"Hurry guys! We do not have any more time to waste! The tree is dying!" Yggros’ said in a shrill tone, her words piercing deep into everyone’s ears.

"We have to fuse our essence into the tree." Banqui started, looking at Alaric. "Are you good to go?"

Although the man was on the floor bleeding on one arm and cut on the face, he still raised an arm to give a reassuring thumbs up.

"Are you sure about this?" Esty asked him, a worried expression on her face.

"I’m sure," Alaric replied, squeezing her hand.

"Well all have to do it simultaneously." Yggros explained. "That’s the only way it works."

Each of the elders calmly placed their palms on the World Tree, their handprints began to glow in a blinding white hue. They infused their life force and cultivation energy into the tree for about twenty minutes, eventually noticing that the tree had begun to repair itself. The roots that had been damaged and lay amidst the ashes of the dead demons, began to burrow deep into the earth again.

The tree was seen to be reinvigorated by the energy it was receiving, it’s leaves began to grow, its branches stretched out wider.

Every single one of the elders watched in awe as this tree seemed to come to life right before their very eyes.

Rhaenys in particular had a glint in her eye, she was one of the few who were really in tune with nature and its happenings, she felt joy deep in her heart as she parted with her essence.

Being a healer, she spent a lot of time out in the forest, connecting with nature and exploring it.

The tree bark was now a shiny brown color, its leaves sprouted, large and evergreen. Before long, the entire tree was back to how it was.

"Good job e—everyone!" Alaric voiced out, immediately breaking into a dry, hacking cough.

He pressed his hand against his mouth as the cough didn’t seem to go away.

"Hey! Hey! You need to relax and stop talking." Esty commanded in a harsh tone, but Alaric only smiled.

"Let me see him." Rhaenys called out and squatted to take a look at Alaric.

She moved an open palm over him, her way of doing a quick check to analyze his vitals, she then placed her hand on her chin and looked at Esty.

"He’s been poisoned. From what I gather, it’s aether poison." She said in a low tone.

"The poison is powerful, but we can heal him together." Esty suggested, Rhaenys offered a nod of her head in response.

Both women placed their palms on the old man’s chest, he was already drifting into sleep, Esty held his head tight as her palm glowed on his chest.

The rest of the elders had moved aside while the healing process was going on.

They knew not to interrupt Rhaenys during her healing, so they just moved aside.

After a while, the two women were done, it was time to check his vitals again. Rhaenys casually ran her hand over the man for the second time. She then let out a sigh of relief and looked at Esty.

"He’s fine now, should wake up in a day or two." She said, then stood up and left, leaving the two women there.

Yggros finally spoke up from within the tree, she also had planned not to interrupt the process until it was completed.

"I am extremely grateful to you all for embarking on this journey with me. If it wasn’t for every single one of you, the fate of the continent would be in ruins. Thank you once again, I couldn’t have done any of it without you all." She said gratefully.

"Yeah yeah, even though you almost got us killed." Armand rolled his eyes.

"Armand!" Lucien cautioned him, the both of them almost immediately got into an argument that soon became indistinct chattering.

"So what’s going to happen with you Yggros?" Sylvanor asked, he stood calmly the whole time, not uttering a single word before now.

"I am right where I want to be my dear Sylvanor, I have found peace. I wil be with the tree forever." She responded, her voice ethereal.

Although the words pierced deep in Sylvanor’s chest, he understood that it was her decision, and he would never try to get in the way of her wishes.

"As you wish." He said in a low voice, bowing his head and stepping back.

The battle was over, but they all knew, that the war was far from it.

_ _ _

A defeated Lyra lay on the roof of a random house, now almost powerless. She muttered indistinctly to herself as she slammed a bleeding fist into the glazed terracotta repeatedly.

"No! No!" She yelled, mascara running down her face uncontrollably.

What was once a beautiful, unblemished face, was now a pathetic, crying, stained mess.

"W—What... do I do?!" She asked repeatedly tugging at her hair, albeit not hard enough to pull it out.

Her wails and noises had reached the ears of some children playing on the street and had caused them to gather in front of the building, watching the mad woman silently.

They stood for a while and then they began pointing, laughing in unison.

She heard their laughs, and looked at them with a disgusted expression written on her face.

"What are you laughing at! I’m gonna get you!" She yelled, but before she could even move, the children all scrambled in different directions, disappearing down the street.

’Everything has been taken from me, I have nothing. I wish you were here Savant, if you were here everything would be better. I didn’t know he was so strong. I—I failed you my love. I failed.’ She mused inwardly as she walked aimlessly through the streets.

She had come for revenge but she instead lost all that she had, she had no home and no choice, she would return to her mother, a woman she once left.

That was the price she would have to pay.