The Tree of Life let out a soft sigh.
She didn’t answer Kei’s question immediately. Her tiny hand merely flicked lightly through the air, releasing ripples of natural energy all around them.
The space surrounding Kei and the Tree of Life instantly shuddered.
Invisible waves rippled outward in concentric circles, fracturing the darkness that blanketed everything into long fissures. Before Kei could fully comprehend what was happening, the cracks widened, emerald radiance filtered through, and the entire night sky shattered like a pane of glass.
The wind brushed across his face.
A dry, parched breeze carrying the scent of scorched earth and withered leaves.
Kei blinked. Before his eyes lay an expansive forest. The towering tree trunks once blanketed by green radiance now stood bare and isolated amidst cracked, parched earth. Dry branches intertwined, their leaves shriveled and withered at the crowns, some hanging precariously as though ready to drop at any second.
No birdsong or insect chirping could be heard. Not a single breath of life echoed from deep within the woods.
Kei recognized this place instantly.
"This is..." He turned his head to look at the Tree of Life. "The Dungeon I entered to search for Kang Ian?"
"Mhm."
She surveyed the forest, her expression heavy with sorrow. What was once the homeland of countless Elves was now reduced to barren canopies, cracked earth, and a suffocating silence.
"The Elven Forest has been destroyed."
Kei stared in blank shock.
The Tree of Life flicked her hand once more. The space before them wavered faintly, and a colossal tree materialized right at the center of the forest.
Kei had witnessed it within his memories.
Back then, the Tree of Life had towered so majestically that its canopy spanned the heavens. Green light had saturated the entire forest, every single leaf glittering like a star. Whereas the tree before his eyes... its trunk was gray and ashen, its bark fissured and split, and its massive withered branches drooped heavily. Its leaves were yellowed and shriveled, utterly devoid of any remaining vitality.
Kei looked at the young girl and asked, "Is this your current condition?"
The Tree of Life nodded.
She drifted close to the massive trunk, pressing her tiny hand against the fractured bark. A fragile streak of green light flashed before blinking out entirely, failing to improve the tree’s condition by even an infinitesimal fraction.
"I utilized natural energy to keep Julius’s physical form from deteriorating further," her voice dropped low. "Yet right now, even protecting myself has become an overwhelming burden."
Kei stared at the hand she rested against the trunk. She still forced herself to maintain a calm facade, but the green aura surrounding her had grown so faint it practically blended into the feeble luminescence clinging to the withered branches, stripped of the brilliant vibrancy seen in the memories the Tree of Life had shown Kei.
"What on earth happened to the Elven Forest?"
"On the day the forest was destroyed, every single Elf perished," the Tree of Life paused for a beat. "Eleanor as well, and Kael died, too."
Kei froze in horror.
"Both Eleanor and Kael?"
"Not a single soul survived," she lowered her gaze. "I sustained heavy injuries. Had I remained in that place, I would have been annihilated, as well. Thus, my only remaining option was to take myself and the remnants of the forest and flee."
Her eyes swept across the dead, withered trunks surrounding them.
"And then I fell into this strange world."
Kei remained silent for a long beat.
He had assumed the Tree of Life was merely dragging him back into a Dungeon to replay scenes from the past. Yet this forest wasn’t composed of illusory memories. The fractures upon the earth, the withered foliage, and the feeble vitality lingering around them were all stark realities.
The Tree of Life had likewise been hurled through a spacetime corridor, much like himself. The sole difference was that Kei had landed on Earth, while she had plummeted straight into a Dungeon.
"Does this world truly offer no way for you to recover?"
"I require elemental magic or natural energy," she said, her expression deeply vexed. "So long as I possess sufficient energy, I can recover and figure out a way to resurrect the fallen Elves."
Kei stared at the colossal trunk. "But this world has none?"
"Not a single drop!" she stomped her foot in exasperation mid-air. "This damn, tiny world possesses neither elemental magic nor natural energy. I am about to wither away from malnutrition!"
Her complaints echoed hollowly across the empty woods.
No one answered.
Only a single yellowed leaf detached itself from a branch, spinning through the wind a few times before settling onto the cracked earth.
Kei stared at the leaf resting motionlessly beneath his feet. Within his memories, the Tree of Life had claimed Julius could slumber for thousands of years, provided she retained the strength to protect him. Yet right now, she couldn’t even protect herself.
"Then Julius..."
A creeping wave of panic seized Kei’s chest. True to his ominous prehension, the Tree of Life looked up at him with tear-rimmed eyes.
The Tree of Life didn’t answer immediately.
She kept her eyes fixed on the withered leaf, her emerald gaze flickering with profound helplessness.
"I no longer know how much longer I can keep him breathing."
Without a steady infusion of natural energy to nourish him, Julius’s physical form would collapse instantaneously, requiring merely a few days for him to dissolve completely into nothingness.
The Tree of Life refused to let Julius die before her eyes, which meant she would ultimately choose to perish alongside him.
Unless a solution could be found!
Kei collapsed to the ground in a state of utter breakdown, his ears ringing as memories flooded relentlessly into his mind, precious memories of Julius, of Ian, and of life in his old world.
He had lived a good life thanks to everyone’s sacrifices, thanks to the sacrifice of his own father.
How could he possibly let his father die right before his eyes like this?
"Think, Kei, think!"
Come up with a solution, was he really just going to surrender to this damn destiny right here and right now?!