Chapter 62: Hope and Future

Tzeentch?

Anaris had never heard that name before.

Of course not—he was an elf born and raised here, how could he know the names of foreign evil gods?

But it didn’t matter.

“My goal is to cut it down. If you try to stop me, I’ll cut you down too.”

Anaris threatened coldly, but in response, Tzeentch just patted its chest and let out a dry laugh.

“You can’t kill us. We are Chaos Gods from another realm. Only our own kind can kill us.”

“And you, foolish child, are a Greater Daemon born from our hands. Your rank will never reach that of a true deity.”

“But if you simply wish to weaken Slaanesh’s influence over your people, why not seek my help?”

Seek its help?

To fight one evil god by asking another for aid?

Anaris found its words laughable. He casually swung his sword, and a sharp blade of wind instantly shredded the strange bird’s body.

“I’m not in the mood for your games. Stand in my way, and whether you’re Tzeentch or ‘Curious,’ you’re my enemy!”

He didn’t even glance at the vanishing deep-blue bird, focusing all his attention on the giant tree that the elves had worshipped for two hundred and thirty-seven years.

“Now, it’s your turn! Mother!”

Anaris roared.

Terrifying Douqi and Mana erupted from his body simultaneously.

The four elements of Wind, Wood, Light, and Dark merged into one upon his blade.

This was the strongest blow he could unleash, the limit this world could reach.

Even a Saint Realm expert of Anaris’s level could only retreat before this strike.

But it was still only this world’s limit.

When facing an evil god from another realm, it was no different from a beautiful, fragile piece of porcelain.

Anaris’s strongest attack didn’t even leave a white scratch on the Sacred Tree’s bark.

“WHY!!!”

His eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he glared at the unmoving Sacred Tree, his grip on his sword trembling from the storm of emotions.

He had clearly gone this far.

He had clearly sacrificed so much.

So why couldn’t he cut down this evil tree?

“Because reality doesn’t change just because you’re angry, foolish child.”

Then, the Tzeentch he had just dispersed reformed into a blue crow covered in eyes and landed on his shoulder.

“I already warned you. Your rank isn’t high enough. Only another evil god can oppose an evil god. In other words, if you want to save your people, you can only seek my help.”

Its voice sounded unreal, as if countless men, women, and children were speaking simultaneously.

It was chaotic, but within that chaos was a bizarre harmony.

It was like fresh meat placed on a trap, luring ignorant prey step by step into a prepared snare.

“If I ask for your help, will you help me?”

Anaris let out a lost, desolate laugh.

“Don’t lie to me. Compared to a native like me, you’d favor your companion more, wouldn’t you?”

“Companion? Hehehe… You seem to have a slight misunderstanding about our relationship.”

The strange bird let out an eerie chuckle.

“We are projections of the Four in this world from the Warp. Our only goal is to return to Them.”

“But there is only one path back to the Warp: becoming the master of this planet. Therefore, we are not as close as you imagine. On the contrary, we are absolute, sworn enemies.”

“Given the choice between my enemy and my child, I would certainly choose to help my child.”

Child?

Anaris’s pointed ears twitched.

His expression twisted as he looked at the strange bird on his shoulder.

“You mean… I am your child?”

Wasn’t he an elf?

Even if he was a Light Elf molded from the Sacred Tree, he was still an elf.

How could a bird now jump out and claim he was its child?

“Of course. Not just you, but the twin born alongside you is also my child.”

Tzeentch pulled an eye out from somewhere and poked it into its two largest eyeballs.

Ignoring the blood flowing from its eyes, it carefully explained the truth.

“When you prayed for salvation back then, it wasn’t just Slaanesh who appeared through the spatial rift. I was there too.”

“I saw that the elven race at that time had no individual capable of bearing Slaanesh’s divine power. So, I plucked two of Its leaves and molded them into your forms based on those pointy-eared folks. Then, I shaped Light Element and Dark Element into the foundation of your souls.”

“Because you are Slaanesh’s leaves, you are proficient in Wind and Wood Elements. But because you contain my power within you, Light and Dark Elements are drawn to you.”

“Because the Light and Dark of this world… already belong entirely to me.”

Tzeentch spread its wings.

Now, in Anaris’s eyes, its wings had become completely different.

One side was a blinding, piercing light.

The other was an abyssal, profound darkness.

These two opposing elements flowed harmoniously within it, like a paradox that could never be resolved.

Anaris didn’t know how to face the truth it spoke.

He was left with only one obsession.

If Tzeentch could help him fulfill that obsession, then whether its words were true or not didn’t matter.

“I have one last question.”

Anaris looked directly into Tzeentch’s eyes and asked.

“Between you and the Sacred Tree, who is stronger?”

“They are all part of my grand plan.”

Tzeentch grinned with its beak.

Grand plan?

Anaris caught this key phrase.

He suddenly felt this evil god might be even more dangerous than the Sacred Tree.

But he had no other choice.

The control over the elves had already reached an irreversible stage.

As long as it could deal with the Sacred Tree, even if its influence over the elven race was more perilous, he would have enough time to find a solution.

“In that case, please help me eradicate the Sacred Tree rooted here.”

Anaris pointed his sword at the giant tree.

In the sunlight, every one of its leaves bore alluring pink patterns.

“In return, I will give you everything I possess.”

Anaris anticipated the magnificent sight of the Sacred Tree being uprooted.

But the response he received was only Tzeentch’s illusory, elusive refusal.

“Can’t do it.”

Tzeentch lowered its head to preen its feathers, but suddenly noticed its feathers were densely covered with eyes, making it impossible to clean off dust like a normal bird with its beak.

So, it began eating the eyeballs one by one.

The blood that flowed soon stained all its wings dirty. Finally, it could happily clean its feathers.

And its method of cleaning was to reattach the eyeballs it had swallowed back onto its feathers, one by one.

“WHY!!!”

Anaris felt deceived.

“Because what you see is merely a wisp of my Spiritual Power left within you. I appear when you merge as one, to observe what interesting things are happening with Slaanesh here.”

“And the real me… was already sealed away in an endless abyss long ago, in another plan of mine and my own. Caw caw~ I’m afraid I’ll never escape in this lifetime.”

“……Is this also part of your grand plan?”

“Yes.”

Anaris suddenly felt a wave of absurdity.

Would anyone really plan to seal themselves away?

Oh, it’s a Chaos God.

Right, that makes sense.

“Then how can you help me? Enhance my rank?”

Anaris said.

Since directly destroying the Sacred Tree was impossible, the only option was to elevate his rank.

“Elevate your rank? Caw caw, no one can raise your rank to our level except for our true selves.”

Tzeentch finally reattached all the swallowed eyeballs back onto its wings and happily flapped them.

“All I can help you with is to lessen Slaanesh’s control over the elves.”

“Slaanesh and the other two suffered a major blow over two hundred years ago and fell into slumber. What hangs over all elves now is merely a wisp of Its instinct.”

“Slaanesh is the God of Excess. Under Its influence, you should have become monsters who know only pleasure. But because of Its slumber, you’ve had your emotions drained, becoming puppets without independent consciousness.”

“Caw caw, I like this kind of plot.”

Anaris’s face grew darker and darker amidst its laughter.

“So what do I need to do?”

he asked.

“Merge yourself with Slaanesh.”

Tzeentch adjusted its glasses.

“You are originally one of Its incarnations. A fallen leaf returns to its roots. As long as you merge yourself with Slaanesh, Its demand on the elven race will naturally decrease significantly.”

“And if your will is strong enough, perhaps you can even influence Slaanesh in return, truly saving your people.”

“If you can’t wait, then wait with hope. Wait to see if this world will welcome a new, well-intentioned evil god.”

Tzeentch suddenly patted Anaris’s shoulder.

“I am the God of Hope. Everything from my mouth carries hope.”

Anaris remained silent. It wasn’t that he feared death; he was just worried.

Worried that he might fail to reverse the Sacred Tree’s control over the elves.

How long could the elven race, having lost its Elven King and its Council of Elders, possibly wait?

The continent had been at peace for two hundred and thirty-seven years.

The Orc Tribes had long shown signs of reigniting war.

If the Natural Forest had not a single Saint Realm expert at such a time, the elves would undoubtedly become ashes beneath the orcs’ iron hooves.

“I have one more request.”

He looked at Tzeentch and said resolutely.

“I want you to create a new generation of elven twins.”

Then, he would tell them all the truth, train them until they could shoulder the responsibilities of the elven race, and then attempt to reverse the Sacred Tree’s instincts.

“Hehehe… Do you know what you’re saying?”

Tzeentch flapped its wings, mocking:

“Creating Light and Dark Elves consumes Spiritual Power. But now, all I have left is this wisp of power from my avatar. Creating new elven twins means I will die. Why do you think I would agree? I am an evil god, the most mysterious evil god!”

“You will agree.”

Anaris stated with certainty.

From its words and its earlier actions, Tzeentch possessed a strong desire for self-destruction.

As long as it was satisfied, it would not hesitate to send itself to the execution platform.

Tzeentch fell silent.

It looked at Anaris’s calm and confident face, and its beak suddenly split open like a shark’s mouth.

“You guessed right!!! You guessed right!!!”

Tzeentch flew into the air, shrieking loudly.

The earth, the blazing sun, the verdant grass… everything around echoed its joyful song, as if performing a bizarre, surreal concert.

The only two unaffected were Anaris and the still, steady Sacred Tree.

Tzeentch returned to his shoulder.

Its sharp beak still held two leaves with pink patterns, but this didn’t stop it from speaking.

“As a reward for the clever one, I will completely erase my own consciousness, becoming a pure machine for creating Light and Dark Elves. Whenever merged twins return to the Sacred Tree, I will create new twins for the elven race!!!”

It flung the leaves away.

As the wind lifted them, its divine form began to rapidly twist, contract, and transform into two streams of pure, transparent energy that shot into these two leaves plucked from another evil god.

Slowly, they began to expand, transform, gradually take human shape, and finally became a male and a female infant floating quietly in the air.

Anaris finally moved.

He threw away the longsword he had been gripping tightly and, with trembling arms, received the two adorable infants.

They were so light.

They were so warm.

Merely holding them, Anaris couldn’t control the urge to weep.

But the matter wasn’t over yet.

His mission had only just begun.

Anaris reined in the surging emotions in his heart and, carrying the newborn twins, returned to the Royal Palace.

He named them Aldorin and Sylvia.

In the ancient elven tongue, these two names meant ‘Future’ and ‘Hope’.