Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

The man had seen his comrades get slaughtered and didn't resist when YuWon began asking questions. Apart from the one YuWon killed first, the rest weren't ogres or onis, as the man told him.

These people had dressed as onis, evolved forms of ogres, but in reality, were slaves of the actual oni. The oni had been expelled from his clan and grabbed the few people he could, enslaving them and dressing them up as onis.

In the end, they became a glorified con group, fooling humans and enslaving them. Not only that, but they also sold some slaves to the actual oni that ruled this part of the forest.

YuWon realized that if they frequently sold slaves, then it was probable that Lysandra had also been taken there. In that case, only the man could guide him there.

"Where do you sell the people at?" YuWon asked.

"In the cave up north! I can take you there—"

"How many people are there?"

"Slaves? I d-don't know—"

"Oni, why the hell will I ask you about the slaves? Does it look like I care about them?"

As YuWon retorted, the man's gaze drifted towards the people standing behind YuWon. The man couldn't help but think YuWon had a couple of loose screws.

On one hand, he said he didn't care about saving the slaves. Then, on the other, he saved the people they wanted to capture.

"I-I don't know about that! They didn't allow us to enter the cave—"

"Alright, get up," YuWon said, grabbing the man by his nape. "Take me to the cave and I'll let you go."

The man hurriedly nodded, and they were about to leave when the people YuWon had accidentally saved stepped up. They wanted to thank him for saving them, but YuWon couldn't care less about them.

"We were hoping you could take—" the man spoke.

"Get lost."

YuWon's harsh words stunned them. But they weren't fools to keep pestering him. As for him, he didn't want to save any more people. After all, they always caused problems for him later.

***

Sometime later, at an unknown location...

In the center of a strange indoor garden, there stood a massive tree. Its branches spread wide and far, reaching the ceiling. A woman could kneel next to the tree, carefully tending to the roots of the once vibrant tree.

The woman's black hair hung down her back, standing out against her pale, almost ghostly skin. Two red horns appeared on her forehead, a mark of her Oni heritage.

She had a strong yet graceful build, commanding and elegant. But what stood out were her icy blue eyes. They were cold with indifferent toward everything.

As she worked, a sudden thud distracted her. A fruit fell from the tree and turned rotten as soon as it touched the soil. The oni looked at the fruit and frowned before picking it up.

"I wonder who died now..." she mumbled.

Just then, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps and saw an attendant rushing into the garden.

"Didn't I tell everyone not to bother me when I'm here?" the woman glared at the attendant.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," the attendant panted. "But... we have lost contact with a scout—"

"Why do you think I would care about a missing scout?" The woman's anger flared up instantly. "I may be the queen, but I have no interest in the lives of mere scouts."

"Y-Your Majesty...it isn't any scout," the attendant stammered. "It's the prince — former prince."

Upon hearing that, the woman's gaze softened, and she stared at the fruit and then at the tree.

Since she was a kid, she was told that the old tree was really important to her family, and a fruit symbolized each family member. Whenever a fruit fell, it meant someone in the family had passed away.

But she hadn't expected it to be her exiled brother. As the realization struck her, the fruit fell from her hand.

"So he's the one who died," she whispered.

The attendant, unaware of her words, stood there awkwardly.

"We're preparing a search party—"

"There's no need for that," the oni replied.

Before the attendant could ask why, she picked the fruit up and tossed it carelessly toward the attendant, who barely caught it.

"My brother is already dead."

The attendant froze. Yet another death in the family. As the attendant who had served the family for decades, he could only pray for the departed, staring at the tree that used to be full of fruits. Now, there were only seven left.

"Prepare a funeral," the oni ordered, stepping away from the tree. "And find out who killed that disgrace."

"Your Majesty?"

"Even if he was a worthless bastard child, he was still my kin. I must avenge his death."

Just as the Oni queen was about to turn and leave the garden, two more attendants came rushing in.

"Your Majesty!" one of them gasped. "There's an intruder! He has broken through the outer defenses and is attacking our guards!"

Before the queen could respond, the fruit in the first attendant's hand vibrated. Suddenly, it exploded, sending bits of rotten pulp flying everywhere. The attendant stumbled back, dropping what remained of the fruit.

The queen's gaze shifted to the fruit's remains, and her lips curled into a smile. The rotten fruit served two purposes.

The first was to be used as a symbolic funeral and the second was to detect the person who killed the fruit's bearer. Since it exploded, it meant her brother's killer was close.

"How interesting," she said. "I was worried it would take me time to track down my brother's killer. But fool has made it easy for me."

Just then, a guard came rushing into the garden.

"Your Majesty!" he shouted. "We've captured the intruder!"

"Already?" she asked. "Tell me, who is this intruder? And how did you capture them so easily?"

"It's a human, Your Majesty," the guard replied. "He surrendered after dispatching several of our men."

"A human? A human killed an oni? Do you take me for a fool!?"

"N-No, Your Majesty..."

"Where is this... human?"