All things have returned to silence. The whistling and roaring when the two worlds collided have disappeared. The colors and sunshine of the mortal world have also melted into the final annihilation. And in the chaotic darkness after the annihilation of all things, the World Tree of Death is still growing silently.
New corpses grow from corpses, and new ruins grow from ruins.
She had forgotten the elves, herself, and the beginning and end of everything - breeding, spreading, and continuing to grow, these became Silandis's only obsession after the end.
But the Lost Homeland arrived in front of the growing corpse, and the green fire spreading in the darkness became a barrier to prevent Silantis from continuing to expand.
The dead world tree finally responded.
Duncan saw unusual light and shadow suddenly floating in her wreckage - it was a hazy mist, and amorphous limbs and shapes seemed to be hidden in the gray-white mist. The edges of the mist continued to spread out from the treetops, like tentacles or winding roots.
He thought of the hazy mist floating above the pilgrimage ark of the Church of the Four Gods.
But before he could think about it further, an even bigger change occurred - the "river" composed of countless tiny light points that was running around Silantis suddenly collapsed, and countless star-like glow merged into the mist floating above the World Tree. The next second, the seemingly illusory and powerless mist suddenly condensed and expanded outwards wildly!
The edge of the fog turned into a sharp arrow, and it crashed into the sea of spiritual fire that was spreading around the Lost Hometown with all its might.
A low and illusory roar seemed to be heard in the darkness. Silantis's impact caused ripples in the spiritual fire, but only more flames emerged from nothingness and gradually dyed the chaotic pale mist a layer of dark green - but Silantis continued to impact, even if every impact caused fatal burning to her, the impact never stopped.
Duncan even felt a sense of surprise.
This was the first time that someone appeared who dared to actively rush towards the spiritual fire.
And the next second, amidst Silantis's repeated collisions, he saw a hazy entity gradually taking shape in the mist above the World Tree.
It was a faint light, and no outline could be seen in it. It was like a soul that was brewing and had not yet taken shape.
But Duncan immediately realized that it was Silantis.
"There's no point in doing this," he couldn't help but say to the faint light, "You can't break through this barrier, and you will soon become a part of it."
However, the faint light did not respond, there was only constant collision, and the boundary of the fog was melting with each collision. The low roar turned into clear "bang bang" sounds, which sounded again and again.
Duncan looked at the scene with a tense face for a long time, then he slowly raised his hand.
The flames rose in the illusion and slowly flowed towards Silantis's body in the darkness.
“Release those elves, and those things you devoured, and return Breeze Harbor to the real world,” he said in a deep voice, “while it’s not too late, there is still a chance to save it.”
The dim light finally reacted. It suddenly flickered, and a sharp and childish voice came from the darkness: "They are not elves!"
The light spots that were gathering around the remains of the World Tree suddenly became violently agitated, and more light gathered into streams, rushing towards the fog above Silantis!
However, just as the mist was preparing for the next impact, the restless light spots suddenly trembled violently again. Then, many lights that had originally merged into the mist suddenly "flowed back" and began to break away from the "attraction" of Silantis. Stars of light fell from the sky above the World Tree like scattered petals, as if stars were surrounding the giant tree.
The next second, one of the falling light spots expanded and gradually turned into an illusory shadow.
He was an elf who was not too tall, with gray hair, and wore a dark blue academic robe. His face seemed to carry a look of everlasting fatigue, but at this moment he stood calmly among the countless scattered and floating points of light, quietly confronting the huge "World Tree" standing in the darkness, as big as a mountain.
Ted Lear, the Truth Keeper of Breezy Harbor.
Duncan looked at the figure that suddenly appeared with some surprise: "I thought you were gone."
Ted Lear just shrugged. "It's just a nightmare - nothing compared to marking all those assignments and papers that students rushed out on the last day of vacation."
Perhaps because a large number of elves suddenly lost control, Silandis's mental entity seemed to fall into a short period of confusion, but soon, her voice appeared again in the darkness: "Come back... Come back quickly, it's dangerous outside! Come back... Let's wait for Sasloka to come home together, okay..."
At the edge of the spiritual fire, a huge black goat suddenly stepped out of the flames. “He” raised his head and stared at the pale and twisted World Tree quietly: “I’m right here, little sapling.”
Silantis was suddenly stunned. Her mental entity was shaking in the mist. She seemed unable to tell whether the black goat in the flames was the creator in her memory. For a moment, she seemed to be wavering. The mist spreading from the edge of the tree canopy was quietly gathering. However, the next second, a sharp whistle and piercing noise suddenly swept across the entire darkness:
"No! No! You are not! None of you are! You..."
She stopped abruptly, and lowered her voice as if she was talking to herself in confusion: "You are not...you are...dead? You are dead...you are not elves...I..."
"We are indeed not the elves you remember, Silantis."
A voice suddenly appeared, interrupting Silantis's confused thoughts.
The voice was not loud, but it seemed to echo directly in the entire space. It sounded old, but it seemed to carry a calming power.
On the deck of the Lost Homeland, an old man with a hazy and illusory body slowly walked up.
Rune turned around and nodded slightly to Duncan, then he turned calmly and looked at the giant tree in the darkness with a calm expression.
That is the World Tree in the elves' legend. It is their hometown, mother, myth, heritage, the starting point of all legends, and the source of their glorious civilization.
Now, she has been dead for a long time, but her corpse is gradually losing control and growing in death.
Rune had never seen such huge trees - as an elf, he had never even seen a forest, nor did he know how to survive in the forest. He had never seen winding rivers running through the valleys and turning into gurgling streams in the forests, he had never seen birds and beasts living in the forests, flowers blooming in the open spaces in the forests, and he had never heard the sounds of the wind and the forest in the night.
It is said that the elves at that time were much longer-lived than they are today - their lifespans were almost eternal, and they could be reborn from death under the protection of the World Tree. They were light and strong, and could run between the canopies of towering trees...
But Rune had never seen it.
He was born after all that destruction.
He came to the end of the deck. His back was a little hunched due to his age. Years of desk work and a poor lifestyle made him a little fat. He raised his head and wrinkles piled up on his forehead, with ravines running all over it.
"We are very different from what you remember," he said to the World Tree.
Silantis did not speak. The faint light just trembled slightly in the mist. From deep within the pale and twisted remains of the World Tree, a slight rustling sound like leaves shaking could be heard.
After a long time, the childish voice hesitantly said, "What are those grooves on your face?"
"It's wrinkles. When mortals get old, their skin becomes loose and wrinkled, and becomes like this," Rune said slowly. "And when it's cloudy and rainy, I will feel backaches because I'm old and have been living on the sea... My stomach is not very good now, and my teeth have been repaired. Perhaps in a few years, I will die like other old people. I will become ashes in the furnace and nutrients in the plantation... We will not return to the World Tree, nor will we be reborn in the giant seed pod..."
He stopped, raised his head and stared at the distant light.
"It's very different from what you remember, isn't it?" he said again.
Deep within the ruins of the World Tree, a slight rustling sound was heard again.
"...Is it true that we can't come back..."
"Yes, I can't come back, I can't come back at all. Even if I come back, I may not be the person you know," Rune said slowly, "But... I have something I want to show you."
As he spoke, he reached out his hand and groped in his arms. After a moment, he took out a book.
The book was old and looked well-read, with its cover printed with elegant letters that were different from the common language used in most city-states.
He opened the old book, found a passage on it, and read slowly: "...The first ray of sunlight appeared on the boulder, and the traveler packed his bags. He wanted to cross the hill of flowers and reach the hill of Roland Nam before dusk..."
"This is the 'Horro-Dazzo' ..."
"Yes, it's that poem. A long time ago, explorers found a stone tablet with this poem engraved on it, along with many other records, on a dark island. We spent a thousand years trying to find the meaning of these words, and thousands more years trying to find the flowery hill and the mountain described in the poem... but we didn't find them. Even those dark islands disappeared in the fog at the border one day..."
Rune said in a low and slow voice, he put down the book and looked at the faint light in the distance again.
"We have recovered many things, half of which we still cannot understand. However, compared to humans and Sen'jin, the elves have the most complete historical heritage. We at least remember that the Creator woke up in the darkness and planted the first tree in the dream of origin... Four hundred years ago, we restored the craftsmanship of the 'Ringtail Harp'. Its sound is very clear, just as recorded in the ancient scroll. Seventy-six years ago, we restored the last chapter of the 'Hedran Psalter'. It contains many interesting stories and is said to have been dedicated to the gods...
"But there are many more that we still do not know, and never will know, those that disappeared in the Great Oblivion and have no trace in the Deep Sea Age, just like those dark islands that disappeared in the fog.
"Silantis, I'm sorry, we are not the elves in your memory. We just picked up some fragments of the past from the long flowing river, and left these traces as much as possible in the world after the end of the world... I don't know if this can comfort you, but...
“That’s really all that’s left.”
In the darkness, the faint light floated quietly, and the hazy and pale mist was gradually shrinking. Unknowingly, the dead and twisted branches on the edge of Silantis disappeared silently, and the dark green flames quietly surrounded the giant tree, just like... the forest that disappeared long ago.
Duncan raised his head and looked at the huge black goat.
After a moment of silent communication, he nodded slightly.
The black goat took a step forward, stepped through the void, and slowly came to the foot of the giant tree.
"...You have grown so big." He raised his head and sighed softly.
The faint light in the darkness trembled slightly: "I...didn't complete what you asked me to do."
"No, you have done very well." The black goat slowly lowered its head and gently touched the dry and torn tree trunk with its horn. At the tip of the horn, a faint green flame burned quietly. "Now it's time for the good boy to go to sleep, little sapling."
In the pale mist, the faint light gradually dimmed, the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves finally stopped, and the dots of light gathered into a river, quietly surrounding the feet of Silantis - in the deepest part of the World Tree, a burst of howling was finally heard.
The dark green spiritual fire rose into the sky, instantly covering the entire giant tree, illuminating the entire darkness after the extinction of all things.