Aldrian looked at the spirit for a mont before he answered.
"To be honest, I don’t really know about you. But are you aware of who I am for you to do this?"
"Of course, my lord. Your energy and aura were described in my mory by my creator—a figure who possesses the power to subdue any energy, whose presence feels different from all others when I sense it directly. The energy that can make nature prostrate in reverence," the spirit answered.
"Your creator?" Aldrian asked, then paused in thought. If this spirit of the World Tree used the term her creator, then the only figure she could be referring to was—
"Is it Seralis?" he asked, which made the spirit nod.
"Goddess Seralis, my goddess, gave an embedded task. She told to guard the place where I placed. The Divine Phoenix placed here, so I must stay. I am to remain until the Absolute Ruler reveals himself."
"When that ti cos, he will appear as a figure of light, one whose energy and aura are unlike any other, a presence so overwhelming that nature itself will prostrate before him. He is special, and I must treat him with even more reverence than I give to the goddess herself."
"I heard everything from outside about the figure who shook the continent, and my attention turned to it. From long ago, I knew. The mont I witnessed the phenonon of the Divine Dragon and Phoenix, and the chain of events that followed, I knew my lord was the one ntioned by Goddess Seralis. The Absolute One. The Absolute Ruler."
"After I sensed your presence, I felt more certain. And when I sensed your energy and aura, I no longer had a sliver of doubt. You are the one the goddess spoke of."
She then stopped.
Aldrian nodded in understanding. He knew why Seralis had embedded that task. In the end, it was to guard the foundation of the formation. Long Shentian had said that ever since the devils took over this territory, a weakness had ford in it.
He thought it might be due to the dense devil energy here, which disturbed the formation. Aldrian knew this place was the foundation point of the formation that covered the entire continent.
To make the foundation whole again—without weakness or gaps—he would have to take it back from the devils. By taking over, Long Shentian must have been referring to claiming it as his domain. Though, Aldrian wasn’t sure if there were other foundation points scattered elsewhere within devil-controlled territory.
As for this spirit’s image of him, it was only natural for soone like her to sense how unique his energy and aura were. His energy was especially potent for beings with a deep connection to nature, like spirits and plants. It had already been proven many tis in the past. For example, the first ti he t Olivia, she had been drawn to him, yet she also revered him.
"I see. But how did those beasts seem to know you were waiting for soone—for ? Did you tell them?" Aldrian asked.
"Only your description. Those devil beasts were eager to remain in this region, so I let them, but I placed certain conditions on their stay. I thought they might be useful in the future. I told them I was waiting for soone—soone who would be a great person with qualities no one else would have," the spirit answered.
"They would imdiately know what I was waiting for, because my lord’s energy is unlike anything else. Beasts with a close connection to nature would not dare to underestimate an energy that makes them feel subdued."
"I see. So you didn’t have anything binding those beasts. You were simply making use of their desire to remain here," Aldrian said.
"Yes, even I really don’t care if they want to leave this place. So of them have already gone outside, even joined the devil lord’s side. But I still don’t really care, as my primary objective is to stay here, not to manage those beasts."
Aldrian nodded, but then his eyes showed curiosity.
"But why only beasts? Why not humans? Wouldn’t they be much more useful in the long run, in many ways?"
The spirit nodded. "A long ti ago, there were actually humans who decided to stay in this region. The beasts, the humans—they were all ones who refused to follow the devil lord. After finding this place, they chose to form their own alignnt here."
"As ti passed, the humans’ greed grew far beyond what I had anticipated. Long story short, they tried to take more than what I had already given them. They even planned to kill and seize this place."
"Well, I easily obliterated them. And since that ti, I’ve never fully trusted humans—" she paused, looking at Aldrian before bowing slightly again.
"Of course, except you, my lord." She straightened again.
"After that experience, I ca to understand that beasts are more predictable and easier to deal with than humans. Even if they betray this place and choose to join others, that is the extent of their actions."
"If, after that experience, I still allowed humans in, there was a chance they would bring trouble. They are more cunning, and since they don’t have a close connection to nature, they would be difficult to control once you arrived. So after much thought, I saw no benefit in allowing humans to stay," she said.
Her answer made sense, and he agreed with her. All beings have a dark side, but humans were more unpredictable than any other. Beasts would also be easier for him to control because of how his energy affected them compared to humans. At the very least, beasts would recognize the true benefit and significance of his energy.
But then sothing ca to his mind.
"I see. But during this prophesied ti of chaos, I doubt the current devil lord would ignore you or this region. I can’t imagine he would stay idle when he has a plan spreading across the continent without including this place as a target," he said.
The spirit nodded.
"Yes, that is true. The devil lord’s side has been trying to act again, although not as brazenly as the previous devil lords. He infiltrated so of the beasts on his side and gradually incited the ones in this region to join them, even convincing so to beco the devil’s summoning beasts."
"It seems that the ti of prophecy, along with the prospect of the devil god’s descent, has changed the hearts of so beasts, leading them to side with the devil lord."
Aldrian, hearing this, suddenly rembered sothing and couldn’t help but ask,
"Was one of the beasts who joined the devil lord a Black Rock Snake at the middle emperor stage?"
The spirit raised her eyebrows and nodded.
"Yes, my lord. How did you know?"
"Well, I killed him during my journey," he answered.
The Black Rock Snake he ntioned was the sa one he had killed in the Dual Horns Peak city, located within demon territory. At that ti, a giant serpent had lain beneath the mountain, and he brought it down with his Earth Shattering Bow.
Just now, he had thought that a beast that powerful might have co from this place, but, it turned out his guess had been correct.
"Well, that was his fate for going against you, my lord. He deserved nothing but death," she said with certainty. But then her expression shifted, her eyes narrowed, and her tone grew serious.
"My lord, since you’ve brought up the devil lord, I must remind you of sothing." It was the first ti he heard her speak with such weight in her voice.
"Tell ," Aldrian said.
"The current devil lord is unlike those who ca before him—at least from what I’ve observed. In my opinion, he is the most dangerous one to date. Why do I say this? Because he possesses thods and things that are not of this world—things I cannot understand."
"He appears to have a way to summon beasts that aren’t from this realm. I don’t know what kind of creatures they are, or how he acquired such a thod. How do I know this? At one point, the devil lord seed to be testing . He summoned a beast near the canyon, one that gave off an otherworldly presence, and had it move toward ."
"The beasts dwelling in this canyon couldn’t pursue it. I had to deal with it personally before it reached my main body."
Aldrian narrowed his eyes. He had long knew that the devil lord possessed a thod to summon beings from the higher heavens, sothing that still unsettled him. How could the devil lord know a thod like that?
"The devil lord also holds knowledge unknown to anyone on this continent," the spirit continued. "For example, there was a ti I left the canyon. I occasionally do this to observe the situation beyond the region."
"On that occasion, I saw many devils attempting to draw a formation near the canyon region. It was a large-scale formation that spanned a wide area. Using my technique, I eventually discovered that it was part of the devil lord’s plan to trap the canyon under that formation."
"Fortunately, I managed to stop it, and afterward, the devil lord seed to lose interest and left this region alone."
She paused, her expression troubled.
"But the fact that he could attempt such a formation is deeply troubling. It was the first ti I had seen one of that kind. As far as I know, there is no knowledge of such a formation anywhere on this continent."
Hearing that, Aldrian frowned deeper. His mind moved quickly, turning over everything he had just heard.
Then, his thoughts arrived at one possibility that might be true.
Knowing the thod of summoning beasts from the higher heavens?
Possessing knowledge not from this continent?
"Was the devil lord a reincarnated being from the higher heavens, one who actually rembered his past life?" he thought solemnly.
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