Chapter 1499: Moving Deeper

Sylven remained motionless for several more moments, his palm still resting against the ancient bark as countless memories continued flowing through his consciousness.

But none of them revealed what he had been searching for. Not a single memory offered a clear clue about the Sky Tyrant.

A faint frown appeared on his face. "That’s strange..."

The countless wars, invading armies, monstrous storms, and mysterious creatures that had descended upon the forest were undoubtedly catastrophic events, but none of them resembled the overwhelming existence Caelion had described.

The Sky Tyrant was supposed to have been a being capable of burning the skies, bringing entire floating kingdoms crashing into the abyss, and forcing every nation of Elyndor to unite against it.

Nothing Sylven had witnessed through the tree’s memories came remotely close to that scale.

Then realization slowly settled inside his mind. The Sky Tyrant appeared long before this tree was born.

That explained why the tree possessed no direct memories of the catastrophe itself. Even so, Sylven had expected to find traces lingering within the ancient forest.

Trees absorbed the history of the land around them. Residual memories often remained long after the original witnesses had disappeared.

But there was nothing. Not even the faint echo of the immense presence Caelion had described.

The strange storms, the foreign monsters that occasionally descended from distorted skies, and the corruption spreading throughout the forest all possessed considerable power, but none of them carried the terrifying weight of an existence capable of threatening an entire world.

"Perhaps..." Sylven thought. "These are just the remnants left behind by it."

It was the only explanation that made sense. If the Sky Tyrant had truly emerged thousands of years ago in this world, the battle itself had scarred the land so deep that even after millennia, its lingering influence continued twisting these corrupted territories into what it had become today.

Although he had failed to uncover the truth about the Sky Tyrant, the ancient tree had not left him empty-handed.

Among the countless memories, Sylven recognized several recurring creatures that appeared throughout different eras of the forest.

One of those species happened to be the very monsters Erend, Eccar, and Aesa were fighting right now.

But according to the tree’s memories, these creatures were far from the greatest threat lurking beneath the black canopy. Much stronger monsters lived deeper within the forest.

Some of them very rarely emerged, choosing instead to remain hidden inside the oldest and most corrupted regions where almost nothing else could survive.

Sylven slowly removed his hand from the tree. A gentle smile crossed his face.

"Thank you."

He gave the ancient tree a small respectful bow before turning around.

The sounds of battle immediately rushed back into his ears.

Without hesitation, Sylven sprinted back toward the battlefield.

Several monsters noticed him immediately and abandoned their attacks against his friends.

Three wolf-like beasts lunged toward him at the same time. Sylven raised one hand and vines erupted violently from the ground, wrapped around the monsters’ bodies and crushed them with overwhelming force before hurling the corpses into nearby trees.

He continued forward without slowing down.

The battle ended only moments later.

The last surviving monster attempted to flee, but a spear of condensed ice launched by Aesa pierced straight through its head before it could disappear into the forest.

Silence returned to the forest and around them lay nearly twenty monster corpses. Not one of the four Dragonborn had suffered even the slightest injury.

More importantly, they had barely used any of their Magic energy so their reserves were still almost completely full.

Erend turned toward Sylven. "So? Did you find anything?"

Sylven nodded. "I found a great deal about this forest, but almost nothing about the Sky Tyrant."

The others listened quietly as he explained everything the ancient tree had shown him.

He described the endless wars throughout history, the mysterious storms that occasionally tore open the sky and brought foreign monsters into Elyndor, the countless failed expeditions sent by human kingdoms, and the corruption that had consumed the land over thousands of years.

Finally, he explained his conclusion.

"The tree wasn’t alive when the Sky Tyrant appeared. That happened long before its time. But I believe the corruption we’re seeing may be residue left behind by whatever happened during that ancient catastrophe."

Eccar folded his arms. "So we still don’t know anything useful."

"We know one important thing," Sylven corrected. "The monsters we’ve fought so far aren’t the strongest inhabitants of this forest. According to the tree’s memories, the truly dangerous ones live much deeper inside."

Erend nodded. "Then we have only one option."

Sylven met his eyes and nodded. "We must keep moving deeper."

The four Dragonborn immediately resumed their journey.

As they advanced farther into the corrupted wilderness, monsters appeared more frequently. But none of them managed to slow the Dragonborn for more than a few seconds. Each encounter ended almost as soon as it began.

The deeper they traveled, the more unnatural the forest became.

Eventually, they crossed into a region where even the dim light of the sky barely reached the ground.

The corruption had intensified dramatically. The earth exhaled streams of mist in shifting shades of crimson, violet, green, and black. The colorful vapors coiled around the roots before drifting silently between the trees.

Every plant surrounding them moved on its own. Branches moved despite the complete absence of wind, vines slithered across the ground, leaves trembled constantly, and each branch swayed in a different direction as though every tree possessed its own independent will.

This part of the forest was clearly alive.

"So where do we begin?" Eccar asked as he slowly turned in a circle, studying the eerie landscape surrounding them.

The others did the same. Everywhere they looked, the corrupted forest appeared identical. Advancing on foot would immediately alert the entire forest and before long countless monsters would converge on their position.

None of them feared a fight but fighting endless waves of enemies would accomplish nothing except wasting time.

"Let’s fly through all this and head straight for that opening," Sylven said suddenly while pointing toward a narrow opening hidden between a mass of tangled bushes.

Erend followed his finger and nodded. "Good idea."

Without another word, four pairs of Dragon wings unfolded behind them.

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