I slowly pulled out the massive lance before one of my men came over to heal me and see how I could still move. I pushed on to complete my mission.

Time continuously ticked, and I could hear my timer slowly running out with each passing second, but just as I reached the center of the tree, a deathly pale dark elf appeared before me.

My men, who had just barely managed to clear out the small fry, came running up from behind me and paled at seeing another general who was all supposed to be at the frontlines of the war.

I quickly took a fighting stance before conjuring another thousand blades, feeling my soul get nearly ripped apart as I stood before the man, strong and head held high.

"I thought the girl would make it here… but it seems I'm wrong… though, it doesn't matter. Proceed with your mission," The man muttered, and my eyebrow slightly raised as I looked at him with a suspicious glance.

"Everyone, be careful. According to our reports, he's just as strong as the first general,"

Though that might not have been the smartest decision to tell my men as they began to shiver in fear, after I looked back at them with fake confidence, they poured all their trust and strength into me.

"Why are you all so tense? I just came here to see if the girl was here… you all can destroy the fire tree of giants, but there are a few consequences to that,"

"And what is that?" I muttered, a drop of sweat running down my face and tickling my eyeball, but as I was so focused on the man in front of me, I didn't blink.

"Why should I tell you?" The necromancer smirked before walking past us, and even though he was full of openings, I could tell he left that open.

Thankfully, I trained my men well enough to where they could detect that such openings were fake news and would instantly get them killed.

"WHAT ARE THESE CONSEQUENCES!" I shouted as a few lingered in my mind, slowly pressing my mental state back away from slashing this thing.

I had only a minute left in this dangerous state of mind, but I couldn't but demand an answer since I didn't want to make a stupid decision.

I mean, even if I do slash it, it's not guaranteed that the entire plane will survive, and if that happens, I won't be able to see my sister.

"Do you waver before your objective?" The necromancer asked, and the pressure he unleashed was so much that it made the tree around us creak and groan with each step- no, each movement of his.

It was as if nature itself was fearful of this man. As if he was an enemy to the existence of life… but being a necromancer shouldn't do that.

Being a necromancer does mean that you can control and raise your own undead, but being an enemy of life must mean that you have-

"Wait… do you have [Death Manipulation]?" I asked, a drop of sweat running down my back and tickling me ever so slightly.

All of a sudden, the man disappeared into thin air and then reappeared in front of me, his eyes swirling with malice and honed bloodlust.

It felt like I had a stare-off with the devil himself.

Lots of people misunderstand the idea of [Death Manipulation], as it doesn't just allow you to manipulate a deathly aura or maybe a deathly substance such as souls… but something much grander.

I shivered as I stared into his eyes, fearful of the future events that would most certainly lead me to my death.

"Forgive us," I muttered as I knew we would have absolutely no chance of surviving.

[Death Manipulation] gives you the power over the probability of death, allowing you to kill somebody of old age in just a split second.

They could be just a baby, but once they are hit with this overpowered skill, they would start to have heart problems one second, and then the next second, their organs would begin to fail, eventually causing the entire body to shut down.

Or, there is the possibility that they would kill themselves even if the slightest bit of suicidal thoughts crossed their mind as this skill approached them.

"Are you going to destroy the tree or not?" He asked, and I completely broke down, unable to even reply to him as I nearly pissed myself.

He visibly sighed before opening his mouth and slowly approaching the core of this tree.

"This thing right here holds the fate of this plane in the center of its palm. If we destroy this, this plane and the spirit watching over it will be no more. The overlord of all spirits is quite powerful, and she isn't lenient in the slightest… but this child of one of her pets, or should I just say trusted subordinates… is too weak as of now. I wonder what they want…." The man muttered, stroking the core as if he was stroking the head of a dead body.

His nails scratched against the core's hard exterior, and as the different possibilities flowed through my mind, I now knew what I had to do.

"We're doing plan C," I muttered through gritted teeth, causing all of my subordinates to look at me with confused glances.

"S-Seriously, sir? But what about her highness?"

"FUCK HER HIGHNESS! We will survive and rebel against her rule of tyranny! But first, we must kill this man before us,"

As I motivated my men to follow my will, the man before me clicked his tongue, and just as I unleashed a thousand blades right at him, the core was cracked in half.

The world almost seemed to slow down as the core slowly fell to the ground, unleashing a wave of lava that began to consume the very base of this tree.

"How pitiful you all are… Well, you trio… I'll see you back on earth," I heard the man mutter before disappearing in a flash.

"Jackie… I'm sorry," I muttered, tears flowing down my face as I was consumed by the rampaging lava that burned and melted all.

I was absolutely nothing before this fiery abomination, and on top of that, for the extra sprinkles on top, I cursed the empress with all of my being.

…

(Lucy POV)

As I lay there, completely beaten and bloody on the battlefield, I was ready to clash with the man who was in a similar state as me.

But, we both came together to look at the end of this plane as the top of the fiery tree bloomed like a flower of lava, unleashing and pouring a hail of fire and molten rock onto the ground.

Ethel, Clio, and Mia all sat around me, gritting their teeth as the impending doom rapidly approached us at a speed that was torturous.

"*sigh*... Let's see if her theory was correct," Mia muttered, and I nodded as we hugged each other.

FWOOSH… BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

And just like that, the plane was destroyed, along with its inhabitants, but I could tell some people still survived.

Their souls were scattered amongst the planes while four of us were sucked back into a spherical planet.

But, just as I began to fly towards it, I was caught by a gentle hand that slowly captured me and brought me towards a palace of bright lights, gentle gardens, and half-snake-half-birds flying around.

I couldn't talk nor move, so I let the gentle hand guide me upwards to the very top floor, where I saw a woman that made me squirm with excitement, bewilderment, and awe.

She sat on the couch peacefully, sipping warm tea.

But, the thing that resonated with me the most was the man who looked kind of like a woman but also more like a man at the same time.

He held me in his massive palms, and his familiarity resonated from his face… and suddenly, I felt as if I could talk.

"Dad?" I muttered, my voice ethereally echoing through the void as we soon passed through the palace walls and entered the very top room.

The man didn't reply to me, but his familiar warm smile was more than enough to tell me everything that I needed to know.

If I could've, I would've been balling my eyes out, but as a tiny drifting soul that was slowly given to the palms of my mother, I just let the content feeling sink in.

I was relaxed… and with both parents by my side, I felt like I would cry.

And just as I slipped out of their hands and plummeted through the palace and into the dark void, I felt a sense of content flood my body.

I love you both… so, so much.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.