[Twisted Heavenly Tree]
: A rare type of Heavenly Treasure, said to be the product of a world's desperation. This tree twists around thw world, sealing it from within to prevent any Foreign Races from damaging the world it protects even further.
: Due to the uniqueness of this treasure, the requirements to use it was steep. A total of 12 people who had broken through their mortal shackles are needed to keep the seal intact. Even a single one missing could seriously put the seal at risk.
: This particular tree has been around for more than a millennia. Thanks to the sacrifice of humans, it's been keeping the army of foreigners away from reaching the world.
: Though it's not going to last long...something must be done.
This is what Ashton saw upon scanning the Twisted Heavenly Tree through the System's Scan and Identify.
From what's stated above, it is obvious that this could become a serious problem if it was left like this.
Ashton might have confidence in himself and his men, but even he would know that none of them are anywhere near ready for the real army of invaders.
It is such a delicate situation they found themselves in...
One wrong move and everything would be over. So far, this is a burden that Ashton has to carry alone. He's trying his best and hoping that everything would go well.
Needless to say, it is already stated in the description, something must be done to prevent the seal from malfunctioning.
Right now, everything's still fine, he still has some time but if he's being honest, he'd much rather fix this now rather than later.
'What are my options?' He asked pretty much nobody but himself. 'There's nothing stated in the description either so I don't know how to proceed.'
Looking at the husk of the Twisted Heavenly Tree and the Human Sacrifices used to fuel the seal, Ashton was at a loss for what to do.
It also doesn't help that, for some reason, he's doubting if the Twisted Heavenly Tree was actually doing its job properly.
"Gaia, come here if you can hear me. I have a few questions."
It didn't even take more than 30 seconds before a silhouette started manifesting before him. Gaia heard his call and appeared before him just as he requested.
"How can I be of assistance?" She asked.
"Right, I just want to ask...this tree, it's blocking the real army of the invaders right?"
"Yes." Gaia nodded, "It has been doing that for a long time now, why did you ask?"
"Does it not prevent Apostles or Sin Demons from coming down here?"
Gaia looked startled upon hearing his question, then she replied: "It should be."
Ashton frowned after hearing that.
"The Twisted Heavenly Tree prevents all kinds of invading races that broke through their mortal coils from descending to the world itself." She continued, "The Apostles of the Celestials and the Sin Demons of the Hypogeans are creatures that fit that description so they shouldn't be able to come down here at all."
"Huh..." Ashton's brows furrowed even deeper, "Weird, I specifically remember encountering them back then when I was in the middle of saving Acacia from the Chaotic Warzone."
"How are you alive then?" Gaia asked in a baffled manner, which made Ashton look at her in alarm. "Sorry, that was rather crass of me. But still, how did you survive the encounter?"
"Don't get me wrong. I am aware that you are strong, alarmingly so. Even those who broke through their mortal shackles must be wary of you should they make the mistake of becoming your enemy..."
"However, the Apostles and the Sin Demons are in a completely different level of existence altogether. Suffice it to say, if they wanted to, they could potentially destroy this entire world within minutes."
"To be completely honest with you, I don't see you lasting even a single minute against them in your current level of strength. So the fact that you manage to encounter, not just an Apostle but a Sin Demon too, coming out alive to tell the tale, is somewhat unbelievable to me."
Ashton could understand where she was coming from.
Judging from what she said, it's obvious that she has a clear grasp of how strong these supposed Apostles and Sin Demons were. And if that's true, then he understood why she couldn't believe he survived.
If he were in her position, he'd be surprised too.
So now, instead of doubting whether the Twisted Heavenly Tree was working or not, he was now doubting his encounter with those two.
With how strong those two were supposed to be, he shouldn't have made it out alive in their presence. Even though he could always hide within the Grand Library, there's no way he could've had enough time to do as much damage as he has done back then.
"...maybe they sent an Avatar instead? Like a doppelganger of some sort. Or maybe they crippled themselves to descend here instead." Ashton mused out loud.
"It's most likely the former rather than the latter." Gaia stated, "As far as I know, the Celestials do mess with cloning a lot. And Demons are naturally not too far behind them. I don't see them purposefully weakening themselves just to descend here and wreak havoc. They're too prideful for that."
"...right, that's also one of the secrets behind their false immortality. How can I forget?"
Ashton shook his head and sighed.
Well, that pretty much confirmed it. What he encountered back then was an Avatar of an Apostle and a Sin Demon. They weren't the real deal and because of the limitations, he was able to do the things he did back then.
That was a dodged bullet, to say the least though. Thankfully what he encountered were mere Avatars, if they were the real ones then he would've most likely died back then.
"...still, them being able to send down an Avatar of those in that caliber, that's a bit problematic. They managed to find a way to circumvent the rules of the Twisted Heavenly Tree."
"I wouldn't be surprised if all of the Apostles and Sin Demons sent an Avatar to come down here. They'd probably be at Laguna or the Qlipoth." Ashton pointed out.
As much as Gaia hates to admit it, he's most likely right. The sad part is that she can't do anything about this.
Giving birth to the Twisted Heavenly Tree already took out a lot from her world. She couldn't exactly blame the loopholes on the tree nor she could openly accuse the Invaders of cheating either cause really, what's that going to do?
"Well, we can only take this one step at a time. You may return." Ashton said, dismissing Gaia since he has nothing to ask her anymore.
As soon as Gaia disappeared, Ashton was back to square one...
How exactly was he supposed to help the Twisted Heavenly Tree? He couldn't ask Gaia because that might force him to tell her about the existence of the System and he just doesn't want to do that.
He didn't want to confirm it even if some people had their guesses, so he could only rely on himself at this point.
"...I wonder if this would work." He mused to himself.
He took out a Beneficiary Contract from his Inventory and showed it to the tree.
"..."
He blinked and started turning the page of the contract one by one as if he showing it to the tree.
"..."
Once he was done, he pointed at the spots where a signature was required and held out the contract by hand.
"...shit, what am I doing?" He laughed hollowly. "I must've looked like a clown just now."
He shook his head and was about to leave when all of a sudden, he felt movement around him.
Ashton turned around, just in time to see a single vine of the Twisted Heavenly Tree rising from the ground and streaking toward him.
He was caught off guard that he completely forgot to defend himself. Thankfully, the vine didn't intend to hurt him. Instead, it wrapped itself on the clipboard he was holding which contained the contract.
Then, it squeezed out its own essence and smeared it precisely on the signature line.
The contract then dissolved into a streak of light and fused with the tree. And under Ashton's expression of disbelief, multiple System Prompts appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations on gaining another Beneficiary through...unorthodox means. The Twisted Heavenly Tree was moved (literally and metaphorically) by your intentions.]
[×500 Beneficiary's Return, triggered. You received: World Reflecting Mirror x1, Spell and Skill Points x250!]
[Beneficiary]
Name: Twisted Heavenly Tree
Type: Nature's Heavenly Treasure
Remarks: A malnourished sapling, yearning for care and nutrition.
Enhancements Available: +10
Upgrade Paths: +3
Ashton couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. His mouth was agape as he stared back and forth between the empty clipboard and the tree itself.
Beyond everything else, all he could truly say at this point was:
"Holy shit! This works too?"
Truly, what a bizarre day this was.
