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Everyone had tried to remain focused.
But finally seeing the World Tree Seyfert was such a breathtaking sight that everyone was taken aback for just a moment.
That was a natural reaction for anyone seeing such beauty.
Sadly…there was someone there who was ready to take advantage of that instant.

***

“Kyaa?!”
“Da’at!!”

A sudden scream made everyone stop admiring the World Tree and turn around.
First they saw Rouge, being protected by Fia and the other fairies, and then… a girl completely covered in reddish black vines that suddenly sprouted from the ground, that was Da’at Criferd.

“Oh no…Da’at!”
“Da’aaat!!”
“Suzaku…Haru..!”

Suzaku and Haru tried to reach for her, and Da’at desperately tried to reach back…but they were too late, as her small body was swiftly raised into the air, falling in the hands of the one up there.
That red haired tree spirit looked down at Crim and the rest…wearing a red and black gothic dress, covered in dark red vines and buds.

“Belial!!”
“Yes, it’s me. Welcome, Scarlet and Black Demon Lords, and the hero. You had quite the nice stroll here, didn’t you?”

Crim shouted her name as soon as she saw her, and Belial moved her arms dramatically as she spoke.
A moment later, a new black vine sprouted from the ground and held Crim back, before she could lunge with her scythe.

“Ack… Be careful everyone, her strength has increased a lot since the last time we fought her!”

Crim began cutting away the vines that just kept growing one after another as she warned the rest. Everyone knew what to do, taking refuge between the tanks, Lueger, Freya, and Ernesta.
The enemy attacks had become much faster and heavier compared to the fight in R’lyeh. Everyone was too focused on stopping the attacks, and could not advance a single step.

“But of course. After all, you could say that this is my home. There’s plenty of corrupted mana floating around for me to use as I wish.”

Belial placed a hand to her chest, proudly announcing that.
This was the source of the mana in the continent. There was not just pure refined mana, but also the spent and corrupted mana for Seyfert to cleanse was gathered there.
And that was the source of Belial’s power.

“Suzaku, right? Be a good boy and hand over that red blade this cockroach gave you.”
“What..?”
“No, don’t do it Suzaku…agh!”
“The captive princess doesn’t get to talk.”

Da’at Criferd tried to shout at Suzaku to stop him, only for the vines to tighten around her neck to silence her.

“And don’t try anything funny, I have all the power here. This little cockroach’s neck will snap faster the moment you resist. So what will it be?”
“………Okay, I’ll do it.”
“N-No..!”

Suzaku looked down, realizing there was no other option as he thrust the sword into the ground in front of him.
Da’at continued trying to stop it from happening… But sadly Belial’s vines snatched up the sword and brought it to her hands.

“Ohh…I see you’ve been hard at work since then. You’ve gathered quite a bit of fertilizer already.”
“Fer…tilizer..?”

Belial examined the blade, muttering to herself, and Da’at weakly asked what she meant.
That made Belial grin for a moment, before happily explaining.

“Yes, fertilizer. I left small seeds of darkness in all those creatures out there, letting them take root. And whenever this blade hit them, it just sucked it all right up, collecting it.”
“No…no way…”
“Oh yes, did you really think you built this sword all willy-nilly? No, this is a tool necessary to gather the fertilizer for the Underworld Tree Criferd.”
“No, I didn’t…I never wanted that!!”

Da’at’s desperate attempts to reject all of that did not seem fake or an act. She really had been unaware of all that.

“…That’s some messed up fetch quest you set up there.”

All Suzaku could do was grit his teeth, glaring at Belial while she relished the moment, sneering at him,

“Then again, you’re the kind of person who will instantly help out whatever clueless girl you run into as long as she looks innocent and plain enough, instead of some suspicious girl you can’t read, right?”
“Damn you..!”
“Leave the emotional outbursts for later, Suzaku! We need to do something about that sword first! Sorleon!!”
“I know, we should try to restrain Belial while we can still move!”

Crim and Sorleon were the only ones who could move without having to focus entirely on cutting away the black vines, so they jumped out…

“…Ghuh?!”
“…What?!”

*Something* black and solid collided with Crim and Sorleon, completely thwarting their attack.
More of those black things followed after them, letting out weird snapping and rustling sounds.

“Are those…the bugs Ba‘al Zəbûl Aery controlled?!”
“How are they under thine control?!”

The bugs that appeared to block their advances looked familiar, shocking both Sorleon and Crim.
But their master, Aery, was yet to recover her strength, and held no enmity towards Crim and the rest anymore. All she did now was to lounge around Castle Seyfert.

“Don’t act so surprised. Flowers always use their nectar to lure in insects, don’t they?”

A playful smile appeared on Belial’s lips as she looked down at Crim’s struggle, before going to Da’at and pulling on her hair to lift her head, moving closer to her ear.

“Let me tell you something interesting, little cockroach.”

Now that she was done inspecting the sword, Belial held it with a reverse grip, speaking through whispers.

“You are the dirt I washed off, the refuse of everything I no longer needed. But…”

Her lips curled up into a grin.
Seeing that, Crim, Sorleon, and Suzaku realized something bad was about to happen, and pushed their way through the bugs…but were one step too late.

“The Underworld Tree Criferd’s seed that will consume this fertilizer and erode away the World Tree isn’t me…it’s within you.”
“Huh-”

Da’at Criferd looked confused, and before she knew what was happening…the sword she made herself was plunged into her own chest.

“Da’at!!!”
“Ah…Suza…ku…”

For an instant something seemed to drain out from the blade, which Belial watched attentively, and when it was done, she pulled out the sword and threw it away, like it was no longer worth anything.

“No…why…why did this…ah..?!”

Da’at Criferd held her chest, enduring excruciating pain, as something black spread out behind her.
Seeing that, Crim quickly flapped her wings and flew high up past the bugs, chasing after Belial.

“Beliaaaal!!”
“Ugh…why do you have to be so annoying!”

Crim had attacked with all her might, only to be stopped by Belial’s shortsword.
The black blade had almost reached Belial’s neck, sending chills down her spine, but now that it was over she laughed mockingly again.

“Oh well… I get that you like to wait until the last possible second to join the fray, but I really don’t feel like dealing with someone who has unlocked Qliph1i in a place like this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Belial?!”
“Who knows? If you really want to know, then come find me in the old empire!”

All the resistance on Crim’s blade vanished suddenly.
There was nothing left for Belial to do that, so she just chose to vanish.

“She got away… Suzaku, how’s Da’at?!”

Crim clicked her tongue in annoyance, but there were other things to focus on. She snapped around…and witnessed a situation even more dire than she imagined.
The number of vines corrupting the forest had increased many times over.
Da’at Criferd had become trapped amidst a large mass of thorns…or rather, they had all grown out of her.

“Da’at! Stop playing around and give me your hand already!!”

With the red blade gone, Suzaku had switched over to Demonic Sword Gram (Apocrypha), swinging it wildly to open a path through the black thorns, desperately trying to reach Da’at.
She was trying to get to Suzaku too, but every time her arm stretched out it was caught by thorns and pulled back.

“I hate this, help…Suzaku…my hero…”

Those were the last words she could get out before another wave of thorns emerged, wrapping around her so tightly she was unable to speak or move anymore.
When the thorns became still…all that was left was her black dress pierced by thorns, her face frozen in an expression of horror, and the vines that continued spreading through the forest, corrupting it.
With her secured in place, the thorns began to leash out, looking for new targets in the fairies nearby, Crim, or the rest of the players there.
What remained of Da’at no longer resembled the girl everyone had gotten to know.

“This can’t be happening… You were right here…just now…”

It felt like that strongwilled girl had vanished in an instant, becoming whatever the thing in front of him was. He did not want to believe that had happened as he fell on his knees, Gram escaping from his hands. There was no will to fight left in him, but…

“No, it’s not over yet Suzaku! Don’t despair just yet, didst thou forget what kind of game this is!!”
“..?!”

He gasped loudly hearing Crim’s words.
There was no way the devs had coded a forced bad ending.
And even if they had, they could fight against it as much as they wanted.
This was not the first time things seemed hopeless in Destiny Unchain Online, but no matter what happened, they had always found a path out of it.
Maybe it was reading too much into it too, but there was no way that the game could end with such a sudden event out of nowhere. It was still a MMORPG after all.
This was not the end, it was the beginning of a new strife for Crim and the rest.

“We can do this, we’ll find a way to rescue Da’at!”
“…Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry, I won’t think about giving up anymore!”
“Everyone, this is our new directive… Let’s save Da’at Criferd!!”

*I won’t let it end like this.*

As Crim announced that, the rest of Lua Cheia and Nord Glacier shouted loudly in approval as they reached for their weapons…

Afterword:
Dr______rd … Ni_R … ughh my head..!