Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest Chapter 2023: Aftermath

-----

"Of course I am bothered! I don’t want a guy stuck to me all the time!" Sailor snapped angrily, his voice carrying the weight of deep insecurities as a man who still struggled with the strange situation.

"Is there something wrong with being with a friend like this for some time?" Norman asked with a quiet sigh, his tone calm but slightly hurt.

"Not at all. That’s just called being brothers," Mark said firmly. "It should be an honor, Sailor. He put his life on the line to protect you."

"Brothers...?" Sailor raised an eyebrow, letting out a long sigh as he removed his helmet. The helmet was crafted from Norman’s own skull. Norman looked back at him, his empty eye sockets gleaming with bright golden dots of light that served as his eyes.

Undead like skeletons who possessed no real eyeballs created "eyes" from their own souls. These spiritual senses often manifested as gleaming lights within the empty sockets of their skulls.

"Aren’t we?" Norman wondered softly.

Sailor sighed again and held Norman’s head carefully with one arm. "Well... whatever. I got my arms back at least. Now that the armor kind of settled on top of them, maybe we’ll be a little stronger together. Plus, I’m unlocking some new techniques by borrowing your power. It shouldn’t be so bad for now. As I learn these new techniques, I’ll try to internalize them. Until then... I GUESS you can stay with me. But I am not gay, okay?!"

"I am not gay either, Sailor..." Norman sighed patiently. "Stop it with that boring joke."

"Wow, you’re really bold now! Fighting back and everything!" Sailor laughed, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. "Maybe you ain’t so bad after all!"

"...Did you just realize I’ve changed?" Norman’s voice carried a quiet note of sadness. "Sailor, you’re a really mean person..."

"I-I’m not!" Sailor roared, his face flushing with embarrassment. "And..."

"Enough. Let’s not waste more time," Mark interrupted firmly. "We should get going. Things are only going to grow more dangerous if we stay here. I can detect Elayne. She’s close! Everyone else is nearby, actually. The only one far away is... Lisette."

"The kid?!" Sailor asked, his earlier irritation vanishing in an instant.

"W-Wait, what?! What happened to Lisette?!" Norman gasped, genuine worry flooding his voice.

Mark gazed into the distance, his concerned eyes gleaming beneath empty sockets. Even though he appeared almost lifelike thanks to his Soul Spiritualization, he remained a skeleton deep down.

"I can detect him in that tower..." he said quietly.

A massive tower stood at the center of this twisted landscape, forged from the remains of the castle and hundreds of shattered houses. Tens of thousands of tormented souls cried out from within its walls, their anguished voices echoing faintly across the ruined city.

Something powerful was brewing inside that structure. As Elayne had speculated earlier, a Death Apostle might very well be involved in all of this.

Worse still, Lisette was right inside that tower, and his lifeforce felt dangerously weak.

"The boy might be in danger...!" Norman said, panic rising in his tone once more. "Mark, we have to go save him!"

"I know. Let’s regroup first," Mark replied steadily. "I can still feel other powerful presences nearby. We’re not done with these damn Hollows yet. To think they would follow us all the way here..."

The group advanced carefully through the chaos of the destroyed city, moving toward Elayne’s position.

"You’ve met the Hollows before?" Sailor asked as they walked.

"I did, back on Earth," Mark explained. "Hollows were common monsters that roamed almost everywhere. Because the supernatural was heavily suppressed on Earth and true monsters were almost nonexistent before, the Hollows thrived in the shadows. Even so, most of them were still relatively weak beings that we hunted for their cores."

"Their cores, right? Can’t we consume them?" Sailor asked eagerly.

"We should be able to!" Norman nodded quickly. "Did we gather any?"

"I... I kind of forgot," Sailor admitted with a sheepish sigh.

"I gathered the ones I found along the way," Mark said, revealing another of his abilities. "Divine Sunflare Vault."

From the depths of his blazing soul, a storage pocket opened. It was not as vast as Elayne’s, but it was large enough to store useful items. Though the space had limits, Mark had carefully harvested only the cores. Everything else had been discarded, except for a few Hollow bones kept as reserves to repair his own body or Norman’s if needed.

"Here, take these."

He shared twenty cores among them. Norman and Sailor quickly pressed the cores against themselves and absorbed the energy rapidly. Norman grew a pair of skeletal arms from Sailor’s armor to handle the process, since Sailor’s own arms had already fully regenerated thanks to Mark’s healing magic.

"This is blissful."

Both of them let out deep sighs of relief as they fed on the cores’ energy. The dark, murky cursed miasma inside proved especially delectable for Undead, and it did not harm them in the slightest.

If anything, these cores—forged almost entirely from pure Mana and Nether—were incredibly healthy for Undead. They were far safer than devouring souls, which always carried dangerous risks such as invading memories that could twist an Undead’s mind or personality.

What’s more, they used this power to restore their internal energy reserves and begin forging something new within themselves. Small runes started gathering under the guidance of Elayne’s earlier teachings.

"It’s almost there. I think I might be able to form a magic circle...!" Sailor said, his voice filled with rising excitement.

"Me too! These cores are really amazing for this!" Norman agreed eagerly.

"Yeah. Back when we were alive, we hunted Hollows and purified and absorbed their cores," Mark said as he absorbed the large core of the powerful Hollow they had defeated together. He left two remaining pieces and shared them with his companions. "These cores were perfect for forging magic circles. I am finally beginning to gain the power to forge a new one, and you two should prioritize the same. These circles are essential for developing high-level magic spells beyond what the system alone can provide."

"I know," Sailor nodded firmly. "If I can gain proper Water Magic, then I’ll become unstoppable."

"I don’t even know what my affinity is..." Norman admitted. "I guess... Bones?"

"Undead have the default Elements of Death, Ghosts, and Curses," Mark explained. "Sometimes Darkness or Shadows as well. You can choose any of them. Bones might fall under one of those categories... I’m not completely sure. Sorry."

"That’s fine," Norman sighed. "I guess I’m eternally locked to being bones—"

As he spoke, the group suddenly stopped moving. Something massive hovered high above the ruined city.

"?!"

-----