-----
Ervas and Veronica were shrouded in darkness the moment they defeated the Wyvern Boss.
?
"What is going on?" wondered Veronica.
"I don't know…" muttered Ervas.
Their consciousness began to drift and became one just like sometimes it happened when they slept. Their converged consciousness drifted around the darkness as they slowly stopped moving and stayed stagnant.
"We are one it seems?"
"Once again we are one"
Flash!
Suddenly, white light appeared atop their vision, illuminating the shadow with the shape of people surrounding them.
"Who are these-" wondered Ervas and Veronica, as they were interrupted by the voices of many people.
"Anastacia-sama! Why?!"
"Why you couldn't save us, Anastacia-sama?!"
"It hurts… it hurts so much…"
"They killed my wife… and burned my daughter alive! Why couldn't you save us?!"
"After all you told us… after all you taught to us…"
"You said that you would protect us!"
"Why?! Why?!"
"My mother… My father…"
"Those monsters came and… and did so many atrocities!"
"You promised to us that you would be there for us!"
"You weren't there…"
"Now… Now… we are all dead…"
"Why weren't you there?"
"We were waiting for you…"
"Anastacia! Queen Anastacia! You couldn't help us when we most needed it at all!"
"Why couldn't you help us?!"
"The burns… they hurt…"
"My house… our houses… all burned…"
"The suffering… even after dying… it doesn't go away! It doesn't go away!"
"It hurts so much… we are hopeless… and hollow…"
"There is no hope…"
"The suffering and pain… it's all in there… even without our bodies…"
"Why…? Why…?"
Ervas and Veronica's unified consciousness heard the suffering and the pained voices of the people…
Who could these people be?
"Again… they call for us," they said.
"The voices of our people… The ones we could not save. The ones we could not help. The ones we left… to die"
"We are sorry… We are sorry that we could not help you… I was… so utterly hopeless… I could not do anything… even when all of you… e-even when all of you put all your faith into me… I am… I'm so sorry…" they muttered, emotions that they usually wouldn't show to anyone began to blossom from within their unified hearts.
Sadness.
Depression.
Hopelessness.
Although both of them always showcased immense strength and mental fortitude… they were fragile inside.
Incredibly fragile.
The moment Anastacia had her soul split apart, they became insane.
Insanity kept them afloat.
But through these dreams, they were reminded of their sins.
The thousands of people that died that day…
Their strength was hopeless here, they could only receive the blame of the people and drown themselves in their guilt
A terrible sense of guilt that ate their very souls.
"You couldn't save us!"
"You didn't do anything for us!"
"Why?! My mother and I… were burned at the stakes!"
"The humans violated me and killed me!"
"They burned my baby! My baby!"
"Why weren't you there?! Why were you saying that you would protect us if you weren't there?!"
Ervas and Veronica took it all.
All the blame.
Somehow, adrift the worlds, they heard the cries of the fallen from their former Kritias.
Mirror Kritias was that a Mirror of the original world.
Somehow, certain events would leak to the Mirror World.
Due to the connection Ervas and Veronica had with the original Kritias, the cries from the fallen of that world came to them.
Their negative emotions drowned them.
Showering in the suffering of their people.
The beloved Demons and Beastmen, the innocent people that died without a reason other than what the Gods desired.
Why were they thrown into this world again?
Often, they thought about if it would have been better to be left with their people, to accompany them in the afterworld, and to ask for their forgiveness for eternity.
But they were sent to Mirror Kritias.
To do something, to do something important.
If they could not save their original world's people…
They needed to do it in this one.
No matter what.
"That's why… everyone… hang in there"
"We'll come back to you one day. We promise you"
"So for now… let us amend our sins in here… we'll make sure to never let these people go through the same things…"
"We'll make up for it, we promise"
The voices of the fallen slowly calmed down over their soothing voices.
Even after all their hate and suffering, they still recognized them as their Queen.
"Do you… promise it?"
"Will you… really help me and mommy be at ease?"
"Please… we are… counting in you…"
"Queen Anastacia…"
"The Talentless Demon Queen…"
"But the one with the greatest heart…"
"We will forgive you when you prove… that what you said is true"
"But for now, we'll wait…"
"So please…"
"Do your best… our Queen…"
Ervas and Veronica felt a sharp pain deep within their whole beings, it was the guilt once again striking them.
"Yes… we'll make sure to… help you all"
"And then… we'll punish him"
"Bestellen has his days counted"
At last, the thousands of souls in grief, agony, despair, and suffering soothed to their words.
"Thank you… for even after death… being with us through this…"
Flash!
"We'll give you the little thing we have left… so please…"
"Please… save us"
Flash!
"We'll wait for you…"
Flash!
A bright white light, a small lump of energy suddenly appeared in front of Veronica and Ervas.
"This is…"
"It is a Divine Protection"
"Just from whom?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Our people"
The combination of the thousands of souls that could not be reincarnated in the Demon Continents of the Original Kritias converged into such a strong power of grief and suffering that they created a small, sparkle of power, slightly, very slightly akin to the divine protection of an exceedingly small god.
Despite the suffering and blame, they still had the undying devotion of Anastacia's citizens, until the very end…
Flash!
Ding!
[Veronica and Ervas acquired the [The Fallen Demon Kingdom's Citizens Divine Protection]!]
"The Divine Protection of our fallen people…"
"This is… I can feel all of them with us now"
"We'll be together from now on, everyone…"
-----
"Ervas! Veronica!" shouted Pekorina, trying to wake up Ervas and Veronica, who had suddenly fallen unconscious the moment they defeated the Wyvern Boss.
"They just fell unconscious after defeating the Wyvern?!" asked Jason.
"Yeah! Veronica went back to her original shape, so she's not dead…" said Acathea.
"Gubo… Ervas… Veronica… Wake up…" muttered Aqua.
"Wake up already!" said Acathea.
"Why did you just fell unconscious out of nowhere?! This is worrying you know?" asked Amelia.
"Please… Veronica… Boy…" muttered Anna.
"Veronica! What is going on? Her soul… it feels as if she had fallen into some kind of induced sleep! I cannot wake her up!" said Shade in panic.
"Could it be some kind of curse?" asked Ismene.
"I don't know… but my son! Wake up Ervas! You cannot just leave your father like this! My son…" muttered Jason while crying and holding his son with his arms.
"Why are you crying?" asked the expressionless voice of a young boy.
"!!!"
Ervas suddenly opened his crimson eyes, as he glanced at his father.
"I am here father, don't worry," said Ervas.
"Ervas!!! I thought that… something… happened to you!" said Jason.
"No, I'm fine… we just had a little nap," said Ervas.
"Yeah!" said Veronica, waking up as she materialized her face.
"Veronica!!!" shouted Shade and Anna at the same time, hugging her metallic body… although Shade could not hug.
"What is going on…? We were just… err, sleeping" said Veronica.
"Sleeping?! You never sleep!" said Anna.
"I told you that they were fine, you shouldn't have panicked so much," said Ismene… although she released a sigh of relief.
"We are fine… we just had a very… particular dream," said Ervas.
"Yeah, it just made our minds a bit clearer about things…" said Veronica.
Ervas then hugged his father and kissed his cheek.
"My son…?" said Jason.
"I love you father, thanks for being a good father," said Ervas.
"A-Ah! I-I love you too my son! I am thankful for having someone like you!" said Jason, hugging his child back.
Veronica hugged Anna, Aqua, and many others by extending her body like liquid metal.
"I love you all!" she said.
Ervas did the same through his phantom form transformation skill, extending his arms as if they were noodles.
"I also love you all," he said.
Everyone present became flustered for a moment…
"Ah, what are you two talking about, peko? Y-You should not say those things, peko! Well… b-but I love Ervas and auntie Veronica as well… p-peko…" said Pekorina.
"H-Hey, this is weird… I-It is not like we don't appreciate you two, but you need to be this mellow?" asked Acathea.
"Yes," said Ervas and Veronica at the same time.
"Okaay…" sighed Acathea.
"I love hugs!" said Amelia happily.
"Guburuu! Ervas, Veronica, I love you two as well!" said Aqua cutely.
"Veronica, boy! This is quite awkward…" muttered Anna while flushing.
"T-This… V-Veronica did you just k-kissed me?!" said Shade.
"Just what kind of dream did you two have to hug us like this?" asked Ismene.
"Gishishishi…" said Charlotte, happy to be loved.
"Well, it was complicated…" said Ervas.
"Nothing much," said Veronica.
The two did not want to reveal this worrying dream, as it would make the people around them too worried. For now, they decided to relax a bit and eat the Wyvern meat with their family.
There is a long road before going back to the Original Kritias… so for now, they're taking slow yet steady steps.
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This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦