Game of the World Tree

It seemed that they had somehow found a way to sense her presence!

It was a revelation that instantly heightened Evé’s vigilance.

An object capable of perceiving the gaze of a true god was clearly no ordinary object.

It was without a doubt a divine artifact.

If the Orcs brought along such an item, then they must be planning something that involves using that necklace.

“Uller was the instigator of this war of faith and his primary goal is to seize my Divinity. “It is definitely not a coincidence that the orcs brought along an item that can sense my existence.”

“Moreover, it’s ominous aura makes me slightly uneasy and will undoubtedly pose a threat to me.”

“What could it be? It’s certain that the Orcs… wants to pinpoint my whereabouts. Could it be that they’ve found a way to confront me head-on?”

“I should be more cautious. After eliminating one of his Demigods, Uller must have realized that I could manifest my Celestial Domain. In this situation, engaging in warfare without even issuing a proper declaration and directly sending his army suggests that he might have other cards up his sleeve.”

“Furthermore… there’s also that matter of half of player’s bodies disappearance. This should be observed further…It might be related to the Orcs’ trump cards.”

“Perhaps… I should seek the counsel of Hela. The Goddess of Death has lived for so long so she should know something about it…”

With these thoughts in mind, Evé immediately took action.

She descended from her divine throne and raised her slender, alabaster arm as a faint radiant light of mana gathered around her hand, which eventually solidified into an exquisite wooden box.

It was the item brought by the dark-dwarves last time, or rather…an artifact that belonged to the Goddess of Death.

It is known as the Casket of the Dead and this artifact had a function similar to the soul-storing orb. However, what sets this casket apart from the Soul Orb is its additional ability to transmit messages over long distances.

With a snap of her fingers, Evé channeled a pale green divine energy that swirled around her fingertips, forming a radiant sphere of light.

Her ethereal and sacred voice then resonated throughout her imaginary temple.

“Hela, Your Majesty, are you aware of any artifact possessed by Uller that could pose a threat to a true god?”

Upon speaking, Evé gently waved her hand, and the radiant sphere on her fingertips entered the Casket of the Dead.

She then carefully stowed the casket and returned to her divine throne.

For a few minutes, she maintained her silence, enveloping the imaginary domain in a solemn atmosphere where the only sole audible sound was the rhythmic tapping of her finger upon the throne’s armrest.

“I must prepare for the worst…” She murmured as the movement of her finger momentarily stopped.

“For this upcoming war, I’ll aim to resolve everything outside the central area of the Elven Forest, and avoid exposing my whereabouts like I did back when I killed Demigod Volker.”

“However… I can use my incarnations to create some diversions.”

With these ideas forming in her mind, Evé began to craft a much clearer plan.

“First, let’s assign some tasks to the players. The Orc army is already here, and the War of Faith is about to begin.”

She shook her head before unleashing some of her divine power.

In the instant that Evé mobilized her divine power, a new system message appeared in the view of the entire playerbase.

【WARNING! 】

【Traces of orcs detected within the territory… The Orcs are attacking!】

【❗ 】

【Chapter ‘02‘ of the main storyline has commenced—】

【Large-scale Questline ‘War of Faith!’ is now active! 】

【Quest Description: In order to obtain a more powerful power, Uller, the God of Winter and Hunting has launched a war of faith against the Elven faction! For the honor of the Elvenkind and the Goddess! O’ Brave Chosen Ones, fight to the death!】

【Quest Objectives: 】

▪️1. Assist the Elven NPCs in defeating the Orc army and achieve victory in the war.

▪️2. Defeat the questline’s main bosses.

▪️3. Protect and safeguard the NPCs belonging in your own faction.

【Quest Time Limit: None】

【Quest Participants: No restrictions】

【Quest Level: No restrictions】

【Quest Rewards: 30,000 experience points, 5,000 contribution points, 30 revival coins, 1 lucky draw ticket, exclusive rare blue-class title “Guardian of Faith”】

【❗ 】

【Warfare Mode Initiated…】

【Zero Moonlight gained a new title: Supreme Commander of the Elven Legion 】

【Aél Moonlight, Black Dragon Meryer, Spider Queen Rose gained new titles: Elven Legion Frontier Commander】

【Alice Galewind gained a new title: Elven Legion Defense Commander 】

“The main storyline is here!”

“Finally the wait is over!”

“Wow… the rewards are incredibly generous!”

“A new exclusive title! We finally get the chance to obtain titles just lile the 1st beta-testers! Man, I used to envy their titles so much…”

A palpable excitement filled the air as players read the system notifications with eager expressions. However, those higher-leveled players and some older, more experienced beta-testers noticed something different this time around.

“…War mode?”

“Commander Titles?”

“Does this mean we have to follow the orders of the NPCs’?”

“It seems likely, but I never expected Zero to be named as the Supreme Commander…”

“Who is this Zero anyway?” a third beta-tester asked in a curious tone.

“Zero’s quite a mysterious NPC you see. We rarely see her but she’s an exceptionally powerful NPC! Previously, she single-handedly tore apart a supposedly legendary Shadow Dragon during the Blackrock City defense in the underground!”

Replied by one of the 1st beta-testers who participated in the said event.

“Holy shit! Is it like that!?”

“It sure is! She’s probably the strongest among the followers of the goddess. Within the game lore, it’s mentioned that she’s a Godwarden of the goddess herself, with a status no less than that of the Nature Saintess, Alice. And the reason she’s so powerful is her ability to borrow the goddess’s power.”

“Do you have a picture of her?”

“Wait….Here you go.”

“Ah, it’s actually a young lady! Okay, that’s great!”

Of course, the Chief Commanding Officer must be a native or possibly even Evé herself!

This war was entirely different from a mere incursion of some mercenaries; it was something that would truly affect Eve’s next course of plan for the future. Therefore, the supreme commander had to be either herself or someone absolutely loyal and faithful to her.

Moreover, after sensing that the Orcs might have been hiding some devious tricks up their sleeves, she became even more concerned about this war.

In addition, managing 10,000 players was vastly different from overseeing a mere 2,000 individuals. Thus, she mostly relegated the commanding positions to NPCs since players held significantly less authority compared to their native counterparts.

Of course, Evé would only serve as the Supreme Commander that oversees the general situation on the macro-level. As for micro-managing the players, she would entrust that discretion to the players themselves or the much bigger and influential guilds.

The emergence of the large-scale event instantly sent ripples across the player community, igniting a wildfire of excitement and expectations.

This upcoming war of faith had been teased countless times in the past, and players had been eagerly anticipating it ever since.

Not only that, but the rewards being offered on this event were said to be the highest ever so far!

And that didn’t even include the benefits of defeating an Orc as it had been mentioned in the summer event rules that killing an Orc would earn players lottery tickets!

Not to mention… with so many Orcs, how much experience could players gain if they somehow killed them all?

This was simply a great opportunity to rapidly advance one’s level!

All the players currently online immediately chose to accept the Quest as only fools would even dare decline to participate in this event.

Furthermore, the appearance of the “War of Faith” questline quickly spread across the forum and various ElvKing-centric game groups…

Most players online called their friends and started summoning those who are still offline.

“Hey! Log in! Log in! The main questline is finally here!”

“Haha, it’s finally time for war! Log in quickly dude!”

“Hey are you there? The server-wide event in ElvKing is about to start! Come on!”

The news spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred…

For a moment, even the players who had just logged out and received the message eagerly rushed back to log in again despite being dead tired just to accept the Quest.

Eve’s whose monitoring the situation perceived that the number of players currently online was skyrocketing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

From five thousand to six thousand, and from six thousand to seven thousand, before finally… the number gradually slowed down after reaching over nine thousand.

Over nine thousand players!

It could be said that nearly 90% of the entire playerbase were currently online.

Moreover, after several days of grinding nonstop and Eve deliberately granting some extra experience points, the vast majority of the players had also managed to advanced into Iron-rank!

And the number of players with intermediate Iron-rank strength had also reached over two thousand.

Meanwhile, the highest-level players had even reached level 30 which is the peak of intermediate Iron-rank.

Overall, the quantity and quality of players had satisfied Evé.

With most players now online, Eve once again employed her divine might to issue a new notification.

【❗ 】

【Godwarden Zero had issued an assembly task, calling on all Chosen Ones to gather beneath the Black Dragon Castle】

【Quest time-limit: one hour】

【Quest reward: 100 contribution points】

“Oh it seems we have to assemble!”

“The rendezvous point is beneath the Black Dragon Castle!”

The players who had logged in were immediately excited.

Nothing rallied them better than a call to assemble.

After Evé issued the task, all players rushed towards the rendezvous point beneath the Black Dragon Castle, either through using the teleportation array or by riding their own familiars and traveling there by foot.

In an instant, the Elven Forest bustled with activity as Players all converged toward the Black Castle like a torrential flood.

As a result, the teleportation array within the castle hall kept flashing nonstop as fully armed elves emerged out from it one after another without end.

Seeing such a spectacle greatly astonished Meryer as players bustled and fool around, playing and making noise amongst their friends or colleagues, which crammed the already not-so-spacious hall to the brim.

Meryer: “…”

“You bunch of loud rascals! Get out of this Lord’s castle!”

After witnessing the loud chaotic scene within the castle hall, the little black dragon let out a roar of exasperation.

Meryer’s outburst made the players became much more obedient, as they gather at the rendezvous point outside the castle in a much restrained and orderly manner.

Soon, a large crowd of elves gathered around the area beneath the black castle.

Each players sat together in groups of three or four, with many individuals also bringing along their own pet familiars.

Thousands of players and their magical beasts gathered together in a cluster, forming an impressive and spectacular scene.

The majority chatted excitedly while eagerly awaiting the next instructions from the commanding NPCs.

Meanwhile, after receiving a direct oracle from Evé, the Saintess Alice, Aél Moonlight, Thranduil, and other native elves, and even the Spider Queen Rose, who had been hiding in Rivendell, also arrived at Black Dragon Castle.

— —