Game of the World Tree

Chapter 376

The Gods are the supreme beings that rule over the universe.

And normally speaking, they are divided into two distinct camps in which one camp consists of the newer Gods of Faith, while the other consists of the older Ancient Gods.

Though they occasionally clash and some are even longtime enemies, these Gods belong to the same lofty existence that jointly governs the order of the entire universe…

The Pantheon is nominally the supreme council of the gods.

However, where there is good, evil must also exist.

Amongst the gods, there are always some entities who have been corrupted by the Abyss for various reasons or who have chosen to fall from grace.

As a result, their powers become uncontrollable due to the Abyss’ corruption, with their minds becoming too muddled with extreme thoughts or even going completely insane…

Some Fallen Gods even become ‘servants’ of the Abyss, seeking to drag other realms into its depths and bring about the ‘end of the universe’ as their ultimate objective…

These abyssal servants are also collectively referred to by another widely known title—Demonic Gods.

Just like how the Gods of Faith opened up the heavenly realm in order to better unify their power, the Demonic Gods also have their own core realm.

That place lies within the endless abyss, a three-dimensional composite realm composed of the seven most powerful abyssal realms strung together, which is also known by its more popular name—

Hell.

And reigning over Hell are the seven most powerful Demonic Gods, known as the Seven Demon Lords, or the Masters of the Abyss, the Seven Lords of Hell.

Azazel is one among them.

He rules the first layer of Hell and ranks as the seventh Demon Lord, commanding the Divinity of Lust, (Harmony) goat-horned demons, and the elemental fire.

He possessed the strength of a peak intermediate divine power back in his prime.

Azazel is simply a malevolent god who delights himself in leading sentient beings astray.

And ten thousand years ago, this demon lord once waged a war against the gods in order to gain control of the underground land in the realm of Seigües.

Nonetheless, despite using his True Body, Azazel was still eventually defeated by the gods and was sealed somewhere in the underground…

However, even while sealed, this demon lord never gave up.

He always sought ways to escape and has quietly developed his own believers in the underground to help him escape by utilizing the power that inadvertently leaked out from his sealed prison.

This information related to the Demon Lords was discovered by Evé through the inheritance her predecessor left behind.

Additionally, Eve’s predecessor was also one of the gods who participated in sealing Azazel.

Eve pondered about this matter as she recalled the scenes she had witnessed through the eyes of those five players.

“Has Demon Lord Azazel escaped from his sealed prison?”

In hindsight, it’s really not that surprising he could escape from it.

After all, the war of the gods a thousand years ago shattered the provenance of the entire realm of Seigües, and all the seals linked to Seigües provenance must have surely loosened up in some way or another.

One of the important reasons why the gods decided to protect the provenance of Seigües was based on this fact.

With Seigües being the oldest realm in the universe, it naturally becomes the place wherein many terrifying beings are sealed the most.

Therefore, in the off chance that these sealed beings have all been released from their prison, it will undoubtedly be a chaotic scenario of apocalyptic proportions.

Alas, even as the gods have been busy repairing Seigües’ provenance all this time, the seals binding these terrifying beings have inevitably weakened throughout the years.

And add in the fact that Evé’s appearance inadvertently caused the mana within Seigües to surge once more, which offered these sealed beings opportunities to gather their strength and devise ways to escape their confinement.

This was one of the reasons why the surface land of Seigües have become so lively lately, overwhelming various orthodox churches, but also providing Evé with plenty of opportunities to fish in troubled waters.

“So…the Dark Lord Hödur is colluding with the seventh demon lord of Hell?”

Hela once told her about the ambiguous relationship between the God of Darkness and some evil gods, so Evé wasn’t all that surprised when she discovered their connection.

At most, what she hadn’t expected was for Hödur to stoop so low as to actually collude with a Demon Lord.

It can’t be stressed enough that the Gods absolutely loathe the existence of these Demon Lords. So for one to actually collude with one of the strongest Demon Lords sealed underground is tantamount to the ultimate act of betrayal.

“I see. No wonder Boxlunch’s team could secretly record that Demigod Shadow Dragon from behind without the latter noticing them. It turned out that Dragon was actually deliberately ignoring and leading them all along right from the start so that those five players would eventually follow it to that volcanic lake…” Evé speculated as she analyzed the behavior shown by the Shadow Dragon.

“Is it perhaps leading those five players directly to Azazel to inform him of my existence? Have they already figured out that I’m operating behind the players and are planning to take action against me?”

Evé mused as she pondered and anticipated what the Dark Lord’s next move might be.

After the creation of her public persona as the Goddess of Life, Evé was determined to spread it all across the land in preparation for her eventual formal public appearance.

By now, most of the dark dwarves living in Blackrock City were aware of this matter, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the information about her leaked to the Dark Alliance, which would then certainly be reported to their Patron Deity, Hödur.

Although the situation progressed faster than she initially expected, it was still within the margins of her calculations.

“I don’t know if the Dark Lord either considers me as a new god supported by Hela, or as an incarnation of the Goddess of Death herself but regardless of his assumptions, I knew for a fact that he’s trying to recruit Azazel, since that shadow dragon envoy of his are purposely leading the players to that Demon Lord.”

“And the target…is probably me, right? It seems that the Dark Lord is determined to win this war underground.”

Obviously, some of the player’s characteristics must have been known to the Dark Lord, such as… the player’s ability to resurrect and the fact that the elves are her subordinates, different from ordinary beings.

In fact, Azazel’s mental intrusion into the player’s mind had already revealed certain things to Evé.

Her divinity of Life and Nature had been definitively exposed, along with Eve’s divine soul aura and even her game system network, which was nearly exposed.

Of course, for the latter, Evé believed that the other party would more likely regard it as a God’s network of faith, thereby firmly establishing the player’s false identity as her believers.

As for the aura of her divine soul…

She always been different from her predecessor.

However, although much had been exposed to her enemies, Evé wasn’t too worried, as she had already anticipated that it would be revealed sooner or later, even since the first day she summoned the players to Seigües.

This time, she planned to make her public debut being the Goddess of Life and had long prepared to reveal some of her trump cards.

As long as any of the crucial matters like the player’s true identity and her own real entity were not exposed, Evé was certain that she would remain relatively safe.

Moreover, while Azazel was busy trying to gain information from the player’s mind, she attempted to trick him back by merely displaying a weak divine power aura.

It was an intentional move by Evé and something she had planned for a long time.

It was always advantageous to demonstrate weakness and hide one’s true strength.

While Azazel was probing her, she also incidentally figured out the other party’s scope of strength—

Most likely, the current Seventh Demon Lord does not even possess weak divine power.

It was somewhat understandable, as Azazel had just revived, so attaining this power was already good enough, and it couldn’t be higher, otherwise he wouldn’t have been expelled by Eve while within the players minds immediately.

This discovery also made Eve’s mind raced with thoughts.

“Hmm—”

“I wonder how much power can this recently awakened Seventh Demon Lord could provide me?”

“I need to find a way to lure him over and then devour him!”

“Ah, this must also be a scheme of Hödur’s…to make me confront Azazel, causing both of us to suffer losses during our fight, while he swoops in at the end to reap all the benefits.”

“However, he wouldn’t have expected that facing these Demon Lords is exactly what I’ve been expecting all along.”

“Well, before that, let’s consult Hela first. The Dark Lord may have been recruiting not only Azazel but also some other evil gods. As Hödur’s old rival, Hela should know which other evil gods he’s been involved with.”

“It’s better to be fully prepared and see if I can get something extra from Hela by reporting this matter to her. After all, dealing with Azazel is also technically helping her!”

With that in mind, Evé decisively took out the Casket of the Dead and used some of her divine powers to send another message to the Goddess of Death while also including the new intelligence she had gathered along with her questions.

— 376 —

【FIND A WAY TO DEVOUR HIM! 】

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