"But may I ask you sothing? How did you end up in such a condition that even you were on the verge of being corrupted?"
Hearing that question, the World Tree went silent. After a few monts, she let out a long sigh and softly said,
{Let’s get seated first. Our talk will take a very long ti.}
As soon as her words ended, the surroundings changed completely. The ground transford into a serene garden filled with blooming flowers, and the previously white sky turned into a deep black night. Countless stars twinkled gently, and the silver moon shone brightly, casting a calm and gentle light across the entire space.
Soon after, a table and two chairs appeared. The Great Mother gracefully took her seat and gestured for Ash to sit as well.
In front of Ash, a silver cup filled with a glowing green liquid materialized, along with a transparent jar. Ash glanced at the drink but chose not to touch it.
{So, let tell you from the beginning...}
According to what the World Tree began explaining, sixteen years ago, the previous Elf King had decided to step down after fulfilling his duties. Before his retirent, he made a heartfelt wish to the World Tree.
He simply desired to live the remaining years of his life—about one or two more—in peace, without responsibilities, and surrounded by calmness.
The World Tree accepted this wish, and as a result, a transition period began. The king had stepped down, and the process of selecting the next ruler had started.
During this critical ti, the World Tree needed to retreat her focus to begin the sacred process of choosing a new monarch. It was not sothing that could be done lightly.
She had to scan for potential, innate talent, kindness, strength, and countless other traits. Even though many qualities of a great ruler are shaped by experience, the foundation must still be right.
However, what the World Tree did not expect was that, during this narrow window—when the previous king had stepped down, and she had temporarily withdrawn her awareness from the physical world—a demon would seize the opportunity to act.
One such demon managed to infiltrate the castle of the Elf King, which stood at the highest branch of the World Tree itself.
Moving silently past every protective barrier and ward, the demon entered the king’s chamber and ended his life while he was resting.
Since the king was already near the end of his natural lifespan, his body was frail, and he did not have much strength left to resist.
He died tragically.
And at that very sa mont, the World Tree chose the next queen.
A phenonon appeared across the continent—a crown of erald leaves and glowing light manifested above the head of a five-year-old girl nad Serena. A child born with a pure soul, high affinity, and the gentle heart of a ruler. She was chosen as the next Queen.
When the World Tree reconnected her consciousness with reality after completing the process, she was shocked to discover that four years had already passed.
The demonic heart had manipulated ti itself inside her sacred space, and she—despite being a being near the level of divinity—had been affected.
By the ti she realized what had happened, the Demonic Heart had already embedded itself deep within her roots.
It had corroded several vital regions, and if it had continued for much longer, it would have reached the core of the World Tree.
To prevent that outco, the World Tree redirected the majority of her mana to guard the core, wrapping it in layers of protection. From that mont, a long internal battle began between her and the Demonic Heart. It was a constant struggle, a tug of war between corruption and purity.
However, since the Demonic Heart had already consud a large portion of her mana and converted it into demonic energy, she found herself constantly pushed back. She wanted to call Serena for help, but she could not. So instead, she relied on the spirits.
Many loyal spirits willingly sacrificed themselves to slow the corruption. They offered everything they had.
But whenever the World Tree attempted to send one of them out to deliver a ssage or warning to the Elves, the Demonic Heart would strike them down. It used demonic spirits to intercept and kill any ssengers trying to reach the outside.
And like that, ti passed in silence. Until now.
When Ash appeared.
"Don’t you know who the demon was?" Ash asked.
{I don’t. What I am telling you is what I learned from that Demonic Heart. It was always boasting about how it corrupted , about what it would do to my children after taking control over ... He was trying to break my will at that mont.}
"I see," Ash muttered softly.
"But don’t you think the timing fits a little too perfectly? There definitely must have been so insider who provided the information to the demons. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for the demons to know about the exact mont, right?"
{O Savior, none of my children would ever think of harming . That is sothing I am confident of. There must be so sort of Diviner present on the demons’ side.}
Hearing that, Ash’s mind jolted as if a light bulb had been switched on.
I see. That ans my previous guess about the demons purposely removing future obstacles was true.
{Does that answer all of your questions?}
"Yes."
Even though I now know this information, there is nothing I can do about it right now... Only by knowing the future can I prevent sothing from happening before it occurs.
But most of those things are either unknown to , or already destroyed because of my ddling...
Should I look for...
{Why don’t you drink that elixir I prepared? It is ant to calm the mind, no matter how stormy or conflicted it might be.}
Ash’s thoughts were cut off the mont he heard the words "mind" and "elixir." He imdiately rembered that he needed to ask the World Tree about the problem concerning Dark Ash’s mories.
{Drink everything in one go.}
Heeding her words, Ash gulped the entire cup in a single breath. And as soon as the drink slid down his throat, his mind went completely blank.
All the inner turmoil and confusion were cast aside like worthless clutter. The ssy emotions and overlapping thoughts of Dark Ash were pushed far back into the recesses of his mind, allowing his original consciousness and intentions to surface once more.
His breathing beca rough, like soone who had just run for several days without rest.
What the hell is this...?
After absorbing Dark Ash’s mories, Ash had convinced himself that his ntality was strong and stable. He thought everything was under control.
What he had not noticed was how deeply his thought process, his behavior, and even his judgnt had begun to twist and distort over ti.
He had done so many unnecessary things. Things that were completely off his original plan.
Originally, Ash had decided to travel to Dragon continent, acquire the Rune of Space, create a teleportation skill, and only then co back to heal Elysia using the skill creation chance granted by his trait. By creating skill with Rune of Life
If, even after that, he still failed to heal her, he would then consider going to the Elven Continent.
But when he woke up after the mory fusion, his thoughts had taken a different turn altogether. His reasoning had shifted into sothing else entirely.
His mind began telling him that he might as well take the Rune of Ti too. And from there, one thing led to another. His actions started becoming irrational, unnecessary, and increasingly chaotic.
He could have completely avoided the whole Dragon Slayer scene simply by staying silent and waiting for the right ti to escape. But he didn’t. Instead, he stole the dragon egg when there was no real reason to.
He had even been scolded by Solareth and Lumielle.
What made it worse was that Ash never intended to take the Rune of Ti at this point in the story. In the original version, that Rune was sothing Ray wouldn’t receive until far later—deep into the narrative. But now, Ash had taken it far too early.
What is this...?
I am getting... No... No, no, no...
"AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly a scream tore from his mouth as his head throbbed violently, as if it were about to split open. The Great Mother looked at Ash with pitiful eyes and gently placed her hand on his forehead, and her hand started to emit white light.
Shockingly, his headache vanished. But Ash’s eyes were bloodshot. The veins in his eyes were clearly visible. His breath ca out in ragged bursts.
"Y-You k-knew, d-didn’t you...?" Ash asked, his voice trembling as he kept his gaze fixed to the ground, unable to et her eyes.
With the sa pitiful expression, she said,
{O child, I have lived a very long life, and it is not my first ti witnessing soone’s mind being influenced by foreign mories.}
{When you live long enough, you experience and learn many things, and with ti, you gain many abilities. The mont you stepped into my domain, I was able to see a bright light inside you, one that was being slowly shrouded by darkness, as if the darkness was trying to corrode that light completely.}
{Even that concealnt skill of yours was useless here. Everything about you was laid bare before to see. Although I cannot inside your body, but from every angle it appears perfectly normal.}
{That is why I summoned you here. Not because I had bad intentions, but because as soon as your concealnt dropped, I felt a trendous wave of causality attached to you. It was like the weight of countless fates trying to shift around your presence.}
But Ash, ignoring everything else she had said about fate and concealnt, asked in a calm and steady voice,
"Can you help remove these mories?"
His breathing was no longer ragged, and his tone carried no hesitation, though the Great Mother still had not lifted her hand from his forehead.
Because of her touch, no unnecessary thoughts were swirling in his mind. Everything was quiet. His thoughts were no longer a storm. He was focused solely on the present mont.
{The human brain has a natural tendency to forget unnecessary or painful mories over ti. In this particular case, the best and safest thod is simply ti. Ti will heal everything. As days and months pass, your mind will begin to erase the mories it finds irrelevant or damaging. Eventually, only the most important and precious ones will remain.}
{The ones that truly mattered to you. Those alone will endure.}
"Is there no other way?" Ash asked again, his tone quiet but pressing.
{Why are you in such a hurry, child? There is indeed another thod, but it is extrely dangerous. It involves forcibly severing the mories from your soul. In doing so, there is a chance your soul may beco damaged. And if that happens, even I will not be able to heal it.}
"Tell what it is," Ash replied without hesitation, his voice beca still and emotionless. "Because I have perfect mory. I won’t forget these mories for my entire life."
Even as he spoke, a single tear slid down from his eye and trailed along his cheek, silent and unnoticed.
***
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