【 PREPARATIONS BEFORE ADVANCEMENT 】

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Leviathan’s plan was well conceived.

If Evé had truly been nothing more than an elf who attained godhood through normal means, then she might indeed have acted as he had anticipated.

Unfortunately, his initial assumption was mistaken.

Imprisoning her—the real World Tree—into the world of Mindel was, in a sense, no different from presenting Evé with a generous gift.

With a faint smile, Evé gently waved her hand, and green vines delivered the Trident of the Sea God into her grasp.

This divine artifact was even heavier than the Sword of Damocles and the moment she held it, Evé seemed to hear the roar of the ocean winds and the reverent prayers of countless beings.

Sensing the immense power contained within the trident, she nodded inwardly.

If she could fully unleash the power of this divine artifact, then her strength would be greatly enhanced in any place with vast oceans, including the expansive seas of the Seigües Realm.

A flash of light passed through her hand, and the trident gradually vanished before sending it into her divine kingdom.

To fully control the trident, certain conditions needed to be met.

For one, the trident was an exclusive divine artifact of the Sea God and without the Divinity of the Seas in her control, it was, in Evé’s hands, merely a powerful artifact capable of influencing maritime weather and controlling certain marine creatures.

Yet now that she had arrived in this world and uncovered Leviathan’s scheme, a bold idea began to form in her mind.

Since Leviathan intended to use her to form a conflict between two opposing sides, while positioning himself as a hidden third party to reap the benefits from the chaos, she resolves to turn his scheme against him.

As for the corruption within the trident, Evé decided that, once the Crusade had ended, she would seek out the Dwarven God of Forging and ask whether he could repair it.

In any case, as long as the trident did not develop self-awareness, its corruption posed no significant threat to her.

What remained next was to take control of the Tree of Life and the construct of the seal within this world, to prepare for her upcoming advancement to a higher divine power.

Gazing into the mist-shrouded space of the Tree of Life’s Mental World, Evé found herself alone.

She slowly spread her arms, and her divine soul immediately resonated with the Tree of Life.

In the next instant, her soul power surged forth as she began to merge with it.

She intended to take control of the Tree of Life and transform it into one of her incarnations.

Golden light erupted from the Tree of Life.

Gradually, the withered form that had shrunk after its failed ascension was once again filled with vitality.

Moments later, Evé’s perspective shifted.

She withdrew from the misty space and returned to the Mindel Realm.

Her viewpoint continued to rise, eventually becoming nearly identical to that of her true form.

However, within her perception, this perspective split into two distinct yet interconnected views.

One view stood upon a hillside, overlooking a magnificent city below. The other hovered high amidst swirling mist, gazing down upon a vast ruin formation.

Both were the perspectives of the Tree of Life.

The former belonged to the Mindel Realm.

The latter belonged to the world of ruins.

When the Tree of Life had begun its ascension, it had taken root within the very core origin of the Mindel Plane, becoming a bridge between that space and the origin world.

This was the reason for such a peculiar phenomenon.

It could be seen from the Mindel World.

It could also be seen from the world of ruins.

Evé did not sever this connection.

On the contrary, it was beneficial for her to utilize the sealing power of the Mindel World in her advancement.

Although the seal confining the Trident of the Sea God had been broken, that was far from the only seal within the Mindel World.

The origin ruin world itself was another layer of sealing, and beyond Mindel there still existed a seal that concealed the entire world’s aura.

These two seals would serve as Evé’s true support in her silent advancement to higher divine power.

Evé could sense that when she advanced, these two seals, which had endured for an unknown span of time, would inevitably shatter. The Mindel Realm, whose true level was inferior to that of the Seigües World, would likely begin to collapse.

But that was sufficient.

As long as she concealed the peak fluctuations of her divine power during the moment of her advancement, and inscribed her mark within the Mindel’s core origin in time, Evé would become the sole master of this world.

And once she became its true master, she would have the means to mitigate the damage inflicted upon it during her ascension.

At that moment, Leviathan would be drawn by the surge of energy, and it would be time to settle all accounts with him.

The radiance gradually faded from the Tree of Life.

At last, Evé fully gained control over this incarnation derived from the World Tree.

And at the very moment she took command of the Tree of Life, she finally connected to the faith network once stolen by the former Tree of Life, the collective faith of the entire land-based inhabitants of Mindel.

However, in Evé’s perception, the faith of the Tree of Life was currently in a state of disorder.

With a brief examination, she quickly understood what had occurred.

The object of worship for the Church of the All-Divine Mother had been the false World Tree. But the moment the sealed entity was destroyed by Evé, their believers naturally sensed the change.

However, Evé reclaimed control over the faith network so swiftly that before the followers could fully comprehend what had happened, the network had already returned to its normal operation.

Thus, the entire network did not collapse, but merely fell into temporary turmoil.

Even so, it was foreseeable that the upper ranks of the Church had likely descended into confusion.

This was because, at the moment the “Tree of Life” fell, its brainwashing control over the thoughts of the believers had also vanished.

At the same time, Evé could sense that Mindel’s faith network was experiencing a form of rejection against her original faith network, preventing proper integration.

As a result, the faith power she obtained from Mindel suffered significant losses.

After a moment of thought, Evé understood the cause.

This was a lingering consequence of the “Trident of the Sea God” having stolen the power of faith.

It had secretly altered the true object of worship, and now that Evé had taken its place, the target of belief had become confused in the process.

If one were to use an analogy, it was as though an account that should have originally belonged to Evé had been stolen, and she had now recovered it through the same means as the thief.

However, although the account had been retrieved, its password and linked information had already been altered, thus making it incompatible with her other accounts.

This issue, however, was not difficult to resolve.

Since she simply needed to “reset the password” so to speak.

Evé could sense that once she advanced to higher divine power, her very essence would undergo a drastic transformation.

At that time, she would need to completely unify her faith network.

Only in this way could she maximize the benefits gained during her ascension.

With this thought, her consciousness returned to the world of ruins, and she once again summoned her divine incarnation.

Amid a radiance of light, Evé appeared before Kelez and the players.

“Your Majesty! You… you succeeded?”

At the sight of the sacred figure before him, the legendary elf Kelez was filled with excitement.

Evé merely smiled without replying.

Kelez’s expression brightened as he immediately understood.

Passing by him, Evé approached the sleeping Eris.

Seeing her actions, Kelez’s heart stirred. Realization dawned upon him, and his expression became one of eager anticipation.

His eyes widened, filled with hope.

Evé gently extended her hand and placed it upon Eris’s forehead.

Then, a radiant glow of divine power gathered in her palm and continuously flowed into Eris’s body.

Much of it had been newly drawn from the “Trident of the Sea God,” transformed from its divine and soul power into the power of life.

As Evé continued, the aura surrounding the sleeping Eris gradually strengthened from its previous frailty as light slowly enveloped her.

Evé then closed her eyes and once again separated a portion of her consciousness, sending it into Eris’s body.

Her vision shifted, and she arrived in a magnificent world.

It was a lush forest, dense and vibrant, with ancient trees towering high into the sky.

Upon closer inspection, one would realize that this was in fact the core region of the Elven Forest.

This place was none other than the mental world of the Shadow of the Night, Eris.

Evé’s form shifted, returning to the sacred and beautiful appearance she bore within the temple of her divine kingdom, as she stepped into the forest.

Following a certain presence, she began to walk deeper within.

Her purpose here was to locate Eris’s lost soul.

Evé could sense that the reason for Eris’s slumber was not due to damage to her soul, but rather because her soul had been sealed within this consciousness space, depriving her of control over her body.

As for whether this seal had been placed by Eris herself or by the “Trident of the Sea God,” that would only be known upon meeting her.

Nevertheless, Evé was inclined to believe that Eris had sealed herself.

She advanced like the wind.

Gradually, a towering castle appeared before her.

Evé’s heart stirred slightly.

This castle was a manifestation of the sealing power.

With a faint smile, she approached the structure and pushed open its great doors.

Inside, the castle was elegantly adorned, reflecting a classic elven style.

Evé ascended the steps of the castle and arrived at its highest level.

In the attic at the top, a black-haired, dark-eyed elven girl sat quietly by the window, gazing at the scenery outside.

She looked exactly like the Shadow of the Night, Eris. However, instead of the appearance of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, she resembled an elven child of six or seven.

Evé stepped forward and silently came to stand beside her.

The girl showed no reaction to Evé’s arrival and continued to stare silently out the window.

Following her gaze, Evé looked outside and saw a towering tree rising from the distance.

Its immense canopy seemed to blot out the sky, yet its leaves were withered and fallen.

Evé’s heart stirred.

That tree was none other than the World Tree.

It is often said that the world of consciousness is a manifestation of the subconscious mind of intelligent beings.

Evé let out a soft sigh and spoke gently:

“What are you looking at?”

The girl did not turn around.

Her eyes remained fixed on the towering tree in the distance, her face expressionless, her voice calm:

“I am looking at the Great Matriarch.”

“I am… waiting for Her return.”

The elven girl’s gaze was hollow and still, like that of a statue.

Hearing her words, Evé fell silent.

After several seconds, she sighed and said:

“It is all over.”

“Eris, leave this place and return to reality.”

Yet the girl still did not respond.

Only after a moment did she slowly shake her head:

“No. I cannot leave this place.”

“If I leave, ‘it’ will obtain my body.”

“Thus, I cannot let it succeed. ‘It’ would bring disaster to the clan and affect the Matriarch’s revival.”

Evé’s expression shifted slightly.

She understood what the girl was referring to.

The ‘It’ the girl was referring to was the “Trident of the Sea God” that had developed its own will.

At this moment, Evé also fully discerned Eris’s true condition.

Eris had indeed sealed herself within this mental world of consciousness. Moreover, through some method, she had established a symbiotic link between this castle and her physical body.

So if she were to die, then this castle would also collapse, and her physical body would self-destruct.

But as long as she did not perish, her body could not be completely taken over, and any entity attempting to revive through her would fail.

There was little doubt that Eris had accomplished this sealing during the moment when she was attacked by the “Trident of the Sea God” and it attempted to seize her body.

Of course, in sealing her consciousness, she had also inadvertently sealed her sense of self.

Therefore, the childlike Eris before Evé was merely a collection of subconscious fragments under that seal.

Evé sighed softly and looked toward the World Tree outside the window.

A faint radiance flickered within her eyes, and a gentle light spread outward.

In the next moment, the withered World Tree in the distance began to sprout and flourish at a rapid pace, bursting with renewed vitality.

Seeing the sudden changes, the elven girl trembled.

At the sight of this drastic transformation, her gaze shifted for the first time.

She slowly turned her head. Though her expression remained vacant, her eyes finally settled upon Evé.

Meeting her gaze, Evé wore a faint smile:

“Eris.”

“I have returned.”

As she spoke, Evé reached out and placed her hand upon the girl’s forehead.

In the next instant, light blossomed in her palm as pure soul power and a vast amount of information flowed into the elven girl’s mind.

It was not only the power to awaken her.

It also contained the knowledge Evé had organized, everything that had occurred since her own revival.

Receiving this information, the elven girl trembled slightly, and her gaze gradually cleared. Focus returned to her eyes, and her bright pupils quickly settled upon Evé’s gentle smile.

Moments later, two streams of tears slowly traced down her cheeks.

“Your Divine Majesty…”

“You… have finally returned…”

Her voice quivered faintly.

“Yes.”

Evé nodded softly.

“Let’s go.”

She spoke in a gentle tone.

In the next instant, the entire world of consciousness began to tremble as countless cracks spread across the castle.

With a series of sharp cracking sounds, the towering structure gradually collapsed as motes of light engulfed everything.

→⟐←

Evé opened her eyes and returned to the world within the ruins.

At the same time, the aura of the slumbering demigod, Eris, suddenly became clear and stable.

Her body trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

At her side, Kelez’s expression was filled with emotion, his eyes glistening.

“Teacher!”

Eris’s gaze was still somewhat dazed.

She glanced at the crying elf beside her, and her eyes gradually regained clarity.

“Kelez…”

she said softly.

Then, as if realizing something, Eris hurriedly struggled to her feet.

She turned toward Evé, who stood nearby with a smile. The clarity in her eyes was soon replaced with tears.

Her voice began to tremble:

“Your Majesty, Your Divine Matriarch…”

“Y-You… you have truly returned!”

Evé gave a slight nod.

With a gentle smile, she said:

“Indeed. I have returned.”

Then, her expression grew solemn.

“Eris, Kelez, and all of you chosen ones…”

“I have a task for you.”

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