In the world of Celestia...
Thunder rang out without pause.
Looking up at the sky, one would find a terrifying gash suspended high above... the sky itself had turned red instead of blue, as though something had cut it open like a wound and left it bleeding.
It could be seen from anywhere on the continent, and simply laying one's eyes upon it brought an overwhelming sense of fear.
'The Sacred Forest has been razed... and the protection barrier has been breached.'
Estelon, the Spirit King, thought to himself as he waved his hand, extinguishing the flames that had been ravaging the forest.
'I still can't believe it... to think the new Demon King would be this powerful.'
'And Akasha... was sealed away.'
He thought as his gaze drifted up to the giant scar splitting the sky.
Those were the aftereffects of the inevitable clash between the Demon King and the Legendary Hero.
Their battle had torn the world apart to a degree that could no longer be undone.
And as a result, the World Tree had begun to weaken.
Eventually, the confrontation ended in mutual destruction, taking one of Celestia's moons with it.
However, just as the world was freed from the Demon King's tyranny, a new Demon King, even more powerful than the last, rose almost immediately.
Without a hero to stand against them, the demonic forces began to overwhelm the surface world.
Ninety percent of the population had already been wiped out.
It was, quite literally, the end of the world.
"So why... why are you standing on their side!?"
Estelon shouted as he shifted his gaze toward a figure in the distance, his face twisting in anger.
"Tell me... Cameron!"
The loyal knight who had stood by his side had been turned into a demon.
"Please do not shout. It is unbefitting of someone of your status, Your Majesty."
Cameron spoke, her voice layered and distorted as though several others were speaking in unison beneath it.
'I can feel it... the nature of her soul has changed.'
Estelon thought, his brow furrowing.
"You don't need to refer to me as Your Majesty anymore."
He said, his eyes narrowing.
"That's right... it all started with the damage caused by the battle between the Hero and the previous Demon King."
"The weakening of the World Tree... which is, in essence, the world itself."
Cameron paused, her gaze drifting past him to the enormous tree behind Estelon.
"But that alone was not enough. With the poisonous miasma now spreading across the land, it is dying... and your authority as Spirit King has been fading along with it."
"I can feel it clearly… the World Tree is prioritizing the protection of what little life remains, and you can no longer channel its power properly."
"As of right now... you probably cannot even access ten percent of your original strength."
"You have grown weak, Estelon."
Cameron added as her body began to transform, growing in size as two massive horns rose and formed above her head.
"As one of the Four Great Demonic Generals... I, the Demon General of Slaughter, will personally carry out your execution, Spirit King."
"Once you are dead, there will be nothing left on the surface world to stand against us. And after that... our invasion of heaven can finally begin."
As soon as those words were spoken, two more presences suddenly appeared, positioning themselves around Estelon to form a triangle.
"Spirit King. A pleasure to finally meet you in person."
A draconic demon spoke with folded arms.
"Keke... the Spirit King. I wonder what you taste like."
A hunched figure in a dark cloak cackled, its smile wide and unsettling.
"The Demon General of Destruction... and the Demon General of Gluttony."
'To think the new three of the Four Great Demonic Generals would be here…'
But despite it all, Estelon smiled.
"Kill me? Don't think that's going to be as simple as you're imagining."
He said as he activated his magic core... twelve stars igniting and beginning to revolve around it.
"The magic core method... humanity's power system. So you've reached the 12th tier."
"That Akasha... to think she would develop a method capable of elevating weaklings to the level of gods."
Cameron was unmoved.
The aura around her flared outward with enough force to send everything nearby scattering in every direction.
"But don't think for a moment that it will be enough."
The clash that followed shook the entire world.
If Celestia had been nothing more than an ordinary planet, without the reinforcement of the World Tree, it would have been destroyed thousands of times over.
And the outcome of their battle was...
"Haa... haa..."
Estelon's victory.
But it was a pyrrhic one.
"I'm sorry."
He said between ragged breaths, one arm gone, injuries covering nearly every inch of his body.
"I have to go back."
The words had barely left his lips when he stopped.
'Something is wrong.'
He lifted his head slowly.
There, in the sky, beside the massive rift, a gigantic hand began to manifest, casting a shadow that covered the entire continent.
Without a word, the hand reached down, grasped the World Tree… and plucked it from the ground as if it were nothing more than a blade of grass.
Estelon's eyes widened in disbelief.
The shock he felt at that moment surpassed anything he had ever experienced.
Then the sky collapsed, and everything went pitch black.
A pair of eyes snapped open as Judas shot up from his bed, his clothes drenched in sweat.
"What the hell was that?"
He muttered, pulling his shirt off as the image of that giant hand refused to leave his mind.
'That memory fragment from Estelon... was that his death?'
He thought, his expression solemn as he closed his eyes.
He could feel it.
The final piece of the puzzle that made up Estelon's memories had fallen into place.
Something within his soul changed, but it was so subtle that he could barely perceive it.
'Nearly a decade...'
Thinking back to the day he first stepped onto the path of a mage, Judas felt a hint of nostalgia.
'But that thing... it pulled the World Tree out of the ground like it was nothing.'
'Even scouring through every memory Estelon left behind... even he had no explanation for what happened.'
Even though it was just a memory from a past life, Judas could feel his hands trembling slightly.
"Um, Judas, the captain wants to spea—"
Suddenly, someone entered through the door and froze, unable to finish their sentence.
When Judas turned his head, he saw Lefiya standing there, completely still, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.
'Ah...'
Since he had taken off his shirt earlier, he was half-naked, his upper body and abs fully exposed.
For a pure elf like Lefiya, the sudden and entirely unexpected visual was more than sufficient to short-circuit her brain entirely.
Heat flooded up from her neck and spread all the way to the very tips of her pointed ears.
"I-I-I... s-s-s..."
"SORRY!"
She managed to get the word out before bolting from the room like a startled deer.
Judas blinked several times at the sudden turn of events… before simply shrugging to himself.
After cooling off, he put on a fresh shirt and left his quarters.
As soon as he stepped out, the sight of the 50th floor greeted him.
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