A half beaten, fatally injured Morbius walked once again through the dark halls of the Helmand palace. A place known only as the residence of the infamous Demon King.

He limped through, each step sending a jolt of pained neurons to his brain, but a triumphant smile was plastered on his face.

’Even if I wasn’t able to stop them from saving the tree, as long as I have this—this is the key to everything.’ The demon general mused as he already fantasized about the praise and recognition he would receive for his diligent service to the King.

The left and right guards didn’t hesitate even a second before they swung the doors open for Morbius to pass.

He wore an expression of surprise on his face, it was as though the Demon King was expecting him, he already couldn’t wait to receive whatever reward was prepared for him.

He walked into the chambers radiating with confidence, his head held high as he congratulated himself inwardly for his efforts.

"You fool!" The words thundered through the walls so hard, the whole building began to shake, causing some of tbe underlings to cower in fear and watch for their heads.

Morbius was immediate snapped back to reality, tbe delusion faded from his eyes and he was suddenly aware of his environment.

"B—But, master,... I bro—" the demon general stammered, already shaking in fear.

"I have you one last chance Morbius! And you failed, you let them save the tree and you brought back what—some sap!?" Again, the words rang throughout the halls, Morbius could hardly believ what was happening.

The overwhelming power that had crushed his neck previously was back, but this time it wrapped around his entire body at rapid pace, crushing him to bits.

"My Lord! The tree spirit, she’s part of the tree now!!" Morbius yelled as his bones had already began to crack.

All of a sudden the force stopped, the demon general was now suspended in air, floating freely off the ground.

"You say she’s part of the tree?" The Demon King inquired.

"Y—Yes my Lord, and we can use this sap to control her. This Dao is part of the essence of the tree. I can have all the alchemists come up with a way to use the sap to our benefit." Morbius begged, his already battered body bleeding now.

"And how exactly will this help our cause imp?" The Demon King asked again, his words cutting through Morbius’ ears like a sharp blade.

"If you can infuse your Qi into the sap and we can somehow return it to the tree... then by extension, the World Tree will be under your control—and we will use it to usher in your new reign over the world." Morbius explained, panting furiously as he did so. When he was done he placed both hands on the ground, watching as the dark blood dripped from his wounds.

"You stain my floors Morbius." The Demon King told him, noticing that he had already bled quite a lot.

"My apologies, my liege—it will be cleaned immediately." Morbius responded, trying to cover up his wounds with his hands, but all attempts failed.

"Anyways, I might buy into the idea, make your research and get back to me in two days."

"Yes my lord, thank you!" Morbius thanked the Demon King and hurried out of the room.

He clutched at his chest repeatedly as he walked down the hall quickly. He had been saved again, for the second time. There was no guarantee that there would be a third time, he had to act fast, and he had to act now.

_ _ _

"Fuckkk!" Banqui screamed as he angrily swept all the glasses and artifacts that lay on the table down to the ground.

The rest of the elders watched him in silence as he expressed his anger in a way that was familiar to them.

He was never one to get angry or crash out during the battle, but he would always have outbursts during the post-battle meetings, especially in situations like this where the enemy had escaped by a hair’s breadth.

"We fucking had him!" He yelled as he sat down in his usual chair, a soft creak escaping it as he tilted it backwards a little. "And we let him slip!"

He tried to carefully place a chess piece on the table but he immediately got annoyed and threw it at the wall.

"Why do you always beat yourself up Banqui, we were all present. We thought Alaric’s attack would kill him, but it didn’t." Rhaenys spoke out in a calm voice.

Neither of them wore their cloaks because they had either been soiled by demon blood, or in Seraphina’s case, completely obliterated.

"Still, we can’t let something like this get to us. We were able to save the tree." Sylvanor tried to encourage but no one at the table seemed happy in the slightest.

"He’s right Banqui, there is no reason to cry over spilt milk, what we have to do is focus on protecting the tree henceforth." Esty agreed with Sylvanor.

"This isn’t over, I can feel it. If I know that conniving Demon King, then he must have something up his sleeve." Lucien said, his arms folded as he stared straight forward.

"Agreed." Armand concurred.

"We need to secure that tree until we can get a bearing on Morbius, until he’s erased then there won’t be rest." Banqui spoke, his fingers interlocked in front of his face.

He had settled into a calm demeanor over the course of the meeting, but his heart still stood at unrest.

"How’s Alaric, has he woken up yet?" Rhaenys turned to Esty, who mirrored her gaze almost instantly.

"He’s still sleeping, the wounds are fully healed but I think he’s just taking this time to rest." Esty responded in a flat tone.

Rhaenys nodded her head in response.

The room remained silent for a while while each of the elders pondered on the next possible move.

Morbius had to be found, and eliminated at all costs.