Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 628: Hollow Hunger

Diana had been exceedingly busy in the two months since Ashlock began his ascension. The Ashfallen Empire had already been figuratively on fire, as the billions living under the World Tree hadn't all willingly bowed their heads to their new wilderness overlords.

Rebellions broke out daily across the conquered cities for too many reasons to count. Some were led by surviving Empyrean noble families; others by mortals who had gained the power of cultivation from the Ashfallen Trading Company's pills, which had flooded the market in an attempt to gain goodwill. The Ashbound Order was working nonstop to instill order across the Empire, with Team Phoenix and Team Koi having the toughest time.

Diana's clones were currently attending multiple meetings at once while her true body was relaxing in bed with a beautiful demoness. Her mind was naturally distant, struggling to focus on any one thing as she shifted through the meetings and tried to contribute where she could. Most of it was beneath her or would resolve on its own.

"There's been a multi-day revolt occurring in Floridawn over a famine—"

What? That's strange.

Her curiosity piqued, Diana's clone sitting in on a Team Phoenix meeting snapped to attention.

"A famine?"

There had been many complaints from the populace over the last two months, mostly about the constant roaring thunder and the endless darkness since the World Tree sealed her canopy. But if they knew what they were being shielded from, Diana doubted they would complain as much.

Amber nodded. "Apparently, the crops in the fields of Floridawn have been vanishing over the last two months. The farmers are blaming the darkness for it."

Diana leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "What about the fields on the Sanctuary?"

"Ashfallen, Darklight, and Desolark City have reported no crop failures despite also being shrouded in darkness," Amber replied. "However, I did check the fields in Floridawn after a week of reports, and the farmers aren't lying. It's as if the crops vanished. The fields are just... empty."

"Is it possible Ashlock released desolation Qi into the ground by accident while fighting off his tribulation, and his Qi withered all the crops?" Elder Margret suggested.

Diana wasn't convinced. "While that's a reasonable guess, Elder Margret, I doubt it. Amber, you said the crops vanished, right? Not withered and turned to dust?"

"That's what I saw, yes. I also didn't detect any desolation Qi lingering in the air."

Diana hummed in thought. "They would have withered, and the field would be covered in a layer of disintegrated ash if it were desolation Qi. This was caused by something else." She turned to Amber. "Is there a reason food hasn't been sent from the Sanctuary to Floridawn to quell the revolts?"

"Ryker has been overseeing it with Team Quicksilver, but Floridawn was responsible for 60% of the Ashfallen Empire's food production. Such a deficit cannot be shouldered by the Sanctuary's farms alone." Amber stared down at the table with frustration. "There's also a shortage of pills because most of the fruits we use are grown on Ashlock's Inner World, which is currently a molten hellscape being blasted by heavenly lightning. Because of that, we have lost one of our ways to appeal to the populace."

Diana drummed her fingers on the chair's armrest. The lack of pills was a problem affecting the Ashbound Order too, as they had to expend Qi to suppress the revolts, and some members had even died during the conflicts, leaving the Ashbound Order members bitter and resentful.

What they needed was Ashlock. When he got directly involved, all problems seemed to resolve.

Didn't he tell Larry it would take six months? At this rate, I don't know how much of the old Celestial Empire will be left to rule once he's done. Diana sighed. I need to boost morale among the Ashbound Order at least.

There was only one person capable of that.

Diana glanced over everyone present and told them what they were hoping to hear. "I'll convince Stella to deal with the Floridawn uprising, and I'll investigate the famine alongside her."

A sigh of relief breathed through the room.

Revolts miraculously got resolved swiftly whenever the Slaughter Princess made an appearance. The problem was convincing her to make a move on matters she considered unimportant while she was preoccupied with trying to hunt down the Hollowed One.

This is going to be a pain.

Diana closed her eyes and searched through the eyes of her dozen clones for a sign of Stella. Since she had the Phantom Veil Amulet, tracking her by spiritual signature was impossible as she exuded less spiritual pressure than a mortal. Thankfully, Stella was rather predictable with where she went and, when not actively hunting, liked to laze around a set few spots.

Almost like a cat.

That's a suspiciously Stella-shaped individual hiding in the corner, Diana mused as she peered through the eyes of one of her enslaved demons working at the Hunter's Rest Restaurant. She will want me to ask her in person rather than through a demon.

Returning to her main body, she gently shifted the sleeping demoness off her chest and got out of bed. Getting dressed, she peered out of the window of her tower at the Bastion that had been created for her before Ashlock began his ascension.

Similar to those raised for the Ashbound Order's different teams, hers was overseen by a spatial-affinity demonic tree. Mudcloaks worked silently in the demonic mist that covered the island to complete her palace. It was possibly a little over the top in its size and complexity, but she felt worthy of it as an Archdemon, given her position in the Empire.

Flinging the windows open, she drifted down from her tower into the courtyard where the demonic tree stood, tended by an enslaved demon gardener who had once been an Empyrea noble and dealer of recreational flora.

She swallowed a Caretaker pill, and her vision altered, allowing her to see the chaotic flow of Qi through the demonic tree. Before Ashlock began his ascension, one could simply ask the demonic tree to manifest a portal. But that had changed.

"You poor thing," Diana said as she settled her hand against the demonic tree's trunk and felt an echo of the pain it was enduring on behalf of Ashlock. "I understand you're in pain," she drew her finger along the tree's bark, forcefully drawing spatial Qi. "But I require a portal to the Hunter's Rest."

The air beside her tore apart as a spatial rift was formed.

"Thank you," Diana said, drawing her hand away and stepping through the portal. The sound of thunder roaring in her ears dulled somewhat as she appeared inside the manager's office in the Hunter's Rest. Ignoring the startled man and the mountains of paperwork he was tackling, Diana made her way through the door and along the fancifully decorated corridor until she arrived at the private booth that contained a single robed figure enjoying a meal.

"Stella—"

The cutlery dropped to the table, and a groan followed. Stella was wearing her black coat over her cult robe, with the hood up and covering her head and face.

"Diana, I just sat down," Stella complained.

"I can see that," Diana said as she slipped into the seat opposite the rowdy Princess. "The matter isn't super pressing anyway. Just a famine-inspired revolt in Floridawn the Ashbound Order is struggling to contain."

Stella slowly looked up, giving Diana a glimpse of her irritated expression.

"I've got my own mission to complete," Stella grumbled and picked her cutlery back up. "Douglas and Elaine—"

"Will be back from the Eternal Realm any day now, yes, I know that," Diana interlocked her fingers and rested her chin upon her hands. "But are you even sure what the Still One said about the Hollowed One beginning his feasting was true? Because there's been no sign of him so far—"

"Not true," Stella snapped and shoveled a mouthful of food. "People have been going missing, including powerful Empyrea nobles. I've been trying to trace their disappearances, but it's as if they vanished."

Diana sighed. "Just like the crops in Floridawn supposedly..."

Stella met her gaze and pointed her fork. "What did you say?"

"Apparently crops have been vanishing without a trace over the last week or so. I'd need to check it out myself, as it sounds unbelievable. Why?"

Stella stood up. "You're being overworked if you can't put two and two together, Diana. The vanishing crops and nobles are obviously connected."

"I wouldn't say it's obvious, but I do see the connection."

"I bet this has something to do with the Hollowed One. Let's go."

"Now?"

"Of course, while the trail is still hot." Stella left her barely touched meal and noticed Diana looking at it. "Don't worry, all my meals are on the house."

"I am the house, Stella," Diana reminded her.

Stella chuckled. "Oh right, I forgot about that. But this revolt needs my attention, right?"

Diana sighed and stood up. "Yes, your presence would be much appreciated. Nobody quite settles down revolts as quickly as you."

"I wonder why," Stella said, clearly amused as they left the restaurant.

***

Stella and Diana stood in an empty field. The distant fires over Floridawn had been put out with a little bloodshed to make a statement, and Stella scared off the rest by releasing her bloodlust over the land.

But with the famine still unresolved, the revolt would rise again.

"The soil here is still nutrient-rich, and I can't feel any desolation Qi," Stella said, crouching and rolling a ball of dirt between her fingers. "The soil isn't disturbed like I'd expect from farmers' tools."

"It really is as if the crops just... vanished." Diana frowned as she surveyed the empty fields that spread for as far as the eye could see.

"Let me see the detailed report again."

Diana passed a parchment to Stella, and she read over it while humming to herself.

"It says here the first report of crops going missing was recorded before Ashlock began his ascension." Her finger traced down the page. "And the rate at which reports were filed drastically increased, which matches the number of nobles vanishing too."

Stella grinned.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

"The Hollow One is growing hungrier." Stella rose and flicked the dirt off her hand. "For as powerful as the Sins are, they all have one fatal flaw, and assuming this is the Hollowed One, that flaw just got exposed."

Diana was so brain-fogged she was barely following. "That flaw is...?"

"He can't stop eating more and more." Stella was getting excited, likely because this was the first real lead she had gotten on the Hollowed One after two months of tirelessly searching. "All of the fields in Floridawn have suffered this same fate?"

Diana nodded. "To my knowledge, yes."

"And the Empyrea nobles are hiding and tightening their security." Stella crossed her arms and drummed her fingers. "Let's see, suppose I was a deranged ancient cultivator with an insatiable appetite, what would I do if I've exhausted my food source?"

"Demonic beasts usually change their hunting ground if the Qi grows thin, such as the beast tide."

"Change his hunting ground, but to where?" Stella glanced toward Floridawn. "Perhaps the city? Nobody would notice if a few million went missing during a violent revolt—"

Stella vanished in a flash of white mid-sentence.

Diana glanced around, and after failing to spot Stella, she spread her wings and leaped into the air. She must have gone to the city. Gliding toward it, she eventually saw Stella near the site of her slaughter.

"Found something?" Diana asked as she dropped down beside her.

"The corpses are all gone," Stella said, and Diana realized she was right. While some cleanup was to be expected, it had only been a few minutes since Stella put a stop to the revolt, and the many corpses that had littered the streets were suspiciously missing.

Maple peeked his head out of Stella's hood and narrowed his golden eyes.

"Did you see something, Maple?"

"I felt someone move through the void, but they're gone now."

Stella frowned. "The Hollowed One is a void user? That's troublesome."

"How can we catch him?" Diana mused aloud. "If we assume his appetite can never be sated and he continues to feed more aggressively, there will surely come a tipping point where he can't feast quietly anymore."

"That's my thoughts as well."

"But we can't sit around and wait while he kills millions directly." Diana pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "The opinion of the Ashfallen Empire and the Ashbound Order will continue to plummet at this rate, and eventually, public order will totally collapse."

Stella frowned. "There has to be a way we can bait him somehow..."

***

Days passed, and a solution was never reached. The Ashbound Order tightened security, the public was made aware of the situation, and the reason for the famine was given in hopes that someone would have caught sight of the Hollowed One and reported it.

Yet, there had been nothing. He was like a hungering ghost.

Stella was already seething as she idly bounced a ball off a wall when Diana walked in with anger written all over her.

"Hollowed One?" Stella guessed.

Diana nodded. "He's begun devouring Ashlock's offspring."

The bouncing ball froze mid-air, and Stella's jaw clenched in rage.

"That fucking—"

***

Stella walked the streets of Floridawn with her aether bubble cloaking her from sight. Torches burned near the doorway of every building, illuminating the gaunt faces of the people as they toiled about their daily activities on little food.

To combat the darkness, Sol was carried between cities to serve as a substitute for the sun, but today wasn't Floridawn's turn to bask in Sol's glow. The mood down here in the darkness was dire. The thunder, loud enough to rattle windows, never stopped, depriving the people of sleep and driving them insane.

Worst of all, they had nowhere to flee.

Despite Ashlock's Inner World being the focal point of the heavens' wrath, the Era of Ascension invited a realm-spanning cataclysmic event. Qi from the upper realm was slowly bleeding in, causing chaotic weather and lightning across the realm. Famine and death were no doubt widespread even among the surviving sects in the wilderness.

"Filthy wilderness bastards!"

Stella glanced toward the voice and saw a rough-looking man clutching a rock about to hurl it at a fire cultivator from Team Phoenix who was flying overhead, trailing a line of fire. Stella teleported forward and pulled the man into her bubble.

"Don't do that," she said softly and grabbed the man's arm.

"Huh?! Who the hell dares—" He glared over his shoulder and froze as he met Stella's gaze. "T-The S-Slaughter... P-Princess...."

"The members of the Ashbound Order are starving too, you know?" Stella let go of his hand, and the man stumbled backward while desperately massaging his wrist as if it were broken. "We are all in this hell together."

"S-Sorry, Princess," the man said, losing sight of her as he left her bubble. He looked around, confused and pale before scurrying off like a rat.

Even the Hunter's Rest had run out of stock, with the Hunters from the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion unwilling to venture out to kill monsters. The food on the Sanctuary was also being rationed despite the harmony dao from Ashlock, which made crops grow and ripen quickly. Despite their efforts, a divide between the city's on the Sanctuary and those once belonging to the Celestial Empire was forming.

If the fields in Floridawn didn't keep getting wiped before the crops could be harvested, we wouldn't be in such a dire situation. Stella ground her teeth. It was frustrating knowing she could do something about this if they could just find the Hollowed One. But I've searched everywhere in Floridawn and have the Ashbound Order working without rest, yet no sign of him. Just people, trees, and crops going missing.

Her communication jade suddenly demanded her attention. Fishing it out of her pocket, a projection of Diana appeared.

"Good news, I hope?"

Diana nodded. "Elaine just returned from the Eternal Realm as a Monarch, and I believe she can help us catch the Hollowed One. Larry is escorting her to me now."

A void and illusion Monarch? That did sound rather helpful.

"I'm on my way." Stella cut the connection and was about to retreat into the aether when she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

A person who had been standing near an alleyway smoking crushed stones had simply vanished where they stood. Not walked away, or teleported. Straight up vanished.

Just like the nobles and crops...