Chapter 302
A sudden thought flashed through Eve's mind.
—Currently Nidhogg is not present.
Not only that, but he hasn't even left behind a defensive statue nor a guardian to protect this place!
Therefore, if I were to act now, reclaim the Scepter of Life and then teleport all of his believers here to my Celestial Domain to silence them all...
Thinking of this rather daring idea...made Eve's hands really itchy.
However, just as she was considering whether to actually follow through with her idea, she suddenly calmed down.
No...this idea is too reckless. Although I don't know what Nidhogg is up to, that old dragon wouldn't leave his lair undefended like this. After all...it contains a divine artifact!
With that in mind, Evé carefully observed her surroundings once more with her divine vision.
—And this time, she finally noticed something amiss.
It's those pillars... these pillars...seems like it's specifically placed as a defensive magic array against divine magic!
Eve's gaze swept over the pillars, with each one intricately etched with dragon markings, and a slight furrow creased her brow.
This is a bit troublesome...
Although she can undoubtedly break this defensive array with the strongest magic she can muster, doing so would definitely expose her presence.
Furthermore, this kind of magic array always has some sort of connection with the one who set it up.
The other party will definitely sense her existence if she were to forcibly breaks it...
Nidhogg and the World Tree are archenemies.
If He were to find out about her revival, and she didn't immediately eliminate Him, the entire Crystal Sphere ¹ would probably know that the World Tree had revived.
In that case, it would be a problem.
With this in mind, Evé carefully observed the pillars once more, while also scouring any information about large-scale magic arrays from the World Tree's inheritance in order to find its weaknesses...
Unfortunately, aside from brute forcing it, Evé didn't have any good alternative methods.
Sigh, brute forcing won't work...I'd inevitably need to use my divine power if I forcefully break this array, and once I do, the other party is likely to sense my existence through their connection with the magic array.
Unless... there was an even stronger divine power that could create an interference around when I destroyed the magic array, then I could conceal my presence.
Thinking of this, Evé felt somewhat troubled.
She sighed lightly and shifted her gaze towards the cocoons below the pyramid.
A faint aura of life emanated from these elves, despite their feeble vitality, thus confirming to her that each of them is still alive.
Alas... similar to obtaining the Scepter of Life, rescuing these elves is almost synonymous with announcing her presence to Nidhogg.
Evé had a thought.
Perhaps... I should try to lure that old dragon out and see if I could use the Withering Heart to kill Him?
However, she quickly dismissed this idea:
No... trying to lure out the true form of a mythical being is very difficult, especially an old monster like Nidhogg who has lived for who knows how long.
Mythical beings are very protective of their lives, whether they are true gods, ancient gods, or even evil gods.
Unless absolutely necessary, they will protect their true forms very well.
Could it be... that my only option now is to simply hide and just quietly wait for an opportunity?
Evé's gaze fell upon the hundreds of slumbering elves once more, as her features etched with a somber expression.
These are all potential believers of hers!
Moreover, those selected by Nidhogg are undoubtedly the elite among the elves. Who knows how many more would perish if she had to wait any longer...
At this point, Evé was almost one hundred percent certain that Maple Leaf's Borderlord and Nidhogg were in cahoots.
I'm afraid... Nidhogg has caused a lot of trouble for the elves over the years.
As for the so-called Elven Auction... it's probably just a ruse for a more elaborate plan.
Even those elves in the blackmarket, as well as the Oakhand elves, might have been intentionally placed there by the other party to attract more elves to come and rescue them...
Like the story of the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather...when Selena left, Eve, while in her guise as Zero the Godwarden, had communicated with the Oakhand leader, and discovered that similar things had happened among their members...
It's just a pity that the other party never expected to encounter a player this time.
And with that thought, Evé could almost conclude with certainty that perhaps at this very moment, the other party should also already be aware of the existence of the Black Dragon and a large number of "elves" within the Elven Forest.
After all, Anders, the steward of that Borderlord had personally seen the battle with the Crocodile Mercenary Corps.
In that case...
The other party will probably send forces to the Black Dragon Castle sooner or later!
Eve's eyes flashed.
After all, capturing a large number of elves would probably be quite an attractive endeavor to Nidhogg, who wants to repair the Scepter of Life!
But soon, she felt that this idea didn't make much sense.
...So what?
Even if the other party attacks Black Dragon Castle, they can just use the Borderlord's troops, and Nidhogg can still hide himself behind the scenes...
—Or should she persist in waiting and lurking within the Despair Church for an opportunity?
Evé wasn't too thrilled with the latter option.
Sigh, if only Hela could help me at the moment. She wouldn't need to do much and could just casually throw a large-scale divine interference spell into Maple Leaf City, then I would have a chance to destroy the defensive array here and take away the Scepter of Life and these slumbering elves...
Evé internally sighed with regret.
However, at that moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed her mind:
—Hmm? No...wait...since Her Majesty Hela can't intervene, but...maybe I can 'ask' someone else to intervene!
Eve's spirits were lifted as she thought of a rather ingenious solution.
If she remembered it correctly... there is also a temple of the Eternal Church here in Maple Leaf City.
And the Eternal Lord is the chief god of humanity.
Although He is an enemy of the World Tree, He is also a true god who hates evil gods just as much.
Thinking of this, a sly smirk appeared upon Eve's lips:
Hehe, Let me, the World's Tree's successor, teach that unfilial son of my predecessor a lesson or two...
With that thought, every players still in Maple Leaf City suddenly received a new system notification.
[❗]
[ Players, Little Salty Cat, HootyBird, Boxlunch, Calabash, Feng triggered the hidden questline "Sabotage the Conspiracy of the Despair Church"]
[Quest Description: After infiltrating the Church of Despair, you discovered a mysterious facility left behind by their believers in an underground hall, and saw a large number of slumbering elves.]
[Although it's unclear what conspiracy the Despair Church is up to, you have decided to take action to disrupt their plans in order to save your fellow brethren!]
[Quest Objectives: 1. Destroy the pyramid; 2. Rescue the slumbering elves; 3. Obtain the mysterious orb above the pyramid and send it as an offering to the goddess]
[Quest Rewards: 30,000 experience points, 5,000 contribution points, +1 personal comprehensive reputation score]
[Quest Tip 1: The orb above the pyramid emits a natural glow, perhaps it is an item related to the Goddess Eve. Calling out her name in your mind during the action may receive her assistance.]
[Quest Tip 2: The Despair Church is heavily guarded, and the power of the goddess cannot easily descend in there. However, if a demigod-level or higher power is attracted to Maple Leaf City, then perhaps the goddess can intervene.]
[Quest Tip 3: The Eternal Church is one of the Orthodox Deities worshipped by mankind, and such, is very likely to possess demigod-level or higher power.]
— 302 —
[ 'ASKING' OTHERS FOR HELP ]
¹ 晶壁系 — A Crystal Sphere/System is a Dungeons and Dragons reference that means, a gigantic spherical shell that contained an entire planetary system. On the context of the sentence, Evé is basically saying that the entire world will know of her existence.
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