Game of the World Tree

In the case of Ouros, although his reckless exploitation of the demi-realm’s life force was the most immediate cause, it was merely the trigger.

This demi-realm wasn’t naturally formed, nor was it created by a god through conventional means. Instead, it was forcefully transformed by a demigod who sacrificed their own soul to transform a unique spatial space into what exists now.

But such a transformation came with immense, inherent risks.

At its core, the demi-realm had once been an incomplete divine kingdom, a gift bestowed upon Oros by the former World Tree.

Although it had the potential to evolve into a fully mature realm, having such a potential alone wasn’t enough and transforming it into reality required a long and arduous process.

The key to this transformation lay in allowing the demi-realm’s Provenance to fully develop.

Only through its full maturation could the demi-realm stabilize and flourish.

Yet, achieving this was by no means a simple task.

Without the direct guidance of a deity, the Provenance’s development would take eons—tens of millions of years of slow, organic evolution.

However, even with divine intervention, completing this process could still require centuries.

For even the most powerful of gods, creating a fully mature demi-realm from scratch would demand decades of meticulous effort.

Oros, however, discovered a shortcut to hasten the entire process.

The price was a flawed Provenance, which left the demi-realm with a drastically shortened lifespan.

Even so, this expedited result was only possible because the original demi-realm, in its prior state as a divine kingdom, already had well-established foundational laws.

Alas, this method was nearly impossible to replicate and also carried a steep cost.

When Evé took over the demi-realm, she immediately understood its predicament. Without external intervention, this realm would collapse entirely within ten years.

The cracks spidering across its skies, resembling fractures in delicate glass, were unmistakable warnings of its impending demise.

Though the demi-realm seemed stable for now, this stability was nothing more than a fragile illusion.

Its collapse would not come gradually, like the slow boiling of a frog in water. Instead, it would be abrupt and catastrophic, akin to a bursting of a dam, unleashing devastation upon its wake.

At first, nothing would seem amiss, but once the threshold was reached, this demi-realm would implode within a short period.

“Ten years… If I can’t repair this demi-realm within ten years, then I’ll have no choice but to abandon it,”

“Because it was forcefully transformed, this demi-realm has now become permanently fixed in its current state. Until its Provenance is restored, it’s practically impossible to revert it back into a divine kingdom. It seems I can’t integrate it into my own divine kingdom either…”

“Nonetheless, I definitely cannot give up on these new believers. They hold significant potential and are crucial to my future plans…”

“Ultimately, if this demi-realm can’t be repaired, relocating them to Seigües will be my only option. However, it will be a monumental task. Not to mention, most of them aren’t my believers, which would make their transfer and resettlement even more troublesome.”

“But if it comes to that… would it be like picking up sesame seeds while losing a watermelon?” ¹

At this thought, Evé felt a tinge of helplessness.

Repairing the demi-realm was an immensely challenging task, yet its allure was undeniable.

As its new master, Evé could now perceive every detail about the demi-realm.

It spanned over three million square kilometers, boasting arable lands, abundant resources, and vast stretches of forest and plains with a remarkable diversity of animals and ecosystem.

Aside from the relatively low strength of its inhabitants and a scarcity of magical plants and creatures, it was close to perfection.

Moreover, the demi-realm’s fundamental laws were exceptionally well-structured.

Though its mana levels were on the lower side, its elemental balance rivaled that of a proper material realm.

A demi-realm like this, capable of supporting all forms of life, was highly prized even amongst the gods.

Such a realm could serve as an ideal sanctuary for nurturing one’s believers—a veritable garden of faith, so to speak.

For the Gods of Faith whose entirely reliant on faith, it could even act as a contingency for their resurrection should they somehow fall.

This also includes Evé.

From the perspective of faith, if a situation came about wherein she have to abandon her physical form and her identity as the World Tree, then she could potentially resurrect in this demi-realm as a god of faith by drawing upon the power of faith of its inhabitants.

From the World Tree’s standpoint, Evé could also choose to pay a tremendous price to transfer her True Body, uprooting herself from Seigües and taking root in this demi-realm instead. By transforming it into an isolated realm, she could use this demi-realm as a refuge to escape the pursuit of the other gods.

Of course, both of these plans rely on the demi-realm’s Provenance remaining intact.

To fundamentally prevent the collapse of this demi-realm, its Provenance must be repaired and restored first to its original state.

Thus, everything ultimately hinges on fixing it.

However, repairing something is often far more challenging than creating it from scratch.

True, gods do possess the ability to create demi-realms, but they do so not by creating them outright with their own power.

Instead, they harness the natural laws of the universe that govern the formation of demi-realms, accelerating the process with their divine energy to achieve results in a shorter timeframe.

In essence, gods act more like catalysts.

Therefore, when it comes to repairing a demi-realm, even mythical beings like her often find themselves at a loss. This is why, when the Provenance of Seigües was damaged, the other gods could do nothing but leave it as it is to recover on its own.

That being said, not all true gods are alike.

As the World Tree, Evé operates under mechanisms similar to those of a realm. She has the unique ability to repair the source of a realm by drawing upon void energy.

However, because she is deeply rooted in Seigües and tightly intertwined with its Provenance, it is practically impossible for her to silently uproot herself and transfer her focus to repairing another demi-realm.

Still, this isn’t an absolute limitation.

In Evé’s vast knowledge regarding realms, there are two methods she knows of that could repair the Provenance of this demi-realm:

The first method is to use a Divine Artifact that has a correlation to the realm’s Provenance.

Coincidentally, Eve’s inheritance includes such an artifact:

The Elemental Source.

The Elemental Source was one of the three divine artifacts of the previous World Tree, created during the Twilight Era to repair the damage done to Seigües’ Provenance at that time.

This artifact was specifically designed to assist in the creation and repair of realms.

Unfortunately, this artifact was taken by Etriōu, the Eternal Lord and leader of the Gods of Mankind, during the heavenly war.

Etriōu wields overwhelming divine power, and Evé, in her current state, still cannot afford to provoke him…

For now, she can only note her grievance for the future.

So…this first method is difficult to implement at the moment.

Which leaves her to the second method.

That is, to seize the Provenance of another realm that is closely similar to it and merge both to repair the damaged Provenance.

Unfortunately, Evé didn’t know where to find another realm that’s closely similar to this demi-realm.

The realm of Seigües could theoretically qualify, but Evé wouldn’t dare to tamper with Seigües’ Provenance, especially under the watchful eyes of the Pantheon.

Her own divine kingdom also fits the criteria, but meddling with the Provenance of her divine kingdom would tantamount to suicidal endeavor.

This line of thought, however, sparked another idea for Evé.

Given that this demi-realm was originally a failed divine kingdom created by the previous World Tree, what if she could somehow find the remnants of her predecessor’s primary divine kingdom, which was destroyed during the heavenly war?

Would it be possible to use these remnants to repair the Provenance of this demi-realm?

Technically speaking, remnants of a broken divine kingdom would still carry within them some traces of their Provenance.

Furthermore, the World Tree’s divine kingdom was always closely aligned with the Material world.

This idea of hers wasn’t just mere speculation either.

As the new master of this demi-realm, Evé now had a key piece that could allow her to search for the previous World Tree’s destroyed divine kingdom:

That is, these vast numbers of believers who still believe in her predecessor.