Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 330: ‘Eldtree’

If a target’s internals were protected with their strong energy or an Authority, the seeds could be suppressed before they sprouted. Two of the cosmic superiors had managed to do just that, saving the remaining Monarch-level assailants from certain death.

Simultaneously, the remaining three of the five masked cosmic superiors launched their attacks at Rowena, each infused with dense cosmic energy.

One conjured a sphere of destruction law energy and hurled it at her, the orb tearing through the fabric of space like a raging cannonball.

The second one fired a beam of concentrated extinction law energy that erased the Deities in its path who couldn’t move fast enough to escape its faster-than-light trajectory.

Lastly, the third summoned a staff, and from its tip, a massive necrotic arm burst forth, its palm wreathed in thick death energy as it arced through the air, lunging straight for Rowena.

As the three attacks streaked through space toward her, the crimson leaves on the branches of the corpses she had seeded withered, then crumbled to dust.

The energy contained within that blood was instantly consumed and siphoned into the area around her to form a semi-circular blood shield, a meter out from where she floated.

When the attacks collided with the shield, a thunderous explosion erupted, accompanied by a blinding flash of light.

Surges of cosmic energy exploded outward in concentric rings, ripping through space and tossing the masked assailants, defenders and space beasts alike through the air like ragdolls.

But as the dust and energy smoke gradually cleared, Rowena’s unscathed figure was revealed amidst the broken space.

The blood shield around her was heavily cracked and bore multiple holes, but it served its purpose and completely defended her.

Rowena finally lifted her gaze, her facial features still impossible to discern to any who looked upon her as she spoke.

"Primogenials, a Phantasmal, and even someone at the Assimilation stage? That’s a bit too much firepower for one galaxy."

She shifted her gaze, glancing down at the arena below, the light of realization flashing in her eyes.

"I see. You’re after my junior disciple’s creation, huh? Sir Jamie was right in the end."

Then, the space around her shattered like a mirror under pressure. Cosmic energy erupted from her body in a fierce surge, her aura intensifying to a level that silenced the entire Amphitheatre.

"That makes you fools the ones calling yourselves the ’New Extinction Legion’."

"?!"

"...how?"

Two of the masked cosmic superiors froze, visibly shaken by her words. The third, without hesitation, drew his weapon, charging it with cosmic energy before launching himself at Rowena.

’She knows about us. We have to capture her and find out how she knew!’

He sent that telepathic message to the other two, who immediately snapped out of their dazes and charged after him.

Their advance was abruptly halted, however, as massive tree branches erupted from the warped space around Rowena, whipping toward them and forcing evasive manoeuvres to avoid being impaled or drained of blood.

Yet even as they dodged, the branches curved in pursuit, growing additional spikes and thorns with every passing second.

Suddenly, one of the two masked cosmic superiors who had earlier neutralized her blood seeds charged into the fray, his sword flashing as he cleaved through the branches in his path.

He closed in on Rowena, blade raised to strike at her neck, only for five spiked branches to appear in an instant.

Two intercepted his blade before it could reach her, locking against the edge with a grinding screech. The other three thrust at his chest, throat, and stomach, forcing him to retract his weapon and push out a defensive wave of cosmic energy.

He backed away, eyes narrowing behind his mask as he shouted.

"She’s spawning them from her hair!"

"!?"

The eyes of the other four widened behind their masks.

They assumed she was manipulating space to control the branches, calling them from an external location.

But to think they came out of her hair.

Rowena’s short hair made it easy to subconsciously dismiss any potential connection between her abilities and her hair; after all, most individuals with powers related to their hair typically had long, flowing locks that visibly manifested their influence.

Only the one who’d gotten close enough had seen it happen—how a single strand of her hair lengthened, swelled, and abruptly morphed into the massive branch that seemed to materialize out of thin air.

As for Rowena, she wasn’t the least bit bothered that they had uncovered the source of her branches.

What truly concerned her was the collateral damage that would come from fighting these five in this location.

"To begin with," Rowena murmured, "everyone here is going to die."

That was the cold truth. There would be no survivors.

"And the Amphitheatre will be destroyed," she added with a sigh. "Leaving Jamie out of it... if Lady Sarina hears about this, I’m toast."

She chuckled at the end of her statement, before making a decision.

"Guess I’ll have to move the battlefield to a different ’space’."

With that, she spread her arms, and from them, blood erupted. Cosmic energy surged into the stream, amplifying its volume until it swelled into a literal ocean of blood, roaring forth with unstoppable momentum.

|Blood World.|

At the sight, one of the masked cosmic superiors let out a furious bellow, cosmic energy surging from his body.

"You think some rudimentary vampire magic can entrap us?!"

A suffocating pressure descended upon everything within a light-year radius, the space groaning under the intensity of his power as he roared.

|Domain Declaration!|

His energy exploded outward, seizing control of the surrounding space and racing toward Rowena’s crimson tide.

But to his disbelief, the ocean of blood only met his energy wave for a second, before shattering it completely. His domain collapsed before it could fully form, the backlash slamming into his chest like a blade through the heart.

"GARGH?!!"

He howled, blood spraying from his mouth as he stumbled backwards, chest caving slightly from the invisible force. He nearly crashed downwards, but one of his allies dashed behind him and caught him before he fell.

The others, stunned by the unexpected collapse of his Domain before it could even fully form, couldn’t react fast enough to stop Rowena’s blood world from swallowing the battlefield whole, overwhelming the area with no room for escape.

All that was left was a ginormous sphere of deep red, where the space inside was cut off from the outside.

And within that sealed crimson space, Rowena finally released the technique that had rendered her facial features unreadable. The masked men, now trapped inside with her, could at last see the face of who they were truly up against.

Then, she raised her hands and, in a motion that was almost sensual, ran them through her hair, from the crown of her head, down until her fingers grazed her shoulders.

The instant her hands reached that point, her short green hair began to lengthen, its colour slowly shifting into a pitch black.

|Aspect of Life.|

The moment those three words left Rowena’s lips, an immense surge of cosmic energy, laced with the Law of Life, erupted from her body. Shockwaves rippled outward, so intense that they blasted back the masked cosmic superiors.

They tried to cut through the energy waves with their powers but failed. They were all flung backwards, and as they regained their balance, their eyes caught sight of something that left their jaws slack.

Rowena’s hair, now completely transformed, had become a tree.

A massive, black inverted tree with obsidian branches and crimson leaves made of blood—the blood Rowena had harvested from countless victims over the years and blood conjured through her cosmic energy.

The tree extended below her body, structured in distinct tiers, its branching clusters organized in a layered, almost ritualistic formation.

|Inverted World Tree: Qlippoth.|

That technique declaration was the final nail in the coffin.

Now able to clearly see her face, and the ginormous upside-down tree several times her body size sprouting from her hair, they finally realized who she was.

"...the one blessed by the ’Eternal’ who governs the Concept of ’Life’... Rowena the Eldtree!"

Rowena turned to the speaker, an eyebrow raised in mock surprise.

"Oh? Someone’s done their homework."

Then, a grin spread across her lips as the blood-red leaves of the inverted tree began to glow.

"I suppose it’s time for me to do mine.|

With that, the glowing leaves shot from the tree, racing toward them at light speed. As they scrambled to avoid the barrage, a single thought crossed Rowena’s mind.

’I’ve gotten them out, Sir Jamie. The rest is up to you.’

Then, without hesitation, she unleashed a storm of blood-sucking branches, speeding toward the Extinction Legion Cosmic Superiors before her, ready to tear them apart.