The Will Of The World Tree

Chapter 3 Followers

Eve couldn't fathom how she had reconnected with the digital world of her past life.

Piecing together the circumstances of her death, she had a few theories. She remembered her final moments: blissfully immersed in a virtual reality game within her gaming pod. Her cause of death, apparently, was total exhaustion after several sleepless days of gaming...

Indeed, that final news snippet she'd glimpsed seemed to be reporting on her own demise.

Virtual Reality (VR) was a burgeoning technology back on Earth, designed to link human consciousness directly to the network to create immersive digital realities. Eve suspected that because she died while her mind was interfaced with the web, a residual bridge had been established between her new existence and the digital void of Earth.

Furthermore, by comparing the flow of time, Eve discovered that time on the Segas Continent moved roughly four times faster than in the real world.

What was she to make of this? Reincarnated, yet still tethered to her old home?

Eve didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had steeled herself to embrace a new life and leave the past behind. But this connection, however tenuous, sparked a flicker of sentiment she couldn't quite extinguish. Nostalgia is a treacherous thing; it stays buried when the bridge is burned, but once a path appears, it brings hope with it.

Eve sighed inwardly.

She was now the World Tree of Segas. Her physical body on Earth had likely been cremated into ash. What use was a link to Earth's internet? She had already tested the limits; her divine power could barely touch the digital realm and certainly couldn't manifest in the physical world. To Earth, her consciousness was nothing more than a ghost in the machine—an invisible cluster of data.

Moreover, the cost of projecting her consciousness descending upon that network was staggering. Just considering the act made her realize it would require tens of thousands of Divine Power points. She had ascended; her soul was now a Divine Soul. Without massive energy to anchor it, the digital world couldn't host even a sliver of her presence.

Merging with the World Tree had given her a new life and incredible power, but it was also a gilded cage.

Perhaps... once I am strong enough, there will be a way to return? The thought crossed her mind, but she quickly regained her composure. That was a distant dream. Squandering ten thousand points of Divine Power was a luxury reserved for mid-tier deities or higher. She was currently a "Feeble" tier weakling on the brink of death.

Feeble, Weak, Intermediate, Strong, Great...

She had a long, long road ahead of her. And right now, her priorities lie elsewhere.

"Stabilize first," she told herself, eyeing her pathetic status bar. "A dying True God is nothing but a walking gold mine for enemies. I must secure my footing in Segas before worrying about anything else."

With a clear long-term goal—gaining true strength and freedom—Eve turned her back on the blue orb and focused on the three green photons.

Ignoring Basaka's light, she looked at the remaining two. Suddenly, that ethereal, sacred prayer echoed again. This time, she pinpointed the source: it was the brightest of the two remaining orbs.

With a slight hesitation, she plunged her consciousness inside.

Following a surreal sensation of weightlessness, Eve's vision soared as the surrounding space blurred into a dreamlike haze. She exited the Divine Core, her consciousness drawn like a needle to a magnet toward a specific coordinate.

When the world snapped back into focus, Eve found herself within a towering, majestic temple.

The structure was woven from ancient vines and primordial wood, carved with intricate, elegant patterns that exuded a natural divinity. However, the temple was in a state of advanced decay. The air was heavy with the scent of dust and the weight of ages.

In the center stood a primitive altar, its magical ley-lines fractured by deep cracks. Atop the altar sat a broken statue of an Elven goddess—missing its head.

Where am I? Eve wondered.

As she expanded her awareness, a realization hit her. This temple... was located on her.

To be precise, it was nestled within her own massive trunk. She had been so preoccupied with the distant horizon earlier that she had completely missed what was right under her nose—literally.

Talking about a blind spot, she grumbled internally.

She shifted her focus to the front of the altar, where two elves—a man and a woman—were gathered.

The male elf was ancient. His hair and beard were snowy white, and he leaned heavily on a staff. Dressed in grey sacerdotal robes, he was shrouded in an aura of frailty and decay. Deep in his eyes lay an ocean of sorrow and despair.

Eve's gaze skipped over him and settled on the female elf.

She was a stunning young maiden, looking no older than sixteen or seventeen. She was kneeling on the floor, her hands clutching a leaf-shaped emblem. Her head was bowed, her eyes tightly shut as she murmured her prayers.

She possessed all the legendary beauty of the Elven race: pointed ears, a slender neck, and features so exquisite they seemed painted by a master. Her skin was fair as fresh snow, and her long, golden hair cascaded down to the floor like a silken waterfall, lending her a touch of maturity.

She wore a magnificent priestess gown adorned with green accents and golden vine patterns, giving her a sacred and solemn air. Her natural elegance was so profound it made one feel instinctively inadequate in her presence.

The prayers Eve had heard were coming from her. As Eve looked at her, the girl's information surfaced:

[Name: Alice Gale]

[Race: Elf]

[Class: Nature Priestess]

[Level: 23 (Iron-Tier, Intermediate)]

[Deity: Eve Iggdrasil]

[Faith Level: Devout]

[Title: Saint of Nature]



Everyone appreciates beauty. Seeing that her only "Devout" follower was such a pure and lovely Elven girl, Eve felt half her frustrations melt away.

As for the other elf, he was her only "Casual" believer. His data identified him as Samir Gale, a Level 30 Nature Priest/Druid—just one level shy of High Iron-tier.

So, this is my starter squad, Eve noted.

Her next move was to communicate with them and find a way to bolster their faith. She prepared to expend a point of Divine Power to respond, but the girl suddenly stopped praying.

Alice opened her emerald-colored eyes and wiped a crystalline tear from her cheek. She gave her reddened nose a small sniff and pushed herself up from the floor with difficulty. Turning to her waiting companion with a forced, weary smile, Alice's voice came out raspy and hollow:

"Grandfather Samir... the final prayer... is over."

She had been kneeling there for three days and three nights. Her final spark of hope had finally gutted out into despair.

Looking at the girl's devastated expression, the old elf sighed. He masked his own grief and tried to offer comfort:

"Ai... it cannot be helped. No matter how much we persist, no matter how much we hope, we must accept reality."

He looked up at the headless statue, tears glimmering in his clouded eyes. "Her Majesty, the Mother Goddess... has truly fallen."

A heavy silence, punctuated by stifled sobs, filled the hall. After a long moment, the old man let out a long, weary breath.

"Let us go. We have guarded this place for a thousand years. There is no longer any reason to stay."

As his words fell, the two photons in Eve's Divine Space began to dim, flickering on the verge of total extinction.

Hey! Is it really okay to give up on your faith right in front of your Goddess?

Eve was incredibly annoyed. She had planned to perform a miracle to bump the girl up to "Fanatic" and the old man to "Devout," but she had walked right into a crisis of faith. She knew that if she didn't act immediately, her only two native followers would vanish.

Stay calm, she told herself. I just inherited the throne; the beginning is always the hardest. Worst case scenario, I still have the loyal Basaka...

She steeled herself to spend the precious Divine Power to prove her existence, but then, she felt a flicker of intuition. She suppressed her initial plan.

Scanning a distant coordinate with her awareness, Eve grew cold and calculating. Divine Power was too precious to waste.

As luck would have it, a much more efficient and "cost-effective" solution was approaching...