Lilia landed with GAIA beside the cave entrance, "Okay, let's get this over with," Lilia summoned her staff and pointed inside.
Thud! GAIA grabbed her staff and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
"Blow it off. Force the tarrasque out," Lilia replied.
"You can't do that," GAIA replied, "You might cause a volcanic eruption. The damage can spread further than we can contain. Just the ash alone will damage the whole elvish continent,"
"You're right. Let's walk down there," Lilia said, walking inside the cave. "How deep is this cave?" she asked.
"It can lead into the molten crust," GAIA replied, "But you might end up blocking it if you used any big magic,"
"I can't just blast. Fine, I haven't fought like this in a while," Lilia smiled. Her clothes disappeared, and her body got covered with dripping black goop.
"How long has it been since I saw you like this?" GAIA stared at Lilia. CLICK! Tens of green eyes emerged in the goop covering Lilia's body, "Get inside," Lilia said.
GAIA stepped forward, and the goop devoured her, "Can you hear me?" Lilia said with a smile.
"I can," GAIA replied from inside her head, "Well then, I'm charging in," The goop covering Lilia's body disappeared, leaving her naked as it condensed on her right palm. A short sword of endless darkness emerged.
THUD! Lilia jumped forward, running across the cave and jumping from one stone to the other. With her tiny body, she easily slipped between the stones and cracks. Nothing slowed her down.
GRWA? As Lilia ran around, she sensed a giant worm digging through the ground, "I found a shortcut!" With a smile, she swung her sword at the wall, cutting her way directly to the worm.
Thud! Lilia emerged in the tunnel staring a the worm's back, "What a nice digger," She smiled, touching the worm. "Now be mine," With a smile, Lilia's body melted, penetrating the worm's skin and seeping deep into it.
For a moment, the worm flashed black and stopped moving. A single large green eye emerged on its forehead.
"Come on, I will release you when we get a bit deeper," Lilia said as she stayed inside the worm's head like a parasite, controlling its whole body.
The worm lost its free will, blacking out as Lilia took control and guided it to dig straight down.
"The worm can't take us that deep. The pressure will crush it," GAIA said inside Lilia's head.
"I know. It's a short ride," Lilia replied.
After half an hour, Lilia stopped the worm, "Any further, and it will die," The large eye on the worm's head closed, and Lilia jumped down with a smile.
"I have to dig on my own," Lilia sighed.
Grrr! The worm growled. Glaring at Lilia.
Lilia turned her head with a smile, "Do you have a problem? You can leave," She said.
The worm didn't move as if looking at Lilia, confused.
Lilia scratched her head, "Fine, Fine," She approached the worm and touched its head. "You asked for it,"
The worm's outer skin melted, and soon get covered with hard plates akin to skin, "See you later," Lilia said, "Now leave!"
The worm tunneled away.
"What did you do?" GAIA asked.
"The worm asked for payment, so I modified its body to have plates," Lilia sighed, "Even monsters are asking for payment these days."
"You could have ignored her," GAIA replied.
"It doesn't matter now. Let's keep going," Lilia swung her sword and cut a hole in the dirt. A swing after the other, she dug deeper and deeper.
"How do you intend on facing the tarrasque? That thing is immune to mana and death," GAIA asked.
"I have my ways," Lilia replied, "Death was never the end of life, and it will never be,"
After an hour of digging, Lilia finally reached another cave system, "We must be pretty deep now," She stopped, looking around.
"I can sense dozens of monsters," GAIA said, "Be careful,"
"You sense monsters?" Lilia smiled, "I sense bugs. I wonder what they sense?" She started walking forward, and soon she faced a large armored lizard.
"Look at how big you are. Move away," Lilia said, and the monster ran away, "I'm the monster here," She told GAIA.
All the monsters in the cave could sense her, a being beyond their comprehension. Only the fool would dare stand in her way as their very instincts scream at them to avoid her.
~Lilia~ A voice rang in Lilia's head,
~Sylph? Do you need anything~
~Where are you~ Sylph asked. She growled while trying to keep a calm demeanor.
~Did something happen?~
~Cain's father, Chad. He beat half of the elvish army and forced his way to Yggdrasil. What should I do~
~Let him be. I doubt he would hurt the tree~ Lilia replied, scratching her head. ~I can't come right now as I'm dealing with the tarrasque~
~Wait? What? The tarrasque~
~I found a way to get to him. I will call you later when I have the lizard dead~
~Wait! Don't wake...~
Lilia cut the line immediately. She didn't want to have Sylph trying to persuade her to wait longer.
"Sylph has the right to be scared. You're releasing the tarrasque in her kingdom," GAIA said inside Lilia's head.
"I will fix the damage later. And what can she do? Send her soldiers to die? Only Cain or his wives have the strength to fight here with me, and they must rest," Lilia replied with a smile.
"You're right." GAIA sighed, "I doubt you need help. Even Cain would hold you back,"
Lilia smiled as she kept pushing deeper.
***
A few hours before, Chad walked out of the cheese shop smiling, planning on getting the two old ladies together. "That was amazing," Evelyn smiled, walking beside Chad.
"Yeah, I would like to eat it again," Chad replied, looking at Ariel and Aster.
As they walked toward the castle, he suddenly stopped.
~Big brother~ A voice rang in his head.
Evelyn stared at Chad, noticing the absent look on his face. "Are all right?" she asked.
~We need to talk. Big brother~
The voice kept ringing in his head. It sounded both strange and familiar. "Someone is calling me," Chad said, turning his head and looking into the distance.
"I didn't hear anything." Ariel said, looking behind them, "I also didn't hear anything," Aster looked around.
"Who called you?" Evelyn asked, looking at Chad.
"It's..." Chad looked into the distance, spotting the large tree touring over the mountains like an incarnation of nature itself. A being mundane looking yet more dignified than the gods. The titanic tree who lived since the beginning of the world, Yggdrasil.
"You head back to the castle. I will have a look," Chad turned and headed toward the tree alone. Evelyn and the girls stared at him for a moment before heading back to the castle.
"Are you sure we shouldn't follow him?" Ariel asked.
"No, he can handle almost anything on his own," Evelyn said with a smile, "He can summon us at will anyway," she added.
Chad walked across the street, watching the elves walk past him with a smile on their faces. But with each step, the streets became emptier until he reached the end of the building.
"Stop!" An elvish soldier approached Chad, lifting his hand with a smile, "Sorry, but the area ahead is forbidden on anyone besides the high elves. Even they need special permission to enter." He smiled, "Humans aren't allowed inside,"
Chad looked behind the soldier. It was a golden fence enchanted with magic. Endless fields of green grass and thick threes spread. It's the divine forest of the world tree.
"I'm going in. Move out of my way," Chad said, ignoring the soldier.
The soldier rushed to stand in front of Chad, "Sir, please wait a moment until I get my superior," He said, looking back, "Please don't make it hard on me, I'm just doing my job,"
Chad nodded, "Fine, I will wait a bit," He replied with a smile, standing still as the soldier rushed back.
A minute passed, and the soldier returned, accompanied by an armor-elvish woman, "Humans aren't allowed in the sacred forest," The woman growled.
Chad looked at her, "You are his superior?"
"Yes, he told me about the situation," The woman said with a stern face, "Sadly, there is no procedure where humans are allowed into the sacred forest. Leave!"
Chad stared at her, "It's not a matter if I'm allowed to go inside or not. I'm going inside, and that's a fact." He stared at her, "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way,"
"You humans are dumber than I thought," The woman pulled her sword, "I said scram, there is no place for your kind in our sacred land," She pointed the blade at Chad's neck.
Chad smiled, walking forward and pushing her sword with his muscular neck.
"Tch!" The woman stepped back, shifting her body, and swung a slash at Chad's neck. CLANG! The tip of her sword snapped, and Chad's neck was harder than her weapon.
"I see," Chad said, lifting his hand, "You like it the hard way," SLAP! He smacked her in the face so hard that her body flew across the street, crashing into a wall.
Thud! Chad stepped on the ground. His aura rumbled, causing the streets and the building around him to start cracking.
"What!" The soldier cried, rushing to check on the woman, "Commander!" But when he approached her, he glared at her face in disbelief. Her skin has turned ashen black. "The world tree has rejected her?" He gasped.
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