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Ervas and Veronica glanced at the tiny metallic ant in front of them, who was patiently awaiting their questions atop a table, he was recently freed from his glass bottle, but it's not like he could simply escape now or anything like that. And it was not as if he even wanted that anyway.
?
The day had finally come after Ervas and Veronica created a Life Attribute Ghost in Alraune, the two went to relax for the rest of the day, patiently awaiting the day after to finally ask questions that have been clouding their minds for a long time to this ant, Daniel.
A now, it was finally the time to do so.
"I believe that there is no need for introductions at this point, you know who we are, and we know who you are, right?" asked Ervas.
"Yes… I am well aware already that you two… Lord Ervas and Lady Veronica, are the reincarnation of the split souls of Anastacia, the last Demon Queen…" muttered Daniel with a low tone of voice while being quite serviceable, but because he is a small, not bigger than a one-centimeter monster ant, it wasn't as if he could look more pathetic.
"And you're a former Hero, a reincarnated soul born in the Holy Empire of Bestellen, the nation in the middle of this continent, the continent of Anir's Hands, companion of Eustace, the Light Hero, right?" asked Veronica.
"That is… right. But wait for a second… This continent?" asked Daniel.
"Ah, we didn't explain it to you, it seems…" said Veronica.
"However, to explain this, we must know something first. Who sent you here?" asked Ervas.
Daniel heard Ervas question as he glanced at the boy's flashing crimson eyes, which showered him in a bloodthirsty aura. He instinctively felt a strong pressure within his heart as his legs began to tremble. He knew that he had to answer truthfully.
"I… I do not know. But I can explain to you how it felt when I died, and afterward…" said Daniel.
Ervas and Veronica's crimson eyes flashed together as they heard his words, his soul was not instantly eaten by their Parasite Soul, so it seemed that he was saying the truth.
It was not as if their Parasite Soul Skill were some kind of lie detector, it was simply a 'soul clone' created by detaching a piece of their souls and seeping it into a soul, it expanded its 'roots' inside the soul and whenever the soul emitted a specific wave of thought that was clearly like that when someone lied, it would take effect.
It also had various adjustments, as it only worked when it was trying to lie to Ervas and Veronica. Ervas and Veronica could control it at any time they wanted as well, making for a deadly weapon that could easily destroy the soul of what it had parasitized.
"Then explain," said Ervas, while gripping his tiny hand.
"Y-Yes… Well, the moment I died was due to one of my- our companions from Earth, another of the coworkers… that guy named Gabriel who was given the God of Time Magic Cheat Skill… we used to name him Cronus, well… he revealed himself to be part of the Demon Gods Factions and tried to kill Eustace, I gave my life to shield the deadly attack… The thing is when I died, my consciousness was driven somewhere else, it wasn't in the white space that I expected from before, but I felt as if a different force pulled me away and then threw me into a fast river… The last thing I remember is waking up inside the tiny egg laid by my mother," said Daniel.
"He really does not know then…" said Ervas.
"Perhaps another God sent you here? Maybe Lamus and Vedon? We will never know unless we can see if he was given any Divine Protection" said Veronica.
"Divine Protections? I have one?" asked Daniel.
"We are not sure, even after glancing at your status. However, your soul felt odd and stronger than we expected… So you most likely have one Divine Protection within your soul that you are not aware of," said Veronica.
"…Is that so…? But… which god…?" asked Daniel.
"We are not sure, but we will keep digging into your soul until we figure it out, for now, answer a few questions," said Ervas.
"Y-Yes…" muttered Daniel.
"Oh right, we also have to tell you this, you almost forgot, Ervas," said Veronica.
"Right, sorry, I am simply quite angered right now, so it is clouding my judgment," said Ervas.
"Same, same… Now, about this world… Well, surprise, surprise! It is Kritias!" said Veronica to Daniel.
"W-What? It is Kritias?!" asked Daniel.
"But a different Kritias…" said Ervas.
"A different… Kritias…" muttered Daniel.
"You see, Daniel, do you remember any time on Earth where you saw some tv show or documentary where they spoke about alternate realities? Parallel worlds? Other Dimensions?" asked Veronica.
"The theory of… parallel worlds, I am aware of it… then, this world… It can't be…!" said Daniel.
"Yep, it is a Parallel Kritias, but set in the past, not so much in the past of our previous Kritias. The Gods in here are the same too! Isn't it hilarious?" asked Veronica.
"We call this world Mirror Kritias, as its mirrors the original Kritias where we came from, or you could also call them Future Kritias and Past Kritias… the phenomenon in how these two exactly similar yet different worlds came to be is a mystery to us, and perhaps even most Gods are unaware of it, except those that sent us here," said Ervas.
"Unbelievable… But then… Bestellen… and Razdall are here?! We have to… We have to help Razdall!" said Daniel.
"Calm your horses, tiny friend. Question time is not over yet, and we will do that on its due time. For now, we have to ask you some more thingies… Such as all the guys with you, their powers, states of mind, what they were, how they were, and of course about Bestellen, the bastard" said Veronica.
"Yes… I will… spit it all out…" muttered Daniel.
Daniel then proceeded to talk a bit about how the group of coworkers was reincarnated into the various children of aristocrats, while Eustace was the child of the Emperor of the Bestellen Empire.
In such explanation, Daniel stated that Veronica was the only one that had not reincarnated with them, and was, for a long time, a mystery for everyone where she had reincarnated until the last battle against Anastacia, where Eustace learned the truth with a bitter cry of regret over his actions.
"So we were the only unlucky ones, that sucks a lot," said Veronica.
"Indeed, all of you had it quite good, didn't you? Born in rich families… Well, we were kind of the same, but the conditions you talk about were different for a royal family of Demons, especially as the last heiress, whose parents and siblings all died in the war," said Ervas.
"It must have been… hard. I admire you for your perseverance, my lords…" muttered Daniel.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere. Now keep answering our questions…" said Veronica.
"If you don't want us to torture your soul even more…" said Ervas.
"Yes… I will reveal all I know…" said Daniel, as he kept talking about the various topics at hand and the varied set of questions asked to him.
He spoke about the reincarnated coworkers, and how all of them grew very close with each other in a 'Hero Academy' of sorts inside Empire of Bestellen. How the Bright Gods themselves taught them various things about the world, and how Bestellen took the work the most seriously of them all.
He also noted how mostly all of the Bright Gods were very different than Bestellen, and how many of them didn't even share his same mindset but were held against their wills with him due to several reasons… Of course, such truth was only revealed later on, when Bestellen began to seal and stealing the Divine Authorities of the Bright Gods.
Bestellen had already raised a large group of subordinate heroes through his life, most of them being devoted humans, elves, or dwarves, that raised to godhood with his help or that of the other Bright Gods. Such Gods were so admired that it was even given as an incentive the promise of converting all of them into Gods in the future by Bestellen's hands. Something that never happened.
"So he has a giant army of newbie Gods, huh? And most of the old ones didn't even agree with the bastard…" muttered Veronica.
"He's really a tyrannical god…" said Ervas.
"H-He is…" muttered Daniel.
Daniel then proceeded to explain how things went on after the death of Anastacia, even to the point of explaining the obliteration of mostly all Demons and Beastmen by the hands of Bestellen's powerful cannons of divine light.
Ervas and Veronica at this point we're about to explode in rage, but contained themselves after hearing that a few thousands of Demons and Beastmen remained within the isles and archipelagos surrounding the Demon Continents.
"Perhaps… there are some people that we can help…" said Ervas.
"I am glad that at least some of them… are still alive…" said Veronica.
"I will make sure to help you as much as I can to save these people… whenever it is even possible to reach that world again…" said Daniel.
"Yeah, you'll be a good tool," said Ervas and Veronica at the same time, as their crimson eyes flashed intimidatingly.
"…Y-Yes, my lords," muttered Daniel.
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