The Inverted Pyramid

As the clouds gathered above the World Tree were swallowed by the summoned inky clouds, the surroundings turned as dark as the night. Ronan looked up in awe, the sight was incredible even for someone as old as him.

The chaotic swirling of clouds stopped abruptly and the sky seemed to be splitting open in half. The fissures became apparent as they grew wider and wider by the inch. Soon enough, the sky appeared like a shattered mirror.

Like ravenous wolves, the fissures started to eat the clouds. Before their very eyes, the vortex of dark clouds disappeared into the fissures that resembled a door to another world.

"What in the name of god is that? You're trying to summon a calamity in our world!" Ronan gasped, wide-eyed and petrified in his spot.

"Cease this madness, Eldric!"

"It's too late to do anything. You might as well sit back and enjoy the show." Eldric said with a hint of a smile, though his greedy eyes were fixated on the scene above.

One day, he would have powers similar to that. It wouldn't be him who would be looking up to something in wonder and wishing for that power. Eldric could feel it in his bones, that day was not far.

A ripple spread across the sky before a portal that rimmed with a pulsing crimson glow opened, bringing forth an eerie silence with it. Like the world has been paused to witness the emergence of the entity summoned by Eldric, the wind stopped blowing and the trees stopped swaying.

And then, to mark the beginning of the calamity, the gigantic tip of the brownish pyramid peeked through the portal. Little by little, the inverted pyramid descended onto the mortal world.

"Hahahaha, incredible, isn't it, Ronan? You cannot wield such power with a weak heart like yours!" Eldric shouted in glee. "This is for the mighty!"

"Dear god, that thing is even bigger than the Moonhawk Ridge!" Ronan observed to his horror.

The summoned pyramid was almost as tall as the World Tree. He couldn't fathom how such a thing was floating in the air without any support.

But somehow, it did. Its pointy end faced the earth below… No, to be precise, it was aimed at the crown of their mother tree as if it was preparing to drill into the dense foliage.

Eldric had called it the Devouring Pyramid. Was it going to consume the great World Tree?

Ronan's stomach churned as he imagined such a scene. Although it was unlikely since Eldric wanted to make the World Tree into one of his pets, he couldn't brush off the feeling that it was about to devour something and it wasn't going to be anything pleasant.

"Everyone! Ignore him and attack that pyramid!" He roared, mustering all of his courage. Eldric was too cowardly to turn tangible and fight it out with him. He might as well invest his energy into at least destroying that thing hovering over their heads.

"Haha, it's futile! Do you think your pitiful attacks will have any effect on it?"

Sure enough, Eldric's mocking words held some truth in them. Even as the air thrummed with powerful ripples of energies clashing and blasting off towards the pyramid, the majestic structure floated as if unbothered by their collective attempt at harming it.

-Voom!

In retaliation, the pyramid let out a suppressing aura field before it started to rotate slowly. The wind picked up along with its rotation.

-Xu! -Xu! -Xu!

The pyramid kept rotating, fixed on an imaginary axis in the air and its speed was increasing by the second. The elves tried to attack it, hoping it would at least stop rotating so that they wouldn't feel like a volley of daggers was hurled at them whenever the wind brushed past their skin with breakneck speed.

"Argh!"

"Noo!"

Those with weaker constitutions and cultivation bases fell one after the other as the whirling wind left deep gashes on their mortal bodies.

-Xu! -Xu! -Xu! -Xu! -Xu!

The pyramid's speed increased as if to toy with those who were struggling to stay afoot.

Trees fell and the houses were uprooted. It was no wonder why the elves were having a difficult time standing on their feet. If the raging wind wasn't enough to take them down, then the destruction of their properties was enough to make them falter.

Their heart-wrenching cries were muffled by the unforgiving air currents and the incessant pleas for help went unheard.

Through all of this, Ronan remained unflinching. Any amount of material damage can be recovered. The lives of people mattered the most. As long as they were not in mortal danger, he could concentrate on Eldric and his summoned diabolical pyramid.

However, the World Tree couldn't watch as her children were put through harm and her branches extended widely, forming a canopy over the Inner Sanctum that protected the elves by obstructing the effect of the revolving pyramid on the wind currents.

A foreboding lull ensued… which was disturbed as Eldric guffawed.

"Hahahaha, as expected! Your mother is here to save your worthless lives!" He sneered. The World Tree and her children were too predictable— it made his job easier, so he wasn't about to complain. If the World Tree's attention remained undivided and solely focused on thwarting his summoning, then Eldric would have had a hard time succeeding.

Just like the saying goes, a mother puts her children's lives before her own.

-Devour-

Eldric didn't waste too much time laughing at their expenses and instead initiated the next phase of his planning.

The pyramid quickened its rotation speed following his command. This time, however, the effect was drastically visible to the naked eye as the target of its attack was quite clear. The World Tree shook vehemently, its crown being wrung from the pressure exerted by the pyramid's rotation.

Since nearly twisting the head of the World Tree wasn't enough, the people below began to feel their cores buzzing in apprehension. Their mana went out of control, involuntarily guided outside their body and towards the centre of the pyramid.

It was absorbing their mana!

"No, that thing is taking our mana! Don't give up, hold onto your core and try to reign in your control!" Celestia quickly realised the dire situation they were in.

The pyramid was growing stronger by absorbing their mana and in turn, the pressure on the World Tree multiplied. Its branches creaked on the verge of breaking apart. The leaves had it even worse as they were torn from their place and carried by the wind towards the pyramid.

Indeed, someone was going to be more heartbroken than the elves to see the leaves being devoured by the pyramid.

-Thud!

-Thud!

One by one, people fell to their knees. Some even planted their face first into the ground as the terrible side effect of mana exhaustion hit them.

Celestia and Ronan were the only ones left standing due to their superior cultivation levels. Even the Elders, with their mighty Martial Emperor realm prowess, couldn't withstand the pressure exerted by the pyramid and the consequent mana exhaustion.

"...we are doomed…" Ronan despaired. Was he to watch as their mother was turned into a vile man's plaything?

No, absolutely not!

Ronan wouldn't be able to call himself a man if he let it happen. He clenched his trembling hand into a fist and a flash of determination flickered in his eyes.

He would rather detonate his core and try to take out Eldric with him instead of simply being a spectator of this disaster.

"Urgh!" Ronan fell to his knees, unable to move his body or mana, as soon as he resolved himself to death.

"I know what you're thinking, Ronan! I won't let you die so easily. You've yet to see your precious granddaughter being sacrificed. How can you quit when the main show hasn't even begun?" Eldric chuckled as he pushed his hands forward and directly used the pressure from the pyramid to suppress Ronan.

"And as for you, stay put!" His eyes landed on Celestia and similar to Ronan, she was also suppressed and had her face glued to the ground. "You will go along nicely with Ronan's granddaughter as a sacrifice."

However, Celestia didn't protest and simply fixed her eyes on the base of the World Tree where the door to the Sacred Chamber was tightly closed.

Eldric felt strange seeing no struggle from the High Priestess which made him reconsider his plan once again. He was sure he had made all the preparations to carry out his deeds unobstructed.

He had even gone so far as to erect a barrier that prevented anyone from sending voice transmissions out of the forest. If the word got out before he was done with the elves and Lord Protector learned of it, he would be in danger.

'Did I break her mind with my summonings?' He thought. If it was true, then she was not really meant to be a leader of such a large and powerful tribe.

He had planned for decades before even making a move against his old tribe, which went to show how powerful they were. If their new leader was this weak, then it was only natural that the tribe deserved to be preyed upon by someone strong like him.