“Virideus is the God of Green.”

Sylvester raised both his hands, “Wait, calm down. I’m no Virideus. I am Sylvester Maximilian, Pope of the faith of Solis.”

“God of Green, yes,” the redhead dryad repeated. “Sun makes plants grow. Then you are the God of Green.”

Sylvester hummed in annoyance, “In that case, I’m the preacher of God of Green. Now, I only wish to ask a few questions regarding the history from your eldest member of your species. Knowing those answers will greatly help me in my journey.”

Crack!

Right then, a new figure came from within the forest. This one was even taller than the redhead, reaching the heights of being called a giant. The dryad had dark green hair, a size as tall as nine feet, and yet her physical shape and beauty remained at its peak. Clearly, this was the oldest elder he was looking for.

“What does a human wish to ask? Your puny lifespans do not allow you to explore the truths of this world. Only to live in self-centred greed is what you can afford—the reason why you humans killed our kind from your land five thousand years ago,” The tall dryad said in a not-so-kind tone.

But her mention of ‘five thousand years’ instantly rang bells in Sylvester’s head. “I have reason to believe that the state of this world is unnatural, rather, artificial—curated for a certain result that we don’t know. I am the Pope, and I have been unable to find any record of history beyond five thousand years in the past. At that same time, old elves and dragons also died mysteriously. Its as if—”

“And attempt to hide the history beyond five thousand years,” the old, colossal dryad interjected.

Nodding, Sylvester questioned her further, “That is why I ask you this since you are older than five thousand years.”

“I know nothing,” she immediately replied. “I hold no memory of my life from my initial years in this world. However, I do remember some things, such as the fact that once, dryads were not extinct in Sol. There used to be a faith of Luna and a few others. The faith of Solis appeared out of thin air one day and spread like wildfire—

starting the ethnocentric trend of you humans calling everything non-human heathens.”

Sylvester sighed, not knowing what he even expected from them. Clearly, if she had known something significant, she’d have already died by now at the hands of those who wanted to keep it a secret.

“Speak with the giants of Gantis,” dryad suggested. “They were known to hoard precious treasures during ancient times. But something made them seal themselves off; what it was is unknown, and it could be related to something they learned.”

Sylvester could only trust her words and visit the giants and explore. “Thank you for this information. I am slowly changing Sol, and I’m sure in the future, all species will be welcomed there. But first, I must defeat those who pushed our world towards chaos.”

The giant of a dryad stared at Sylvester with her green eyes, “You seem certain of such an existence.”

He smiled and stepped back while still looking at her serene form, “Let’s just say I’ve had the opportunity of peeking into the past, and what I saw can not mean anything but what I suspect. The future doesn’t seem bright if we don’t band together in the coming years.”

The giant dryad nodded and extended her pale hand toward Sylvester, “Then you will require proof to bring the world together against the common foe. When you do that, we will be there to support you.”

“I don’t need it,” Sylvester quickly replied, almost in desperation and making his voice seem unsure. “The enemy we’re against is powerful enough to erase our thoughts, our memories, alter them, snap this entire reality from existence, or recreate it from scratch—

No mortal can battle such a foe. All I require is peace in our land, so my focus can solely be on the challenge.”

‘Wait! Why am I sharing so much with her? What’s happening?’ Sylvester suddenly realised his own abnormal behaviour. He was someone who remained confident and secretive at all times. And yet, he now breathed out words so mindlessly. ‘I should leave… There’s definitely some magic involved with her.’

“Peace… A word so easily spoken but nigh impossible to achieve. I wish you great luck, Virideus,” the dryad said. “I am the only elder of my species. Xeniphe is what I am called.”

“Xeniphe. It’s a unique name,” Sylvester mumbled and retreated his steps. “I shall take my leave now. If my wishes prevail, perhaps we will meet again in better circumstances.”

He went back to the carriage with Queen Delimira and jumped towards his seat. He didn’t feel like spending any more time with the Elder Dryad. Despite being a Supreme Wizard, he was worried and curious about how she affected him. Because as far as he could sense, she was nowhere near a Supreme Wizard in strength.

“Peace?” Delimira muttered as the carriage began moving again.

Sylvester shrugged and only focused ahead, “A man can dream.”

“I can’t see Beastaria coming together as one, even in my lifespan,” she truthfully said, doubting if such a dream was even worth watching. “We’d rather kill each other than get along.”

‘Unless someone rightfully forces them.’ Sylvester didn’t say it out loud since it was yet to become a reality.

Soon, they crossed another large gate and arrived in the last region protected by elven walls. It was a massive farmland, with Centaurs living in their forest on the western shore, and on the eastern side beside the river, the Fairies lived in a tiny colourful forest.

However, he was only able to see Centaurs in the distance, majestic beings with muscular horse bodies below their waist. As for Fairies, he was informed they were palm-sized beings with magic and an almost infinite lifespan. They only needed protection due to their blood having anti-ageing properties. Since elves didn’t care about beauty due to their natural bodies, a natural trust and partnership was built.

Eventually, they arrived at the river power, where a single small ship from Sylvester’s fleet awaited him. It would take him closer to the Merkins’ lake, close to the region under the influence of the demon. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮

“If things go well, perhaps we will meet again, Queen Delimira,” Sylvester bid the woman farewell and kissed the back of her hand. “Remember my suggestion: the poor are the quickest way to win the hearts of the people.”

Warmly, Delimira smiled. Having been childless for so long, and longing to be a mother, she couldn’t help but see Sylvester as someone close to herself due to the shared blood with Rathagun and the features with her.

“Be careful, Pope Sylvester. And please don’t let Rathagun do anything foolish and die. Alfia is not prepared to deal with such a loss yet,” she requested, clearly giving the scent of love she truly felt for the elven King.

‘What a tragedy.’ Sylvester thought as he climbed onto the ship. ‘Despite her love for him being genuine, he only sees her and doubts her as a pawn of Elder Ellitran.’

Eventually, the ship began moving, and they crossed the edge of Alfia. Two massive towers flanked the sides of the river, overlooking anything that entered or passed. But it was a short ride as the Merkins’ lake was entirely under the demon’s control, and the influence only expanded.

The ship had to stop where the land of Orcs began. Sylvester jumped out from there and ordered Bloodrain, as well as Soulbreaker, to visit the Beastkins and protect them from the battle that was going to take place. With four Supreme Wizards in one place, the damage was going to devastate the entire region, and much of the effects were going to be felt far in the distance.

“May the Holy Light enlighten us,” Bloodrain saluted Sylvester solemnly.

“May victory be in your palms, your Holiness,” Soulbreaker knelt for a blessing.

Sylvester raised his hands and enveloped them in his magical light. Then, he wasted no time and kicked the ground to leap high into the sky, instantly reaching the clouds. Sadly, he couldn’t fly and had to use Light Steps.

But his movement was still rapid and reached above the edge of the Divider Swamp in a short instance. The place brought some horrifying memories of the time he almost died there. The spear was something he still wanted back, and he wondered where it even was in such a massive area.

“So, I arrived on time.”

Sylvester looked behind him towards the familiar voice. King Rathagun had appeared in his full-bodied armour, with a straight, long sword already out of its sheath. The armour was golden with a tint of green, and there were vines etched all over it like runes.

‘He can fly.’ Sylvester felt envious seeing the man hovering in the air while he stood over the invisible Light Tile.

“I’m waiting for King Malisius,” Sylvester said, glancing toward the north at Greenpeaks. “He’s close.”

They noticed a tiny dot in the distance that slowly grew bigger. It turned out to be a massive dragon, in its full size. Since it had red scales, it was clear the dragon was Malisius. As the dragon approached them, its body started to shrink and deform, eventually taking the humanoid shape of a ten-foot-tall mutated dragon.

With the ever-present rageful aura, Malisius flew towards them and stopped a few meters away, “The runes have been inscribed around the edge as you pleaded.”

“Suggested,” Sylvester corrected the dragon. “What are your main elements?”

“Fire,” Malisius replied, quite obviously.

“Earth,” Rathagun added.

“Unsurprising,” Sylvester muttered, looking down at the mist-covered swamp with dark shadows underneath. “Mine is light. To get rid of the demon, a ritual must be done as we fight it. Every demon has a key attached to it—a physical object to which the demon’s consciousness is tied, and they use the key to possess a being’s body.”

“So it’s in there?” Rathagun interjected, as he didn’t have much experience with Demons.

Malisius knew more about it, “You can’t be suggesting we look for the key in this massive swamp.”

But there was no other way, as far as Sylvester knew. “We need to find it and destroy the key to eliminate the demon. Otherwise, even if we destroy the demon’s body today, it will return in a few years.”

The King of dragons and the King of elves stared at each other’s faces. Measuring each other up, being enemies for as long as they could remember. They didn’t know how much they could trust each other to watch their backs.

Rathagun folded his arms and seriously looked at Sylvester, letting him make the plan, “What do you suggest?”

“The swamp is deeper than one can imagine,” Malicious warned.

“Well…” Sylvester raised his right hand and created a small, palm-sized sphere of pure light energy, so hot that the two other Supreme Wizards felt threatened by it. “We drain the swamp.”

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