Free Web NovelInside the World Tree.
The elves split up to act separately. Sul and Lano stayed behind at the entrance to stand guard, while the Elven Queen led Vieya and the remaining elven clan head deeper inside.
Along the way, Vieya saw that the interior of the World Tree was covered everywhere with scars—as if it had been gnawed and ravaged by some gigantic beast. The damage was shocking, unbearable to look at.
“Over twenty years ago, a group of outsiders infiltrated our Elven Royal Court. You’ve probably heard of that incident, right? These remaining traces are what it left behind,” Dorothy said softly.
Vieya nodded in silence.
After answering her question, Dorothy didn’t elaborate further and continued leading them deeper in.
What happened afterward—exiling her own sister to the dungeon, falling out with her daughter—none of that was anything to be proud of. Even as the Elven Queen, she had no desire to dwell on those memories.
“I heard... you seem to have a younger sister as well?” Vieya asked hesitantly.
“And that she was locked in a dungeon, never released for over twenty years... Don’t you ever regret it?”
Dorothy paused, then said, “My sister stood surety for that couple. She should naturally bear responsibility for the disastrous consequences they caused. Just as Aislin stood surety for you—if the World Tree were truly harmed because of you, she would bear the greatest responsibility.”
“That’s so cruel...” Vieya said.
“Shouldn’t you be moved to tears by my daughter’s trust in you?” Dorothy raised a brow.
“And ‘cruel’ is overstating it. The highest punishment is only a few thousand years of confinement. Taking responsibility for one’s actions and decisions is something every adult elf is supposed to do.”
“Alright, alright. Stop preaching...”
Vieya sighed helplessly, then suddenly asked another question.
“Your Majesty, back then, was it dragon-type monsters that sneaked in to wreak havoc?” She paused, then added, “Those marks we saw earlier don’t look like something ordinary monsters could leave.”
“Yes. They were dragons,” Dorothy replied, her voice turning cold. “A pair of disguised evil dragons.”
Vieya’s heart skipped violently. She hurriedly continued, circling around the topic.
“Two evil dragons? I wonder what kind of dragons could evade the elves’ detection arrays and sneak in. That’s just despicable. If I ever run into similar dragons in the future, I’ll wipe them out completely—eradicate every last bloodline of that kind to eliminate future trouble! Ahem, after all, I’m also a righteous hero acknowledged by the Holy Sword.”
“......”
Dorothy gave Vieya a strange look. “Are you curious what those two evil dragons looked like?”
“Uh?” Vieya suppressed the turbulent emotions surging in her heart and said calmly,
“To be honest, I’ve lived a long time and still haven’t seen a true dragon. I’ve slain a few mixed-blood evil dragons, though...”
“I see.”
Dorothy didn’t suspect anything. She sighed and slowly said, “Actually, it wasn’t just two. Three evil dragons entered the Elven Royal Court that year.”
“Three?”
Vieya felt like she’d been struck by thunder from a clear sky. Damn it—could that incident from over twenty years ago really have something to do with Flaviel?
But that didn’t seem right. Given Flaviel’s personality, she would never stoop to exploiting someone else’s feelings like that...
Wait. Exploiting someone’s feelings...
No.
Vieya snapped awake as if from a dream. Cold sweat seeped from her forehead.
Wasn’t she herself in this situation precisely because she’d been deceived emotionally?
If not for her daughter cushioning her emotions, she might still be treating Flaviel as a mortal enemy—loving and hating her at the same time.
‘You useless slime! Played like a fiddle by evil dragons again!’
Smack!
Unable to bring herself to use force, Vieya lightly patted her own cheek.
“Vieya, you... what’s wrong?”
Dorothy stopped and turned around, looking at the slime girl who had just slapped herself. A trace of confusion and surprise flashed through her eyes. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
“You were fine just now. Why hit your own face?”
“It’s nothing. Just cold weather—my face got stiff. Loosening it up,” Vieya said, exhaling and regaining her composure. She rubbed her cheek and asked,
“Anyway, what did those three dragons look like?”
“That...” Dorothy paused, then answered,
“Strictly speaking, they were two pure-blood black dragons. But they also brought along a gravely ill, unconscious dragon hatchling. To deceive us, they even transformed that evil dragon hatchling into a humanoid form and brought it in together.”
“My sister was completely deceived, and I, as her elder sister, failed to see through it as well... By rights, I too bear guilt for dereliction of duty.”
Dorothy suddenly coughed for a while, taking several breaths before continuing.
“That black dragon couple somehow learned that the elves’ World Tree could bring the dead back to life. From the very beginning, their goal was to revive the dragon hatchling they held in their arms.”
“For that reason, we came into conflict. They threatened to destroy the World Tree unless we cooperated and used its power to revive their dragon child. We did so—but as a result, the World Tree entered a century-long cooldown.”
As Dorothy finished speaking, Vieya finally let out a breath of relief.
Flaviel wasn’t a black dragon.
Before long, they arrived at what looked like a boundless, towering wall. No—this wasn’t a wall, but the roots of the World Tree. It was simply so enormous that, to a tiny slime, it appeared as a wall.
“This is the World Tree,” Dorothy said softly.
“First, try touching it and establishing a connection. But under normal circumstances, only elves or beings born from it can establish a conn—”
Suddenly—
Dorothy froze.
She saw the slime extend a hand to touch the World Tree—and in the very next instant, the World Tree responded.
A pale blue halo descended from above, firmly enveloping the slime girl.
No—aren’t you a slime?!
I’ve lived for thousands of years—when did the World Tree ever cultivate slimy, evil monsters like slimes?!
Dorothy rubbed her eyes hard. Yet the scene before her was unmistakable—the World Tree was resonating with a slime!
“Future... am I seeing things? The World Tree responded to a slime?” Dorothy asked.
“Your Majesty, you’re probably not mistaken,” Future swallowed, unable to stay silent any longer.
“Besides dragons and elves... the World Tree has now responded to a slime.”
“Could this slime be an evil dragon in disguise?” The Elven Queen’s imagination ran wild.
“P-Probably not?” Future said nervously. “If it really is an evil dragon, what do we do then?”
“Kill it to eliminate future trouble,” Dorothy narrowed her eyes, staring dangerously at the slime wrapped in light.
“So the abnormal activity of dragon-sprout grass in the fairy village earlier had its reason after all!”
“Hey! I’m still right here! I heard everything you said!” Vieya finally snapped, black lines all over her face.
“And also, take a good look at your own strength—can you even beat me? If I wanted to make a move, I would’ve done it long ago!”
“Y-Your Majesty, did you hear that? She said she’s going to make a move! Against us! Against the elves!”
Future bit her handkerchief in terror. “She’s going to destroy us!”
“Since things have come to this,” Dorothy said calmly, “then we’ll strike first.”
“Hey—wait, you’re serious?! Can you even beat me, you bunch of self-important elves!” Vieya glared, preparing to pull her hand away from the World Tree.
Smack!
The next second, Dorothy pressed down on Vieya’s left hand, and Future pressed down on her right. Together, they forced the slime—who was trying to leave the World Tree—back against it, making her stick to its surface.
“According to the World Tree Linking Procedure, the process can be roughly divided into three steps. The first step is to touch it and resonate with it—this is the most ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) critical step. Aside from pure-blood elves and pure-blood dragons, no other race can possibly succeed.”
Dorothy held Vieya’s left shoulder, helping her gradually calm down, then continued evenly,
“This first step can also be seen as a matching process. Only beings that successfully match can proceed to the subsequent steps. The remaining two steps are to take its essence, discard its dross, adapt to it—and finally, complete the true link.”
“Huh?”
Vieya was stunned. Just as she processed what Dorothy said and prepared to memorize it carefully, Dorothy had already begun explaining the next step. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“Second step. First—remove the [bodily self].”
“No longer clinging to form, but becoming able to merge naturally with heaven and earth, to gather and disperse at will.”
“Second—remove the [intentional self].”
“No longer clinging to action or thought, but becoming a breath of clear wind, a blade of grass or a single flower—transforming into all things.”
“Third—remove the [obsessive self].”
“No longer trapped by fixation, but being loved and accepted by all things in the world, thus resonating with the World Tree.”
After these three small steps, Vieya immediately felt that something extra had appeared inside her body.
Then—
With a soft click.
As if a button to become a god had been pressed.
In an instant, Vieya saw the entire Western Continent.
She saw ferries just docking along the western coast. She saw drunken men in cities jointly governed by alliances and tribes. She saw youths on the grasslands riding horses and hunting marmots, fishermen lighting lamps by streams to catch fish, tiger-shaped magical beasts roaming and roaring through forests...
It was as if she had become every living being in the world.
She saw what they saw.
She felt what they felt.
She experienced countless emotions—joy, cheer, exhilaration, tranquility, profundity...
On another side, she felt an infant growing—wailing at birth, then learning to toddle, gazing at the world with curious eyes.
Everything was beautiful.
Until, at a certain moment, life and miracles intersected—and Vieya withdrew from the torrent of information brought by the World Tree.
The final scene—
She saw it.
Aged elves relinquishing their positions to younger elves, walking into the Guardian Forest, merging into one with the trees.
‘This is...’
[World Tree Linked]
“Congratulations, Miss Vieya.”
At that moment, Dorothy and Future stepped forward, supporting the staggering Vieya from either side and offering their congratulations.
Dorothy’s concerned tone, however, carried a hint of helplessness.
“Congratulations on successfully linking with the World Tree and obtaining all of its secrets.”
