Chapter: Chapter 20: The Truth
Chapter 20: The Truth
The information collected in the Royal Library was undoubtedly much more detailed than what Xi Wei had found on his own.
For instance, the records in the *Chronicle of Gods* concerning how the World Tree was overthrown stated:
【…A blurred octopus head emerged from the clouds, towering like a mountain. No one could see it clearly, and those who tried to observe it intently died. Only the Legendary-grade mage Saint Ludens, who specialized in spiritual arts, recorded this scene: fire, endless flames, terrifying whispers, and mad Treants. They not only failed to protect their mother but even set its trunk ablaze…】
【…A strange and colossal city rose from beneath the World Tree, its waters dark as pitch. I could not comprehend its structure; a single glance would impede my magic flow.】
【It felt as though trillions of whispers were roaring fanatically in my ears. I did not understand their meaning, but I could sense that they were singing praises to “Aletheia.”】
【This city propped up the roots of the World Tree, and countless twisted monsters emerged from the city, slaughtering the allied forces everywhere. The World Tree began to shake, and even the stars in the sky seemed to be on the verge of falling…】
【Boom—a sound seemed to emanate from the horizon.】
【It was a colossal, irregularly shaped mass of flesh. Its body, covered in scales and wrinkles, was infested with tentacles and mouths. All life in its vicinity turned to stone.】
【”Gatanothoa,” so its deluded followers called it.】
【The colossal Gatanothoa charged into the strange structure. Its power seemed to be amplified, severing the roots beneath the World Tree’s crown. It was overthrown, and the heavens and earth shattered…】
…
Xi Wei noticed that this *Chronicle of Gods* only mentioned the mad Treants.
It conspicuously omitted any mention of the High Elves.
Was it an oversight, or were the High Elves not corrupted by the Old Ones into madness?
Considering the events when he confronted Ye Hao in Dragonflame City, even the players were affected by the whispers, yet none of his maids reacted negatively to Ye Hao’s ramblings.
Therefore, he leaned towards the latter: High Elves might not have been affected by the whispers.
Or rather, awakened High Elves were not affected.
After all, those on the battlefield could not have been ordinary, unawakened High Elves.
Elves were unlike humans; they absolutely did not tolerate cannon fodder. Ordinary elves would not be sent to the battlefield; it was a matter of their pride.
So, what was special about High Elves? They were also races created by the World Tree, so why did the Treants turn mad under the whispers while the High Elves remained uncorrupted?
With these questions in mind, Xi Wei furrowed his brow and began to search for information with a targeted approach.
Time passed, and the documents on the table shifted from neat stacks to a chaotic mess. Some potentially relevant materials were spread out and set aside temporarily.
After finishing the books in the Royal Library, Xi Wei moved on to the Holy See’s collection. This time, he finally made a breakthrough, though it wasn’t a book but a personal journal belonging to the Pope:
【Unimaginable… Demi-humans were actually blessed by the Creator Dragon Ouranos. Many deities did not have such an opportunity. However, this blessing has become their disaster, heh…】
【…The oracle descended from Lord Balda. Deities will revive by means of awakened Demi-humans. Three conditions are required: a Divine Artifact carrying the deity’s will, rare items heavily imbued with Divinity, and awakened Demi-humans of the first tier corresponding to the divine power.】
【Anna carries the Divinity of the God of War. She is a true vessel for a deity.】
【This is an opportunity for my Lord Balda to advance his divine power and fully master the War Divinity.】
【Therefore, I must instigate a great war to create the conditions for Anna’s awakening and enlightenment. What kind of war can be called a great war? The King is nearing his end; this is an opportunity.】
…
【…Extracting and concentrating the blood of Demi-humans to extract Divinity, mass-producing powerful warriors. This method is indeed feasible. Although it cannot fully unleash the original function of their Divinity, it is sufficient…】
…
A moment later, Xi Wei put down the Pope’s journal, all his doubts vanishing.
Why the Pope suddenly plotted against the kingdom, the secret of the Templar Knights, why Demi-humans were used as vessels, and how a god could revive—everything became clear.
Many things were consistent with his previous deductions, but there were also many details he had overlooked.
It turned out that the reason gods chose High Elves as vessels was that High Elves had received Ouranos’s blessing, and only awakened High Elves possessed the ability to bear their divine power, becoming suitable vessels.
Not all deities had received blessings; they had no resistance to the Old Ones.
Xi Wei speculated that the God of Death likely had not been blessed.
However, the High Elves as a race received Ouranos’s favor, which was indeed a unique privilege.
As for the reason why, Xi Wei found the answer in a book chronicling the history of elves.
Legend had it that as the continent grew increasingly prosperous, Ouranos had traveled incognito, sometimes appearing as a human, sometimes as an elf, and even as various animals.
During her long existence, she had lived as a Unicorn for a period, during which she met a High Elf named Shirley, and they became very close friends.
Later, when the racial wars broke out, Shirley and Ouranos, in her Unicorn form, also went to the battlefield.
In the bloody battlefield, Shirley was merely an insignificant High Elf warrior. Despite her exquisite archery skills and profound magic, she could not withstand the terrifying numbers of the Human and Orc Allied Forces.
The elves were routed, and Shirley was struck by an exploder arrow imbued with magic essence amidst the chaos. Ouranos, who had sealed her divine power, desperately fled with Shirley.
If she could return to the Elven Forest, she could save her friend.
But she failed. When she established the cycle of life and death, the rate of life’s dissipation was something her small Unicorn avatar could not dare to challenge.
Shirley died, and Ouranos’s Unicorn avatar, filled with grief, died by Shirley’s side.
Returning to her main body, Ouranos shed tears for the first time in millennia.
She, the creator of rules, should also abide by every rule; this was the premise for the normal operation of a world.
To compensate for her guilt towards Shirley, Ouranos blessed the entire High Elf race. However, to prevent this race from becoming too powerful, Ouranos still restricted the blessing to only those High Elves who were exceptionally talented and capable of awakening.
High Elves would forever possess sincere and passionate emotions.
High Elf souls would not be contaminated by sin.
High Elf bodies would become the pinnacle of all beauty.
Shirley’s soul entered the cycle of reincarnation.
Ouranos did not interfere with this order, nor did she pull it into her divine kingdom. She merely buried the rule of life within the origin of Shirley’s soul.
Having established rules, created deities, and enlightened deities, Ouranos had already exhausted her power and fallen into slumber.
No matter how long she slept, a thousand years, ten thousand years, and no matter how many times Shirley went through life and death, as long as the rule of life existed, Shirley would eventually become the master of life, the sole and unchanging Goddess of Life.
This was the story of the High Elves’ blessing.
Xi Wei extinguished the magic lamp and walked to the window, quietly gazing at the sunset gradually sinking below the horizon, lost in thought.
It seemed Lori’s identity was more extraordinary than he had imagined.
And what he hadn’t expected was that Anna, who had died in Dragonflame City, was also a High Elf with a sincere heart. Unfortunately, her sincerity was offered to the wrong person.
