Fourth Prince's Debauchery

Inside the world tree, the [Queen of Timeless Distortion] looked at the countless spatial seals around the tree with an expressionless look.

She could see that the seals had frozen the three inside a spatial cage in an alternate dimension. Currently, the tree was completely inaccessible to her.

Although she could see it, she could neither touch nor make any contact with it.

Furthermore, she could feel a powerful destructive power in these seals. She knew that if I wanted, I could destroy the tree at any time.

Her expression quickly turned colder and colder, and her eyes were filled with an ice-cold killing intent that seemed impossible to suppress.

Realizing my purpose, she glared at me.

"Immortal Soul, if you dare to destroy the tree, I promise I will not rest until I see you dead, no matter how long it takes me!"

I narrowed my eyes when I heard that.

I did not doubt her words. Immortals are very stubborn beings and they seldomly give up when they want to do something. If she says she will definitively kill me, then it means she will do everything in her power to kill me no matter how many years it takes.

Nobody wants that kind of enemy.

Fortunately, my intention was never to destroy the tree.

My purpose is just to use it as a chip on my table. Judging by the Queen's personality, perhaps I can use it to reach an agreement with her.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to destroy it," I said. "However, I can't allow you to experiment to continue either. I can't let this world be destroyed right now."

"Heh... Are you telling me to give up on my plans then? Don't you know that we, Immortals, always end what we start?"

I nodded. I'm an Immortal as well, so of course, I know that.

"That is the reason I want to make a deal with you."

"A deal?"

"Yes. As I told you, I can't allow you to destroy this world right now, however, I don't care if you destroy it later."

"Huh?" The [Queen] was startled by my words. But one second later, she understood.

"I see. You will keep the World Tree sealed until you complete your goal. And after that, you will release it and allow me to complete my experiment."

I nodded. "Yes, that is my idea."

Differently from the unknown Immortal, the [Queen] doesn't seem interested in interfering with my goals. The other Immortal wants to destroy the world, and if in the process he can fight me, then it's better. That is the reason we can only be enemies.

But the [Queen] only wants to finish her experiment. The rest doesn't matter.

In other words, we can reach an agreement that will satisfy both of us.

Of course, that is only possible because I gained the upper hand when I sealed the tree. Otherwise, she would have not bothered in hearing my words.

I don't know the exact purpose of her experiment with this tree, but it's obvious it's very important for her. Hence, she will accept my deal as soon as it's not too outrageous just to save the tree.

"Two thousand years," I said. "I will release the seals by then."

"Impossible." The [Queen] refused my proposal immediately. "Two thousand years is too much. One hundred years is the most I can give you."

"One hundred years?" I sneered. "We are Immortals, one hundred years will pass in the blink of an eye. Fifteen hundred years. Nothing less."

The [Queen]'s eyes turned frigid.

"No." She stated coldly.

I furrowed my brows. Why is this woman so stubborn?

As though feeling my thoughts, Emilia growled.

"Whore, dad is already merciful for sparing your life! How do you dare to refuse dad!? Dad, we should just kill her! If the two of us fight together, we can win!"

I wrinkled my brows. That is not the result I want.

I know how troublesome Immortals can be. Due to that, I'm not confident in being able to kill her even if I and Emilia join hands.

Defeating her is not hard, but killing her is.

In fact, even if Ysnay joins us it would not be enough.

Plus, even if we manage to kill her, judging by the abilities she showed until now, there is a high chance that she possesses a method of resurrection.

In other words, if we continue fighting her, I will have a life-and-death enmity against a powerful Immortal.

I can't afford it right now. Not when my goal is so close and when there is another Immortal waiting for an opportunity from the shadows.

Thus, my best option is to make a deal with her.

"One thousand years, Queen. This is my last offer. I know this is not your only experiment, and you probably have thousands of similar experiments in other worlds, so this experiment should not be too important for you. On the other hand, I can't afford to have you messing with this world right now. Therefore, if you don't agree, I will not hesitate to kill you here and now."

The [Queen] squinted, weighing her options silently.

After several minutes like that, she nodded.

"… Okay, one thousand years it will be. I don't mind waiting that long. However–"

"What is it?"

"You will owe me a favor."

I frowned.

"It looks like you forgot who has the initiative here."

"Stop bluffing, Immortal Soul. I have the feeling you attach more importance to this world than I do to the tree. What do you think will happen to this world if I create a black hole right now?"

This woman…

To think she would be this sharp.

What should I do?

Owing a favor to an Immortal is a delicate thing. You don't know what the other party will ask of you in the name of repaying this favor.

Of course, I can agree now and then refuse to pay it later. However, that means making this woman my enemy.

I heaved a long sigh.

"... Okay, I agree. However, I will refuse to repay this favor depending on your request."

"I understand. That is enough." The [Queen] nodded and retracted her killing intent. "Very well, for the next one thousand years, I will remain here in this tree and I promise to stop with this experiment."

I could not help but sigh in relief inwardly.

With this, I took care of this crisis.

But then, I thought of something.

"Right, there is another Immortal thinking about destroying this world. I'm sure you don't want to see him succeed either. What do you think about joining hands with me to kill him?"

The [Queen] was startled.

One second later, she sneered.

"What? Do you want to make me your hired thug as well? Dream on. As for that Immortal, if you fail to stop him, I don't mind giving him a try."

... Well, it was worth a try.

I chuckled wryly and shook my head.

Anyway, now that I took care of this situation, it's time to deal with the next problem…

Looking beside me, I saw Emilia growling at the elf Immortal, obviously still angry with her.

I smiled wryly and patted her head.

"Let's go, Emilia. You and I need to talk."

Emilia was briefly startled. But in the next instant, her lips curved up in a bright smile.

"Understood, dad."