Game of the World Tree
chapter-418

Azazel ultimately chose to fight again.

There was no other way.

No matter how aggrieved he felt, it was still better than outright giving up and seeing those long-eared creatures win with their smug, victorious expressions.

Of course, only he knew just how much frustration and bitterness he harbored deep inside.

Time has a way of numbing people.

And the same could be said for demons like him.

After fighting one losing battle after another and being prematurely awakened again and again, Azazel felt like he was slowly becoming an emotionless puppet.

The only small consolation he had was the fact that he still maintained a faint connection with the demonic minions within the labyrinth, and he could use them to outwit and torment the elves, making life miserable for the players who dared enter the dungeon.

Ironically enough, unbeknownst to Azazel, his efforts to disrupt the elves and interfere with their actions only added more challenge and excitement into the labyrinth.

In any case, as time went on, the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth began to function smoothly.

Under the combined pressure of the wave of players wanting to challenge him, as well as the inherent restrictive function of the seal, the seventh demon lord unknowingly became a competent dungeon boss, something Evé was quite satisfied with.

“Not bad…It seems Azazel has adapted well into the labyrinth and fully embraced his role as the dungeon boss. As expected of a demon lord who’s been sealed countless times in the past, his adaptability is really quite impressive.”

Evé slightly nodded in satisfaction.

At first, she had been concerned that Azazel might not be able to handle the relentless wave of players and would just eventually give up.

But reality proved that the players were even more formidable than she had anticipated.

Just like how Azazel’s pride was stronger than she had imagined.

When these two collided, it created a perfect, dynamic chemistry.

And no matter how aggrieved Azazel felt, he couldn’t stop anymore.

With the opening of the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth, players found a new goal, and as a result, more and more Iron-rank players have reached the max level cap.

Of course, there are also some who have secured the chance for a promotion and advanced into Silver-rank.

But those are rare instances.

After all, achieving an “excellent” or higher performance rating proved to be extremely difficult, with numerous factors influencing a player’s ability to consistently meet such high standards.

Many players may put in countless hours of effort, yet still fall short of the benchmark necessary to earn these coveted rewards. Moreover, even for those who do achieve a high rating, receiving the associated rewards is still not guaranteed, adding an additional layer of challenge and uncertainty.

Overall, the number of silver-rank players in the entire server still remained scarce.

This situation aligns perfectly with Eve’s strategic plan.

For she understood that it’s not about merely having a large number of high-level players; but rather, it’s about cultivating the best among them.

Achieving the greatest results with the least amount of divine power expenditure—that was her ultimate goal.

Even those newly promoted players were carefully selected by her after they proved themselves to be truly exceptional through the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth.

They were diligent, decicated, and possessed strong combat instincts.

The creme of the crop, so to speak.

In this regard, the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth has become a paradise for players at the max level of Iron and Silver rank to test their mettle.

However, not all Iron-rank players rushed to challenge the new dungeon.

Most players, upon reaching the maximum level cap of 40, did not believe they could challenge the Labyrinth and secure one of the coveted promotion slots.

At the same time, many also believed that similar rewards might be offered in new hidden quests that were still not uncovered.

Thus, as more Iron-rank players reached the maximum level cap, a significant wave of exploration aimed at venturing into new uncharted maps surged among the playerbase.

After all, it is common knowledge among players that Exploring the new maps holds the highest chance of discovering some hidden quests.

And despite Evé limiting the players’ activities to a 500-kilometer radius, with the exception of the territory of the Hermetic Alliance, not one of the 60,000 players had fully explored the entire map that’s currently available to them.

Well there’s no helping it.

This whole area simply was just too vast—and also three-dimensional at that.

Moreover, the complex and intricate underground land had further expanded the game’s actual map size far beyond anyone’s expectations.

In the past, aside from the few players who had a completionist attitude and felt compelled to explore every corner of the game, the vast majority of players did not devote much of their attention into exploring these uncharted areas, and opted to focus on leveling up instead.

Now, however, a significant number of players have begun to consider exploring these unknown areas.

Hence, for a while, as players ventured further north and west of the Elven Forest, various new data regarding new and never-before-seen magical beasts continued to be added to the monster database.

All in all, the players’ side was steadily progressing, developing at a consistent pace.

Meanwhile, Eve’s native believers were not lagging behind either.

Especially after the war underground, word quickly spread about the Goddess of Life and her provision of shelter and protection for elvenkind, thereby attracting new elves and half-elves one after another to migrate into the Elven Forest.

Upon arriving, most of these half-elves tend to choose to undergo bloodline purification, standing before the goddess’s statue within the Temple of Life to revert themselves into pure-blooded elves.

In addition, the Hermetic Alliance, which formally signed an alliance treaty with the Elves, also sent back a large number of their elven slaves commodities after the war as a gesture of goodwill.

Thus, in just a short amount of time, the native elven population within the Elven Forest more than doubled, reaching nearly 5,000 in numbers.

At the same time, the elves’ strength also been significantly improved.

Saintess Alice, Aél, and the elderly priest Samuel, all of whom were already at Silver-rank, grew even stronger as Eve’s influence further increased.

However, it was not only them but other elves too also advanced in rank after breaking free from their bloodline shackles, allowing their magical powers to gradually recover.

As a result, being at upper Iron-rank had become the new standard for most elves.

Some had even progressed relatively quickly at the same pace as the players and regained their strength to the peak of Iron-rank.

Based on her estimates, it is only a matter of time before an elf with silver strength organically appears amongst the natives.

Nonetheless, despite the players’ influence, the elves’ inherent peaceful nature still remained difficult to change.

Except for the younger elves who had grown close to the players, most older elves remained gentle and kept to themselves.

Because of this, the Chosen Ones, who were becoming more and more active, have overshadowed the native elves within the Elven Forest.

Of course, no one dared to underestimate the native elves’ power—especially the task-focused players…

Overall, Evé felt very satisfied with her faction’s development.

Like a snowball gaining momentum, the Elven Forest is rapidly progressing faster and faster.

As Eve watched Chosen City with contentment, something suddenly caught her attention, swiftly shifting her focus toward Florence in the distance.

Florence.

Once regarded as the holy city of the elves, it had once more came back to life along with the return of its elven native population.

The once-ruined buildings had now been fully restored, and new gardens were blooming one after another where debris had previously stood.

This legendary city, once renowned for its elven architectural charm and natural beauty, had been reborn anew after a thousand years.

Currently, native elves and players alike of all shapes and sizes were busy moving about around the city.

Every elf’s face radiated a look of happiness.

Yet amongst the crowd, a tall, graceful elf strolled leisurely.

With brilliant golden hair that shimmered in the sunlight and sparkling star-like eyes that seemed to hold the very cosmos itself within them, he was without a doubt, strikingly handsome—even by elven standards, rivaling the beauty of the elven royalty, Thranduil.

But the strange thing was that, despite his prominent and dashing appearance, neither the natives nor the players in the vicinity seemed to notice him.

—As if he wasn’t there at all.

As he wandered around while casually observing his surroundings, a hint of nostalgia and emotion showed within his face.

“Florence… It’s been a thousand years since I last set foot in here.”

“I never thought that I would see the day when this once beautiful city would be reborn again.”

After speaking, he then turned his gaze toward the city’s main temple.

His eyes lingered upon the symbol of the Scepter of Life engraved above the temple’s entrance.

A slight smile appeared on his lips as he spoke, his voice filled with curiosity:

“…The Goddess of Life?”

“Who… are you, really?”

— 418 —

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