Tree of Aeons

Chapter 361.1. Infernal Confrontations

"Traitor!" 

The word echoed in the Dome of the Thousand Descendants. The place was built thousands of years ago, as a place for the Descendants to gather and discuss matters of great importance. The crowds were large, thousands packed into the place that could be best described as a stadium. 

“Traitor.” The Descendants whisper about the presence of traitors amongst them. Small roots poked out in the gaps, easily missed and hidden in the ground. No one was looking at the little root outcropping on the floor. 

The Descendants’ lodges and homes were magical fortresses, meant to protect them from enemies such as the heretics. For the past few months and years, my roots spread far and wide in search of their rulers. 

Today, I saw the form of their ruling lord. The Divine Oracle, the High Lord of the Descendants, emerged via a void portal. Wa-Libra was clearly a level above the others, the creature's domain wobbled and warped the air as he stepped out of the portal. 

Void power rippled through the air, and twisted the fabric of the world in a way similar to Stella, yet different. 

The air felt magical where he walked, his footsteps on the ground itself swirling with magic. "Calm." He commanded. The creature was one of magical power, his voice attuned to the Dome of the Thousand Descendants.

The Descendants did not speak telepathically, and for that alone I was very thankful. After all, it was an absolute joy to witness thousands of Descendants gathered in a large, dome shaped stadium. 

A few other domain holders were present, and I counted eight. A good number. A wonderfully convenient number.

Was it overconfidence? Hubris? That the Descendants are so confident, that eight domain holders would protect them from whatever the heretics could throw their way?

I did not know, but I was going to exploit it all the way.

"Ridiculous!" One of the other domain holders declared. "Traitors among us? Impossible! The mark of our creator lives in all of us."

Wa-Libra's tentacles were larger than the others, and interestingly, they were all in armor. Their large jellyfish heads were covered with an enchanted steel plate. The descendants were surprisingly honest in how they behaved with each other, and those that didn't like each other showed it.

Even among the domain holders, there were disagreements. Feuds. Grievances from long ago, many of these well documented by the Department of Descendant Affairs.

"Masa-na and Daham-na." Wa-Libra approached the two domain holders, and tackled the matter that everyone whispered.. "Have you found any traitors?"

"No, Lord Wa-Libra." The two shook their heads. They approached the rest of the Descendants earlier and did what felt like a mind-interrogation. "If there are any, they are not here."

Wa-Libra’s tentacles vibrated in a way that could only be described as a sign of unhappiness. “So the traitor is someone that is low-ranked? Preposterous. Ridiculous.”

“Or someone from the other Core Worlds.” Masa-na suggested. “With good mastery of void magic.”

“That is still a list of thousands, Masa-na.” Wa-Libra said. 

The crowd was noisy. It boomed with the voices and conversations of thousands. Many of them are anxious and eager for reassurance. 

Outwardly, the Descendants projected an image of strength. That their rule and dominance over the Erasian worlds was absolute. But behind closed doors, in such domes, all I could pick up was their insecurities. Their fears. The lengths they go to, all to maintain a tenuous grip on power.

The contrast was pathetic.

Did I feel threatened when the Merchant Guilds and the Four Faiths waged war? No. 

Everyone in the dome waited for their Lord to address them. The crowd was rowdy. Eager. Nervous. Impatient. Afraid.

"Silence." Wa-Libra spoke, this time his voice echoed throughout the dome, amplified by its inbuilt magics. 

The fire mage Munda-sha and the earth mage Hana-dia were both standing at the edges of the platform and looked just as tense. They whispered to each other, contemplating the possibility that it is one of the domain holders that now eyed power. "If not one of them, then, is it one of us?"

Wa-Libra's red compound eyes glowed, and Munda-sha didn't continue. "I will tolerate no dissent on the eve of our Lord's ascension."

Eve? Was it not about a hundred years away? 

Ah. 

Could it be a lie? A false truth Wa-Libra projected to the others to keep everyone in line.

After all, just because Wa-Libra said it does not make it true. 

But the murmurs in the crowd provided the answers I needed. Two Descendants spoke, whispered to each other. They were far away from the actual podium. "Eve? I thought the Ascension was still a hundred years away?" ℝÂ𐌽𝖔₿ЕŜ

"I don't know, maybe Lord Wa-Libra knows something we don't." Two Descendants continued their conversation, but similar conversations happened throughout the dome.

Ascension. 

They were trying to push one of their own into a Level 250 god. 

Here, in the place of great safety, the Descendants revealed their insecurities. The dome was well protected. Heavily protected, even, with magical shieldings and artifacts meant to defend against outside attacks. The dome itself was also protected from beneath. There were two full layers outfitted with protective plating and equipment, so that it would be extremely difficult for individuals to move into the area with conventional magic or normal methods. 

Wa-Libra gave a speech, and assured the Descendants of their strength. That these heretics got lucky. 

The reassurance worked, and the crowd calmed. But there were platforms for Descendants to pose their questions, and one of them took to the stage.

One unknown Descendant came up to the platform and posed his question. “We have heard many such assurances, Lord Wa-Libra, and yet here we are! What makes this assurance different?”

"The dwarves try, but they lack the strength, guile, skills, or abilities to deal with these relic-class golems. Ten thousand dwarven warriors would be useless against even one of these golems." Nama-na, a domain holder and the oracle, stood up to respond to the question. "The difference this time is simple. We have to be the ones to defeat them. "

The same questioner challenged Nama-na. “And yet we lost one of our domain holders!”

Wa-Libra responded with a lie. “The heretics got hold of a relic that they can only use once. The next time we fight, we will win.”

Descendants that stood on Wa-Libra’s side added to his defence.

"There are only two known golems, why are we afraid?" One of the more bloodthirsty Descendants, identified as a battlemage named Nuga-fa, shouted. "We have eight that are one step closer to the Reviver and Lord Wa-Libra!" 

The crowd roared and turned rowdy, as everyone discussed the response.

Wa-Libra waited, and watched. 

Then after a while, he spoke up once more. "Silence." 

Wa-Libra commanded and the entire stadium obeyed. 

"Our meeting today is to decide how strongly we want to hurt these heretics. I know some of you sympathize and care for our servants, but the heretic matter has grown out of hand. I propose we unleash our full fury on these creatures. We strike with all our strength! We flood and destroy the ancient tunnels everywhere. There will be collateral damage. There will be accidental damage. But we will get these golems. Without the golems, these heretics have no way of standing against us."

There was shouting. There were cheers of support. They didn't care about the dwarves. Not really.

The Descendants were eager for blood. Out for the hunt. There was screaming. We sensed opportunity. We didn't know when we could get them all together in one-fell swoop.

It was then, in the middle of it all, a small void portal opened.

"Hello." His voice was soft. Only a few managed to turn to react.

Alka stood at the center of it all, to the shock of everyone, and appeared in between all the domain holders.

"[Always a Bomb]."

The domainholders were able to cast a few spells on Alka, and he felt the brunt of their magical attacks. But it wasn’t enough. There was lightning. Fire. Earth. Void magic. Their instincts were quick.

The dome trembled as a small burst of magic erupted.

Then came the actual explosion.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooom.

A powerful explosion, strong enough to shatter the shells of demon kings, strong enough to destroy some weaker demon kings in a single blow. Strong enough to destroy multiple demon champions. It ripped through the entire dome.

Domain holders, especially those below Level 200, were generally weak, with exception of those like Edna. 

From afar; the entire dome glowed and then shattered as if it was made of glass. The powerful magical blast superheated the earth and steel structure and vaporised them.

Thousands died instantly, the magic scorched through their flesh. 

The explosion ripped through it all, and yet the domain holders stood. Injured and magically weakened, but alive. 

Alka's attack managed to kill two of the domain holders instantly. They were mages, but it seemed they lacked the skills needed to survive a surprise attack.

Wa-Libra's body melted into a void-like substance to absorb the attack and even then we could feel it was weakened. Vulnerable. Munda-Sha and Hana-dia both suffered burns on half of their bodies, the other half had managed to transform into elemental substances in time. 

Even if that first surprise attack drained quite a bit of their strength. 

They reacted by blasting more magical attacks at Alka. 

His magical armor shattered from the impact of their blast. 

The oracle, Nama-na, was totally charred and barely alive. "So this is why my visions are hazy..." It said as it staggered. A green glow emerged throughout Nama-na as the creature began to heal. 

More void portals opened, and this time, Gorkun and Zarkun stepped out. There was no need for words, as they charged at the Descendants. 

Wa-Libra was first to react. His tentacles turned into black, void missiles and fired outwards. "Fools! If you think this is all you need to defeat us, you are wrong!" Wa-Libra might have been injured, but he was still a Level 200+ domain holder, and he had the domain tier abilities to show for it.

"[Army of the Void]"

Hundreds of black sludge monsters emerged from the rubble, the animated remains of the former Descendants. They were powerful creatures, and just five would be enough to overwhelm the two Erasian Sentinels. They resembled a mutant combination of Descendants and the void. 

"Is there a point in hiding anymore?" Edna emerged from the portal, her body radiated all her magical power. "Let us fight, Wa-Libra. I have long sought to slay another."

"Who are you!" Wa-Libra screamed, surprised at Edna's presence. It must have assumed that Alka was just a local Erasian, but Edna's human form was thoroughly foreign.

"Your death." Her blades turned golden and slashed. It met a formidable wall of black void, yet the wall exploded instead. 

The High Lord staggered backwards, surprised by the attack. "No. You are not of this world! Munda-sha, Hana-Dia. Attack her!" 

Lumoof appeared next, and got in between Munda-sha and Hana-Dia. "My apologies. Your opponent should be me. [Aeon's Spirit]."

A gigantic magical tree spawned at the heart of the dome, and my power rippled outwards. 

The world's fabric of existence twisted as if two inconsistent threads were now tangled together.

My domain and Wa-Libra's domain clashed, and it was not much for me to overpower his presence. He called on void magic after void magic. Blots of darkness. Blots filled with a [Curse].

My vines attempted to hurt him, but all it found was the void. Wa-Libra could freely deconstruct and melt into a puddle of void, to dodge my attacks. Wa-Libra retaliated by blasting huge blots of void energies against my summoned form. But [curses] were ineffective against temporary bodies. There was no [soul] to curse.

Neither of us were effective against each other. 

As we traded blows, the Fire-mage domain holder also attacked me.

"[The Flames of Eternity]." Munda-sha's fire was colorless. It was almost invisible, but when viewed through my spirit vision, I could see the shape of the domain. The hostile, malevolent spirit of the domain holder's fires.

It burned. It tried to char my spiritual bark. 

"Retreat!" Hana-dia said. "We must flee-"

Hana-dia attempted to flee, only for his void portals to disintegrate before he could even step through them. 

Now, Wa-Libra's interest was piqued. His glowing red eyes searched for the one who challenged his control over the void. "Someone is meddling with the void!" 

"Pay attention." Lumoof said, as his fists glowed with spiritual energy. "You may think the void is powerful. But we have something else!"

Wa-Libra turned into a puddle of void once more, but Lumoof immediately swapped his weapon with one of the powerful heroic gauntlets. Gauntlets charged with star mana.

The glow of the star mana gauntlets slammed into the puddle of void, and a chaotic reaction of void and star exploded. A bright explosion, as half of Wa-Libra's flesh was burnt by the destructive mix of void and star manas. "Power of the old gods! How!" 

Lumoof too, was blasted backwards, but because we knew it was coming, the explosive mixture of the two volatile types of mana only destroyed a layer of protective armor.

The effectiveness of the star mana weapons were so amazing that I wondered whether the demons created the void barrier so that they never needed to face the dangers of star mana. Were they really cowards, hiding away and biding their time, while harassing the old gods with the demon kings?

It was amusing that we were confused with other parties. But then again, who else could we be?

My vines and roots attacked the lower ranked domain holders. The two mind-controlling domain holders tried to use their powers on us, but it was perhaps their worst possible matchup.

In a battle of domain holders, mind-controlling domain holders are absolutely useless. They were meant to control large swathes of mortals. 

Not demigods. 

Their conventional abilities and protective spells were strong, but they were no match of my vines and roots. They were never designed to fight and defeat other demigods.

So, I easily killed two more domain holders. My vines wrapped around their flesh as they tried to escape, but Stella kept messing with all their void portals. 

There was no escape. 

My roots and vines wrapped around them and squeezed as if they were balloons to be popped. And their large jellyfish-like heads expanded until it could expand no more.

I drained them, even if their domains resisted my power. The very act of attempting to do so sapped their strength to resist against the actual physical might of my roots. The two mind-controlling domain holders, Masa-na and Daham-na died unceremoniously, their flesh and form crushed. 

[ You've obtained two Titan Frames ]

Alas, no levels. 

Hana-dia transformed into a gigantic earth golem, and then created a few more around him. These gigantic earth golems moved and punched my [Aeon's Spirit] trunk. 

There was no pain.

It was nostalgic. I remember the first time I fought a demon champion, also a rock golem, and it punched my trunk. It hurt as hell. 

I felt the golems punch that tree repeatedly, and I didn't feel a thing. I felt the golem's immense strength, domain-holder worthy, but alas, useless against a rooted tree. 

My roots spread out, into the rock golems itself, and cracked the golems from within. Hana-dia screamed as my roots ripped through his transformed body. He quickly reverted back to his original descendant form, but my attacks left a big, gushing wound. Half of the tentacles around his jellyfish heads broke. 

My roots chased both the earth and fire mages through the battlefield, and slowly, surely, I wore them down.

They were mages. 

I was a tree.

I wasn't getting tired when I was nourished by the land itself. They were exhausted with each passing moment. 

With each attack, with each regeneration of my summoned form, they realized they were trying to wear down something with far more vitality than they could imagine.

Slowly, they took hits, and grew weaker. 

Meanwhile, Lumoof and Edna ganged up on Wa-Libra, and with their star mana weapons, we kept him occupied. He was quick to adapt and stopped using void mana shapeshifting and instead just warped out of reach. 

Lumoof and Edna, moved and attacked together, with my blessing of [Stronger Together] we heavily outclassed the Descendants in raw strength.

In battles between domain holders, I observed that the use of summoned creatures and lower ranked minions were useless. I had concerns that my minions could be dominated by the will of their mind-controlling domain holders. 

The two Erasian golems also pressed the mages, at first, but again, their contributions were limited. Their anti-magic weapons gave them some use against them, but my roots were just faster, stronger, and more effective overall. So, they redirected their focus on the weakened oracle.

It was the right choice, as they gave the oracle a good match and combined and armed with superior equipment, it was the golems that landed a killing blow on the already weakened oracle. 

[ You've obtained one Titan Frame ]

Then, we got the fire mage, once he ran out of magical energy. He could no longer shapeshift into flames to avoid our attacks, and then we killed him.

The earth mage also tried to run, but unlike the fire mage, the earth mage Hana-dia melted into the ground below and fled the battle.

Or tried. 

My roots chased him easily and carved the dirt out of the ground where he hid. 

[ You've obtained two Titan Frames ]

Victory finally came, when Edna's star mana powered weapon pierced Wa-Libra's body, and the star mana detonated violently. 

This time, there was no regenerating from the damage.

Wa-Libra died. 

[ You've gained 4 levels. You are Level 281]

[ You've obtained one Titan Frame ]

[Domain Ability : Treeformation]

[Each of your clones, nodes and trees gains direct control of its immediate territory and a spherical space around it, allowing active terraforming of your territories to any weather, climate, environment, or biome of your choice, and allows creation of earth. This ability works everywhere. You are also no longer required to plant a clone on soil. Your clones can now spawn and propagate on any sufficiently solid object.] 

We had finally freed one Erasian Core World from the rule of these false prophets.