This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

Gylvia glanced at Leona's face, which clearly bore the features of the Western Empire, and then shook her head: "Leona, you are from the Western Empire. Your country is strong and peaceful, and because of this, your soldiers don't need much comfort—they eat well every meal, have sufficient pay, and even if they die in battle, their families receive a substantial pension. But my Restoration Army is different. The reason they are gathered together is my promise to them: I will lead them to reclaim our country and restore the glory of the Ossi people."

Leona scratched her head. The Western Empire had indeed been at peace for a long time, and she couldn't quite understand the current situation of the Restoration Army.

“The food our soldiers in the rear are eating now is hardly better than what I’m eating now. If it weren’t for the selfless donations from the people of Okenin, they might not even be able to get fresh vegetables. We don’t have enough money to pay the soldiers’ salaries, so we can only keep accounts for each soldier and pay them back someday. Similarly, their families can’t get any pensions because we really don’t have any money.” Jivia sighed, “But they are still willing to follow me and share the hardships with me. If I continue to hide and refuse to show my face, the spirit of the Restoration Army might really fall apart.”

Gylvia's concerns were very real. Even if these soldiers were passionately devoted to following the princess in restoring her kingdom, they might not be able to hold on if they didn't receive money for a long time and their livelihoods became insecure. Furthermore, if the princess, as their leader, stopped showing her face, they might not be able to endure it.

Gylvia was the only one who could inspire them, and in this situation, Gylvia could not afford to be weak or cowardly.

“So, it seems we might actually have a way to help you solve this problem,” Abyss, who was sitting to the side, suddenly said.

Chapter Ninety-Five: Abyss's Amateur Talent

Gylvia was immediately puzzled: "What? Do you have any way to boost the morale of the Restoration Army without me even showing up?"

“As you said, Princess Gylvia still has to make an appearance. After all, your soldiers are all waiting for you to stand before them and give them a speech in all your glory.” Abyss winked mysteriously at Gylvia.

Gylvia didn't understand, but the three girls beside her quickly realized what the Abyss was planning, and their expressions immediately became complicated. There was a hint of surprise, a hint of amusement, but mostly anticipation.

Boosting the morale of the Restoration Army would be quite simple: Flora could simply walk around them and cast a morale-boosting spell on each of them, transforming them into super warriors capable of single-handedly taking on a two-headed ogre. However, this approach is obviously impractical. Firstly, using such a large-scale spell with undeniable effects would undoubtedly attract the attention of the Papacy, which would certainly not tolerate them taking sides unknowingly and would intervene. The Abyss isn't worried about the Papacy's actions; if they go too far, either the Abyss or Flora could easily disband it. But on the other hand, the biggest problem lies with the Nine Gods.

If Flora were to use divine magic to help an army win a victory, the balance of the world would be broken—these soldiers ultimately won the war not through their own efforts, but through divine power granted by Flora's prayers. Therefore, if Flora were to do so, the Nine Gods would certainly cause trouble for the Abyss. The Nine Gods might tolerate a little imbalance, but such an imbalance at the army level would definitely not be tolerated by them.

It's important to understand that the Nine Gods are more powerful than the extraterrestrial evil gods. No matter how much of a subordinate they are, Hay-Twelve is still their own territory. The Abyss may be able to deal with the extraterrestrial evil gods and occasionally outmaneuver them, but he cannot possibly defeat the Nine Gods in a bad mood head-on.

But Abis had another way.

Who is the Abyss? Aside from being the world's greatest necromancer and the world's most daring, he's also a man who can wear women's clothing without batting an eye, and even become completely immersed in the role. Here, "manly" refers to someone who can easily do things that other men cannot.

Now that the Abyss has said so, the three girls who witnessed the Abyss's beautiful cross-dressing naturally thought of what he was going to say next.

"Tell me quickly what the method is, I'm so anxious!" Jivia looked at Abyss eagerly, her curiosity piqued.

“Ahem, Your Highness, I can actually transform into your likeness,” Abyss said at this moment. “However, there is a condition: you must allow me to observe you carefully, to observe every detail of you, so that it can be done flawlessly.”

"You can transform into my appearance?" Gylvia's eyes widened, and she quickly figured out the principle. "It's the shapeshifting spell that you mages use, right? I remember that completely transforming into another person's appearance without being detected is a very advanced shapeshifting spell."

Polymorph is indeed a common spell, an essential skill for every mid-level mage of the Transfiguration school. However, in reality, this spell is rarely used to impersonate someone else, for one simple reason—it's too easy to expose. The duration of Polymorph is limited: firstly, it consumes a huge amount of mana; secondly, if one continues to polymorph for too long, it becomes impossible to revert back; Polymorph can only change appearance, not voice. To change one's voice, one must simultaneously change the shape of their vocal cords, which also consumes a significant amount of mana; furthermore, Polymorph cannot be used while being subjected to significant impact. Any impact will deplete a lot of mana, and once mana is insufficient, the deception will be immediately revealed.

Impersonating others is actually a strength of illusionists, but Abyss would never use illusions on Gylvia's soldiers, as Gylvia would certainly not agree to that.

Abyss was not a mage of this school, therefore Gylvia had reasonable doubts about him.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve mastered Transfiguration very well. More importantly, I have a lot of magic power, so you don’t have to worry about me running out of magic power and giving myself away.” Abyss confidently patted his chest, then chanted a spell, transforming into the appearance of a dwarf.

"Look at me now," Abyss said, his voice becoming rougher. Aside from his characteristically light and airy tone, he was unrecognizable as the gray-haired youth from before. "This looks like the owner of a tavern in the Western Empire's capital. I drank at his place for several days, memorizing his appearance and mannerisms. Now, I just need to change my tone… like this. Hehe, Your Highness, how do I look now?"

"Wow! It really looks like him!" Leona exclaimed, pointing at the Abyss. "Isn't that Dahl, the owner of the Ugly Dwarf Bar? You even talk like him!"

“Besides, I’m not that easy to give away.” Abyss instructed Leona, “Leona, hit me once, but be careful not to send me flying and break anything.”

"Alright!" Leona walked up and gave Abyss a resounding flick on the forehead, the sound so crisp that Gylvia's lips twitched. The simple-minded girl was overjoyed to see Abyss finally shorter than her.

Leona's finger strike possessed far greater strength than that of an ordinary person; she knew the extent of the Abyss's physical strength before daring to use such force. If the Abyss were an ordinary person, it would likely have a hole punched in its skull by now, and be dead.

“Well done, Leona.” Abyss grinned and rubbed the spot where Leona had flicked him. “Your Highness, now you see how stable my Polymorph is, don’t you?”

“I saw it…” Gylvia nodded quickly; Leona’s flick on the head just now was far too convincing. “So how are you going to observe me? Do I need to… take off my clothes?”

“If you wish…” Abyss was speaking when he suddenly noticed that his three familiars were looking at him strangely, so he quickly stopped himself, “…not at all. I only need to observe your appearance and the details of your movements. I already know your speaking habits very well, so you don’t need to perform that for me.”

“If you can help me, I’m willing to let you take my place. Although it’s not the kind of thing a brave person would do, I think it’s the best choice for me to fight the Lord of Nightmares.” Gylvia nodded firmly. “Okay, Abyss, I’m counting on you!”

Abyss withdrew his shapeshifting ability and transformed back into a handsome young man.

"In a few days, I will transform into your appearance and go to comfort your soldiers in your place. You will hide in a safe place where you won't be discovered for the time being. I will use some means to convey what I see and hear to you, so that you won't miss any important information even when you're not around. I think I'll definitely encounter some interesting things then..."

Chapter Ninety-Six: Visiting the Military Camp

Gylvia repeated her various habits in front of the Abyss, and the Abyss carefully memorized them one by one. Soon, he was able to transform into Gylvia and become completely indistinguishable from her.

Gylvia speaks Ossi to her soldiers, which is no problem for Abys. Although Abys doesn't speak Ossi, he is very proficient in the language. If he deliberately imitates Gylvia's accent, he sounds just like a native Ossi speaker.

Although Gylvia's life is tough now, every move she makes exudes princess-like grace. Her movements are elegant, beautiful, efficient, and precise. Through deliberate observation, Leona, who is a princess but completely ignorant of the details of princess etiquette, feels very ashamed.

Abyss tried to disguise himself as Gylvia and went for a walk, even chatting with the person in charge of Gylvia's security, without being recognized at all.

“Now everything should be fine,” Givia said to Abyss, who had just returned. “I’ll tell you the specific itinerary in the next few days. You can just ride my horse to the border and into the kingdom to meet with several different guerrilla groups.”

"Rest assured, I will certainly not let your soldiers down," Abis nodded.

“By the way, do you have anything to do today? I’d like to take you to visit the military camp in Xiaoduo Town,” Jivia said. As she spoke, she quickly finished off the last bit of food on her table. She had been so busy talking to Abyss and preparing for the Stand event that she had almost forgotten to eat, and only now that she was starving did she remember.

"Want to visit the barracks?" Leona asked with great interest. "I love visiting barracks!"

Flora also showed a desire to go. She didn't know much about soldiers, after all, as a former saint of the Holy See, she rarely participated in military affairs. What she cared more about was that Haina was also in the military camp. She was curious about the girl who admired her so much and wanted to know what her life was like in the military camp.

Rebecca didn't really care, but she was happy to go out for a walk, in case she found inspiration somewhere and developed a new potion.

“We don’t really have anything to do,” Abis shook his head. “We finished everything before we came. Is your battle report this afternoon okay?”

“I’ve read all the battle reports, including the one that just arrived this morning,” Jivia replied. “Now that I understand the specific situation, waiting around in this command post is just a waste of time. It’s about time I went out to see the people and the soldiers.”

Givya is very aware of her role as a spiritual leader.

“If it’s on our way, of course we can,” Abis said with a smile. “I think going to the military camp will boost everyone’s morale.”

“Of course, you are all among the strongest in the continent. With you standing by my side, the soldiers will be very excited.” Jivia nodded. “Who wouldn’t want to have a powerful and reliable person on their side? The soldiers will feel very secure knowing that I have such powerful friends as you.”

After obtaining Abyss's consent, Gylvia changed out of her dress into a smart combat uniform, carefully applied makeup, and left the command post with her guards and Abyss.

Everyone in Xiaoduo Town knew Princess Jivia. After she walked down the street, many townspeople flocked to see her, considering it a great honor to be able to see the princess.

Meanwhile, Abys and his entourage, who were accompanying Gylvia, became the focus of everyone's curiosity. They whispered among themselves in Ossi.

"That gray-haired boy doesn't even look as old as my little Jim. Is he really a powerful mage?"

"Yes, yes, they all look so young. Look at that silver-haired little girl, she's probably only ten years old, right? I heard she's a female knight? What country would knight such a young child?"

"Hmph, you guys don't understand, do you? Don't be fooled by how young these experts look; they might actually be quite old."

"Huh? What? Tell me, why do they look older than they are?"

"Think about it, experts of their level, wouldn't they be able to reverse aging at will? When they get old and complain about their eyesight failing and their bodies becoming weak, they just use a magic spell to reverse aging on themselves and they're fine in no time."

“You’re right. We ordinary people don’t really understand the world of these super-strong people.”

"Anyone whom Her Highness Jivia approves of must be exceptional. Anyway, if Her Highness says someone is good, we should just praise them too, and we can't go wrong."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

After people reached this consensus in private, no one questioned the youthful appearance of the Abyss and his companions anymore.

These whispered discussions did not escape Abyss and his companions' ears. They were indeed quite young; not counting the time since the girls' deaths, the oldest of the four was Leona, only eighteen, while Abyss was the youngest, only sixteen. They weren't young again; they were genuinely born exceptionally powerful.

Surrounded by people, Jivia walked out of Xiaoduo Town and headed towards the military camp outside the town.

This place was still considered part of Gylvia's territory, and the barracks were not far from the town, so the townspeople did not object. After all, many of the soldiers in this barracks were men from the town's families. Although they could not go home freely after joining the army, it was always better for their families to be closer to them.

"The princess has arrived!" The guards at the barracks gate saw Gylvia walking towards them and quickly opened the gate. Soldiers rushed inside to find the barracks commander.

Not long after, a burly old man trotted to the door from inside. Abis had never seen this man before, but judging from his still robust physique despite his advanced age, Abis guessed that this must be another of Gylvia's generals.

"Your Highness, you've arrived." Upon seeing Jivia, the old man immediately knelt on one knee.

"General Halld, there's no need for formalities today. I've come to check on our soldiers, to see how well they're training, and whether the new recruits have mastered the necessary combat skills."

Gylvia gestured for General Hall to stand up and said.

“I see. This old minister thought that Your Highness had some instructions to convey personally.” General Hold glanced at Abyss beside Givia. “These four must be the heroes Your Highness brought back. This is the first time we’ve met, and you are indeed all very distinguished.”

However, despite the old man's polite words, there seemed to be a hint of displeasure in his tone. After all, although Abyss and his group were well-dressed and their demeanor matched that of experts, they were simply too young.

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Princess Goes to the Grassroots

Apart from Leona, who was curiously looking around, Abyss, Flora, and Rebecca all sensed General Hall's distrust of them.

No one said anything. They were there to observe, not to gain the respect of this unfamiliar general. These extraordinary geniuses didn't care what ordinary people thought of them—if someone looked down on them, it only meant they hadn't started doing anything yet. Once they did, the power they casually displayed would astound anyone.

“Hold, I brought some heroes with me today, hoping my soldiers could see our reliable allies. They are not members of the Restoration Army, but they share the same enemy as us.” Gylvia then said to Hold, “Make sure to pass on the order that everyone must show respect to the heroes and not underestimate them because of their youth.”

Holder knew that the princess had seen through the distrust in his tone just now, and his face flushed red. He quickly said, "This old minister understands, and dares not be disrespectful."

Leona only heard Gylvia's words at this moment. She glanced curiously at General Hall's white beard and said, "Ordering won't do much good in this kind of thing. If the soldiers don't trust us, even if we run laps around the camp a few times, they still won't trust us. If you ask me, why don't we show the soldiers what we're capable of? Once they see our fighting power, everything will be much easier, right?"

“How can this be? You are honored guests of the Restoration Army. How can we let you perform on stage? Wouldn’t that be humiliating?” Jivia shook her head.

“I think it’s a good idea. Isn’t this a great opportunity for your soldiers to see our strength with their own eyes? This will greatly boost their morale.” Abyss nodded in agreement with Leona’s opinion. “Right now, the Restoration Army is in a period where it urgently needs to take back the Kingdom of Ossi in one fell swoop. If they can get some encouragement, I believe their fighting power will be greatly improved.”

Abyss spoke without a trace of humility, leaving General Hall standing nearby stunned. He had expected the princess's guests to offer some modesty, but their confident pronouncements left him no chance to utter the polite words he had prepared.

However, he was already quite old, and although he was living a hard life now, he had been a high-ranking military leader before escaping from the Kingdom of Ossi with Princess Ghivia. Of course, he couldn't possibly lack this level of shrewdness. Now, hearing that Abyss could be so confident, his curiosity was piqued.

These people all looked like aristocratic young men on an outing: a blonde beauty who was undoubtedly from a wealthy family, a seemingly pampered little girl, a young woman who behaved like a scholar but was impeccably dressed and exuded wealth, and a boy who was a common sight in aristocratic circles, seemingly drained of his youth by women. What abilities did they possess that made Gylvia trust them so much?

"Does the princess need an accompaniment?" Halld asked.

“No need, General Hall. I know you’re busy with military affairs right now, so I won’t bother you,” Givia said with a smile. “I just wanted to check on the soldiers’ condition and hope you haven’t disappointed me.”

"While the princess was out buying potions, this old minister dared not slacken his vigilance. Please feel free to inspect the troops," Hall said, a proud expression on his face. It seemed he had indeed managed the army very well.

“Alright, I’ll wait and see. You can go ahead and get busy.” Gylvia nodded, indicating that Hold could leave. Hold glanced at Abyss and his group one last time, then turned and left.

Training in the military camp had just ended, and the soldiers, having finished lunch, were taking a short rest in preparation for the afternoon's training. Givia led Abys and his group on a tour of the recruit camp.

As the name suggests, the recruit camp consisted mostly of young Ossi men who had recently joined the Restoration Army. They were all very excited to see the princess. Most of them were driven by a burning desire to reclaim the glory that belonged to the Ossi people, which was why they had come to serve the princess. These men could have easily submitted to the Western Empire and profited from the thirty-year preferential policies offered by the Western Empire, but they voluntarily gave up this opportunity and chose to become followers of Givia.

Wherever Gylvia went, she was greeted with cheers from the new recruits, and the officers in charge of discipline couldn't stop her even when they shouted at her. Gylvia held a very high place in their hearts.

In the end, it was only after Jivia personally ordered the soldiers to rest that these young men, who were wholeheartedly devoted to serving their country, calmed down.