Chapter 106: We Shall Bear the Pain Instead of You

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Three days after Ervas's evolution, Veronica and Ervas received some important information from the undead bugs they had created to spy on Oggoth in the meantime, observing the sealed entity every move below his nose.

It seems that Oggoth was incapable of sensing very tiny undead that lacked any life force, as his body was sealed, he could only use his consciousness to do everything, which lacked a strong sense of sight or smell, he used his soul to scan his surroundings like a sonar, which always detected beings with either large amounts of mana or life force, but tiny bugs with mana in less than two digits and lacking any life force couldn't be detected, no matter how much he wanted.

Oggoth also lacked the power to see dead spirits, he could control souls trapped inside the small dungeon that was created on his sealing shrine, but nothing else.

The dead spirits that inhabited these small undead flies talked to Veronica and Ervas, sharing their thoughts and what they said even without words, Veronica and Ervas had acquired the ability to hear, listen and understand any dead spirit after acquiring skills such as 'Death Attribute Charm' and 'Soul Binding'.

"He's planning on moving in a few days…" said Ervas, as he sat down on Nyarlathotep's thighs, who had shapeshifted as Ismene.

"B-Boy, you can also sit down in my legs, the real ones," said Ismene at his side.

"Objbj?" asked Nyarlathotep, she didn't like when others wanted to take Ervas from her.

"Sorry Ismene, today is Nyarlathotep's day so I am going to give her a lot of attention," said Ervas.

"…Eh? Well, okay… It's fine…" said Ismene, a bit in disbelief that a mimicry monster was replacing her thighs that Ervas would usually use to sit on before Nyarlathotep came to existence.

Nyarlathotep smiled happily as she patted Ervas's head and kissed his forehead multiple times.

"Anyways, how are things advancing?" asked Ervas as he was embraced by the otherworldly alien affection.

"My clones have finally reached below the settlement; they will break down the surface at my command… so we will wait until Oggoth's army moves to the two Raccoon Tribes," said Veronica.

"Yes, it is time to save those people, we have taken too long…" said Ervas with a bit of concern.

The people captured by Oggoth's monsters, used as work hands and as breeders for Orcs and Goblins, which were the rabbit-kin beastmen, a few humans, and some unfortunate nomad beastmen families captured by the monsters.

Pekorina was not given any information about this, as they did not want to see the cute and innocent rabbit girl completely heartbroken, but revealing to her the truth about her family being imprisoned there would have to eventually happen…

Even more when her father, Pekoran, had already died and was floating at Ervas's side.

"Please, save them! Save my wife, my children, my siblings! Please! Pleaseee!"

"Don't worry, we will do it tonight, so calm down… I cannot let you see Pekorina for now… but when this is all over, have you consider becoming your daughter's equipment or an undead companion? I think I could also make you into a living being if you're okay by inhabiting the body of someone else or a monster," said Ervas.

"W-Well… I will have to think about it… If you excuse me, I feel rather fatigued…" said the dead spirit of Pekoran, as he went inside of Veronica's hollow armor to sleep and meditate his decision.

"So whenever Oggoth's army goes away separates, my clones will break down the underground, kill whatever tries to stop them, take the prisoners and then run away immediately… That is the plan, right?" asked Veronica one more time.

"Yes, your clones share your mind, so I have confidence in them, but to reassure things, I will send many of my plants with them, those that can move swiftly through the tight caves," said Ervas, pointing at Ivy.

"Nidhogg can also go, right?" asked Ismene.

"No, Nidhogg had become way too big, he won't fit and will ruin all the operation…" said Veronica.

"Grisha…" said Nidhogg from outside of the tent, he was already eight meters tall and his body was three meters wide, he certainly would fit and end up making a mess in the caves.

However, if the group would ever need more roughly made caves, he was the best for that job, as he is an earthworm after all. But for more meticulous works, Veronica's clones with the 'Mining' skill at level 3 are enough.

"But… we will not help the Raccoon tribes?" asked Ismene.

"We will, but we have not made contact with them yet because they were most likely Oggoth's next targets… perhaps we will sound a bit cruel, but we wanted to use them as bait for him to send his strong armies to the two, splitting both armies so we can take care of them and weaken his forces more efficiently," said Veronica.

"It does indeed sound a tad bit… cruel and calculative, but if it works and we can help them while also weakening that demon's army, then it is worth it," said Ismene, she was a mature woman with a lot of knowledge, she didn't judge Veronica and Ervas's decision as something inherently evil, but as a tactic.

"Yeah, we will split our groups… I will go to the Raccoon tribe to the north, and Ervas to the one to the south" said Veronica.

"But what will we do with the affected prisoners when it is all over? Do you think that… they would be mentally stable after what they went through?" asked Anna as cold sweat dripped from her chocolate-skinned, glossy neck.

"I have thought about it a lot…" said Veronica.

"Me too… If they end up as affected, I will use my Mind Encroachment skill and other skills to destroy the bad memories" said Ervas.

"Yeah, that's the plan, but things may change after we met them, for now, we just need to be supportive and help them as much as we can," said Veronica.

"Wait, Ervas, Veronica… what do you mean by destroying the bad memories…?" asked Ismene.

"Can't you delete them?" asked Anna.

"Deleting memories is harder than you think, and it might bring an even worse psychological trauma than the memories themselves. However, if we transfer them elsewhere, such as piece of a soul, it will be naturally done, just as fleeting thoughts, they will forget about them immediately without any side effect, then, we can destroy them afterwards as if they were an object," said Ervas with a mild smile.

"Boy…! Are you willing to carry those memories… with you?" asked Ismene.

"Are you sure about that?!" asked Anna

Ervas and Veronica were aware of it, but they seemed to not falter.

"Don't worry, since we failed that day, that we swore that we would carry on all our sins… and of those of our people…" said Ervas.

"It is a way to repent for our weakness in that time," said Veronica.

"Repent?! What are you talking about!?" shouted Ismene bewildered.

"What if you gave the memories to an animal… a rat or something?" asked Anna.

"No, I don't want to do that, the soul that inhabits those beings would suffer… and they would go insane… I do not want to see a soul suffer; they are our friends after all. They might be killed and hunted by us to be eaten or used as resources or Experience Points, but their souls would usually remain intact, if we transfer traumatizing memories into them… it would be as painful as breaking them… and I don't want to break more souls now that I've acquired the skill, if possible I will only do it to those I cannot forgive and I really despise, such as Oggoth." said Ervas.

"It is not like we didn't consider it, but we don't want to… it is complicated, but you're over exagerating, we won't suffer for that, as we will handle it differently than you think... But explaining it in detail might be quite complicated, so please understand" said Veronica.

"You can't simply…" said Anna.

"But are you sure?" asked Jason.

"No, me too!" said Ismene.

"Me as well!" said Anna.

Ervas and Veronica sighed, it was impossible to convince them otherwise…

"Thanks, everyone…" said Ervas, as transparent waves came from his eyes, everyone present except Veronica, Nyarlathotep, and he became frozen for a few seconds… by using millions of mana in a few seconds, the memories of what they were talking about disappeared like fleeting thoughts and were transferred into Ervas's mind.

"Hm? What were we talking about?" asked Ismene.

"Right, so we will divide into two groups to help the Raccoon… right?" asked Anna.

"Yes, I will go with my son of course," said Jason.

"Yeah, yeah, we can see what parties we make..." said Veronica.

"If my father covers my back, I can be confident in our victory," said Ervas.

Ervas and Veronica could not let them bear the burden, it was something they had sworn to bear by themselves. They were just as precious to them. They could not let them suffer.

Ervas and Veronica were not simple mortals, theirs souls had already been broken through in their previous lives, and suffering seemed like something completely normal.

However, Ervas plan didnt mean that he would experience the memories he would take with Veronica, as he was planning in destroying them through transfering them into a 'dummy soul' of himself, and then breaking it.

Due to their abilities of soul manipulation, such actions were now possible to an extent. They wouldnt experience such traumatic memories, but it was not as if they themselves were not insane to begin with. 

Such actions still had many risks, but as long as the plan went by as planned, nothing bad would happen, and such action would benefit the innocent. 

"I'm sorry Ismene, Anna, father… but I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night knowing that I gave you such memories," thought Ervas.

"We once were one, but we are two, and with my clones, many. We are not alone in this anymore, so you do not need to bear the burden with us. All of us will take it" thought Veronica.

"Objbjb?" said Nyarlathotep, who seemed confused about what had just happened.

"Oh right, isn't it lunch time by now?" asked Veronica.

"I'm starving and very thirsty… please bring me some blood, Nyarlathotep," said Ervas.

"Objbj!" said Nyarlathotep, going out for a hunt.

"Oh right! Let us go cook something to cheer everyone up and lower our tension, how about a nice stew?" asked Jason.

"I want some curry as well, the rice made by Gwendolyn and her sisters is delicious," said Anna.

"Oh, that's a good choice, I also want curry today!" said Veronica.

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