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nWhile speaking with the Gods, Ervas and Veronica stated their intentions of confronting the Necromancer, not because of revenge, but because they wanted to rescue the people from within his dungeon and also the innocent and suffering dead spirits that he held captive.

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"We know some of the sources of his power… such as the ability that he has to draw negative emotions from souls, which he accumulates as masses of power that he can consume to gain more energy and perhaps, increase his maximum capacity of Mana,

" said Veronica.

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"Oh? Interesting, he might be made of some kind of Fragment that has that capability…

" said Ocypete.

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"Even though we managed to get a bunch of fragments, there was still a lot that managed to escape as well… And we do not exactly know what their true capabilities are, but I do remember from my memory that the Demon God-King could instill fear in others and draw great power from it,

" said Hasaen.

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"There might be a Fragment, or many, that had embodied that power… And that is how, perhaps, the Necromancer has such capabilities…

" said Ocypete.

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"Just how many powers did that guy had? He's really insane! He was filled with cheat Skills!

" said Veronica.

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"Hm, what a cheater…

" said Ervas.

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"Well, he was that much of a monster, this is why it took both factions, which are sworn enemies, to momentarily work together to defeat him and his army of monsters and Demon Gods,

" said Ocypete.

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"It was really a desperate battle, and it took a lot of the effort of the Bright and Dark Gods to divide him into several fragments…

" said Hasaen.

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"Sigh… The funny part is that just when he was finally fragmented into pieces was when the war immediately resumed, the Bright and Dark Gods quickly took many of the rampant fragments and began to use them as weapons… Haahh, I really hate war,

" said Ocypete.

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"Hm, they were horrible times… We have to fight for the little peace that we have now… Though, how long will it last?

" wondered Hasaen.

nOcypete and Hasaen words resonated within Veronica and Ervas as they remembered the Kritias where they came from, where Bestellen had finally woke up from his slumber and had almost instantly started the war against the Dark Gods over again…

nAlthough it would probably mean nothing now to tell them that something like that would occur, as it was most likely within the Dark Gods minds that something like that would most likely happen.

nAlthough Hasaen seemed like he would be a battle junkie, even he saw war as something terrible, making Ervas and Veronica feel pity for these Gods, who put their lives on the front lines to defend their mortal children, only to be defeated and heavily wounded.

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"I wish we could do something for them…

" said Ervas.

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"Hm… Ah, right, don't we have Soul Repair?

" asked Veronica.

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"Hm? What are you two talking about?

" asked Hasaen.

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"Soul Repair? I've never heard of such Skill before…

" said Ocypete.

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"Please, stand still, Hasaen-san,

" said Ervas and Veronica at the same time, as Hasaen was left startled the moment the two combined souls flew towards him and grabbed his entire body with their enormous claws.

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"W-What?! What are you doing…?!

" asked Hasaen, as fear took over him, he desperately tried to escape from Veronica and Ervas grasp, but the enormous and special being that they were was way too strong and he was way too weakened!

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"What? Hasaen! Stop! What do you think you're doing?!

" asked Ocypete.

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"Aaaghhh..!!! Uuuuaaaahhh- Eh?

"

nHasaen began to yell as if he was about to devour but then discovered that although firm, Ervas and Veronica's grasp wasn't damaging him, nor what they were doing to him.

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"Could you two please calm down?

" asked Ervas.

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"We are simply trying to heal you, Hasaen, don't be such a crybaby. Aren't you a man?

" asked Veronica.

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"Huh? …What? Wait, what?

" asked Hasaen, glancing at his 'body' as the wounds across began to suddenly heal. The blood slowly stopped flowing out of them and the swords and arrows tightly stuck into his 'flesh' were slowly disappearing like particles of light.

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"My Soul… is being healed… This can't… This can't be… What? Even the seals?

" asked Hasaen, referring to the swords and arrows that were stuck into his body, which represented the seals that maintained his wounds open. Such 'seals' were aftereffects of certain attacks from the subordinate Gods of the Bright Gods he fought against in a recent skirmish against them.

nOcypete stood on the floor in awe, as she could not believe what her eyes were seeing.

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"You two can not only… devour souls… but… heal them?!

" she asked.

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"Yeah, is it strange?

" asked Ervas.

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"I think we are done here… I think you just need to take it easy for a few weeks and you should be fine, Hasaen… Although we cannot restore the energy you lack, but at least you will not continue losing it through your wounds in your soul,

" said Veronica.

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"This is… my wounds! They are… they are healed! Even this ugly scar… I can't… I can't believe this! How can I thank you two?! Ah, I already owned you a favor, now I own you many more!

" said Hasaen with a cheerful voice.

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"This is… unheard of! No… There are some Gods capable of this… but never this fast!

" said Ocypete.

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"I think we took quite a lot of time though,

" said Ervas.

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"Here, let us heal you too, you look quite wounded as well, Ocypete-san,

" said Veronica.

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"A-Ah! W-Wait a second…!

" cried Ocypete, as she was grabbed against her will and slowly healed through Ervas and Veronica's Soul Repair Skill.

nBecause the Gods were showing themselves as their souls alone in here, Soul Repair was the only Skill that could heal them, and it seemed fairly efficient.

nAfter a bit of healing, Ocypete felt herself anew, although she was still very tired, the pain was completely gone, and she now felt as if she only needed to rest for a bit and be in full condition yet again.

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"This power is amazing! You two have… you could heal our friends as well and then… Would not our forces recover greatly? We could even overwhelm the Bright Gods if this were to happen…! No, this is way too ahead…

" said Ocypete.

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"These are excellent news nonetheless… We have to tell the Dark Gods about this!

" said Hasaen.

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"Ah, please… Take it easy, don't go divulging things for now until we reach the Demon Continent, we don't want to be visited every night by more gods…

" said Veronica.

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"Oh, that is right…

" said Ocypete.

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"At least not for now, perhaps in a few more weeks, or a month,

" said Ervas.

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"Hm, I believe we were being too hasty on our decision… And we still own you two a lot…

" said Hasaen.

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"Let us give you our Divine Protections, please,

" said Ocypete.

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"Indeed, it is the least we could do…

" said Hasaen.

nErvas and Veronica let the two gods try it… but as Ratatoskr and the other Goddesses at her side, they were incapable of giving them Divine Protections, their power was simply rejected out of Ervas and Veronica's souls.

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"This is… I guess what they said applies with us as well?

" said Ocypete, referring to how Ratatoskr told them that it was impossible to grant Divine Protections to Ervas and Veronica due to their odd souls.

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"Indeed… This feels quite frustrating…

" said Hasaen.

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"Don't worry, you can always grant Divine Protections to our friends, right?

" asked Ervas.

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"Yeah, such as Acathea, Gaius, Ragdaz, Azra, Desephise, Feroya, and Sevapheso! Right?

" asked Veronica.

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"That is… true. We had tried that before, but we were simply too weakened… But now… it might be possible thanks to our wounds finally stopping leaking our energy out of our souls!

" said Ocypete.

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"That's right! I am going to give them my Divine Protection! There is a very talented half-bear girl within the Squirrel-kin tribe as well… She shall receive my Divine Protection too,

" said Hasaen.

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"Oh, Acathea-chan will get pretty happy about that,

" said Veronica.

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"That's sweet, thanks a lot Hasaen,

" said Ervas.

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"And Feroya and Sevapheso… both of them had become rather interesting beings… I have never given my Divine Protection to Undead, but they clearly seem to be more than Undead-type monsters. They are clearly people… You two also can make Undead become sentient and remember their memories and personalities?

" asked Ocypete.

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"Yeah, we can do that… to an extent. And we are striving towards a future where Monsters and Undead can be accepted as people too,

" said Veronica.

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"That's right,

" said Ervas while nodding.

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"That is incredibly ambitious… not even the Dark Gods would easily accept something like that, you know?

" asked Hasaen.

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"Indeed… But still, just by looking at the two of them, Feroya and Sevapheso indeed look and act like normal people… If such a barrier between monsters and intelligent races is broken, aren't they people then? If it is possible to make monsters and undead intelligent and sentient just like us… then we have no right to question them or call them savage beings… Wouldn't we be the same as Bestellen if we did?

" asked Ocypete.

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"That's… a good point,

" said Hasaen.

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"I believe in the future that you two are striving forward… I am counting on you two to change things, and whenever we can finally meet in person, I will make sure to serve you and help you as much as I can!

" said Ocypete with a devoted expression.

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"Sigh… Alright, me too, count me on!

" said Hasaen.

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"Thanks, it means a lot,

" said Veronica and Ervas at the same time.

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"Now, we must go to rest, please, be careful if you're truly planning to go defeat the 'Necromancer',

" said Ocypete.

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"Make sure to plan things out… But I am betting everything on you two!

" said Hasaen.

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"Indeed, if you two can 'tame' these two fragments within your souls, then it should be possible to do the same with the ones that make up the 'Necromancer',

" said Ocypete.

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"Good luck!

" said Hasaen, as the darkness quickly began to fragment into pieces and Ervas and Veronica were sent back to their bodies.

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