Chapter 32: Devouring the tree
Shadow Lurkers swarmed toward me from every angle, a tidal wave of inky bodies and glowing red eyes. I sensed them all, every claw, every ripple of shadow essence, every desperate lunge. Yet I stayed perfectly calm.
"Albain Pulse."
This time I didn't push the energy outward. I gathered it inward, drawing every pulse of violet power toward my throat. My neck swelled visibly, veins glowing with deep purplish light as the albain flames coiled tighter and tighter inside me.
Beside me, Alberts spirit flickered into view for a brief moment, just long enough to demonstrate the proper form of Fire Lung.
His version was elegant, controlled, a precise stream of flame. Mine was different. Mine was raw, hungry, a dragon's roar waiting to be unleashed.
I leaped. For one short, weightless second I floated above the ground, purple energy bulging in my throat. Then I opened my mouth.
Waves of purple flames poured out in a devastating cone, roaring like a living storm. On contact with the first lurkers the flames didn't simply burn, they spread like a wave of echoes, penetrating deep into their flesh, vibrating through oily skin and soft organs alike.
Dozens exploded from the inside before they could even scream.
Before I could draw another breath, three thick roots thicker than my waist shot toward me from the Mother's trunk, barbed and dripping with dark sap.
I switched instantly. "Gloo Palm!"
My palms glowed with violent energy. I slapped the first root aside, redirecting its momentum so it slammed harmlessly into the ground. But the roots were relentless. Every time one missed, it burrowed into the earth and erupted again faster, changing direction mid-strike like living serpents.
I spun Anki, abyssal energy now flowing along the blade in thick violet streams. Steel clashed against root in ringing explosions. One root grazed my shoulder, tearing cloth and skin. Another forced me backward.
Then a Shadow Lurker dropped from above.
Its claw-like hand slammed into my chest and drove me straight into the dirt, pinning me to the ground by the throat. The impact knocked the air from my lungs.
"This is bad…"
More lurkers landed. One stabbed straight through my right hand, pinning the hand that gripped Anki to the earth. Two others drove their claws into my abdomen, one piercing my small intestine, the other my liver. Pain exploded through me like white fire. Then they were all upon me, claws tearing, teeth sinking, shadows feeding.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
In that void I saw her, my mother. She stretched her hand toward me, gentle warm smile lighting her face, beautiful long hair drifting as if underwater. She looked exactly as I remembered her before the fall of our my village.
The lurkers were feeding me illusions, trying to captivate my mind and break my will. In the vision I smiled, stepping forward to hug her. "You know you have to do it," she whispered, caressing my head with infinite tenderness.
"I know," I answered, my face showing a sorrowful expression. She smiled at me one last time… then her face twisted into that of a Shadow Lurker, half human, half monster.
Rage and clarity snapped back instantly. I pounced, hands locking around her throat. I watched her half-human, half-lurker face stare at me in love as I strangled her. Tears poured down my cheeks even as I smiled.
"I am fine," I whispered. Then I broke her neck with a sharp twist.
The illusion shattered.
Anger swelled inside me like a volcano finally erupting. "Albain Burst! Burst! Burst!!!" I screamed. My chest glowed with a deep pink overload of energy, veins standing out like glowing cracks.
"Liam, don't!" Anki screamed through our link, voice filled with genuine fear.
But I didn't care. "Burst for me!"
I detonated myself.
The explosion was apocalyptic. Every lurker surrounding me evaporated instantly, their bodies turning into black gusts of energy that rushed straight into the Mother Tree's trunk. The blast carved a crater around me.
I walked out of the violet flames, shirt burnt to crisps, blood dripping from my wounds, Anki still clenched tightly in my damaged right hand as my flesh healed.
"Damn tree," I growled, voice hoarse. "I will kill you. I shall not grant you a chance at reincarnation. You and your damn children will die today."
Like a burst of pure violence I moved again. Several roots still attacked, whipping toward me with murderous speed.
Inside the tree, the Mother's ancient voice trembled with realization. "He's different… My mind manipulation doesn't work on him. Neither can my children do anything to him."
Hundreds of roots suddenly erupted from the ground like a mad holocaust, thrashing wildly, barbed tips seeking my heart.
"Boy, your aura level is below 20%," Anki warned urgently. "If you proceed further you will die!"
"I will kill this damn tree even if I don't have aura left," I snarled. "That thing will go out today."
I gathered every last scrap of energy left in my chest as the roots closed in.
"Echo Pulse Art 2: Eclipse of Destruction!"
I released the echo pulse from my chest.
The wave came out gentle and slow at first, almost harmless… then it gathered terrifying momentum. The moment it touched the Mother Tree it triggered a violent negative reaction inside her energy network.
Every root that made contact exploded into smoldering splinters. The tree's many red eyes snapped open in pure terror as her entire root system was not only pushed back but detonated from within.
She didn't realize I had already closed the distance.
I fell upon her like judgment itself, driving Anki straight through one of her many glowing eyes with all my remaining strength. The blade sank deep.
"Hahaha! Liam, you're a damn lunatic!" Anki laughed through the link, half horrified, half proud.
I smiled in response, a cold, broken grin. I began to pull, suction force awakening inside me like a black hole. The tree shrieked in horror and pain. It tried to shake me off. It tried to impale me with spikes that grew from its bark. It even tried to devour my energy in return. But my suction was far greater.
"Hahaha! You will never taste reincarnation, you, your children, and even your god!" I laughed crazily, voice raw and unhinged.
Before our eyes the tree's color began to change, turning gray and brittle. Its other eyes slowly closed one by one.
"Child… why are you filled with this much hate?" the Mother asked in horror, her voice weakening, roots impaled into my back in a final desperate attempt. "What did you see in my mind manipulation?"
"I saw you wither and die," I spoke, blood trailing from the side of my mouth.
"Boy, let her go!" Anki screamed.
But I didn't. I pulled harder, devouring her life force into myself.
"Fire Lung Art 2: Pulsing Dragon!"
I activated the technique again, breathing a continuous torrent of purple flames directly onto the tree while never releasing my devouring suction.
Deep fear flooded the Mother. All her remaining eyes shook violently. She could feel herself letting go of life as she engulfed in flames. Every last Shadow Lurker still connected to her died instantly, dissolving into nothingness.
Deep within the ground, beneath layers of thrashing roots, Emily lay half-buried. She struggled to keep her vision open, poison still burning through her veins. Yet she could still hear the intense battle raging above.
"Ha… I guess I should just sleep a bit," she whispered weakly.
From the roots surrounding her, a strange voice suddenly spoke, soft, layered, a haunting mix of feminine and masculine tones she had never heard before.
"Don't ! you have to keep them open?"
Emily turned her head slowly to the side, eyes widening in confusion as the voice continued to echo gently around her.