After saying that, Ruby used her teleportations to move past the rest of the main cast and catch up to Alya at the front.


    The odds of the pagers being stolen or hacked are zero, so if Ruby''s suspicion is true, Albert or the queen must be defeated.


    Or a betrayal... but Ruby highly doubted that.


    But then there was the fact that Ruby was a traitor herself.


    An evil viin boss turned good is now invited to a group of crazy students who are determined to save the world from any danger.


    Sighing and scratching her head, pondering how this all started in the first ce, Ruby turned to Alya and asked.


    "Say, princess, how strong are the prince and queen?"


    Looking straight ahead at the looming tree, Alya replied.


    "One single arrow from ''the prince'' could destroy a B-rank beast and my mother...I don''t even know."


    Since Ruby was already a part of their group in Alya''s eyes, she had no qualms about sharing such important information; however, that didn''t stop her from being curious.


    "And why do you ask?"


    "My curiosity got the best of me."


    "Heard the saying, ''Curiosity kills the cat?'' "


    Putting her hands on her head to form cat ears, Ruby replied.


    "And do I look like a cat to you?"


    Letting a slightugh, Alya regained herposure before saying to herself.


    "If only we had cats back at the academy...but of course, they have to be banned."


    "What''d you say?"


    Interrupting their conversations, the trunk of the World Tree came into sight, looking the same as it did yesterday... except for one thing.


    Albert was slumped against the tree, drenched in sweat, his bow and quiver resting next to him.


    Running past Ruby, Alya sped up for the next minute until she finally reached the exhausted Albert.


    Grabbing his hand and pulling him up, Alya asked.


    "Where did you all your troops go...?"


    Scratching the top of his head, Albert gave a smirk, which was clearly forced, and replied.


    "hah... I guess our mother is a better person than me... Here, I thought I was being a perfect ruler by lying to the soldiers earlier..."


    Recalling the memory of his mother, Liana, frantically sending all the Elven reinforcements away and telling them to evacuate with the citizens, Albert almost fell back onto the ground.


    He wasn''t a true leader... he was a fraud... once again.


    Leaders didn''t need to be emotionless and cold-hearted... well, they could be.


    There was only a requirement that a ruler needed to fulfill, and somehow Albert failed in that.


    Care about your subject''s lives.


    What an actor he was...


    After waiting for the rest of the group to catch up to Alya and him, Albert pointed at the World Tree, and in the most serious tone he could muster,he said.


    "In there is where we have to go."


    Seeing the group''s confused expressions, Albert didn''t even bother to exin but moved on to the next topic.


    "Well, I''m sure you''re wondering where all the demons are, huh? Well, they''re in that tree as well!"


    "..."


    Breaking the silence, Kevin''s annoying voice sounded once again.


    "So you''re telling me that we''re going inside a tree that is filled with demons...?"


    Seeing Albert nod his head at his question, Kevin was just about to ask another question when Liam suddenly pped him on the back.


    "OW! WHAT THE HELL, MAN."


    Sighing, Liam said to Kevin.


    "Oh,e on, man, you do this every time. Youin about how hard the task is and how we''re all going to die, and we''re all stupid for doing this, but then you end up doing it anyway. Let''s just skip theining part, all right?"


    With a serious expression that did not fit his face in the slightest, Kevin turned to Liam and ced his hand on Liam''s right shoulder.


    "...I''m about to risk my life to do this shit, and you''re saying I can''t evenin about it?"


    "..."


    The whole group went silent.


    For once... Kevin might be right.


    Shouldn''t he be at least allowed toin a bit?


    Opening his mouth in triumph andints already on the tip of his tongue, Kevin was about to speak when Albert,pletely oblivious to Kevin''s attitude, interrupted him.


    "Alright... let''s move on. I''m taking you to the World Tree, and the eight of us have one job: Get to it and save it."


    Lily, who was also suspicious of the whole situation as she hade to the same realization as Ruby after seeing no Elven civilians scared in the slightest, asked.


    "Then... what about the demons?"


    Patting Alya on the shoulder, Albert replied.


    "That''s our mother''s job."


    Following Albert''s lead, the eight of them ced their hands on the rough and unpolished bark of the World Tree.


    Not exining anything else, the group was about to enter the World Tree under Albert''s guidance when they heard a sudden sound.


    *MEOWWWW*


    Since the sound came from the other side of the massive trunk, they could not see the source, and with their hands already on the World Tree, it was toote to back out and find it.


    "Was that a ca-"


    As their surroundings distorted, and the eight of them appeared inside the World Tree, in apletely different ce than Ren, another sound caught them off guard.


    *BANG*


    *BANG*


    As the sound of gunshots and cannonball shots echoed throughout the tree''s inside, the eight of them, even Albert, stepped back and instinctively covered their ears.


    *BZZT*


    Blinding their eyes, a sudden sh of bright purple appeared before dispersing right before them.


    In front of them stood ady dressed in all ck, with two revolvers in each hand and a lighting purple current surrounding her entire body, making her look like some sort of mythical figure.


    Breaking the silence first was Alya as she rushed towards the figure with no weapons in her hands.


    "MOMMM!"


    Taking Alya into her embrace, Liana tilted her head upwards and stared at the rest of the group before asking.


    "Let''s save the thanks forter. Trust me, you eight will be rewarded and revered at the very least."


    *BANG*


    Releasing Alya from her embrace, Liana tilted her two revolves up at the roof before asking.


    "Best of luck to you all. My appreciation cannot be expressed in words, but may the World Tree guide your path. Get back here alive, all of you. Or trust me, you''ll regret it!"


    *BZZT*


    Just like that, Liana was gone before the students could even blink.


    Leaving behind only a single spark of purple for the students, a streak of lightning could be seen deeper into the tree, following Liana''s back as she dashed back toward the dozens of demons.