Chapter 105: Is the Ape God Awesome or Not?
"March, you lost!"
"Th-this doesn't count!" March 7th argued, pointing a finger accusingly. "Look, that head is clearly a hippopotamus. It looks nothing like this deer's head!"
"March, stop calling a deer a horse."
"...A hippopotamus is also a horse, isn't it?"
To save time and prevent the argument from spiraling into further absurdity, Dan Heng simply hurled his spear. The razor-sharp Cloud-Piercer flashed through the air, instantly skewering the Abominations of Abundance blocking their path from head to tail.
Rekka's expression, however, grew a little strained.
"...Dan Heng, I just remembered something."
"Didn't you once say that Cloud-Piercer never leaves your side?"
"...I'll get it back, so it doesn't count as leaving," Dan Heng replied flatly.
"Ohhh," Rekka drawled, raising a single, enlightened finger. "So as long as you can retrieve it, it doesn't count as leaving your side. I'll remember that."
Got it, got it, he thought. Thank you for the lesson, Teacher Dan Heng.
"To be able to place a Stellaron into the roots of the Ambrosial Arbor at such close range... it was likely done by someone from within the Vidyadhara," Dan Heng said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on their destination. "Let's seal the Stellaron first. The way this thing is acting like a super-fertilizer for the Ambrosial Arbor is getting out of hand."
The group finally reached the sprawling, corrupted roots of the great tree. The ancient seal was currently shattered, its power scattered by the Stellaron's influence, but it still retained its basic functions. It was, however, no longer capable of suppressing the Ambrosial Arbor's cancerous growth.
"Little Blue Light, go!" Rekka declared, unleashing his voracious pet. "Suck to your heart's content today. Drain it all dry, don't leave a single drop behind!"
The monstrous insectoid creature buzzed with glee, its hunger even more pronounced than when it had feasted on the power of Abundance at the very top of the Ambrosial Arbor.
Though the method was brutally direct, Dan Heng couldn't shake a feeling of unease. Abundance and Propagation—could two such distinct, yet related, powers truly coexist within the same body without catastrophic consequences?
Soon enough, the satisfied Little Blue Light began to spin in circles again. The vibration of its wings grew faster and faster, the sound shifting from a low, guttural hum to a sharp, piercing screech.
"What's wrong with it?" March 7th asked, staring at the suddenly restless creature.
Five minutes later, everyone looked upon the creature that resembled both a dragon and an insect and fell into a deep, collective silence.
This thing, Rekka mused, seems about as much of a dragon as I am.
"Rekka," Stelle stated, breaking the quiet. "Little Blue Light has evolved."
"I see it."
"It looks like... a dragon with wings, a carapace, and six legs."
"I see that too," Rekka confirmed.
"What do you think we should call it?" March chimed in. "Dragon-bug? Bug-dragon?"
Dan Heng considered the transformation. Propagation did indeed seem to stem from a portion of the Aeon of Permanence, so this might be considered... atavism? A reversion to an ancient, draconic form?
"Like hell it is," Rekka muttered, shaking his head vigorously. 'Bugs are Coleoptera, damn it.'
But in the end, he didn't voice his pedantic complaint, only patting Little Blue Light's newly armored head with a sense of relieved pride.
"Fine, whatever you are now, just finish sucking up the rest of this Abundance energy first. We're not done with the Ambrosial Arbor yet."
Little Blue Light flapped its powerful new wings and soared into the air, positioning itself above the gnarled roots. It opened its ferocious mouthparts and resumed draining the dense, verdant power of Abundance.
The remaining energy was quickly siphoned away. The sickly green light coating the roots of the Ambrosial Arbor rapidly dimmed, and the frantically growing branches ceased their spread, gradually beginning to wither.
With a final, satisfying slurp, Little Blue Light landed back on the ground and let out a hearty burp.
"Burp-buzz~"
A faint green mist drifted from its mouth, condensing into a small, shimmering cloud in the air before slowly dissipating.
"How about Lantern Dragon?" March suggested. "Look how round it is now."
"This is getting weirder and weirder," Stelle mumbled.
"Little Blue Light," Rekka commanded, "gnaw on all the roots, too. Don't leave anything behind; it's nutritious."
Nutritious.
The word was magic. Little Blue Light, which was already thinking about an after-dinner snack to grind its teeth on, buzzed with excitement.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch—
The sound of the creature chewing echoed through the cavernous space.
"Its appetite is way too good," Stelle noted, crouching nearby. She watched, mesmerized, as Little Blue Light bit through a root thicker than its own body and slurped it down like a giant noodle. "I feel stuffed just watching."
"That's called being exceptionally gifted," Rekka commented from the side. "Look how happily it's eating. This just proves how nourishing the Ambrosial Arbor's roots are for it. Once it finishes all this, it might even evolve again."
As if in protest, the Ambrosial Arbor seemed to resist. Two giant, azure-furred apes suddenly materialized among the roots, attempting to halt Little Blue Light's gargantuan feast just as the Abundant Ebon Deer had before.
Ape God is awesome.
The two giant apes lunged forward. Little Blue Light merely tilted its head slightly, and its razor-sharp mouthparts pierced directly through the first ape's skin. It took a sudden, deep gulp—
In just three seconds, the hulking beast was reduced to a deflated, empty hide.
Ape God is not awesome.
But the second giant ape was already rushing in from a blind spot—
Ape God is still awesome! Who dares say the Ape God isn't awesome?
Little Blue Light simply turned its head, and the charging ape crashed right into its waiting maw. It, too, was drained and discarded in three seconds flat.
The creature had made a total mess of them.
So, was the Ape God awesome or not?
With its roots being steadily gnawed away and its power of Abundance withered, the Ambrosial Arbor finally fell back into a deep slumber. It was practically impossible for Little Blue Light to devour the entire tree on its own, and besides, a sustainable, all-you-can-eat buffet seemed like a pretty good long-term plan.
"Say," March 7th piped up, raising a thoughtful question. "Do you think we were mistaken about that head carving before?"
Dan Heng felt a flicker of relief.
"Actually," she declared, "that head was neither a deer's nor a hippopotamus's."
"It was a monkey's head!"
Dan Heng's face fell. "?"
"That is a dragon," he explained with the last dregs of his patience. "The Dragon of Permanence. It is the symbol of the Path of Permanence."
"Stelle! There's a Stellaron behind you!" March suddenly shouted, pointing.
"Stellaron? Where's a Stellaron? Do you see a Stellaron?" Stelle asked, looking around.
"I see it, I see it! It's right behind you, behind you!"
"I don't see anything."
"[I'm telling you the truth], it's right behind you!" March insisted. "Such a big golden orb floating right there, are you blind!"
Stelle glanced over her shoulder, then turned back with an innocent look. "There's nothing there."
"How can there be nothing!" March huffed, walking around Stelle to where she had been standing. She gestured wildly in the air. "Right here, it's so obvious—eh?"
Her hand swiped through empty space.
March 7th froze, then began patting the air to her left and right.
"Huh? It was clearly here just now..."
"The Stellaron is indeed here," Rekka said, his gaze fixed on a point just beside March. "I can feel it."
"But we can't see it?"
March's hands were still fumbling through the air, trying to grasp the invisible object. "Strange, so strange. It was definitely here a moment ago..."
Stelle leaned in and also reached out to feel around. "March, are you sure you're not hallucinating?"
"Impossible!" March said confidently. "It was a huge golden orb! I saw it with both my eyes!"
Rekka chuckled. "It feels like the plushies in your room, March. When we stand far away, the plushies on your windowsill are right there, but as soon as someone gets close, they vanish into thin air..."
"...Is that a thing?" March asked, her hands finally dropping to her sides.
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