in the Statuses of all Undead that match this description.

In addition, she has already acquired the Title that Vandalieu thought would take more time for her to obtain. This is because Vandalieu himself acknowledges her by this Title, and because he has increased influence over those under the effects of Guidance: Demon Path.

She should be weaker than when she was alive, but her Bloodsucking skill has transformed into the Bloodwork skill, and her Status Effect Resistance, Mental Corruption and Surpass Limits skills have increased. She is growing stronger in a different direction from when she was alive.

Also, she has acquired the Commanding and Housework skills.

The design of her equipment is a little seductive, but this is because Vandalieu had used his personal image of what an “evil female boss” should look like. The reason for this was because “it seemed like it would fit.”

Title explanation:

【The Eclipse King’s Hound】

Receives favorable bonuses when tracking or searching for those that have been deemed as prey or enemies by the Title possessor’s master, the Eclipse King.

In addition, the Title possessor gains positive bonuses to all Attribute Values, attack and defense when fighting under the Eclipse King’s command.