Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

Eve's avatar walked through the underground labyrinth.

The temperature in the labyrinth was considerably higher than outside. What's more, the closer one got to the core area sealing the Seventh Demon God Azazel, the warmer it became.

This was because Azazel had the fire god's domain, and the place where she was sealed naturally got affected. It wasn't surprising to find rivers of lava and seas of fire.

Moreover, the magic power here was quite different from the outside world, restless and subtly infused with a chaotic and evil aura.

That was also the influence of Azazel's power at play.

The power of the Demon God was essentially one with the Abyss, possessing strong corrosive traits. When sealing a Demon God, no matter how well it was done, the seal was continuously eroded by the Demon God's power.

That was why, historically, all locations sealing an Evil God generally had a Guardian periodically managing the Demon God's erosion of the material realm.

And the reason for the rampant chaos after the magic power in the Segis World resurged was that over the millennium, most Guardians of the Evil God's sealing locations gradually perished.

Azazel's successful awakening was due to such circumstances.

However, she was unlucky. Having just gained her freedom, she quickly ended up in Eve's hands again.

Eve continued moving through the labyrinth.

Every now and then, she could hear various monstrous roars echoing throughout the labyrinth.

And as she moved, she could clearly sense pairs of eyes hidden in the darkness, silently watching her.

The gazes were greedy, evil, yet contained a hint of fear.

When Eve glanced in their direction, those gazes quickly dispersed.

*A thought formed in Eve's mind as she gestured slightly in a particular direction.*

In response to her action, several vines appeared out of nowhere before her, lancing into the darkness.

What followed was a cacophony of terrified snarls and screams.

Soon, the vines retracted at Eve's command, each coiled around a grotesque monster.

The creatures were very different from underground fauna, bizarre in appearance and varied in species, many sporting horns and tails, with scale armor covering their bodies, exuding a thick Abyssal aura.

These were lesser demons, also known as imps or minor demons, just one rank above the lowest level of Abyss Worms.

Their strength ranged from Black Iron Lower to Black Iron Upper.

Aside from these minor demons, Eve also sensed more potent presences hidden deeper within.

Those were silver-level Greater Demons.

These demons were also the handiwork of Demon God Azazel.

As an Evil God merging with the Hell Plane's essence, every Demon God had a similar capability to the Abyss Plane in creating demons.

However, unlike the Abyss Plane, which directly spawned demons, Demon Gods primarily relied on enticing other beings to fall, encouraging them to absorb the evil Abyssal power and transforming them into demons.

The weak turned into minor demons, the strong into Greater Demons.

While sealed, given the chance, a Demon God would do anything to create demonic subordinates, enslave them, drive them, and make them seek ways to free her.

Although Eve sealed Azazel, she had not wholly confined her powers within the labyrinth. Consequently, the Evil God naturally tempted the subterranean creatures that accidentally entered, corrupting them into demons.

Moreover, using her domain of lust, she even facilitated the mutation and evolution of some demons within the labyrinth, creating Abyss Nests.

Abyss Nests were breeding grounds for demons, capable of producing Abyss Worms in endless streams. The worms devoured each other to grow into minor demons…

In this manner, she continuously provided underlings for the Demon God.

This was the process of how a Demon God cultivated forces and also how she attempted to break free from the seal.

As long as the seal wasn't flawless, if they managed to transform even the first demon, the process could commence.

Eventually, the Demon God could gather enough demons to destroy the seal, then devour them to restore her power in one stroke.

Last time, Azazel escaped the seal using this method.

It was just after she broke free from the seal, devoured Believers and demonic subordinates, and joined the war against the Silent Alliance.

Otherwise, had she gathered new cultists and cultivated new demon subordinates, the Silent Alliance would have had to face a Demon Army as well.

And after being sealed in the labyrinth again, Azazel resumed this process.

*Eve understood that this was, in essence, her way of self-rescue.*

Of course, destroying this method of self-rescue was simple: clear all the demons from the labyrinth.

By periodically cleaning them out and maintaining the seal over the entire labyrinth, the Demon God's plans would be thwarted.

However, *the one thing mythical beings lacked was time.*

Cleansing once, as long as the seal wasn't completely closed, allowed the Demon Gods to reset and attempt a second time.

Time after time, there would eventually be an opportunity to escape.

It was a foolish method, but one often very effective.

Because, *in this world, a perfectly closed seal almost did not exist.*

Maintaining the seal required magic power, and the seal's magic power was drawn from the outside world. By sourcing power externally, the seal inevitably connected with the outside, forming susceptibilities.

And once a vulnerability was found, leveraging her connection to the Hell Plane, a Demon God could gradually expand her influence.

Eve wasn't experienced in setting seals, so… the labyrinth she created had even more vulnerabilities.

Though successful in sealing Azazel, the fact that so many demons could be transformed in such a short time proved the seal was imperfect.

Of course, from the very start, Eve had not intended to make a flawless seal.

*A labyrinth instance without small monsters? That wouldn't be much of a labyrinth instance, would it?*

Of course, small monsters should be present, and there should also be rewards.

Eve walked a few steps and deposited a Teleportation Array in a labyrinth corner, its appearance cunningly masked by a more elaborate array designed to resemble a treasure chest.

These "treasure chests" could only be opened by entities marked by Eve. They connected to her storage space, or more precisely, the various supplies she stored in the Divine Country.

Eve laid them out one after the other while advancing until she reached the central hall of the Demon God Palace.

Pausing for a moment, Eve pushed open the massive doors.

Within the grand palace, the Seventh Demon God Azazel sat expressionless on a throne.

Her fearsome ram-headed demon form matched perfectly with the majestic, rugged, and mysterious architectural style of the Demon God Palace.

Truly intimidating.

Of course, only mythical beings could see the invisible bonds that wrapped around Azazel within the palace…

Those were Eve's core seals.

The seal restrained Azazel's power beneath the legendary rank and confined her to the palace.

As for whether her power was at Black Iron or silver, silver or gold, depended on Eve's mood.

"Quite competent, aren't you, transforming so many demons in just a few days,"

Randomly tossing a newly caught imp to the ground, Eve looked at the Demon God.

Azazel also looked at Eve.

Her flame-formed eyes narrowed slightly, letting out a cold laugh,

"Yggdrasil…"

"I didn't expect that after revival, your sealing skills have become so pitiful."

"Let's see how long you can maintain it and how many times you can come to cleanse before I get my chance to escape!"

Upon hearing Azazel's words, Eve arched her eyebrows.

She gave a slight smile and said,

"Those beings you've conjured up won't require me to clear them out."

Having said this, she scrutinized Azazel with more attention, praising,

"A very nice design, indeed fitting as the BOSS."

"But there's no need for too much dialogue; just three lines are enough."

Having said that, Eve waved her hand lightly.

Azazel, startled and enraged, sensed the bonds that confined her reactivated.

This time, the seal utterly restricted her ability to speak.

Then, looking at Azazel, Eve mischievously said,

"How about these: 'You dare tread on my domain, puny ants!', 'Tremble and meet your doom!', 'Damn it, I will return!' How do those sound?"

Azazel: …?