Chapter 816

【 THE MOST UNFORTUNATE ABYSSAL MYTH IN HISTORY 】

Within the Divine Kingdom of the World Tree, the Garden of Eden was as tranquil and vibrant as ever.

The Einherjars lived peaceful and fulfilling lives, free from worldly concerns. Towering Oak Guardians stood as steadfast attendants, tirelessly tending the kingdom’s lush forests and nurturing every corner of the flourishing woodland. Meanwhile, adorable elemental fairies flitted joyfully among the flowers, their cheerful laughter ringing through the air as they danced gracefully from blossom to blossom.

Suddenly, the projection of the World Tree at the center of the Divine Kingdom trembled ever so slightly, and the magnificent Supreme Temple radiated a soft, gentle glow.

The Einherjars, Oak Guardians, and elemental fairies all paused what they were doing and respectfully bowed toward the temple.

The will of their Patron God had returned.

Within the Supreme Temple, Evé, seated upon the divine throne, slowly opened her eyes.

Rising gracefully, she stepped out of the temple and made her way to the vast plaza behind it.

This enormous square had been specially created by Evé to receive the players’ offerings. Anything sent through the offering array would appear here.

Incidentally, after advancing to the rank of Higher Divine Power, Evé had long since expanded the number of elemental fairies within the Garden of Eden from a mere three hundred to ten thousand.

These adorable beings of pure energy were not only part of the kingdom’s administration, but also one of its most beautiful sights.

Advertisement

Currently, the plaza was bustling with activity as beams of light appeared one after another whilst offerings slowly materialized within golden magical arrays.

Whenever this happened, groups of elemental fairies would fly over, cheerfully processing the offerings according to their type with enthusiastic cries of, “Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”

Precious items were stored in the treasury, whereas objects that were dangerous or impossible to process were sealed away with the power of the Divine Kingdom. As for ordinary or commonplace items, they were either repaired, packaged, or sorted before being placed in the Exchange Store.

Here, nothing was wasted and every discarded item found its purpose through complete recycling.

As Evé arrived, she saw an enormous golden mountain outside the plaza, along with a glittering pile of mana stones that sparkled like violet crystals.

These were the gold ore and mana stone ore the players had offered.

However, a closer look revealed wisps of black miasma still lingering around both mountains.

That was the Abyssal corruption that had yet to be purified from the mineral deposits.

Countless elemental fairies circled the two mountains tirelessly, using their own power to cleanse the contamination.

Others carried already purified ore, casting spells to separate pure gold and mana stones from the surrounding impurities. The impurities were discarded, while the purified gold and mana stones were transported away.

Some were placed into storage, while others were listed in the store for exchange.

Pure gold and mana stones were among the materials most in demand by players. Whether used to repair equipment or consumed as magical resources, they were exceptionally useful.

Incidentally, if the entire gold and mana stone deposits were completely refined into pure gold and mana stones, their total value in contribution points would exceed five hundred million.

Advertisement

In a sense, Evé was the one who truly struck it rich in this whole endeavor.

Even for her, creating such an enormous quantity of gold and mana stones from nothing within the Divine Kingdom would consume a considerable amount of divine power.

The players might make an incredible profit, but Evé would never take a loss.

“Your Grace!”

Upon seeing Evé, the elemental fairies immediately stopped working and respectfully bowed towards her.

In response, Evé nodded gently, signaling for the little ones to continue before walking across the plaza toward its rear.

Beyond the plaza stretched an enormous branch belonging to the World Tree’s projection.

Although it was merely a projection, within the Garden of Eden it existed as a genuine colossal tree. Both the Supreme Temple and the plaza had been built upon its branches.

Bound tightly upon one of those immense branches was a gigantic figure shrouded in black miasma, restrained by countless intertwining limbs as it struggled without pause.

Its body appeared to be formed from living shadows, or perhaps from endlessly burning black flames. Its upper body resembled a muscular giant, its hands were razor-sharp claws made entirely of black mist, yet it possessed no legs. Below the waist, its form dissolved into ghostly smoke.

“Roar…”

The moment it saw Evé, fear flashed across its crimson eyes.

It let out a low growl, struggling even more violently.

Yet no matter how fiercely it resisted, it could not escape the branches that held it.

Advertisement

Or rather, it could not escape the restraints of the Divine Kingdom itself.

This was a Shadow Demon whose strength had reached the rank of Demigod, a rare abyssal creature possessing certain characteristics of shadow beings, it was also an exceptionally uncommon type of demon.

Shadow Demons delighted in collecting souls. They could transform into living shadows, attach themselves to other lifeforms, and devour their souls. They could also possess objects saturated with magical power.

It was precisely because this one had attached itself to the mana stone vein that the Abyssal corruption had continued to spread.

In truth, Evé had already sensed its existence when the players were preparing the offering ritual.

At that time, this Shadow Demon, or rather this Abyssal Myth, had only just broken free from its ancient seal and was quietly recuperating within the mana stone vein.

Yet it had probably never imagined what would happen next.

It had been comfortably hiding there, recovering from its injuries, perhaps even happily planning how to possess the golden dragon that had already been corrupted by Abyssal power.

Then, without warning, an inexplicable group of elves suddenly appeared and casually send both it and the entire mine altogether to her Divine Kingdom.

Truly, its luck couldn’t have been any worse.

Typically, Eve’s offering array did not accept living beings.

But this situation was rather special.

After discovering this Shadow Demon, Evé naturally granted the necessary permissions and conveniently sent it into her Divine Kingdom along with everything else.

This Shadow Demon had a fairly intimidating appearance and was remarkably durable. Thus, she thought this demon would make an excellent addition to the deluxe lineup of the Demon Lord Labyrinth.

Advertisement

With player levels soaring recently, demand for class advancement slots had exploded. So at the moment, even more than a dozen bosses were beginning to feel insufficient.

The labyrinth needed more recruits.

Everything that followed was simple.

An Abyssal Myth that had yet to recover its strength, entering the Divine Kingdom of a True God with Higher Divine Power, was little more than prey.

Evé herself did not even need to act personally and Feynir alone could even seal it with the authority she had given her.

“Your Grace.”

Speaking of the devil.

Just as Evé arrived before the Shadow Demon, Fairy King Feynir also approached.

she respectfully bowed, with eyes filled with admiration.

“Did you find everything out?” Evé asked.

“I… ahem… questioned it thoroughly.”

“Its name is Nael. It is an Abyssal Myth that was sealed during the final years of the Titan Era by an Ancient God known as Surtr.”

Surtr…

Evé raised an eyebrow.

A figure wearing a felt hat and carrying the air of a wandering bard appeared in her mind.

Feynir did not recognize the name, but Evé had personally met this Ancient God before.

It was the very same deity who had once visited the Maple Moon Territory.

Advertisement

Afterward, Eve had deliberately gathered information about Him from various allied gods and learned that Surtr was better known by another title:

The God of Fire.

Or rather,

The Ancient God of Fire.

“So it was Him…”

“In that case, this Shadow Demon must have been among the very first demons to descend upon the world of Seigues after the Abyss first appeared within the universe.”

Evé murmured.

This fellow had been even more unfortunate than she had imagined.

Being one of the very first Abyssal Myths, it had likely been sealed by the Ancient Fire God Surtr before it even had the chance to establish a terrifying reputation across the universe.

Otherwise, the previous World Tree’s inheritance should have contained some mention of it.

Now, after finally escaping its ancient prison…

It had fallen straight into Eve’s hands.

How pitiful.

Thinking this, Evé looked once more at the endlessly struggling Shadow Demon.

Feeling her sharp gaze upon it, the Shadow Demon trembled and instinctively shrank backward, appearing weak, helpless, and utterly pitiful.

For a moment, after seeing its reaction, Evé almost felt like the villain in this situation.

Now that she understood this Shadow Demon’s origins, however, Evé quickly lost interest.

Advertisement

Originally, she had hoped to pry some ancient secrets from it.

But a poor soul that had been sealed almost immediately after emerging from the Abyss probably knew less than an ordinary demon.

“By the way, Your Grace, after defeating it, I found this on its body.”

Feynir’s words interrupted Eve’s thoughts.

Turning around, Evé saw the Fairy King respectfully presenting a black crystal with both hands.

It resembled a fragment of black crystal, faintly glowing with an eerie radiance.

With a gentle wave of the hand, Evé drew the crystal into her palm.

Looking at it with the Eyes of a True God, Evé were surprised to discover that she could not identify its material.

That was highly unusual.

A True God’s vision naturally possessed appraisal abilities.

Eve’s curiosity was immediately piqued and this time around, she decided to personally cast a Mythical-grade appraisal spell.

Yet even then, the object’s identity still remained completely unknown.

It was much like the golden Divine Blood she had encountered before.

More strangely still, the moment Evé touched the crystal, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness to it.

“Interesting…”

Evé narrowed her eyes.

Mythical-grade appraisal skill drew upon the fundamental laws of the universe itself, thereby allowing one to perceive nearly anything that could be perceived.

Hence, if even that failed, it meant the object’s level existed on the same plane as the fundamental laws of the Universe.

Advertisement

If it was connected to the True Gods, then this black crystal was likely something on the rank of Greater Divine Power.

Nevertheless, although the crystal’s origin remained unknown, Evé had learned several of its properties.

The first was its incredible durability.

Not merely physically durable, but durable on the level of universal laws.

Even for her, destroying it would be extraordinarily difficult.

After making a rough estimate, she concluded that completely annihilating it would likely require decades, perhaps even centuries, of her full strength.

Evé was already a God of Higher Divine Power and wielded the Sword of Damocles.

In theory, a casual gesture from her would be sufficient enough to overturn an entire world.

Yet this seemingly tiny black crystal would demand such an immense effort to destroy.

It was astonishing.

In other words, its material surpassed every Divine Artifact Evé had ever encountered.

Besides its durability, it possessed another remarkable characteristic.

It had absolutely no magical conductivity.

Within Eve’s perception, not even the slightest trace of elemental power could enter the crystal.

In the world of Seigues,materials that appeared to lack magical conductivity merely possessed conductivity too weak to be easily observed or utilized.

Mana itself consisted of active elemental particles, and the very foundation of this universe was built from those elements.

Advertisement

Therefore, a genuine non-conductive matter couldn’t simply exist.

In theory, a True God could create materials with conductivity approaching absolute zero.

But the key point here was ‘only approaching’ as nothing could become entirely devoid of magical conductivity like this crystal.

Which meant…

This object most likely did not belong to this universe.

Evé fell into thought.

“From beyond the universe…”

Beyond the known universe of Seigues lay an even greater and more mysterious world.

According to legends, even the World Tree had originated from beyond that boundary.

This inevitably led Evé to suspect that this black crystal might have come from the same place.

Evé knew very little about those realms beyond the universe.

However, based on countless subtle clues, she had long suspected that beyond the universe of Seigues lay the very same universe in which Earth existed.

There was a reason for this belief.

After inheriting more of the World Tree’s knowledge, Evé had witnessed fragments of ancient civilizations from the Ancient Era, the Titan Era, and the Age of Dragons.

Some civilizations had left behind murals depicting what appeared to be a vast astronomical universe.

Combined with certain striking similarities between the cultures of Earth and those of Seigues, it was difficult not to draw some connections.

Advertisement

With that thought, Evé turned once more toward the Shadow Demon Nael.

“Tell me.”

“What is this crystal, and where did it come from?”

The Shadow Demon answered only with another furious roar.

Evé frowned slightly.

“Your Grace, I already tried asking it but no matter what methods I used, this demon simply refused to reveal the crystal’s origin at all.”

“Of course… it is also possible that it simply doesn’t know anything about it in the first place.”

Feynir explained.

Evé nodded in understanding.

Looking at the frightened yet stubbornly silent Shadow Demon, she felt a slight headache coming on.

Unlike other Abyssal Myths, Shadow Demons were fundamentally spiritual beings.

Forcefully searching their memories would only cause its sense of self to collapse without revealing any useful information.

In other words, if she wanted answers, this Shadow Demon would have to speak willingly.

Watching it remain anxious yet otherwise lively, Evé felt that this demon still had much to learn about the cruelty of the world.

Perhaps…

This shadow demon should experience the joys of the Demon Lord Labyrinth.

With that thought, Evé abandoned further questioning it.

Advertisement

Instead, she summoned the Gate of Reversal and opened a passage leading directly to the Demon Lord Labyrinth.

Then she tossed the struggling Shadow Demon through the portal and placed it inside a vacant palace within the labyrinth.

Labyrinth Boss +1.

After finishing this, Evé considered something before vanishing and reappearing inside Azazel’s palace.

Azazel had apparently just finished another battle and was sprawled across his throne, breathing heavily.

Compared to two months earlier, he looked noticeably thinner.

His spirit was exhausted, and his appearance suggested someone who had been completely drained.

It was hardly surprising.

As traffic through the Demon Lord Labyrinth continued increasing, the burden of supplying Abyssal power as one of its Demon Lords had also grown.

On top of that, he also had to personally fight day after day.

Naturally, he had become increasingly haggard.

After all, his rank was only an Intermediate Divine Power and he simply could not endure abuse the way Samael could.

The instant Azazel noticed Evé standing before him, the Seventh Demon Lord immediately leaped from his throne in fright.

“Y, Your Supreme Majesty! Forgive me, I was wrong!”

With a loud thud, he dropped to his knees.

Evé: “…”

Could you at least have a little dignity as a Demon Lord?

Advertisement

Giving Azazel a glance, Evé took out the black crystal.

“Azazel.”

“Do you recognize this?”

Upon seeing the black crystal fragment, Azazel immediately froze.

“T-The Primordial Barrier?”

—

---

〘 PREVIOUS 〙

〘 NEXT 〙

— —

---