Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

※Typo corrected on 5/19.

This is Satou. Vampires often appear as final bosses in games and stories alongside the Demon King, but I wonder if there’s any antagonist with more weaknesses than they have?

They can’t withstand sunlight, garlic, or running water, and can’t enter a house without being invited—it's a parade of weaknesses. But precisely because of that, they can be defeated through wisdom and courage without relying on a hero, which makes them well suited for stories.

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After returning to the lower layers, I decided to investigate a bit more before visiting the vampire.

Earlier, my main focus was on rescuing Ms. Zena, so I hadn’t thoroughly examined the area. Now, I conducted a detailed investigation.

There were about 30 entities above level 50 in the lower layers.

The highest level was the ancient root soul (elder root) in the second largest large section, at level 99. It seemed to be a plant-type monster, occupying the entire large section with its enormous body.

It was the same level as the great monster fish (tovukezera), but apparently not the lord of the layer (floor master).

I even searched for the floor master, but it seemed there was none.

Next highest was the evil lesser dragon at level 80.

Despite being higher level than black dragon heilong, it’s still classified as a low-rank dragon (lesser dragon)?

I wonder what criteria determine whether a dragon is low-rank or not?

I’ll ask Heilong next time.

Although I expect the answer to be “I don’t know,” there’s no one else I can ask.

The third highest was the king mummy, level 72. He has unique skills like “metal creation” and “dream factory,” and his name is Tetsuo.

He must also be a reincarnator like the true ancestor.

I’ll visit him after meeting the true ancestor.

Then there’s the iron phantom (iron stalker) at level 53.

He also has a sinister unique skill called “soul possession.” His name is Takeru, so he’s likely a reincarnator as well.

His species is living armor, so I imagine he uses “soul possession” to make the metal armor his body.

If Arisa heard this, she’d probably blackmail him with “Say ‘big brother.’”

These two tentative reincarnators seem to occupy two adjacent large sections.

Probably good friends.

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Guardians were stationed in front of the main gate leading to the large section where the vampires reside.

“If you wish to pass this gate, show your strength.”

“If you wish to pass this gate, show your wisdom.”

“If you lack both sword and magic, turn back.”

The three mouths engraved on the gate writhed like living creatures, speaking these words.

The guardians consisted of two enormous golems over 9 meters tall and a translucent wraith.

The golems were of two types: a bone golem resembling a giant skeleton and an iron golem looking like a robot made of steel.

The iron golem wielded a weapon that combined a cannon and an axe, while the bone golem had four arms holding two daggers, a mace, and a round shield. Although called daggers, from my perspective, these looked more like thick greatswords, considering the golems’ size.

Since I came for a talk, wiping them out would be bad.

Ignoring my contemplation, the iron golem opened the fight.

It fired a fiery projectile from the cannon-axe weapon.

I didn’t want the hassle of using “magic disruption,” so I deflected the fireball with my hand, diverting its trajectory.

The diverted fireball hit the corridor wall behind and exploded violently.

Taking that as a signal, the wraith began chanting “freeze paralysis (ice paralyze),” and the bone golem carrying weapons in both hands charged.

I nimbly dodged the rapid left-right strikes with light steps, then lightly touched the opponent’s palm in time with their attack.

At that moment, I swiftly drained their magic with “mana drain,” rendering them immobile.

The magic-less bone golem shattered like a skeleton struck by turn undead, scattering bones on the ground.

I bound the scattered bones with magic-sealing ropes and wires made from thorn vine foot’s vines to prevent them from repairing and rejoining the fight.