Game of the World Tree-Chapter 688

【 SELF-DESTRUCTION 】

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Evé had never believed that relying solely on her divine incarnation would be sufficient to annihilate a resurrected ancient evil god, especially now, when the power of her incarnate body had been severely depleted after wielding the Sword of Damocles twice.

For that reason, from the very moment she stepped into the Titan ruins, she had already prepared herself for the worst possible outcome.

She knew that the Titan King Anos was deliberately stalling for time. However, she was doing the same. While engaging him in conversation, she was also quietly waiting for the Gate of Reversal to finish charging.

Once the charging process was complete, this divine artifact, whose capabilities could be likened to a “door of arbitrary passage,” finally revealed its true function at that very moment.

After the Gate of Reversal was activated, she immediately opened a passage linking the Titan ruins to the alternate space where her true body resided within the Elven Forest, thereby granting Evé the opportunity to project the power of her true body across vast distance.

Massive branches extended without end, spreading beneath Eve’s incarnation and gently lifting her upward. They carried her aloft, granting her a commanding vantage point from which she could look down upon Anos, who watched the unfolding scene with a grave and wary expression.

Vast amounts of divine power flowed along the branches of the World Tree and poured directly into her incarnate body, elevating Eve’s strength to the absolute peak that her incarnation was capable of exerting.

Yet the most crucial moment was the instant the World Tree’s branches appeared. At the same time, a golden green radiance descended upon the Titan ruins, tearing apart the Evil God Anos’s dark-purple veil domain with overwhelming force.

Under the influence of this mysterious power, flowers began to bloom across the ruined ground as countless blades of grass and winding vines burst forth from the earth, while saplings shot upward and rapidly grew into a dense forest that soon submerged the entire terrain beneath a verdant landscape.

This was the Celestial Domain of Nature and Life, a dual domain formed through the fusion of Eve’s two primary divinities.

Once Eve’s domain manifested, Anos’s still unstable Domain of Vengeance, which he was manifesting through Sehemmet’s body, was naturally unable to contend with it. The two domains collided only briefly before the latter easily collapsed.

Yet, even as his celestial domain was destroyed and the situation abruptly reversed, King Anos did not fly into a rage. Instead, his gaze grew deep and heavy as he turned his attention toward the arch gate behind Evé.

“The Gate of Reversal… so it was you who have obtained that artifact. It seems you, too, have been to that place.”

As he spoke, he let out a sudden soft laugh.

“Heh. Is this your solution? It seems that, in the end, you have also found your own answer.”

Staring at the arch gate behind Evé, a trace of melancholy flashed through Anos’s eyes. Then, shifting his attention to Eve’s incarnate body, his voice took on a tone tinged with both regret and pity.

“Yggdrasill… we are all nothing more than pitiful beings abandoned by the ‘world’…”

“You, I, Urinos, and even the current ruler of humanity. We are all the same…”

Without waiting for Evé to respond, he released a long, drawn-out sigh. In that instant, the Titan’s entire body erupted in a purplish crimson radiance, with blazing flames surging around him as uncontrollable, terrifying energy gathered within his form and fissures spread across the body of King Anos.

He’s self-destructing!

Eve’s expression tightened and she immediately raised the Sword of Damocles once more and struck toward Anos’s body while shouting, “Seal!”

A brilliant arc of sword light blazed forth, severing Anos’s control over his own body. Golden radiance coalesced into a cage, binding and imprisoning the Titan as tightly as possible.

Yet, despite her swift action, it was ultimately too late.

Within the dazzling light, Anos revealed an expression that was both mocking and strangely relieved. In the very next instant, his body collapsed entirely, and a surge of terrifying divine power erupted outward, triggering a cataclysmic explosion that shook the ruins to their foundations.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Titan ruins began to tremble violently. Cracks tore through the very fabric of space itself even showing faint signs of spreading toward the world of Seigües. 𐍂ΑƝỌВËS̩

Eve’s expression changed slightly. She hurriedly drew forth even more branches of the World Tree into the Titan ruins and wrapped them tightly around the golden cage, which was on the verge of collapse under the explosion.

At the same time, her divine power surged to its full capacity. Her instincts awakened to their fullest as she unleashed her innate ability, [Absorption].

As Evé began to absorb, the uncontrolled power produced by Anos’s self-destruction seemed as though it had found an outlet, surging violently toward her.

For a moment, Evé felt an intense, scorching, restless, and sinister force pour into her body.

This was corrupted, fallen divine power, dense with malice and madness.

Black marks began to creep across her divine incarnation, the unmistakable signs of corruption taking root within her.

Even so, Evé did not panic.

Her expression grew solemn as she drew forth even more branches of the World Tree, which by now had completely filled every corner of the ruins. On one hand, she fortified her divinities and protected her soul from being corrupted. On the other, she continued to forcibly draw the fallen divine power into her true body, carefully channeling it despite its chaotic nature.

She had no choice but to do so.

If she did not forcibly absorb the corrupted divine power, Anos’s true body would fully explode. At that point, not only would the Titan ruins, located in extradimensional space, be utterly destroyed, but the world of Seigües would also be affected.

In the worst case, the entire Maple Leaf Territory, where the Titan ruins lay, could be obliterated, with the nearby Elven Forest suffering devastating damage as well.

This was something Evé could never allow.

Drawing upon every ounce of her strength, Evé absorbed the fallen divine power as it poured into her body with relentless speed. While being purified by the true body of the World Tree, the corrupted energy also began to merge rapidly with the rest of her divine power.

However, even though her true body could cleanse the corruption, the restless divine power refused to be easily subdued, especially under such forced absorption.

Eve’s divine power surged at an astonishing rate, while within the World Tree itself, increasing signs of strain and damage became evident as the rampant energy coursed through its branches.

Pain stabbed through her from every direction, causing Evé to knit her brows slightly. Nonetheless, she could no longer afford to concern herself with such matters.

A mythical being self-destructing unleashed a terrifying force, and it was irreversible.

If the uncontrollable divine power could not be absorbed in time, it would not only inflict catastrophic damage on the surrounding environment, but the dissipated divine power would also be lost forever.

And Eve’s original purpose had always been to increase her divine power.

Massive quantities of divine energy flooded into her body, overwhelming her senses. Eve’s divine power surged like a rocket, climbing at an astonishing rate as it quickly broke through twenty-five thousand points and continued its relentless ascent.

Twenty-six thousand…

Twenty-seven thousand…

Only when her divine power surpassed twenty-nine thousand points did the rate of increase finally begin to slow down.

At this moment, Evé had also nearly reached her limit.

She cast a brief glance at the remaining fallen divine energy that had yet to be fully absorbed, reflecting that Anos had truly accumulated an astonishing reserve of power. After a brief hesitation, she steeled herself and guided the remaining energy into her divine incarnation.

Only when the divine power within her incarnation teetered on the edge of its current limit did the chaotic energy unleashed by Anos’s self-destruction finally dissipate completely.

By then, the Titan ruins were thoroughly devastated, riddled with cracks and fissures, teetering on the brink of total collapse, liable to crumble at any moment under the lingering shockwaves of the Titan King’s annihilation.

As for the source of the explosion, King Anos had already been reduced entirely to ashes.

Even his divine soul had completely dispersed.

“Pitiful beings abandoned by the world…”

Evé murmured, lost in thought, recalling the Titan King’s last words.

She sensed the abundant yet chaotic divine power coursing through her, along with the numerous wounds, both large and small, within the branches of the World Tree. Her gaze then fell upon her divine incarnation, which had once again begun to show signs of contamination after forcibly absorbing such vast amounts of fallen divine power.

After that, she shook her head slightly and departed from the Titan ruins.

Once Evé left, the massive palace trembled faintly before collapsing completely.

This alternate space, which had once sealed the Titan Princess Sehemmet, thus became a thing of the past.

→⟐←

Outside Augsburg City.

Staring up at the colossal flying object hovering in the sky, surrounded by a swarm of densely packed flying magical beasts, King Otto of the Red Maple Kingdom wore a dark expression.

“So this is the aerial fortress from the reports.”

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the enormous flying contraption.

Then his expression suddenly turned ferocious.

“Hmph. Do you really think I am nothing without that mythical being behind me?!”

With those words, he spread his arms wide as his eyes quickly turned blood red. He began to chant an incantation, his voice rising and falling in a rhythm that resonated with latent power.

As his chanting intensified, the sky above the battlefield suddenly darkened, as though a shadow had been cast over it.

Countless bats appeared in the air, gathering together before transforming into grotesque gargoyles.

This was a spell of a legendary-rank vampire, the forbidden spell, [Gargoyle Legion.]

Its effect was to summon one hundred gargoyles, each possessing strength equivalent to the Gold-rank, with a duration of two hours.

As Otto completed the spell, the sky became filled with the presence of these monstrous beings. The gargoyles flapped their enormous black wings in unison, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust, letting out terrifying howls and piercing screeches as they surged forward toward the elves’ aerial forces.

Thus, the battle in the skies erupted almost instantly.

After performing the spell, Otto’s face turned slightly pale. He steadied the magical power within his body, then turned and issued an order amid the awed and fearful gazes of the soldiers surrounding him.

“Pass the order. Awaken the war behemoths and have them bring that aerial ‘fortress’ down for me.”

The war behemoths were the primary source that had allowed the Red Maple Kingdom’s army to overcome the Empire’s punitive forces. There were fifty of these colossal creatures in total, each possessing power ranging from the upper Silver-rank to the lower Gold-rank, making them formidable opponents on any battlefield.

Titan blood flowed through their veins, granting them immense physical strength and resilience far beyond ordinary beasts.

Their power was terrifying, their hides thick and resilient, and among peers of the same rank they were nearly invincible.

Had Otto not, from the very beginning, planned to assault Augsburg City indirectly—opting instead to sacrifice civilians as a means to summon the evil Titan God—he would have deployed these massive creatures immediately, unleashing their full destructive potential from the outset.

Likewise, although the siege had already lasted nearly half a day, in truth the Red Maple Kingdom’s army had lost little more than some archers.

Their core forces had yet to be significantly depleted.

Even so, despite his armies remaining largely intact, Otto’s mood grew increasingly oppressive and irritable as time went on.

He did not know how the clash between the two mythical beings would ultimately resolve. He did not know when the Goddess of Life, who clearly held the upper hand, would return to the battlefield.

More importantly, he could not ascertain whether that elven deity had discovered anything during the brief moment she had controlled his body earlier.

This uncertainty gnawed at him, and he deeply resented the feeling of having his fate slipping beyond his own control.

With a sharp command from King Otto, monstrous roars erupted from the ranks of the Red Maple Kingdom’s army.

The soldiers parted obediently, revealing dozens of enormous war behemoths stepping forward.

They flexed their thick, fur-covered arms, then drew massive spears over ten meters long from behind their backs and hurled them with incredible force toward the colossal flying object above.

In an instant, dozens of massive spears tore through the sky like missiles, trailing pale cyan skill light as they streaked forward.

Yet just as they neared the aerial fortress, the airship emitted a faint radiance, and a pale golden barrier materialized around it. The giant spears struck the barrier, sending ripples across its surface, but they could not pierce it further.

The spears continued to spin until the cyan light upon them gradually faded. Then, with a slight tremor, they turned to ash beneath the golden glow of the defensive barrier.

However, the power of the war behemoths seemed to possess a peculiar property. As their massive spears dissipated, the barrier surrounding the airship began to be enveloped by a layer of purplish-black energy.

The entire barrier wavered violently for a couple of moments before collapsing entirely.

Seeing this, Otto let out a cold snort.

The war behemoths that had just hurled their massive spears raised new weapons once more. Yet just as they were about to launch their attack again, a sudden tremor ran through their bodies.

One by one, their faces contorted in pain and anguish as purplish-black mist suddenly rose from their bodies, and each beasts began to collapse, one after another.

Under the bewildered gazes of the surrounding soldiers, and within the stunned sight of King Otto of the Red Maple Kingdom, dozens of war behemoths struggled briefly before turning into ashes one after another.

At the same time, those soldiers who had pledged their faith to the God of Dusk and Twilight all collectively felt a strange sensation. It was as though an invisible shackle had quietly vanished from their hearts.

Yet this feeling did not bring relief. Instead, it filled them with a faint but unmistakable dread..

“T-This… this is bad!”

Otto’s expression changed abruptly.

He suddenly turned his head toward the direction where the two mythical beings had been chasing each other moments before, shock surfacing in his eyes.

“Fallen? He… he has actually fallen?”

Otto murmured in disbelief.

“Your Majesty. Your Majesty! The elves in Augsburg City have launched a counterattack!”

Karl, the tall, gaunt noble, cried out anxiously, his tone urgent as he tried to draw Otto’s attention back to the battlefield.

Snapping back to his senses, Otto was immediately met with the sound of waves of cheering and battle cries echoing from the direction of Augsburg City. The city gates had been thrown wide open, and a tide of elves riding magical beasts poured forth.

At the same time, an unfamiliar aura belonging to a legendary-rank being descended from the direction of Augsburg City.

Behind the elves, an enormous crypt spider, dozens of meters tall, emerged into view.

The elves advanced with remarkable speed and precision. Mounted atop their magical beasts, they reached the battlefield within moments, clashing head-on with the vanguard of the Red Maple army.

Meanwhile, dazzling light suddenly flashed among the elven aerial forces as dozens of individuals felt their auras surge to Gold-rank.

Divine radiance shimmered around them, clearly marking that they had received the favor of the Goddess and had entered the Godwarden-state!

In an instant, the gargoyle legion was suppressed by the elven forces, and its casualties began to mount sharply, falling one after another under the relentless assault.

At the same time, the remaining elven units rode their flying magical beasts, pressing their attack on the Red Maple Kingdom’s army below. Flaming bundles were hurled down repeatedly, igniting violent explosions across the ground and sending debris flying in every direction.

Thunderous roars echoed from the sky, emanating from the heavy mana ore cannons mounted on the elven airship, each shot striking with devastating force.

The entire battlefield descended into chaos.

With the war behemoths gone and their faith shattered, the morale of the Red Maple Kingdom’s army plummeted to rock bottom.

Coupled with the elven counteroffensive, the outcome was undeniable—this battle was already lost for the Red Maple Kingdom.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! It is collapsing. Our army’s formation has collapsed!”

Karl cried out in terror.

“I know!”

Otto shouted angrily as he looked at the troops below the hillside, now in disarray under the constant bombardment and relentless charges of the elves.

He glanced up at the sky, then toward the distant horizon. A growing sense of unease gnawed at him, tightening his chest with every passing moment.

Then, without sparing the surrounding Red Maple army a single glance, his figure suddenly dissipated, transforming into a swirling mass of shadow that streaked toward the distance, vanishing from sight in an instant.

Only Karl, the tall, gaunt noble, remained behind. He looked around in confusion, his face pale and filled with shock.

“Y-Your Majesty?”

“Where have you gone Your Majesty?!”

→⟐←

A formless shadow darted across the ground, flickering and shifting with unnerving speed as it left the battlefield far behind.

Only after covering several kilometers did the figure begin to slow down, before gradually coalescing into a tangible form.

It was King Otto of the Red Maple Kingdom.

However, just as he had fully returned to his corporeal body, a sudden, ethereal female voice sounded from behind him.

“Is it really acceptable to abandon your followers like this?”

At the sound of that voice, every hair on Otto’s body stood on end.

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