The elderly preacher halted before an imposing stone gate, standing still for a moment as his hand instinctively traced a protrusion to press gently.
Then, a deep, pulsating glow erupted from the gate, its eerie light wrapping around his hand before extending towards his body.
The light encompassed his entire body as if confirming the elderly preacher’s identity before gradually fading.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then a creaking noise began to reverberate as the stone gate began to swing open on its own.
Behind him, several players widened their eyes, their curiosity piqued by the unfolding scene beyond the stone gate.
Meanwhile, Evé, who is positioned at the rear, became intensely vigilant at the sight.
As the group’s field of view gradually widened, everyone finally saw the scene inside the stone gate more clearly.
It was a vast hall with ancient stone pillars erected around it, and each pillars depicted a ferocious mural of dragons.
Evé discretely scanned the hall, as a mixture of slight regret and relief washed over her as she failed to detect the aura of Nidhogg.
Of course, this discovery also meant that perhaps the other party had already been revived and this so-called “Land of Vitality” had already fulfilled its intended purpose long ago.
However, even though she couldn’t sense Nidhogg’s aura, at the moment the hall opened, Eve suddenly felt a rather familiar sensation.
She suddenly looked up toward a certain direction in the hall, only to see a towering gray-black pyramid at its deepest part.
Specifically, it was a pyramid with a crescent-shaped orb floating atop it.
The orb emitted a dark green light which is constantly flickering and vaguely revealing something rotating inside it.
As Eve’s eyes landed on the orb, the initial familiar sensation she felt intensified with each passing moment she laid eyes upon it.
This… is the aura of a divine artifact! Moreover… simply looking at it fills me with a sense of familiarity and closeness! This divine artifact definitely belongs to my predecessor.
Eve’s eyes widened momentarily, whilst a surge of excitement coursed through her.
However, this artifact’s aura is somewhat strange…it feels somewhat chaotic and unstable.
As Evé observed the orb’s constant flickering and noted its distinct crescent shape, her initial agitation subsided swiftly.
Could it be…a fragment of the Scepter of Life?
The followers of the Despair Church, established by the Ancient Dragon Nidhogg, can perform healing miracles that’s even more powerful than those typically performed by the Orthodox Churches.
As such, this rather miraculous ability of theirs can only mean one thing….
—That Nidhogg has somehow stolen a portion of the natural laws of life and somehow gained a certain degree of control over them.
Before, Evé had speculated as to whether this malevolent ancient dragon had gained a portion of Life’s Essence by devouring her predecessor’s roots, thereby comprehending some of the World Tree’s governing natural laws.
Or perhaps… He simply directly or indirectly obtained a divine artifact that belonged to the World Tree.
However, when Evé finally saw this crescent-shaped orb, the answer to her speculations was already obvious…
It is indeed the Scepter of Life! It was through this incomplete artifact that Nidhogg gained the ability to grant his followers the ability to perform healing miracles. However…this is not the complete Scepter of Life, but merely a fragment of it!
Evé came to this conclusion.
The Scepter of Life… I didn’t expect it to be here! Although… it seems to be just a fragment, but if I could obtain it, then it would be enough to further elevate my mastery over the natural laws of life to another level!
—However…
Eve’s gaze shifted slightly downward as her eyes narrowed gradually.
Below the pyramid were rows upon rows of translucent grayish-black cocoons, and within each cocoon, a human-shaped figure with closed eyes could be seen…
⤷ Wait, aren’t those elves?!
⤷ There’s so many elves! There must be at least a few hundred, right?
Within Little Salty Cat’s livestream, a flood of viewer comments like these began to appear one after another…
Meanwhile, the players who came alongside Evé also became increasingly serious after noticing the cocoons.
⤷ Why are there so many elves here? Σ(°△°)︴
Little Salty Cat typed in confusion.
HootyBird’s eyes narrowed slightly:
⤷ Quick, look at the base of the pyramid!
Upon seeing her message, the players hurriedly glanced down at the bottom of the pyramid, and noticed that each cocoon had a slender tube connecting to the pyramid.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, they could also faintly see greenish energy flowing through the tubes into the pyramid, as it ultimately converged into the crescent-shaped Orb that’s floating at the top…
⤷ What is that?
⤷ What, What did you guys see? Can’t really see anything since it’s so dark…
Curiosity flickered among several of the livestream viewers.
Meanwhile, Evé, upon seeing the elves inside the cocoons down below, instantly understood what Nidhogg was doing…
I see…So he’s relying upon the elves bloodline to repair the Scepter of Life!
Among the artifacts of the former World Tree, the Scepter of Life stands as one of the three great divine artifacts, wielding some authority over the natural laws of life itself.
Moreover, while it’s lacking in offensive capabilities, the Scepter of Life harbors terrifying healing abilities and the capacity to nurture life, fostering a creature to rapidly transform and evolve.
For any race, this is an artifact capable of altering their fate.
It was because of this that during the Thousand-Year Heavenly War, the gods fought over the Scepter of Life, leading to its fragmentation…
It’s just that those fools never expected that the one who had been collecting fragments of the Scepter of Life in the aftermath to be the revived Nidhogg himself!
Hmm… although this old dragon seems to have completely fallen into an evil god.
And since the Scepter of Life was created by her predecessor from a condensed essence of its own, repairing it also requires the bloodline of the World Tree.
Stunned silence fell among the few gathered individuals as they gazed at the pyramid, lost in their own contemplations, until the elderly preacher’s voice broke the quiet once more.
“You, come here.”
Without them even noticing it, the old man had already reached the bottom of the pyramid.
“Each of you now have become true followers of despair, and as servants of the Lord, every believer should come here to pray devoutly.”
The old man said.
After speaking, he turned around and bowed slightly towards the crescent-shaped orb on the pyramid.
“Praise the Lord, the great God of Despair!” He exclaimed fervently.
And the other hooded believers also made the same gesture:
“Praise the Lord, the great God of Despair!”
Seeing this scene, Eve’s heart stirred.
By now, she also finally understood why the old man had brought them here.
Repairing the Scepter of Life not only required the bloodline of the World Tree but also the divinity of life.
Alas, Nidhogg did not possess the divinity of life, so instead… he used the power of faith that the artifact can accepted more easily relative to his own divine power as a substitute, having his believers continuously pray towards the Scepter of Life!
This was both Nidhogg’s way of repairing the Scepter of Life and leaving his mark upon it!
And seeing the old man’s actions, the five chosen players looked at each other and also pretended to pray to the pyramid.
Of course, their prayers have no effect whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Eve’s mind gradually formed another bold idea…
— 301 —
【 SCEPTER OF LIFE 】
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