Chapter 845

【 UNDERGROUND WAR, JOURNEY TO THE NETHERWORLD 】

The Dark City-State Alliance had launched a war against the City-State Alliance!

Yet the Goddess of Death, Hela, had suddenly become unreachable…

Evé was initially stunned when she heard this news from Fenrir. However, she soon formed a vague suspicion.

“Fenrir, don’t be anxious. The Dark Alliance’s rash declaration of war is likely related to some change that has occurred within the Netherworld. It is very possible that the one who has truly fallen into a state of panic is Hodur.”

Evé said.

“The Lord of Darkness and Shadow?”

Fenrir was astonished.

“Of course. This is a sudden, undeclared war after all. Between forces with different faiths, I believe that as an emissary of the Goddess of Death, you should know what this means.”

After hearing her words, Fenrir gradually calmed down.

Indeed, ever since the Divine Covenant had been established, wars between different True Gods had become increasingly cautious.

Typically before a war could begin, a formal declaration had to be issued first, and the reason for the war had to be stated. Moreover, the reason had to possess a certain degree of legitimacy, somewhat similar to the proclamations of war from her previous life.

These were the core rules of the covenant among the True Gods.

To launch a war without declaring it was to violate those rules and break the agreements that had been established.

In a world ruled by True Gods, this act was practically a blatant trampling of their authority!

Even a True God of Higher Divine Power would exercise great caution before doing such a thing. Yet now, Hodur, with his Dark City-State Alliance believers had actually done it!

A war of faith initiated by believers could not possibly proceed without the orders or tacit approval of their Patron Deity. In other words, this was an action taken by the Lord of Darkness and Shadow.

But what could have happened to make Hodur, this cautious and scheming True God to violate the Covenant?

Most likely, something must have happened that was detrimental to him!

Moreover, it had to be something even more serious than violating the Covenant itself!

At this thought, Fenrir’s eyes brightened slightly.

He, too, had been unable to contact the Goddess of Death. So his concern had clouded his judgment, but after calming down, Fenrir quickly understood everything.

“Then… Your Grace, you mean to say that…”

The Demon Wolf had formed a vague conjecture, and his spirits immediately lifted.

Evé did not explain further.

She merely smiled and nodded.

“Of course. Since you have lost contact with Her Majesty Hela, then she may also have encountered some trouble in the Netherworld. Therefore, Fenrir, lead the way. I am going there.”

Evé continued.

Fenrir was slightly startled.

“Your Grace, you’re personally going to the Netherworld?”

Evé smiled.

“If my guess is correct… this is also the agreement I made with Her Majesty Hela.”

Fenrir’s heart stirred.

However, he said nothing more. Instead, Fenrir respectfully bowed to Evé.

“Thank you, Your Grace, the benevolent Goddess of Life.”

After saying this, Fenrir hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and asking:

“Then, Your Grace, the Goddess of Life… what about the situation in the Underground and the City-State Alliance?”

His expression was somewhat apprehensive.

Evé understood what the Demon Wolf meant. She glanced toward Feynir, who was standing nearby, and the Fairy King immediately understood her intention.

“Lord Fenrir, there is no need to worry. I will immediately arrange for the Chosen Ones to support the City-State Alliance.”

She said.

“Then I am deeply grateful!”

Fenrir said gratefully.

Although the recovery of his divine power had greatly increased the strength of the City-State Alliance, compared with the renowned Elven Chosen Ones, they were still far inferior.

With the Fairy King’s promise, the Demon Wolf Fenrir finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Feynir, meanwhile, quickly took action. She immediately issued the quest and summoned the players.

In an instant, the entire Elven Forest, Dark Mountains, and Desert of Death became bustling with activity…

༺⟐༻

The Underground Region, Blade City.

The current Chieftain of the city, the gnome Brin, stood atop the black city walls and gazed at the surging army of shadows below, his expression solemn.

Six years had passed since the previous war.

Ever since the City-State Alliance had established friendly relations with the elves, its development had grown increasingly prosperous. A large number of surface-world goods had flowed underground, causing Blade City, which occupied an important position along the trade routes, to flourish even further.

By comparison, most of the territory of the Dark City-State Alliance had suffered tremendous losses.

The Lich King Perone had even lost divine favor. After returning, he was quickly overthrown by the various dark city-states acting together, thus plunging the entire Dark City-State Alliance into a civil war that lasted for five years.

Brin had originally thought that the Dark City-State Alliance was leaderless and had completely lost the ability to threaten the City-State Alliance.

Yet he had never expected the civil war to end so strangely in less than two months, followed immediately by the Dark Alliance launching an undeclared war against the entire City-State Alliance!

The war had erupted far too suddenly. So most members of the City-State Alliance had no time to react before being subjected to a devastating assault by the Dark Alliance’s forces.

Large numbers of frenzied shadow monsters had appeared among the Dark Alliance’s army, inflicting enormous casualties upon the City-State Alliance…

In less than two days, Shanatar, whose defensive forces were relatively weak, had fallen, leaving Blade City isolated and without reinforcements once again!

Brin shifted his gaze away from the army of shadows, which surged forward like a tide, and looked toward the Death Priest standing beside him.

“Has Lord Firebeard still been unable to contact Her Majesty?”

The Death Priest shook his head, his expression solemn.

“Chief, there is still no news from Lord Firebeard…”

Brin’s expression grew even more serious.

“What about reinforcements? Have we requested assistance from the Elves? Is there any news from the Holy City?”

He looked toward a diplomat standing nearby, who was responsible for communications.

The diplomat’s face was somewhat pale.

“Chief, the Dark Alliance has already severed our connection with the Holy City… Also, there are too many of them. There are simply too many shadow monsters…”

“What about magical communications? The magical communication device the elves helped us establish? The one called a ‘telephone.’”

“Sir, it’s down… Everything is down. There must be a Legendary-rank Mage working against us… All our magical devices for communicating with the surface world have become ineffective! Even our teleportation arrays are useless!”

“A Legendary-rank Mage? No wonder the Dark Alliance suddenly has the confidence to attack us…”

Brin’s expression became even more grim.

He took a deep breath and composed himself before speaking again.

“I remember there are still some elven mercenaries in the city. Quickly, invite them to meet with me!”

“Yes, Chief!”

The diplomat turned to leave.

“Wait!”

Brin suddenly called him back.

“Actually, take me to them.”

The diplomat was slightly taken aback, then nodded firmly.

༺⟐༻

Under normal circumstances, finding the few elven mercenaries in Blade City would not have been easy.

However, the outbreak of war had changed everything.

Wherever the fighting was most intense, the elves were certain to be found. This was practically a universally acknowledged fact, even among the inhabitants of the underground.

Soon, the diplomat found the elves at a breach in the city wall.

Several elves stood there, each possessing a profound and powerful aura. Even the experienced Silver-rank warriors stationed on the walls looked at them with awe.

Every one of their attacks struck down the enemy soldiers attempting to scale the walls with overwhelming ease, cutting through them as effortlessly as chopping vegetables.

In the sky above, several majestic dragons could even be seen.

Although they had yet to reach adulthood, they had already begun to display the bearing of adult Dragons. With each breath of dragonfire they unleashed, those juvenile Dragons assisted their elven companions in battle.

“Optimist! Sir Optimist!”

The diplomat hurriedly called out from behind the elves.

Hearing his voice, Optimist, whose body was covered in blood, turned around.

“Lord Chaka?”

His eyes immediately lit up.

Chaka was the diplomat’s name. He was also a Dark Dwarf who had become acquainted with Optimist and the others long ago. Their friendship had begun after the previous war, when everyone had gathered at a tavern for drinks.

Of course, Optimist and the others had come here this time because they had accepted a quest to help the Church of Death escort a divine artifact. They had not expected to encounter the outbreak of war while passing through Blade City.

Since they happened to be there, they had stayed behind to assist in defending the city.

“Sir Optimist! The Chief wishes to meet with all of you!”

Chaka said.

Afterward, his gaze swept over the group before he suddenly paused.

“Hm? Sir Boxlunch isn’t here?”

Optimist smiled bitterly.

“You see, our captain hasn’t been feeling well these past few days, so he hasn’t logged on… Ah, no, I mean, he’s been sleeping, I guess. He’s still resting at the tavern.”

“I see…”

Chaka nodded.

He knew Boxlunch. He was rather famous among the elves and was extremely formidable.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be somewhat poor at expressing himself, so Chaka had not interacted with him very much.

Of course, this was not the time to strengthen their personal relationships with the elves.

Chaka stepped aside and introduced Brin.

“Chief, this is Sir Optimist, a powerful Gold-rank elven warrior!”

Brin nodded and performed the ceremonial gesture of the Church of Death toward Optimist.

“Sir Optimist! Thank you for all your assistance!”

Optimist waved his hand with a smile.

“It is only natural. The City-State Alliance is our ally, after all.”

Brin’s favorable impression of the elves immediately increased.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to get straight to the point.

“Sir Optimist, I have heard that the elven Chosen Ones can communicate with one another no matter where they are. As such, may I ask, can you still contact someone at the Elven Forest right now?”

“Alas, there are simply too many shadow monsters in the Dark Alliance’s army… We have completely lost contact with the other city-states as well. At this point, we can only request assistance from the Elven Forest!”

Ever since the elves had conquered the Desert of Death, Blade City had established trade relations with Sandstorm City, which was not particularly far away.

If the world-renowned army of Elven Chosen Ones could be mobilized, the crisis facing Blade City would surely be resolved.

Hearing Brin’s words, Optimist smiled.

“Chief, rest assured. Our higher ups in the Elven Forest had already learned about the situation here a long time ago. In fact, the army is already on its way here, and they should be arriving very soon.”

Brin was stunned, both surprised and delighted.

“Th-this quickly?!”

“Yes. I can assure you since we have already received the quest.”

Optimist said.

Hearing this, Brin’s worried heart finally settled.

The elven Chosen Ones were a very unique group.

They were meticulous and would always do their utmost to complete any missions they accepted. No matter how great the price they had to pay, they would never give up.

They were the most trustworthy mercenaries in the entire World of Seigües!

Brin had absolute faith in this.

And as though to confirm his thoughts, not long after he finished speaking with Optimist, a series of tremors came from behind the army of shadows.

That was the direction of Sandstorm City.

The tremors quickly caught Brin and the others’ attention, while Optimist chuckled.

“Ah. Speak of the devil, here they come.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the dense army of shadows in the vicinity suddenly descended into chaos.

Their tightly packed formation was torn open, and one elven warrior after another, their entire bodies enveloped in magical radiance and their powerful, fierce auras on full display, appeared in Brin and the others’ field of vision…

It was an army formed by the players. They had arrived from the direction of Sandstorm City.

By now, the number of players who had descended into the world had long since become vastly greater than before. The existence of Sandstorm City also meant that players no longer needed to rely on long-distance teleportation arrays to reach the battlefield as quickly as possible.

Participating in a mere war in the underground region was practically effortless.

Thus, after Feynir issued the quest, the reinforcement army was quickly assembled and dispatched.

Such efficiency was unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Seeing the fully armed and imposing elven army, the soldiers defending Blade City erupted into cheers.

They knew that the city was saved.

Invincible in attack, undefeated in battle.

Ever since the elven Chosen Ones had stepped onto the main stage of the World of Seigües, their illustrious reputation had spread from the Far Northern Arctic to the southeastern reefs. By now, there was virtually no one who had not heard of them.

And as one of the earliest allies of the elves, everyone in the City-State Alliance understood this better than anyone.

It was worth mentioning that, from beginning to end, Evé had paid no attention to this war.

Her power had long since become incomparable to what it once was, and the players were no longer the players they had been in the past.

The balance of power had been completely reversed within just a few years. The Dark City-State Alliance, which had once made Evé wary, was now no longer worthy of her concern.

What concerned her far more was what had happened in the Netherworld.

༺⟐༻

Beyond the World of Seigües, at the Junction of the Endless Abyss and the Upper Realms.

Here stood a realm far more vast than the other realms. It radiated a profound, dusky light, seemingly attached to the Abyss itself.

This was the Netherworld.

A realm situated between the Abyss and the Upper Realms in the Prime Material World. It was also the final destination of the souls of countless faithless and shallow believers after their deaths in the Seigües Universe.

Outside the Netherworld, a golden Triumphal Arch Gate slowly opened.

Silver-blue radiance flickered gently as the figure of the Demon Wolf Fenrir appeared.

This time, he was not merely using an incarnation and arrived with his true body.

With the World of Seigües sealed and his connection with the Goddess of Death severed, only by relying on Evé’s Gate of Reversal could he arrive here so quickly.

Beside him was Evé, who had chosen to come in the form of a divine incarnation.

Looking at the dim radiance surrounding the Netherworld, Evé raised an eyebrow.

“The Netherworld has been closed.”

Judging by the look of things, it had been sealed from within. The effect was similar to what had once happened to Mindel Realm.

It was likely precisely because the Netherworld had been closed that Hela’s power had been cut off.

However, the Dark City-State Alliance had still been able to launch its attack. This meant that the Lord of Darkness and Shadow’s power remained connected to the World of Seigües.

Then the identity of the one who had closed the Netherworld was already quite clear.

The Demon Wolf Fenrir realized this as well.

His expression changed dramatically.

“Impossible! How could the Lord of Darkness and Shadow possibly control the entire Netherworld?!”

“We will know once we go inside. Perhaps… this is not necessarily a bad thing.”

Evé said calmly.

With that, the Gate of Reversal once again burst into radiant light, and the scenery within the gate changed once more.

Beyond it lay the interior of the Netherworld, specifically the coordinates within the Netherworld that Hela had once left for Evé.

Without the slightest hesitation, the two stepped through the opposite side of the gate.

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