Chapter 3310 Nothing Alike (Part 1)

Chapter 3310 Nothing Alike (Part 1)

Rage abandoned Ananta's features and was replaced by compassion.

"Valtak died because of me." Lith said. "Saving Solus means the world to me but the price I- we all paid is too high. This doesn't change the fact that many of you risked your lives for me and coming out alive doesn't make your efforts less valuable.

"I want to make a fair decision. If it was up to me, I'd give the Ears to the Fire Dragons, the Eldritches, and the undead."

"You actually can." Dragon greed glimpsed behind Irslak's eyes. "Assuming master Menadion chooses to remain among the living, she can Forgemaster more."

"True, but I won't." Ripha snorted. "Forgemaster more copies of the Ears, sweetie. I'm not going anywhere." She rushed to add after noticing Solus' misted eyes.

"You have my word I'll call you all and let you know my final decision in a few days. Now, I need to sleep." Lith was still panting. He had used Invigoration so much that it barely had any effect left.

"What about those?" Ayleen jabbed her thumb at the hundreds of thousands of elves who had sought refuge near the borders of the Fringe. "Are they still up for grabs?"

"Yes." / "No!" Lith and Solus said in unison.

"Make up your gods-damned mind!" The Liches roared.

"The answer is no!" Solus said. "Mo- Menadion would have never managed to break me out of prison if not for an elf called Ghar'mar Riverflow. She knew what the World Tree was doing was wrong and guided us to the exit.

"She died in the escape, but I haven't forgotten my promise to her. I swore that I would spare her people in case we won and I'm not going back on my word."

"Sweetie-"

"What?" Solus' fiery gaze cut Menadion short.

'I want the elves dead. All of them.' The First Ruler of the Flames said via the black chain.

'Me too, but Solus' happiness comes first.' Lith replied. 'She's gone through too much. I don't want to make her associate her freedom with bloodshed and a lifetime of guilt.'

"What she said." Lith actually said. "I mean, there's plenty of corpses to go. The elves have already lost a lot. Those responsible are already dead, the balance, and all that stuff. Peace. I'm out of here."

"Lith!" Solus glared up to the colossal Tiamat.

"I mean, I'll leave the Fringe last to ensure no one attempts funny business."

"But-" Ayleen tried and failed to object.

He touched the mist and confirmed he could move through the veil like usual but that was it. After Baba Yaga, Silverwing, and the patriarchs tried and failed, Lith moved closer to the boundary, opening it again.

"I swear I'm not doing anything." He said.

"I can confirm that." Baba Yaga nodded. "It's not him. Mogar doesn't trust us. Now let's get out of here."

Bloodhaven and Silverspire went first, bringing out the rest of the undead. Then it was the Eldritches turn who Warped away as soon as they could, starting from the Master.

"See you around, boy." Vastor winked at Lith before disappearing.

"Can we, uhm, stay?" Bytra moved her eyes from Lith to Menadion, wringing her hands while Zoreth held her shoulder.

"It's fine. I have news to share with you two anyway."

"Yes!" Solus said with an overly enthusiastic tone at the idea of the baby boy. "I mean, sure." She lowered her voice to a dourer register.

"I'll allow it." Ripha said with a deadpan voice.

As the greeds of Dragons left the Fringe and fewer and fewer foreigners remained, the elves found the courage to send an ambassador to understand the invaders' intentions.

Azit Mo'rauh of the Shadow Elves tribe needed two Steps to reach Lith after getting the short end of the stick.

"Greetings, human. I'm-"

"Not interested." Lith replied, rushing people out so that he could join them.

"Where's the new World Tree? How can we reach it?" Azit pushed his luck despite Lith's glare and Menadion's violent killing intent.

"The World Tree is dead." Lith replied.

"The old one." Azit pointed out. "But the new one-"

"Cadaverific." Lith cut him short. "Your late master told me there was no chosen successor. Either a random World Sapling got the title or the Yggdrasill lineage is over. Forgive me if I hope for the latter."

"What will we do?" Azit asked. "How will we survive without a World Tree?"

"The better question is: how will you survive without a head?" Ripha lifted the elf's chin with her hammer.