Outside the Svarga temple, Raymond and Shiina were trying to calm the people, who remained extremely agitated.
"Will they be okay?"
"I can't believe they were deceiving us all this time!"
"There was an angel there, and she saved us! It's true!"
These were just a few of the dozens of simultaneous conversations. The tension and temperature were high, but a huge cold explosion several kilometers away instantly cooled tempers.
A deadly silence lingered for a long time, interrupted only by the sound of the wind.
"It looks like Sharaad is dead," Shiina commented.
"Yes... It seemed even bigger than when he fought... you know who."
"My son..." Ashoka whimpered as he watched the explosion.
Minutes passed until, eventually, Sariel, Aegreon, and Luna returned.
"Sharaad and the Sect have been annihilated," announced the traveler. "You can rest in peace now."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as they saw Luna, those sighs turned into a mix of surprise and fear. Some stepped back, while a small group of people approached her.
"Thank you for helping us. Only Shi... Kura knows what would have happened to us if it weren't for you. Let me heal you," said a woman as she approached.
"Don't worry, Sa... Nungal has already healed me with magic." The princess showed her face. "See?"
"Oh, in that case, how about we offer you a meal at our house? I make wonderful tandoori chicken!"
"Oh, I don't eat animal products, sorry..."
While this conversation was taking place, the people who had not yet met Luna looked at their compatriots with surprise and disbelief, unable to believe that they wanted to please an angel.
"Oh, but why?"
"For me, animals are my friends just like you, so I could never eat them," replied the princess with a pure smile.
As soon as they heard these words spoken with such kindness, some began to doubt whether she really was an angel, even though her eyes screamed yes.
Maybe... not all angels were bad... just like Ardos.
"In that case, I can make some curry! I'll try not to make it too spicy for you. You are all invited too!"
"We appreciate it, but now you need to rest," Sariel approached. "I know you probably want to leave here as soon as possible, but it's better to spend the night here and return to Krimisha in the morning."
"What if someone from that 'Sect' is hiding?"
"We will protect you, don't worry about that."
With some hesitation, the people followed the group's instructions and were led away from what remained of the temple.
Due to the fighting, the nearby camp had been destroyed, even though it was far from the temple, so they had to find a relatively large area to sleep, using clothes or any fabric as pillows.
Despite being afraid and having to sleep on the hard ground, they ended up falling asleep quickly.
It was then that Sariel decided to act as soon as he was sure everyone was unconscious.
"Thank you for using your magic to make them fall asleep quickly, Shiina."
"You're welcome, but what do you intend to do?"
"Mass brainwashing." His eyes turned brown.
"All of them? Isn't it complicated to alter the memories of so many people?" asked Luna.
"Yes, so I will alter as little as possible and only delete or change the sequence of certain events."
"And what's the difference?"
"If I want to introduce a memory that doesn't belong to the person, or insert many elements into an existing memory, it will be more laborious and time-consuming to make it realistic. But if I just delete some parts, connect them with others, or change the order and make small changes, it will be much faster and easier to make the memory as believable as possible."
"And what exactly will change?"
"I will make them believe that all of us, except for Aegreon, died in this fight. Including you, Ashoka. You will also believe that we died." He stared at the now king of Krimisha.
Ashoka was startled and looked at Sariel with concern.
"Wh-what are you going to do?"
"Unlike them, your memories will be the most difficult to alter since you have been with us the longest."
"But why are you doing this?"
"Because of the Council," said Aegreon.
"But aren't you with the Council?"
"It's a long story that's not worth explaining since your memories will be altered, so just trust us."
Hearing this, Ashoka had no choice but to agree.
After that, Sariel closed his eyes and began his magic.
The place was flooded with a strong energy of Alteration, which became even denser and more concentrated in people's heads. In fact, it was even possible to see a kind of brown mist forming where the people slept.
Then, all those minds synchronized with Sariel's mind, which was flooded with countless pieces of information from hundreds of people.
In addition to memories, everyone's feelings were also transmitted. Fear, insecurity, and anxiety flooded his mind with a weight as heavy as the world itself.
Even a prodigious expert in Alteration magic would have gone mad from having his mind overwhelmed with so much information, but not Sariel.
Methodically organizing the memories, he synchronized everyone's memories with the events that had occurred since they entered the temple, giving him a complete understanding of everything that had happened to everyone at the same time.
It was like watching the battle unfold through hundreds of different eyes.
Then, he began to delete and change those memories.
The first thing he did was alter the memories of those who saw Luna during the fight, changing her eyes to those of a human.
He could have left that unchanged and made them believe she died in the fight, but when the Council come to investigate the situation, they would not believe that an angel died so easily.
Furthermore, that would confirm to the Council that Aegreon was involved with Luna.
He also made sure to alter the memories of anyone who saw him change elements; he needed to be sure that his identity as a Volatile would remain hidden.
In their memories, after everyone left the temple, he erased everyone in the group except Aegreon from the moment they all returned after defeating Sharaad, making the last time they saw everyone together during the fight.
Finally, he made Aegreon say that the Sect had been defeated at the cost of Shiina, Luna, Raymond, and Sariel's lives, and then connected it to the moment they left the temple and went to sleep.
After about an hour, Sariel finished all the changes and opened his eyes, sweating profusely and feeling a severe headache.
Now, everyone would believe only Aegreon survived, while they wouldn't know about Luna's eyes and that he was a Volatile.
"Well, now it's your time, Ashoka. This will be our farewell."
"What do you mean?" asked the king. "What's going to happen here?"
"Even though the Sect has been defeated, there are still many followers of Shiva in Krimisha. Since we need to leave quickly so we don't get caught by the Council, we have no choice but to leave everything in your hands. You are the only one who can maintain some stability, since you were the previous king."
"It won't work..." said Ashoka, discouraged. "They'll kill us for regicide..."
"Not everyone has converted to Shiva yet. Not to mention that you are the only one who can rule this kingdom. Whether they like it or not, they will need you."
Upon hearing this, the king remained silent with a weary expression.
"If you have any problems, you can talk to the Council," suggested Aegreon. "Tell them what happened, and they will send the Vigil to help."
"But won't I forget everything?"
"Not everything," said Sariel.
Ashoka fell silent once again when he finally sighed and signaled to the traveler that he was ready to have his memories altered.
He then approached and touched the king's forehead, gaining access to his memories and altering them.
His modifications were the same as those of the rest of the people, with the extra changes being to make Luna's eyes normal and make him completely forget that she was an angel, in addition to any conversation related to the Council also being deleted.
As Ashoka had been with them longer, his memories took more time.
After another hour, Sariel withdrew his hand and Ashoka collapsed on the floor, sleeping deeply and showing no signs of waking up.
"Well, shall we go?" asked the traveler.
"Yes, let's go."
"Is that it?" asked Luna. "Is there nothing else we can do?"
"We've done the best we could. In fact, it's surprising how well things turned out," said Raymond.
"Where are we going now?" asked Shiina.
"Belvuch Mountain Range," replied the Pillar.
"You really think I killed Feng Ping too, don't you?"
"The truth will be revealed."
And so, the group mounted their horses and headed for their next destination, avoiding the road since they were not supposed to be seen in Krimisha.