As Lone was busy spending his technique chances, the rest of the continent still moved on, in particular, a large event was taking place amidst the scorching and blood-soaked deserts of the Talso Empire.

In the centre of the Holy Desert, the largest and most impenetrable desert under the Taslo Empire's control, in the Palace of Okur, the Empress, a mature woman with dark skin and long brown hair, sat on her throne as she frowned while looked at a wrinkled and weathered old man whom she had only met three years ago.

This elderly man looked so frail that it seemed like he would collapse the moment you sneezed on him. The only extraordinary part of him visually was his peculiar walking cane that had a miniature sun as its head which floated atop of an unknown wood that Empress Okuldia had never seen before, however, she knew better than to judge this man by only his appearance.

While he appeared harmless, his knowledge and indirect help had allowed her and her people to successfully defeat the coalition of the Bearkin, Eaglekin and Lionkin army that they had been at war with for the past thousand years.

It also went without mentioning that he was far more powerful than the Empress or any of her people, so even if she desired to, resisting against him was impossible.

"Are you truly sure that it is wise to attack the eastern world tree at this time, Sir Tapper?" the Empress asked politely.

A low cackle spilt out of Tapper's toothless mouth and he mumbled, "Of course... Do it now... Replenish forces... Power... No chance of failure... Use the enhanced unit and slaughter the weak keepers."

"We trust you, Tapper, we really do, however, the scouting force lead by Commander Ro hasn't sent a report to us in two entire days. We fear that we have been discovered by the Elves and have thus lost the element of surprise," the Empress explained her concerns.

Tapper slowly nodded his head and lifted his strange walking cane before he slammed it down onto the marble flooring, causing it to crack. "They met an accident... Do not fear... The invasion plans have not been revealed... Go now or I will take your head and command your troops for you... kekekeke..."

Empress Okuldia felt a chill run up her spine and she broke out into a cold sweat. It was almost as if Tapper's laughter had sept into her soul and had firmly grasped it. The Empress felt like if she refused, her entire existence would be erased like a flame in a cold winter's night "Y-Yes, we will do so immediately."

"Good." With that, Tapper lightly struck the ground with his cane twice more and then his body whirled into itself before he disappeared entirely.

Now absolutely covered in sweat, Empress Okuldia had a tired look on her face. "Perhaps we should have tried to make peace with the beastkin before we ever met that man..."

Unfortunately for both Empress Okuldia and the entire Talso Empire, whether or not they were at war before Tapper had made contact with them, he would have forced the people of the Taslo Empire to attack the world tree regardless of their wills due to their military prowess and close proximity to the tree.

No mortal knew what Tapper's purpose was, but regardless, he had a single job to do, and that was simply to adjust.

Reappearing in front of a large tree which didn't have a trunk, but instead, had vine-like roots that webbed into the earth, Tapper ignored the rain and calmly walked underneath those roots.

What he saw once inside was a young-looking girl who was quite short but she had a surprisingly large chest. Chuckling lightly, he placed the end of his walking cane on the girl's head and she immediately vanished in a whirl much like he had a few moments ago.

Tapper left the tree and looked up into the sky. His vision seemed to pierce through the rain and clouds out into the beyond. "Adjusting complete... Now, to alter The Wolf's destiny... Kekekeke..."

'Mmm... where am I?' Itchy thought to herself as she felt her consciousness return.

She couldn't feel her arms or legs anymore, however, she felt a very familiar sensation. 'I'm back in my real body? Where is this?'

A few moments passed before her eyes had readjusted to the light, and she saw the face of a man that she recognised. "Blub blub blub."

Itchy had tried to talk, however, she was currently in a large glass container filled with a sticky liquid, so naturally, she wasn't able to speak coherently.

The man in front of her who looked just like a Human if you could ignore his exceedingly pale skin and the two horns growing out of his head, laughed a little bit before he slowly put his palm up to signal to Itchy that she should wait a bit.

Several minutes passed as this man walked around the glass container and did several checks. Once he was satisfied, he nodded his head and released Itchy.

She flopped to the floor of the container as soon as the liquid was drained and she struggled to stand.

"Don't be so hasty, Itchy. You've never transferred your soul to another body before, so it makes sense that you don't know, but I do remember telling you that it will take a few days to reacclimate yourself to the natural calibrations of your original body," the pale man explained in a soft and relaxing voice as he carefully began wiping Itchy's scales with a towel to dry her.

"... I forgot..." Itchy replied cutely. "How did I get back here though, Van?"

"That's what I want to know," Van responded with a heavy sigh.

Itchy looked a little bit confused before she said, "Aren't you a Monarch Demon? I thought Monarch Demons could look into the past. Can't you just do that on my body and see what happened?"

Van shook his head. "Indeed, I do possess that ability. I'm surprised you remember, to be honest, considering how forgetful you can be, but no, I cannot use it on you. I have already seen everything that happened in the world tree via your past, however, the moment you were teleported away by that Human, the ability stops working."

"Why?" Itchy asked.

"I have no idea. It's like someone has erased or clouded your past. If a person like me can't see it, then I doubt anyone else can. Regardless, it's not overly important." Van handed the now soaking wet towel to a Duke Demon Maid, one of his subordinates, and sat down on a chair.

"It's not?" Itchy was wondering why Van was talking about it if it didn't matter.

"Of course not," Van laughed as he took a glass of freshly pressed Beastman blood and took a sip. He frowned slightly. "I really wish we had access to more Humans... Their blood is far more delicious... It's a shame that the closest Humans are on the other side of the tree in that damned desert..."

Van sighed once again before a smile returned to his lips. "Whoever brought you back home clearly did so with good intentions. Now that we have you back safe and sound, we've become aware of the fact that the world tree is slowly being cleansed and will have even more power if we wait for too long."

"That's right! We need to invade and take the power source before that stupid Lone completely purifies it!" Itchy shouted as her Dragon-like body writhed about on the ground.

"There's no need to be so hasty, Itchy," Van said.

"There isn't?" With a befuddled expression, Itchy replied.

A conniving smirk wormed its way onto Van's lips before he spoke once more. "I agree that the Golden Foxkin is a threat that needs to be taken care of, but I've already come up with a countermeasure. Let's go awaken Master and tell him everything. it will be his decision if he thinks that he is ready to mount another attack on the world tree or not."

"Countermeasures already?! Wow!" Itchy was certainly impressed.

Van was a Creation Mage, so Itchy's reaction was definitely warranted. To the continent of Teresta, Creation Mage's were as rare, or perhaps even rarer, than Soul Oracles.

It did not require being born with a particular talent to become a Creation Mage, however, the level of skill and mastery needed to even attempt to gain a beginner-level spell in the creation school of magic would take even the most gifted of individuals fifty-thousand years.

Due to how limited a Creation Mage's range of spells was, almost no one took it upon themselves to learn the art, however, those that did, were incredibly skilled at creating Golems, Homunculi, fleshy abominations, and even new, but temporary, laws of physics, at the highest level of mastery.

Every spell cost an incredible amount of materials, MP and sacrifices to cast, so this wasn't a profession for the poor, it was, however, the best school of magic for anyone with a long enough lifespan who wanted to control a powerful army of S-ranked Golems or Homunculi.

"You're going to kill him?" Itchy asked. "I tried, but as soon as my attack hit his body, I froze up and couldn't move for half a day."

"I know, I did manage to see that in your past," Van replied with a smile.

"Then what's your plan?" Itchy slithered about on the floor as she conversed with the Monarch Demon. She found it pretty amusing how her body wasn't listening to her and it almost felt like she was playing with a toy as she moved around.

"Simple," Van said as he finished his glass of beastkin blood. "We'll get him away from the tree before we destroy it. He was a Red-team keeper, yes? Then it's all very simple. After all, we do still have some spies left in the world tree, even if Elder Foru was exposed."