Chapter 826

【 THE KEY TO GREATNESS 】

After listening to Urinos, Evé fell silent.

To be honest, she had never been particularly interested in saving the universe.

She simply wanted to survive.

Of course, now that she knew the Seigües Universe was nothing more than a perpetually looping “breeding ground” meant to harvest Laws, she had no desire to merely cling to life. Instead, she longed for true freedom.

That being said, even if she’s now more inclined toward resisting, it was only because she had no better choice. If escaping truly had a chance to succeed, then given her personality, she would choose to flee without the slightest hesitation.

However, whether it was escaping or resisting, Evé did not believe that just reincarnating into the next cycle was a wise solution.

She believed that one should never place all hope in others. In her eyes, the Reincarnation Faction’s complete reliance on Neo’s eventual return was nothing more than a gamble that entrusted fate to someone else’s hand.

Evé disliked that.

She preferred to keep her own destiny firmly in her own hands.

Moreover, judging from the results of the countless cycles of the previous universes, although each successive universe had grown much larger and contained more Laws of Origin, it also produced weaker mythical beings and lasted for a shorter period of time.

From Urinos’ explanation, it was also evident that although the Seigües Universe functioned like a predetermined “incubation machine,” it also possessed some sort of a self-repair mechanism. Otherwise, the Abyss would not have continued evolving, nor would the powerful Ancient Gods have gradually weakened…

Considering those factors, the next cycle would likely be even more difficult.

Not to mention, there was no guarantee that another universe would even exist. After all, who knew when the sleeping “Lord” would finally awaken?

Even if another cosmic cycle did occur, would she lose her memories again?

After all, even the memories she had inherited upon awakening as the World Tree had already been missing many crucial pieces…

There was another issue as well.

That was the Eternal Lord’s attitude toward her.

Although Etriōu had not yet directly targeted her, judging from how the Eternal Church had treated the elves over the past thousand years, along with his wariness of the World Tree, Evé strongly suspected that this increasingly narrow-minded deity of humanity would never let her go.

And if such a True God were to ascend to Greater Divine Power, she could scarcely imagine how Etriōu would treat her then…

Evé had once been human.

And as someone who had lived as a human being, she fully understood the darker aspects of human nature.

Urinos’ hopes might have been somewhat idealistic.

It was not a gamble Evé was willing to make, just as she was unwilling to entrust her fate to anyone else.

Besides, she had never been as selfless as her predecessor.

She was not great.

She was simply an ordinary person with ordinary desires who had happened to obtain extraordinary power.

Only when her own safety could be guaranteed was she willing to sacrifice something, willing to save others.

Beyond that, however, there was one even greater reason…

She did not believe that she herself was incapable of attaining Greater Divine Power.

Of course, she first needed to verify one thing.

“Your Majesty Urinos, you mentioned that the Cradle of Origin currently possesses seven keys. Then… do you know what abilities each of these keys possesses?”

Evé asked.

Caught off guard by the question, Urinos paused briefly before smiling.

“If you asked another True God that question, they might not know anything about it. But fortunately for you, aside from the key of the Dimensional Realm, I have either seen or heard of the others myself…”

“The key of the Poseidonian Universe is crimson. Its power is [Stasis], allowing it to halt all existence, even time itself.”

“That key has long been under the control of that Ancient God Guy. It is the core power that allows the Reincarnation Faction to successfully carry over into the next universe.”

“The key of the Dragon Universe is this violet sphere. It is the one I possess. Its power is [Enlightenment], capable of enlightening all things and passing down knowledge. The inheritance of our Dragon Language exists because of it.”

“The key of the Titan Universe is a gold sphere. Its ability is [Space], which is why it was forged into a divine artifact capable of freely traversing space: the Gate of Reversal.”

At this point, Urinos glanced at Evé.

“I have heard that it is currently in your possession.”

Evé raised an eyebrow and nodded gently.

Urinos continued.

“As for the fourth universe, the New World, its key is a green sphere. Its ability is [Devour]. It is said that whoever controls it can absorb all things…”

“That key was once held by an Evil God, but it later disappeared as well.”

Wait—Green?

Devour…?

Evé’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She recalled the subtle resonance from her true body when Urinos had opened the Temples.

She thought of the [Absorption] ability she had awakened after becoming the World Tree.

She also remembered the green sphere of light she had touched before her resurrection…

Could it really be…?

Was the power of [Absorption] not an innate ability of the World Tree, but rather the power of the “Green Key”?

Countless thoughts raced through Evé’s mind at that moment, while Urinos continued her explanation.

“The key of the fifth universe, the Elemental World, is cyan. the ability of this sphere is every bit as mysterious as that of the Dimensional Realm. I can only speculate that it is somehow related to time.”

“Its whereabouts remain unknown, but I suspect that the accelerated flow of time in worlds that have fallen into the Abyss is somehow connected to it.”

“It may very well lie within the Abyss itself…”

After a brief pause, Urinos continued.

“As for the sixth universe, the Dimensional Realm, its key was the one used by Lord Neo.”

“It is said to be a blue sphere.”

—!

A wave of shock surged through Evé’s heart.

As she sensed the constantly rotating blue sphere within her divine soul, countless fragmented clues and lingering mysteries suddenly connected in her mind, forming a complete picture at last.

Good grief…

Three Keys of Origin were already in her possession.

And one of them was very likely the Key of Origin of the Dimensional Realm, the very one said to have disappeared together with Neo.

Could its true ability be traversing space-time itself, allowing its bearer to connect to entirely different universes?

Was it this blue sphere that had enabled her to establish a connection with the Universe of Earth?

Had Neo’s repeated disappearances throughout history actually been the result of Him journeying to the Earth Universe?

Had the World Tree itself also originated from the Earth Universe?

Or perhaps…

It had come from yet another universe altogether, assuming such universes beyond the known cycle truly existed…

—Wait.

If that were true…

Didn’t that mean she had already possessed the means to leave everything behind after ascending to Greater Divine Power all along?

Urinos remained completely unaware of Evé’s inner turmoil.

With a hint of nostalgia, the Ancestral Dragon said,

“The key of the Dimensional Realm is the most mysterious of all. It was always controlled by Lord Neo, and no one truly knew what it could do.”

“However, I suspect it has something to do with Lord Neo’s disappearances.”

“Your Grace Evé, you see, Lord Neo disappeared far more than once. In fact, he vanished so many times, though he always returned in the end. Only this final disappearance has remained unresolved.”

“Of course, this final time was also the only occasion on which he left behind the Origin Key.”

“As for the final key, the key of the Seigües Universe, it is orange. Its power is [Assimilation]…”

“This ability resembles [Devour], but there is an important difference. [Devour] can only absorb things weaker than oneself, whereas [Assimilation] can assimilate beings equal to oneself, or even stronger.”

“[Devour] could convert another’s power into your own.”

” Whereas [Assimilation] fuses oneself with its target, thereby allowing one to replace the other.”

“[Assimilation] can accelerate Yggdrasill’s fusion with the World of Seigües, transform a Divine Kingdom into a genuine realm, and also provide the Eternal Lord with the opportunity to replace that so-called Lord, the Will of the Universe.”

“Those are the seven keys corresponding to the Cradle of Origin.”

Having finished her explanation, Urinos turned to Evé once more, performed an ancient salute, and sighed.

“Your Grace Evé, regarding what happened a thousand years ago… I sincerely apologize.”

“I know the Eternal Lord has always feared the World Tree’s resurrection. As his power continued to grow, preventing the World Tree from reviving before it could fully awaken gradually became Etriōu’s obsession, even after no one remained capable of stopping his further ascent.”

“However, you need not worry. Although Etriōu’s temperament has become increasingly erratic, he is not beyond negotiation. I will join forces with the other Ancient Gods, and even some of the Gods of Faith, to pressure the Eternal Lord into ending his suppression of you.”

Evé: “…”

…Could negotiation really stop that guy?

No…

Rather, if the blue sphere inside her really was the Origin Key of the Dimensional Realm, then she had no reason to fear him.

After all…

She, too, could now ascend to Greater Divine Power.

Of course, while there were two possible paths, at the end of the day, there was only one throne.

Thus, conflict was still inevitable.

Evé looked up at Urinos.

“What if… Etriōu and I are destined to become enemies?”

Urinos froze for a moment.

After a long silence, she smiled bitterly.

“Then all I can do is save you by any means possible before he kills you, and bring you into the next cycle.”

Hearing that, Evé smiled.

“Your Majesty Urinos, you keep speaking about the next cycle. Does that mean you have no confidence in Etriōu at all?”

“Well, I have no confidence in the current you either…”

Urinos sighed.

Evé fell silent.

She understood that as long as Urinos remained unaware that she possessed the key of the Dimensional Realm, there was no reason for her to believe in Evé’s chances at all.

Urinos, and perhaps many of the Ancient Gods, merely saw the astonishing speed of her rise over the past few years, along with her overwhelming dominance against the Abyss, and thus placed a sliver of hope in her future.

However, Evé had no intention of revealing the truth about the blue sphere to anyone since on one hand, it involved matters regarding Earth, the softest place in her heart and her deepest secret.

On the other hand, it was simply a matter of being cautious.

So rather than revealing everything now in exchange for support and recognition, she preferred to keep it hidden and quietly grow stronger.

This was her greatest trump card.

With the situation still uncertain, and without even knowing who her true enemies were, exposing it now would be unwise.

With that thought, Evé ended the topic.

A moment later, however, she seemed to remember something.

“By the way, Your Majesty… have you ever heard of the Primordial Barrier?”

Urinos blinked in surprise.

“The Primordial Barrier?”

༺⟐༻

Turns out, Urinos had never heard of the Primordial Barrier either, despite being a deity ancient enough to witness countless ages.

After concluding their discussion, the two deities returned to the World of Seigües.

“Your Grace Evé, I will attempt to negotiate with Etriōu. As for you, I hope you will continue strengthening yourself as much as possible, at the very least bringing your rank to the absolute peak of Higher Divine Power.”

“This is not only for your own safety, but also to make your future breakthrough easier.”

“If there is anything you require, Dragon Island is willing to provide its full support.”

Urinos said.

“I understand. Thank you, Your Majesty Urinos.”

Evé nodded gently.

Although Urinos merely regarded her as a contingency plan, the sincerity she displayed was genuine enough, so Evé was willing to accept her goodwill.

That said, she honestly held little hope that Urinos’ negotiations with the Eternal Lord would succeed.

She had already prepared herself for war.

The War of Gods and Demons had ended.

By her estimation, it would not be long before the Eternal Lord came to “settle accounts” with her.

Fortunately, the seal over the Seigües World still remained.

Though it had become dangerously unstable, it had not yet completely broken.

With the Elven Legion under her command, Evé remained invincible within Seigües.

And looking toward the future, as well as her own safety, it was probably time to begin taking full control of the World of Seigües.

Although such a move would inevitably provoke opposition from many of the gods…

Still, when the time came to fight, she would have to fight.

After all, it was far from certain who would ultimately claim the throne of Greater Divine Power.

The two finally emerged from the cavern.

Looking up at the sun overhead, Urinos yawned.

“My apologies. Opening all seven Origin Temples consumed a great deal of my strength. I will need to sleep for a few more days to recover.”

“You are Dragon Island’s honored guest, so let Reinhardt accompany you and show you around.”

Evé smiled.

“There is no need.”

“I left an incarnation of mine among the Elven Chosen Ones and I intend to travel with them.”

Urinos raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Interesting… In that regard, you are quite similar to Reinhardt.”

༺⟐༻

After parting with Urinos, Evé shifted her consciousness back to her player incarnation, Féng.

Meanwhile, Urinos returned to the cavern to continue sleeping.

As Evé’s vision shifted back into Feng’s body, she found that the players were currently in Dragon Valley.

They were gathered around, enthusiastically watching an “intense” battle between two dragons…

Smack!

A majestic red dragon roared ferociously as it casually played a single card.

“The King’s Call descends upon this very battlefield! Witness this earth-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My soul, Dark Crimson Demon Dragon!”

Evé: “…”

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