Solera crawled to his feet, spitting dust out of his mouth. He could see that a hole had been blown out of a side of the fortress. The material that made up the tree lay on the ground like shards of glass, glistening in the light. Though this fortress was much less durable than Fortress Hickory, creating such an impact took incredible power.

A tower of grass rose up into the sky, each blade thrusting forward in a bid to grab a man leaping into the air. A plume of flame ten meters tall emerged from his hand as he punched downwards. The grass shriveled away from the scorching flames. But from above, a branch of the tree suddenly twisted, smashing straight into the man’s head. He toppled onto the ground and disappeared into the grass.

A blur leaped out of the hole in the fortress, crashing into the ground in front of Solera. It was Skadi, smashing a woman’s head into the mud. Astonishingly, she had not died from the impact, and was still conscious. With his right hand tightly gripping the woman’s head, Skadi launched her into the air. Her body bounced off the side of the fortress and fell to the floor, where it lay motionless.

An inferno appeared in the area where the man had fallen. He leaped back into view right as a tremor ran through the ground, with its epicenter somewhere on the other side of the base. A few meters away from Solera, the ground caved in as an underground tunnel collapsed. All over the base, trenches appeared as one tunnel after another caved in as a result of the earthquake.

The Throne walked into view from the other side of the fortress, a destroyed corpse in its hands. It opened its mouth and bellowed at the flame channeler. Even though the Throne had its back turned to Solera, the roar was so loud that he had to clutch his ears for fear of becoming deaf. When he looked back, he saw a mound of dust where a building had once been. The man was nowhere to be seen.

Solera couldn’t help but tremble. Before, when Skadi had grabbed him by the throat, Solera had thought he was outclassed. Yet even that seemed like nothing before this god of death, who could create earthquakes and reduce buildings to dust with a mere shout.

Except Solera was quite certain this Throne was weaker than Skadi! Sky spirits followed the most powerful, and they practically worshipped the man. But something was strange. How had they immediately known how powerful he was? Skadi had to be from Sky! The more Solera thought about it, the more sense it made. But just what were his intentions? Solera felt that if he knew why Skadi had descended, it would all make sense.

The King Gorilla appeared, holding a struggling man in its clenched fist. It lumbered over to stand with the Throne, who tossed aside the corpse it was holding. A horde of imps instantly converged on the body, desperately snatching for a piece of it to devour. It seemed that the battle had ended just as quickly as it started.

Solera ran over to a growing crowd that gathered around Skadi. He soon gave up trying to push his way to the center and instead shimmied up one of the vines on the branch to see what was going on.

He could see another motionless body Skadi had dragged over, making three intact assailants, two men and a woman. All of them seemed to be incredibly powerful, yet they had been beaten with no visible effort by Skadi and the monsters. One man had a blue talismanic tattoo on his face, still glowing faintly with power. He stirred, mumbling as he regained his consciousness.

“Haha, good fight, mister!” Skadi laughed as he trussed the woman up with a cord a soldier had given him. “What’s your cultivation class, hm? Five hundred? Seven hundred?”

The man spat at him.

“Right.” Skadi sighed as he slapped the woman awake. “Look over there.”

He pointed at the ravaged skeleton the imps had left behind. “That was your friend. He died pretty nicely. Better than you will if you continue conducting yourself with an attitude like that.”

Just as the man opened his mouth, Skadi’s hand blurred. A flying dart stabbed through the bottom of the man’s chin and up into his tongue. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, causing some regulars to greedily look on.

Skadi stabbed a needle into the woman’s shoulder. “Six hundred seventy, hm… okay.”

He smiled as he turned back to the man. “I hope you will not try biting your tongue again. It’s bad manners.”

Skadi stabbed the needle into him. “Three hundred twenty two? Wow, you can barely even ascend. You must be a channeler.”

Sure enough, a poison mist erupted from the man. A clear, ringing slap sent the man rolling out of the fog, a mangled scream emerging from his throat. Skadi walked out from the flames, his clothes melting away. But his body, covered from head to toe with its black tattoos, was completely unscathed.

By now, the man with the tattoo had woken up. But unlike the other one, he didn’t resist as Skadi stabbed the needle into him. Skadi stared at him for a moment in surprise, then stabbed it in again. He began laughing.

Solera was unnerved. Skadi had a crazy gleam in his eye. Combined with his black tattoos and his filed teeth, he looked like a savage ghoul.

“Okay, you get Leera out here.” Skadi spoke to a nearby captain, who was holding a severed head by the hair. The captain saluted, before jumping onto a branch and again into the fortress, his body moving so quickly that Solera could only see a blur.

Skadi had squatted down next to the channeler, staring him in the face.

“I’m in a good mood today.” Skadi said as he rolled the man over. “I won’t even execute you for trying to assassinate my friend. You can get away. Doesn’t that sound nice, hm?”

When Skadi said it like that, it didn’t sound too great at all. Solera waited for the catch.

“Yes, the only thing you need to do is… ascend.” Skadi wrenched the dart out of the man’s mouth. “Your cultivation is permanently stunted, now, so you might as well. Right?”

The channeler glared at him silently. Skadi’s smile disappeared. He raised his palm up and chopped down on the channeler’s foot. A tiny sliver of flesh fell over, like a slice of ham. Skadi raised his palm up again.

“You have one last chance to reconsider.” Skadi said, his voice turning cold. “Otherwise, I will turn you into mud.”

Even from this distance, Solera could see the fear in the channeler’s eyes. Yet he continued to stay silent.

The hand came down again. And again, and again. With each chop, a tiny part of the man’s body was cut off. It was like the man was a vegetable on the chopping board, getting diced into bits and pieces. When Skadi finished with the feet, the man started to scream. But as if Skadi was deaf, he continued to chop.

Solera turned away, his face completely devoid of color. What kind of cold-blooded torture was this? Didn’t Skadi have any human decency? Even the events at Fortress Hickory had not prepared him for this. The man was begging for mercy now, saying he would ascend, he would ascend. But his screams continued.

“Enough!” A man shouted. Solera knew the voice; it was Verreaux. “Just kill the man!”

The screams still continued. Despite him nausea, Solera turned around again. He had to know what was happening. Verreaux and several others were being restrained by the King Gorilla and the Throne. A wall of regulars had formed around Skadi, while the human captain from before monitored the other two prisoners. The female was gasping for breath, as if she was hyperventilating. As for the tattooed man, he had his eyes shut.

“Please… please…” The channeler gasped. Everything below his shoulders had turned into neatly chopped slices, pouring with blood. Even the bones were cut clean through. The moment Solera glanced at it, he turned away to vomit.

Sick and depraved! Inhumane murder! Solera had never even known such an evil way to execute somebody existed. No human could do something like this so casually.

But Skadi wasn’t a human, he was a spirit! Solera remembered what Verreaux had said. This was what spirits did. Spirits were evil to the core. They didn’t have the morals that humans did. Was he really fighting for such a person? Was he really on the side of good?

Solera initially did not agree with Verreaux. But now, he understood Verreaux’s fear of spirits. Like humans, there seemed to be good spirits and bad spirits. Unlike the docile creatures of the Grove, Skadi’s spirits were excessively bloodthirsty, not to mention Skadi himself. And yet...

Skadi was clearly a ruthless killer, but he was on Solera’s side. And the Airborne were not much better. Besides, that channeler was the enemy. He was going to die anyway. Did it matter that he spent a few minutes in excruciating pain before going? Even as Solera thought this, he couldn’t help but feel his reasoning was hollow. He was trying to rationalize, but he knew there was no excuse for Skadi’s sadistic actions.

The screams stopped. Utter silence fell on the camp. It was like everyone was too shocked to say anything.

A woman screamed. “Don’t touch me! I’ll ascend! I’ll ascend!”

Skadi laughed, long and hard. It was his usual laugh, but it sent cold shivers running down Solera’s spine. This time, his laugh sounded sinister.

“My friend Leera will be setting up the formation requiring you to ascend. Don’t try killing her again, or, well, you know.” Skadi clapped his hands several times.

Solera looked back at the clearing, careful to not focus on the heap of flesh in the center. Leera was channeling power into the air around the woman. But rather than dissipating into nothing, it hung in the air like dense fog. Solera frowned at the sight.

This power had been “imbued”! Power would typically collapse into states of corporeal energy such as lightning or wind when released outside the body, but not so when imbued. This was all Solera knew about the advanced channeling technique. A cultivator like him would probably never need to learn it.

“It’s good that you decided to give up your loyalty. The only thing a person should be loyal to is the Garden.” Skadi chortled. “Alas, it is too late for you. The best I can promise is your ascension to a random place in Sky. I suggest that you join a god as quickly as you can. That’s the best way to ensure your continued existence. Otherwise… heh...”

The woman said nothing. Solera suspected that she didn’t want to say anything that might change Skadi’s mind. Skadi was far too erratic. One moment, he was all smiles. The next, he was brutally murdering a helpless man. Perhaps he was insane. No, he was definitely insane.

Leera finished drawing the formation. The fog began to stir, coiling about in a strange, bewildering pattern.

“Farewell, madam.” Skadi nodded to her. The fog continued to move, converging onto the woman and rolling into her head. A crackle sounded, and blinding light shot out in all directions.

The light emerged from a small area in the woman’s head. It was her rift, expanded to allow her soul entrance into Sky! Solera temporarily pushed the matter of Skadi to the back of his mind to spectate the ascension. Ascensions were rare events, and only occurred several times a year across all of Land. If Solera watched, perhaps he could gain something from the experience.

Power flooded out of the rift that shined through the woman’s head, rejuvenating the destroyed hilltop. The grass grew even higher and the fortress walls lit up with color. Tendrils of light spread throughout the woman’s channels, outlining her entire body.

And then the light was gone. In the area where the woman had been, there was only a pile of glittering multicolored dust. Summoning dust, created from ascension. Every grain a treasure.

Solera’s eyes had widened. In the heat of the moment, he had forgot to question why Skadi was even forcing someone to ascend! It was clearly for the summoning dust! But didn’t this mean…

“Let me ascend.” The man with the tattoo spoke up. “I won’t cause you any further trouble.”

Skadi ignored him, turning to look at Leera. “Leera, it is time for you to ascend as well. The Gardener is waiting to receive you.”

Instantly, there was uproar. “Skadi, you dare threaten Leera into ascending?” A soldier shouted as he channeled power into his gauntlet. “Treason!” Nearly all the soldiers had their weapons pointed at the regulars in between them and Skadi. In the instant before all hell was about to break loose, Leera’s whisper pierced through.

“Stop, soldiers.”

Leera bowed her head. Solera couldn’t see clearly from his angle, but he was nearly certain that a tear was trickling down her cheek.

“It would be the highest honor to see the Gardener. It has been time for me for a while now.” She said, her voice cracking with emotion. Power billowed out from her mouth to coalesce around her head. Immediately, the power fog appeared again. “Skadi is the new commander. Do not, under any circumstances, disobey him. Soldiers, I wish you the best of luck! I will be watching from Sky. Perhaps, soon, I will return as well!”

Skadi outstretched his hand, pouring his own fog into Leera’s. “I’ve synchronized the rift to the Gardener’s position, Leera! Welcome to Sky, and enjoy your vacation. You’ve earned it!”

Again, blinding light shot out to envelop the entire hilltop. This time, the light shone with varying shades of green and yellow. Power poured into the vicinity; at this time, some grass strands had grown to fifteen meters. On his position on the fortress, Solera could bend down and touch them with his hand. The clearing disappeared from view, so he climbed up even higher.

Another pile of summoning dust had been created. The two piles combined was even greater than the amount of summoning dust used during the first summoning. Skadi turned around to the tattooed man.

“Let me ascend, I’m begging you.” Spittle sprayed from his mouth. Anguish and desperation colored his face, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

“I’m afraid that’s not what the Gardener wants.” Skadi sprinkled some summoning dust onto the man’s head. “Sorry.”

“Fuck you!” The man suddenly screamed, vigorously shaking his head in an effort to dislodge the summoning dust. “You can’t do this! I’m the son of Duke Aloysius! If you do this, you’ll pay! Father-”

Skadi kicked an entire pile onto the man’s face, sending dust flying everywhere. It was quickly followed by the next pile, and then a coil of green power. Blazing light shot out for the third time in as many minutes as the summoning dust disintegrated to form a rift into Sky.

Solera gaped in shock. Skadi was using a human body for possession? But humans had their souls naturally fortified by their advanced brains, and were untold orders of magnitude more difficult to possess than soulless animals! Such an occurrence had only occurred in ancient history, so to Solera, it seemed impossible. At least, he had expected the process to require more than just loads of summoning dust. Even though the quantity of dust Skadi had used was worth enough to buy a small city, it just seemed too easy.

But the truth was right in front of him. Currently, all the people present were witnessing the descent of another Seraph! Another Seraph who was ostensibly here to help, but could very well be a deranged sadist, just like Skadi!

Like before, countless tiny spirits flooded out of the rift, pouring into the grass. Multiple spirits would fly into one beetle, causing it to roll over and curl its legs up. Bugs from who knew where grew out of the ground, turning into giant monsters equal in size to Solera. A tree began growing out of the ground where Skadi was. More and more spirits flooded out, saturating the entire hill and even going outside it. There simply wasn’t enough to possess. By this time, the second tree had surpassed the first in size.

A group of gargantuan spirits, balls of light five times as large as Solera, seeped out of the rift. They flew towards a group of regulars, who panicked and tried to flee. But compared to the spirits, they were too slow. All fell to the ground as the spirits chased them down.

A single, blinding light emerged from all sides of the rift. It was a monochrome shade of golden, much like sunlight. It poured out of the rift, seemingly without end. This was undoubtedly the Seraph descending to Land!

In the warped space below the rift, Solera could faintly see the man’s body. The light from the spirit twisted like smoke, moving straight for the man’s mouth.

Solera rubbed his eyes, which had grown tired from the unending lights. He was certain that the United Duchies and everyone within a thousand kilometers could see the brilliant lights of the Seraph’s descent. When his eyes opened again, the tattooed man’s soul was already extinguished. The Seraph had formed a pool of power in the air that steadily drained into the man’s gaping mouth.

The man’s body simply couldn’t take in the power that composed the spirit quickly enough. His body was giving off a glowing aura, much like Solera did when he activated the power crystal. The spirit continued to enter him for several minutes, until finally the rift had closed. And with the rift closing, Solera was brought out of his trance-like fascination back to reality.

All the humans had backed away from the scene of the summoning. Fear could be seen on their faces, as if the spirits that were descending were dangerous enemies. It made sense; on the surface, it looked like the army had received major reinforcements. But the reinforcements were monsters from Sky, with vastly differing moral compasses from the human army. If Skadi was anything to go by, it may not be a savior that was descending, but rather a devil that could turn on them at any given moment.

On the most basic level, the spirits, as well as Skadi, were not from Land. How could they have the best interests of Eden in mind? Traditionally, spirits would only fight when forced to by their summoners. But these spirits had free will.

When they looked at this army of spirits, Solera and many others felt fear rather than hope. But they were powerless to do anything. Someone as weak as Solera could only go with the flow.