We left to find Rosenea and entered a section of Yggdrasil Woods called the Forest of Absence. Taken by the name alone, it's probably very easy to get lost here.
"The Forest of Absence, there's a legend that comes with this place...a creepy legend that my mom used to always tell." Titania said.
"Legend?" Serafina asked.
"C-Creepy?" Takame asked in an afraid manner.
"The Legend goes like this, The Forest of Absence is a forest where your tracks can not be found. Once you enter, you can not escape until you've found the exit which is the Temple of Yggdrasil. If you find the exit within five days, your soul will not be taken by the evil spirit that rules over the Forest of Absence. If you get lost and can't find your way, your soul will belong to the evil spirit unless someone finds you and takes you to the exit." Titania said.
Takame was practically shaking and held her arms. She felt a bit chilly and rubbed her arms. "I-I don't want to be lost.."
"My sister has been here for two days. Three more days and she would be what we call...a Living Puppet, Soullless, a Shell." Titania said.
"Is there a way to beat this?" Freya asked.
"Ignore the pathways that have whispering. The whispering is the Deity of Soul Removal speaking to you, trying to convince you to follow his voice. The Deity of Souls is omnipresent. He can haunt multiple places at once, but his voice or whispers can't be everywhere. I haven't been here before so I don't know the correct path to the Temple by heart, but I do know how to avoid him. I just wonder...what is his plan and if he's helping King Icas.." Titania said.
"This will be trickier than I hopped to imagine." Gideon said.
A thick fog began to form and obstruct our view. Everyone exclaimed and stopped walking then looked around. The fog cleared and I looked around. Everyone was gone and I looked surprised.
The Crest of Deviation shined on my hand. "Shiryo...The Deity of Souls has separated everyone, leaving you alone. He knows that you're the strongest of them all."
"Is he an enemy I've fought before?" I asked.
"He's a Deity helping King Icas to obtain the Crests protecting Earth. Rosenea weilds the Crest of Botany as she's the princess who is the direct descendant of Yggril. We have to hurry and her before-"
"Ragnarok...Your bloodline has made a mockery of me for many years! Now...it is time for that to end. I have already sent your friends to the Temple of Yggdrasil. You however, after what your father did to me...You will have only an hour to find Rosenea and take her to the Temple of Yggdrasil.." The Deity of Souls said.
"Why are you doing this? What is your goal within helping King Icas?" I asked.
"True Freedom from my containment on Earth. As the Manipulator of Souls, I can do anything with a being's soul and turn them into whoever I want." The Deity of Souls said and laughed. "Time's ticking...you better hurry or Rosenea's and your soul will be mine along with your Crests..."
I grunted softly and ran ahead. The tricky part about this is I know how to get to the Temple, but finding Rosenea will be difficult since she's lost in the forest.
The Crest of Magology shined on my other hand. "Hello again, darling~ You can use my help in this~ Just use my power to find Rosenea and save both yourself and her."
"Thanks Circe." I smiled. I used the Crest of Magology to grant myself the power of Plant Magic. I closed my eyes and used an ability called Floral Dowsing to track Rosenea's aura.
Esta looked around and noticed I was the only one who wasn't here. "Guys, Shiryo isn't here!"
"What?!" Freya asked in shock.
"It's the curse of the forest. The entire forest is another entity ruled by the Deity of Souls. The entity ruling the Forest of Absence is within this Temple." Titania said.
"Why did they only take Shiryo?" Gideon asked.
"I have no idea, but my guess would be because he's a Ragnarok. His father was well known for stopping the Deity of Souls multiple times and even freeing the more important souls. The Deity of Souls once took his soul, but Shiryo's father's will was so powerful he was able to operate without a soul and defeated the Deity of Souls." Titania said.
"We have to search for him..! Yeah he's powerful, but if he gets lost...we will never see him again." Takame said then prepared to enter the Forest of Absence until Serafina grabbed her arm.
"Don't be an idiot. If you go out there and search for him, you will be lost and we will never see you again." Serafina said.
"Our best option right now is to wait until he shows up with Rosenea hopefully." Titania said.
I dodged multiple bullet seeds from the artillery roses then fired magic beams at them and destroyed them. I rolled forward then stopped on one knee. I smirked and stood up.
"Still have the moves I see..~" Circe said and giggled.
"I guess it just happened when I turned my brain off and just used my instincts." I said then ran ahead. I whistled a tune and Blitz neighed loudly and galloped behind me.
I jumped jumped and landed on Blitz's back then summoned my iron sword and shield then began to cut my path while still following Rosenea's aura trail.
"Blitz! Awaken your Flash Mode!" I commanded.
Blitz neighed loudly then his body shined yellow then he began to gallop at lightning speeds and dodged the incoming attacks with ease. Blitz wasn't a normal horse, he was a Mythical Horse known as the Yellow Flash Stallion. He had two modes he could go into Flash Mode and Flash Alicorn Mode. Flash Alicorn Mode was 500% faster than Flash Mode and allowed Blitz to turn into an Alicorn.
An army of plant demons appeared in front of us. I smirked and my eyes shined. I tapped into my Ragnarok State and my Ragnarok Energy surrounded both me and Blitz.
"Blitz! Ragnarok Charge!" I commanded and Blitz neighed loudly then began to charge forward then began to ram through the army of plant demons with ease.
A giant plant demon used his defense to try and block us. I bellowed and went into 20% of my Ragnarok State. The plant demons roared and kept pushing to stop us, but Blitz neighed loudly and began to break through the defenses.
"Destroy him!" I bellowed and Blitz neighed and charged straight through the demon's body. The demon groaned loudly and exploded.
Rosenea heard the sound of Blitz's galloping and looked back at us then Blitz stopped and neighed, getting up on his hind legs. I looked at Rosenea and smiled at her. She looked up at me and blushed.
Rosenea was a woman with long green and yellow hair, beautiful green eyes, and glowing white flower crown on her head. She was mostly naked, wearing only a leaf bra and panties with vines wrapped around her arms.
I held my hand out to her and she stood up then took my hand. "Come on up, it's time to get out of here."
Rosenea nodded and grunted as she got on Blitz's back and wrapped her arms around my waist. I clicked my teeth then Blitz galloped ahead. The Deity of Souls made his whispers loud to disorient us, but the Crest of Tranquility protected us from his tricks.
"Ignore his voice." The Crest of Tranquility said.
"I know Su Ha." I told him.
We ignored his voice and Blitz ran in the direction in which the Deity's voice wasn't present. More plant demons were summoned to stop us and one was a volatile demon who exploded and blew us away. Blitz gave a pained neigh and I groaned as I fell off Blitz's back. Rosenea grunted loudly and fell off his back as well.
I slowly stood up and looked up then noticed the army of demons in front of us. "Heh...so you're playing dirty huh..?"
"What can I say? You were doing too well.." The Deity of Souls said.
"Well if you want to play dirty...I can too." I said then awakened all eight of my Minor Crests then fused them together, creating the Minor Crest of Ascension and bellowed then transformed into my Ascended Form. Wings of iridescent light manifested on my back and the Crest of Ascension shined on my chest.
Rosenea looked at me in awe and stayed back from the battle and kept the injured Blitz away from the battle as well.
"You can't win anymore..." I said in a serious tone.
"Oh really..? Your power has increased greatly. It feels like a Tier 6-B now...No matter I've taken souls that powerful before! You won't escape this forest!" The Deity of Souls said then commanded all of his units to attack.
I had a memory of Galatea doing the same thing. I smirked and vanished then all of his units began to drop like flies. I appeared above a flying demon then used my sword to slice them in half. I aimed an energy ball at them and made it grow in size. "Disappear." I said then made the energy ball into a large fireball then fired it at the plant demons and the fireball exploded setting part of the area ablaze.
I landed on the ground and exhaled. I walked back to Rosenea and noticed her healing Blitz and sensed a hidden attack then turned around then caught the wodden spike and used my aura to set it ablaze and the plant demon gave a pained scream as their body began to burn.
"Three minutes remain.." The Deity of Souls laughed.
I glared and looked back at Rosenea. Blitz was extremely hurt from the explosion and Rosenea was using her vines to stitch up the wounds. I noticed more plant demons being summoned and sighed. I couldn't stay in this form for too much longer or else my body would grow too tired. I had to defend Rosenea for as long as I could while she healed Blitz, and the Deity of Souls knew that fact and sent more units to tire me out.
I rushed into battle and defeated the plant demons before they could reach Rosenea and began to feel a bit tired. Rosenea watched me and sensed I growing tired. I fell onto one knee and panted. The Ascended Form was taking a lot of my energy, more energy than I imagined.
"Your stamina is decreasing very rapidly because of your body's poor stamina to such powers. You have to preserve your energy to escape with her." Alethea said.
"I have to keep going..! If I die here.." I said.
"I can reset reality for you." Alethea said.
"And start over? When I've already made it here? No...I won't quit!" I bellowed and stood up.
"Time's up." The Deity of Souls laughed. "Your soul is now mine!"
I bellowed and the Crest of Ascension shined and granted me and Rosenea the ability of Soul Anchoring. This cancelled out the Deity's Soul Removal ability. "As long as I'm standing...I will not let you win!"
"Soul Anchoring. The Crest of Deviation can even grant you immunities to powers huh? Well it looks like I'll have to tire you out even more!" The Deity of Souls said then summoned more units on the field.
I looked at the units and panted then noticed one of my wings had vanished. "Heh...I don't need to fly anyways." I said then prepared my weapon for battle.
The situation was more dire than ever. For the first time in my existence, I felt helpless. I didn't want to combine my Ragnarok State with my Ascended Form because it would only tire me out more. I just stayed with only my Ascended Form until Rosenea finished healing Blitz because he was our ticket in getting out of here. Now that time was up, I needed to use more energy to keep up the Soul Anchoring so he wouldn't steal our souls. This is where willpower comes into play and where I prove if I'm a true Ragnarok or not.