CHAPTER 614

【 BAROLTE, THE GOD OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND CONSTRUCTION 】

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The abyssal power within the Sealed Lands immediately began to dissipate the moment the incarnation of Demon Lord Samael was destroyed.

The oppressive mist that had churned across the land gradually thinned, while outside the ancient dwarven palace, the lesser and greater demons broke into chaos. Their formations collapsed, and they scattered like startled beasts, fleeing in every direction.

The heavy, suffocating weight that had pressed upon the hearts of all present was suddenly lifted as a collective breath of relief swept across the battlefield.

“Hey, don’t you feel much lighter now?”

“Yes, it’s strange… I feel as though my mind has become calm.”

“Hm? Look! The demons are fleeing!”

“No way… they really are!”

“It must mean the goddess has won her battle. Don’t let them escape, chase them down! This is our chance to gain contribution points!”

“Praise the Goddess! Please bless me with a divine artifact repair voucher!”

Such cries echoed one after another among the players. Their spirits reignited and seized the moment to rush forward, cutting down the disoriented demons in great numbers.

In that single moment, the tide of battle shifted entirely.

What had once been a desperate struggle was now completely reversed, as the elves advanced with unwavering force.

The dwarves, too, were filled with vigor.

Among all, they had been most heavily affected by Samael’s power. But now that the Demon Lord had vanished, they were the ones who felt the change most profoundly.

The violent rage and madness in their hearts disappeared entirely, and clarity once again returned to their eyes.

Gazing at the dispersing mist around him, Greycloth’s expression brightened.

“The power of the abyss is fading…”

“The Goddess of Life must have triumphed over Barolte!”

With those words, he raised his staff high and commanded,

“My fellow dwarves, let us join our elven allies and exterminate those demons!”

“Kill them all!”

Tonglu, who had long awaited this moment, roared with fury and charged ahead first. The other dwarves followed in turn, drawing their weapons and pursuing with excitement. ꞦÀNǒＢËS

They had awaited this moment for far, far too long.

“Kill them all!” the dwarves shouted in unison, voices echoing with years of pent-up fury.

“Kill them all!” the elves answered, their own cry rising to meet the dwarves’.

The two voices intertwined, growing louder and louder until they merged into a single resounding battle cry that shook the battlefield itself.

So thunderous was their united roar that even Evé, deep within the ancient palace, heard it clearly.

She allowed herself a faint smile, then turned and continued walking toward the innermost depths of the structure.

The underground palace complex stretched endlessly before her, its corridors winding like a labyrinth designed to confound intruders. The scale of it was staggering and so vast that Evé judged it to be even grander than the Demon Lord labyrinth she had created for Azazel.

With every step downward, the air grew heavier, saturated with the power of the abyss. The deeper she went, the more palpable its influence became, as though the walls themselves were imbued with lingering malice.

Samael’s incarnation had already been destroyed, and the abyssal power was gradually dissipating. Yet as Evé descended further, she noticed the decline slowing, the corruption stubbornly clinging to the deeper chambers like a shadow refusing to lift.

Signs of demonic activity were scattered throughout the vicinity, increasing in frequency the further she pressed on.

Evé even encountered panicked demons who, upon seeing her, immediately fled in terror like headless flies.

She merely cast them a glance and moved on, leaving such creatures for the players to handle in due time.

Her true purpose in pressing deeper was to reach the core of the palace, which lay hidden in the innermost depths of the sprawling underground complex.

After awhile, Evé at last finally descended to the very bottom. Here, the abyssal energy was no longer a formless miasma but had condensed into something almost tangible, saturating the air until it seemed heavy and viscous, as though the surroundings had been swallowed by the Abyss itself.

And this was after Samael’s incarnation had already been destroyed. Had the Demon Lord still lingered, the corruption here would have been way much more unbearable, perhaps even potent enough to taint the very soul of any deity who dared intrude.

However, Eve felt no such fear of being corrupted.

After all, Although the body she was currently using was only a divine incarnation, it still retained certain qualities of her true form, thereby granting her some considerable resistance against the power of the abyss.

Even so, the density of the abyssal energy only deepened her curiosity.

“What exactly has Samael hidden in this place? Why is the abyssal energy so concentrated here?”

Samael was without a doubt scheming something within these chambers.

Evé had recognized as much from the moment she confirmed the Second Demon Lord’s true identity.

The incarnation of Samael had clearly possessed the means to break free from his sealed prison long ago, yet for some reason, he had still remained here, relying on his demonic subordinates to gradually wear down the dwarves’ strength.

—No

Perhaps his purpose had never been to weaken the dwarves at all. Rather, it seemed he sought to harvest their very souls and flesh.

Over the past few days, Evé had closely studied the demons within the Sealed Lands. Her observations revealed that only a small fraction of them were dwarves who had truly succumbed to corruption. Such numbers were far too low when compared against the heavy losses the dwarves had actually incurred over the years.

So then, this raised the question…

Where exactly had those “fallen” corrupted dwarves gone?

Carrying this doubt, along with a growing suspicion, Evé pressed on toward the deepest end of the palace.

By now, she had descended at least a thousand meters beneath the surface.

At the end of the hallway stood a dilapidated archway, its surface etched with ancient, mystical patterns. Chains were coiled tightly around it on all sides.

Yet those chains had long since broken, some even charred black.

At the sight of it, Evé arched a brow.

“The Chains of Sealing…?”

The Chains of Sealing were a type of divine artifact, commonly used by true gods to suppress evil deities.

If her assumptions was correct, this place must once have been the true site wherein “Evil God Barolte” had actually been sealed.

With a gentle wave of her hand, Evé collected the broken Chains of Sealing.

Although badly damaged and beyond repair, the chains could still be purified. With some modification, she could later sell them to the players.

Refining them into a True Divine Artifact was impossible, even with the assistance of the God of Dwarves and Forging. However, they could still be salvaged by lowering their grade and transforming them into a Lesser Divine Artifact.

The players would surely love such an item. In fact, once modified, these chains could serve as a powerful item for them to seal bosses.

Stowing away the Chains of Sealing, Evé pushed open the weathered stone doors.

With a deep groan, the doors slowly parted, releasing a wave of abyssal power far denser than anything she had felt before.

Corruption, malice, darkness.

It all bombarded her at once, surging like a tidal wave that sought to erode her very essence.

Even with her exceptionally high resistance to abyssal energy, Evé frowned at the suffocating aura. It pressed down upon her like an unseen weight, threatening to crush her entirely.

At the same time, the corrupted divine power stored within her incarnation had nearly flared out of control in response, as if drawn to the abyss before her.

Evé halted, closed her eyes, and drew in several long, steady breaths. Only after gathering her bearings did she manage to rein in the turbulent energy raging within her.

Then, raising a hand to the Crown of Nature, she invoked a divine blessing upon herself. A soft emerald glow spread across her body, forming a protective veil of tranquil power that faintly resisted the abyssal corruption.

With renewed resolve, she carefully stepped forward.

Beyond the archway stretched a dilapidated, ancient temple. At its center stood a massive black pool.

Several grotesque-looking demon statues surrounded the pool, their peculiar arrangement making it clear they had been deliberately placed there for some kind of ritualistic purpose.

Meanwhile, covering the floor was a vast and intricate array formation, its lines etched deep into the stone and glowing faintly with a sinister aura.

The black pool lay at the center of this array. Within it churned a thick, red-black liquid that reeked of blood, filling the air with a pungent, iron-rich stench.

As her gaze lingered on the viscous substance, Evé’s brow furrowed slightly.

Finally, she understood where those “fallen” dwarves had disappeared.

“Alas, they were truly used for a blood sacrifice…”

Evé sighed softly.

Taking a few steps forward, she arrived at the pool of black blood.

She examined it carefully for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently touched the black pool. Golden light gathered at Eve’s fingertips, and a faint wave of divine power spread out.

The moment the divine light touched the pool, the black liquid shuddered, and the surrounding space warped with violent distortion.

To Evé’s astonishment, an ancient stone gate slowly emerged from the depths of the pool. Its towering frame bore a striking resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe ¹ back on Earth.

However unlike its earthly counterpart, this arch was adorned with intricate reliefs depicting colossal one-eyed giants instead.

Evé immediately recognized them.

“Titans…”

“So, it was for the sake of this gate?” she murmured, her heart stirring with both surprise and unease.

With a casual wave of her hand, thick vines burst from the ground, slithering forward like living tentacles. They coiled firmly around the arch and, with a deep rumble, dragged it free from the black pool.

The gate rose to its full height, nearly nine meters tall, its surface a flawless, obsidian black that seemed to suck in the light around it.

Extending her divine senses toward it, Evé froze in mild surprise.

“…How odd.”

She could not identify its material, nor could she glean its function. Every attempt to probe deeper was met with resistance, as if an unseen force was deliberately obstructing her perception.

Her brows knit together.

“Hmm…”

Her curiosity deepened, now laced with a subtle sense of foreboding.

But just as she prepared to call upon greater divine power to probe further, the gate quivered faintly and released a ghostly glow.

Before her astonished eyes, a translucent sphere of light slowly emerged from within the arch gate.

“A sphere of divine power?”

Evé was momentarily taken aback.

“No… it is not only divine power. There seems to be a trace of divine will within it as well.”

Her heart stirred.

This power was very similar to the spheres of divine energy she and Hela had once used to transmit messages.

In other words, this sphere seemed to be a message left behind by a divine being.

The divine power contained inside the sphere was pure, completely untouched by the corruption of the Abyss.

It stood in stark contrast with the malevolent aura radiating from the Stone Gate, which was really peculiar to say the least.

Evé paused in thought for a moment, then gently waved her hand, summoning the sphere of divine power toward her.

Extending her right hand, she gently tapped it.

At her touch, the sphere of light blossomed with brilliant radiance, and an ancient, unfamiliar presence spread outward.

Then, within her mind, she heard an aged voice:

“To you who have found this message…

I am Barolte, the God of Craftsmanship and Construction.

Since you have managed to awaken this sphere, I can only assume you too are a True God, and that the Gate of Reversal has not yet fully fallen into the hands of Demon Lord Samael.

Alas, my divine soul has already been corrupted by Samael. If you see me walk the world of the living once again, please do not hesitate: know that what stands before you is nothing but Samael masquerading in my form.

Samael is consumed by ambition. Through blood sacrifice, he seeks to forcibly activate the Gate of Reversal, to tear open a direct passageway between the Realm of Seigües and Hell, and to drag the entire world into the Abyss.

If you have entered this place in secret, then I beseech of you—destroy the Gate of Reversal before his plan succeeds, lest all life in Seigües be cast into eternal ruin.

The method of destruction is simple: awaken the power I sealed within this sphere and channel it into the Gate itself.

Of course, if you have already defeated Samael, then you have my deepest gratitude.

Even so, I must ask of you another favor…

Should you triumph over Samael, please deliver what remains of my divinity to Lord Dorft. Tell His Highness that I failed in the trust He placed upon me, that I should never have ventured into the Point of Origin, that my recklessness has led to this catastrophe.

This, all of it, is the price of my folly.

As a token of gratitude, I bequeath to you the Gate of Reversal itself. Through it, you may traverse to any place you desire.

Furthermore, I shall impart to you all I know of this Gate: its origin, its function, and secrets even Samael has never uncovered. But this knowledge I will grant only once you swear upon an oath as a True God.

Will you accept my request?”

The ancient voice faded into silence, leaving only the lingering resonance of its solemn words.

Almost at once, the sphere of light shifted and reshaped itself, transforming into a sheet of parchment that floated gently in the air before Evé. Upon its surface, golden runes shimmered faintly, forming words that mirrored the very message she had just heard.

Evé’s eyes widened, surprise flickering across her face.

“So this is the message Barolte left behind… the God of Craftsmanship and Construction, before his soul was fully corrupted. To preserve a fragment of his will within this gate for so long… such precision, such intricacy… it could only be achieved by one who had truly mastered the divine art of craftsmanship.”

“The Gate of Reversal… this is the first time I have ever heard of such a structure. Even the inheritance of the World Tree makes no mention of it.” She paused, her voice dropping to a whisper. “And the Point of Origin… what exactly is that?”

“No wonder Samael corrupted Barolte’s body yet could not draw upon His Divinities. They were no longer with him… he had already sealed them elsewhere.”

Her brows furrowed as she lowered her gaze to the parchment once more, her divine senses sweeping over it carefully.

“But then, where are His Divinities? I see no trace of them here…”

As for Samael’s schemes, she was not surprised in the slightest.

For Evil Gods and Demon Lords like him, their greatest ambition seems to always remain the same: that is, to drag every realm in the cosmos into the Abyss, especially Seigües, which lay at its very center.

Such designs were nothing new to Evé.

Gazing at the divine contract before her, she considered for a while, then carefully extended her senses across its surface.

After a thorough inspection, her expression shifted with dawning realization.

“So that is it. Barolte has hidden His Divinities within this contract by concealing it through the usage of spatial law… and perhaps reinforced by the power of craftsmanship. Clever.”

Her eyes narrowed as she traced the flow of divine patterns running through the parchment-like construct.

“Let’s see… If I refuse to sign, His Divinities will detonate, and every fragment of information sealed within will vanish with them.”

“Hmm, looks like there is no way around it. Even a god far stronger than I am could not unravel this mechanism. Only by entering this covenant as a true god can this be preserved.”

She paused, then caught a faint flicker of runes shifting along its edge.

“Hm? A time limit as well? If no decision is made within an hour, the contract will self-destruct… along with the Divinities.”

Evé exhaled softly, a glimmer of reluctant admiration surfacing in her eyes.

“As expected of the God of Craftsmanship. To weave such a mechanism with divine power alone… impressive.”

Eve could not help but admire His craftsmanship.

After some thought, she chose to accept the request.

“I, the Goddess of Life, Mother of Nature, and Sovereign of the Elvenkind, Evé Yggdrasill, accept your request.”

Her voice rang out in elven tongue. As divine power surged forth in response, her words seemed to resonate through the chamber itself.

The parchment of light blazed brilliantly before her, its glow swelling until it was almost blinding, then suddenly erupted into flames of pure radiance.

In that instant, Evé felt something etch itself upon the core of her divine soul.

Without a doubt, it was the binding force of the covenant she had agreed upon just now.

Should she ever break its terms, the backlash of divine law would immediately fall upon her.

The parchment burned away completely, vanishing into motes of light. Then, a faint spatial ripples spread through the air. Slowly, two gleaming crystals and a new sphere of divine power emerged, drifting gently before her.

The crystals radiated sacred pressure, shining with strange brilliance.

They were the physical manifestation of divinity. If she was not mistaken, these crystals represented the divinity of Craftsmanship and Construction.

As for the remaining sphere of divine light, she realized it contained the knowledge concerning the Gate of Reversal.

Evé carefully gathered the floating crystals, then activated the new sphere left behind by Barolte.

Once again, the aged voice of Barolte resounded within her mind.

“Friend, since you have reached this point and accepted my request, I, Barolte, offer my deepest gratitude.”

Now, I shall reveal to you the secret of the Gate of Reversal…”

¹ The Arc de Triomphe is a monumental French triumphal arch in Paris, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, designed by Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin, and built to honor France’s military achievements.

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