It was time.

After three dreadful and torturous weeks in this horrible forest, the day had arrived. The fate of the forest and all the moon beasts within laid in the hands of Aldred and maybe Failure.

Aldred and the Demon's duel was going to happen soon, and all the other moon beasts and abominations were going to fight to the death while that happened.

There was going to be countless casualties, even human ones, throughout the day. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, death waited for no one when there was a war. Anyone and everyone could fall victim to its brutal embrace.

Kai sat back against the pink tree that he slept under. The sleeping pills he asked Failure for were extremely helpful, even though he didn't think the charismatic man would actually have any.

Umbra returned at some point while he was passed out, the pitch-black wolf was sleeping soundly in his shadow.

He had spoken to her a bit when he had woken up, she even told him what her and Wa'rak did.

They played hide-and-seek.

One of possibly the strongest moon beasts in the forest, and Umbra, spent the night before a war playing hide-and-seek. It would have been strange if it was anyone else, but Kai could accept it because it was Umbra. She even said that Wa'rak enjoyed himself, but Kai wasn't sure if that was because of the game or because he was with Umbra.

Still, if they survived Kai would be more than happy to allow a second date.

War preparations were still going strong even when it was going to be happening inevitably. The beasts would have to leave The Dome to engage the abominations, so they discarded the idea of fortifying it. No, they were going on an all out offensive.

Kai watched all the beasts constant movements. There was no rest for the wicked, so the beasts worked even more than those evil abominations.

While the beasts may have been frantic in their preparations, Kai was calm with his. He had done all the major things he wanted to do in the buildup to the wad, so he mainly just reminisced. He had done a lot in his time in the forest. From taming a wolf to killing a weakened, unimaginable abomination in the bottom of a lake. He hadn't really had the chance to relax.

Even last night, which was meant to be a night of rest ended up with him saving a woman.

But did he really hate the time spent in this forest?

Absolutely not.

While he had almost died countless times, which was a thing he would nost certainly not like to happen again, but he knew his luck would not allow him that. made. He had made new friends, lost all the weight he had before this whole mess, basically started a new life and even met a god. If you told him he would have done any of that a month before The Flashing, he would have called you crazy.

But now it was him who could end up being the crazy one.

Sighing, Kai pushed himself off of the ground and set out with one goal in mind. If today was going to be his last day in The Dome, he was going to pay a visit to all the locations that had some sort of sentimental value.

First, he visited the waterfall. He finished shifting all his stats this morning. The task had taken much longer than Kai expected, but with each stat shifted, the time it took to shift the next one was slightly lessened. His mastery over his soul was slowly growing, but any progress is good progress.

Next, he visited the tree that he nearly died when he fell off it while climbing it. The fear of nearly hitting the ground still lingered in his mind, but as long as he had Wraith Mode he basically always had a get out of jail free card.

Unless whatever caused him to nearly die was able to hit ghosts, but surely that's not a common thing?

... Hopefully.

Finally, Kai paid a visit to the place where he kind of successfully beat Noelle in a fight for the first time.

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Yes, he was counting landing that solid hit as a win.

But now, Kai was unsure who would win if they were to fight again. He had grown much, much stronger since then. From statshifting to soul prediction to future sight and to top it all off, the mystery wolf mode he entered when fusing with Umbra.

Well, three of those things would count, he hadn't been able to see the future since that one fluke when playing with Umbra.

But while he had grown much stronger over the last month, who knows how strong Noelle was. Kai had basically never seen her, she was always off training by herself somewhere.

He had made his decision when he woke up about what to do with Noelle. He was going to apologise, but that would be it. He was just going to say sorry and be done with the situation. There was no need to overcomplicate things.

He was also going to say goodbye to John, Sofia, Aldred, Wa'rak and even Failure incase he never saw them again. They had all done something for him throughout his time in the forest. And embarrassingly, each of them had saved his life at some point.

When was it going to be Kai's turn to save someone?

...

Save someone that he knew beforehand.

Sighing, Kai finished his sightseeing tour and made his way towards Failure's cabin. The cozy home was going to act as a meeting point for the forces who were going to war with the abominations.

By the time he got there, there was already an immeasurable number of beasts ready for war. Boars, stags, wolves, monkeys, bears, birds, rodents, anything and everything that could fight for their home.

For some reason though, there seemed to be way more than Kai thought possible. There was way more beasts than Kai remembered ever being in The Dome. While before, he thought that the abominations would have the numbers advantage, now Kai wasn't so sure.

But he had no idea where these extra beasts came from. Maybe he was just remembering wrong or maybe there was another Dome type enclosure somewhere else in the forest.

There was also some humans there, mixed in with the packs of beasts. Kai spotted John, Sofia, Noelle and some others he vaguely recognised.

He was shocked to see the woman he saved mixed in with the crowd as well. She looked absolutely terrified surrounded by the beasts, but what caught Kai's eye was the purple earring in her left ear. She definitely did not have that last night, so Failure must have given her an item.

Whether it was out of the goodwill of his heart or something else entirely, Kai had no clue.

But he also noticed that the scumbag from last night was nowhere to be seen. That guy must have just run away to save his skin or something.

Just as Kai arrived at the edge of the crowd, the two men of the hour arrived.

Or maybe men of the century since the war has been on hold for around that.

Or maybe men of the millenia?

Aldred looked as powerful as ever. His ashen gray coat serving as a guiding beacon for all the beasts in the crowd. His eyes exuded strength and confidence as he scanned the crowd.

Failure on the other hand had chosen to discard his cotton clothes once more, he wasn't in a suit this time. No, adorning his body was a set of plain looking leather armour. The armour was brown in colour and completetly unassuming. Honestly, it looked like a common rarity item.

Maybe Failure was hiding the true armour he was going to wear, but he went all out with what was on his head.

A beautiful golden crown sat on his head, complementing his brown hair perfectly. Failure looked like a king, maybe he could have been in another time. Or would he count as king of all these beasts?

But the strange thing about the golden headpiece was that the tips of the crown were an ugly shade of purple, as if it was dunked in a vat of poison or was corroded by something.

Maybe Failure was oblivious to the fact his crown was poisoned, or maybe it was a common fashion thing when he was younger, but he wore the crown proudly.

"Ahem, can everyone hear me fine?"

Failure did the thing where he tapped his neck to augment his voice. His voice was carried into the ears of everyone present, his tone like a celebrity speaking to their fans. His question was responded to with a mix of human words and animal noises, meaning they could indeed hear him.

"Perfect" Failure smiled, he then clapped his hands and swiftly continued speaking.

"Today, is a momentous day. Today marks the day that we finally kill the Demon that has tormented us for too long. Today is the day that we finally reclaim our forest from the greedy hand of the god that cursed us.

Today is the day that we become free."

The crowd, which would normally be cheering and going wild, remained silent. They all wanted Failure to continue speaking. His words had a way of motivating them, and they wanted all the motivation they could possibly get.

"We have been oppressed for too long. By abominations that want to exterminate us and by a God that despised our guardian. But now, we have the chance to win our lives back.

Our world has been chosen as a tutorial for a reason. That reason is to eradicate our enemies and preserve our world.

Each and every one of us here has a role to play. I want every one of you to kill at least one abomination today, if you kill two that's even better, and three would be even better than two.

But you all have to make me one promise."

Failure's eyes narrowed, a serious look sitting on his face, a vast change from the carefree and playful attitude he just displayed.

"None of you are to get too close to the Mother Tree or to Aldred during the duel. Both Aldred and the Demon will be going all out, meaning if you get caught by the aftereffects of their battle there will be no saving you."

Kai felt a shiver run up his spine. He knew Aldred was strong, but he had no clue as to the true extent of the gray wolf's powers. But if he was strong enough to cause aftershocks...

Kai knew he did not want to get caught in that.

After all of the beasts had agreed to his request, Failure clapped his hands one last time and smiled proudly, like a parent sending their child off to their first day of school.

What a strange expression to wear when going to war.

"Now then. My kin, it is time to journey to the Mother Tree."