"Wow. This area is completely gone." Joren was standing in the destroyed part of the forest alongside Lenny and Pantera. Looking at it from above, there would be a giant circular area devoid of life around thousands of trees. There weren't any trees, rocks, animals, plants, or any form of life in the area. Only the black, charred ground they were walking on.
"That explosion caused all of this?" Lenny was flabbergasted by the damage. Even if something was able to cause mass destruction like this, usually there was some form of life left, even if it was small.
"The infernal energy ate away all the mana here. It's nothing more than a wasteland. Well, a wasteland surrounded by forests, haha." Laughing, Joren walked over to the area which had the highest concentration of infernal energy.
"Since the tree was the cause of the land being barren, before the explosion, of course, the roots of the tree should be the main source of the problem. If I can purify the roots, then the land should heal. Can you help me Pantera?"
"You bet! After what happened, I'm embarrassed that I couldn't do more." sadness filled her eyes and she knelt down beside Joren.
"Don't worry, we got lucky. Don't beat yourself up over something like this. Use it to improve yourself. Now, let's not waste any time. I want you to use your wood magic and connect me to the tree roots."
Pantera placed her hand on where a tree stomp would be and activated her magic. The ground started to glow green as plants sprouted from the soil. But as they grew quickly, they withered just as fast.
"The infernal energy is interfering with my magic, all the plants die when I try to nurture them." She cried out
"Don't worry. I thought this would happen." He placed his hands on hers and poured divine energy into it. Although he couldn't activate the divine energy willingly, once his mana comes in contact with infernal energy, the divine energy automatically activates.
Again, Pantera used her magic to have the plant life grow in the area, and because of the divine energy, the plants didn't die once they sprouted from the soil. The roots of the tree started rising upward until turning into tree bark. It then kept growing and growing until after five minutes, it became a fully grown tree.
"Nice! This is just what I wanted." Joren stood up and placed his hand on the tree. Since divine energy stopped flowing into it, the tree started to wither, but Joren quickly channeled divine energy back into the tree.
The energy spread all throughout the tree, reaching its roots in no time. It cleansed all the infernal energy in its path not leaving even a small amount. Following the same method that the tree did, Joren extended the divine energy all through the land.
The soil spread the divine energy to other parts of the ground, which then spread to the roots of plants, which then spread to more plants until it covered the entire village and even the charred part of the forest. Life started to energy through the soil and the once-dead land was on track to rebirth more life in the future.
"Phew, our job here is done. Let's go back."
...
Far above the world was a city that looked as if it was sitting on the clouds. Outside of the blue sky, white and gold buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. The entire environment radiated divinity.
Over in one of the golden buildings, a handsome man with white hair was sitting behind a desk, piles of paper stacked to the nonexistent ceiling. He had work glasses on and judging by his expression, he hated paperwork.
As he laid his head on the desk, a beautiful purple-haired woman descended from the sky, white feathery wings protruding from her back and disappearing In a golden light as she landed. She approached the man and shared some news with him.
"He encountered what?!!!" The man shouted.
"A demon seed." A lady spoke.
"How is that possible?! Demons shouldn't be in the mortal realm. Aren't they still in hell?" He asked
"Yes."
"How the hell did a demon seed end up in the mortal realm" When he spoke the word 'hell' a powerful bolt of white lightning stuck him down, frying all the paper on his desk and singeing his face. His hair was fried off his head and he had burn marks on his attire.
"Fuck! What the heck man!" The man yelled at the sky, flicking off the entity that struck him.
"Father, you should know not to use the word 'He-ll' in heaven unless you're talking about the dwelling of the demons. You stay in the mortal realm too much."
"Well, it's better than being in this boring place." He snapped his fingers and adorned his handsome looks as if he wasn't struck by lightning. All the paper that was burned away, reformed on his desk as if nothing happened.
"So is Joren okay? He didn't die, did he?" he narrowed his eyes
"No, he's okay. He killed the person who ate the demon fruit. Albeit barely. He had to rely on the cress of a forgotten goddess."
"Good, good. All that matters is if he's alive." He was relieved his little friend was doing well. He wanted to see how he was doing but being swamped in work didn't allow him to leave the place. Then he thought back to something his daughter said.
"Wait! Forgotten Goddess? Do you mean THE Goddess? The one that's" he lowered his voice then waved his hand. In an instant, the two of them were in a void filled with endless stars. "You mean the Mother Goddess? The one imprisoned by her children?"
"Yes, that goddess. Although the crest looks a bit different, I'm sure it's her. I recognize that divine energy."
"Eclipsa, do you know what this means?! We can finally make our move! Joren is the key! Ha, I knew he was special." He rejoiced, flying through the void.
"But that also means he will be targeted by the others." Eclipsa had an emotionless expression as she spoke those words.
The man stopped flying and thought about the gravity of the situation. "What did the crest look like?" He asked
Using her energy, she drew a sword with fire surrounding it with a crescent moon as the sword hilt.
"The church of light!" He spoke
"But wasn't she the Goddess of Life? How can her crest be the same as the church of light?" Eclipsa knew how divine crests work. Once a God makes their crest, there is no changing it, and the energy it gives off can't be changed either.
"It's because she's the Goddess of Life. She can do many things. The energy you felt from the crest belongs to her while the crest is that of the church of light that worships the "Goddess of Light" Oh how could we have missed it!?"
"Well, it has been over seven thousand years. And the church of Light is relatively young, only being around for two thousand years. She was probably working from the shadows and disguised herself as the Goddess of Light, after all, it's normal for Gods to be created from the belief of the mortals."
"You make a good point Eclipsa. This is interesting. I wonder how everything's going to play out." At that moment, a screen appeared in front of him and a harsh coarse voice came through.
"Hazazel! Come back here and finish this paperwork! I swear if you're in the mortal realm again your punishment will be harsher than it already is! Don't take my kindness for granted!"
Before Hazazel could respond, the screen vanished.
"Continue monortering Joren. If any God or Angel gets in the way of his journey before he's ready, I want you to deter them."
"Yes, father."
"Good, let's go!" In a beam of bright golden light, they vanished from the void.
...
In a large independent city that bordered all three human kingdoms, a large chapel was in the center. It had the crest of the Goddess of Light and many marble sculptures dedicated to her.
Inside, a woman draped in a long white cassock with the goddess's crest woven onto her clothes stood at an altar. She had long blonde hair with blue eyes. The cassock was baggy around her body but it wasn't able to hide her voluptuous breast. She was looking up at a statue of the goddess.
"I felt him." She spoke
"Felt who saintess?" A man next to her asked. He wore white armor with the crest of the goddess on his breastplate.
"Her chosen Avatar. The one who will bring us salvation. The one who will lead our church to greater heights. As the saintess, I'm connected to him, I can feel him." She hugged her chest and moaned in pleasure.
"Prepare everyone, prepare my carriage, we must find him as soon as possible."
"Yes, saintess." The man bowed and left.
"Haa~Don't worry my chosen one, when I find you, we shall cleanse the world. All in the name of the Goddess." She got on her knees and prayed before leaving the chapel.