Game of the World Tree
chapter-397

In the realm of Seigües wherein Deities essentially control everything, warfare is often serves as an extension of conflicts of interest, typically grounded in matters of each God’s respective faith.

The war fought underground was no exception.

When Darkness, the Shadow Dragon representing the God of Darkness and Shadows, was defeated, and Ares, the Plague Lord backing the Dark Alliance, was slain, the war was effectively over.

Nevertheless, Hödur and Hela did not completely sever their ties or engage in a full-scale war since, although Hödur had suffered some setbacks, he still retained the ability to summon new envoy demigods.

Whereas, Hela, who had been secluded in the Netherworld, displayed formidable power, but it was evident that her strength held some significant limitations.

Moreover, the Goddess of Death needed time to absorb the divinity she had received from the Plague Lord through Fenrir, the demonic wolf, and to further develop her control over the Law of Diseases.

As such, given these circumstances, neither side had the confidence to completely crush the other, and both unilaterally decided that continuing the war seemed rather moot and pointless.

Thus, the Dark Alliance and Hermetic Alliance subsequently reached a rather peculiar form of peace treaty.

Of course, it cannot be denied that the Dark Alliance was on the losing end of the war—or more accurately, their Patron Deity, the God of Darkness and Shadows, Hödur.

He lost one of his demigod-class followers, along with the divine artifact—the Book of the Dead, which can control the undead.

And to add insult to injury, Hödur had even witnessed the death of one of his evil god allies, while another demon lord friend of his was also re-sealed by some novice deity.

In short, for the God of Darkness and Shadows, it was a complete defeat.

His believers, the Dark Alliance, also paid a steep price.

Their land army was nearly annihilated, with only the Lich King Peronne barely managing to escape alongside a few remaining troops.

Not only that but to secure a ceasefire, they ultimately had to relinquish their control over the city-state of Shanathar and pay a substantial war reparations to the Hermetic Alliance and their allies, the elven mercenaries.

Additionally, the two sides finally agreed to officially divide their territories, with the Dark Alliance formally recognizing the Hermetic Alliance’s authority over the northern part of the western underground region.

Indeed, formally recognizing it.

Although the Hermetic Alliance had existed for many years, the Dark Alliance had never acknowledged their authority even once beforehand.

This was simply because the Hermetic Alliance was originally a part of the Dark Alliance, and it was only when Fenrir, the demonic wolf, and a small group of worshippers of the Goddess of Death decided to part ways and poached some of the Dark Alliance’s members that the Hermetic Alliance eventually emerged as a separate entity.

Therefore, after their betrayal, the higher-ups of the Dark Alliance did not even dare to openly acknowledge them.

At this stage in the war, not everyone in the Hermetic Alliance wanted to cease fighting; some were even contemplating launching a counterattack operation against the Dark Alliance to expand their territory further.

However, each respective Patron God on both sides simultaneously issued oracles that mandated the cessation of the war.

Some high-ranking members of the Hermetic Alliance were naturally disappointed by this, but they understood that this was not just a simple war of mortals but also a conflict of faith between Gods.

Alas, since the oracles had already been issued, they had no choice but to accept the outcome, despite their inherent regret.

Nevertheless, while the Hermetic members had somehow accepted the decision of their Deities, many players were left dissatisfied with this outcome.

In their minds, although the war had ended, many players are still unsatisfied and felt caught off guard by such an abrupt conclusion of the war.

After all, they had been eagerly anticipating the eventual retaking of the city-state of Shanathar, which, in their minds, could possibly have been an event wherein a massive battle involving tens of thousands of participants would happen!

Just thinking about such a massive event thrilled lots of people!

Hell, some content creators had already planned their next video around this supposed upcoming siege.

Furthermore, the guilds Moe Moe Committee and Heart of Nature had even already begun preparing siege equipment in preparation for this anticipated battle, ensuring they would be ready for the upcoming conflict.

But in the end, the enemy simply surrendered just like that…

To say that the players were left disappointed would be an understatement.

However, with her being allied with the Goddess of Death, Evé was naturally privy to some confidential information not known by the general public.

In truth, Hela wasn’t entirely opposed to continuing the war and expanding her influence in the underground region, but the current timing of events wasn’t the right time for her to completely sever her ties with Hödur.

And although Evé didn’t know the specifics details, it was rather clear that using the artifact, Scythe of Death had cost Hela something…

Hence at the moment, she needed time to recover.

As for Hödur…

Evé didn’t believe that a seasoned Ancient God like him, who had lived through several eras, would sit idly by waiting for his demise.

Surely, despite suffering such considerable losses, he still must have had a few aces up his sleeve.

Both sides were essentially wary of each other that they still hadn’t revealed the full scope of their powers and had their own concerns as well.

Therefore, the war that had raged in the underground for several months came to such an abrupt end.

However, everyone there knew that this wasn’t true peace—just merely a temporary ceasefire for the time being.

This war of faith had fully exposed the conflict between the two opposing Gods of the Netherworld.

One was the nominal ruler of the Netherworld, holding the rightful title and authority that came with it, whereas the other harbored ambitions to replace her and claim that position of power for himself.

True peace could only be achieved if one side was defeated or chose to surrender, as the conflict had escalated to a point where compromise was no longer possible.

However, Hela had already accomplished one of her objectives.

She had solidified her power, intimidated other entities lurking within the underground, and reclaimed the Book of the Death along with the Divinity of Plagues.

It was a resounding victory for the Goddess of Death.

And as Evé was her ally, she also naturally reaped significant rewards. Her own strength had increased, and the players’ combat power and cohesion had further improved.

However, despite gaining such rewards, Evé was still somewhat disappointed because she hadn’t managed to seize any divine artifact from either the Shadow Dragon, Darkness, or the Seventh Demon Lord, Azazel.

But in hindsight, it wasn’t really surprising.

As a shadow creature and a dragon, Darkness had no need for such external tools.

But as for Azazel…

Evé pondered over it and concluded that either this Seventh Demon Lord had left his artifacts in Hell, or he had died so many times at this point that his accumulated possessions were already been plundered by other mythical beings that managed to kill him.

What a truly unfortunate fellow…

And now this poor guy even has fallen into her hands.

Evé silently lit a candle for him within her heart.

The underground war had finally ended.

In the aftermath, news of the battle involving numerous divine beings in the Holy City of Itkazar soon spread across the land of Seigües.

Evidently, the conflict between the two high-ranking gods of the Netherworld had further escalated, with Hela seizing control of the Scythe of Death and using it to kill the Lord of Plauges, Ares.

This revelation shook nearly all the gods, with many mythical beings turning their attention to the Netherworld and the underground.

Even Evé, the new Goddess of Life, drew considerable attention.

But this was actually a good thing.

With this kind of exposure, Evé’s public persona as the Goddess of Life was now being firmly established.

This turn of events even provided her with a reasonable excuse that could explain the players’ identities.

After all, a deity that’s allied with the Goddess of Death and wielding the Scepter of Life would naturally have the power to create some rather strange elves, right?

In any case, Evé felt very satisfied with this outcome.

She distributed the promised rewards for the underground war to the players through the system.

After receiving their rewards, the players dispersed, eager to gain more experience, contributions, and climb the leaderboards—all in pursuit of the coveted advancement promotion slots at last.

Then as time went on, October 1st finally arrived back on Earth.

While this day might just be a normal holiday for most people, for the players, it marked the eagerly awaited release date of the new version update of Elven Kingdom.

— 397 —

【 END OF THE WAR 】

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