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After the death of Oggoth by the hands of Veronica and Ervas combined attack, the pair alongside all of the warriors and their family that participated in the invasion of Oggoth's Dungeon went back home.
The night had already fallen, and the sky was shining brightly with thousands of stars across the darkness. A half-moon blessed this night, giving it a mystical tone.
The people celebrated their victory and the death of Oggoth, the Demon God who had been giving various headaches and problems to the people of the Devil Forest.
Unsurprisingly, there were no casualties in such battle of great proportions, as Veronica and Ervas had prepared to great extent previously, and there were only injured people, which were quickly healed by the grace of Ervas and Gaia.
And aside from everyone gaining large amounts of Experience Points, giving the population both new Rank Ups and Job Changes, there were new additions to the population, in the form of a Rank 10 High Gazer Empress in Krakenusa, alongside over two hundred Gazer and their subspecies.
However, both Krakenusa and the Gazers had entered into a great slumber and were now being nourished and helped by Ervas' Phantom Clones alongside a group of specialized medics that had recently formed in the Igni Kingdom.
The facilities where the Gazers were put was a large building that both Veronica and Ervas constructed right after going back into the Kingdom, it needed to be tall enough for the enormous Krakenusa, a monster of several meters of height to fit inside and rest comfortably.
Ervas Phantom Clones moved around the large building, which was also an immense golem by itself.
Due to Ervas large amount of Mana, he did not need to participate personally if he wanted, choosing to split himself similarly to Veronica, but his clones being instead made out of Phantom.
They looked almost exactly like him but were semi-transparent and bluish.
And due to Ervas Mana, he created a large 'army' of himself that often worked as medics, however, they would often disappear whenever Ervas willed to free the constant usage of his Mana if he desired.
Dozens of Ervas' moved and touched the large eyeballs resting and sleeping peacefully over beds made out of straw and monster leather.
Every one of such eyes covered in tentacles and red scales was a Gazer, a dangerous monsters that one should never approach peacefully… However, because they were now freed from Oggoth's vicious control which made them into aggressive monsters, and was now below Krakenusa's control, which was a peaceful monster, Ervas was confident that they would not start a fuss whenever they were to wake up. So, Charlotte and Veronica's Clones ended up freeing them from the metallic threads that they used to wrap them up for security purposes.
One of Ervas Phantom Clones glanced at a sleeping Gazer, it was an enormous creature, usually bigger than any citizen in here aside from the monsters or the largest Ghoul men.
"I wonder if we should build them houses… Or are they comfortable in living together like hives around Krakenusa?" wondered Ervas, as he inserted his phantom hand inside the Gazer and slowly seeped it into the brain.
Ervas then entered the Gazer's mind, finding that it was almost completely empty, there were barely the memories of today's battle, but there were no personality, nor emotions, and barely any nature.
"This is really empty, its mind feels as if it were a white room…" muttered Ervas.
Since Oggoth took control over the masses of Gazers born through Krakenusa's ability to lay eggs of her brethren, the Gazers minds, emotions, and personalities were quickly eroded and destroyed, making more room for Oggoth's mind to inhabit in them and make them serve as loyal soldiers that would recklessly charge against enemies.
This has not happened before, as the Gazers that were sent to the Raccoon Tribes possessed fear, personalities, and emotions. Ervas thought that Oggoth was not as aggressive in controlling the Gazers until he saw how the army, he sent was horribly slaughtered due to their cowardness and lack of experience, deciding to make them fearless puppets instead.
"Gazers are one of those Monster Races that are often underappreciated… Their intelligence can develop to the point of being comparable to the Intelligent Races, but because they are monsters, their nature is often warped towards the innate desire of most monsters of killing the Intelligent Races… however, if they are below the will of the Empress here, they should be capable of suppressing such nature and develop as people instead than monsters" Ervas thought, going outside of the Gazer's mind.
"But still, because of having erased most of everything, they will be like newborns… Ah, well Legion and Ozgeth were also kind of newborns, and in just a day they developed rather charismatic personalities before they became ghosts… Gazers, due to being monsters, develop incredibly fast, they might become good citizens, I wonder what kind of abilities and talents they might bring to our development… well, their strength is already admirable, strong soldiers will always be welcomed. Though at this point, I would be glad as long as they can have the opportunity of developing and have better lives…" Ervas thought.
Each of Ervas Phantom Clones shared his same mind, just like Veronica's Clones, so whatever his Clones thought was what the main body did as well.
Another of Ervas Phantom Clones moved near the sleeping Krakenusa, as he glanced at her large body, even when resting, she was near above twenty meters of height.
"She seems to have fallen asleep due to the depletion of her Mana, so I should slowly give her mine through Mana Transfer…" muttered the Phantom Clone.
"Ah, we should also change Jobs and Evolve with the main body…" said another.
"Yeah, I should, but we are currently enjoying a large feast, so better later," said a third.
"True, this meat is surprisingly good. Was this really Anir's flesh? Hm? I feel that my mind is a bit clearer now…" said a fourth.
"Aside from that, nothing much… I was ready to puke it if something bad were to happen to me, but it seems that I am fine" said a fifth.
"If Veronica is producing this meat, does it mean that we are eating the meat of a Living Armor? Weird…" said a sixth.
"It would be better not to think about such a thing…" said a seventh.
"I may be right…" said an eighth
As Ervas Phantom Clones kept working hard, his main body was celebrating their victory in a large, Kingdom-wide feast.
Most of the population liked to eat meat, but there were also various types of fresh vegetables, fruits, and other preparations using them, making not only just roasted meat but also a variety of preparations, enriching the experience and the dinner of everyone.
Ervas and Veronica were currently eating the meat produced through Anir's Bone Marrow, which had a mushy and minced meat-like texture, and went excellent as hamburgers inside a meat bun with vegetables or meatballs made into a soup.
Ervas munched on the freshly grille Anir Hamburger. The delicious juices and the slightly bloody taste made his tastebuds go insane, his often pale and expressionless face suddenly blushed as his crimson eyes teared a bit.
"D-Delicious… I've missed this so much…" he muttered.
At his side, Veronica was in a similar expression.
"This is… This is really like the hamburgers on Earth! The meat is soft, juicy, and tasty! Not even the meat of wyvern or other animals was so tasty as this! It is sweet yet salty, and it has some bloody hint too! This is really the meat of a good!" said Veronica, praising the bone marrow that supposedly belonged to the Great Bright God Anir, one of the gods whose corpse created the world of Kritias.
Those around them glanced at Ervas and Veronica with concern…
"Is this really okay?" muttered Pekorina, sitting on a bench near Veronica and Ervas.
Veronica and Ervas nodded happily as they kept devouring the hamburger voraciously as if their lives depended on it.
Pekorina saw them eating it so happily, that she thought it should be fine.
"Okay… Here I go…" she muttered.
Biting it with her small jaw, a large chunk of meat, bun, and vegetables mixed inside her mouth. The flavors went perfectly together, and the smooth, juicy, and soft texture of the hamburger, which flavor was strong and soothing made her almost choke in surprise.
"Ak! This is… this is good!" she said, drinking a cup of water and then beginning to eat the burger without a care of the world.
Jason and Ismene were next, biting in the hamburgers.
"This is… Oh wow," Ismene muttered, quickly biting everything in her mouth and gulping it down, and then sipping in fruit juice.
"Eh?! Is this really the meat of a god?! I am… eating a god?" muttered Jason.
"Maybe," said Ervas.
"Delicious! Eating the meat produced by our lords is truly a blessing of the heavens!" said Lilith, already beginning to eat her second hamburger while sipping in some blood.
"It is indeed quite good… which one of the two produced it?" asked Anna.
"Me! You're literally eating the meat of a Living Armor!" said Veronica.
"…I see," said Ismene in contemplation of such implications.
"Guboooo! This is delicious! Is this really mommy's flesh? It's good!" said Aqua happily, her size had increased a lot since she evolved.
"Objbjbjbjb!" said Nyarlathotep, enjoying the meat while taking the form of Ismene.
"Bubibibilili," said Cthulhu, devouring hamburgers with its strong beak.
"Hmm! I can't believe that even as a Ghost, I can eat!" laughed Ozgeth, eating a hamburger by grabbing it with his tentacles.
"It's very good… I want more…" muttered Legion, beginning to eat a large pile of Anir's Bone Marrow left to be made as hamburgers.
"I don't even have a stomach, yet I can eat and even feel a bit full! So this is the Digestion Skill!" said Pekoran at Pekorina's side.
"Damn, even Undead can eat except me…" muttered Shade.
"You're not alone in this, Shade…" said Gaia.
"I want to try it!" said Gnome.
"Foo! Foo!" said Sylphid.
"Hmmm! Delicioush! Salamander, Gnome, eat!" said Amelia.
"Sorry, Amelia, we can't eat…" said Amelia's Gnome, which resembled a red ruby.
"But we can roast these burgers! Gyahaha!" laughed Salamander, using its fire to roast the burgers with great intent.
"We'll one day find a way to let you guys eat…" said Veronica with a relaxed smile.
"Yeah, don't worry," said Ervas.
"Hmmm… We'll hold up to that promise!" said Shade.
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