The moment the White Stag uttered those words...
His expression suddenly changed.
His eyes widened.
Then, at astonishing speed, he turned toward the Sacred Tree.
At that very instant...
He sensed a familiar aura.
The aura...
of the Black Stag.
The White Stag vanished in the blink of an eye.
In the very next moment...
He appeared directly beside the Sacred Tree.
But...
The instant he arrived...
He froze.
The bodies of the elves assigned to guard the Sacred Tree lay scattered across the ground.
Every one of them was dead.
Standing beside them...
was the Black Stag.
His massive frame radiated overwhelming authority, and his calm eyes rested upon the White Stag, as though everything had unfolded exactly as he had planned.
A faint smile appeared on the Black Stag's face.
Then he said calmly,
"I fooled you..."
"...little stag."
The moment he finished speaking...
He disappeared in a flash.
Without hesitation, the White Stag gave chase.
But only moments later...
He came to a stop.
The Black Stag was already gone.
There wasn't the slightest trace of him left.
The White Stag frowned deeply.
He realized he had fallen into a trap.
The Black Stag had deliberately released his aura near the borders of the Elven Lands...
To force him to leave the Sacred Tree.
Then he had sent the Dark Elf Army to distract him and consume his time.
While the White Stag was occupied with the battle...
The Black Stag had slipped into the Elven Lands himself.
And made his way directly to the Sacred Tree.
Every part of it...
Had been planned from the very beginning.
The White Stag lowered his head slightly.
Then he slowly walked toward the Sacred Tree.
As he drew closer...
His frown deepened.
The tree had changed.
Cracks spread across its trunk and branches.
Its vibrant green color had faded.
Little by little...
It was turning black.
Even the earth surrounding it...
Was no longer the same.
A disturbing black aura seeped from the ground, as though darkness itself had begun to spread through the Sacred Tree's roots.
The White Stag closed his eyes for a brief moment.
Then he quietly sat beside the Sacred Tree.
He did not even glance at the elves who had rushed over to check on its condition.
His entire focus was on the tree.
After a few moments...
He spoke in a calm voice,
"I am going to sleep."
"And while I sleep..."
"I will heal the Sacred Tree."
He opened his eyes and looked at everyone.
"I do not wish to be disturbed."
The moment he finished speaking...
Everyone immediately fell silent.
The elves bowed respectfully.
Then they carried away the bodies of their comrades who had died defending the Sacred Tree.
They left without a word.
Before departing, however...
They greatly reinforced the defenses around the entire area.
Every soldier was ordered to remain on the highest level of alert so that such a tragedy would never happen again.
As for the White Stag...
He sat with his body resting against the trunk of the Sacred Tree.
Then he closed his eyes.
And fell into a deep sleep.
At that very moment...
A pure white aura began flowing from his body.
It slowly spread through the soil tainted by the black aura.
Then it seeped into the roots of the Sacred Tree.
There...
It began resisting the darkness the Black Stag had left behind.
Outside...
The Elven commanders gathered together.
They began discussing what should be done.
Should they inform the Elven Saint about what had happened?
Or should they wait until the war was over?
The debate continued for quite some time.
In the end...
They reached a single decision.
One of them said,
"We must tell her."
Another added,
"We can't hide this from her."
"She'll sense the change in the Sacred Tree..."
"...even while she's fighting on the Fallen Islands."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Then one of the elders spoke calmly,
"We'll tell her the whole truth."
"We'll also let her know that the White Stag has already begun healing the Sacred Tree."
"And that the situation here is now under control."
He raised his head confidently and continued,
"We'll ask her not to concern herself with what happened here."
"Instead..."
"She should focus all of her attention on the war in the Fallen Islands."
"As for the Elven Lands..."
"They will remain our responsibility."
Everyone agreed.
One of the messengers immediately departed at full speed to inform the Elven Saint of everything that had happened.
Meanwhile, the remaining soldiers stayed stationed around the Sacred Tree, guarding it with their lives as they waited for the day the Sacred Tree would recover...
And the White Stag would awaken from his long slumber.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]