Just like he said would, The World Tree of Gluttony had brought the heroic quartet to their knees in a flash. They all now teetered on the verge of defeat.
“You’re all so pathetically foolish,” the World Tree said. “You’re all so terribly weak in comparison to him. You all know that you have no right to stand before me, right? Why do you keep getting up?”
“Heh heh... Ha ha ha!” Ramza chuckled. “I’ve never been good at giving up.”
“I’ll stand up as many times as it takes for my master,” Marco added.
“If I’m gonna die... I’d prefer to go out with a bang!” Arshay said.
Their pithy replies annoyed the World Tree, but there was one voice in particular that infuriated him to no end. Using her staff to support herself, Misty stood resolute as her prized robe fluttered in the wind.
“Well, if we die... So will you,” she said.
“Oh?” the World Tree replied. “You truly believe that we’re on the same level?”
“Of course I do. If you’re so sure that you’re so different, why don’t you tell me why? You’re going to destroy everything, aren’t you? Then it’s all the same. You’re a frail creature, right alongside livestock, insects, and— Gah!”
The World Tree cut her off with a mighty kick to the gut. “Shut your trap. Speaking with you is absolutely repulsive.”
He noticed Ramza’s rage filled face as he looked around, but the World Tree quickly dispatched the remaining heroes by slamming them into the ground with his magical energy. Only a young lady remained—Krone.
“Finally,” the World Tree said as he cackled menacingly.
He approached her, smacked her cheek with the back of his hand, and sent her flying to the ground.
“Ouch...” Krone grunted.
“I’ll end you with my own hands. Without fail,” the World Tree said.
Krone had been separated from her beloved. She crawled on the ground to reach Ein once more, but her body was overcome with a pain unlike anything she’d ever felt. Even so, she didn’t stop. She earnestly drew Ein back into her embrace once more, paying no head to her own messy hair as she carefully pushed away a few strands from her beloved’s cheek.
“Ein...” Krone murmured.
“He won’t wake up,” the World Tree said. “And he never will, not without my permission.”
“Get up, sleepyhead. It’s almost morning.”
“I told you that he’ll never awaken!”
With a furious roar, the World Tree leaped at Krone, but Marco quickly dashed in between them. The knight swung down his greatsword, but it shattered after the World Tree effortlessly blocked it. The glutton proceeded to hit Marco with a roundhouse and sent him flying into a stone wall.
“Don’t touch her!” Ramza shouted.
“Stop! I won’t let you kill her!” Arshay yelled.
The pair tried their best to protect her, but the World Tree’s powerful punches had beaten them into submission. After looking around the battlefield, the glutton picked a crude sword off the remains of a fallen Heim soldier. It wasn’t much of a blade, but it was more than enough to snuff out a single young lady.
“I’ll end it here,” the World Tree growled.
As he approached her once more, the defeated heroes tried to will their bodies into motion. They couldn’t let Krone die here, but their limits had simply been pushed too far.
“No!” Arshay’s desperate cry echoed throughout the garden.
The World Tree didn’t stop. He raised his blade and prepared to swing down, but Krone simply turned to her allies and smiled.
“Thank you for protecting me until now,” she said.
There was no mistaking her words. The World Tree quickly swung down. Everyone feared that all had been lost when suddenly, a clang of steel rang out.
“We meet again,” a familiar voice said as he drew Krone close to him.
“World Tree of Gluttony!”
It was now his turn to wrap his beloved in his embrace and protect her with everything he had. He used his black blade to parry the World Tree’s attack.