Solus didn't reply to the Chronicler, uncertain about what to do.

'If I heal myself, I can try to escape but I would also waste precious energy and allow the Yggdrasill to torture me again. If I don't, however, there's only so much I can do.' The stone ring was chipped and cracked and her four limbs were still broken.

'Screw it. Without a host, I can't escape. I can't even match a single Chronicler

Ma'shol sent a tendril of Spirit Magic to retrieve the ring but Solus stopped it with her own. The Chronicler clicked her tongue in annoyance and bent over to pick up the ring. She was halfway up after collecting it when Solus had the ring manifest its full weight. The elf fell forward, her hand crushed between the cell's floor and the stone ring.

As the stone ring dug through Ma'shol's flesh Solus activated the Bleed to feed upon the Chronicler's life force and restore her energy reserves.

"Fool!" The elf cut her hand off at the wrist and the stump immediately stopped bleeding, her flesh mending itself.

A new hand made of Yggdrasill wood sprouted out of the wrist, turning into flesh and bones as soon as it was completely formed.

"Did you really think that would work? We Chroniclers are at one with the Tree!" Ma'shol's Yggdrasill staff shapeshifted into a hammer and its Davross blade turned liquid and coated the hammerhead.

The hammer struck the stone ring with all the elf's might, producing a silvery noise and deepening the cracks.

"Stop resisting and follow me!" Another tendril of Spirit Magic was blocked and another strike followed.

This time the cracks spread and fragments of the ring flew through the room.

'Fuck you!' Solus cried feeling her body and tower falling apart but she refused to yield. "Have it your way." Ma'shol struck again, the cracks were now so deep and wide that the stone ring was seconds away from falling apart.

The Bleed overrode Solus' orders, saving her life and mending her wounds.

'No, you idiot!' She tried and failed to override the protocols left by her mother. "The Yggdrasill can't kill me. You're doing what they want! Once I run out of power, I won't be able to resist anymore.'

"You should have obeyed. The elf struck again. "All this suffering could have been avoided." Another blow, just strong enough to bring the tower to the brink of destruction but no further.

Ma'shol could witness Solus' despair with Soul Vision. She could see the aura of the tower grow weaker and dwindle.

Just two more hits and-'

And it was then that it happened.

A black chain bolted from the edge of the Fringe toward the cell.

'What is that?"The Yggdrasill activated the magical formation in the space between Lith and Solus.

Elemental sealing arrays, space compressing arrays, spirit barriers and spells stood against the chain that phased through them like they were illusions.

'It's not any form of magic I know and if it was a bloodline ability, my control over the world energy should at least slow it down." The World Tree pondered. 'What is that thing made of?

Ma'shol hammered at the ring that was reduced to a bunch of gravel held together by spit and magic. The chain passed through walls, spells, and the Chronicler's body, finally reaching its target.

Finally reaching the stone ring.

Ma'shol ignored the chain and raised her arm to deal the final blow. She aimed for the only part of the ring that still retained its structural integrity, the part where the Bleed was most likely stored.

'If I destroy it, Menadion will become unable to fight back.' The elf thought and she was right.

The Davross hammer hit the stone, emitting a muffled sound as it had struck a pillow. "What?" Ma'shol lifted her weapon, baffled as she saw a black hand coming out of the ring, gripping the hammerhead.

The Chronicler pulled away but the hand remained stuck to the Yggdrasill weapon and there was a body attached to it.

It belonged to a petite and lithe woman, barely 1.56 meters (5'1") tall, with long hair of the seven colors of the elements that floated in the air like she was underwater.

'No! The Yggdrasill screamed in despair, watching the aura of the tower slowly fading away. 'You killed her, you moron. You killed Elphyn Menadion!"

Ma'shol had bigger problems than her master's fury on her hands. Not only was the Demon staring at her in hatred, but for some reason none of the enchantments of her Yggdrasill staff seemed to work.

More black chains burst forward from the Demon's chest, piercing the cell's walls and feeding off the Yggdrasill's life from within.

"You should have just faded away, Menadion." Ma'shol infused her body with the power of the six elements but the hammer didn't budge. "You failed to escape even when you had the power of the tower.

"What makes you think you have a chance as a lesser Tiamat?" The answer came as a

slap so fast that the Chronicler failed to stop it.

Ma'shol was a bright violet-cored Awakened with perfect body refinement and thanks to the Yggdrasill fragment fused with her flesh, she was much more resilient than a normal Awakened.

Also, her battle armor was one of the best ones the World Tree had Forgemastered. The Yggdrasill couldn't risk Ma'shol failing to escape or falling into a trap, losing Menadion's tower after struggling so much to put their roots on it.

Yet the slap ripped the Chronicler's jaw off her skull, twisted her neck, and severed her spine, sending her to crash against the wall like a rag doll thrown by a child during a

temper tantrum.

"That's a might comparable to a Divine Beast! The World Tree was flabbergasted. 'Menadion had it thanks to her bond with the tower. How can her ghost still retain such mass after her death?"

The hammer was still in the petite Demon's hands. She turned and spun it like a baby girl examining a new flashy toy.

The Yggdrasill vines pierced the Demon and Chronicler alike.

The darkness magic infused in the former was supposed to dispel the Demon while the nutrients and light magic in the latter healed Ma'shol and replaced the broken parts with new ones with no burden on her life force.

The Demon seemed annoyed, but that was it. The darkness element refused to hurt her and was sucked dry along with the vitality of the vines, increasing her strength further. "There's something wrong, my Liege!" The Chronicler recalled her Yggdrasill weapon but it didn't budge from the hands of the Demon.

'Indeed. Clean Slate can disable enchantments, but the living wood is still a part of my body. It should listen to-'

The Demon devoured the vitality in the Yggdrasill wood comprising the weapon and enveloped it in a sphere of light. The hammer fell apart, its different components and ingredients split into ordered piles that reassembled themselves in a new form.

"That's not Clean Slate! The World Tree blurted out. 'Can it be Creation Magic? Why can't I see anything even with Soul Vision? It's like there are cloaking runes mixed in the

spell!'