Chapter 153: That’s Not War, That’s Genocide

Everyone was truly motivated right now.

They felt as if they could take on the world, as if some great weight had been lifted from their shoulders and replaced with burning determination.

They were ready to change. Ready to grow. Ready to fight for their future.

But of course, among the motivated, there was always one who took things a little too far.

Nyx.

She stood apart from the others, and the expression on her face was not one of healthy determination.

It was something else entirely. Something dangerous.

Her eyes had taken on a gleam that made the little children near her instinctively take a step back.

The smile curving her lips was not warm or encouraging—it was sharp, predatory, almost feral.

The kind of smile a hunter wore when spotting vulnerable prey.

Luca noticed it immediately. His own expression shifted from satisfaction to wariness.

“Well, well, well.”

Nyx purred, her voice cutting through the celebratory atmosphere like a blade.

“Hero, I have to commend you. You really do have quite the way with words.”

She began to walk slowly toward him, her movements fluid and deliberate.

“The way you can make even the weakest, most timid soul want to grab a spear and charge into battle? That’s a gift. A genuine gift.”

She tilted her head, still smiling that terrifying smile.

“I truly mean that.”

The other elves glanced at each other, unsure where this was going. The praise sounded genuine, but something in Nyx’s tone made them uneasy.

Then her voice dropped. Turned cold.

“But I think…this speech of yours worked a little too well on me.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed, while Nyx continued, her voice gaining intensity.

“Because right now, I don’t feel motivated to defend myself. I feel determined to take the fight to them.”

Murmurs of confusion rippled through the crowd.

“The humans…”

Nyx clarified, as if it should be obvious.

“…I want to go to their continent. I want to stop waiting for them to slaughter us. I want to….”

“…I want to slaughter them first.”

Gasps. Several elves actually staggered backward.

This was not what anyone had expected.

Luca’s expression had shifted to one of careful concern.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Nyx raised a hand, cutting him off.

“Just think about it, all of you.”

She turned to address the crowd, spreading her arms wide.

“The Hero just explained it perfectly. The humans will advance. They’ll create guns. They’ll become powerful. And when they do, they’ll come for us. We’ll be obliterated. We won’t stand a chance.”

She paused, letting that sink in.

“So why should we wait for that?”

The question hung in the air.

“Why should we sit in our homes, trembling every night, wondering if today is the day they invade?”

“Why should we worry and panic and live in fear, waiting for doom to arrive?”

“Why should we…”

She pointed at the destroyed wall—at the splinters and fragments that had once been their beautiful creation.

“…be the pieces of wood, torn apart and scattered? Why shouldn’t it be them?”

“Just think about it for a second.” Her voice rose, passionate and fierce.

“Why shouldn’t we be the ones who make the first move? Why shouldn’t we sail to their continent with boatloads of guns and start shooting?”

“Why shouldn’t we massacre every human who stands against us? Why shouldn’t we be the ones who make the rivers run red?”

Silence.

Absolute, stunned silence.

The elves stared at Nyx as if she had grown a second head.

One moment they had been basking in the warm glow of motivation, ready to improve themselves, to learn and grow.

The next, their own kin was proposing genocide.

Luna’s jaw had dropped. She stared at her aunt as if seeing her for the first time.

“Auntie Nyx…”

She finally managed, her voice shaky.

“How…Howow would we even do that? Even if we had the bravery—even if we wanted to—where would we get enough guns?”

Nyx’s smile widened and she turned to look at Luca.

“From the Hero, of course.”

Luca blinked, caught off guard.

“He brought out over a hundred bows for us. Cases and cases of equipment. Supplies beyond counting.”

She gestured expansively.

“So, similarly why couldn’t he bring out guns?”

“Why couldn’t each and every one of us wield one of those beautiful little weapons and pay a visit to our neighbors?”

Her eyes glittered with bloodthirsty enthusiasm.

“And it doesn’t even have to be a difficult invasion!”

“We don’t need to march through borders or fight through armies. The Hero can use his portals—he can open them anywhere, including on the human continent.”

“So, we could sneak in, strike, wipe out enemies, and retreat before they even know what hit them. And do the same thing again and again and again.”

She chuckled, a sound that made several elves shiver.

“We could decimate them. Completely. Before they ever have a chance to become a threat.”

Hearing this declaration of war, Luna didn’t know what to say.

She looked at the other elves, searching for support, for someone to join her in rejecting this madness.

But something troubling was happening.

Some elves were nodding slowly.

Others wore expressions of deep thought, as if weighing Nyx’s words.

A few, a disturbing few had the same gleam in their eyes that Nyx did.

Because as crazy as it sounded, it also made a certain twisted sense.

With Luca by their side, they could do almost anything.

They had seen his power, his resources, his willingness to help.

If he could provide guns for everyone, if he could portal them anywhere—

They could end the human threat permanently.

Nyx saw the shift in the crowd and pressed her advantage. She stepped forward, spreading her arms wide as if embracing them all.

“Tell me truly, everyone. Don’t you grow tired of being afraid? Don’t you grow tired of waiting, worrying, wondering when doom will arrive?”

Her voice rose, passionate and compelling.

“Why not follow the Hero’s advice to its logical conclusion?”

“Why not take control of our own destiny?”

“Why not be the ones who act instead of react?”

She paused, letting her gaze sweep across every face.

“I know you’re hesitant. I know you’re afraid. I know this goes against everything we’ve ever been, everything we’ve ever believed.”

Her voice softened, became almost gentle.

“But ask yourselves: if it comes down to us or them, truly us or them, with no middle ground, no peaceful solution…”

“…who would you choose?”

The question hung in the air like smoke.

Who would you choose?

The elves looked at each other. At their children. At their homes. At the destroyed wall, still smoking slightly, a monument to what could be done to them.

They were peace-loving people.

They loved the forest, harmony, the quiet life. They had never raised weapons against another soul.

The thought of violence, of killing, was abhorrent to everything they were.

But they also loved their families. Their children. Their future.

And Nyx’s words had planted a seed.

If it’s us or them…

If they will eventually come for us…

If waiting means our children become splinters…

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, expressions began to shift.

Fear was still there. Hesitation was still there. But something else crept in—something hard and cold.

One elf stepped forward.

She was young—barely past childhood herself, with a round face and braided hair.

Her name was Tamsin, and she was known throughout the village for her gentle nature, her love of animals, her refusal to even step on insects if she could avoid it.

Now she stood trembling, her face pale, her hands clasped in front of her.

“I…I think Nyx is right.”

Every eye turned to her.

Tamsin swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t want to…I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t want blood on my hands. The thought of it makes me sick.”

Tears welled in her eyes.

“But if it’s necessary…if it’s the only way to protect my little sister…”

She glanced at a small girl beside her, looking no more than six years old, who clutched her sleeve.

“Then I’ll do it. I’ll take up the gun. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

The little girl didn’t understand. She just clung to her sister, sensing her distress.

Another elf stepped forward. Then another. Then more.

“I don’t like it either, but Nyx has a point.”

“It’s us or them. And I choose us.”

“I won’t let my children die because I was too weak to act.”

“My family comes first. Before any human. Before anything.”

One by one, they stepped forward.

Their faces were conflicted, their eyes often wet with tears they tried to hide.

These were not warriors hungry for battle.

These were peaceful people being pushed toward a terrible choice.

But they were making it anyway.

For their families. For their future. For survival.

Nyx watched the momentum building with barely concealed satisfaction.

Her plan was working.

Tamsin’s tearful declaration had broken the dam, and now others followed—mothers thinking of children, sisters thinking of siblings, daughters thinking of parents.

The thought of finally turning the tables, of making them the victims instead of the aggressors, sent a thrill through her blood that she hadn’t felt in decades.

She imagined it with perfect clarity: elves armed with guns, stepping through Luca’s portals, appearing silently in the noble households that tried to come after them.

The confusion on their faces. The panic. And then—

Thunder.

Screams.

Blood.

Herself at the front, her own gun blazing, watching those who would have destroyed her people fall before they even understood what was happening.

It was beautiful. It was justice. It was everything she had ever wanted.

She was so lost in her glorious fantasy that she almost didn’t hear the voice that cut through the crowd like ice.

“No.”

The single word stopped the momentum dead.

“That will not happen.”

Every head turned.

“We will not invade the human continent. And more than that—we will not wield guns.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Who would dare oppose Nyx?

Who would stand against the rising tide of their own people’s determination?

The crowd parted, and there stood Leona.

Her posture was straight as an arrow, her face carved from stone.

No hesitation. No conflict. Just pure, unwavering certainty.

Seeing that it was her sister, Nyx’s smile faltered.

Confusion flickered across her features, quickly replaced by something harder.

“Leona.” Her voice was controlled, but sharp. “Why do you say that? Did you not hear what the Hero said? Did you not understand?”

“The humans will advance. They will develop guns. They will come for us eventually. Does that not terrify you?”

She gestured at Luna and Lulu, who stood nearby, watching their mother with wide eyes.

“You have daughters, Leona. Two daughters. How can you sit there and refuse to act when their lives are at stake? How can you oppose going to war when it might be the only thing that saves them?”

Leona raised a hand, cutting off Nyx’s tirade.

“First of all.” She said calmly. “I am not opposed to war.”

The admission rippled through the crowd. Even Nyx blinked.

Leona continued, her voice steady and cold.

“If it becomes absolutely necessary—if there comes a day when I must pick up a bow and send arrows through the heads, the throats, the hearts of every human who threatens my village—I will do it.”

“Without hesitation. Without mercy. Without losing a single night’s sleep over the blood on my hands.”

She looked around at the gathered elves, meeting each pair of eyes in turn.

“As your matriarch—”

She paused, a flicker of something vulnerable crossing her face before she corrected herself.

“—I mean, as your former matriarch, I swear on my daughters lives that this is true. I will protect this village by any means necessary.”

“I will not hold back.”

The solemnity of her vow hung in the air. No one doubted her.

Nyx’s confusion deepened. “Then why—”

“Because war isn’t necessary right now.”

Leona cut her off, turning slightly to include Luca in her gaze.

“Luca has already taken care of most of the threat. He’s already ended many lives—killed the perpetrators who were coming after us.”

“If we went to the human continent now, we would likely find no one left to fight. He’s already done the bloody work for us.”

Realization dawned on many faces.

The threat that had seemed so imminent, so terrifying, had already been largely neutralized. Luca had done that.

The humans who might have organized against them were scattered and humiliated.

Nyx’s jaw tightened, but Leona wasn’t finished.

“And don’t misunderstand me. My opposition to immediate war doesn’t mean I’m against advancement.”

“I absolutely believe we need to change.”

“We need to grow, to train, to become stronger. We can’t stay passive anymore—that much is clear.”

She paused, choosing her words carefully.

“But there’s a difference between preparing for war and starting one.”

“There’s a difference between becoming strong enough to defend ourselves and—”

“—becoming the aggressors who strike first just because we’re afraid of what might happen.”

Her eyes swept across the crowd.

“Going to slaughter another race for something that might never happen?”

“That’s not defense. That’s not protection.”

“…That’s preemptive genocide.”

She let the word hang in the air.

“Tell me.” She said quietly. “Is that what we are now? Are we humans? Do we have the same greedy, bloodthirsty thoughts that they do?”

“Do we want to invade another continent and massacre its inhabitants just because we’re scared?”

The effect was immediate.

Faces twisted with revulsion.

To be compared to humans—to the species that had hunted them, treated them as less than animals was a blow that landed hard.

“No.” Someone whispered.

“We’re not like them.”

“We’re elves.”

“We don’t kill for no reason.”

Heads shook. Shoulders straightened. The bloodlust that had been building moments ago began to recede, replaced by shame.

Leona nodded, seeing the change.

“War may become necessary. We will prepare for that possibility. But there’s no need to cause a massacre right now. That is not who we are, and I…”

“…I refuse to walk that path.”

Hearing this, Nyx’s eye twitched. Her beautiful plan, her glorious vision of blood and vengeance, was crumbling before her eyes.

She opened her mouth to argue, to push back—

“But that’s not even the main reason I’m speaking out.”

Leona’s voice shifted, becoming even more serious. She turned fully to face Luca.

“The war itself is a distant concern. After what you’ve done, after you’ve eliminated the immediate threats, we’ll likely have peace for quite a while.”

“Especially with you here to protect us.”

She gave a grateful look.

“So for now, let’s set aside thoughts of invasion and massacre.”

Nyx made a sound of frustration, but Leona ignored her.

“Now, the real reason I’m speaking out is actually about the guns.”

She gestured at the gun still in Luca’s hands.

“It may be surprising to hear, but I believe that guns should not exist in this world.”

“Or rather—I believe that you, Luca, should not bring guns into this world at all.”

The clearing went deathly silent, at the shocking statement.

Leona continued, her voice steady despite the weight of what she was saying.

“Teach us archery, Luca. Teach us to use the compound bows, to improve our aim, to become better hunters and warriors. Show us how to advance, how to grow, how to become stronger.”

“All of that—yes. Absolutely yes.”

“But this?”

She pointed at the destroyed wall, at the scattered splinters.

“These guns that can cause such destruction in a matter of seconds…”

“…They should stay in your world. They should not come here.”

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