"No traces of Xenoic radiation found, master." Talos said, "I assume the tree absorbed it all. It might also be the reason why the tree grew so quickly."

"I would definitely seem so." Arnold scratched his chin before turning to look at the small crowd that had been gathered behind him, "What do you think about those guys? Four of them were given tasks to kill the vassals. That means me, Nicole, Johnny and that redhead should be on their target list."

Arnold had recommended all of them to come with a strategy to get rid of the tree. Although they listened to him, he could feel their eyes on his back. Especially of those twins. After a quick introduction, Arnold found that the Italian twins were not brawlers like he had presumed, but they were assassins with mastery in shadow affinity.

Just having the shadow affinity meant they were just below the level of a vassal, and hence they were most likely to be the most desperate to become one as well. No wonder they were keeping an eye out for a vassal they could get rid of easily. Although they were eyeing Arnold, it was improbable that they would dare to go against him.

It was the same with Nicole as well, since she could blow their heads off in a fraction of a second with her ability. But Arnold didn't want to take any chances so he stationed some of his elite summons to guard her. That being said, it left the paladins with two choices, either they would attack Johnny or the Redhead Sonya.

Sonya, the archer, looked like a frail flower on the outside. However, her stats were way better than Johnny, who was the Vassal of Thor. Also, she had her 'friends' to protect her from the twins, that is if the twins decided to attack them and her friends did not betray her because they too were paladins.

Thus by the method of elimination, Arnold thought it was most likely for Johnny to get attacked. But that would only happen after they were able to take care of the tree. Until then, Arnold was positive none of the paladins would dare to make a move against the vassals. Not if they weren't crazy about dying.

"I do not enjoy the way their eyes reeks of bloodlust." Talos remarked at the twins, "It's like they are more interested in taking down people than fighting monsters."

"You're no wrong about that. That's why I want you to guard Nicole. If you think anything is wrong, inform me immediately." 

"Will do, master. Oh and here, I think you can use it better than I can." Talos handed Arnold the Cardinal's Sin back. "Also, since the roots are no longer attacking us, I think it would be better if you could summon Scylla out. If she was here, she could provide us with more support. Not to mention, her intimidating aura would keep the Paladins away at least for some time."

Arnold nodded as his gaze shifted towards the tree in the distance. The tree was completely blackened as if it had been thoroughly charred with hellfire. The branches mingled with the blackened sky and could be seen from any part of the world. Even the few ginormous leaves that were visible to the naked eye, were ominously black. This world tree looked nothing like Arnold had thought it would. 

Its menacing aura leaking from the tree was nerve-wrenching. That coupled with the thundering skies above, it truly looked like they were standing at the world's end. Ragnarok was the only word that kept popping up in Arnold's head. He never smoked, but right about now, Arnold was wishing he did, just to calm his nerves a bit.

He had fought against three demigods till now, but none of them was frightening enough for Arnold to break a sweat. But this tree, well, it was something else entirely and what made it worse was the fact that he didn't even know how to get rid of it. 

'Standing idly wouldn't solve anything.' Arnold let out a deep breath, "Gather everyone up. It's time we did something about this hideous tree."

But before that, he needed to make a few things clear. Arnold turned around to face the paladins and vassals. He didn't even need to speak a word to get their attention as their eyes were already on him. 

"I won't beat around the bush and say I'm happy to be fighting alongside you." He mumbled, "We all know that some of you have a quest that requires you to kill the Vassals. So let me make one thing straight... if you dare to sabotage the quest we have now for any selfish desires, I'll kill you in the most gruesome way possible then resurrect you against your will and keep on repeating the cycle until either your minds broke or your will to live."

The vassals remained indifferent to his announcement, on the other hand, the paladins nervously looked away. The Paladins were most probably driven by the lust to obtain more power. They also wouldn't have considered obeying the friendly fire clause, thus Arnold needed to show them their place before they end up hurting either Nicole or John.

"I appreciate your sentiment, Mr Deathless," Sonya was surprisingly the one to interrupt the silence, "But don't you think we should focus on the tree and not on my teammates." 

Nicole did not like the way Sonya was talking with Arnold, but Arnold shushed her up. He had picked up on something important. Something that would make sure Arnold was right to think the paladins would either try to attack Johnny or Nicole.

"Your teammates?" Arnold asked her.

"Y-Yeah! Except the three of you," Sonya pointed at Nicole and Johnny, "All five of us have met together before."

"That's good." Arnold mumbled, "I thought y'all had some chemistry. So, if one of you wrongs me, then I assume it would only be fair for me to kill all of you? After all, you're teammates, right? The entire team should be held responsible for the mistake of one."

"Is that a threat?" Sonya released her aura. It was quite extensive, but in front of Arnold, her aura was like comparing a goblin to a Demon Orc.

"Call it an occupational hazard," Arnold replied before unleashing his aura that made even the earth, quake for a bit, "Also, don't you know who I am? If you don't then maybe it's time for you to stop using internet explorer and research about what has been going on in the world recently. Next time, doing something like that might as well cost you your head."

[The Immortal one is pleased with your growth. But he is disappointed in your inability to focus on the task at hand.]

'...sorry.'