"And just like that, the High Elf’s daughter and her lover made their way toward the Elf Tree. But would they be able to make it to their destination? And what would happen once they did? Aren’t you curious to find out as well?"
Selene’s body spoke with excitement. She already knew the outcome, but her happiness made Kael feel that it would not end well.
Still, he knew that he needed to see things through. So he kept his eyes fixed on the unfolding story.
The pair of lovers ran for their lives, trying to reach the Elf Tree. They even took out the elves guarding the perimeter before racing into the clearing.
The small sapling was fragile but brimming with power. It had not yet reached the stage where it should be touched.
But the High Elf’s daughter was determined to have her lover accepted. So she dragged him toward the sapling and guided his hand toward the small tree.
"O great Elf Tree, please show us the way to be together. I wish to spend my life with this man. So please-"
The High Elf’s daughter prayed to the sapling, but the human had different intentions. The smile on his face looked crooked, and instead of praying, he reached into his pocket and cut his hand.
While his partner was distracted, he let his blood drip into the soil, contaminating it.
"That was-"
"The human mixed his corrupted blood with the Elf Tree. Usually, the great tree is able to resist any corruption and keep the land safe. But it is far too vulnerable during its infancy. So, what do you think happened next?"
Selene asked, and Kael felt dread take over his body.
"Wait! You can’t mean what I think you mean-"
"Oh, but that’s exactly what happened. The Elf Tree absorbed the corruption and evolved. And from that day onward, no elf was ever born pure again."
Selene paused, looking down in delight. Her next words sent shivers down Kael’s spine.
"We, the high elves, became the force that kept corruption alive. And as long as we exist, its presence will never disappear."
Selene’s words were accompanied by a blast of darkness below. More and more elves gathered, and the current High Elf looked at his daughter with hollow eyes filled with rage.
"What did you do? My foolish daughter, you have doomed us all! You-"
"Father, don’t you see? The Elf Tree has accepted my beloved. I am expecting, and my child-"
The High Elf killed the human in an instant. His daughter looked to her side, only to see her beloved’s corpse, and she lost her mind.
"NO! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? HE WAS ACCEPTED-"
Slap
"Can’t you see what he did? The Elf Tree became corrupted because of your foolishness. Thankfully, we can still purify it. But your ignorance almost doomed us all."
The High Elf spoke with rage, and his daughter refused to believe him.
"No! That’s not true. We were accepted because our love is pure. I am right. You are wrong! I will not bow my head-!"
She muttered as she was dragged away.
That night, the nurse looking after the High Elf’s daughter came to him and shook her head.
"Your daughter was pregnant with the human’s child. Thankfully, we discovered it in time, and the child was taken care of. But her mind is already broken. What are you going to do now?"
She asked with a tired sigh, and the High Elf pretended to think for a few seconds.
But in his heart, he already had his answer.
"There is nothing else for me to do. I will give her a choice—she can either marry and have another child, or she can choose to die."
"Hmm, what do you think the daughter chose? Did she quietly accept her fate? Or did she choose to fight against it? What do you think?"
Selene asked, and Kael pretended he had not heard her. He had no desire to answer after reeling from the shock.
His lack of cooperation made Selene pout, and she shook her head at him.
"That’s such a lackluster response. Well, most people would think the daughter chose to die for her love, right? But instead, she chose to keep living. She even had a son afterward, whom she loved with all her heart. See-"
And the corruption was right. Not only did the High Elf’s daughter survive, but she thrived. She eventually forgot about the tragedy that had occurred, and the elves lived in harmony...
Or so they liked to believe. But the initial seed of corruption that had been planted within the High Elves’ bloodline continued to be passed down and grow.
Then, one day, it gained consciousness. But that did not happen until recently.
In fact, it was almost exactly two years ago.
"This is..."
"Weird! So you think so as well. There should have been no reason for me to gain consciousness. But one day, the energy of this world changed, and I suddenly became aware."
Kael had a hard time processing this, mainly because of the way it made his stomach churn.
He could think of a few incidents that might have caused this. But his instincts quickly narrowed it down to just one.
’Is this related to when I returned to this world with my memories? Did it change something for Selene?’
After all, Selene had been unstable in their previous life, but she had never been fully consumed by the corruption.
Did this situation become his fault?
’No! Fuck that! Why would it be my fault when I’m just as much a victim here? The reason I ended up back here was because I died and...why did I come back anyway? Shouldn’t I have moved on to my next life?’
There were too many things that did not add up. But for now, he had no time to question them. The situation before him was finally reaching its conclusion, and the space around them was beginning to collapse.
"Well, wasn’t this fun? And now, we have finally reached the end. Thank you for listening to me and waiting. The sacrificial spell is finally complete, so we can begin now."
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