Fire engulfed the world tree, as countless demons overrun the helpless elves.
Sylmare stood tall and observed the massacre in front of her, not caring about her fallen race. In fact, a hint of glee could be seen deep in her eyes, but it was quickly hidden.
She had to make sure that no hint of her involvement was left in this situation and escape to a far enough place so that she could fool the masses.
Although the demons had offered to make her a demonic slave, she had refused, since it wasn’t her main goal. She wanted to have the race under control, but she was unable to accomplish it. In the end, she decided to completely destroy what she couldn’t have.
“However, it’s fascinating how the humans have already become puppets, especially after the death of their emperor.”
She commented, her image vanishing from sight, leaving the remaining elves screaming in agony.
The elven guards and the Queen were eliminated from within and the world tree was currently being eaten through by a demon bug.
The Elves were the first race to go extinct, except for the few that weren’t residing in Dreghel at the time of their destruction.
This was the original fate of the elven race.
There wasn’t someone like Dean Byrd, but rather it was a coup from the inside, brought about by Sylmare alone.
Dean Byrd’s fate was in fact much different.
His father was promoted to a viscount through his connections, while Dean became the right-hand man of Crown Prince Oliver, who had overthrown his father and became the emperor.
Dean’s demonic blood also remained dormant for most of his life, until his final moments where he was sacrificed to summon the demon known as Uriltia while the seal was still intact.
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Dean was doubting his eyes, as the life energy coming off Vincent was far above what he could handle. The presence Vincent was giving off was even more potent than an Aura Saint, someone who could directly destroy a whole city with a single attack.
Gulping, all Dean could do was prepare himself as he watched the shadows propel themselves toward his body, engulfing him in a black mist.
He felt his skin being gnawed on by the shadows, but he knew that they couldn't damage his core. What he was worried about was the horrifying energy Vincent was releasing.
Shaking off the shadows that covered his eyes, he glanced at Vincent's shadowy figure just in time to see him materialize a scythe.
With a single look, he knew that he couldn't let himself be touched by the scythe. Even a single slice would be enough to end his life.
Dean quickly summoned all his strength, shaking off the shadows and launching himself towards Vincent, hoping to catch him off guard. However, Vincent was more than ready for him. He knew that he had no way out if he didn't defeat him first, so he focused all his attention on killing him, not noticing the Saint, who was slowly charging an arrow with as much aura as possible.
As Dean approached, Vincent swung his scythe, slicing through the air with incredible speed. Dean barely managed to dodge the attack, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew that he couldn't afford to take a hit like that.
Vincent was entirely consumed by his alternate personality, laughing maniacally as he swung his scythe with wild abandon. Every swing of his scythe sent waves of energy that shook the ground, leaving deep craters where they landed.
Despite his best efforts, Dean was slowly being pushed back by Vincent's relentless attacks. Every swing of the scythe sent shockwaves through the air, forcing Dean to constantly dodge and weave.
In a moment of desperation, Dean unleashed his full demonic power, causing a surge of dark energy to emanate from his body. His pupils turned into slits, and his skin started to crack as his demonic energy intensified.
His claws elongated further, causing constant tears in space. Dean inhaled deeply as he lunged a claw in his heart.
Vincent stopped his attacks at this scene, not understanding what he was doing. William and the rest could only look in wonder as Dean's body was consumed by a void, completely disappearing from the spot.
In mere fractions of a second, Dean reappeared behind Vincent, swinging his free hand toward Vincent's heart.
The shadows around Vincent moved, engulfing the claw and negating any force it had. Dean frowned as he once again twisted the claw that he had plunged inside his chest, making his figure disappear once again, reappearing a few meters away from Vincent.
'My Eather is running out, and my demonic energy is already in the gutter. I have to use that ability, though it will cost me a lot.'
Thought Dean, desperate to get out of this situation.
Taking a deep breath, Dean focused his mind and activated his final attack. As he did so, a dark aura began to emanate from his body, causing the shadows around Vincent to be pushed back.
His aspect was called [Vacuum Slash]; using this aspect gave him the ability to create a vacuum with every slashing motion, causing everything inside it to be sucked into a void of nothingness. The ability could be used both defensively and offensively, as it could deflect attacks and incapacitate enemies and also manipulate the space around the user, creating portals or warping objects to different locations as long as they were in contact with the slash.
Dean had used this function to slash himself using his own claws to teleport around, and since he was in a demonic form currently, the damage would be healed in no time.
Vincent, who had been caught off guard, was unable to react in time as Dean lunged forward, his hand glowing with dark energy. With a quick motion, he struck Vincent in the chest, causing the dark energy to flow into his body.
Vincent let out a scream of pain as the energy coursed through him, his body convulsing uncontrollably. Despite his agony, however, he managed to summon enough strength to swing his scythe one final time, sending a wave of energy toward Dean.
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Dean, who had been preparing to dodge the attack, was caught off guard by Vincent's sudden burst of strength. He tried to dodge, but it was too late. The wave of energy slammed into him, sending him flying across a few ruined buildings.
As he lay on the ground, Dean felt his strength slowly slipping away. His eyes shone with rage, not wanting to accept such a defeat. With a final burst of energy, he summoned all his strength and stood up, his body glowing with dark energy.
Ready to lunge at Vincent, who was already damaged, Dean was about to stab himself once again, but an arrow lunged itself into his eye socket, directly piercing through the other side of his skull and ending his life.
His demonic figure fell on the ground, creating a small crater due to his increased weight. After a few seconds, his body returned to its standard human size, all of his demonic features disappearing, and the demonic energy exited his body, turning into smoke and dissipating into the atmosphere.
The Saint who had dealt the final blow smiled after seeing Dean fall dead but quickly returned to their previous calm expression. Seeing that Dean was dead, Malcolm ordered the soldiers to head over to Sylmare and the Queen and assist in any way they could.
He glanced at his son, William, who was slowly approaching Vincent, who was currently suffering from the effects of Dean's aspect, lying on the ground and clutching his chest in pain. His own aspect had long been disabled.
Sighing, William pulled out a small vial from his pocket and poured the liquid inside into Vincent's mouth.
After ingesting the liquid, Vincent's complexion quickly became healthy, and all the wounds on his body recovered at a drastic rate.
Opening his eyes wide, Vincent glanced at William's helpless expression and asked.
"What the hell did you just give me? What are these effects?!"
He was speechless, not knowing how to express what he just felt. Even though his alternate personality had taken over him during the entire fight, he could still see and hear everything this whole time. He knew how damaged his body was, so the drastic healing effect shocked him greatly.
It wasn't even the effect of an aspect or a healing spell; instead, it was a liquid similar to a health potion, but the potency was much more significant than any potions found in the market. Vincent didn't know anything about potions or how much they were worth. He just knew that they were expensive and rare, usually created by master alchemists.
Vincent might have spent the vast majority of his life wandering around, but he still had common sense. What William gave him was far beyond common sense.
"Its an extremely expensive potion, so just be grateful I promised not to harm you in any way. You have no idea how long this thing takes to be made. I just used the only one I had on recovering your injuries."
Said William, grumbling about losing a life-saving treasure. However, he didn't regret using it on Vincent. He knew that it was essential to build a good relationship with him first. After all, although Vincent agreed with his plans, they had yet to make a soul contract; only then would William be satisfied with their deal.
Understanding the worth of the vial he had just consumed, Vincent bowed his head, thankful for what William had done for him.
"You don't have to thank me, I did promise to not let any harm befall you in my plans. Anyway, you can go ahead and assist the others with fighting Sylmare and the Queen. If the Queen is still a demonic slave, just apprehend her for a while, the World Tree should be able to recover in a bit, since the Demonic energy in the area is lessening."
Ordered William, his gaze focused on Dean's corpse.
Vincent nodded and instantly took off towards the area where the battle was the most rampant, remembering to absorb any roaming souls in the area.
Seeing that Vincent was already far enough, William approached Dean's corpse, his eyes shining with an eerie green light.
Waving his finger, he created a magic circle that covered Dean's entire body height.
“[Apprentice tier spell, Incineration]”
The spell began glowing in a red light, completely covering everything in the area with extreme heat.
William glanced at the burning ember, his gaze cold.
'One variable down; now all I need to do is get stronger in peace. Since this caused the demons to stop their plans for a bit, I can use this to my advantage.
He thought, his eyes straying to the corrupt world tree and the destruction around him.
Just from the wreckage alone, the elves would have to spend quite a lot of time just to kick-start their civilization once again, and the World Tree would take at least ten years to completely recover.
After a few minutes of burning, Dean's body had turned completely to ash, only leaving behind a single piece of crystal lying on the floor.
Seeing the crystal, William went over and grabbed it, placing it into his pocket. This was a crystal dropped by half-demons and demons alike, called the demon core. It would store mana, just like the mana heart and, in William's case, the brain.
Not seeing anything else of interest on the corpse, he decided to head into the elven palace.
He knew that the elven guards who had become demonic slaves were a minority, as the rest were trapped in the prison cells.
The elven palace was empty, completely deserted after the fight began.
Entering the giant circular room where he had first seen Dean, he smiled bitterly, recognizing the demonic seeds that were sprawled on the ground as if they had just been tossed aside in a hurry.
William once again waved his finger and destroyed the demonic seeds with the [Incineration] Spell. Since the demonic seeds were just mimics of demonic cores, they had no use other than creating demonic slaves.
Looking around, William quickly found a stairway leading down, and after a bit of walking, he found himself in the underground prison.
He could see the tied-up elves struggling to escape from their cells.
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Sylmare had long been defeated as she lay on the ground motionless. Although she was not dead yet, she might as well be dead in her current state.
The Elven Queen had put up a fight for a while, but as soon as Dean died, her resistance became minimal, ultimately giving up.
She was currently standing still, her eyes blank.
Malcolm, along with the reinforcements, had arrived and looked at this scene in wonder.
The Elven Guards were either captured or killed on the spot. Recognizing Malcolm's group, along with the Saint, Grand Duke Victor understood the situation.
Raising his sword, he shouted to all the soldiers still fighting in the capital.
"We have won! Kill any remaining demonic slaves and tend to the injured."
As Grand Duke Victor's voice boomed across the battlefield, the remaining demonic slaves fighting seemed to lose their fighting spirit. They began to drop their weapons and flee the scene, realizing that their leaders had been defeated.
Malcolm and his team rushed over to the Elven Queen to check on her condition. The elderly Saint began using his aspect, [Healing Pond], on her, trying to revive her from her trance-like state. [Healing Pond] created a small pond of water under the user, directly healing all types of injuries, from physical to mental. The longer one stayed inside the pond, the better the healing done.
After a few moments, the Elven Queen slowly opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. As she saw Malcolm and his team, she smiled weakly.
She was still a demonic slave but had quickly recovered her freedom. For now, they tied her up until they could remove the demonic seed from her. Seeing that she was awake, the Saint directly stopped the use of his aspect.
As for Sylmare, they didn't really care about her health and directly killed her when she didn't speak about their plans. It was ironic how massive the difference was from the previous timeline.
Sylmare, someone who had reached the end of the rope in the previous timeline, was now dead, just a few months after William returned to the past. Fate indeed played with people in mysterious ways.
After the battle, the team regrouped at the palace to assess the damage and figure out their next steps. The Elven Queen was still recovering, and Malcolm made sure to keep her guarded and under close observation.
Once they entered the palace, they found William, who had freed the imprisoned elves.
When the elves saw their Queen being treated so harshly, they were angry but quickly realized that she was not in a normal condition. Looking at their reaction, William decided to explain the situation to them.
He told them about the demonic seed that was implanted in the Elven Queen and how they were planning to remove it. The elves were shocked to hear this and expressed their gratitude towards William and his team for their efforts.
Since all the demonic slaves were already caught, the capital was now safe.
With the palace now secured, the team focused their attention on removing the demonic seed from the Elven Queen. William wasn't sure how to go about it since he had never gone through a similar situation.
He had read of methods thanks to his vast library, but he couldn't be sure that it would work. All he could do right now was try since the faster the Queen recovered, the faster the World Tree would return to normal.