Chapter 74: The Truth of Everything

The dazzling pillar of light illuminated Elaril’s shocked face, casting the sturdy figure beneath it into a blurry silhouette.

“Father!”

“You exceeded my expectations, Leah. You did very well.”

When they heard that confident voice, Leah, Winnidith, and even Arns, who had just lost an arm, all felt a sense of relief.

No matter what, only a Saint Realm could counter a Saint Realm.

So their only goal was to rescue Elvain.

For that purpose, Leah had repeatedly hinted to Elaril about the importance of the sword, then, under threat, unhesitatingly drew it to lower Elaril‘s guard.

Finally, at the moment Elaril ignored the sword, she sent it to Elvain’s side, using the resonance between the sword and the Elven King to unleash Elvain‘s power and break free.

After regaining his strength, Elvain first severed the vines piercing Leah and casually healed the shocking bloody holes on his daughter’s body.

It was only then that Leah noticed the tips of those vines were covered in ferocious, sharp fangs.

Those were what had been gnawing at her father‘s body.

She glared viciously at them.

Remembering they might have also gnawed on Vilda’s body, her gaze grew even fiercer.

By her father‘s side, she didn’t have to bear the heavy responsibilities of the Elven King.

Her personality seemed to revert to that of the spoiled little girl she once was.

“Alright, take a rest for now. You‘ve been fighting for a long time; you must be tired.”

Elvain patted his daughter’s head affectionately.

He casually retrieved Arns‘s devoured sword and right arm from the dark magic sludge, then teleported Arns back to Winnidith’s side.

“I can reattach your arm, but I‘m afraid you won’t be able to use douqi anymore. I‘m sorry.”

Arns was flattered by the apology, and even Winnidith raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Was reattaching a severed arm really that easy?

For Elvain, who commanded the Light and Wood Elements, it was actually quite simple.

He aligned the position, and as a flash of light passed, flesh and bone began to reconnect and regenerate.

In just a few seconds, the wound vanished completely.

Arns stared in amazement at the miracle happening to him.

He tried to clench his fist and found nothing unusual—it felt as natural as if the arm had never been lost.

“Etheriel’s injury is also easy to treat. But Miss Winnidith, you‘re simply suffering from adverse reactions due to overdrawing your mana; it’s best to let it recover naturally.”

He handled the situation as calmly as if this weren‘t a battlefield but his usual office.

“It’s fine. I‘ll be okay after resting a bit.”

“More importantly, Uncle Elvain, since you’ve regained your strength, you should kill Elaril right away, to avoid any trouble later.”

Winnidith urged.

There were many legends about the Elven King, and quite a few were questioned by historians, but the one thing they never doubted was his personal strength.

So Winnidith‘s train of thought was simple: rescuing Elvain meant victory.

As for the Sacred Tree afterward, they had plenty of time to test their plans.

But unexpectedly, Elvain glanced at the bedraggled Elaril and shook his head.

“It’s not that simple. My life force has been nearly drained. Even with the King’s Sword in hand, I can only exert about a tenth of my peak combat power.”

Elvain smiled bitterly.

“But Elaril isn’t in good shape either. If it really came down to a fight, Uncle Elvain, you‘d probably win, right?”

Winnidith argued stubbornly.

“That’s true.”

Elvain conceded her point.

“As things stand, if we fought, the odds would be in my favor. But if she wanted to flee, I absolutely couldn‘t stop her.”

“Ah~ So you’re saying we have no way to deal with her?”

Winnidith tugged at her silver hair in frustration.

She had caused such a commotion this time and ruined Elaril‘s plans; Elaril definitely wanted her dead.

Eek!

It was terrifying to have a Grand Magician after her life.

She couldn’t possibly have a Saint Realm helper by her side twenty-four hours a day.

“Besides, there‘s an enemy more troublesome than Elaril now.”

Hearing this, Winnidith and the others turned their gazes toward the Sacred Tree.

They saw its branches beginning to thrash wildly, and countless pink mist seeping from its roots, yet trapped inside a golden seal.

“Elwin’s seal will soon break. The will of the Sacred Tree is waking from its slumber. In at most two hours, it will shatter the seal completely and descend upon the world.”

“And all I need to do is hold you off for two hours. After that, Mother will turn the entire world into her playground.”

Elaril picked up his words cheerfully.

But her smile soon vanished.

“However, if it‘s just a matter of trapping her, I can do it effortlessly.”

? ? ?

Elaril suddenly sensed something wrong.

She tried to leave but found her body had lost all sensation.

“To deal with the Dark Elves, the magic I created isn’t limited to ‘Twilight of Creation.’”

Elvain manipulated his own blood.

In Winnidith‘s sight, the blood emitted countless threads that bound Elaril’s limbs, rendering her combat-incapable.

“In fact, for me, this spell is even more useful than Twilight of Creation.”

It was called Blood Contract, a spell he had created after returning from the Empire.

Its only function was to control the bodies of those close to him.

The one most closely related to him by blood in this world was his twin-born sister, Elaril.

This effect could be resisted, but Elvain had obtained Elaril‘s blood from the very beginning.

With her severely wounded, controlling her body for a few seconds was well within his ability.

Vines crept across Elaril’s body, forming the shape of a cross.

Gale-force winds gathered into spikes that fiercely pinned her limbs.

Holy light shone down from above, dispelling the dark power she prided herself on.

At that moment, Elaril had completely lost the ability to resist, reduced to a fish on the chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.

But her expression remained relaxed.

“You knew about my existence all along, didn‘t you?”

Elaril lifted her head to look at Elvain, seeming to want to hear the answer from his own lips.

“Yes.”

Elvain granted her wish.

“The attraction between twins is mutual. When you appeared among us, we Light Elves naturally felt trust toward you. That unfounded trust—a brief thought would reveal its nature.”

“Then why did you keep me here?”

Elaril asked.

“Since you knew our loyalty to Mother would never waver, for the stability of the world, you should have killed me from the start. Why did you keep me until now?”

Winnidith was also curious about the answer.

If she hadn’t come this time, Elvain would have really been derailed.

What was he thinking?

“Because I want to end the Elven King‘s mission in my generation.”

Elvain said calmly.

“Not passively waiting for the Sacred Tree to awaken, but actively eradicating It.”

“To do that, I have to keep the key to opening the seal in my own hands.”

This idea had been brewing for a long time.

When he first met Elaril, he almost believed it was an opportunity given by heaven.

So for the past hundred years, he hadn’t studied the Sacred Tree.

Instead, he had been researching how to perfectly control the Dark Elves.

He poured all the magic he developed into the Fountain of Memory.

That way, if future generations waited for a new god from another world, they could use this magic to actively break the seal.

This thought grew even stronger after he became a father.

Perhaps heaven favored him.

Ten years ago, he suddenly heard that a little girl in the Empire had successfully created a fire spell that could only light candles.

Almost instantly, he realized that the world had welcomed another Outer God.

“Winnidith, are you curious how we knew you were a visitor from beyond the sky?”

Winnidith’s heart skipped a beat.

Had the biggest secret she thought she kept all along been transparent to those who knew the truth?

“I’m sure you‘ve heard the saying: Magic is a gift from the gods. That’s correct. The arrival of the gods brought magic to this world, but a malicious god set a rule from the very beginning: magic can only be used in war.”

“Thus, even the weakest first-tier magic has the power to take lives—because that is the gods’ rule.”

“Only another god can break the rules set by a god.”

Winnidith didn‘t know what to say.

After hearing Elvain’s explanation, she finally understood why creating a lighter spell had caused such an uproar in the Imperial Capital.

It turned out she had basically revealed her own secret herself.

If she‘d known, she wouldn’t have stayed up late reading novels that night.

“But this was a bit rash of you, Uncle Elvain. If Miss Winnidith hadn’t shown so many miracles, your plan would have failed.”

Elaril countered:

“Knowing you as I do, that’s not something you would do.”

“True, your surprise attack did put me at a disadvantage. But I spent a full eighty years thinking through this plan. In those eighty years, I prepared countless contingencies, many of which had even more perilous starting conditions than today.”

Elvain remarked sidelong.

The Natural Forest had been ruled by the Elven King for a millennium.

Only the Elven King knew how many hidden forces lay within.

Even under the most extreme conditions, Elvain could have taken Elaril down with him—though that was the worst-case scenario.

“As expected of the King. I accept this outcome. I await your judgment.”

Elaril’s body relaxed, her will to fight completely gone.

But she still smiled.

“However, all your plans have one fatal flaw. Can Miss Winnidith truly defeat Mother?”

Winnidith felt a twinge of panic at these words.

She didn’t have absolute confidence in destroying the Sacred Tree.

Sai Lin Na‘s method was only theoretical; whether it would actually succeed was unknown.

So no matter how meticulous Elvain’s plan was, it was still an all-or-nothing gamble.

“Since I answered three of your questions, it’s only fair that you answer one of mine, right?”

Elvain didn‘t answer her question; instead, he asked one of his own.

“Ever since Kalimudo, each generation of twins has eliminated the Dark Elf at birth. When Leah was born, I personally witnessed the life force of the Dark Elf born alongside her vanish.”

His voice was filled with anger.

“Then tell me, how is it that you and Vilda exist in this world?”

“You already know the answer in your heart, don’t you?”

Elaril slowly spoke the name in Elvain‘s mind.

“Xinliezhi, or rather Tzeentch. That Chaos God of scheming and betrayal did not completely die. Its consciousness hides beside Mother.”

“After It grew tired of the spectacle of Dark Elves being killed, It revived us. Starting from the sixth Elven King, all those you killed were mere decoys.”

“But we newborns had nothing, so we could only eke out an existence in remote villages or the shadows of the City of Emerald Shadows.”

“It wasn’t until the seventh Elven King, Dylan, opened the borders that my teacher‘s teacher managed to flee to the Alendine Kingdom and receive their aid.”

“Is this answer satisfactory?”

“As expected.”

The anger in Elvain’s heart dissipated.

It wasn’t surprising that the most chaotic of the Evil Gods would do such things.

“Then it’s time for the execution, isn‘t it?”

Elaril voluntarily raised her neck, exposing her fatal weakness to Elvain.

“To die by your hand is an honor.”

Her voice carried anticipation.

“I will wait for our reunion inside Mother’s body.”