Chapter 2150: How Many Reincarnators Are In This Room?

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"Ascending into gods is one path, but you should walk another," I said. "Your blessings have now made you into our Heroes and Saints, this should enhance your powers enough to be capable of fighting against what’s coming... Now, Root, tell us, what did you see?"

"I suppose it’s mostly what you already know," Root smiled, looking at us with his bright green eyes. "But first, I must tell you about my own origins... After growing this entire time, I have finally learned who I am, and what is my purpose."

"Your purpose?" Alma wondered. "You... I remember meeting you when you were only a Grass Dragon, a little dragon cub made of grass and branches, and since then we’ve been fighting together, and as you ate Mana Cores you grew bigger..."

"Indeed, but there was always something else to me, my memories... as I grew, they continued coming back to me," Root said. "I learned who I was... and my purpose, alongside who was the one that revived me."

"...Revived you?" Benladann asked.

"Wait, what do you mean with that? Are you also a Reincarnator? Just how many Reincarnators are in this room right now?!" Yuki asked.

"Too many, but let’s not talk about that," Root said.

"Root... So you were someone before? Did you come from Earth too?" Alma asked.

"Did you?" Hermes wondered, raising an eyebrow. "I have never really thought of you as someone that was once a human, you give... well, other vibes."

"Indeed," Root nodded, closing his eyes and sighing. "I am not from Earth, I am from this world, Yggdrasil. I lived... perhaps millions of years ago, back then when my older brother had ascended into the first ever Venerable and was worshiped as a new God."

"Your... older brother?" I asked. "Wait, what do you mean with that? By the first Venerable... wait a second! Isn’t that...?!"

Everyone quickly realized what Root said, glaring at him in disbelief.

I was also shocked.

"Yes... Oberon is my brother," Root muttered. "I was murdered... by him."

Silence befell the room, as everyone glanced at Root in utter disbelief.

Indeed, even I was taken aback.

He’s Oberon’s brother?!

"Root...! You’re his brother?! Why didn’t you tell us before?!" Alma asked, shaken.

"Alma... I was afraid you would hate me, that you would reject me for who I truly was, and for what my brother had done to all of you, for all the atrocities he had committed and the people he had made suffer..." Root sighed.

"I..." Alma fell silent for a moment, and then... "No, of course not...! Why would I ever get mad at you for that? It wasn’t like you wished to be his brother, it was something outside of your control, it wasn’t your fault your brother did those things."

"Yeah..." Hermes sighed. "But really, it would have been nicer if you told us earlier, maybe you would have known some weakness or something."

"Don’t blame him for that, Hermes," Callon said. "He has no fault in any of this."

"I know, I know, I’m just saying..." Hermes nodded, as his son suddenly climbed his legs and sat over them.

"I couldn’t tell you earlier because not even I was sure who I was, memories were only that, memories," Root said. "Only one I am sure, as I’ve regained all of them... I don’t remember my original name, however. But I do know my brother’s name, Oberon... He betrayed our family and killed not only me, but our entire family. He blamed everything to an accident, a fire that broke out that day, which he said was the doing of evil cultist of the Ancient Gods."

"What?! That’s horrible!" Benladann said.

"That bastard... he killed his own family?!" Alma asked.

"He’s a monster..." I muttered.

"He is," Root said. "His entire family, all of us, fully supported him when he ascended, my mother... I remember our mother was so proud of him for everything he had accomplished. And so was my father. We were part of the Ancient Elven Kingdom’s royalty, and he was going to be the new King after his ascension... and yet, he killed all of us anyway. I don’t even know why he did it, he had everything... We... never opposed him."

"Because he’s fucking insane, that’s why!" Yuki said angrily. "He’s a total nutjob!"

"I think I remember something he said," Root said. "He said that we were simply not needed, and that we were burdens that he had to take down... It was strange how he seemed to be slightly sorry as he burned our entire castle. But at the same time, I couldn’t see a hint of remorse in his eyes. My brother, whom I had known for being someone of incredible charisma, dependable, and kindhearted... he had been lying to us the entire time. His true self was that of a wicked trickster and a monstrous psychopath, and it was only when he gained all that power that he showed us his true self."

"So that’s how it is..." I said. "At the end, we still don’t even know what his ambitions are or why he’s doing everything..."

"No, I know," Root said. "Oberon desires... true freedom, he does not only desire true and absolute immortality, but he also wants to escape this world and reach the cosmos beyond, and to do that he’ll destroy it first."

"That’s it!?" Miranda asked angrily.

"Yes," Root said. "And this is why he has been persisting for all these years, being the blight of this world. He caused immense catastrophes and ultimately, once his lifespan ran out, he shattered his soul into various fragments, creating clones of himself that could live past his original lifespan. His true self, however, remains dormant, all other pieces simply being small fragments of him. Like the others, he’s waiting for Fate to break, which he had been meticulously planning to do this entire time, for millions of years."

"..." I remained in silence, thinking. "Root, how were you able to reincarnate?"

"Mother Yggdrasil saw in my soul something special, perhaps my resentment, my high magic power, or something else..." he said. "But she held onto my soul for all those years, healing it letting me rest inside a small seed of her own creation, placing me within the corpse of an ancient dragon that had died long ago. By the fusion of that seed and the dragon’s bones, I was born. This is why there are no other Dragons like me. Nature Dragons exist, but they are not made entirely out of wood and plants like I am. I am more of a Spirit Tree than a Dragon."

"I see..." I nodded. "Yggdrasil did it... Makes sense now, she likes doing these things. Did I ever tell you how she cursed me and then apologized after realizing I wasn’t a bad person?"

"I... well, I suppose she’s sometimes overly concerned about the world," sighed Root. "I apologize in her behalf..."

"It’s fine, we’ve talked things out," I nodded.

"She reincarnated me several years after my death, however, in a new era, my memories were mixed and some were missing," said Root. "If it wasn’t because of Alma, I would have never been able to reach this far... I had been given a "task" by her, to seek her and help her, and so I did. And thanks to this, I was able to remember who I was."

"So that’s the truth of your origins, Root..." Alma nodded, smiling. "Thank you for finally telling us..."

"Yes, Alma, I’m sorry for not telling you earlier... I hope you are not upset, you mean everything to me," Root said, as he gently placed his claw over her head. "I’m happy to by your side, and I shall until the end."

"Aw... you’re so sweet," Alma smiled, blushing a little. "Thank you Root..."

"Hmm, yeah, very nice..." Hermes seemed to become a little jealous, crossing his arms.

Is he for real?

Their relationship is more like father and daughter, don’t misunderstand!

"Anyway, to the main topic at hand..." Root said. "This world, and what’s happening here..."

Root then explained to Alma and the rest about this world having almost collapsed on my battle against Pandemonium and Chaos and then told them about the world mixing with Earth and Zipangu.

About the dangers that they brought, and more... Until he finally spoke about Umbral, and Oberon again.

"They’re coming here?!" Alma gasped. "They found out our hideout?!"

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