Light twinkled in John’s eyes. They have been through so much adversity these past 7 days. When they opened their eyes, they were in a completely different world; the pair wasn’t able to find Simon and Wang Yan; they had to survive with their dirty clothes and sleep on the dirty ground. They were doing everything that they weren’t used to, and it felt tough. However, to John, everything seemed to be worth it for this very day.

“A-are you the dragon that appeared yesterday night?”

Visible shock could be seen from her beautiful face.

‘Wait, how did he recognize me at one glance? Didn’t Loki say that these people were frozen in time for 50,000 years and that they weren’t familiar with other species?’

“You do not have the right to ask me a question. But, I shall pardon you just this once and answer it. The answer is yes.”

Kano was shifting his gaze between John and the gorgeous half-human lady, shocked at the fact that she was actually the giant crimson quadrupedal dragon.

“The two of you, get moving. This event is still not over yet.”

Right as she said that, all the trees and bushes in the vicinity started distorting in shape and charged towards the two young men. Roots started appearing from the ground at a fast rate, and was starting to circle around them too.

“Hmph! This puny forest doesn’t seem to know its place!”

She coldly snorted and released a red aura. The aura pulsed outwards and covered the entire area, destroying all the incoming tree branches and roots with ease, yet the two were still unharmed.

Suddenly, a gritty and old sound reverberated throughout the woods.

“Go away! I am only going to target the two of them. You will make your leave, or you shall meet your demise here!”

“Hohoh, it looks like this junior doesn’t know how to respect a senior. You first offended me by continuing to attack these 2 insects even though this royal self is shielding them. Now, you dare to threaten me? You have only developed spirituality for 1,000 years, so I do not wish to end your life prematurely. However, if you want to continue, I do not mind extracting your core hiding over there.”

Right as she ended her speech, she aimed her finger at the ground and shot a laser beam. The laser beam did not seem to be very strong, but it penetrated through the ground like butter and created multiple shockwaves in a short period of time.

“Aaaarghghh!!”

The sound of agony echoed through the entire forest. John and Kano had to cover their ears to try and reduce the volume of the gritty shrieking, but the sound didn’t seem to subside despite their best efforts.

She folded her arms and impatiently tapped her fingers while waiting for the scream to end.

Huff…. Puff…. Huff…. Puff…

“I-I am sorry for my impudence, senior. I didn’t know that these two puny humans held a great significance to you, and overstepped my boundaries. I hope that you will accept my apology. H-here, this might not amount to much in senior’s eyes, but it would surely be of help to those puny humans. I hope that this is enough to express my sincerity.”

A small white orb started floating towards the beautiful dragon lady. She extended her pristine hand and took the orb and threw it to John. She continued talking in a condescending manner.

“Hmph, now that I have demonstrated power, you immediately became subservient. What a weakling. However, it does indeed seem that you have expressed your sincerity, seeing that you gave out such a valuable item in this realm. I shall accept your apology. However, if you target those 2 insects again, I will personally end your life!”

The entire forest seemed to shiver in fear, and it echoed out meekly.

“Yes, senior....”

....

The forest suddenly became as peaceful and serene as before, as if its assault on the two of them had never happened. So many things happened at the same time that they were extremely confused with what was happening.

She glanced over with her big and beautiful eyes, and walked towards them.

“You over there. How did you know my identity?”

John snapped out of his entranced state of mind and answered her question with a cool voice.

“Well, I knew it from the very start. I saw the way you moved and your non-human features look extremely similar to the form you displayed the other night. Also, you used a red lightning spell at the start of the fight, which was a unique feature on the monster I saw, the small red lightning circling around it.”

She narrowed her eyes and gave a small smirk. This action seemed to have shot through John’s maiden heart as she continued to speak.

“Hmph, looks like you’re quite the observant one. Fine, this royal one shall grant you the privilege of asking me any three questions. After the questions, I shall take my leave and cease protecting the two of you. Listen, your only priorities are to survive. If the two of you die, I will personally drag the two of you out of Hell and beat the two of you so much that you wish that you were never born.”

“That sounds very romantic of you <3. Alright, here’s the first question. What is your name?”

“People address and revere me as the Dragon of Destruction.”

“That’s not a name, that’s a title! I want to know your name.”

She gave an annoyed look at him.

“Why does that even concern you? Fine, my words are made of gold, and I shall not retract my statement. My name is Lera. Listen, if you ever mutter my name even in your sleep, you will know what pain is. Get on with your second question.”

John was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t mention her name. However, he continued to ask the second question.

“I think I’m in love with you. Are you willing to be my girlfriend?”

Lera and Kano gave a bewildered stare at John. Her bewilderment soon turned into a beautiful smile as she answered her question.

“Hah, to think that you have the tenacity and guts to ask me to be your girlfriend? The people in the Spirit Realm wouldn’t even dare to utter those words in my presence. You are 100,000 years too late to date a queen like me. Well, you look like a little cutie. Maybe once you’ve become strong enough, then perhaps I might consider.”

After that statement, she gave a small sexy chuckle.

“Woo… woo… Woohooo!!!!!!”

John looked over at Kano in surprise, and started hugging him and shouting in excitement. Kano also couldn’t believe what he had just heard. She gave a small smirk yet again as if she was amused with how these harmless little rabbits are reacting to her statements.

“You’re celebrating 100,000 years too early. Also, you have already used up two questions. I’m curious as to what your last question will be. Go on.”

“Alright. So my last question is wh-”

“Stop!”

Kano, who was silent all the time during their interaction suddenly exclaimed. He dragged John over to speak in a hushed tone, even though Lera would’ve been able to hear it anyway.

“Dude, stop wasting the questions! We have to ask things that really matter, like how do we return back to our home, why did she protect us, so on and so forth! You’re getting your priorities very wrong here.”

John looked at him with a very serious face, as if the world was going to end.

“I am getting my priorities right here.”

“Screw you and your fetishes. I will be the one asking the questions.”

“Ahem! Miss Dragon, may I ask what your purpose is for protecting us?”

“Hmm, finally a proper question. I have been sent down to this Earth Realm to locate the Earthlings who were frozen in time by Loki. It would be awkward for the two of you to die right after I told him that I found all of your locations, so I kept you both alive.”

“What? Is Wang Yan and Simon really alive? Can you bring us to meet them please?”

“Hmph, perhaps you do not know how to count? That is two too many questions.”

Kano was visibly stunned when she said her last sentence. He did not imagine that she would take the ‘3 questions only’ thing seriously, and glanced over at John with annoyance. John, with a slight guilty conscience, shrugged his shoulders as if he was saying what was done has been done.

Lera harrumphed, and turned around to prepare for her leave. However, she turned her head around again and casted a curious stare at John.

“You. What is your name?”

“My name is John, your beautiful Highness.”

She nodded at his praising sentence, and continued asking.

“Why do you want me to be your girlfriend?”

“Because you are beautiful. Your auburn hair flows delicately as the wind blows, your pretty crimson eyes glow brightly in the infinite darkness, and your lovely body strikes cupid arrows into every man's heart, making them a mere mortal in front of your presence. Words simply cannot describe enough how attractive you look in my eyes.”

Her eyes curved up into a seductive gaze that could make the heavens’ heart skip a beat (not really, it’s just John), and chuckled cutely while covering her mouth with her hand.

“Haha, you sure have a way with words. You are an interesting little rabbit. I shall assist the two of you just a little more. Head towards that direction, and you will be able to escape this disrespectful forest. Also, keep this orb of yours hidden from plain sight. This item can cause kingdoms to wage wars on each other in this small Earth Realm. That’s all the help you will get. We shall meet again if fate allows it.”

With that said, a golden portal opened up and she stepped into it. The portal closed immediately after she finished entering, and the two of them were left in this dreadful forest yet again.

…

The two of them remained in silence for a good minute or so, but for different reasons. Kano was still stunned about what had happened the past half an hour, whereas John was casting a sad gaze towards the ground where Lera had left. All of a sudden, Kano woke up from his reverie and grabbed John by the collar.

“Argh, John, I have always thought that I was the dumbest among you guys, but today, you just did the biggest retarded move I’ve seen! We could have asked so many important questions regarding us teleporting into this cursed magical world!”

John looked at Kano with a slightly guilty look, but responded with confidence.

“I mean sure, we could have asked many important questions, but I had to use the first two questions no matter what. Regardless, you did ask a really good question. The puzzle is starting to fit in nicely.”

Kano tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you mean by that?”

“First of all, she kept calling this foreign piece of land Earth Realm. This suggests that we did not get isekai’ed to a different planet. This ground that we’re standing on is Earth itself.”

Kano opened his mouth wide in shock, realizing that that was indeed what she had said. John continued on.

“Secondly, she was required to locate the Earthlings who were frozen in time by Loki. There are a lot of clues that we can extract from that one sentence. The Earthlings, namely us, were frozen in time. This basically means that a great deal of time must have passed for such a drastic change to happen to Earth. This also means that our parents, teachers, friends and houses are not in a different world still living well and dandy. They most likely do not exist in this world anymore.”

Kano was still shocked in his state, but John pressed on anyway.

“Alright, the more urgent and crucial thing was that all of this happened because of someone called Loki. The blue hand that we saw back at Street 69 was most definitely that fucker. Another important note is that Lera was sent down to this place to locate us. This suggests that he does not know our location nor actions, nor does he have direct control over our circumstances. This means that we are still not puppets trapped in a huge prison cell called Earth Realm. I have no idea what that fucker wants, but we cannot let him control our lives.”

John completed his analysis, and waited for Kano to give a response. The latter was amazed at how the former could extract so much information just from that one sentence. However, his expression gradually became gloomier.

“...You know, it hurts me to realize that our parents and friends are probably all d-dead. My mind still cannot really process what you just said. Why did that bastard do this to us? What is his goal? Because of what he did, I was separated from my family and friends forever. I cannot forgive him for this very reason. This also gives me another reason to become stronger. I must become stronger.”

Kano had always been a kind and optimistic ball of energy. However, at this instance, his eyes burned with vengeance.

“Oh wait, I also missed out on one final detail. Remember she said that it would be awkward for us to die right after she told Loki that she found all of our locations? This means that Simon and Wang Yan are still alive and well.”

“...That's very great news.”

His eyes softened and his usual energetic mood came back.

“Well, we also can’t deal with this bloody forest anymore, so let’s hurry up and escape this place, find a human settlement and have a good rest on a fluffy bed!”

“What do you mean human settlement? Let’s find a beastman settlement!”

“...You know what? John, I take back what I said all this time. Remember the times when I called you gross for fantasizing about half-monster half-girls? I take all of it back. That Dragon of Destruction was hot as fuck. I might want to date a beast girl now.”

“Hahaha! That’s right, you have finally been enlightened to the truth. Truth is beast girl, and beast girl is truth. You said you now have a reason to become stronger, right? I also have a reason now, which is to become strong enough to date Lera!”

“Woah woah, you gotta calm down. Counting your eggs before they even hatch? You’re even going at it on a first name basis. Be careful not to get smited by a red lightning!”

“Alright, enough talking. It’s already so late at night, we should sleep now.”

With that, they proceeded to find shelter in one of the tree trunks, and went to sleep. During their attempts to sleep, they couldn’t help but bawl out in tears knowing that they will not see their parents anymore.

***

“ake up… wake up… you bunch of sleeping logs. Wake up!”

“Aaaah!”

Both of them got startled out of their sleep from the gritty and sluggish voice.

“What the fuck! Is it you, the forest fucker who tried to kill us? I’m telling you, Lera’s got our back! If she finds out that anything happened to us, she will destroy you!” John shouted.

“Alright alright! Stop panicking! And who said that I was trying to kill you in the first place?”

“?????”

“I knew that the two of you obviously are important people, because you both were encapsulated in blocks of divine ice. Heck, I was only able to obtain spirituality and acquire an ego because of the strong influence of that ice block. I was just trying to catch you guys in an attempt to secure some benefits. What’s wrong with that?”

“...Then how do you explain the utterly lacking population of animals in this great forest of yours?”

“Stop saying as if I am a separate entity from the forest. I AM the forest. Anyways, ahem, I was simply absorbing some of the magical beasts’ vitalities in order to properly ascend. I definitely wouldn’t have done anything to the two of you though, because both of you were delicate trading chips. Sigh… However, all of this ended when my manipulation of trees were viewed as actions of malice and almost died when that crazy bi-...Cough, I mean, Dragon of Destruction shot that laser beam to my core. I was given a big shock since I’ve never been defeated since the moment my ego was born.”

“Hol up, there’s a lot of questions that I want to ask. But first, please lead us out of you. It kind of gross being inside you for more than a week,” John replied.

“You didn’t have to put it that way! But yes, the reason why I interacted with both of you is to escort you both out and prevent any mishaps from happening to me. Let me lead the way as I answer your questions.”

As promised, the Forest of Forbidden Peace answered all of John’s questions as he and Kano walked according to his direction. During the walk, he found out that it has several unique traits. First of all, it cannot attack any intruders within 13 days unless they were to harm or damage it. It was bound by those 13 days since its birth, so it had been trying to do something about it. It also has an active illusion spell casted. This was the main reason why they couldn’t get out despite walking for days, since this forest wasn’t big in the first place. Most monsters have been killed off since the moment of its birth, and the only remaining few monsters that were left were exceedingly strong ones, exceedingly weak ones, or those that just entered. It was also used as an execution ground by a nearby Empire called the Encedea Empire. Those who entered too deep into the forest never left it, so often criminals would be left in there as people who were banished from the empire, when in fact they were really just getting executed. It usually just kills them straight away after 13 days, less the damage they dealt to the forest, since they were criminals. It felt that it couldn’t stoop low enough to talk with criminals.

It also taught them how the white orb works. The orb is basically an artifact that is capable of assisting a person’s cultivation. It helps to purify the surrounding mana when activated, and condenses mana around, making it an extremely precious treasure. It also does not know to what extent can it help them, all it said was that it would help.

John also asked about the cultivation standards of the world and more, but the forest was not able to answer, since it did not know the cultivation standards too. It always killed people off before they could even share any information, and the only entities that it could compare itself with was with the monsters residing in it and the executed criminals. It was basically trolling for the last 1000 years of being alive. The forest seemed like it was having fun speaking to John while Kano was just quietly listening. It must have been talkative after finding someone to talk to, and was busy sharing more information when it finally stopped talking.

“The two of you have reached the borders of the forest. It is time for both of you to go.”

“Alright man, it was nice chatting with you, uhhh, what’s your name again?”

“I do not have a name, all you need to know is that I am the Forest of Forbidden Peace. H-however, if you insist on giving me a name, I do not mind..”

‘It seems that even a forest could become shy, it’s acting kinda cute,’ thought John.

“Well, since today was your first time interacting with us, you woke us up rudely this morning, and you’re basically a forest, I’ll give you the name Morning Wood.”

“Pfft!”

Kano accidentally bursted out in laughter, only to quickly hold it back in.

“Hmm, the logic behind the name is questionable, but Morning Wood has a nice ring to it. I shall use this name that you have given me. Now, it’s time for you guys to move on to the next chapter of your new life.”

“Indeed it is due time. I’ll come and visit you from time to time, so don’t feel too lonely!”

“Hmph, who needs your visit! I’ve been alone for over a 1000 years anyways!”

Morning Wood extended one of the tree’s branches and gently pushed them forward. They walked forward, and were able to see a different scenery. The gigantic trees were no more, and the old gritty voice was no more too. It opened up into a giant plain with gentle slopes and colorful flowers. Civilisation could be seen in the distance.

Both of them took in a breath of fresh air, and shouted their lungs out together.

“FREEDOM!!!”