1~You can only defeat the greatest evil by killing me
“If the Holy Tree was born as a tool to help you Gold Elves oppress Grey Elves and other Elves, then perhaps it’s better to do without it.”
“Tylisagala Miss, I am now here as the leader of the resistance to request a negotiation with you.”
“Of course, negotiations are always based on strength, don’t you already understand this better than I do?” Four hundred years ago, a Grey Elf girl stood against a Gold Elf girl beneath the Holy Tree; today, they meet again in the now-cursed castle of Tiansu City turned Demon King’s stronghold.
Here, Tillysha found her answers.
The so-called Demon King, her old childhood friend and playmate, Ifen Landnier.
Many detailed memories still elude Tillysha,
but when she saw Ifen walk out of the Demon King’s castle, she didn’t feel much surprise at all. Perhaps she’d long guessed that the Demon King truly was Ifen.
Four hundred years have changed her greatly. At first, you could still tell she was an Elf, but now, her skin color and facial features have changed quite drastically. Aside from recognizing her face, no one would confuse her for an Elf anymore.
A pure and flawless Elf, believer of the Mother of Forests, could she really have developed this eerie purple-black skin and horns?
In both inner and outer essence, she has become a new race altogether.
Despite seeing this childhood friend again, Tillysha’s emotions weren’t too complex, yet she had so many questions to ask Ifen.
“Ifen, I have a few questions for you, and I want you to answer them truthfully.”
“Oh? Even your inquiry sounds so high and mighty. These hundreds of years, though I don’t know where you’ve been getting into trouble, your attitude remains unchanged from before, as stuck-up as ever.” Ifen joked. “My esteemed Princess Tillysha, do even you, with your supposed omniscience, have doubts that you need me, a Demon, to answer?”
“Did you, back then, open the door for the Demon race?” Tillysha paid no heed to Ifen’s teasing and cut straight to the chase.
“……After four hundred years, this is the first thing you ask me, not even a simple greeting or an inquiry about the hardships your race once inflicted on the Grey Elves.”
“If there truly was oppression and suffering, then that might indeed be my fault, but… Ifen, I can’t find any memory in my mind that shows any harm or unequal treatment to Grey Elves or other Elves.” Tillysha swore while placing her hand on her chest. “I swear this by the Holy Tree.”
“…Again with that pretentiousness of yours, it’s the same four hundred years on, hasn’t it?” Ifen looked extremely annoyed. “Your hypocrisy, I’ve grown tired of it, Tillysha.”
“As it may, speaking now is fruitless.” Ifen shook her head with what seemed to be a hint of regret, an expression Tillysha couldn’t quite read.
“Tillysha, if I say none of this was done by me, but by someone else, would you believe me?” Ifen suddenly asked.
“Ifen, I would love to believe you, but please present evidence.”
“……Tillysha, you must become much stronger to defeat the greatest conspiracy, your abilities currently are far from enough.” Ifen shifted topics in a way that confused Tillysha, who felt a hint of bitterness in her eyes.
“Apparently, back then, we were all just puppets manipulated by others…”
“What does that mean?”
“Never mind, you don’t need to know what it means.” Ifen quickly resumed her mocking demeanor.
“Tillysha, you’re eager to learn what the Demon race did after seizing the Elf Forest, aren’t you?”
“Phht! You’re so stupid? Even at this point, do I still have to recap for you?”
“What?”
“Let me tell you this: there are no more Gold Elves in the Elf Forest.”
“………..” Tillysha’s pupils contracted tightly. In this moment, her emotions began to shift. She remembered how Yimi once repeated the memory to her, about the flames that left no survivors among the Gold Elves.
“You?” Tillysha stared incredulously at Ifen, never expecting her to do something so thorough.” Were all these deeds really yours?”
“Isn’t that so?”
“But they’re your own race! Just like you, they’re innocent civilians! They’ve done nothing wrong! Why do you vent your anger on them?… The Ifen I know isn’t this kind of person!”
“Own race? Hah, what does it matter? Throughout our journey, haven’t you seen plenty of examples? Orcs, Werewolves, they’ve all been oppressed until they can’t survive. Have you seen them show mercy to their own kind when driven to despair?”
“Same applies to us. To establish a new order, we must make an example of someone to instill fear and discipline.”
“If your sister hadn’t fled quick enough, I would have hung her head on the charred remains of the Holy Tree!”
“Of course, that includes you, the second princess of the Gold Elves, Tylisagala Nolin!” Ifen conjured a spear from a withered piece of wood, pointing it at Tillysha with a smirk.
“You can’t possibly… given the leaves on the Holy Tree haven’t disappeared…”
“Hahahaha, that’s because I exiled them all to another dimension!” Ifen laughed uncontrollably. “Endlessly tortured in an alternate plane without any chance to return to Caleburn, never aging for a thousand years. Their long lives became the root cause for their mental breakdowns!”
“What, planning to save them? Impossible. This Divine Authority is one-way; even I cannot remove it to bring them back.”
“Those Gold Elves, now locked in a space unknown even to me, will suffer endlessly!”
“……Ifen!” Tillysha was enraged.
And on observing this reaction, Ifen seemed delighted.
This was right. My dear friend, absolutely no holding back, unless…
you’ll be unable to overcome the final enemy.
“Come on Tillysha, last time you ended in failure, and this time, it’ll be the same. Don’t worry, soon I’ll send you to join your own kind!”
With a wave of her spear, several black skeletons shot out. In the hundreds of years since she became a Demon, her Divine Authority had also twisted, becoming Demonfied.
Tillysha concentrated her focus, drawing her bowstring tight. Five arrows converged on it, like a five-colored rainbow colliding with the black skeletons and immediately shattering them.
“Don’t forget, Ifen, from our childhood, every fight, you’ve never won against me.” In the blink of an eye, Tillysha had closed the distance with Ifen, and the bow in her hand had transformed into a long blade of leaves.
The clash of sword and g*n, along with the resounding metallic sounds, sparks flew as the decaying spear met the newly budded blade. Each collision warped the surrounding space.
“You’ll fall into the abyss along with your own kind!” Ifen plunged her spear into the ground, constructing a prison of skeletons that encased Tillysha. As it shrank, the prison kept getting smaller, attempting to crush and grind Tillysha to d*ath.
Tillysha felt the space for her limbs to move gradually decrease; there was no room left for her to wield her blade.
“BOOM BOOM!” The space shrunk to the size of a Rubik’s cube, followed by a fierce explosion. Myriad skeletons surged madly from the explosion, seemingly having torn Tillysha apart.
“Completely powerless.”
“PATA!” However, from the explosion only fell a broken willow bow split into two pieces. A blade of energy carrying a fiery edge cut through space and time.
Tillysha’s eyes gleamed with dazzling brilliance. In her hand was a Ryu wood sword; though her Realm was heavily shattered, her person remained unscathed.
“Broken Bow” effect triggered.
There are few in the world who can reduce Tillysha to the state of a Broken Bow, but once she hits the Broken Bow state, no one under the heavens will be her match.
Tillysha knows this well, and Ifen knows this even better.
Indeed, during Ifen’s initial duel with Tillysha, she thought that with her Demon powers, she could at least match Tillysha on even terms. But she soon realized that if Tillysha hadn’t been holding back the entire time, she would have lost her head long ago.
The same happened four hundred years ago. It would be the same this time too. Even though Tillysha hasn’t yet retrieved the final piece of her memory and isn’t at full strength, it won’t change the gap in their abilities.
Tillysha is still Tillysha, the invincible Elf Divine Warrior.
Be either obliterated by her hail of arrows, or cut her bow to be killed by her saber.
“Crack-crack-crack!” Tillysha swung her sword, her movements invisible, a slash across the sky. This immense wave of sword energy destroyed dwellings and the royal palace that remained standing within the castle of Tian Su, yet strangely left no marks on the walls.
Ifen watched this horizontal sword energy slice through the air, feeling the same sense of helplessness as she had in the past.
No escape. No interception. No matter how skilled one person is, they are ultimately bound by the heaven and earth. If you haven’t transcended these boundaries, defeating Tillysha is unachievable.
If it were you, it would be possible.
A smirk formed on Ifen’s lips, something Tillysha couldn’t see, then she made a symbolic gesture of blocking with her spear.
Needless to say, it was futile. Her spear shattered the moment it touched the overwhelming tsunami-like wave of the greenish碧波 sword energy, and she herself, of course, was unable to escape….
Ifen collapsed.
Tillysha, upon seeing this, put her sword away and hurriedly approached her.
“….cough… I, I actually didn’t d*e? You still… couldn’t bring yourself to harm me.” bl**d trickled from Ifen’s lips as she leaned against the broken remnants of walls, her eyes still fixed on the figure before her. Even in her dying moments, she felt nostalgic.
“…You deliberately lost. Why?” Tillysha tightly gripped her sword. “Ifen, I feel like you’ve hidden so much from me. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I’ve said what needed to be said, Tillysha. Don’t take it personally. You’re not worth the effort.”
“Ifen, who in this world understands you the most?… Why hide from me?”
In hearing Tillysha’s resolute tone, Ifen paused for a moment and shook her head.
“Sometimes, I wish your instincts weren’t this sharp…”
“What exactly are you hiding from me, Ifen?”
Ifen said nothing, merely leaned against the battered wall, silent.
“Are you waiting to d*e? Give up. I won’t let you d*e. That previous strike of mine deliberately avoided all your vital points. You won’t d*e.”
“So, I anticipated this situation beforehand, which is why I… Was all my effort still wasted?” Ifen chuckled bitterly as she shook her head. “Tillysha, don’t prolong this. Just finish me off. Don’t make me disrespect you.”
“If you act now, you’ll still be the decisive and ruthless Elf Divine Warrior I know in my mind. Moreover, the crimes I’ve committed are beyond a hundred deaths’ worth of retribution.”
“Even if it’s justice for your crimes, it should be during a court after rebuilding the Elf Forest, and not by my hand.”
“You… You this fool, what do you know?” Apparently due to anger combined with her extreme weakness, Ifen grew somewhat agitated.
“When you were shattered, your memories scattered. That scoundrel hid your last piece of memory in me. If I don’t d*e, you can’t retrieve it! Your fragmented memories will prevent you from reaching full strength. And you’ll be powerless to defeat him!”
“Gold Elves, Moon Elves, Sea Elves, Wood Elves, Snow Elves… If you can’t bring yourself to act, then no one can be saved!”
“Don’t make me lose respect for you, Tillysha. You’re not the type who abandons righteousness for private emotion!”
“…” Tillysha fell silent.
Memories flashed back of her earlier question to Filisia. It was an issue of choosing between private affections and righteousness.
Do you prioritize private emotions or sacrifice beloved ones for the greater righteousness of all beings?
She discovered that she was now facing such a choice.
She had never given such thoughts consideration, because in her mind, it was a no-brainer.
Private feelings were always trumped by righteous duty.
But now, facing the decision, Tillysha found herself also struggling.
Despite all the wrongs Ifen may have done, when it actually came to her needing to sever her former friend in judgment, Tillysha found she couldn’t do it…
“Let’s look for other options. Ifen, tell me about the truth from back then, who exactly is this final enemy? Believe me, I will surely bring justice upon him.”
“No, you can’t. Not even the Elf Divine Warrior can.”
“Even if you’re unmatched in the world, what if the enemy is beyond the constraints of heaven and earth? Do you truly think you can defeat such a being?”
“He’s had this grand plan all along, hasn’t he? Even your prime condition has left doubts, not to mention your current incomplete state!”
“Make your decision, Tillysha! There’s still time, but soon it will be too late!” Ifen looked anxiously at the hesitating Tillysha.
“No, it’s already too late.” Just as Tillysha was about to say something more, a cold, emotionless voice inserted itself.
Tillysha’s pupils contracted sharply, because this voice was extremely familiar to her.
“Aistride?” Seeing the approaching beautiful Silver-haired Elf, Tillysha was stunned. “What do you mean?”
Aistride paid no attention to Tillysha. She merely fixed her gaze intently on Ifen who was similarly staring at her.
“Who would have thought it was hidden in this place? Truly well concealed.”
“Alright, this farce is over. My ‘fragment,’ you’ve been ‘away’ for so long, shouldn’t you now return?”
