The sword could just eat away all the tree's life, but it would take time, too much time.

Especially considering a sliver of divine power from a nature G.o.ddess has been granted to this tree.

No... much better to...

"Shade... I want you to capture the life essence and power of that tree, and get the spirit vessel to take the trees spirit. In other words, make it into a spirit of the element of nature by ripping it all out in one chunk rather than absorb it bit by bit."

He got to work, communing with the embryos of his brethren.

And then... Shade began to hum.

A ba.s.s tremor, a deep note, a song and rhythm that pulled you in.

Of the heat, drew fire. Of its cold, came ice.

Water pulled its fluids, wind it's air, and light it's vitality, as Shade took the darkness of eventual death.

Poison is the acids and substances all living beings have, and contributed too.

Unknown to the ghost, the spirits happily ate away at these separate components of this tree, feeding and growing on its blessed soul, and the roots became ever slower and slower.

The sleeping trio were being drawn into the tree, but by bit, dragged across the floor, but the roots weren't moving as fast.

Shade was playing a music, of but one note, because Spirit Magic was the fusing of a spirit and one's own path of magic. As a spirit bound to a Demonic Tunist, some of those skills could be used, especially considering that spirits are essentially purely soul and energy based lifeforms.

Somewhere deep in the tree the soul it had from being a blessed creature of nature was feeling threatened. It tried to resist, but one not-even self aware child against several hungry children led by one who WAS intelligent?

It was only a matter of time.

Small lights flickered in the wood of the tree, like fireflies hidden within, being drawn into the blade.

Shade, as best can be put, cleared out a s.p.a.ce and directed that energy to form a new nexus, as other, less pure parts were fed to the appropriate spirits.

As he did this, he too fed, and something, thought or emotion, played out.

'I did... good.'

Satisfaction at doing his job, he continued, watching as his brothers and sisters began to grow, some near to hatching...

***

15 minutes after Kyoku pa.s.sed out...

The ghost smiled to herself, as she daydreamed, waiting for the tree to finish its work.

She looked over, noting that the fox she'd given priority to was already half-under the tree, with his legs pinned underneath already, and the other two soon to follow.

"It took quite awhile, but nothing will stand in the way of elven kind. An inferior race who acts as if they have any right to be better in any way should just die."

She snorted, and turned away.

And on the tree, a leaf s.h.i.+vered... and fell.

It traced through the air oh-so-silently, falling on the wind... and the s.h.i.+mmering lights along it, fell dead and gray, as the lead withered mid-fall.

With a soft crackle, "crk!", it hit the ground, and the ghost froze.

Slowly she turned her head, looking at the tree in horror.

"No..." escaped her lips as a whisper.

And she watched in dread as the next leaf fell.

"H-how... why is it dying?!" She yelled, a surging tide of movement to the tree, anxiously looking up into its branches.

"You can't disappear! You can die! You are a seedling from the Holy Tree! There's no way you'd suddenly die!"

A wave of vindictive, spiteful rage cams over her as her appearance changed into the snarling mask of venom and malice.

"At least kill that dirty fox first you worthless pile of wood!"

She kicked at it, her foot pa.s.sing through it harmlessly.

"AGH!"

She looked around in a panic, trying to find what it was.

And her gaze landed on the strange blade of swirling metals.

In a way, a ghost is a spirit without elemental power. Once she looked properly, she could clearly see the spirits within, and that the soul of the tree was already trapped inside the blade.

The tree wasn't so much dying as already dead. It was soulless, the body was just catching up.

"H-how... a spirit can't just DO THAT! You can't steal a soul so easily!"

No, you couldn't... but a spirit using the abilities of a Demonic Tunist is a scary thing.

A harmony of a deep ba.s.s played, and a high pitch note joined it, two sounds playing off one another in harmony.

As the light and poison energies were absorbed, the hallucinogen stopped being made.

The ghost clawed as the sword, and shrieked in pain as it... cut her?

She stared in horror, backing away as her arms were devoured by the spirits inside the blade, stumps at her hands where she'd hit it.

A voice, malicious and oh-so evil sounding...

"Why h.e.l.lo there. You look scared, da~rlin!"

She turned, seeing the Foxkin stand up, a blade of fire in hand with which he cut away the dead roots holding onto him.

He brushed the dirt off his pants, and gave her an evil smirk.

"Now, let's see... you've made a number of mistakes, and I'm not feeling very forgiving."

He stepped forward, the sword of fire fading away, reaching for his hip.

'I don't understand, what is he doing what is he doing, what is he-'

He pulled out a flute, and brought it to his lips.

A clear note, like gla.s.s, cut through the terror and panic.

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Silence.

'I...I can't move...'

The frozen ghost pushed with all her might, but her soul-form wouldn't respond.

Another note, and it continued, flowing into a piece of music.

It seemed ethereal, with a strange sense of frenzy as the pace picked up, and she felt dread as she knew something was coming.

She sensed the last of the trees lifeforce being pulled ever faster and faster by his music, absorbed into the vessel he'd placed in it.

His music intertwined with the harmonic sounds of ba.s.s and tenor, and a new sound, that of flickering snaps and crackles. Together they became a 4 part harmony, pulling away at the tree as it withered visibly.

Almost with a sigh, the tree turned a dark brown and rotted away, and after a few minutes, pieces of it fell apart into dirt and ash.

The song ended, and he stepped forward, catching the spirit vessel out of the air as two spheres, one of darkness and one of light, came out of it.

A moment pa.s.sed, and a ball of red-orange flame also emerged from the blade.

***

'...wow.'

I stared at the 3 spirits swirling around me, then back down at the ashes and remnants of the tree.

'...I'm scarier than I gave myself credit for. Demonic Tunist is a fantastic cla.s.s. I can't believe the idea of spirits also being a part of my music never occurred to me.'

I turned, looking at the ghost, who ironically seemed even paler than before.

I snapped my fingers, and the shackles I set released.

She stumbled on non-existent ground(she was kinda floating after all), and looked up in terror.

"H-how could a inferior-"

"I'm. Not. Inferior."

She looked in my eyes, and the spirits let out a hiss, my own personal soundtrack to give the threatening message I wanted.

"The elves are no better than any human or Beastkin. You are just as selfish, vain, and sinful. I don't know what brainwas.h.i.+ng they put you under, but they aren't perfect by any means. The light has no greater good than the dark, because you make your own d.a.m.n choices, you f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h."

I began walking towards her, the swirling lights around me moving a bit faster.

"You are more evil and corrupt in your beliefs than any demon I know. I've met Tengu with souls that s.h.i.+ne with more light than your own."

And with that, I turned around and walked away.

She's a ghost, it's not like I can kill her, and I need to make sure Luna and Fenrir are okay.

And did I feel pity? When I heard the broken sobs of someone who clearly went crazy centuries ago... faced with nothing but their self and their actions for centuries?

Yes. I felt pity... but not forgiveness.