Ashlock had known Astralis was huge due to his vast shadow lurking in the storm last time, but he would have never guessed the dragon was this massive. The dragon utterly dwarfed Moros despite the flagship being a hundred meters in length. What had been even more terrifying was how such a titanic creature could teleport out of nowhere and now held Moros in his claw like a vulture would hold a captured egg.
Cosmic Qi crackled around Astralis's claws, spatially locking the flagship in place, and his soul pressure made the upgraded layers of shields ripple.
"Not going to say anything?" Astralis growled at his daughter in draconic, who seemed too stunned to speak. "Who instructed you to kill me?"
"Kill you?" Nymeria said with confusion on her face, "Nobody instructed me to do such a thing..."
"What is your opinion of Zephyrine?" Astralis asked, his enormous head practically pressing up against the shield as he glared down at Nymeria like a predator. There was no fatherly love in Astralis's eyes or tone, only cold calculation as he tried to find the answers to something.
It was just the two of them because only Nymeria was on the surface of Moros alongside the two trees ascending. Others from the sect awaited in the rooms within Moros that the Mudcloaks had installed.
Nymeria shook her head and finally managed to get a hold of herself. "Zephyrine? I have a good opinion of her. Actually, Father, I wanted to—"
"Silence," Astralis growled. "I'm the one asking questions here. What are you doing on this ship?"
Nymeria went back to trembling, "I-I made friends with... a human sect..."
Astralis narrowed his eyes, and cosmic Qi angrily crackled along his teeth, but he kept listening.
"They are the ones mounting a defense against the beast tide," Nymeria continued to explain. "I got contacted by them and had a meeting."
"Why are you helping the enemy?" Astralis asked.
"I'm not trying to—"
"You led them straight to me! Why do you want to kill me, daughter?"
"I don't want to kill you!" Nymeria shouted back, stamping her foot. "They want to speak with Zephyrine to discuss options for avoiding a war, and you were the only one I knew who might have a way to contact her."
Astralis fell silent for a moment. This entire time, the heavens had been assaulting his back with heavenly lightning in an attempt to strike Erebus and Akasha, yet the dragon didn't so much as flinch.
"It seems you haven't been mind-controlled, daughter. You are simply more foolish than I thought," Astralis eventually said, a deep disappointment in his tone. "Your actions caused me to lose decades of Qi and suffer a wound that will take years to heal."
"But... I didn't know how else to get them in contact with Zephyrine," Nymeria tried to reason, but it seemed Astralis had already made up his mind.
"Why did you think I'd help you? Even I have to expend a great effort to get in contact with Zephyrine! What makes you think she wishes to talk to some outsiders?! She has enough problems to deal with at the moment, you foolish child!" Astralis roared, shaking the heavens. "If you weren't my daughter, I'd crush this weak little ship, and you on it right now for this transgression on Primal Overlord land! Begone, leave this place before I change my mind."
The cosmic Qi crackling around Astralis's claws vanished, and Ashlock felt the spatial lock on Moros disappear. He could have the ship fade into the aether. But he didn't because someone had appeared beside Nymeria in a flash of white flames, and they had yet to leave here with a solution.
"Astralis," Stella said in fluent draconic, surprising the massive dragon, "I'm Zephyrine's younger sister. My ship and I have every right to be here."
The dragon analyzed Stella for a moment. "You? Zephyrine's sister? Don't make me laugh."
Stella crossed her arms, unfazed by the dragon's doubts. "Is that a chance you're willing to take? No matter what you do, we will make contact with Zephyrine eventually, and when we do... I'll speak of this moment to her. How you denied her getting to see her little sister, even though all I want to do is work together with her so we can rescue our mother."
Astralis snorted, almost snuffing out Moros's shields. "Rescue Zephyrine's mother? How could such a powerful being need saving?"
"Do you even know who Zephyrine's mother is or the purpose of the beast tide?" Stella said with an all-knowing tone. "It's an army Zephyrine has cultivated and grown over time to free our mother. I'm here to help her with that cause."
Surprisingly, Stella's words made Astralis pause. The gears seemed to be slowly turning in his head. "Zephyrine did mention something similar," Astralis mused, his gaze ever so slightly softening. His lips curled into a cruel smile. "But if I crushed this ship and killed you, then what?"
"You, and possibly the entire realm, would die," Stella said matter-of-factly. "My father is watching, and he's not someone to mess with."
"Zephyrine's father is watching us?" Astralis wrongly guessed, a hint of fear in his eyes. Nobody made an effort to correct him. Stella just looked at him with a slightly smug grin, clearly enjoying the process.
"Maybe something can be arranged," Astralis said. "How about this? If you can help me kill a certain Primal Overlord, I will put you in contact with Zephyrine. She will appreciate it as well, as this Primal Overlord is trying to rally the others against her. What do you say, little girl? Sounds like a fair deal?"
Ashlock was greatly relieved. The beast tide was already hitting the Tainted Cloud Sect and was rapidly closing in on Red Vine Peak. They didn't have a lot of time remaining before millions would start dying from starvation as the fields were ravaged by the monsters.
Kill a Primal Overlord? Consider it done.
[WARNING: Ascension of Bastion Cores Erebus and Akasha will be affected should the heavenly lightning continue to be blocked]
He was also in a rush to get Astralis out of the way because of this system message flashing in the corner of his vision. He had expended far too many spirit stones—around half a million—to kickstart their ascensions to the Nascent Soul Realm. Without the heavenly lightning to temper their souls, they would have a weaker foundation moving forward.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Ashlock was about to reply that they would do it when Stella beat him to it... with a reply he wasn't expecting.
"Eh, I don't think that sounds fair at all. Tell me more about this Primal Overlord," Stella replied with a carefree tone.
"You're playing a dangerous game with me, little girl. The Primal Overlord is just an oversized moth with a big ego, nothing to worry about. Will you kill him for me or not?"
"Astralis, do you think I'm stupid?" Stella snorted. "If you could deal with this Primal Overlord by yourself, you would have done so already. You're masking it as a favor to protect your pride, but you're really asking for our help, are you not?"
The air chilled.
Nymeria seemed startled at how Stella was speaking to her father. Even Ashlock was surprised and was ready to try fading Moros to the aether before Astralis reestablished the spatial lock.
"Stella, just accept his proposition," Ashlock whispered frantically in her mind. "I know you find it fun, but there's no need to provoke him like this. We are on a time limit here for multiple reasons. Just accept and move on."
"I know how to deal with someone like this," Stella mentally replied. "It's like talking to myself. Just wait a moment, and trust me. It will be worth it."
"Are you sure you can reason with him?"
"Not a problem," Stella assured him. "Right now, he sees himself as vastly superior. I just have to level the playing field and then use language that makes me seem subservient to him."
Astralis sneered, cutting off their mental communication. "Help? I don't need help from weaklings like you. Consider it a test to see if you're worth my time."
"Oh, trust me, we are worth your time," Stella said.
Stella pulled down her cloak hood, exposing Maple sleeping peacefully on her head. Gently rubbing his head, he opened one of his eyes and looked up at Astralis.
The dragon froze.
"Astralis," Stella said calmly. "Let's work collaboratively toward a common goal. Okay? Tell me about this Moth so I can kill this pest quicker for you." She smiled, "After all, such a worthless opponent is indeed beneath you, but might pose a risk to me."
"Fine... I suppose that's fair," Astralis eventually conceded, Nymeria's continued disbelief if her slacked jaw was anything to go by. "The Moth is called Ig'Zal. He recently reached the Monarch Realm with a psychic affinity—they call him the Mind Eater, and he does just that. He has managed to gain control over all of the Primal Overlords except Veylorak and myself." The dragon smirked, "Not that Ig'Zal didn't try to control me—I just didn't fall for his tricks."
"A mind controller? That is indeed tricky. Father? What do you think of this?" Stella asked the sky.
A Monarch Realm mind controller...
Ashlock was glad Stella had wrestled this information out of Astralis, and they hadn't blindly agreed. Even if they refused to complete his request, knowing there was such a powerful mind controller within the beast tide was invaluable information.
Now that he knew the affinity and cultivation level of his opponent, it was time to figure out if this request from Astralis was possible because Monarch Realms weren't the type of beings that could be messed with on a whim.
"System, can you tell me about my Soul Fortress skill again?"
[{Soul Fortress [A]} Your consciousness will be encased in a fortress of divine power, capable of resisting powerful mental, emotional, and spiritual intrusions. In addition, it provides immunity to weaker soul attacks and significantly mitigates the effects of higher-grade mental assaults. The skill also enables passive detection of hostile intent aimed at your consciousness, acting as an early warning system]
"Would it resist mental attacks from a Monarch Realm?"
[Depends. If the attack comes from the opponent's Monarch Realm domain, the skill {Soul Fortress} would put up a resistance, but it would need to be upgraded to ensure a successful defense]
"Why?" Ashlock asked. A grade was already quite a high level for a skill, and it was focused on mental defense. Surely it should be good enough to stand a chance?
[Domains are what put Monarch Realm beings far above Nascent Soul Realms. When using a domain, the user has total dominion over their affinity, and typically, a lower-level cultivator has no chance to resist]
"How did Astralis resist Ig'Zal's mind control then?"
[Ig'Zal likely didn't use their domain. Otherwise, Astralis would have no chance to resist]
"Huh, interesting. So I assume my Mind Fortress pills aren't enough to make my sect members resistant to Ig'Zal's domain?"
[Correct, they would be utterly overwhelmed]
"What about Larry? He is equivalent to the Monarch Realm."
[He might be able to resist Ig'Zal's attempts to control him by utilizing his own domain]
"Mhm, this is tricky. I'd prefer fighting a simply powerful foe like Vincent over a monster who could turn my own allies against me. Wait, I should ask Astralis."
Ashlock had Anubis step out of Stella's shadow.
Astralis eyed the Nascent Soul Realm shadow lich with interest.
He addressed the waiting dragon with the full weight of his Inner World and his {Language of the Eldertree [A]} skill to ensure the dragon understood he was being spoken to by someone powerful.
"Dragon, how did you resist Ig'Zal's mental control? Did he use his domain on you?"
Astralis smirked. "As I said, there's no way I'd fall for that moth's tricks. While I'm not sure if he used a domain or not, he did manage to knock me out and plant emotions in my mind. But I noticed and can ignore them."
The dragon seemed more concerned about getting a chance to brag than asking who the shadow lich was—which made things easier for Ashlock. He got information and didn't have to waste time playing the game of who's who.
"How can you ignore emotions planted by a Monarch Realm?" Ashlock asked, genuinely curious. Astralis was clearly strong, nearing Monarch Realm himself, but the difference between realms was staggering. There was no logical way he could resist without the help of a defensive artifact that monsters didn't typically have access to.
"Because no dragon would harbor such worthless emotions," Astralis answered as if it were a fact.
[I change my assessment] Ashlock's system chimed in. [Astralis is simply too prideful to be mind-controlled even when his opponent is an entire realm above him]
Ashlock's respect for Astralis went up slightly, as he did not have that same level of delusional confidence in himself. However, this did give him an idea.
"You said Ig'Zal has taken control of all the Primal Overlords except you and Veylorak. Is Veylorak the monster that was attacking us earlier?"
Astralis nodded.
"Do you know why Ig'Zal hasn't captured his mind?"
"Veylorak, the Dread Maw of the Molten Depths, is not one to be controlled," Astralis said seriously. "I doubt he even feels any emotions besides eternal hunger and burning rage."
"So the way to counter a Mind Eater is to fight with a mindless monster," Ashlock mused. Confirming his theory, he had devised a plan to kill this moth without risk to his own members. He would turn Veylorak into an Ent and use him to fight.
"Astralis, we will accept your proposal. But to kill Ig'Zal, I will first need Veylorak's corpse."
Booming laughter from the dragon almost shattered Moros's layers of shields. "You have to be joking. Even Zephyrine can only keep Veylorak from invading her territory. It's not a beast you can hunt, let alone kill."
"But if I can?" Ashlock asked with a hint of arrogance. He was certain he could hunt and kill this monster.
Astralis fell silent for a moment. "I forgot to ask, who are you?"
Ah, here it was. The time to pick which identity to go by. Did he want to impress? Remain mysterious? He didn't really care about having the respect of this overly prideful dragon, but he was currently the best chance he had to contact Zephyrine, so he would play along.
"He's my dad!" Stella beamed. "Well, not this monster of bones. This is just a mouthpiece."
Stella's words seemed to be good enough to earn Astralis's respect. He could learn that Ashlock had no relation to Zephyrine later... for now, he would just let the dragon continue being confused.
"Very well, I'm curious to see how you plan to hunt Veylorak. Will you be coming here?"
"No need. I can handle killing such a weak beast from afar. But I'll need you to get out of the way. I need that heavenly lightning to finish ascending these two trees to the Nascent Soul Realm, and your presence is likely keeping Veylorak from surfacing again."
Astralis laughed. "I like your arrogance. Very well, I will watch with great interest as you hunt." His body suddenly shone with an intense silver light and shrank down to the size of a very tall humanoid. He stood over two meters tall, with silver scales instead of skin, a meter-long tail, two smaller black folded wings against his back, and claws sharp enough to rival Khaos. He also had dark hair with star-like sparkles flowing down his back, complementing his bright silver eyes and calm, ethereal presence.
He reached down and punched a hole in Moros's shield and landed before Stella, Anubis, and Nymeria with a thud that made the entire Bastion tremble.
Straightening up, he grinned. "I'll watch from right here."