Melody, Okan, Rui, Autumn, Violet, and Annabelle sat in a natural circle made from flowers, mushrooms, and other plants, along with Duke Cambel, the guild master and Annabelle’s grandfather.

  Plants rose up before humans. “Please hold onto these so that you may join in on the conversation,” Okan said.

  The Duke took hold of the vine. “Huh…?” He made a disappointed noise.

  Haelga, who was nearby, laughed. “If you were expecting to connect to nature, you couldn’t handle it!”

  Melody giggled. “It just gives you a telepathic link to join the conversation. You don’t have to verbally speak, just ‘think’ your words.”

  “O-Okay.” The Duke looked a bit embarrassed.

  “Alright then! Brothers, Father, can you hear me?” Okan began.

  “Yes, we hear you, brother.” “Long time no chat, Okan! How’ve you been?” “Good to hear from you.” “Grand niece! Why didn’t you visit me when you were so close to me?” Various voices of Sons of Lyuten rolled in.

  The humans broke into cold sweats with the power they felt through their voices. It was then that one brought about a calm warmth. “Heh, heh. Calm down, everyone.”

  “““““Father.””””” The treants spoke respectfully in unison.

  “Welcome, humans. I am Gyyanrel, The World Tree.” Gyyanrel said kindly. “It is a pleasure to finally speak with you, especially to you, Melody.”

  Melody felt a little bashful. “Nice to meet you, great grandfather.”

  Gyyanrel chuckled. “You sound too stiff, Melody. Let’s see… why not call me Papa Gyy.”

  Melody snorted and stopped herself from bursting out laughing. The name sounded too cute for someone as powerful as the World Tree!

  Gyyanrel seemed to pick up on Melody’s emotions, and she could feel him pouting.

  “Ah! I’m sorry, Papa Gyy! I just thought the name was cute…” Melody quickly said, her face feeling hot.

  Feelings of happiness radiated from the World Tree. “Thank you! It warms my roots to hear that from you! Oh! Rui! You also have to call me Papa Gyy!”

  Rui giggled. “Okay, Papa Gyy!”

  Okan cleared his throat. “As pleasant as this is, I think we best get to the heart of the issue.”

  Gyyanrel laughed and apologized.

  “Now, to inform those who don’t know, the gods you know of are known as the Divine Gods. Another type of god, evil and malevolent, is known as the God of Tartarus.” Okan stated.

  “Hmm?” The high priest perked up. “Those of the temple know of them. They are entities that desire to corrupt, invade, and destroy our world.”

  “Huh? I’ve never heard of them.” Annabelle commented.

  Her grandfather chuckled. “Ah, my apologies. Only higher-ups are trusted with the information. In truth, knowing of them gives them more opportunities to invade the world. So it is best for fewer people to know of them. Also, no need to cause a panic.”

  “Thank you, high priest.” Okan was appreciative. “Now, it seems that a God of Tartarus has found a pawn.”

  The Treants exploded. “What!?” “Where is it!?” “Do we know where it is?!” “We must hunt it down and destroy it before it gets too strong!”

  “Calm down, everyone.” Gyyanrel hushed them. “I will begin preparations to contact our great mother. Do we have any additional information?”

  “It is…” Melody paused. “Kraul, the God of Tartarus, reincarnated my old giant clan leader, Rul, as a Mountain Giant. His mission is to wreak havoc in our world.”

  “Then this is truly bad…” Gyyanrel stated.

  “How so?” Duke Cambel asked.

  “The goal of a pawn of a God of Tartarus is to spread their corrupt power throughout the world. The more their power spreads, the sooner it will allow this Kraul to descend into our world.” Gyyanrel answered.

  “And… how bad is that scenario?” Violet asked.

  “The end of the world,” Gyyanrel stated.

  “That is why we need to hunt down this pawn and destroy it!” One of the Sons of Lyuten yelled.

  “The pawn is likely the Mountain Giant that has been causing problems recently,” Okan stated.

  “Oh… so that was the pawn.” One of the Sons stated.

  “You spotted it, Brother Palkin?”

  Palkin confirmed. “Yes. It… wiped out a town east of my forest. We helped create a safe path for the humans to escape. It is a dangerous giant. I sent some of my people to kill it.”

  They all felt Wrath stir within Melody. “Send me there to help them. I will put Rul down.” She stood.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Melody, a pawn of a God of Tartarus, is a dangerous being. It will have a powerful blessing that slowly drives it mad.” Okan stated.

  “Do we have any ideas of what it received?” Gyyanrel asked.

  “Near-instant healing,” Autumn reported.

  “Oh, this might be difficult. That is linked to the sinful skill of Pride. It gives instant regeneration as well as the chance to steal the powers of those it kills and eats. The longer it is allowed to run free, the worse things will become.” Gyyanrel stated.

  “Let’s go, Melody.” Violet stood, letting go of the vine.

  “I’m going too!” Annabelle stood.

  “I will go with you, I owe it from last time.” Autumn stood.

  “No, we need all forest spirits to begin a cleansing of all forests of any miasma immediately,” Gyyanfel stated. “Since we now know it is a pawn of Tartarus, we need to slow down Kraul’s decent. Melody, if you are unable to defeat the pawn, see your granduncle Palkin and come to see me with your friends. Your friend, Annabelle, must definitely come. Her power will help cleanse those in the Grand Grove.”

  “Will do, Papa Gyy,” Melody confirmed. “Let’s go, Anna, Violet!”

  “Do you want me to send some adventurers along?” The guild master asked.

  “It will take too long to get them together.” Melody pointed out as the three entered a Fairy Ring. “We will kill Rul.” Wrath flared.

  “Be careful, Anna.” Her grandfather held her hand lovingly.

  Annabelle beamed. “I’m with my capable party! If we can’t kill him, we’ll just run and hide!”

  Her grandfather laughed and wished them luck.

  “I connected to your Fairy Ring, Melody, and am ready to summon you here,” Palkin stated.

  “Let’s go,” Melody stated, and they were summoned.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  With Violet and Annabelle in the carrier pack, Melody rushed through the forest.

  “Granduncle, do you still have eyes on it?” Melody called.

  “Yes, stay on your path. It is outside my forest, but a deep ravine will keep it corralled in the area it is in. Hurry.” Palkin reported.

  “What about the spirits you sent to fight it?” Melody asked, worried.

  Palkin hesitated for a moment. “… A few died, but most of them lived.”

  Melody clenched her teeth. Rul was back in the world and was bringing misery wherever he went. “I will avenge them,” Melody growled.

  After several minutes, they arrived at the forest edge.

  “See it anywhere?” Violet asked, using magic to scan the area.

  “I don’t see anything,” Annabelle stated.

  Melody made her way out into the field, looking for signs. After a few moments, she noticed large footprints. “Got you,” she said.

  Melody followed the tracks quickly.

  After many minutes, they heard a crash and someone loudly cursing.

  Melody blended with air and quickly made her way forward until they saw him.

  Wrath tried to boil over, but Melody was able to calm it until they gathered more information.

  “Damn, fuck, stupid ravine!” Rul cursed.

  “Seems he wants to get across but can’t,” Annabelle observed.

  Violet noticed a few tall trees nearby, looking like they were ripped out of the ground. “He’s physically strong. Melody, ready an arrow and then check his status.”

  Melody nodded. Drawing Okan’s bow, she charged her nature magic into the magic arrow until it was a solid needle. Violet readied her Violet Flame magic.

  Melody reached into herself and called upon Wrath. “Now is the time to imbue your power into my arrow. Let us KILL RUL!”

  Wrath happily replied. The red aura of Wrath radiated from Melody’s hands, flowing into the arrow. The lights intertwined, and the color of the needle began getting brighter, turning yellow.

  “Whoa, what did you do?” Annabelle was surprised.

  “Huh?” Rul turned his attention toward their direction.

  Melody let her powerful arrow loose. With how fast it flew, Melody barely made it out; Rul never saw it coming.

  “URGH!” Rul coughed up a bunch of blood as much of his torso turned into a huge hole.

  Behind Rul, a massive explosion shook the area.

  Rul fell face into the ground.

  “Yeah! Let’s go burn the body!” Violet stated.

  Melody cautiously made her way forward.

  ZzzzZzzT!

  Melody’s sense of danger rang, and she jumped back. Lightning jumped about the area where Rul was.

  Melody readied another nature arrow.

  “Heheheheh. I thought that would have gotten you.” Rul stood while chuckling. The moment he saw Melody, a brief look of terror flashed over his face before it melted to smugness. “Meldy, it’s been a long time.”

  “Seems like you aren’t as dumb as you were,” Melody growled, shooting him in the chest again.

  Rul took the arrow to his arm, but the damage regenerated instantly. “You can’t kill me, Meldy.” He grinned. “You’ve become even more beautiful than Al-.”

  An arrow exploded in his face.

  “DON’T YOU DARE UTTER MY MOTHER’S NAME!” Melody roared, the aura of Wrath awakening.

  Violet quickly used magic to pull herself and Annabelle off the pack and away from Melody.

  “THIS TIME, INSTEAD OF BEING IMPRISONED! YOU WILL DIE!” Melody pulled out her beautiful hatchet and charged Rul.

  Annabelle cast multiple blessings on Melody while Violet cast protective barriers over their friend.

  Melody lopped off Rul’s arm, only for it to regrow and for him to swing at her. She dodged his strike, swinging her hatchet low, cutting off his leg. Rul stumbled before his leg regrew, then began fighting like a skilled martial artist. Rul’s leg swung for Melody’s head, but she blocked it with her arm and grinned.

  “You’re still weak, Rul.” Melody buried her hatchet in his head.

  Rul stumbled back, only to kick her away from himself. “Ug, youg, erg.” Rul was having a hard time forming a sentence. He pulled out the hatchet, and his head healed. “Oof. Seems I will need to work on my defense more.”

  Melody readied herself to charge Rul once more, but he threw her hatchet at Violet and Annabelle. Even in her enraged state, she prioritized saving her friends. She caught the hatchet, rolled across the ground, and turned to face Rul once more, but he was charging toward the ravine.

  “Well, Meldy, you win this time, but I will see you soon, my daughter!” Rul laughed heartily as he dove into the seemingly bottomless ravine.

  “NOOOO!” Melody roared and charged to the edge of the ravine and began raining nature arrows on the falling Rul.

  He disappeared within the depths.

  “DAMMIT! Grand uncle! Can you see him!?” Melody yelled.

  “I’m sorry, Melody, but he is beyond my sight.” Palkin emotions of regret and sadness flowed from him.

  Melody yelled in frustration and anger, Wrath exploding, then dissipating. “RUL! I WILL KILL YOU!”

  Melody began sobbing in frustration. How could she let him escape so easily?

  “Melody!” Annabelle rushed over. “Bury him with Dig!”

  Melody jumped back and slammed her hands into the ground. Wrath boosted her power, and a large part of the ravine edge collapsed into the ravine.

  Violet looked down the depths. “With how he heals, I don’t think he will die with that. How the hell do we kill him?”

  “It will slow him down,” Annabelle said.

  Melody used Dig to collapse more of the ravine. “Let’s hope he never escapes.” She stood. “We’ll see Papa Gyy to see if he might know how to kill that bastard.”

  Violet and Annabelle returned to the carrier pack, and the three headed out.