Game of the World Tree
chapter-196

▪️STILL LIKE ANTS

“Just a single palm blocked it?”

“Damn! Where did this cheat-like NPC came from?”

“Huh? She seems like that new NPC that Little Salty Cat and the others had mentioned. I remember seeing her in the video they uploaded yesterday!”

“Is she really that powerful?”

“Is that phantom figure standing behind her the goddess?”

Seeing the sudden appearance of the strange and unfamiliar NPC, the players were startled and started discussing curiously about Zero’s identity.

“It’s Divine Possession! She’s currently being possessed by a deity! It’s more likely that your Patron God is controlling her body right now, and she’s only borrowing the power of a true god at the moment.””

The High Priestess briefly explained, after listening to the chatter of the elves around her.

After she had spoken, the High Priestess’ eyes then gradually brightened.

“Perhaps…there’s still hope for us.”

That NPC borrowed the power of a true god?

The players were briefly stunned but soon realized that their initial assumptions weren’t proven right and that it actually wasn’t the incarnation of the goddess that Zero had summoned!

Nevertheless, borrowing the power of the goddess still counts as divine intervention, right?

It’s just that, this time, they once again didn’t get to witness the goddess’s physical manifestation, leaving many players feeling somewhat disappointed.

They thought they would personally see the gorgeous appearance of the goddess once more!

Heck, they even started recording…just to only see this?

Of course, Evé intentionally didn’t directly elevate the current avatar that’s she’s using into the demigod level and transform it into a real demigod incarnation.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Head Priestess, Zero’s current appearance was merely that of someone whose only being possessed by a deity.

But in fact, this is a new method she has devised by studying the dungeon core and combining the things she had learned along with Hela’s previous approach to doing a divine descent. This newfound technique of hers enables Evé to conserve divine power with utmost efficiency while still wielding the strength of a demigod.

Previously when she fought with demigod Volker, she had directly borrowed power from her main body in order to elevate her avatar to demigod level.

However, maintaining an avatar at the demigod-level consumes far too much divine power.

But now it is different.

Evé has discovered a clever and ingenious way to utilize her divine powers efficiently. Technically her avatar is still at the lower-tier Gold-ranked strength. However, similar to Hela’s method of divine possession, she allows her current avatar to directly draw forth divine power from her true self when using abilities.

This way, it reduced the dissipation of divine power and lowered the consumption rate since now, she actually didn’t need to perform a divine descent anymore just to use spells at the demigod-level…

It was a rather clever approach of using divine powers.

Amidst the gaze of all the people within the vicinity, her avatar Zero raised her hand once again in mid-air, and the phantasm behind likewise imitated the same gesture. A dazzling light then began to intensely glow with Zero at the center as it illuminated the void that encompassed the whole Deep-Rift Cavern.

The brilliance was so intense that it basked their entire surroundings with a golden sacred glow. This radiant light even momentarily blinded the shadow creatures, resulting in a truly awe-inspiring spectacle…

At this moment, the Godwarden Zero seemed to had transformed into a scorching sun that chased the darkness away!

For the shadow creatures, such illumination spell was like poison and the divine holy light created by Evé is the best weapon to deal with them!

In an instant, numerous fear-filled animalistic cries echoed all throughout the vicinity, as every shadow monsters began to tremble uncontrollably. Moreover, a swirl of black mist also began to dissipate with each and everyone of them, as their breathing grew more frantic and erratic…

The weakest among them even burst apart and died on the spot!

With Zero’s appearance on the battlefield, the entire shadow legion was plunged into panic and chaos.

It’s the Light of Faith!

This is the power of a true god!

All the followers of Death was initially shocked as they witnessed such an unbelievable sight before each of them erupted into cheers.

Seeing the sudden reversal of their situation, the Dwarven High Priestess likewise was just as ecstatic like everyone else while endless speculation began to form within her mind.

This Light of Faith… seemed to possess such a rich and potent vitality!

Most likely, the existence behind the elves…is probably a true god associated with either nature or life!

Oh Dear Goddess, Your Majesty…have you teamed up with a Deity that’s somehow related to divinity of life?

The High Priestess’ expression became somewhat enlightened with each of her assumptions.

Meanwhile, the players’ eyes lit up one after another after witnessing the shadow creatures being immobilized.

“Look guys, the monsters have been weakened!”

“What an opportunity! Quick, Let’s finish them all off!”

“Haha! Nothing tastes better like quick and easy experience points!”

In an instant, all the players excitedly rushed out towards the battlefield and began attacking the incapacitated shadow creatures.

No—or perhaps, it couldn’t be called a battle anymore…

Due to the suppression of the Light of Faith, most of the shadow creatures had lost their ability to fight back and even their defensive capabilities have also been significantly weakened as well.

Now, players can just as easily defeat them, as if they’re merely ripe melons and vegetables fresh for the pickings.

Some overly enthusiastic players even jumped off the city walls and recklessly engaged in a wanton slaughter with the shadow army outside the city’s perimeter.

Seeing such a one-sided massacre, left the dark-dwarves rather dumbfounded.

The Death’s High Priestess likewise was also slightly taken aback.

Were these elves actually… so fanatical?

Is it possible that their Patron God’s Light of Faith have also ignited such an immense fighting spirit from each and every one of them?

However… now that the power of a true god has appeared, what’s the point of them still fighting those shadow creatures?

Wouldn’t it be more efficient if they just let their Patron God eradicate all these monsters in one go?

Why are they still so enthusiastic about killing monsters?

Moreover… that Shadow Dragon in the distance is still there!

The High Priestess heart tightened as she quickly looked towards the distance…

And as if to validate the High Priestess apprehensions, soon, a world-shaking roar of fury echoed once again all throughout the entire Deep-Rift Cavern…

The Shadow Dragon was enraged.

As a being that was almost a demigod, even if it had lost its rationality, the Shadow Dragon still had its inherent pride.

The golden Light of Faith might be able to suppress ordinary shadow creatures, but it doesn’t have an affect to the Shadow Dragon.

On the contrary, it even triggered its ferocity.

And the dragon’s breath, which was deflected before, had made the shadow dragon even more agitated.

The Shadow Dragon let out a roar, raising its head high, as a chilling and chaotic aura suddenly started to emanate from its entire body.

With the Shadow Dragon at the center, the vegetation around it rapidly decayed as it turned pitch black, shrouding the surrounding area in a layer of smoke, and the ground even gradually took on a grayish-black hue.

The shadow creatures near the Dragon instantly broke free from the deterrence of the Light of Faith, as the Shadow Dragon rapidly and gradually grew out its scales and tails as if it has mutated right there on the spot!

“Shadow Domain! That Dragon has unleashed its Shadow Domain!”

The High Priestess exclaimed.

The True Gods have their Celestial Domains.

The Demigods have their Demigod Domains.

And legendary powerhouses also possess their own Legendary Domains!

The Shadow Dragon’s own Domain allows it to corrupt the surrounding area to create a dense miasma to enhance its own defense and attacks.

The smoke on its body suddenly churned, and then the Dragon’s terrifying giant mouth opened once again.

Accompanied by a terrifying fluctuations, a sphere of black energy continuously formed and grew in size in front of the Dragon’s mouth.

The black energy sphere then just like a blackhole rapidly began to absorb the black miasma lingering within the air, as it form a dense energy ball that’s emitting an eerie, evil, and tumultuous aura…

Even from a distance, the dark dwarves and players could feel the spine-chilling aura as they looked towards the rapidly growing energy ball.

“What is that dragon now doing? Is it gonna shoot out a Bijuudama!?” ¹

“Come to think of it, that black sphere does look a bit like that…”

But unlike the carefree players, the High Priestess eyes widened in horror as she recalled a certain legends she had read from ancient scriptures…

In an instant, her face lost its color.

“No! It’s going to use a forbidden spell! That Shadow Dragon’s is going to use its unique forbidden spell—the Shadow Sphere! The magic kingdom of humanity perished due to this spell hundreds of years ago! Even the Eternal Pope, who performed a Divine Possession, suffered the same demise due to this spell!”

As she said this, she looked frantically towards the female elf hovering in mid-air, with her expression becoming more and more anxious.

Divine Possession in the end was still just a Divine Possession…

Besides being able to unleash the power of a demigod, it would not actually grant true demigod status upon the one who was being possessed.

And this forbidden spell was way beyond what a mere Divine Possession wielder could contend against!

However, the High Priestess soon found herself speechless.

Because that female elf in mid-air suddenly took action!

The divine phantasm behind Zero flickered slightly, and the female elf disappeared instantly.

In the next moment, Zero instantly reappeared directly right in front of the Shadow Dragon and manipulated her divine power to transfigured it into a giant palm.

She then instantly smacked the black energy sphere back towards the Shadow Dragon’s open mouth at the exact moment the Dragon’s was about to shoot it!

Then, the giant illusionary palm acted as an unbreakable barrier, as it forcefully grabbed the Dragon’s mouth and shut it tight!

With a thunderous roar, the energy sphere then exploded right inside the Shadow Dragon’s mouth!

A gray light burst forth, blinding everyone for a moment, followed by a chaotic energy storm…

The intense storm spread with the Shadow Dragon at its center, knocking over everything it touched, and the surrounding shadow creatures were also sent flying, creating a large crater around where the Shadow Dragon stood.

Even Blackrock City in the distance was overturned by the shockwave created by the energy storm, leaving a scene of devastation upon its wake…

Meanwhile, those few unfortunate reckless players who had ventured out earlier from Blackrock City were even affected.

They were also blown upwards by the shockwaves, flailing haplessly in the air for a moment before crashing to the ground with tragic screams, before being killed as they get revived back to the World Tree…

“Damn!”

“Damn!!”

The players who barely dodged the disaster were stunned when they witnessed such a catastrophic scene.

At this moment, they finally realized how terrifying the Shadow Dragon’s power was…

In the face of such an existence, they felt nothing more than just a group of ants!

However, what shocked them even more was that the newly joined NPC had managed to block such a terrifying and powerful spell!

Not only that, but she seemed to have even used the Shadow Dragon’s own skill against it, causing harm in itself in return!

Incredible…this new NPC is so powerful!

“W-Whoa… Who knew that borrowing power from a goddess could be this strong?”

“I wonder if we’ll ever reach this level in the future…”

“That’s so epic… I suddenly feel that the goddess is much more powerful than I imagined…”

“Well after all, she is a True God…”

The players were all left speechless…

This was the first time they had witnessed the power of a forbidden spell, even though it was an incomplete version!

Even though they had encountered the divine avatar of Uller and the demigod Volker before, they never really got to personally see their true strength on action.

But this time, the Shadow Sphere had truly frightened them.

Ignorance is a bliss…

Now, the players finally realized just how terrifying the skill they had teased as a “Bijuudama” actually was…

Even just its shockwaves caused Blackrock City to go through a disaster akin to a storm!

However, even so, this skill was easily blocked by the NPC named Zero wielding the power of a goddess!

This realization made the players who often interacted with the goddess and were not particularly respectful or fearful of legendary, demigod, and even True God-level beings suddenly develop a genuine reverence.

At the same time, those who had been feeling smug about their level advancement have also calmed down considerably…

Compared to true powerhouses…

They were still just a bunch of ants!

¹ Tailed Beast Ball/Bijuudama – Is a technique used in the anime Naruto.