Game of the World Tree

“High Priest, I saw it with my own eyes, the elves I killed reappeared again!”

“Devils! They must be the devils!”

“Chieftain, what exactly are they? I bet you must have known, right!?”

The retreating Orcs all surrounded the High Priest in panic. Seeing terror in everyone’s eyes, the Orc chieftain was silent for a moment before sighing,

“They…they probably have been granted the power of resurrection by the Death Goddess.”

Silence.

“Death…Grim Reaper…”

The Orcs murmured in fear as their worried expressions morphed into utmost horror.

“You mean that these elves are just living undead beings?!”

Seeing his fellow tribesmen completely lost their will and fighting spirit, Jùshān tried to reassure them.

“Don’t worry, even if it’s a gift from the Goddess of Death, I’m sure these Elves can’t resurrect without some sort of limitations…their revival must have a steep price! Everyone listen! As long as we continue to keep charging, I’m sure they won’t be able to hold on for much long.”

The Orc chief tried his best to raise morale but alas, this time, all the Orcs just fell silent. Silence ensued as the feeling of dread permeates the air so thick, you could almost cut it.

The tension was broken a moment later when an Orc bitterly muttered,

“…Are you just asking our brethen to sacrifice their lives?”

Jùshān couldn’t answer such pointed accusations but simply glanced at the demonic hellhound, which was increasingly showing signs of decline in its battle against the black dragon, with a hint of complexity in his expression.

But soon, he readjusted his mindset and shouted angrily:

“If you want to be caught in a pincer attack by the Elves and the black dragon, then by all means just surrender here right now and give up the fight!”

“The familiar of the Godwarden can’t hold on for much longer. If the Black Dragon finally breaks free then what awaits us is complete annihilation! They will massacre us and everyone in the tribe!”

“We must destroy the elves’ teleportation array before the Black Dragon breaks free in order to reduce our enemies!”

“If we’re just fighting the Black Dragon alone then we can still beat it with the strength of our entire tribe. But with the addition of those undying elves, and the possible presence of an enemy Godwarden behind them…”

Jùshān paused for a bit and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration before continuing,

“We’ll be caught in a pincer attack from two sides…I’m afraid that our Caverock Tribe will perish if that happens.”

“Don’t even think about running away! Our Father God has already enact a divine decree, calling us to assist his Godwarden. If the Envoy doesn’t leave then we can’t do so either!”

After hearing their chieftain’s words, the Orcs became restless. Their God was essentially ordering them to sacrifice their lives and that’s a hard thing to swallow since the order especially came from the Supreme being whom they had pledged their loyalty into.

A thick foreboding sense of helplessness seeps into the air within the surviving Orcs as no one really knows what to say but after a while, someone asked,

“High Priest…what exactly is the Envoy doing now? Isn’t he a high-level expert? Why don’t he deal with the black dragon instead?”

Jùshān took a deep breath and showed a pious expression upon hearing the question.

“Right now, the Envoy is preoccupied with summoning the Hunter God’s Totem Guardian and cannot be distracted. If he succeeds in doing so then we will have a chance to turn the tides of the battle in one fell swoop!”

Why, it turned out to be a Totem Guardian!

In an instant, all the tribal Orcs morale was reignited as they see a glimmer of hope.

Every Orcs knew how powerful divine guardians were.

In their entire history laden with conflict, the Orc race have encountered numerous stronger enemies but every time they faced these foes, once the totem guardians were summoned, the battle would be easily reversed!

Seeing his fellow tribesmen regain their morale, the chieftain momentarily breathed a sigh of relief.

Riding the momentum he then continued,

“Therefore, we cannot let them destroy our plans! We must do everything we can to destroy the elves’ teleportation array! But even if we cannot destroy it, we must at least block them from entering our base and make a desperate attempt to delay time…until the Totem Guardian are summoned!”

“Now, we change tactics. Our brave comrades who are good at archery would be divided into two teams. One team stays in the tribe to assist the Envoy’s familiar in fighting the black dragon while the other team specifically shoots at those elves outside, while the rest of the warriors continue to attack!”

“This time, our priority is to stall for time!”

Jùshān also decided to change tactics since he could tell that the tribesmen no longer had the courage to fight the elves to the death.

The high priest could understand it too…when faced with an absurd enemy that cannot be killed…even with the knowledge that their revival is likely limited, such fear cannot be easily erased within anyone’s hearts.

This isn’t a fair fight at all!

But if that’s the case then, they will just have to drag it out!

They will have to drag out the battle against the the elves and the dragon at least until the Vampire Count finishes his summoning!

And after hearing what Jùshān said, the Orc could only organize their forces for another attack.

However this time, they were much more cautious.

Their goal was no longer to crush the elves, but to harass them and entrap them on the hilltop while preventing anyone from coming down and distracting them so that they wouldn’t get a clue of their summoning plans.

This time…it’s the elves’ turn to suffer.

The physical raw strength of the Orcs is far greater than that of an average elf. If they switch gears and avoid direct confrontation with the enemies, then the sacrificial tactic used earlier by their foes would no longer be just as effective.

The battle resumed once again and some Orcs dispersed as they surrounded the Elves without attacking. When those players without equipments came out, the Orcs instead retreated and shot arrows at them from a distance. Then after killing these suicide squads, the orc vanguards charged again and continued to harass the elves as these cycle of charging and retreating continued on for quite some time.

As a result, the casualties of both sides began to decrease rapidly, but the situation remained at a stalemate.

This was not a situation the players wanted as they still needs to gain experience and contribution points in this conflict.

Alas, this kind of harassment battle lasted for a long time, and most players couldn’t even kill a single Orc. This new style of battle shown by the Orcs annoyed the players to no end for it greatly diminished their CP gains.

“Why aren’t they fully charging at us anymore?”

Looking at the Orcs whom shifted into a more conservative tactics, the guild leader of Moe Moe Committee, HootyBird frowned.

Li Mu’s eyes flickered slightly:

“They finally seem to have realized that we can resurrect.”

“Then what should we do? We can’t just keep dragging this out, can’t we?” Demacia, who had just resurrected again, said in an urgent tone.

“We’re not earning much experience and contribution points just like we used to!”

“Dragging this out doesn’t seem to be doing the Orcs any good either, does it? Besides, I think Meryer has already gained the upper hand in his battle with that dog.”

Li’l Salty Cat looked at the distance wherein the black dragon was fighting… or rather, playfully teasing the hellhound.

The hellhound was clearly showing signs of fatigue.

But it seemed… that the little black dragon was addicted to bullying it, and Meryer probably wouldn’t kill his opponent until he had played with it enough.

Teasing its prey was etched within any black dragon’s instinct, and Li’l Salty Cat had already yelled at Meryer several times from afar, but the damn Dragon still didn’t end the battle quickly.

Li Mu pondered for a moment and said solemnly.

“They’re stalling for time, probably going to summon that Totem Guardian mentioned in the intel report! We can’t let them succeed!”

After hearing what he said, Alice the elven saintess hesitated to speak.

Regarding this matters… In fact, before she leave for this expedition, Alice received an oracle from Evé and the content was the Goddess telling her that there was no need to worry about the enemy summoning their divine guardian.

The Mother Goddess seems to be very interested in this enemy guadian, and she seems to be very certain that she could handle it.

However, Evé also warned her not to interfere too much with the player’s decision and the Mother Goddess also said that she wants to see how far the Chosen Ones will grow, so its better not to talk too much.

Alice thought about revealing this here but ultimately just closed her mouth.

Their matriarch is indeed interested in the envoy.

More precisely, she is interested in the power of the envoy.

How strong is a demigod-level totem guardian?

A being at the demigod level, hence surely they must already have a partial control of their chosen divinity, so these guardians would have a lot of divine power on them, right?

Evé really wants to see it in action…

Maybe she could use her new facade as a newborn life god to fight off against this demigod guardian without revealing her true identity.

However, the players were unaware of this fact.

They just wanted the Orcs to recklessly charge at them just like before and have a good bout with them!

After all, with every head they took meant more experience points and contribution points they could accumulate.

And of course, equipments as well!

After pondering for a moment, Li Mu turned to the builders chief HootyBird and asked,

“How’s the preparation going on at the base camp? Have you completed making the things I’ve asked beforehand?”

HootyBird opened her chat system and communicated with someone for a moment before responding,

“Yes they’re done. My guildmates have already made four.”

Li Mu’s eyes lit up.

“Four? That’s enough. Send them over right now.”

“Since these Orcs don’t have the initiative to attack us anymore then let’s just give them one! It’s time to unveil our secret weapon!”