Chapter 361: To action

Ren was sitting on the highest branch of the tree of life. It has been a few days since he learned that there was no way of saving Tsukiko from her predicament. In these few days, he had multiple conversations with the other incarnations but no matter how much they brainstormed they couldn't figure out a way to sever the link between Tsukiko and the tree. The Original incarnation who presumably might know of some way wasn't responding to them. So now he started to contemplate the things that were happening around him and within him.

'Hmmm... If it was me from before I would have accepted this much more easily. I would've said that it was natural for her to have this kind of fate because of her weakness. Everyone makes choices and you either accept what comes or defy it with all your might... Yet now I actually care a little bit about such things. I guess I've become a bit greedier than before.' Ren's lips curved upwards as he scoffed at himself.

'Well, who cares if I'm the greediest of all, if I have the power to back it up then I can be as greedy as I want to be! Hmph, moping around isn't my style. I'll just deal with it as they come, first things first I need to meet with Tsukiko.'

Ren had been in the eternal forest for a few days now, but not once did he go visit Tsukiko. He didn't want to meet her if he couldn't find a way to sever her link with the tree. But now Ren changed his mind and decided to just meet with her and think about the difficult stuff later.

...

In the eternal forest, Leila was playing around with the younger elves. On the other hand, ever since Ren found out that Tsukiko was the protector of the World Tree, the Elven Queen Kara grew more anxious by the day. Seeing Ren keeping to himself and being quiet made her anxiety rise, so she did everything in her power to please Ren.

She had warned all of the other elves to accommodate every one of Ren's wishes no matter what it was. Those that defy this order would be instantly executed. Because of all of these factors, the usually peaceful eternal forest the home of the elves was now enveloped by a very tense atmosphere.

...

Ren stood up from the tree branch and felt the heavy wind blow through him. He looked ahead, the clouds were under his feet and the sun was shining brightly in front of him. It was a bit exhilarating to be up so high.

After he took in the scenery Ren jumped down from the tree branch. As he was diving headfirst to the ground, Ren passed through the clouds and then saw the eternal forest down below, from this height it looked so small. He could also see the surrounding areas beyond the eternal forest.

Seeing the landscape that he once knew so well change so much, Ren couldn't help but remember his past life making him feel a tinge of nostalgia. Once Ren saw that he was nearing the ground he created platforms by condensing his mana outward. If it was before he would have used a wind spell to help him float safely downward, but now that he had too much excess mana he no longer needed to conserve his mana and use such spells.

...

Ren who was descending looked like he was walking on invisible stairs. When the Elven Queen felt Ren's presence nearing she quickly asked the other elves to disperse as she would be the only one to greet Ren.

Seeing Kara waiting for him by herself made Ren smile as the Elven Queen finally understood a bit of how he liked to do things.

"Bring me to Tsukiko."

"As you wish."

Kara was about to bow her head but remembered that Ren didn't really like people doing that so she forcefully stopped herself. She was now in an awkward position of being in mid-bow, Kara did a gesture telling Ren to follow her, she then walked ahead. In her mind, Kara was a bit happy that she was able to quickly react before things got even more awkward.

...

Kara guided Ren through the thick roots of the tree of life that were now all over the place which made the whole area into a labyrinth. The tree was ever-growing which made the position of the roots ever-changing, without someone like Kara who could navigate through the roots Ren would've immediately gotten lost.

Tsukiko's place was at the trunk of the tree, and it took Kara and Ren half an hour to reach their destination. Once they were there Kara announced their arrival.

"Protector of the tree of life, Demon Fox Tsukiko, I the Elven Queen Kara have brought you a guest, Ren formerly known as the demon lord Kretos."

Kara waited for a response but after a few seconds with no reaction, Kara once again announced their arrival with a louder voice, but there was still no response. kara was about to move but Ren beat her to it as he sprinted towards the trunk of the tree. Ren looked around and saw no one there. Ren wanted to use his mana sensing but he couldn't as being near the tree of life that was emitting the world's mana made it impossible to sense the mana of others.

When Kara arrived beside Ren she was shocked to see that Tsukiko wasn't there taking a nap. Kara searched the surrounding area with Ren but they saw no one.

"Where is she?"

"... Please wait... Um... Oh! She might be in the capital of the Serbek Kingdom where the Grand Mage's tournament is being held. It was her disciple that joined the tournament this year. She should be there to watch how Irene is doing."

"Alright then, I'll be going there now. Tell Leila to stay here." As Ren was about ready to leave Kara stood in front of him.

"Please wait Sir Ren. The tournament should be ending tomorrow. If you go now you might miss each other, so it would be better to wait here instead." The moment Kara said those words, some of the branches of the tree of life started to blacken and looked like it was decaying.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know... Lady Tsukiko hasn't been separated from the tree that long, so this shouldn't be happening... If lady Tsukiko was dead or wounded the tree wouldn't react this way, instead the branches would've fallen off completely not just turn black."

"I'm leaving, just tell Leila to stay here and wait for me," After speaking Ren no longer bothered to hear Kara's response as he enveloped himself in Spirit Aura and Mana. Ren jumped upward cracking the ground where he jumped from.

Once in the air Ren created a platform of mana and pushed himself forward by kicking it in full force. He traveled several miles within seconds. He repeated the process of kicking the platforms made of mana as he traveled as quickly as possible towards the Serbek Kingdom.

...

Kara who watched Ren disappear from her sight had an odd look on her face. 'He could've just used the teleportation circle we have here that's connected to the city near Varzon the capital of the Serbek Kingdom. Though I guess with his speed his way should be a bit faster. Still, I wonder what's happening in the Serbek Kingdom... Well with Sir Ren going there the problem should be as good as solved.'