Chapter 165: Bittersweet Revenge

Stella's eyes widened as a wave of ash so dense it could be confused for a landslide surged down into the arena with such force it made the ground shake.

Luckily Stella had been expecting the incoming ash, so she had time to react and set an anchor point to quickly open a portal. As space tore open to reveal a path to safety, Stella winced as she saw the imminent surge of ash crash on top of Kassandra.

Within a second, half of the arena was consumed by the ash, and before it could smash into her, Stella stepped through the conjured portal and felt the temperature drop as she exited into a dark tunnel.

A burst of ash impacted her back as the portal collapsed behind her, not from her free will but because the dense ash cloud severed her connection as it devoured the spatial Qi.

Whew, I made it out with a second to spare. Stella let out a sigh. If she hadn't been forewarned about this part of the plan, she wasn't totally sure if she would have been able to escape in time.

And without my spiritual sight, I wouldn't have had a way to enter the spatial plane and set up an anchor to teleport out, so I would have been forced to try and find my way out of the ash storm.

Screams of mortals echoed from one side of the tunnel as they scrambled to escape the ash rapidly rising after blanketing the entire arena. Stella knew they would be fine, as Larry had no plans to kill them.

Brushing herself off, Stella could see the ash storm rising and swirling around the demonic tree through the tunnel exit.

"Roselyn!"

Stella turned to the voice and saw a beaming Elder Margret emerge from the tunnel's darkness, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Why?" Stella tilted her head.

Elder Margret laughed, "For creating a Profound tier pill, obviously! I have never heard of someone learning alchemy as fast as you, and you came second!"

"Oh, thanks?" Stella replied with a feeling of awkwardness. She rarely received praise and wasn't sure how to respond correctly.

Stella then noticed the other Ashfallen sect members and the Redclaw family standing behind Elder Margret. Stella wasn't surprised to see them hiding here as they had all been part of the plan. Under the shroud of the fog and ash, they would retreat here.

Diana and Elaine walked over and removed their masks.

"I'm surprised you're here," Stella said while looking Elaine up and down, "Won't your family notice you're missing?"

Elaine gave a weary smile, "They likely already have, but if I stay behind at the mansion, I will be forced back to Slymere with my brother, and I want to remain here with you guys."

"We did suggest she allow herself to be taken away to gather intel for us after this is all over," Diana chimed in, "But she said that getting information to us would be near impossible due to the void arrays that coat their mansion in Slymere."

Elaine bobbed her head in agreement, "Yeah, and I really don't want to see my Father ever again."

Stella hummed and looked between them, "I see, so what are your plans now?"

"My job here is done," Diana shrugged, "So I guess I will wait here for a portal back to Red Vine Peak, and I assume Elaine and some of the others will join me."

"I will be remaining here with Sebastian and Ryker," The Grand Elder said with his hands behind his back, "To help start the civil war."

Stella nodded, "Okay, glad to see the plan hasn't changed."

"What about you?" Elaine asked, "Are you coming back with us?"

"No, I still have some unfinished business," Stella waved her off, "I just have to wait for the signal from the Patriarch—"

Stella felt the breath knocked out of her as there was a sudden presence. Her head snapped to look toward the source, and at the end of the tunnel, she saw the demonic tree that had previously felt like any other tree now had that distinctive presence of Ashlock.

"He's here," Stella smiled, "The Patriarch has arrived."

Everyone except the Grand Elder had stumbled back several steps and were in various stages of recovering from the sudden burst of power as if some divine being had abruptly descended.

Stella calmly watched the swirling ash beyond the tunnel, patiently awaiting Ashlock to tell her when it was time for her to kill Kassandra and end this hatred burning in her heart.

There was a burst of void Qi from the demonic tree, and then shortly after, a portal manifested in the tunnel. Everyone turned to look at it. Stella saw the dim cavern below Red Vine Peak through the wobbling lilac-tinted portal.

"See you later," Diana waved to Stella and stepped through alongside the other Elders and Elaine, who also bid her farewell with words and waves.

The portal snapped closed, and silence briefly returned. Stella took this moment to eat a Lightning Qi Barrier fruit in preparation for her upcoming part of the plan.

"Theron is dead," Ashlock announced in her mind while she was finishing off the fruit. She paused mid-bite and shuddered a little.

The way Ashlock announced the death of someone that seemed so arrogant and powerful in her mind as if he were talking about the weather, showed how little of a challenge killing someone like Theron Skyrend was to him.

I remember him as a weak little sapling that needed my protection. Since when did Tree grow so powerful.

"You said... you would let me eat..." Kassandra gasped out.

Stella shrugged, "I lied."

Kassandra trembled as she reached up with her only functioning arm and tried to block up the hole in her neck that was oozing blood. A strange wheeze left her mouth as she tried to force the blood-covered pills down her throat but violently coughed them up, and they were whisked away by the fierce winds.

As Kassandra saw her pills vanish, Stella saw the arrogance fade and pure despair overtake Kassandra. Her glowing eyes dimmed as she kept wheezing and trying to breathe through her blood-filled neck with little success.

Stella slowly walked over, kicking up sand as she stepped closer, one step at a time.

Kassandra tried to shuffle away with fear as she stared death in the eyes.

Stella reached down and grabbed a fistful of Kassandra's hair and began dragging her by it.

"You wanted me to be chained to your porch as a slave to your brother," Stella said coldly over Kassandra's spluttering screams, "So how does it feel being dragged around like a chained dog? Humiliating, perhaps?"

With some force, Stella hurled Kassandra back down to the ground and then crouched down and held Kassandra's face a few inches from her own. Only her purple flames illuminated both of their faces as Kassandra's lightning had died down.

As Stella stared the dying woman in the eyes, the pure hatred she had cultivated in her heart mellowed out, and all that consumed her mind was how pathetic this person was.

"You know what I hate, Kassandra?" Stella said, "Wasted potential. You were born with money, status, education, resources, and a loving home. And what do you do with this high station in life? You prance around flaunting your family name and pathetic strength while spitting on those you deem lesser."

Stella tightened her grip, making Kassandra groan in pain, "And all for what? We could have been friends and pursued immortality by uplifting one another. But you would rather boost your ego to the point you were so blind and offended the wrong person. Now look at you. Beaten and broken, alone in the sand."

Kassandra wheezed and clawed at her neck as if trying to free her windpipe from the blood, and Stella felt her words of ridicule die in her throat.

Why had her anger faded? Why did this feel so immoral? Kassandra had done so much wrong to her and the Redclaws, yet as she had the half-dead Kassandra in her hands, the idea of killing her didn't sit right.

Have I become like her?

Stella released her grip, allowing Kassandra to collapse to the sand, and stepped back. The image of the arrogant woman that she had dreamed about brutally murdering in her mind was broken when she stared at the pathetic sight.

What if Kassandra was just misguided and would be willing to repent? Would I even be willing to spare her?

Stella felt the chaotic ashen storm matching her jumbled thoughts. She had never had second thoughts about murder before... in fact, she had been the one to suggest killing Elaine. She had always seen murder as the most efficient solution to dealing with her problems, but now she wasn't so sure.

The dagger in her hand felt heavy as the tip pointed to the floor. If she killed Kassandra right here, wouldn't she be just as bad as her? Kassandra used her political weight behind her to spit on the lessers. Meanwhile, Stella had abused her superior cultivation to beat Kassandra half to death.

Who was really in the right here?

Stella looked down at Kassandra, "Do you wish to be spared?"

Kassandra's eyes briefly widened but then dulled. With a grunt, the dying woman pushed herself onto one knee and spat a large glob of blood onto the sand, "May I know your true name?"

Stella paused for a moment to consider, but she was curious how Kassandra would react to knowing she had a noble family name, so she honored the woman's request. Reaching up, she removed her mask.

"My true name is Stella Crestfallen..."

Due to her height, the two were at eye level—Kassandra grinned with blood-stained teeth and crazed eyes and said slowly, "Stella Crestfallen... to spare me would be an insult. I desire no pity from someone destined to be nothing but a lowly pill furnace."

Stella closed her eyes and plunged the black wood dagger straight into Kassandra's heart, causing her to groan and fall into her embrace. Stella supported the dying woman's weight and whispered into her ear as she drew her final breath, "I spit on destiny, just like you do on those you deem lesser."

Stella then twisted the dagger and ruthlessly pulled it out—ending Kassandra Skyrend's life.

Stepping to the side, the colossal body unceremoniously crumpled to the ground. A mixture of emotions and thoughts spiraled in Stella's mind as she saw the lifeless corpse bleeding out on the sand.

It was over... yet why was it so bittersweet? Why did she feel like, in a twisted way, Kassandra had won?

She was prideful to the bitter end. Not even death could break her arrogance.

A portal opened nearby, and Stella watched as a black vine coated in spikes coiled around the corpse and then dragged it away.

"Satisfied with your revenge?" Ashlock asked within her mind.

Unfortunately, Stella wasn't sure what to say as she saw the foot of Kassanda's corpse vanish through the portal.

"Maybe not every problem can be solved with murder," Stella eventually answered, smiling behind her mask, "But this one certainly was."

Stella then raised her mask slightly and spat on the blood-soaked sand where Kassandra had died, "And that's for the Redclaws."