The response came without so much as a moment of hesitation. Alaric’s eyes narrowed as he listened, in his eyes, the demon general displayed petulance.

"That’s what separates us." Alaric said, dropping his sword slowly to his side.

"And that’s why you’ll always be weak." Morbius scuffed, then he vanished, a puff of dust and a crack in the earth left in his absence.

But Alaric reacted instantly.

CLANG!

The chained sickle of Pyrus collided with his huge blade, then Morbius struck again.

Then again, and again. The demon general attacked like a madman, swinging the sickle from impossible angles while the chain whipped around the battlefield like a living creature.

Alaric remained calm, partying every one of Morbius’ attacks with grace. He danced across the broken floor, his sword moving with practiced precision.

Both warriors were pushing themselves to their limits.

Morbius swung low, forcing Alaric to jump, dodging yet another attack from the grotesque looking demon.

The chain followed, Morbius smirked knowingly, a mischievous smirk that Alaric immediately noticed.

"Got you!" Morbius shouted, the chain suddenly split into dozens of crimson strands.

Alaric’s eyes widened in shock as he realized that the attack wasn’t aimed at him.

It was aimed at the World Tree.

"Damn it!" He cursed, instantly pivoting in the air.

BOOMM!

His sword collided against the chains just before they could strike the ancient tree.

The impact shattered the earth that surrounded them, causing the tree to pulse violently, several leaves separating from its branches.

Yggros gasped.

"Protect the tree!" Her voice echoed from within the roots of the tree.

"Oh my dear Yggros, fortunately I have tricks of my own!" Morbius announced, a wry smile crept into his bleeding lips.

The elders immediately heard Morbius’ statement and realized his intention.

He never really cared about defeating them, his goal was the World Tree, he aimed to cripple it. They would never allow that.

"Ohh! you finally figured it out, haven’t you? You see, you are all so easy to toy with. But enough of the games, it’s time to end this!" Morbius snapped.

All the demon soldiers immediately stopped attacking, they all turned towards the world tree, then charged.

Like a red tidal wave, they surged towards the tree in high numbers.

"Oh no you don’t!" Thorin leaped forward and slammed his club into the ground.

BOOMM!

A massive shockwave erupted outward, hundreds of demons were instant reduced to dust and bones,

Lucien surged forward, a bright golden light exploded from his body. He released a dozen slashes of golden sword.

Rows of demons fell apart, cut cleanly in two.

Seraphina flew across the battlefield, shed flames consumed everything in her path.

Rhaenys, Sylvanor, Esty, Armand, Banqui and the others joined the defense. The battlefield became absolute chaos.

Despite their efforts, a few demons were able to slip through the defense. One, two, three, and before they realized, there were more than ten demons clawing at the roots of the tree.

The lowly demons began glowing crimson in that moment.

Alaric noticed what they were doing and his heart skipped a beat. "Move!" He yelled.

But it was too late, the demons detonated simultaneously.

BOOMM!!

Smoke and debris filled the air, Yggros screamed, a guttural sound that echoed through the entire forest.

By the time the dust settled, they discovered that several of the World Tree’s roots had been damaged. A bright blue sap fowed from the wounds. Yggros groaned tiredly, the tree pulsed violently, some of its leaves had already begun to dry out.

"The tree is dying." She yelled, but she sounded too weak.

"Fuck! We have to hurry." Sylvanor said, gripping his weapon even tighter.

Morbius smiled, he had gotten what he wanted, the blue sap of the tree, one of its driving life forces.

Without delay, he stretched his hand forward, holding a small container that he had opened.

The blue sap rose into the air and flew directly into the container, then Morbius sealed it, watching as it glowed a radiant crimson color.

Alaric frowned and hissed. "Stop him!" He yelled.

A triumphant grin spread across the demon general’s face as he looked over at the elders.

"Mission acomplished. Next time.. work harder, see you in another two hundred years." Morbius turned away from them, they all looked at him, breathing heavily.

Alaric’s expression suddenly darkened.

"Don’t tell me you came all the way here for that." Alaric said, stepping forward.

"Of course!" Morbius laughed, "You fools were so focused on protecting your precious tree—you never even considered what grows inside it."

Morbius jumped backwards, the portals that had appeared at different points on the battlefield suddenly began to close.

"No!" Alaric yelled, launching himself forward. "You are leaving here only over my dead body!"

His sword erupted with a blinding white light, his eyes glowed furiously, little sparks of lightning flickered in the atmosphere.

Esty’s eyes widened at the realization of the technique her husband was about to pull off.

The pressure released from Alaric’s body was so immense, that nearby demons exploded right where they stood.

Morbius’ grin vanished, for the first time since the battle began, he felt danger. He didn’t understand how one human could have all this power bottled up the whole time.

Alaric raised his sword in the air, the Heavens trembled, clouds split apart.

An enormous phantasmal sword materialized above the battlefield.

Every being present stared at the human in disbelief.

This attack radiated enough power to easily flatten an entire mountain.

Morbius cursed and shouted. "Are you insane!?"

Alaric, even in his state, managed a smile and a response. "I just might be!"

He swung his blade, the giant sword descended. The entire battlefield became a sea of white. Morbius roared and unleashed every ounce of power he possessed in response to the attack.

His sickle increased in size, crimson energy shot upward.

The two attacks collided.

For a brief moment, no one could hear anything.

BOOOOMMMM!!

The explosion illuminated the entire battlefield, trees in the distance were instantly flattened.

The shockwave cause even a few of the portals to collapse instantly.

Countless demons were vaporized.

When the light finally vanished. Everyone stared at the center of the destruction. A huge hole in the earth now divided the battlefield.

Alaric stood at one end, breathing heavily, blood dripped down his arm as he sat, leaning against the tree.

On the other end, Morbius emerged from a deep crater, his armor was completely shattered.

One horn has been severed, his body was covered in blood.

But somehow he was still alive.

Morbius laughed, despite his obvious defeat, he still laughed.

Alaric stared at him across the battlefield.

"You humans are truly troublesome, I’ll give you that." Morbius groaned as the remaining portals began to shrink.

Alaric tightened his grip on his sword, but he knew, he was exhausted.

The poison from earlier was already spreading. There was nothing he could do at this point.

"Until next time, old enemy." Morbius grinned, noticing that Alaric could no longer move. A final portal opened behind him.

The remaining elders didn’t hesitate to charge towards Morbius angrily.

But he had already stepped through a portal behind him, dangling the sealed container between his fingers and smiling.

The portal closed right before the elders reached.

They cursed out loud tbe disappointment. Only Esty stayed with Alaric, they watched as all the demons that remained all crumbled into ash.

The battlefield stood still, all the elders gathered around Alaric, he was injured, and they were all exhausted.

But they were alive.

The World remained where it was, damaged, but still standing.

They looked at the spot where Morbius had vanished.

"What the hell did he want with the sap?" Lucien asked.

But no one had an answer.