So it turns out that even putting items into a storage space isn't completely safe,
Hel thought to herself as she raised her right hand and looked at the wound on her finger, which was slowly healing.
I take back what I said earlier. At the very least, ordinary saint-rank powerhouses can't break through these spaces, she added inwardly. After all, the materials used to construct this body were all top-tier substances such as auric gold and primordial matter. Because of that, her physical durability far surpassed that of saint-rank experts who still possessed flesh-and-blood bodies.
Alright. The experiment's over. Time to look for the Flower Spirit Mother Tree.
With a shift of thought, Hel followed the connection between herself and the Flower Spirit Mother Tree and sensed her way over. Fortunately, in this bizarre world, as long as two parties shared a certain degree of connection, distance no longer mattered—one could arrive in an instant with nothing more than a thought.
Thus, the moment Hel thought of it, she found herself standing before the Flower Spirit Mother Tree.
The Mother Tree before her was even more massive than when she had last seen it. A colossal trunk woven from countless vines rose into the clouds like a mountain peak. At the top of those vines bloomed nine enormous flowers, each seeming almost alive as they trembled to a peculiar rhythm.
Whenever they expanded, countless specks of light gathered toward the flowers. And whenever they contracted again, some of those specks—now dulled in color—were expelled. The repeated motion looked exactly like breathing.
Beneath those nine massive petals, the tree was covered in a dense cluster of palm-sized buds. However, just like the ones Spurl had once summoned, these buds were all withered and shriveled, looking severely malnourished.
So this is the Flower Spirit Mother Tree's true form?
Hel extended her palm and gently touched the Mother Tree. Sensing her presence, the Flower Spirit Mother Tree radiated a faint sense of joy. The breathing buds swayed back and forth a few times, as if greeting her.
This time was different from when Hel's true body had arrived. Lyco's avatar did not carry the aura of death, so the Flower Spirit Mother Tree behaved a little more intimately than it had toward Hel's original body. Still, that slight closeness alone was far from enough to make the Mother Tree descend into the real world.
Thus, the instant Hel's fingers brushed against the Flower Spirit Mother Tree, she applied the God-Slave Mark.
"All right. Let's go back."
Through the God-Slave Mark, Hel issued a command to the Flower Spirit Mother Tree, ordering it to descend into the real world together with her.
The moment the command was given, strands of silvery light suddenly spread out around the Mother Tree, enveloping both it and Hel. Then, at the crown of the tree, one of the flowers quivered slightly. Hel could sense that it was using an external summoning grimoire to lock onto its position.
She had no idea how much time passed—only that the sensation was both interminably long and strangely brief at the same time.
When Hel opened her eyes again, she found herself inside the underground shelter.
Beside her stood a vine-like sapling, only about half a person tall.
Yet the instant they appeared in the real world, a force far stronger than the rejection she had felt at the beginning came crashing down on her. It felt as though, in the very next moment, both she and the Flower Spirit Mother Tree would be expelled back into subspace.
Seeing this, Hel immediately grabbed the Mother Tree and opened its trait panel.
Two silver traits and one black trait appeared before her—these were the three traits she had previously been unable to discern.
[Illusory Existence (Silver)]: You do not belong to reality. You are a construct of illusion, and thus can remain in subspace for extended periods of time.
[Floral Anchor (Silver)]: Your flowers have formed a certain connection with the real world. By relying on this, you can briefly descend into reality.
[Spatial Exile (Black)]: A curse from the King of Giants, banishing you into subspace. Though the fairies' magic has weakened this curse, you still cannot remain in the real world for long.
So this is the trait causing the problem.
With a thought, Hel sent Spatial Exile into her trait storage. After that, although she could still feel the faint sense of rejection from the world, the overwhelming pressure that had nearly forced her out was gone.
Only then did Hel carefully examine the Flower Spirit Mother Tree again.
Aside from the nine massive flowers atop its crown, the rest of the Mother Tree looked almost identical to the one Spur had summoned before. Those nine flowers, however, began to rapidly close up after the Mother Tree descended into the real world, eventually shrinking into bud-like forms similar to the surrounding ones.
Clearly, these flowers—used by the Mother Tree to absorb nourishment while in subspace—were not suited to this reality.
The roots of this Flower Spirit Mother Tree also showed signs of degeneration. The original bulbous base no longer bore slender, fleshy tendrils. All that remained was a bulb wrapped in layered scales resembling dragon scales. As for the fleshy roots beneath, they had vanished entirely—apparently a unique evolutionary adaptation that allowed the Mother Tree to survive in subspace.
After that, Hel used the God-Slave Mark to forcibly extract and separate all of the Mother Tree's memories. Once stripped of its memories, the Flower Spirit Mother Tree became much easier to control.
In fact, Hel could now even stuff her own soul into it and directly possess the Mother Tree's body.
However, to truly succeed in possession, Hel would have to insert her entire soul—including her true spirit. That was something she could not accept.
So instead, she controlled the Flower Spirit Mother Tree to split off portions of its soul, while simultaneously having her true body absorb those fragments. Then she tore off parts of her own original soul to replace them.
Hel's own soul—even if it was not her true spirit—was still a part of herself. Even when separated from her, it remained under her control.
But the Flower Spirit Mother Tree was different. It had no true spirit at all; its soul was nothing more than a massive mass of pure soul energy. Even if Hel absorbed it, there would be no adverse effects on her own soul—only the sensation of having swallowed an enormous tonic, leaving her feeling uncomfortably full.
Meanwhile, under Hel's continuous replacement with fragments of her own soul, the Flower Spirit Mother Tree would gradually, completely transform into Hel.
It would, however, be an exceedingly long process.