Game of the World Tree
chapter-322

A golden light rose from the black dragon’s body, gently purifying the sludge that ensnared it. Each glimmer shimmered vividly, illuminating the murky surroundings, whilst an aura of pure sanctity and grandeur graced the underground ruins, as if nature itself paid homage to its presence.

As the aura of the black dragon shifted before his very eyes and the unmistakable aura of a true god pressed down upon him, the dragon-shaped phantasm involuntarily let out a startled cry, as he exclaimed,

“Divine Descent? How is this possible?!”

This dragon-shaped phantasm was none other than Nidhogg, the Ancient Dragon of Despair hiding somewhere within Maple Leaf Territory.

At that moment, this mythical being that had survived since ancient times widened his illusory eyes with his face etched with disbelief.

It turned out that the mastermind orchestrating this whole ordeal behind the scenes was actually a true god!

Furthermore, this deity actually used a black dragon as a medium to perform a Divine Descent!

T-This… how is this possible?

Based on his meticulous observations beforehand, Nidhogg was almost certain that he had deduced the entity behind those weird “elves.”

He assumed it was most likely Hela, the Goddess of Death, who was still trapped in the Netherworld!

Although Nidhogg didn’t know why the other party was targeting him, he gained confidence to take action after guessing the mastermind’s identity.

Because Hela, in her current condition, is still unable to harness her full power and can only wield her strength to a limited extent.

But even so, Nidhogg didn’t dare to rashly intervene in person upon her obviously set trap and instead cleverly teleported his target, the juvenile black dragon, back via special means…

However, what surprised him was that his initial assumptions were actually wrong, and the mastermind wasn’t Hela, but rather a strange deity he didn’t know about!

Not only that, but this deity could actually use a dragon as a medium to directly perform a Divine Descent, which was shocking, to say the least!

This revelation was even more confusing to Nidhogg than knowing he was facing a true god.

Being the oldest surviving black dragon in existence, he intimately understood the innate characteristics of his own kind.

To say that dragons in general is a very prideful beings would be an understatement.

As such, there would be hardly any dragon out there that would willingly worship a True God, and even those who have been subjugated and forcefully converted to follow a certain faith would, at best, only be superficial or shallow believers…

If any dragons really did convert to certain faith, then they were most typically be of the metallic breed, such as Silver or Gold dragons.

Therefore, using a dragon as a medium to perform a Divine Descent was almost unheard of in history since their kind usually doesn’t have much faith, and one needs to be, at the very least, a devout or fanatical believer in order to become a medium.

So far, the few instances he knew of in the past are when some Ancient Dragon Deities temporarily borrowed their descendants’ bodies to perform a Divine Descent.

Moreover, it is absolutely impossible for him and his descendants, the black dragons, who are notoriously known for their unruly nature, to bow their heads to someone, rendering the idea of using their kind as a medium for a Divine Descent truly unprecedented.

Therefore, in that instant, as Nidhogg observed the juvenile black dragon glowed with divine power, his surprise was so intense that he felt like his illusory eyeballs might pop out of their sockets.

What’s going on with this young black dragon?

It’s…actually a believer of another deity!

What’s more, its faith was clearly not just superficial, since it allowed another deity to perform a divine descent upon their own body!

What about your pride?

What about your race’s dignity?

Did this young fool of a descendant even forget that it belonged to the prestigious bloodline of black dragons?!

For a moment, Nidhogg couldn’t tell if he was astonished or angry.

At the same time, a sense of vigilance also arose within his heart.

He had recently just fought against the will projection of the Eternal Lord, so his current condition was still quite weakened, barely maintaining a low level of divine power.

If he were to engage in a battle against a True God performing a Divine Descent at this moment, Nidhogg fears that despite winning in the end, the injuries he’ll sustained during the fight would further exacerbate his already worsened condition.

Not to mention, the other party also using the black dragon’s body as a medium for Divine Descent and could potentially destroy the young dragon’s body at any given time during their fight, thus ruining his plans!

For a moment, Nidhogg’s face contorted, his illusory features twisting in a display of intense displeasure.

Evé felt a surge of delight washed over her as she looked directly at the huge dragon-shaped phantasm in front of her.

After consoling Meryer and addressing some of his confusion, this little black dragon’s faith in her deepened further, evolving from a mere superficial believer to a devout one…

Dragons possessed a very strong souls and body, so even as a devout believer, Meryer’s faith allowed her to perform a Divine Descent into his very being.

Therefore, after piecing together Nidhogg’s true intentions, she plotted her next move.

That was to use Meryer as bait to attract Nidhogg and then perform a Divine Descent, seizing the Ancient Dragon in a single decisive strike!

Whether Nidhogg actually saw through her trap or not, Evé didn’t care much…

Because she knew the other party would never give up such a good opportunity to seize a body for himself and would definitely make a move against Meryer.

So, regardless of the method Nidhogg chooses to employ, the only thing she needed to do in response was to simply silently observed and protect Meryer.

And right at that instance when the black dragon was suddenly teleported out of the battlefield, Evé was already in control, acting as if she were the black dragon.

In fact, right from the moment the Meryer entered the battlefield, Evé had already performed a Divine Descent into his body and was merely pretending, deliberately portraying herself as struggling to deal with the mercenaries to bait Nidhogg into making a move.

And sure enough…the opponent really did make a move, and even directly transported ‘Meryer’ back to its location!

Hook line and sinker!

Whilst looking at the dragon-shaped phantasm in front of her, ‘Meryer’ spoke softly:

“It’s over.”

After uttering those words, a potent surge of divine energy, brimming with the essence of life, burst forth from the black dragon’s form…

Feeling the divine power potent with vitality and sensing a very familiar aura from it, the pupils of the dragon-shaped phantasm slightly contracted.

Looking at the young black dragon being controlled by a true god in front of him, Nidhogg couldn’t help but exclaimed:

“I-It’s you! Yggdrasill! You’re still alive!”

After saying that, he sneered again:

“So it’s actually you who’ve been scheming behind the scenes all along! Hmph! Do you think you can deal with me like this with just a mere Divine Descen—”

However, Nidhogg couldn’t finish his words as the purple eyes of ‘Meryer’ calmly looked at him and began radiating a brilliance akin to countless stars swirling within them.

“Imprisonment”

‘Meryer’ spoke gently, whilst still using that sweet and ethereal female voice.

Then, a skull-shaped necklace was spat out from the black dragon’s mouth, as the object floated into the air and rapidly absorbed the divine power imbued with life that ‘Meryer’ released.

“The Withering Heart!”

Seeing that rather infamous artifact, Nidhogg was left utterly horrified.

“How do you have this artifact in you!? I remember the Withering Heart should’ve been in Uller’s hands!”

Upon seeing the other party produce this artifact, the dragon-shaped phantasm didn’t hesitate and quickly used some of his divine power to cast teleportation magic to flee.

However, Eve’s action was much faster.

With the Withering Heart already been “charged” by her, Evé immediately activated it at this moment as a crimson beam erupted from the artifact, striking Nidhogg directly while he faded into an increasingly ethereal state during the process of his escape.

In an instant, Nidhogg’s teleportation was interrupted, and the crimson beam penetrated his soul, eventually forming a skull-shaped mark above his illusory head.

Seconds later, the aura surrounding Nidhogg visibly diminished at a rapid pace.

His once formidable strength rapidly declined from low divine power to Demigod, then from Demigod to Legendary-rank, and from Legendary-rank to golden-rank…

Eventually, it plateaued around Silver-rank, before gradually coming to a halt.

This… is the terrifying sealing ability of the Withering Heart!

Devoid of any physical form, Nidhogg’s defenses against the Withering Heart was practically nonexistent, leaving him vulnerable to a greater extent.

‘Meryer’s’ mouth curled up in satisfaction, giving the black dragon somewhat of a feminine charm despite its imposing appearance.

“You lost.”

Nidhogg’s expression twisted into one of horror as he sensed the gradual decline of power from within his body.

But as he caught sight of the mocking smirk on the other party’s face, his expression swiftly morphed into seething rage.

“Yggdrasill! Don’t ever think that you’ve already won!”

With those words, Nidhogg abandoned any notion of escaping and charged towards the black dragon without hesitation.

His illusory form then transformed completely into a black light as he pierced into Meryer’s body.

Yet, as Nidhogg entered Meryer’s body, Evé suddenly sensed something stirring from deep within the black dragon’s body, as if something slumbering had been awakened.

— 322 —

【 YOU LOST 】

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