Chapter 435 Aftermath Of The Cheverton Undead Crisis
The Casualties of the battles fought during the undead crisis were wrought with casualties that numbered in the thousands.
No one knew just how many died as a lot of corpses had been completely destroyed, with most of them being blown to bits by Methik's explosions, or incinerated by the liches and Undead Mages.
Of course, the ones who were turned into undead should not be forgotten.
The Coalition force had many deaths, and a good number of the deceased had left behind friends and family.
Friends and Family who were undoubtedly distraught at the news of their loved ones' deaths.
To them, the Undead Crisis being resolved was not a thing of joy.
They could not care less about the millions that had been saved, as depending on the person, all those millions of lives did not mean as much to them as the ones whom they had lost forever.
And after the casualties' approximate numbers had been confirmed, a mass burial was held on in Cheverton.
Much to the shock of many, the entirety of the Hayes Royal family was in attendance, as well as many other prominent nobles and high-ranked officials.
People, most especially journalists, also took this as a chance to get a glimpse of the MVPs whose names had been praised over and over by the coalition force's combatants, especially Evan.
A short speech was given by the Emperor, before a large monument with as many names of the deceased they could acquire inscribed on it, to be immortalized as 'heroes' who saved the lives of millions.
The High Priest of the Church of Artemisia from the Holy Kingdom was also in attendance, and he prayed for the souls of the deceased, a prayer which Artemisia herself decided to 'answer'.
Voices of marvel were let out as those in attendance all saw the thousands of golden light streams that ascended to the skies after the High Priest's prayer, and from the slight expression of shock on the High Priest's face that the Magic Projector caught, it could be seen that even he did not expect things to escalate to that scale.
Moving on, the 30th of April was even declared a 'Remembrance Day' for those who perished during the Undead Crisis, becoming a National Holiday of the Great Western Empire.
On a side note, Therapists, psychiatrists and other mental health-related professions saw an increase in patronizations and profits due to the soldiers and adventurers who got PTSD.
Now then, although the Burial of the dead and other related matters like the support for their families was important, so was celebrating the survivors, especially those who had achieved great feats and risen to prominence.
Adventurers who had killed so many undead that their strength jumped multiple levels in a short time.
C rankers became B rank, Peak B rankers became A rankers, some A rankers broke through to the S rank level, and Peak S rankers also went on to become SS Rank.
The majority of the new A and S rank adventurers, as well as a few of the new B ranks, were those that had achieved great feats that could not go unrewarded.
Such was the case for the mercenary side of things.
The majority of the rewards for these groups were monetary rewards, and for a while, the Empire was going to see an extra 5% tax increase.
Then there were the soldiers of the army, and their commanding officers, the majority of which were guaranteed a rank increment, medal awardments, and other decorations.
The Knights of the Cheverton were also going to get their own share of rewards, both on the monetary side of things and the aristocratic side too.
Due to the time that it took to prepare for the Mass burial, as well as the other relevant matters involved, it was not until the 18th of May that the Burial could be held.
And for the Celebratory events, those took even longer to prepare due to the sheer number of attendees and awardees, with the 5th of June finally being the date it was held on.
This was quite short notice, but despite that, the Great Western Empire did not skimp out on preparations.
Security was at its maximum due to the number of foreign dignitaries who were participating, with a few national leaders also in attendance.
Representatives from Kasteblum, Hobha, Uswil, the Elven Kingdom, the Desert Country of Tarse and other nearby Alpha continental Countries were also present for the main official celebration.
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<2$%^dfva(926 Dimensional Realm?
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"This place gives me a headache."
The goddess Artemisia spoke to no one in particular as she 'walked' towards the black void throne floating in the middle of this strange dimension.
The dimension appeared to hardly have any terrain or gravity, as she was only making walking motions when in reality, she was floating.
There were a few large asteroid-like objects floating around in the distance, and within the background were odd vibrant colours that circulated the landscape, constantly swirling around with bright light.
"Just a headache?
It seems that becoming a superior stage has boosted your strength and tolerance to whole new levels.
You can now easily exist in this dimension without any issues."
"My head aching, IS an issue.
Can we go somewhere more…normal?"
Artemisia replied to the words of the being seated on the throne, who only shrugged and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the scenery around them changed to that of an infinite darkness.
One that had no end, no matter how far one went. And no matter how long one waited, there was no dawn.
There was one spot, where there was light.
A certain radius around the throne that floated within the darkness--Only there.
The Eternal of Time and Destruction gazed at the goddess Artemisia in front of him with his heterochromatic eyes as he asked.
"So, what did you come to find me for?"
"I said somewhere more normal, and not h0_$Ax*n."
"Pfft…I know. I just did it to get a kick out of you.
So, why did you come to find me?"
Artemisia clicked her tongue and muttered a few curses under her breath before meeting his gaze and replying.
"You already know why I'm here, do you not?"
"Of course, I do. But I still wanna hear you say it."
"…With how petty you are, I sometimes doubt your age."
The goddess sighed and facepalmed, taking a deep breath before bowing lightly and saying.
"Thank you for interfering and preventing the girl's death."
"You're welcome."
The man gave a light smile that would make many females of all ages melt but Artemisia remained unfazed as she stared at him silently.
"But…the girl was going to survive that slash either way, why did you think she was going to die?"
"Even if I cannot see the future like you. I can at least discern some things via fate and destiny.
She would have survived the initial slash thanks to Kuro, but the Shadow Knight's next set of actions would have definitely killed her…in a way that her skill would have only had a 50% chance of rectifying the issue, that is, if you didn't teleport her Uncle there a few seconds earlier.
My movements were being watched, and if I had taken action, the other gods would realise that I'm showing more interest in Aidos."
In response to Artemisia's words, the man nodded, before closing his red eye and holding up his open palm in front of the goddess.
Next, a projected image was displayed above his palm, showing the figure of a boy that the two of them were very familiar with.
However, Artemisia's face turned grim when she realised exactly what it was he was showing her.
"This is what WOULD have happened, if you didn't send him there…"
When Eliza and Evan were walking to the meeting room for the final briefing, on that day Evan and Yetu 'reunited', Eliza had turned her gaze to the sky for a few seconds, moments before Duke Charles and Sir Luke had come out and done the same.
That was the time when Eliza's Uncle, George, had arrived in Cheverton, and she had momentarily sensed his gaze on her.
However, he was unable to take action until the morning of the battle due to the interference of the being in front of Artemisia.
"What would have happened to Evan upon Eliza's death…it's honestly not pretty. Google search 𝗳𝔯𝒆e𝘸𝗲𝗯𝓷𝗼𝘃𝘦l. 𝒄o𝓂
It's quite distasteful to see my power used that way."
The man remarked as he looked at the figure of Evan in that projected image.
He looked the same as always, fair skin, attractive facial features with striking grey eyes and a well-sculpted nose above his thin lips.
His dark hair had grey-silver highlights that matched the dark-coloured ceremonial uniform he had on.
What was different, however, was that the usual carefree smile he always had was missing from his face.
Instead, it was devoid of emotion.
He was seated atop a pillar of demon corpses, with three swords surrounding him, the Unforged, the Sword of Pride, and a third unknown blade.
Suddenly, he turned his gaze towards the left, raising an eyebrow lightly as if having sensed something before picking up the unforged and coating it with the blessing of destruction's crimson red aura.
Then, something strange happened.
His left eye had the same old symbol of the mystic eye of mimicry, however, the crest in his right eye changed to a different one, and then another, and then a third, like the way the symbols on the reel of a slot machine changed.
This scene made Artemisia's lips twist into a deep frown before she clicked her tongue and asked the man in front of her.
"Can't you just destroy that skill from the system?"
"How about…no?"
"Thought so."
With that reply, Artemisia turned around and said her farewells before teleporting out of the space, leaving behind the heterochromatic-eyed man.