Krenocia doesn't say anything else, she just gives me a long look and then leaves the soulscape. After closing the soulscape, I stay in meditation while I do some thinking. I run through all the pros and cons of heading back to Holos' domain.

  However, I quickly conclude that the risks are minimal and the potential rewards are worth it. Knowing that Holos won't be around is the biggest factor, one I should thank Mythica for at some point. Although, that will be hard without letting her know what I have been up to.

  With my decision made, I meditate until my mana is mostly full and then stand up. I then open a gate back to the cave in the center of the mountain in Holos' domain. When I walk through the gate I find the cave completely empty, just as I was expecting.

  With Holos not around to replace the statue, there is no reason for anyone to come here. There will be no ore to mine until Holos returns, so this is a safe place for right now. Besides, it is the only place memorable enough for me to open a gate back to.

  All the rest of this domain isn't unique enough for me to use as a gate destination. I could still open a gate to the domain, but I would end up somewhere random in the forest. This place is really boring, if I ended up in an afterlife like this, I would kill myself.

  Now that I know the souls go to be reincarnated, I plan to kill as many as I can to free them from this place. Well, I plan to kill them for the soul exp, but I will be freeing them in the process. Now that I know Holos isn't there, it is time to find and take a look at the city.

  Come to think of it, Holos should have a palace in the city and he isn't there to guard it. I wonder what kind of nifty treasures he has, maybe I should go take a look? The palace is likely to be heavily guarded, but it shouldn't be more than I can handle.

  Once I exit the cave, I head over to the huts and start looking for tracks. After all, I bet that Holos makes the souls move the ore to the city the hard way. Just as I thought, behind the huts I find tracks that look like they were made by carts.

  I don't encounter anyone as I follow the tracks, but I didn't really expect to. With the mine shut down, there is no reason for anyone to head this way. The tracks lead straight to the city and there is no city wall or guardpost to stop me.

  However, walking through the city as a six-winged angel would draw way too much attention. Instead, I shapeshift into a human and change my clothes to match those I saw on the souls. I just hope that the souls don't have a way to identify each other as souls.

  Only one way to find out, so I openly walk out of the forest and into the city. Some of the souls glance at me, but no one starts shouting for the guards or anything. As I walk down the street I notice something really strange, I don't see any female souls.

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  Come to think of it, none of the souls that I killed in the forest and in the mine were female either. Oh right, Holos probably refuses to accept female followers based on his personality. An eternity without women, this place isn't heaven, it is definitely hell.

  Well, I guess that some of the angels are female, but I doubt that they are very friendly. The more that I learn about Holos, the more sorry I feel for the people who got tricked into following him. I am really starting to feel that me killing them and freeing them from this afterlife is a mercy.

  However, I stay on task, I want to check out the palace before things get noisy. Being in the very center of the city, the palace is not hard to find, but it is surrounded by a wall. The wall has angels stationed every fifty feet or so, meaning sneaking in won't be easy.

  It would be easier at night, but so far I haven't seen any sign of there being a night in this domain. Just to be sure, I circle all the way around the palace, but I don't find any gaps. There is a gate in the middle of each side, but they are even more heavily guarded.

  Sneaking in is out, so I either need to go in by force or create a diversion. The problem with that is that I am not entirely sure what would draw the angels away. If I was dealing with humans, I could just set something on fire, but I don't know if angels will act the same.

  Of course, if I killed a bunch of souls and then started a fire, that might work. I know from the forest that the angels will respond to the death of souls. Other than forcing my way in, I think that is going to be my best bet.

  Circling the palace again I look for a building that is close enough, but not too close. If the angels can see it without moving, then it won't create a gap for me to enter through. A building a street over from the one surrounding the palace catches my eye.

  It is just far enough away for the angels to have to leave their posts to see it. It is also still close enough that they will be able to see the flames and smoke. That, combined with the deaths of the souls inside, should be enough to draw them over, I hope.

  Of course, there is only one way for me to know if it is going to work, so I head into the building. It turns out to be something similar to a tavern, although much quieter than would be expected. It seems that even when they are relaxing, the souls aren't allowed to have too much fun.

  However, the fact that there is alcohol here is just perfect, that will make it easy to burn. There are a couple of dozen souls in this main room and probably a few more in the rest of the building. I won't be able to kill them all though, I need to be in position to enter the palace.

  I need to kill the souls, set the place on fire, and get back to the area around the palace. There is no point in waiting, so I draw my sword and start cutting down the souls. Most of them are so surprised that they don't even try to get away from me.

  Although, those that do try aren't anywhere near fast enough to escape. Once all the souls in the main room are dead, I throw out a few weak fire spells. I only aim at areas where there are bottles of alcohol, but it is extremely effective.

  28 Human Souls defeated! 2,800 Soul Exp gained!

  *DING*

  Congratulations! Your Soul Level has Increased!

  Soul Level 5 -> 6! Soul HP +500, Soul MP +1,000!

  As soon as I see that the fire is well and truly started, I leave the building. I quickly move back towards the palace while trying not to draw attention to myself. When I reach the square around the palace I see that some of the angels have already left their posts.