Forest, Riverside, Ash's P.O.V.

My first thought as I see the ghost appear is can Blitz cut a ghost? But then I relax and even smile as I recognize the face of the ghost that is forming.

"Hi, Mericel."

Mericel says "Hi, Ash."

Ruby releases me and jumps back as she spins to face Mericel. Then she freezes, whatever she was thinking she obviously wasn't expecting a ghost.

"Ruby, this is Princess Mericel, Mericel this is Ruby."

Both say "Hello."

Mericel says "Ash, you don't seem surprised to see me?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting a ghost but I did expect to see you soon."

Mericel says "So, you are the reason Krenocia did this? Thank you!"

"Yes, well, we have a lot to talk about."

It is then that I notice the human is awake and looks terrified. His wide eyes are fixed on Mericel and he is desperately trying to get free. I check but his bonds are holding just fine so I will deal with him in a minute.

I am more interested in the dragging sounds I am hearing from the forest, but my curiosity is soon satisfied as Drog drags a corpse into sight. He drags it to a pile of bodies and drops it before he notices me.

Drog says "Welcome back, master."

"Why are you dragging bodies?"

Ruby says "He lost our contest."

"What contest?"

Drog says "To see who could kill more humans."

Ruby says "I beat him and now he is doing cleanup."

"Oh, okay. And the prisoner?"

Ruby says "He was the commander and I thought you might want to question him."

Mericel says "If you don't, I certainly do!"

"You know him?"

Mericel says "His name is Transk, he is a foreigner that my father knighted as soon as he took the throne. I have always wondered what he did to earn knighthood."

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"Go ahead, he has been giving you a terrified look since he woke up."

Mericel says "Krenocia said I would gain strength from taking human life force. I should also get his memories, so I don't need to ask him anything."

"Are you okay with killing someone?"

Mericel says "Not really, but I don't want to be a burden on you."

I shrug and watch as she drifts over to Transk. He looks like he might die of fright before she even touches him. She goes to grab him by the head but her hands sink into his skull.

He opens his mouth to scream as she grabs him, but nothing comes out. Transk visibly gets older as I watch, wrinkles form and his hair goes white. It only takes about a minute before he looks more like a mummy than a man.

Mericel on the other hand looks more and more real, the patches of her that kept fading out stabilize. As Transk's body falls to the ground I realize Mericel is crying. How do you even comfort a ghost?

"Mericel, are you alright?"

Mericel says "He killed my mother, on my father's orders!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mericel!"

Mericel says "Thank you, but I will be okay. I already had my suspicions, this just confirms it."

"At least you have avenged her now."

Mericel says "No, not really. That won't happen until my father dies."

"Okay, fair enough. But first we have to figure out how to get past the shadow demon."

There is a yelp and I look over to see Drog who was dragging another body to the pile. He has dropped the body and is spinning around trying to look everywhere at once.

Drog says "Shadow demon? Where??"

"In the castle."

Drog says "Then we need to get further away from the castle! Do you know how strong it is?"

"Krenocia said it was rank seven."

Drog says "Seven? It is almost a lord! It can obliterate us easily!"

"Relax, we are not going anywhere near it until we are stronger."

Ruby says "But eventually we are going to fight it?"

"Yes. Look there is a lot to tell you, why don't you help Drog finish gathering bodies while I cook some bird thing steaks. I will tell you everything while we eat."

Ruby nods and heads off with Drog, while Mericel watches me cook. While we eat I tell them everything Krenocia told me about the demon invasion and the temples.

"Lastly, once the demons are defeated, I will die."

Ruby says "What? NO!"

Drog says "Yes!"

Ruby turns on Drog and kicks him so hard he flies into a tree. Drog drops to the ground with a thud then climbs to his feet and shakes himself like a dog.

Drog says "Temper, temper, Blue."

Ruby says "If the master dies, I will dedicate myself to hunting you down and burning your soul to ashes!"

"Knock it off, both of you!"

I wait until they both return to their seats and their food before I continue. I tell them why I am going to die and what plans there are for them. I also tell them the three options I was given for after my death.

Drog says "Well, that is obvious, you become a god!"

Ruby says "I will be the Spirit Queen?"

Mericel says "When she said I could join the pantheon did she mean as a goddess?"

"Drog, no. Ruby and Mericel, yes."

Having finished eating I leave them to ponder everything I told them and go start stripping the soldier's bodies. Once I am done I pull out the forge and start melting down the weapons and armor into ingots. While I am working the forge Ruby incinerates the bodies.

"We need to discuss what we are going to do next."

Ruby says "We will do whatever you choose to do, master."

Drog says "I go where you go, master. I just hope it involves killing."

Mericel says "I agree with them."

"Okay, then we are going to cut across the forest to the south east road. We will take the road to Illium and cross the border by force."