A calamity made its way toward the Elves inside of the Great Forest. An unstoppable creature that moved with purpose. The creature was covered in a layer of writhing darkness but its eyes glowed with a bright yellow light. Its speed was incomparable to anything seen before as it covered hundreds of miles with very little effort.

The creature was obviously Ira and he chose not to take long in his retrieval of sap from the World Tree, also referred to as the Tree of Origin by Gavreel.

If it was a few years before, one could say Ira didn’t care much about the Dark Elves or how they viewed him. It might’ve been his children that softened his heart but he currently cared for the people of the Dark Elf Empire. It was just that Ira’s way of caring meant making his people stronger through extreme methods. So, when he thought of Sylvia’s mysterious illness and the life she carried inside her, Ira would do as much as he could. She had done a lot for him and never complained or showed dangerous ambition so he felt that he owed her something.

Ira increased his speed and a loud booming sound rang out behind him. Trees and wildlife were eviscerated when they entered his path and the spirits of the forest began to gather though he was far too fast for them to catch.

“Beast! Beast!” A small fairy cried out but was thrown out of the way when Ira rushed by.

The trees which stood for hundreds and even thousands of years were ripped from the ground if they were in Ira’s path.

As Ira reached the depths of the Great Forest, the stronger the resistance toward him became. Dozens of thick vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around his body while Elves appeared on tree branches above him and aimed their bows.

“Fire!” The Elves released a volley of arrows only to watch them be repelled by the layer of black mist covering Ira’s body.

A cloud of black mist erupted and Ira’s body could be seen.

“Hey!” Ira yelled as he stepped over the vines. “Where’s that special tree?”

“You shouldn’t be here you foul creature, leave now!” An Elf shouted back.

Slowly, the fairies and dryads that couldn’t keep up with Ira made it to his location and surrounded him.

“Just give me some of the sap from the tree, ok? Just a little.”

“You wish to taint the world tree?” A dryad asked.

“Not particularly, no. I need to heal someone and you’re wasting my time. Could you please give me a few drops? If you do I swear I won't bother you anymore.” Ira responded.

“You’ll have to kill us if you want to reach the sacred World Tree.” The Elves took aim once again and fired their arrows at Ira.

Even though he was in his human form it yielded the same exact result. None of the arrows were strong enough to pierce his skin.

“...I’m getting soft.” Ira sighed to himself. Although he ruined a lot of plant life, he didn’t kill anyone and he actually stopped to ask for the essence of the World Tree.

The fairies flew through the air and conjured forest spirits but they couldn’t detect any evil from Ira.

“He’s not bad. He’s not bad...But he wants to hurt Mother.”

“We can’t let him hurt Mother.”

“No, anyone who wants to hurt Mother must be bad.”

The Fairies spoke among themselves.

Ira narrowed his eyes at the tiny-winged beings with bright colored hair.

“So you know where the tree is?” Ira asked as black mist poured out of him. He changed back into his beast form and before anyone could react, his huge hand shot out and gripped a fairy that issued a high-pitched scream.

“All of you are stingy,” Ira spoke with a fear-inducing and garbled tone. “I just wanted a few drops, that’s all.”

“Let him go!” A dryad shouted. The branches protruding from her head grew as her magic power increased.

“Ok,” Ira replied as he released the fairy. He then grabbed the Dryad and tossed her into his mouth before consuming her entirely. Memories appeared in his mind and he could recall the location of the tree everyone sought to protect.

“No!”

“How could you?!”

“Evil! You evil bastard!”

The Elves, Dryads, and Fairies cursed but Ira didn’t even blink at them. Instead, he focused on the strange sound emerging from the depths forest, it sounded like something of a mournful wail.

“Remember, I asked politely,” Ira said before he vanished from sight.

The small amount of Elves who sought to stop him were the first line of defense. It would take a few days to mobilize an army, not that it would do much against Ira. As for the fairies and Dryads, Ira left before they could use any magic on him which probably wouldn’t have the desired effect either.

So Ira continued unobstructed and was determined to retrieve what he needed. In his eyes, there was no reason that the Elves couldn’t give him any of the World Tree’s sap.

He appeared out of thin air and the first thing he saw was a huge city built within the trees. There were winding staircases connected to the trees and bridges connecting different buildings together. Some people would label the constructs tree houses but they were more than that. There was clear care and effort put into the places the Elves called home.

Instead of causing a scene, Ira pressed on and vanished once again. The Elves who caught a glance of his figures were overcome with a foreboding feeling.

“The forest is in danger!”

“Quick tell the clan leaders!”

The Elves rushed to meet Ira head on but he had already reached his destination without them knowing.

…

The place that held the Tree of Origin appeared to be dream-like. The treetops blocked most of the sunlight and created a dome shape but it was well due to the glowing flora. Vines that pulsed with life as if they were veins carried a bright green liquid through them. Small glowing spheres glided through the air in a tranquil manner. Further in was a large pond with clear water that would give any observer thoughts of purity. In the center, contrary to what Ira or most other people thought, was a small tree.

The trunk of the small tree and its few dozen branches twisted upward. It wasn’t a fitting appearance for a tree that was around since the world was created. In a way, it was on a higher level than Godsteel. If one were to drink enough sap they could ascend very easily. Though in return the tree would enter a state of hibernation for a few hundred years in order to replenish itself and the world would suffer in return.

It should be said that the Tree of Origin had roots that were so deep they nearly reached the core of the world. Destroying it would cause a huge calamity but there wasn’t anyone who would be able to. At least, that was until Ira appeared. Luckily, all Ira wanted was a few drops of its essence. Not enough to make Sylvia ascend and certainly not enough to destroy the world.

Ira appeared within the dome and a sobbing sound could be heard once he did.

“I just wanted some sap, that was all,” Ira mumbled to himself as he approached the tree. “Is it going to come out of this tiny shrub?”

Once he approached the world tree surrounded itself with thick branches that wouldn’t lose out to the strongest of metals.

Ira’s expression warped into one of dissatisfaction. “I’m not waiting anymore.”

He waved his hands and a black line cut through everything. The defense of the Tree of Origin fell and he stepped into the pond surrounding it. He felt immediate effects as the water had special qualities.

“This isn’t half bad,” Ira commented while producing a flask and scooping some of the water into it. “I’ll save it for later.”

All of a sudden, roots burst out of the pond and wrapped around Ira and tried to drag him down but he didn’t budge.

“Get off of me,” Ira ripped the roots off of his body and moved straight toward the tree.

It issued a fearful cry but it fell on deaf ears, Ira had already decided on what he would do. There was no way he would place the emotions of a tree over Sylvia and her child’s life. Ira flicked his hand a cut through the bark of the tree.

At that moment, the cries of the forest stopped and everything became silent. For some reason, Ira felt a little unnerved by it. A weight pressed down on him, one incomparable to anything he felt before. It was like the entire world was issuing a warning against his actions but he didn’t listen. Even if he understood the gravity of his decision he still wouldn't have listened.

He waved his hand and produced a small glass vial and used it to collect some of the sap from the tree. It was literally a few drops worth of clear liquid with a faint golden tinge to it.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Ira asked.

All the pressure he felt before had faded and just as he sealed the vial, a chorus of music rang out.

Ira felt something was off so he hurriedly teleported away and arrived near the outskirts of the Great Forest. He couldn’t detect anything off at a glance but he was struck with the urge to look upward and so he did.

What Ira saw a golden light that was even more vibrant than the sun. The light filled the sky and translucent white feather slowly fell down with it. From the golden light came pale angels with wings. They slipped through the light like it was a curtain and flew through the sky.

“What the fuck?” Ira realized the current events had something to do with Gavreel but he didn’t understand how.

It was then that something else emerged from the golden light. A massive stone sphere with different segments making up its body and weird engravings covering its surface. Angels, ones with four pairs of wings, escorted the stone sphere.

“Is this what you saw, Ravi?” Ira thought to Raveria’s nightmare and wondered if it was what she saw. He had an urge to attack the angels at once but it wouldn’t be wise, especially if the sphere they brought proved to be some formidable weapon. There was also the fact that Sylvia was suffering back in the Underground City.

Ira clicked his tongue and vanished while the angels continued pouring out of the golden curtain. A heavenly chorus rang out through all corners of the world announcing the arrival of the Angels.