Death... and me

Understanding why huring became like that, Rean couldn't help but smile even more. If the Soul Gem System still worked like in the past, the changes caused by Rean's intervention in this continent would have definitely given him a huge amount of Destiny Points. 'Well, there is nothing to be done about that.'

Rean and Kentucky then flew to Erqs Forest, where Rana, the Fairy Queen, presided over the fairies of the Huring Continent. It had been a few hundred years since he had been back, so he wondered how she was.

The illusion barrier that the fairies created in the Erqs Forest so that others wouldn't find them was pretty useless. Siste Orb quickly found the weak points and hacked into the formation. In fact, if Rean wanted, he could have broken that illusion on his own. It's just that Sister Orb was faster. Not to mention, she could make it so that the formation wouldn't need to be deactivated.

Finally, Rean and Kentucky appeared above the many tree houses in the forest, looking at all the fairies around. Normally, it was not possible to see the fairies unless they wanted to appear in front of you. However, they were Spirits of Light, so they were very obvious in Rean and Kentucky's eyes. Not to mention, their cultivation alone would also be enough to see through their concealment.

Rean then came down, catching the fairies around by surprise. They all kept themselves concealed, but Rean simply turned in the direction of one of the fairies and spoke. "Hahaha! Senior Thicket Cedarthistle, I can see that you are still around."

As soon as that fairy heard his name, surprise appeared on his face. He couldn't recognize Rean's changed appearance, but he definitely wouldn't forget Rean's voice. "This... Rean boy, is that you?" Immediately, he unmade his concealment, appearing in front of Rean.

Rean and Kentucky's appearance changed back to their normal ones as Rean nodded. "Yeap, that's me."

"You brat! Did you see just how much trouble you caused?" Instead of giving a happy welcome, Thicket immediately complained.

Rean scratched the back of his head. "Could you be talking about the Elements Gathering Weapons? Did Lady Tulipa tell you it was me who gave the Huring Sacred Land the forging method?"

Thicket floated in front of Rean and nodded with an angry expression. "Obviously, it was her. She is an Elder in the Sacred Land, after all. Who else could contact us if not her? Because of you, this continent's Karma is all messed up. It is quite annoying, you know?"

Fairies cultivate through Karma, and they can see the Karma Threads that connect people and things. It is through those threads that they attach themselves to certain cultivators or demon beasts and increase their cultivation level. However, the sudden surge of cultivators into the Huring Continent has made too many Karma Threads appear, so it also affects the Fairies Cultivation.

"Sorry, sorry. However, you can't really blame me, right? It is not like I was the one who deactivated the Continental Barriers," Rean tried to apologize. "If not for that, even with the Elements Gathering Weapons, the situation would have never become like this."

"Hmph!" Thicket was still angry, but he knew that Rean was right. "Fine, I can't blame you for that phenomenon. So, what are you doing here? I thought I would never see you again."

"I came to see the Fairy Queen. There is something I need to talk to her about," Rean quickly explained.

However, Thicket's expression changed a bit when Rean asked for Rana. "That might be somewhat difficulty..."

Rean had used his Divine Sense to check the Fairy Forest, especially the enormous three where his Sister lived before. He knew that Rana wasn't there, so he came to ask Thicket first of all. "Could it be she left to somewhere else?"

Suddenly, another voice cut in before Thicket answered. "She did, but she will not be back."

Pretty much all fairies had small bodies, no more than half a meter in size. The only exceptions to that Rule were the Fairy Queens and Kings. Those ones would even be slightly taller than the average human. The fairy that appeared now just so happened to be one of those, much to Rean's surprise. "Wasn't Huring Continent supposed to have only one Fairy Queen? How come there is another one here?"

That fairy could see the Golden Thread of Karma on Rean and Kentucky's bodies. Only Karma Threads connected to Fairy Queens and Kings had that color. Yet, that was the first time she had seen them. "So you are those guys who came here back then... I heard quite a little about you from the previous Fairy Queen. She told me that you might come by in the future, too."

Rean and Kentucky nodded. "Indeed. Still, you haven't answered my question."

"You were right," that Fairy Queen answered. "There was supposed to be only a single Fairy Queen in Huring Continent, and that's exactly the case at the moment. I'm filling in for your friend since she couldn't take this job anymore."

Rean narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

The Fairy Queen then took a golden locket that seemed to be sealed by some kind of power and passed it to Rean. "She told me to give this to you. As for who I am, I'm Arlette Ambercreek."

Rean took the locket and didn't really know what to do with it. "So... what do I do?"

"I don't know," Arlette answered. "She only told me that as long as I gave it to you, you would know what to do. Now, if you have nothing else to do, then I must ask you to leave the Fairy Forest. I don't know how you entered it, but I know your cultivation is very high. Still, I hope you will understand that non-fairies are not welcome here."

Rean looked at Thicket, who nodded back at him. "She truly has nothing to do with the previous Fairy Queen disappearance. In fact, no one knows. All we know is that Arlette was called to take her place."

Arlette nodded. "Sorry for not being able to help you. With this locket delivered, your Karma with this forest is now resolved." She then turned around and left, not in the mood to continue to talk to Rean. Well, Rean caused a lot of problems for the fairies, so it would be weird if she felt happy with his presence.

Seeing Thicket's helpless expression, Rean knew that it was better for him to leave. "In any case, it was good to see you again, senior Thicket."

"You too, Rean boy." Thicket nodded before his body returned to its natural concealed mode.

Rean and Kentucky looked at each other and nodded. Finally, they took flight and left the forest. After opening some distance from there, Roan appeared outside as well, and they all looked at the locket. "Now... what to do with this thing..."