Game of the World Tree

While mythical beings are a powerful existence, they too also cherish their lives.

For them with everlasting time and immortality, they can continue to exist as rulers of the natural laws in perpetuity just as long as they remain careful and avoid reckless actions.

And this has been proven by countless fallen gods.

Therefore, when both Fallen Angel Luria and the Queen of Pain Alyssa noticed that Hela had covertly deepened her control over the Netherworld to the extent that she could not only project part of her power by exploiting the rising tide of mana in Seigües along with the loosening of dimensional channels, but also take control of the Death’s Scythe, a divine artifact that causes all gods below her rank to be wary—they made a decisive decision to quickly retreat.

Of course, this was also because, despite being mythical beings, they were still currently at their weakest state, having just been recently awakened.

During the thousand years when the mana reserves of Seigües had declined, the strength of these evil gods whilst hiding in the underground, all had their powers greatly diminished, with many even forced into deep slumber.

However, even after being awakened by the recent resurgence of mana in Seigües, their strength is still far from being fully restored.

Take the Fallen Angel Luria, for example.

Although he was an evil god of meager divine power in his prime, his current strength might not even reach a quarter of what it once was, given that he has just awakened and still needs considerable time to fully recover.

In such a situation, taking a hit from the Death’s Scythe would inevitably greatly affect his true form, which would certainly spell disaster for the Fallen Angel.

As such, these two evil gods decisively cut off their tails, so to speak for the sake of survival and chose to swiftly run away.

In an instant, the mythical forces opposing the Demonic Wolf Fenrir and the Goddess of Life, Evé, were reduced to only the Seventh Demon God, Azazel, who had arrived in his true body.

Seeing this sudden turn of events, Azazel showed a grim expression.

His massive goat-like face, which were entirely made of flames, was filled with shock, suspicion, and fear.

Though he possessed the ability to resurrect infinitely, it did not mean he was unafraid of death.

Moreover, the entire process of resurrecting himself also requires some time.

He had already been in slumber within his seal for so long, and now, just as the mana in the realm of Seigües was having a resurgence and various ancient beings were awakening one after another, the Seventh Demon Lord didn’t want to miss this opportunity by falling into slumber yet again!

—That’s right, an opportunity.

For mythical beings like him, the resurgence of mana in Seigües and the loosening of seals presented a chance for those who were sealed to regain their freedom.

But it was also the most dangerous time for them as this was the period wherein recently awakened mythical beings like him were at their weakest and most prone to being befallen.

For those with ambition, this time period was their chance to seize divine power and strength.

Such as a certain World Tree, unwilling to reveal their identity.

Thus, after witnessing the Plague Lord being killed instantly and those two evil gods fleeing without hesitation, Azazel quickly retracted his magma and decided to retreat back underground, choosing to leave the battlefield.

Luckily, he was fortunate enough that Hela did not obstruct his escape.

The only one who reacted was the Goddess of Life, Evé.

Seeing the situation, she used the Scepter of Life held in her hand to cast an incomplete [Life Deprivation] spell, summoning a golden light that struck Azazel’s head as it drained parts of his lifeforce while he retreated.

With a muffled groan, Azazel gradually vanished from everyone’s sight.

He was injured.

But he also managed to escape.

No new attack emerged from the deep, grayish portal.

After instantly killing Plague Lord Ares, Hela did not pursue the other fleeing evil gods but instead focused her attention on the battlefield.

The deep, gray portal flickered once more, and at the spot where the Plague Lord’s incarnation had died, a heavy book suddenly rose.

It was the Book of the Dead that the Lich King used to control the undead army—the very source of his power that gave him the ability to command the fallen undead and suppress the Hermetic Alliance’s necromancy magic.

The ominous book floated slowly into the air before finally being drawn into the gray portal, before disappearing from everyone’s view.

As for Lich King Perone, with him being absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the Goddess of Death, he could only watch helplessly as Hela effortlessly reclaimed the divine artifact given to him by the Lord of Darkness and Shadows.

Yes, reclaimed.

The Book of the Dead was originally one of the divine artifacts left behind by the former Primordial Death God, and reclaiming it was one of Hela’s main objectives in this battle.

So after the book was succefully recovered by her, the gray portal slowly vanished, and a sense of calmness finally returned to the battlefield.

The only powerful beings left on the battlefield were the demonic wolf Fenrir and the goddess of life Evé, who did only a tiny bit of work and spent most of her time merely spectating and enjoying the show.

As Hela’s lingering power fully dissipated, Fenrir bowed respectfully to Evé.

“Your Grace, Eve, I thank thee for your assistance. Alas, I must quickly go reclaim the Plague Lord’s divinity before any other mythical beings get it, so I won’t involved myself in what comes next.”

Evé nodded slightly.

Seeing her response, Fenrir let out a long howl and swiftly disappeared from the battlefield, heading toward the location where the Plague Lord’s true body resided.

Just now, Hela’s death scythe attack had crossed through the void of space, and not only did it directly killed the Plague Lord’s true form, but it also revealed his location.

And naturally, the remains of Plague Lord Ares was another of Hela’s targets in this entire operation.

With the death of Ares, his true body would inevitably leave behind his governing divinity, the Divinity of [Plague] which complemented Hela’s own [Disease] divinity, thereby presenting her with an opportunity to perfect her incomplete divinity.

In fact, Evé strongly suspected that the other two evil gods fled so quickly not just to escape the Goddess of Death’s wrath but also to seize the Plague Lord’s divinity for themselves.

As for why the Goddess of Death did not pursue Azazel…

Evé believed that, on one hand, there was no real need for Hela to do so, and on the other hand, she suspected that Hela, was likely too exhausted to continue after killing the Plague Lord.

It was evident that Hela had still not fully became the sole master of the Netherworld.

Otherwise, the first to suffer would have been Hödur, the God of Darkness and Shadows.

Hence, it was likely that the divine blood crystals Evé had been supplying her all this time had partially empowered Hela, enabling her to wield the Death Scythe artifact and even project her divine power by exploiting the connections between the Netherworld and other realms.

Such a feat was probably too difficult to perform more than once.

And even if Hela could manage to perform such an attack once again, the God of Darkness and Shadows, Hödur, who also still dwelled within the Netherworld, would certainly not allow her to repeat such act once he realized what was happening.

Therefore, according to their previous agreement, dealing with the Seventh Demon Lord Azazel was still Evé’s responsibility.

And indeed, although Azazel had already fled, Evé had no intention of letting him escape successfully just like that.

Her battle was just beginning.

With a sweeping glance over the battlefield, Evé then pursued Azazel, following the mark left by her earlier [Life Deprivation] attack upon his body.

The battles between mythical beings started quickly and end just as fast.

In the blink of an eye, the only forces left on the battlefield were the land armies of the two opposing alliances.

Of course, by this time, the Dark Alliance’s forces had suffered a crushing defeat due to the clashes between the mythical beings, and they were now in complete disarray.

As the various mythical gods departed and the overwhelming pressure they exuded had finally been lifted, the players finally snapped out of their daze and began to react.

Excitedly, they raised their weapons and launched attacks on the remaining Dark Alliance’s forces.

After all… this was the perfect opportunity to kick someone when they’re down and rack up some experience points!

Their relentless, no-mercy approach to slaughter the enemies left the soldiers of the Hermetic Alliance completely stunned.

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【 FOLLOW YOUR HEART 】

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