NOVEL WEB Chapter 1411: The Truth About The Past
-----
"There was once a time when a human visited our lands before the continental alliance was even born," explained Yggdrasil. "This human was a charismatic explorer, someone with blonde hair and emerald eyes, similar to you. I cannot recall his name, but he was an Explorer, he was mapping the entire world, it was his mission to let the place where he came from to learn that the world outside the beaches was not an endless sea as they thought."
"This man was your ancestor; I can immediately tell… What is your name, son?" Yggdrasil asked.
"My ancestor… Ah! My name is Eric, lady Yggdrasil, and yes… I do remember reading a book, a journal, but I left it back home… it did state that he met the lizard people tribe, and that he fell in love with one of the women, the chief. I think… he spent a single night with her, before he eventually had to leave, mostly due to being pressured to…" Eric said. "I didn't really… think much about it, but he did state that the lizardmen said that his child would one day change… their fate."
"So that's how he wrote it…" Yggdrasil sighed. "He indeed had a son with the Ancient Chief, Karaxulu. I remember her quite fondly… She loved her son, Fafnir."
"EH?!"
Everyone was shocked by hearing such news, but I had guessed this from the start, and now I was only being confirmed. As I battled Fafnir, I learned that he was never a true divine dragon, but something else entirely.
"It is as I thought then, Fafnir was never a dragon, wasn't he? He was a human and lizardman hybrid," I stated. "Isn't that right, Yggdrasil?"
She smiled, closing her eyes.
"Yes… Perhaps a reason why I couldn't… defeat him, aside from his strength, is because… because I saw that child grow through all those centuries… I used to be fond of Fafnir," Yggdrasil explained. "He was a brilliant child with a bright mind, his human and lizardman physique also made him unique among his peers. He had incredible talent with magic, and amazing intellect… He was destined to be the King of the Lizardmen, to bring them towards a new future, one where he would create their own nation."
"…But that didn't happen then?" Erika asked, sighing.
"Indeed… it happened back then, centuries ago, when his mother died," Yggdrasil muttered. "By the hands of the ancient Elven King, your great grandfather, Elfriedden, the Elven King Parallax."
"My great… grandfather? I wasn't even alive when he was," muttered Elfriedden. "But I have heard about his tales, he was a conqueror, he unified the entire continent under a single nation, no longer were elves separated in their own nations after his conquest ended… He is often remembered with both fear and respect, some called him a tyrant, while others, a revolutionary."
"To claim the lands of Yggdrasil which were being inhabited by both elves and lizardmen, he brought his army here, assaulting the small villages and destroying everything he could to take over the sacred land, as he called it," Yggdrasil sighed.
"A-And you didn't intervene?" Elizabeth asked.
"I tried to, many times, but he would not listen to me. He did respect me, but he also threatened me with burning me with everything he had, if I dared to stop him…" Yggdrasil sighed. "I… I tried my best, I protected as many as I could with Fafnir, but his mother… she didn't make it."
"…" I remained in silence as I heard what she said, now everything made sense, Fafnir's resentment with the world, his hatred against elves… and why he went ahead and made a pact with an Outer God to gain all that power.
"After that, once Parallax was content with his conquest, he mobilized his troops around me, keeping watch over me, threatening me even more… the church of Yggdrasil was almost completely destroyed as well," sighed Yggdrasil. "Nobody was there for me, and I was the only one that could protect whatever remained of the lizardmen… they ran, escaping into my roots, living underground in caves where the only light were those of luminous crystals or mushrooms, for… decades, centuries… the world changed so much, and even more that child, Fafnir… his resentment ran deep but he also knew how powerless he was…"
"So he made a pact with that Outer God then?" I asked. "And he became that… a false dragon, or rather, a monster in the shape of one."
"…Indeed," Yggdrasil sighed. "I should've helped, I should have tried doing something, but I had grown too lenient, once the new age started, and Parallax's son ended being a good ruler that made amends with me, once he rebuilt the church and more… I… I ended forgetting about the lizardmen, I thought they were happy on their own, I wanted them to find their own fate. But now I realize I was foolish… those children felt ostracized, hated… they resented not only the elves, but the world that abandoned them."
"And Fafnir, as their only King… felt all of that responsibility over his own shoulders… I can't believe it…" Elfriedden gritted his teeth. "If only we knew of this! If only…! Things could've been different…! Damn it!"
Elfriedden lost his composure, hitting the ground in anger as he realized that the errors of his ancestors were ultimately what provoked such an immense destruction through Fafnir.
"If only we could have talked, if it wasn't for my damned great grandfather's tyranny! Fafnir wouldn't have gone so far; he wouldn't have killed everything…!" he muttered. "This is… our fault… everything is our fault! The lives he took, everything… we elves… brought destruction upon ourselves."
"H-Hey, calm down man… that was before you were even born! What could you have ever done?" Erdrich said, patting his shoulders.
"Yeah…" Eric nodded. "You have no fault in any of this, nor any of the elves alive today, Elfriedden…"
"That Outer God is dead," I said, as everyone fell silent.
"He is…?" Yggdrasil asked.
"Yeah, I happen to also be an Outer Apostle…" I admitted. "Sangre is her name, the Primordial Mother of Vampires, with her power, I was able to destroy that Outer God's soul forever. Fafnir's soul is now freed from his clutches… I choose to not take it either… I decided to let his soul move to the afterlife."
-----