“It’s only natural to be angry, to resent, to hate. It’s normal for any person. Someone you trusted betrayed you, showed contempt for you and robbed you of your lives. People important to you were unfairly turned into prisoners and exploited for two hundred years. If you feel nothing towards those who did this, I can only say that you have gone mad,” said Vandalieu.

“Natural… Normal…”
“What did you feel when you realized that your food had been poisoned, when your guards were killed, when you were burned alive?” asked Vandalieu.

“I… Ah! Back then, I!”

“Inside you, there should be resentment, anger and hatred. Let it burn once more.”

“Inside… me…”

“Our anger…”

“My… resentment…”

Even Ghosts that were completely unrelated were stirring, but Vandalieu took no notice of them as he continued.

“Please lend me your strength,” he said. “In order to take back what was taken from us.”

As he finished speaking, there was the sound of an igniting spark as light and heat spread across the underground graveyard that had been in complete darkness a moment ago.

“I’ve remembered, my anger, my resentment!” Levia cried. “Moving on without ridding ourselves of this hatred is impossible! Isn’t that right, everyone!”

Princess Levia was burning. Not metaphorically, but literally.

Her unreliable-looking spirit-form body was now shining red, and her outlines and the details of her face were now clearly visible. She looked just like a goddess of fire, with hair and a dress made of flames.

『You have acquired the Dead Spirit Magic skill!』

“That’s right, that’s exactly right!”

“We cannot disappear until we deliver a calamity upon the Hartner family that has scorned and tormented us!”

“They’ll feel my wrath for playing around with us and throwing us away! Don’t underestimate a maid! KYIIIIH!”

There were some Ghosts getting fired up who were not among the victims of the Hartner family, but Vandalieu took no notice of this.

All of the Ghosts in the underground graveyard were burning, as if surrounded in flames.

“Did their Ranks increase?! But just how…?” Zran wondered. “No, I suppose it doesn’t matter. In any case, it seems that Levia-sama and everyone else is going to stay to help us.”

Vandalieu had used the Mental Encroachment skill to share his feelings of defeat with Levia and the others, setting alight the feelings of defeat that they themselves had once felt.

Influenced by Levia, who had been burned at the stake, they had become Rank 3 Fire Ghosts while Levia herself had become a Rank 4 Flame Ghost.

It was a phenomenon that would cause an uproar if witnessed by researching mages and scholars of the Mages’ Guild.