Chapter 112 - Just Doing My Duty
??
Dead Spirits had many ways of transforming into monsters in Kritias, such as possessing corpses, becoming zombies, possessing bones to become skeletons, or receiving large quantities of mana, corrupting their entire being, and becoming ghosts.
Ozgeth had just recently died and was given over one thousand Mana from Veronica, a qualitative change happened on his fascinated dead spirit form, his ethereal presence became stronger and his presence exuded an eerie atmosphere.
"It cost me almost all my Mana… which is quickly regenerating. …But I cannot create undead as easy without Ervas near me" said Veronica, glancing at the new Ozgeth.
Ozgeth\'s dead spirit appearance was similar to his previous one. Due to having been killed so fast by Aqua, the trauma of the wounds on his dead spirit appearance was minimal, and after becoming an Undead Ghost, his appearance was mostly clean, resembling a large, car-sized floating eyeball with tentacles and a gaping jaw filled with sharp teeth that went horizontally from left to right.
His body was phantasmal, made almost entirely out of Phantom Form, while having a core that was his true soul deep within it. His colors were mostly dark purple, nearing dark blue.
"T-This… I feel even better than when I was alive! Veronica-sama, please, give me any order! I feel vigorous and even more energetic than even before!"
Seeing that her Mana had fully recovered already, Veronica granted more mana to Ozgeth as it began to unleash a powerful atmosphere.
"Uooohhh! My former siblings, you\'re nothing but a steppingstone for my path to please my master\'s desires! Now die and become one of us!" laughed Ozgeth, flying towards his former siblings and unleashing lasers of phantasmal energy from the large eye of his form.
The lasers penetrated the air as they hit the Gazers trying to escape, each laser was not only charged by Ozgeth\'s power but also with Veronica\'s Abyssal Soul, her Aura of Fear, and Shade\'s Spells.
"This… I never predicted that you would end up making your former enemy an ally instantly" said Shade.
"Well, with \'Dominate Created Undead\', it is impossible for it to disobey me, and with \'Death Attribute Charm\' he seems to be very loyal to me… so it is fine. He was quite promising and talented, I wonder if his Evil Eye was inherited into his ghost form, alongside his other magic attribute affinities…" said Veronica as she saw Ozgeth rampage around, literally killing his siblings out of pure fear by merging himself with Veronica\'s Aura of Fear and then blasting them away with his phantasmal dark lasers.
"B-Big brother?!"
"Wait! You have been brainwashed! By the armor!"
"Stooop!"
"I cannot stop! I cannot simply stop, my siblings! Come and join me instead!" laughed Ozgeth as he opened his phantasmal eye wide, his iris was no longer crimson red but dark blue. The dark blue iris flashed dark energy that converged in a single point, unleashing a laser out of it.
However, unlike most of the Gazer\'s lasers, which were red-colored and could easily burn flesh, Ozgeth\'s laser was cold as ice and it did not burn flesh. Instead, it directly absorbed the affected living being\'s vitality, pretty much depriving them out of their life force, quickly decreasing their Health Points.
Flash!
"Ungh… W-What is this… laser?!"
"I feel… so lethargic… and fear… fear as I\'ve never felt!"
For a moment, it felt like the Gazers and the army they led were the true victims in such battle, Veronica and her troops had completely overwhelmed the enemy army to the point that they were now at their lowest, crying in fear and asking for forgiveness.
However, no lives were spared, as this needed to be done… mostly for Experience Points.
There were many Squirrel-kin and Raccoon-kin warriors that were being granted the final kills on the almost dying gazers, orcs, goblins, kobolds, and lizardmen, so they could grow stronger and be more confident in themselves while becoming more reliable.
Since Ozgeth was reborn as a ghost, he created a natural bond with Veronica and she was able to easily feed him with her mana, alongside her Abyssal Soul and her Aura of Fear. In a way, Ozgeth was being used by Veronica as a medium to use more offensive magic which she was not capable of using as much without Ervas at her side. By giving it her Mana in small quantities alongside charging it with her powers, it was possible to unleash attacks stronger than her current spells that required less Mana.
She had come out with such an idea some time ago but finally found the correct timing and an ideal soul to convert into a Ghost. Most of Ozgeth\'s talents were transferred when he became a ghost, so it was a win-win for her.
Shade began to think that Ozgeth meant more competence in having Veronica\'s attention.
"Hopefully, I don\'t end up being replaced by him…" he muttered.
"Replaced? I would never do that, silly. It is thanks to your ability to convert my Mana into Light Attribute that Ozgeth can charge his Dark Phantasmal Lasers with ease," said Veronica while petting Shade\'s ethereal eyeball body.
Perhaps because Shade and Ozgeth were both floating eyeballs, he thought that he was competent, a rival.
As Veronica\'s small army massacred what barely remained of the enemy army, with its leader killed and converted to their enemy side, the Raccoon-kin chief came walking to her back.
"Haah… I am here! …Eh? Everything is done already?! Not even… not even half an hour as gone by!" said the old man, seemingly in his late forties, he was wearing leather armor while wielding an axe that he used to cut logs.
"See? There is nothing to worry about, we are here to protect you and your tribe," said Veronica with a warm smile.
The chief fell to his knees as he was in disbelief over Veronica and her party strength, at first he was rather distrustful of them all, a small party of a few monsters and some Squirrel-kin women… it wasn\'t truly reassuring for him that they would triumph against an army of over one hundred monsters led by several Rank 6 monsters… but he was completely wrong, they did it, and did it incredibly efficiently.
"I have to be honest Lady Veronica; I am quite moved by your actions… I thank you deeply in the name of our humble tribe…" said the Raccoon-kin chief.
Unlike the Squirrel-kin tribe, there was only one chief elected every fifty years, elders existed but were not held with much respect, and the Raccoon tribe was more organized and less tribal than the Squirrel-kin, making villages reminiscent of humans. They knew ways of farming edible plants and also cattle monsters and animals, only hunting when it was absolutely necessary.
They lived quite different lives than the Squirrel-kin, and due to this, they were also weaker as they were more used to do everything in their homes, without the necessity to sharpen themselves for hunting.
"Don\'t worry, I am just doing my duty…" said Veronica.
"Duty…?"
For a moment, the chief of the Raccoon-kin tribe of the south did not see Veronica as a brave and oddly cheerful Living Armor, but as something else, a figure to look up to, to admire, and to… follow, a sovereign that led its people, a Queen.
"I see how it is… Such a being… a guider" he muttered with a smile.
-----