The confrontation began not with a roar, but with a skeptical demand.
Artemis frowned after listening to Alista's vague description of his plan. "Can you explain properly?" she demanded. "You are telling me this in just a few words, yet you expect me to trust it. What you are about to do should be impossible unless some particular Curse or Flaw helps you. Second, even if you somehow achieve it, stopping it will be a problem."
Alista looked at her, his eyes cold and resolved, the madness barely contained beneath the surface. "That is where you come in. Stop me if I cross the limit."
Morning arrived quickly. Alista woke up, prepared, and immediately left the Bone Ridge camp to confront the Soul Devouring Tree at the heart of the Ashen Barrow.
Artemis watched him go, sighing with a mixture of annoyance and fascination. 'Why did he name this plan "Ultra Instinct?" What does that even mean?'
*****
The Ashen Barrow was eerily quiet, the air heavy with an ancient, predatory stillness. It looked as if the Soul Devouring Tree was actively searching for its next prey. Alista Tudor walked toward it, his face set in a manic grin. He immediately broke into a full run toward the central structure.
The tree attempted to employ its Mind Hex, a psychic assault that stole conscious thought, but this time, it had no effect. Alista didn't react to the mental whispers. He summoned his [Hunter's Sword] and started to hack savagely at the tree's ancient bark.
Alista's strategy was simple, if suicidal: The Mind Hex worked by subtly stealing conscious thought and inducing a favorable, self-defeating mindset toward the tree. Alista intended to replicate the strategy of completely switching off his conscious thought, referencing the legendary battle of Luffy vs. Enel—a state where action was driven by pure, unthinking instinct.
However, instead of pure instinct, Alista leaned fully into his [Mad King] Flaw, giving free rein to his dormant Battle Urge to simply kill the tree. Driven by this manic compulsion, Alista began to slice the tree, slowly chopping through the thick branches.
"Fuck you, bitches!" Alista screamed at the unmoving Terror, randomly hacking at the bark. The leaves and branches above shook furiously, deploying every measure to stop his insane assault.
Suddenly, a Carapace Scavenger rushed in front of him and attacked furiously, attempting to defend its master.
Alista simply laughed like a maniac. "You want to dance, do you?"
Alista threw small stones at both the Scavenger and the Soul Devouring Tree. He then activated his [Majesty] ability. The Scavenger and the Tree felt their power mildly weaken, and suddenly, they felt an aura of the King surging from him, causing a weak but critical hesitation in their attacks.
Alista smiled widely and shouted, the words ringing out in the desolate wasteland: "Throughout the Waking World and Dream Realm, I alone am the Honored One!"
The frantic, brutal fight continued, Alista's rage transforming him into a whirlwind of relentless, precise violence.
*****
Artemis remained at the ridge, ready to intercept the moment things went south, but no signal came. She knew she had survived the tree's Hex by sheer luck, and the experience of dying for the first time had been deeply traumatic, no matter how hard she tried to rationalize it. Even though Alista had explained his [Barbarian] Attribute, she didn't believe it alone was enough to counter the Hex. As for the extreme Battle Urge he planned to use, she correctly surmised it was part of his dangerous Flaw. 'Well, that is useful information for the clan's assessment.'
After what felt like an eternity, she looked at the sky, seeing the sun high overhead. "Time to intercept him," she muttered, realizing the plan had gone on too long.
She navigated through the labyrinth toward the Ashen Barrow. The land that was supposed to be ashen and devoid of life was now shockingly mildly red. Artemis knelt down and touched the ground. It was blood—mostly Carapace blood, but some unmistakably human.
Artemis moved forward, the blood content increasing across the Ashen Barrow. She soon saw the corpses of Carapace Scavengers and Centipedes. Guts and intestines lay strewn across the ground. Finally, she found the Soul Devouring Tree cut into massive, unrecognizable chunks. Its fruits and leaves were scattered randomly, the life choked out of the massive entity.
In the cleared space where the towering tree once stood, Alista was sitting on the ground, leaning on his sword. He was completely covered in a mix of Carapace blood, Centipede ichor, and his own crimson, with multiple cuts covering his exposed skin.
Artemis rushed to him. "What the hell happened?"
Alista looked up at Artemis. His eyes, usually an ordinary brown, were filled with a terrifying, unfocused blood rage. Artemis suddenly felt a dreadful sense of power radiating from him—a pressure that pushed against her very soul. She felt the energy in the sky shifting, the clouds seeming to converge above the carnage, and the intense Aura of the King surging from Alista's broken body.
Artemis's thoughts fractured in panic. 'I... can't think properly. It... feels... like being in the presence of... Uncle Anvil.' The pressure was akin to facing a powerful Legacy Master.
Artemis moved forward cautiously, intent on calming him, but Alista abruptly sprang up and attacked her with his sword. Artemis instantly defended and activated her Dormant Ability, slamming the gravitational force down on him. Alista fell momentarily under the intense, crushing force.
But he rose instantly, moving forward despite the crushing gravitational field. Artemis quickly weakened the field in the immediate area, causing Alista to float upwards momentarily, disorienting him.
Alista looked down at Artemis, his face contorted in maniacal rage. "Fuck you, Fuck the Valor!" he screamed, spitting blood onto the ground. He then pointed his middle finger straight up at the sky and shouted, "Fuck you too, Adam!"
Alista suddenly took a chunk of the tree's bark—the very material they needed—and hurled it toward Artemis. It didn't hit her, but she suddenly felt an intense, irrational urge, fueled by Alista's [Bribe] ability, to reset the gravitational field to its regular level. Unknowingly, Artemis complied instantly. The gravitational field stabilized, and Alista crashed back to the ground, immediately charging and attacking Artemis again.
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