There’s more than one way to acquire an ancestral tree.

The first is by producing one yourself—investing affinity points into a subaffinity until it reaches the required threshold and manifests as a sigil of power.

The second way is having someone else produce it for you. In this case, two distinct scenarios arise: in the first, you obtain only the ancestral tree itself and nothing else. In the second scenario, you acquire the ancestral tree and along with all the skills and abilities tied to the involved subaffinity cultivated by its original wielder.

Needless to say, the latter is the preferred outcome for any elven monarch. It provides an immediate boost in power, granting not just the ancestral tree but the fruits of years—or centuries—of labor. In contrast, inheriting only the tree means acquiring the relevant skills and abilities independently, a process that, while easier with the tree in one's possession, still demands considerable time and effort. This is why elven monarchs strive for the second method, though circumstances sometimes force them to settle for less.

This naturally raises the question: under what circumstances can one obtain only the ancestral tree without the accompanying skills and abilities? The answer is simple: it depends on the original wielder's decision. The ancestral tree's original possessor has the final say on whether their skills and abilities will be transferred along with the tree.

For example, when an elven monarch personally grooms someone to manifest an ancestral tree—such as the Argyrian patriarch did with Aquaflora—they typically relinquish not only the tree but also the skills and abilities they cultivated within that subaffinity. This partially cripples the original wielder, preventing them from reinvesting in that subaffinity again.

However, when an ancestral tree is acquired from an outsider, as was the case with Goblin and the Argyrian patriarch, the situation becomes more complex. Pride often plays a significant role. Many ancestral tree wielders would rather die than surrender the fruits of their labor so easily. In such cases, their death results in the monarch gaining only the ancestral tree, while all the skills and abilities tied to it perish with the original wielder.

Knowing Goblin's pride, especially regarding his innate blood-related skills and abilities, I have no doubt he would have chosen death over surrendering them to the Argyrian patriarch under normal circumstances. Yet, circumstances forced us to make the difficult choice of surrendering his Blood elemental ancestral tree—along with all the skills and abilities tied to it—to the patriarch. It was a humiliating ordeal, one I doubt Goblin will ever forget.

However, the second time he was compelled to surrender an ancestral tree to the Argyrian patriarch, he only needed to relinquish the tree itself, allowing him to retain his innate assimilation-related skills and abilities.

***

Wind Elemental Arcana Lvl.6 -> Wind Elemental Arcana Lvl.7

The wind rushed past me violently, threatening to blow me back if not for the chain securing me to Veilleuse-19, who was flying at subsonic speeds beneath me. But the wind wasn’t the only thing surging around us—elemental attacks rained down as well, unleashed by the gigantic monstrosity giving us chase.

I glanced back, urging Veilleuse-19, "They're closing in on us, we're---"

Before I could finish, Veilleuse-19 leaped into action, activating a skill that created a steam current ahead of her path. The accelerated air reduced drag and turbulence, allowing her to move at blinding speeds while maintaining precise control.

"Well done, girl. Let me handle what's behind us," I declared, turning to face the monstrosity.

It was as if my words irritated both the Argyrian patriarch and his chimeric creature, for in that moment the creature responded by unleashing beams of energy from its many heads.

Once we had put a safe distance between us, I discarded the barrier that had shielded us and summoned my trusted Cursed Frost Weaponry. Hundreds of lances materialized in the air around me, but I didn’t stop there. I invoked the Judgment of the Firmament, channeling its power into my weapons, before unleashing them.

Despite the distance Veilleuse-19 had created between us and our pursuers, none of my lances missed their mark. Each embedded itself deep into the monstrosity’s flesh, eliciting agonized screams from several of its heads. Yet the creature continued its pursuit, undeterred by the damage.

Summoning a large magic circle infused with Ice Elemental Arcana and Wind Elemental Arcana—the evolved forms of Ice Magic and Wind Magic—I harnessed their combined power. The evolved magic circles allowed for more refined customization and greater magical effects, and I put that versatility to use now.

Fueling the dual-element circle with my MP, a frosty mist began swirling around the glowing magic circle. The hum of gathering magic grew louder as icy shards spiraled into existence, intertwining like frost-laden steel.

The projectile took shape—a massive drill of ice, its edges gleaming razor-sharp. With my conjured winds, it spun violently, generating a whirlwind that pulled in surrounding air. Faster and faster it rotated, the whirling winds sharpening its edges to a lethal blur.

"Eat this!" I shouted as I unleashed it.

The magic circle pulsed with light as the projectile rocketed forward, trailing freezing winds and glittering frost. The spinning drill tore through the atmosphere, screaming toward the monstrosity’s primary head. With a target that massive, there was no dodging it.

The collision was instantaneous. For a heartbeat, time seemed to freeze. Then, with an earsplitting crack, the beast’s skull shattered like fragile glass. The drill didn’t stop there. It plowed through the creature’s neck and chest, carving a jagged hole through its enormous body. Blood, scales, and frozen flesh erupted in all directions, painting the air in a gruesome mosaic.

Still, the monstrosity refused to fall. Though heavily wounded, it did not succumb. Instead, its remaining heads took control, continuing the pursuit—albeit more clumsily, its speed faltering. This allowed us to widen the gap and gave me a clear view of the Argyrian Patriarch springing into action.

The monstrosity’s body convulsed midair, grotesque ripples distorting its mutilated form. Its ruined neck snapped backward with a sickening crunch as new growth erupted from the severed stump.

First, from the missing head, a monstrous avian head burst forth, its beak sharp and hooked, a crown of jagged feathers framing glowing, predatory eyes. It wasn't over yet. Not even half a dozen seconds later, a second head followed—reptilian, resembling a draconic beast, but with smooth, hornless ridges running down its elongated snout, making it look like a kind of scaleless lizard.

The creature’s body writhed as these new heads twisted and roared to life. Muscles knitted grotesquely around their bases, accompanied by wet, squelching sounds, while the gaping wound along its torso reformed in uneven, jagged patches. The process was nauseating and painful to behold and mostly painful to undergo, for the chimera seemed in agony through the whole process.

In that moment, its massive wings beat chaotically at first as the new heads struggled to synchronize with the others—something they accomplished with disconcerting speed.

Luckily for us, even though they gained momentum, we had already widened the gap between us, so I thought we were partially at a safe distance from the creature. It was then that it did it.

The avian head let out a shriek that pierced the heavens, activating the same skill Veilleuse-19 used, creating a streamlined vortex ahead of it, increasing its speed by at least fourfold. This meant that Veilleuse-19's level 10 Aether Slipstream, which tripled her already impressive speed, was now outmatched.

So I understood that we would be soon caught up with if we didn’t get moving. And so, I must say there was something deeply unsettling about watching a monstrosity of that size closing in at supersonic speed.

Still holding the countdown I had been keeping since the beginning of the fight, I glanced past the barrier established by the Argyrian Patriarch, where the other patriarchs sigil were manifested in the distance. Though muffled by their respective ancestral tree, I could still sense the battlefield's chaotic roar.

I wanted to curse them for taking their sweet time against small fries when I was stuck here with the patriarch and his chimeric abomination, but I had no energy to waste on complaints. I needed a plan, so I quickly came up with one.

"Let's make an ascent," I suggested to Veilleuse-19. She responded immediately, making a sharp climb into the sky. The sudden maneuver forced the much heavier monstrosity to adjust clumsily, struggling to keep up. Veilleuse-19 tilted just enough to give me a perfect visual of my target.

I unleashed [Lunar Cataclysm]. Eight identical blue moons, each the size of a mansion, streaked toward the Argyrian Patriarch. In a swift reaction that belied his madness, he promptly unleashed missile-like elemental attacks that intercepted several of them. More than half were neutralized, but that was of no concern. As long as at least one remained, the destructive potential of the others would be absorbed into it. And so, upon reaching its target, the two final moons detonated, unleashing a ripple of utter destruction.

I winced—not because of the sheer force of the attack, but because my Identification skill gave me an unsettling insight. Just before impact, the patriarch had activated a barrier, allowing his creature to emerge from the frozen mist unscathed, barely slowing its pace.

"Arrrgh!" I seethed in frustration, summoning giant spiritual swords and hurtling them down to intercept the incoming barrage of attacks.

Boom!

My swords met the elements.

Boom!

The elements met my spiritual swords.

Boom!

The elements slipping through my barrage met my erected barrier.

Veilleuse-19 and I managed to slow them down, but the gap between them and us was closing, and the patriarch himself was stepping forward. I was about to give new instructions to Veilleuse-19 when I saw it—the Argyrian Patriarch’s gaze flickered beyond the prison he had created to contain me, toward the same battlefield I had been glancing at throughout this fight.

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“It was about time,” I exhaled a sigh of relief. “Finally making progress.

It seems the front waged on the other side was advancing in our favour, and considerably so that it drew the patriarch’s attention.

My relief was short-lived, as almost immediately I had come to a certain realization. If the patriarch had deemed the other battle more pressing, he might abandon this front entirely to intervene there. I could not allow that.

I need to lock his attention on me.

With newfound resolve, I activated [Hydroclasm], instantly summoning an enormous deluge that crashed onto the patriarch and his beast. Without wasting a breath, I followed up with [Judgment of the Firmament], a single but massive lance infused with Ice elemental force. The moment it was unleashed, I triggered [Arctic Oblivion], turning all the summoned water into an enormous block of ice that plummeted like a meteor. The frozen mass crashed violently, sending shockwaves that shook the heavens and the earth alike, engulfing the battlefield in mist, dust, and raining shards of ice.

For a moment, Veilleuse-19 and I hovered above the chaos below, watching for any sign of movement from the Argyrian Patriarch. I highly doubted that that attack would keep him down long. Then, a notification from my Identification skill confirmed my suspicions.

A blinding beam of energy streaked through the mist, splitting the sky as it hurtled toward us. Quick on her reflexes, Veilleuse-19 twisted midair, narrowly evading the heaven-splitting attack. As she stabilized herself, I saw it—

The monstrosity flapped its massive wings heavily and, with renewed purpose, launched itself toward us once more.

"Tsk, what was I expecting exact—" I muttered before coming to a sudden halt at the sight of the Argyrian Patriarch, looking more deranged than ever as he uttered in rage the words:

[COME DOWN HERE!]

There was something about those words—something beyond mere sound. Despite the distance, I heard them as if whispered directly into my ears. The command carried an otherworldly weight, compelling me to obey. The effect was like that of a skill or ability, yet, it wasn’t a—my [Identification] would have picked it up if it were. No, there was only one explanation:

"Rule and Overrule"—the authority that allowed the Patriarch to control the monsters of the stampede.

While I felt the insidious pull to comply, I managed to resist. Veilleuse-19, however, was not so fortunate. Unable to suppress the compulsion, she began a rapid descent—straight toward the ascending monstrosity.

"No, no, no. Don't... don't... don't," I shouted, desperation clawing at my voice. But I didn’t stop at words. Through my [Chain of Permanence], I cast [Blood Oath] on her. It wasn’t the kind of ability one would typically think to use against a mental attack, but the stat-sharing sub-ability of [Blood Oath] might help. And it did. Veilleuse-19 snapped back to her senses—but by then, it was too late. The monstrosity was upon us, its many jaws wide open, ready to devour us in a singular large bite.

Veilleuse-19 understood the danger immediately. In an instant, she instinctively returned to her true size, matching the monstrous entity’s scale, accepting the battle for what it had become—a brutal clash between behemoths.

The two behemoths met midair, colliding like mountains thrust upon one another. Through teeth and claws they twist around each other in a vicious and inescapable spiraling dance.

The now massive Veilleuse-19 sank her fangs deep into the avian head’s throat, incapacitating it by pulling with all her might—the intent was clear, ripping the head from the body. She was on the right path, her hold was solid. So solid, in fact, that the sound of flesh being torn could be heard amidst the head screams of agony—but there was a problem: the creature had more than heads. Several others clamped down on her left wing, while its clawed limbs—four in total—found purchase against Veilleuse-19’s chest, tearing into her scales. She fought back, clawing in return, but the pain in her screeches told me what I already knew. She was at a disadvantage.

Wasting no time, I leapt into action. But I wasn’t the only one—the Argyrian Patriarch moved as well, launching a barrage of elemental attacks at me. Left with no choice, I summoned a shield to protect both myself and Veilleuse-19. That moment of defense cost me dearly.

The monstrosity ripped Veilleuse-19’s right wing from her body.

Her agonized screech tore through the sky. She had just managed to tear apart the head she had gotten a hold of, but in her pain, she lost her grip, leaving the head dangling, as she tried to initiate a retreat, but the creature’s claws latched onto her again, eliciting more desperate screech from Veilleuse-19.

And in that moment, Goblin’s words came rushing back—the way he scolded me for never giving the red wyvern a true name. I see it now. I regret it.

"Forgive me," I whispered to my loyal companion.

Then, I activated an ability I had refrained myself from using—[Yin Manifestation]—due to the ridiculous price there was to activate it. A spectral copy of myself emerged, ethereal yet tangible, a version of me stripped of all my non-ice-related abilities. No hexes. No curses. No Ascetic Monk techniques. Just ice elemental skills and abilities.

The clone dove into battle to aid Veilleuse-19, while I turned my attention to the Patriarch.

Throwing myself at him, I wrapped him in my chains and hurled him skyward, throwing him far above the battlefield.

A few seconds later, below, the sounds of Veilleuse-19 and the monstrosity crashing into the ground sent tremors through the air. I didn’t look down, I just let rage fuel my next move—I punched the Patriarch midair, sending him flying even further. But before he could disappear into the sky, I yanked him back with my chains.

Just as I dragged him back toward me, my Identification skill flared with a warning.

Less than a second later, a devastating explosion of electrical energy erupted from the Patriarch’s body. Bolts of crackling lightning spiraled outward in every direction. Like a celestial eruption, they tore through the air, striking anything in their path. Upon impact, they exploded in violent chain reactions, unleashing destruction on an unprecedented scale.

Having failed to react in time, I was blasted back, losing a significant portion of my left side along with the chain connecting to my left arm. I winced—not because of the wound or the pain, those were manageable—but because of the massive dent the attack left on my HP.

That had to be his strongest attack, I realized.

I didn’t linger on that realization for long. He didn’t give me the time. From the corner of my vision, I saw him take flight and use Assimilation once more, “birthing” a horde of monsters and unleashing them upon me in a relentless assault.

"Just how many of these fuckers did you assimilate? What the hell?!"

Tthe concern that had plagued me earlier returned in force. How many more creatures did he still have in store? What if the numbers were so absurd that the battle the other patriarchs were fighting was ultimately meaningless? The thought made me anxious, but I shoved it aside—there were more pressing matters to handle.

While lowering my MP in exchange for HP through all my healing skills and abilities, I summoned half a hundred spiritual swords, lances, and axes, taking them into a deadly midair dance to counter the flurry of creatures. With swift, graceful movements, I handled them well—at least until I noticed him coming up with something new. I couldn't identify it with my Identification skill, and I quickly—abruptly—figured out why.

A sickly green wave rippled outward from him, catching me in an instant. It pushed me, but not like a typical shockwave. The force was blunt, uniform. Aside from the initial impact, it didn’t cause pain—it simply drove me backward. And then I felt it—another force of equal strength pressing against me from behind.

At that moment, I understood.

The bastard had sandwiched me between two ancestral trees. One was the prison he had established to contain me, the other a newly manifested barrier that forced me against the first. Let it be said that I could even tell which ancestral tree he had summoned—it was Goblin’s. The very same tree that had driven him into madness.

I tried to break free, pushing against the ancestral tree that acted as a barrier, but it was absurdly sturdy—too sturdy for a single ancestral tree.

The sturdiness of an ancestral tree, which determines its function as either a prison or a barrier, relies on two parameters: the number of Ancestral Tree comprising it and the amount of energy being supplied to it. Here, this ancestral tree was made up of only one ancestral tree—one formed from a single nature subaffinity—Goblin’s. That meant its durability came solely from the sheer amount of energy the Argyrian Patriarch supplied it with.

"This is ridiculous," I complained, failing to break the barrier even with [Judgement of the Firmament]. The narrow space in which I was trapped left no room to wield my spiritual weapons effectively. And since this barrier wasn't acting as a prison from within, my attacks wouldn’t damage it at all, they would just pass right through. Similarly, the prison behind me wasn’t something I could interact with, let alone summon anything beyond its boundaries. In other words, I was completely stuck, and while I was the Patriarch was closing in fast. His intent was clear—very clear from the barrage of skill notifications flashing in a corner of my vision.

He was determined to end this here and now. And he would have had it not been for “it”.

Just as he was about to unleash his attack, something happened. Like a dog hearing the sound of a meal bell, his full attention suddenly snapped away to somewhere beyond the domain he had established with his ancestral trees. His gaze locked onto something in the distance. But there was nothing there. Or at least, nothing that I could see.

Wasting none of that fortunate timing, I activated [Lunar Cataclysm] multiple times, flooding the confined space I was trapped in with dozens of mini moons—just as destructive as the larger ones. Then, all at once, I detonated them. No matter how deep his energy reserves ran to sustain his ancestral tree, I knew there was a limit to how much damage a single sigil could endure. The sheer force of the simultaneous explosions shattered the barrier, unleashing the trapped energy upon him with nowhere else to escape—thanks to the very prison he had created.

Taking the full brunt of the explosion at practically point-blank range, the Argyrian Patriarch was blasted into the distance, finally giving me a moment to catch my breath. I healed my new wounds, fully regenerated my left arm, the fabric of my battle suit swiftly covering it once more. As my HP recovered to a reasonable amount, I looked ahead, spotting the Patriarch in the distance—a terrible sight to behold. Elemental resistance or not, he had not been spared by that attack.

Bloodied, with crimson seeping from every wound, his bones were exposed, his flesh ravaged by the explosion. He was missing both arms and a leg. Standing—no, levitating—barely, with his remaining limb dangling pitifully by strands of flesh.

At the sight of him, I felt no desire to continue this battle—not out of pity, far from it, but because I had lost track of time somewhere during the fight. I was certain I had already surpassed the agreed time limit. However, as he began to heal himself, I prepared to push through overtime. It didn’t seem like Goblin and the others were finished with their front yet.

I surged toward him. And then, just as I did—it happened again.

[STAND BACK.]

“You…”

He tried using his authority once more. I painfully felt the attempt.

“...piece of shit!”

I was able to resist the order, but doing so brought me to a halt.

The Argyrian Patriarch didn’t stop there. This time, instead of shrinking his barrier around me, he did the opposite. The silver barrier expanded at an absurd rate, stretching out until it encompassed even the distant domains of the other elven monarchs. I was confused—more so when, just as suddenly, he compressed it. The space shrank so drastically that his remaining domain no longer included me.

I didn’t understand what he was trying to pull off, but instinct told me nothing good could come of it—especially with what now lay at his feet.

His expansion and subsequent compression had brought something to him. A vast pile of corpses and living monsters, stacked haphazardly. Among them, his chimeric monstrosity. Where had they come from? It wasn’t hard to guess—they had been snatched through the compression of his domain from the other battlefield.

"This isn't good," I realized, about to summon a massive spear with [Judgement of the Firmament], but another realization stopped me. I would only be wasting MP. More importantly, the presences approaching fast.

Each arrived in their own way: the Umbryan Patriarch on his long, slithering familiar; the Aurian Matriarch atop an avian beast; and the Ferron Patriarch using the same Flight skill as the Argyrian Patriarch.

After taking in the scene, the Argyrian Patriarch, now hovering beside me, remarked, "Weren't you supposed to hold him off?"

"I was," I said, staring directly into his eyes. "And I did—for longer than the agreed time. Meaning, I did what I was expected to."

I gestured toward the pile of corpses and writhing creatures. "Can't say the same for you." At least fifteen percent of them were still alive

"There were more primes among them than we anticipated," the Aurian Matriarch admitted, acknowledging my not-so-subtle accusation.

"Fifteen minutes was an overoptimistic prediction," the Ferron Patriarch chimed in. Then, with a nod toward the compressed domain, he asked, "Can we focus on this? Is it safe to assume he's in there?"

He hadn’t yet arrived at the place, when it happened so he didn’t know. Before the Ferron Patriarch had arrived, the Argyrian Patriarch had descended into the sea of corpses and squirming beasts, burying himself deep within them. My Identification skill confirmed it—

The use of the skill became ever more so obvious as the bodies of the monsters and corpses began to melt into one grotesque, pulsing mass.