-----
The next day after the war, the entire Kingdom of Igni was terribly busy, as many people all around were packing their things and preparing to leave the Devil Forest.
Although it was very busy outside, inside of the castle Ervas, Veronica, alongside Kireina and their family and friends were having breakfast while discussing some things out.
Oh, and there was also the Soul of Duke Frank with them, who was being interrogated intensively until he spits even the last bit of info he had.
They got to learn more about the Empire of Bestellen and its organizations, alongside the Extremist Faction and how it held so much power over the other nations, kingdoms, or duchies within the Continent of Anir's Hands, to the point that other nations were similar to vassal nations to the Empire, due to its immense strength and authority while being backed by Bestellen himself, the people could not do much than be serviceable towards the Empire.
At the very least, the Empire seemed rather a pacifist in some terms, as it was thanks to it that wars between nations within the continent did not occur as much, it seemed to be one of the doctrines within Bestellen religion to teach humans to not have conflicts between themselves, as they were the precious children of Bestellen which he wanted to take care of.
But even then, whenever the situation did not have anything to do with the Empire, the other nations would still rage war for resources and territory, shaping history as through the hundreds of years, many new nations have raised and fallen.
Although it seemed very unrealistic, Ervas and Veronica's goal within this continent was to teach these human nations that demi-humans such as beast-kin and demons were not monstrous nor inherently evil, although, for such a thing, a lot of time and effort would be needed.
However, Kireina seemed to differ a bit from Ervas and Veronica's mindset, as she believed that the best way to make humans, elves, and dwarves understand was by force, by growing so strong that they had to obey them… as she did in her original world.
But Ervas and Veronica politely declined her idea, as they did not hate humans, nor elves, nor dwarves, they hated the church, and Bestellen, and well, all of the corrupted bastards within.
It was simple logic, there are bad and good people in every race, even demons and beast-kin have malicious people within, especially in the Demon Continents, where there are many nations governed through tyranny.
Then they were discriminated against did not mean that Demons or Beast-kin were free from such sins, as everyone had them.
This is why the best way to do things was to slowly make demons and beast-kin accepted by the common folk, while also encroaching on aristocrats.
Of course, the death of Duke Frank was also part of this plan, setting it finally in motion.
Ervas and Veronica planned to kill or at least brainwash all of those corrupted with power who could never see demi-humans as people no matter how much they tried…
And well, they also were avenging such people and all of the sufferings they had caused through this.
However, for now, they were planning on first flying towards the Demon Continent, establishing a stable nation there, and then slowly make trips back to this continent while assessing things out.
And that is of course without counting all the issues that might arrive within the Demon Continents, a place filled with many demons and beast-kin nations, not all of them being friendly…
However, with the connection they made with the Heroic Gods of the Squirrel-kin, Rabbit-kin, Raccoon-kin, Bear-kin, and Harpies, they believed that they might be able to make something of an alliance with the biggest nations there that were being protected by these Gods or their superiors, the Dark Gods…
But for now, they concentrated into the present, glancing at Duke Frank's wimpy soul.
"I-I told you everything! EVERYTHING! ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHIIIIINNNGGGG! S-So please! Please… Let me serve you! Anything! I can do anythingggggg…!" cried the Duke's soul, his entire appearance was shaped by the tortures he suffered while alive, and now, his mentality had changed into that of a pathetic and very serviceable subject that cried to be made into serving Ervas or Veronica.
Ervas and Veronica however glanced at him with expressionless faces.
"Well, now that we are done with you, we would like to ask you for the last favor…" said Veronica.
"YES?! ANYTHING! ANYTHINGGGG…!" said the Duke's soul while going even more madder the moment Veronica spoke, her Death Attribute Charm was constantly encroaching his very self into a fanatical specter.
"I've tried very hard to bear with you, but I simply can't… That favor would be for you to disappear," said Ervas.
"Yes, I think the same, I can't bear with you, disappear," said Veronica.
"…Eh?!" cried the Duke's soul, as Ervas and Veronica grasped his soul with both of their arms, infusing Soul Break into their claws, and slowly cracking the Duke's soul as if it were fine glass!
Crack, crack!
"Huh?! W-Wait…!" cried the Duke.
Crack, crack!
"NOOOOOOOO!!!"
Crack… crack!
"WAIT…! I DON'T WANT… TO DISSAPEARRRRR…!"
However, Ervas and Veronica only glanced at him with their crimson eyes filled with bloodlust, as Duke Frank's entire soul broke apart into tiny fragments…!
"NNNGGGGYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH…!"
CRASH!
The Duke's soul fragments were then eaten by Ervas and Veronica, but he was so weak that they did not gain absolutely anything other than great satisfaction.
The two then sighed in relief, finally having finished this man for good, negating him any redemption in a different life…
"So we are done with him, I was already getting sick of hearing his voice," said Ismene.
"Indeed… He was a disgusting man, even after death," said Anna.
"I suppose he really didn't deserve another end… After getting to know what he did to these people…" muttered Jason with contempt.
"He got what he deserved!" roared Pekoran.
"Well, that's how things are…" sighed Shade.
"Ervas, strong!" said Gaia.
"Well, well, now that we are done with that guy, why don't you two evolve and change Jobs at last? You completely forgot about it last night," said Kireina.
"True…" said Ervas.
"Oh right! Well, I drank and ate so much that even my soul felt tired, so I fell asleep like a trunk…!" laughed Veronica.
"My next evolution should be… Rank 10, I am rather excited, although we had been evolving very fast lately…" said Ervas.
"Yeeah… Already, I don't think we can easily find something we can kill that could give us some nice EXP even in these dungeons, even the Earth Dragons and Super Undead in the two Labyrinths within the mountain are not being enough, and we are leaving that place anyways. Although I will leave my clones grinding EXP there for me I guess, eventually, I suppose we will reach a max level after some time," said Veronica.
"Yeah… And talking about your evolution, will you be sent to Kosmos again?" wondered Ervas.
"Oh! I forgot about that… You may be right. I might leave another clone there then! I don't know if I will be sent to where my current clone is, but I might try to 'upgrade' it a bit if that's the case…" said Veronica.
"Hm, I would like to go there and leave something of my own… Could it be possible for you to evolve while having your souls fused?" asked Ervas.
"Oh! I never thought about it…" said Veronica.
"That sounds interesting! Maybe I can also go explore a bit there… Fufu, I can also connect my soul to Veronica, although not as strong as Ervas, perhaps I can also sneak in a bit of power!" said Kireina.
"You too? Alright…" said Veronica.
"Well, let's change Jobs first, oh, I will also evolve first so I can have more power," said Ervas.
"My son! Are you sure about that?! I told you that you shouldn't try to go to another world if your soul is not strong enough…!" cried Jason.
"Oh right… Well, it has grown a lot," said Ervas.
"I-Is that so?" wondered Jason.
"Since I ate Graham that it has become even bigger, so I am confident on it," said Ervas.
"Well… Okay, but don't tire yourself so much by leaving a piece there," said Jason.
"Don't worry, Jason, I will make sure to feed him my soul so he can regenerate faster," said Kireina.
"I-I see… That's… fine, I guess?" said Jason as he drank tea to calm down.
"I also want to go to another world!" said Pekorina.
"Me too, I wonder how things are there," said Acathea.
"Is it different from here?" wondered Amelia.
"Well, quite different, I've recently gotten some updates from my clone there, she seems to have been simply talking and chatting alongside Nyx about a lot of stuff regarding that world, but I think she finally set to do something important, which is defeating a bunch of monsters and getting to level up, Nyx is usually watching over her, and she even got a few friends already," said Veronica.
"You talk as if it wasn't just you…" said Anna.
"Well, Anna, certainly, she IS me, but also not. She has been completely divided from my main soul, so she is like on her own now," said Veronica.
"It could be said that the Veronica that is not in that world is like me, I am a clone from my main body, but my thoughts and powers are not independent of her. Although we still remain with a connection, it is not enough to simply make us a single being, we are two now," said Kireina.
"I see… Well, that's a tad bit confusing… I wonder what kind of adventurers the Veronica in that world is having though…" said Anna.
As the group wondered such things, Ervas glanced at his available Job Options.
-----