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(Veronica)
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[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[User's Job has reached Level 100!]
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[User's Rank has reached Level 52!]
[You acquired the [Assembly: Level 1], [Sword Technique: Level 1], [Death Calling: Level 1], and [Death Enslavement: Level 1] Skills!]
[The [Death Calling: Level 1] Skill has been integrated into [Death Attribute Charm: Level 6]!]
[The [Death Enslavement: Level 1] Skill has been integrated into the [Soul Binding; Level 5] and [Dominate Created Undead; Level 5] Skills!]
[The Levels of the [Death Attribute Charm; Level 6], [Soul Binding; Level 5], [Dominate Created Undead; Level 5], [Chant Revocation; Level 5], [Strengthen Followers; Level 6], [Commanding; Level 6], [Coordination; Level 6], [Parallel Thought Processing; Level 6], [Fast Speed Thought Processing; Level 6], [Surpass Limits; Clones; Level 5], [Grotesque Mind: Level 3], [Precision Enhancement: Level 3], [Self-Enhancement: Tamed Monsters: Level 2], [Fortress Form: Level 2], [Javelin Technique; Level 6], [Axe Technique; Level 3], [Dead Spirit Magic: Level 2], [Cursed Wounds; Level 7], [Soul Materialization; Level 6], [Phantom Materialization; Level 6], [Construction: Level 2], [Architecture: Level 2], [Body Size Alteration; Level 6], [Mind Attack: Level 2], [Electrify: Level 1], [Archery: Level 3], [Cursed Graveyard of the Dead Creation: Level 1], [Mind Encroachment: Level 1], [Curse Synthesis: Level 1], [Dead Spirit Fusion: Level 1], and [Phantasmagoric Aura: Level 1] Skills have increased!]
(Ervas)
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[User's Job has reached Level 100!]
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[User's Rank has reached Level 64!]
[The Levels of the [Phantom Form; Level 6], [Phantom Form Transformation; Level 6], [Chant Revocation; Level 6], [Commanding; Level 6], [Strengthen Followers; Level 5], [Coordination; Level 5], [Inner Skeleton Form Manipulation; Level 3], [Phantom Clone: Level 2], [Grotesque Mind: Level 3], [Enhanced Body Parts: Claws, Fangs: Level 1], [Plant Binding Technique: Level 2], [Botanist; Level 7], [Long-Distance Control; Level 5], [Surgery; Level 3], [Artillery Technique: Level 2], [Mind Attack: Level 2], and [Beast Transformation: Level 1] Skills have increased!]
After Veronica destroyed the soul of the Rank 10 Living Liquid Metal Undead Slime Golem, the battle finally came to an end.
Sevapheso's corpse was left completely unrecognizable, and his soul was greatly damaged and still being slowly consumed by the rage and emotions of its Phantasmagoric Aura.
Veronica quickly went back to her original form and suppressed the young harpy's soul, binding it through a Curse she created through Curse Synthesis and inducing his troubled soul into a slumber.
Afterward, everyone finally gathered, making a large camp inside the caves, as the harpy tribe was quickly brought back from their hidden escape route and told all the news, many of them were happy, but others mourned the death, who had yet to be revived.
Feroya who had participated in the battle glanced at her beloved with a saddened expression. Sevapheso and many of the pawns of the Necromancer were left inside a large tent resting for the time being through induced sleep. There were also the reassembled and healed corpses of the fallen harpy, whose dead spirits patiently awaited their revival.
"Sevapheso… Ooh… I am sorry for having left you…" she cried.
"Don't worry about him, Ervas, and I will heal him no time, alongside the other kids. We'll also ask him afterward if he wants a new body or if he wants to become a ghost with you, whatever he chooses, you will have to respect his decision," said Veronica.
"I… Of course… I would be glad if as long as he can be happy…" Feroya muttered as her phantasmal, clear green body that seemed to be made entirely out of emerald wings cried slight tears. Of course, this was simply an expression that reflected her emotions, as she lacked eyes to cry watery tears.
"My daughter…" muttered Desephise, as she had recently woken up from her induced sleep, her body had been healed to perfect condition by Ervas and the plants, but she still needed to rest to recover properly. She was left alongside the former pawns and the corpses of the fallen that were being repaired by Ervas Phantom Clones.
"Mother, how do you feel?" asked Feroya with a gentle smile, as she grabbed her mother's wing with her materialized phantom wing.
"I am… I am fine. How about you? Are you okay? How is Sevapheso…?" asked Desephise.
"I am fine, mom, I've never felt so good before, actually! Being a Ghost is surprisingly… I don't know how to explain it properly… but it feels as if I were free!" said Feroya.
"Is that so…? You are really a ghost? You seem like a spirit of the wind, perhaps you always had such talent within your precious soul…" said Desephise.
"Well, I am a Windstorm Ghost! And about Sevapheso, he's fine. Veronica-sama had ensured me that he would recover. His physical body was… torn into pieces, but Ervas-sama is repairing it too. Whenever he recovers, Sevapheso will be given the option of what to be revived as," said Feroya.
"I see… I am glad… Haah…" muttered Desephise.
"Desephise, don't force yourself too much. Also, the harpy that fought at your side is fine as well, their Dead Spirits are with us, but I guess you can't see them unlike Feroya who had become a Ghost (which is a monster, that can be seen by people whenever it materializes itself)," said Veronica.
"Oh, I see… I am glad that they are faring well, they were all wonderful warriors… Even if they were to be revived, the weight of their deaths will remain within my shoulders forever…" muttered Desephise.
"Desephise-sama, don't feel like that!"
"We died at your side, it was the most honorable of deaths!"
"We died because we wanted to remain at your side till the bitter end, Desephise-sama!"
"Veronica-sama, could you tell her that?"
The Dead Spirits of the fallen Harpy Warriors cried to Desephise's melancholic words, as Veronica decided to do as they asked her.
"Why don't you speak with her personally? Here, this is something I figured out… if I expand my Phantasmagoric Aura around here… Dead Spirits can be seen by anyone," said Veronica, as she expanded her Phantasmagoric Aura, creating a slightly colder environment, but the Dead Spirits of the fallen Harpy Warriors could finally be seen by the gloomy Desephise.
"Ah! My warriors…" muttered Desephise.
"Desephise-sama!"
"Don't cry, Desephise-sama!"
"We died at your side, it was the best thing we could have asked for!"
"We died with honor as warriors, fighting until the bitter end!"
"Don't feel conflicted due to this, thanks to our deaths, we had been blessed with the possibility of becoming greater beings by our lords!"
"Everyone… Is that so…? W-Well, I cannot… I cannot really amend my own mistakes for what I have done. Even if you say something like this…" muttered Desephise.
"Then how about this? You can become our ally, and so, you can pay for those sins or the guilt you felt! We are currently gathering the tribes of this mountain due to the looming threat of the Necromancer that dwells within the bottom of the mountain, we came here to rescue your tribe, but we ended up coming later than we had expected…" said Veronica.
"So that monster was… the being who kidnaped those younglings… it even happened to the bear-kin tribe? Damn it… living in isolation had made us weak…" muttered Desephise.
"Veronica-sama will help you and everyone else grow stronger. She also has a super amazing Kingdom at the Devil Forest! There are many different tribes there, according to her and Ervas-sama!" said Feroya.
"I see… Well, I don't think there is any need to ask me, I will gladly join your Kingdom, if it is for the safety of my people… and also to repay for the kindness that you've shown to me, my daughter, and all of my tribe…" said Desephise.
"Thanks, Desephise. I will make sure to not disappoint your expectations. We will protect your people and will make sure for them to live comfortably and happily, as they've always deserved to do so," said Veronica with a confident smile.
"Yeah, count on us," said one of Ervas Phantom Clones who was busily repairing corpses, however, it gives itself the time to reassure Veronica's words.
"I am… quite surprised. So there are still people with such gentle and benevolent hearts?" wondered Desephise with a bright smile.
"We once lost too much…" said Ervas.
"We don't want to commit the same mistake ever again…" said Veronica.
"What you've gone through is still salvable, but what we have done…" muttered Ervas.
"What we have done… Is not something that can be easily forgotten, it looms within our hearts, aching our souls and weighing heavier than a mountain…" said Veronica.
"This is why we have decided to help as many as we can," said Ervas.
"It is the least we could do to amend for our sins," said Veronica.
"Even when…" muttered Ervas.
"Even when it really does not change anything…" said Veronica.
Desephise suddenly felt a strong, deep melancholy within the expressions of Ervas and Veronica, something so deep and aggravating that not even herself could imagine what they had gone through.
'Just how horrible was the experience that marked their conviction so much?' she wondered.
However, as the environment began to fall into silence, Veronica and Ervas brought it back to life.
"We'll get to it anyway, so for now, we do what we can," said Veronica.
"Hm, make sure to rest well. There is a big feast going on outside, do you want something to eat?" asked Ervas.
"I will bring you something, mom!" said Feroya as she left the tent like a gust of wind.
"Ah… Well, sure, thank you very much, my lords…" said Desephise.
'Such conviction… such mental fortitude… Even after all they went through, they keep looking forward. They keep… striving towards a bright future… These people are strong… they're really strong…' thought Desephise.
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