The Supreme Sovereign remained suspended in the sky. The brilliant aura surrounding their body flickered noticeably now. It still concealed their appearance, but not as completely as before.
Long strands of white hair drifted behind them, stained here and there with golden blood. The wound through their chest remained open.
Golden light seeped continuously from it despite every attempt to contain it. The Sovereign of Darkness appeared beside them almost instantly.
Unlike during the battle, she no longer carried herself with the composure of an undefeated warrior. Her movements betrayed genuine concern.
She reached toward the Supreme Sovereign, seemingly intending to support them. The Supreme Sovereign slowly shook their head.
A quiet refusal.
Even wounded beyond healing, they remained standing on their own.
The Sovereign of Life hovered nearby, her emerald aura dimmer than before. She looked at the wound once more, hope still lingering in her expression.
She tried again. Gentle streams of Life Aether flowed toward the injury. The moment they reached the black mark surrounding it, they dissolved. The mark remained untouched.
Her shoulders slowly lowered. This time, she accepted reality.
Far below, the commanders began issuing new orders.
"Count the survivors!"
"Treat the wounded!"
"Recover everyone who can still be saved!"
Healers rushed across the battlefield. Engineers hurried to reinforce shattered defensive formations. The armies and the world had survived, yet the cost could already be seen everywhere.
Entire mountain ranges no longer existed, rivers had changed course, and forests burned endlessly with strange flames. The battlefield itself had become almost unrecognizable.
Then... A murmur spread across the city walls. One soldier pointed toward the eastern side of the capital, another followed his gaze, then another.
Within moments, everyone had stopped what they were doing.
"What..." Someone whispered. "...what happened to the World Tree?"
Atheline’s heart skipped. His eyes immediately searched the horizon; there, beyond the city walls, towering above every structure... He finally noticed what had escaped his attention during the battle, or rather... What was no longer there.
The World Tree had fallen.
Its unimaginably massive trunk lay shattered across the landscape. Branches that once stretched beyond the clouds now rested broken upon the earth. Leaves of brilliant green drifted endlessly through the sky like snowfall.
Even after its destruction, the tree radiated an overwhelming aura of life, yet that life was fading.
The city erupted into panic.
"It can’t be..."
"The World Tree..."
"Our World Tree..."
Some soldiers openly wept, and others simply stared in complete disbelief. For countless generations... The World Tree had stood as the symbol of life itself. Its existence had seemed eternal and untouchable.
Now... It lay broken.
Atheline slowly turned toward the battlefield. His thoughts raced.
How?
Who?
When?
He hadn’t seen it happen. The battle between the Sovereigns had consumed his attention. Yet somehow... During that impossible conflict, the World Tree had been destroyed.
His gaze shifted toward the Sovereign of Darkness. She remained beside the wounded Supreme Sovereign, her head was lowered.
Even from this distance, she appeared motionless, almost... Grieving.
The Supreme Sovereign slowly looked toward the fallen tree. For several long moments, they said nothing. Then, despite the terrible wound that refused to close, they began descending from the heavens.
Every movement appeared heavier than before. Golden blood continued falling behind them, leaving a faint trail of light through the sky. The Sovereign of Darkness followed closely at their side. The Sovereign of Life came after them.
One by one, the remaining Sovereigns descended as well, their destination unmistakable.
The ruined World Tree.
Atheline found himself taking an unconscious step forward. Every instinct urged him to follow, whatever happened next... Whatever the Supreme Sovereign intended to do... It had to be important.
It might explain everything: the Cataclysm, the shattered world, the divided continents, and perhaps even why a World Tree still existed in his own era despite the one before him lying in ruins.
He had to know.
He took another step, but the scene blurred.
He frowned.
The air around him rippled strangely.
"No..." His voice came out quietly. "Not yet..."
The distortion intensified. Everything began dissolving into countless fragments of light.
The Supreme Sovereign suddenly stopped walking. For one final moment, they slowly turned their head. Once again, their hidden gaze settled upon Atheline.
There was still no expression visible beneath the veil of brilliant light, only that impossible feeling... That the Supreme Sovereign knew he did not belong to this era.
Then the vision shattered.
The battlefield exploded into countless shards of light, the cries of soldiers vanished, the smell of smoke disappeared, and the broken sky dissolved into darkness.
Atheline felt himself falling once more. This time there were no visions or flashes of distant memories, only endless darkness.
Then... His eyes snapped open. He staggered backward violently, breathing heavily. Cold stone greeted his boots.
He was back in the whispering cave.
Lilith immediately caught his arm before he lost his balance.
"Atheline." Her voice remained calm, though relief was unmistakable. "You’ve returned."
He stared at her for several moments before finally speaking.
"...How long?"
She studied him carefully.
"A few seconds."
He blinked.
"...Seconds?"
"It looked as though you simply disappeared." She glanced toward the floating orb. "And then reappeared."
Atheline slowly looked back at the silent sphere of light. For him, it had felt like days.
Neither of them spoke for a long while. Finally, Lilith broke the silence.
"What did you see?"
Atheline took a slow breath.
"I don’t even know where to begin."
He looked down at his hands before raising his eyes once more.
"I saw the world before the Cataclysm, I saw the Sovereigns, I saw the Supreme Sovereign..." He hesitated. "...lose because of betrayal."
Lilith’s expression became serious.
"And?"
He slowly looked into the darkness beyond the chamber. His mind was filled not with answers, but questions.
"If the World Tree was destroyed... then where did the one standing in the High Elven Kingdom come from? And if that battle happened on a single landmass... what force was powerful enough to tear one continent into four?"
The cave offered no reply, only silence.