I Was Reborn in Another World, But I Awoke Inside a Corpse

Chapter 126: Beneath the Bark, Beneath the World

The heart of Yggdrasil had grown silent.

Beneath the elven capital, below the council halls and sacred archives, lay a hidden path that spiraled into the foundations of the world. Isaac descended first, his footsteps muffled by ancient moss and enchanted stone. Behind him came Lira, quiet and alert. Sylvalen walked at his side, her expression unreadable but her eyes filled with intent.

They said few elves ever came this deep anymore.

Now they would see why.

The chamber they entered opened wide beneath the base of the World Tree—an ancient root vault carved by time and magic. Towering pillars of bark rose like skeletal ribs from the earth, glowing softly with the internal mana flow of Yggdrasil's living veins.

But one of the roots—enormous and gnarled—was dying.

Its outer bark was graying. Its inner veins barely glimmered. A blackened shadow pulsed faintly through the wood like smoke trapped beneath glass.

Isaac stepped forward and touched it.

A chill sank into his bones—not cold, but familiar. Not pain, but memory.

He exhaled slowly.

"I know this feeling," he murmured. "Not exactly… but close."

Sylvalen turned sharply to him. "Close to what?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he let his senses drift along the bark. No system skill. No incantation. Just instinct. And the subtle trace of something wrong woven into the Tree's core.

Not natural. Not elven.

Not of this world.

"A while ago," Isaac said at last, "Lira and I encountered a fragment of something old. Something powerful. A Great Demon."

Sylvalen froze. "You don't mean…"

He nodded. "Satan. The Sin of Wrath."

The words seemed to drain the warmth from the room. Even the flickering bark-lights dimmed.

Sylvalen inhaled sharply. "You fought a fragment of Satan? And you're still standing?"

Isaac gave a dry smile. "Not just standing. I ended it."

She blinked. "You defeated a piece of him?"

Lira rolled her eyes. "It wasn't exactly a fair fight. Isaac punched it so hard it didn't even scream."

Sylvalen's voice dropped to a whisper. "You destroyed part of an evil god. Alone."

"I had help," he said, nodding toward Lira. "But the real trouble came after."

He pulled his hand back from the bark and crossed his arms.

"You see, Satan rewarded me—or thought he did. Gave me a blessing. A skill. EX-rank. Something monstrous. Called it the 'Sin of Wrath.'"

Sylvalen stared at him, wide-eyed.

"But I didn't want it," Isaac said flatly. "So I… fed it to an E-rank skill."

Lira grinned. "Best trade-up ever."

Isaac nodded. "I used my Skill Fusion Protocol to sacrifice Satan's gift—used it to evolve a minor support ability."

Sylvalen's jaw parted slightly. "You… deconstructed an EX-rank demonic blessing?"

"And upgraded something completely unrelated," he said. "The best part? Satan never figured out who did it. He felt his essence vanish. Felt the pain of losing part of himself. But not the how, or the who."

Sylvalen stared at him, stunned.

Then, unexpectedly, she laughed—low and breathless, like someone standing in the middle of a storm who suddenly realizes the lightning just missed her.

"You infuriated a god," she said. "And he doesn't even know your name."

Isaac tilted his head. "Well, technically, he knows someone erased a fragment of his will, dismantled it, and used it to improve an E-rank passive. But yeah. That someone was me."

Sylvalen let out another soft laugh, then shook her head. "You're terrifying."

"Only to gods," Lira muttered. "To the rest of us, he's just stubborn and overpowered."

Their laughter faded as Isaac turned back to the root.

The humor dimmed as he focused once again on the presence stirring beneath the Tree.

"This isn't Wrath," he said softly. "It's not Satan. But it's something close. A sin-touched presence. Another Great Demon, maybe. Or something born of one."

Sylvalen's voice sobered. "Then the seal may have broken beneath the Abyss."

"The Abyss isn't just a void," Isaac said. "It's a realm. A kingdom beneath kingdoms. Filled with demons that make surface threats look… quaint."

He looked up at the massive root.

"If something moved in the Abyss and infected this root, the Tree may be dying from the bottom up."

Sylvalen placed her hand beside his. "Then we need to find out who did it. And why."

Isaac nodded once. "And whether the next Sin is waiting at the other end."