Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

"An elf that can resurrect? A Goddess of Life?"

Inside a magnificent temple, a tall figure clad in black armor and wearing a demon mask held a parchment letter, lost in thought.

His eyes gleamed with a ghostly blue light, and his aura was profoundly deep, causing the dim lights in the temple to flicker in sync with his breath.

This was Witch Demon King Pelonie.

He was the ruler of the Dark City State Alliance, the Divine Favored of the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder, and the instigator of this Underworld war...

"Heh, this is quite the interesting information."

After finishing the letter, he chuckled softly, then turned toward the ten-meter-tall statue at the center of the temple.

The statue depicted a hunched old man clad in a black Divine Robe, holding a skull scepter in one hand and a hefty book in the other.

Kneeling reverently before the statue, Witch Demon King Pelonie prayed with his hoarse, deep voice, "Praise be to my lord! Protector of darkness, ruler of shadows, true lord of the Netherworld—the great Lord Holder!"

"Your humble believer, Pelonie, has important news and seeks your blessing..."

As he spoke, a terrifying, solemn power gathered in the statue, descending into the temple.

…

The Netherworld.

A vast region shrouded in shadows.

This place was the closest to the endless abyss in the Netherworld, filled with chaotic laws and mind-bending creatures.

However, unlike the fallen abyss, it was chaotic yet orderly, presenting a strange distortion...

This was the Land of Darkness, also known as the Shadow Territory, a unique region created by the Primordial Death God to counter the abyss's erosion, and the homeland of shadow creatures.

At the center of this region lay a kingdom engulfed in shadows.

A thick layer of Divine Power protected this place, keeping countless shadow creatures at bay, who didn't dare to approach easily, holding a soul-deep reverence and fear for it.

This was the Shadow Divine Country, the realm of the God of Darkness and Shadow, Holder.

At this moment, the ancient True God, once the assistant to the Death God and possessing intermediate Divine Power, was sitting before a terrifyingly powerful shadow dragon, petting its head as if it were a pet, while receiving a prayer from the Divine Favored...

"An immortal elf? A Goddess of Life?"

Holder's aged voice carried a trace of interest.

"Hela, is it..."

He muttered to himself.

After pondering for a moment, Holder patted the shadow dragon obediently kneeling under him. With a majestic voice, he commanded across the Divine Country:

"Darkness, you go to the Dark Territory of the Segis World and meet a few old friends for me, and ask them if they're interested in regaining their power..."

"Right now, there's a decent opportunity on the surface of the Segis World..."

Having finished speaking, the shadow dragon under him let out a compliant low roar, then left his side, flapping its bat wings that were shrouded in black mist, departing from the Divine Country.

After the shadow dragon departed, Holder took out a scroll made of beast hide from his bosom and gently tore it apart, "Lord Uller, I can accept your alliance proposal."

"But... before that, I hope to see more sincerity from you."

"Of course, I think there are some things you would gladly do..."

…

The Underworld.

It had been a month since the defense battle at Blade City, but the war here continued.

However, the intense siege battles like those at the beginning of Blade City were no longer present.

The two warring sides entered a strange standoff, seemingly waiting for a better opportunity.

Though the Dark Army besieging Shanatal City State had not withdrawn, the residents of Silent Castle City had gradually become accustomed to this eerie atmosphere.

The players, too.

Few players remained active on the city walls, only gathering when the Dark Army occasionally sent small groups of undead to attack the city.

Most of the time, players focused on trade, exploring the surrounding areas, and clearing out shadow creatures intentionally released outside the city by the Dark Alliance, as well as some other powerful underground demon beasts.

Southeast of Blade City, 30 kilometers away.

Here, the straight-line distance to the location of the World Tree in the surface world was close to 500 kilometers, almost reaching the limit of the players' activity area.

And five elves in different attire stood before a giant demon beast lying on the ground, excitedly chatting while dividing its corpse.

"Whew... finally maxed out again. Didn't expect underground monsters to be so tough-skinned, but they make great materials," the tank warrior "Optimist" remarked cheerfully, wiping his massive sword while standing in front of the crocodile-like demon beast.

"Pah! If it weren't for you going berserk during the defense battle and not minding the resurrection tokens, we wouldn't have to be here helping you grind levels! Make sure you keep enough resurrection tokens for emergencies next time!"

It was Hu Lu who spoke.

He cast an annoyed glance at Optimist, squatting to dissect the corpse.

"Don't worry, I've saved up a bunch these past few days," Optimist replied.

This was Bianfang's battle squad.

After the defense battle at Blade City, they didn't immediately return to the surface to continue exploring the west of the Elf Forest, but instead hunted demon beasts in the Underworld.

The reason... was that the taunt warrior in their original team, with the ID Optimist, got too caught up during the big battle and failed to notice his resurrection tokens were insufficient, resulting in a seven-level drop after dying from a lack of 7 resurrection tokens.

So, post-war, the team members discussed and decided to stick with him to grind levels again in the Underworld.

Anyway, they were all hardcore players, already maxed out long ago, and didn't mind accompanying a teammate.

Playing together for so long, they had become long-time friends; besides their captain Bianfang, they had all met up offline many times, becoming friends both in the game and in real life, naturally lending a helping hand.

Of course, curiosity about the areas around Blade City was also part of the reason.

Today, Optimist finally leveled up to 40 again. After finishing one last battle, they planned to return to the surface to continue the previously incomplete exploration.

"Quickly pack the essence materials and let's head back up. I miss Miss Nighthawk's breakfast," the Elf Mage, with the ID "I Am Invincible," said while helping Hu Lu dissect the demon beast and winking at Bianfang, "Don't you think, Captain?"

Bianfang: ...

"Get back to work," he said, giving the other a kick on the butt, pushing him into the demon beast's wound, covering his face with blood...

I Am Invincible: ...

"Hahaha..."

The other players laughed heartily at the Elf Mage's baffled expression.

After a while of laughter, Hu Lu seemed to remember something and said, "Speaking of, I heard from Xian Miaoju that some guilds plan to hold a large-scale offline meeting event in Demon City for The Elf Kingdom during the October holiday. Salted Cat, Tomato, Brother Mu, Dema, and the transforming Ji Gang from Transformers are all going. Are you guys going?"

I Am Invincible paused, then rubbed his chin, "I might consider it. I don't have anything important going on for October holiday anyway."

Chopin the Druid shook his head, "I'll pass, Demon City is too far from my place, but I can video call you guys then."

"That's really unfortunate. Hostess Salted Cat promised to cover all the meals and accommodations this time, though... it's limited to the high-skilled members of the Mengmeng Committee," Hu Lu sighed, shaking his head.

"Damn! That's affluent... even for high-skilled players, that would cost quite a bit, right?"

Optimist's eyes widened.

"Apparently, it's her family's hotel."

"..."

"Poverty has limited my imagination."

"+1"

"+2"

…

"What about the captain? Captain, are you going?"

After asking around, Hu Lu turned to Bianfang.

Bianfang shook his head.

Seeing Bianfang shake his head made Hu Lu a bit disappointed, "Aww... Captain, I was hoping to take a commemorative photo with you... but you always skip these, such a pity."

Chopin chimed in, "Exactly, if you were going, Bianfang bro, I'd go no matter how far it is, too."

Bianfang still shook his head.

"I bet our captain's a super introvert in real life," I Am Invincible shrugged.

Bianfang remained silent.

Seeing their captain's firm stance, the others didn't press further.

The group continued their chatter, moving on to other topics, from The Elf Kingdom to other games, and from games to real-life anecdotes.

Soon, they were thoroughly engrossed in lively conversation.

But just as the team members were happily chatting, all of a sudden... Bianfang, who stood on the outermost edge, slightly knitted his brows.

He suddenly made a gesture for silence, then whispered, "Quiet..."

The other four players instinctively stopped talking and vigilantly looked at Bianfang, simultaneously reaching for their weapons.

As a Hunter, Bianfang had the highest perception in the team.

Bianfang glanced in a certain direction in the distance, and his expression gradually became serious, "Something... is coming."