The Day the Tree Wept Blood
The Tree of Memory had stood in the heart of Verdantia for over thirty thousand years.
A towering living relic, its leaves shimmered like glass under sunlight. Its roots twisted across half the temple city, reaching into ancestral veins of mana and echoing with the voices of every elf who had ever died beneath its boughs. To the people of Verdantia, it was not just a tree—it was heritage, religion, identity.
That made it the perfect target.
Priyanshu stood before the colossal trunk, hands behind his back.
He wore ceremonial robes now—white and gold, marked with a blue crest that did not belong to any known Elven faction. His face was calm, but in his heart, he could feel the tremble in the world's laws, as if the realm itself was holding its breath.
[System Protocol Engaged: World Heritage Override][Using Item: Bloodseed of Forgotten Monarch][Casting: Sinful Bloom Ritual (Hidden Grade)]
He crushed the small black seed in his hand.
The blood that dripped from his palm wasn't his—but that of a forgotten god he had harvested in a different world, years ago.
The moment the seed touched the roots of the Tree, everything changed.
At first, the sky darkened subtly.
Birds fluttered away. The mana winds slowed. Even the insects stilled.
Then, from the tree's core, a faint crimson hue pulsed once.
Twice.
And on the third pulse...
It bled.
Sticky, red sap burst from its trunk like open wounds. The divine carvings etched into its bark—thousands of ancestral names—began to blur, dissolve, and scream.
Yes, scream.
The voices of the dead—once peaceful—turned to wails of betrayal, pain, and madness.
All across Verdantia, the Elves dropped to their knees, clutching their heads as ancestral memories turned to burning echoes.
The sacred song, the one the Tree sang during sunrise each morning.
It now twisted into a funeral dirge.
And in the central plaza, thousands of elves witnessed the impossible.
A single line of blood-red leaves grew along one of the lower branches. Something that had never happened in history. The crimson corruption spread upward like veins. Holy druids rushed to stop it, casting purification spells.
None worked.
Worse—one druid touched the trunk and burst into silver flames, disintegrating instantly.
Panic.
Terror.
Religious hysteria.
Deep within the Temple Archives, the Council of Elders was in full crisis.
"THE TREE IS CURSED!" shouted Councilor Varin, slamming the table. "This is blasphemy! A divine punishment!"
"No," whispered Serelya, her hands trembling. "This is something else. Something ancient. And planned."
They all turned toward the High Priest, who had awoken only minutes earlier, his eyes now strangely hollow.
He spoke in a raspy voice, foreign-sounding. "I saw him... in my visions. A man with a hundred faces. A cloak of stars. Eyes like night. He walked through our sacred memories as if they were his own. And behind him… followed dogs of loyalty, with their tongues dipped in venom."
A chill passed through the room.
He pointed upward. "He has already infected the Tree. The roots speak of him. And they... fear him."
Meanwhile, hidden in a chamber beneath the plaza, Priyanshu sat in meditation.
Before him floated a holographic display:
[Tree of Memory Corruption Progress: 37%][Public Sentiment Shift: 52% Confused, 23% Fearful, 18% Fanatical, 7% Loyal to Unknown][Loyal Dog Progression Tree Updated: Skill Unlocked – Soulroot Manipulation]
He opened his eyes, golden pupils flickering.
Everything was falling apart.
Perfectly.
And the best part? No one even knew his name yet. No one suspected the Third Prince of the neighboring Kingdom—a frail boy until recently—was behind all this. Not even the Loyal Dog agents knew the full extent.
Only he and the System did.
Suddenly, Luna entered the chamber, bowing low.
"My Lord, agents embedded among the Tree Guardians report civil conflict. One faction believes the corruption is punishment for pride. Other claims it's the rise of a new god. Clerics have begun to defect."
Priyanshu smiled. "Good. Let the heresies blossom."
He stood, stretching slightly.
"Has the Artifact Chamber been located?"
"Yes, My Lord. Deep beneath the Tree's central root cluster. But it is sealed with eight soul-locks. No one has the keys."
"I don't need the keys," he said, holding out his palm. From it, a black flame emerged.
"This is theft beyond time. A heresy written into fate. The gods locked it for a reason... and I will unseal it for a better one."
In the heart of the Tree, the ground cracked.
The land itself groaned. And a spiral staircase of roots descended into the earth.
Below waited a vault untouched for eons. One that held a forgotten fragment of the world's first sin.
Priyanshu descended.
Step by step.
As the Tree above wept blood, and the people began to whisper of a coming Age of Twilight.
[System Notice: Subplot "Fall of Verdantia" – Phase 3 Unlocked][Warning: You are altering World Destiny Threads. Consequences are unpredictable.][Hidden Villain Path Progression: 14% → 22%]
And still, he smiled.