Elven Lies II Chapter 166: The Irreversible Call

CHAPTER 166

THE IRREVERSIBLE CALL

Concordia did not welcome her.

It assessed.

The inner chamber was quiet.

Not empty—

controlled.

Eyes turned as she entered.

Not curious.

Measuring.

The Node Master did not rise.

She didn’t need to.

“You said you brought them from Council Node.”

Hera didn’t look at the guards.

Only at Delimira.

“Three hundred red demons, if you can call that…”

Her voice remained even.

“Inside my territory.”

“Outside your shield.”

She corrected.

“Okay…so, you can talk.”

Hera reassessed.

“Then tell me what happened there?”

She remained silent.

Hera cut in.

“The Node was wiped out—”

Delimira frowned.

“No.”

“When we left, the fortress still stood.”

“There is not a single wall left.”

Hera’s voice didn’t change.

“Only the Node Stone.”

A pause.

“And something… standing before it.”

“Someone unpleasant.”

“I don’t have time for this—There is someone gravely injured with us—”

Delimira pointed.

“He is not part of—”

“He is already being treated.”

“My best healer is with him.”

“Lady Sierra is on her way.”

A beat.

“You can continue.”

“The message said—Eclipse attacked the node with red demons”

“With Theodred Atelier”

“Start from the moment he engaged Anfaleen.”

A breath of relief came to Delimira.

And she spoke.

“Anfaleen”

“He wasn’t losing.”

Delimira’s voice lowered.

“Not even close.”

“The Node was feeding him.”

“The blood constructs were endless.”

“Theodred.”

“He didn’t fight him directly.”

Hera’s eyes narrowed.

“Then how?”

“He removed his advantages.”

“First—”

“He severed his summoning window.”

“Then—”

“He stripped the regeneration.”

“The blood rituals stopped answering.”

Everything was new.

Everything she told her about him.

Sounded lie.

Yet she had no choice but listen.

She leaned forward slightly.

“He isolated him.”

“Dragged him out of alignment with the Node.”

“Only possibility—Another plane?”

Hera asked.

“Not fully.”

“But enough.”

“The connection weakened.”

“And the creatures?”

“Contained.”

A pause.

“He summoned something.”

Hera didn’t interrupt.

“Just like Knight convention. That big owl spirit.”

“By the end—”

Delimira exhaled slowly.

“Anfaleen wasn’t a Node Master anymore.”

“What happened inside that Plane? I don’t know. No one does.”

“Only this. When they came out. Anfaleen wasn’t even a petty mage—”

“Broken beyond.”

Silence filled the chamber.

Then—

“So.”

Hera leaned back.

“If what you claim is true.”

“If Anfaleen turned people like that.”

She paused.

“Then you didn’t kill a monster.”

“You replaced it.”

Her eyes sharpened.

“With something worse. Xandor will have that knowledge.”

Delimira said nothing.

That was the story.

Eclipse.

Her mother’s orders.

Necessary sacrifice.

But from the beginning—

something had been wrong.

The end justifies the means.

And she knew—

exactly who played like that.

“You can rest now.”

She ordered.

Her escort confined her in a separate room.

When she left—

Hera exhaled slowly.

She asked her aide.

“What’s your take on this?”

“I don’t know. Nodemaster—if Anfaleen did whatever she claims. It’s not that we don’t have proof. They are living, breathing victims. And you know it too, how far Anfaleen’s cruelty could reach—”

“But he was a nodemaster—the keeper of nodestone. One of the eight points maintaining the red demon barrier.”

“And now”

She paused.

“Now that point is under the worst man possible.”

“We know his location.”

“But we can do nothing about it.”

“If he chose to disable the nodestone,”

“The barrier will be gone.”

“The red demons free and chaos will ensue.”

“But.” The aide interrupted.

“She said they left the fortress while it still stood.”

“Then what happened after they left?”

“What kind of force is capable enough to dismantle the entire Node?”

The door knocked.

And Sierra stepped in.

“They’ve been modified.”

A pause.

“Deliberately.”

She said without sitting.

“Domesticated to harvest sunstones, their cores.”

“So Anfaleen did that?” Hera asked.

“I don’t know. But that is all they say.”

“I’ve done what you’ve asked.”

Sierra’s voice turned heavy.

“Now, where is my disciple?”

Hera’s aide tried to say something.

But Hera’s hand stopped her.

She nodded.

And the aide understood.

She led Sierra to the room.

“Come out.” Sierra commanded and Delimira came.

“Is he okay?” She whispered.

Sierra just nodded.

“Come with me.”

“The rest of them are returning.”

She quietly followed her.

Unusual.

But she was waiting too.

As she trekked down stairs.

From the halls.

To the main ground.

She heard whispers.

“Anfaleen held them off—”

“No, Eclipse broke through—”

“The Node collapsed—”

“Xandor was seen—”

“Then who finished it?”

Delimira stood apart.

Listening.

Saying nothing.

Every version—

wrong.

Every conclusion—

Incomplete.

“Ignore them.” Sierra said without looking.

Only leading.

They came to the main grounds.

The infected were allowed inside.

Still, they were grouped in the corners.

No sudden movements.

Surrounded.

“Can you heal them?” She asked Sierra.

Her voice soft.

Almost unheard.

“No—”

“But they know who can.”

“You are waiting too, right?”

She didn’t speak.

Only looked towards the incoming participants.

They came in groups.

Victors.

Survivors.

Witnesses.

Some carried proof.

Some carried stories.

The competition became irrelevant.

For her at least.

But not for them.

Finally, someone else came.

Not the one she was waiting for.

But someone whose world should start moving when she met him.

Her mother.

She arrived late.

Faster than most.

Not fast enough.

Her steps broke the stillness.

“Zilong—”

She didn’t stop.

She didn’t hesitate.

She held him.

No words.

No explanation.

Just presence.

Delimira watched.

From a distance.

Not stepping forward.

Not turning away.

Chris was with them.

Waving her to come.

Her lips started to curl.

But then stopped.

Halted.

The questions didn’t stop.

But the answers never came.

Not the ones that mattered.

Because the one she waited for—

hadn’t returned.

A few glances.

Here and there.

Eyes searching.

And there he was.

She crossed the distance first.

No hesitation.

No warning.

She pulled him into an embrace.

It wasn’t gentle.

It wasn’t controlled.

It was everything she hadn’t said.

Hans didn’t move.

Not at first.

His hands remained at his sides.

As if unsure—

what this required of him.

She didn’t let go.

If anything—

she held tighter.

And something in him—

shifted.

Slowly—

his arms rose.

Not certain.

Not practised.

But deliberate.

He returned the embrace.

“Thank you.”

She whispered.

Soft.

But unshaken.

He didn’t answer.

Not to that.

Not to what it meant.

Instead—

He pushed a little.

His gaze settling on her robe.

“You still have that. It suits you.”

The griffin caught the light again.

The words were simple.

Too simple.

But they didn’t pass unnoticed.

She didn’t respond.

But her grip—

tightened for a fraction of a second.

“You took your time.” Hera came.

Unannounced.

The tone was different now.

Not softer—

but familiar.

She stepped closer.

Closer than most would dare.

Her gaze moved over him.

Not assessing.

Checking.

“You’re injured.”

Her hand lifted—

almost to his shoulder.

Then stopped.

Hans didn’t step back.

But he didn’t lean into it either.

The space between them—

remained.

“It’s nothing.”

Hera watched him for a moment.

Longer than necessary.

Then—

she let it go.

As she relived a breath.

Hans announced.

“Council Node won’t recover.”

A pause.

“Not for a while.”

No one spoke.

Not immediately.

His gaze didn’t shift.

“The fortress fell after they left.”

“Then. I came.”

A beat.

“Aim was the core.”

“What do you mean —the core?”

The air around Hera changed.

This was a serious issue.

“If Nodestone was destroyed. The barrier would too.”

Her voice raised.

Like never before.

But Hans was nonchalant.

He lifted his gaze.

Serious.

“Nodemaster.”

He stepped forward.

“It wasn’t mine to preserve.”

“That doesn’t mean you should break it either.”

“I’m not obligated to protect it, Nodemaster.”

A pause.

“It’s not my problem.”

“However, this is.”

He stepped forward.

Leaving Delimira behind.

Passed right by Hera.

To the grouped individuals.

He didn’t raise his voice.

But the space cleared.

He looked at them.

The infected.

The broken.

Then—

the Sun answered.

—Paradise Garden—

Not violent.

Not divine.

Quietly.

Coursing through him.

The light filled the earth.

Breaking the soil.

Sprouts twisted upward—

not growing,

reaching.

The open ground reshaped—

becoming something it had never been.

A garden.

Each creeper moved with intent.

Not wild.

Guided.

They brushed against flesh.

And where they touched—

the corruption stirred.

Then—

it yielded.

Drawn out.

Not torn.

Undone.

The darkness that twisted them—

began to unravel.

Slowly.

Painfully.

What had been taken—

returned.

Shape.

Form.

Self.

Human.

Elves.

Dwarves.

Seen again.

But that wasn’t enough to erase what Hans had done.

An entire last line of defence.

Now barely functional.

Worse.

Under Xandor.

“Hans,” Hera stepped closer.

“I know what you want.”

A pause.

“But this is not the way.”

“Thousands could have died.”

“There won’t be a single Parvian among them.”

Hera’s gaze hardened.

“They are still lives.”

“Then their lords should protect them.”

A beat.

“They take their gold.”

“They build their walls.”

“And they leave the rot alive.”

“If they won’t end it—”

His voice didn’t rise.

“I will force them to.”

A step forward.

“I gave my word once.”

His gaze shifted—

not to Hera.

to them.

The infected.

“I don’t break it.”

“But I will break the barrier.”

Silence followed.

Not shock.

Not outrage.

Understanding.

“That is a Parvian Promise.”

***