Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

The supreme beings of the Segis Plane are the Divine, with the True Gods reigning as the rulers of the universe.

And the True Gods of the entire universe were similarly divided into two distinct factions, clear as day and night...

One, was the True Gods of Faith and the Ancient Gods in their normal state.

Perhaps there were occasional frictions among them, with some even as mortal enemies, but they all belonged to a single faction, collectively maintaining the order of the universe...

The Pantheon served as the nominal high council center for the myriad of gods.

However, where there is good, there is also evil.

Within the ranks of the gods, there were always some who, for various reasons, were either corrupted by the powers of the Abyss or chose to fall of their own accord.

Their powers, tainted and uncontrolled, drove them to become extreme or even mad, with some simply turning into "slaves" of the Abyss, aiming to drag planes into the Abyss, pursuing the "End of the Universe" as their divine life's goal...

Such beings also have another unified title—Evil Gods.

Just as the gods of faith established the Heavenly Realm to better unite the powers of the True Gods, the Evil Gods, too, have their own core plane.

That is, deep within the Endless Abyss, a three-dimensional composite plane made up of the seven most powerful layers of the Abyss Plane, commonly known by another name—

Hell.

And the seven most powerful Evil Gods who ruled Hell were called Hell's Seven Demon Gods, or otherwise known as the Abyss Sovereigns, Hell's Seven Lords.

Azazel was one of them.

She was the ruler of the first layer of Hell and ranked as the Seventh Demon God, wielding dominion over Lust, Ram-Horned Demons, and Earth Fire, possessing medium divine power at her peak.

This Evil God particularly relished in leading intelligent beings to fall from grace.

And a millennium ago, in her quest to seize control of the Underworld of the Segis Plane, this Demon God engaged in a divine war against the gods, going so far as to employ her true form, only to be defeated and sealed underground by the gods in the end...

Yet, even when sealed, this Demon God never gave up.

She persistently sought ways to escape and utilized the power that seeped through the seal to quietly cultivate believers in the Underworld, searching for means to free herself...

The above content was what Eve discovered by perusing the World Tree inheritance left by her predecessor, extracted from data related to the Evil Gods.

An incidental note, the predecessor World Tree was also one of the True Gods who participated in sealing Azazel.

"Demon God Azazel escaped the seal?"

*Reflecting on the scene she had just witnessed through the players, Eve pondered deeply.*

She was not surprised by her ability to escape the seal.

A millennium ago, the divine war left the origin of the Segis World riddled with holes, and the seals imposed using origin power had undoubtedly weakened.

The gods decided to protect the origin of the Segis World, and one significant reason was based on this.

As the oldest plane, the Segis World had quite a few terrifying beings sealed within... If they were released, it would surely cause quite the uproar.

However, it was clear that even with the gods protecting, these seals were ultimately weakening.

Moreover, with Eve's intervention, magic power across the plane soared suddenly, causing the yet-unstrengthened seals to trigger those entities' awakening, giving them a chance to accumulate power and attempt to break free...

Consequently, the ground world of the Segis Plane had recently become lively, overwhelming various churches, yet it provided Eve with an opportunity to muddy the waters.

"So... Has the Shadow Lord Holder colluded with the Seventh Demon God Azazel?"

Hela had once told Eve that the God of Darkness maintained ambiguous relationships with some Evil Gods, so when she discovered this matter, she wasn't surprised.

*At most, she didn't expect the cooperation to involve the Seventh Demon God.*

This was regarded as one of the most potent Evil Gods sealed in the Underworld.

And the behavior of the Shadow Dragon led Eve to a certain conjecture.

"I see, no wonder I thought it impossible for Boxed Lunch and others to record data on a Demigod Level Shadow Dragon and yet survived, nor for tracking them to go more smoothly than expected. Turns out, the Shadow Dragon didn't ignore them; it had its eyes on them from the start."

"Did she lead the players to Azazel to inform him of my presence? Have they already realized someone is behind the players and intend to target me?"

Eve had long anticipated the God of Darkness's actions.

After crafting the disguise of the Goddess of Life, Eve planned to spread it far and wide, preparing for her entry but soon learning that the dark dwarves of Black Rock City had almost caught on.

Under these circumstances, her data reaching the hands of the Dark Alliance and then passing to the God of Darkness and Shadow, though quicker than she anticipated, was still within expectation.

"I wonder if the God of Darkness regards me as a new god supported by Hela, or sees me as Hela's incarnation, but... Since her emissaries led the players to Azazel, that suggests she likely wants to draw this Demon God into the fray."

"And the target... It is most likely me, isn't it? It seems the God of Darkness is determined to win this war in the Underworld."

Clearly, some characteristics of the players had already been revealed to the God of Darkness, such as... the players being immortal and they being her clansmen, differing from ordinary beings.

In fact, Azazel's brief voyeurism through the players had already made Eve expose certain aspects.

The divinity and nature-related domains had surely been exposed, as had Eve's Divine Soul aura nearly laying bare almost her game network.

Of course, for the latter, Eve believed the other party would more likely regard it as a faith network, thus firmly establishing the players' clansmen identity.

As for the Divine Soul aura...

She was decidedly different from her predecessor.

*Despite exposing many aspects, Eve was not particularly concerned.*

From the day she summoned the players, she knew certain things would eventually surface, and this time, with plans to debut as the Goddess of Life, she had long prepared to reveal some of her cards.

As long as core issues, such as the players' true identity and her true form, remained hidden, Eve was still safe.

And just now, while Azazel was prying, she took the opportunity to play a trick on the other party.

*She merely showcased a feeble Divine Soul Power of weak divine strength.*

This was a deliberate move by Eve, premeditated because any being capable of prying into the power behind the players was definitely mythological, feigning weakness in the face of strength often favored oneself.

And as Azazel spied on her, she also managed to assess the other's power—

Likely not even at a low divine strength.

It made sense, having just awakened, this power was already quite formidable, unlikely to be higher, otherwise, she wouldn't have been repelled when prying.

And this discovery sparked Eve's intrigue:

"Hiss—"

"How much divine power can an awakened Seventh Demon God offer me?"

"Need to find a way to lure her over, then devour her!"

"Ha, perhaps this is also the purpose of the God of Darkness, pitting me against Azazel... Probably hoping we'll both suffer serious losses."

"But she wouldn't expect that facing an Evil God is exactly what I have been anticipating."

"Hmm, better consult Hela first, for the God of Darkness might not have only found Azazel, and as Holder's old rival, Hela should know what kind of Evil God forces he has ties with."

"It's best to prepare thoroughly, and perhaps capitalize on extracting more information from Hela, after all, dealing with Azazel also aids her!"

Thinking of this, Eve decisively took out the Box of the Dead, using Divine Power to send another message, transmitting the newfound intelligence and questions she had gathered to the other party.