Ribia was the first to rush toward the collapsed Lucarion.

She grabbed the unconscious Lucarion by the shoulders and shook him.

"Magic Creature! Wake up!"

But no matter how many times she called, Lucarion did not regain consciousness.

With trembling eyes, Ribia looked around frantically.

The vines covering the walls continued growing even now.

An overwhelming energy was pouring out from inside the room.

"What are we supposed to do?! Should we call a healer or not?!"

Bale urged Tesetan anxiously.

But Tesetan remained frozen in place.

His gaze lowered toward the child in his arms.

Golden light was still radiating from Tie’s heart.

And now it had grown even stronger than before.

"The little one’s head is burning up! Someone hurry and bring a wet towel!"

The frantic voices gradually faded in ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Tesetan’s ears.

Before his eyes surfaced the golden eyes he had seen in Jongno.

'From the very moment I sprouted, this place became mine.'

The World Tree.

He had already suspected it the very first time he stood face to face with it.

That the World Tree, believed to have vanished after being corrupted, had taken root inside his daughter.

But the problem was something else.

'I never understood why or how it happened.'

Tesetan had thought about it for a long time.

Why the World Tree, which should have remained asleep in the Roxe Forest, had rooted itself inside Tie’s heart.

Through what path it had arrived here.

And why it had chosen his daughter.

Why Tie.

Naturally, he had never found an answer.

In the end, there was only one way to solve all of those questions.

'To go to the Roxe Forest on the Central Continent myself.'

And see the World Tree with his own eyes.

"Vice Commander! Put the young lady down over here!"

"Little one, why are you sick again...?!"

"Lord Bale! What should we do about Lord Lucarion and Lord Pupu? They look unconscious..."

The squad members rushed around in confusion.

Distracted, Tesetan watched as Ribia carefully laid Tie on the bed.

The child was so small she did not even occupy half of it.

Uuuung—

At that moment, an immense pressure suddenly made his ears ring.

Tesetan, who wielded holy power, understood immediately.

An enormous force had filled the entire outpost.

"...Little one, little one."

Ardiana dropped to her knees beside the bed.

Her eyes shimmered with tears as she looked down at Tie.

Tesetan squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

'...What am I supposed to do?'

The squad members kept saying they needed to call a healer.

But a healer was not what Tie needed.

The reason the child would not wake up was neither illness nor injury.

The vines filling the room and the holy power overflowing through the outpost proved that.

Tesetan opened his eyes.

As if reaching some kind of decision, he stepped toward Ardiana and Tie.

And at that exact moment—

"[Kwaak-!]"

A strange cry rang out near his feet.

When he lowered his gaze, he saw something desperately wriggling beneath him.

"Marbas?"

"[M M Master’s father! Move your foot, your foot first-!]"

Tesetan stepped back.

Marbas panted heavily, as though he had barely survived death.

"[My head almost exploded! I barely escaped the control, and then I nearly got crushed to death immediately afterward!]"

Hopping around, Marbas leaned against one of the bedposts.

In the next instant, a brilliant light burst around him.

And where Marbas had stood, someone unfamiliar appeared.

"Everyone listen carefully! We have a huge problem!"

Skin white as snow.

Curly brown hair.

And the appearance of a boy around thirteen years old.

"Lord Lucarion and Lord Pupu were connected! That terrifying absolute ruler is trying to completely devour our Master!"

The lion ears atop Marbas’s head twitched.

"Waaah... only I managed to escape...! While it happened, my memories got reconstructed! I remembered everything — who I am, and who Lord Lucarion and Lord Pupu really are!"

Marbas climbed to his feet.

"I don’t really know how to explain this, but Master always used to say something! In the world where Master lived, there was a saying — ‘better to see once than hear a hundred times’!"

He swallowed hard.

"Luckily, while escaping the control, I absorbed a massive amount of power."

A red light ignited inside Marbas’s eyes.

Strange rays began gathering around him.

"Target — multiple subjects. Projection radius — twenty steps. Conversion into visual playback waves. Chain deployment!"

And at the same moment, the surrounding space flashed brightly—

"Seradin was corrupted, Mother."

It was a memory from the distant past.

After confirming that the spell had activated successfully, Marbas let out a relieved breath.

He could feel the consciousnesses of every squad member inside the room connecting to the carefully designed chain.

'It worked!'

Now everyone in Agavert would witness the memories he was about to reveal.

Marbas shifted his awareness toward the source of the voice. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"She ultimately became a Magic Crystal as well. In her final moments, she managed to regain herself long enough to seal herself within the depths of the sea... but one day, she will rise back to the surface."

The speaker was a tall man with silver hair.

Krazar.

The being Astie now called Pupu.

"Even I’m finding it harder and harder to suppress the frenzy. Whether my eyes are open or closed, that sweet voice keeps whispering to me. Kill. Tear everything apart..."

Beneath his robe, Krazar’s hand gripped a long sword tightly.

A small wooden doll swayed from the end of the hilt.

Marbas felt something strange.

'So that was me...'

Originally, Marbas had been a spirit serving under Krazar.

Thanks to his extraordinary magical engineering knowledge, he had earned Krazar’s recognition, but in the end he grew too greedy.

'I gave humanity spells, technologies, and knowledge that should never have fallen into their hands.'

And the result had been inevitable.

Krazar personally sealed Marbas inside the wooden doll.

And the moment he recalled that—

[......This is my fault.]

The voice came from something standing opposite Krazar.

A colossal tree so enormous it covered the entire sky swayed slowly, several of its branches already broken.

[I despised him as a pitiful mortal. I believed that no matter how hard he struggled, he could never overcome me. But in the end, that mortal became Papa.]

"......"

[Now even I can no longer resist him easily, my son.]

Krazar’s expression darkened.

[The Supreme Guardians will lose their heads. I have seen a future in which one of them betrays us. Soon, light will vanish from this land.]

The wind passing through the shattered branches produced a low, mournful hum.

It sounded like grief itself.

[My children have become Magic Crystals. Life devours life, Krazar. And now I...]

The air of Roxe Forest was already saturated with corruption.

Luciano had betrayed the World Tree, and the Tree, caught off guard, had lost most of its strength.

"Is there truly no other way left...?"

Krazar’s voice trembled.

With a quiet rustle, the Tree swayed.

[...No. There is only one path remaining.]

"What is it?"

[A tremendous power condensed from my life force. A new seed must be planted.]

Krazar frowned.

"A new seed? But Luciano’s power already covers the entire land. It’s too late to search for another sacred ground..."

[Not in the earth, Krazar. My seed will take root inside a human.]

Krazar’s eyes widened.

[Ardiana, imperial princess of Taranta. And the being that will one day be born from her body. That is where I shall sprout, Krazar.]

A brilliant light began emerging from between the massive trunks of the World Tree.

The light condensed into a single point before stopping in front of Krazar.

[This child is a descendant of Saint Eleanor. At the same time, it is a being that will inherit magical power from its father. There is no vessel more suitable to become my next roots.]

A mass of light.

The seed of the World Tree descended into Krazar’s palm.

[Deliver it to Terasil, my second child and guardian of the earth. Then Terasil will plant it within Ardiana inside the underground chamber of the ancient palace.]

"......"

[And then one day, at the moment that child is born from Ardiana’s body.]

"......"

[I will take root once again.]