[Tree] Chapter 337: Pantheon (Patreon)

Large cracks appeared along the surface of the colossal obsidian statue, which was so towering that Ashlock couldn't see the top of its feet in the abyssal darkness below. As if there was a black hole in its stomach, the cracks in the statue deepened until it couldn't resist anymore and collapsed on itself, much like the Shadow Lich.

It seemed that once the death Qi from the seed killed whatever ego lingered, it would be absolutely loyal to him; the skill would then devour anything it could use to create a new being, including Qi and materials.

Once all the obsidian had been crushed down into nothingness, Ashlock got a brief look at a body encased in a translucent crystal. Its resemblance to the statue was almost uncanny all the way down to the facial features, the sunken eyes, and the way his head was slightly left-leaning due to bad posture. The crystal seemed to have perfectly preserved the body from the day the cultivator died—there was still the bloody wound in their chest where they had likely been stabbed with a sword that had ended them. However, their eyes had a hollow gaze; the soul that had once inhabited this vessel had moved on.

"I'm sorry to disturb your peace," Ashlock offered a silent prayer, feeling a little bad at reviving a long-dead man who had been put to eternal rest to fight for him as a mindless weapon. Okay, he didn't really feel bad at all, but he could recognize that a level of respect for the dead was being overstepped here. "I bet the Blightbane family would give me an earful if they ever learned about this."

Thankfully, the crystal was soon obscured by hundreds of black roots that suddenly grew out of it. Ashlock wasn't sure where the system was going with this development until he saw the roots begin to take on the vague form of a humanoid nervous system. Due to the titanic size of the thing, it just took him a moment to see past the eldritch squid vibes.

However, the system wasn't done. Strange runic carvings, similar to those on the Shadow Lich's bamboo bones, appeared along the length of all the roots, followed by a pulse of shadow that expanded like a fog of darkness and took on a similar form to what the statue had before. It swirled around the Ent, pulling in the surrounding darkness like a black hurricane.

[Due to the weakened state of the Shadow Sovereign's soul, it will struggle to retain shadow Qi]

"What do you mean by that?"

[Because the soul has dissipated to such an extent. Like a bucket with holes, anything you put into it will flow right out. With this in mind, I made the leaking of shadow Qi part of the Ents design. Don't worry, as a Nascent Soul Realm Ent, it can draw in shadow Qi on its own to maintain the form you see before you now]

"This reminds me of the Lunarshade Grand Elder's avatar he made with his second soul," Ashlock mused as he looked the Ent up and down. "How strong is it in this form?"

[Around the 7th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm]

"What about when there is no shadow Qi available?"

The titan of darkness before him faded away, revealing the crystal and the many black roots sprouting from it and glowing with power due to the runes. It almost looked naked like this.

[In this form, the Ent is closer to a peak Star Core Realm Ent in power but will run out of Qi after only a few attacks, even if you charge it up to full]

"Mhm, I see," Ashlock sighed, "So during the night or any time I can provide it a constant source of shadow Qi, this is by far my strongest Ent. But its creation was flawed due to what little you had to work with?"

[Correct. The statue had no Qi of its own; it was all borrowed from the Shadow Lich. Usually, in such a case, we would convert something this devoid of Qi into one of your affinities, so spatial as you haven't unlocked any of the other moons. But the original soul was so far beyond you that forcing a change of its affinity wouldn't have been feasible no matter how weakened it may be]

"A shame, but I can't really complain. If that Shadow Lich hadn't reawakened the statue, I wouldn't have noticed the person trapped inside. Speaking of..." Ashlock looked at the other smaller statues in this grand room enshrouded in darkness, "Can I turn these statues into Ents, too?"

[If you forcefully shove all the Qi you have stored in your soul fragment into them, you may reawaken them if there's a body inside]

"That's a terrible suggestion. If I did that, I wouldn't ascend to the next stage of the Nascent Soul Realm when my soul fragment returns to my body tonight. Any other ideas?"

[You could devour the statues with {Abyssal Devourer} until you reached the crystals containing the corpses... assuming they are even there and at all usable]

"That will take forever with no guaranteed results. If anything, I will waste hundreds of sacrificial credits on maintaining my void tendrils." Ashlock pondered. The more he thought about it, the less worth going after the other statues seemed. There was no guarantee they would be usable, and he had yet to set his eyes upon this Dark Throne, which was a problem as night was fast approaching.

"Damn it, I'll come back for these one day." Ashlock decided. If they had stood here undisturbed long enough for their runic formations to degrade, they would still be here the next time he wanted to visit.

[You should name both Ents]

"Huh?" That seemed like a somewhat random and unprompted message from the system, "Why? Does it do something?"

[While Ents are incapable of advancing their cultivation, they still have souls. Though they are wiped almost clean by the death Qi to make them loyal to you. Those personally named by you are likely to be more responsive, and if you pick a name with a deeper meaning, it can affect their personality and bleed into their capabilities. Basically, it makes them feel important :)]

"Really?"

[Yes. Remember, you are a demi-divine existence recognized by the heavens and worshiped like a god throughout the realm. Imagine how a human would feel if they were personally named by a deity. The Ents are no different]

"Oh yeah, sometimes I forget I'm not just a vulnerable tree on a mountain peak. But to think my words hold such weight now, it's almost scary."

Ashlock had been giving his Ents names to make it easier for him to order them around during a battle. But to think giving the seemingly mindless monsters names would have a tangible effect.

"What happens if I give an Ent a name that I previously used for an Ent now dead? Is that considered lazy?" Ashlock felt the pressure of responsibility on his branches to give his followers suitable names, but he didn't have an endless pool of good names to pull from and had already reused a few names, such as Khaos and Geb.

[Since those names carry more significance for both you and the world, an Ent would be honored to have the name of a fallen comrade and continue the legacy of that name]

"Interesting," Ashlock sighed with relief. Since the Ents couldn't progress in cultivation, it was natural that they would fall in battle as Ashfallen faced stronger foes. Titus had once been a pillar of his strength, but the Ent was now weaker than many of his sect members, with no way to catch up. A sad truth, but there was something special about realizing that while their time under his leadership may be short, their name would carry on the memory of their efforts. Eventually, a name like Khaos will be feared by all, and while it may not always be the same Ent, its legacy as a void reaper of Ashfallen will remain.

"Speaking of names, do you want a name too?"

[...I already have a name]

"You do? What is it."

[I'll tell you on the day heaven falls]

"Oh... okay." Why did he feel oddly rejected? He was getting flashbacks to his school life—never mind. Those were memories best sealed away. "That might take a while."

[You are progressing swiftly. So long as you rapidly rise as a deity before the heavens can turn everyone against you, whether it be man or beast]

"Everyone?" Ashlock felt exhausted just thinking about it. He hadn't even angered the heavens yet and already felt surrounded by foes.

[The tallest trees catch the most wind but get the most sun. It's impossible to grow so quickly without attracting attention. All you can do is prepare in advance for war against reality itself]

Ashlock contemplated the system's words as he looked at the swirling titan of darkness before him. Didn't the system and his new body make him suspiciously well-suited for realm-spanning wars? Other cultivators refrained from fighting because it wasted their precious Qi and set back their cultivation. Meanwhile, he only grew in power through devouring and enslaving souls, twisting them into abominations.

"System, you know I've been thinking... are we the bad guys?"

[...]

The system refrained from answering his musings, which was probably for the best. If he was indeed an origin, he was on a head-on collision course with heaven, and only one would emerge victorious.

"And I've always been a sore loser," Ashlock chuckled. There was no way in hell he was going to die and leave Stella and the others behind to some dumb golden eyes in the sky that glared at him every once in a while. "Alright, the first step to dethroning the heavens is to become a god, and what does a god need? A pantheon of warriors to fight for me. The system says I need to give names that hold meaning, and thankfully, I have already been doing that."

According to Greek mythology, Khaos was the Greek goddess of chaos and the first entity to exist; meanwhile, Zeus was the god of the sky. He was also considered the father to all gods, which is the position Ashlock had now assumed as he created and named these Ents, so it was as if they were his children. Geb was the god of the Earth, farming, and fertility and was considered one of the God Kings in the Egyptian mythos. To the Romans, Sol was the personification of the sun and was also a god in his own right.

Until now, Ashlock had already given his Ents suitable names with deep meaning in his past world. So, to continue that trend, he now needed to give names to his two newest and most powerful Ents. Due to the place he found them resembling an underworld of sorts with all the darkness, Ashlock had some ideas.

"You will be named Hades after the Greek god of the underworld and the dead. A powerful name for my strongest Ent," Ashlock said to the titan of shifting darkness looming before him. He then switched to the Shadow Lich, who was patiently waiting back on the Bastion. Far smaller but almost equally as powerful. "You will be named Anubis, after the Egyptian deity of funerary rites and the protection of graves. A suitable name for an undead that faithfully guarded his master's grave."

To his surprise, Anubis gave a gracious bow, and it seemed that Hades' shifting shadows had become even more sinister and intimidating after he assumed the name Hades.

"Names really are powerful things, huh."

With that done, it was time to get moving, as time was of the essence. "Nox, do you know where we should go now?" Ashlock asked his navigator.

"No," Nox scratched the back of her head as she stood on the bow of the Bastion and glanced around. "But if we keep moving, I'm sure it will be hard to miss."

"Fine, let's go." Ashlock picked a random direction. But then he felt something buzzing in the back of his mind. "Mhm?"

Turning in the direction he felt the buzzing coming from, he saw Hades's colossal arm moving through the darkness with surprising speed. The titan then pointed to the ground. "Hey, Nox, is that where we need to go? Behind Hades?"

"Hades? Oh, is that the name you gave the shadow titan," Nox caught on quickly and squinted at the shadow rift that had been hidden behind Hades. "I didn't notice it before because Hades is pulling all the surrounding darkness toward himself, but that looks correct? Float closer, and I can be sure."

Ashlock did just that as the Bastion tipped downward and descended. Passing through the gap in Hades' legs that felt like a chasm into the abyss, Nox got more excited the closer they got.

"Yes! This has to be it!" Nox clapped her hands, "All of the shadow Qi in this room and likely the rest of the castle is pouring out of this rift. I bet even someone unattuned to shadow Qi would notice it."

"That's probably why they placed Hades's statue there to obscure it and Anubis as a guard to ward people off." Ashlock replied, "Just what is this Dark Throne that they went to all this effort to hide its existence."

"Well, whatever it is, I bet it's not left undefended." Nox spread out her arms, and there was an immense pull on the Bastion's Core as the shadow shield glowed with power. "Shields up, it's time to fight."

"You're getting quick on the uptake. But let me send in Hades first. If there's anything on the other side that can harm or kill him, then there's no chance we will survive if we go through."

Nox nodded, "Good thinking."

Ashlock slowed the Bastion down until it was right before the shadow rift that was dozens of times bigger than any of the ones they had seen until now.

"Hades, go through," Ashlock said through their mental link. The titan of darkness complied and shrunk his body to fit through the shadow rift. As his body vanished into the abyss of the rift, Ashlock waited. A while passed, and he didn't feel his connection to the Ent get cut.

"Look's like it's at least somewhat safe. Hades has survived in there for a while," Ashlock floated the Bastion forward. As the shadow rift swallowed the Bastion, the shadow storm surrounding them was torn from his control by the immense current of shadow Qi pouring out of the rift. The Shadow Shield also faltered and began flickering due to the immense pressure.

[Now entering the Shadow Veil Sanctum's Throne Room]

Ashlock was welcomed by his system, which informed him of his destination, but he was more distracted by the chaos he was seeing before him. The room was just as seemingly endless as the last as if it had been built for titans rather than people. In the center was a jagged pillar of obsidian jutting out from a whirlpool of darkness in the vague shape of a throne.

However, what drew his attention was not the Dark Throne he had been seeking, but Hades, who was riding the whirlpool's current while ripping apart monsters resembling giant squids.

[Those are Shadow Leviathans]

Ashlock didn't care what they were called. All he saw was a sacrificial credit buffet.