The Druid undid her werewolf transformation and returned to her petite stature, but instead of anger, the party members could only see grief on her face.
Tears were pouring out of her eyes, and she was fighting to hold the sadness back. She tried her best to focus on the translucent spirit still shackled by demonic energy.
[Something evil has trapped the spirits here. The Great Tree tells me there are three of them. The one ahead is Brighde the Windspeaker. One of the brightest followers of Vasily.](Evelyn)
"*Sigh* Understood. It's why we came here in the first place. Gonk will take point. Evelyn, stay near me with Neyrelle."
In response, the girl shook her head and approached the translucent spirit, only to see the demonic energy being imbued in it, unearthing something from beneath the ground.
The spirit looked at the girl and spoke in a disconsolate voice.
[Everything is ruined! It's all ash...](Brighde)
The spirit then fused with the decomposed body hidden underground, bringing back to 'life' the ancient Druid as an undead.
[ Brighde, Tormented Wind Druid (Elite) - Level 55 ]
The Sanctuary did not show modifiers, but as soon as the undead stood up, five tornadoes swirled around it and summoned more companions.
The minions were fallen Adepts or Druids of Túr Dúlra, who probably died during the Days of Ash when Astaroth invaded.
Given no choice, the party fought back with full force, decidedly putting the tormented spirit to rest.
With Brighde falling and returning to the soil, Evelyn kneeled and placed a small item similar to a Totem of Passing in the place where it had been resurrected.
[This will ensure that Brighde's spirit will never be disturbed again. Two others suffered a similar fate and have been tormented since the Days of Ash by the demons. We need to find them.](Evelyn)
[It's useless. Their anger will feed me for ages to come!]
Everyone ignored the taunting, demonic voice, but it was clear that Evelyn wasn't very pleased with its words.
She led the group to the following location, passing by the Wanderer Shrine on their way. Michael could tell that they were at the cliff's highest point but couldn't see further ahead due to the smoke encompassing the Stronghold.
The situation of Túr Dúlra was odd, to say the least. They could see trees burning around them, yet their bark and leaves were intact. Even as the demonic flames danced atop the greenery, they didn't appear to suffer.
Yet the heat created by the fire was there, proving that it wasn't an illusion.
"Evelyn, can you tell what's going on with the trees? The demonic energy masks the energy of nature for me, so I cannot tell what's happening."
[...it's a siphoning-type ritual. Due to the Great Tree, the nature energy in Túr Dúlra is incredibly overpowering. Somehow, Astaroth managed to use the demonic flames to devour the energy here without fully destroying the living or the spirits.](Evelyn)
[Such a ritual has been going on for over 40 years. But Astaroth has been imprisoned during that time and recently imprisoned again after it escaped with Lilith's help. If that demonic energy had just manifested in the ruins of this place, the Horadrim might've gotten involved. Since they didn't, it means that someone took advantage of the situation.](Neyrelle)
"You mean someone other than the Charred Duke."
[The owner of that mysterious voice seems a likely suspect. Since it stays hidden, he's probably preparing to get rid of us.](Gonk)
"Mhm. I doubt he'll take kindly to us destroying the ritual, which is probably the source of its powers in this world. What I'm worried about is its relative strength. Since it only taunts us, I'm afraid it won't be an easy fight."
[Based on the nature of the ritual, if it used the spirits of the ancient Druids and the Great Tree for over 40 years, the torment he forced on them should've greatly empowered it. Demons feed off negative emotions; this one just said that their anger would feed them for ages. It's safe to assume that it would be at least as strong as Astaroth.](Neyrelle)
"A Duke-level, huh? Ugh... we need to prepare for the worst. In case we can't do anything about it, we'll retreat, regroup, and try later when we're stronger."
[There's no need.](Evelyn)
Looking at the strangely confident girl, Michael shot her a confused look.
[You are not Druids, so you can base your assumption about nature on what you hear from others. You cannot see it, nor can you feel it. The Great Tree is one of the oldest trees to gain spirituality in Scosglen. It was precisely because of its immense strength that Astaroth targeted it. Now that it can finally free itself from its tormentors, we won't have to fight alone.](Evelyn)
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Meaning?"
[It won't be able to join the fight directly, but it can influence the nature energy the demons siphoned from it. Corrupted or not, as the origin of it, between a demon and the Great Tree, it's clear who has the advantage.](Evelyn)
[I see! Like shackles.](Evelyn)
"Uhm... isn't it bad talking about it aloud? If the demon hears about it, the element of surprise will be gone."
Everyone paused, and Evelyn looked at the ground, then sighed in relief.
[The demon is hidden near the Great Tree. Furthermore, while it can keep an eye on the general area of Túr Dúlra visually, he cannot hear, smell, or interact with anything else from afar.](Evelyn)
"That's good then. I'm still worried about why it isn't stopping us from freeing the other tormented spirits, but let's keep our guard up and get this over with."
The second spirit was Odhran. Its moans of pain and misery were enough to send shivers down any veteran Wanderer's spine.
[Spirits, why have you forsaken us!? The fire! It's in my blood. My skin!](Odharn)
[ Odhran, Tormented Earth Druid (Elite) - Level 55 ]
The ancient spirit rose as undead as well but was quickly put back to rest thanks to Gonk and Quarterback's efforts in drawing the demons and undead summoned together; then Michael and the girls used their AOE skills to finish them off.
It wasn't very pleasant to see the many Elites, even more so compared to Kor Dragan. Furthermore, now that the enemies were Level 50+, their general Resistance was much higher, and many of them had Increased Health modifiers.
Fortunately, the party was well equipped, and besides Michael, all three others had already opened their Paragon Page. Statistically speaking, if there were large groups of enemies, the Necromancer was the king of DPS (damage per second).
However, for single or stranded units, Gonk, Neyrelle, and Evelyn were much stronger and certainly much quicker to finish them.
[That's the second one.](Neyrelle)
[Mhm. Now it can also rest.](Evelyn)
[Your efforts are futile. You will join them in eternal misery soon enough.]
Hearing the demonic voice again, Michael wondered if the bastard was preparing a trap for them back at the Great Tree.
Otherwise, it wouldn't keep an eye on their progress. But there was also the fact that it couldn't move and attack them yet, meaning that it was either restricted to a specific area or that his plans were based around the Great Tree.
Irrelevant of the situation, they would undoubtedly have the upper hand with the help they would get from one of the oldest entities in the Sanctuary, no matter what sort of tricks the demon was preparing.
To reach the final spirit, the group traversed the zipline to the small camp under the bridge, where they could now see Eanan similarly suffering because of the torturing ritual.
[ Eanan, Tormented Poison Druid (Elite) - Level 55 ]
Among the trio, Eanan was the hardest to deal with since Michael had to switch tank roles with Gonk and Quarterback often.
Its poison was horrifyingly strong, so Gonk used all his potions and Michael five. Quarterback died and rejoined the fight a total of eight times.
Fortunately, there was a Healing Well close to where they initially climbed to reach the Great Tree, so they could resupply before the Boss fight.
[Now they are all at peace.](Evelyn)
"Take a breather. We'll rest first and then go up to deal with whoever is behind this."
[Their rage... sweet as the day we arrived. You shall all feed the flames, especially you who is touched by Hatred!]
Michael raised an eyebrow and wondered if there was a type of social media in the Burning Hells or if the demons could feel something about him after being fed Lilith's blood.
Irrelevant to what it was, the plan remained the same. Kill the Boss, reconquer the Stronghold, and get on with the advancement Quests.
[ World Stronghold Event updated - Túr Dúlra
Objective: Return to the Great Oak. ]
When everyone was sufficiently rested, the group first found the Healing Well and restocked their supply before venturing back to the Great Tree.
Strangely enough, droves of demons attacked them on the way. They weren't incredibly difficult to get rid of, just annoying due to their high numbers.
After more than half an hour of cleaning up the trash, the party once more stood in front of the gigantic tree, looking around for the Boss and its possible traps.
"Aren't you going to welcome us? You've been waiting for a while now."
Looking at the spot where the tree bark was eroded and the demonic flame slowly devoured the Great Tree, Michael spoke with a composed tone.
The others looked strangely at the spot, not expecting the Boss to be hidden there.
In fact, the Necromancer was just guessing, but it proved that he was correct as a bulky four-meter-tall demon slowly manifested. It had bull-like horns and wielded a heavy mace in its right hand.
[I didn't expect you to see it. As expected from one touched by Hatred.]
"No, no. Don't assume that everything I do is because of Hate this and Hate that. It was simply intuition. If you've been leeching the energy of the Great Tree, the simplest and most efficient way to do it is by having direct contact with it."
[Hahaha! I will feed on your torment for ages!]
"Before that, what's your relation with Astaroth, the Charred Duke? Are you a minion under him?"
[Minion? MINION!? I am Baelgemoth, the Infernal Tormentor! I will make you regret looking down on me, pathetic humans!](Baelgemoth)
The Necromancer shrugged apologetically to his teammates. Even he didn't expect the Boss to be so... NPC-like.
He was planning to extract some intel before actually sending the fucker on his way. But now... they would simply get rid of it and figure out a way to expel the demonic energy from around the Stronghold.
Actually, it was best left to the professionals. The Druids would undoubtedly jump at the opportunity to reclaim their lost history.
[ Baelgemoth, Infernal Tormentor (Boss) - Level 55 ]
Michael and Gonk fought cautiously, not wanting to take risks since the demon had some aces up its sleeves.
And as it turns out, once its Life Points decreased to 75%, it no longer used its 'dragon breath' or its flaming mace but started using the same skills that Brighde used.
"Well... ain't that just lovely."
[It somehow assimilated the skills of the ancient Druids he tormented over the years.](Neyrelle)
[This will be tricky, especially if he can use the skills of the last one.](Gonk)
Once its Life Points dropped to 50%, the Boss started using Odhran's, the Earth Druid's, skills as well. He used fire and wind in combination with earth, making the fight incredibly difficult.
Seeing its HP decrease close to 25%, Michael yelled at everyone to use everything they had as he exploded all the Corpses he had stacked so far. To make matters worse, the demon would vanish occasionally, becoming invisible.
Then, it would randomly target one of the party members. Fortunately, using his energy vision, Michael could keep track of him and jump to block its sneak attacks using his high Armor.
He was already incredibly battered by the point where Baelgemoth began using the poison skills of the ancient Druid Eanan, but he couldn't back out at this point.
The fight continued with the Boss skillfully combining his wind and earth skills to be used as restrictions, then smashed the party with fire and poison.
At a point, both Gonk and Michael were down for the count, and Quarterback was also insta-killed by the 'dragon breath,' leaving nobody to tank. Evelyn then shifted to her bear form and held back the demon long enough for Gonk to recover sufficiently and retake aggro.
Fifteen minutes later, the party was sprawled on the ground before the tree, low on Life Points and Resources. They were covered in injuries and couldn't be bothered even to pick up their loot, which was at Legendary grade.
[ World Stronghold Event updated - Túr Dúlra
Objective: Rekindle the Wanderer Shrine to conquer Túr Dúlra. ]
They were finally victorious.