The battle against the forces defending Botin was in a deadlock now due to Bakunawa’s astounding consuming ability.

The enemy demigods could not make any attempt to advance, as they would be devoured by Bakunawa, but Gufadgarn and her allies could not advance in front of him either. Even the monsters that were essentially beasts with low intelligence did not dare to draw near, feeling a primal fear of Bakunawa.

Thus, the battle was being fought entirely through light and lighting-based attacks that were not affected by Bakunawa’s vacuuming ability, and long-ranged attacks such as manipulating the ground beneath the enemy at a distance.

The only exception was the cannonball-type Demon King Familiars. Vandalieu didn’t mind these being devoured by Bakunawa, so they were fired by the cannon-type Demon King Familiars (in other words, himself), and around a third of them were devoured.

“Oh dear,” one of them said as it got caught up in Bakunawa’s vacuum.

“Make sure you chew properly,” said another as it followed the same path.

“Papa, you’re very delicioooous!” said Bakunawa.

The demigods defending Botin couldn’t be blamed for feeling a chill at the sight of Bakunawa mercilessly chewing and crushing the flesh-and-blood split entities of his father.

From the perspective of Gorn and his allies, it was simply bizarre to see Bakunawa eating his own father without hesitation, even if it was just his split entities, and Vandalieu being absolutely unconcerned about being chewed and killed by his own son. Even Darcia and the others who were protecting Bakunawa were watching with strained smiles, with no intention of actually trying to stop him.

This situation could only be described as utter madness, and Gorn and his allies wanted to defeat Bakunawa as soon as possible, but they were unable to inflict a single scratch on him as he was under the protection of Darcia and the others.

Meanwhile, Bakunawa… or rather, Darcia, was staying wary of the demigods’ long-ranged attacks and had no intention of making an approach.

Thus, time was simply going by in this deadlock situation, but… Gorn and his allies were the only ones who were getting impatient.

“We are simply bait to hold the enemy in place while the great Vandalieu frees Botin. Our objective is to simply buy time like this, rather than defeat the enemy,” said Gufadgarn.

It was desirable to defeat the enemy if possible, but she had no intention of doing anything reckless in order to do so. Thus, she was calmly observing Gorn and his allies.

Meanwhile, the Four Dead Sea Captains provided reports on the current situation.

“Master Godwin is complaining through the Goblin-head communicators: ‘Hurry up and let me fight.’”

“There are also complaints about the fake Cuatros being too small.”

“W-what shall we do?”

… It seemed that Gorn and his allies were not the only ones getting impatient.

“If Godwin makes too much noise, have the great Vandalieu placate him. As for everyone else, tell them that we must endure and persevere for a while longer,” said Gufadgarn, speaking into one of the Goblin-head communicators.

“Aye, aye! I’ll get the Demon King Familiar masters on it right away!” said one of the Four Dead Sea Captains on the other end.

Godwin’s voice was audible through the communicator for a moment, but it was suddenly cut off in an unnatural manner.

It seemed that he had been dragged away by the Demon King Familiars who were on the same ship as him.

As expected of the great Vandalieu, Gufadgarn thought as she nodded to herself several times.

However, the effort put into forcibly calming Godwin down were not rewarded; the battle began to progress once more.

“Ugh… I’m full,” said Bakunawa.

His vacuuming had stopped. Judging from the current size of his body, he had eaten such a vast quantity of matter that the word ‘glutton’ would not be sufficient to describe him, but it seemed that he did indeed have his limits.

With labored breaths, he curled his body up. Seeing this, excitement boiled within Gorn and his allies.

“Now is our chance!” Gorn shouted. “Close the distance, with the monsters and Golems at the front! Brateo, Madroza, don’t make a move yet!”

Brateo clicked his tongue. “Fine.”

Though he and Madroza had ignored Gorn’s orders to rush to the frontlines in previous battles, both of them were now standing by, and a horde of monsters that they had kept in reserve began advancing, alongside Orichalcum Golems with prominent marks where they had been repaired.

Most of the wild monsters that had attacked Gorn and his allies had already been defeated or fled. Seemingly understanding that Gorn and his allies were stronger than them, they showed no desire of trying to attack them again.

In their impatience, Gorn and his allies mistakenly believed that this was a good opportunity for them.

As a horde of monsters of all shapes and sizes advanced alongside the Orichalcum Golems, Basdia, one of the people defending Bakunawa, made her move.

Making use of the enhancement of her physical abilities by her transformation equipment, she performed a single flip in mid-air before delivering a kick onto Bakunawa’s back with a spirited shout.

A moment after Basdia’s kick, Bakunawa burped loudly and a beam of light erupted from his mouth, incinerating the monsters that were leading the charge and turning them into ash.

“Ah, I feel better now!” Bakunawa said happily.

“Great job, Basdia-san!” said Darcia.

“Yeah, I’m getting used to helping Bakunawa burp,” said Basdia.

“I know where to hit. But his scales are so hard that it is impossible for someone of my strength…” lamented Zadiris.

It seemed that Bakunawa had unleashed a Breath attack with his burp.

“That wasn’t a light-attribute Breath attack! It’s similar to Marduke’s ‘Long Breath of the Dragon-Emperor’…!” one of the demigods shouted.

“What?!” exclaimed another. “Impossible! Is he not merely an Elder Dragon birthed by Tiamat?!”

The Breath attack that Bakunawa had unleashed with his burp was the one that was unique to the Dragon-Emperor God Marduke, the ancestor of all Elder Dragons.

Vandalieu and his companions had been told as much by Tiamat when she first saw him burping and unleashing this Breath, but the gods of Gorn’s forces were shocked by this unexpected sight… especially Madroza and the other Elder Dragons.

Given Bakunawa’s bizarre appearance and the fact that he had called split entities of Vandalieu ‘Papa,’ Gorn and his allies had surmised that Vandalieu and Tiamat had mated in some way, and Bakunawa was the Elder Dragon that was born as a result.

This was indeed true, but… Bakunawa had demonstrated the ability to use the ‘Long Breath of the Dragon-Emperor,’ an ability that none other than Marduke himself possessed… Even Tiamat and Madroza, who belonged to the generation of Elder Dragons that Marduke had created himself, had not inherited this ability. This fact made the demigods instinctually believe that Bakunawa was some secretly-hidden direct descendant of Marduke.

“Damn it! Keep your wits about you! So what if he’s some orphan of Marduke’s! He is an enemy! Nothing more, nothing less!” shouted Brateo.

“Brateo! You’ll anger Madroza and the others!” Gorn warned him. “But you speak the truth. Listen, Madroza and my Elder Dragon allies. This is not Marduke. This is an atavistic descendant or something that has inherited a part of Marduke’s power. He is no different from you, as you have Marduke’s blood running through your veins as well!”

Though the demigods were greatly shaken, Gorn’s words quickly put them at ease… even though cannon-fire and beams of light were still pouring from the enemy fleet, leaving them no room for hesitation.

Gufadgarn put her mind to work, paying no attention to what Gorn and his allies were doing. To begin with, she hadn’t expected Bakunawa’s Breath attack to cause major unrest – ten seconds of hesitation was more than enough.

During that time, her allies had succeeded in cleaning up the monsters that were leading the charge and applying damage to the Orichalcum Golems.

But it seemed that buying any further time would be difficult.

Gorn and his allies, having regained their composure, were on the attack once more. They were keeping their distance and using long-ranged attacks, while leaving the remaining monsters, the Orichalcum Golems, and their own summoned beasts to fight on the frontlines.

“Dessert!” Bakunawa said gleefully.

A blood-red tentacle… or rather, tongue, extended from inside his mouth, looping around in a circle that surrounded the monsters, and in the next moment, he swallowed them whole.

“The blood is so sweet! But I can’t eat any more,” Bakunawa said.

“Then what about your ‘second stomach,’ Bakunawa-chan?” said Darcia.

What she referred to as a second stomach was not the same as the one often spoken of by women with sweet desserts before them. It was an organ that existed in Bakunawa’s body, one that served as a food storage space.

TLN: In English, we would say that one “always has room for dessert.” In Japanese, the equivalent saying literally means that one “has a second stomach for dessert.” (I don’t think this particular phrasing is very common in English)

In addition to the stomach that digested his food, Bakunawa also had a ‘second stomach’ that was capable of storing excess food. But due to the location of this organ, he could not fill it with the tremendous vacuuming force that he had previously demonstrated.

“Yeah, Mama told me to empty it before I came here, and I listened to her,” said Bakunawa.

“Good boy,” said Darcia. “Then if you see any delicious-looking enemies, don’t hesitate to store them in your second stomach. After chewing thoroughly, of course.”

“Got it!” said Bakunawa.

Following her instructions, he produced several tongues from his mouth that stretched out to grab monsters one after another.

The monsters screeched as they attempted to escape by severing the tongues that were entwined around them, but their sharp claws and teeth that were harder than Mythril or Adamantite could not inflict even a single scratch on the stretchy tongues.

But the tongues were not as powerful as Bakunawa’s vacuuming ability. A ten-meter-tall three-eyed Minotaur was one of the monsters that Bakunawa had targeted as delicious-looking, but rather than being pulled into Bakunawa’s mouth, it roared loudly as it pulled away, stretching out the tongue that was wrapped around its torso.

Bakunawa groaned as he sent a second and a third tongue at the three-eyed Minotaur, but the other monsters got in the way.

The monsters had no coordination or teamwork, but this was the first time Bakunawa had shown any sign of weakness; they repelled the tongues with spells and rammed their bodies into them from the side with all their strength, preventing them from reaching their target.

No matter how stretchy the tongues were, they were beginning to take damage from being attacked by these high-Rank monsters.

Darcia and Zadiris stepped in with spells to send the monsters scattering.

“‘Life Beast Pack Assault!’”

“‘Chaotic Light Flash Blade Dance!’”

Basdia and Vigaro leapt in to help clear the monsters as well, along with advice on things for Bakunawa to look out for when using his tongue.

“Bakunawa! When you use your tongues, don’t go for enemies that are too far away! And I know there’s a lot of choices, but eat them one by one, slowly but surely!” said Vigaro.

“If you don’t do that, it’ll hurt, you know. Got it?” said Basdia.

“Yeah, got it! Thanks, Grandpa Vigaro and Auntie Basdia!” said Bakunawa with an earnest nod.

Like a child learning from falling over, Bakunawa had gained experience from this failure. Incidentally, the wounds on his tongue had already healed.

“Don’t… DON’T MESS WITH US!” roared Brateo, realizing that this battle to the death was being used as an educational experience for this baby (Elder Dragon).

In his rage, he brought a particularly large bolt of lightning that split into multiple to rain upon Bakunawa and the others.

However, Legion suddenly appeared using Teleportation and used their body to block some of the lightning. The rest was blocked by the barrier produced by Zadiris and the ‘Moonlight Magical Girl’ Zandia, and the shield of the ‘Saint of Healing’ Jeena.

“The Zombie Titans were with you as well!” Brateo groaned as he received the damage of his own lightning, reflected by Legion’s ‘Counter.’

But because they possessed the ‘Fire and Lightning Resistance’ Skill, they received almost no damage from such insignificant lightning attacks. The damage reflected to Brateo was only slight.

“Keep it up, Brateo!” said Gorn, praising his actions in battle for the first time. “Keep attacking, splitting your lightning attacks into multiple, and be careful that they aren’t reflected by that mass of meat’s ‘Counter’ or Gufadgarn’s spells!”

“G-Gorn-dono! Are you sure about this?!” said the Crab Beast-King Gabildes, wondering if Gorn had lost his mind.

“Yes,” said Gorn with a nod. “The fact that they are defending this Elder Dragon named Bakunawa works in our favor – we can make sure that some fraction of their fighting strength is going into defending that creature! Continue your attacks, Brateo!”

“I don’t need you to tell me!” Brateo shouted back at Gorn as he brought more lightning attacks raining down.

But naturally, Legion and the others defended Bakunawa. Meanwhile, long-ranged attacks from Madroza and Gabildes targeted the nine remaining ships, including the real Cuatro, causing the cannon-fire and beams of light from the fleet to be sent in their direction.

“We are in a deadlock once more, but… it may seem too unnatural for there to be so little progress. Unleash Godwin. And send word for Knochen-dono and Bone-Man-dono to be deployed as well,” said Gufadgarn.

In response to these orders, another of the fake Cuatros exploded from within, and Knochen emerged. This swarm of bones also carried Godwin and Bone Man, who were heading right at Gorn and his allies.

Just as the battle looked like it would progress further, a shockwave came from far behind Gorn and his allies, as if something had exploded.

Bakunawa gave a startled cry and immediately used his wings to protect Darcia and the others around him.

“What is that?!” said Darcia, surprised by this sudden development.

“It doesn’t seem like an enemy attack!” said Zandia.

“This is… Could it be that Vandalieu had devoured Botin?!” shouted the Light Dragon God Ryularyus, his voice filled with fear.

But Gorn replied, “No!” with a satisfied smile. “Botin, the great god of the earth attribute, has been revived! A true miracle! We are victorious!”

Meanwhile, Vandalieu was standing in the middle of the area from which the shockwave had originated.

“I didn’t imagine that I’d end up on this side of it,” he said.

He had been sent back outside the seal that Guduranis had placed on Botin, but rather than ending up back inside his underground tunnel, he was now on the surface.

The backup forces stationed near Botin, who had been sent flying a short distance by the shockwave, stared in astonishment as they became aware of Vandalieu’s presence.

“Impossible! Why is Vandalieu here?!” one of them exclaimed.

“Has Botin-sama not been revived?!” shouted another.

“This is no time to be flustered! Kill the bastard, kill him!” roared a third, as he and his comrades began attacking Vandalieu.

《You have acquired ‘Botin’s Divine Protection’ and ‘Peria’s Divine Protection!’》

“I understand receiving Botin’s Divine Protection, but why Peria’s as well? Is she watching through Juliana?” Vandalieu wondered as he deflected the backup forces’ panicked Breath attacks and spells with ‘Barrier Bullet.’

Leaving this matter aside, he realized that it would be difficult to withstand a one-sided battle with these gods with him staying on the defense, so he produced an eyeball of the Demon King on the back of his head to examine the situation.

The seal has vanished without a trace, but it seems that it was quite big. About one minute until Borkus and the others arrive. The enemy won’t give me the moment I need to let Sam out of my shadow, but… well, I suppose I can do one minute.

“Everyone, I have finished freeing Botin. All that there is left to do now is call on the enemy to surrender, and kill those who still insist on fighting,” said Vandalieu.

He relayed this information to Gufadgarn and the others as well through the Demon King Familiars.

The attacks suddenly stopped.

“B-Botin?! No, she’s not alone!”

“Zantark, Ricklent, Zuruwarn… and Vida! Why are they here?!”

Botin, leading her subordinate gods, had placed themselves in between Vandalieu and the backup forces, followed by Vida and the other gods as well.

The mother-goddess was dark-skinned and had a build that looked sturdy, rather than elegant. Her brows gave off the impression of having a strong will.

She stared at the gods facing her as if glaring at them. “I thank you for all the work you have done so far – Alda, the God of Light and Law, and the rest of you, have all tried to protect the world in your own way while I was sealed away… But! So long as I am known as mother-goddess, I will never accept Alda, the God of Law and Fate!”

This declaration echoed far and wide, reaching Gorn and his allies as well, and they opened their eyes wide in shock.

“B-Botin, what are you saying?” one of the demigods stammered. “Please, clear your mind and –”

“My mind has never been clearer than it is now! This is my last warning for all of you. Demigods, return to your homes, and gods, devote your efforts to the maintenance of the world! If you do not… be very aware that you will become my enemy, as I am an ally of Vandalieu!” Botin shouted, her voice fiercer than any Elder Dragon’s roar, striking a heavy blow in the hearts of Gorn and the gods he commanded.

<li aria-level="1">Name: Juliana Alcrem<li aria-level="1">Titles: Princess Knight of the Demon Empire of Vidal, Leader of Morksi’s Mascot Squad, Cow Princess General<li aria-level="1">Rank: 9<li aria-level="1">Race: Hathor Princess Knight<li aria-level="1">Level: 0 Passive skills: <li aria-level="2">Enhanced Attribute Values: Under Command: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Enhanced Attribute Values: Mounted: Level 3<li aria-level="2">Strengthened Attack Power when Equipped with a Spear: Large (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Augmented Defensive Power when Equipped with Metal Armor: Medium (Awakened from Strengthened Defensive Power when Equipped with Metal Armor!)<li aria-level="2">Mental Corruption: Level 4 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Dark Vision (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Superhuman Strength: Level 10 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Strengthened Attribute Values: Creator: Level 5 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Self-Strengthening: Guidance: Level 5 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Physical Resistance: Level 3 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 3 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Mana Enlargement: Level 1 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Strengthened Attribute Values: Transformation: Level 4 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Vitality Enlargement: Level 1 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Allure: Level 1 (NEW!) Active skills: <li aria-level="2">Spear Technique: Level 5<li aria-level="2">Armor Technique: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Shield Technique: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Mount: Level 3<li aria-level="2">Coordination: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Etiquette: Level 3<li aria-level="2">Command: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)<li aria-level="2">Transcend Limits: Level 1 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Archery: Level 5 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Halberd Technique: Level 6 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Familiar Spirit Demonfall: Level 3 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Dancing: Level 4 (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Singing: Level 4 (NEW!)<li aria-level="1">Unique Skills: <li aria-level="2">Vandalieu’s Divine Protection (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Peria’s Divine Protection (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Vida’s Divine Protection (NEW!)<li aria-level="2">Botin’s Divine Protection (NEW!)

Monster explanation (written by Luciliano):

Hathor

A race produced by changes in a half-Minotaur triggered by the acquisition of Botin’s divine protection. I had hypothesized several possible causes of these changes, but… half-Minotaurs themselves are an unstable race, as they were created through pseudo-reincarnation, so I believe the changes were caused by this divine protection that was acquired after their birth.

It is also possible that in the half-Minotaur state, the mutation brought about by the death-attribute Mana has stopped halfway, and acquiring this divine protection caused the mutation process to reach completion.

Either way, there is no mistake in saying that Master is the cause for all of this.

These monsters have the appearance of dark-skinned females that are beautiful but are significantly larger than human females, with the horns of a cow. As this race has only just been created, it is unclear as to whether it is possible for males or individuals with different skin color to exist.

At the very least, Juliana and all of her sisters match the above description.

Incidentally, at this stage, the smallest of them seems to be a meter and seventy centimeters tall, while the largest is a little over two meters tall. It can be presumed that once they have finished maturing, some of them will be more than three meters tall.

They are exceptionally physically gifted, even more so than Minotaurs. Current known race variants are Rank 6 Hathors; Rank 7 Hathor Fighters, Archers, and Mages; Rank 8 Hathor Knights; and finally, the Rank 9 Hathor Princess Knight, Juliana.

It is unclear as to whether Juliana’s race title is a result of Zadiris’s curse, or because she was a princess knight in her previous life.

… Perhaps it would be wise to conduct an experiment where we isolate female monsters and members of Vida’s races from Zadiris as they receive lessons from Kanako and increase their Rank, and observe if ‘Princess’ still appears in their race or Job titles.