Chapter 24

Right now, Vincent and his team, along with the Japanese exorcists, were making their way to the rapidly expanding forest. They were travelling by coach, and the road was pretty bumpy, resulting in Klaud’s mesmerizing jiggle physics. Once Tim noticed, he immediately lost all sense of time as his focus became entirely centered on those wonders of god. Of course, Vincent wasn't gonna have any of that.

Tim: (Ohhhhh, how I wish I could touch those melons...) *bang*

Lenalee: W-what happened to him?

Vincent: He was being an idiot, so I knocked some sense into him. *glare*

Tim: *shiver* hehehehe, just enjoying the scenery, nothing else.

Klaud: (Ha, so he can get jealous...) Try not to be so useless and continue with the explanation.

Tim: Alright, alright. So, according to what information we've already gathered from the locals near the forest, it seems the there used to be a shrine under the largest tree in the middle of the forest. The locals would always go their once a year to tend to it. About a week ago, when it was time to once again check it out, one of the local children accidentally knocked over the shrine. When this happened, a small seed of light fell out of a box that no one had any idea where it came from. It landed on the trunk of the giant tree, and was absorbed under the eyes of the present villagers. After that, the tree started to grow at an extreme rate, forcing the villagers to run away. The growth rate also seemed to spread to the rest of the forest, expanding it at an inconceivable rate. It's now over 3x its original size according to our estimations.

Takeo: That's a pretty fast growth rate.

Tim: I'll say.

Vincent: So, do you guys have any more in-depth details regarding the type of innocence that could be the cause of all this. Other than the description of a seed of light, we've got nothing more to go on. Even the villagers don't know where the mysterious box came from. According to what they told us, the box wasn't there last year.

Klaud: So, someone must have placed it there. But who would just leave innocence lying about?

Tim: That's also something we'll have to investigate, but for now, our number 1 priority will be to bring back the innocence to headquarters.

Vincent: Oh, the coach stopped. Looks like we're finally here. (What's this weird feeling I've got.. Anyways, let's get off, looks like I need to stab the fact that they're not his into Tim’s head.)

Tim: (...I am so jealous that he gets to enjoy those...) *bang* Ahhhh!

(B: And that is the last they ever heard from him again...)

Alex: ...So, this is the forest. I didn't think it'd be this big…

Klaud: There's so much vegetation that even Lau is feeling disturbed even though this is technically his home turf…

Vincent: (This better level up my god damn farm...The thing takes ages to upgrade, unlike in its original story.) Alright, let's go in.

POV shift

?: Looks like they took the bait…

??: Finally, we'll have our revenge for what happened to Tykki…

???: Patience. We want to make sure we get rid of them without losing anyone else this time. We have to be fully prepared.

??: ...Alright, just as long as the boy dies.

POV original

Lenalee: This forest is pretty dense… Vince-niichan, can you hold my hand so that I don't get lost~

Vince: Sure (She's been really spoiled lately. The weird thing is that Alex and Klaud aren't acting up as much anymore. I know they aren't losing interest in me since they also still ask to do things together, but what are they thinking that's making them act this way...)

Klaud: Vincent, stop day dreaming. Lau looks like he found the area where the innocence is located at. Come on, we're close.

Vincent: Oh, right.

After about a few hours of walking, the group finally chanced upon the area where the innocence tree was located at. They could see it from outside the forest, but once they were inside, the forest was so packed that there was absolutely no lighting to help see. Everyone in the group had highly trained senses, but even then, it would have been quite the task to navigate the large forest. They did try climbing up above the tree tops, but the forest seemed to shift whenever they went down, making it so that they would seem to go in circles. The only reason the group was able to navigate the maze-runner like labrynth of a forest was because of Lau and his basic animal instincts along with the fact that as a living innocence, he had the unique ability to resonate with other innocence and pick up on their location. Of course, the range was limited which was why Lau took so long to pick up on the location of the innocence.

Takeo: Finally, we found it.

Indeed, the group of exorcists had finally reached their destinations, a tree that put skyscrapers to shame became discernible through the thick foliage from 50m away. Just the immense thickness was enough to paint awe on their faces, so one could imagine their expressions when they got close enough to see how tall the tree was up close.

Vincent: ...This is why you don't mess with mother nature… Hey, Alex, would you want to have a race to see who could climb to the top the fastest?

Alex: Uh, I'll pass on that. I think I'll just spar with you like we usually do…

Klaud: Vincent, that's enough horsing around. We've got to take the innocence back so that the forest will return back to normal. Who knows if the Earl and the Noah are already on their way here.

Vincent: (Ohhhhh shit. Of course, they're already here, aren't they. Haaahhhh. Sonofabitch. It's most likely them if there really was someone luring us out here. I was wondering why they hadn't attack all this time and why I had this feeling. Damn it, and I thought my knowledge of anime tropes was op...) Alright, if I'm wrong, then great, and if I'm right, then I can probably get a bunch of new stuff from the spoils of war. I'll also be better prepared and-

Lenalee: Vince-niichan, what were you spacing out and babbling about?

Vincent: Ah, nothing. (Just thinking with the intelligence and processing of a superhuman...) So, all I have to do is take out the small glow golden orb, right?

Klaud: ? What orb?

Vincent: The one that's shining pretty noticeably despite the fact it's small. Can you guys really not see it?

Everyone else: *nod*

Vincent: ...Well, since I'm the only one who can see it, and it fits the description of the innocence, then I'll just pull it out.

Lenalee: Vince-niichan, be careful.

Vincent: I'll be fine. (God, I wish she never grows up... Nah, can't wait till she does...) *pop*

*rumble*

After Vincent took the golden seed out of the trunk, the colasal tree started to shake and fall apart as if it could no longer support itself. The rest of the trees did the same, and simply started to deteriorate at a rapid rate. During the minute it took for the entire forest to finish changing, large clouds of dust would block the group's vision. By the end of the transformation, only small trees and plants were still standing. The rest had become nutrients that layered upon the forest floor.

Tim: That's some serious deforestation.

Erin: Did you seriously try to make a joke?

Tim: What can I do, I'm quite the comedian.

Klaud: *cough* Is anyone hurt?

Tim: No, we're all good.

Vincent: The innocence is also safe. (Why do I feel like my soul is connecting to the innocence. No, a more accurate description is that it's connecting to-)

Ana: Mike!

Vincent: Ana!?

Ana: Mike, the innocence in your hand is trying to resonate with me. It feels like it wants to somehow combine. It doesn't really have a sentient will yet, so I shouldn't really have my personality altered. This is a great chance, we can't miss it.

(Yoko: They're gonna combine!)

Vincent: (Alright, Let's do that later. For now, we should focus on getting out of here since we don't know if-)

?: Well, well, well. Look who's here.

Vincent: (Fuuuuuck. It really is them.)

Road: Hi there, did you miss me? Cause I really wanted to meet you again…

Coming out of a mysterious doorway to the left of the group were 3 grey skinned humanoids followed by a pretty big army of high level akuma (even some lvl 4’s were present).

Tim: So, those are Noah...

Of course, the only known humanoids to be naturally gray skinned were of course, those of the Noah family. After the incident involving the Sophie and the others, the entire Black Order had been notified about the affiliation of the Noah family and the Millennium Earl. This fact was later confirmed by the bookmen who decided to work with the Black Order a year ago. (Vincent hadn't gotten a chance to meet them yet...) Although the Noah family hadn't really made any moves since then, almost every person working for the Black Order at least knew how to identify them.

Klaud: Everyone get ready. Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way through!

?: Oh, this is gonna be so fun!

???: I agree, revenge is very fun indeed...

Vincent: (Ughhhhh, this is gonna be a pain. 3 Noahs and what looks to be an army of at least 200 lvl 3’s and 3 lvl 4’s. How did they even upgrade them this much?)

CE: Oh yeah, Mike, I have something to tell you.

Vincent (Mike): (CE!?)

CE: Yeah, it's me. Anyways, so I forgot to mention this, but if certain players get too strong, I'll either nerf them or make them face harder challenges. In your case, you've grown a little too strong, so I've had to help the other side just a little. I honestly didn't expect the least qualified candidate to get this far so quickly... *cough*Anyways, I gave the antagonists of your story a way to increase the lvl of the akuma faster than just having to farm humans. Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, think of all the points you'll get. Hey, if you survive this, let's go for a drink some time. I need a good a drinking buddy, you know? Oh, you better start paying attention to your surroundings, otherwise this is going to hurt a lot. Also, don't be surprised if 1 or 2 of the Noah “awaken”.

Vincent: ...CE you motherf-!

*boom*

Lenalee/Alex and Klaud: Vince-niichan!/ Vincent!