The lighter the stone got, the more Jake could see Father Joseph's life drain away.
Ding!
Everyone was drawn to the stone itself, which had completely basked in this holy light, to see that it had completely lost all of the darkness that it contained within.
Instead, all it had was that gray crystal.
"Now, we must destroy this." Father Joseph said. But what he said could be heard by only the three people who were closest to him: Jake, Ganshin and Annie.
His voice was too faint for anyone to hear.
"Father! What happened to you!" Annie cried with shock as she finally took a look at Father Joseph.
And then, everyone could see that their beloved leader of this caravan was not exactly in the best of health. He looked older than he had ever been, and his eyes kept fluttering, like he was struggling to keep them open.
"Ga- Ganshin." Father Joseph opened his mouth, and only whispers came out.
But everyone was silent at the moment. They all glanced at what Father Joseph was about to say.
"Remember what I told you." He whispered, for the closest few to hear.
"And you, Young Baron." He did not turn to look at Jake who was on the other side.
"You have walked on the path of righteousness. That is a path that I endorse."
Taking a deep breath, he continued, " But there will come a time when you must choose. Will you claim your heritage, or will you break away from the path that your predecessors laid out for you?"
"This has been a wonderful journey. With no follower in this region, and the holy grounds conquered, this is a place that we can truly recover." He spoke to Ganshin once more.
"And this is something that I want you to do. After all, you are the one who holds the responsibility of these grounds that we are on. Even if you were just a kid back there, it is an inheritance that you cannot deny." He said.
Ganshin nodded.
"I will do what my father has promised, Father Joseph. I will make sure that the Tauri Kingdom will rise again." Ganshin said.
"Good. I am glad to know that the God of Light will have one more region to rely on. This region borders the core of the Evil realms, and it will be instrumental in the final fight." Father Joseph wheezed.
"I can sense him now. It looks like this time, the Evil God himself has come to collect my soul. The devil will certainly not like this. Thank you once again, Baron, for keeping that tiny little secret between us. The morale of this journey was all thanks to you."
As Father Joseph said this, Jake heard a similar whisper. A whisper that he did not like one bit.
"You vile insect! You dare come to my territory and kill my followers!"
But Jake seemed to be the only one to hear this, apart from Father Joseph of course.
Father Joseph turned finally, leaning toward Jake.
And in a voice that only Jake could hear, he said," That is a voice that can only be heard by those who have died, and those who are close. Remember. If you ever hear this voice, run."
And as he said this, Father Joseph slumped onto Jake's chest.
His eyes were closed, and his arms laid to his side.
Jake didn't need to check anymore to know what had just happened.
Father Joseph finally drew his last breath.
Everyone's expression was solemn. They had expected casualties, but actually seeing them at the end of the day, that was depressing.
These people didn't have extra lives. And for NPCs who had feelings, they certainly felt mortality just like any human.
"We must leave now." Ganshin said with a sombre tone.
"While we grieve for the Father's death, this is not the time nor the place to do so. Sister Annie, if you will please?" He glanced at Annie.
Annie nodded and she snuffled in a cry as she raised her book high in the sky.
"Oh Almighty God! Please bless this believer of yours who has sacrificed his life for you. Grant him safe passage." She cried out in the air.
For a second, nothing happened.
But then, the clouds in the sky suddenly started changing.
They started parting slightly, to reveal what was lying behind.
For the first time in decades, the sun finally shone across this land that was the Tauri Kingdom.
The party members basked in the sunlight, but Jake, who was the closest to Father Joseph, could see that there was another light.
This light was no ordinary sunlight.
This light was golden, not yellow. And as Father Joseph basked in it, Jake could feel his weight become lighter and lighter.
And eventually, the entire body vanished into thin air. There was no animation, nothing of the sort. The body just… vanished.
"The god has responded." Annie sighed with relief.
"Good. We have finished the most important part of the journey. With the stone in hand, we can finally head over back to Loviel." Ganshin said, nodding.
"Did all of them work with him before? I know that he has been a wonderful person these last two days, but you don't grieve this much for someone you just knew." Jake wondered.
"Especially when you go to a dangerous land where you expect to see a few deaths."
But these were all thoughts in the back of his head. For now, he had no intention of following the end of that line of thought.
There was still much journeying to be done.
They had to travel back the same path that they were in.
Three of the seven days given to them had been used up.
Only four remained, and it was not wise to keep waiting.
"We depart immediately." Ganshin declared.
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