The entire world within the golden dome evaporated, and the gigantic and infinitely powerful Drake disappeared, plunging into the void before the three pairs of astonished eyes. Ruri merely observed without being overly impressed, but she felt pride welling up in her chest.
Enjoying that warm feeling, Ruri suddenly narrowed her eyes in anger. She was interrupted by Deryu, who seemed mad with bloodline.
"Quiet, you little bastard! A coward who refused to come out until now deserves nothing from master," Ruri spoke dryly, and everyone turned to her in confusion. At that moment, the robotic voice sounded for everyone.
"Victorious group identified."
"Reward from the second island: A battle formation of your choice."
"Multiple races identified in the hero’s group; what type of formation do you desire?"
The whale listened and thought deeply. A battle formation? He didn’t need it, and he wouldn’t feel comfortable using it; he preferred to fight freely. In the midst of his thoughts, he felt Ruri jump from his side and hold his hand.
"Master, master. Can we get a formation for dragons?" Ruri said excitedly. "That way, Runula can use it, and in the future, their children can join in an invincible formation!"
The whale snorted lightly. Deryu and Runula were still too young to think about having children... also, the dragon blood would make their fertility extremely low. It would take thousands of years for them, with luck, to have a child. But maybe Runula can influence the members of her clan to use it... or not, they lacked intelligence for such matters.
While Bruno pondered, Alm simply saw those bright eyes in his direction and promptly replied. "Battle formation for draconic bloodline." Since they didn’t want a formation, it made no difference to let Ruri have her wish.
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At that instant, in front of the whale, a golden Jade Slip appeared out of the void. Alm simply picked it up and handed it to the radiant Ruri; the whale’s eyes seemed emotionless, but there was clearly something warm there. At that moment, the three women approached silently with a strange look.
After witnessing that round and divine being kill the Drake, they all felt a mix of fear and reverence. But seeing the tenderness in the whale’s gaze and the girl’s smile, everything calmed in their minds. That round figure exuded an indescribable confidence and surprise.
Soon, a gravitational force emerged, lifting them all quickly into the air. Everyone was euphoric; Sayqi now had hope in her chest. She finally felt the hope of escaping alive from that torture and returning to the world; even if it’s not her original universe.
As for the others, their minds still couldn’t fully process the reality. Less than two hours ago, they were bound after another session of humiliation... now they were flying through the skies, free. It was so unbelievable that they couldn’t feel anything.
They all floated rapidly, being taken to the third floating island. In a few minutes, the sight of a gigantic mountainous island revealed itself. Almost no free areas were visible; infinite mountains pierced the skies, covering every place.
As they approached, Alm and Bruno noticed the absence of a golden palace anywhere. The setup of this test seemed a bit different, but the main goal should be the same: to overcome some challenge in a fight.
They landed on the ground at the foot of a gigantic mountain. Soon, the whale stopped, observing a specific location. Quickly, Ruri and Sayqi became serious, and the other two, sensing the tension, joined them.
Then, they saw three figures approaching slowly. Two walked side by side, coming from the land, while the third flapped its wings, descending from the skies. When everyone was close, they noticed their tense looks, although there was no apparent hostility.
The winged figure was covered in golden feathers, emanating an imperial aura. It had an almost entirely humanoid appearance, with two wings attached to its hands. Feminine curves were evident in the humanoid part, characterizing it as a golden harpy.
On the ground, there was another woman with two horns and a black aura; her eyes, in contrast, were entirely golden. She was a demoness who exuded a sinister yet vibrant air.
Beside her, something that looked like a human man took light steps. His appearance was human, but it didn’t convey the feeling of being one. Looking into his green eyes, it was clear that he belonged to a nature race, something like a plant that assumed human form to interact with the world.
"Greetings, siblings. My name is Leafar, I am a Willowkins," said the man kindly, a human manifestation of a cultivated willow.
The harpy then spat dryly. "I am Eavun."
"I am Miaeth," said the emotionless demoness.
"Apologies for the hasty introduction. But we only have one free hour; the test will start soon," said Leafar lightly. "The test on this island occurs whenever newcomers arrive or every five hundred years."
"The test is a group battle, right?" the whale asked calmly, and Leafar smiled.
"Yes, the examiner is a necromancer demon. He fights using an army of undead; but this army should not be underestimated. Their abilities are varied, and their generals carry random real techniques. Our past experiences don’t help at all; the types of techniques never repeated."
The harpy Eavun then spoke abruptly. "We are obligated to fight together, no matter how weak you are," she said, looking at Ruri with disdain. "Show everything you’ve got so I can command you properly."
"Lady Eavun... well, she’s not wrong," said Leafar, smiling. "She just said what I was thinking, but without manners. We have to prepare; the army is proportional to the number of people. There are about 100 for each cultivator... we are eight, so 800 will come. But this young one with you doesn’t seem to have the capability, so things will be harder..."
"No need to worry about her," the whale cut in quickly, preventing Ruri from revealing something she shouldn’t. "We just need to defeat the necromancer demon, right?"
Leafar looked at him strangely, then demoness Miaeth spoke. "Besides looking like a ridiculous demonic whale, you are also too young and presumptuous. We have to unite to defend ourselves from annihilation; there’s no possibility of victory. We just need to stay alive for an hour, then the demon will retreat."
Ruri tightened the grip on her katana coldly, and the three women behind narrowed their eyes with anger that surged within them without them understanding. Alm and Bruno just listened, amused.
’Definitely someone using the same type of refinement technique we used... interesting,’ commented Alm.
"It’s true, brother... whenever an invasion happens, several die. It’s almost impossible to just defend against the generals cutting through hundreds of soldiers. Even she..." Leafar said with an almost inaudible murmur at the end.
The whale looked at Leafar, sensing his sincerity, and spoke. "Thank you for the information. But we are a group with our own interests. I won’t join forces with strangers."
Miaeth just snorted, turned, and walked away. Eavun smiled in mockery, saying, "Then die alone. Fools always show up, but Leafar convinced us to try helping futilely. Being alone is safer for us, who have been training with our formations for a long time. But you newcomers... you’ll be dead in the first few minutes."
She flapped her wings and left, but did so slowly. Clearly, she expected them to try saying something in regret. But nothing happened, and she soon huffed heavily as if regretting and left.
Leafar became serious and looked at the whale with pleading eyes. "Brother, please, don’t be so arrogant. I’ve seen many die, and you brought people who seem to trust you. Please reconsider; there’s still time to change your mind."
The whale looked into Leafar’s sincere and pure eyes and sighed. Pure people were infinitely harder to deal with than the arrogant and proud. But at the same time, Bruno was slightly moved; it was rare to find someone like this. There was no malice in him... but this kind of person was precisely the one who could become the worst of demons. Extremes, when reversed, are radical; there is no middle ground with someone like that. And Alm and Bruno even felt a connection with him... for some reason.
With the whale’s silence, Leafar turned to the women seeking help to convince him. Then, he saw Sayqi, and his eyes lit up; he finally recognized her. "You’re still alive. Thank goodness..."
Sayqi looked at him, and a deep emotion welled up in her eyes. "Ervly... is she dead?"
Leafar lowered his eyes. "Not completely yet... she now only has a remnant of life. I managed to keep her within my world, anchoring her with my life."
Sayqi trembled slightly and then felt Ruri’s warm eyes on her, soon smiling awkwardly. "When he reached the realm of the heavens, I was already here for a very... very long time. But I had given up on living after twenty thousand years alone."
"I gave up and decided to let Hexaalis kill me once and for all." Sayqi paused, recalling painful moments. "But Leafar and Ervly saved me, even though we had never spoken, and then managed to defeat Hexaalis by a narrow margin."
"Yes, sorry." Leafar added. "If we had formed a group with you earlier, we could have taken you with us. But when we defeated him, that option was no longer available, and we were taken away."
Bruno then realized something, remembering Leafar’s earlier words. "You’re a kind of life willow, right? A separate world... is that a technique?"
Leafar smiled awkwardly. "Yes, I can only use life laws and have no attack power. That’s why all of my race are beast tamers, and we use a divine technique above all in our universe... but currently, I’ve lost all my companions... and still couldn’t save her."
"Hmm... is this Ervly a natural life form, like a plant like you?" The whale spoke, and Ruri seemed to remember something, a smile blooming on her face.
Leafar nodded affirmatively. "Yes, we met here in the realm of heavens. And she’s a Blazewillow, a fire willow from another universe very close to mine. It’s like the difference between a human and an elf."
The whale then calmly asked, "Are you willing to save her, at any cost?"
Leafar looked suspicious, but saw Sayqi’s eyes gleam, along with those of the other women. They seemed to trust their leader completely, and it seemed like he wouldn’t deceive or trick him.
"I’ll trade my life for hers, or my soul, no matter the cost," Leafar said seriously.
The whale then spoke emotionlessly, "I don’t need that much. I want you and her to join me, and you transfer your technique to Ruri. With that, I have the method to completely revive her in a few minutes."
He fell silent, clearly incredulous. He had no confidence in those words, but didn’t want to say anything offensive. With his silence, the whale hastily continued.
"I have no time to waste. Take her out for half a minute; she won’t die from just that, right? You’ll see the result quickly."
Leafar then scoffed, thinking that if it’s half a minute, it won’t affect anything. Soon, a spatial glow appeared in his chest. He cupped his hands, and a small, dried twig, red as fire, appeared.
The whale simply nodded, and the earth below opened up; soon, a land came out of his inventory, radiating infinite vitality, and filled the ground below. Leafar’s eyes widened, and instinctively, he knelt down and planted Ervly’s last remnant of life in the soil.
Ten seconds passed, and the red twig grew ten times its size, sprouting roots and leaves. The whale scoffed and poured an astronomical amount of earth from the realm of ashes...
In exactly five minutes, and after using 90% of the earth of life, a gigantic willow, red as fire, stretched its branches and trunks full of vitality, covering everyone’s heads.
As for Leafar... he was kneeling at the feet of the whale, with Ruri and all the women smiling in unison.