After hearing this, Chen Yu's gel head immediately sprouted some small ideas.
The former Sacred Oak Grand Sage, the ancient elves, and most half-elves all stood with the Empire—that was enough for him to stir up some trouble for those old fossils in the Ancient Tree Council.
But he still had a question: "Since all the changes were caused by the cataclysm several hundred years ago, what actually happened back then?"
Viola tilted her head and thought for a moment, as if recalling memories from long ago, before finally speaking.
"The history of elves in Zeyarila can be traced back several thousand years. Back then, giants roamed the land, from the northern ice fields to the southern deserts, with their tribes and strongholds everywhere."
"The elves first entered the continent as outsiders. Under the threat of the giants, they could only barely gain a foothold in one corner of the Western Continent."
"According to the books, elves are the most elegant elders of the continent, spreading the first culture and etiquette." Arthur stood in the snow, his tone earnest.
Viola's gaze fell on Arthur, and she shook her head, saying: "That doesn't conflict with the elves being outsiders. Spreading culture and etiquette happened later. Before that, they were no different from other outsiders cast into this strange world by fate."
"Actually, it's not just elves—some of the ancestors of humans and demi-humans also drifted in from the Astral Realm. It's just that this history is so long that it's enough for later generations to forget where their ancestors came from."
"They possessed an original bloodline that could freely change into any elven form, making them the most ancient of elves. You could consider these original elves as the ancestors of all elves today."
"The seven most powerful among them formed the first Council, holding the decision-making power of the race among the elven population at the time."
"To spread the elven bloodline and faith, and to survive the threat of the giants, they chose the Sacred Oak that stood in the Western Continent."
Count Bran opened his wings in surprise: "Caw! That tree big enough to block out the sky—wasn't it planted by the elves themselves?"
Viola slowly grabbed the rope of her swing and tapped her toes on the snowy ground: "This was a naturally growing demigod entity. The elves couldn't plant something like that."
"But their luck was indeed quite good. These original elves had wandered through the Astral Realm for who knows how long, and when they entered Zeyarila, they happened to land within the Sacred Oak's protection."
"Or rather, it was the Sacred Oak itself that attracted them, allowing them to find Zeyarila."
"But none of that matters. What matters is that these original elves made their own choice."
"At the call of the Council, the original elves decided to stop wandering, to stop searching for another place where they could catch their breath. They would resist the giants' conquest and guard this land sheltered by the great tree."
"So these ancient elves chose to entrust their bloodline and faith to the Sacred Oak, bestowing upon this ancient giant tree an unprecedented sacredness."
"From that moment on, the Sacred Oak was no longer just the largest and oldest tree in the forest. It became the only deity capable of standing on the earth."
A deity.
Chen Yu was somewhat surprised, yet at the same time, it felt only natural.
No wonder the Ancient Tree Council had stood in Zeyarila for thousands of years, even as the giants—a race that once dominated the entire continent—had vanished without a trace, while the Council still survived and their civilization continued to thrive.
So there was a true divine tree standing behind them.
Count Bran spread his wings wide and tilted his head to look at Viola: "Old fossil, do you still have something to say? If that's the case, then why were you fighting?"
Viola said unhurriedly: "No decision is perfect. Just like the balance of nature, the slightest tilt can be the beginning of destruction."
"The elves' original intention to entrust their bloodline to the Sacred Oak was good, but precisely because that entrustment was too complete, it led to later problems."
She stopped the swing and looked seriously at the small circle gathered before her: the King, the knight, and the count.
"The Sacred Oak and the elven bloodline gradually merged over the long years. As long as the Sacred Oak doesn't fall, the Council can stand forever on this earth. Even if elven rule is overthrown, they can rise again from some corner of the forest."
"This should have been a good thing. But several hundred years ago, an elven scholar submitted an observation report to the Council that was enough to change the elves' fate. They discovered that some of the Sacred Oak's roots were experiencing rare, gradual withering."
"At first, that withering was hard to detect, but later they found that dead zones would appear without warning around the Emerald Crown."
"Those places were originally evergreen broadleaf forests and fertile soil cultivated for generations. But from one day onward, plants stopped growing, rivers stopped recharging, the surface soil gradually eroded, leaving only gray-white powder behind."
"Because of the half-elves?" Arthur's soulfire drifted slowly. His tone was questioning, but he had guessed the course of history.
Viola nodded gently.
"As the scale expanded, cases were compiled, and data was aggregated. Scholars gradually found the common factors among all the documented dead zones they could gather at the time."
"Before most dead zones formed, the surrounding communities had all experienced a significant increase in the population of mixed-blood elves."
"This conclusion itself didn't point to any subjective malice. Half-elves themselves had done nothing wrong. No pair of loving parents would think their child was the fuse for some kind of curse."
"But the conservatives who were gradually gaining the upper hand in the Council at that time didn't see it that way. They interpreted this 'observational data' as 'judgment by causation.'"
"Some elders declared in harsh terms that it was because there were more and more half-elves, and their mixed blood had defiled the Sacred Oak's sacredness, polluted the elven faith, and thus caused the Sacred Oak to wither."
She sighed. "After that, voices opposing mixed-blood elves grew even fiercer within the Emerald Crown, and even I could no longer control the Council proceedings."
"Finally, the angry conservatives, allied with the elders of the Council at the time, stormed the Council, burning my body and the temple together to ash. Only a small group of clear-headed individuals managed to escape the Emerald Crown with my remaining shoots during the chaos."
As she spoke, her tone was very calm, with no trace of anger or resentment, only regret and a hint of pity.
"You already know what happened after that. The conservative sages, under the witness of the Sacred Oak, jointly forged the living curse that still affects every mixed-blood elf to this day."
After hearing this, Chen Yu felt somewhat unsatisfied.
But were those elves really wrong? The motivation didn't seem problematic.
Any race would panic when the pillar of their faith began to rot, and panic would lead them to find excuses. That was normal.
Viola seemed to see what he was thinking and sighed softly.
"That's precisely why it's so troublesome. When the stubborn walk down the wrong path and sincerely believe they are right, the resulting disaster is unimaginable to anyone."
"Looking back at the whole matter now, not every participant was irredeemably evil. Among those conservative elders, there were even some who had once supported interracial exchange."
"That was also the saddest part of our conflict back then. Both sides believed they were saving the Sacred Oak, but the directions of the two paths had become completely impossible to intersect."
"Mr. Arthur should be able to empathize with the elves' contradiction and entanglement at that time."
Arthur nodded slowly, speaking bluntly.
"Their natural way is too narrow. Nature never cares about the superiority or inferiority of bloodlines, and it has never belonged only to elves."
"It's just that they really were trying to save the sacred tree."
Although it was quite strange to hear an undead talking about the way of nature, Chen Yu felt Arthur was very right.
Viola said: "It's true that the Sacred Oak sheltered the elves. During the age of giant conquest, the great tree used its roots and canopy to shield the elves from the barbarism from the other side of the mountains."
"But from then on, the Sacred Oak also became the elves' cage."
"She loved too much the elves who prayed to her beneath her canopy. She couldn't bear to see them perish, so she drove her roots deep into the earth, refusing to leave, instead providing long-lasting protection for this land."
"But when she did this, the boundaries of the Ancient Tree Council were also fixed to the Western Continent. The elves could never permanently leave her shade, just as she could not release her roots to stretch toward broader lands with the sunlight of each season."
"She could have had infinitely more possibilities—to go to further continents, or enter the Astral Realm to extend thousands of roots, sharing the sky's domain with dragons and deities. But she left that possibility here, for the elves."
"In a certain sense, the elves also became her cage."
Count Bran ruffled his feathers, still puzzled: "Then why did they take Eserin away? My loyal feeder never did anything bad to the Sacred Oak."
Mentioning feeding, he cawed angrily again: "Damn it! Without Eserin, who's going to feed me bugs in the future? Rely on this idiot Arthur? One swing of his sword and even the soil turns to ash."
After hearing this, Arthur lowered his helmet slightly: "I'm very sorry for disappointing your expectations."
"Eserin..." Viola thought for a moment. "I heard those old geezers have built a new temple, and they need an elf of noble bloodline to preside over it, to maintain the Sacred Oak's sacredness."
"They can give her the crown of a saintess, give her a new robe sewn with silver leaves, but as the price, she will never be able to leave the temple from now on, dedicating everything to the temple."
"Eternal confinement..."
Upon hearing this, Arthur's soulfire flickered deep in his eye sockets, and he lowered his head guiltily: "It was my failure to protect her, breaking the oath I made to you and His Majesty before we set out."
Count Bran flew onto his shoulder armor, patting his helmet with his wing to comfort him: "Alright, retainer. Who knew a Legendary could pop out of thin air in the Shadow Mountains? I never blamed you."
"If you really think you didn't do well enough, why not catch me a few more bugs? That'll count as your apology."
"Thank you, Count." Arthur lifted his head.
"Caw, enough, Arthur. Pull yourself together like a real man... cough, like a real undead."
Bran withdrew his wing and craned his neck toward the distant forest.
"What's lost, we take back with our own hands. I've always been a man of my word—I'm not bragging about that."
"Those damned elves, daring to look down on me, a legitimate count of a great empire! I'll make them pay."
Hearing this, Arthur's soulfire finally stabilized, and his gaze grew more determined. "You're right. Moping here won't change anything. A knight's broken oath should be reclaimed through action."
Chen Yu shook the snowflakes off his gel body. "Don't worry. The Empire will act together too. The Ancient Tree Council detained an Imperial citizen without permission. I'll personally intervene and find a way to rescue Eserin."
But come to think of it, the Ancient Tree Council had quite a few elven Legendaries. Lothlorien was just one of them, and their Extraordinary professionals were numerous enough to form battle groups. Reasoning with them wouldn't be easy.
Their only advantage now was the legitimate elven name. The struggle between the Empire and the Council was an internal elven conflict, so the Sacred Oak wouldn't interfere.
Still, he was curious and asked Viola: "Since you knew this would be the result, why did you let Eserin return to the Emerald Crown?"
Viola spread her hands. "I said from the beginning, this isn't necessarily a bad thing."
She blinked her emerald green eyes. "Don't worry. The clever Grand Sage Viola is here. Everything is going according to plan."
Count Bran leaned in, his expression full of distrust: "Was letting them burn you also part of the plan?"
Viola still had that unhurried look. "Maybe it was."
Well, she wouldn't say, and no one would know the truth of what happened back then.
But at least this Sacred Oak Grand Sage wasn't as pathetic as history portrayed her.
Chen Yu suddenly suspected what her real purpose was when she moved from the Shadow Mountains to the swamp.
Could she really have the ability to foresee the future? Did she know the Magical Creature Empire would be born here, so she chose to cooperate with him to oppose the Ancient Tree Council?
Weiola saw through his thoughts again, jumped down onto the snow, and stretched lazily.
"Actually, I was following the Sunblossom back then. That little crow blessed by Lady Anomaly has a destiny power we can't explain."
"I just went with the flow and settled near the swamp. I never imagined Your Majesty would bring me such a surprise."
Chen Yu asked curiously: "A tree that's lived for thousands of years still believes in fate?"
Viola said meaningfully: "The older you get, the more you believe."
"When you come into contact with the real secrets, you'll understand. Fate isn't as mysterious as you think."
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