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A week has gone through since the Ghoul Tribe was assimilated into the Igni Kingdom, and now there was a small council going on inside of the Royal Castle once again, with Ervas and Veronica reporting the news about what they discovered when the undead bugs explored Oggoth's hideout.
?
Those present in this 'council' were most of who Veronica and Ervas considered as their family, the only ones not included were the younglings, as they were not that good in strategy planning… of course, Ervas was an exception to this rule.
"We'll be straightforward, Oggoth seems to still have some power left, because he somehow raised the High Gazer King, a Rank 8 monster, into an enormous creature… A High Gazer Emperor, a Rank 10 monster…" said Veronica.
"What?! This… are you sure that your information is right, Veronica?" asked Ismene.
"Yes, our Appraisal Skill cannot lie, it always tells us the truth about what we use it into… it was a Rank 10 High Gazer Emperor. And it even possessed the skill 'High Gazer Egg Production', which lets it lay Eggs that hatch Rank 6 High Gazers…" Ervas said with the expressionless face he always had.
"This is… troublesome! If we do not go there right now and end Oggoth's plans, we will be swarmed by these fiends sooner or later… Perhaps a few dozen was fine, but what if hundreds or even thousands of such monsters constantly attack us? Even if we can defeat them easily, they are bound to slip off our grasp and end up attacking the Kingdom!" Anna said with a concerned expression in her emerald eyes, she was certainly one of the strongest fighters of the Kingdom, but even she acknowledged this fact.
"How has Oggoth reacted to this? What is he currently doing?" asked Riaan.
"He's been slumbering as of now, leaving most of the work to the High Gazer Emperor… But he seems to be recovering a bit of his power through the growing population of High Gazer praying to him and offering their faith to him… If we let this continue for another week or a month… we might end up in a troublesome situation" Ervas said.
"This damned demon god! To think that he had such a card behind its sleeve! This really frustrates me… Are there any other options left, Ervas, Veronica?" asked Ismene.
"Not much, we can only go and confront it… our odds are… good enough. Depending on how many High Gazers he had gathered like an army, it might take some more time to take them all down… but as long as we go right now and we don't let them grow more, we should be able to pull it off at the end" said Ervas confidently.
"Such confidence, as expected of our King- I mean Prince!" said Leonidas.
"That's right, we have gathered a large enough army of our own, we have over fifty Plant-type monsters led by Ivy, alongside my tamed monsters, there are the Undead Golems we can create and my Clones… If we gather them all in a whole army and invade Oggoth while he least expects it, we can crush him once and for all!" said Veronica.
"Veronica-sama, so confident as well!" said Leonidas again.
There was not many tactics or strategies in Ervas and Veronica's plans, it could be said to be incredibly rushed, but they were confident in their strength and numbers, and by using the environment to their advantage, there was not the need for complex strategies nor anything of the sort.
"I think it is the best we can do, honestly," said Mysticia.
"Indeed, we have reached quite far in this little time we have gathered here… but to continue growing, we need to get Oggoth out of the way," said Pekoran.
"I agree! We will beat him to death! Now that I have changed Jobs thrice, I am not the same Leonidas as before!" Leonidas said in high spirits.
"You're still not enough to fight him alone, Leonidas, I will give you a hand," said Anna.
"We shall also use the strength we have cultivated for the sake of Lord Ervas and Lady Veronica!" said Lilith and her 'sisters'.
"Although I haven't become as strong as I want yet, I will whatever tools I have to be of any use," said Pekoran.
"Well, everyone, you don't have to worry about Oggoth, as we will defeat him by ourselves, we are the only ones capable of damaging him and finishing off for real," said Ervas.
"However, by doing so, you'll have to take all of the burdens of both protecting the Kingdom and fighting against the army of Oggoth, so we are counting in all of you, our people, and our family," said Veronica with a warm smile.
"You won't be alone there, I will be there with you as well, Veronica!" said Shade within Veronica's soul.
"Thanks, Shade, I really appreciate it," said Veronica.
"Ah! That is nothing, it is just my duty as your Spirit…" said Shade nervously.
"I see, we need to prepare a lot before that though, armor, provisions, and more," said Ismene.
"Yes, we shall start preparations tomorrow morning," said Ervas.
"But what about the defense of the Kingdom, my son?" asked Jason.
"Ah, don't worry, the whole Kingdom is alive after all, and we'll also leave a lot of monsters and veronica's clones protecting it," said Ervas.
"Alive?" asked Alesia, the Ghoul chief.
"Well yeah… You did not know? Every building, from the paved streets to the walls surrounding the Kingdom are golems, they will move and attack any invader" said Veronica.
"What?! So we have been living in a golem this whole time?!" asked Leonidas.
"More or less, Leonidas" said Ervas.
"That's… hard to digest! So we live inside golems, we walk over golems, we go to the bathroom… in golems…" said Leonidas.
"Yes, even the bathrooms are golems, they're very efficient when cleaning waste by moving it to the subterranean zones of the forest, where it all becomes fertilizer for the Devil Forest," said Ervas with a mild smile.
"That's surprisingly efficient yet disgusting!" said Alesia.
"That's how we do things here," said Veronica proudly.
"I don't think that's something to be proud of, Veronica…" muttered Jason.
"Well, it works! So it doesn't matter the method" said Veronica.
"It is better to not tell the whole citizens that the bathrooms are golems inhabited by spirits that were formerly monsters or plants though," said Ervas.
"I wonder how spirits feel about… well doing all of that," said Leonidas.
"They're always glad to help, they say," said Ervas.
"I suppose it's fine then…" muttered Alesia.
After some more chatting, the whole group was dismissed so everyone could concentrate on their daily activities.
Veronica and Ervas had recently reached the max level in their Jobs due to the passive Experience Points earned by hunting monsters constantly in the Wyvern's Dungeon, alongside using their Clones to accompany their tamed monsters or family in hunting, gaining EXP from watching them defeat monsters.
Much like Veronica, Ervas was now capable of creating clones through his 'Out of Body Experience' Skill, coupled with 'Phantom Form' and 'Phantom Materialization' Skills, but his limit was around fifty, which fifty draining a lot of his Mana, so he usually only used around twenty to still have Mana around to use in other things.
Veronica was still the master of Clones, already having over two hundred Clones wondering all across the Kingdom and Devil Forest… they were barely 10% as strong as her, but that was enough to make for a hefty army nonetheless, and whenever they were 'combined' together through assembling as if they were mechas, they could exert greater power.
Veronica's utility was the greatest, and she alone was carrying most of the important necessities of the Kingdom, giving everyone a very comfortable lifestyle… of course, without Ervas Mana, it wouldn't be possible.
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