377 Death Mage V12 Side Chapter 48

Side Chapter 48
A crisis looming over Origin


In another world, Origin, a crisis of life and death was looming.

"If humanity goes extinct, the gods of Origin will soon disappear as well. In that case, even if the planet itself remains, it will be no different from the end of the world."

"The God of Origin is an existence created by the collective faith and fear of humanity. Therefore, it cannot create new intelligent life forms like we do. If humanity goes extinct, they would have no choice but to inevitably perish together."

"It's not easy for us to create intelligent life either."

Zuruwarn, the God of Space and Creation, and Ricklent, the Magic God of Time and Arts, were on the outskirts of Lambda, checking to see if there was any activity in the other world .

Origin, like Earth, is a world that is spatially close to Lambda, and the speed at which time flows between worlds is roughly the same. However, there can be discrepancies where flow of time can speed up by several months to a year. It happened recently, but that doesn't mean it won't happen again for a while.

Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, and there would be no need to pay attention to it... but with the current situation at hand, it must not be overlooked.

"Indeed, that’s true, but let’s not add any unnecessary comments. More importantly, regarding the crisis in Origin... Do you think Rodcorte will take action?"

"Not only may he not take action, he may not even be aware that a crisis of life and death is looming. There's a high possibility that he won't act because he is aware of it."

The danger looming over Origin was due to the research on death-attribute magic conducted by Rokudou Hijiri of ‘Avalon’.

If the research succeeds... in other words, in the worst-case scenario, Rokudou Hijiri's research on the continent where it is being conducted, and if the human population of Origin cannot handle it, the life forms in either the northern or southern hemisphere will face extinction.

It's not just humanity but all life forms that will be wiped out. Birds, beasts, fish, plants, as well as fungi, molds, and bacteria in the air, underwater, and ground will all cease to exist.

It will happen on a continental or hemispherical scale, just like what happened a few years ago when Pluto from ‘The 8th Guidance’ unleashed death-attribute mana after her death in the Department of Defense.

Humanity won't immediately go extinct, but it is uncertain whether they will survive in the long run. After all, not only will humanity be reduced by half, vast areas will turn into dead lands and seas without life.

It is unknown whether Rodcorte has anticipated such a situation. No, even if he did, he might only see it as an opportunity for many of the reincarnated individuals, the Bravers, to die and become pawns against Vandalieu.

"We don't know how much value he sees in Origin at the moment. Even if half of the world's life forms die due to the runaway death-attribute mana, as long as their souls aren't shattered, his Circle of Reincarnation system may remain unaffected. Besides, since the gods of Origin are allies of Vandalieu, it's possible that he actually wishes for the world's destruction."

Zuruwarn, speculating in that way, was unaware that Rodcorte had previously tried to abandon both Earth and Origin in order to separate Lambda from the Circle of Reincarnation system. Had he known, he would have been more convinced in his guess.

In actuality, for Rodcorte, Origin had become a secondary concern to him, and he didn't mind doing anything to it in order to achieve his highest priority, that is the “extermination of Vandalieu.” It has become nothing more than such a world.

If Vandalieu were to be exterminated and the Demon Empire of Vidal were to be destroyed, resulting in Rodcorte no longer being a god of Lambda, he would consider it to be “a little lucky” if Origin were to survive. On the other hand, if it were to perish, he would regard it to be a "well, it doesn't really matter" kind of situation, of relatively little concern.

"Although it could be that he simply believes that the other reincarnators will serve as a deterrent."

"You mean Amemiya Hiroto. It seems that the God of Origin is also willing to lend his power, so I’d like him to do something about it… And if possible, it would be great if he survives and spends his remaining years far surpassing the average lifespan."

While saying so, Zuruwarn and Ricklent prayed for Amemiya Hiroto's success.

"Zuruwarn, rather than that, have there been any movements among the gods of other worlds?  If Rodcorte were to request support and there were gods willing to respond... it would be truly pathetic."

Ricklent's worry stemmed from the possibility of Rodcorte seeking help from the gods of other worlds that runs Rodcorte’s Circle of Reincarnation.

Rodcorte may resort to threatening the gods of the other worlds with the cessation of their Circle of Reincarnation if they do not help him in eliminating Vandelieu.

"I think you might be overthinking it. It’s too much of a double-edged sword."

Zuruwarn said as he poured a dark liquid into his cup, gazing into the far reaches of space.

What Ricklent was concerned about was Rodcorte's coercion of the gods who wished for the survival of their world, and the possibility of other worlds’ gods responding to it.

However, if such threats were to be actually made, many gods from other worlds would likely feel distrust and apprehension towards Rodcorte. There is no guarantee that this threat would only be a one time deal against them. It is possible that Rodcorte would subject them to many unreasonable demands, using the Circle of Reincarnation as leverage.

Zuruwarn believed that in such a scenario, those gods would choose to establish their own independent Circle of Reincarnation system. After all, Demon King Guduranis and Vida were able to create their own systems by imitating the existing ones. There was no reason why the gods of other worlds couldn't do the same.

However, in doing so, Rodcorte would lose the ability to monopolize the Circle of Reincarnation from multiple worlds, putting himself in a precarious position as they were his source of power. Zuruwarn finds it hard to believe that Rodcorte would take such a risk.

"Furthermore, even if the gods from other worlds tries to invade our world... Even if we or Vandalieu don’t take any action, they would likely cease to exist within a matter of minutes. They have to descend into another world where the laws of physics are different after all.”

In general, for gods to descend to the earthly realm, a significant amount of energy is required. Performing such an act in Lambda, a world where the physical laws differ from their own world, would require even more energy. And if gods rooted in a specific world didn’t prepare... if they didn’t cross worlds together with the majority of their followers, they would suffer excruciating pain and damage, equivalent to having one of their limbs torn off.

Even if they were to come to this world under such conditions and Zuruwarn and the others were to do nothing, they would exhaust their powers and fall into slumber within a few minutes. If they possessed a physical body like a demi-god, they would simply die.

The only concern was if gods from other worlds, similar to Guduranis and the evil gods of the Demon King’s army who were different from Zuruwarn and the usual gods and demi-gods, were to invade.

However, it was unlikely that Rodcorte would negotiate with such beings and allow him to manage the Circle of Reincarnation, so there was no need to worry about this becoming a reality.

"I know that. More than a hundred thousand years ago, we were able to travel to ‘Earth’ and discover the Champions because the It was also due to your efforts, and us focusing on using our power to maintain our existence.”

(Note: Earth is where Vandelieu came from. ‘Earth’ is where Zakkart and the other Champions came from. They are different Earths, albeit identical in pretty much every way.)

At that time, it was important that negotiations with the gods of 'Earth' had been completed in advance. Though, for Ricklent and the other gods of Lambda, the environment of 'Earth' was something they could endure for a while. Furthermore, due to Zuruwarn's continuous connection between the two worlds through spatial rifts, they were able to remain connected to Lambda without being separated. Additionally, the fact that their purpose was to select humans to invite them to be Champions rather than engage in combat meant that they didn't need to exert as much power.

Bestowing power upon the Champions occurred during the fleeting moment when they crossed between worlds, allowing them to grant power without being hindered by the physical laws of both 'Earth' and Lambda.

"Ricklent, are you saying that the gods of other worlds can do the same thing as us?"

"That’s not it. While the difference between another world and Lambda is unknown, if their purpose is to fight, it would certainly be impossible... But if you're referring to simply drinking cola from a cup, then it is possible."

Ricklent fixed his gaze onto Zuruwarn, who was having a serious conversation with him with one of his four heads while casually sipping cola with another. With his own three-headed form, he couldn't help but entertain ungodly thoughts, like whether he should have a light snack with two of them.

"What I find truly pitiable is that if the gods of the other worlds were to succumb to Rodcorte's threats, they would lose their power and fall asleep within a few minutes, and they would not be able to revive themselves."

Moreover, the people of Lambda are unaware of the existence of gods who come from other worlds. Therefore, these gods cannot rely on the faith of the people of Lambda for the recovery of damage. Unless they return to their original worlds where their believers reside, they would not be able to revive.

"That would indeed be pitiful, but... we can only hope that Rodcorte doesn't resort to threatening the gods of other worlds.

“...That's true, but just to be safe, I will continue to remain vigilant for a while. If we can detect it beforehand, we should be able to issue a warning.”

As the two gods discussed, they did not think about the possibility that gods like Zuruwarn, who can manipulate space, and heroes on par with Schneider, Randolph, and Heinz may exist in other worlds. They had not thought that the gods could connect their world and Lambda and send these heroes.

After all, if there were gods with that much power and initiative, it would be easier for them and less risky to invade Rodcorte's divine realm rather than Lambda, seizing the Circle of Reincarnation system for themselves, or stealing information about the system to establish their own independent system in their world.

"However, if they were to learn that Rodcorte is on the verge of disappearing or will suffer irreversible damage, then the situation would be different… How is it going?

"The progress is so-so? Since I can't ask the person directly, all I can do is observe from afar. I can't confirm it for sure.”





Meanwhile, Rokudou Hijiri of ‘Avalon’, who was considered a threat to the survival of the world of Lambda more than a full-scale war between major nations, was feeling frustrated and doubtful about his plans and research not making progress.

"It seems like 'Metamorph' is no longer usable, huh?"

"Yes. Her confusion has gotten so severe that she can't maintain her form. She can only remain stable when sedated. We tried re-brainwashing, but neither magic nor drugs had any effect."

When Moriya of ‘Shaman’ answered so, Rokudou sighed. Up until now, he had controlled Shihouin Mari as 'Metamorph', using her as his body double to ensure his safety and above all, to buy time to advance his research on death-attribute magic.

However, ever since 'Metamorph' went berserk during the celebration of Mei’s third birthday held at the Amemiya household, Rokudou had lost control over her.

As a result, Rokudou had to personally engage in public media exposure from then on, which significantly ate into his time. If he had capable researchers who could continue the research on death-attribute magic, it wouldn't have been a problem, but...

"We should have kept some death-attribute magic researchers with us."

"To be accurate, we should have kept talented researchers."

Many of the death-attribute magic researchers were killed by 'The 8th Guidance’; Pluto and her companions. As for the researchers that the United States secretly secured and kept hidden, they were eradicated along with the Department of Defense by none other than Rokudou Hijiri.

The reason why the researchers were killed instead of being kidnapped or recruited was to monopolize the research. Rokudou, being a capable researcher himself, and with the convenient ‘Metamorph’ acting as his shadow that allowed him to switch between his public and hidden identity, it ensured enough time for his research. Therefore, he didn't feel the need to bring in external researchers.

There were still some researchers at Rokudou's top-secret laboratory apart from them. However, most of them were just staff members who operated the research equipment under the guise of researchers. In reality, they were essentially just laborers.

While there were some personnel dispatched by his collaborators, even if they were capable of assisting Rokudou, they cannot be expected to take the lead in the research.

Nevertheless, as long as the research had been progressing smoothly, there wouldn't have been any problems. Even if time was running out, Rokudou could have abducted Amemiya Mei, and proceeded with the plan to obtain death-attribute mana, and then the world.

The plan had already been prepared years ago, building alliances with both the public and secret power holders. With that, if he wanted to proceed, it could be done right away.

The work towards the Bravers had become somewhat difficult, as it seemed to arouse the suspicion of several individuals, especially Joseph of ‘Druid’. However, it was not a decisive obstacle. It seemed that Amemiya Hiroto also felt doubtful when he saw ‘Metamorph’ go berserk, but he doesn’t seem to be clear about it yet.

However, if the plan to abduct Amemiya Mei were executed, and the crucial research hadn't progressed enough for Rokudou Hijiri to obtain death-attribute magic, everything would come to an end.

His collaborators would turn against him, and Rokudou and his associates would be labeled by Amemiya Hiroto as traitors.

Rokudou was one of the most skilled magic users in the world and possessed superhuman physical abilities. While he had numerous reincarnators as allies, including Moriya Kousuke of ‘Shaman’, he still couldn't match up against Amemiya Hiroto, who had cheat abilities like 'Ignore Defense’.

To defeat him, death-attribute magic was necessary.

Additionally, there was also the existence of an enemy whose identity was still unknown.

"The true identity of someone lurking in the Amemiya household... or rather, the entity possessing Amemiya Mei, remains unknown.
Judging from the appearance of the Amemiya couple, it doesn't seem like it is in direct contact with them... but there is a possibility that it is communicating with Joseph.”

"As I thought, could it be that what had impacted ‘Metamorph’ was also...?"

"That's likely. What kind of magic... or rather, ability could it be? Is it possible that there are other reincarnators we are unaware of, besides the 'Undead’?"

The Amemiya household had sensors installed to detect all types of mana, including death-attribute. However, the sensors still couldn't detect the identity of the unknown hostile presence, even when ‘Metamorph’ was brainwashed and was driven to madness.

An unknown hostile entity like Banda, whether it was a survivor of 'The 8th Guidance' or a fanatical worshiper, or even an infiltrator sent by someone else, it was something that Rokudou and the others couldn't comprehend.

To act while remaining invisible without using magic or emitting mana and causing confusion in 'Metamorph'... it seemed impossible, if it weren’t for the existence of cheat abilities. Cheat abilities use mana to activate, but they do not emit mana, so they won’t be detected by the sensors.

In reality, Banda was just in a state of disappearance, and the reason he was able to disturb Metamorph's brainwashing was that he had met her in a dream before. And since it was only triggered by Mei's words, mana wasn’t used at all.

"...I still believe that Amemiya Mei is currently being possessed by an entity that was created by someone’s ability. To conceal such a powerful entity that is capable of instantly erasing my Artificial Spirit, there can be no other explanation."

Moriya's speculation was indeed correct. However, they never imagined that the 'someone' was actually codenamed 'Undead’, a reincarnator who no longer existed in this world.

"Indeed, it seems to be a reincarnator. Someone has become aware of my plan and has brought Joseph and the others to their side as allies to protect Amemiya Mei. But why keep it a secret from Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi? The lack of information is frustrating. At this stage, it is impossible to narrow down."

There are still many reincarnators who have survived, and the abilities granted by the god can be further developed. Thus, it would not be surprising that they may have discovered applications for abilities that Rokudou and his group are unaware of.

That's why Rokudou decided to temporarily give up on identifying the true identity of the ‘someone’. As long as that ‘someone’ was protecting Amemiya Mei, he would inevitably become an obstacle to the plan. However, Rokudou determined that his obstruction would be less than that of Amemiya Hiroto.

"More importantly, the issue lies with the research. Why isn’t death attribute magic manifesting?"

Rokudou directed his gaze to the data that documented the results of the extensive experiments he had conducted thus far. However, all that was recorded there were failed attempts.

In a highly classified research facility of a militaristic nation that had captured ‘Undead’, they continued conducting research based on the assumption of “individuals who lacked aptitude for all other attributes possessed aptitude for the death attribute.”

They gathered samples of humans who were believed to have no aptitude for magic from all around the world, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Although these samples were considered to have virtually no aptitude, in reality, they exhibited a minuscule amount. If the aptitude of an average person was considered to be 1, their aptitude would be around 1/100th.

The researchers at the secret facility then attempted to artificially create humans without aptitude. However, this, too, ended in failure. In the first place, at the time, the technology did not allow for the creation of humans from scratch, and while they were able to suppress the aptitude of attributes in clones copied from existing humans, they couldn't erase it completely.

And as a last resort, they exhaustively investigated the Undead's clones, his artificially created descendants, as well as his parents who sold him, and their relatives, but they were all utterly meaningless.

In the first place, what determines the aptitude of the attribute that a person possesses, even with the current technical capabilities of Origin, is unknown.

Subsequently, the research at the secret facility began to lose its direction. It was around this time that those who would later become known to be ‘The 8th Guidance’ were subjected to experiments.

However, Rokudou knew what determined the aptitude of a person's attributes.

"The attribute aptitude possessed by humans in this world is determined by their souls. No matter how much DNA is observed, it is completely meaningless. However, there are also examples like 'The 8th Guidance’, where individuals obtained the aptitude for the death attribute later in life, albeit incompletely. I took hints from such cases. They must have fulfilled some of the conditions."

"Yes, I received an explanation before. In order for Rokudou-san to obtain the power of the death-attribute, he must die.”

'The 8th Guidance' gained the ability to use death-attribute magic because they lost their attribute aptitude later in life and, though incomplete, they were already dead.

The brain-dead Isis, Valkyrie with a non-functioning heart, the stunted growth of Pluto, Berserk who had lost most of its body, and Shade who had completely lost his body... All the members, to varying degrees, were in a state that could hardly be considered fully alive.

It was through ‘Undead’ granting them the death attribute mana that the aptitude for the death attribute took root within them.

"That's right. That’s why I concluded as such. If the attribute aptitude is lost after revival and the body had been in a completely dead condition, it is possible to obtain the complete death attribute magic."

Certainly, as it stood, even if they obtained mana, they would just be corpses. Even if they could move, they would still be undeads. For it to be considered a success, the mana needed to be firmly established, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be performed, and if they were to not come back to life, it will not be considered a success.

"But something is still missing. The technology to remove aptitude has already been developed at the secret facility. The technology to capture the soul that has left the body and return it to the original body, as well as the ability to revive individuals who are not in a condition of temporary death but complete death, have also been completed. However... even then, all that is produced are inferior copies of ‘The 8th Guidance’, incomplete failures, or slightly different undeads."

Rokudou Hijiri had developed the technology to store souls, which was deemed impossible for humans in this world, and return them to their bodies.

If he were to make that technology public and applied it to the medical field, the medical science and healing magic of this world would have made significant advancements.

In the future, a society where people would only die from accidents, murder, suicide, or old age could be realized. It would be hailed as the greatest discovery of this century, and Rokudou Hijiri's name would be deeply engraved in history.

However, that level of achievement alone was far from enough to fulfill Rokudou Hijiri's ambitions. To him, it was merely one of the necessary technologies to achieve his ambitions.

In the documents, several examples of experimental cases were listed, where samples had obtained incomplete death-attribute magic. Techniques that decayed objects that were in contact, techniques that directly stole the moisture from the target... There were even those who acquired the same techniques as ‘The 8th Guidance’ members.

The reason why the samples could only use incomplete death-attribute magic was unknown. As Rokudou contemplated, Moriya spoke up.

"...As I thought, perhaps there is something different between reincarnators and humans of this world? Since ‘Metamorph’ has become useless, why don’t you use her for your research?"

"No, that wouldn't explain Amemiya Mei's case. While her parents are reincarnators, she herself is a human of this world. It would be a waste to lose such a precious sample through futile experiments... Wait, what do Amemiya Mei and 'Undead' have in common? Could that be the key to me obtaining death attribute magic?"

With a sudden realization, Rokudou delved deeper into his thoughts.

If there were a common point that could serve as a condition for obtaining death-attribute magic, he could only think of one. However, it was impossible to confirm it now since Pluto and ‘Urðr​’ were dead.

But if this guess was correct...

"Alright, we’ll conduct an experiment with ‘Metamorph’. Depending on the results, we will proceed with the plan... but it may take some time. Depending on the situation, I may need to discard my current body."

The threat that would determine the fate of Origin had finally begun to move.