Viktor walked through the manor's backyard with Cocotte in his arms.
What had once been a vast, boundless grassland, nothing but lush green fields and a single towering tree piercing the sky under the sun, had changed.
Now, all kinds of oddly shaped houses stood scattered across the land.
Twisting wooden towers, bird-shaped wooden hos…
The elves built whatever they pleased. As long as they liked it, anything could be constructed on this stretch of grassland.
One wooden house had a broad corner jutting upward. Several elves lay sprawled on its roof, praying toward the towering World Tree in the distance.
The elves lived freely on the grass, chatting, playing, sleeping…
Here, they were as carefree as they had been in the Elven Forest.
They had already settled here for so ti.
Every elf living here was an employee of the Clavena family.
Viktor did not disturb their daily lives. He passed quietly through the strange buildings, heading toward the Yard World Tree.
Morning sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, falling in scattered patches onto Viktor's black windbreaker.
A deep sheen moved across the fabric, and half his face was dappled with shifting light.
In his arms, Cocotte slept soundly, facing the beam of light.
Viktor looked up. Compared to before, the towering Yard World Tree had grown sturdier by several folds.
But it was still far from how it had once stood in the Elven Forest.
After all, there it had been nourished by the entire elven race.
The thick trunk bore crooked patterns, its dark brown bark slightly stretched apart.
Its tangled roots plunged deep into the soil, overturning layers of earth.
It stood like a sacred presence atop a small hill... solitary and solemn.
Holding Cocotte, Viktor approached the World Tree. A trace of vibrant green natural magic flickered through his eyes.
The next mont, the surrounding air began to tremble in a rhythmic pulse.
And the source of it all was the trembling of the World Tree itself.
The movent drew every elf's attention. They stopped what they were doing, all eyes turning toward the quivering tree.
Dark bark peeled from the trunk, but instead of falling, it hovered in the air, circling a hollow opening.
At the center of that opening flowed a cluster of glowing green light. Carrying Cocotte, Viktor rose toward it, gradually rging into the flowing green.
Buzz!
A deep resonance echoed around the tree. The elves stared blankly at the spot where Viktor had disappeared.
The floating bark drifted back, reassembling over the opening.
The trembling air gradually stilled, returning to its usual calm.
When the elves ca back to their senses, all they saw were the towering branches of the Yard World Tree swaying gently in the rising breeze.
Leaves rustled softly.
Everything fell silent again.
———
After passing through a stretch of flowing green light, Viktor found himself surrounded by walls of intertwined vines.
At the very center of the World Tree, a cluster of natural magic pulsed faintly, like a breathing heart.
That was the heart of the Yard World Tree.
As it rose and fell, it sensed an approaching presence.
Within this enclosed space, dark, heavy storm clouds gathered high above.
Lightning flickered within them, and the air grew thick and oppressive.
A damp scent filled Viktor's nose. Reflected in his eyes was the flash of lightning...
And more importantly, a massive dragon, its body covered in white scales, revealed itself.
Viktor looked at the heart that had taken the form of a dragon and gave a slight nod.
"Looks like you've been doing well lately."
As he spoke, he flipped his palm, and a dark, swirling sphere appeared in his hand.
[Chaos Dragon King's Gene: A mysterious gene containing the power of an ancient dragon. It may be able to rge with an ancient dragon.]
Perched on his shoulder, Vega stared at the swirling sphere, seemingly recalling what had happened last ti.
It couldn't help but complain, "You're planning to turn this thing into a monster again?"
Viktor looked at the Chaos Dragon King's gene and spoke calmly.
"It's just an experint. It might wake Cocotte up."
He raised his arm and released the dark sphere.
The gene slowly rose into the air, sinking into the dense storm clouds before vanishing.
The Storm Dragon King swallowed it whole.
The next second, a dark violet starlight flared within its abdon.
Its pale, scale-covered body began to tremble. Every scale quivered rapidly, like shards of ice clashing together.
Dark violet energy spread outward from its belly, invading the massive body.
In the blink of an eye, dark ripples flowed across the dragon's pale form.
The ice-like scales touched by the ripples temporarily turned dark violet, colliding and producing faint, low-frequency vibrations that echoed through the enclosed space.
Two pairs of dark wings suddenly grew from its long, serpentine body... veins clearly defined, shadows flowing within.
The mane where its head t its body still crackled with lightning.
Sharp horns sprouted from its head, curving upward like a crescent of dark moonlight.
At this mont, the Storm Dragon King had completely transford.
[Lord of Chaotic Storms]
The crow perched on Viktor's shoulder opened its beak wide, its single black eye staring in shock.
The dragon's massive form, coursing with dark violet ripples, reflected in its gaze, leaving Vega deeply shaken.
Viktor… had really created a monster.
And not just any monster.
"Viktor, you made a dragon!?"
Vega knew exactly where that dark violet Chaos Dragon King gene had co from.
Viktor had casually killed that creature while crafting his staff.
Staring at the chaotic thunder dragon, Vega could feel even the surrounding air changing.
It grew heavier, more violent, laced with chaotic energy.
Even the Chaos Dragon King from the Shadowed Airspace back then hadn't carried such a sharp presence.
After all, those two dragons, originally born from pure energy, could only exist in environnts rich in natural magic.
They weren't true dragons... just conglorations of energy.
The Storm Dragon King's energy constantly split and recombined irregularly, allowing it to reconstruct itself even after fatal damage... achieving a form of "revival."
The Chaos Dragon King's energy embodied chaotic absorption, able to take in any energy and turn it into chaos.
That was why it had been able to grow stronger using the unstable energy of that floating island.
But both required energy to fully display their traits.
The Yard World Tree itself was a reservoir of natural energy... abundant and vast.
So when their residual genes rged with the World Tree's physical heart.
Those loose, scattered strands of natural energy found a bridge to condense into reality, gaining a tangible, flesh-and-blood form.
Simply put, the dragon before them was now no different from a real dragon.
At this mont, Viktor stepped forward and gently placed Cocotte into a clear, azure pool ford naturally by the World Tree.
Her pale body slowly sank beneath the water.
A faint blue glow radiated from her, adding a mysterious sheen to her delicate profile.
The water rippled softly. Her hair spread across the surface, her eyelids unmoving.
Viktor crossed her arms over her chest and gazed at her peaceful sleeping face before stepping back.
"You know, Vega."
"What?"
Vega blinked, slightly taken aback.
Then it heard Viktor say, in an even tone, "The World Tree needs the Elven Queen. And the Elven Queen needs the World Tree."
Vega frowned slightly, not fully understanding.
If the Elven Queen needed the World Tree, why had Cocotte refused to return to the Elven Forest?
And why had Viktor burned down the Yard World Tree?
"Because Cocotte is a 'conscious' Elven Queen."
A living queen would naturally refuse to remain within the World Tree forever.
But the Yard World Tree desired the Elven Queen to stay within it... preferably asleep, never to awaken...
Until her lifespan ended, dying within the tree, her consciousness returning to nature.
Vega caught onto Viktor's wording imdiately.
"A conscious queen? What does that an?"
"Are you saying a queen can exist without consciousness?"
It felt like it had just stumbled upon sothing significant.
Because right now, Cocotte had entered a state without consciousness.
At that mont, Viktor raised his hand again.
From behind his windbreaker, glowing green lines crept upward, wrapping around his back and extending along his arm.
Lush greenery ford into branches that plunged into the water, coiling around Cocotte's body.
At the sa ti, dense natural energy surged through the branches, pouring into the pool.
In that instant, Vega's gaze locked onto Cocotte.
More precisely, onto the faint ripples of light radiating from her.
Under Viktor's continuous infusion of energy, her body began to dissolve...
Turning into ripples that rged with the water, slowly flowing into the depths of the World Tree.
Watching the scene, Vega spoke with interest, "I see."
"These elves… what kind of being created sothing like them?"
As if in response, the surroundings stirred.
From the gaps between the vine walls, clear blue ripples flowed... identical to the glow emanating from Cocotte.
In that instant, the entire interior of the World Tree seed to co alive.
Azure natural magic surged like a current, even the vines twisting slightly.
High above, rows of unconscious puppet-like figures opened their eyes.
Light burst from their gaze, and mysterious natural energy flowed across their bodies.
Even the dragon floating in the air was affected, blue magic coursing between its scales.
A vast power erupted from its roar, surging through the vines.
At the sa ti, Viktor's voice sounded in Vega's ear, "The Yard World Tree is ford from every Elven Queen that has died."
He looked at Cocotte, lying peacefully within the pool, and gave the final answer, "This process is called..."
"'Returning to Nature.'"
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