‘Once we uncover the secrets of tower crafting, I can make more than one tower. If you want, we can gift them to the elves and they will use them to reconquer Mogar from the hands of the humans.
‘Your people will be free from their golden cages and hail you as their liberator.’ The World Tree had no intention of doing any of this.
For the Yggdrasill to be a truly invincible being, there could be only one perfect tower. Their tower.
Also, altering the path of Mogar’s races with their knowledge went against what the heir of the First Awakened stood for.
‘If Elphyn likes to play the manipulation game, I can do that too.’ They actually thought.
‘Gods, yes!’ Vamir felt an adrenaline rush at the idea. ‘We would no longer be prisoners of the Fringes. We would walk Mogar free once again like during the golden age!’
He fought Solus’ mental attacks back, quickly moving on to the offensive thanks to the Yggdrasill’s teachings and the advice he received through the bark in his hand.
“What good is power if you don’t live long enough to enjoy it?” Solus gritted her teeth. “Have you said goodbye to the poor Ellila? Because the next time she sees you will be at your funeral!”
Hearing the name of his wife sent the Librarian back to square one.
‘Gods, how could I be so stupid? She knows what I know! It means that if I fail, she’s going to kill my family next!’
“I said silence!” The World Tree roared and Uldreyin hit Solus’ head again.
Just like she wanted.
After the previous blow, she had noticed that while her pain came from the physical injury and could be sedated with darkness fusion, Vamir’s came from the tower. It was physical and mental agony, something darkness fusion could do nothing about.
It was the reason she spoke out loud instead of using the mind link. She wanted the Tree to listen. So when the mace struck, Solus had already blocked her pain receptors whereas Vamir lost his focus.
She exploited that moment to launch another telepathic attack, this time laced with poison. On the surface of her next stream of thoughts, there was the memory of what had happened to Nes’hiah.
Vamir still doubted the World Tree despite their pep talk and curiosity got the better of him. He let Solus’ memories in through a small gap in his telepathic defenses that she kept open and widened without mercy.
Solus triggered a mind fusion, this time focusing on her own life and forcing the Librarian to experience her worst and best memories over and over again.
‘What are you waiting for?’ The Yggdrasill realized the battle was going downhill the moment Vamir stopped answering him. ‘Knock her unconscious, Uldreyin. Vamir’s safety is irrelevant compared to the damage Elphyn will cause if she takes over again.’
The Chronicler hit her mercilessly, forcing Solus to adjust her strategy. She forced the Librarian to relieve her recent memories first so that Vamir experienced her same wounds once through their bond and again and again through her memories.
Time had no meaning in the Mindspace so for Vamir it was as if Uldreyin had beaten him nonstop for days instead of one second.
‘The Tree doesn’t care about your pain.’ Solus said via the mind link. ‘Nobody does except for me because this is our pain. I know you. I know your dreams and ambitions. I can help you. I can make the pain stop.
‘All you have to do is to let me in.’ She reinforced her plea with another streak of mind fusions replaying the beating from start to finish.
After the tenth time Vamir experienced having his limbs broken, he surrendered. His mental defenses crumbled while Solus’ solidified.
A sudden pang shook the Tree and stopped Uldreyin.
‘Good boy!’ Solus said to Vamir while he flooded the piece of Yggdrasill bark with darkness magic.
Then, she threw her stone ring at the Chronicler in a small but deadly projectile.
‘I have no idea what it does but I’m not going to find out.’ Despite his stunned state, Uldreyin dodged the ring with ease while sidestepping Solus’ barrage of punches.
At least until the ring expanded into the ground floor of the tower, hitting the Chronicler like a truck. Solus didn’t need a mana geyser to conjure the tower. She needed one to do it without affecting her energy reserves.
It still required a lot of mana. Too much for her bright blue core but now that she had a host, Solus could do it with Vamir’s help. It would have been a colossal waste of time if not for two factors.
One, the prison was shaped out of the Tree’s body which was infused with the world energy of the Fringe that the Yggdrasill kept away from Solus. Two, the Predator protocol.
The tower sprouted stone tendrils which drained the Tree of their mana and life force to sustain its existence, attacking the Yggdrasill from the inside.
The wood prison rot and the World Tree quaked in pain as the tower grew like a cancer at the expense of their body.
“And I’m not done yet!” The door of the tower opened, releasing the complete Menadion Set and Thundercrash.
Solus pointed the gun at the head of the Chronicler. He was dizzy from the major brain concussion but he was still alive.
“Hasta la vista, baby.” The bullet blew Uldreyin’s head and the wall open, letting Solus out. “Prime Engine, go!”
The stone tendrils dug through the rotten wood, reaching the ground that the Yggdrasill kept close and heavily guarded.
‘Don’t you dare!’ Despite their agony, the Tree had summoned his Chroniclers to stop the prisoner.
“Or what?” Solus replied while dodging the elves’ spells and weapons like they were in slow motion. “Will you trap me against my will and beat me up? Been there, done that.”
She was empowered by the Set while the elves were hindered by the constant waves of pain they received through their Yggdrasill equipment. As the tower reached the ground, it connected with the tainted energy it had left behind and bypassed the Tree’s control over the Fringe.
The tower regained its floors at a speed visible to the naked eye, expanding in every direction as it sprouted limbs, claws, and a massive arm cannon.
‘No! Not that thing again!’ The Yggdrasill could see Thundercrash’s massive replica charge up, but luckily, it would take it time.
The tower had yet to form fully and the Prime Engine prioritized Solus’ defense over the offense. All the extra energy it could spare was channeled in the Set of Menadion which included the Anvil.
Stone tendrils emerged from the Engine, seeping inside the golden Voidwalker armor and changing it into Menadion’s final gift for her daughter.
Unluckily, the clock was ticking and the rail cannon wouldn’t take long to finish charging. Wherever the Engine touched the Yggdrasil, the Predator protocol had the claws on its hands and feet pierce through the wood and suck it dry.
The tower was absorbing the power of the Fringe and the World Tree both, increasing its maximum output beyond the usual limits.
