Their plan succeeded, barely. At some point they were viciously attacked by the surrounding trees out of nowhere and a good few of the devils had died instantly, Sinbad himself would have shared the same fate if he wasn’t protected. But they were able to quickly grab the attention of the tree by shouting out their proposition, putting a pause to the attacks.
As planned, they offered the lives of some of the devils in exchange for safety within the forest and even suggested a time limit, and then they further offered to extend the limit by promising to bring more prey for the tree. Most creatures didn’t approach this forest so it was probably something the tree would find useful.
The tense moments that the Tree didn’t respond were something Sinbad would never forget, but eventually, it did.
【SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT】
That was the message that changed his life forever.
“Sinbad.” called out a gaudy voice. Dıscover more novels at novel~fire~net
He turned to his right and looked at the tall and pale Blood Fae that had been his partner for several years now. 13 years ago, a branch of the Fae race led by this man had stumbled upon the Forest and he too had received the gift of Apostleship. His name was Ikola.
Just like the devils under Sinbad that received a Bloodline from the Blood Tree, the Fae under Ikola also obtained a Bloodline. Now they were no longer regular devils or Fae, but instead Red devils and Blood Fae. This was the blessing of the Venerable Blood Tree.
The name ‘Demonic Blood Tree’ had long been forsaken. Now it was called the Venerable by most, or ‘The True Tree of Life’ by some of the more passionate Fae like Ikola.
Ikola himself had actually received a greater boon from his Apostleship that even Sinbad was jealous of. He had obtained the Blood Tree Apostle Physique, something that was at the heart-wrenching Heaven Grade.
When the male had first arrived he had possessed tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair, grey eyes and a pair of blue-green wings. His forehead had also been quite large.
But now, he had pale skin, back-length red hair, luminous red eyes, and was much taller than before. He was even taller than Sinbad, but not as muscular. He had a lanky build. His forehead… was still large. Perhaps even larger.
His wings had obviously changed as well, but the change was even greater than the other Fae. Not only were they larger than anyone else's, but unlike the previous butterfly appearance that the other Fae had retained, his wings now took the appearance of that of a bird’s, but instead of feathers there were red leaves. Furthermore, there were 2 pairs of the wings with the 2nd pair underneath being slightly smaller, but within both of them you could see something that looked like dark branches or vines.
Sinbad probably would have received the same thing for becoming an Apostle but he already had a Physique and such things could not be changed. He reckoned it was like trying to swap out someone's bones with another set. Technically it was probably possible, but expecting to survive it was a pipe dream.
At least, Sinbad had received something in exchange. He didn’t know it at the time but the increase to his cultivation from the Apostleship contract was a lot higher than it should have been. When Ikola had arrived, that had been made very clear.
Still, Sinbad couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. After all, not only were the wings extremely powerful, but they were a direct sign of how close one was to the Venerable. Sinbad was the leader of them all because of his superior cultivation, unique capabilities and status as the first Apostle, along with his experience. But it was truly Ikola who stood the closest to the Venerable.
“What?” He asked the male.
Ikola flapped his wings once, his own version of a shrug but not one without boast. “Your stress is showing, bloodren. I suggest you indulge in the dance of life before coming up with any plans.”
He held his hands up as if he was grabbing onto something and began thrusting his hips.
“, . I promise that you’ll feel better before you know it.” His already flamboyant accent even more obnoxious than before. “The dance of life is-”
“Get away from me before I cut off your penis you Beast. Do you not have any shame in shaking that thing around?” Sinbad huffed.
“Why should I be ashamed?” He asked as he began twisting his hips from left to right and back. “Perhaps you may not see it but this is a grand treasure that has brought pleasure to many and life to quite a few. Even the Great Venerable of Life has given it a good rating! It is actually a great offense that you would call it a ‘thing’, bloodren, and I do not appreciate-”
“You stinking blood clot, you had sex with the Venerable?” Sinbad asked, his eyes widened.
“What?” Ikola paused, momentarily confused, but then realisation appeared on his face. “Ah. No. We were sharing Krishna and she complimented my immaculate performance.” He said with a smug grin.
Sinbad sideyed him. “Both you and your sister are freaks. Us devils like to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh and you Fae have adopted that, but you and your sister… Too much.”
“How rude. You sound like Aurin. Tch. If only you were more like the Venerable. She is the greatest dancer of this profound art and even I cannot hope to match her, and that is despite her only using one half of her prowess. Isn’t she amazing?”
“Is blood red?” Sinbad deadpanned.
“Haha! You do crack me up, bloodren-”
“I do no such thing-”
“If only she could sire children. Haah…” Ikola sighed. “Just imagine how precious the little ones would be. They would be like brilliant stars in the night sky!” He exclaimed as he gripped his arms in excitement. Then he froze.
“Hey, do you think that it could happen if she used her-”
“Forget it. If you really want to help her then prepare for battle. A chance like never before has appeared before us and we must grasp it tightly. When we achieve the freedom to walk out of this forest without worrying about death, we will have more opportunities to find a solution to the Venerable’s dilemma.”
“Yes, yes, that. But also, she likes you very much. I’m sure that if you tried then you could convince her to- hey, where are you going? Hey!”
{𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡’𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: I’ve come to the realisation that I spend too much time on flashbacks and the like and that it’s affecting the pace of the story. This is something that I intend to rectify so please bear with this humble King. See you on the next one.}