Chapter 353: Flonaralavenrosa

Regis’s head lowered as his hand went slack against the trunk.

Killian caught his shoulder before he could slump sideways, while Pandora carefully moved closer to support him. His breathing remained steady, just as he had said it would.

Levada took a step towards them.

Three pairs of eyes immediately turned in her direction.

She stopped, looking from Killian to Pandora before noticing that Aurelia had also shifted beside Regis. Despite their injuries, all three had positioned themselves between him and the two executors.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"Do you really think you can stop us if we decide to kill him right now?"

Killian’s expression did not change. "No."

The answer came so quick that Levada raised a brow.

"But you’d have to kill us first."

Beside him, Pandora’s ruby-red eyes remained fixed on her. Aurelia said nothing as she carefully lowered Regis’s hand onto his lap, then returned her attention to the executor.

Levada’s smile gradually faded.

She had expected an angry retort, perhaps even some hesitation once they remembered the difference in their strength. However, Killian had answered as though he had already considered that possibility.

"Levada," Anna called.

"I was only teasing them~."

"Then leave them alone."

The elven woman glanced at her colleague before letting out a quiet breath.

"Alright. We won’t touch him."

Only then did Aurelia speak.

"He trusted us to look after him."

Her voice was quiet, but Levada heard it clearly. She looked at the unconscious young man once more before stepping away to examine the damaged bark.

Marzana remained nearby with Aeola and Raxon. Her gaze moved between Regis and the Ancient Tree, but there was nothing to tell her whether he had succeeded.

For now, she could only wait.

***

Inside the Ancient Tree Flonaralavenrosa’s consciousness...

"Who... are you?"

Regis almost lost his hold on the evil craft.

’A little girl!?’

The voice had sounded directly inside his head, so close and clear that he instinctively tried to turn towards it. However, he still had no body he knew how to move, and the sudden attempt only dragged his attention back through the countless sensations surrounding him.

The pressure around her roots, the movements of her branches, and the pain spreading through her trunk all rushed back at once. He hurriedly stopped before he lost track of himself altogether.

’Wait, wait... Where did that voice come from?’

He knew what it felt like to hear someone while possessing them. Marzana had spoken to him before. But the voice that had just reached him sounded like it belonged to a little girl, and he had entered a tree that was older than the elves themselves!

For a moment, he wondered whether someone else had somehow entered with him.

"Can you hear me...?"

There it was again, a little weaker this time, but unmistakably the same voice.

Regis gathered his thoughts and tried to answer through the connection.

"Yes. I can hear you."

A faint stirring passed through the awareness surrounding him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Flonaralavenrosa."

"I’ve always thought that name as mouthful..."

"Me too. But the elven noble houses got their name from me, so I guess it isn’t too bad, hehe~"

Regis could not help but think, ’Huh, wait a minute. The names of the elven nobles are Floralith, Naralith... oh. It’s really like that, huh?’

He then shook his head and chased away the distracting thoughts as he realized something. ’It really is her...’

Even after hearing the name, Regis needed a moment to accept it. He had expected resistance, pain, or perhaps some instinctive response from her soul—he even expected to hear an old person’s voice. Therefore, hearing a child ask him questions had never crossed his mind.

"My name is Regis. Marzana asked me to see if I could help you."

"Help...?"

"Yes. The elves outside are worried about you."

The voice fell silent. Regis waited, trying to keep his attention on her rather than the pain spreading through the tree.

Eventually, she spoke again.

"Come closer."

Something stirred deeper within her consciousness. Regis hesitated, then followed it, allowing the sensations of the branches and roots to fade into the distance.

A dim green light gradually appeared before him.

By the time he reached it, he could feel ground beneath his feet again.

Regis looked down at his hands. They were faint and translucent, but at least he could distinguish where his own form ended now.

Ahead of him stood a small girl.

Long green hair hung loosely around her pale face, and her bare feet rested among roots that spread across the ground. She looked up at him with emerald eyes, one hand tightly gripping her other arm.

’Even her appearance...’

Regis stopped a few steps away. He had just heard her introduce herself, yet looking at the girl before him, it was difficult to connect her with the enormous tree towering over Paradis.

His gaze soon fell to the dark marks running beneath her arm’s faint green glow. Some were thin enough to resemble veins, while others spread into uneven patches across her skin.

Flonaralavenrosa followed his gaze and held her arm a little closer.

"It hurts."

Regis’s surprise slowly gave way to concern.

"Has it been like that since the explosions?"

She nodded.

"Can I take a closer look?"

However, as he approached, the little girl drew back.

Regis stopped immediately.

"You have their power," she said.

He looked at her before understanding what she meant. The evil craft he was using was sustained by demonic power. Of course she would notice it.

"I do," he admitted. "But I didn’t come here to hurt you."

When she remained silent, he continued, "The people outside let me try this because I’ve helped someone before. I don’t know if I can do the same for you yet."

Flonaralavenrosa glanced down at her arm. After a while, she slowly held it out.

Regis approached carefully, keeping his movements where she could see them.

Up close, the discoloration was even more unsettling. It shifted beneath the green light whenever she moved, and he could feel traces of demonic power mingling with the presence of her soul.

’So it reached this far...’

The damage outside was only part of the problem.

He reached towards a small dark patch near her wrist. The moment his fingers touched it, a sharp sting passed through them.

Regis frowned but kept his hand still, trying to distinguish the unfamiliar power.

Flonaralavenrosa suddenly flinched.

He withdrew at once.

"Did that hurt?"

She nodded, pressing her lips together.

Regis looked down at his fingers. The sting had already begun to fade, but that told him little about how to help her. Perfect Adaptation could protect his soul; it would not simply remove everything harming hers.

He had encountered the same problem when helping Marzana. Enduring her chaos energy had only allowed him to remain inside her body. Learning how to control it had taken further attempts.

’And I can’t keep testing things if she’s the one getting hurt...’

He examined the marks again without touching them.

The green light was still moving beneath the damaged areas. Whenever it passed through them, Flonaralavenrosa’s fingers tightened around her arm.

Regis waited until the next movement before asking, "Does it hurt more when your power moves there?"

"A little."

"Can you keep it away from that part?"

"I tried."

She looked down, and the light beneath her skin weakened.

For a moment, Regis thought the dark patch might fade with it. However, her hand began to lose its shape instead, its outline becoming difficult to distinguish.

"Stop. Let it go back."

The green light returned, restoring her fingers. Flonaralavenrosa let out a soft, trembling breath.

Regis watched until her hand had steadied before speaking again.

"Don’t try that again for now."

He had seen enough to understand why simply forcing the demonic power out might be dangerous. Whatever had entered her soul was too closely entangled with it for him to separate carelessly.

That still did not tell him what the curse actually was.

Flonaralavenrosa lowered her arm.

"Can you help?"

Regis remained quiet for a moment. Marzana had asked him the same thing, and he had already told her he could not promise anything.

"I need to understand it better," he answered. "But you don’t have to keep moving your power for me. Let’s rest first."

He sat down a short distance from her, and after a little hesitation, she lowered herself among the roots.

For a while, he simply watched the light moving beneath the marks, trying to follow where it went.

Then another thought occurred to him.

Marzana had called her Yggdrasilia’s younger sister. If anyone understood the soul of an Ancient Tree, surely it would be the World Tree herself.

"Your sister..." Regis hesitated before continuing. "Can you speak to her?"

Flonaralavenrosa raised her head.

"I called her."

"What did she say?"

The little girl shook her head, her fingers slowly tightening around her injured arm.

"She always answered before..."

Flonaralavenrosa lowered her eyes before continuing in a small voice.

"I can’t hear my sister anymore."