Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

Fifty kilometers north of Shanatal, the Underground City of Itkazar.

This small city had a population of just twenty thousand, but it was renowned throughout the entire Silent City State Alliance.

This was because Itkazar was the headquarters of the Death God Church in the Underworld, and the highest leader of the church, the Great Temple Director and Divine Favored Nier, who possessed legendary powers, resided here for a long time.

Rumor had it that the preacher who spread the faith of the Death God to the Underworld, the Guardian of the Netherworld, and the Magic Pet of the Death God Hela before her divine enthronement, now a Commander of the Heroic Spirit Army—the Demon Wolf Fenrir, also slumbered here.

For the intelligent beings in the Underworld who worshiped the Death God, this was their Holy City.

At this moment, within the tallest Obsidian-structured building in the city, the famous Itkazar Cathedral in the Underworld, a group of ethereal figures gathered around a treasure bead emitting a deep glow, discussing something.

These figures were the soul projections of the chiefs from each city-state of the Silent City State Alliance.

Through the Soul Storage Orb in the Death God Temple of each city-state, they projected their Soul Power to the council hall at the church headquarters to discuss important matters of the alliance.

The atmosphere in the hall was heavy.

A chief of a city-state looked at the ethereal figures lined up on either side, then glanced at the empty seat in the upper left corner, and sighed softly,

"Shanatal... has fallen. Even with the support of the elves, it seems this war is unlikely to continue. The Dark Army's direct advance means that the next city under siege will likely be the Holy City of Itkazar."

As soon as his voice fell, the dozen figures around began to whisper among themselves.

Just then, the Divine Favored Huo Xu, positioned in the top right, stood up, and his ethereal voice echoed in the temple,

"Gentlemen, do not underestimate the strength of the elves. They are allies in the True God's oracle, possessing abilities akin to the immortality of the Heroic Spirit. As long as our alliance offers them enough compensation and allows them to provide support through the road connecting Blade City and Itkazar, this war can still be fought..."

Upon hearing this, the sixteen city-state chiefs fell into another argument.

The chiefs were clearly divided into two factions. One faction had plunged into despair, while the other, led by Huo Xu, believed that the war could still be fought.

For a moment, the entire council hall was bustling with activity, with no one able to convince the other.

"Silence!"

At this moment, the Great Temple Director Nier, seated at the head of the round table, spoke, and instantly the chiefs below quieted down.

The Great Temple Director Nier was an aged Dwarf with white hair and beard. He wore a wide, black robe adorned with intricate patterns, embellished with scythe-shaped symbols representing the Death God.

His expression was calm, and his eyes were clear and bright, showing no signs of nervousness or anger over the fall of Shanatal. His gaze swept around the hall before finally looking at Huo Xu and saying,

"Inform our elven partners that this war has just begun. Tell them to swiftly aid Itkazar, and all compensation will be borne by the church."

Huo Xu was invigorated, then nodded in agreement.

The other city-state chiefs opened their mouths as if to speak, but seeing the Great Temple Director's firm and serious expression, they finally chose to remain silent.

After issuing the orders, the Great Temple Director turned around and looked at the ancient mural at the front of the council hall.

The mural depicted the story under the True God's oracle of the Demon Wolf Fenrir descending upon the world, spreading the faith of the Death God in the Dark Territory...

Huo Xu followed the Great Temple Director's gaze towards the mural and felt a suspicion arise.

Looking at the imposing Demon Wolf in the mural, the Great Temple Director said with clear eyes,

"It has been very good, the elves have secured us considerable time for our war. Lord Fenrir is near awakening."

Upon hearing his words, the ten-odd chief projections present were immediately energized, finally understanding the Great Temple Director's plan.

They were overjoyed,

"Lord Fenrir is about to awaken? Has she recovered from her injuries? That... that means..."

The Great Temple Director nodded slightly,

"Indeed, Lord Fenrir is our true trump card."

"Although the Dark Alliance's army is vast, it was forcibly united by the Witch Demon King, and none are truly loyal to the other."

"Having captured the Shanatal City State, they will surely divide their forces, and as long as Itkazar holds on a bit longer, once Lord Fenrir awakens, everything will turn around..."

"Beneath the True God, no one is a match for Lord Fenrir..."

...

"What the heck? Shanatal has fallen? Their city defenses were slightly better than Blade City, and they still fell?"

In Itkazar's commercial district, Demacia looked at the guild group buzzing with discussions, his expression shocked.

He was in Itkazar to develop new business opportunities.

Ever since the criteria for advanced job transfer quotas were announced, Demacia had been pondering how to secure a spot, and after considering all options, achieving the top five in the rankings seemed too difficult for him. The most reliable way was through lottery tickets.

And lottery tickets, to put it simply, required spending a vast amount of contribution points. To achieve this, the fastest and most suitable way Demacia could think of was doing business, then offering gold pounds to the Goddess in exchange for contribution points.

"Brother Demacia, so... are we still setting up a branch for the Amway Chamber of Commerce here? Shouldn't we consider returning instead? It seems there are going to be battles!"

One of the other members of the Nature's Heart Guild who came with him asked.

Demacia shook his head,

"Too late, Shanatal has fallen, the teleportation array is also defunct, we have no way to teleport back, and others can't teleport here either, everyone will have to walk..."

"Information sharing in the group tells us that after capturing the Shanatal City State, the Dark Alliance's army divided into five routes, attacking five city-states of the Silent City State Alliance, with one army marching grandiosely towards Itkazar."

The information-sharing group was a private group opened by the senior members of several major guilds, dedicated to exchanging intelligence.

"Even if Brother Mu organizes a force on the other side, without the teleportation array, it's unlikely we'll win; and with our strength, we can at most support one city."

"Support is necessary, otherwise this large-scale war mission will fail, and Brother Mu and others have already agreed on it, the target for support is Itkazar. This is the Death God's Holy City; if anywhere is breached, this place should not be!"

"So, we just have to patiently wait here."

As he spoke, Demacia scratched his head,

"Interestingly, the reaction from the Silent Alliance is a bit odd. Brother Mu said that the Chief Huo Xu of Blade City seemed not worried at all about Shanatal's fall. I just have a feeling... they must have further preparations."

"We'll just wait here."

"After all, up to now, neither of the legendary or demigod powers has taken action! When we fought the Half-Beast before, legendary powers were involved; the scale of this underground war is enormous, and yet high-tier forces haven't made a move."

"There might still be a turning point for everything..."

...

The players acted swiftly.

After Shanatal City State was breached, the three major guilds quickly regrouped their teams, preparing to aid other city-states in the Silent Alliance.

After discussion among the major guilds, their first choice was the Death Holy City Itkazar, which was relatively close to them and of high importance.

Just as the players gathered their forces, they also received a request from the Silent City State Alliance.

Just as they had predicted, the Silent Alliance asked them to assist the Death Holy City Itkazar!

At the same time, a new main storyline mission appeared to the players who accepted the [large-scale war mission],

"Ding—"

"Main storyline mission: 'Support the Death Holy City' begins"

"Mission Objective: Support the Death Holy City Itkazar, hold out until the powerful figures from the Silent City State Alliance appear."

"Mission Time Limit: Unlimited"

"Mission Participant Limit: Unlimited"

"Mission Level: Level 11"

"Mission Reward: 20,000 experience points; 5,000 contribution points; 3 lottery tickets for the lucky prize pool"

"Special storyline mission reward: The top 5 players with the most enemy kills will receive an advanced transfer slot (those already holding a slot are excluded from the kill ranking)"