Chapter 160: Demonic Heart
Inside the isolated space, an unnatural silence echoed. The area was wide, as if someone had carved out a vast hollow space beneath the World Tree itself. There were no rocks or dirt walls like one would expect underground.
Instead, massive roots of the World Tree filled the space, spreading across the chamber like a network of giant veins.
But something was terribly wrong.
Those sacred roots were pulsing with a strange, twisted energy. The demonic presence was not just faint or lingering. It was strong, thick, and deeply rooted into the very core of the tree. The entire place reeked of dark mana.
And then came the real shock.
The missing spirits, the ones the elves had been searching for, were all here. They hovered around the roots, their auras flickering like weak candlelight in the wind. Some were trying to protect the pure parts of the roots, clinging to the last traces of uncorrupted energy.
But even they were being consumed, slowly and painfully, as the dark energy crept through the roots like poison in blood.
The entire area had turned into a battlefield.
Demonic spirits, completely corrupted and hostile, were fighting against the few remaining normal ones. There was no order, no peace, just chaos and slow destruction.
And in the center of it all was a heart.
A large, unnatural heart that pulsed with terrifying rhythm. It was almost double the size of a normal heart and was fused directly into the World Tree’s root system.
Thick veins and tendons from the heart were tightly wrapped around the roots, pumping corruption deep into the tree.
Ash stared at it in disbelief.
What the hell is that heart?
He could feel the immense power radiating from it. The demonic energy stored inside the heart alone was enough to choke anyone unprepared.
And the worst part was that this corruption was slowly eating away at the foundation of the World Tree itself.
Spirits, when they die, are supposed to return to nature. Their essence is meant to become one with the mana and flow back into the tree.
But here, that natural cycle was broken.
Almost the entire space was filled with demonic spirits. Only a few normal spirits were left, and they were struggling, their strength clearly fading.
Ash gripped Eclipse tighter.
Their numbers are insane...
Meanwhile, Serena’s body trembled without control, her breath uneven. Her mind and body were rejecting the demonic energy surrounding them. It felt disgusting, sickening, like something vile crawling under her skin.
What is this awful feeling? I... I need to escape... I need to run...
Before she could completely break down, a steady hand landed on her shoulder. Ash’s calm voice followed, quiet but firm.
"We should retreat for now."
Serena instinctively nodded her head, quickly and nervously, like a frightened rabbit trying to hide from a predator. But they didn’t even get a full second of relief.
All the demonic spirits suddenly stopped moving.
Their distorted heads turned toward them in perfect sync, eyes glowing with malevolence.
Ash narrowed his eyes and whispered fast.
"Buy me a moment. I need to open the way again."
Serena reacted without delay. She stepped forward, raised her hands, and began chanting. A wall of earth surged from the ground, reinforced with twisting vines and roots. It blocked the spirits just as they began to rush forward.
A loud explosion shook the space as the spirits slammed into it.
Cracks spread rapidly across the wall, but Serena didn’t panic. She raised another barrier behind it just in time. The first wall shattered, reduced to rubble, while the second absorbed the next wave.
But even that was starting to break.
Just as the new cracks formed and dust scattered through the air, Ash finished the cut.
He grabbed Serena’s arm and pulled her backward into the slice of space, just as it snapped closed behind them, sealing the chaos away once more.
As cracks began to appear on the second wall, Ash reached out and pulled Serena outside. The moment they escaped, the space behind them closed shut.
***
Back in the library.
"Will you stop crying? It’s getting annoying now," Ash asked, sitting across Serena, his tone calm but distant.
Serena, with her head lowered and her body trembling softly, continued to cry in silence. The sound of her sobs filled the air, and Ash’s words seemed to float past her, unnoticed.
He let out a long breath and leaned back slightly, deep in thought.
Can I really fix this situation?
From his past experiences, he already understood something very clearly—whenever he came into contact with demonic energy, his healing ability would weaken significantly. That could only mean one thing. The nature of demonic energy directly resisted the energy of life.
And now, with such a heavy, concentrated amount of demonic energy present beneath the World Tree, enough to rival even the tree’s own life energy, the possibility of corruption wasn’t just real—it had already begun.
Fighting all those demonic spirits head-on would be a nightmare. The best option is to find a way to cut off that heart from the tree itself, and then seal it away somewhere safe... but that’s going to be incredibly difficult.
That black heart was alive, beating like it belonged to something conscious. And from everything he had seen in countless stories and books, anything like that never went down without a fight.
There would definitely be some kind of backlash, some kind of threat waiting.
His thoughts were interrupted when Serena finally spoke, her voice quiet and still slightly shaky.
"Mr... you haven’t told me your name yet."
Ash looked at her, her tear-stained face trying hard to hold itself together, and replied simply, "Just call me Unknown."
I really couldn’t think of a better name right now. Using this one might actually work better for me in the long run.
Serena gave a faint nod and stood up slowly. Though she had calmed down a little, her face was still pale, and her hands were slightly trembling.
"Mr. Unknown, thank you for showing me what I couldn’t see before. As promised, I won’t tell anyone about your presence here. But I must inform the Council. They have to be made aware of this. Only they can act to destroy the root of this problem."
Her voice was soft but serious, filled with the weight of responsibility she had carried for too long.
"You can’t do that," Ash said immediately, cutting off her momentum.
Before she could ask why, he continued with the same calm tone, "Think carefully. How do you think something like that ended up under the World Tree in the first place?"
"Something that dangerous didn’t get there on its own. Someone had to put it there. And from what I’ve seen and what you’ve said, only a few people even have access to the lower parts of the World Tree. You, the Council members, a few important figures, and maybe some trusted maids."
Ash’s gaze sharpened slightly as he looked into her eyes.
"You understand what I’m trying to say, don’t you?"
Serena’s expression changed. Her lips quivered slightly, and her voice cracked just a little as she answered, "B-But no elf would ever try to harm the Great Mother. That’s impossible. It has to be someone from outside, someone who snuck in."
Ash paused for a second, then sighed quietly and replied, "I’m not saying you’re completely wrong. That could be true. But there’s also a real possibility that someone among your own people is involved. And if you rush into this by gathering the Council and launching a large operation, whoever is behind it will get alerted. That could lead to even more problems, maybe even deaths."
He turned his back to her and picked up several books from the nearby shelves, specifically the ones related to Life Theory.
"I’ll be in the next section, reading these. Take your time to think things through. Our contract is already halfway complete. I’ve shown you the cause of the problem. What’s left is decoding the ancient text and helping you deal with the World Tree’s situation."
"And what route we will follow to achieve that... depends on the decision you make next."
Serena slowly lowered herself back into her chair. Her whole body felt heavier than ever before. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what he said.
But even then, accepting the idea that someone from her own race, someone who had grown up under the branches of the Great Mother, might betray her... was a truth too bitter to swallow so easily.
When she saw the roots of the World Tree, she could only imagine the pain and suffering the Great Mother must be going through. Even though she couldn’t fully feel it herself, there was a deep ache inside her chest that she didn’t know how to put into words.
What should I do now...? Should I tell the council or not....but if not how will we solve this problem..
***