Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

The Evil Spirit has an appearance similar to a cloud of black smoke. It has no feet, only hands, and pure crimson eyes.

What it was doing at this moment was covering the eyes of the child. And with that action, the remaining sanity or memory of the child was gradually being taken away.

When the Evil Spirit completely snatched or destroyed the remaining anchor of the soul, that soul would then be vulnerable to spirit possession.

Apart from that method to be possessed, the other way, if the soul's regret was concerned about revenge, the Evil Spirit would rather then amplify its emotions rather than erase them.

By amplifying one's emotions and having the soul's desire for revenge to be as blazing as fire, it would allow the Evil Spirit to possess the target soul. In other words, with the spirit's temptation, along with the soul's permission, such a phenomenon would then take place.

"Hup-!"

Bam-!

Freya lunged forward and aimed her sword at the Evil Spirit which seemed to resemble a fluttering dark leaf due to its swaying body.

She did her best not to hit the child who was on the verge of being completely under control by the Evil Spirit. In any case, if she didn't manage to stop the process of spirit possession, it would be too late for her unless she learned exorcism-related skills — something that was used against the undead monsters.

Being a Death Executioner, although her temporary Personal Weapon was material, it could hit an immaterial being.

"Shrieeekkk-!!"

The cry of the Evil Spirit reverberated in their ears.

Russell and Estelle, on the other hand, tend to the child in a dazed as Freya continued to fight the Evil Spirit. It was a little girl with short black hair and brown eyes.

Under Freya's authority, Russell and Estelle could communicate with the soul similar to what Freya had previously done.

"Estelle, you're mostly a support type, right? Can you cleanse the lingering corruption of her?"

Russell asked, his deep blue eyes turning cold to the information he just saw as he read the description regarding the little girl.

So far, among the souls that Freya placated, this little girl had the most tragic cause of death. Such a job, of being a Death Executioner, was mentally and emotionally exhausting.

That's why emotional quotient was extremely important to be taken care of.

Estelle nodded at Russell's words as she extended her hands toward the little girl's head.

Seconds later, a blinding yellow light, as though the sunlight from above pierced the Soul Realm, illuminated the surroundings as an intricate magic circle appeared atop the little girl's head.

Estelle used the Skill: Purification. It was a sort of irony since she came from a realm where something pure seemed to not exist.

[The familiar, Estelle, has used the Skill: Purification.]

[The soul's lingering corruption of an Evil Spirit has completely been extinguished!]

One of the steps to placate a soul was to make sure that any corruption wasn't present because it would lead to a negative outcome as memories or the remaining anchor of the soul would be distorted in any way.

Russell then, for the second time, inspected the information about the soul of the little girl.

Name: Mia Yukina

Age: 7

Sex: Female

Cause of Death: Killed by a soldier from a noble family in Cassiopeia.

Upon reading the cause of death, Russell was reminded of the past — when his family was still the lowest of the low and treated less than puny bugs.

Taking a deep breath as he was being nostalgic at the moment, he and Estelle — who was holding the hand of the little girl named Mia, glanced some distance away where Freya was still fighting

***

"Puny Death Executioner!"

With a deep and horrific voice, the Evil Spirit spoke. Its voice seemed to scratch Freya's skull, which she tried her best to ignore.

Name: —

Race: Evil Spirit

Rank: —

According to what Freya had learned some time ago, Evil Spirits were beings that couldn't be measured, and it's up to the Death Executioner's overall power to gauge the strength of the Evil Spirit.

'There are too many things to learn.'

Freya thought before continuing her attacks. There's one thing she was concerned about — she couldn't use a skill in the Soul Realm if it was not related to her profession, and she was far from possessing such skills. What she only possessed at the given moment was a Unique Skill: Death's Call.

'But this is enough to extinguish it!'

"Ha-!"

Freya responded to the Evil Spirit by intensifying her attacks.

Slash-! Slash-!

"Shrieeekkk-!!"

Although Evil Spirits didn't possess any kind of blood, if the attack was effective, their entire form would form a crack as though they were fragile glass. And at this moment, the Evil Spirit was starting to form cracks on its body, signifying its losing "life" — if it was what it's called.

"Go to hell."

With the last words from Freya, by thrusting her sword forward, and cleaved it down like she was painting something, the Evil Spirit perished.

"SHRIEEEKKK-!!"

[You have slain a Lowest-rank Evil Spirit.]

[Under the authority of a Death Executioner, the Evil Spirit has been completely extinguished from the Great Universe.]

[Your authority grows stronger.]

Approaching the place where the Evil Spirit lost its life, Freya looked down and slowly crouched down to pick up a glistening black marble.

[You have acquired a Spirit Stone (Evil).]

***

After some time, Freya went to where her older brother and Estelle were standing. They were looking at her with proud expressions — Estelle even slowly clapped, which was fine for Freya.

After a few seconds of the little victory celebration, Freya crouched down and touched the little girl's cheek.

The information regarding the soul was then screened in her deep blue eyes.

Similar to Russell, her deep blue eyes turned cold. She was also reminded of the abuse they received when they were slaves.

"Calm down. In the future, you'll encounter far more disturbing causes of death."

Considering the f*cked up world, and how some, if not most, players were hungry for power, the ways to die were uncountable.

Heaving a sigh of resignation as Freya calmed herself down upon hearing her older brother's words, she spoke to the little girl.

"Mia Yukina."

The little girl, who was dazed all the time, finally left her moment of seemingly unending reverie.

Glancing at the beautiful woman, Mia tilted her head in confusion.

"I am Freya and I-I..."

Freya's voice cracked. It was extremely hard for her to tell such a child that she was already dead and had already left the cruel world.

"You can do it."

Russell encouraged his younger sister.

Without responding to Russell, but completely absorbing his encouragement, Freya mustered up the courage to speak.

"I am Freya, and I-I am here to tell you that, with unfortunate reason, already left the world."

"H-Huh...?"

Mia was perplexed because she couldn't understand Freya's words.

"Mama! Papa! W-where are they? M-Marquis Solas killed them!"

Russell and Freya's atmosphere, which was previously cold, now turned colder upon hearing the familiar name.

It was the family name of the Marquis that enslaved their family.

"F*ck!"

Russell couldn't help but curse.

"Bad!! Mama said cursing is bad!!"

Mia interjected while Freya fell silent. She was looking at the ground while her mouth was trembling.

"Mia... You died, too."

With Freya's straightforward words as if she wanted the time to quickly pass, Mia fell silent.

With the memories of the soul and being triggered by a Death Executioner, Mia should now be aware of her current predicament.

"I-I want to see Mama... and Papa..."

With flowing tears that quickly dissipated, Mia pleaded, holding Freya's supple hands.

Freya bit her lip. When the person or any being died, their soul would be in the same place for a moment, having a bit of freewill and consciousness, but as time passed, they would start to fade until a Death Executioner triggered their memories by communicating with them. Although their memories were flickering and during the time when no one was talking with them, they would walk aimlessly like a lost child in a wilderness.

"H-how long since it happened, Mia?"

Freya asked about when they died.

"A-about a month ago... Big sis Freya, w-will I be able to see my Mama and Papa again...?"

Mia answered, and then followed up with a question.

Without having a definite answer, she glanced at her older brother.

With an unknown expression and seemingly thinking about something else, Russell, who was feeling cold and silently feeling fiercely angry, nodded his head.

"It's dangerous to wander around the Soul Realm without preparations."

As if understanding Russell's nod and his words, Freya cast her gaze on the little girl.

With a faint smile of lamentation, avoiding her emotions to erupt, Freya nodded her head as she said in a serene tone.

"Yes Mia, you will meet your Mama and Papa, soon. But... But... Y-you need to go first so you can wait for them, is that okay with you?"

"Really?! Yay! I will wait for them Big sis Freya!"

Mia replied with delightfulness and complete innocence.

"Alright. You must go now. Okay?

Nodding her head with anticipation, Mia with an innocent smile, waving her small hands towards Russell, Estelle, and her Big sis Freya, gradually dissipated and was then sent to Heaven's Sanctuary after a complicated magic circle appeared on her feet.

"You have done well, Mia Yukina."

[You have successfully placated the soul.]

[Placated Souls: 50/50]

[The soul has entered Heaven's Sanctuary and will be granted eternal rest.]

[You have completed the Soul Placation requirement for the day.]

"Let's go."

After some time of finding the initial location where they arrived from, they exited the Soul Realm.

***

"Oppa, what's your plan? Bring me with you."

Freya insisted. Her wavering desire to avenge her family and Mia wasn't showing any signs to falter.

Russell was torn between raiding a Chaos Dungeon first or killing a Marquis of a certain country.

Contemplating for some time, he responded to Freya's words.

"The time for that will come, but not yet."

Freya wanted to retort, but she realized that her emotions were getting ahead of her, which wasn't a good thing as a Death Executioner.

"A-alright! But, promise me you'll not do it alone when the time comes!"

Letting out a sigh, Russell nodded as he said firmly.

"Okay, I promise."

***

Estelle was just looking at them with a confused look in her blinded folded eyes. She's far from completely understanding human emotions yet, which was also the reason she had it easier to placate souls without promising someone anything.

"Estelle... We'll be out for a few days. Do Soul Placation for me at the moment, okay? The same number of souls per day and try to extinguish Evil Spirits, but make sure they're weaker than you."

Freya asked her familiar, which she considered a strange human being.

"Okay, Master!"

After that, Freya sent Estelle to the Nether Realm. That way, after Freya went to the Chaos Realm, under her authority, Estelle could still access the Soul Realm.

"Oppa, Chaos Dungeon's next on the list, right?"

Russell nodded seriously.

It was time to raid their first Chaos Dungeon. What he planned first was to recruit others, but he thought that it would be better to try it first without the prospective ones or soon to be a part of his group.

Since the classes were suspended due to the Tower's psychological cue, and the sun was just showing itself through the horizon, they got a lot of time on their hands.

After preparing the necessities for some time, Russell and Freya went to the Chaos Realm. But before they did so, Russell left a message, through his smartwatch, to Ms. Ayleen, though the message was something to be passed on to Artorious.

It was a favor to be granted to him as he fulfilled the Mana Contract by showing the solution to go against the Tower's psychological cue.

'Time to get rid of the pest.'