[Tree] Chapter 657: Unstoppable Tide (Patreon)

Ferrin sensed Elder Maren's return through the ocean. Yet, instead of rushing straight to his side, she stayed back to defend the Saltstone Sect's island from the Wavescale Sect's serpent riders.

That can only mean whatever caused that loud boom has been dealt with. Ferrin turned his attention away from Saltstone Island and focused on the fog before him. Elder Maren put up a good fight for us, but the open ocean is no place for an earth cultivator. Now that she is gone and I know my island is being defended, I have no need to hold back.

He could not see the Wavescale Elders through the fog, but he could sense their presence through the ocean. Between him and the Wavescale Sect stood three Nascent Soul Realm Elders who had done their best to fend him off and tire him out until now.

First Elder Brannoch, standing on the water beside him, clicked his tongue.

"Is he back?" Ferrin guessed, and his old friend nodded.

"I can practically smell his traitorous stench through the fog," Brannoch said through clenched teeth. "I should have struck him down when I had the chance."

Ferrin expanded his spiritual senses toward the Wavescale Sect and felt a fourth presence approaching.

"Ossian," Ferrin said, clenching his jaw. He was the Saltstone Sect Elder who suggested he beg Torvun for help while knowing he would be poisoned.

"I'm surprised he dared to come back after running off to his new owner to beg for reinforcements," Brannoch grumbled. "Does that bastard feel no shame standing against his old comrades?"

Ferrin sighed. "His return is troublesome."

Having fought side by side for many years, Ossian knew all of Ferrin's strengths and weaknesses. The Wavescale Elders also knew that if Ferrin went on the offensive, he had to hold back from releasing his domain to finish them off quickly, since that would put him at a disadvantage against Torvun. Their goal wasn't to win—it was simply to buy time and tire him out.

Even with my recent breakthrough, I'm still one stage below Torvun. I need my domain and all the Qi I can save to have a chance of besting him. However... Ferrin smirked. These fools think I'm still the old Ferrin with a broken body and muddied spirit roots. But thanks to the Archdemon, I've been reborn.

"Old friend," Ferrin said as he floated forward across the water's surface.

"Yer don't even need to ask," Brannoch said, brandishing his trusty harpoon. "I'll face off against the three of 'em alone. Yer cut that traitor down and take this battle to Torvun's doorstep."

Ferrin glanced over his shoulder. Despite the fire of battle in his old friend's eyes, Brannoch was unlikely to survive facing three Elders alone, no matter how much Ferrin had tired them out.

"Thank yer, old friend. I won't waste yer resolve," Ferrin said with a heavy heart. "I will cut Torvun's head off. For the both of us."

"Aye," Brannoch said, giving a toothless grin. "I'll give him yer regards when we meet in hell."

Ferrin tightened his grip on his battle-axe. He had a lot he wanted to say to his old friend in this moment, but in the end, they exchanged nothing but a simple nod and a smile. They were men of action, not words.

Elder Brannoch led the charge. Before Ossian could join up with the other Wavescale Elders, Brannoch launched forward and thrust the tip of his harpoon into the ocean, drawing a line as he went. The ocean roared as it rose, following Brannoch's harpoon to form a towering wall of churning water.

Meanwhile, Ferrin dove into the ocean's depths. As a Monarch, he could fly freely underwater and draw air from his Inner World, staying submerged for up to a year at a time. Like a tree rooted on land or a bird gliding through the sky, he felt truly at home down here, in the dark ocean beneath the thick fog and gray sky.

The ocean wrapped warmly around him, whispering in delight at his presence. He and the ocean had shared many hardships, but none compared to today. As if sensing his thoughts, the ocean stirred with his bloodlust. It wanted to help him achieve his goals.

Such was the privilege of a Monarch who had comprehended Water Law.

"I'm sorry to sully yer waters," Ferrin said as he readied his battle-axe, "but today, blood will be spilled."

What he was about to do would blow through centuries of painstakingly accumulated Qi, but Ferrin had no choice. He could not fail the Archdemon who had entrusted him as her champion, but more importantly, he couldn't allow his old friend's sacrifice to go to waste.

"Domain of Unstoppable Tide!" Ferrin roared, pointing his battle-axe forward. "Heed my call and send me into battle!"

Ferrin's spirit rippled through the ocean, and all the water between him and the Wavescale Sect's island answered. Something stirred in the great depths and erupted, carrying Ferrin forward on a thunderous wave. It devoured the fog array as it climbed, then swelled to the height of the Saltstone lighthouse.

"Ossian!" Ferrin roared. "Come meet your traitorous fate!"

The Nascent Soul Realm Elder Ferrin had shared many meals and laughs with paled as the wall of water dwarfed him. "P-Patriarch, this is a misunderstanding!"

"Even when facing certain death, you still lie to me?!" Ferrin raised his battle-axe over his head. "Did I ever know your true self, Ossian? Or is this it?!"

Ossian turned to flee, but didn't stand a chance. Ferrin dropped the weight of his Soul Cosmos upon Ossian, plunging him into the churning depths of the wave. Ossian tried to fly out, but the water he had cultivated his whole life ignored his pleas and held him in place.

Ferrin descended upon him with the force of the wave—plunging the battle-axe's blade into Ossian's back and cleaving him in half. The wave devoured the dead traitor, tearing him to pieces, and the water briefly turned red.

Ossian's death brought Ferrin no joy. This wasn't the outcome he wanted, but it was the one his position within the Sunken Crown Isles had put him in. As traitorous as Ossian was, logically, Ferrin could hardly fault him. Only a fool sick of life, like Brannoch, would follow a weak leader like him. What Ossian had done was correct, but in turning his back on Ferrin, he gave up the right to mercy.

Ferrin dismissed his thoughts and continued to ride the wave as it headed toward the Wavescale Sect. He could see the island's peak poking out of the fog array like an emerald tooth. It supported a massive stone palace and the very hall where he had knelt like a dog and been poisoned for their entertainment.

"Torvun Wavescale! Your reckoning is here," Ferrin bellowed, his Qi-empowered voice thundering out. "Show yourself!"

The grand doors of the Wavescale palace opened, and Torvun stepped out. His expression was even more twisted and cruel than usual, and a great darkness filled his eyes.

"Ferrin!" Torvun yelled as he took to the skies above his palace, spread his arms, and laughed maniacally. "To dare face me, the Uldrenneth blood must have rotted your brain!"

"No," Ferrin hissed through clenched teeth. "I've never seen things clearer than now."

His Unstoppable Tide crashed into the Wavescale Sect, obliterating the defensive arrays that flickered to life to protect the island and making it tremble.

Ferrin pulled the wave up with him, flooding every inch of the Wavescale Palace courtyard with cold gray water, except for a small circle around Torvun.

Torvun stood there with an expression better suited for an amused demon than a Patriarch whose island was under attack by a Monarch.

"Thousands of your people just drowned under my wave." Ferrin lunged forward, water wrapping his body like armor. "So wipe that smirk off your face!"

A deafening clang rang out as Torvun caught his battle-axe between the prongs of his trident. The force cracked the courtyard beneath them, and formations flared to life. These islands were small and resource-poor; they couldn't withstand a fight between Monarchs. That's why each Patriarch's role on the isles was to keep other Monarchs off their island.

Yet Torvun had stayed in his palace, leaving the matter to his Elders, and many of his sect members had paid with their lives.

Torvun simply laughed.

"I never realized how twisted you truly were," Ferrin said as he surged the water forward, forcing Torvun back through the doors and into the palace's main hall. Strangely, all of the Elders and attendants who had watched him drink Uldrenneth blood were missing. It was just him and Torvun.

"We all have a darkness inside us, Ferrin," Torvun said, spinning his trident to fend off his water. "I just happened to let mine free!"

Ferrin felt his hold on the water falter and stepped aside as Torvun hurled it back at him as a torrent.

"What happened to that limp in your step, Ferrin!" Torvun lunged forward, and Ferrin barely got his battle-axe up in time to stop the trident from skewering his stomach. "I also don't see the black claw of Uldrenneth blood on your neck."

"I had a rather fortunate encounter," Ferrin grunted as he kicked Torvun back with enough force to shatter a stone wall, but Torvun shrugged it off with ease.

"Oh, I know," Torvun said and went back on the offensive. "I had one myself recently too."

Ferrin didn't know what Torvun meant, and he didn't care. The palace trembled as the two clashed, and Ferrin got lost in the flow of battle. He hadn't moved his body so freely in hundreds of years, and water Qi flowed through his spirit roots, which had felt like clogged pipes before. The battle-axe greedily absorbed his Qi, each strike carrying the weight of a crashing wave. After ten blows, Torvun began to bleed from the mouth, and after five more, he misjudged his defense.

Ferrin's battle-axe tore into his shoulder, severing his arm. Torvun unleashed a howl that snapped Ferrin back to reality.

Did I really land a hit? Ferrin thought, wondering if it was a trick. And why hasn't he used his domain yet?

Many things weren't adding up.

Torvun flashed him a bloody smile. "You've... grown stronger."

Ferrin frowned. He wouldn't be in such a winning position if not for the things the Archdemon had gifted him, but Torvun wasn't this weak.

"You're not the Torvun I know," Ferrin said, panting as he pointed his bloody battle-axe at Torvun. "Who are you?"

Torvun's grin widened. "Someone who has always despised you." He leaped at him, sacrificing all defense and going for the kill. Ferrin activated one of the rings he'd gotten from the Archdemon and pointed it at Torvun. A blast of wind sent the Monarch spiraling.

Ferrin followed up—his battle-axe crashed down upon Torvun, pinning him to the ground and cutting deep. Torvun let out a pained gasp and glared at Ferrin with a hatred he had never seen in a man's eyes before.

"You brought this upon yourself," Ferrin said and stomped on his head, feeling the skull crack beneath his boot. Torvun went still as Ferrin pulled his battle-axe free and leaned on it.

I did it, Ferrin thought while panting. I really killed Torvun Wavescale—

A slow clap echoed through the room.

Ferrin's heart skipped a beat as he quickly turned.

What...

Standing in the doorway to the courtyard were the Archdemon Diana and a pink-haired woman with black eyes whom he had never seen before.

But most shocking was who stood between them. It was Torvun, and he was still alive.

"You did well, my champion," Diana said, smiling. "Thanks to your efforts, the Torvun who made you drink Uldrenneth blood has been defeated."

The pink-haired demon pushed Torvun forward. He stumbled through the gray water and collapsed to his knees. His gaze was fixed on the floor, and he trembled like a leaf.

"What do you have to say for yourself, darling?" the pink-haired demon said, showing off two rows of teeth as she grinned. "Don't be shy now."

"I..." Torvun gulped. "I surrender to you, Ferrin. The war—it's over."

Ferrin's battle-axe fell from his grasp and splashed loudly on the wet floor. He was in total shock.

"What... is the meaning of this?" Ferrin said. He had felt something was off, but he never could have foreseen this. "Who did I just fight with everything I had?"

"That was Torvun's heart demon," Diana said as she strode into the room, her wings unfurling idly to fill the space. "It was one of the strongest I've ever seen." She crouched before the corpse and reached out to touch it. The moment her claws brushed his hair, the dead Torvun disintegrated into a black mist that Diana sucked in. "And one of the tastiest," she muttered, licking her lips.

Ferrin stood there like a statue. So many thoughts and questions raced through his head that he said none of them. He just stared at the trembling Torvun, who was still kneeling on the floor.

"What was the point of this?" Ferrin eventually said, clenching his fist.

Diana slowly rose and glanced his way. "What do you mean, my champion?" she asked. "Is something troubling you?" She came closer, and Ferrin felt the demonic mists chill his skin. "I gave you the means to win a war that would have been lost. I gave you a fight you could win, and now the one who sentenced you to death is cowering before you."

Ferrin shivered as her claws settled on his shoulder.

"All of this is because of me, and all of it serves my plans," she whispered into his ear. "So tell me, my champion. What is it that bothers you so?"

Ferrin didn't dare meet the Archdemon's gaze. He should have seen this coming when he became an Archdemon's champion, and he knew the price of defying her, yet he couldn't stay silent.

"So many innocent lives were lost to my wave, and my old friend will have died for this pointless farce," he cursed while staring at the floor. "If you could do all of this without me, why involve me at all?"

He could still picture Brannoch's final smile and the emptiness he had felt after cutting down Ossian, and how fleeting the feeling of killing Torvun had been.

"Because I need you and Torvun for what comes after this war," Diana said and stepped away. "But you may be happy to know nobody died to your wave—Morrigan here blocked it. Though I do regret to inform you that First Elder Brannoch died valiantly, facing off against three Elders by himself."

Ferrin clenched his jaw. It was good to learn his wave hadn't killed thousands, but that wouldn't bring his friend back to life. He never should have dealt with an Archdemon. All of this was his fault.

"Luckily for him, death isn't the end for those serving my Master."

Master? This Archdemon has a master? Ferrin glanced up. And what does she mean death isn't the...

His thoughts froze as a figure appeared in the courtyard, wielding a harpoon he could recognize from the silhouette alone. The figure resembled First Elder Brannoch in stance and height, but that was where the similarities ended, and the differences began. Beneath his frayed, damp robes, which looked as if they had fused with the seabed, his skin had grayed and was covered in segments of white bone armor.

"Old friend," the figure wheezed, "By the Archdemon's grace, I've returned from the depths of hell to serve at your side once more."