[Tree] Chapter 504: Tyrant of the Void

As Stella was caught up in the situation from the start by everyone present, her excitement after hearing Elaine's big news regarding her expecting twins soon twisted into rage.

"We just don't know what to do," Elaine said, her head hung low. "One of us will inevitably be sacrificed. Of course, I'd rather it were me over the child."

"No... Elaine..." Douglas said, barely holding back his tears. "I can't lose you. Not to that monster."

With barely contained bloodlust, she turned to glare at the reason: Morrigan. She stood at the side, seemingly detached as if her daughter's misery had nothing to do with her. Almost as if it were an inevitable cycle that couldn't be stopped.

If there was one thing Stella despised, it was feeling powerless against cycles set in place to benefit those who were stronger. Perhaps this is what it means to be a Crestfallen, but she wanted to tear it all down. One day, the Origin of Rebirth, but for now, she would start with the Origin of the Void.

"Do you have anything to say in your defense, Morrigan? You have made contributions to the sect that are hard to overlook, but this isn't fair to Elaine." Stella said with barely restrained anger. She had been hoping for a joyful return to Red Vine Peak, and this is what she got. "Can we really not reach a solution here?"

Morrigan shrugged. "There's nothing to be said or done. I already devised a solution to my problem eons ago, and it will continue on."

Stella cooled her rage and presented an option. "Fine. What if we bound your soul to the All-Seeing Eye's afterlife? Wouldn't that be better than the eternally cold and lifeless void?"

Something stirred in Morrigan's expression. For the first time ever, the woman showed a new emotion. Fear.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked. "Not an idea you're too keen on? We can try to come up with solutions—"

Morrigan's eyes widened, and she vanished as she escaped into the void.

Stella closed her eyes and sighed. Morrigan had been both helpful and a constant headache due to her carefree attitude and refusal to sign any loyalty contracts. The problem was, now that Morrigan knew they had a way to effectively imprison her away from reality in an alternate afterlife, there was no telling what lengths she would go to for survival.

Her eyes opened, and she said with an ice-cold tone. "Khaos, restrain her."

"As you wish, princess," Khaos said and moved so fast the Ent was nothing but a blur. Once she reached the spot where Morrigan had been, Khaos tore through reality with her claw and yanked Morrigan out of the void as if she had been hiding behind a curtain.

"What?! How?" Morrigan yelled as she was thrown to the ground. Khaos pressed her foot on Morrigan's back and secured her neck to the floor by imprisoning it between her claws, which she struck into the rock.

Stella walked over as she munched on a void fruit. Her Nascent Souls barely felt the strain as the void shield materialized around her. While Khaos could easily restrain Morrigan as their gap in cultivation was too vast, there was no stopping Morrigan from launching an attack at Stella.

"Can you call Kaida here?" Stella asked Ash.

"Sure, but what do you need him for?" Ash's hundred overlapping voices echoed in her mind.

Stella looked down at the woman struggling under Khaos's foot. "I'm going to put an end to the void's tyranny," she said simply.

"Like hell you will," Morrigan roared with laughter. "I'll kill myself before I let you bind me to that place."

"The reason you're not willing to consider other options is because you've already bound your soul to Elaine, right?" Stella said, crouching before the woman, if she could even be called that. "Don't look so surprised, I figured it out. Elaine has rose gold hair, yet the rest of the Voidmind family has black hair. When you switch to your true form, your hair is rose gold, isn't it? The reason you and Elaine share the same hair color is that you have marked Elaine as your next vessel, right? Should she die, it would move on to one of her unborn twins."

"Stella," Elaine asked hesitantly, "She is still my mother, is this level of force necessary?"

Stella sighed. "Elaine, while this thing might technically be your mother, you should see Morrigan for what she really is—past the human facade. She is an affinity given consciousness that wears human skin. She doesn't care for you because you're her dear daughter; she cares because you are her carefully nurtured vessel. Do I need to remind you that because she's stuck at the Star Core Realm, it's not a matter of if she dies, but rather when? If you go on to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and escape the shackles of time, it will be Morrigan who becomes your grim reaper."

Elaine winced. "So you're going to kill her?" she asked in a mouse-like voice.

"Don't sound so worried. Death is hardly something Morrigan hasn't experienced before. I'm just going to be trapping her in The Grove of Eternal Rebirth so that she can never reach you until we can figure out a better solution—ah, he's here." Stella stood up and gestured for Kaida to come over. The Celestial Ink Dragon floated through the air and raised a brow at the scene.

"Kaida, can you bind Morrigan's soul to the All-Seeing Eye's afterlife?" She looked down at Morrigan and saw the terror in the woman's eyes. Stella smiled. The woman who thought herself invincible had finally met her match.

However, Kaida shook his head. "I can't."

"Why not?" Stella frowned. This was the one and only plan she could come up with that saved everyone involved.

The dragon glanced at the pinned woman. "Her void Qi makes interacting with her soul difficult."

"Mhm..." Stella rubbed her chin. That's when she felt some movement on her head. Maple perked up and, with a swift motion, leapt into the air. In a flash of white fog, Maple turned into his human form: a small androgynous child with a giant white tail that curled around his body. It had been a while since Stella saw Maple in this form, and he looked more mythical than before. Had he gotten even stronger?

"I can help expose her soul," Maple said, his eyes of golden honey staring up at Stella. "But I want to eat it after you have finished binding it."

"Um," Stella blinked, taken aback by that last request. She then remembered who she was talking to—a Worldwalker, a being barred from entering reality for a very good reason. Because there was nothing they wouldn't eat, including reality itself. With the usually sleeping Maple getting involved, Stella's little rage-induced plan seemed all the more real.

"Before we go ahead with this plan, is anyone opposed?" Stella asked the group. "Personally, I deem Morrigan's current attitude unnerving and a constant threat to the Ashfallen Sect. Now that we possess our own afterlife, we don't have to fear killing Origin's anymore. However, I've come to learn that I can overreact, so I'll let you all decide."

"Well said, Stella. I share a lot of your concerns, and they have been reinforced now that Morrigan has shown her true colors," Ash said through the looming shadow lich. "In an effort to protect Elaine and her child's future, I'm in favor of this plan. However, I believe the decision should ultimately be up to Elaine, as she is the most affected." Anubis turned to look at Elaine. "What do you wish for? Should Morrigan be bound to the Grove of Eternal Rebirth? The choice is yours to make, Elaine."

Elaine gulped. Her face was ghostly white, and her hands were trembling. Even with Douglas trying to comfort her, she seemed unable to say anything. Everyone's attention was locked on her, including Morrigan, who was still struggling.

"I..." Elaine began, but trailed off. After trying and failing to give an answer, she looked toward Stella with pleading eyes.

Stella nodded, understanding what she wanted.

Elaine understands from a logical point of view that killing Morrigan is needed to save herself and her child, but she also doesn't want to be the one to give the word to execute her own mother and imprison her in a new afterlife. Looks like the role of a villain falls to me again—not that I mind it.

"Do it, Maple," Stella said, "and once bound by Kaida, her soul is yours to eat."

"You bitch," Morrigan hissed, glaring at Stella. "You're going to regret this."

Stella crossed her arms. "I don't think I will."

"You shouldn't see this," Douglas said, raising his hand to cover Elaine's eyes.

Yet despite her trembling, Elaine pulled Douglas's arm down and shook her head. "I need to."

Maple approached and, like dunking one's hand into a pond, his fingers, followed by his hand and arm, effortlessly glided through Morrigan's clothes and skin. Morrigan screamed like a banshee and thrashed around under Khaos's foot. Unfazed, Maple reached around for a moment before pulling out a ball of void—Morrigan's soul.

Morrigan's eyes went wide, and she suddenly went silent, like a puppet with its strings cut. She wasn't dead, as her vessel kept on breathing and pumping blood. But it was now a soulless husk acting on instinct.

Kaida got to work. His scales detached from his body and floated into position around Morrigan's soul, which Maple was holding up. Once in position, the array was powered by a golden glow as it drew in the surrounding divine energy. What nobody could have expected was for Morrigan's soul to begin fighting back. Despite being at the Star Core Realm, it pulsed, and everyone stumbled back except Maple.

Stella clutched her chest and felt a cold sweat break out as her vision blurred slightly. She had experienced bloodlust and soul pressure plenty of times, but this was different. It was as if Morrigan had shed a portion of her memories and life experience, overwhelming the array and literally shocking everyone else's souls in the process. It was like the roar of an ancient monster awakening from a bygone era.

"Everyone should get back," Kaida said as his golden eyes narrowed. "This is going to get ugly. A soul that has likely experienced the cycle of reincarnation a thousand times won't accept such a forceful change quietly."

Stella didn't need to be told twice, as she never expected a Star Core Realm soul to make her break out in a cold sweat. Kaida increased the power of the formation, and spinning golden runes began to encapsulate Morrigan's soul. Like a self-peeling onion, Morrigan continued to shed parts of herself in an attempt to overpower the formation. Just as things seemed to be going well, the air suddenly shifted. A chill like no other seeped into Stella's bones despite the distance.

"Is she... preparing to go supernova?" Stella asked. It was the one way Morrigan, or any Origin, could always win. It's the reason they couldn't be imprisoned or trapped and were so feared. Should the need arise, they could always resort to self-destruction to force themselves to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Only to be reborn in the body of a random cultivator somewhere in the nine layers of creation that shared their affinity—except Morrigan, whose only options were Elaine and her child...

The soul cradled in Maple's hand began to slowly condense like a forming black hole.

"Elaine! Get closer to Morrigan," Stella said.

"What?!" Douglas shouted angrily.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I want to call Morrigan's bluff!" Stella shouted back, masking her voice with Qi. "If she truly does kill Elaine and her twins, she will be sent to the void, never to return. Don't worry, I will pull Elaine away from here at the last second if Morrigan really does go through with it. The rest of you get out of here!"

Portals tore open, and Ashlock began forcefully floating Douglas, the Redclaw Grand Elder, and the others through them. The fact that none of them could put up any resistance showed just how far Ash's cultivation had risen.

"I'm sorry, Douglas," Stella whispered under her breath as she gently pushed Elaine forward. She could feel Elaine shaking through her hand, which was planted on her back. "Elaine, relax. You trust me, right?"

"For most things, no," Elaine admitted, her voice strained. "But for crazy shit like this? I'd trust your judgment over mine."

"That's the spirit," Stella grinned as both of them got within the formation, and she could feel the power of the formation spiking to match the deterioration of Morrigan's soul.

Kaida's long body began to shrink as he shed more and more scales. The formation soon doubled and then tripled in size. At this point, Stella couldn't even see Morrigan's soul through all the golden spinning circles, but she could certainly still feel the impending supernova.

Her hands twitched as the soul continued to close in on detonation. The formation had now consumed half of Kaida's scales and was immense. Golden rings spun in the air at differing speeds as runes flashed in and out of existence.

"How's it looking?!" Stella hesitantly shouted. "If even a bit of Morrigan escapes, she might be able to reincarnate into Elaine."

Kaida grimaced from beyond the formation. "There are still so many layers to peel before getting to the core. No wonder Origins take time to reassimilate with their memories; this is too much. No being should be tortured to experience this many lives."

"Mother... I'm sorry, but I want to live my own life," Elaine muttered to herself, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"We aren't killing her forever," Stella reassured Elaine. "She's an Origin, that's not even possible. All we are trying to do is prevent her from entering the heaven's reincarnation cycle."

Kaida glanced at them. His captivating eyes hinted that he had uncovered a profound insight. "Morrigan might not accept it yet, but we are saving her from herself. While true death will never be possible for an Origin, she should find some relief in Ashlock's Eternal Grove of Rebirth. This really is the only option to put a tentative end to the Origin of the Void—as brutal a solution as it is."

Stella nodded and watched in silence as the glowing formation continued to expand all around her and Elaine. Yet even she could tell the supernova was about to reach the tipping point, and the process was far from complete.

Is Morrigan really going to send herself to the void just to get back at us? No, I believe I know what type of person Morrigan is, and she would never do that, Stella thought as she continued to stand her ground beside Elaine. However, both her Nascent Souls were humming with power, ready to pull Elaine to safety at any moment.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Ash said to her. "But I also don't have a better solution to offer."

"It's going to be fine, Dad. Just trust me, okay?"

There was a long pause. "Fine. I trust you. Just don't die on me, okay?"

"Nobody is going to die," Stella insisted. "Only a monster—"

Elaine suddenly collapsed to her knees.

"Hey! Elaine? Are you all right?" Stella said, shaking the woman when she felt her breath suddenly stolen from her as the world vanished around her. Blinking, she surveyed the darkness around her. It was the void. However, she wasn't alone in here.

Morrigan's body was sprawled out before her, with millions of hair-like ethereal threads connecting it to the soul that Maple was holding.

Stella positioned herself before Elaine to shield her from anything that might happen while taking in the situation. Before she could ask Maple or Khaos, who were also there, for an answer, golden lightning flashed through the void, striking the threads, turning them to ash, and searing the surface with a runic mark. As the ash floated past, she breathed in, and her eyes widened as hundreds of memories flashed through her mind, causing her to collapse to her knees, much like Elaine. In an instant, she had experienced a hundred years. While a few random memories lingered, her brain rejected most of them, perhaps in an attempt to maintain her sanity.

"What was that?" Stella said through gritted teeth as her head pounded.

"Oh?" Maple glanced at her, "You let Morrigan drag you in here?"

Stella snorted. "I hardly had a choice in the matter. What are those threads?"

Maple gazed at the strands of hair that connected the body and soul and began to explain, "Most cultivators have to forget and discard a part of themselves when they switch bodies, especially when they die as the heavens cleanse the soul, but Origins don't. Once reincarnated, their soul reconnects to their pasts through their affinity. Each one of these perfectly preserved strands represents a life Morrigan lived. You know, when you humans cultivate the heaven's whispers? It's echoes from these past lives you're hearing."

Stella couldn't even begin to count how many strands there were, and just a single one had encapsulated a hundred years. It was truly breathtaking to witness Morrigan's existence in such a quantified way.

Maple ran a hand through the strands, but was unable to touch any of them as if they were an illusion. "Morrigan is expending her past lives to fight against the array while she prepares to go supernova."

"That's crazy," Stella muttered. "Throwing away hundreds, if not thousands, of years' worth of memories and life experiences..." It was an inconceivable sacrifice to her, a person who hadn't even lived for two decades yet. "But I suppose when time is an unlimited currency, it's understandable to expend it to try and protect her future."

The sheer power emanating from the soul showed it was at its zenith and would go supernova at any second.

"It's hopeless," Maple said, pulling the soul closer to his mouth. "I should eat her before you die in the explosion."

"No, wait," Stella said. Balling her fist, she looked at the trembling Elaine and then back at Morrigan. "I don't believe she will go through with it."

Stella looked up at the seemingly infinite number of strands. That wasn't the number of lives one could live through without a deep fear of something. And for Morrigan, it was the void.

"Morrigan," Stella stepped toward the soul. "Stop fighting... You don't have to be scared anymore. If you work with us, you will never have to fear the void again."

***

Ashlock nervously watched the scene unfold. For some reason, Stella and Elaine had dropped to their knees, their expressions vacant as Morrigan's soul continued to compress and threaten to go supernova.

"I promised to trust her," Ash reassured himself. It was the only reason he hadn't gone in there and stopped the whole thing. Of course, there was also the issue that if Morrigan was to go through with it, even if he devoured her soul before she entirely blew up, Elaine's soul would be taken over.

Origins really were tricky to deal with—especially one as devious as Morrigan.

Ashlock had the system tracking the situation, but it was only giving him bad news.

[Morrigan's soul has deteriorated 97%]

[Morrigan's soul has deteriorated 98%]

[Morrigan's soul has deteriorated 99%]

Ashlock was about to act when Stella and Elaine suddenly seemed to regain consciousness. Breathing in deeply, they scrambled to their feet and got away from the soul.

Did that mean Morrigan's soul was going to blow, and they failed?

"Stella—" he called out.

She raised her arm, as if telling him to stop.

"It's going to be fine!" Stella called out confidently. "She doesn't want to live in fear anymore."

That's when Ashlock heard a resounding gulp. Standing there, licking his fingers, was Maple. Morrigan's soul was nowhere to be seen.

[Origin of the Void has been successfully captured in the Eternal Grove of Rebirth]

[Your comprehension of the void has increased]

"She's secure in my afterlife," he informed Stella and Elaine.

Elaine helped Stella to her feet and hugged her. "Thank you, Stella. I can be a mother to my children without fear now," she burrowed her head into her shoulder, and tears were streaming down her face. "I never knew you would be the one to save me from this nightmare."

Stella raised a brow. "Are you implying I'm bad at solving problems?"