The Great Forest of Evasha.
Located in the remote northwest corner of the continent, it borders the Slane Theocracy.
Long ago, this vast forest was home to many different races and settlements.
Various Demihuman and Heteromorphic races lived and fought here. Some groups coexisted peacefully, like goblins and ogres. Others existed in relationships of domination and slavery.
In essence, the Great Forest of Evasha was divided into territories controlled by different demihuman races, making any unified rule nearly impossible.
But that situation was broken several hundred years ago.
A ruler with overwhelming power appeared among the forest elves.
The Elf King, Decem Hougan.
After uniting every forest elf tribe within the woods through sheer strength, he led his people to conquer the entire forest almost overnight, driving out every other race that had lived there.
He then crowned himself king and established the first forest elf nation in history.
[Evasha Elf Country]
After founding the kingdom, he proactively contacted the High Priest of the Slane Theocracy at the time.
He attempted to establish diplomatic ties by signing a series of agreements, including the Mutual Assistance Pact Between the Two Nations and the Racial Alliance Agreement.
Based on the principle that both sides belonged to humanoid races, the Theocracy accepted.
There was no denying that the Elf King appeared to be a wise ruler.
For more than a century, the two sides supported each other and fought together against other heteromorphic races and demihumans.
Over time, the Theocracy lowered its guard.
They grew careless with intelligence oversight concerning this so-called ally.
That mistake allowed the Elf King to come into contact with a girl known as the Theocracy's "secret weapon."
What followed was something no one had anticipated.
Without any warning, the Elf King betrayed the alliance with the Theocracy.
He deceived and imprisoned the Theocracy's trump card, "Faine," the mother of Zesshi Zetsumei.
What awaited the girl were cold iron chains and a dark underground dungeon.
Day after day passed.
She was treated like a dog, abused repeatedly, and eventually forced to watch as her belly slowly began to swell.
Until the day the child was born.
Before that moment arrived, the Black Scripture carrying a True Divine-class Item stormed into the Elf Country with overwhelming force.
In the end, they rescued both mother and child and brought them back to the Theocracy.
From that moment onward, the Great Forest of Evasha was engulfed in flames of war that would never be extinguished.
The bloodline of the Six Great Gods could not be defiled.
The alliance completely collapsed and transformed into a war that would not end until one side was destroyed.
All forest elves were implicated by the crimes of the Elf King.
The Theocracy collectively branded them as filthy traitors.
Within the Theocracy, their status fell to that of filthy slaves.
And so the war continued for more than a hundred years.
Today, the Theocracy has established a frontline base near Crescent Lake, where the forest elf royal capital is located.
Originally, according to the plan, the Elven Kingdom should have been destroyed within a few years.
However, because of the interference of the Platinum Dragon Lord, the plan gradually went off course and was delayed again and again.
Until recently, the situation changed once more.
...
Now, the focus returns to the present.
Between the Great Forest of Evasha and the border fortress of the Slane Theocracy lies an empty stretch of land nearly a thousand meters wide.
It is scorched earth left behind by massive fires.
Viewed from the sky, it looks like a long, unnatural winding line along the forest's edge.
The elves call it the "Death Line."
Just as the name suggests, once someone steps inside, survival is impossible.
Forest elf infiltration squads meet their end there.
Prisoners of war meet their end there.
Even ordinary elves captured and turned into slaves meet the same fate.
"Warriors. You are the backbone of the Theocracy. You are the guardians of humanity. In the war that is about to begin, we will not retreat."
"Raise your heads high. Strengthen your faith. With our courage and wisdom, we will overcome every obstacle."
"When placed in a desperate situation, we will survive. When pushed into death, we will endure. The blessings of the gods bind us together. Crush those filthy forest elves completely."
"We come to worship. We come to conquer. We come to protect."
"All of it is offered to the Six Great Gods."
Within the hilltop fortresses overlooking the battlefield, figures holding the banners of the gods shouted their declarations.
Below them stood tens of thousands of soldiers, fully prepared for war.
Men and women stood together. Some were elderly veterans in their seventies or eighties, while others were young adults only a few decades old.
They all wore platinum-white full-body armor.
Their weapons and shields were all rare magical equipment.
With the final declaration, thunderous cheers erupted.
The roar echoed through the sky.
Regardless of age or gender, every soldier stared firmly at the banner waving ahead of them.
The banner of the Six Great Gods.
As they gazed at it, a single thought filled every mind.
Kill.
Kill!
Kill!!
The will of the countless soldiers gathered into one overwhelming belief.
Countless burning gazes surged forward like arrows, forming an unstoppable tide of war.
The war against the Elf Country had officially begun.
...
"Ah… isn't this a little too enthusiastic?"
Inside a luxurious office in the Slane Theocracy.
Surshana slumped back in his chair, sounding somewhat helpless.
In front of him, projection magic formed a mirror-like screen that displayed the situation on the front lines.
High morale in the army was certainly a good thing.
But this seemed a little excessive.
It appeared the Theocracy's spread of faith was even more powerful than he had imagined.
Practically everyone had become a fanatic.
"This level of extremism is not good. It will make future diplomatic relations between the Theocracy and the Sorcerer Kingdom more difficult."
Surshana turned his head and looked at several phantom figures beside him.
They only wanted to maintain the current situation.
They absolutely could not afford to start a conflict with other Players because of this.
"Then we will fight poison with poison. Use the power of faith to influence how they perceive the Sorcerer Kingdom."
The phantom of the God of Wind transmitted his voice.
His consciousness currently existed within the body of the Captain of the Black Scripture. What appeared here was only a projection used for communication.
The other phantoms nodded in agreement.
"Sigh. It seems we have no other choice."
Surshana nodded before continuing.
"A Dragonoid player named Naohara, huh?"
"Unfortunately, I have no memory of him. It would help if we at least knew which guild he belonged to."
In the game Yggdrasil, there had been nine different world maps.
At its peak, the number of players had been enormous. Trying to identify a single player was extremely difficult.
The only information they had right now was that the three players from the Sorcerer Kingdom were not World Champions.
"He is most likely one of the World Disasters."
"The power of a Grand Catastrophe really is troublesome."
Thinking back to the faint aura of Catastrophe magic he had sensed during their previous meeting, Surshana felt a headache coming on.
The good news was that he was not the strongest warrior class, World Champion.
The bad news was that he might be the strongest magic class, World Disaster.
"Let us hope our friend can restrain the other two players. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to activate our trump card and eliminate them completely."
Surshana shook his head as he spoke.
A trump card was called a trump card precisely because the cost of using it was so great that it could only be used as a last resort.
Hopefully nothing unexpected would happen.
"Look. If nothing goes wrong during this Elf Country incident, then it means cooperation is possible."
"When that happens, we can proceed with my idea and push forward the 'One Family Plan'."
The God of Wind spoke without hesitation.
Peaceful coexistence would be ideal.
He had a very favorable impression of Naohara, especially since Naohara liked cats.
After all, he himself was a devoted cat lover.
"Alright. Then next…"
Surshana nodded.
In his view, it would be best if the plan succeeded, but even if it failed it would not matter much. After all, it was only meant as a backup.
Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly paused.
His crimson eyes shifted to the side.
The other phantom figures looked in the same direction at the exact same moment.
"Heh. Interesting."
"I did not expect a guest to arrive at a time like this."
Within the Theocracy, where the power of faith permeated everything, concealment was meaningless.
The Six Great Gods watched calmly.
In their vision, a True Dragon Lord cloaked in concealment was quietly sneaking into the interior of the Theocracy.