The gates to the Central Palace had two statues of men holding hammers in one hand and beating their chest with the other in a salute. Between the two was the widest gate Oscar had ever seen, much larger than the one in the Pavilion. Naturally, the home of a Primaere would exceed anything he had known.
Seeing this place brought back some unpleasant memories, and his anger grew deeper from the red roots and vines which rested out from the windows. Frowning, Oscar took another step, and his Ein went out in a blue inferno, unrestrained and powerful. After making his presence known, the red roots and vines trembled, and thousands of mouths opened with frightening smiles, full of sharp teeth, and screeched.
The barriers around the palace were inactive during this idle time between realm openings. So, Oscar had no issue getting closer.
"You've been idle for far too long. After all this time, you never once set out to kill the person who's been destroying your footholds in this realm. I wondered why, but the answer was clear. I thought the last Forest Heart was on the Great Tree, but the true core of the forest is here." Oscar jumped and soared into the air, overlooking the palace, infested by writhing vines and bloodied roots.
"The red root is an entity akin to the forest itself. I don't know how it came into being, but I think it's time to put it down for good." Gol-4 said in a rough voice. "Exterminate this pest from my home."
"I was nearly sacrificed to his bastard. Its core will be a great reward." Erden growled.
"Don't be in so much of a rush," Oscar calmed down the two angered partners to his sides. Above him, he caught sight of the four gates, mere dots in the blue sky and barely discernible. He needed to make sure of one thing and flew up, ignoring the red root's high-pitched wails.
Reaching a height only achievable by airship in the past, Oscar slowed down and stepped toward the gates, their windows vacant and depleted of Ein. With the winds behind him, swaying the fur of his clothes, Oscar touched the smooth rock of one gate.
Gol-4 flew over and examined the structure and even tried to connect to it with rays of Ein flowing from his blue eyes into the inner workings of the gate. No response came from the gate, and Gol-4 ran out of his excess Ein and started to fall. Oscar caught his friend, holding him firmly.
"It won't work from here. The most this blasted contraption can do is float around until the command comes from the controls in the palace." Gol-4 sighed.
"It's what we expected. Thanks, Gol-4. Now leave the rest to us. Ready, Erden?" Oscar turned to his beastly companion, floating around the air in a peaceful rest, bathing under the sunlight.
"You can tell my thoughts. What's the point of questions?" Erden flew over to Oscar's side with a grunt.
"Then…" Oscar's face turned cold and fierce with the eyes of a hunter eyeing his prey. Oscar descended straight onto the outer courtyard. The ground shook beneath his arrival, the red roots screeched louder, and the inner doors flung open to reveal a hellish nightmare of the red root's infestation.
Its tendrils covered all of the floors and walls. The mouths opened wide and began to make shrill sounds, emulating laughter as if beckoning Oscar to enter. Oscar and Erden moved slowly, each step ramping up the Ein surrounding them before suddenly sprinting.
Oscar wanted to test his newfound powers, wearing a fearsome smile at the battle ahead. As he stepped into the palace, the Outer Hall, the roots and vines retracted without warning, disappearing around the corners and into the crevices. Dumbfounded, Oscar halted.
"What just happened?" Oscar asked, still in disbelief at how quickly the red root retreated. He came here, expecting a chance to take revenge after thinking of this moment for fifteen years. But, instead, the red root ran away. Oscar was angered and gnashed his teeth, and his eyes dropped to a chill.
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"Calm down, lad. The red root must be gathering itself into a singular place. Rather than face you with distant tendrils and waste its strength, it's waiting for you inside my stone garden." Gol-4 knocked Oscar out of his anger by hitting him on the forehead.
Thanks to Gol-4's words, Oscar relaxed and tossed aside his anger. Allowing his emotions to overwhelm him would do no good, only harm. Fifteen years. He waited fifteen years for this moment. He could wait a few more minutes or hours. Just now was a momentary lapse in control due to all the tension and anticipation.
'I won't make the same mistake.' Oscar ran ahead with Erden and Gol-4 in tow. He roamed through the familiar gigantic hallways lined with rivers of lava, embarked into unfamiliar places he had never been in, and arrived in the inner sanctum. After a few more moments, he paused in front of a hexagonal tunnel on the way into the stone garden.
Oscar remembered everything. Sometimes, the memories felt like distant dreams, a mist he could not grasp. Now, in front of the stone garden, the memories became vivid and spread throughout his thoughts.
He saw himself, Orden, Maia, Gail, Frederick, Austin, Sarah, Emily, Serena, Mary, Celestina, and more. All the faces stuck themselves into his eyes. Then he remembered taking the Divine Essence and running away from the dreaded red root with Frederick. He would have been home if he were just a moment faster or if this blasted monster had never existed.
Home…Oscar saw his mother and father waving their hands and smiling at him from their farm. He wanted to eat his mother's cheese stew with some eggs. He wanted to read books together with Celestina. He wanted to explore around and have fun with Frederick and Emily.
Oscar became enraged, thinking of the time that was robbed from him and the people he had left behind. Everything was because this thing, this monster, existed. Unlike his previous outburst, Oscar's anger became more focused like a sharpened blade, not losing his wits.
Fifteen years, he had waited, and now it was time.
"Erden…let's fight." Oscar rushed through the hexagonal tunnel.
"Side by side, my friend." Erden stomped with him.
Inside, Oscar saw the familiar sight of a large crater with smooth stone platforms, layered and large. He looked over the edge and saw the dreaded red root monster, a red orb of roots and vines. Its four faces with mouths as eyes stared in all directions. The one on Oscar's side faced him directly and let out a bellowing cry. Tendrils of sharp teeth and maws snapped all over the bottom of the crater as a dreadful Ein, laced with the smell of blood, choked Oscar's nose.
"Surprising. It's also at the peak of Lower Knight Exalt. I couldn't gauge its power before, but now everything is as clear as day." Oscar sniffed, disgusted by the thick smell of blood and rot filling the air. A bright silver star, formed from the blue spheres of Eirin, concentrated on the tip of his hand. Oscar was satisfied with the size of the Silver Star, twice as large as before, around the size of a fist.
The speed of the Silver Star was also increased from the powers of a Knight Exalt, a shockwave coming and going in a single instant from its release. However, the tendrils of the red root monster whipped out and entangled around the Silver Star, crushing it into pieces.
"Ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-ge." The innumerable mouths cackled like a chorus of witches.
Oscar rubbed and stretched his fingers, sighing at the display of the Silver Star. His powers and Ein increased significantly as a Knight Exalt, but the quality of his spells was not on par to match them. Only with higher-grade spells would he be able to reach a higher level of strength.
His silver no longer suited him and was a hindrance. Oscar wondered if he would be able to procure grade-three spells such as Indestructible Gold after escaping. Surely, with his achievements, he should be granted any reward. If not, he'd have to complain to his master and Celestina.
"I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's focus on killing this monster." Oscar threw aside the thoughts about his spells and the outside for now. "My spells won't work too well. But at least my Reis is up to the task."
"Don't worry. I'm sure there are some spells we can take away from this place when you finish off this monster." Gol-4 said.
The stone garden became abuzz with activity. Tendrils wrapped around the platforms and tugged up. Oscar stayed still as the red root monster peeked its many faces over the surface, having climbed out of the crater and lifted itself by its tendrils. The maws and faces squirmed and twisted into snarls and scowls. A mighty roar of discordant thousands rang out.
Anger and hatred. Oscar felt these emotions emanating clearly as the red Ein shrouded it.
"Hey, Gol-4. Do you want me to show you something I figured out thanks to the Soulbond and Blood Transmutation?" Oscar's joints and bones rang as his muscles tensed, entering Adamasreis.
"Ho? Playing around at this time? You've grown quite confident." Gol-4 laughed.
"No, we're seething." Erden stomped and unleashed his full power.
Oscar summoned his deer anima, and instead of having it by his other side, he commanded it toward Erden. The deer anima rushed ahead and entered Erden without any resistance. Gol-4's gasp made Oscar chuckle as he shouted, "Meld!"