Chapter 152 Entering Life, Entering Death
Tender leaves drifted away from the giant tree, landing on the moist soil, as if life was stirring within, sprouting a tiny new bud.
Golden sunlight poured onto the tender leaves of the young branches, and gentle rain nurtured her. In the soft passage of time, this young sprout, with its burgeoning leaves, gradually grew, and leaf after leaf, filled with the tender green of life, sprouted from the young branches.
In Verafia’s eyes, a small leaf gradually gave birth to new life, becoming a young sapling.
The dream of the Goddess of Life, was it the growth of a tree?
Such a thought arose in the young girl’s mind.
She knew that the leaf drifting in the wind was not her, it was merely a fleeting dream. She should be a beautiful young girl named “Verafia,” possessing the power to control life, yet she couldn’t help but identify herself with that young sapling.
It was as if she herself was that tender leaf, far from the mother tree.
The golden-haired girl stood beside the tender sapling. The gentle wind stroking its young branches softly blew her delicate golden hair. Above, the sky was filled with the colors of life, like the growth of the young tree. Many unseen scenes appeared before her eyes. The girl’s eyes seemed immersed in the budding life of the branches; the wind and rain fell, yet she seemed to be soaked in it.
New leaves sprouted, and delicate flowers bloomed at her feet. The entire desolate land gradually gave birth to the breath of life, filling the air with a soul-stirring freshness.
In Verafia’s eyes, this young sapling gradually grew into a tree carrying life. Verdant branches and leaves sprouted from her body, swaying gently in the wind.
Fragile and young lives came under her protection. Orioles built nests, and weasels frolicked among the leaves. They continuously grew and were born within Verafia, regarding her as a home and protection. Verafia could even feel their sentiments – it was the yearning of nascent life for its “mother.”
“Am I a mother…?”
Soft, bright green intertwined with her cascading golden hair. Verafia’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she softly uttered.
She knew that the tenderness in her heart was merely because it was born in the dream of the Goddess of Life. Even this body was nothing but the manifestation of her soul in the dream of Goddess Silo Saris. Yet, for a moment, she seemed to forget her identity as “Verafia” and felt she was a growing tree.
She clearly understood that this perception was incorrect, yet Verafia could not correct her thoughts.
Her soft golden eyes seemed to be imbued with the verdant light of life. The girl’s hair gradually lengthened, cascading down to her slender waist and hips. Within the soft, beautiful golden hues, tender green of life also sprouted. As her form changed, small, tender flowers also grew among her hair.
As time gradually passed, the girl’s already confused eyes became even more bewildered. She truly seemed to regard herself as a Tree of Life, enjoying the sunlight and dew, and the young creatures beneath the leaves and tender branches were her sheltered children.
The colors of life painted her soul, like golden silk threads covered with soft green grass… A vague and broad tenderness gradually grew in the young girl’s heart, a compassion that was flawless, selfless, and evenly bestowed upon the beings she sheltered, upon the children she cherished.
The girl with soft, tender green hair stood quietly before the tree that had become the incarnation of life. Greenery grew beside them, seeds of life were sown in the soil, and gradually, the green color representing life filled the land. Young trees grew, and insects, birds, and weasels regarded this as their home. At the dawn of daylight, beautiful songs of life played among her leaves.
In time, the Tree of Life grown by the girl would become a forest, and the land protected by her would transform into an ocean of life.
This was the will representing life.
Occasionally, when Verafia awoke and witnessed the girl gradually imbued with the verdant green of life, she wondered if she would become lost in the dream of Goddess Silo Saris, and if that girl would become the new Goddess of Life.
However, her voice was insignificant to the entire dream of life… Like a lullaby sung in a dream, it made Verafia’s occasionally clear eyes hazy, and her thoughts drifted with the ripples of life.
As long as she became the incarnation of life, she would have the life she desired, selfless and happy. Her love would not be limited to one person, but would be shared equally and selflessly with every living being.
She would merge into the ocean of life, and everything she touched would be the songs she sang…
Even though Verafia clearly understood that if she truly succumbed to it, she would perish, no longer being the girl “Verafia,” and she would not become the true Goddess of Life, but rather completely merge into the laws of life, becoming part of a concept…
However, Verafia could not refuse.
A world filled with life and peace, perhaps that was the life she truly wanted to create…
…
The girl’s movements suddenly paused slightly, and a sharp pain reached her bewildered thoughts.
She was still the Tree of Life bringing vitality to the entire world, with elegant branches, verdant leaves, and grass and small flowers covering the boundless horizon. Birds chirped, and countless lives lived in peace and contentment under her protection.
However, a trace of withered color fell into her eyes.
At first, it was just a withered blade of grass, then it spread across the entire field. The verdant green dulled, darkness spread across the sky, living beings died before her eyes, and all vitality vanished.
Great sorrow arose in the girl’s heart. The branches and trunk of the Tree of Life swayed continuously, trying to stop the descending death… Yet, she was powerless. Watching the lives she considered her offspring die in pain, tears flowed from her eyes, wetting her face, and falling onto the already decaying earth.
Even she could not escape the fate of death.
The firm bark gradually loosened and dried, the emerald-like life branches and leaves turned yellow and withered, falling powerlessly in the sound of decay, rotting in the ocean of condensed darkness.
A strand of soft green hair fell, tainted with withered yellow. The colors of life were depleted. Verafia felt pain and touched her face with her palm, but it was no longer her previously tender and smooth skin.
Her face was also decaying. In the rotting flesh, she touched stark white bones.
“The end of life… is decay and death?”
A faint voice came from her throat and lips, not yet claimed by death. Verafia opened her eyes for the first time in this dream, but what she saw was not a world blessed by life.
Both this dream and the girl were now entering death.
