Chapter 796

【 CONNECTING THE TWO WORLDS, FALLEN GOD CANYON 】

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The dimensional gate leading to the Realm of Mindel was located within Crystal City.

In fact, ever since the return of Eris, Evé had already known about this.

Many dimensional passageway were hidden throughout the world of Seigües. A considerable number of them were naturally formed, while others had been artificially constructed, usually by legendary-rank mages, demigods, or even true gods.

The dimensional gate in Crystal City was one such example.

After speaking with Eris, Evé learned that this dimensional gate had been personally constructed by the demigod, the shadow of night, herself. In fact, the Realm of Mindel had originally been discovered by Eris during her early explorations of prehistoric Titan ruins, where she had come across references to it in ancient records.

This oceanic realm, whose territory consisted primarily of vast seas, had likely belonged to the First Sea God, Pontus, during the Titan Era, an ancient deity whose existence stretched back into the distant past.

Later, perhaps due to conflict with the Titans, or perhaps because something had happened that allowed the power of the Abyss to corrupt him, Pontus ultimately perished during a war connected to the Titans, and his divine artifact alongside a portion of his remnant soul were subsequently sealed within the Realm of Mindel.

As for what happened afterward, the story was already quite clear.

Leviathan obtained this Ancient Sea God’s Divinity and became the new Sea God. Through a mysterious connection between the Sea God’s authority and the trident, he eventually discovered the Realm of Mindel.

Meanwhile, Eris, seeking to cultivate a new World Tree, established the dimensional gate leading to Mindel according to descriptions found in the ancient records. She then led the members of the Shadowshade Clan, along with some refugees from several other clans, into the realm to seek shelter.

Alas, conflict eventually erupted between the two sides, thereby awakening the Sea God’s divine artifact, which had merged with the remnant soul of the First Sea God and developed an independent consciousness.

In the end, the trident seized control of the Tree of Life, effectively stripping Eris of her authority over it, and continued its struggle against Leviathan.

That conflict lasted until the outbreak of the War of Gods and Demons, when Evé entered the stage, defeated both sides one after another, and ultimately became the ruler of the Realm of Mindel.

Now, more than half a year had passed since Evé had brought the faith of the Mindel’s inhabitants under her control. Across the continent of Mindel, every temple of the All-Divine Mother had been renamed as a Temple of Life, and statues of Evé could be seen everywhere.

The location where the dimensional gate would connect within Mindel had already been selected, and the Church had completed all preparations necessary to establish a stable connection between the two worlds.

All that remained was the restoration of the dimensional gate on Seigües side.

Once that was completed, a permanent passageway linking the two realms could finally be established.

Evé smiled faintly and connected to the game system, issuing the task for repairing the dimensional gate to Li Mu and the others who had discovered it in the form of a quest.

The materials required for the restoration were extremely expensive, but the players were no longer the same people they had been four or five years ago, back when even the equipment of half-orcs had seemed enviable.

What would once have been an almost unattainable expense could now be handled without much difficulty through the combined efforts of the major guilds.

The only real challenge lay in activating the dimensional gate, since doing so required power at least at the legendary-rank, as well as a certain degree of understanding of the Laws of Space.

Naturally, Evé intended to handle that role personally at the appropriate time through the identity of Zero.

As soon as Evé officially issued the restoration quest, the major guilds led by Heart of Nature and Moe Moe Committee immediately sprang into action with renewed enthusiasm.

In less than ten days, the players, having mobilized nearly the entire server, gathered all the necessary materials. With the assistance of several elves skilled in magical arrays and following the “instruction manual” provided by Evé, they managed to restore most of the dimensional gate.

Ten days later, on April 25th of Year 1072 of the Eternal Era, the day to activate the dimensional gate finally arrived.

On that day, the underground forest surrounding Crystal City was packed with players who had come to witness the event, while Crystal City itself was already overflowing with people.

This would become the first complete realm entirely under the control of the elven faction.

Even excluding its immense oceanic regions, its landmass alone far surpassed that of the Demirealm of Ouros. Its vast territory and large population were more than enough to attract countless players eager for exploration.

Not to mention that the Realm of Mindel was rich in resources.

Particularly within its oceans, numerous rare treasures had already become widely known thanks to records left behind by the ten players who had initially completed some hidden quests there.

There were mana-concentrating pearls, treasures even more valuable than mana crystals; emerald corals, which could be used to create a wide variety of precious magical potions; and countless varieties of delicious seafood whose flavor surpassed even that of the produce harvested from the endless ocean.

And that was only the beginning.

Even setting aside the need to level up, the material benefits, conveniences, and opportunities for adventure and daily life offered by these resources were enough to tempt many players.

At the same time, the realm’s enormous population offered priest-class players new hope for rapid advancement.

In short, as news continued to spread, the fame of the Realm of Mindel gradually circulated throughout the player community, and anticipation reached unprecedented heights.

Before the towering dimensional gate, Evé descended through a divine incarnation and assumed the appearance of Zero.

Under the excited and expectant gazes of the leaders of the major guilds, she placed her hand upon the newly restored crystal gate.

Ancient, obscure incantations flowed softly from her lips as the crystal gate immediately began to radiate a pale blue glow.

The light shifted and expanded continuously, soon enveloping the entire structure.

Brilliant radiance erupted from within the gate.

As the players watched with eager anticipation, ripples began spreading across the interior of the crystal doorway.

Subtle spatial fluctuations followed.

The entire crystal gate seemed to transform into a gigantic mirror shrouded in misty, luminous light.

Meanwhile, far away in the endless void, within the Realm of Mindel itself, countless believers had gathered beneath the flourishing Tree of Life.

The Church’s newly appointed High Priest, Kelez, stared excitedly at the gradually brightening sky above a nearby hillside.

His face was filled with anticipation.

“It’s coming… at last… this moment has finally arrived!”

He clenched his fists slightly.

After wandering for a thousand years, the time to return back to their homeland had finally come!

The light atop the hill grew brighter and brighter.

Increasingly dazzling radiance illuminated the surroundings.

Gradually, an incomparably magnificent crystal gate began to emerge from the air.

It stood upon the hillside beneath the Tree of Life, sparkling brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

Sensing the faint spatial fluctuations resonating through the world, Kelez’s eyes filled with joy.

“It worked!”

He then turned around and looked behind him.

There stood elf after elf, all of them already carrying their packed belongings.

Compared to the total elven population of the Realm of Mindel, their numbers were not particularly large.

Yet at this moment, every one of them was overwhelmed with emotion.

Some had tears blurring their vision.

Others could not suppress their quiet sobs.

Many among them were already quite old.

Although they had been born in the Realm of Mindel, throughout their lives they had grown up listening to their elders speak endlessly of returning home and that longing had long since become deeply rooted within their hearts.

The elven race had always been a people deeply attached to their homeland.

And farther away, even more elves watched the scene unfold.

These were the elves who had chosen to remain in the Realm of Mindel.

Many had already established families there, quite a few with members of other races, such as humans and halflings.

For them, the Realm of Mindel now held things they could not bear to leave behind.

It had become their new homeland.

They would continue living there, raising children, nurturing future generations, and carrying on their bloodlines in the world they had come to call home.

Perhaps one day in the future, when their children had already grown up and sought greater power, they too would come here, step through this dimensional gate leading to the elvenkind’s homeland, and venture into a broader world filled with adventure and growth.

Perhaps they would form bonds with the Chosen Ones who arrived in this world, becoming friends and guides, leading them through the rich and beautiful oceanic realm as they embarked on new journeys of exploration.

And perhaps, when age finally caught up with them and they could no longer travel as they once did, homesickness would return to their hearts, and they would choose to return to their roots.

But that would be another story altogether.

As the radiance gradually faded, the dimensional gate finally stabilized.

The legendary elf Kelez wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes. A trace of gentleness appeared upon his dignified face as he said:

“My people! The gate to our homeland… have opened!”

༺⟐༻

The dimensional gate leading to Mindel had officially been established.

In the end, approximately 173,000 elves and half-elves chose to return, of whom roughly ten percent were full-blooded elves.

Among them were elders as well as young people seeking a wider world.

In truth, it was already a considerable number.

After returning to the Garden of Eden, Evé issued a divine decree allowing the returning elves to freely choose where they wished to settle.

Frozen Valley had suffered far too much destruction, and magical beasts had become rampant throughout the region. As such, it was no longer suitable for building a city and could at most serve as a mining outpost for extracting ores like the Magic Electrite.

Crystal City, however, could still be rebuilt.

The players discovered the ruins of an ultra-long-distance teleportation array, and Evé took the opportunity to reconstruct a corresponding array in Rivendell, reconnecting the two cities that had once been linked.

As a result, property prices in the new main city of the guild “Night Watcher,” which was currently under construction in the Northwestern Canyon, immediately plummeted.

Well, it couldn’t be helped…

The new city had originally been planned as a major transportation hub. However, once a teleportation array directly connecting Rivendell and Crystal City was established, players traveling to the Realm of Mindel no longer needed to take a lengthy detour.

Thus, a collapse in housing prices was only natural.

Of course, considering the costs associated with ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays, players transporting bulk goods would still need to rely on overland routes. Therefore, while the city’s transportation advantages had been weakened, they had not disappeared entirely.

To address the issue, the leadership of the Night Watcher Guild, which governed the new city, held a meeting and ultimately decided to grit their teeth and construct a teleportation array connecting their new city directly to Crystal City.

Fortunately, the distance involved was far shorter this time, only several dozen kilometers in a straight line.

As construction progressed, players also began exploring deeper along the great canyon.

To their surprise, they discovered a vast forest at the canyon floor, inhabited by numerous rare plants and magical beasts.

This, in turn, provided players with an entirely new region for adventure.

Naturally, the new city situated along the canyon benefited greatly from these discoveries.

Evé was aware of all these developments.

However, what she truly wanted to complain about was the name the players had chosen for the new city.

Although she knew through her divine observations that the name had been casually proposed by a young man from the northwest who happened to be the guildmaster of the Night Watcher, the fact that it had actually passed a guild-wide vote was impressive in its own way.

One could only wonder what sort of undisclosed backroom dealings had taken place.

The discovery of new ruins, the establishment of the dimensional gate, and the official construction of the new city were regarded as the three major events currently shaping the Elven Forest.

Beyond those developments, however, another project had begun in the Mountpeak City within the Dark Mountains, drawing the attention of many technically minded players.

The project was spearheaded by HootyBird, the vice leader of Moe Moe Committee, who proposed the construction of a Magitech Research Center and invited technically inclined players from across the server to participate.

Rumor had it that the discovery of Magic Electrite had completely ignited the interest of this top student from Jinghua University.

The research center had a single objective:

To draw inspiration from the technologies back on Earth while combining them with the magical knowledge of the world of Seigües in order to develop entirely new forms of magitech.

The initiative even caught Eve’s attention.

She quietly went to observe the project herself and could not help but sigh inwardly.

What was destined to happen had finally begun.

While the elven faction continued its steady development, the vast player army pursuing the demon army across the Wasteland of Desolation finally arrived near the dimensional gate leading to the Sixth Layer of Hell, the region known as the Fallen God Canyon.

༺⟐༻

The Endless Abyss, Wasteland of Desolation.

Lightning flashed violently within the dark clouds overhead as thunder roared and the heavens churned.

Across the land below, streams of golden-red lava poured from cracks in the earth, merging into countless rivers of molten fire that wound through the barren landscape.

This was a vast canyon dominated by volcanoes and flowing magma.

From afar, the glowing lava channels resembled a giant web of dark crimson veins spread across the landscape, while seas of fire stretched endlessly in every direction, illuminating the darkness with an eerie scarlet glow.

The temperature here was significantly higher than in other regions of the Wasteland of Desolation.

The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and filled with a hazy yellow mist that stung the senses and distorted distant scenery.

Even the ground beneath one’s feet radiated scorching heat, making every breath feel dry and heavy.

Within the canyon, long columns of demons slowly marched toward the distant horizon.

Far away, at the canyon’s end, stood an enormous volcano with rivers of magma flowing down its slopes.

Its crater seemed to merge with the clouds themselves, where arcs of lightning flickered and thunder echoed continuously through the sky.

The mountain towered over everything around it like a pillar supporting the heavens, exuding an oppressive aura that could be felt even from afar.

At the foot of the volcano stood a colossal black stone gate.

Even from more than ten kilometers away, it remained clearly visible.

“What is that?”

Standing outside the Fallen God Canyon, the commander of the player expeditionary army, Transformer Ji Gang, muttered in astonishment.

His gaze remained fixed upon the gigantic structure in the distance.

After the battles in the Maple Moon Territory, he had matured considerably.

Although his command abilities still fell short of Li Mu’s, he was more than capable of leading a favorable campaign such as this one.

“That is the Dimensional Gate leading to Hell.”

A solemn and weathered voice answered from beside him.

Mars, the Ancient Gold Dragon, currently in his humanoid form, stood nearby with a serious expression.

His golden eyes reflected the distant gate, and for a brief moment, a trace of caution flashed across his face.

“…The Gate to Hell?”

Ji Gang’s eyelids twitched.

“Indeed, the dimensional gate leading to the Realm of Hell,” Mars explained. “It serves as the passageway connecting ordinary Abyssal Realms to Hell and is the route through which the Demons deploy their armies.”

As he spoke, his voice grew increasingly grave.

“The Realm of Hell…”

Ji Gang’s expression changed slightly.

He looked once more toward the distant canyon, where endless streams of demons moved like ants toward the Hell Gate.

A look of realization flashed across his face.

“I see… No wonder they’ve been fleeing in this direction the whole time. The quest description said that we must pursue the demons until they reached the end of their path. That gate must be what it meant, right?”

As he spoke, he turned toward another figure standing at the edge of the cliff and gazing into the distance.

A faint smile tinged with respect appeared on Ji Gang’s face.

“What do you think, Sister Féng?” he asked.