More problems and problems

As I passed through that gate, what I saw was a large semicircular room with a bench full of buttons. Things gridded with white screens showing images of locations inside the floors of the building, and other places outside around it, the ceiling seemed to have been removed. From there came branches of a tree from the sky that moved on that bench, moving and pressing several keys of that panel at the same time. In the background, there was no wall, there seemed to be paths along the hanging branches like trails leading into the unknown.

"What was that? Why this reaction?" said Megan, approaching, ignoring my earlier warning.

Brigid came later and looked.

I looked up and could see the branches of that great tree. Between them, hidden, several half-spherical fruits, the size of people and the width of a table, were pulsating, translucent, yellow with gold, as if they were a fruit, half transparent, with a glow in the radiant yellow center, which changed color, to red, blue, purple, green, and then to yellow, where it remained for a few more seconds, and then changed color quickly.

"What’s going on?"

"Kesil, have you arrived... Or should I call you Kesel?" said the voice that seemed to be calling me earlier, but now it’s clearer.

The voice seemed to come from there, but I didn’t know where.

"I see you brought Megan and Mrs. Brigid with you, no problem..."

"Who are you?" asked Megan.

"I am called Blodeuwedd," the voice answered.

"Right, but where are you talking from?" Megan asked again.

"I am here, like you." Then a branch approached the ceiling. A great white lily appeared, with a mouth with teeth at the center of the lily, and spoke, "Here I am."

Brigid screamed in fright.

"She’s a tree? How is that possible?" Brigid questioned.

"Blodeuwedd, so that’s your name..." I said. "The person, the Magus responsible for the killings of the residents of the Uire region."

"What? So, you mean this tree is responsible for that monstrous technique?" Megan asked.

"So it wasn’t a person who did that?" asked Brigid.

"Make no mistake, she’s a person, well, at least she was before she turned into that big tree."

"...Yes, it’s exactly as you said," she replied after a few seconds.

Then I spoke, looking up, seeing the big tree that she had transformed into.

"I don’t feel any hostility coming from you. I thought this would be the hardest part, what happened? Are you too focused on the battle against Mora’s army that you can’t focus on the battle against me? I thought that with this transformation into this big tree you would be more sensitive to your surroundings, being able to react on several fronts."

"In fact, I can do several things at once. However, most of it is automatic. Reasoning is still a task that I do as a human. Creating and focusing on the nutrition and formation of my fruits... fighting against Mora’s army, and working on the development of Numen bombs require a lot of focus. And that was all in my plans... What wasn’t there was you and your entry here. From what I’ve observed, you easily defeated practically our entire organization. It seems we all underestimated you. So... A fight now between the two of us would be a waste of time at this point."

Then I spotted one of the screens above the panel: Wini using what appeared to be her telekinesis Ability on a fruit to move it to the side in a water container, then using the cure on a part that seemed damaged.

"Wini!" said Megan, approaching the panel to see her friend better.

"If that’s the case, give Wini to us and let us go in peace," I said.

"Well, you can go to her, I won’t stop it," said Blodeuwedd. "She’s farther ahead, forward."

Before Blodeuwedd finished speaking, Megan ran ahead, shouting her friend’s name, and soon disappeared. Brigid went right after, and I was about to do the same. Blodeuwedd told me something.

"Listen, Kesil, you have to help me soon. In 8 minutes, Mora’s army will be here. My strength to hold them has already run out, I am at my limit. Just focusing on finishing producing my fruits and producing the bombs of Numen."

"And what does it matter to me? That’s your problem. I’ll leave with Wini from here before, with Megan and Brigid as I planned. I’m not interested in this war you’ve created. You're dealing alone with the consequences of what you caused."

I stepped forward when she replied.

"Even if you try to convince her, Wini won’t leave now, and even if you take her by force, it won’t do any good because all of you will die afterwards, because what is about to happen will destroy everything within a 5-mile radius..."

Soon surprised, I stopped walking, and Blodeuwedd continued to speak, "I think Klaus must have told you a little about our plans and how what we’re producing can redefine the map of power in this world. The Numen bomb, which is based on what destroyed the civilization of this world thousands of years ago."

"You damned thing, you didn’t fight me because you thought it was useless... and yes, because it’s convenient for you. You must not have expected to suffer so much trouble with the Mora Empire. And now you've got not too much energy left and no options for how to handle the situation, is that it?"

"...Yeah, as Annie and Klaus said, you’re pretty quick in your analysis..." she stated, then she completed, "Right? My master!"

Then a frightening voice gave me a cold chill in the spine, which I recognized from that day at the lake, one day before the Blodeuwedd technique was executed.

"In fact, I did not expect him to be such a present variable in our plans."

Then that six-headed being appeared again and spoke with the third face, "Hey there, how long!"