Vida, the G.o.ddess of life and love, had been awakening and falling back into slumber repeatedly in an irregular pattern. But she opened her eyes, sensing a presence that was too great to be a person’s.
This Mana, this presence, Zakkart… it’s that child!
The reborn soul that had been her own champion Zakkart, the soul that had been Ark, Solder and Hillwillow, had come to this place.
As Vida gained consciousness, she gathered information regarding Vandalieu from her believers and the races that were her children.
Unlike Rodcorte and Alda, she was able to obtain a vast amount of information about him, and she felt joy and guilt at the same time. It was a vast, deep emotion that the pain from her wounds and the stakes in her body paled in comparison to.
I must bring him here!
With these emotions still fresh in her mind, she summoned Vandalieu to her own Divine Realm. This place, the resting grounds that had been named after her, was a special Dungeon that had mainly been built by Gufadgarn, the evil G.o.d of labyrinths. Outside of the mountain range, it was apparently considered to be an S-cla.s.s Dungeon.
It wasn’t difficult to invite someone who had stepped inside it into her Divine Realm.
Ah…
Vida’s chest tightened painfully as she saw the grotesque appearance of the soul before her.
It had the shape of a person, but the lengths and sizes of the head and limbs were mixed and matched; its eyes, mouths and ears were completely irregular in number and location. And there were fragments of the Demon King growing from its surface, entwining around it.
Its appearance could be described as a clay doll made by a clumsy child with the finishing touches added by a mad artist.
He had still possessed a human’s form when he first reincarnated in this world. He had been shrouded in strange Mana and severely hurt, but he’d still had a human form.
Rodcorte had put together the soul fragments of the four champions whose souls had been broken by the Demon King into a single soul; this was the origin of Vandalieu’s soul. That was likely why his soul had possessed a dormant form that was different to that of humans.
One part of the reason that this dormant form had surfaced so greatly was Vida herself. She had taken Vandalieu’s soul from Rodcorte’s system and had it reincarnate inside one of her own children. In doing so, she had also bestowed upon him the lingering memories from Zakkart’s remains and her own blood that was still flowing freely… the blood of a G.o.ddess.
And so, Vandalieu had been born and lived up until now as a Dhampir. As a result of Vida’s interference, every part of the life that he was supposed to have lived had changed, and his mind had lost its sanity and his soul had taken a grotesque form in the process.
It was unlikely that he could live an ordinary life now.
It was likely the arrogance of a G.o.d that had made her ignore his desires and change his life.
But at the same time, Vida was happy.
Despite being in that state, he had listened to her ‘request.’
That was why the first words she spoke were not an apology.
“First, let me express my grat.i.tude. Thank you for listening to my request.”
She extended a hand to express her grat.i.tude.
Vandalieu blinked his numerous eyes, and his head spun around on his neck for a few moments. “… Request?” he repeated.
He seemed to be bewildered by Vida’s words. Despite his appearance being far more like that of an evil G.o.d than Mububujenge’s or Zozogante’s, his emotional expression was very easy to read.
As Vida realized this, her smile grew wider. “It’s only natural for you to not remember. When you were reincarnated in this world, I made you a request. I said that I want you to love this world. To love the air, the wind, the earth, the greenery, the animals and the people,” she said. “You did exactly that; you loved the world. I truly thank you.”
Vandalieu’s bewilderment only grew deeper. He did not feel any unpleasant emotions at being thanked, but he didn’t understand why such a naturally-fulfilled request would be made of him.
It was extremely natural to feel affection towards the land and environment of the place where one was born and grew up; it was natural to feel love towards the people around oneself.
At the very least, this was true for Vandalieu.
On Earth and even in Origin, he had never cursed the worlds themselves. He had possessed enough expectations and affection for people to think that he would find happiness on Earth by distancing himself from his uncle’s family and gaining independence, and even in Origin, enough to save the Eighth Guidance who had been treated as experimental animals like him.
The same was true in Lambda. No, it was only natural for him to feel even more at ease in this world, where he could exercise power that he hadn’t been able to gain on Earth and the freedom that he hadn’t been able to gain in Origin.
… He did feel that he had killed too many people to declare without hesitation that he loved people. But since he consistently did his best not to kill people, perhaps he was within reason for Vida to forgive him. That was what Vandalieu thought.
But when I reincarnated in Lambda… right after I was killed by my former ‘companions’ in Origin and cursed by Rodcorte. Given my mental state back then, maybe it’s not unreasonable to a.s.sume that I would curse the world, Vandalieu thought, satisfied with this explanation.
But as Vida was a G.o.ddess, she knew what he was thinking. “That isn’t it,” she told him. “Vandalieu, in the long-distant past, you were Zakkart, the champion I summoned to this world. At the same time, you were Ark; you were Solder; you were Hillwillow.”
“Eh?”
“Their souls were broken by the Demon King Guduranis, but Rodcorte took their fragments and combined them into a single new soul and reincarnated it… in order to ensure that I could not resurrect them.”
“… I see. That makes a lot of sense.”
As Vandalieu learned that he was once four champions, his bewilderment grew even greater, but at the same time, he was able to understand the strange actions that Vida, Ricklent and the other G.o.ds had taken ever since he reincarnated into this world.
Vida had sent Divine Messages to Nuaza, who had become an Undead in Talosheim, and, though indirectly, to Queen Donaneris of Za.n.a.lpadna.
The Divine Message sent to Nuaza had been approximately a hundred years ago. That was before Vandalieu had been born in Origin or even on Earth as Amamiya Hiroto.
That was a time where it would be completely unthinkable that she could know of Vandalieu’s existence and send a Divine Message.
And then there were Ricklent and Zuruwarn, who had reincarnated the Eighth Guidance members who had died in Origin, including Minuma Hitomi, as Legion and given them their divine protections.
The details of how this had come about were still a mystery, but if Vandalieu was Zakkart and Ark reborn, he could accept these events to some extent.
“But I don’t have memories from when I was the champions, nor do I have their power. Even now, I don’t feel anything that feels like remembering past memories,” Vandalieu said.
He didn’t recall any events from before his life on Earth as Amamiya Hiroto, nor did any flashbacks occur.
He had never awakened a special power or talent before awakening to the death attribute in Origin.
Even now, after being directly told by the G.o.ddess herself, he had no sense of any of this. He didn’t feel anything even when looking at the remains enshrined on the throne next to her… the skeleton of who was likely to be Zakkart.
If it hadn’t been told to him by Vida, it wasn’t something that he would be able to believe.
… Also, he found it a little hard to believe that he had once been Hillwillow, the source of the incorrect information regarding bushi and ninjas that had become widespread within the Boundary Mountain Range.
“There’s no helping that. You were created from the fragments of Zakkart and the others over a hundred thousand years ago, and the powers that we gave Zakkart were not those with properties that would influence you after reincarnation,” Vida said. “Umm, Ricklent is better at these kinds of explanations, but…”
“Then I shall answer your desire,” said a new voice without warning.
Three people appeared inside Vida’s Divine Realm. At first, it seemed to be an old man, a young man and a boy, but in the next moment, they would turn into three women – yet they were a single G.o.d.
“Ricklent! You’ve recovered from the wounds that you received from the Demon King! I was so worried. It’s been so long… Now that I think about it, you’re the one who told me about that premonition, weren’t you? I’m so glad to see you,” said Vida.
“Vida, my sister, it is us who have been far more worried about you… Alda was cruel to you,” said Ricklent, gazing with pity at the thick stakes impaling Vida’s arms and the numerous swords that still protruded from her body.
“It’s true that I’m the one who is more severely wounded now,” Vida said with a small, bitter smile. “But why are you here? If I recall, there is supposed to be a barrier here, making it impossible to enter from outside the mountain range.”
Vida had fallen into slumber immediately after raising the earth to create the Boundary Mountain Range, so she was poorly-informed on the details of the events that had followed.
But as her sleep grew shallow at irregular intervals, she had become able to grasp the situation to some extent now.
According to what she knew, there was supposed to be a barrier that prevented not only G.o.ds from descending from the outside, but also from dispatching familiar spirits or speaking to the people within.
And this place, Vida’s Resting Grounds, was the center of that barrier.
Even if Ricklent was one of the great G.o.ds like her, even if he was the one who was the most exceptional in the use of magic, he shouldn’t have been able to enter the barrier.
“This is not my main body. It is something like an image reflected in a mirror. Because I have become worshipped in his nation, it has become possible for me to send my image here.” Ricklent’s image turned to Vandalieu and lowered his head slightly. “Allow me to thank you again for considering our thoughts.”
Vandalieu lowered his limp, misshapen head in response. “Not at all; it seems that it was you who sent Legion to my side.”
“… Their form is due to an unforeseen accident. I want you to apologize to them for me,” said Ricklent.
He and Zuruwarn had come up with the idea of supporting Vandalieu by sending him the members of the Eighth Guidance, who worshipped him in another world.
They were supposed to have been reincarnated as separate individuals, just as they had been in Origin, but they had been born as a single ent.i.ty as a result of Rodcorte’s interference.
“They don’t really seem to mind it, though,” said Vandalieu.
Pluto and the others didn’t seem deeply bothered by it themselves. It seemed that they had rather positive personalities… though it seemed that they were positive in a way that differed from the ordinary definition of the word. They had taken aberrant actions in Origin, deciding that if only a h.e.l.lish future awaited them, they would simply do what they wanted to do (take revenge) and then die.
“Even if they themselves do not mind it, it still does not change the fact that it was a regrettable outcome for me,” said Ricklent.
“Sorry, Ricklent has always been the type to worry about those kinds of things,” said Vida.
“Stop this vague explanation of my disposition. More importantly, how about you inspect Vandalieu’s current condition, my sister? It should be possible for you now, while your consciousness is still clear.”
“Yes, yes,” said Vida. “I’m going to touch you a little,” she said to Vandalieu.
A warm hand touched Vandalieu’s soul. It seemed that this action alone was enough for her to examine its condition.
“While she is doing that, I shall answer your questions, former and current champion Vandalieu. It is only natural that you do not possess the power and memories from when you were Zakkart and Ark… the obvious outcome,” said Ricklent.
G.o.ds such as Ricklent could grant divine protections and power to the people, but souls were always repeatedly undergoing reincarnation. Thus, there would be great problems if the blessings bestowed upon those souls were to carry over into their future lives.
There was no guarantee that a virtuous person would be reborn as a virtuous person in their next life. In the same vein, there was no guarantee that an evil person would be reborn as an evil person.
In many cases, the G.o.ds looked at people’s personalities and their past deeds, granting their divine protections and other blessings only upon those that they saw fit to receive them.
But once they were reborn, the personalities and past deeds that were the basis of receiving these blessings were reset. This was true for all but the very, very few exceptions like the reincarnated individuals that retained their memories and personalities from their previous lives.
It was possible that a virtuous, wise man might suffer a tragedy early on in his next life that twisted his personality, turning him into a despicable tyrant.
… There was also a significant possibility that they wouldn’t even be reborn as people. A warrior who had received the divine protection of a war-G.o.d might be reborn as a cow, which would mean that he would be slaughtered and die again soon after.