For the Mother Tree of Desire of Desire, this was supposed to be an ordinary day.
As usual, it lounged on the crimson moon, vying for space with a certain Mother Goddess of Depravity while peering through the barrier to monitor Earth. It checked on Tolzna, then spot-checked its other followers. Confirming all was well, the Mother Tree of Desire sighed in relief, though a pang of sorrow followed.
Once upon a time, as a formidable Outer Deity, it never needed to obsessively monitor its Earthly tendrils, fearing they'd vanish overnight.
In its prime, though barred from descending due to the barrier, the Mother Tree of Desire had leveraged subtle infiltration and its pathway's influence. Unlike the Mother Goddess of Depravity, who juggled multiple schemes... corrupting the Earth Mother, controlling Roselle, and ensnaring Mr. Door... it had secured Tolzna.
The Mother Tree of Desire even boasted that Tolzna, a mere King of Angels, was more useful than the Mother Goddess of Depravity's two Sequence 0s and top angel. One Sequence 0 wasn't fully corrupted, another was corrupted but rendered useless by a loophole, and the strongest angel had sealed himself. None compared to a fully controlled, free-acting King of Angels like Tolzna.
But ever since that bizarre, sinister entity appeared, both the Mother Tree of Desire and Mother Goddess of Depravity began paying for their past actions. The Mother Goddess of Depravity, with her broader corruption, suffered immensely, her shrieks echoing so often the Mother Tree of Desire half-wanted to cede the "Screamer" title to her.
The Mother Tree of Desire wasn't faring much better. Though only Tolzna was targeted by Alaric, that single loss was painful. With just one key pawn, it was all the more anxious.
If Tolzna broke free like Mr. Door or Roselle, the loss would be catastrophic.
Harshly put, the Mother Goddess of Depravity could lose Roselle and Mr. Door and still influence Lilith, her pathway's nature making such control resilient. As a mighty deity, she'd remain a formidable third pillar in the final battle despite losing tendrils.
The Mother Tree of Desire wasn't so lucky. Without Tolzna, its other Earthly backups couldn't match his caliber. Weaker than the Mother Goddess of Depravity, it would struggle to outmaneuver her for its goals once the barrier fell.
Thinking of that sinister entity, the Mother Tree of Desire fell silent.
Could the Outer Deities truly dominate once the barrier broke with that thing around?
It doubted.
Originally, it was brimming with confidence. Earth lacked an Great Old One, and with only a decade or so until the final battle, no game-changing force could emerge. At best, a Lord of Mysteries might appear.
Though powerful, a Lord of Mysteries couldn't withstand the Outer Deities' numbers. Even as an Great Old One, he'd be overwhelmed.
Thus, the Mother Tree of Desire had been certain of invading Earth.
Now, it wavered. It feared what that sinister entity might become in a decade. Not foolish, it had deduced from their encounters that the entity's essence was lofty but currently weakened, unable to fully manifest. Otherwise, it wouldn't lurk on Earth.
What it couldn't ignore was the entity's growing strength across encounters, signaling rapid recovery.
What state would it reach in a decade?
The Mother Tree of Desire dreaded to imagine, yet it was powerless. If the entity faced it beyond the barrier now, it might rally other Outer Deities to kill it before it recovered. But the barrier prevented that, and its infiltrated forces were no match for the entity.
This bred a sense of helplessness, a despair of watching its doom approach without recourse.
Why would such a being side with Earth? Shouldn't it be one of us? the Mother Tree of Desire mused bitterly.
Then, it froze, its gaze snapping back to Earth.
In that fleeting moment, its key followers worldwide were attacked simultaneously... by Amon, it seemed.
Its heart sank, realizing the worst. It instantly ordered Suah, its divine spawn at the Rose School's headquarters, to flee, channeling as much power as the barrier allowed to aid him.
The Mother Tree of Desire knew Alaric had struck, not just for Tolzna but to dismantle the entire Rose School.
From what it knew of him, if he acted, he was confident. The swift neutralization of Rose School members proved it.
In this scenario, the Mother Tree of Desire could only preserve what forces it could. It gave up on saving Tolzna but hoped to save Suah... not out of maternal care but because losing him would cripple its Earthly operations.
While ordering Suah's escape, it didn't forget Tolzna. Though unsalvageable, it could still make the toy serve one last purpose.
Thus, it decisively manipulated Tolzna to attack nearby human cities.
It knew these "ants" meant nothing to it but were precious to Earth's saviors. By exploiting this, Tolzna could distract them, buying Suah time to escape.
But the next second, the Mother Tree of Desire's expression twisted.
"Guarding against your desperation was definitely the right call," Alaric said, smiling at the clearly manipulated Tolzna before him. Beside him stood Bethel and The Ancient Sun God.
They weren't at the Rose School's headquarters. Anticipating the Mother Tree of Desire's moves, Bethel had used his spatial powers to whisk Tolzna into Alaric's pocket dimension just before he "went berserk."
***
Every 100 Power Stones and 5 Reviews will earn you a Bonus Chapter.
And if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)