I slowly opened my eyes, only to find myself standing outside of the castle. Ayona was staring at me with a wide smile before she asked:

"Did you meet the great mother, master?"

"Huh?" Confused, I turned around to look for the castle instead of answering, to my surprise, however, there was none.

Where once stood an impressively large castle, green trees now decorated the area. It was as if all I have experienced was an illusion. "Where's the castle?" I asked hesitantly.

Ayona tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Castle? What castle, master?"

A frown made its way across my face as I scanned the surroundings. The village of fairies was still there, the crowd of tiny fairies was also still staring at me from a distance, the only thing that was missing was the large castle I just came out of.

"Where is the great mother?" I asked, trying to understand what just happened.

"You just met her, master." Ayona seemed confused as she replied.

"Yes, but where is she? I met her inside a large castle that was here. But now, it's not, so I guess that all of it was an illusion. And so, where is the great mother?"

Shaking her head, Ayona answered with a smile:

"No one knows, master. The great mother only meets those she wants to meet, that's why no one could go with you. She is the one that guides you, should she want to meet you. If she doesn't, then you wouldn't be able to see her."

My surprise grew, as I could sense that Ayona was not lying nor hiding anything from me. The countless fairies around us were eyeing us with awe and envy. Turning my attention back to Ayona, I asked:

"But, she didn't look like I saw her in your memories?" I asked, confused.

"The great mother takes a different form, depending on the person. No one knows what her true body looks like." Saying that Ayona lowered her head in shame and added, "Sorry, master. Ayona is not very helpful."

Shaking my head, I used my mana to gently ruffle her head. "Don't say that. It's okay, I already got what I came here for. Let's go back."

A wide smile stretched across the little fairy's face as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes!"

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With that, I placed the fairy on my back once more and shot to the sky, leaving the fairy village behind. Before I left, however, I threw the place where the castle was situated one last glance, and I could swear I saw its vague outline for a second before I shook my head and flew away.

The illusion that was set in place to hide the village appeared once again, turning the place into a normal forest. My mind was still occupied by my meeting with the great mother, so I didn't pay much heed to it.

Ayona mentioned that no one knows what the great mother's real body looks like. For some reason, I was sure that what I met was indeed her real form. I had no proof to back my theory, it was akin to a hunch if anything. But I was almost one hundred percent sure.

The whole meeting was bizarre. The extent of control the great mother had over illusions was incredible. It was almost impossible to discern the real from the fake. Not to mention the conversation we had, and all of that talk about the son of chaos.

'What did she mean by that exactly?' I inwardly mumbled.

Then there was the vision. That didn't feel like an illusion, if anything it felt more like a possession. It was as if I suddenly took control over the body of that human. 'She said she only showed me what I needed to see. So what was it exactly? That strange redhead girl? Now that I think about it, she was quite weird. I'm sure those battles she mentioned were the ones I partook in. And the enthusiasm she spoke with, was bizarre. Especially considering I had destroyed a kingdom, yet she didn't seem fazed, if anything she appeared excited. What a weird girl.' I inwardly mumbled with a shake of my head.

The rest of my trip back to the mountain was spent in silent contemplation. The meeting with the great mother was certainly not what I had in mind. If I was to be truthful, I had underestimated the fairies. I only decided to visit their village because of the veil that intervened with me and Ayona's contract.

I was overconfident, I should have figured out that something was wrong the second I found out that the great mother could mess around with the power of law that coated the divine contract. That should have been the first indication that things were not as simple as they appeared. Yet because of my and Ynos's previous experiences with the fairies, I regarded them as a weak race.

'Fuck, the second I think I grew a little bit, something like this happens.' With a shake of my head, I slowly approached the familiar floating mountain. Father and mother's presence were missing, but I could feel another familiar one inside the cave.

With a grin, I landed with a loud thud, sending stone debris flying. "Ayona, move as far away as you can."

Not questioning my order, the fairy jumped into the sky and disappeared above the clouds, just in time as a large golden figure shot from the cave in a blur. A grin stretched across my face as I met my assailant with open arms.

Ynos's bulking figure was much faster than the last time I saw him. If it was me from before, then I would have definitely failed to react in time. With a fluid motion, I flapped my wings and jumped sideways avoiding the hulking mass of muscle that hurled at me.

"That's one way to say hello."

Ynos grew excited seeing how I managed to dodge. "As expected of older brother! I thought I had you for sure in that one. I even tried to hide my presence."

We both slowly circled each other as we spoke, "That was certainly way better than last time. But I could still sense a few tiny strands of mana when you grew too excited."

Shaking his head, Ynos replied with a smirk:

"You know I don't like hiding, brother. It just doesn't suit me."

Nodding, I answered with a smile, "Alright then, come! Let me see how far you have improved."