Amon smiled nervously as he twisted away from another one of Luna's strikes, backflipping to kick at her shoulder. She didn't even flinch, standing solid as stone. Of course she did, her flesh could harden as easily as it could soften, which was exactly what made her such a pain to fight. He thought as he glanced at the roots.

Without preparation, she was practically untouchable. Near immortal. The only real cracks in her armor lay in her soul and her mind.

Parrying her hardened fist with his jian, Amon ducked low and lashed upward in a sharp uppercut slash. Luna swayed back just in time, then lunged with such ferocity that it nearly made Amon soil himself.

…though if he did, he'd wear it with pride. After all, he was a practitioner of the Cowardly Pathway.

Shit! No time for jokes!

He vaulted backward, dodging strike after strike, until his back hit a wall. No... worse, it was damned tree and than a pulsing flesh bomb came hurtling toward him.

Cursing, he reached out with theft, snatching the bomb from the air. Luna hadn't expected that and triggered the detonation, but by then Amon had already swung his jian like a baseball bat, launching the unstable thing straight back at her.

"Hey, chill, woman, chill!" he called with a trembling smile, never once turning to meet her head-on. His agility and sharp senses kept him alive, for now but he knew this game of tag couldn't last.

Plan A and B had gone up in smoke. Which meant it was time for Plan C.

Jumping to his left, Amon raised the glowing Jian to shield himself. A burst of flesh slammed into the barrow, shaking the hill beneath him. He used the slope to spring forward, dashing straight at Luna with impressive speed for sleeper. Essence surged into the ghostly blade, painting it with a sickly green light as he hacked at her arm, then carved across her side.

Luna hissed, snapping her head forward. Her skull cracked against his, sending pain lancing through him. Amon staggered back, barely slipping past her follow-up strike. His eyes flicked again... and again, toward the disturbing roots of the Soul Tree.

She noticed. Her brow furrowed and suspicion dawning.

No! he couldn't let her piece it together. If she realized Medici was striking from beneath, their plan was finished.

Snarling, Amon lunged again, forcing her back with relentless feints and sudden bursts of speed. He harried her like a phantom, never lingering long enough to be pinned down. His movements were sharper, his senses keener, his body thrumming with the monstrous strength of a second core. Even if he could barely control it, the raw essence pouring through his weapon left Luna pressed onto the defensive.

He pressed forward, forcing Luna back with relentless strikes. It was obvious she wasn't in her prime, her fight with the Centurion had drained her, leaving her essence ragged and uneven. That flesh bomb alone had cost her dearly, and the effort of regrowing her arm was just as taxing. No wonder she was struggling against him.

Well, struggling against someone like him.

After all, it had been Amon who lured the Centurion to her in the first place. He never fought without a plan. Plan A: let the Centurion wear her down. With her insane regeneration, she wouldn't die, and Medici's Flag of Life could patch her up later anyway. Plan B: try to break through the mind hex and bring her back. Both had failed. Which meant it was time for Plan C. Preferably not Plan D. That one was… unpleasant.

"When did I become Batman?" he muttered under his breath, lips twitching into a grin.

And of course, he still held the advantage. Two cores against her one. Superior senses, agility, essence output... he had all the edges stacked in his favor. But the truth was, he didn't actually need to beat her outright. Possible? Sure. Worth the risk? Not when the odds were barely thirty percent in his calculations. Amon didn't gamble his life on thirty percent.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Amon's eyes swept the battlefield, only to catch Luna retreating, her flesh twisting and bulging into yet another bomb. His pulse spiked. There was nothing nearby he could use to shield himself.

Cursing under his breath, Amon summoned the Dusk Shard he had taken from the Cursed Herald. A large, round shield materialized in his grip, heavy and ominous. He slammed it into the ground, crouching low behind its tilted surface just as the fleshy mass struck and detonated.

The explosion thundered across the clearing. The shield groaned under the impact, and the blast hurled him back like a ragdoll. His arms ached, his body bruised, but at least the corrosive spray of the bomb hadn't melted him alive. Shaking off the ringing in his ears, his gaze darted once again in desperation toward the outstretched roots of the soul tree.

Since the beginning of their clash, she had noticed it. Amon's gaze… always flicking back to the root. At first, Luna dismissed it as coincidence. But then the thought gnawed at her. He was cunning, too cunning to let his eyes wander without purpose. And Amon was a coward. He never risked himself without something hidden in his sleeve.

Her heart froze. Wait… where's Medici?

Her eyes widened, realization stabbing through her exhaustion. Her expression twisted into raw fury as she turned toward the Blasphemer. He was smirking at her, mockery dripping from every line of his face.

"Where's Medici?" she hissed.

For just an instant, Amon's smirk faltered. But then he leaned back into it, his voice light and careless:

"Hm? What makes you think I'd stumble across Medici in the Dream Realm? Logically, it's near impossible. Vast as it is, you could wander for lifetimes and never-"

Luna's single bloodshot eye narrowed.

"Perhaps. But you don't fight without a plan. No… you don't even like fighting at all. You prefer tricks, lies, and deceit. Which means…"

Her lips trembled with fury. She wanted nothing more than to tear him apart, piece by piece until nothing remained but a stain of suffering. But she could not. Not now. The Soul Tree needed her.

In the next moment, her body slackened. Her form sagged like melting wax, dripping blood and flesh onto the soil. It writhed, twisted, and seeped downward, slithering into the roots' depths until nothing remained of her on the surface.

Not even a second passed after Luna melted into the earth before Medici emerged from the branch of the soul tree, landing heavily on the ground. He cast a brief, almost startled glance at Amon, then shook his head and wasted no time.

Drawing in a deep breath, he compressed his flames. Essence poured into the sphere until it blazed like a miniature sun. With a guttural roar, he hurled it into the hole Luna had left behind.

The ground shuddered. A blinding detonation of golden fire tore through the underground, rattling the battlefield with its fury.

Seconds later, Luna erupted from the soil, her body charred and writhing, a scream ripping from her throat. It ended abruptly as Medici's hammer-like blow crashed down, his armor breaker slamming against her skull and cutting her cries short. She collapsed, limp.

Amon stood still, eyes calm, watching the carnage in silence. His lips parted in a faint sigh.

"...Well. At least the third plan worked."

A shadow of annoyance flickered across his face.

"Fuck."

At last, the hardest part was over. Amon had deliberately fixed his gaze on the roots of the soul tree, planting a seed of suspicion in Luna's fractured mind. He wanted her to believe Medici was attempting to destroy the tree from underground when in truth, Medici had been perched high on a branch all along, silently observing the fight.

Through subtle thought misdirection, Amon nudged her to reach the conclusion he desired. Then, with precise mental disruption, he layered in hallucinations to solidify her false theory.

The moment Luna rushed to the roots, acting on her false realization, Medici struck. He Ignited the hole she had created, engulfing it in roaring flames. Her body was scorched and expelled from the soil, vulnerable and off-balance. That was when Medici landed the decisive blow, knocking her out cold.

But subduing her was only part of the plan. Amon knew destroying the tree from the outside was impossible; Luna's suspicions were partially correct. He had manipulated her to carve a path, to create the hole that would allow Medici access to the heart of the tree, where he could strike at the core and burn this fraud from the inside.

Taking deep breaths, Amon steadied his trembling body, sharpening his focus on the objective. He glanced at Medici, voice low but edged with urgency.

"Now that Luna's out of the picture, the soul tree will try to control us with that damned hex. There has to be a weakness underground, Luna rushed there for a reason, which only confirms my theory. Go and cook it, chief."

Medici cracked his neck with a grin, summoning a small, roaring sphere of fire.

"And you?"

Amon blinked innocently, smile pleasant enough to make Medici sigh. With one last glance, he leapt into the hole, dashing toward the heart of the damned tree.

Meanwhile, Amon began climbing the soul tree. He picked the lowest branches clean, choosing the ripest, most potent fruits first. Each one vanished into Fraud's Bag. Small, uncertain fruits were ignored, they might yield fragments, or they might not, and Amon wasn't about to gamble. Space was finite, after all, and efficiency was everything.

The first stretch of trunk was the hardest. Smooth, obsidian bark offered only tiny cracks and bumps as grips, forcing every motion to rely on strength, precision, and balance. But his acrobatics and heightened senses carried him with surprising ease.

Higher and higher he climbed, leaving the familiar for the chaotic crown. The upper branches twisted like a labyrinth, thick foliage blocking lines of sight, hiding the best fruits behind a maze of gnarled wood. It was time-consuming, yes but Amon didn't give a damn.

Stepping carefully on one of the upper branches, Amon inched forward, scanning the chaotic crown from side to side. He had finally reached the top of the tree but the moment it shuddered beneath him, he almost lost his balance.

A faint rustling rose from the foliage, a sound like thousands of trapped souls writhing within the wood. He knew the truth: they weren't just echoes; the vile tree was ravenous, always hungry. Feeling it shift under his feet was… unnerving.

Than, The shuddering ceased, and a pillar of fire erupted from the hole Luna had dug.

Medici... Looks like he had finished "cooking his meal." Amon grinned, letting his gaze mock the sprawling tree.

"Well, fraud will always be a fraud. What can we do, mind hex merchant? Eh… there's nothing you can or could do."

He shook his head, surveying the branches, then froze and grimaced, facepalming at what he saw. Fruits. So many, so much bigger, riper…

Without hesitation, he emptied Fraud's Bag and began stuffing it with the juiciest, most vibrant fruits he could reach. Hours slipped by unnoticed. Eventually, a tiny dot emerged from the fiery hole, definitely Medici.

Hurrying, Amon leapt from his branch. There was still another prize he intended to steal.

pushed through the dense leaf barrier, finally breaching the inner sanctum. There, hidden in a secluded pocket of twisted scarlet branches, rested a colossal bird's nest.

At its center lay an egg; ancient, immense, nearly as tall as he was. Its grey surface seemed petrified by the passage of time, lifeless… except for the hole piercing its side. Sunny's handiwork, no doubt.

He braced himself, plunging a hand into the sticky yolk. The stench was vile, the texture nauseating but he endured. After some tense moments of digging, his fingers closed around four gleaming soul shards.

For a long second, he stayed still, savoring the moment. Then, raucous and unrestrained, he threw back his head and laughed.

"Hah! Bow before the young master, you fucking frauds! I'm Amon, the Blasphemer! Son of Amon and Amon, little brother of Amon, and big brother of Amon. Grandchild of Amons, and uncle of Amons, too! Hahahaha!"

***

[Author Note]

I don't know, guys. I rewrote this chapter, but I still feel like it's missing something. Maybe I rushed it, but meh, whatever. And yes, I'm bullying the soul tree. That guy can never escape Fraud allegations.

Was the chapter good?

1. Yes

2. No

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