It was a vast, breathtaking world. A sky filled with endless swirling distant galaxies, rivers of light meandering in air, floating landmasses. It was a sight of pure brilliance and wonder.
This was the Spirit World. Reinhardt took in all the sights; even for him, this was the first time he invoked such a skill.
A while later, his eyes shifted towards the centre where a colossal, radiant tree stood. The tree towered above everything, its roots sinking into the very void and its branches reaching through the fabric of dimensions.
Its trunk was made of intertwined luminous vines, thousands, millions, billions of them, and each of them supported the weight of this entire plane.
"Divine Tree... Yggdrasil."
Reinhardt muttered, [Eyes of Divine Clarity] already activated. A second later, he sighed to himself and spoke gently.
"My friend, I need your help."
At that instant, the entire Spirit Realm trembled. A pulse spread from the Divine Tree across the endless canvas of the Spirit World. Then, one of the roots branched out, and through it emerged a lifeform completely made out of wood.
It stood around one metre tall, had emerald green eyes, and wore a crown.
No matter how you looked at it, the being appeared extremely adorable and harmless. However, it was this being who quietly carried a powerful ancient authority that was no different than the colossal tree itself.
"Holder of the Primordial Light, Dioanax’s chosen. How may this humble king serve you?"
The wood sprite; no, the Fairy King Asterius bowed.
Reinhardt smiled and explained his reasons for coming. "I require three things, my friend. The waters of the lake at your roots. The fire of your willows. And... the seed of Yggdrasil."
Each of the things he mentioned was extremely precious and a kind of treasure that even the most luckiest of man may not come across in their lifetime.
Yet in front of hsi demands, Asterious chuckled. A child like innocnese flahsed in his emerald eyes.
"So little? You honour me by restraint, Primordial Light."
The next second, a branch grew from his arm, curling gently before breaking off. The Fairy King held the branch towards him.
"Hear me, O Primordial Light. Ignite this, and the flames born shall be the Fire of the Willows, the same fire burning on Yggdrasil’s branches." It explained.
After that, Asterius made a grabbing motion, and a droplet of water flew over from the distant lake and seeped into the branch.
"From now on, any water this branch touches becomes the Waters of the Fairy Lake."
Finally, he cupped his hands, and a small, radiant seed floated out, glowing softly like a star.
"Here is the seed of Yggdrasil that you wanted."
Reinhardt did not stand on ceremony and took the items. He then expressed his gratitude to the Fairy King.
"It is my duty to aid the bearer of Primordial Light. If anything, I can only do so much to help you in the other world without a World Tree. I hope everything goes as you planned. If you can revive the World Tree in the other world, then it will have my protection and the blessing of Yggdrasil."
To gain not only the protection of the Fairy King but the blessing of the Divine Tree Yggdrasil too, it could be said that Reinhardt got more than what he came here for. After all, with the two boons from Asterius, fairies can now descend onto the world and make contracts with humans.
With this, humanity had gained another weapon against the demons.
Of course, all of it was a distant dream unless he revived the World Tree. For that to happen, the aid of that race is necessary.
With determination flashing in his eyes, he bade goodbye to the Fairy King and closed his eyes.
The world dissolved.
.
When Reinhardt opened his eyes again, he was back in the Audience Hall.
To everyone else, it looked as if he had simply blinked. Hardly a second or two had passed in the real world. Nevertheless, the fact that he still held the branch of the Divine Tree and its seed in his hand was proof that he had indeed travelled to the Spirit World in this short period of time.
Everyone glanced at Reinhardt with bated breath; the Queen had left the decision to him.
With everyone’s attention on him, the Divine Paladin lowered his hand and addressed the hall.
"Just as the minister stated, conspiring with demons is treason of the highest order, punishable by death. Evil festers in shadows, if we allow it to grow unchecked simply because it hides well... then we have already failed this kingdom."
His gaze swept across the nobles who had been named by Malmond, and every last one of them flinched.
As they thought, the Divine Paladin wasn’t going to let this go easily. However, that said, they were confident that he could not do anything to them without proof. If he laid a hand on them, he would only be seen as abusing his authority and power.
And this was a courtroom and not a battlefield.
Reinhardt was fully aware of what they were thinking; however, too bad for them, they could not hide behind the barrier of civility anymore.
A minister opened his mouth, perhaps to tell him about the gravity of pursuing this matter without proof. However, the Divine Paladin raised his hand and silenced the minister before the latter could even open his mouth.
"I am well aware that we do not have proof and we cannot simply act on Malmond’s words." Every person gathered here possessed influence, wealth, lineage, and networks that sprawled through the kingdom like roots. Taking any action against them would risk chaos. Which is why...
"I brought the proof."
His words confused everyone.
Ignoring them, Reinhardt turned towards the minister and asked him for a favour.
The latter was surprised by his sudden and unexpected demands. Nevertheless, he still fulfilled it, sending a few guards to fetch what he wanted.