The Red Rose and The Black Rose

Dont watched with sweat dripping down her forehead as the giant tree devoured the dead trees around it.

It didn't seem to have noticed them yet, or it didn't register them as hostile for the moment...

Alucard was on high alert, weapon raised and his golden helmet in place, ready to defend Dont, while she had bullets ranging from tier 8 to 10 and various configurations to test the tree's resistances. 

A bullet with the power of a [Meteor Fall] should suffice as an explosive attack with tier 8 fire damage.

But as long as the monster didn't attack, there shouldn't be a problem waiting for reinforcements.

She knew about Miia's offensive team thanks to a report from Bachelory, and it was good to know, but she wanted to save it in case those guys with World Class Items showed up, and if the enemy was only level 100 like a Player, then a group of 5 max-level members should be enough, unless that tree was something like a World Champion or something.

A group of [Gate] portals appeared behind her.

Achernar and Miia, along with Echidna, emerged first, instantly kneeling before Dont.

"Lady Dont. We have come at your call." They said in unison, as if they had practiced...

Dont quickly considered what the duo could do in this situation, but someone else came out of the portal.

It was Black Abyss.

Bitterness filled her heart, but she pushed it aside. It wasn't time for disputes or annoyances.

Black Abyss looked up, taking in the full extent of the gigantic tree without showing much emotion at seeing something like that... After all, her mood didn't even allow her to feel emotions about it...

"I'd usually like to see protected species. But why is that tree moving? I haven't heard of this type of species from anyone in E-Rantel." Black Abyss exclaimed, taking out her shield and halberd stored on her back with mechanical and unenthusiastic movements, like a robot...

Dont was about to respond, but the tree roared loudly, causing the earth to tremble.

"... I don't know. But I used [Demon Eyes] and that thing has an HP that exceeds the limit... Not to the point of being a Yggdrasil Boss, but it could have the strength of a level 100 being. I found it inactive, and suddenly it woke up." Dont explained quickly while keeping an eye on the tree, carefully watching its movements. "Achernar, for the moment, watch the perimeter. Notify us if anything approaches. Eyesight will do the same. If that Riku arrives, then we'll be ready too." She said with confidence.

"Yes! I won't allow anyone to dare disturb the Supremes!" The Commander accepted the order with conviction and vanished into the shadows.

"Well, it doesn't seem aggressive." Black Abyss remarked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the tree. "If you ask me, it's just like a Bear when someone enters its cave. But... Why was this thing here in the first place? And although the same could be asked of you, it's harder for a 100-meter-tall tree to escape us." Black Abyss said, looking at the gigantic trunk with a sigh and a raised eyebrow.

One of the tree's tentacle branches moved quickly towards the group shortly after those words, causing Dont to change her weapon configuration and shoot towards the tentacle.

The bullet hit, causing a strong pushback effect that neutralized the blow with a powerful force shock. It wasn't meant to cause damage... But the branch showed some damage.

"... That was..." Dont blinked, somewhat... Confused. That was... Slower than she expected... But well, she could excuse it because of the size of that thing.

(My queen. I have found a Dryad. She doesn't seem strong, and she's terrified.) Eyesight's voice reached her mind.

"Bring her. Use forced teleportation." She ordered seriously.

Another gigantic branch struck from the side towards Alucard.

The knight prepared his sword, the Ideal of Knight, Gawain, a legendary weapon with most of the hilt covered in gold, its blade adorned with golden and black decorations before reaching the pure white blade at the tip.

{Ideal of Knight, Gawain PNG}

The knight was ready to use a skill, but he saw Black Abyss stepping in front of him. The Angel raised her shield and received the attack head-on, not budging an inch, while with a push of her arm, she sent the branch flying with great force, causing it to break more dead trees around.

"Well, it's begun. Better finish this quickly, I don't want too much climate impact from all this tree destruction." Black Abyss sighed irritably towards the tree.

Dont nodded silently, then looked to the side, hearing a confused 'Eh!?'.

She looked at the small green creature... Indeed, it was a Dryad... A very weak one, or at least it seemed so... But for a being primarily dedicated to Druidic magic, ironically speaking, to be so easily teleported by force didn't demonstrate true power.

"You! What do you think you're doing here?" Alucard accused the small creature, more for the Supremes' safety than out of genuine suspicion.

"E-E-Eh?! N-No, no! A-Are you the humans who came to deal with Zy'tl Q'ae!?" Dont raised an eyebrow. Not only was she being compared to a human, but the content of the Dryad's words was surprising.

"Against what? Do you know what that tree is, Dryad?" She asked seriously, keeping an eye on the monster.

"Y-Yes! O-Of course, I do! I-It's a powerful plant monster that could be one of the Demon Gods that awakened! I-It's an incredibly powerful existence capable of destroying the world!" The Dryad cried, looking towards the monster, intimidated by Dont and spilling everything quickly and stuttering.

"Tch! That shrill voice! You're giving me a headache... Just stay back, I'll protect you. Questions can wait until later." Black Abyss growled frustrated and annoyed... Although it seemed that she was only expressing a fraction of the total of how annoyed she was...

Dont clicked her tongue at Black Abyss's words, and indeed, the monster's screeching irritated her further.

With a slight growl, she aimed her weapon at Zy'tl Q'ae and fired.

The group blinked as the monster immediately froze, without resistance.

"... That was a tier 9 immobilization bullet..." She murmured, looking towards the tree.

Black Abyss sighed, leaping powerfully towards the tree and striking it with her halberd, causing a large piece of bark to fall off, revealing the wood composing the tree.

The Paladin raised an eyebrow at the damage caused, and although it was a tree, its bark should be like its natural armor... 

It was... Odd for it to fall so easily from an entity supposedly of such caliber as to destroy the world... So she delivered another attack, causing a cut in the wood before leaping back, propelled by the tree, and landing on the ground.

"Huh... It doesn't have as much... Resistance to physical damage and status effects as I imagined." Dont frowned... This was... Well, a great disappointment for her expectations.

The tree wasn't showing a defense worthy of a level 100 monster specializing in tanking based on its HP... Even if it were something like a Berserker or a glass cannon, it should be able to withstand immobilizations like that... Her bullet was meant to slow, not immobilize. Since the total effect was that, in reality, it would only slightly reduce the target's speed if the effect failed. Maybe it had level 80 defense? Or maybe...

Was… Was its stats really badly distributed? Did it have all its stats in something like magical defense? Special? Physical or magical attack? It didn't seem to use magic... And Black Abyss didn't seem to take damage when she blocked the tree's blow... So it would be silly to improve magical damage and not use it...

Or maybe... Was she really exaggerating in her paranoia? That Riku really affected her. After all, he was someone of approximately level 90.

She configured her weapon for a tier 8 attack and fired.

The explosive damage bullet hit the tree, shattering the piece of bark easily.

"... Miia, send Echidna to attack the tree. You shoot as necessary. Alucard, don't stray from me or Miia. Protect us." She ordered in the strategy that seemed best to her...

"Yes!" Miia nodded monotonously, while the mecha armor behind her reacted and advanced on its own with overwhelming speed, its lance in hand.

Alucard positioned himself defensively in front of the pair of long-range attackers, activating some defense reinforcement abilities.

Dont didn't want to brag, but Echidna was surely one of the best things to come out of the Yggdrasil's DLC worldwide. A Divine-class Mecha.

She remembered how the three creators of Miia, alongside with the guild's blacksmith, spent a lot of time doing Echidna…

She shook her thoughts away, it wasn't the time for that.

Achernar gave no signs, nor did Eyesight, so they must be less tense.

She squinted when she saw the tree suddenly shake off the immobilization effect, screaming with fury and pain... Maybe. Its tentacles moved angrily with a bit more speed than before...

But it was still too slow.

Both Black Abyss and Echidna, the two closest to Zy'tl Q'ae, were able to easily dodge the monster tree's attacks.

"Hm... Based on its defense, endurance, and speed... I'd give it a level 70-80... But with its HP... Maybe it's more like level 80-90 with just excessive HP?" Dont murmured, quite... Disappointed... And to think she got alarmed to this level over such... A thing...

But it had to be admitted that it was strange to find something with so much HP but be so weak...

"Ha... Miia, Alucard... My apologies. I got you alarmed over something so pathetic." She sighed resignedly.

"Don't apologize, Lady Dont." Miia replied almost desperately, but she remained monotone.

"N-Not at all, my queen! A-At least it allowed us to have a drill in case we really encounter a threat." Alucard replied, trying to uplift Dont's mood.

Of course, neither of the two Commanders thought less of Dont for this. After all, she was a Supreme Lady, so at least the Demon Queen could be more at ease.

Still, Dont sighed as she looked at the tree. She aimed her weapon and fired. 

Her bullet hit the root of one of its tentacles, cutting it off. 

It didn't regenerate.

"... Black Abyss, Echidna, you can feel free not to exert yourselves too much. It's not as strong as it seemed." Dont shouted so they could hear her at such a distance. 

None paid attention to how the Dryad started screeching a bunch of things based on Dont's words. 

After all, for the inhabitants of this world, this tree must certainly be monstrously strong...

But well, the number of creatures in Titania that could match or surpass the strength of this tree was... Heh~ Fortunately, no one said anything to that Dryad at that moment.

"Yes, I can tell." Black Abyss said as she easily dodged the tree's blows and roots towards her with some annoyance. "And I had a free heart attack thinking it was a Boss..." She growled, delivering a strong blow with her halberd, cutting several branches and causing a large gash in the tree trunk, which shook in its entirety.

"What's with that amount of HP? It's really deceptive..." Dont complained, approaching without a problem towards Black Abyss, much to Alucard's nervousness as he started to move to follow his queen, while technically also needing to be with Miia. 

The Daemon even took the liberty of cutting another of the huge roots with another bullet without much effort.

Fortunately for Alucard, Miia saw Dont move and began using an endless class ability that allowed her to instantly move to a place after shooting, just to keep up with Dont while silver light projectiles pierced the bark of the monstrous tree thanks to Miia's shots.

No one really paid attention to how Echidna attacked the tree with a certain level of ferocity, using medium-level heavy firepower in the form of missiles and lasers that burned and shattered the bark and more of the tree. Even many of its leaves were burning.

Black Abyss sighed tiredly, jumping back out of the tree's reach.

"I faced an Event Boss that exceeded my power by 10 times and defeated it, this is an insult to a PvE enthusiast." Black Abyss spat, annoyed, storing her halberd behind her back.

"Well, it's certainly disappointing." Dont shared her annoyance once close enough. "However, I guess we eventually would have had to deal with whatever this thing is..." She tried to soften the irritation. "It was killing the forest anyway, and that Dryad said something about it being able to destroy the world or something. And while it's not as strong, it could deplete the planet of plants more than destroy it by brute force."

The tree roared as it spat out huge seeds the size of a house towards the group.

Alucard stepped in and used a couple of skills.

"[Destroy Arrow]! [Disperse Projectile]!" At his words, he swung his sword towards the seeds, and they disintegrated into powder practically, without resistance.

"Well, it's clear that it's a great exaggeration on the Dryad's part, like someone I know. Better finish this. Miia, use all your power." Black Abyss said to the NPC.

Dont frowned... This had to end.

"Miia. Take Echidna and get away to charge your attack. Alucard, follow her. I have something to talk to Black Abyss about."

The pair of Commanders looked at each other, with Alucard grimacing, and Miia as expressionless as ever. But they looked at Dont and nodded. They were Commanders, and they would obey the Supremes' orders.

Echidna backed away on her owner's order with a propulsion of bright silver and gold flames as Miia jumped onto the armor even while it was in flight. The duo quickly headed back to where they were before, where Eyesight left everyone, leaving Black Abyss and Dont alone...

Alucard moved away from the pair of Supremes with leaps so powerful that they left craters, while closing the distance with Miia to protect her.

"Let the Hanzos and company cover their ears, this is private. Eyesight, you too, look away." The Queen of Titania spoke again.

Black Abyss crossed her arms and let out a sigh. "Well, I'm listening to your monologue." She exclaimed indifferently towards Dont.

The Demon looked at Black Abyss with eyes... Full of discomfort, and sighed.

"... Okay, you're right. I shouldn't have hidden anything from you from the start…" Dont said, looking apologetically to the side, then pointing a finger to that side. "[Hellfire Ball]." She exclaimed, sending a red fireball shooting towards a tentacle of the tree, making it writhe and scream monstrously.

"I admit I didn't expect you to admit it." Black Abyss said, glancing at her after blocking a gigantic branch aimed at both of them with her shield, which fell to the ground when Alucard cut it from afar with a long-distance cutting skill.

"... I... Ugh, you have to admit you would resist and complain a lot if I mentioned the projects to you! Even if their intention was positive in the long run for Titania." Dont grumbled as she took a large dagger from her inventory and plunged it into Zy'tl Q'ae's bark, causing it to start burning red-hot as it slowly but steadily charred.

"Well, yes, I admit it too, I would have resisted because I'm part of the guild. Just as I admit it's infuriating that you made decisions about Titania's future as if it belonged solely to you." Black Abyss exclaimed angrily, pulling out her lance and aiming it towards a gigantic root that tried to strike her, being carbonized by the beam of light that came out of it.

"I never did it as if it belonged to me! I was just doing my job... The dirty work…" Dont sighed. "Look. You're an Angel paladin with a positive karma of 500. And you showed a notable change in attitude since we arrived at something more... Pious, so to speak." The Demon raised her weapon and fired twice at the tree, freezing two of its large tentacles that it still had. "And I didn't want to risk... You becoming violent anyway. And even with NPCs with positive karma, this was dangerous... We still don't know if they can rebel, and with potential threats out there... I don't want us to be vulnerable…"

"You can't help but think only of yourself, can you?" Black Abyss asked with almost inquisitive eyes. "Do you think I had no concerns for the NPCs with negative karma? And yet I did only one thing, observe. I saw that everyone acts in one way, absolute worship, and yet when supposedly you were worried about us being vulnerable, you used the position I left you to do whatever you pleased in Titania. Is my anger unjustified?" Black Abyss exclaimed, stomping with irritation on a last root that tried to hit them.

Dont groaned with... guilt, and grunted with annoyance as she was forced to change the configuration of her weapon to shoot at the annoying tree. 

A massive explosion of fire and poison covered several meters of the tree's bark, leaving a large hole as Zy'tl Q'ae roared with its own anger at the miniature nuclear explosion it received.

"I don't know! I don't understand emotions or people! I just want everything to go back to the way it was because I don't want to lose anyone! I don't have my sister anymore, or any of the other guild members!... I don't want to be alone again…" Her voice returned to a deep heaviness as she lowered her weapon, looking at the ground with trembling eyes.

Black Abyss pulled out her lance and fired it towards the gigantic tree, piercing it on one side where the large hole Dont had made was, breaking that part completely, causing half of the tree to fall to one side, held only on one side.

The Paladin sighed, looking at Dont.

"So, what now? What will you do to make that happen?" She asked, not as annoyed as before.

"... I don't know… What do you want me to do...? I already gave you a report with each and every one of the projects and things that are being done inside and outside of Titania... I'll make sure you get daily, weekly reports, or whatever... Although it was you who said you didn't want them because they are tedious." Dont murmured, not knowing what to do. She didn't know what she should do... She needed guidance, she needed Black Abyss to tell her what she wanted... Dont wasn't good at reading emotions or desires...

Black Abyss looked at Dont for a moment, sighing again after staring at her for a few seconds.

"Just don't do what you did again. If that's not difficult. If you do that, I promise things will go back to... Normal, I suppose." The Paladin said, scratching her cheek. "After all, when I found out about all that, I really felt that the only person I could trust was basically a traitor. I saw you as a closer danger even than the NPCs with negative 500 karma." She explained with a sigh and her own heaviness...

Dont looked at Black Abyss in silence for a moment, incredibly hurt and affected by... That...

"... Yes…" Dont let out as she saw the only thing that would allow her to escape this void. The only thing that would make Black Abyss forgive her. Dont would do whatever it takes for that. Because Black Abyss was her friend… Her only friend… "There will be no more… Secrets… I swear… I promise… You are… The only person I trust with all my being, Black Abyss…" Admitted the Demon Queen, with small tears hanging from the corners of her eyes.

"Umu." Black Abyss exclaimed affirmatively towards Dont, while her halberd reappeared in her hand, placing it on her back, floating as if it were hooked to something next to the shield. "Now let's finish this, the noises of that thing are drilling into my head." The Paladin said with a slight smile towards Dont.

"Ahem. [Message]." Dont placed a couple of fingers on her temple as she fired a bullet with force to neutralize a branch. "Miia, if you're done, prepare an attack that will wipe out this thing."

Dont received the affirmative response, and closed the message.

"Well, we better move." Dont suggested.

Black Abyss turned around, walking in the opposite direction of the giant tree alongside Dont, until they were at a safe distance where there would be no problem with its attack and staying out of its range.

...

Miia, one of the commanders of Titania, obeyed perfectly her queen's order.

She asked for an attack that would immediately end the enemy, and such a thing Miia would give.

So she used one of her abilities... One of the ones that dealt the most damage.

"Echidna." She called monotonously. The mecha armor looked at her. "[Full Critic] [Activate Offensive: Ganymedes]" With the use of the first ability, the second...

Thousands and thousands of kilometers above the surface... Something that should never be there appeared, as if by magic.

An object of a technological level above everything that the New World could have ever seen, activated.

Back to the battlefield, it didn't take much for the attack that would end the battle to arrive.

And from the sky, a pillar of pure light fell to the ground like an incredible apparition.

The sheer power emanating from the pillar uprooted hundreds and thousands of trees around, even pushing Alucard slightly, who grabbed the Dríada from before and covered her with his cloak to prevent her from dying, despite being in shock from absolute aneurysmal trauma from the total unilateral combat brutality where the giant tree was easily defeated.

The brutal power of the attack could even turn night into day during its duration, which was a total of 5 seconds, before the pillar disappeared, as if it had never existed... Only that where the 'powerful' monstrous tree had been before, there was now a huge and deep crater about 10 kilometers in radius.

"Mission accomplished." She said monotonously, but with an excited gleam in her eyes. Echidna raised a fist in victory, and Alucard just sweated a drop as he looked at the Dríada he had protected, who had fainted from the emotional and psychological shock of what she had just witnessed.

Queen Dont and Lady Black Abyss would definitely praise her for a job well done. Miia could practically feel those pats already~

…

"... I meant an arrow or something… Not the damn satellite attack with [Full Critic]…" Dont grabbed her head as she looked at the destruction… She wanted her treehouse…

"Well, I kind of expected it. Although I thought it was a rod…" Black Abyss said with a drop of sweat on her forehead and a somewhat ironic smile.

"Ugh… She has one, but it's a tier 10 ability… At least she didn't use that thing Exile-Hell got for her… If she had used [Jupiter's Final Thunder], the area damage would have reached Titania…" Dont sighed as she remembered the ultimate ability that Exile-Hell boasted of having obtained for Miia… Even if it was completely useless in a defensive sense when it came to castle terrain…

If Titania was mostly underground, it could be useful, only damaging the 'first floor' or something like that, but when it was all on the surface…

"But the upside is clear. This is over~ Now let's go back. Riku will surely have heard about this after that final attack…" Black Abyss said, to which Dont widened her eyes upon seeing a slight smile on her face.

"... I actually doubt anyone missed a satellite attack like that… You do love those, huh~" Dont chuckled lightly. "Anyway… Hm… We might as well monitor this area, see if anyone strong comes by." Dont concluded as she sent a [Message] for a [Gate] to Eyesight.

She was about to move forward, but stopped, looking back at Black Abyss.

"... Shall we?" She asked somewhat shyly.

"If anyone dares to come, they'll go towards the crater. While we are far enough to see it without much risk of being seen. Unless you want to give up a strategic position, let's go~" She said, raising both hands, as she usually teased her.

Dont smiled, showing her teeth as she trotted towards Miia and Alucard. The portal was there anyway.

She used a [Message] to call back Achernar, but left a couple of Hanzos there just in case.

And finally, the Supremes were back, smiling.

.

.

.

Name: Miia 

Creators: Belerick, Juan∾, Exile-Hell

.

.

.