Game of the World Tree
chapter-04

▪️The Orc Hunting Squad

Deep within the forest of elves, a hunting squad consisting of Orc mercenaries was carefully making their way through the lush vegetation.

“Hurry up, you useless lot! If we let the targets escape, then we won’t get any share this month!” The Orc captain named Rock, cursed fiercely while holding a wolf-toothed club made of beast bones.

He kicked one of his subordinates’ buttocks, turned back forward, and the vicious expression on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a smiling one as he looked towards the towering World Tree in the distance. However, due to his sharp teeth and crude face, such gesture made him appear more particularly hideous.

“Hehehe, the priest was right. As long as we stay near the World Tree, then we’ll definitely catch this group of foolish long-eared creatures!”

Thinking about the potential rewards that could come from this hunt, Rock’s anticipation grew even stronger.

Ever since the war of the gods a thousand years ago where the nature goddess, mother of the elves fell and the World Tree withered and decayed, the elven race had lost the protection of their patron god, causing their overall strength to drastically plummet.

As the most beautiful, elegant, and long-lived race on Saigües, the elves had become a hot commodity for slave traders for a thousand years.

Even a young female elf could sell for a fortune in the human kingdoms.

Even adult male elves were in high demand in the high-end slave markets!

And the Orcish tribes living on the edge of the elven forest had become rich and prosperous just by capturing and selling these elves to the humans.

Rock was no exception. He had already captured over ten elves, and even among the Orc captains, he was considered wealthy in the entire tribe.

“After finishing this job, I’ll finally propose to Bilo and then buy a property in the Chaos City, completely bidding farewell to this savage mercenary life,” Rock thought happily in his mind.

“Boss…I’ve found the targets. There are two of them in total! One of them is female, an absolute top-grade specimen!”

Suddenly, the excited voice of a scout came from the front.

Rock’s spirit was immediately lifted, and he immediately drew his wolf tooth club:

“You fools! Draw your weapons! Let’s surround them quickly, be careful not to expose ourselves, and anyone who causes trouble will get his balls smashed to bits!”

…

Alice and her older companion left the Natural Temple in silence.

The elven girl turned back to look at the withered giant tree with her eyes getting teary once again.

This was their last time coming to worship…

Every time, she hoped to awaken their mother goddess, but every time, she was always disappointed.

Now, even as the last holy woman of their religion, she had to admit that the Elven Goddess had probably truly fallen…

With the Divine Mother’s fall, the Royal Elven Family had became extinct while the Elf Kingdom had long since shattered with the various tribes scattered and fled, the once brilliant silver civilization becoming a mere thing of the past…

Under the threat of the hunting slavers, all surviving members of the Elves could only hide to evade pursuit.

The future of the elves no longer held any hope.

Thinking of those bastards who saw the tribe as mere commodities, ruthlessly hunting and abusing them, Alice almost ground her teeth to pieces.

However, she also felt deeply powerless.

Without the protection of their patron deity, the elves lost their once powerful strength long ago.

“I wonder how many of our people will be left in a hundred years…”

The blond girl whispered in defeat.

The old priest Samuel, remained silent.

One hundred years…

Will there really be a hundred years for us in the future?

The elven race… doesn’t even have a unified community anymore.

Even if they were to regain their power now, without the protection of their goddess and without a sufficient population, it would still be difficult to restore their former glory.

The two walked in silence, feeling heavy-hearted.

Suddenly, Samuel’s expression changed slightly, and his two pointed ears involuntarily twitched in alarm.

He stood up straight, reached out and bent a tree branch, and sniffed it lightly, then his face changed drastically.

“Oh no! There are Orc Mercs here!”

Before he finished speaking, the surrounding grass rustled with the sound of excited howls, and more than a dozen grotesque and boorish huge figures emerged from their ambush, completely surrounding the two of them like a packed of wild hyenas.

They had fallen into a trap!

Seeing the sudden appearance of the Orcs, the two elves’ faces changed dramatically, and they immediately stood back to back, pulling out their own staffs and weapons.

A dozen or so Beastmen greedily looked at the elf girl with their sinister eyes, causing Alice’s body to tremble.

Seeing that familiar mercenary attire, an endless amount of anger surged out of the heart of the young girl…

They had encountered an Orc hunting team!

Samuel, the old priest, had a rigid expression. He gritted his teeth and shouted, “I’ll hold them off, you escape instead!”

After speaking, he then let out a loud roar and began to chant a rhythmic spell. He transformed into a black bear that was four meters tall!

This was his druid skill, allowing him to transform into another natural creature temporarily and gain 70% of their strength.

The bear he transformed into was a powerful third-tier monster unique to the elven forest, with the strength of low-iron!

Feeling the pressure from the bear, the Orcish mercenaries stirred slightly, and their expressions became serious.

However, before Samuel, in bear form, could even attack, a large wolf-toothed club suddenly flew towards him and violently struck his chest.

With a fracturing sound of bones, the bear let out a painful howl, spewing a mouthful of blood. Then, his body crashed onto the ground and once again transforming back into the appearance of an elderly elf.

At this moment, the old priest was already in a bloody mess, unconscious and lying in a pool of his own blood…

Just one blow, and their strongest force had been disabled just like this.

“Hehehe, so weak.”

The Orcs cheered and slowly made way as a towering figure, standing at three meters tall and resembling a mountain of flesh, approached. It was their leader, Rock.

The Orc Captain picked up the wolf tooth club from the ground, licked the blood from the bone spikes, and his eyes were full of mockery.

Alice looked at him in disbelief, her voice trembling, “High…High-Iron Rank…”

High-Iron Rank meant that the opponent’s level had reached at least level 31, and being able to defeat Samuel with just one move, it was likely that the leader had reached the peak of the Iron Rank!

For a moment, she felt infinite despair in her heart.

She turned and looked at the withered World Tree, her eyes filled with sadness. “Mother Goddess…is this your punishment for us?”

“Ghehehe…Goddess? That old tree of yours was burned down by the gods a thousands of years ago.”

Rock sneered at the distant giant tree, making a spitting gesture full of disdain before licking his lips and shooking his head.

He was very satisfied with his one strike just now. Only a few days ago, he had finally been promoted to level 40, reaching the peak of the Iron Rank with only one level away from the Silver Rank.

“By the might of the Hunter God! After finishing this job, I will have enough resources to promote myself to the Silver Rank and become the strongest among the Orcs! “

Rock thought to himself, feeling extremely pleased.

He then looked Alice up and down with a hint of amazement flickering in his eyes as his face couldn’t hide his surprise:

“Sure enough, it’s really good looking slave! Now we’re in business boys!”

After speaking, he leered at the girl and threatened, “You’d better stay put, or you’ll suffer even more…otherwise, Ghehehe…”

“Ghehehehehe…”

The surrounding Orcs also chuckled in agreement.

Alice’s eyes were filled with anger, and she took a deep breath, straightened her body, and rebuked angrily, “Foul Orcs, I would rather die than let you succeed!”

After speaking, she then drew her wand, preparing to fight to the death.

However, before she could even take action, Rock’s figure flashed slightly, and with a “pop,” her weapon was easily knocked away.

“Hah, so weak…and you still call yourself a silver race?”

The Beastmen’s voice was full of mockery.

Silver race…

Hearing this infamous word, Alice’s heart was even more sad.

In the distant past, when the elves were still under the protection of their patron god, every adult elf had at least the strength of silver.

And a race that the majority reaches silver-rank at adulthood are celebrated as silver race.

Back then, how brilliant was the civilization of the elves? Legends and demigods were everywhere within their ranks…

But now, even an iron upper-class professional is difficult to produce…

Not only that, but they are also bullied by the Orcs who are notoriously called Iron races!

Alice clenched her fists, her heart filled with grief and indignation.

“Ghehehe, at this point, do you still think you have any other choices?” Rock sneered.

Alice looked at him with hatred in her heart, feeling entirely helpless.

Thinking about her people who were destroyed and killed in plunder and slaughter and also thinking about the tragic fate of her compatriots who were sold into slavery, Alice’s heart became increasingly cold and desperate…

Gradually, she calmed down.

The elven girl closed her eyes and began to silently chant…

One restrained magical wave after another spread out from the golden-haired elf as the center.

Rock’s expression immediately changed:

“Oh no, she’s going to self-destruct her magical core and seeking death. Stop her quickly idiots!”

After hearing the leader’s words, the orcs immediately became restless.

Rock was even more angry in his heart.

He wasn’t worried that the self-destructing source of a mere iron-rank would hurt him, but he didn’t want the treasure he had just obtained to be gone just like this.

Living elves were living treasures, and dead ones were just useless corpses!

Alice pursed her lips, and at this moment, old distant memories once again resurfaced in her mind…

It was the time when she and her mother were still living happily together two hundred years ago…

It was a scene where their tribe was still here, and everyone was praying devoutly to the Mother Goddess…

It was the scene where her mother passed away, and she was selected as the last saint of their faith…

A lone crystal clear teardrop rolled down her cheeks, and Alice recited the last sacrificial spell, instantly detonating her own power with faith!

Radiant light burst forth from the girl like a golden sun.

Rock’s facial features contorted and he shouted, “S-Stop her quic—”

But before he could even finish his order, the scene before him made him swallow his words. A subtle wave passed, and the girl’s dying light flickered before wilting like a popped balloon. In the blink of an eye, everything returned to calmness.

It was as if nothing had happened.

The atmosphere became somewhat eerie for a moment.

Rock looked at the bewildered elf girl strangely and swallowed the heart that had almost jumped into his throat.

Then he chuckled, “Useless trash who can’t even self-destruct!”

Alice stared at her hands in a daze, muttering to herself constantly:

“Why didn’t it work…”

“I didn’t mispronounce the spell… W-What just happened…”

“Mother Goddess…Am I unable to control even my own life…? “

Watching the elf girl become stupefied, Rock breathed a sigh of relief, then ordered his men, “Bind her! Be careful not to hurt her!”

However, his subordinates did not act.

Rock frowned and asked, “What are you all doing?”

The the rest of the Orcs didn’t move, but instead looked at their captain in horror, backing away involuntarily as they did so.

A burly looking Orc looked dazedly at Rock’s back, swallowed hard, and then trembled as he pointed out his index finger with his voice trembling,

“Boss… behind…behind you…”

Behind him?

Panshi’s eyebrows furrowed.

A cool breeze, accompanied by the scent of earth, blew from behind him, and a huge shadow looms over everyone.

Rock’s heart skipped a beat, and a hint of unease spread through his chest.

As he muttered to himself, Rock finally turned around cautiously…

His expression instantly froze.

Behind him,

A thirty-meter-tall treant stood there with a frigid gaze.

Its sturdy body blocked the sky and sun, and the immense pressure it emitted made the air freezing cold as if heralding their demise…

Looking at the huge terrifying figure, the Orc captain’s pupils contracted in disbelief.

His eyes almost popped out, as he opened his mouth incredulously with his voice dry and shell shocked,

“O-Oak…Oak Tree Guardian!?”

“How is this possible?!”

Beserker’s cold gaze swept over every Orcs with his voice icy and devoid of any emotion.

“Speak foul one, what did you just say just now?”