Thousands of kilometers south of the Empire's southernmost reaches, a towering mountain pillar rose into the clouds. At several thousand meters high, it dwarfed everything in the Southern Forest. Thick branches spread like a canopy from its summit, and the green leaves revealed the mountain's true identity: the World Tree.
The World Tree was a great tree whose trunk had long since turned to stone. Shrubs and vines grew from its slopes, and by the time they reached the foot of the mountain, they had merged with the forest.
Of course, the path from the treetop to the foot of the mountain was no sheer cliff. Many of the tree's former branches and roots had become part of the terrain. Some formed lakes in the sky, while others had hollowed out and rotted away, creating deep pits that reached underground.
Halcala's maternal clan, the Oak Clan, lived inside the World Tree. They enjoyed the shelter and magic it provided, and were also responsible for keeping the tree healthy.
On March 25, Yawenni Golden Moon rode Totapara to a cliff a thousand meters up the trunk. A thick branch several kilometers long and hundreds of meters across had once extended from this spot, but now it lay on the ground, forming part of the mountain.
Standing at the cliff's edge, the Elf looked down at a circular abyss. Sounds continued to rise from within.
"Princess Yawenni, that's a passage to the Underground Tribe!" said Jubia Oak, the High-Rank attendant behind her. "They've been very active for the past half month. Several times, they've nearly broken through the World Tree's roots."
"I understand..."
Faced with such a situation, even Yawenni, who loved charging headlong into battle, couldn't be sure the small reinforcement she had brought could turn things around. The one beneath