We travelled for about 2 days. If it was an army with only peak or higher ranked people we would have reached the place the same day. At least that's what Lilian said as she hugged me from the right while we travelled on the back of the huge Rook. Plum sat in between his horns on his head in her demi human form.

The reason we took so long is the obvious reason of a certain 400 foreigner guild. Even with the lowest level being 500 they are slow. All flight worthy demon and angel were in the air .

Rachet was with us and had been sleeping from most of the trip not caring about the brave or stupid monsters that appeared trying to kill us.

Most were dispatched with a few mana bullet shots to the head. Advanced level gun mastery does have its perks.

It was entertaining though hearing the stories of the foreigners. They really do some strange stuff. Enter a freakishly hard dungeon for a special flower only to find out it's just a plain one but going and coming back alive awarded the foreigner a unique class.

Every one of the members had one or another a unique variant of a class or a hidden class all together. The leader had a strange one that kind of left me and my men on edge.

Demon Hunter

He is supposed to be able to cause three times more damage to an evil demon. I had no doubt in my mind that he would choose to change into a celestial creature. If I were him I would go with fox or rabbit. The people who changed to those races show monstrous speed and strength that would match the normal demon beast fox and rabbit of the same rank even in demi human form.

I was kind of anxious because if the twins or Doks guild mates were so strong as human form I wonder what the demon for would bring.

I looked behind me where Kitsu, in his monster sized demon from which is equal to Rooks. On his head like plum did sat a satisfied looking Kumi. Behind her sat the twins who were staring at her intensely. Main reason was because she was scratching Kitsu behind his ear like a puppy and his seven tails gentle wagged like a dog to the rhythm that she scratched.

Baal: Looks like the twins lost.

The Lilian looked back then giggled before turning back.

Lilian: Rook and you as well.

I looked forward and see something similar going on at the front of the behemoth rabbit.

Baal: Ya Rook to but I don't think I lost.

Lilian: *giggle* Who would have thought what I learned with the succubus would help so much.

She puts her finger on my head and it suddenly glows. I suddenly find myself tied up around me are women but I can’t see any of their faces since they are shrouded in a darkness.

Baal: Illusions, I guess being a goddess of love and spending a year with succubus she would pick a few of these up.

Thankfully I was no slouch and Hikura made sure to train me to counter spells like this. I simply released a huge amount of mana from my body that completely destroys magical anomalies in my mind. Like any other the illusion breaks and I find a pouting Lilian.

Baal: Try a better tactic next time.

Lilian: I just need to wait for you to sleep.

I felt myself shiver and droop down. Torture like this has been happening for much these days. The rest of the trip I was quite and defeated.

At noon of the second day we finally passed the forest only to find an empty wasteland with an all too impressive spectacle at the center. Standing thousands of meters tall and with what looks like some kind of island or rock on its branches was the mother of all trees.

Rachet: Ya, kind of deserves to be called one of the world trees.

Baal: So how will be get to its core?

Rachet: Well this thing can only die by reaching its core I think the trees have a few rooms opened in from below that allow us to go inside it.

Lilith: You think we will need to climb all the way up there?

Ares: That is very much a possibility. Hey Royal Imp does this tree seal some kind of monster like Yggdrasil does?

Rachet: I don't know I was born after the wars. The Underworld was already separated and we didn’t really have many documents about old age stuff like this. At best a book or two that mention it though there is one record from the orders given that were written down and stored later. I read up on it but the most it said was to plant the seed and leave it. In the report there is mention that a group of lesser gods went to kill it but only sealed it here. Of 50 that went only a few returned to tell the tale.

Baal: Did they die?

Rachet: Doesn’t say. For all we know they could have used themselves to seal the tree and are still alive.

We all look towards the tree for a moment before I give the order to move out.

Though the place should be a wasteland looking carefully you could see a few shoots of grass. When I pointed this out a few tears formed in Lilians eyes.

Lilian: The wasteland in the underworld looks like the greatest garden. It completely repels your fathers miasma from the area. At the center what remains sits there like a statue surrounded by a pure white flower.

Hikura: They are called Death Lilies. They appear around the body of the reaper who died and used his divinity as power. They are the deadliest plants as well as the most beautiful. They protect the place of his death from anything bent on harm to the area but won't lay a finger on someone who comes to see the flowers.

Baal: Hmm.

I take in what they say but just look on towards the never approaching tree.

We reach its base at night fall so we set up camp. A few people asked if it was safe but since we haven’t encountered anything up to now it should be safe. Though the gods offered to be look outs since they don’t really need sleep. I also send out Kia to look for the opening into the tree. He has always been the best at night even better than myself. Rachet took pride in gloating about his training regimen being throwing him into a room with golem training puppets and having him fight.

A few hours he returned.

Baal: Did you find it.

He nods timidly. He then draws a circle near the fire and points at the 12 o'clock position which we guessed was our spot. He then went back 4 spots and stopped at the 8 o'clock position and then a bit more to halfway between 8 and 7.

Rachet: So from our position it's at the 7:30 position.

Baal: That’s a long walk so let’s go before dawn while the sun is rising by the time we arrive it will be morning already.

Everyone agrees and go to sleep and with the 10 battle gods looking after everyone we fall asleep.

Dawn arrived quickly. Waking up alone since we brought sleeping bags. It was a rather dull morning since there was no trees or greenery like we would normally see in the forests while traveling but that feeling vanished as I started to cook some of the monster meat we gathered from the stupid monsters that attacked and what Kai and the elites hunted. All the angels the gods brought were their elites. I brought my elites and for each they brought 6 others who were peak rank. Lilian did bring her own angels but not many were able to rank up to archangels so they are more for support.

As the food cooked the other began to wake up. It had become common for my tengu to at least learn a bit of cooking. Because of that they all have moderate to really good cooking skills from cooking there hunted prey in the castle.

Once everyone was full the sun was already starting to brighten the sky even without completely appearing. We packed all things up and headed for the opening. It took about an hour to reach the spot. At the spot we found two of the roots spreading leaving an opening there. I couldn’t help but feel anxious. It was a feeling we all shared because from that spot a strange power was emanated from it.

Lilian: Something is off.

Baal: So it’s not just me.

Ares: What do you mean. All I feel is some demon energy coming from it.

I look at Lilian and then our elites. They also feel the strangeness of the energy.

Rachet: Shall we go. No point in wasting time.

Baal: ...Ok. Lilian can you and Ares take the front. Spread the demons and angels throughout the rank of the humans.

We begin to organize our ranks and when everyone was spread out evenly we moved in. I was in the front with Lilian, Ares, Jesse and Lily. The main reason was because we were a few of the strongest. Behind was Rachet a few of the archangels and the peaked tengu.

Inside it was surprisingly bright. The roots within released a subtle light. Inside the tree the roots were entwined together while they moved down into the ground. They created a long tunnel that twisted and turned as we walked in a small rise.

Baal: …

Lily: Something wrong master?

Baal: ...It's strange.

Lily: What?

Baal: Nothing is attacking.

Ares: Isn’t that good?

Lilian: I understand what Baal is saying. This tree was supposed to be something that took down a squad of lesser gods why isn’t it reacting to us.

As if on cue the roots closed the corridor far in front of us and behind everyone. Slowly it spread its roots out and created a very large room that even allowed us to fly and fight in the air if needed.

From the ceiling strange membranes expanded from the spot that opened up momentarily and began to swell like a sack and soon looked like a disgusting egg. When it burst the split in four and released a large hulking form inside some really nasty liquid before closing up and beginning to swell again.

The large hulking body was around 4 meters tall and as it stood up we saw that it resembled a tree. Slowly the branches broke from their stationary position the same with the roots and split along the lower side of the trunk and stood up finally turning its attention to us.

???: It’s an evil treant. It’s like a moving tree be careful its really powerful because they are like spirits of nature themselves they control plants and can use water and earth magic with extreme ease.

(A.N. a treant is the traditional walking tree. An ent could be thought of as a living tree that doesn't move like the world tree)

The one who warned us was one of the gods. Meil, the lesser Goddess of the Forest and Hunt. Being so in tuned with nature as she was she knew quite well their capability.

Ideo: If that's what it is then let me handle this.

Walking to the front Ideo casually took up a fighting pose. (http://powerpictures.crystalgraphics.com/photo/barechested_young_man_boxing_gloves_fighting_pose_cg8p90318c.jpg)

Hopping from one leg to the next he waited.

Meil: Hey its dangerous to fight along.

Baal: Let him. He isn’t weak anyway.

Meil: But…

Just as she began treant took a step forward and roared before hitting his arm onto the ground. All around large roots sprouted out and whipped at where Ideo was.

In a moment his body blurred like a haze and he was gone when the vines hit. My eyes followed him as did the gods who normally fought. Looking up Ideo had made a heat mirage then jumped up leaving an after image.

It was really hard to do without adequate fire affinity and practice. He spread his wings and flew very fast towards the treant. The vines shot out of the ground trying to stop him or hit him. Skillfully he dodged them like a blur. As soon as he reached the treant he already had his right arm ready and launched it. As soon as it made contact his gauntlet and all his armor glowed red.

From the spot he made contact a huge explosion happened and a moment later the treant came flying out the other side and slammed into the root walls. Without giving time Ideo appeared again and with a downwards smash of both fists a new explosion happened. When the smoke cleared all that was left was Ideo and in his hand was a small 3 cm diameter crystal.

He came running happy but suddenly several new hulking masses fell down.

The one that stood up in front of him stood and looked back after it stood up with its trunk arm ready. As it dropped a small shadow appeared right under it and a large black slash rose up and the treants arm was cut clean off. Several other black slashes flew through the treant. From the others the earth below them opened up and one treant fell in and was crushed as the earth opened and closed. Another one was killed in a tornado of wind blades. The fourth was struck by bullets of water and then a pressurize water slash. The fifth and last one was hit by rays of light.

As they vanished we saw who intervened. Scolding Ideo for his carelessness was both Lilian and my own elites.

Lily: Ideo, you idiot! Don’t go in recklessly while there are more about to appear.

Ideo: I had it under control.

Jesse: Ya, I would love to see you get squashed by walking firewood. LOOK WHY DIDN’T YOU TAKE CARE OF THAT FIRST!!

Jesse pointed up towards the membrane. It was burning in strong white flames and Aiden was flying near there looking down.

Meil: Um...Are they really peak rank? It feels like I'm watch a royal.

Rachet: Hahaha I’ll take that as a compliment. My training regimen works really well.

Lilian: “Your” training regimen. If I remember correctly it was Master Lilith’s training you adapted.

Rachet’s face paled a bit. I guess Lilian also learned how to control Rachet.

Aiden: Learn to be smart for once.

Ideo: WHAT WAS THAT!!

The two were in each other’s face when they suddenly started to released fire from their body. It soon mixed with their miasma and made black and white flames.

(http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/006/3/1/natsu_vs_zancrow_by_voodooflame-d4lj9uh.jpg)

From both sides two small fists that caught both of them on the side of the face and threw them into the wall one in each direction.

The culprits were Lily and Jesse.

Lily: Lily is getting annoyed.

Jesse: I think they need some more disciplining later on.

Lily: Lily agrees.

The two go and pick up the limp bodies of the two hotheads while the elites return to us. My elites each held a small crystal in their hands.

Flow: Master we got these from those things. What are they?

Flow handed on to Lilian while Kia shyly passed me the one she was holding. Holding up the black crystal I identify it.

Corrupted treant mana crystal fragment

A small mana crystal formed inside the corrupt world tree. This is a small part of the large trees power used to create spawns to defend it. It acts like a core like the main trees

mana capacity 1000

Baal: It's a mana crystal.

Lilian: hmm I wonder if I can remove this corruption in it.

Lilian closed her eyes and her wings appeared. The crystal suddenly started to glow brightly and a fog was removed from the inside.

What was left was a sky blue mana crystal.

Purified Treant mana crystal fragment

A small mana crystal that held the source of mana for a now dead corrupted treant. After purifying it, it became more pure and now holds a greater amount of mana.

If enough are grouped together you may be able to combine them.

Baal: Wow purifying it gives an option to combine them. Maybe we can make a few dungeon cores if we gather enough of these.

Meil: You would need about 20 if you wanted to make anything significant. By the way how are we going to leave this trap.

We finally realized that the room was closed off. Wondering I closed my eyes and activated my mana foresight. In the mana world I looked around the room. Outside the room there weren’t any corridors or life signs except the huge mana mass at the top that I could see even from all the way down here. After looking a bit I gave up and returned to my body. I found the others sitting just chatting.

When they noticed a returned to my sense Lilian asked…

Lilian: Find anything.

Baal: Nope. The place is nearly all blocked.

Lilian: Nearly?

I point up. My aim was towards the dried up membrane.

Dalton: How do you plan for all of us to get up there?

Baal: If you guys can handle a bit of rough treatment we all can take two extra with us. Our companions can take you with their tails.

Dalton: *sigh* Fine let's get this over with.

Lilian: If that is done let's get this open. Guys Aim and fire.

The angels and Valkyrie pulled out their bows and arrows and rapidly shot arrows at the membrane. Suddenly a magic circle appeared then two more.

[Heavens Rise]

From the lowest a bright light connected all three and finally shot off a pillar of holy flames upwards. We all rushed and grabbed someone Kitsu and the others turned into animals and go ready. Once the spell ended a large burnt tunnel was made towards the upper levels. We all flew as fast as we could. The pets jumped and clawed their way up while holding tons of humans or them holding them.

Halfway through vines began to spring out and attack. Lily Dropped her passengers on Kumi and chopped up the vines to bits. It continued like this. I helped when I could by firing off my feathers cutting several at a time with a few. It was a shame I couldn’t use the already plucked feathers, It hurts a lot to have the feathers fired off from my wings.

Finally reaching the second floor or what we thought would be floor two the tunnel closed off and we found ourselves in another corridor.

Baal: That was tough.

Ares: Why does it feel like we are doing what the tree wants?

Meil: Cause we are. The spirit of the tree is laughing at our attempt to reach it.

Lilian: You can hear spirits?

Meil: Only those with ties to forest and vegetation. This tree is similar to Yggdrasil but very different.

Aiden: How can an evil tree be similar?

Meil: They are both world trees. This one was corrupted and brought here. It still wants to do its job of destroying the world.

Baal: And what of the seal?

Meil: He can’t leave but…

Ares: But?

Meil pointed over to one side of the corridor. Sitting there was a human sized sack just like the one the treant appeared from. It suddenly burst and released something. From within the grotesque liquid stood several bodies. One and only one looked like a woman with green skin and long green hair with tree bark on specific spots. The others filled us all with dread. Standing up like zombies with only the whites of their eyes showing, a large perfectly spherical mana crystal in their chest and with vines wrapped around their bodies were four lesser god that released immense killing intent towards us that froze us.

The dryads behind the gods giggled.

Dryad: Kill them.

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