Game of the World Tree

Evé returned to her divine kingdom after reaching an agreement with Platinum Dragon King Reinhardt…

After seating upon her throne, she began to ponder about the covenant she had made with Reinhardt and the potential implications behind his behavior during their meeting.

“…Although Reinhardt is an Ancient Dragon God who upholds justice and goodness, isn’t his attitude towards me a little too good?”

“According to Platinum Dragon King, he only wishes for me to use the Scepter of Life to purify the bloodline of the dragons.”

“But by working along with me and also aiding in restoring the Scepter, it basically means that the purification of the dragon bloodline will be inherently tied to my influence…”

“Logically speaking, a proud race like the dragons wouldn’t allow such a crucial matter like their bloodline’s purification to be controlled by an external entity.”

“If I were placed into a position of being a Dragon God striving to save my race, then I would go to any lengths just to acquire the Scepter of Life and wield its power myself. After all, having power is most dependable when it is held within one’s own hands.”

“So this begs the question… why is Reinhardt doing all this?”

Evé idly tapped the armrest of her throne, as she mulled over the whole situation.

While she had readily agreed to their covenant, it didn’t mean that she could fully trust Reinhardt yet.

There’s no helping it.

Her real identity was just far too sensitive.

If it were to be publicly revealed, then she would likely be targeted and become enemies with countless gods.

Sighing softly, Evé summoned Reinhardt’s fragments of the Scepter of Life.

The shimmering fragments lay within her palm, glowing a soft light whilst radiating vibrant energy of life.

As she gazed at these fragments, a flicker of realization crossed upon her face.

“….It seems as if Reinhardt is sending me a signal, which I think indicates the dragon races overall stance.”

“He is indeed showing some goodwill towards me, but beneath all that, there also seems to be a deeper meaning behind it.”

As the thought struck her, Evé suddenly had an idea.

“Wait…”

“What if Reinhardt already guessed my true identity?”

This idea hit her like a brick, and she, who had been lounging so languishly just now, suddenly sat up straight, her expression turning serious.

“It is indeed a possibility!”

“Otherwise, why would he mention that I resemble an old friend of his?”

“Especially when standing in the Elven Forest, while gazing at the World Tree. It’s clearly obvious whom he was referring to.”

“And then there’s also his last reminder…”

Eve’s expression grew even more somber.

“Now that I think about it, his reminder was more like a hint — a warning that the Pantheon might send people to investigate the Elven Forest soon, urging me to prepare in advance.”

Though it was merely a speculation, by following this line of thought, many of Reinhardt’s confusing actions suddenly now made some sense.

“Was he somehow… investing upon me?”

Evé pondered deeply.

But even as she followed this trail of thought, something still didn’t add up.

“If he has truly realized my real identity, then…how did he figured it out? I’m sure that I’ve covered all my tracks…”

“Could it be that he had somehow read the thoughts of one of my believers?—No, that would’ve alerted me right away…this is my territory, after all.”

With her being unable to make sense of it, Evé reinspected all the measures she had taken to conceal her identity, but still couldn’t find any flaw at all.

In the end, she could only sigh helplessly.

“Haah…I didn’t find any problems with my measures at all.”

“Besides, the mere fact that my predecessor’s throne in the Parthenon is still inactive to this day is the greatest proof that I’ve got in tricking the gods that the world tree has still not revived yet.”

“After all… who would ever suspect that a soul from another world would merge with the World Tree and be reborn as its successor? Something like this has never happened in the entire history of Seigües.”

“Perhaps I should consult Hela regarding this. She was after all close to the former World Tree and being an ancient deity herself, she probably knows more about Reinhardt too.”

With her decision made, Evé planned to discreetly gather some information about Reinhardt from the Goddess of Death.

And even though Reinhardt had shown her his goodwill, it was still prudent to understand the underlying source of this goodwill.

Acting on her thought, she skillfully retrieved the Casket of the Dead and sent Hela a message.

Then after sending a “mail,” Evé refocused her attention on the fragments of the Scepter of Life in her hand.

With a slight smile, she took out the Scepter of Life.

As soon as the Scepter appeared, the fragments held within her hand immediately began to glow even more brightly.

Without Evé even needing to intervene herself, the fragments automatically flew towards the Scepter, whilst emitting an even more dazzling light as they merged along with it.

The broken divine artifact instinctively absorbed the fragments once they were closely reunited, beginning the overall process of self-repair.

At that moment, the Scepter of Life triggered this built-in mechanism on its own.

Seconds later, Reinhardt’s fragments reattached itself to the end of the Scepter, completing a missing section of the artifact.

They fused seamlessly, before forming a new and even larger Scepter.

Unlike before, this Scepter of Life was now two-thirds bigger than its previous form.

It now had a deep green shaft that’s as tall as a person, entwined with vibrant green vines.

Whereas at the top of the Scepter was a cup-like holder, adorned with radiant gemstones that sparkled brilliantly, covered in intricate and beautiful carvings.

This was the almost completed form of the Scepter of Life.

However, it still bore numerous cracks, and the gemstone at the top was slightly damaged.

This was because Reinhardt’s fragments had still not yet fully fused with the scepter’s main body.

If left to merge naturally on its own, Evé estimated that it would probably take a long time before the Scepter fully recovered itself.

But Evé had ways to speed up this process.

Whilst reaching out her hand, she sent a surge of pure divine power towards it, which enveloped the entire Scepter.

“Fuse.”

She murmured softly.

After she spoke, the Scepter in her hand began to glow intensely, and the cracks on its surface started to heal at a much faster rate.

During the entire process, the lifeforce emanating from the Scepter of Life grew ever stronger.

Meanwhile, around the Scepter, several flowers, vines, and green grass sprouted, forming a beautiful pedestal that held the Scepter of Life in place.

“Roughly… half a month should do it.”

Estimating the Scepter’s repair speed, Evé made a mental note before leaving the Scepter of Life in her temple.

She then stood up and finally departed her divine kingdom.

While the restoration would take time, there were other matters demanding her attention.

The first of which was preparing for the arrival of the dragons in half a month.

“Five dragons per month, huh? Looks like… it’s finally time to introduce Dragon Knights among the players.”

Eve’s lips curled into a smile.

Although the dragons in Seigües were quite similar to the giant lizards of Western fantasy rather than anything resembling the eastern dragons in china, there was no shortage of players interested in dragons.

Especially with the arrival of Black Dragon Meryer.

Countless players had tried to either charm or grovel before him, all with the same goal: to tame the little black dragon and possibly become a Dragon Knight.

After all, being a Dragon Knight…

—How cool would that be?

Of course, they all ultimately failed in the end.

The only one whom Meryer allowed to ride him was Little Salty Cat.

And that was only because the young black dragon considered Little Salty Cat a friend rather than forming a proper dragon rider bond with her.

After all, to be a bona-fide dragon rider, one would need to establish a companion pact first.

Alas, since Meryer had already signed a master-servant contract with her, then Little Salty Cat could no longer form that companion bond with the little black dragon.

But that wouldn’t be a problem with those dragons that’s going to arrive soon in the future.

Realizing this, Eve’s mind wandered, and she delved into the game system she had created.

She then used some of her divine power to turn her meeting with Platinum Dragon King, Reinhardt, into a cinematic movie, with the intention of adding it to the game’s opening animation.

Indeed, Evé had no intention of hiding her meeting with Reinhardt. She planned to present the covenant between them as part of the game’s overarching narrative, and use it to build some anticipation for the upcoming dragons.

Of course, any sensitive information would be removed, such as the secrets of the gods or the matters regarding the Pantheon.

For the players, it would suffice to know that Platinum Dragon King visited the Goddess of Life and requested her assistance in purifying the dragon bloodlines in exchange for the Chosen Ones to be able to form a companionship pack with the dragons.

However, after preparing the new cinematic movie, Evé didn’t release it immediately. With there being still some time left before the dragons’ arrival, she planned to release it just a day or two in advance.

Shortly after finishing her preparations, Evé suddenly felt a familiar stirring within her divine soul.

Energized, she immediately returned back to her divine kingdom.

After taking a seat upon her throne, she then took out the Casket of the Dead, which was now glowing with a faint, eerie light.

It was Hela.

The Goddess of Death finally responded.

Eve’s eyes lit up with anticipation.

She swiftly opened the casket and opened Hela’s message.

Soon, Hela’s lazy voice echoed throughout the temple’s grand hall:

“Evé, Your Grace, as you may have suspected, Platinum Dragon King, Reinhardt, did indeed have some connection with your predecessor. In fact, almost every non-evil deity in the universe has interacted with him in some way or another.”

“After all, he is an ancient god with many friends and one of the most powerful dragon deities, second only to the Ancestral Dragon.”

“As for whether you can trust him, I believe you can.”

“I’ve heard that Reinhardt was furious and even condemned them when the gods of the heavens attacked the World Tree.”

“In fact, some rumors suggest that if the Ancestral Dragon hadn’t forbidden him from intervening with the conflict, then Reinhardt might have even joined that war—on the side of the World Tree of course.”

“And since he’s shown you such goodwill, I think he may have already guessed your real identity but simply chose not to expose it.”

“As for how he realized it, I’m not actually sure about that. But I don’t believe it’s due to any flaw in your end.”

“However, I do have a theory. It might be related to an ancient prophecy… but due to certain restrictions, I can’t tell you more about that right now.”

“So, to be safe, I suggest you further reinforce your measures to hide your real identity.”

“Being cautious is always wise.”

“As for the Pantheon, just delay them in some capacity if they send an envoy. As your ally, I’ll shall assist you in maintaining your identity hidden from any outside parties.”

“I hope you ascend to being a Great Old One soon.”

With that, Hela’s message ended, leaving Evé deep in thought.

“…An ancient prophecy?”

Her brows furrowed as she pondered over this new information.

“Why can’t she tell me? Is it perhaps somehow related to me?”

Evé felt a hint of frustration and sighed.

It seemed there was still much she didn’t know.

Although she had inherited the legacy of the World Tree, she had retained very little of her predecessor’s memories, leaving her in the dark about many of the hidden secrets of history and mythos.

Of course, it was also possible that even her predecessor was unaware of this supposed prophecy.

Shaking her head, Evé set aside these thoughts.

“Perhaps… I can find an opportunity to ask the dragons for clues, or maybe even enlist the help of the players to dig up some information regarding it.”

She tapped the armrest of her throne, murmuring to herself.

Although she hadn’t fully figured out whether Reinhardt had truly uncovered her identity, or how he might have done so, his goodwill seemed genuine enough.

This brought her some peace of mind.

“I wonder when this life of living under a disguise will finally end,” she sighed and began to think of more ways to conceal her real identity.

One approach that she thought involved making the alternate space that hides her true body even more secretive, while simultaneously also enhancing the illusion of the fake World Tree with additional divine power, making it even more look convincing as if it’s real.

Day after day passed in the blink of an eye.

Fourteen days after Reinhardt’s departure, the Scepter finally completed its restoration process.

The moment it successfully repaired itself, Eve, although she wasn’t in her divine kingdom at the time, sensed an astonishing surge of life force emanating from it.

Whilst brimming with excitement, she quickly returned to her divine kingdom and quickly made her way to the temple.

By now, the interior of the temple was already completely flooded with potent energy of life.

In the center of the grand hall, the tower-like pedestal that had once supported the Scepter had vanished.

Instead, the Scepter hovered in mid-air, glowing with a soft, ethereal light, like a perfect piece of art, quietly floating.

Upon laying her eyes on it, Evé immediately felt an intimate connection, like the bond between fingers and heart—an indescribable feeling of unity with the Scepter.

This was the highest form of connection between an artifact and a god—a complete alignment of will and intent.

Being a divine artifact crafted from the core of the World Tree, Evé could now fully control the Scepter, having finished its repair.

Overjoyed, Evé gently beckoned her hand, and the Scepter swiftly flew into it.

However, as she grasped it, she noticed something strange.

The scepter’s gem at the top was still missing a small fragment.

Looks like Scepter of Life still wasn’t complete.

At that moment, Eve suddenly felt a mysterious resonance.

It was as if something in the distant west was calling out to her…

— 423 —

【 RESTORATIONOF THE SCEPTER OF LIFE 】

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