Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

"How interesting. Now, answer me this, visitor from afar. Why do you think I would allow you to use one of my seeds to do such a thing? My question from before still stands as well. What makes you think you are WORTHY of doing such a thing?! What's stopping me from killing you right this second for saying such words right to my face?!" The surrounding area began to quake as the humanoid tree questioned.

'Well, fuck…' Mira cursed in her mind as it seemed she made a slight error in judgment.

From her experience, all these old monsters, who have been alive for countless eons or maybe since the beginning of time, should be indifferent to anything that doesn't directly affect them. Her wanting to use a World Tree Seed for herself should have no direct or indirect impact on the World Tree. It's probably got plenty of seeds laying around that will never be used.

Mira assumed that she'd probably still have to go through some bullshit trial to earn the World Tree's trust.

She also thought that by going this route, she might end up making the World Tree mad because of her lack of respect and brutal honesty, but Mira also felt like the World Tree wouldn't outright kill her.

It'd be like sending an Immortal on a mission to kill a small orphan mortal child with no background whatsoever.

At worst, she figured the World Tree would just tell her to go away or not to come back until she gave the World Tree an answer it liked.

However, it seems she misjudged the World Tree's character and the importance it places on its seeds. Or maybe it's not the importance of the Seeds themselves that it cares about, but the possible repercussions it might face if one were to sprout.

Now, the possibility of her failing this trial just rose exponentially! She doesn't have a good answer to the question, "Are you worthy?". In fact, pretty much the entire reason she's trying to get the World Tree Seed is to make her worthy! Worthy of being called the Successor of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life! Worthy enough to be qualified for revenge!

The way she is right now is definitely not worthy of receiving the World Tree Seed without having to put in the work…

Wait! That's it! The Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life! Although she doesn't currently have the cultivation talent required to possess it, she is still its current Successor! Her talent in Willpower and mentality is nearly unmatched against those with the same cultivation as her.

If only she could tap into some of its power to prove her worth…

That's when Mira's eyes lit up!

'The Orb of Limitless Death and Infinite Life!! It's inside my body even in this trial world! That should be more than enough to prove that I'm more than worthy enough to receive a World Tree Seed!'

Mira closed her eyes and quickly turned her attention to the orb that was surrounding her Dantian.

Leah and the World Tree were a bit confused by her actions, but they both saw her eyes light up before closing with a serious expression on her face.

'Interesting. Is she going to bring something out in order to prove her worth? I wonder what it'll be?' The World Tree thought to itself.

'Damn! She looks so sexy with her serious face! I want to fuck her again!' Leah still couldn't get rid of her perverted thoughts…

Soon enough, Mira grasped a wisp of the orb's power, a power that contained part of the F.LD.I.L, and manifested it outside her body.

Instantly, the surrounding light started getting absorbed, the wood around her began to wither, and both Leah and the humanoid tree felt their lifespans being slowly drained and consumed by whatever power Mira manifested.

They both looked on in horror, but the humanoid tree's expression was much more severe. Leah was just worried about how her lifespan was draining. It wasn't at a very fast rate, but she could feel it.

The World Tree felt the same thing Leah did, but it understood what this meant.

It meant Mira, or whatever power was behind Mira, was capable of turning it, a World Tree that spans across Realms, into nothing more than firewood!

Seeing the power Mira could display, the World Tree made a split-second decision. It decided to just give Mira what she wants and not get involved in this mess any more than it already has.

A large fist-sized seed soon appeared in front of the humanoid tree before it tossed it into Mira's lap.

"Okay! I get it! Put that thing away! Here's your seed! Now, please, get out of my sight!" The humanoid tree waved its hand, and their vision went black for an instant before they reappeared outside of the wooden door.

Leah and Mira were so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they could barely comprehend what was happening. It wasn't until Mira felt a weight in her hands that she finally returned to her senses.

She turned to Leah, who was even more shocked her, and a trace of gentleness appeared in her eyes. Mira knew that in just a few seconds, she would disappear from this trial world, and this trial world would disappear along with her.

However, Leah was the first person she's ever had consensual sex with, and knowing that she would never see her again caused a few unfamiliar emotions to surface within her.

While Leah was still recovering from her shock, Mira spoke up as she could feel herself being pulled out of this trial world.

"May we meet again in a different Universe and in a different timeline, Leah. If somehow I come across a version of you in my homeworld, I'll be sure to approach you and say hi." A faint smile appeared on her face as she said that.

Leah turned to look at Mira, shocked by what she said and completely forgetting about the experience with the World Tree. She wanted to say something, but then she noticed that Mira's existence was growing thinner and thinner.

She didn't know what to do, so she just followed her instincts. She ran up to Mira to embrace her one last time as she felt like she'd never get to hold Mira again if she didn't, but when she made it to where Mira stood, instead of embracing a little human girl, all she grabbed was air.

Tears immediately started falling as she and the world around her began crumbling until soon, nothing was left.

***

Mira appeared back in her original body sitting on her throne with a fist-sized seed in her lap, but instead of feeling good about ending the trial early, she felt somewhat empty.

It was only now, after she lost it, that she realized that she quite liked being in the company of the Elven Queen. Sure, their relationship may have started as purely sexual, but their personalities complimented each other rather well.

They hadn't known each other for very long, but even in that short period of time, Mira felt the budding of a new friendship and possibly love.

However, now it was gone. It was all gone. She would never see that person again because she technically didn't exist in the first place. Leah was just a creation made by the F.LD.I.L to serve a purpose. Now that her purpose has been fulfilled, she is no longer needed.

Maybe Leah's entire purpose was this. To have sex with her, get close to her, form a relationship with her…

Mira felt even more bitter, cold, and empty inside when these thoughts surfaced.

'Was the relationship we had even real?'

She didn't know, and so she turned to the only person that could possibly answer her questions in these confusing times.

"Hey, Guardian, are the trials that the F.LD.I.L creates even real? Is what I experience in them all set up in a way that the F.LD.I.L wants? Am I even in control of my own actions in these trials?" Mira asked, and soon after, the Guardian appeared right in front of Mira.

"Hmmm… I don't know." The Guardian shrugged and said casually.

Mira frowned and said in a slightly deeper voice, "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean, I don't know. It's not like the Firmament tells me everything and gives me access to everything. As I've said before, I'm just a Guardian. Your Guardian. I may know many things, but I certainly don't know everything. However, if you want my best guess, I'd say that the trials aren't real for the most part. There may be trials that take place in a real world where you use your body, but I don't know which trials those might be."

"But! What I do know is that everything you experience and everything you choose to do in these trials is entirely up to you. The F.LD.I.L may set the stage for you, but other than that, it doesn't interfere with anything else. Your only goal is to complete the trial. It doesn't matter how you do so, but you should also keep in mind that every trial has a theme, and there will be ways to complete the trial that are better and more efficient than others," The Guardian explained.

Mira didn't need to hear anything else. There were many ways to complete that last trial, but the theme was trust. Or, more specifically, trusting and relying on others.

She wouldn't have been able to complete that last trial as fast as she did if she didn't trust and rely on Leah to take her to see the World Tree.

The World Tree also kept asking whether or not she was 'worthy' of possessing a World Tree Seed, which in a way, is another form of trust. She has to prove that she's trustworthy enough to obtain a World Tree Seed.

Well, she would've had to do that if she didn't completely fuck up the trial by unleashing the powers of the orb.

Now that she didn't have to spend any more time doing trials or collecting materials, Mira decided to ask a few more questions about the F.LD.I.L and the orb that's residing in her Dantian.