While Cillian was still deep in the God's Domain, fully focused on studying the Original Devil, the instructors in the observation room began to notice.
"What's going on?" one tutor asked, frowning.
"He stopped developing the rest of the world," another replied, adjusting the projection view. "He's locked all his attention onto a single creature."
The instructors leaned in, curious. It was rare for a world-builder, especially one as methodical as Cillian, to get hung up on a single lifeform.
"That thing… bat wings, scaled like a dragon, claw structure from different bloodlines?" another muttered. "Is this some kind of fusion-type organism?"
The room filled with murmurs.
But the moment Vice Principal Warren stepped into the chamber, everything fell silent. His presence was like a shadow pulling the air out of the room.
No one spoke. His expression was worse than grim.
Warren sat, glanced up at the projection, and saw it, the Original Devil, a living paradox crawling its way up from the depths of Cillian's twisted creation. Under Cillian's guidance, it was hunting other apex predators, absorbing them, and evolving further. He'd even preserved its primal bloodline through the Abyss' will.
Warren's jaw clenched. Elaras' voice echoed in his mind like a cold verdict:
"The weak are stepping stones for the strong."
"A God's Domain sentenced to death will destroy itself."
"Any world like the Endless Abyss will collapse by its own design."
A genius like Cillian, wasted on a flawed world, a world that, perhaps due to its own brilliance, would never last.
Warren gave it one last look, then stood and cleared his throat.
"That's enough. From now on, all instructors will stop observing Cillian's Divine Domain."
The tutors turned in shock.
"What?!"
"why?"
"Did the Headmistress give this order?"
Warren raised his hand. Silence returned.
"Focus your efforts on students whose designs still have potential. Increase the pass rate this year, identify new talent and let's train them early"
"Elara Everhart gave the order."
Nothing more needed to be said.
"Understood."
Warren glanced one last time at the black-red spiral floating over the Abyss projection.
His gaze was hard to read.
⸻
Soon after the tutors got back to work. With Cillian off the board, they began sorting through other students' designs.
Most were solid, even impressive. But after witnessing the scale and savagery of the Endless Abyss, everything else looked… somewhat underwhelming.
Still, no one dared say it aloud under Warren's watchful eye.
"Oh, I remember this one, from the Lyion family. His beast-world shows solid growth logic. One of his creatures, the [Mother of All Beasts], has nearly hit tier ten."
"Impressive," another said. "Look at Lily Grace's star-spirit design. The Celestials are evolving well, they have clear elemental paths."
"This cultivation world is also stabilizing. Ren Clark is using a Dao Embodiment avatar to seed cultivation techniques across factions."
In one projection, Ren, cloaked in divine light, stood atop a jade platform, teaching his disciples under a rain of starlight.
Warren gave a tired nod. Cillian was a hard loss. But these other students, Lily, Bryce, Ren, still gave the university hope.
That's when a younger instructor called out.
"Vice Principal, you might want to look at Zach Kingston's world again. His divine fire count just spiked."
Zach, the second-ranked student, had been slowly reworking his world for weeks. Now, it was paying off.
The number beside his name ticked upward.
Everyone in the observation room turned their attention to Zach, and the moment they entered his God's Domain, they froze.
"…Is that what I think it is?"
"Three?" another muttered, leaning closer.
"Three World Trees… each with different affinities."
"Unbelievable. How has he managed that?"
Inside the Domain, Zach stood quietly at the peak of Middle-Earth, the central continent of his world. He exhaled slowly.
The moment his breath touched the realm, a gentle wind, calm but laced with divine presence, swept across the entire plane.
It wasn't violent, it wasn't hard and It didn't uproot anything, but every creature felt it. And with it came a clear message.
"The Creator has awakened."
The elves were the first to respond. Tree-elves, flower-elves, grass-elves, all races native to the world's forests trembled with recognition.
For ten thousand years, the three lesser World Trees across the continents had remained dormant. And now, their sprouting could only mean one thing:
Diluhar, the Ancestral Tree, the source of all life in the natural world, was active once more.
Messengers were dispatched immediately. High Elves from every kingdom made their way to Middle-Earth. Even the Golden Elves, sworn guardians of the First Tree, abandoned their posts and traveled toward the divine presence.
It took months of in-world time, but finally, they reached the grove.
There, bathed in radiant green, gold, and white light, stood their Supreme God.
As he opened his eyes, the entire forest erupted in cheers.
"The breath of life has returned!"
"We kneel before you, great one!"
But as the celebration echoed across the continent, something strange began to happen.
Behind Zach, the great World Tree, Diluhar, began to wither.
Leaves rained down like falling stars. Roots twisted and retracted. Bark cracked, and the great trunk groaned as if releasing its final breath.Panic spread instantly.
Zach raised a hand.
"Do not mourn," he said calmly. "Diluhar is not dying. He is being reborn."
He reached down and lifted a single golden seed from the forest floor.
"He has given his body, soul, and spirit to his children, the three World Trees across the continents. This is his final gift in this cycle of Samsara."
The elves fell silent, many with tears in their eyes. They knew the truth in his words. As children of the World Tree, they could feel it.
And then, across the three continents, the lesser World Trees began to surge with power.
Their roots burrowed deeper, their crowns stretched toward the sky, and divine light enveloped them. Each now contained one of Diluhar's three core rules—Body, Soul, and Spirit.
Zach's divine fire surged upward.
He smiled as he placed the seed into the soil before him. The rebirth was complete.
"It worked," he thought. "I finally broke the flaw in the World Tree system. No longer do its descendants fade."
"Now, they inherit everything their predecessors had and even better is that Diluhar can reincarnate again and again, each time absorbing new laws."
His gaze lifted to the horizon, to the glowing crowns of the three World Trees.
"They're separate, but each wields a fundamental truth of the world. That's enough."
"Before, one World Tree could only handle three laws total. Now, with every rebirth, I can split and stack new rules, I've removed the cap."
He clenched his fist, pulse racing with pride.
"And through the elves born from each tree's sap, the three laws will resonate. Their blood will link Body, Soul, and Spirit into one living system, and they'll continue to grow stronger with every generation. Tier Ten? Only a matter of time. Even the legendary tier is within reach."
Zach's chest rose as he turned to face the gathering crowd.
"I deserve the title of genius."
He exhaled again, and this time his voice carried.
"Diluhar will sprout again soon. Your mother, your protector, will return."
The elves cheered. It echoed like a wave across the forest.
But then, Zach cut them off.
His expression shifted. He needed more from them.
"If I want them to reach their potential before the next assessment… I need to give them motivation."
He gave a soft, deliberate sigh.
"…But this time, something's different," he said aloud. "The rebirth of Diluhar isn't guaranteed."
The cheers stopped.
The elves looked up at him, confused and worried.
One of them, a golden-haired priestess known as the Saint of Light, stepped forward and knelt.
"Supreme One, why do you say that?"
Zach closed his eyes, letting his tone shift to something distant, reverent, more divine.
"Because this time, Diluhar has no strength left to protect you. In the moments of his rebirth, the outer worlds will sense weakness."
"Demons will come and they'll try to corrupt the Tree."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"I am bound to Diluhar," he continued, "and while I tend to him, I will be unable to protect you."
He paused.
"Time for the final push."
"You must face three trials. You must earn the right to be protected."
"The three Trees, your guardians, will bless you with gifts: strength of body, clarity of spirit, purity of soul. Learn from them, then grow with them."
He raised his hand, letting a soft light drift down.
"Train, evolve, fight, not for me but for your brothers and sisters, for your mothers and fathers, but most importantly, for yourselves."
The elves stood in unison, crying out with renewed determination.
Zach nodded slowly.
"That's it. Stir their hearts. Fuel their growth. Let them build me an empire of strength."
Then, beneath his breath, just loud enough for no one but himself to hear:
"Cillian… this time, I have something to fight you with."
He smiled faintly.
"Let's see if your monsters can keep up with my believers."
And below it all, the seed of Diluhar stirred beneath the soil, ready to rise again.