Linnea and Dante walked for a while, trying to find the source of the problems. There were several factors that could have caused the incident and the environmental pollution in that forest, but they reached a conclusion. It might be the corpse of some powerful creature that was polluting and contaminating the animals.
It might not be exactly mind control, but rather a disease spread by this pollution.
"So..." Dante broke the deafening silence during their long walk as they observed the forest. "How have you been? A lot happened while I was dead, didn't it?" Dante asked. Normally, he wouldn't talk about such things, since it was quite absurd to say he had died, and it bothered him because, well... he didn't exactly die. The fact was that he didn't know what was really happening in the world.
He only knew simple things like the current state of the wars, but he didn't know, for example, about Kryoris, which was about to have its tournament in a few months. He wanted global information from every possible side.
"You're curious about what happened with Kryoris, aren't you? I can't say that good things happened," Linnea said with a bitter smile. "After that attack, some teachers like me and Akemi left. We were promised something they couldn't deliver. Akemi left immediately after you died. She barely stayed to wait and destroyed half the school afterward," Linnea said with a mischievous smile.
"I didn't imagine she cared enough to destroy half the school for me," Dante said, smiling. "I really need to meet that busty fox milf," Dante thought, laughing to himself. "I don't think it was just for you; they rushed the opening of that school," Linnea said.
"I thought it was strange they managed to invade a school like that," Dante said as he watched some animals acting normally. "Further ahead," she said as they continued walking. "Do you know where Akemi has been?" Dante asked, and Linnea nodded. "She's been in the Fairy Forest for a few years, training a little girl she adopted," Linnea said with a cute smile, seeming to think of something.
"To think she'd become a mother... I didn't expect that," Dante said thoughtfully. He really couldn't imagine that mischievous fox as a mother.
"Akemi seems sociable and has many friends, but she's a Nine-Tailed Fox, a bit distant from the world because she's a hybrid. The beast kingdom doesn't accept her well, so she found refuge in the Spiritual Forest," Linnea explained while clearing the path ahead with her hands. "That still doesn't explain her being a mother," Dante said, avoiding cutting the plants in front of him.
"Akemi can't have children," Linnea said, and Dante immediately understood. "She wanted to be a mother, but her race wouldn't allow it?" he asked. "Yes, the little girl is like her, a hybrid of Spirit and Beast-Man," Linnea said, noticing some movement ahead. "We have a problem here," she commented, and Dante went ahead to see what it was.
"What is this? This smell..." he asked, sensing a huge stench of decay. He went ahead without damaging the plants to avoid complaints and saw a decrepit, brutally destroyed body in a kind of clearing. It was an animal he couldn't immediately recognize.
Linnea approached, covering her nose to avoid the nauseating smell. "What animal is this?" Dante asked, as it was the first time he had seen something like it. It resembled a deer, but its antlers were straight back. "Saola, a very rare animal, it's a bovine," Linnea explained as she got closer. "Whoever did this...
did it out of sheer cruelty," Linnea said as she knelt by the body and closed the animal's eyes, which barely had its lower part intact. "The earth will embrace you, little child. May your soul rest in peace," she said, offering a small prayer as her magic buried the mangled body, merging it with nature.
Linnea's expression was frightening. She seemed furious, with a rage so immense that even Dante, known for his strong killer aura, like Valentina, took a step back. "The Wrath of the Forest, huh..." he murmured. "Dante Scarlet," Linnea's voice changed, becoming more serious, almost as if... "If it's necessary to burn the Forest, do it, but find who is destroying and killing my children.
I will reward you for it." Dante heard this and immediately understood who was taking control of Linnea's body.
"World Tree..." he murmured as Linnea, dazed, returned to normal. That fury quickly dissipated as she stood up. "I felt something to the north. Let's go," she said, moving swiftly. Dante just sighed and started to follow her.
They began leaping through the forest at a fast pace. "Hey, why does the World Tree care so much about this forest?" Dante asked as they picked up speed. "She cares about everything! All things, the world is formed by her; she is the heart of the world," Linnea replied. "Would you like to have your home exploited and destroyed?" Dante heard this and shook his head.
"It's the same feeling; she tolerates human evolution but not cruelty," Dante heard this and partially understood how this World Tree worked. After all, it was quite intriguing. "I understand, I will help," he said, beginning to spread his mana in a radius of five meters.
"I hope I get a nice reward. I'm not lucky in getting things... What have I lost lately? I lost Lilith's spear, the one I used that damned demon's horn as a masterpiece, I lost those weird earrings too... Damn, I always lose the things I get!
I hope this is something that stays on my body so I don't lose it too," Dante sometimes had these small lapses of madness in moments like this, questioning himself. But he was soon interrupted as he felt something coming from afar.
"Beasts to the right!" Dante said as they turned towards the commotion. A gorilla and a tiger were locked in a fierce fight, both seemingly crazed with their eyes glowing red. "Distract them so I can immobilize them without killing them," Linnea instructed. Dante nodded and jumped in front of the two animals.
"Hey, buddies, am I a friend too? How about we take a break? You don't need to kill each other. The kitty and the monkey can be friends, right?"
*ROOOARRR*
The tiger roared, lunging at Dante with its sharp fangs ready to bite. Dante swiftly dodged its attack with a somersault. "Okay, no talking, I get it," he said, leaping onto a tree trunk. The gorilla quickly climbed the tree using the vines, but Dante dodged again.
Dante was truly invincible against these frenzied animals; he didn't even need to exert much effort. "Alright, time to end these childish games," he said, advancing on the gorilla with incredible speed without even using his Walking Through Flames technique. He appeared behind it and put it in a chokehold. "Stay still, stay still."
The gorilla struggled, but Dante held on firmly, using his superior strength and skill to immobilize it. Meanwhile, Linnea approached the tiger, her hands glowing with a serene green energy. She began to murmur strange words that Dante didn't understand, creating an energy field around the tiger, which started to calm down gradually as vines emerged from the ground to completely immobilize it.
Dante looked at Linnea, admiring her skill. It was something he hadn't seen before, Natural Magic. "I've got the gorilla," he said, breathing a bit heavier.
Linnea nodded, focusing on the tiger. "Good job, now I just need to finish the containment spell on it too." It didn't take long for the gorilla to be enveloped in a cocoon of vines as well. "Until we've solved this big problem, I'll keep them partially sealed. It's better for the other species; we can't let them roam free, many animals could die," Linnea commented, preparing to move again.
"Let's go, we can't waste any more time," she said, her eyes glinting with noticeable fury.
"I must say, she's gotten even more beautiful after ten years. Is this the milf charm?" Dante wondered as he started to follow. "Alright, let's find out what's causing this as quickly as possible. The forest's ecosystem is in danger," Dante said, trying to sound more confident. They quickly began moving through the dense forest, leaping from tree to tree.
"What do you expect to find?" Dante asked, flying with his demonic wings while Linnea seemed to glide among the vines she created.
"A focal point, a place with more beasts nearby, something that might be attracting them." Dante nodded and forced his mana to extend his domain fully.
His mana covered almost the entire forest, allowing him to sense every life form within his reach. "I found something," he said, "Six kilometers ahead, I can sense something." Dante felt it with his mana, noticing that the trees and plants began to show signs of decay at a certain distance from them. The air was dense, laden with a dark energy that prevented his mana from penetrating further.
"I found it," he said, and Linnea nodded. "Lead the way."
With those words, Dante increased his pace and began to advance even faster. After all, the sooner he finished this task... the sooner he would receive his reward, right?