Game of the World Tree

“Do you think you can escape?”

Eve’s eyes narrowed, revealing a dangerous yet composed expression. She remained calm while attentively observing the direction Uller sought to escape.

With an ethereal voice laced with mysterious power, she calmly spoke a single word that bent the laws of the surrounding area.

【 Impede 】

The instant she spoke, the fleeing incarnation of Uller also abruptly decelerated, as if his entire being had been plunged into slow motion.

Feeling the weight of an unseen force, Uller’s pupils swiftly contracted. His expression turned fierce, and a radiant aura erupted from his body with a resounding roar.

A cold and violent silvery grayish divine power then erupted from him, as the frigid aura kept surging out of his body relentlessly.

In mere moments, the surroundings transformed into a winter wonderland. Clouds rolled above him as snowflakes descended down to the ground, whilst being accompanied by howling winds.

The once verdant greenery, centered around Uller instantly froze as thin layers of ice encapsulated the trees as the plants in the area turned into ice sculptures…

The Winter God with a fierce expression, continued to roar, and the aura surrounding him intensified with each passing moment.

Right then, a clash unfolded between the Law of Winter and the Laws of Nature and Life, creating a tumultuous battlefield of opposing domains!

On Uller’s side, a frigid and violent aura spread out from him, carrying astonishing pressure and a sacred, resplendent majesty.

Following this burst of energy, Uller, who had been moving slowly, finally broke free from Eve’s control, regaining his prior momentum as he hastened his escape.

“Celestial Domain!?” Evé exclaimed after seeing the terrifying power bursting out from Uller’s body and sensing the momentary failure of the laws of her Domain.

Her expression shifted to astonishment, and her gaze grew solemn.

What’s going on?

Only the laws of another god could counteract the laws of the Celestial Domain!

However, Evé quickly dismissed the possibility of Uller manifesting his domain.

A Celestial Domain is essentially a True God using their own divinity as a guide to manifest the laws they govern as a medium to influence a region and bringing them under their control, thus making the area their domain.

Such an ability could only be wielded by the true god themselves and no one else!

Eve’s eyes locked onto Uller’s aura, and after a few seconds, an idea crystallized within her mind.

“…No, it’s not a Celestial Domain, but rather, a quasi-celestial level domain!”

Though she had finally comprehended it, Evé still couldn’t help but be inwardly amazed.

Uller’s ability to resist her domain with only having power levels of a demigod showcased his strength, even as an incarnation of his true self.

However in the end, an incarnation was still just an incarnation, even if it was under the control of a true god.

【 Imprison 】

Evé softly uttered again.

A rich, potent force of life erupted from her body as numerous small specks of green light surged forth, and immediately engulfing the fleeing figure of Uller.

The Winter God grimaced in pain as the numerous green lights bound his movements, and he once again froze in place. Yet his expression, though pained, revealed a hint of ferocity.

He glared at Evé, sneering and shouting, “Yggdrasill! Don’t think you’ve won!”

With arms outstretched, he bellowed, “Withering Heart! Use my incarnation’s divine power as a catalyst to imprison the power of the World Tree!”

Withering Heart!

Although this damaged divine artifact had initially targeted the wrong one and merely sealed the incarnation of Yggdrasill, now that the World Tree had manifested its Celestial Domain, it’s evident that she’s now using her real body!

This divine artifact was Uller’s real trump card.

Even though he didn’t leave his soul mark because he was afraid of the abyssal breath contained inside the artifact, he also left behind a secret contingency within the artifact to control it…

Now, in order to control this artifact once again, Uller had decided to sacrifice the power of his own incarnation!

With a fierce expression, Uller looked at Evé and continued to sneer.

Yes, he was careless, falling into her trap.

But at the same time, she also made a fatal mistake of approaching the withering heart whilst using on her real body!

While she was busy using her domain to deal with him, which in turn, temporarily divided her attention, Uller’s also took this chance to control the Withering Heart once more to imprison her real body!

For a moment, Uller seemed to have foreseen the reactivation of the artifact, successfully sealing the World Tree’s real body!

However, after he gave the command, the skull mark above Eve’s head only flickered slightly for a couple of times, and ultimately, nothing happened at all…

Uller: “….”

“H-How… is this possible?! How did I lose control of the Withering Heart?”

Uller’s gaze became vacant after realizing that the artifact wouldn’t properly activate no matter how much he tried.

Seeing his confused state, Evé couldn’t help but chuckle in amusement.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Oh…perhaps did you want to activate the contingency left inside that artifact? Perchance, the soul of that Orc Chief Shaman?”

Uller initially showed a dumbfounded expression, and when her words finally sank in, anger finally exploded within his face as he exclaimed, “Y-You!?”

“Wha—what did you do!?”

Eve’s lips curled as her face showed a playful look.

“What do you think?”

She then lightly touched the skull mark at the center on her forehead, with an evident mocking expression.

“Where do you think the life force absorbed by that artifact on the battlefield came from? Does Your Majesty really think all that life force came from the orcs who died in battle? Or what… do you think I won’t notice the fluctuation of their souls?”

Upon hearing her words, Uller was momentarily stunned, then his expression turned into shock.

“Y-You infused your own lifeforce and severed the connection between me and my believers!”

Evé raised the corners of her mouth before mischievously chuckling a couple of times.

“That’s right~”

When she realized that the Withering Heart was absorbing the lifeforce on the battlefield, Evé used the players as a medium to release her own lifeforce, which in turn interfered with the artifact.

And after the Chief Shaman sacrificed her life, and her soul was absorbed by the artifact, Evé kept a close eye on it and manifested her domain to isolate the Chief Shaman’s soul from the outside world and gain control over it.

Therefore, even now, Uller, despite using all his abilities, could no longer manipulate this artifact since she now has total control over the Chief Shaman’s soul inside the artifact.

She executed everything meticulously and had prepared well in advance, utilizing her familiarity with the laws of life and soul, so that the other party wouldn’t notice anything at all.

Of course, although she cut off Uller’s connection to the artifact, Evé herself was still unable to control the artifact, at least… for now.

Soon, Uller understood the gravity of his situation, and his expression turned extremely unpleasant and glommy.

But in an instant, he turned ferocious once again:

“Hmph! Yggdrasill! I admit I fell into your traps this time,” Uller uttered in a tone laced with venom but then smirked before adding, “However, you still can’t stop me if I want to escape!”

He then angrily roared once more, as the divine power within his body suddenly ignited!

Eve’s expression immediately turned serious.

This move again!

Burning one’s own divine power, and even the divine soul within the incarnation!

This was the very same desperate measure demigod Volker did in the past to escaped her control and it seemed Uller was also planning to do the same!

Of course, in the end, she managed to dragged Volker back like a dead dog. Yet now, it was Uller who was making the same desperate move, and unlike before, Uller was not a demigod like Volker but a true god!

If he really managed to break free from her Celestial Domain, then Uller would probably manage to escape successfully.

He must be detained at all cost!

At that moment, Evé became vigilant and serious.

【 Imprison 】

【 Imprison 】

【 Imprison! 】

She looked at Uller whilst uttering those series of words and her usual calm demeanor became more urgent, as her voice grew more uncharacteristically louder.

With each command, she quickly approached Uller, and in-between her gestures, a sense of majesty and sanctity continuously erupted out from her body…

In no time at all, the powerful law of her domain once again enveloped the Winter Deity, and Uller’s expression drastically changed.

“Ah—”

He clenched his teeth, veins bulging, after issuing another heart-wrenching roar.

But as he roared, the divine power burning within him became even brighter, and a destructive aura erupted from his body moments afterward.

An icy and violent energy then soared into the sky…

This energy directly collided with the verdant energy in the forest, as the two opposing power clashed against each other.

The two divine powers intertwined relentlessly, before erupting into a myriad of dazzling phenomena. The sacred and resplendent aura generated from this cataclysm wreaked havoc throughout the entire forest, and the overwhelming energy altered the very hues of the heavens and earth.

The surrounding forest alternated between icy frost and lush greenery, continually shifting between these two states, creating an incredibly surreal fantastical landscape…

After this phenomenon lasted for several seconds, it finally reached its limit.

There was no explosion nor thunderous noise.

Silently, everything around appeared incapable of withstanding the pressure of the two opposing laws, abruptly shattering and transforming into nothingness!

In the blink of an eye, a spacious crater nearly a kilometer in radius formed around Uller.

Everything vanished, leaving behind only an exaggerated giant crater in its wake.

And this… was still within Eve’s Celestial Domain, her own territory, this outcome was achieved due to an intentional suppression on her part.

Otherwise, it might not have been as small as a kilometer in radius, but a much broader crater, potentially obliterating dozens or even hundreds of kilometers of the forest!

Such widespread destruction was the a reason why the covenant was made which forbade clashes between demigods and above within the mortal realm.

After all this, Uller finally couldn’t withstand the confinement of the laws and was completely bound by wooden tendrils made from the energies of life.

His incarnation floated in mid-air above the giant crater, tightly entwined by wooden tendrils.

The tips of the tendrils pierced into his body, completely restraining his divine power, and the demigod godly robe he was wearing was already left in a tattered state…

His face was pale, whilst breathing in a rapid chaotic manner, as silver-colored blood transformed from divine power continuously flowed from his mouth and nose. His blood continuously dripped down into the ground, blossoming into ice crystals.

And at that moment, the incarnation of Uller could only widened his eyes, as he angrily glared at Evé, who was slowly approaching him in a relatively relaxed and leisurely manner.

“You lost.”

Evé said calmly.

— 252 —

【 ULLER YOU LOST 】

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