Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

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Erebus saw everything in silence, it seemed his help was no longer needed, so when Planta and Thanatos fought to the end, he just watched, he was tired anyways, very tired, something he had never experienced before with his Demon King body.

"This body is sure weak…" he thought, sighing. "To think I would grow weak and… am I hungry right now? I feel very hungry, I want to eat something quickly… Ugh."

As he groaned annoyingly about his "shortcomings" he glanced at the fragmented time hole, as Planta stepped out of there, the domain within the domain she made was dispelled, and everything went back to normal.

Except her World Boss Domain remained, and it quickly started moving, quite literally…

TRUUUM!

It moved through space as if it were a bubble within space, and in a way it was. Domains were made by first manifesting a person's Aura, then creating barriers to close it.

Planta flew towards Erebus, greeting him.

"Hello Erebus," she sighed in relief after the battle was done. "How are you feeling so far with your new body?"

"A-Ah… master," he muttered. "I'm feeling alright… How long has it been since I was sealed within the fruit? So much has changed, and you've grown so strong too!"

"Hmm, not so long," Planta said. "Although at the moment of your defeat it was announced that the Demon King of Death would emerge in 30 days, the Administrators had been delaying it for quite a while, perhaps because they knew he was so dangerous we needed to prepare and grow stronger… also they were perhaps waiting for you to be reborn as well.

Hmm, but roughly… definitely for quite some time… Perhaps over three months, or almost three months."

Indeed, although the "30 days till the Demon King comes out" was very scary, the Gods and the Administrators had been keeping him sealed for much longer than estimated.

It seemed that because of this, he had grown so insane and wanted to come out already, trying to find ways after ways to manifest outside of his sealed domain, the Underworld.

"I see… it wasn't as long as I imagined, I imagined I would have been there for years," he said. "Or well, it felt like… that. Hmm…" Erebus rubbed his chin.

"Did you dream about something weird?" Planta asked.

"I… think so," muttered Erebus. "I dreamed of meeting mother… And I remember she said that I had to trust you, and that I had to protect you, and the forest… And so I did, I've done my best and I was just reborn."

"Haha, I know," nodded Planta. "Well done Erebus, thank you for your help so far. Do you like your new body? Yggdrasil seems mostly capable of birthing fairies, so that's the body you were given at the end. Although the color and shape of your soul was never changed, and it influenced your appearance as well.

You're probably the only fairy that has black hair, demon horns, and black wings… and those crimson eyes, and the additional crimson eye… Yeah you're quite different than the rest."

"Is that so? I had not had the time to look at myself in the mirror…" said Erebus surprised. "I don't particularly like my new body though… It's annoyingly small and weak. If it wasn't for my Soul and my Powers I would've already died…"

"But it's nice though! You have much more power than I imagined, that's amazing!" said Planta. "I'm glad you're finally here, Erebus. There's a lot we need to talk now… You seem much more different than when you were a Demon King… I would say, calmer?"

"My body as a Demon King was unstable…" he muttered. "It made me go mad because it was more like the embodiment of my monstrous powers. I was a monster, and my mind and soul were also shaped like that. But now I have a smaller, weaker body, it has made me weaker and more vulnerable, but no longer… mad, I think? Hm, I wouldn't say I'm completely different though.

My pride, my personality, and what I was before remains as part of what I am right now. But yeah, I can talk now and not scream all the time."

"And that's wonderful!" Planta said, clapping her hands. "We'll do the same with Thanatos, alright?"

"I don't know if he'll like to become a fairy…" said Erebus. "Wait, not even I would have liked this! But you never even let me choose."

"Hmm, we'll see about that later anyways," Planta said. "Do you know anything about this cult he kept talking about?"

"No… I wasn't alive when it appeared," said Erebus. "So I don't really… don't really know what it is. But it seemed to have been a cult that was… probably assuming the identity of Yggdrasil, strange."

"It's indeed very strange," Planta nodded. "Oh well, you said something about ambitions before? Are you still like…?"

"I'm not… insane anymore… or so I want to think," he said. "But I still consider myself the Demon King of Miasma, and I shall live with the Title anyways. Starting my life over doesn't mean I'll simply forget who I was and what I did and pretend it never happened."

"I see… You hurt a lot of people, you know?" Planta sighed. "Especially the Forest of Beginnings. You killed Yggdrasil, you turned Titania's friends into monsters, almost destroyed the forest once, then destroyed it completely, killed the Forest of Beginnings, and more… you've done so many horrible things…"

"Yes…" Erebus nodded. "I did… And I won't pretend I didn't. You could have simply killed me and made me disappear, but here we are… I'll use the power I used to destroy and make others suffer, and use it to save as many people as I can… I'll try to atone for everything I've done, even if it means working for the rest of eternity to protect the forest."
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"Hmm…" Planta nodded. "Alright, I'll trust you then. Let's work together, Erebus. And don't call me master. Although I still prefer to have higher authority than you… just call me Planta."

"Okay then, Planta," he nodded. "I never asked you for a second chance, and I know I don't deserve it either… but I'm grateful, nonetheless. I know it sounds hypocrite coming from me, but I… you and Luminous, have inspired me. I want to become a hero."

"Aww, aren't you cute for some reason? Haha!" Planta giggled, hugging Erebus and caressing his silky black hair. "Okay sure, I'll help you become the best hero then!"

"Really?!" Erebus was excited, wagging his tail, something he just discovered he had, it was a long black colored tail with a pointy tip.

"Yes, I could help you," nodded Planta. "But you have to be honest about who you are to everyone in the forest at least. Everyone must know who you once were. And you might be hated a lot, thrown rocks at, or even insulted… I won't protect you from that either. Work hard, and slowly, earn their trust. Even it takes thousands of years."

"I shall…" he nodded. "I know it matters not, and maybe it simply doesn't have any weight but… I'm sorry… for what I did… there's no justification, but if I were to give you one anyways, I did it all because… because I had fallen into despair and madness. And became what mother would have never wanted me to become. I'll try to be what she wanted me to be now."

"Okay, sure, sure," nodded Planta, giggling. "You've sure changed!"

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