Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 362 - 345: War in the Underworld

In the Divine Country of the World Tree,

Eve sat on her divine throne, pondering the recent interaction and agreement with Hela, deep in thought,

"I had anticipated that with the increase in magic power, the tranquility of various regions across the Segis World would inevitably be shattered, yet I didn’t expect the first conflict to arise from the Underworld..."

Indeed, the Underworld had erupted into conflict.

This time, Hela used the divine possession to contact her, not for any other reason, but precisely for the third clause of the True God Oath concluded by the two true gods in the beginning—

"Eve must assist Hela’s followers in opposing the forces of the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, in the Segis World..."

Come to think of it... this matter was actually related to Eve.

In the chaotic Underworld, various forces were intertwined. Although war, conquest, decline, and collapse formed a similar cycle among the dark region’s civilizations, over the millennia, they maintained a delicate balance.

Yet, starting last year, the magic power throughout the Segis Plane suddenly began to rise, naturally affecting the Underworld as well.

The resurgence of magic power led to a significant increase in the strength of demon beasts and monsters in the dark territory, and the power dynamics among the various races also changed significantly. Those races that had high potential but were limited by low magic power now produced a new batch of powerful individuals...

The change in power brought a change in mindset and an increase in desire, ambition began to swell among the nations, naturally... war began.

Of course, war was originally the norm in the dark region, but with the increase in magic power, everyone’s strength covertly grew stronger, and the intensity of war and its destructive power on the Underworld naturally increased as well.

However... if it were merely the rivalries between the various civilizations of the underground, it would be one thing, but when the power of true gods became involved, everything became different.

The first to respond was the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder. This ancient existence, who was also a Netherworld true god, was originally the most powerful true god in the underground forces.

After the further increase of magic power in the Segis World, the forces that worshipped her in the Underworld began to stir, and war between them and the city-states of the underground dwarves and underground gnomes, sheltered by Hela, became inevitable.

Currently, some of the underground city-states had already caught fire, resulting in many casualties...

Obviously, Holder intended to force Hela’s forces out of the Segis Plane.

The only thing that could be considered positive was that the true gods of both sides had not yet torn each other apart and initiated a divine war by sending their divine envoys.

Of course, if it indeed reached that point, it would mean a total breakup between the Netherworld true gods, and a divine war would be unavoidable... Moreover, considering the location of the divine countries of the two true gods, the final outcome might be the fall of a true god, or even worse, the breaking of the Netherworld wouldn’t be impossible.

So... although the believers had already engaged in real conflict, and the battling city-states were practically at each other’s throats, the atmosphere in the Netherworld was quite delicate.

In the end... it was because neither Hela nor Holder was ready to completely break ties yet.

Furthermore, they were not purely true gods of faith; their followers were merely an embellishment. Although the struggle over the Segis Plane caught their attention, it was not enough to make them risk everything to start a real divine war.

However... the crux of the problem lay precisely in this.

The Death God Hela’s arrangement in the Underworld started much later than that of the God of Darkness and Shadow Holder.

If it indeed turned into a divine war and the Death God Hela, with her Heroic Spirit Army, might even be able to defeat the other side, but relying entirely on the forces of the Underworld to fight, it was clear that... Hela was not a match for the other side.

The most critical reason was that Hela’s forces in the Underworld had too few in population, with weak mid to low-end strength.

And at this time, Hela naturally thought of Eve’s Chosen One Army.

After the battle of Black Rock City, along with the more widely known battle between the half-beasts and players in the Underworld, the Death God Hela, who closely followed these events, naturally took notice of the players’ combat strength.

These otherworldly visitors, although weak in overall power, were fearless, tremendously strong at the same level, and more importantly, they were very united, easily deployed, and could be used repeatedly...

For secular warfare, such beings were practically born as cannon fodder...

Uh, no, they were born as an army.

Therefore, Hela intended to borrow troops from Eve.

It’s worth mentioning that in the Segis Universe, there was a great disparity in power between ordinary and extraordinary beings, and between those of different extraordinary levels.

The weakest Level 1 mage apprentice, at most, could make a thumb-sized fireball, but a Level 100 Magic Master at Gold Upper Peak could unleash a meteor strike capable of dealing deadly blows to an unfortified small city...

Not to mention those who broke through the mundane class, advancing beyond legendary status, such existences could casually cast forbidden spells of kilometer magnitude, and demigods could easily destroy a forest or a mountain range...

As for true gods...

If they fought without regard to consequences, they could completely destroy a plane.

However, despite the vast disparity in power among the extraordinary, when forces with not much difference in high-end power clashed, armies composed of mid to low-end professionals or even ordinary people were still important.

This was because, while the powerful were inherently strong, they were also destined to be few in numbers. And in the Segis Universe, due to the proliferation of divine artifacts, some weaker beings, equipped with certain powerful artifacts, might still overcome stronger opponents.

Therefore, every strong individual, when facing an army composed of weaker beings in a deeply rooted force, still had the potential to be defeated if careless.

Moreover, if the backing forces of both sides in the conflict had true gods, caution was even more necessary.

Generally, in wars among large forces in the Segis World, a certain consensus had vaguely formed, soldiers fought soldiers, generals met generals, armies were naturally pitted against armies, and the strong would face the strong.

Of course, if one side had no strong individuals, then naturally, don’t fight, surrender instead.

As for any side with only strong individuals but lacking in mid to low-end strength...

Um, then it was almost impossible to initiate a fight.

Because in the Segis World, there was no force comprised solely of the strong, even if such existed, their needs had long diverged from ordinary forces, making conflicts almost impossible to arise.

In summary... the showdown between the Death God Hela and the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, in the Underworld had begun, and they both hoped to eradicate the opposing forces in the dark territory completely.

And to achieve ultimate victory while minimizing the already small number of her followers’ casualties, Hela naturally focused on Eve’s Chosen One Army.

To this, Eve naturally agreed.

This was partly because there was already a True God Oath between the two, and on the other hand, both the players and she herself could gain benefits from war rituals.

Of course, aside from this, there was also a point that, in the end, Hela mentioned that the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, was close to some evil gods, and it was very likely there were evil gods within the opposing forces.

And regarding this, Eve was naturally full of interest.

"Alright, it’s time to design a new large-scale task for the players, perhaps it could even become an instance. Hopefully, they will like it and it can bring me surprises as well."

Sitting high on her divine throne, Eve already formed a clear plan for what was to come.