Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 428: The Coming of Moros

Ashlock returned to Red Vine Peak with simmering rage. He knew it was due to his own carelessness, but he couldnʼt remember the last time he had been robbed.

”Why was that bastard from the Celestial Empire even there?! I thought the strongest cultivator left in that region would be the freshly ascended Silverspire Grand Elder.” Ashlock sighed, ”I suppose temporarily trading a weapon for the knowledge of that manʼs presence is valuable. If Stella had rocked up to Argentum with her usual attitude and pissed off that Monarch Realm spatial cultivator, it could have been bad. But still, that begs the question. Why was he there? Is the Silverspire family colluding with the Celestial Empire to take me down?”

Ryker and Sebastian couldnʼt betray him as they had signed oaths of loyalty, so they were in the clear. But the Silverspire family was free to do as they pleased.

”In fact, I canʼt really blame them. If I were a member of the Silversprie family and saw this unknown entity wipe out the Nightrose family and take over their city in a single afternoon, I, too, would call upon a higher power for help. Either way, I will know the answer soon. My roots are closing in on Argentum, and I will still send an envoy there—just one far bigger and more armed than I had initially planned.”

[There is a large influx of divine energy]

”Huh?” Ashlock squinted at the notification. He had shown off to a few farmers over Argentum and perhaps harvested some divine energy from each of the Silverspire cultivators before they died, but that didnʼt feel like enough to warrant a large influx. ”Unless that Monarch Realm has figured out Iʼm the All-Seeing Eye? System, can you tell me where itʼs coming from?”

[Look at yourself from afar]

”Thatʼs an odd reply.” Ashlock decided to humor the system and left his consciousness. Using his Eye of the Tree God skill, he looked at Red Vine Peak from above Darklight City. With such a perspective, it didnʼt take a genius to determine the reason.

Divine lightning crackled between his branches, and a dark aura radiated from the mountain, blanketing the surroundings. Looking below, he saw people peeking at him through windows or cautiously through half-opened doors. They all looked terrified, sad, or broken. Not a single smile could be seen.

It was like a city of the dead.

”Is this my fault?” Ashlock quickly calmed down and reigned in the negative aura he had been radiating. ”Itʼs hard to believe that my anger over losing a sword can affect millions of people.”

He waited a moment, yet the peopleʼs expressions did not change. They remained as sullen as before.

”Strange. Did something happen?” Ashlock wondered. He had been so focused on suppressing the beast tide and the meeting in Argentum that he hadnʼt checked on the mortals in a long time.

He returned to Red Vine Peak, ”Anubis.”

Anubis rose from the shadows, ”Yes, Creator?”

”Invite Jasmineʼs parents here. I need to speak with them.”

”As you wish,” Anubis sunk into the darkness.

While waiting, Ashlock decided to help the Mudcloaks by moving the many aether Qi trees onto Erebus. They had opened the hangar doors at the base of the mountain range by simply shifting the earth away with their Qi. It looked like a giant maw in the earth.

A single Mudcloak stood on a pillar and waved around glowing sticks to direct him on where to place the trees, earning a chuckle out of Ashlock. ”Does this little guy think he works at an airport? Though I have to say, itʼs quite helpful.”

Erebus was frankly a behemoth and reminded Ashlock of an aircraft carrier in terms of its general shape and size. Dead center was Erebus, the peak Star Core void affinity tree that had been made out of the Voidmind Grand Elder. Like planting candles on a cake, Ashlock equally spaced the nineteen aether Qi trees along the Bastionʼs edge, forming a defensive perimeter.

All that was left to place was Akasha, the tree he had personally named.

”Now, which side should I put her? At the front or the back, mhm...” Ashlock mused. Both had advantages, but he ultimately decided to place Akasha at the front of the Bastion. Once the tree was in place, the system once again asked him:

[Do you wish to turn Akasha into a Bastion? It will cost 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core]

”Yes.”

[WARNING: You have placed Akasha on the existing Bastion Erebus. What do you want to do? Options include merging the two cores into one. Replacing Erebus with Akasha or...]

”Just do as we planned before.” Ashlock cut off the notification. ”I want this flagship to have two dedicated Bastion Cores of differing affinities. I also desire all of the aether Qi trees on the Bastion to link up with Akasha.”

[Since this Bastion will have two distinct cores, do you want to rename it?]

That was a good question. Ashlock named the void tree Erebus after Greek mythologyʼs primordial god of darkness and the underworld. While it did fit the general theme of the flagship, it felt odd to refer to the Bastion by the name of only one of the trees. Furthermore, the name had been fitting before as it had been a ship of black stone topped with a harrowing black tree harboring a gateway to the void. But now the flagship was covered in white phantom-like trees with starlight leaves.

”Akasha is a more ethereal sounding name, rather than one that would strike fear or awe in those that heard it. Wait, system, will renaming this Bastion consume my divine energy?”

[Yes. The already-named trees will maintain their names and status as beings you named. However, by giving the flagship a name, you will create a single entity that unites these trees and this Bastion]

Ashlock wanted this flagship to be as strong as it possibly could, so he was willing to use up the influx of divine energy to grant it a name. The question was, what would be suitable?

”Giving it the name of a god from my previous worldʼs mythos should be suitable. Iʼve already discovered that the more the name holds meaning, the better it is to grant. I think itʼs best to figure out what I want the flagship to inspire and then work backward.”

He still had the idea of the giant ship appearing like a ghost out of the aether and decimating anything it appeared next to with void attacks. He wanted those who heard of its name to think it was unbeatable and that your fate was already sealed should the ship hunt you.

”I want its presence to instill hopelessness, just like the faces of the mortals in Darklight City... just, you know, on the enemyʼs side rather than my own people.”

He searched his knowledge, and a single name stood out to him. Moros. It was the name of a lesser-known deity in the Greek mythos.

”Moros, the primordial personification of doom, fate, and inevitable destruction. If I remember correctly, Moros represents the inescapable end that all beings must face, whether itʼs death, ruin, or misfortune. Unlike other deities associated with fate, like the almost similarly named Moirai, who weave and cut the threads of life, Moros embodies the inescapable path toward doom itself. He doesnʼt just enforce destiny—he is the feeling of dread that accompanies knowing that doom is unavoidable. Also, I believe he was never described as having a physical form; heʼs more of an all-encompassing and inescapable cosmic force. Zeus even tried to start shit with him and realized it was a bad idea and quickly backtracked. A name that can strike fear and caution in the king of the gods is definitely a suitable name for my flagship.”

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Ashlock paused to think it over for a moment more as this was important but ultimately settled on it. ”Moros, in summary, is that creeping sense of dread when you know something terrible is inevitable. Thatʼs exactly what I want people to feel when they hear or see my flagship.”

[Do you wish to choose the name Moros?]

”Yes, but first, let me put the flagship high in the sky so all the mortals can see its creation. I want this day to be put down in legend.”

***

Julian, Jasmineʼs Father, and the mortal granted the role of head of logistics for the Ashfallen Trading Company, was having a bad day. Well, everyone in Darklight City was having more of a bad week, but for him specifically, today was a really bad day.

It was sales report day.

He had been sitting in a meeting room at the Ashfallen Trading Companies headquarters in the heart of Ashfallen City. The energy in the room mirrored the terrible weather outside—a lot of doom and gloom with an occasional flash of enraged lightning, mostly from Eric, their head of marketing.

Like many in the room, Eric was an All-Seeing Eye devotionist and proudly wore his cult cloak like a second layer of skin. While others might hang theirs up or store them away except for special occasions, he always wore his without fail.

Julian even suspected he slept in the thing. But that was beside the point. Apart from the reported drop in pill sales that he would have to inform Grand Elder Diana about, something else was wrong. Putting the meeting on hold, they had all gathered on the roof of the towering building. Huddling under the canopies of the demonic trees growing on the roof for some respite from the pouring rain, they all had their eyes set on Red Vine Peak in the distance.

The divine tree that lorded over the lands had seemed enraged by something. Divine lightning had crackled between its branches, and a sense of foreboding had gripped the souls of all who looked on. That had ceased a few minutes ago, but everyone had remained watching. It was as if the promise of something else hung in the air, and it had delivered.

”What in the nine realms is that?!” Ericʼs voice cut through the silence like a blade. Above the mountain peak, where moments before the divine tree had been seemingly angered at the heavens, a colossal black vessel of stone now hovered—as vast and imposing as the divine tree was tall. It hadnʼt flown in from the horizon or risen from the earth. It had simply appeared as if torn from the fabric of another reality and stitched into this one.

Phantom-like trees wavered in and out of existence along its jagged surface, their ethereal branches clawing at the air. They didnʼt seem to belong to the mortal realm—or any realm, for that matter. Their forms flickered like half-remembered dreams as if reality itself struggled to contain them.

Then, without warning, the air thickened.

An oppressive weight of something ancient and inevitable pressed down on them, turning their curiosity in the ominous ship into cold, primal fear.

Juliansʼ breath caught in his throat as a sound crept into his mind—not through his ears but directly into his thoughts. It wasnʼt a noise in the traditional sense. Rather, it was a groaning hum, oscillating between low and high pitches. It gave him the feeling of walking alone through the forest at night and constantly checking his back to find nothing there.

And then it came. From nowhere, a word etched itself into his consciousness. He had never heard it before, yet it echoed with the weight of ancient doom as if the realm itself wanted him to know of it.

Moros.

Julianʼs lips moved before he could stop them, his voice barely a whisper. ”Moros?”

Everyone snapped their heads toward him, eyes wide. But before he could question their reaction, Eric spoke, his voice hushed and tight with disbelief.

”You guys heard it too, huh?”

They all nodded. The fear gripping them slowly subsided over time as the divine tree did not react further, which meant it was likely an allied ship.

”If that ship is on our side, are we going to war again?” Brenda, a woman in her late forties, cautiously asked. Although her question wasnʼt directed at anyone in particular, all eyes landed on Julian.

”Donʼt look at me,” Julian said annoyedly.

”Itʼs hard not to. Your daughter is the Slaughter Princessʼs disciple, and the leader of the Ashfallen Sect put you in this position.” Eric refuted.

Julian glared at Eric, ”Are you implying something?”

”No,” Eric raised his hands in surrender. ”We just hoped you would give us a little more insight into what is going on up there on that mountainʼs lofty heights. You know, unlike us regular mortals who can only look on from afar, you have interacted with the higher-ups from the Ashfallen Sect, have you not?”

Julian clicked his tongue in annoyance, ”You know Iʼm bound to secrecy, as Iʼve told you many times. Besides, I donʼt hear much from my daughter as sheʼs usually training with her Master. Besides that, I know as much as all of you.”

”But do you think they are going to war again?” Brenda insisted again, her eyes trembling from fear.

”I sure hope not, though that ship isnʼt a good indication.” Julian sighed. ”The morale of the people from Ashfallen and Darklight City wonʼt survive another night of slaughter-style incident.” He looked to the floor. He had been lucky to not lose anyone that night, but that wasnʼt the case for many, including Eric and Brenda standing at his side, who had lost loved ones. ”As both of you are aware, unease and distrust in the Ashfallen Sect thatʼs already on the rise will transition into outright rage. There will be riots and so much death.”

”Canʼt the Ashfallen Sect do something about it?” Eric said with a hint of spite. ”At this rate, they will drag the faith in the All-Seeing Eye down with them.”

The Ashfallen Sectis the All-Seeing Eye. Julian wanted to say but kept it to himself. It was clear that they liked to keep the two entities separate. While some knew that the two were literally the same, it wasnʼt public knowledge. Most believed they were two very closely linked organizations with some overlap.

”They could do something about it, but I doubt they will.” Julian ended up saying as they were waiting on him. It was a shame, but he couldnʼt blame them. ”They simply operate on a scale so far above us that nothing the mortals of Darklight City do will faze them. Riots will only further the misery down here.”

”Donʼt they need us mortals, though?” Eric pointed out.

Julian snorted, ”For what? To buy some pills? We handle the balance sheet here in the cities, but you should see their sales through the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. Itʼs on another level. The wealth of mortals simply canʼt compare to that of cultivators. Now, Iʼm not saying they deem us as worthless. Far from it. The fact they rescued many of us from Slymere, offered us free housing and food despite the terrible weather, gifted us the possibility of cultivation, and more shows the opposite of that.”

”Thatʼs true,” Eric sighed, ”I just canʼt go through that again, man, I really canʼt.”

”I know,” Julian replied.

The last thing he wanted was war.

Jasmine may get unnecessarily involved if the Ashfallen Sect were to go to war. Even if she doesnʼt, if Stella dies, then we will all be fucked.

Stella was unhinged but had an odd, caring side, as did the rest of the sectʼs inner circle. Julian was proud to work for the Ashfallen Sect and felt they were fair and treated the mortals better than any cultivator family or sect had done before. While he understood war between cultivators for resources was inevitable, he still wished they could live peacefully.

”A different scale, huh?” Eric said quietly for once as his eyes narrowed. ”I suppose thatʼs true. Iʼm sure they are dealing with issues none of us can imagine, but would it kill them to show a little more humanity?”

Julian turned and glared at his subordinate. ”Eric, I know you are bitter and hurt after losing your son to the night of slaughter, but be careful what you say. Youʼre talented and good at what you do—donʼt throw it all away getting greedy.”

”Greedy? Throw it all away?” Eric snapped, ”My son—my precious little boy—ran barefoot in the mud like a crazed person on drugs. I desperately chased him until the forest where I saw him slaughtered, Julian. Donʼt come at me with that SHIT.” Eric kicked the demonic tree he was sheltering under multiple times.

Julian lunged forward and grabbed his shoulder, dragging him back.

”Get off me!” Eric pushed his arm off.

”Are you insane?!” Julian shouted at him over the roaring wind and rain, ”You just kicked a demonic tree?”

”So. What.” Eric glared at him.

Julian clamped Ericʼs head with his hands. ”The trees have eyes, Eric. You know that. Youʼre not being yourself and thinking straight. Do you remember what happened to that cultivator who hurt a tree and was publically executed? Yeah? Do you want that to be you?”

”Cut the bullshit, Julian!” Eric raged, spittle flying from his mouth. ”If the trees really did have eyes, that meant they watched on as my son was SLAUGHTERED. BUTCHERED LIKE A PIG. YOU TELLING ME TO NOT ʼTHROW IT ALL AWAYʼ SHOWS THAT YOU DONʼT UNDERSTAND THE PAIN IM—”

Both of them fell deathly silent as a presence made itself known.

”Sorry to interrupt your little scuffle, gentlemen,” a being had stepped out of Julianʼs shadow and loomed over the two. His face was bone white like a skull, and instead of eyes, there were two flickering black flames. Julian didnʼt need to be a cultivator to know this monster was strong.

Is this a reaper sent by the Ashfallen Sect to kill Eric?

Julian gritted his teeth, ”May I inquire who your excellency is?”

”My name is Anubis, a humble servant of the Creator.”

”Creator?”

The monster pointed to the divine tree in the distance, ”The one you also serve, no?”

Julian gulped. Eric was really fucked now. ”Yes—look, Eric wasnʼt in his right mind. Please take me instead of him. Iʼm sure he will understand.”

”That works for me,” Anubis said, and Julian could see the disbelief on Ericʼs face. ”I didnʼt come for a human named Eric anyway,” Julian felt the monster place their hand on his shoulder, ”I came for you.”