The Phoenix wanted something in return. Arthur, once again, wasn’t surprised by it.

Those creatures always wanted something in return for things like that. It was in their nature.

"Depends on what you are asking," he said.

The Phoenix then changed its form. A hurricane of fire moved around it, and when it vanished, the creature in the middle didn’t look like a Phoenix anymore.

It was, in fact, a woman with long orange hair, pale white skin, and, of course, a naked body.

Arthur stared at her curves, enjoying the moment, as it was not every day that she saw a woman as beautiful as that one.

Myla’s cheek turned red while looking at her. And when she saw Arthur enjoying the view, for some reason, she couldn’t help but be jealous of it.

’She is not that beautiful... I’m too!’ the thought crossed Myla’s mind.

The Phoenix, whose name was Deja, said, "This is just a drop of my bloodline, but I’m not giving this away to help others."

"My real body is trapped, and I need someone to free me. You two are the first ones to complete my trials, even though you kind of cheated, right?" Deja chuckled at it, "Anyway, that doesn’t matter. Can you help me or not?"

Arthur would help her anyway, as he really needed to unlock the power of his bloodline. But after seeing how gorgeous she was, he was even more inclined to it.

"Are you a female Phoenix?" he asked.

He wanted to be sure of it. A creature like that could change appearances, as he could. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Deja stomped her feet. "Of course I am, can’t you tell? We can change our bodies to a human form to mingle better, but a female Phoenix can only turn into a female human version."

Arthur nodded in acknowledgment.

"I’ll help you," he said, "but what do I need to do?"

Myla stood there, hearing their conversation. It was not every day that someone from a weak planet like hers could hear two legendary creatures having a conversation.

"You certainly know about the planet where the Alliance is, right?" Deja said, "That’s where we are, too."

When she said ’we,’ she meant the Phoenixes. That planet was the biggest one in that galaxy, and it was not only where the Alliance was, but where some of the most legendary creatures were, too!

Monlog Giants, Phoenixes, Dragons, etc.

"Celestials are there too?" Arthur asked.

"No," Deja said, "the celestials are in a higher plane. The Alliance is nothing compared to them."

A hint of sadness was in Deja’s voice as she shared her story.

"All of us, Phoenixes, Dragons, even those arrogant Giants... We had similar power and lived together with the celestials in the higher plane. But they decided to expel us from that planet."

"Without our followers worshiping us, we slowly lost some of our powers. Not a single one of us managed to gather enough energy to ascend back to the higher plane."

The higher plane Deja talked about was a planet like any other, but way bigger, with a thick mana that made it easier for the humans living there to get stronger.

But the difference between that planet and the rest was not just its high population and powerful mana, but their faith.

All of them worshiped the gods and mythical creatures for ages. When the Celestials expelled the Phoenixes and other creatures, they had to gather followers again.

But how could they? Without their former power, they couldn’t give blessings to everyone.

And all the planets saw them as beasts that had to be hunted, killed. There was no such thing as worshiping something. They only believed in magic, and to get stronger, one had to meditate and gather enough mana to improve in the rankings.

The promise of worshiping something and getting power in return was just a fantasy to them.

In fact, while there were no demonic forces in the higher realm, as the gods killed all of them, that wasn’t a thing in the other planets.

So, pacts and other things that, most of the time, were a bad deal to the person signing the pact, were pretty common. That weakened the beliefs of everyone.

That was the reason no creature managed to ascend again. And even if they did get enough followers to do that, the gods would be there to simply block their passage.

Arthur stood there in deep thought. He was going in that direction. The number of followers he had increased daily, and one day, he might have enough power to reach the higher realm.

But then what? Wouldn’t that mean the celestials would simply kill him?

Also, even before getting the necessary followers, the Celestials were already looking for him. It was like they didn’t want anyone to ascend, no matter what.

"Where are you trapped?" Arthur asked, "Inside the Alliance headquarters?"

He feared that. If that were the case, then freeing Deja would be much harder.

Arthur knew that was where she was before even asking. If it were that easy for her to free herself, then she would have done it thousands of years ago.

"Yes, correct. Are you still willing to help me?" she asked again.

"I am, but you must know that it might take me some time to complete this task of yours. You know very well how powerful the Alliance was."

The Alliance was so powerful that it managed to trap a Phoenix.

Myla heard their conversation, and her mind exploded with that much information. The things they talked about sounded straight out of a fairy tale.

Different planets, celestials, and gods. No one had ever left her planet. She thought it was not possible.

Hell, she had no idea that many planets existed in the first place. To her, it was like she was finally leaving the well and seeing how vast the world truly was.

"No problem," Deja said, "take your time. I’m trapped there for such a long time; it doesn’t hurt to wait for a while. Come closer, I’ll help you unlock your bloodline."