Chapter 336: The River of Memories

The path eventually opened into a vast cavern, and Arthur stopped the moment he saw what was waiting beyond it. A gigantic river flowed through the center of the chamber, but there was no water within it.

Instead, streams of brilliant golden mana moved between the roots of the World Tree, flowing silently through the cavern like an enormous river of light.

Countless glowing particles drifted along its surface, disappearing into the darkness before emerging again farther downstream.

Luna slowly walked forward, staring at the sight in wonder. "What is that?"

Arthur couldn’t answer immediately.

The river was unlike anything he had encountered inside the World Tree so far, yet there was something strangely familiar about it.

The mana carried the same feeling as the Tree itself, ancient and immense, but unlike the corrupted roots they had encountered earlier, there was no hostility within it. It felt calm, almost peaceful.

"I don’t know," Arthur finally said as he moved closer. "But it looks like it’s flowing through the Tree."

Vedas studied the river from a short distance away. "It doesn’t feel dangerous."

"That’s probably because it’s part of the Tree."

Arthur crouched beside the river and watched the golden current move past him. The mana was so dense that he could almost see shapes forming within it, although every time he tried to focus, they disappeared beneath the surface.

Eden flew closer, but the moment she reached the edge of the river, her expression changed.

Arthur immediately noticed.

"Eden?"

She didn’t answer at first. Her eyes remained fixed on the flowing mana, and her small hands slowly lowered to her sides.

"It’s the same feeling," she finally said.

Arthur looked at her. "Time?"

Eden nodded.

"But it’s different from before."

Arthur became more interested. "Different how?"

Eden frowned as she searched for the right words. "It’s like everything here already happened, but somehow it’s still happening."

Vedas raised an eyebrow. "That doesn’t make much sense."

"I know," Eden said with a small pout. "I don’t understand it either."

Arthur smiled. "That’s fine. We don’t have to understand everything immediately."

He looked back toward the river, his curiosity growing stronger by the second.

"Let’s see what it is."

Vedas sighed.

Arthur glanced at him. "What?"

"You’ve already decided to touch it."

Arthur grinned. "Probably."

Luna laughed softly. "You didn’t even deny it."

"There wasn’t much point."

Arthur reached toward the river, and Vedas watched him carefully.

"Arthur, maybe you should be more cautious."

"I am being cautious."

"You say that every time."

"And I’m usually right."

Vedas shook his head, but he didn’t stop him.

Arthur lowered his hand until his fingers touched the golden mana.

The world disappeared.

...

Arthur found himself standing in darkness.

For several seconds, there was nothing around him. Then a faint golden light appeared in the distance, slowly growing brighter until the darkness was replaced by a scene.

He was standing in front of a massive stone structure.

Arthur immediately recognized it.

A Mirror.

But this Mirror was different from the five they had encountered.

It looked unfinished.

Dozens of ancient people worked around its base, carving strange symbols into the stone while others carried glowing crystals toward the structure. Some stood farther away, watching the process with tense expressions.

Arthur tried to walk closer, but his body wouldn’t move.

He could only watch.

One of the ancient people raised both hands.

Golden light gathered around the unfinished Mirror, and the symbols carved across its surface began glowing one after another.

The entire structure trembled.

Then the first Mirror awakened.

Arthur stared in fascination.

"So that’s how it began..."

Before he could see anything else, the scene shattered.

A forest appeared around him.

The World Tree stood at its center, larger than anything Arthur had imagined. Its golden branches stretched across the sky, while enormous roots spread through the land in every direction. Rivers flowed between those roots, plants grew beneath its branches, and countless Beasts lived throughout the forest.

Some were tiny.

Others were enormous.

Arthur even saw several species he had never encountered before.

They weren’t fighting.

They weren’t fleeing.

They simply lived.

Some slept beneath the roots while others drank from the rivers. Smaller Beasts moved between the larger ones without fear, and enormous creatures rested peacefully beneath the Tree’s branches.

Eden floated beside Arthur, staring at the scene with wide eyes.

"It’s beautiful."

Arthur nodded slowly.

"It really is."

Golden light pulsed through the World Tree.

The light traveled along its roots and spread throughout the forest, causing flowers to bloom and plants to grow. The Beasts seemed to react to it as well, becoming more energetic as the mana passed through the land.

Arthur watched quietly.

For a moment, it was easy to understand why the ancient people had built their civilization around the Tree.

Then the scene changed.

The same forest appeared again, but everything was different.

The golden light flickered.

Black veins had appeared along several roots, and purple Miasma crawled across the Tree’s body. The plants around the corrupted roots had begun to wither, while Beasts fled from the affected areas.

Ancient people ran through the forest.

Arthur couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but fragments reached him through the broken memory.

"The corruption..."

"It’s inside the roots!"

"Don’t touch it!"

"Move the Beasts!"

Arthur’s expression became serious.

"It spread through the Tree."

Luna appeared beside him, looking at the scene with shock.

"Just like now."

Arthur nodded.

Another memory replaced the first.

The ancient people had gathered around one enormous root. Several of them were using weapons and magic to cut away the corrupted section, but the moment they severed it, another black vein appeared somewhere else.

The corruption wasn’t staying in one place.

It was spreading through the Tree’s network.

Arthur watched the ancient people panic as they realized they couldn’t simply cut away every infected root.

Then something strange happened.

The World Tree moved.

Its enormous branches slowly bent toward the people standing beneath it, while its roots shifted across the ground.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

"Wait."

Golden light pulsed through the Tree.

The ancient people stopped and looked upward.

Another pulse followed.

Then another.

Arthur stared at the Tree.

"They’re trying to communicate."

Vedas appeared beside him, his expression cautious.

"With them?"

Arthur nodded.

"Look."

A group of ancient people moved beneath the Tree. One of them pointed toward a distant part of the forest.

The Tree responded.

A golden pulse traveled through the ground, followed by a movement from one of its branches.

The branch pointed toward another area.

The ancient people hesitated before following it.

The memory shifted with them.

They found a corrupted Beast trapped beneath several black roots. Its body was covered in purple veins, and it struggled violently against the corruption.

One of the ancient people raised a weapon.

Arthur’s expression changed.

"Wait."

The weapon began glowing.

But before the person could strike, the World Tree’s roots suddenly moved.

They wrapped around the corrupted Beast.

Luna gasped.

"They’re attacking it!"

"No."

Arthur’s eyes sharpened.

"Look closer."

The roots weren’t crushing the Beast.

They were holding it in place.

The Tree was separating the corrupted roots from the Beast’s body.

Arthur stared.

"It was protecting it."

The ancient person lowered their weapon.

The Tree pulsed again.

Arthur finally understood what he was seeing.

"It wasn’t attacking them."

Luna looked at him.

"It was trying to warn them."

Arthur nodded slowly.

The memory changed again.

This time, the ancient people stood inside a massive chamber beneath the World Tree. Five enormous pathways extended outward from the center, and at the end of each pathway stood one of the Mirrors.

Arthur recognized the structure immediately.

"The Five Mirrors."

Golden streams of mana flowed between the Mirrors and the Tree.

Arthur watched as the five structures activated together.

The entire Secret Realm seemed to glow.

Luna stared at the scene.

"So they were connected."

"Yeah."

Arthur watched the flow of mana carefully.

"They weren’t just barriers."

The realization came naturally.

"They were regulating the connection between the Tree and the Secret Realm."

Luna’s eyes widened.

"Then the barriers weren’t prisons."

Arthur shook his head.

"Not originally."

The memory shifted again.

The corruption had become worse.

Black veins covered large sections of the World Tree, and the ancient civilization was beginning to collapse.

The people were arguing.

Arthur could only hear pieces.

"If we destroy the Tree..."

"...the land..."

"...the Beasts..."

"...everything connected to it..."

Arthur’s eyes widened.

"They already knew."

Vedas looked at him.

"Knew what?"

"That the World Tree was connected to the entire Secret Realm."

Another memory appeared.

The ancient people began moving the Mirrors.

Arthur watched in confusion as groups carried them away from the Tree.

"Why are they separating them?"

Luna stared at the scene.

"I don’t know."

Neither did Arthur.

The memory was too fragmented.

He saw one group carrying a Mirror through a forest. Another group protected a second Mirror while fleeing from the corruption. Somewhere else, a third group was fighting to keep a corrupted Beast away from the structure.

The Tree’s golden light grew weaker.

The ancient civilization continued collapsing.

Then Arthur saw something he hadn’t expected.

The World Tree reached toward them.

Its branches stretched across the sky.

Its roots moved beneath the ground.

Golden light pulsed again and again.

It wasn’t attacking.

It wasn’t trying to stop them.

It was desperately trying to communicate.

Arthur watched the ancient people retreat while the Tree continued reaching toward them.

"Why aren’t they listening?"

Luna’s voice was quiet.

Arthur didn’t answer.

The memory continued.

The ancient people were afraid.

They had lost control of their civilization, their Beasts, their land, and eventually their connection to the Tree.

The World Tree continued sending its golden pulses.

Again.

Again.

Again.

But the people kept moving away.

Then the final fragment appeared.

A small group of ancient people stood beneath the World Tree.

They were exhausted.

One of them slowly walked forward and placed a hand against the Tree’s enormous trunk.

The World Tree pulsed.

The person closed their eyes.

Arthur couldn’t hear the words.

He couldn’t see exactly what the Tree was showing them.

But he could feel the emotion contained within the memory.

Fear.

Pain.

And something else.

A desperate desire to protect what remained.

Arthur’s expression softened.

"The Tree was trying to save them."

The memory shattered.

...

Arthur suddenly stumbled backward as his hand was pulled away from the river.

Vedas immediately grabbed his shoulder.

"Arthur!"

Arthur took a deep breath.

The cavern returned around him.

The golden river continued flowing as if nothing had happened.

Luna stepped closer.

"What did you see?"

Arthur looked at the river for several seconds before answering.

"The beginning."

He explained what he had seen, telling them about the first Mirror, the ancient civilization, the flourishing World Tree, and the corruption that eventually spread through its roots.

He explained how the Five Mirrors had been connected to the Tree and how the ancient people eventually separated them.

But when he reached the final memories, his voice became quieter.

"The Tree was trying to communicate with them."

Luna looked toward the river.

"All this time..."

She paused.

"The Tree was trying to protect itself?"

Arthur shook his head slightly.

"Not just itself."

He looked at the enormous roots surrounding them.

"It was trying to protect everything connected to it."

Vedas’s expression became grim.

"Then Ronin isn’t simply fighting the Tree."

Arthur looked at him.

Vedas continued, "He’s hurting it."

Arthur turned back toward the river.

Suddenly, everything made more sense.

The resistance.

The backlash.

The roots throwing Ronin away.

The Tree’s refusal to obey him.

Ronin believed he was taking control of the World Tree, but the Tree had never willingly accepted him.

It had been fighting him from the beginning.

Arthur clenched his hand.

"He’s forcing himself into something that has been trying to save this place."

Luna looked toward the corrupted roots.

"And the more he forces himself into it..."

"The more he damages the Tree."

Arthur nodded.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Eden moved closer to the river.

Arthur noticed immediately.

"Eden?"

She didn’t answer.

Her eyes were fixed on the flowing mana.

Arthur followed her gaze.

"What is it?"

Eden slowly raised her hand.

"The memories are still moving."

Arthur frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"They aren’t finished."

The river suddenly changed.

For one brief moment, the golden current began flowing backward.

Arthur froze.

The entire cavern seemed to hold its breath.

Then the river returned to normal.

Eden’s expression had changed.

She looked confused.

And for the first time since Arthur had known her, she looked slightly afraid.

"Arthur..."

He turned toward her.

"What?"

Eden stared at the river.

"There are memories here that haven’t happened yet."

Arthur’s eyes widened.

The cavern fell silent.

He looked back toward the endless golden current.

Then, slowly, a smile appeared on his face.

"Now that’s interesting."