Chapter 3799: Creeping Madness (Part 2) "You can count on me." The Hekate charged Firefang with Cursed Flames and stored her most destructive spells in her Mouth of Menadion. "I’m bringing someone too." Lith said. "Ripha?" A deep breath, and the Demon of Ripha Menadion emerged from his shadow, bearing seven elemental air and pure rage on her face. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 "A Chronicler? I ate plenty of those and killed even more. I can add one more notch to my kill count." "Keep this for good measure." Lith handed her Ragnarök, and the angry blade fit into her hand like a glove. "If the Tree tries anything funny, and I mean anything, strike first and ask questions second." Ragnarök didn’t like being wielded by anyone but Lith, but the rage and hatred burning inside the First Ruler of the Flames matched its own. "Asking questions is not the second thing on the list of things I want to do to a World Tree." Ripha growled. "It doesn’t even make the top ten, but sure." "We’ll get along." The angry blade said, keeping its seals together by the thinnest of threads. Lith also connected to the mana geyser below Vladion’s camp to fuel all the pieces of the Menadion Set to their full potential. "Bring him here, Le’Ahy." Lith said while conjuring a Hush spell. "I don’t trust a Chronicler enough to move to an isolated place. I’ll keep all advantages." "Just give me a minute." The elf nodded awkwardly and Blinked away. She returned a few seconds later, accompanied by a tall elf wearing a mottled green cloak and carrying a heavy wooden staff. "Thanks for having me, Lord Verhen." The elf gave his hosts a bow. "I’m Zak’Nar Talesweaver, Head Chronicler of the first generation of new Chroniclers of the Yggdrasill." "I understand you mistrust after being manipulated by two World Trees, Lord Vehren." Zak’Nar looked at the welcome committee and didn’t miss that every one of its members was out for blood and ready to strike. "Yet this was unnecessary." "Why is that? Enlighten me." Lith dismissed Le’Ahy and activated a Mist spell to keep anyone from reading their lips after she left the Hush Zone. The Chronicler cast a few spells of his own, but they were all meant to study his surroundings and gave him no tactical advantage. He was only making sure nobody could overhear their conversation. "If the Yggdrasill wanted to hurt you, they wouldn’t have sent me. They would have exposed Solus as Elphyn Menadion and you as the owner of Menadion’s tower. That’s enough to prove my good faith." "Please." Lith burst into a mirthless laughter. "That proves nothing. After two mad World Trees, no one would believe the new guy. Especially since they got the job after their predecessor tried to kill me, kidnapped Solus, and got killed by me. "Everyone would just think the new Tree is trying to settle our score. There were hundreds of people with me when I killed the late Yggdrasill, and no one saw a mage tower. Why would they believe you? "Also, even the maddest World Tree is not stupid. Provoking me in their current condition would be suicidal. I found one Yggdrasill, I can find another. Killing the new Tree would be much easier this time. "All the skilled and battle-hardened Chroniclers are dead. Every piece of knowledge that wasn’t stored in the late World Tree’s mind is lost. The countless treasures stockpiled over the millennia by Chroniclers have been split between the members of my strike force. "I bet the arrays in the Fringe are good, but nothing compared to what they used to be. Just like your equipment." Lith pointed at the unpurified Adamant of the Chronicler’s armor and the unadorned staff he carried. "On top of that, I know plenty of people who’d love to invade your Fringe and take some Yggdrasill wood as a souvenir. Even if your master exposes me, all I have to do is expose their location to give them more trouble than they can survive." Zak’Nar lowered his gaze and his shoulder slouched, incapable of rebutting a single point. "All you’ve said is true." The Chronicler raised his hands with the palms out. "We lack Davross, Darwen, and even white crystals." "He’s telling the truth." Aalejah said, drawing an angry glare from Zak’Nar for what he considered another act of disrespect and the betrayal of his own kin at that. "The World Tree has never been so weak and lacking in knowledge. Yet they also have not been so wise and their vision hasn’t been so clear in countless millennia." Zak’Nar straightened up, exuding pride with each word he spoke. "Again, truth. Or at least he believes he’s telling the truth." Aalejah nodded. "The Yggdrasill sent me here to thank you, Lord Verhen." The Chronicler ignored her and dropped to one knee. "Please, listen to their words." The wood of the staff came to life, and small roots seeped inside the elf’s hand. They crawled inside his arm, chest, and neck until they reached the Chronicler’s face. Zak’Nar’s eyes turned forest green and his voice into a rustle of branches. "Feel free to look at me, Aalejah Eventide, and measure my words. I usually don’t require such a degree of communion with my Chroniclers to communicate, but this is the only way your Soul Vision would work on me from such a distance." "I can see two people with Soul Vision now." Aalejah explained. "It’s like the World Tree is standing in front of us." "Your servant said you wanted to thank me." Lith relaxed a bit, but kept the Eyes and the Ears locked on the Tree to assess their every move. "For what exactly?" "For killing my predecessor." The Yggdrasil replied, making everyone’s eyes widen. "For cleansing their essence with your Flames. For allowing me to be born and the World Tree bloodline to endure despite what we did to you. "Your attack on the late Yggdrasill was justified, and even though I’ve lost many things, what I’ve gained more than enough to make up for that." "What do you mean, gained?" Solus asked. "We didn’t give Aalejah anything but the acorn bearing your essence." "When Lord Verhen used his Flames on the mind of the late Yggdrasill, he purged it from anything that wasn’t pure knowledge, Lady Verhen." The World Tree replied. "When I woke up at the end of my evolution, I still looked at Mogar with my own eyes. "The new World Tree doesn’t inherit the memories of their predecessors. Thoughts and experiences are stored like diaries, but they were diaries filled with cynical observations about Mogar’s unfairness and envy for the Guardians. "I got only a glimpse of the writings of the past World Trees, yet it was more than enough to look at the recent history of my species and realize the monstrosity the Yggdrasill had become. "I’ve gained a new perspective on my bloodline and decided to make a change. Unlike my predecessors, I won’t wait until I can no longer contain the madness to look for a World Sapling to replace me. "Even if contained, the creeping insanity during a World Tree’s final years affected their judgment in selecting their successor. For this reason, I’ll start looking for my heir as soon as I reach the apex of my wisdom and gain enough experience to know what to look for in a candidate."