【 RETURN AND INTELLIGENCEREPORT 】

Thunder and lightning roared like the wrath of heaven.

Before the stunned gazes of orcs and the bewildered eyes of the cornered elves, the arrogant orc leader was struck by a bolt of lightning, instantly reducing him to a charred, blackened corpse.

Then the Orc leader collapsed slowly, his scorched face turned upward, as if frozen in the moment he had mocked the gods.

Now, however, that expression seemed like a cruel joke at his own expense, which was utterly laughable.

The dignity of a God cannot be desecrated.

Let alone a true god, even a false one would not tolerate such blasphemy and to dare such insolence is tantamount to signing his own death warrant.

Especially when this sacrilege occurs within the deity’s own sphere of influence!

The consequences of such an affront are not just unavoidable but downright foolish as the Orc had transgressed within Eve’s sphere of influence and not in the far-off heavenly realm, but right here in the world they both inhabited!

The scent of roasted meat began to permeate the air, with its pungent smell causing some elves to turn pale and vomit uncontrollably, leaving the remaining orcs completely dumbfounded.

“D-dead… he’s dead…”

“Lightning… it’s divine punishment! That was definitely divine punishment!”

“The false god noticed us! N-No…i mean, the Elven God noticed us!”

Their expressions quickly shifted from shock to fear, and finally to outright panic as every Orcs dropped their weapons and flee in every direction, scattering like leaves in a storm.

In just a few heartbeats, the dozens of orcs surrounding the elves had disappeared without a trace.

All that remained was the charred corpse on the ground, which was the lingering testament to what had just occurred.

The elves, however, wore expressions of astonishment and delight.

Before long, their spirits lifted, and each of them erupted in jubilation:

“Divine punishment…those Orcs really did suffer a divine punishment!”

“This must be a blessing from the gods! The Goddess of Life had actually heard our prayers!”

“Praise be to nature, praise be to life, praise be to the great Goddess Eve!”

“Although… why was the divine punishment came in the form of lightning?”

༺⟐༻

In her divine kingdom, Evé listened to the elves’ praises and prayers with a calm expression.

“Obviously, I need to strike down that orc for acting like a fool of himself.”

Though she wasn’t as obsessed with preserving her dignity unlike most of the native gods of this universe, she wasn’t about to let such blatant provocation slide either.

However, since that daring orc wanted divine punishment so badly, wouldn’t it be a shame not to let him have it?

To make her point, Evé even went out of her way to manifest her divine power in the form of lightning, though it did cost her some extra energy.

“What a pity. He was a fanatical believer and likely a potential divine chosen of Uller. Since that orc was their leader, he must have known some valuable secrets about the orcs. Keeping him alive would have been useful for gathering information.”

Eve sighed, a hint of regret in her tone.

The moment she ‘saw’ the orc leader, Evé instantly sensed the distinct aura of the God of Winter and the Hunt emanating from him.

Such divine auras can only linger upon believers who had received their Patron Deity’s blessing.

Fanatical believers were rare and precious so Eve could easily imagine how Uller would react in the heavenly realm. That hotheaded god would no doubt be furious upon realizing that one of his chosen believer had been smitten to death by another god, especially one who were at odds with him.

Nevertheless, despite striking down their leader, Evé had refrained from targeting the remaining orcs.

That Orc leader’s death was justified as divine punishment.

As such, Uller would be forced to accept it, no matter how angry he became. After all, it was that foolish orc who had provoked her divine wrath in the first place, bringing about his own undoing. Uller, despite his anger, would have no choice but to acknowledge the justification of her actions.

But attacking the others would be different.

Perhaps in secret, as long as she is not discovered by other gods, she can bully the weak however she wants, just like she did when she dealt with the orcs in the central area of the Elven Forest beforehand…

But such act cannot be revealed in public since among the gods, there were rules that governed their interactions with mortals and with each other.

It is widely acknowledged that mortal conflicts were meant to be resolved by mortals, and it was not the place of them, the gods to interfere in the petty squabbles of those beneath them.

Hence, direct interference by a god was only permissible in rare circumstances and any blatant actions could spark retaliation from other deities.

Evé had no desire to break these rules, even though she could not deny that she had benefited a lot from it.

“Besides, if all of Uller’s believers are this dumb and reckless, then it just shows the subpar capacity level of his management,” Evé mused, shaking her head.

With those orcs gone, the elves were finally safe.

Sensing the group’s condition, Evé noted that several of them were injured, which included Selena and a few others who were gravely hurt.

However fortunately enough, none of their wounds were life-threatening.

As such, she resisted the urge to expend some of her divine power to heal them at that instant.

After all, more and more of her believers were returning, and many of them had also suffered injuries. Hence, even with her abundant divine power, Evé couldn’t possibly intervene in each and everyone of these cases.

“I’ll just relegate it to the players. They can handle the rescue and treatment in my stead.”

With practiced ease, Evé connected to the game system and traced Selena’s path, before posting a message on the public world channel:

【 Attention: A group of injured elves requires immediate assistance. Coordinates attached. Priority task: Rescue and treat the wounded. 】

【Coordinates: The Dark Mountains ( 255, 437) – Nearby Players in this vicinity are requested to go and pick them up. 】

It wasn’t the first time Evé had issued such a system message.

Whenever a new group of elves returned and entered an area where players were active, she would notify them through the public world channel. Clicking on the coordinates would reveal the elves’ location on the minimap, along with their current status.

These ‘random tasks’ had been introduced after the return of the Rageblaze Clan as a preventive measure and any players who completed these escort tasks were handsomely rewarded, making them highly sought-after tasks amongst the playerbase.

Now, whenever such notifications appeared, players in the vicinity of these tasks would immediately scrambled to take them on.

Of course, if Selena’s group pressed on a little further and entered the core area of Eve’s territory where players actively operates, then the tasks would have been posted automatically by the system.

Evé simply issued it personally this time around.

The moment the system notification went public, players who is currently exploring the Dark Mountains or grinding monsters in the vicinity of it immediately paused their activities.

“Hmm? Another escort task?”

“Coordinates 255, 437… That’s really close to our location! Guys, Let’s go, let’s go! Don’t let someone else snag it before us!”

“Wait… we’re not hunting these mobs anymore? They’re already half-dead!”

“Forget it! Splitting the loot from these monsters barely gets us 1,000 experience points each. But completing an escort task gives at least 3,000 EXP and 1,000 contribution points! Plus, if we’re lucky enough to escort them to Florence, then maybe we’ll even gain favorability points with those rescued NPCs!”

“Exactly! And you’re a priest, aren’t you? Don’t you want to level up your class?”

“Crap! You’re right! These returning elves typically have skyrocketing levels of faith! This is a golden opportunity. Let’s go!”

In an instant, players across the Dark Mountains quickly sprang into action.

In fact, if one were able to observe the sand table Evé used to monitor the players in her divine kingdom, it would show clusters of blue lights converging on a single point in a certain direction.

As the players moved towards their location, Selena, on the other hand, who was a high-ranking member of Oakhand and had already escorted several groups of elves back to the Elven Forest numerous times in the past, was also aware of how the escort system worked.

Straightening up, she encouraged her companions:

“Hold on a little more longer. We have already attracted the attention of Her Majesty the Goddess. As long as we climb over that hill up ahead, there will definitely be people from our side to take us home.”

Hearing her words, a glimmer of hope appeared on the weary faces of the rest of the elves.

These elves had endured lives of unimaginable hardship, either hiding in the shadows of human societies or being rescued from the clutches of cruel nobles and the black market by operatives of the Oakhand Resistance.

As such, by now their hearts had already long grown numb, and it had been ages since they felt this kind of hope.

At this moment, after having just experienced the dangerous situation earlier, their desire to return their homeland swelled within them, mixed with a trace of nervous anticipation.

As these elves slowly trudged forward, leaning on one another for support, they resembled a group of pilgrims whose making their way through the rugged mountains, all under Eve’s watchful gaze.

Finally, after much effort, they finally crossed over the ridge… and saw what they had been hoping for.

At the base of the mountain, hundreds of elves awaited them!

These elves were clad in splendid armor and robes, with several white-robed priests among them.

“It’s our brethren! It’s really our fellow clansmen! And looks like there are priests among them too! They’ve really come to escort us back to our homeland!”

Tears welled up in the eyes of these returning elves, especially the older ones.

Hundreds of elves…

It had been so long since they had seen such a gathering of their people.

Although rumors about the resurgence of the elves had reached them in the Aries Kingdom, such tales seemed far too grandiose and too good to be true, causing many of them to doubt these claims.

Moreover, they once asked Selena to confirm these rumors but she had remained tight-lipped about the changes happening in the Elven Forest.

Instead, she kept everyone on suspense, making everyone apprehensive yet still curious enough to look forward to it even more.

But now, seeing this welcoming party, the returning elves’ weary spirits finally broke.

The weight of their hardships, the long years of hiding and running, finally began to lift with even the most skeptical among them, those whose faith had been worn thin by countless disappointments, couldn’t help but cry out praises to the Goddess of Life.

However, while her fellow companions wept and cheered, Selena’s expression grew strange.

The rest might have not recognize these elves, but Selena certainly did.

She knew exactly who these “elves” actually were — those over there gathered in small groups, either sitting or standing, with some even horsing around playfully.

They were without the doubt those eccentric Chosen Ones.

But why is there a priest among them?

That couldn’t be right.

No true priest would be jumping around like that so its highly unlikely those seven or eight individuals in priest robes were genuine priest.

Although the Chosen Ones are loyal to the Goddess, as far as she knew, there are absolutely no priests amongst them.

After all, only genuine believers that wholeheartedly believe in the Goddess could become priests.

Selena’s heart was filled with bewilderment and curiosity.

What happened in the Elven Forest during the two months she was in the Kingdom?

Meanwhile, cheers erupted from both sides as the returning elves, and the players moved toward one another.

Seeing their fellow brethren excitedly rushing to greet them, the returning elves were deeply moved.

They gritted their teeth, pushing their exhausted and injured bodies forward, determined to meet their fellow kin halfway.

In their minds, they imagined a scene of joyful reunion — embracing their kin, crying tears of relief and happiness.

But…

That scene never happened.

As these native elves neared the players, they suddenly realized something strange.

The supposed welcoming party had suddenly stopped in place after covering just a few dozen meters as if they had hit an invisible barrier.

Oddly enough, some of them kept running in place, while others clawed at the air, with some wriggling like worms, and a few simply stood still, refusing to take another step forward.

Though their cheers continued on, loud and fervent, none of them advanced any further. Their voices rang out with joy, but their bodies remained rooted in place.

Native elves: “…”

Seeing such a bizarre and ridiculous sight before them, one for which utterly ruined the expected emotional reunion, left the elves utterly dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Selena, who knew the truth behind it and was being carried on a stretcher, couldn’t help but face-palmed herself in embarrassment.

Coughing awkwardly, she struggled to explain to her companions:

“They’re the Chosen Ones. As you can see, they can’t actually leave the boundaries set by the Goddess. So that ridge over there must have been the limit of their movement range.”

As expected, the elves were taken aback.

The Chosen Ones?

“These people are… the Chosen Ones? The rumored immortal elven army created by the Goddess in collaboration with the Goddess of Death?”

Various exclamations echoed throughout the group.

Throughout their journey, even way back in the Kingdom, each of them had heard rumors relating to the Chosen Ones numerous times.

With the news concerning the events that happened in the underground war spreading to various countries, the name of the Goddess of Life, Evé, was becoming widely known across the realm of Seigües.

And alongside her name also came tales of her mysterious army — the so-called Chosen Ones who were said to possess resurrection powers akin to the legendary Legion of Death.

Though many thought such rumors were exaggerated, one thing was evidently clear:

These Chosen Ones were the core force of the Goddess of Life and the direct contributors to the elvenkind’s resurgence.

For a moment, the native elves stood in awe whilst newfound respect took root within their hearts.

Without further hesitation, they pressed forward and finally reached where the Chosen Ones stood in place.

As soon as they approached, the players immediately rushed toward them enthusiastically. Nearly every elf found themselves surrounded by a handful of players offering fruit and tending to their injuries.

Most notably, the crowd around Selena was particularly large.

“Miss Selena! Long time no see!”

“Lady Selena, did you come from the Dark Mountains this time? Were you escorting our kin from the south?”

“Miss Selena, why do you look so pale!? Well, I just became a priest so let me heal you right away!”

The players were brimming with excitement and warmth.

But Selena felt a pang of guilt.

These Chosen Ones clearly knew her, but she couldn’t recognize most of them.

Sure, some of them looked vaguely familiar, but that was it.

There was a reason for this.

As a devout believer who had already returned to the Elven Forest in the past, Selena had long since gained the right to use the task system, meaning she could issue tasks to the Chosen Ones.

In the players’ eyes, Selena was a rare silver-named NPC, someone who stood out from the rest.

For any elf who had activated the task system, their name would appear visibly in the players’ field of vision just like how their own usernames’ hovers above their heads, and moreover, many players have also remembered her vividly.

On the contrary, with so many players, it was practically impossible for Selena to remember all of them.

As the players healed the returning elves, Selena noticed something remarkable…

That is, the players dressed in priest robes were actually genuine priests, whose capable of casting real divine magic!

Furthermore, she observed that these priests seemed able to discern the level of faith of a person as well.

The elves who remained skeptical of the Goddess of Life found themselves surrounded by these priests, bewildered as they listened to passionate sermons about Eve’s faith.

Selena: “…”

“So some of the Chosen Ones have begun to embrace the Goddess’s faith and even taken on the task of spreading it?”

A sense of relief and pride welled up within her heart.

Still, she wasn’t concerned about the skepticism of these elves that she brought back.

For experience had shown time and again that those who initially doubted the Goddess often became the most devout believers once they returned to their homeland and learned the truth about the real identity of the Goddess of Life.

Their doubts were, in a way, a form of loyalty — a refusal per se, to accept anything less than the real Goddess they sought all along.

The players’ healing efforts quickly took effect.

Though they were only low Iron-rank priests, they still managed to stabilize Selena’s condition.

As soon as she felt better, Selena wasted no time in issuing a task to the players:

“Chosen Ones, please take me to see the Saintess Alice and Lady Zero. I have important news to report.”

Hearing this, the players’ eyes immediately lit up, their gazes turning predatory, just like a pack of hungry wolves catching the scent of a prey.

“…Important news?”

In that moment, they could practically smell the unfolding questline laden beneath her words.

༺⟐༻

Under the players’ enthusiastic convoy, these group of elves successfully returned to the Elven Forest.

Selena, whose still receiving intensive healing, soon found herself in the resting chambers inside the Temple in the Chosen City, face to face with Alice, the Saintess, and Zero, the Goddess’s envoy.

Selena wasted no time delivering her report.

“We’ve received intelligence from the Aries Kingdom. The orcs living in the Desert of Death are on the move again, targeting any returning elves.”

” Moreover… through our informants in the black market, we’ve also discovered that the Sauron Trading Company has been transporting large quantities of strategic supplies to the Desert of Death.”

Eve, whilst in the guise of Zero, raised an eyebrow.

“The Sauron Trading Company?”

Selena nodded gravely.

“Yes. Although the Sauron Trading Company primarily operates as a smuggling cartel, it wields influence rivaling that of a small human nation.”

“I highly suspect the orcs have allied with them… and their target is none other than us — the elves.”

— 477 —

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep