Chương 40: [BL] 39. Demand.

[The Grand Hunt has been called!] [Target: The Green Conqueror Grooves] [The Treants of the Conqueror Grooves hated the strange blue forest their rift connected to. Just being in such… wrongness was bad; worse, their strength was slowly sapped away, and they had to run back to their rift world to recover. It was all so wrong. And they had to make it right. One good thing that came from this hideous blue forest was that it was far easier to grow any plants, including the use of their own bodies. By detaching their limbs, they could transform them into a pill that they could, and had, offered to other Riftborn, making them strong enough to keep the human at bay while they planned the birth of the Elder Tree. To grow is to sacrifice. The biggest sacrifice they could make was their rift, yet it was apparent that transforming an entire world into a tree would require a great source. Their rift served as their connection to the world of Mana. What they needed now was not just a kindle, but a bonfire. And what else was there but the human? Two strong humans had entered, but they needed more. The Treant Forest Elder had established a peace treaty between the Lord and King, and even convinced the Monarch to get him more strong humans, preferably those with special runes inside them, as the Elder Tree needed something beyond the Elder's knowledge so it could grow.] [Hunt Target] [Treant Forest Monarch—Level 52] [Reward: Rune Seedling Amulet] [Treant Forest King—Level 30-43] [Reward: Crown of Treant King] [Treant Forest Lord—Level 30-43] [Reward: Wood Lord Mask] [Treant Forest Elder—Level 30-43] [Reward: Staff of Elderwood] [Hunt Party 3/8] [Level limit: 19] [Hunt Party 3/8] [Hunter—Level 19] [Olympya Executioner—Level 19] [Olympya Archer—Level 19] Right after Willow read the entire Grand Hunt's summary, the princess turned pale.

She stood, scraped her chair back, and summoned her Valkyrie outfit. For a brief moment, Willow found herself captivated by the princess's majestic wings that sent her hair tumbling all over and craning like a goose's wings.

"Your Highness. It's unwise to fly now. Griffins and Wyverns still have control over the air," Kroos said.

"Then come with me, my lord."

"And leave everyone here defenseless?"

"You seem to go against each and every request of mine. What's this about, truly, my lord? For you, a man who only cares for the good of many, abandoning our small entourage here to save the entirety of the army should be an obvious decision to make."

"Would you do that, Your Highness?" Kroos rose to the challenge with a smile. He leaned on both elbows, clearly not intending to back down.

"Leaving your newborn here? Alongside your dear childhood friends?" The princess' step hesitated. She bit her lip, and her shoulder trembled as she turned and faced her friends, the [Royal Guard]s and Helen, who each remained frozen.

"You're right, Your Highness. I personally shall not hesitate to make such a decision."

"You… what?" The princess glared at Kroos.

"Your granddaughter is here."

"Yet, her life is but one life."

"Then please tell me, my lord! Why are you not going?"

"First. The reason is that this decision of yours was made in haste without considering your newborn—the very reason we leave the capital."

"Alexis is not the only—""I know, Your Highness. But she is the main reason you escaped your father's clutches. And now you want to abandon her?" Kroos raised his voice, and the calm demeanor of the noble melted away.

"I came here to uphold my vow and duty to my lord, the Duke. I'm being herded away from my duty in the capital because you and his son value both of your desires more than the lives of millions. And now you're going to fly away at the first sign of a hard choice? Without thinking about it?" Princess Elesis bit her lip, her gaze still dug into Kroos, and they wavered. She hung her eyes down and tucked her wings, although not quite dismissing her class outfit.

"Let me ask again," Elesis said.

"Why are you still here then?"

"Because," Kroos opened a palm and gestured toward Willow.

"Her life is precious. I'm even considering that perhaps I should march our small army to escort her to this village and leave the duke's army to figure it out by themselves. What do you think, Your Highness? Do you think it's selfish?"

"I want to go," Willow cut in before the tension between the two went any higher. Both of their eyes went to her. Everyone else faded into the background. It was obvious the two individuals held all the power inside this small army of theirs. The Count, or rather the Tier-four, and the princess who had an entourage of Tier-threes and she herself a high-level Tier-two. That left the legionaries who probably would split between the lord and the princess, which was why she couldn't afford to let them split up now.

Willow met their eyes, fully intent to keep them on one side.

"I will go," Willow repeated.

"I can fly with you, Your Highness."

"You will?" The Princess blinked.

"Aren't you listening, girl? The Wyvern and Griffin rule the sky. Some of which are high-end Tier-two creatures whose strength matches the Princess."

"Can you come with us then, my lord?" Willow asked. She considered shooting him puppy eyes, but that'd be silly.

"The Lord's castle is much stronger when I'm inside it." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. So you can go! Willow bit back a scowl.

"With plenty of Tier-threes protecting this castle, surely…"

"What you're forgetting is we will risk your life, and who can say the tier-four would not return?" It seemed to her that it was obvious the lord prioritized Willow's life now more than their army. It was a ridiculous thought, but still his insistence on letting this Elder Tree be born was concerning.

"We march normally then," the Princess recommended.

"The Bright One and I can take the sky if it is safe enough. And we both know the sky is currently clear due to the tier-fours' presence, my lord." She did not hide her distaste for the lord with her last sentence.

"That just means they're waiting to take flight, and you will be a target. Like a dark dot on a blank canvas."

"That is ridiculous."

"But yes. We can march. That will be much… safer. Although, my Lady, are you sure we should not march to this village?" He smirked, and his eyes went to the Sheran's folks.

"I even think that as Imperial, I should keep the oath the princess gave to the village. I'm thinking that we should march to this Hollow Knight Rift instead and lift the encirclement!"

"My lord—" A chair scraped loudly against the floor. Erick stood, hand clenched, and the [Guard] stared at Kroos.

"Do you mean those words, my lord?"

"I do. I'm a tier-four and will help raid this dark rift. I heard you have another two tier-fours inside?"

"With our guard commander Alfred, it will be three," Josha added to the princess's glare, but he continued.

"But he is early tier-four, and the rift… It's not an easy rift. The dark knight inside is a very proficient fighter."

"It's truly impressive to have not two but three tier-fours in a village so far away from the capital. I heard you have another rift farm, so there are perhaps more tier-fours?" Josha nodded.

"Intriguing indeed. I can see why you chose to fight the cycles instead of evacuating. Though I'm still curious why this village possesses this much power." Shera stiffened at that comment, while Josha and Erick kept a straight face. That was something that Willow didn't know either. Well, I can ask them later. For now, Willow twiddled her thumbs and thought. With that move, Kroos had gotten the Sheran folk to his side.

She glanced at the princess, who held her face placid, almost serene even, but Willow could tell that she was cursing the lord inside. What to do now? Would the force be split? What about the legionaries? Who'd they follow? What was more concerning was that Kroos seemed to do this out of sheer spite toward the princess.

"I don't know if I agree with this," a shy voice mumbled. Willow looked at Shera, and she was about to speak until Josha cut her off.

"Shera…"

"Josha, you heard what Willow said! The Grand Hunt! Look, we prevent the Lich's early invasion because we complete it. And the Spell told us what the consequence of failure is! Who knows what this Elder Tree can do. A rift that turned into a tree? I don't want to find out what it's capable of." The princess did not miss her chance.

"The girl spoke sense. I hear the first hunt target was the Kobold Rift? It's thanks to that you can take down your Lord Castle, my lord; if not, then we will be stuck still, and now we're freed to move."

"I disagree, princess. The Kobolds merely harass us, and I'm forced to stay still to await your daughter's birth. We will still—" Lord Kroos went silent, and he rubbed his chin, thinking.

"Hm. My Lady Willow, what are the chances the Lich Queen came to the surface because of you? Because the Grand Hunt?"

"What are you implying?" the Princess asked. The lord held up a hand, motioning for Willow to answer.

"It's likely. The hunt upon the Shamanic Lich is to prevent an invasion… The Lich Queen might decide to check how her early forces pan out before deciding to launch a full-scale one."

"And then, the Lich Queen somehow met the Imp who was trying to capture you. Because of that, the stars blessed us, and they fought each other," the Lord finished.

"My Lord," Princess Elesis gave him an unimpressed stare.

"That is a stretch."

"It's not. The Bright Runes are the instinct runes of a saviour, your Highness. By getting rid of the Kobold Rift, I'm able to save my runes. Do you know I kept sending warriors deep outside my castle for those buggers? They drained my runes the most. That then resulted in me having enough banner Runes to battle the Imp, but because the Bright Lady was able to win her second Grand Hunt, the Lich Queen came and battled the Imp, further making my job easier."

"That does sound like a stretch," Willow said.

"Is it though? I decided." Lord Kroos stood and gave an apologetic look to Erick and Josha.

"The Rift farm will have to wait. We march for the Treant Rift and shall rendezvous with the Duke's army. I apologise for raising your hopes, but please do know I shall keep the oath the Imperial had made." Erick and Josha could not hide their disappointment; their shoulders slumped. The Princess then also stood and addressed them.

"The oath came from me, and I shall keep it. Please be assured."

"Very well, Your Highness," Erick said, bowing.

"I just hoped we would not be too late."

"Now, we do not have time to waste. We shall depart when every soldier is healed from their grave injury, which will be at sundown. My lady, have you decided on your Grand Hunt member?" Kroos asked, smoothly switching the topic.

"My Grand Hunt member? Sure I do. Josha and Shera," Willow said casually, and Kroos' lips twitched.

"How wonderful," Princess Elesis said with a smile that was too wide.

"It's truly a wonderful thing to fight and grow stronger with your friends." Why was she treating her like a child suddenly?

"Oh, Erick, how about you?" Willow perked up.

"With my summon, I still have three spots left." This time it was the princess's turn to hide her small, wavering smile. Erick shot her a shaky smile that was obviously forced.

"Lass, You're kind. But I'm sure another will be more fitting."

"Nonsense," Willow said.

"No, lass, please take someone else," Erick said, and his eyes literally begged her. Was that his attempt to make puppy eyes? It looked ridiculous. But why? She immediately found out why. Kroos and Elesis' fake smiles were still plastered on their faces, and things grew obvious. They want to put someone in my party! Willow scowled. She did not like this, but her mind thought that she might be able to use this to get something out of them. Before the Princess opened her mouth, Willow spoke first.

"It's such a shame." She bunched her hair up and scratched the back of her neck.

"Erick is a wonderful guard who has protected my life countless times. I'm not sure if there's anyone else I can count on to watch my back."

"My lady, I'm sure Master Erick has done wonderfully," Kroos said.

"May I interest you in the best tier-one fighter under my command? All three of them—""You have seen my [Royal Guards]," The princess cut in to Kroos' annoyance.

"Lady Willow, my entourage is full of talent that just needs a chance to bloom. They will even swear their lives to you."

"Both of you misunderstand me," Willow said. She held up a finger.

"I'm willing to take a level one if that's what you wish. But, in exchange, I want someone who has proven capable of watching my back and strong enough to protect me." The memory of the Lich Queen and Blackfyre Imp taking her down by just pointing their finger at her replayed in her mind. She needed protection, at least until she was strong enough to face them herself.

"Truly, even a level one?" Kroos asked, and suddenly a new light entered his eyes.

"My Grandaughter. I want to put my granddaughter in your party, my lady. She is a level three Squire."

"My lord, you take too much of Lady Willow's kindness; that might endanger her instead," the Princess reasoned.

"The Bright Lady herself says it, no? That in exchange I just need to assign her a strong retainer that will stick with her." Willow reached for Leynah's arm and pulled her to the woman's surprise.

"Me?" Leynah blinked.

"Will my granddaughter always have a spot in your party, my lady?" Kroos asked as he sat down, taking a sip of wine.

"I want access to weaponry and armour if necessary."

"You shall have it. Champion Leynah, now you're assigned to her."

"Yes, my lord." Willow gave a triumphant grin, and Leynah shrugged with a small smile. She then faced the princess. Now, what can I get from her?