Chapter 95 – The Beat of the Forgotten Root

I. The Map That Was Not Drawn

The idea of finding a pure, uninfected root, without the whisper of emptiness, seemed absurd. No one had seen such a root in centuries. The Twelve Families claimed they were all under control or surveillance. Mizuki had openly declared: "The world is mapped in sap."

But Sora knew otherwise.

During the night, the Tree whispered to her through a root buried in stone. It didn't speak in words. It transmitted emotions, pulses. She saw an image: a pale root , growing alone in a white abyss , songless, companionless. It was the only one not tangled , as if it had been set aside before the first trial.

It was impossible to locate it on human maps.

But the Tree doesn't need maps. Only memory.

II. Akihiko and the Wounded Man's Pass

The journey began with Akihiko, Sora, and Ikari leaving Valtoria through a hidden path, through forbidden catacombs beneath the Crimson District. The pure root lay to the north, beyond the walls where even the mafias didn't dare plant spies.

The place had an ancient name, not spoken for centuries: Nashira .

Nashira wasn't registered land. It was a blank area on the clan scrolls, a hollow space surrounded by censored notes. It was said that the Tree's sap didn't flow there . It was "anemic" land.

" What's in a place where the root doesn't sing?" Ikari asked.

—Silence. And truth, Sora replied.

—What if we're not ready to listen to her?

Akihiko didn't respond. But his mark burned. Not with pain. With anticipation.

III. Nashira, the White Cemetery

We entered Nashira on the fourteenth day of the journey. A valley of white stone, without leaves, without rivers, without ruins. Nothing bloomed. Not even mushrooms.

It was the first place they'd ever visited where there was no trace of the Tree . Neither pure nor corrupt. Nothing. It was as if the Tree had been torn from time there.

But at the same time… something was watching them.

Sora stopped in front of a crack in the ground. He put his hand out. He felt an echo.

A slow heartbeat.

Deep. One that didn't seek connection, but solitude.

"She's here," he said. "But she doesn't want to be found."

IV. Renjirō and the Old Oath

As the group crossed Nashira, Renjirō Kurobane met secretly with the senior patriarchs of minor clans. It was a hidden hall beneath the Monastery of Forgotten Roots.

There, for the first time in over a century, an ancient pact was invoked: The Summons of the Sealed Judgment .

This ritual was only activated when the balance of the Tree was threatened from within and without at the same time.

Renjirō addressed the circle of chiefs:

—Mizuki wants to corrupt the root. Hollow wants to erase its memory.

Both are wrong.

—And the Wounded One?

—It is the only crack that connects us to the Tree still capable of feeling guilt.

The plan: to form a silent axis of resistance, recover banned texts and protect the last pure root , if it really exists.

V. The Hollow Cave

In Nashira, Akihiko found an opening between two limestone formations. It was small, but it sloped downward. The walls were dry, but something in the air smelled of ancient dampness.

They descended for hours.

Sora walked as if he was surveying the terrain. No one said a word. When they reached the bottom, they saw something that shouldn't be there :

A white root.

Not transparent, not broken, not corrupt.

White. Alive. And alone.

It wasn't connected to anything.

It was an isolated root, without a net.

A root that had grown by choice. And its song… was individual.

It wasn't choral.

It didn't repeat phrases from the Tree.

It was free.

Sora fell to his knees. He began to cry.

—This… this is the last heartbeat without judgment.

VI. The Message of the Root

Sora placed both hands on the root. The sap was thick, luminous, like dense nectar.

He closed his eyes. He sang.

And the root responded with an image:

Akihiko, alone, surrounded by corrupted roots.

Mizuki, kneeling, cutting into the Tree's memory like someone trimming dead skin. Hollow, silent, walking on a root... and it didn't notice.

But he also saw something else:

The white root sprouting upward . Not seeking a net.

But starting a new one.

VII. The Tree Awakens

In every city, in every corner where there was a dormant root, something happened at the same time .

The roots began to move on their own. Some broke streets. Others abandoned buildings. Some were reburied.

It was as if the Tree had been shaken by an impossible memory . One he himself had forgotten.

And in the Hollow-infected areas, something unprecedented happened:

The false roots began to bleed.

VIII. Sora's Commitment

Sora opened her eyes, transformed. Her voice, once soft, was now deep and double.

"We can't go back with this root.

" " What?" Ikari asked.

—We must plant it somewhere else .

Where it will grow free .

Where the Tree won't control it. Where corruption won't seek it out.

Akihiko understood.

—We are not going to restore the Tree.

—Let's create a new one.

IX. In the Void, Hollow smiles

Far away, in the center of Valtoria's Empty Sector, Hollow felt the tremor.

He didn't scream. He didn't bleed.

He smiled.

—So you found the seed I never wanted to step on…

He stood up. He looked at the sky. For the first time, he wished it would rain.

And he said:

"Now yes… the Tree and I can die together."

 END OF CHAPTER 95