That was a story from a long time ago, no... although it was a long time ago for humans, it felt like just yesterday for elves, an immortal race.

Long-lived races often have a peculiar perception of time. They forget things they consider unimportant and take a long time to recall them. Even things that happened just yesterday, they will remember small things that span a century...

As long as they think it's important.

Things related to "corruption," and the elders' rebellion that occurred as a result, will be etched in their memories, as will the efforts Inra made for this cause.

At that time, Silvermoon Tree Garden also had something called the "Elders' Council". In addition to listening to Cassiopeia, the elves would also listen to the opinions of the Elders' Council. However, since Silvermoon Tree Garden never had any administrative matters, no one paid much attention to it.

Until the appearance of the Corruption.

...

It's unclear when it started, but some black swamps have appeared in the forest of Silvermoon Tree Garden. Once you get stuck, it takes some effort to get out, and elves who stay in the vicinity for too long will become weak and powerless.

Near those swamps, plants and animals mutate; the former grow and transform into organs that can kill other plants and animals, while the latter become aggressive.

It wanders aimlessly and attacks anything that moves indiscriminately.

These swamps are known as the "Corruption Lands," and as time goes by, their number and area are gradually increasing, along with the number of dangerous plants and animals.

If not handled properly, it could lead to the extinction of the entire race.

...

"What does that have to do with the Elders' Council? Where is Mr. Yinla?"

Satan Ye blinked and asked, watching Cassiopeia slowly recount the events of the past. She had to admit that Cassiopeia wasn't a very good storyteller, often rambling on and on without any coherence... basically, she just talked about whatever came to mind.

“Ah, the elders and I have been studying this for a while, but we are at a loss as to how to cleanse the corrupted land, because the elders themselves have also been corrupted. At this time, Ira and your father came to the Silvermoon Tree Garden.”

As Cassie spoke, she mentioned some matters concerning the Elders, but without going into details, she immediately brought up the matter of Inra. She said, "Inra came to the Silvermoon Tree Garden because he wanted to see the World Tree. He said the World Tree seemed to be calling to him."

"Your father heard that my father was very strong, so he came to challenge my father to a fight. However, when things were almost settled, he said he had something to do and had to go back first, so the fight didn't happen."

"..."

What's wrong?

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Cassiopeia, realizing her story was somewhat disjointed, smiled awkwardly and explained, "The World Tree is very noble, and my father's status is also very noble. We shouldn't be able to agree to their conditions, but..."

"Given the special circumstances, I had no choice but to ask Yinla and your father for help, saying that they could achieve their goal, but they needed to resolve the issue of the Corrupted Land. They readily agreed."

"What happened next was simple in some ways, and complicated in others..."

...

Yinla and Faviginio spent some time in the Silvermoon Tree Garden, during which they basically spent their days investigating in the forest and bickering and arguing with each other. They eventually discovered an error in the information provided by the Silvermoon Tree Garden.

It is true that the Corruption causes animals and plants to decay, but not all animals originate from the Corruption. In fact, there is an anteater-like animal that is the culprit behind the Corruption.

The purple excrement they leave on the ground gradually transforms the earth into a rotten land. This process is not permanent; they need to leave excrement in the rotten land from time to time to ensure its long-term existence.

It was originally a very well-hidden magical beast that evaded the entire Silvermoon Tree Court's search during this period, but because it carried a trace of dragon blood, it was still found by Faviginio.

After returning to the Silvermoon Tree Garden to report the situation, a large-scale encirclement and extermination campaign was launched against the monsters named "Corrupted Monsters," but their numbers did not seem to decrease.

Some time later, during a raid, the two witnessed an elf feeding a harmless little monster with purplish-black blood, transforming it into a corrupted monster. At that moment... they were ambushed by an unidentified elf.

After turning the tables and returning to the Silvermoon Tree Garden, the two discovered that they had been framed for actively attacking the elves. However, by then they had become quite familiar with Cassiopeia, and she managed to protect them.

It was then determined that some of the elves had been corrupted. Later, during an attack on Cassiopeia, Inra captured the attacker and showed all the elves the purplish-black blood of the elf attacker, who was a member of the Elder Council, successfully clearing his name.

Then came the audit of all the elves... Knowing they could no longer hide, the corrupted elves, namely all the members of the Elder Council and a portion of the elves, began their formal rebellion.

"Cough cough..."

When she got to the most crucial point, Casiopeia coughed twice, took a sip of tea, and seemed to have gotten thirsty from telling the story. She said, "Don't rush, don't rush."

But how could the others not be anxious...? Stopping abruptly here is really frustrating; in novels, it's called an abrupt ending, and you'd get beaten to death for it (Holy crap, no!).

"After that, Faviginho had to go back on business, while Illa used blood magic to suppress the rebellion and finally resolved the corruption crisis... So, it doesn't sound that impressive, right?"

As Cassiopeia said this, she smiled and recalled, "But from then on, everyone in the Silvermoon Tree Garden worshipped Illa, because he was our savior. You would understand if you had experienced it."

No, it sounds impressive just from hearing it.

As everyone thought this, they all unanimously thought of those children who worshipped Illa as a god and were freed from slavery, and could completely understand the elves' thoughts.

However, the story of Cassiopeia is not yet over...

"After that, I took Yinla to see the World Tree and watched him carve the World Mantra on his neck and engrave it on his soul to become the governor. After that, I sat with him on the thinnest branch and listened to him talk about his past experiences."

Cassie's eyes filled with reminiscence... and it was at that moment that she made a vow in her heart—she would never become an insignificant passerby in Illa's life.

Satan Leaf: "Wow! That's amazing!"

The siren said, "So that's how Illa became the governor?"

Sylvanas: "..."

As a succubus, Shirina sensed something was off about Cassiopeia's attitude.

Shirina: Lord Illa, what a sinful man.