CHAPTER 666

【 ANOTHER MONTH 】

—

Never underestimate how keenly players observe or how eagerly they fawn over important NPCs.

Once the players picked up on the real identities of the three mythical dragons through Eve’s subtle hints in the quest description, the purpose of Mars and his companions traveling incognito had pretty much became meaningless.

What followed was a familiar pattern that had repeated itself many times before.

Players had spent more than a year studying dragons in obsessive detail, using the black dragon Meryer as their primary reference point. They combined that with everything they had learned from the dragons who visited the Elven Forest every month to deliver eggs, along with the many hatchlings and young dragons who had already forged companionship pacts with players. By this point, some players practically considered themselves amateur draconic scholars.

There were always experts who enjoyed collecting data and writing comprehensive guides for free after all, and the player base had no shortage of such enthusiasts.

So when the truth about the three mythical dragons came to light, the players fell straight into their usual routine, which was a highly polished strategy of flattering and bootlicking to build up favorability.

The gold dragon Mars soon noticed that the elves around him had become suspiciously friendly. Their smiles grew wider, their steps became lighter, and the number of watchers increased with every minute he spent traveling with the two elves who served as his company.

Before long, nearly every elf they passed stared at him with unrestrained admiration.

For reasons he could not fathom, their fervent gazes reminded this ancient gold dragon of his youth in the Dragon realm, when a group of newly grown males would stare at the most beautiful young silver dragon with hungry eyes.

As for flattery, praise, and attempts to curry favor, the line could have stretched from one end of the forest to the other.

He was a mythical being, and these elves were no more than ants in his eyes, but their strange behavior still made Mars shiver.

If dragons were capable of getting goosebumps, Mars felt quite certain he would be covered in them by now.

By this point, if he still failed to realize that his true identity had been exposed, he would have been nothing short of foolish indeed.

Not all players used the system’s chat feature to communicate. Quite a few quietly whispered to each other verbally in the game itself.

So as the crowd around him grew larger and larger, the sharp eared old dragon quickly understood why the number of elves continued to rise around him.

Yet when he caught snippets of their comments about the other two dragons, then heard the name of the silver dragon who had apparently been identified as “Mars,” the ancient gold dragon’s showed a somewhat peculiar expression.

Likewise, other the two silver dragons reacted the same manner when they overheard players speaking of a gold dragon who supposedly went by the name “Mercury.”

They had been companions for more years than they could comfortably count, and somehow even their fabricated identities ended up overlapping in a manner that created trouble for one another without hesitation.

Of course, this was only a trivial matter.

Soon after being coaxed, persuaded, and gently tugged along by enthusiastic players into visiting various cities, the three dragons finally witnessed the grand settlements that the elves had constructed. They stood in awe at the intricate magical tools woven seamlessly into daily life, marveled at the merging of ancient elven heritage with fresh influences brought from Earth, and gradually yielded to the endless stream of food the players kept offering them. ℞ἈΝo͍ＢĚŠ

This development was entirely natural, very much like the experience of many older elves who had returned to the Elven Forest.

In truth, the dragons were even more overwhelmed than those elves had been.

The three mythical dragons behaved much like countryfolk visiting a grand city for the first time, dazzled by the architecture, the inventive magical devices, and the colorful variety of foods.

In less than a day of interacting with the players, each of the three dragons drew the same conclusions, despite being in different locations.

First, these elves appeared to worship dragons and were extremely enthusiastic, almost to a humble degree.

Second, the elves were combative. Most had strong competitive spirits, yet beneath that aggression lay a mysterious sense of unity, as if bound by something invisible.

Third, not all elves were like this. In some cities there were also those gentle and serene elves whose presence reminded the ancient dragons of the Goddess of Life, with their kind and warm disposition.

Fourth, the elven civilization was brilliant and magnificent one, far beyond the primitive civilization back in the ancient era. The three dragons felt they could learn a great deal from it rather than the other way around.

Fifth, barbecue food was unquestionably the most delicious thing they’ve ever tasted in the world. They would hear no arguments on that point.

However, they discovered that elven magic was relatively rather simple. It lacked the rich complexity of dragon magic, which restored a bit of confidence to the proud mythical dragons and even sparked the idea of offering the elves some guidance in this area.

Moreover, those hatchlings and young dragons who have partnered themselves with the elves by a pact were an unexpected bonus.

Through conversations with the players, the three dragons soon learned about the current relationship between the Goddess of Life and the dragon race, as well as the state of the entire realm of Seigües. This deepened their respect for the Goddess, stirred sympathy and goodwill toward the elves, and fostered resentment and hostility toward humans and their respective patron deities.

Well, that was a matter for later.

In the divine kingdom of the World Tree, Eve watched through the system as the three human polymorphed mythical dragons enjoyed the food offered at the players’ barbecue stands and showed clear signs of pleasure.

“Welcome to the Elven Forest.”

She smiled slightly.

Silver and gold dragons had always been fond of civilized races.

From the moment they met the players and took interest in the Elven society, their futures were pretty much set.

After all, even that rascal Meryer and the bull-headed red dragon Tiberia eventually grew attached to the place after being pampered by the players for a while. There was no need to mention these three mythical dragons who would be living in the forest for a thousand years.

The moment they signed a thousand year loyalty contract with Evé, they had boarded a ship they could no longer leave.

Naturally, Mars’s dream of building a quiet and elegant dragon lair for himself was destined to fail.

A rare NPC of such high value would never be left in peace. Even if he placed countless isolation spells around his lair, it would likely become a sacred site for players who wished to challenge themselves by breaking in.

Evé could already imagine such scenario without him even having to do it now.

Beyond that, she wondered which lucky player or guild would eventually manage to persuade the three mythical dragons into becoming believers of the Goddess of Life.

At first, Evé believed that since these ancient dragons had no concept of faith, the players would not have too much trouble converting them.

But after observing their interactions, she realized she had underestimated these old ancient beings.

Sure, they lacked experience, but that did not make them naive.

More importantly, they were not like the half elven humans from the demirealm of Ouros.

These mythical dragons were incredibly powerful. Therefore, the proselytizing techniques that easily deceived those mortals would certainly not work on them.

Even so, Evé was not in a hurry. She could afford to wait.

And if, in the end, they never became her believers, she would not mind either way.

While having mythical dragons as believers would undoubtedly grant her some considerable benefits, maintaining a meaningful relationship did not always have to rely on having faith.

A thousand years of loyalty could change many things.

Friendship, bonds, attachments.

All sorts of possibilities existed.

If the three dragons, including Mars, had been chromatic dragons, that would be one thing.

But they were not.

They were silver and gold dragons, the most sincere and upright among all metallic dragons.

Gold dragons might be somewhat solitary and proud, but once they truly accepted someone, they would devote themselves without hesitation.

This was far better than most chromatic dragons, who would turn on their masters the moment an opportunity arose unless they had been raised from infancy.

As for what would happen a thousand years later on, not even Evé could predict it.

If she failed to overcome the fate of the previous World Tree, then all her plans would amount to nothing.

If she succeeded, then with her power she would be able to roam the cosmos freely, and loyalty would no longer even matter.

In this way, the three mythical dragons settled in the Elven Forest and, like the black dragon Meryer, began living a life of luxury and indulgence.

Another month slipped by almost without notice.

The snow in the forest gradually melted, revealing the dark soil beneath. A gentle spring breeze, carrying a faint trace of warmth, drifted through the lingering cold and stirred the plants and animals that had slept through the long winter.

Hints of green appeared on the treetops as new buds pushed their way into the light. Birds returned in flocks, filling the forest with soft chirps and fluttering wings, and the clear streams and crystal lakes began to ripple with the movement of lively fish once more.

A new year had begun, marking the fifth year since the game Elven Kingdom began its operation.

During this past month, the three mythical dragons gradually adapted to life in the Elven Forest. Those who wanted to build nests did so, and those who preferred to wander traveled freely. Meanwhile, Meryer, who had been forced to improve himself, began fusing with the Black Dragon divinity and entered his first long slumber in order to advance into mythical-rank.

Evé temporarily placed him in the Garden of Eden and gave him a little more golden divine blood as a catalyst. If her prediction was correct, with the blessing of divine blood, the black dragon’s slumber, which should have lasted for decades, might end just before the crusade against the demons officially began.

By then, he would no longer be a legendary-rank, but as a mythical dragon.

Such meteoric rise…

One could only say that this rascal truly had some incredible luck.

If he truly awakened in time, then once the crusade began, Evé would have four demigod-rank assistants at her side, including the three mythical dragons.

She would no longer lack high-end combatants.

With Meryer’s example in mind, Evé also tried granting a drop of golden divine blood to Spider Queen, Rose.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to her weak lineage, the Spider Queen could not absorb it properly.

Evé estimated that it would take years for Rose to fully digest even that single drop, and even then, it would only grant her a modest increase in strength without producing any fundamental transformation.

It was a pity.

Evé had hoped she might elevate Rose to demigod rank as well, envisioning a powerful ally by her side. However, she knew that demigods were truly rare beings, not something that could be created or forced.

Rather than risk strengthening Rose through dangerous means, Evé felt it would be better to create more demigod-rank elemental faeries, and even that was less important than increasing her own divine power as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, having four demigods participating in the Crusade would be more than enough to support her and help her deal with the evil gods.

Aside from Meryer entering slumber, Evé finally received a long awaited message from Dorft, the God of Dwarves.

After meeting briefly in the Pantheon, she successfully obtained the fully repaired Withering Heart artifact, along with a special container Dorft personally crafted to isolate its corruptive power.

After being repaired, the skull necklace looked even more ancient than before and seemed to hold an eerie mysterious power. Anyone who stared at it for too long would feel their consciousness pulled into it.

According to her assessment, its power had increased again, and the artifacts effects had also changed significantly.

It no longer limited solely on sealing its target’s powers but now also interfered with the target’s mind, impaired their judgment, and could even influence their thoughts.

This was an alarming power.

If used properly, it could even cause a true god to change their allegiance on the spot and temporarily become the wielder’s puppet.

Of course, it could only affect one target at a time, and only for a limited duration.

Furthermore, the artifact now scaled with its wielders strength instead of being restricted to gods of a weaker level.

If the user possessed weak divine power or lower, the artifact could only affect beings below that level.

If the user grew stronger, the artifact’s influence would rise accordingly, limited only by the amount of life force consumed to activate it.

In other words, with Eve’s current intermediate divine power, she could use the Withering Heart on a deity of the same rank. If she someday reached the level of greater divine power, she could even reverse the will of a god of that rank.

That was the artifact’s upper limit. It could not affect gods stronger than that.

However, the life force needed to operate it was terrifying, and the duration of its effect was proportional to the cost.

If she used it on someone of equal standing, Evé estimated that she would exhaust nearly all of her divine reserves after sealing the opponent.

If she attempted to manipulate judgment or force a shift in her enemies allegiance, she could likely maintain the effect for only a few seconds while conserving power.

But a few seconds was enough. At a critical moment, those few seconds could change the outcome of a battle.

There was no doubt that after the Gate of Reversal and the Sword of Damocles, the repaired Withering Heart had become Eve’s third trump card.

Evé was in an excellent mood and thanked Dorft generously. She also sent another group of elemental faeries to the southern mountains to assist the dwarves in cleansing the abyssal corruption beneath the region.

But that’s a story for later.

During the same month, the players also experienced a significant rise in strength.

Over ninety percent of players reached the maximum level, and the number of silver ranked players exceeded ten thousand and was approaching twenty thousand.

Eve’s original plan to open advancement slots for the next stage at ten thousand silver-rankers was finally ready to begin.

Meanwhile, the civil war in the Maple Leaf Territory of the Holy Maniya Empire, which Evé had been quietly monitoring, entered its most critical stage.

----------------------------------------

〘 PREVIOUS 〙

〘 NEXT 〙

— —

----------------------------------------