Gabriel couldn't talk, couldn't think. Currently, he was an entity entirely made of blind hate.

As he ran at his maximum speed through the canopy of giant trees, he even forgot how to breathe.

Clods of grass were ripped from the ground as his claws stole traction from it and, projecting him forward, they threw tiles of dirt behind him.

Yes, in a few seconds, Harper reached him, then Olivia, but that was secondary.

"Where do you think you're going!? Priests don't take action until they are Tier 4! You can't face a Tier 4!" Shouted Olivia; Harper, however, acted more directly. She threw him to the ground.

"Calm down, Walker," she said to a snarling Gabriel, "Just follow, suit, we shall grab them and make them talk, I swear it on my honor."

Gabriel looked at her straight in the eyes. Then he breathed in and out, slowly as he calmed down. He hadn't even used Burst of Fury, and he was that angry; if he had used it, he would have probably lost control entirely.

"Come," she said, picking him up, "try to stay close. We need to act fast, they have already noticed, but they know they can only leave from this exit."

Gabriel nodded, wheezing for the effort to contain himself.

Harper at the guide, they hurried forth.

***

Dustille was trying to survey the Dream World to connect with The Great Spirit when something jolted her awake of her semi-sleep. She had no idea what it was, but she saw a tree with enormous leaves. A shadow bleed, and what couldn't be else, but a Wight laughing out loud.

Near her, the Seer was dreaming too, but she woke up at her same time, with a gasp.

"Thomas is here," she said, "Guards! Guards! Call for the Reevers right now!"

The mobilization of the force was almost instantaneous.

What is going on? Dustille asked herself. That half searing she had felt had left her breathless. It was the first time she felt something so precisely.

***

Matthieu couldn't help but feel his heartbeat accelerate; in front of him came with absurd strides a Tier 6 and someone strong enough to be considered at the cusp of Tier 5.

Follow the plan, he said to himself.

Matthieu released his Aura; its objective was that of strengthening Thomas to the best of his abilities. Matthieu was a supporter in all aspects. He could Tank, he could spy for every little detail, and he could enhance any Spiritual power as much as possible. His Angel was an Ophanim, an angel shaped like a multi-winged circular creature with a mirror on his bidimensional body's sides. At the center of them was a single big eye of fire. His Angel was his only defense line, capable of reversing magic attacks and burning the enemies with a fiery gaze.

His Demon was something else, too, an Abyssal Steed. It compensated for his lack of movement abilities with its own. They acted as his carriage and cannon. He was a thorough and thorough, fully accessorized Tank. He could protect, buff, heal, attack, defend, reflect attacks, and move through the battlefield with agility as his Aura washed over the place and applied his buff.

"Matthieu," Thomas called, "this is not gonna be easy, but stick to the plan, and it'll be fine."

Then he welcomed the incoming people, "Harper! Damn, you look fine? Are you still free, or did someone finally tie you down? Because I could use a shag right now, I'm so excited to see you!"

Matthieu recognized the woman in front from studying their intel as Harper Reevers, Level 134, Class Phantasm of Level 129, 77 years old, second oldest daughter of the deceased Logan Reever and Martina Jackson. Master Shadows Higher element. Her powers are entirely different from those of the eldest Lorad Reevers, but her speed is much higher, making her troublesome for me. But like her brother, she's weakened by Tom's helmet.

His gaze turned toward the other person following behind, Olivia Wanderlust, 20 years old, water and poison element user, possibly in contact with the Witch of the Depths. Not much is known about her. She's a wild factor, but she's of no real consequence as long as The Deep doesn't take Yggdrasil's side.

There was someone else following behind that, someone entirely not expected.

What the hell?

"No! I can't believe it!" Thomas said, "You brought my nephew!?" He exploded into laughter. "That's the best gift you could have given me, Harper! How should I even thank you now?"

"See Matt? What beautiful gift we could bring to the-" Harper didn't even make him finish his speech; she attacked him with the fury of a behemoth. Matthieu's shield didn't manage to absorb the impact. Harper's katars dug deep into Thomas's throat and abdomen, then he was launched by the impact toward the deep of the forest.

"Man, that was something," Thomas said a second later as he took the place where his Demoness was the previous instant. He was entirely free of any wound, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"I've got to say, not as aggressive as Jiao, but definitely just as strong. I guess you must be a little sexually repressed, Harper. Are you sure you don't want my hand?"

Harper snorted, "I bet with that face of yours you have never even had a real woman, Tom. You wouldn't even know where to start with me. Now do me a favor and die, please."

If the Reever woman started hammering, well, stabbing Thomas, Matthieu already had his hands full with Olivia Wanderlust, and unexpectedly, Thomas's nephew.

A huge water-green salamander, and a darkness breathing cheetah were keeping their summons in check. If everything kept going as it was, the plan would work just fine.

***

Gabriel kept gazing at Thomas; the man was similar yet different from what he recalled of his father. His father was less pale-looking; this man instead was almost an albino. However, the eyes… Those were his father's eyes. Gabe was certain. They both shared their deep red gaze; however, the man soon covered his face with a helmet and stopped paying attention to Gabriel. He had been sending him kisses and waves since he started fighting Harper.

This is incredible, Gabriel thought. The man was a Tier 4, and he was keeping up with Harper Reevers. What was he to do against such an enemy?

Gabriel tried calling for him and tried to get his attention, but the man did not answer his questions, nor did he take him seriously. He just… laughed like a madman.

So Gabe and Liz focused on the man in front of them. The one, his uncle, called Matt.

Matt was a Tier 4, and he was not squishy; the man though skinny, was a sort of unmovable object. There was something around him that did not allow Gabriel to move toward him; only Olivia was having some effect in bypassing his defenses. It took Gabriel a couple of minutes to understand that what was so strong about the man was his Aura. He remembered then people that fought like him; he had witnessed them in The Memory, Aura specialists. They could be wide range attackers, buffers, or tanks that could withstand all types of attacks.

This man seemed to be all three of those things put together.

Gabriel didn't dare think about a strategy; he followed Olivia and started learning the man's reaction by heart. He did not know his Skills, he did not know how the summons worked; all he knew was that they had to capture one of them and get information from them. Otherwise, everything would be useless, and he would never free his mother.

Transformed into his half-lizard form, Gabriel dished out the heaviest form of attacks he could. The African man was not a heavy hitter, but his defenses held on even against attacks empowered by Burst of Fury. His Aura shined, and it transformed into a shield as it received Gabriel and Olivia's assault.

However, it was soon clear how that battle would turn. Olivia was, in fact, too much for him.

She cast massive tied attacks one after the other. She didn't even turn remotely white as she did in the past when casting Water magic afar from a mirror of water. She was strong.

When finally a blade of water cut through the man's Aura and dropped the arm he had raised to defend his neck, they knew the man had ended his reserves. He could have a dozen potions in an almost suicide mission such as this, but Gabriel was not sure; what he was sure of was that they had to keep up putting pressure on the man until he dropped.

Gabriel's attacks, now actually connecting, sent the man down thanks to a sweeping attack of his spear, then he impaled him on the ground, electrocuting him to stop him from moving.

Olivia got closer and started forming a cloud of poison.

"We need him alive, Olivia," Gabriel almost shouted.

"It's gonna make him sleep; we can't afford him recovering," she answered.

Then they both turned to the battle happening on their side. The man, Thomas, seemed to be on the losing end of it. He had to recall back his Demoness; she looked like a slice of Emmental cheese, thanks to Harper's stabbing.

"Why are you stalling, Tom?" they heard Harper ask.

Thomas Walker smiled. But he only answered a few seconds later, "Your question comes right on time. I was waiting for that!" he said, pointing what looked like a mace or a scepter, maybe both, at Harper's back, where, in the distance, a horde of Bastards was about to reach them.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you; I'll be getting back then. I might just bring my nephew with me, though."

Harper's eyes grew wide, and she bolted in Gabriel's protection.

Gabriel saw the Seraphim whose sword darted toward him at a speed he could not really follow. His fire sword sunk inside his Toughen boosted stern as if he was made of dough.

Gabriel had barely time to blink when he found himself face to face with his uncle; the hole in his stern felt empty now; it started bleeding, or at least the tissue that had not been burned began to bleed profusely.

"Hello, young man. Am I mistaken, or are we practically peers?" Said the man as he grabbed Gabriel's face in his hand.

Harper manifested on him with all the fury she could muster, but she had to stop because Thomas raised Gabriel in front of him as a shield, agitating him wildly as if he was a sausage.

"This guys' mine now, Harpy. Damn, you made my job easy. But I've got to go now, see you arou-"

The Mana Shield of the Dungeon tore itself open as something descended from the sky. Following the shooting star was a horde of massive ygg-dogs, at least a few dozens of them, not that Gabriel could see them, but his blurring senses told him that.

A dozen or so ygg-dogs encircled them, while the others intercepted the Bastards coming. Then a voice that felt like coming directly from hell screeched words that echoed throughout the whole Dungeon.

"Leave him be or die!" It said.

Gabriel's fading sight managed to take in his uncle's face turning serious. Then placing him forward, he let his Seraphim fly away in the sky, and as he dropped Gabriel on the floor, he switched places with the Angel; the second later, he disappeared from the clear sky, the Mana Shield had yet to regenerate as he escaped.

"Don't touch him; we need expert doctors; he doesn't heal like normal people!" Said Harper.

"Shut your mouth, little useless being, I shall heal him perfectly!" the voice screeched, then everything faded away.

***

Gaia paced around the Seer new and bigger room; it did indeed ease her act; if she had done so before, she would have stopped for lack of space.

"How, how, how did it happen?"

"As I've told you before, and since you were listening, I'm sure, the Priests can hide themselves from scrying, almost completely. Do you remember what we went through while looking for Walker? Think that, then multiply it for every single Priest," the Seer answered as she whipped a stick on Dustille's head. She needed to focus on recreating the process that had led her to have the Seer of Carnage’s same vision, but Gaia's pacing wasn't exactly helping in that.

"No, I understand that, but then how come you managed to see them in the end?"

"That's because I was focusing on the Herald, like Lorad on the front, he's always at the center of my attention, but more than focusing on a dozen people I cannot do. When he got in contact with the Priests, I could finally visualize them. I told you many times we should have spies in them."

"Well, that didn't work, now, did it?" Gaia answered.

"Didn't work? We tried once, Gaia. Once! If your mother was still in charge, we would have tried again, and again, and again," she answered back.

"Do you have any idea what it means to lose your Spirit? I surely don't, but those that tried did never recover," she answered.

"Then, try, with, more," the Seer was losing her patience, "How many do we need? A hundred? We sacrifice a hundred, Gaia. Or this will keep happening; we can't be blind and deaf toward them while they know all our moves!"

Gaia was about to reply, but at that moment, the Elder appeared.

"Let the Seer be, Gaia. She is doing a wonderful job with what she has been given. Even Elves and our Yggdrasilias Patrons can't seer the Priests, and anyway, that's something we don't need to preoccupy ourselves with now. We've got one on hour hands, don't we?"

"Yes, Elder," said Gaia. "We're preparing everything to start the interrogation; our best mind and spirit-bender is coming over from The Vast's border."

"Have you thought about having Gabriel try his own mind-bending?" He asked.

"But... the Herald, he's not a master, he's barely an amateur at it, and his rage toward them might damage or distort information. Not counting the Level difference," she answered.

"Why don't you let him give it a try? You should know how much desperation spurs a man," he answered.

At that point, Clast joined the place.

"Honey, you're already here," said the Seer.

Clast and Yagais were always together. He was the one in charge of a direct relationship with the Yggdrasilians.

"The Yggs are not exactly okay with one of their princesses having to act in defense of a man ," said Yagais.

"You've renovated, love," Clast said. "Elder, Gaia." He bowed a little bit in salute.

If Lorad was there as well, the pinnacles of upper, mid, and lower Yggdrasil were all there.

"What are they saying?" the Elder asked.

"Of course, they want to speak with you. But they want to meet the fortunate man who required the cursed princess's presence too. That was not really surprising of the coming of a Herald, but this event was something that had never happened before," he stated. "By the way," he continued, "Did I hear a weird rumor? Has he really got a Sk'rayr spear with him?"

Dustille and Gaia exchanged a look.

"I believe he's found it for a fortunate accident," Gaia said.

Clast chuckled, "We shall see; it's never only luck with a Sk'rayr spear. It would be closer to say bad luck, anyway. That's for later."

The Elder continued, "We need to make sure this wasn't planned, and what they were doing at the Dungeon. It's imperative. Extremely so."

"Why?" Asked the Seer, "Do you think about something?"

"Many years ago, the Priests assaulted Winter Forest. It was bloodshed on both parts, and the only time they dared attack us so far from their territory and in our homes. That day, however, they stole something from the Mother Tree, something very unique. Something that blooms only once every thousand years-"

"The Gift of Blooming," said the Seer popping down on her chair; she placed her hands on her face, "This is bad news, bad news…"

"Why? Why is that?" Gaia asked.

"It's theorized that One of Large Leaf Dungeon's Boss is a replica of a Mother Tree. It was never proven because nobody ever saw even a single Boss in there, but if that was so, the Gift of Blooming would be a terrifying gift to give them…"

"What do you think would happen?" the Elder asked.

"The previous Seer theorized about an exponential level of growth. Double, maybe even triple the core level of the creatures in it," she explained.

"Wouldn't that come in our favor then? Sure, there would be a lack of lower-mid level range Dungeon, but we solve that by letting Water Dungeon grow a little," said Gaia.

"Yes, Gaia. Exactly. It would come in our favor, then, why?" Added Yagais.

The room grew silent.

"I wouldn't want to interrupt you, but what about the Bosses' levels?" Dustille asked.

"Indeed," the Elder said, "you pose a great question. What would happen then?"

"We cannot really hope that a Boss who's never been seen to have a level on the same scale of its spawns?" Clast.

"No, that's the main problem," nodded the Seer, "Dustille is right in worrying about that. If, for some reason, the Boss or Bosses have levels ranging in the hundred or more, given all the time they've had to collect experience, doubling that would mean that we'll have on our hands a creature who might even break transcendency. And I have no idea if at that point a Dungeon could contain it…. This little accident might as well be our ruin."

"I call for an absolute assault raid to obliterate Large Leaf Dungeon and its Boss, now. I shall take personal action if it comes to that," said Elder.

"What about dad?" Gaia asked.

"We can't weaken the front. Lorad stays there."

"This is gonna be one hell of a headache, and it's even the event of the Equi...nox!" said Clast, realizing something at the very end of it. "Why now? You said this thing was stolen years ago; why use it now? What are they looking for now? They've had years to act. I don't believe they've taken action now only for the lack of Lorad."

"Indeed… There must be something else in play," said the Seer. "Now please, leave us alone, we need to bleed ourselves dry in seering right now, or this might even be the last night for, whether the Yggdrasilians wipe us out of existence or LargeLeaf Dungeon explodes on our face first."