บท 256: Freedom

Alex sat on a massive tree branch along with his beloveds looking over the entirety of Verbergen, and marveling at its fantasy-like beauty. Having already discussed with the elders the topic of returning the slaves of the empire and sending some of the Haulia to assist Hajime the day before, now they were just waiting for him and Kaori to return with the newly freed slaves once the empire managed to track them all down and release them. These thoughts were far from everyone's minds however as they all sat on the branch and marveled at the scenery before them, with even Kuroka curled up and purring in Alex's lap as he absentmindedly scratched behind her ears. The serene atmosphere didn't get to last forever though, as a communication magic circle appeared at Alex's ear and after listening to it he reluctantly said,

"You'll all have to excuse me for a little while, Vali and the others just returned to the bottom of Orcus from Gruen and I need to give them their new job." Though the girls tried to get him to stay, Alex reluctantly teleported to Orcus to get the delegation party on their way to the demon race territory.

***

Ulfric Heipyst was sitting back in a chair next to the fire in his home, his mind swarming with the information he had received from Alex. He had been told the story of the goddess Gabriel and Ehito, the goal of the goddess and her champion to ensure peace between the races, and finally that Alex now planned to enter the great labyrinth they guarded. As his thoughts turned towards the apparent goddess and the things Alex told them about her, ulfric once again found it hard to believe. Due to magic being considered a gift from God and demihumans never being able to use magic, they had never worshiped any divine; however this goddess was supposedly the mother of all races and loved them all equally. Ulfric almost laughed at such a concept, as there was no such thing as being equal. His thoughts were interrupted however when someone approached him.

"Grandpa, I brought some tea for you." Ulfric smiled happily at his granddaughter while saying,

"Thank you Altina, your tea is always splendid." Altina smiled radiantly at the compliment and went to leave, before Ulfric thought of something and suddenly asked,

"By the way, what do you think of this goddess Gabriel and her beliefs?" Altina was silent for a few moments, before replying,

"Honestly I don't know what to think, but if there really is a goddess that wants everyone to get along then wouldn't it be wonderful?" Ulfric smiled and thanked her for her opinion as she left him, before returning to his thoughts once more.

"Yes... Wonderful..." He muttered absentmindedly as he imagined a world where his granddaughter would be able to continue living safely in peace.

***

The next day Ulfric was standing outside with the other elders once more as they awaited the return of their country men. Not too far away Alex waited alongside his group, though they seemed to show a complete lack of tension and instead looked to be flirting with each other. This had irked most of the elders, but they focused instead on welcoming home those who were taken from them. Soon a low rumble began to fill the air, and once more a large shape appeared above the tree line.

"I'll go and give them a hand." Alex said suddenly before he vanished into thin air. Though no one knew what he meant, after hovering for a few more minutes the large object in the sky became two objects and the one that the rumbling came from started descending while snapping all of the branches in its way. Behind it was what seemed to be a large basket that was held up by nothing, as it also descended to the forest floor. Once the first object touched the ground it vanished, leaving only the four figures that were inside it as they quickly moved out of the way. As it neared them everyone saw Alex single handedly holding up the large basket from underneath as he slowly flew towards the ground. After he gently set the large object down he then opened it before returning to the air once more to use Regeneration magic to fix the damage done to the trees above them. This would have earned him even more respect if anyone had been paying attention, instead they were all looking towards the basket, where the friends, family, and loved ones they never thought they'd see again stood. There was dead silence as everyone tried to come to terms with what was in front of them, until a little boy with dog ears ran forward from the basket,

"MOMMY!" The boy cried as he jumped into his mothers open arms as unbelieving tears ran down her face.

"Zack! Oh my Zack!" As if a dam had burst, there was a thunderous stampede as people surged forward and cheered while embracing their loved ones after returning home. Even the elders were shedding a few tears from seeing the joyous reunions taking place before them. Alex smiled at the scene as he descended to the ground once more, only for one of the former slaves to approach him while saying,

"Thank you so much, I don't know how we can ever repay you!" Alex smiled at the man and replied while activating his Devils charm,

"Don't thank me, thank the goddess Gabriel. As the mother of all races she couldn't stand the sight of seeing her children in so much pain, and so she sent me to help you and to teach your siblings of the empire the error of their ways." Due to his Devils charm the guy didn't have even the slightest doubt of Alex's words, and quickly started spreading the word. Soon Gabriel's name started spreading through the crowd at a mutter before it began rising in volume, it wasn't long before the entire assembly was cheering for the goddess. Seeing the fervor that they embraced the new goddess with, Ulfric and the other elders simply sighed as they too chose to accept the new goddess.

"I guess we've got no choice in this matter..." The tigerman Zel muttered dejectedly, while the dwarf Guze and the foxman Lua nodded in agreement. Their acceptance turned to displeasure however when another figure approached them.

"This is quite the sappy atmosphere, isn't it?" Gahard said without a care for the disgusted glares he was receiving, until a new voice said,

"So this is the infamous emperor of the Hoelscher empire." Gahard turned and saw someone who's body looked like it was sculpted from marble with a mane of spiky hair on top. After sizing up the newcomer Gahard said,

"And you must be the famous champion of Gabriel, apparent savior of everyone except the empire and its citizens." Alex snorted at Gahard's jibe, and replied,

"The goddess wants all of her children to be happy and free, regardless of which race they are, human, demihuman, demon, or dragon." Gahard snorted in return but didn't say anything else, as he was painfully aware he was outmatched and outnumbered. He knew that he couldn't match Hajime, and now in front of him was the guy that even Hajime followed. Even though neither one was trying to pressure the other, Gahard couldn't think of any way he'd get an advantage over Alex while they simply stood there. Instead he turned towards someone else who stood a little ways away and beckoned them to come closer. The newcomer was a relatively attractive young woman who was dressed in fancy clothing as she tried to act appealing, but Alex didn't miss the minor movements that marked her apparent lengthy battle experience. Without anyone asking Gahard declared,

"This is my daughter Tracy, she's at the appropriate age to marry and although there are already several suitors competing for her hand, I hope you'll accept her as a token of goodwill of my Hoelscher empire." Alex's mind numbed slightly when Gahard offered his daughter to him in such a way, and before he could say anything she curtsied before him and stated,

"It is a pleasure to meet you good sir, I hope my future services will prove adequate, both in combat and out of it." Though most princesses in her position would be saddened at being given away to someone in such a way, Tracy was actually somewhat pleased with this development as she'd heard several stories regarding Alex's strength, and compared to several of the older lords that were previously competing for her hand he seemed to be quite handsome. Gahard himself was happy that Tracy was willing to go along with his plan, as she was the best woman he could offer to the infamous champion. He had heard on good authority that Alex had a tendency to be quite the womanizer, which was why he chose to offer his daughter to appeal to him instead of power or wealth. Though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet, Gahard was also planning on arranging several of his lords to give their daughters to him as well to hopefully butter him up to give him some kind of airship like the one Hajime used, and possibly he could appeal enough to Alex so that he'd give him Shizuku as well. Gahard could never had predicted what was about to happen though, as Alex approached him with a small smile until they were standing face to face.

"I refuse." Alex stated, before grabbing the front of Gahard's clothes and hurtling him straight up into the air, causing him to crash through the overhead branches on his way up. Tracy and the elders were dumbfounded at Alex's sudden actions, while a couple of them were silently cheering him on. Some like Jin and Zel were wanting to eliminate the emperor while he was present and away from his army, but the others held them in check since their people would be right back at square one of being hunted and enslaved. Without giving the emperor a second thought, Alex turned back towards Tracy and stated,

"While I am honored that you'd be willing to serve me, I'm not fond of using women as cattle for bargaining. I even rejected the offer of the princess Liliana for the same reason." Tracy was stunned to hear that the same person who was infamous for the amount of lovers he had was so unwilling to take more by force, to the point that he had rejected two princesses, however this only made her even more interested in learning more about him. Tracy then felt a chill go up her spine as she turned and saw a plethora of women giving her icy looks as she spoke with Alex, something that ignited her battle instincts as she seemingly projected 'challenge accepted'. The stare-down was interrupted when Alex spoke up,

"You might want to move aside a step." Tracy and the elders all confusedly took a step back, just in time to hear some more branches breaking above them once more.

"aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Gahard screamed as he neared the ground once more. Tracy and several others closed their eyes as they didn't want to watch him splatter while Jin and Zel watched eagerly, except there was no sudden thud or splatter. Gahard kept screaming for a few seconds until he realized he wasn't falling anymore, and tentatively opened one of his eyes to see he was apparently less than an inch from the ground. Before he could process what was happening he suddenly fell the rest of the way to the ground with a grunt, before getting up on unsteady legs and saying,

"A-a simple no thank you would have been enough! I didn't think you'd hate the idea of taking my daughter that much! Though that was an even bigger thrill than riding the airship..." Alex smirked and replied,

"No, that was a bit of a warning about everything else you were after. No I won't take your daughter as a bribe so you can benefit, no you won't get an airship for yourself, and no you won't get Shizuku. Is that clear?" Gahard looked mortified at what Alex said and immediately clamped his hands over his head as if to protect it while saying,

"Stop reading my thoughts!" Tracy shook her head at her fathers behavior before Ulfric said with a forced smile,

"Let us return to the council room, there we can finalize things with the emperor so he can be on his way." No one had any complaints as they all swiftly followed the elderly elf's lead. They were also accompanied by Hajime who gave a brief retelling of what happened in the empire, the Haulia attacked a ball and slaughtered several guests before placing a pendant on all of the survivors that ensured they wouldn't go back on their word to free the demihuman slaves. After this Gahard swore an oath to the elders that while he was emperor there would be no slavery on the empire from this day forth. Once he was done Alex turned towards Hajime and said,

"Ok, you can send them back now." Hajime nodded and opened a portal using one of his key artifacts that connected to the Hoelscher empire, before Tracy suddenly spoke up,

"Wait! I would like to stay in Verbergen in order to further work towards a lasting peace, not just a uneasy truce." This caused everyone to look at her in shock and surprise, but none more so than her father who stated,

"Tracy, you don't know what they'll do to you if you stay, they're animals after all!" These words had an immediate effect on those within the room as several of the elders started brandishing their teeth to the provocation, and Alex frowned along with several of the girls, though some of them were frowning for a different reason. Tracy however didn't seem to react to the sudden change in the room at the slightest, as she said,

"That is only natural father, it is very likely some of their people will even want to take out their anger against the empire on me if I stayed. However what Alex is aiming for is peace, and if we can't make a simple gesture of goodwill then what is all of this for?" Gahard was stunned at his daughters words, as he never expected she'd take the idea of peace seriously. In truth Tracy didn't, however it was the best excuse she could come up with to stay in Verbergen where Alex was, and to possibly get into his good graces if she helped him to accomplish his goals. Though he knew she wasn't saying the whole truth, Alex then spoke up,

"She can stay in a guest bedroom in the house being prepared for us. We're going to add every possible defensive measure we can as we do to every residence we stay in, so it'll be the safest place for her to stay in Verbergen. Plus I'll have can arrange some Haulia to stay behind as well to keep an eye on her." As Alex guaranteed his daughters safety Gahard had nothing else to say, and while several of the elders wanted to argue, they were silent as Ulfric stood and stated,

"Though many within our city would consider this a mistake, I wish to believe in the sincerity of the empires princess, and I'll trust in the judgment of the champion of the goddess Gabriel. Princess Tracy, we welcome your stay in Verbergen." Tracy beamed happily while glancing at Alex occasionally, something that the girls immediately caught onto, and Gahard resigned himself to accept her decision before he was unceremoniously pushed through the portal that Hajime had opened. After discussing a few more things regarding Tracy during her stay, Ulfric turned towards Alex and spoke once more,

"Champion, if you would honor me I wish to be the one to escort you to the entrance to the true great labyrinth of the Haltina Sea of Trees. There is a layer of fog surrounding it however that is far denser and more potent than that in the forest, we will have to wait for it to clear which should happen in three days. The preparations for your new residence are also finished, and so you can move in at any time." Alex nodded and thanked the chief elder, before politely taking his leave to explore his new home. When he first arrived at Verbergen and explained the details of the slave liberation situation, Ulfric had insisted on rewarding Alex similar to how Liliana had, except he thankfully didn't offer his granddaughter like the emperor and the queen had their daughters. Unlike with Liliana however, Alex had requested a permanent residence to be prepared for him and those with him, as the only place they had to stay outside of Asora was the Orcus hideout. With the beautiful and mystical scenery of the Sea of Trees, Alex had decided that he would like to stay there more before leaving Tortus, and that he'd want to return when he eventually came back to this world. Surprised that all he wanted was a house, some of the elders were pleased that Alex was easy to reward, while others felt like they cheated him for everything he'd done for them.

***

Over the next three days Alex spent his days relaxing and exploring Verbergen with the girls, while also jumping back and forth to Asora to spend time with those that wouldn't be accompanying him, at night however after spending time with his girls he'd sneak away to train as intensely as possible. Though he didn't expect to get stronger easily, it was really starting to bug Alex that he hadn't managed to get past the bottleneck and reached SSJ2, though Lauren kept trying to reassure him it was only a matter of time.

What Alex didn't know was that whenever he wasn't with them, the girls were more or less interrogating Tracy about her true intentions for getting closer to them. Though they already figured they couldn't stop the number of women around him from growing, they refused to let someone with shady motives stick around. Though she could had laid their concerns to rest by saying the truth that Alex was seemingly the best of the matches her father had considered for her, Tracy was actually somewhat enjoying annoying the would be interrogators, while also secretly wanting to try sparring against some of them. This feeling along with her drive to become stronger was only increased when she watched a brief sparring match between Alex and Shia, and she was completely blown away by the intensity of the attacks. This routine continued until it was finally the day to attempt the labyrinth.

"It's not too far now." Ulfric said as he led the way through the fog, before another monster jumped out at them only to be instantly killed by a small sphere of destruction right before a blast of lightning hit it.

"I killed it first! That's another point for me!" Rias declared proudly while Yue grumbled,

"...I just gave you that one to make it interesting..." Rias snorted at Yue's excuse while Grayfia marked another mark under her name on a whiteboard she carried, showing that the two were now tied on monster kills. Alex didn't even know when they started competing, but he didn't interfere since the two were always at some competition or other. Though their competing wasn't missed out on by the others, as Shia and Anne each claimed one of his arms for themselves while Kuroka used her 'feline form' skill to turn into a cat, and was currently curled around his neck. As the group continued walking they eventually reached a clearing where they were all silent in awe. Standing before them in a ring clear of fog was a massive withered tree that seemingly reached towards the heavens. Standing in front of it was what seemed to be stone monument that had the seals of the liberators carved on the front.

"To think that after all these years, I'll get to see the mission of us elders through." Alex didn't say anything while the old elf was experiencing a flood of emotions, and instead started examining the stone slab. Behind it he found slots where each seal was and started placing the proof of conquering in the slots, a ring for Orcus and Raisen, the pendant for Gruen, and a coin from Melusine. Once each slot was filled the crests would start shining, and after they were all full another crest appeared on the trunk of the great tree.

"What's that?!" Anne asked in awe while Alex answered,

"There's instructions on the slab here, we needed four proofs and now we need the power of regeneration." Everyone was silent as Alex extended his hand towards the crest that appeared on the tree, and activated his magic of regeneration. The entire tree suddenly started glowing before time seemingly reversed and what was a withered and dead tree before, turned into a vibrant tree full of life. A tear ran down Ulfric's face as he witnessed the miraculous spectacle, unaware that everyone around him shared most of his current emotions. While everyone was admiring the revived tree, a hole started forming in the trunk where Alex placed his hand until a cave large enough to hold them all had formed. Alex then turned to everyone who was going to challenge it, Rias, Kuroka, Grayfia, Anne, Yue, Shia, Tio, Shizuku, Kaori, Hajime, Ryutarou, and Suzu(Endou was taken by the Haulia when they were returned to Orcus for training, unaware he was also going to be sent to Raisen when Cam thought he was ready); after passing a glance over everyone he asked,

"Are you all ready?" With nothing but looks of determination answering him, Alex entered the cave before everyone started filing in after him. He turned around and saw Ulfric standing outside along with Altina and Tracy who accompanied them, while the imperial princess's hidden Haulia escort also made their appearances known to send them off. Before anyone could say anything the entrance started closing, and a magic circle appeared below their feet to teleport them to the labyrinth.