【 ASCENSION TO HIGHER DIVINE POWER 】

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Realm of Mindel, New Rivendell.

As the most prosperous city in this world and the holy city within the hearts of countless believers, this great metropolis where all races gathered remained as bustling and vibrant as ever.

However, over the course of half a year, some things within this city have subtly changed.

For instance, upon the rooftops of the temples, the original tree-shaped emblem had disappeared, replaced by the radiant symbol of a scepter shining with holy light.

Believers continuously entered and exited the temples, while its inside remained filled with numerous praying believers. Yet the object of worship was no longer the tree-shaped symbol once enshrined there, but instead a holy and beautiful statue of a Goddess.

Moreover, missionary activities that had continued for months were still ongoing in the city plazas, though both the believers listening to the sermons and the preachers themselves had changed time and again. The only thing that remained unchanged was the heavy Codex of Life held in the believers’ hands.

Meanwhile, upon the public bulletin boards, the wanted notices for the blasphemers’ organization had long since disappeared. Even the bounty on Kelez, which had hung there for who knew how many years, had been removed. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In their place appeared passages praising Kelez’s steadfast devotion for which he maintained for over nearly eight hundred years, denunciations condemning the Evil Sealed Entity for deceiving both the Church and its followers, proclamations celebrating the return of the Shadow of Night, Lady Eris, and sermons declaring the restoration and correction of the true faith.

Half a year was enough time for many of such things to happen.

After the evil god born from the corrupted divine artifact had been destroyed by the Goddess of Life, the influence that the Shadow of Night, Eris, had left within the Church became more than sufficient to guide the faith back onto its rightful path.

Of course, the object of worship within this renewed Church was no longer the vague and illusory “Tree of Life that has not yet been revived,” but instead the holy, beautiful, benevolent, and great Goddess of Life, Evé.

In the new canon, The Goddess Evé was described as the successor of the World Tree, the savior and redeemer of all who believes in her.

Waves of prayer echoed throughout the city, adding an even stronger religious atmosphere to New Rivendell, causing its people to unconsciously feel calmness and reverence within their hearts.

At the windowsill of a certain building beside the plaza streets, a furtive figure peeked at the ongoing sermon in the square before retreating back to write on a piece of paper on the table:

“Lady Eris has returned. The Church of the All-Divine Mother has completely renamed itself as the Church of Life, and the mysterious deity known as Evé has fully seized control of the All-Divine Mother’s faith…”

“After three months of investigation, it can now be conclusively confirmed that the foreign false god mentioned in the divine oracle of Lord Leviathan defeated the Mother Tree and seized Its divine authority…”

Yet the moment he finished writing, the room’s door was suddenly flung open.

Under his horrified gaze, a line of Church knights stormed inside.

At the forefront stood the player named Optimist. Dressed in the standard attire of the Church knight, he appeared handsome and imposing, his equipment vastly superior to what he once possessed.

He snatched away the letter from the man’s hand, swept his gaze across it, and sneered.

“As expected, a lackey of Leviathan. Arrest him! Throw him into the Inquisition!”

With a wave of his hand, several knights immediately rushed forward and subdued the terrified figure.

Meanwhile, Optimist tapped the “Submit Task” option within the game system and looked quite satisfied at the reward he had just received.

Glancing at the figure being dragged away under the knights’ escort, he let out a chuckle.

Her Grace the Goddess feared infiltrators like this the least.

Under the radiance of faith, such sneaky figures were as conspicuous as flames burning within the darkness…

At that thought, Optimist could not help but look toward the distant Tree of Life once more.

For some reason, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the current Tree of Life resembled the Goddess’s true form back in Chosen City.

“I really wonder what the Goddess is doing right now… The Elven Forest is already under attack, yet she still refuses to act?”

Thinking about the forum posts he had just read, he shook his head slightly.

Of the original ten players participating in this special hidden questline, half had already been unable to endure it any longer and had chosen to self-PK in order to return home.

In fact, if the quest no longer required someone to continue carrying it out, and if he were not currently so short on money, perhaps he too would have already done the same and would now be fighting on the battlefields in the Elven Forest.

Still, he had already made his preparations. If Mirovia truly fell into danger, then no matter how generous the rewards of this special quest might be, he would commit suicide and return without hesitation.

Even so, he understood clearly that, with or without his presence, the outcome of such a war would likely remain unchanged. His own strength alone was far too insignificant to alter the course of a battlefield where even legendary-rank beings struggled for survival.

And yet, despite knowing all this, he still could not completely cast aside his worries.

Perhaps, without even realizing it himself, he had already begun to regard the Elven Forest as another home of his own.

Suddenly at that very moment, the ground beneath them trembled slightly, like a faint earthquake.

“What’s happening?”

Optimist’s heart tightened.

The trembling lasted for only an instant, so brief that it almost felt like an illusion.

However, upon seeing the wary expressions of the other Church knights, Optimist knew that it had definitely not been his imagination.

The next moment, he suddenly felt warmth spreading across his chest.

Confused, Optimist lowered his head, only to widen his eyes in astonishment.

Upon the chestplate of his Church knight armor, the

scepter emblem in it was emitting a faint glow.

“The holy emblem… is glowing?”

Shock appeared on Optimist’s face, and when he looked toward the other Church knights, he discovered that they too were staring in astonishment at their chests.

Every single holy emblem of the Goddess upon their armors was shining.

“A miracle! This must be a miracle! Her Grace the Goddess has noticed us!”

The knights became overwhelmed with excitement. With loud thuds, they dropped to their knees upon the ground, continuously praying toward the direction of the Tree of Life.

Optimist: “…”

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to hear waves of shocked cries erupting from the plaza below:

“The statue! The holy statue is glowing!”

“The Goddess has heard my prayers!”

“No, She heard mine!”

“Praise be to nature, praise be to life, praise be to the great Goddess of Life!”

Wave after wave of fervent praise rose from the plaza, causing Optimist to instinctively turn his gaze toward it.

He stared in astonishment at the holy statue of the Goddess enshrined in the square, a trace of disbelief flashing across his face.

The statue was glowing…

Even as a player, he had not witnessed such a sight many times.

And in his memory, aside from battlefield summons, such dazzling radiance only appeared at the conclusion of the questlines involving the Dragon of Despair, Nidhogg, and the God of Winter and Hunting, Uller…

Thinking of the speculations made by certain veteran players on the forums who specialized in researching the matters concerning the Goddess, Optimist’s heart suddenly trembled.

“C-Could it be…?”

Excitement welled within him as he abruptly raised his head toward the direction of the Tree of Life.

The colossal tree, which had remained calm ever since the Goddess defeated the evil sealed entity half a year ago, was now radiating a faint glow.

Very soon, the other believers within the plaza also noticed the changes in the Tree of Life.

“Look! The Divine Tree is glowing!”

“Divine favor… could this be the divine favor of Her Grace the Goddess?!”

The believers cried out excitedly.

→⟐←

Throughout the world of Seigües, across every territory governed by the Church of Life.

Within all of its temples, priests currently praying all raised their heads toward the holy statues they worshipped.

Brilliant radiance burst forth from the holy statues, while vigorous life energy continuously rippled outward.

Gazing upon that dazzling light, the priests revealed fervent expressions before immediately kneeling down and offering devout prayers.

→⟐←

On the battlefields of Mirovia and the Maple Moon Free State.

The battle among the Mythical beings still raged on, growing ever more intense.

At that same moment, the defensive barriers upon the ground suddenly erupted with brilliant radiance, their power rising to an entirely new level.

Seeing it, both Aurora and Meryer were briefly stunned, before suddenly realizing something.

Across their separate battlefields, their expressions simultaneously became filled with excitement as they charged once more toward the Abyssal Myths with even greater determination.

→⟐←

The strange phenomena within the Realm of Mindel continued.

As the radiance upon the Tree of Life grew increasingly brighter, even the skies above began displaying various extraordinary celestial phenomena.

Winds surged, clouds churned violently, and the astonished cries of the believers soon transformed into fervent praise.

The next moment, an ancient and sacred aura spread outward from the Tree of Life. All the plants throughout the city began growing wildly, bowing toward the Tree of Life as though in worship.

Specks of golden radiance emerged from all directions, continuously ascending into the air before rapidly flying toward the Tree of Life and merging into it.

The winds howled fiercely as thunder and lightning rumbled across the sky, while the sealing runes surrounding the sun trembled violently, as though desperately suppressing something…

Then came a sharp cracking sound.

Deep within his soul, Optimist felt as though something had shattered.

Immediately afterward, he stared in shock as the Tree of Life upon the hillside began growing at an astonishing speed.

On the other side, within the world inside the mysterious ruins.

The entire world had already completely transformed.

Clouds churned violently, the earth trembled, and surging magical power flowed like raging tides toward the core of the seal…

At the center of the monolith circle, a towering giant tree rose from the ground. It was ten times taller than the Tree of Life outside the ruins, exceeding ten thousand meters in height.

If the players had been present at this moment, they would have immediately recognized that this towering tree was identical to the World Tree surrounding Chosen City.

Brilliant seven-colored radiance continuously danced around the World Tree, revolving endlessly before pouring into it.

The dense magical power filling the entire world began diminishing at an unbelievably exaggerated speed.

—No.

Rather than disappearing, it would be more accurate to say that it was being absorbed by the World Tree.

Holy radiance enveloped the heavens as the gigantic tree, already over ten thousand meters tall, continued growing even further.

At the same time, the roots of the World Tree also spread outward without end…

The massive roots soon pierced into the deepest layers of the origin core of the Mindel Realm, rapidly intertwining with the world’s core itself as they absorbed the power of its origin…

Meanwhile, at the crown of the tree, tender buds sprouted forth, and new leaves continuously unfurled and grew one after another.

Every single leaf now faintly carried mysterious patterns upon its surface. Specks of spatial power continuously revolved around them before gradually merging into the leaves themselves…

→⟐←

Within the divine kingdom of the World Tree, Eve’s divine soul, which had long been slumbering, suddenly opened her eyes.

A vast tide of energy poured inward from the outside world into the Garden of Eden as the entire divine kingdom began expanding even further whilst winds surged and heaven and earth transformed.

The Einherjars, oak guardians, and elemental fairies all knelt within the divine kingdom, continuously offering prayers toward the supreme divine temple.

Soon, Eve’s consciousness finally detached itself from the divine kingdom and returned to her true body.

Her vision abruptly rose higher and higher.

Very quickly, She “saw” the entirety of the ruin world, then transcended beyond it to behold the Realm of Mindel itself…

She saw the Tree of Life, continuously growing under the influence of her awakening. She saw vegetation expanding wildly beneath her power. She saw the devout believers within the cities praying with utmost sincerity…

She saw village after village, mountain after mountain. She saw streams and rivers, lakes and seas…

She saw the entire continent of Mindel, along with the endless oceans surrounding it…

She saw the end of the world itself, along with the planetary barrier at the edge of Mindel, barriers invisible and imperceptible to ordinary beings.

She also saw an enormous sea monster passing through one side of the barrier, only to emerge again from another side of the world…

Then, she saw the origin of Mindel itself. She saw the sealing runes suppressing the entire realm, along with the power of the sealing core gradually being assimilated beneath her divine authority…

Eve’s vision continued to rise.

The next moment, She beheld the endless cosmic void.

She saw a lost region composed of shattered realms and lifeless worlds.

This was the place where the Realm of Mindel resided.

Suddenly, one of the lifeless worlds trembled slightly. A faint radiance flashed around it as massive amounts of void power rapidly gathered toward it and continuously poured inward.

That lifeless world was none other than the external disguise of the Realm of Mindel.

A trace of understanding appeared within Eve’s gaze.

With a single thought from her, the radiance was quickly suppressed beneath layer after layer of dark golden patterns, while the absorption of void power gradually came to a halt…

Replacing it, however, was a golden arch gate that suddenly appeared at the edge of the endless void, into which boundless void power began pouring.

The immense void energy surged into the arch gate before emerging elsewhere, appearing within the ruin world of Mindel and forming a terrifying void storm.

Yet the storm lasted only for a brief instant before being completely devoured by the towering divine tree at the center of the ruins.

Eve’s divine power began soaring even further, while within her vision, the omnipresent powers of law gradually manifested and flowed toward her…

One hundred thousand… one hundred and ten thousand… one hundred and twenty thousand…

Only after Eve’s divine power surpassed the massive threshold of two hundred thousand did it finally begin to slow.

At this moment, the towering World Tree within the ruin world had already exceeded twenty thousand meters in height. Each individual leaf alone covered nearly a thousand square meters.

Every leaf bore obscure patterns upon its surface. Those patterns contained strange and mysterious power, enough to make any mortal being dizzy and disoriented upon merely gazing at them.

Yet Evé knew that they were manifestations of the power of divine laws themselves.

At the same time, she could also sense that within each of her leaves, chaotic internal spaces had formed, varying greatly in size.

The smallest were only a few cubic meters in volume, while the largest had reached several thousand cubic meters.

Within those spaces, surging power endlessly revolved. It was precisely the cosmic void power Evé had devoured.

Feeling the immense vitality within herself, and sensing the powers of law in the surrounding space behaving as obediently as loyal servants, a trace of joy arose within Eve’s heart.

At last, she had truly ascended to Higher Divine Power.

At this moment, she felt as though there was nothing she could not accomplish.

Her consciousness returned fully to her true body. With a thought, Evé extended her roots into the core sealing power within the origin of the Mindel Realm.

The next moment, control over the sealing runes across the entire world was effortlessly seized by Evé.

Meanwhile, within the Wasteland of Desolation, at one of the dimensional passages leading toward the World of Seigües.

The towering Fifth Demon Lord, Leviathan, suddenly changed expression.

“This is bad!”

His face darkened. In the next instant, his figure flashed and vanished from the spot.

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