Free Web NovelThe profundity of the World Tree was plain to see.
In only a fleeting instant, the multitude of experiences it brought her surpassed everything before.
Vieya even found herself a little nostalgic for that wondrous moment just now—when her consciousness had merged with the World Tree’s will and she possessed near-omniscient awareness of the Western Continent.
‘But as things stand, the World Tree’s revival mechanism really is still in its cooldown phase. And back then in the dungeon, Tartaros’s lingering spirit didn’t lie to me— that viscous golden liquid of time truly can accelerate the cooldown...’
‘And with such a huge pool inside me—even accounting for diminishing returns, as long as it’s not outrageous, it’s more than enough. In the end, the only real question is whether a single broken horn will be enough. After all, Flaviel’s true form is enormous—she blots out the clouds, and a single sneeze could blow me away...’
Forget it. One step at a time.
If there’s a problem, we deal with it head-on.
Satisfied, Vieya glanced at the two elves watching her nearby and calmly withdrew her hand from the World Tree.
The link was complete—there was no need to keep holding on.
Seeing Vieya disengage from that [divine] state, Dorothy quietly let out a breath of relief as well. This slime girl didn’t look very bright, but her actual capacity far exceeded expectations—under such a violent torrent of information, she’d only been dazed for a moment before recovering.
Thinking back, Dorothy couldn’t help sighing. When she herself had first been flooded by that information stream, her brain had crashed outright—she’d lost consciousness and collapsed beneath the World Tree, sleeping for most of the day before waking up.
Was this what it meant to be a plug-in player?
“Miss Vieya, are you really sure there’s nothing wrong with your body?” Dorothy asked.
“Nope. What could be wrong? I feel great.”
“Great?”
Dorothy couldn’t even look directly at that word. Being violently force-fed chaotic information straight into the brain—and you call that great?
Fine. Maybe monster girls are tougher than elves—hardier, more resilient. Especially monster girls among monster girls—slime girls among slime girls.
“Yeah.”
Vieya nodded. She even wanted to try it a few more times. The more she did, the more information she’d see, the more detailed the history she could trace back. For instance—completely cracking open all of Flaviel’s information, pulling out everything about [Ghost] by following the clues...
Unfortunately, when she reached out and touched the World Tree again, that wondrous sensation didn’t descend this time.
What a pity. freewebnσvel.cѳm
‘But let’s handle the important business first.’
Vieya took a deep breath and connected with the miniature Golden City within her body. Then, a delicate, palm-sized Golden City figurine appeared in her hand. Pure golden liquid time wrapped around the dragon horn, flowing outward along the guidance of her manipulation technique and pouring into the World Tree.
‘Revive, my evil dragon lover!’
With elves watching from the side, Vieya only dared to chant it silently in her heart.
The very next second—
The World Tree underwent a drastic change. Bolstered by golden time, it shone with boundless radiance. At the same time, the terrifying claw marks left behind in this space rapidly healed—blink, and the deep gouges were restored to their original state, smooth enough to fry eggs on.
Next came a tremor that shook the entire World Tree space.
That vibration rippled straight into the real world, causing the Elven Royal Court built atop the World Tree’s roots to tremble violently.
Threads of golden aura seeped up from the ground and drifted into the sky, dyeing the clouds a pale gold, floating there like layers upon layers of golden cotton candy.
The anomaly over the Elven Royal Court quickly drew the attention of all major powers across the Western Continent—some monsters hiding within human society even turned their gazes toward it.
Within those gazes were curiosity, greed, brutality, and countless other desires...
But there was no fear.
To them, the elven homeland—now /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ stripped of its protective barrier—was like a snapping turtle without its shell. No threat at all. Easy prey.
What surprised Vieya, however, was that even though the World Tree’s cooldown had clearly finished under the nourishment, it was still continuously siphoning off her remaining liquid time.
“Hey! What are you doing—treating me like a buffet?!”
I still need to save some of this to feed my evil dragon wife later! If you eat it all now, what’s the deal?! You’re cooled down already—leave me some!
“Stop sucking! Revive her first!”
Watching her pool run dry while the World Tree greedily kept drawing, Vieya’s eyes went red. She tried to break the link and give it a kick—but Dorothy and Future grabbed her together and held her back.
“Impulse is the devil! It’s helping you shape a preliminary body for your ex-wife—eating a bit more is normal!”
“Yes, yes! Miss Vieya, you have to calm down!”
“I am calm—but you two, let go of my hands first!”
Vieya could only watch as her pool hit bottom, while the World Tree looked as though it had grown thousands of years younger.
Yet the World Tree didn’t act immediately. Instead of commencing the reincarnation ritual per the standing contract, it examined the broken horn floating before it, shrouded in golden aura.
All of a sudden, a tide of sorrow swept in—overwhelming and irresistible—surging into the hearts of everyone present and spreading outward.
Future immediately collapsed into a squat, sobbing uncontrollably, as if old grief had been dragged to the surface. She called out for her mother in a small, broken voice.
‘What’s going on?’ Vieya froze—then she too felt that oceanic sorrow crash down on her, crushing her breath away.
Th-this feeling is...
Vieya looked up—at the World Tree, and at the broken horn wrapped in its energy. Then her pupils shrank as a strange illusion arose within her: the World Tree before her seemed to become a mother mourning her child—a mother filled with boundless grief and self-blame. That sorrow was like the sea itself, pressing them all until they could barely breathe. And that child... was the broken horn cradled in its power.
“This is... bad,” Vieya murmured.
......
The Elven Royal Court was affected as well.
Countless elves collapsed to the ground in agony, softly crying as if drowned by negative emotions.
Aislin wasn’t much better—but she could still hold herself together, forcing down emotions that burned like red-hot iron in her heart.
Fortunately, Jasmine seemed unaffected. She only stood there, lost and at a loss, staring at the pained expression on Aislin’s face.
“A-Aislin, are you feeling unwell...? I-I’ll pour you some water?” Jasmine said in a fluster. She had just been escorted back to her room by Aislin—and then Aislin collapsed.
Outside, things were no better. Many elves were submerged in this irresistible sorrow. Even Isabelle, a Demon King, was affected—if not for her master having obtained the dragon pearl in advance and helping her recover her gradually destabilizing authority, she might have been among the elves on the ground crying for their mothers.
In just one second, all of the elven race’s armed forces were completely neutralized. Thankfully, this irresistible rhythm also indiscriminately infected the non-elves and monsters near the Elven Forest.
“It’s raining.”
On the grasslands, the old Grand High Priest cast one last look back at the plains behind him—as if engraving the land into memory forever. Then, humming a tune, he swayed toward the Elven Forest. Behind him were countless brightly lit tribal yurts; rainwater flowed together with blades of grass beneath his feet.
“Greed’s dark seed—
watered by pride,
watered by fear.”
“Poisoned fruit
falls from the tree;
the devil appears,
yet none can see...”
This was the opening prelude of the prayer every generation’s Grand High Priest had to learn—recited before every attempt to commune with the god Kulkan, much like Christians offering prayer to Jehovah before meals.
“Once stood a kingdom
upon giants’ shoulders,
forged in ash,
forged in gold.”
“Now the realm
fades into silence;
demons haunt the alleys,
ghosts coil through the city...”
Inside the World Tree.
Everything came swiftly—and passed just as swiftly.
What surprised Vieya was that after withdrawing that sea-like sorrow, the World Tree set the dragon horn aside and then directed all of its energy toward her.
“No—what is this doing now...?”
Paying your evil dragon daughter’s vengeance?
Vieya tensed, suddenly unsure whether she should submit—or resist.
Beside her, Dorothy and Future gradually recovered as well. Seeing the situation, they immediately stepped between the two, trying to soothe both sides.
But before their calming words could even leave their mouths, pale blue energy poured down from all directions, condensing into form within the void.
Like the palm of the Tathāgata Buddha—
It clenched the tiny, dazed slime girl in a single grasp.
