Within Shennong Horn Space, golden radiance spilled over all things.
The sun returned to its place. The Holy Mountain stood where the peak rose highest.
The wind swept past, and halfway up the mountain lay resplendent clouds.
Below the Holy Mountain, ranges of mountains stretched on. At their edges stood forests, and beyond them, grasslands.
A great river wound slowly into the distance, where herds of animals drank and leaped about.
Farther away lay deserts, glaciers, and seas.
At that moment, atop the Holy Mountain, green light descended from the World Tree, dyeing the entire sky and enclosing Romon within it.
Boom! The Darkness Palace below once again—
The next instant, a figure appeared upon the stone steps.
"Great Lord of Radiance, you have come!" Romon rose and gave a slight bow.
"Lord Romon, I never expected that you were the one controlling the New World Tree!" the Lord of Radiance said briefly, though his gaze gradually drifted upward.
There, an enormous tree floated in the air.
"The World Tree..." the Lord of Radiance murmured, his voice tinged with subtle and complicated emotion.
"That's right, the World Tree. Lord of Radiance, ten thousand years ago, you were born from the flames of the World Tree. You became a god and gained peerless power, nearly enough to rule the world."
"But you were still incomplete. You should have striven to fulfill the World Tree's wish, yet you failed. Now, the road of fate has reached its end. It can go no farther; it can no longer even exist. Is that why you wish to strangle everything?"
"If you destroy the New World Tree, you will no longer be able to exist either."
The Lord of Radiance immediately fell silent. After a moment, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Lord Romon,