"Morrigan, hang in there. I'm coming to save you." Ashlock couldn't believe what he was saying. Since when did he—a demonic spirit tree revered as an evil god—sprout such heroic lines?
"Why?" Morrigan replied through Abyssal Whispers of her own, as it was the language of the void. She sounded calm, too calm for her situation. Cultivators were very good at putting up a facade, but there was surely a limit. The Morrigan he saw being crushed to death under immense gravity sounded the polar opposite of the one in his head.
"What do you mean why?" Ashlock felt annoyed. Here he was, offering to save someone he would be pretty happy to let go, and they didn't even appreciate it. "Elaine would be sad if you died and would definitely get mad at me for not doing everything within my power to help."
"I'm fine, though?"
Ashlock squinted at her crushed body with his spiritual sight and had to respectfully disagree. She was one step away from becoming nothing more than fleshy paste.
"They aren't even stopping me from leaving."
"Leaving...?" What was she talking about? She was trapped by Vincent. Did he have mind control powers to make her delirious?
"Yeah, the Nightrose cultivators watching over the central street are simply watching me go. It's kinda creepy how statue-like they are."
Ashlock looked behind him, and sure enough, in the distance down the cracked and deserted central street, he saw a lone woman with black hair walking away. His vision blurred as he went to take a closer look just to confirm. Void Qi flickered across her skin, forming a sheen, making her a dead spot in his spiritual sight, which is why he hadn't noticed her earlier.
"Morrigan? Is that really you?"
The woman paused and looked at the sky, "Yes, it's me. Why are you acting so strange?"
"How did you get here?"
"...Void Step?" Morrigan tilted her head, confused at the question. "The moment I noticed Diana's void shield suddenly break, I used Void Step to escape." Morrigan pointed at the entrance to the city they had entered through, "And now I'm going to make my way out unless you need something from me? Though I don't know what you expect me to do against a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator while reality suppresses me to the Star Core Realm."
Ashlock sighed with relief, "You are free to leave—actually, I would prefer if you flee this place as quickly as possible."
"I have no qualms with that." Morrigan shrugged and continued on her way.
Ashlock returned to the Nightrose castle's courtyard in a totally different mood. Vincent was still there, putting on a show and torturing something resembling Morrigan, but Ashlock now knew it was nothing more than an imitation and wasn't buying it.
Vincent hadn't captured Morrigan at all, making the rest of his claims hard to believe. Ashlock had already been skeptical of his nice guy act, but now he also doubted Vincent's claims that he could have forcefully captured everyone here if he wanted.
"I can't tell if he's powerful or not," Ashlock grumbled, "Okay, I know he's powerful by sheer cultivation realm alone, but until now, he hasn't actually shown any of his true strength. He's keeping his cards so darn close to his chest it's insane. He's got me doubting everything. Now I don't even know if the Silverspire Third Elder died in such a gruesome way or if he was some sort of blood clone from the start like Demetrios Skyrend."
It reminded Ashlock of those school plays he used to be forced to participate in, where they would use ketchup packs to substitute blood. It actually looked quite realistic under the dramatic lighting of the stage. So, the kids in the audience may believe it was real for a moment, but the adults who knew the trick couldn't see it as anything but ketchup and would struggle to suspend their suspension of disbelief.
That is how Ashlock felt as he stared at the fake Morrigan being tortured.
Vincent glared up at Hades and flexed his hand some more, making the fake Morrigan howl in agony again, reminding Ashlock that he had never heard the woman make such a noise. Even when he crushed her with his soul pressure, she had seemed unfazed and simply laughed it off.
"I really don't enjoy torturing a fellow cultivator like this," Vincent sighed dramatically, "But if we can't reach an agreement, you leave me no choice!"
Ashlock had lost all motivation to 'save' Morrigan. After all, that wasn't Morrigan inside that bubble of intense gravity. "You know what? Vincent clearly believes targeting those around a cultivator is a good way to control them and get them to do what he wants. I wonder if the same would work against him?"
He hadn't reacted much to losing two guardians, but that could be an act. Maybe deep down, he was seething but knew better than to be rash. At what point would he snap? Ashlock was curious to find out.
"Larry."
"Yes, Master? What can this humble servant do for you?"
"Kill the Nightrose cultivators lining the central street for me."
The spider-shaped cloud of silver ash closing in on the Nightrose castle shifted toward the central street. "How many should I kill, Master?"
Ashlock finally felt in the mood to humor the man. Hades turned around and he addressed Vincent with Abyssal Whispers by using the Ent as a proxy. "Finally got bored of playing pretend and torturing a clone?"
Vincent slowly turned in the air and glared at Hades, "So you finally decide to speak."
"I don't like to waste words speaking with deluded fools like yourself. If you want to play pretend, do so at the expense of your own time." Ashlock was still a little bitter about being fooled by Vincent's act. It had been a little too convincing.
To the man's credit, he seemed unfazed by Ashlock's taunting.
"You are the leader of this Ashfallen Sect, correct?"
"Who knows," Ashlock replied, "We are both using proxies, so who's to say that's even how you look?"
"It's normal for high-level cultivators such as ourselves to use proxies. There are too many uncertainties in life to risk exposing ourselves out in the open." Vincent gestured to Larry, "This is a perfect example. Summits are always a little chaotic, but this is on a different level. It's like you have a vendetta against me or something. Come on, let's talk about it. Slaughter like this doesn't benefit anyone. It's just a waste of Qi."
Ashlock almost wanted to laugh. For anyone else, that may be true. But for him, there was no better way to power level than a good slaughter. "Vincent sure does seem obsessed with preserving Qi." Ashlock mused, "Maybe he is close to reaching the Monarch Realm?"
Even if he could safely use his Evil Eye, Ashlock doubted he would learn Vincent's true cultivation level from gazing at a blood clone.
"Let me hear your proposal," Ashlock said with a deliberately dismissive tone. He had already shown his open aggressiveness and had no plans to stop. Nightrose City would be reduced to ash by sundown, so there was little Vincent could offer to make him stop. Other than Vincent actually forcing him away by showing off some of his power for once.
"We should work together—"
"No."
"Why not?" Vincent frowned. "If the Ashfallen Sect is truly a Divine-level sect on par with the Celestial Empire, us demonic sects finally have a chance! For too long, the Celestial Order has exercised its authority across the realm. If not for us having to constantly move to avoid the beast tides and rebuild, we could have a chance of matching them."
"As you said, the Ashfallen Sect is Divine level. What need would we have for you?"
Vincent's face twisted, "I'm nearing the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!"
Ashlock laughed through Hades, "Yet you couldn't save a single one of your family."
"My family? I don't need them," Vincent sneered, "None of their strength matches even a fraction of mine."
"Isn't that because you suppress them to be below you? Why? Scared they will surpass you?"
"No, it's so I can do this," Vincent pointed his free hand at the remaining group of Nightrose Elders on the rooftop. The one who had been leading them with the golden embroidered lotus on his back collapsed as streams of blood flowed out of his nose, eyes, and mouth toward Vincent. After a few moments, the Star Core Realm cultivator was reduced to a lifeless husk as he fell forward, slid down the roof, and crashed into a heap on the street below. Vincent then turned to Hades with blood gathered in a sphere above his palm.
"Am I supposed to be impressed or something?" Ashlock asked. In truth, that was a terrifying power. His main advantage over other cultivators was his Qi pool and how easy it was to replenish through killing. Yet it seemed Vincent had a similar capability, though more restricted. It was interesting how challenging the man's pride caused him to freely display such capabilities.
This is what Ashlock wanted more than anything right now. Information on Vincent Nightrose's capabilities so he could determine the best way to bring him down. They were like two chess grandmasters playing a death game with words through their proxies, and Ashlock was on the offensive.
"What can you even do with that gathered blood? It's only of the Star Core Realm, is it not? It seems like a waste to me."
Vincent pointed his hand at Hades. A million spikes shot out at once, annihilating Hades. There was nothing left of the Ent as the blood fell to the ground, forming a river of blood that rushed down the street, painting the storefronts a gruesome scarlet.
"Need I demonstrate more?"Vincent smirked as he pointed his finger at a cowering Nightrose woman who was barely in the Star Core Realm and unable to move a muscle under the immense soul pressures of Vincent and Larry.
"Fuck no, what the hell was that?!" Ashlock shouted in his mind. Hades had been a 7th-stage Nascent Soul Realm Ent, yet he was one-shot with borrowed Qi via a proxy! What if Vincent showed up at Red Vine Peak with a bunch of his family in tow and started shooting attacks like that off? Would his Voidstorm Aegis even react in time?
"I guess you possess the firepower to kill one of my weaker servants," Ashlock said as arrogantly as he could muster through Anubis as he felt his connection to Hades cut, "How about you tell me more about this possible partnership?"
Meanwhile, Ashlock opened a portal deep within the Nightrose castle and had Khaos step through. As a peak Star Core Realm Ent with the void affinity, she was the perfect choice to hunt for Vincent Nightrose's true body.