"What proposal?" the male phantom asked.
"I want to hire you to work for me."
A white bird appeared on Joshua's arm. Ever since Joshua had become the "host" of the High Elf World Tree, he had been able to summon its consciousness wherever he went.
"I can provide you with an unlimited place to live, and... an inexhaustible source of energy."
Joshua had offered terms that no Ascendant could refuse.
"The World Tree?"
The female phantom recognized the white bird on Joshua's arm for what it truly was.
In that instant, Joshua heard a mixture of fear and disgust in her voice.
"Watcher! Do you want us to return to that cruel battlefield again?!"
"Battlefield? What battlefield?" Joshua did not understand where the female phantom's anger had come from.
"Watcher, how long have you existed in this world?"
The male phantom stopped the woman from further berating Joshua and calmly asked his age.
"Twenty," Joshua said.
"A newly born bloodline? Watchers do not live long... You should be the seventh or eighth generation descended from the original Watchers. Did your parents or ancestors truly tell you nothing about the past?"
"No."
Joshua had no memories related to past history. He did not even know what the Watchers did.
"..."
The male phantom sighed softly. His gaze swept over the Blue Robe and Black-robed One behind Joshua, as well as the two guardian dragons.
"High Elves, and two Guardians... I believe all of you remember being invaded by... the so-called Things from Beyond." Queitoan Elder acknowledged the male phantom's words.
Although Aserkelo's destruction had appeared to be caused by humans, what had ultimately destroyed Aserkelo was part of the Things from Beyond.
"We tried in the past." With a wave of the male phantom's hand, projections of a group of