[Three Months After the Expansion]
The World Tree stood higher than ever, its roots spreading beneath cities and fields, its leaves glowing faintly against the smog-choked sky. Within the 1,000 km safe zone, humanity was rebuilding — slower, quieter, but alive.
They called it The Age of Shelter.For the first time in years, no one died screaming.Children laughed again. Fields sprouted.And Aiden Park smiled when he walked among them — though it never reached his eyes.
[Root Synchronization Chamber]
[Connection Link: 9 World Trees Detected.]
[Interference Reading: 3 Destabilized Zones.]
[Source: Unknown Evolution Pattern.]
Aiden froze at the display.The holographic branches pulsed red at three distant points — Europe, South Asia, and South America.
He called the researchers immediately.Dr. Lee, the chief magi-engineer, adjusted her glasses. "It's not supposed to be possible. The world trees were connected through the same mana lattice. If one falters, they all should — but it seems only those three are changing."
"Changing how?" Aiden asked quietly.
Her gaze darkened. "They're… growing flesh."
[Emergency Council Meeting]
The Council Chamber buzzed with voices. Military leaders, guild masters, and envoys from other safe zones argued over each other.
"Those trees have gone rogue!""They're spawning new creatures from their roots!""Close the links before they infect our network!"
Aiden sat silently at the end of the long table. The mark on his chest ached — faintly, rhythmically, like a heartbeat out of sync.
He looked up when the shouting reached its peak. "If we sever the links, the mana flow dies. The sanctuaries collapse. Millions will lose protection."
Commander Yura slammed her fist on the table. "Then what do you suggest, Heir? Send a prayer? You can't even hold a staff without trembling!"
The insult burned, but Aiden didn't flinch.Instead, he said quietly, "I'll go."
The room went silent.
His father turned sharply. "Out of the question. You're the root core. If you leave the main sanctuary—"
"Then I'll take a link shard," Aiden interrupted. "A portion of the World Tree's essence. Enough to stabilize me outside the safe zone."
Hyunsung's face hardened. "You'll die."
"Then let me die doing something," Aiden said. "She did."
The room went still. No one dared to speak Evelyn Park's name aloud — not anymore.
[Departure — Gate of the Sanctuary]
The morning mist rolled through the valley, silver and cold. Soldiers lined the path as Aiden approached the massive portal — the one his sister had created before her death.
The Portal of Roots shimmered, connecting nine different worlds through one shared pulse.
He wore no armor, no crown — only the faint green robe of the Treekeepers. The link shard hovered at his side, a small crystal pulsing with the same rhythm as his heartbeat.
Dr. Lee approached him. "You understand this could consume you."
Aiden gave a small, sad smile. "Then let it. If I burn, at least it'll be under her light."
He stepped through.
[The Other Side — European Sanctuary]
The first thing he saw was red.Blood — not from battle, but from the tree itself.
The European World Tree was no longer green and gold — it had turned crimson, its roots pulsating like veins.The air smelled of rot.Corpses hung tangled in vines — human and monster alike — feeding the twisted trunk.
And standing beneath it were survivors in white robes, their eyes blank, their bodies trembling with unnatural calm.
When they saw him, they all bowed.
"Welcome, Heir of the Original Tree," they said in unison."The Mother Tree has been waiting for you."
Aiden's pulse spiked."The… Mother Tree?"
A woman stepped forward — tall, elegant, her skin pale as ash, eyes glowing faintly green.Her smile was serene.
"She's awake," the woman whispered. "Your sister's seed gave birth to perfection. The cycle continues."
Aiden's stomach twisted. "Evelyn's seed wasn't meant to consume life."
The woman tilted her head. "And yet it must. Evolution demands sacrifice. You, of all people, should understand that."
[Root Synchronization Request Detected.][Entity: Mother Tree — Type Unknown.][Warning: Hostile Resonance Detected.]
The shard at his side flared violently. Pain shot through his chest.Aiden dropped to his knees, clutching his heart as the Mother Tree's voice whispered inside his mind.
"Child of the roots… why resist your own growth?"
He screamed.
[Interference Detected — Sanctuary: Korea]
Back in the Korean base, alarms blared.Dr. Lee ran to the control panels. "He's linked! The foreign tree is trying to overwrite his resonance!"
Commander Yura shouted, "Cut the connection!"
"We can't — he's using a manual link!"
On the monitor, Aiden's vitals dropped rapidly — mana corruption spreading through his veins like wildfire.
And yet, deep within that chaos, his voice came through the comm.Weak, trembling, but clear.
"Don't cut it."
"She's not gone… she's trying to speak."
The chamber fell silent.
[Inside the Link — Aiden's Mindscape]
Darkness. Roots. Voices whispering in the void.
Then — a glimmer of gold.Evelyn.
Or rather, a faint echo of her, standing beneath the fractured branches of what once was the true World Tree.
Her expression was both proud and sad.
"You shouldn't have come here," she said softly.
He stepped toward her, breath ragged. "Then tell me how to stop it."
She looked away. "You can't stop evolution, Aiden. You can only guide it… or burn with it."
"Then I'll guide it," he said. "Even if it kills me."
She smiled faintly — that same smile she used to have when teasing him for being scared of thunder.
"Then I'll give you my roots one last time."
The gold light burst from her, wrapping around his trembling form.The corruption halted. The crimson veins dulled.
And as he opened his eyes again in the real world, his hands glowed faintly — half green, half red.
The Mother Tree's whisper faded into a hiss.
"Then grow, little heir… and see what becomes of mercy."
[End of Chapter 25 — The Fracture Begins]
Aiden collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, as the crimson glow around the corrupted world tree dimmed.He'd saved one sanctuary — but the connection had changed him.His veins now pulsed with both the true World Tree's mana and the mutation.
He was no longer purely human.No longer purely Evelyn's heir.
He was something in between — the first Hybrid Root,and perhaps the only being who could decide whether the system's new evolution meant salvation…or extinction.