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And…

There were two corpses.

They were holding hands, tightly.

They were so burned down that they were completely black, like charcoal.

"Mom? Dad?"

Benladann was pretending to not notice, as she rushed towards the corpses and began to talk to them, to hold them, she raises their torsos as she moved their arms and hugged them.

"Mom! Dad!"

She began to hug them as tears began to rush out of her eyes.

"I am back…! I am… Sniff… Aaaahh! Uwaaaaaahhh!"

She began to scream in pain, crying as I've never seen her cry before.

I felt like my entire world was fragmenting apart.

Ah…

Why?

WHY?!

I wanted to say something, anything.

But… it felt as if I had a knot in my throat.

They… how?

How did this happen?

When?

Who… did this?

I quickly glanced everywhere, the entire village was desertic.

But… maybe… perhaps!

Paranormal Sense!

I quickly activated the Skill, as I was suddenly taken aback.

Dozens of souls wandered all around… all of them had the shape of ice giants, but they were all burnt.

All of them had dulled expressions…

So many… how many…? How many did die?!

I quickly glanced around, seeking some of the souls…

Until then.

I glanced inside the house.

There were two souls, their appearances were horrid, burned entirely, their hair was gone, their eyes seemed burned as well, but…

They were hugging Benladann as she cried.

"Ungh… Mama… papa…"

I noticed that they were slowly dissipating as if turning into dust. More than half of their soul was already gone.

I had to do something!

"Benladann! There's hope!" I roared.

Benladann was suddenly taken aback by my words, as she glanced back at me.

"Drake…?"

"I can see them… The souls of your parents are with you, they're hugging you!"

"Eh? W-What…? Really? Can you revive them!?" she asked.

"No…" I said.

"Ah…"

"But I can keep them here until we can find a way to revive them!" I said.

Benladann's eyes opened wide, as her tears flowed like rivers below her beautiful yellow-gold eyes.

I want to… make her happy.

I don't want to see her cry like this!

Not like this!

So let me… do this for you, Benladann!

"Please… Drake… save them…" she said.

"We need something… a catalyst, something that you've infused with your emotions with your- Ah, the shield and the axe!"

As I said that, Benladann quickly took them out, as she had her axe wrapped with leather at her back, while the shiel was wrapped in her left arm.

The souls seemed silent and didn't want to move.

"They're still hugging you… Benladann, you have to tell them, speak with them," I said.

"I cannot be rough, if I grab them with my soul in such a state, I might end up damaging them, they need to get into these weapons and possess them willingly," I said.

Benladann, cleansed her tears, as she closed her eyes, nodding.

"Papa… mama… Please… Please… Stay with me… Would… W-Would… y-you get in my axe and shield? We promise you to… find a way… to revive you one day…"

The souls heard her, but they seemed weak, and barely moved.

"You have to be bolder, Benladann, ask them, ask them from the depths of your heart! Souls only react to strong emotions," I said.

Benladann nodded, as she began to cry again.

"Please… Please…! Get inside… Please!"

"I don't want you to leave me… Not after all I lived with you… Not after all this time I've been thinking about you… not… not like this…"

"PLEASE!!!"

Benladann fell over the ground, as her tears covered her face, I quickly lifted her with a materialized hand of my phantom body skill, as I cleansed her tears.

"They already obeyed you after the second request… They're… there," I said.

Benladann glanced at her axe and shield, as they glowed with a phantasmal essence.

She began to cry again… as her tears fell over them.

"Sniff… Thank you… Thank you… Drake…" she muttered.

"It's the least I could do… No, you did it," I said.

Ah, how much I wish for some way to touch her better, to caress her better.

I quickly shapeshifted and made my size smaller, as I hugged her tightly, she was strong enough to resist my strength and my hard, metallic scales.

"Drake… Thank you… Sniff…"

"Don't worry… We'll get through this together… I promise you we will…"

"You promise me?" she asked.

"Of course I do… Benladann, of course, I do…" I said, continuing to caress her head with my claws, as gently as possible.

"You promise me… to never leave me?" she asked.

"I will… never leave you," I said.

"Never ever?"

"Never ever…"

Benladann began to cry even louder, tightly hugging me this time, her arms were so strong I felt like she was crushing me a bit… but it wasn't anything a dragon couldn't take.

I think I've finally found a purpose in this second life.

Sister… mother, father, brother… I think I've finally found… a reason why I was sent here.

Ah… such bittersweet feelings.

Yet, deep down, there's a fury I am trying to contain, an undying fury towards the one that did this to them.

This fire… all of this, it's clearly not natural, ice giants would easily be able to take off this fire with their magic if it were to be a natural wildfire.

This was made by someone or something.

And then… suddenly, I feel something watching over us.

But I don't want to stop hugging Benladann…

Yet…

I quickly twist my head as I see it!

Eh?

…What is this?

It is a small spherical… drone?!

A drone… is made of metal, and it has some sort of eye-like camera in the middle of it.

What is this thing?!

And why… why is it here?

Isn't this… a fantasy world?!

Without doubting for a second, Skadi immediately answers my call and falls like thunder over the drone, crushing it into the ground without it even noticing anything.

CRASH!

"Ah! W-What was that?" asked Benladann in shock.

"We were being watched…" I said.

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