CH715

“Ben, are you sure this is a good idea,” Thera whispered to him as they walked down the streets, heading to the gate. “It might be better if he stayed inside.”

“He can’t be there forever,” Ben shrugged while Ogilt flinched away from any passing member of the public they walked by as they made their way through the city.

“I should be. I deserve worse,” The spirit said, not bothering to pretend as though he couldn’t hear them. “All of this, this entire planet is my fault, I can’t just-”

“Rot away doing nothing, correct,” Ben cut him off. “So what you’ll do instead is help me work. I only need you to handle things for a week or so to let me get a feel for results and then if you want you can hide away again, but it really would be more useful for everyone if you came out to help.”

“I’d only make things worse.”

“You really won’t but whatever, for now, come on and you can decide how you feel later.”

Walking through to the network, Ben noticed the spirit perk up a bit, experiencing his first time in the strange space that linked gates as they went to one connected to a region of the untamed lands to finally get on to what he really wanted to do that day, speaking up as they got there.

“Alright, now to just find a sufficiently large group of demons to use.”

The only ethical source of experimental materials he could access for the tests he wanted to run, the fact that they were incorporated fully into the system meant he’d be able to check their cards for any changes in their skills or attributes for what he was going to attempt by altering their souls.

He didn’t expect the search to be quick but at the same time knew that the creatures had well and truly infested the planet after the last wave. So long as they spent the day on it and if Thera got the help of the spirits then they’d be sure to find plenty before it was too late, but before she could raise them in the air to begin their search, Oglit just nodded.

“Understood then. I will find you some.”

Before either could say a word he vanished, his magic sending him off in his search and leaving the two alone, with Thera looking more than a bit relieved for it.

“Already don’t like your new uncle?” He asked her. “Or is the issue you’re not used to a family member being so incredibly handsome?”

The fact the spirit wore Ben’s face made the joke easy, but Thera didn’t bite.

“All I know about him is what my father mentioned growing up and now the fact that he caused all of this. I mean, I don’t dislike him but Ben, everything that happened all stems back to the fact he wanted to explore. Are you really okay with him?”

He thought for a second at the question, really searched his soul over it. If the blame for everything that happened was laid at Ogilt’s feet then he was responsible both for the end of countless worlds but also Ben’s second chance at life. One didn’t remotely excuse the other but when he thought about it like that, it made him realize that he couldn’t feel justified connecting the spirit to either event or anything else that had sprung from it.

“I’m sorry, I understand why a lot of people and gods would feel like that but I just can’t,” He shrugged. “He didn’t set out to do any harm, did he? He and the other space spirits are objectively the first victims of this all, just wanting to see the universe but having the crap luck of finding a powerful evil god along the way. And yeah, I get the fact that they were the reason things were able to get so bad when the base nature of demons really makes it seem like most of them wouldn’t reach the levels of sapience needed to flood Oaun with faith to do something like this otherwise but I don’t think I have it in me to hold anything against a guy who was a hostage for what? Thousands or tens of thousands of years at this point?”

“…Maybe, but locking himself inside since he’s been freed doesn’t exactly show an inclination to try and make up for it. I get what you’re saying Ben but no matter how guiltless he might be, a lot of people would want to see him doing more if they knew he was here and that’s only if they’d be willing to tolerate his existence on this planet at all.”

“Maybe he’s scared. He’s still pretty pulled into himself and I mean, I’d get it. One bad choice had a hell of a domino effect, I wouldn’t be so quick in wanting to make any more either. And like, if you don’t want to be involved with him then I get it but as a person who saw a fraction of a fraction of what he must have, can you do me the favour of at least looking at him a bit more brightly than the great spirits you actively hate?”

“Mmh, well, that’s not so hard,” She admitted. “And I don’t hate him, I just don’t know him or have a reason to get close. No matter what he is to the rest of my family, he’s a stranger to me. Still, I can at least be polite. Before I was stuck healing thousands of bodies a day I was even told my bedside manner was starting to improve.”

“And now?”

“Now nobody gets manners when there’s a hundred other people waiting,” She said a bit more lightly. “Although the number’s been going down each day. Enough that I’ve changed my mind, your mana bracelets are now the best thing you’ve ever made. Air conditioners are bumped to second.”

“I feel compelled to point out I invented the braces that fundamentally changed how your race and many others get to interact with the world as a whole.”

“Yeah, and that’s nice and all, which is why it sits at a healthy third. Being cooled when there’s a heatwave though? Just remembering it is making me already need to re-evaluate letting it sit down at second.”

Her smile told him she was joking, a rarer sight with how much work they both had at all times now that he let himself enjoy before Ogilt returned, looking no different in his mood as he spoke.

“I found a group, I will lead you.”

“Alright, what’s the size?”

“One hundred and twenty-three.”

“Okay, Thera, you ready?”

“I’ve got it.”

“Great, in that case Ogilt, lead the way.”

The spirit opened a hole in space, letting the two through to what waited beyond, with Thera casting as she walked, letting out her dark magic the instant she laid her eyes on them as they were busy fighting amongst themselves, freezing most of them in place on the spot with only a couple that seemed immune to her effect, with those ones instantly being impaled by spears of earth jutting up from the ground below.

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“Awesome,” Ben nodded as he looked around. “Then I guess it’s my turn.”

He walked through the crowd, having faith that Thera had them properly under her control as he reached out deep connection to read the skills of each one, materializing and firing off small bullets each time one had either earth or space magic and killing a few more if they had any skill that stood out as being a risk, ending with only one hundred and two left by the end.

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