Reincarnated Hero System

Chapter 1268: Branch of the World Tree

Evan’s conversation with Lios went surprisingly well, far better than he could have expected, and that was due to two main reasons.

First, it seemed that ’Aidos’ had already spoken to Lios regarding Evan’s plans. Secondly, Lios himself was far more agreeable than any of the Iremith Ouroboros dragons.

What’s more, despite how absurd it sounded to everyone he had explained it to, the plan Evan presented to Lios was one meant to save the lives of the planet’s people. It was a plan that opposed the Demonic Hand’s actions and would slow their efforts to break open the dimensional rift on the Dark Continent.

Because of that, Lios was more than willing to cooperate with Evan. After all, this was the same Ouroboros dragon who had willingly fused himself with the planet’s World Tree when the damage it suffered at the end of the Great Valmone War had worsened to the point it was on the verge of collapse.

No one had ordered him to do it. He had done it of his own accord, even though he would lose power and mobility in the process.

Even so, with Lios agreeing so quickly to go along with his plan, Evan was left stunned.

Noticing this, Lios spoke, [You seem surprised that I agreed so easily.]

"Indeed, I thought I’d have to spend some time convincing you," Evan replied honestly.

"You’re unlike the others I’ve roped into this plan. You’re not in a desperate situation where survival is at stake, like the World Tree of Creation I asked you to help expand, and you’re not the planet’s consciousness, which acts purely on logic and would do anything to ensure its survival.

Because of that, I came here prepared to convince you with many solid arguments."

Lios hummed after hearing Evan’s words, then asked a single question.

[Are you confident this plan of yours will save the lives of this continent’s inhabitants?]

Faced with that question, Evan answered without hesitation. "100%."

His immediate reply, without any tremor in his voice, satisfied the Ouroboros dragon, who then said, [In that case, I’ll help you.]

"Thank you," Evan said sincerely, lowering his head slightly.

And so, Evan left the World Tree with one of its branches in his hand. The branch was fairly large, about half his body in size, which was quite something considering Evan was now around 6 feet tall.

But compared to the scale of the World Tree, it was one of the smallest branches that could be found.

Lios gave him the branch because he felt Evan didn’t need to go through the process of speaking with the Elves just to reach him, and that branch held the ability to teleport Evan directly to the World Tree’s location, no matter where he was on the planet.

It functioned by using the branch’s innate enchantment that allowed it to return to the World Tree, pulling Evan along through space since he was the one holding it. More than that, it wouldn’t simply drop him in front of the World Tree, but inside it, where he could directly meet Lios’ ouroboros dragon body.

If there was a drawback, it was that he had to remove it from his inventory to use it, and the teleportation wasn’t instantaneous, meaning he couldn’t rely on it to escape dangerous situations.

While Evan was occupied with the World Tree, Leoniel was thinking over everything he’d heard from Evan that day, with his focus on the ’Transcendent Project’.

He naturally assumed Evan had placed him among the targets of that project, and he was also curious about who else might be on Evan’s list.

Some other pieces of information that seemed to be common knowledge between Evan and the other Heroes also caught his interest, so he moved over to where Laurene and Eliza were to ask them about it.

Just as he stepped into the room and saw Eliza seated beside Laurene while petting a cat with fur as dark as night, Laurene’s eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"Wait, what?"

"?"

"Laurene? What’s wrong?" Eliza asked.

Laurene abruptly rose from her seat, her Mystic Eyes activating and glowing brightly as she looked from one end of the room to the other.

Then, she abruptly turned toward Kuro and spoke. "Can you teleport me to where Abigail is? Please tell me you can!"

Kuro was taken aback by her sudden request, unsure where it was coming from, but the urgency in her expression made the cat-shaped spirit act immediately.

He spread out his aura, frowning lightly as he sensed the teleportation restrictions of the citadel. Noticing that Kuro was trying to locate Abigail, Eliza pointed west and spoke.

"She’s somewhere in that direction. That’s where I can feel her life signal."

Kuro immediately redirected his magic power in that direction, scanning through all shadows cast on the floor by light until he located Abigail’s shadow.

The issue was that the moment he found Abigail’s shadow, Zestari, who was with her, sensed him too.

[That elf...!]

Kuro immediately adjusted his plans and redirected his magic power into the shadow of a tree not far from Abigail, then formed a link between that shadow and Laurene’s.

’Shadow Movement!’

His skill activated, and the ambient spatial law energy was drawn into Laurene’s shadow, turning it into a spatial channel that moved her from her position to the target tree.

Kuro also slipped into her shadow alongside her, stepping out of the tree’s shadow before she did and forming a wall of darkness to block the sword of darkness law energy that came slashing toward the tree the moment he emerged.

[Stay your hand, elf,] he said to Zestari, who had attacked immediately. He released his magic power, expanding the range of his shield and pushing her back before continuing.

[Your master’s fellow Hero simply wishes to speak to her.]

Kuro slammed his paw down onto the ground, activating his Brightest Shadow Unique Skill and releasing a powerful burst of light that momentarily dispersed the ambient darkness law energy, weakening Zestari’s law energy blade to the point that it shattered against his barrier.

"Zestari, wait!" Abigail called out, stopping Zestari from summoning her real sword. She glanced at Kuro with a faintly surprised look in her eyes, caught off guard by the level of power Kuro had just displayed.

’I thought the lightning spirit was the only strong one. But this one just manipulated ambient law energy. So, it’s at least Level 700 too.’

Abigail adjusted her estimation of the power Evan’s group held, then moved her eyes to the tree whose shadow Kuro had teleported out of as she said,

"You could’ve sent someone to inform me if you wanted to talk. I left servants outside your door for that."

"Sorry, but it was urgent," Laurene replied, stepping out from behind the tree, her arms crossed behind her back, and her Mystic Eyes, which had been active a moment before, now fully deactivated.

"And what exactly is this urgent business?"

"One of the familiars Evan and I sent out to scout Demonic Hand potential bases within the Elven Empire just got destroyed."

Zestari and Abigail reacted differently to Laurene’s words, the former with a frown and the latter with faint surprise.