Chapter 875

【 ONLINE MEETING 】

The dragons’ entry into the war had made the upcoming Great Holy War even more unpredictable.

Although the Dragon Race had fallen into decline over the ages, its former glory had not been entirely lost. After all, even a starving camel was still larger than a horse. Despite their dwindling numbers and declining influence, the dragons remained one of the most formidable races in the Universe.

No one dared to underestimate their strength.

It was worth noting that the true core of the Dragon Race’s power did not lie in its vast population of adult dragons, but rather in the dozen or so Mythical Dragon Kings who spent most of their time in a deep slumber.

These ancient beings were the true foundation of the Dragon Race’s might. As long as they remained asleep and did not personally enter the battlefield, the dragons’ most terrifying power would remain dormant.

Of course, with the exception of a few Dragon Kings such as the Platinum Dragon King Reinhardt, most of these ancient beings were not sleeping within the World of Seigües itself. Instead, they were scattered across the various realms across the universe, residing in their own lairs.

From this perspective, as long as the World of Seigües remained sealed, these Dragon Kings would be unable to participate in the war. They could only remain in their respective lairs, continuing their long periods of slumber while the conflict unfolded in Seiguës.

༺⟐༻

“So… the dragons have joined the war as well?”

Deep within Dream Island, the illusory figure of Ancient God Guy gazed toward the direction of the mainland, his expression inscrutable.

“That’s right. The dragons have joined the war as well. This conflict is practically turning into an all-out multi-faction war across the Seigües World.”

Standing before Guy, the Ancient Fire God Surtr could only offer a bitter smile.

“I suspect those Elven Chosen Ones have lured the Dragons into the conflict. Those interesting fellows are nothing like the elves of the past. Heh, perhaps that little girl Urinos is having quite a headache right now.”

Guy chuckled mockingly.

Surtr instinctively nodded in agreement.

Since his resurrection, he had frequently traveled across the continent, exploring its various regions and interacting with quite a few Elven Chosen Ones while concealing his identity.

How should he put it?

They really were an interesting bunch.

They were intelligent, clever, and passionate, possessing a remarkable ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Yet, at times, their behavior could be downright dumb, and their antics often left him at a loss for words.

Hmm… “dumb” seemed to be a popular expression among the elves. Surtr had learned the term from them as well. It appeared to mean something roughly equivalent to “idiot” in the common language of the continent, although its meaning was not always entirely derogatory. Depending on the context, it could even carry a somewhat playful or neutral connotation.

Wait…

Something was wrong.

Surtr had gained some understanding of the Chosen Ones through his travels across the continent. But how did Lord Guy know about them?

Surtr froze for a moment.

After all, the leader of their faction, the Ancient Gods had always remained sealed here within Dream Island. Moreover, in order to sever his ties with the outside world, he had never paid attention to events on the continent.

Thinking of this, Surtr could not help glancing at the ancient deity before him.

Lord Guy stood beside the pillars of the temple, gazing at the sky beyond the window with a profound look in his eyes.

Perhaps it was merely an illusion, but Surtr felt that their leader seemed somewhat distracted, as though his thoughts had drifted far beyond the island.

Come to think of it, ever since Imheter had left Dream Island, this leader of the Reincarnation faction had appeared to be burdened by a great many concerns.

However, it should not have been because of Imheter since he already knew that Imheter had been rescued by the Goddess of Life.

Therefore… Lord Guy was most likely troubled by something else.

But what exactly could it be?

Surtr was quite curious.

One thing, however, was certain. Something must have happened around the time Imheter left the island, something he was unaware of.

“Surtr.”

Just as Surtr was pondering this question, Lord Guy suddenly called his name.

Surtr looked toward him and saw their leader slowly turning around, his gaze somewhat complicated.

“Tell me… what exactly gives the Church of Life the confidence to wage an all-out war against the Eternal Church?”

Surtr was momentarily stunned.

For an instant, he even thought the other deity had mixed up the names of the two churches.

But in the next moment, he understood.

Although the Eternal Church had indeed been the first to declare war on the Church of Life, Surtr, who had been closely monitoring the situation on the continent, could understand that the Eternal Church had been left with little choice.

There was no other reason. Ever since Diana’s return, the Church of Life had become increasingly active across the continent, and the expansion of its faith had accelerated at an alarming pace, especially among the human territories.

Its influence was spreading through human nations, its followers were growing in number, and its presence was becoming increasingly difficult for the Eternal Church to ignore.

One side was rising rapidly, while the other was continuously weakening. Under such circumstances, it was only natural that the Eternal Church would choose to wage a Holy War in an attempt to curb the Church of Life’s expansion.

Yet throughout this process, the Church of Life, or rather, the Goddess of Life herself, had displayed an intense fighting spirit and unwavering confidence when facing the Eternal Church, a colossal organization that spanned the entire Seigües Universe.

To use Lord Guy’s words, they had the confidence to do so.

And that confidence was certainly not limited to the ability to fight the Eternal Church on Seigüe alone.

Rather, it seemed more like the confidence to confront the Eternal Church across the entire universe, or perhaps even to challenge the ruler of the current Era, the Eternal Lord, the most powerful being in the universe.

Confidence…

Surtr fell into deep thought.

He began to reconsider the situation from a different perspective.

The Church of Life had been expanding rapidly, and its followers were growing in number. However, its greatest advantage might not have been its military strength or the number of believers it possessed.

There was something else.

Something that even they, the ancient gods, with their vast knowledge and experience, could not easily understand.

What exactly was it that allowed the Goddess of Life to remain so confident?

Was it simply the strength of her faith?

Or was there something deeper behind the rise of the Church of Life and the mysterious Elven Chosen Ones?

Surtr could not find an answer.

He remained lost in his thoughts until Lord Guy’s voice interrupted him.

“Tell me… could it be that Lady Evé has recovered something she once lost? And what exactly is the true nature of those Elven Chosen Ones of hers?”

“Recovered something? The true nature of the Elven Chosen Ones?”

Surtr was somewhat puzzled.

After hearing Lord Guy’s words, he became even more curious. He was now certain that their leader knew some secrets of which he was unaware, and those secrets were most likely related to the confidence of the Goddess of Life.

However, Lord Guy shook his head, seemingly unwilling to discuss the matter any further.

“Forget it. Pretend I never said anything.”

With that, the leader of the Reincarnation faction let out a sigh, dispersed his illusory figure, and returned to the sealed lamp.

Watching the place where Lord Guy had disappeared, Surtr could not help but remain momentarily stunned.

For some reason, he seemed to have glimpsed a trace of wavering in their leader.

It was a subtle change, almost imperceptible, yet it had left a deep impression on Surtr.

༺⟐༻

The events that had taken place on Dream Island did not alter the attitudes of the Ancient Gods or the Reincarnation Faction.

While the entire continent was being swept up in the war between the two major churches, with some factions becoming involved willingly and others unwillingly, these Ancient Gods, whose presence was barely felt in the outside world, continued to remain aloof from worldly affairs.

The conflict raging across the continent was, at least for the moment, something they had little intention of involving themselves in.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere of war across the continent was growing increasingly tense.

From the Elven Forest to the Desert of Death, from the Far Northern Wasteland to the Fertile Plains, every faction participating in the war was mobilizing its armies, gathering supplies, and preparing for the coming battles. The number of powerful individuals joining the conflict was also steadily increasing.

However, despite the growing intensity of the war, the strongest combatants among the participants were still only at the demigod rank.

At the Mythical rank, all sides continued to maintain a delicate balance.

This was perfectly normal.

During the early and even middle stages of a Holy War, Mythical beings generally did not enter the battlefield themselves.

Soldiers fought soldiers, and generals fought generals.

Only when the Mythical beings finally entered the fray did it usually mean that the final decisive battle had arrived.

This was an unspoken understanding among the True Gods, one that had existed for countless years. Its purpose was to protect their respective followers as much as possible and prevent the conflict from escalating beyond control.

After all, the consequences of a Mythical being personally entering the battlefield were far more terrifying than most mortals could imagine.

Consider it from another perspective.

If this unspoken rule did not exist, and Mythical beings could freely attack ordinary mortals, then there would be no need for a Great Holy War in the first place.

Since the moment the conflict began, the mortal forces on both sides would already have been wiped out by the Mythical beings.

Destruction was always easier than protection.

A Mythical being, even at the demigod rank, could cause tremendous devastation if it went berserk. By the time a True God managed to suppress it, the damage would already have been immense.

The same applied to Evé.

As a Mythical being possessing Higher Divine Power, if she want, she could summon several Mythical-level world-destroying meteorites and send the Human Army and the Inquisition Knight Legion to meet their Patron Deity, the Eternal Lord within the first minutes of the war.

Such an act would be well within her capabilities.

However, just because she could do it doesn’t mean she would do so…

Because if she actually resorted to such a method, then she would be no different from an Evil God in the eyes of the other Mythical beings. Her actions would inevitably provoke the opposition of every faction.

Of course, that was only one reason.

Another, more important reason was that Eve’s progress in merging with the Core Origin of Seigües had reached a critical stage at this point.

Therfore at this moment, she could not afford to divert too much of her attention toward the battlefield, much less personally intervene in the conflict.

The process of integrating with the world’s origin was far more complicated than simply accumulating Divine Power. Every step required careful control, and even a slight disturbance could potentially affect the outcome.

She had confidence in the players, as well as in the game system and the Church of Life that she had built.

Over the past several years, she had invested considerable effort into developing the players, expanding the Church of Life, and establishing a network of believers and allies across the continent.

Now was the time to see whether those efforts would bear fruit.

By now, the players were no longer the inexperienced newcomers who had first descended into the World of Seigües. They had grown stronger, their numbers had expanded, and their ability to coordinate on a large scale had improved considerably.

More importantly, they possessed something that the ordinary inhabitants of the world could never hope to obtain.

The ability to resurrect.

Even if they suffered heavy casualties, they could return to the battlefield again and again, continuing to fight until victory was achieved.

This was an advantage that Evé had carefully cultivated over the years, and one that could potentially determine the outcome of the Great Holy War.

If the war ended in victory and she successfully brought the entire World of Seigües under her control, then the next step would be interplanetary conquest.

The worlds controlled by Etriōu beyond Seigües would become her next objectives.

The Great Holy War in this world was merely the beginning.

Through the perspectives of her believers and the players, Evé silently monitored the progress of the war. From time to time, she influenced the players through quests, making subtle adjustments to the course of the conflict while directing the overall strategy.

At the same time, the players were about to hold a high-level meeting unlike any they had held before…

༺⟐༻

University Town

Li Mu returned to his rented apartment and skillfully climbed into his gaming pod.

However, after entering Elven Kingdom today, he did not leave his three-story villa. Instead, he directly opened a third-party chat application through the game’s backend: Penguin Messenger.

This supposedly ancient piece of messaging software had undergone countless upgrades over the years. As virtual networks developed, it had also been fully virtualized, becoming a familiar tool used by companies and organizations to conduct online meetings.

This time, the players had also chosen the software for their meeting.

There was little alternative.

As the player population continued to grow, the number of player guilds in Elven Kingdom increased as well. Mobilizing everyone to attend a meeting inside the game was becoming increasingly difficult.

Unlike other games, Elven Kingdom had an enormous map, especially after the entirety of the Seigües World had become accessible.

And if several additional realms and demirealms were included, the scale became even more astonishing.

With such a vast map, a massive player population, and guild strongholds distributed across an increasingly wide area, holding an in-game offline meeting had become an increasingly difficult undertaking.

Gathering thousands of players in one location was no longer a simple matter. Even with teleportation arrays, the process required considerable coordination, not to mention the time and resources involved.

Thus, transitioning to online meetings was a natural choice.

Of course, opening the software within the game also allowed them to benefit from accelerated thinking.

After setting his avatar to match his appearance in Elven Kingdom, Li Mu entered the meeting room.

It was quite a peculiar experience, logging into a third-party virtual application from within a virtual game. At the very least, Li Mu felt as though he had entered an endless series of nested layers, with one virtual world existing inside another.

The meeting room had been created in advance. Little Salty Cat had even used her VIP membership privileges to open a room with a capacity of five thousand participants.

The attendees were all high-ranking members of various guilds. Many, like Li Mu, had copied their in-game appearances from Elven Kingdom, while others had chosen entirely different avatars. Some even appeared to be using their actual appearances from the real world.

This gave Li Mu the impression that he was attending an offline cosplay gathering.

Of course, today was not a simple get together gathering.

They had a far more important task to accomplish.

The decisions they were about to make could very well influence the entire future storyline of Elven Kingdom.

After walking to his seat, Li Mu pressed a button on his chair and his figure instantly appeared on the podium.

At once, countless gazes converged on him.

Li Mu’s in-game appearance was highly recognizable. Moreover, his username was openly displayed in the meeting room, so everyone quickly recognized him.

After switching the meeting room to mute mode, Li Mu cleared his throat and said:

“It’s getting late, and most of you are already here. So let’s begin discussing the upcoming Great Holy War campaign.”

As he spoke, he activated the projection function and displayed the map of the Seigües Continent in Elven Kingdom, which he had recorded in advance.

“According to our intelligence, the human faction have already mobilized at least five million troops, and that doesn’t even include the descending Angel Legions.”

“Furthermore, with the northern Orcs and several other factions that worship the God of War joining them, the enemies we will face this time will be even stronger than the demon armies we fought before. Their numbers will also be far greater.”

“Not only that, but our front line is extremely long. From the Elven Forest to Maple Moon Free Territory and the Southern Territory, any of these regions could become a battlefield…”

“Therefore, if we want to achieve victory in the coming war, we need to plan carefully.”

“However… before we begin, I would like to confirm how far everyone’s troop mobilization has progressed.”

As he spoke, Li Mu looked toward several familiar faces below.

Meeting Li Mu’s gaze, Demacia, Little Salty Cat, Tomato Stir-Fry, and Transformer Ji Gang nodded slightly.

With a flash, they also appeared on the podium.

They were the commanders of the Elven Kingdom Chosen Army. Led by the seven major guilds, with smaller and medium-sized guilds joining under their command, the players had formed seven army groups with a combined strength of nearly two million.

Of course, the number of troops participating in the war was one thing. Successfully assembling them was another.

The Eternal Church’s army had been preparing for mobilization for a long time. Its nobles, however, had performed rather poorly in certain areas, leaving some of their forces inadequately organized.

As for the players, they had only begun gathering their forces after the declaration of war.

Despite their organizational advantages, the time available for mobilization was still limited. Every passing hour mattered, and the commanders needed to know exactly how many troops they could rely on.

“Everyone, how is the troop assembly progressing?”

Li Mu asked.

The players straightened their expressions and answered one after another.

“First Army Group, Heart of Nature Battalion. A total of 370,000 troops are participating, of which 310,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is Zelouan City.”

“Second Army Group, Moe Moe Committee Battalion. A total of 290,000 troops are participating, of which 260,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is Sandstorm City.”

“Third Army Group, First Legion Battalion. A total of 250,000 troops are participating, of which 240,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is Winterfell.”

“Fourth Army Group, Calamity Knights Battalion. A total of 300,000 troops are participating, of which 250,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is the Southern Territory.”

“Fifth Army Group, All-Star Battalion. A total of 240,000 troops are participating, of which 220,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is Riverbend Town.”

“Sixth Army Group, Long Live the Goddess Battalion. A total of 200,000 troops are participating, of which 170,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is Florence.”

“Seventh Army Group, Azeroth Alliance Battalion. A total of 220,000 troops are participating, of which 200,000 have already assembled. The assembly point is the Eastern Forest.”

…

Seven army groups, seven assembly points.

Almost all of them had already assembled the majority of their forces.

“Excellent!”

Li Mu was quite satisfied with their answers.

He nodded and continued:

“I believe everyone has already realized something from our troop assembly.”

“That’s right. This time, we will concentrate seven army groups and operate along seven main fronts.”

“In this war, we are the defending side. Our border is extensive, our teleportation arrays are few, and we lack sufficient defensive fortifications. To be honest, defending will place us under considerable pressure.”

“However, we can approach this from a different perspective.”

“Everyone, we are players. Each of us possesses considerable individual combat ability. We can concentrate our forces or disperse them, and the more we concentrate, the stronger we become. Furthermore, our logistical burden is far lighter than that of the NPCs.”

“And… we can also resurrect!”

“In this war, the enemy outnumbers us. However, our greatest advantages are our excellent communication, high level of organization, and strong endurance! Therefore… we must make full use of these advantages.”

“After discussing the matter with several veteran commanders, we have come up with a relatively effective strategy…”

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