Chapter 548: Tree and Dragons
Vergil’s mental world had rarely been a peaceful place. Within its depths, fragmented memories, pieces of hell, trails of ice, and embers of fire coexisted like eternal battlefields. It was a landscape that changed with every moment: now an endless black abyss, now a plain illuminated by flowers that would never exist in the physical world.
In that instant, chaos reigned.
Nivara—the ice dragon—roared in fury, her crystal wings slicing the sky, unleashing freezing blasts that transformed entire mountains into statues of brittle glass. Crymsaria—the fire dragon—responded with incandescent flames, her every breath tearing the horizon into flaming storms. The air crackled, the heavens trembled, and the very ground seemed to scream in pain under the incessant clash.
The duel had already lasted so long that time had lost its meaning. Neither was willing to yield. Every blow was personal. Each attack carried not only power, but also resentment.
Until…
The impossible happened.
The two, almost simultaneously, stopped attacking. As if a silent call had reached them. Their gazes turned downward, to the heart of the mental world where they fought. And what they saw tore from them a deathly silence.
In the middle of a vast field of Spider Lilies, those red flowers that rise like torches of the underworld, stood a colossal tree. A Sakura, but not just any Sakura: its bark was red as living flesh, and its petals weren’t petals at all—they were drops, crystals of blood that fell slowly from above, like macabre rain.
A World Tree.
There. Inside Vergil’s mental world.
Crymsaria, still in her draconic form, blinked a few times, unable to believe what she was seeing. Her voice reverberated like thunder. “Is this… is this real?”
Nivara, her icy eyes fixed on the pulsing trunk, responded with equal disbelief. “It can’t be. Not here. Not in this place.”
The two exchanged glances. And for the first time in a long time, there was no hatred between them. Only doubt.
In a flash, their titanic forms began to dissolve. Scales and wings disappeared in swirls of energy, giving way to human bodies. Crymsaria appeared as a woman with long hair, red as liquid flames, her golden eyes glowing like embers. Nivara, meanwhile, appeared as a young woman with pale skin, silver hair, and an icy, blue gaze that could freeze anyone who dared to look at her for too long.
The two descended from the heights, their feet gently touching the sea of Spider Lilys. They walked side by side, each step carrying tension. The wind blew bloody petals around them, tinting the air crimson.
Crymsaria was the first to speak, in a low tone, almost a whisper. “Why… why is there a World Tree in here?”
Nivara shook her head seriously. “If this is what it seems… then Vergil didn’t just open his mind. He let something in.”
They approached the gigantic blood sakura. The trunk pulsated, as if veins ran through it, carrying a scarlet liquid that dripped slowly onto the flowers below. The sound was muffled, but each drop that fell made the field tremble, as if a heart beat there, buried.
The two walked around, studying, analyzing.
Crymsaria nervously raised her hand and let one of the petals fall into her palm. The touch was warm, viscous. She frowned. “This isn’t an illusion. It’s blood.”
Nivara narrowed her eyes. “So he really…”
Before she could finish her sentence, a presence filled the air.
Heavy. Dark.
A shiver ran down their spines. The wind stopped blowing. Even the sound of the raindrops stopped for a moment.
“Looking for something?”
The voice sounded behind them, soft as poison.
They both turned instinctively, and there she was. Qliphoth.
Her body rose elegantly, red and gold, her long hair flowing like crimson rivers. Her golden eyes shone like blades, and the smile on her lips was anything but friendly.
Crymsaria’s eyes widened. Nivara clenched her fists.
And together, as if the shock had synchronized them, they spat the same question, in unison, thick with contempt:
“How did you… the bitch mistress of the underworld… get here?!”
Qliphoth’s smile died instantly.
She froze, her eyes narrowing. The air around her vibrated with rage, like glass about to shatter.
“…What did you call me?”
Nivara crossed her arms, icy. “You heard me.” Crymsaria tilted her head, her eyes blazing with provocation. “Bitch. That’s what you are.”
Qliphoth gritted her teeth. Her aura exploded in golden waves, the ground around her cracking, flowers being ripped out by their roots.
“Bitches…” she whispered, almost voiceless. “It’s you!”
In the blink of an eye, her red nails elongated into blades. She lunged forward.
The blow was so fast that the air split in two.
Nivara instinctively threw up a barrier of ice, but the impact was devastating. The frozen shield shattered, and she was thrown backward, rolling across the field of Spider Lilys.
Crymsaria responded by breathing a blast of fire that ignited the air, but Qliphoth cut the flames in half with a single wave of his hand. Then, he delivered a vicious kick to the fire dragon’s chest, sending her flying.
The two fell to their knees, panting, the earth around them scarred with craters and flames.
Qliphoth, furious, took a few steps forward, the shadow of her figure projecting like a specter over the field.
“You dare… call me a whore?” she shouted, her voice echoing like thunder. “Two imbecile dragons who allow themselves to be tied to the frail body of a child!”
The words struck Nivara and Crymsaria deeper than any physical blow. They staggered to their feet, exchanging hateful glances directed not only at their enemy, but at each other as well—because they knew that, in a way, Qliphoth was right.
Crymsaria spat blood onto the ground and wiped her mouth. “You will pay dearly for this.”
Nivara, stern and icy, raised her hands, and ice crystals began to form around her. “Do you think you can insult us and get away with it?”
Qliphoth smiled back, but the smile was savage, animalistic. “I want to see you try.”
The field of Spider Lilys trembled. The Sakura’s trunk pulsed harder, crimson drops cascading down, dyeing everything red.
Vergil’s mental world plunged into war once more.