Game of the World Tree

Nidhogg’s memories were filled with numerous ancient mysteries.

Yet, Evé disregarded most of these and simply focused on memory fragments containing matters relating to the Heavenly Gods, especially their attack against the World Tree…

As the image of the first memory fragment she had seen flickered through her mind, Evé’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Does the existence of the World Tree result in a rise in the number of true gods?”

“Do the Gods of Faith fear that the continual ascension of mortals to a higher existence with the help of the World Tree poses a long-term threat to their status, thereby prompting them to take action against my predecessor?”

“Is this…actually the real reason behind the thousand-year Heavenly War?”

The first reason surprised her a little bit.

However, upon further reflection, she somewhat understood the reasoning behind it.

After all, it requires an appropriate number of sentient beings for the realm of Seigües to function properly, just as the universe outside also requires a sizable existence of other mythological beings to oversee the fundamental laws of reality.

Evé recalled that Hela had mentioned that her predecessor had indirectly brought forth the Gods of Faith, thus earning the title of the “mother” to these newer gods who relied solely on faith to accumulate strength.

Considering her predecessor’s gentle and compassionate nature, it is probable that old lady was concerned about the decline of the Ancient Gods and thus decided to begin supporting more and more beings to ascend into higher existence, with the eventual aim of replacing the dwindling numbers of Ancient Ones…

If she were to take a guess, her predecessor most likely brought forth the Gods of Faith so that they could take on the role of maintaining the order of laws so that the universe could still function smoothly much like how she birthed the elves to be the caretakers of Seigües.

Nonetheless, regardless of her predecessor’s good intentions, unlike the elves which are mere mortals and relatively easily to manage, the Gods of Faith have the status no less than hers and are far more challenging to control.

Henceforth, as time passes, things will inevitably deviate from their originally intended purpose…

After all, all living beings have their own desires, even those who become deities themselves.

Presumably, these newer Gods who have already ascended naturally do not want to see more beings reach divine ascendance and take a piece of the power and authority they already possess.

Of course, all of this was only a speculation of mine…

Evé thought as her attention shifted to another matter.

As for the second reason, it was similar to the one she initially speculated about.

The World Tree’s ability 【Absorption】 can indeed continuously elevate the overall quantity of mana within the entire realm, and as Seigües’ mana reserves rise, it will lead to a domino effect wherein ordinary beings will also tremendously benefit from it.

The power of faith inherently stems from the reverence of believers towards the divine.

Therefore, if the overall strength of these believers becomes far too strong, theoretically speaking, it is indeed quite possible for them to threaten the very gods they are worshipping.

However, from her standpoint, Evé somehow felt that this reasoning seemed somewhat flawed upon closer inspection.

Because from the various anecdotes she derived from many historical records as well as her very own inheritance, even if the World Tree has the ability to elevate the mana reserves of Seigües, the entire duration of this process will probably take a long time.

The World Tree essentially can only influence one realm at a time, and within the entire universe, Seigües is just a one of the realms within its vast expanse of other realms in its entirety.

Normally speaking, most gods wouldn’t bat an eye if another deity fully took over a realm for themselves, as most of them do so in the first place…

Alas, the realm of Seigües, where the World Tree is located, is by far the oldest and largest, but more importantly, the realm wherein the fundamental laws of reality are most concrete within the entire universe.

In this situation, the consensus among various Gods was that they wouldn’t allow a single entity to fully control Seigües and make it more of a communal realm, wherein any God would have the capacity to propagate their faith within this realm.

Moreover, the World Tree is situated in Seigües and with her predecessor’s ability to elevate other beings to a higher status, the other gods could just temporarily relocate their ‘flocks’ of believers in Seigües before sending them back to their own realms when these believers finally gained adequate strength for themselves…

Doing it this way, the existence of the World Tree is quite beneficial plus it also diminishes the concurrent fight over the ownership of Seigües, especially since such a clash carries the risk of breaking the realm apart.

In fact, the very same heavenly war from a thousand years ago did indeed cause great damage to Seigües as a whole.

So, if someone were to think about it more carefully, they would discover that the two reasons for the attack against the World Tree shown within Nidhogg’s memory were not actually the real reasons, or at the very least…not the actual reasons which made the gods decide to immediately turn against the World Tree.

“There must have been some catalyst that led the gods to decide on the immediate elimination of the World Tree! For instance…if the former World Tree was on the brink of advancement, it’s probable that my predecessor’s mana absorption rate also increased, resulting in a significant boost in her overall strength, thereby posing a threat to the other gods.”

Evé speculated out loud.

It was not without reason that her assumption lead to this direction.

Especially since there are various signs that the former World Tree is just an aloof good old lady that simply likes to care about lesser beings and minds her own business…

If her predecessor had not become a threat to the other gods, then no one would take action against such a kind old lady.

Furthermore, back when she was recovering from her near-death state, Evé already knew that the current form of the World Tree was not her primary one but rather, only a preliminary one, and considering how long her predecessor had stayed within the level of ‘powerful divine power’ for so long, it would come as no surprise to her if that old lady might actually be on the verge of a breakthrough.

As for whether it was the Provenance or other specific abilities of the World Tree that the gods coveted…

Evé had already ruled this out because if these were the real reasons, then it made no sense, since a thousand years had already passed since the Heavenly War, and these things were still contained inside the World Tree even after she reincarnated into it a thousand years later.

Sure, her predecessor might have cast a self-preservation spell into her True Body before that old lady died, but Evé didn’t believe for a second that the Gods who wanted to take those things away wouldn’t have the means to get it during those thousand years in the aftermath of the war…

Moreover, she’s absolutely certain that they’re also constantly monitoring the state of the World Tree, yet even after Evé had already resurrected to the World Tree for quite a while already and the self-preservation spell had already vanished, no one still came to check on the status of the World Tree and took the opportunity to get those things…

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that it’s also possible that her brief revival time contributed to the lack of reaction, considering the gods’ perception of time may differ significantly from that of ordinary beings.

However…in the end, these are still just speculations.

But at the very least, based on Nidhogg’s memories and Uller’s words from before, Evé also knew that her current situation was not good.

“No matter what their reason is, all that matters in the end is that these gods are determined to destroy the World Tree.”

“Just disguising myself as Hela’s subordinate wouldn’t be enough at this point. Alas, I must also find a new suitable public identity for myself from this point on.”

“As the number of players keeps growing and their activities further expand, it’s inevitable that their existence will not remain hidden for long.”

“Plus, the appearance of these large number of elves, as well as the reappearance of the Divinity of Nature and Life, can easily makes others associate them with the World Tree.”

Evé knitted her brows and sighed out loud.

“I suppose now I need to find a way to completely disassociate myself from the World Tree. Doing so would be the best course to mitigate the risk of my real identity being uncovered. Subsequently, I must also provide the general public with a logical explanation for the existence of these elven players.”

“Judging from the attitudes of the Goddess of Death, Hela, as well as Uller, some gods might still be able to discern the differences between me and my predecessor. Perhaps… I could start from this aspect.”

“I need to do these things as soon as possible. The more trouble I stir up here in Seigües, the bigger chance someone figures out who I really am.”

Some ideas gradually trickled into Eve’s mind, gently nudging her thoughts in new directions.

With a newfound sense of purpose, Evé redirected her focus back to Meryer nestled within the cocoon.

“I never expected… that this rascal would actually be a fusion of Nidhogg’s crystal core and part of his flesh and blood, fused with the life essence of the World Tree. No wonder I felt an inexplicable feeling of closeness to Meryer when I first saw him, subconsciously wanting to take this rascal as a follower of mine.”

Thinking of certain scenes from Nidhogg’s memories, Evé nodded slightly in realization.

The essence of life has a profound effect, and under these special circumstances, as it merged with Nidhogg’s crystal core and part of his flesh and blood, it ultimately formed a brand new dragon egg and gave birth to new life, which is unheard of.

In other words, Meryer holds a closer connection to Nidhogg than his own blood relatives, which may also explain their inherent attraction to each other.

This also indirectly explains why Meryer’s aura already rivals that of an adult black dragon and his strength far exceeds those of the same age, even though Meryer himself is still in his juvenile years.

Essentially, Meryer’s origin is complex.

He is more akin to a piece of flesh that detached from Nidhogg and gained sentience, constituting the most crucial part of the latter.

As for the large dragon from Nidhogg’s memories that attacked it…

Evé found relevant information within the World Tree’s inheritance.

It is an ancient dragon deity, with strength comparable to Nidhogg’s, and is its old archnemesis.

Moreover, this dragon holds a prestigious title as well:

Platinum Dragon King—Reinhart.

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【 PLATINUM DRAGON KING 】

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