It was a Chimera with a body consisting of bones. A Japanese person might think it was a Nue* made only of bones.
TLN*: A Nue is a Japanese chimera with a monkey's head, tanuki's body, tiger's limbs and a snake tail.
"This is a Bone Chimera. A creature born of a single malicious entity trapped in the bones of multiple animals, humans and monsters... This is the first time I am seeing one," said Zadiris. "Bone Bird, Bone Monkey, Bone Wolf, Bone Bear, Bone Man. This is a splendid display of loyalty."
"Umm... I am still here," said Bone Man.
"Ah, that is right."
Bone Man's skull was still lying on the ground. The magic spear's rampage was over, so his bones were steadily gathering together, however.
"Bone Man, please let me know if there are any bones you are missing," said Vandalieu.
"As you will."
Vandalieu headed towards the magic spear lying on the floor, bringing Bone Chimera with him.
"Vandalieu-sama, it's dangerous to approach that spear!" Eleanora said, trying to stop him, but he waved her down with his hand.
As to be expected of an Artifact; there wasn't a single scratch on the magic spear. Vandalieu enveloped it in dark, death-attribute Mana and then touched it.
"Do not touch me!" shouted a voice echoing inside his head.
It seemed that this magic spear had a clearer personality than Vandalieu had expected. A weapon with conscious intelligence; should this be called an Intelligent Weapon?
"Filthy Dhampir! I do not know what your intentions may be, but they will certainly be crushed by Mikhail's successor, my future owner! Enjoy your brief victory while it lasts!"
"Ah, I'm not interested in that stuff, so can I ask you to tell me some things regarding the current situation? You were a spear originally created to serve Peria, not Alda, weren't you?" asked Vandalieu.
Judging from the angry, distressed tone of Ice Age, he could guess that Yupeon, the god of ice, had similar views to Alda and the champion Bellwood unlike Tristan, the god of the seas who had mated with Vida to become one of the ancestors of the Merfolk.
Ice Age, an Artifact created by Yupeon, shared his views. And the hero it had acknowledged as its owner over two hundred years ago was Mikhail, the Divine Spear of Ice. He had been a devout believer of Alda, a hero who believed in the justice of the Amid Empire and Mirg shield-nation from the bottom of his heart.
However, he had been narrowly defeated by the goddess-made Dragon Golem and Ice Age was left embedded in the Golem's chest, separated from its owner.
In this world, those who lost their lives can never come back. In Mikhail's absence, Ice Age had decided to use his cursed ice to seal away the resurrection device that overturned this law of his own accord so that nobody would ever touch it.
Normally, he wouldn't have been capable of doing this without his owner despite being an Artifact. But by coincidence, he had been able to use the Dragon Golem's core that was lightly touching its tip and receive the necessary supply of Mana from there. He had built multiple walls that only Mikhail could pass through.
The wall that contained Zandia's hand was not Mikhail's doing, but Ice Age's.
"But it was not Mikhail or the one who bears his will, but you who came to this place. An insolent creature such as you who toys with life, accompanied by two filthy undying creatures! How regrettable it is that I was only one step away from completely crushing your ambitions!" screamed Ice Age.
"That's – what?" Vandalieu was about to say, 'That's a shame', but then he had noticed something strange about Ice Age's words.
Two... He said, 'two'. Even if you exclude Rita and Saria, there's Borkus, Bone Man, Bone Bear... Six in total. I'm sure this guy wouldn't use a different counter between Undead people and animals*.
So why two? The first time I came here, it was me, Borkus and Nuaza, the three of us. Is that what he means?
TLN*: Ice Age used the counter for animals rather than people, i.e. "Two Undead animals". Using this counter while referring to Undead like Borkus would be a way to show disrespect towards them.
Vandalieu didn't know how good this magic spear's five senses were, but it seemed that it had been working even while embedded in the Dragon Golem's chest.
It was obvious once he thought about it. In this state, Ice Age had created walls of ice at the entrance to this chamber, the distant corridor and the entrance leading to this underground area, after all.
It wasn't strange to think that he had noticed Vandalieu and his companions when they had visited this place around two years ago.
So what has this guy been doing up until now? When a Dhampir who was able to melt his cursed ice appeared in the company of two Undead instead of Mikhail's successor, what did he do in this period of over a year?!
"Vandalieu, what's wrong with you all of a sudden? Are you talking with that spear? Hello?"
"Bocchan, what's the matter?!"
Taking no notice of Vigaro and Saria's voices, Vandalieu began to run towards the door that the Dragon Golem had been protecting.
The door, which was made of the same material as the wall and difficult to spot, opened on its own as Vandalieu approached. It had probably been set to open once its guardian, the Golem, was defeated.
On the other side of the door was a large pipe made of some unidentified glass-like substance, a magic circle, a monolith with indecipherable characters engraved on it and something that resembled a flat-screen television from Earth.
All of them had been pierced by icicles, damaged and broken.
"Fu... FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It seems that it has worked well! I could obtain Mana from the Golem's core, but I had become unable to move in exchange for that. I was unsure whether I had managed to destroy the device with the ice that I created in that distant space, but it is a relief to see that I succeeded! Your evil plans have fallen apart, Dhampir!"
Ice Age's harsh, loud laughter sounded repulsive to Vandalieu's ears. Behind him, Bone Chimera let out a sorrowful cry while Vigaro and the others stood there, frozen in place.
And then Vandalieu turned his wide-open eyes towards Ice Age.
If it's broken, I just have to fix it, and if that's impossible, I just have to find another way. I'll never give up on resurrecting Mom.
But before that, I have to dispose of this thing.
"You would destroy me, Dhampir? It is indeed likely possible for an insolent creature such as you who is even capable of manipulating Orichalcum, something that only the gods should be allowed to do. However, doing so would be meaningless. I am an Artifact created by Yupeon, the god of ice; I am essentially a clone of him. Even if this spear is destroyed, my consciousness will return to Yupeon and one day I shall stand before you once more in the hands of another hero like Mikhail. And then I shall sever the thread of your evil life, along with your filthy undying creatures!"
Vandalieu felt nauseous as he listened to the repulsively confident voice that had absolute belief in its own righteousness.
"I'll ask you just to make sure. Are you serious?" Despite his nausea, Vandalieu asked the spear this question, just to be absolutely certain about his upcoming decision.
"Of course! If you should regret anything, regret your own cursed birth –"
"Then I will destroy you."
Vandalieu stabbed his spirit-form fingers into the magic spear. He felt the Orichalcum resist, tearing off his skin. He felt pain, as if his exposed flesh and bone were being scraped away by a file.
Ice Age's voice turned into a screaming noise. It sounded so pleasant to Vandalieu's ears that he forgot his own pain.
"It seems that you're a clone of a great god, but you're one of our genuine enemies," he said. "Since you've said that you will curse us and deny us with all of your might, with not a single shred of mercy, with no exception, then I have no choice but to do this."
It was possible that Ice Age didn't know why Vandalieu had wanted to obtain the resurrection device. But it didn't matter.
In that case, that would simply mean that Ice Age had said, 'evil intentions,' while not knowing anything. If that was the case, Dhampirs were an absolute evil to him, worse than insects that caused only great harm while having no benefits to existing whose intentions were not even worth listening to.
That was to be expected. This spear believed Mikhail's actions had been those of justice.
The actions of the hero who had believed his home nation was good for obeying the orders of the Empire to invade the Titan nation that was doing nothing more than prospering in the area surrounded by the mountain range. The hero who had put an end to that nation.
And he even called those who had turned into Undead after being killed by that hero 'filthy'.
As long as this magic spear existed, he would continue cursing Vandalieu and his companions for being evil and watch vigilantly for an opportunity to tear out their entrails with his tip. That was the kind of existence he was.
"If I left someone like you alone, I wouldn't be able to calmly look for a way to resurrect my mother, and I would definitely be unable to become happy in the future," said Vandalieu. "Ah, there it is. I thought it would be here since you said you're a clone of a god; I'm glad I found it. Even I can't destroy something that doesn't exist."
Ice Age continued screaming unintelligibly. "You... bastard... You would turn a god into your enemy –"
"No, we're enemies of your god no matter what we do, aren't we? So it doesn't matter what I do, does it?"
What was Ice Age trying to say after he had already destroyed any opportunity for negotiations, reconciliation, harmony or a truce, all on his own?
Had he said and done all of these things with so little resolve that he expected to remain unharmed afterwards? If so, Vandalieu couldn't help but admire his nerve. He would find it impossible to be so bold.
"I think it's impossible for you to do this, but if you can, please tell him something for me," said Vandalieu. "Tell him that he's my enemy."
"Gih, gah, M-Mikha –"
Ice Age's wonderful song stopped and the clear sound of a cloned god's soul being destroyed rang out.
【The levels of the Golem Transmutation, Spirit Form, Multi-Cast, Soul Break and Long-distance Control skills have increased!】
【You have acquired the unique skill, God Slayer!】
Note from the translator:
DAMN what a chapter to finish the volume! Stay tuned for the extra chapter which is coming next.
The character summary page will indeed be translated due to the reader vote and myself leaning slightly towards it, as well as one of the previous large contributors expressing that it should be translated.
The third volume will be coming after that! It's titled "March of the Eclipse King's Army." Not entirely sure on the translation of "Eclipse" part but that's the main meaning of the kanji. I guess we'll see how accurate my translation is once we find out who this Eclipse King is.
Yoshi
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