A war tent that was set up in the Ancient Forest a fair distance away from Yggdrasil proper.

Within it, Emperor Elio sat across from the Heaven Seizer, that mysterious immortal that the Heavenly King once spoke to him about.

A timeless beauty with incredible strength far surpassing his own, one that he owed a debt that he would never be able to repay. No, not a debt, but rather compensation.

Elio hummed and poured some tea into a porcelain cup before sliding it across the table. "It's not much, but I hope you don't mind."

Xinxin gave the cup a cursory glance and accepted it. However, she seemed distracted and didn't do more than that.

That made Elio curious, but he withheld that sentiment and kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he grabbed another porcelain cup and poured a cup of tea for himself.

It was still daytime. Due to the nature of the meeting, Elio had ordered his troops away, so the immediate area was quiet, with only the faint wind and shifting tree branches making any noise.

Since the Heaven Seizer was still lost in thought, Elio took the moment to glance at his surroundings.

It wasn't much. Although the tent was large, about the size of a small room, it was still a tent. A wooden frame propped up some sturdy cloth harvested from various monsters in the Northern Empire, forming four makeshift walls, a pointed ceiling, and a curtain entrance.

A black and gold banner hung on each wall for decoration, lit by magic crystal torches. Altogether, it created a warm atmosphere despite the makeshift nature.

Elio thought it was a good idea to make the Heaven Seizer, or as the current Heavenly King mentioned at some point, "Miss Faith", comfortable.

However, it seemed like she wasn't like the other ladies Elio had entertained in the past, as she didn't take notice of anything at all when they entered, only sitting directly at the table set up in the middle of the tent, taking her seat.

Of course, Elio should have expected as much from their last encounter in the capital. She *did* storm into his palace without so much as a message and then ruin his carefully laid out plans.

Elio sighed and took a sip from his tea. Not the best of herbs, far from the spiritual ones that could be found in the Sun Kingdom, but mint was always refreshing.

"What did you want to discuss?" A cold female voice, tinged with slight irritation.

Elio set his cup down and said, "I apologize for the trouble, Heaven Seizer... Or is it Miss Faith?"

Xinxin crossed her arms and said, "...Either is fine."

Elio saw that she wasn't touching the offered tea, but he didn't put it against her. After all, he was trying to gain her favor so pushing too much would only serve against him.

"Miss Faith then." Elio nodded and said, "I understand that this is not quite the most opportune time to discuss this, but as we are both present, I thought that I might as well take advantage of the moment and-"

"Get to the point already." Xinxin leaned back in her chair and said, "If you're here to just waste my time with pointless pleasantries, then you can send it in a letter and hand it to Erik."

"I see."

Well, since her opinion of him seemed to already be at an all time low...

"Then I will say it directly." Elio looked at Xinxin and said, "Lend me your hand."

"...What?" Xinxin's eyes narrowed.

Elio continued talking. "If what you said before is true, then I wish to request your aid against 'that person.'"

Xinxin blinked. For a brief moment, she appeared flustered, but she quickly smoothed her face and said, "Is that all? And you couldn't have requested this at another time?"

"I could have. But..." Elio sighed. "I don't have much time."

Xinxin stared at Elio, fixing her glimmering violet eyes on him.

Elio stared back, refusing to shift his gaze.

After a while, Xinxin hummed and took a sip from her tea. Setting her cup back down, she said, "Fine. You have the same look as he does when he's determined to do something reckless so I might as well hear you out before you cause anything too troublesome."

Elio sighed and then smiled. "Thank you, Miss Faith."

"Whatever." She waved her hand and said, "Now, before I promise anything, explain yourself." She crossed her arms and said, "Did the Goddess order you to capture the Demon Lord's daughter? And what led you to invade Yggdrasil and eliminate the elves?"

"That..." Elio sighed. "It is a long story." He swirled his tea cup around and said, "...What do you know of the Goddess?"

"Enough to know that she's a meddlesome woman who would do better to keep her hands away from mortal affairs entirely."

Hearing the immediate response, Elio laughed. "Indeed. This world would be a much better place if she did just that. Not to mention the number of lives that would be happier..."

"Please." Xinxin waved her hand and said, "As if someone like you cared for the happiness of the common folk."

Elio paused and then nodded. "True. I must admit that I am quite the selfish and ambitious person."

If he was not, he wouldn't have united the Northern Empire.

Xinxin stared at him and said, "Don't try to mislead me with pretty answers and noble responses. If you truly wish to become our ally against the Goddess, I want your real reason."

Elio stared at Xinxin, contemplating his response.

Should he tell her? She was powerful, yes, and clearly against that Goddess. But she was also willful and uncontrollable.

Though 'Miss Faith' was concealing her strength at the moment, Elio could still sense the 'depth' of power in her existence. It was a presence that he had only felt once in the past when he faced the Goddess directly.

If she chose to go against him...

"Well?" Xinxin raised an eyebrow.

"Haah. Fine." Elio nodded and said, "I will put my faith in you. But." He narrowed his eyes and said, "Even if you may be the Heaven Seizer and a transcendent immortal, if you stand in my way I won't let you off unscathed."

Xinxin's mouth twitched, but she nodded and said, "That's fine. Though I will turn those words back to you as well. If you stand in our way and serve as that Goddess's pawn... Well, you won't remain on the field for long."

"That's reasonable. Then... The reason that I seek to defy the Goddess... Dammit." Elio took his cup of tea and downed it in one gulp before slamming it down on the table.

"That accursed Goddess... When the North was still a series of splintered kingdoms and wrought with conflict, she appeared before me and offered the power to end the conflict in the north. The only price was that my sister would serve her as a priestess and that I would pay homage to her in the nation I founded afterwards."

Elio let out a bitter laugh and said, "Priestess? What a joke. Instead of serving her, that damned Goddess took over my sister's body entirely and stole her soul. After that, she went on and on about a Holy Crusade and that both the Demons and the Elves were colluding. That the only way to save the world from destruction was to retrieve the sacred sword the Elves hid in the depths of Yggdrasil."

Xinxin furrowed her brows. "She went that far? I knew that she was twisted, but to devise such a scheme for her mere entertainment..."

Elio carefully unclenched his hand from his cup and then sighed. "That wasn't all. Since she deemed us 'insufficient', she insisted that we summon more heroes, 'Braves' from another world to help. Granting them strength, giving my men 'Holy' magic that was in truth corruptive Chaos..."

"And you did nothing to stop this?"

"How could I? That damned Goddess is using my sister as a hostage and has her web all over the Northern Empire." Elio looked at Xinxin and said, "Thankfully, whatever you did last time distracted her and temporarily removed her control from my sister. But it's only a matter of time."

Elio clenched his hands, remembering that Goddess's sadistic smile on his sister's face.

"Hm." Xinxin took a sip from her tea, carefully evaluating Elio. "Convenient. Your story is far too convenient... But it doesn't appear that you are lying."

"I'm not. In fact..." Elio set his tea cup aside and bowed his head. "I beg of you! Join hands with me in fighting against the Goddess! Help me save my sister!"

Silence. And then, after a few minutes had passed, a soft sigh. "I can't."

Elio froze. "You... can't?" He slowly raised his head to look at Xinxin.

She shook her head. "Fighting the Goddess is one thing, but saving your sister under her control..." Xinxin tilted her head and said, "I might be able to manipulate karma to an extent but souls..."

Elio stood up. "Then... Then is this all pointless?" Anger welled in his heart. Responding to his will, the chaotic swirl of light and dark he cultivated began to surge. "Even you... Can't save her? Then... Why am I even-?"

"Calm yourself." Xinxin waved her hand and forced Elio back in his seat.

Elio instinctively fought back, but seeing Xinxin's icy gaze, he calmed down.

"Then... What am I supposed to do?" He placed his arms on the table and cradled his head. "The Heavenly King couldn't do anything about it. Following her desires didn't change anything. And now if you can't save Stella, then who can?"

"Did you forget?"

"What?" Elio raised his head.

Xinxin sighed and said, "It is 'our' fight. I might not be able to do something to save your sister... But I'm certain that my Sifu can."

"Sifu?" Elio frowned, and then he remembered the person that was with Xinxin earlier. "You mean that man?"

Xinxin nodded. "That's right." She smiled, as if remembering a joke. "He may look like nothing much, but Sifu is reliable... Well, somewhat reliable." She muttered and then said, "In short, he should be able to do something about it. Of course, it could lead to some other troubles down the line..." Xinxin trailed off and said, "And I still need to address the situation with that dragon too..."

Elio didn't understand the latter part of what Xinxin said, but he got the gist of it.

Stella... His sister. She could be saved.

After all his efforts, after the despair and fruitless attempts to defy that Goddess... He could save her.

Realizing that Elio laughed. "Finally." He clenched his hands together and said, "Just you wait, Celeste! Damned Goddess…! When Stella is safe, I'll-"

"Hold on."

"What?"

Xinxin stared at Elio and said, "What did you just say?"

"I... said that I would get back at that Goddess when my sister is safe?"

Xinxin shook her head. "No. Her name. You said that Goddess's name was... Celeste?"

Elio slowly nodded. "Yes. That... Is that not the name of this world's Goddess?"

"No. This world's Goddess is-"

A tremendous pressure. An outpouring of pure energy.

Elio's eyes widened and he stood up, turning towards the source of it. "Is that-"

"The World Tree?" Xinxin frowned and then her eyes widened as well. "Sifu!"

A surge of darkness blocked out the sky as Xinxin tried to act. But the moment she did, something appeared.

In the blackened sky, an ominous silver moon emerged. Pure white light cut around the edges, trying to suppress both. But before it could-

"Another Goddess? No, this is-?!"

-Time and space ripped apart.