The World Tree stood silently before him.
It was beyond enormous.
No...
Enormous was far too small a word to describe what stood before his eyes.
Its ancient trunk stretched endlessly upward, disappearing into the darkness above as though it connected the heavens themselves. Countless roots spread across the earth like rivers, while branches wider than mountains vanished into the endless sky. Every leaf shimmered with a faint emerald glow, illuminating the surrounding world with a gentle radiance that felt neither magical nor ordinary.
It felt...
Alive.
Yuuta stood motionless, unable to tear his eyes away from it.
He had seen countless trees on Earth, from the parks near his apartment to the forests shown in documentaries, but none of them resembled this existence. This wasn’t simply a tree.
It was something greater.
Something ancient.
Something sacred.
Even though Yuuta knew almost nothing about mana, aura, or the countless powers that existed beyond Earth, he could instinctively feel an overwhelming energy flowing from the World Tree. It wasn’t violent like Isvarn’s aura or cold like Erza’s dragon pressure. It was warm. Gentle. Endless. The life radiating from the tree spread throughout the entire world, nourishing everything around it as though every flower, every blade of grass, and even the wind itself drew life from its existence.
Yuuta slowly looked down at his own trembling hand.
"...Do I have to touch it?"
The question escaped his lips almost unconsciously.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, his heart warned him that the moment his hand touched the ancient bark, nothing in his life would ever remain the same again. It felt as though an invisible wall had protected him his entire life, hiding him from a truth too overwhelming to bear. The moment he crossed that boundary, every lie, every unanswered question, every mystery surrounding his existence would begin to crumble.
His breathing gradually became heavier.
Images flashed through his mind one after another.
The orphanage.
His unknown parents.
The missing memories.
The Song of the Fallen.
The old man whose face he couldn’t remember.
Erza.
Isvarn.
Every unanswered question that had haunted him until now.
Yuuta slowly closed his eyes.
"I’m done running," Yuuta whispered.
"I’m done believing I don’t deserve the truth."
He tightened his fist.
"No matter what waits beyond this tree... I want to know who I really am."
"I don’t care what waits for me."
"I don’t care if it changes everything."
"I want to know who I really am."
Those words settled his heart.
The fear remained.
But it no longer controlled him.
Slowly...
Yuuta reached forward.
His fingers stretched toward the ancient trunk.
The rough bark stood only inches away.
Taking one final breath, he gently placed his palm against the World Tree.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Nothing happened.
One second passed.
Then another.
Yuuta slowly opened his eyes.
"...Nothing?"
He blinked in confusion.
There was no light.
No explosion.
No overwhelming power.
The tree remained exactly as it had been before.
Confused, Yuuta instinctively turned toward the circle of elves surrounding him.
At that exact moment...
Their voices rose together once more.
But this time...
The melody had changed.
The sorrow carried within the Song of the Fallen had disappeared completely.
This was no longer a hymn of farewell.
It was...
A hymn welcoming someone home.
Their voices echoed beneath the endless branches, ancient yet gentle, carrying a warmth that reached directly into Yuuta’s soul.
The lost child walks beneath our boughs.
The wandering soul has found the path.
Though memory sleeps beneath the veil,
The roots remember every step.
Blood may fade.
Names may perish.
Ages may pass like falling leaves.
Yet the Eternal Tree forgets no child.
Come home...
Not as a stranger.
Not as a wanderer.
But as one born beneath our shade.
Touch the bark that knew your heartbeat.
Touch the roots that knew your name.
Touch the life that called you home
Long before this world became the same.
You are not forgotten.
You were never abandoned.
You have always belonged.
Return, child of the First Forest.
Return, heir of forgotten leaves.
Return to the beginning,
And remember who you are.
We remember your first breath.
We remember your first tears.
We remember...
Come home.
As the final words echoed through the sacred forest, Yuuta felt the bark beneath his palm become warm.
Not warm like fire.
Warm...
Like the touch of a parent embracing a child after countless years apart.
The World Tree had finally answered him.
Yuuta’s vision suddenly became blurry as an unbearable pain spread throughout his chest. It felt as though his heart had skipped a beat before stopping altogether.
Then...
It stopped.
His world tilted violently beneath him as an unbearable pressure spread throughout his entire body. His knees gave out, crashing against the soft grass below. He tried to pull his hand away from the ancient trunk, but he couldn’t move.
His palm had become one with the tree.
A warm emerald light flowed from the bark, gathering around his arm before rushing into his chest. Countless green particles swirled around him like drifting leaves, each one carrying an ancient life force that forced its way into his body.
"Agh...!"
Yuuta gasped, clutching at his chest with his free hand.
It felt as though something that had been separated from him long ago was returning to where it had always belonged.
The ancient tree trembled.
Its countless branches swayed without wind.
Around him, the elves resumed their slow procession. Their faceless figures circled the Eternal Tree once more, their voices rising together in a spirit-like chant that echoed across the endless darkness.
"Take what is yours.
Return what was lost.
Blood to blood.
Root to root.
What was divided...
Become whole.
What was forgotten...
Be remembered.
Return, child.
Return, soul.
Return to the root.
Return to the beginning.
Accept your origin.
Accept your name.
Accept what has always been yours.
Come home.
Come home.
Come home."
The chant grew louder with every step the elves took around the tree.
The emerald light intensified, pouring relentlessly into Yuuta’s body until he could no longer tell where his own heartbeat ended and the pulse of the Eternal Tree began.
It was not stealing anything from him.
It was returning something that had always belonged to him.
As the emerald light continued to flow into his chest, Yuuta felt an indescribable calm wash over his entire being. Every fear, every question, every burden he had carried throughout his life slowly drifted away as though they had never existed.
The voices of the elves no longer sounded like a distant hymn. They became warm, familiar, almost comforting. With every word they sang, the emptiness inside his heart was gently filled by something he could neither see nor understand.
Then it struck him.
This song...
It had been created for him.
It was a farewell.
A farewell sung by those who had been forced to let him go.
Yet beneath the sorrow hidden within every verse, another feeling lingered.
Someone...
Someone had refused to say goodbye.
Someone had desperately wanted him to stay.
That single realization struck his heart like lightning.
As those thoughts settled within his heart, Yuuta’s consciousness slowly became lighter.
The surrounding world faded away, and the voices of the elves grew more distant with every passing second.
His eyelids became heavy as though an invisible force was gently pulling him deeper into the ancient memories sleeping inside his soul.
He didn’t resist.
Instead, he allowed himself to drift into the endless darkness, surrendering completely to the current carrying him toward a forgotten past.
Somewhere beyond the veil of his lost memories, something was waiting for him, and for the first time in his life, he was finally ready to see it.
_______________________________________
Location: Liebus AgencyPlace:
Anaya City – Main Headquarters
The piercing alarm echoed throughout the entire headquarters, its shrill warning reverberating across every corridor as crimson emergency lights flashed overhead.
Within seconds, the peaceful atmosphere disappeared, replaced by the thunder of hurried footsteps and the metallic clatter of weapons being readied.
Every communication device inside the building repeated the same emergency broadcast, placing the entire agency on its highest level of alert.
Anaya City was not an ordinary military installation. It served as the heart of the Liebus Agency and housed nearly twenty-two thousand soldiers, ranging from newly recruited officers to the strongest captains protecting humanity.
Every department inside the headquarters immediately sprang into action. Security teams sealed every exit, combat squads rushed toward their assigned positions, and surveillance operators began tracking every hallway in search of the intruder who had somehow breached the most secure fortress in the country.
Fiona could already hear the sounds spreading throughout the building. Heavy combat rifles clicked into firing position on the floors above and below them while armored squads hurried through the surrounding corridors. The entire headquarters had become a giant hunting ground, and the prey every soldier was searching for was standing only a few feet behind her.
She bit her lip.
"...Damn it."
Everything had fallen apart.
She had carefully avoided the central elevators, chosen the least populated routes, and kept Erza hidden from every captain they might encounter. Yet despite all of that planning, one accidental meeting with the Memory Dispatch Team had exposed everything. Now there was no hiding the Monster presence.
Fiona’s thoughts raced desperately.
"Come on... think! Think... think!"
She had to find somewhere to hide Erza before the response teams arrived.
If even one captain reached this hallway first, the entire headquarters would erupt into chaos. More importantly, if Sara learned about Erza’s arrival through an emergency report instead of meeting her directly, everything Fiona had worked toward would become meaningless.
Unlike Fiona, however...
Erza remained perfectly calm.
The flashing warning lights reflected within her Voliet eyes as she quietly observed the chaos unfolding around her. She showed no fear, no anxiety, and no intention of escaping.
Whether a single soldier came for her or an entire army surrounded the building, it made no difference in her eyes. If anyone stood between her and Sara, she would simply cut them down. She hadn’t crossed worlds only to retreat because of frightened humans carrying guns.
Fiona continued searching every corner of the hallway, her eyes moving from one security door to another. She mentally listed every hidden passage, emergency route, and restricted area she knew, desperately hoping one of them could buy enough time to reach Sara before the agency mobilized completely.
Then...
Her eyes suddenly stopped.
She stared toward a large reinforced door at the end of the corridor.
For a moment, she couldn’t believe she had overlooked it.
"The Captain’s Training Hall..."
She whispered the words almost unconsciously.
The room had existed since the agency’s earliest days, built specifically for the Seven Captains to spar without destroying the headquarters.
Its walls were reinforced with rare alloys capable of withstanding catastrophic amounts of force, and only captains possessed the authority to unlock its entrance.
After the previous generation retired, however, the hall had gradually fallen into disuse. Decades had passed since anyone had entered it, leaving it sealed and forgotten by nearly everyone inside the agency.
A faint smile appeared on Fiona’s face.
It was perfect.
Not only would ordinary soldiers be unable to enter without a captain’s authorization, but the room itself had been designed to contain monsters powerful enough to threaten entire cities. If there was any place inside the headquarters capable of temporarily holding someone like Erza...
It was that Empty room.
Little did Fiona know, the room was no longer empty.
To be contiuned....
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