Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 467: The Fall of Moros

Ashlock's immense Star Core exploded with power, overflowing the ethereal root network with enough desolation Qi to make the ground quake. He hadn't been fast enough to bolster Moros's shields to block the star beam from Astralis, but he was in time to empower Erebus to save the Bastion from being cut in half. The Bastion core below Erebus thrummed with power as it converted the provided desolation Qi into void Qi that Erebus used to conjure a defense.

Reality seemed to silently scream as a cone of void met the star beam. At first, the star beam continued to inch closer to Erebus, threatening to scorch him in half. However, Erebus managed to barely keep the star beam a mere few meters away by pulling intensely on the Bastion's Qi reserves. There were a tense five or so seconds as the star beam didn't seem to let up until it abruptly stopped as if the power had been cut—leaving behind a red hot line of sizzling rock that ran between Akasha and Erebus obscured by a wall of steam.

It had all been such a sudden attack from Astralis that they hadn't had time to prepare and had paid the price.

"I was naive," Ashlock cursed as the steam settled, showing him the extent of the damage. Moros was still barely airborne and holding together, but both Bastion cores were empty of Qi. "Why did I think Astralis wouldn't attack us on sight despite Nymeria's warnings about how brutally he treated his own children—wait, where are Nymeria and Stella?"

He frantically searched the area near Akasha, where they had been seconds ago. They were nowhere to be found, but two distinct spatial Qi signatures that pointed toward the south clued him in on their whereabouts.

Kaida, who had been standing nearby, confirmed his suspicions as he tasted the air with his tongue. "There's spatial and aether Qi here. I believe Stella tried to push Nymeria out of the way, but both their soul anchors were activated, forcing them back to Red Vine Peak."

"For Stella's spatial anchor to activate, her body needed to lose a limb," Ashlock said, his voice tense as his imagination ran wild. If it was just an arm or leg, she could be saved. But what if her head or heart got hit by that beam? Only a charred corpse would have made it back to Red Vine Peak.

"I should have never let her come on this mission," Ashlock said aloud, but he was really berating himself. He had set the boundary before the Mystic Realm visit, and she had to reach the Nascent Soul Realm if she wanted to do something this dangerous. The idea behind that was that if she died abruptly, he would have a chance to rescue her soul and craft a new body for her. But if she died while in the Star Core Realm? It was over.

With the threat of Astralis still present, he couldn't afford the few seconds to go and check on Stella. But he could ask. "Quill, what's the situation?" A heart-wrenchingly long second passed before his system chimed in.

[Quill has confirmed Stella's safety]

Upon reading the system's message, a wave of relief washed over his soul, only for rage to swiftly return. This dragon had badly injured and could have even killed Stella. He wanted revenge on this arrogant lizard who shot first and asked questions later. The problem was that Astralis was far out of his root range and had badly damaged Moros.

His Bastion skill was incredibly powerful, but his current fleet of Bastions, including Moros, was held back by a lack of high-cultivation realm spirit trees to turn into Bastions. Moros would be an unstoppable force against any Star Core Realm foe, but against a powerhouse like Astralis, who was an entire realm above Akasha and Erebus, it was nothing but a sitting duck to be shot at.

Of his remaining forces on Moros that could contend with Astralis, all he had was Larry and Maple. Larry was heavily disadvantaged in the storm as the various chaotic Qi's fueling the storm would eat away at his ash, weakening him over time. Meanwhile, Maple was missing...

A sudden roar thundered through the storm. Ashlock looked toward the direction and saw a second shadow forming below Astralis—a massive, nightmarish creature resembling the abyss in physical form.

"Is that... Maple?" Ashlock wasn't sure, but it seemed possible. If Stella had gotten hurt, that was the one thing that would make that squirrel unleash his true form. On the off chance that it wasn't Maple... well, they should leave right away.

"Who are you?!" Astralis roared in response, and Ashlock saw in his spiritual sight an unfathomable amount of cosmic Qi gathering in the sky above. The storm lit up brilliant white a moment later as the dragon seemingly called down the entire cosmos upon the eldritch horror.

"Master," Kaida looked at Erebus as the world exploded around them, "What should we do?"

That was a great question. Astralis, their objective was right before them. While the chance for peaceful negotiations seemed to have fallen through, he doubted there had been a chance for peace in the first place. Since Maple was unleashing his true power, they likely had the upper hand in a show of strength... but how could they capitalize on it? Moros was severely damaged. The Bastion's Qi reserves had bottomed out when blocking that star beam with void Qi, so the shields were still down. While Larry, Kaida, and the others could easily evacuate, Erebus, Akasha, and the other aether Qi trees were tied to Moros. Should it fall, so would they.

His thoughts were interrupted by the reminder that they weren't alone out here in the storm. Upon exiting the aether, Ashlock noticed that they were surrounded by a few Nascent Soul Realm monsters leading large groups of Star Core Realm monsters. While he doubted these Nascent Soul Realm monsters were considered Primal Overlords, as they were nothing compared to Astralis in the distance, they weren't weak enough to be ignored.

"What have we here?" A giant fire serpent that looked like it was made from molten rock asked as it floated a cautious distance away. Since it had no wings, it likely used its Nascent Soul Realm cultivation to achieve flight. The air around it shimmered from the heat, and Ashlock could tell the monster was cautiously aggressive. It wanted to assert its dominance for whatever reason but didn't want to commit to a fight.

Unfortunately for this serpent and the other monsters coming toward Moros, unlike Astralis, who was too far out of his range, these fools were right where he wanted them.

Ashlock wasn't in the mood, nor did he have the time for this. He ignored the serpent and deliberately lowered Moros toward the ground infested with snakes and other monsters.

The molten serpent hissed with amusement at his apparent plight and even dared to get closer.

Kaida shuffled closer to Erebus. "Should I kill him?" he hissed under his breath.

"Kill him?" Ashlock laughed in Kaida's mind. "Why? That serpent doesn't know it yet, but he's already dead."

Kaida nodded his head in response and said nothing more. Despite the seemingly dire situation, his absolute trust in Ashlock showed through his actions.

"If anything, you should taunt them to get closer," Ashlock added. "That will make slaughtering them all more efficient."

Kaida, a fan of pranks, smirked. His body solidified briefly, forming a solid scale. Golden words were etched into it within moments before the scale detached and floated into the air.

Ashlock was rather curious about what Kaida could possibly be doing. He got his answer as Moros touched the ground, and the floating scale exploded—not with power or light—but with sound. A terrible high-pitched hiss reverberated out.

"What is that?" Ashlock couldn't help but ask as he saw the monsters around them get riled up and surge toward them.

"A mating call," Kaida simply replied, "These snakes think they are slithering toward the most attractive mate, as I added in some illusion Qi to paint a vivid picture in their tiny minds."

"Like a siren out at sea that calls out to lonely sailors," Ashlock mused, "only to find a vicious monster that will tear them apart... how fitting."

It seemed the mating call even worked on the Nascent Soul Realm serpent, as they forgot about keeping a cautious distance and dropped down onto Moros's surface, cracking the stone under its weight. It was a truly giant snake, around the entire length of Moros, and possibly weighed just as much. Thankfully, the snake had approached Moros from behind, so it avoided crushing all of the aether Qi trees that were positioned at the front.

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"Where is she?" the snake hissed as it looked around with molten eyes.

"Right here," Ashlock replied from Erebus with abyssal whispers.

Larry stepped forward, and the crown of ash suspended above his head began to spin. Ashlock joined in with his own soul pressure, carrying the weight of his Inner World, and together, they managed to crush the Nascent Soul Realm snake under their combined soul pressure. The monster spewed lava from its scales as it desperately tried to fight the crushing pressure and raise its head.

Before it got a chance to fight back, Ashlock believed it was time to enact his plan and the entire reason he had lowered Moros to the ground. He spent a hundred SC to use one of his recently upgraded skills, {Abyssal Maw [S]}. With Erebus as the epicenter, an abyssal maw full of void tendrils and black vines rapidly expanded outward at a shocking speed as if the world itself was being devoured. The snake's eyes widened at the encroaching darkness filled with death and began to thrash around more.

Yet it was hopeless—Ashlock had already marked this monster for death. If the snake was infected with his Cursebloom sap, it wouldn't even be able to teleport away, but that wasn't necessary. He could tell this snake had the volcanic affinity, which didn't offer any teleportation capabilities. Its only hope was to break free of his and Larry's soul pressure, which wasn't happening.

Void tendrils shot out from the abyss, impaling the snake through its scales. Its mouth opened, and it roared in pain like an erupting volcano. Lava was about to follow, but Ashlock put a stop to that. Black vines, thicker than snakes and covered in spikes coated with a corrosive aura, sprang out of the abyss and clamped the snake's mouth shut like a muzzle. More vines followed, and soon, the snake was cocooned. No matter how much it thrashed about, the vines held firm, only slightly straining under the strength of the titanic creature.

It was then that Ashlock activated one of the new capabilities of his S-grade skill: while the skill was active, the Hungering Maw would siphon the marked target's Qi and lifeforce to sustain itself and grow in size, meaning the stronger the opponent he captured in the skill, the larger the skill would become. The snake had been chosen as the catalyst.

As the black vines and void tendrils began to devour the snake, the hungering maw only grew. It rapidly expanded as the snake's thrashings lessened and soon went deathly still.

[+372 SC]

The system message confirmed the kill, but Ashlock wasn't done. Kaida's fake mating call worked wonders as an endless sea of snakes slithered closer, only to find themselves wrapped in his hungering maw and devoured, further strengthening the skill.

Ashlock slowly felt his Qi reserves replenishing, and a few minutes later, the two layers of shields flickered back to life. Moros was now back in action.

By now, the hungering maw had expanded a mile in all directions, devouring everything it could find. It was surreal to look around and see nothing but a sea of hungering darkness. It was almost baffling to realize just how far his powers had grown.

However, at this size, the Hungering Maw began to become unsustainable. As the monsters fled, the abyss began to pull on Ashlock's Qi reserves to maintain its vast size, and it was still costing him 100 SC a minute.

Deciding it had served its purpose, Ashlock canceled the skill. It was great at quickly devouring a large group of monsters in a small area, but anything more than that required a hefty price to keep it going.

As the abyss retracted into Erebus, Ashlock was surprised to see the intense fight in the distance had concluded—both shadows were missing. A moment later, Maple emerged from the void in his squirrel form and fell on Kaida's head. Black blood stained his white fur, and his awkward movements suggested injuries.

"Maple?! Are you okay? What happened to Astralis?" Ashlock asked. If Maple had devoured Astralis, they would have lost one of their potential allies in the beast tide.

"He fled," Maple said simply and fell asleep without another word.

Larry and Kaida exchanged a glance.

"Astralis fled? That means he's still alive after facing Maple?" Kaida said, clearly as surprised as the rest of them. Nobody asked as they knew they wouldn't receive an answer, but it was an unspoken truth that Maple was incredibly strong. If he hadn't been able to force Astralis to submit, what chance did the rest of them have?

"What should we do now, Master?" Larry asked in his usual gruff voice toward Erebus, the tree that a fragment of Ashlock's soul was inhabiting.

"We return home," Ashlock said. With Astralis gone, there was no point in pressing forward here when one of their strongest members was injured. Furthermore, he wanted to repair Moros and realized that his Bastion would need some upgrades if they wanted to go Primal Overlord hunting. Yet, most importantly, he wanted to check on Stella and didn't trust leaving Moros and the rest unattended.

Today hadn't gone as planned, but it also hadn't been a total loss. He had assessed the strength of a Primal Overlord and gained a lot of credits from devouring that hoard of monsters.

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3680

Daily Credit: 22

Sacrifice Credit: 2285

[Sign in?]

Ashlock could seriously increase his combat strength with that many credits through upgrades and random draws. So, pressing forward wasn't the right move here.

"Understood," Larry replied.

Ashlock infused the half-drained Bastion cores with Qi, and Moros slowly rose into the sky. The Bastion core hummed, and desolation Qi cascaded off the ship's bow. The storm made it Qi-intensive, but he managed to tear open a desolation rift and shepherd Moros through.

The tension he hadn't noticed gripping his soul faded away. Red Vine Peak was home—it was safe. But he couldn't rest yet. His vision blurred, and he went to check on Stella.

***

Stella drifted in the ink lake, staring at Quill's canopy of red leaves that violently rustled in the chaotic storms he was shielding her from. The pain of her arm being blown off was nothing but a phantom pain now, as Quill's healing techniques had taken care of it. Yet she remained here, aimlessly floating. Her body was incredibly weakened, as conjuring up the nutrients to regrow an arm was quite taxing, but she definitely had the strength to stand and leave this place. Yet she didn't.

Perhaps it was because the fight she wanted to rush back to was so impossibly far away for her to reach, or maybe it was the shock of seeing her life literally flash before her eyes. If she had been a moment slower, she would have been obliterated. Just like that. Gone from this world.

It was almost funny. Whenever Stella felt like she had made a leap in strength, the world swiftly humbled her and reminded her that she was nothing but an insignificant speck on the grand scale of the cosmos.

Tilting her head, she saw Nymeria slumped against Quill. The spirit tree and Sol were working overtime as the Ent fed Nymeria healing lights, and Quill's bark dissolved one by one as the spirit tree used endless techniques to try to stabilize Nymeria's condition. It was looking bad. No matter what they did, it seemed too much of her body had suffered damage for it to repair on its own.

While she knew it wasn't her fault, Stella couldn't help but feel partially responsible.

If I hadn't been so scared of learning the non-linear technique and had started with my body instead of my sword, I could have saved her and myself from being hit by that beam.

Was it an unreasonable line of thinking? Possibly. But she had forced her way onto that mission despite knowing Ash had forbidden her to avoid a scenario like this from occurring.

She felt like she had once again been more of a burden. Nymeria wouldn't have been standing there in the path of the beam if not for her curiosity about what Stella was working on.

Sinking a little into the ink lake and blowing bubbles, Stella let her mind wander. She was already mentally preparing herself for Ashlock's anger. Whether it was berating her for saving Nymeria at the risk of her own life or giving her a lecture on how she shouldn't have been there in the first place.

It would have been worth it if I saved Nymeria, but she might die at this rate. Stella closed her eyes, trying to ignore the world around her. Sometimes, it felt like no matter what she tried to do right, it was always wrong.

What felt like hours passed until a sudden spiritual aura made her open her eyes and sit up. Kaida was at the library's entrance. Their eyes met for a brief moment before the dragon looked at Nymeria. Seeing her condition, he rushed past Stella.

Stella watched, almost in a daze, as Kaida got to work. His body solidified and became a tapestry of divine writing. Scales tore off his body one by one, only to levitate over Nymeria. It took Stella a moment to realize Kaida was creating a very complex runic array. It glowed with power and began striking Nymeria with golden lightning.

The half-dragon girl hurled up black sludge as the lightning continued to strike, crystalizing her skin. Healing energies from Quill and Sol fed into the array, and Stella saw the girl begin to heal visibly as she stood a careful distance away, waist-deep in the ink lake. Tense minutes passed until the array crumbled away, and Nymeria had been turned into a dragon egg.

"Is..." Stella choked on her own words, "Is she going to live?"

Kaida slowly turned and spent a long moment staring at her. "She will live."

Stella felt a weight lift off her shoulders. At least her efforts hadn't been for nothing.

"Because of you," Kaida continued.

"Huh?" Stella said, confused.

"Because of you," Kaida repeated, "she will live."

Stella became flustered. "Oh no, it was because of your array—" she said but was cut off.

"Thank you," Kaida said.

Stella blinked... did Kaida just say something nice to her?

"If not for your swift actions and mastery over aether Qi, we would have lost Nymeria," Kaida continued. "While my array did revive her, without you, there would have been nothing to revive in the first place," he glanced back at Nymeria, peacefully sleeping away. "It's a good thing you were there."

Stella hung on those last words, her heart filling with warmth. But at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder why Kaida was going so far for Nymeria. Not only to drop his pride and acknowledge her contributions to Nymeria's survival but also to waste so much of his body's mass to craft that extensive array...

"Kaida, I have a question."

The dragon looked at her curiously. "What is it?"

Stella glanced between Kaida and the egg. Steeling her resolve, she asked the question at the back of her mind after seeing the two interact.

"Do you... like Nymeria?"