(Lian Li POV)

Freasia brought us to the back of the building where an even larger door was built into the wall, big enough for a dragon to walk through it easily.

Manami looked up at the door, "The fruit you receive comes from the Divine Beast itself, doesn't it?"

Freasia nodded, "The Divine Beast of the Eternal Heaven Tree bestows us a single fruit every thousand years in return for our loyalty…"

I raised an eyebrow, "And you are now guiding us there to slaughter it?"

She turned back with a small smile, "I sincerely hope it will not come to that. If you and the Divine Beast can come to an agreement about the fruit instead of fighting for it, we will be eternally grateful."

Sensing her underlying meaning, I asked her, "Oh? How grateful are we talking about?"

Freasia hesitated, as though thinking about something before she answered. No doubt she was using that ability of hers to figure out what was the best words to say to us.

"I do not know if your Master is as divine as you believe him to be so I cannot promise anything. But if you return here with your Master and if we see him to be worthy of our devotion, I will do what I can to convince my people to accept his status as God."

I frowned, "Do you take our Master as some kind of circus animal to be showcased around? And you're quite mistaken about how things work with us. We are the ones who deem if you're worthy enough to worship our Master, not the other way around."

"Perhaps… But our land is also known as the capital of love you know? The gardens and hot springs are very popular for couples and we have various facilities that cater to lovers. If you have us as your worshippers, all these facilities would be catered to you and your master."

Manami smiled at her, "Ara, ara? It seems like your omniscience is at least useful for this. What do you think, Lian Li?"

Freasia turned to look at me, "We have cafes, cake shops, theme parks, forest trails, even lakes where couples can go on boat trips together. There's also secluded forest cottages built in beautiful glades where no one would come and disturb your lovemaking."

I felt my own lips curl into a smile as I imagined Master bringing us to all these locations, we'll stroll through those forest trails, feed each other sweets, have a boat ride on a lake and share a kiss in the middle of said lake.

And finally... Retiring back to said cottage so that Master could make sweet, sweet love to us.

"Fine, you've convinced me. We'll refrain from killing that beast for now. But whether we accept you or not depends on Master's view on your land."

She bowed her head, "That would be all that I ask for."

She motioned to the door and it opened by itself, revealing a stairway made completely out of wood and appeared to be carved into the tree itself. Each of the steps was ginormous in size, a clear indication that this was not meant to be climbed by humans.

This must be the path the beast takes to ascend and descend the tree.

With how Freasia was standing to the side of the door, it seems like we were expected to continue the path alone.

Manami and I flew through the doors and sped up the spiral staircase. If they had been expecting us to be daunted by these stairs, they would be sorely disappointed.

As expected, the stairway led all the way to the canopy of the giant tree, meaning we would be flying up these stairs for quite some time. I have a feeling the beast only gave the elves a single fruit every thousand of years was mainly due to it being lazy and unwilling to climb these stairs.

Even at our fastest speed, it still took us a minute before we reached the end of the stairs. If I had known, I would have just flown up the side of the tree instead of using these ridiculous stairs.

That's one strike for wasting our time again.

At the top of the staircase, we found ourselves in a surprisingly large hall that looked similar in design to the one below where the elves had used to hold their council.

Except, of course, there were no raised chairs nor podiums present here. Perhaps the elves had mirrored its design for their own use.

Curled up at the far back of the room was a small dragon with green scales staring at us with one of its obsidian eyes.

Unlike the winged dragons we have seen so far, this one had the body of a snake and it didn't have wings. It had a long white mane and deer antlers sprouting out from the top of its head, curving to point towards the back.

"So you have come… Visitors from the Earthen Plane," The dragon spoke, it's voice rumbling like the sound of thunder. "You seek the fruit of the Eternal Heaven Tree."

It was not a question but a statement. I was not really surprised that it already knew about us since it should be sitting on a hoard of fruits that grant omniscience. It would make sense that this 'divine beast' would at least possess the same ability too.

I nodded, "We were asked to speak to you for it. Since I would hate to burn the entire forest down, I don't suppose you could simply spare us one?"

"Normally anyone so brazen would be simply struck down by me… But I believe we both know what this would result in if I were to try. The Earthen Plane is a legend for a reason."

The dragon reached forward with one of its claws and tapped the ground, causing a golden coloured apple to fall from one of the branches above.

The dragon caught it with its tail before it reached the ground, bringing it to its side.

"Before I hand this to you, I would like to ask what you know of your master's past?"

"Enough," I replied immediately.

The dragon shook its head, "Take this as a word of advice from a dragon that has seen too much… Right now you might think you are doing your master's bidding, but reality might be the opposite."

Manami narrowed her eyes at the dragon, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I meant that the actions you have taken so far might lead to your downfall. Make of that however you will."

The dragon unfurled its tail and dropped the fruit in front of us.

"Next time, if you are still around, do bring your master here to visit," the dragon muttered before turning away to show that it had no more interest in us.

Oh no you don't.

I leapt up onto the dragon's head and grabbed it by its antlers, pulling it up so that it faced me.

"You better start explaining yourself of those needlessly cryptic words before I tear these damned horns off!"

"Ghk?! This… I… I understand, please let go…"

I released my grip on it and returned back to my original spot.

"This is strange… The future I saw was inaccurate… This has never happened before."

I let lightning course through my arm, "Speak sense. Now."

I could see a spark of fear flash through its eyes, "I can't give you the exact details... No that's not accurate. I am unable to 'see' the future and information on Gods and beings that are not of this world. The fact that your Master is completely hidden from me suggests that he is either one of those, or a more likely circumstance where one of those beings is messing with him."

Manami chuckled, "Ufufufu~ Isn't it obvious? Our Master is a God."

The dragon made a face, "Per… Perhaps… But the fact that I could not 'see' the things written in the note that your brother Brendan had found suggests the note to be extraordinary in nature… Thus my warning to you. I had no intention of antagonizing either of you."

Manami and I glanced at each other before I stored the fruit into my storage ring.

I looked at the dragon, "I'll let you off for now. But since we're here… I'm going to ask you about the things on the note and you're going to answer me."

The dragon shivered visibly, "Ye… Yes ma'am…"

Good, this should make it easier for the rest to find what we're looking for.

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