Gospel of Blood-Chapter 655 : Continental War

Holy City of the Elves, Temple.

Under the starlight, emerald runes flowed across the domed ceiling. A solemn and sacred statue of the Divine Tree reflected a dreamlike glow under the illumination of crystal magic lamps.

The High Priest knelt reverently before the divine throne, eyes closed in prayer, offering supplication to the Mother Goddess of Creation.

Knowledge, technology, magic… It was through these intermittent divine blessings over the past thousand years that the elven race had grown to become the dominant rulers of the continent!

Suddenly, the statue of the Divine Tree burst forth with brilliant radiance. Golden light quickly filled the entire sanctuary.

The High Priest’s heart trembled—then a look of ecstatic joy spread across his face.

“An oracle! It's an oracle!”

His eyes burned with fervor as he bowed deeply before the divine throne, chanting praises to the Mother Goddess of Creation. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A golden scroll appeared in his hands. He held it high above his head, awaiting the imprinting of the divine message.

Specks of light spread from the statue, merging into the scroll. Soon, lines of golden script began to slowly appear upon it.

At the same time, the content of the oracle imprinted directly upon the High Priest’s heart, making his pupils contract as his expression grew ever more solemn.

The divine revelation concluded, and holy light spread outward.

Three immense divine presences rose from the high towers of the Holy City, then descended into the temple that housed the statue.

“What did the Mother Goddess say?”

The leading golden figure asked in a solemn voice.

The High Priest reined in his visible awe and reverently presented the scroll to the foremost elven deity.

The elven god took the scroll, and the immense information contained within it surged into his divine consciousness:

“Eastern continent… Evil gods… Holy war…”

The god’s expression gradually grew grave.

And when the final piece of the oracle surfaced within his mind, his gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the towering Divine Tree.

“And also… the Child of the Oracle…”

His gaze fixed upon the Divine Tree’s branches.

There, two radiant lights shimmered with a tantalizing fragrance, slowly coalescing into two green fruits.

Rich life force and the sound of powerful heartbeats echoed faintly from the fruit into the hearts of the assembled elven deities, leaving them all deeply moved.

The leading god exchanged a glance with the two deities beside him, and after a silent nod, it was as if a consensus had been reached.

He took a deep breath and issued a divine command in a commanding voice.

“Seal all information. And… summon all the elders!”

…

The elves acted even faster than Charlotte had anticipated.

After a thousand years of uninterrupted support, her position in elven hearts had long since risen to an irreplaceable height. Even the elven gods themselves remained devoutly loyal to their faith in her.

Of course, another reason was that the stronger these elven gods grew, the more clearly they could sense the vast might of the Mother Goddess of Creation.

And so, in the seventh year after Charlotte delivered the divine oracle—following long campaigns of military mobilization and preparation—the war between the two continents… finally erupted.

Under the gods’ rallying call, the elves assembled an expeditionary force of over three hundred thousand, boarding elven warships constructed using knowledge bestowed by the “Mother Goddess of Creation” and setting sail for the distant Eastern Continent.

At this time, the Endless Sea had yet to be plagued by the world-rending storms and magical pollution of later eras.

Thousands of elven ships sliced through the winds. Guided by the elven gods, they sailed eastward for half a year before finally glimpsing the lands of Myria.

At this point in time, the continent of Myria was still a vast wilderness, occupied by all manner of monsters and beasts.

Many of these monsters had already developed intelligence and formed tribal societies. Each tribe worshipped its own mythic totem.

These mythic totems were the Old Gods—supernatural entities born after the advent of extraordinary powers on the continent of Myria. The monsters who worshipped them were either descendants of those Old Gods, or beings imbued with extraordinary power after being tainted by their divine auras.

They were the targets of the elven invasion.

As for the humans who would one day dominate the continent, they were still living in a tribal state—vassals and slaves of the various monster clans, barely surviving in the gaps between warring extraordinaries.

With Charlotte’s covert backing, elven civilization had already far surpassed anything on Myria.

From the first day of the war, the battles between elves and monsters were one-sided massacres. In less than a month, the elves had secured a firm foothold on the western shores of Myria and began constructing cities.

Answering the call of the holy war, the elven warriors pressed forward, launching wave after wave of unstoppable assaults, slaughtering every monster tribe that stood in their path.

However, this overwhelming offensive didn’t last forever.

In the third month after the elves landed, the monsters finally began to launch their counterattack.

And it began… with a beam of light.

Golden light flared across the battlefield, engulfing the fleeing monsters, while the elves sensed an immense and majestic presence descending from the heavens.

In the sky, thick clouds began to churn violently, and within the golden radiance, they converged into a terrifying golden giant hand, which then came crashing down directly toward the elven army!

The Old Gods of Myria… had finally made their move.

But just as the massive hand was about to strike the elven forces, dazzling golden light erupted from the elven side as well. A giant tree surged from the ground, its thick branches forming a colossal arm that blocked the attack head-on!

It was an elven god.

The descending Old God’s aura stalled momentarily—then a thunderous roar shook the heavens.

Brilliant light gathered once more, forming a more grotesque arm, now infused with overwhelming divine power, embodying the fury of the Old God.

At the same time, an aura far vaster than before swept across the battlefield. Under that terrifying pressure, neither elf nor monster could control their bodies—they could only collapse to the ground, trembling in fear.

Amid this oppressive force, a towering figure over a thousand meters high began to take shape—a golden one-eyed giant materialized on the battlefield.

The Old God of Myria had descended in full!

But the very next moment, even more radiant light burst forth from the elven side, as one divine presence after another revealed themselves.

They appeared as if they had long lain in ambush, emerging from all directions to completely surround the golden one-eyed giant.

They were the elven gods.

This—was the moment they had been waiting for!

Warring with monsters was merely the battle of mortals.

But to slay an Old God—that was the true purpose of the holy war!

Divine power rained down from all sides, instantly engulfing the stunned golden giant.

A cataclysmic explosion of divine power followed, tearing the battlefield apart. The monster armies were instantly reduced to ash, the earth shattered, mountains collapsed.

Under the combined assault of the elven pantheon, the golden giant was torn to shreds in an instant.

With a wailing cry of unwillingness, the god’s body broke apart, and its immense divine power dissolved into a surge of chaotic magic. The entire sky rained down with dark-gold magical rainfall, and roiling clouds of magical power stretched for thousands of miles.

Heaven and earth were in upheaval—a god had fallen!

And the fall of this first Old God of Myria finally alarmed the deeper powers slumbering within the continent. Soon after, one after another, immense divine auras rose from all across Myria.

A god had fallen. The gods now went to war.

The divine war between the two continents… had officially begun!

…

This war between the elves and the Old Gods of Myria lasted for thirty full years.

Without the advantage of an ambush and overwhelming numbers like at the start, the divine war soon evolved into a direct contest of divine might between the gods on both sides.

Even with Charlotte's support, since she refrained from personally descending, the elven pantheon held no overwhelming advantage, and the war quickly devolved into a long, grinding stalemate.

During these thirty years, the gods clashed dozens of times across the western regions of Myria. Eight gods in total perished in the conflict!

Among them… were three elven deities.

However, despite this loss, the war against the monsters also fueled tremendous growth for the elves. In addition, the deaths of deities left behind fragments of divine law and dense magical power. Within thirty years, two more elves ascended to godhood.

On the side of the Old Gods, despite losing five deities, their deep roots in the extraordinary of the world allowed them to weather the blows—two new gods also rose in succession.

By the fiftieth year since the divine oracle, both sides had finally transitioned from constant large-scale warfare to a prolonged standoff.

This was also the limit of the elven race at the time.

Decades of war had come at a tremendous cost.

Yet it was not without its rewards—they had successfully gained a foothold on the continent of Myria.

Over the decades, the elves managed to build a city on the western coast, using it as a bridgehead for the holy war.

Although, strictly speaking, it was no longer truly the “western coast.”

The repeated battles between gods had already devastated the entire western region of the continent.

Mountains shattered, land submerged—long ago, one divine battle had completely destroyed Myria’s westernmost region, letting seawater flood in and creating a narrow strait.

Because this strait resembled a silver crescent moon, and because the broken fragments of land now formed an “island” that resembled a star in the sky, this strait eventually came to be known among the elves as the Star-Moon Strait.

As for that large island formed from the fractured continent, the elves named it Starfall Island.

From that point on, the elves used Starfall Island as their anchor—launching a millennia-long war of continents!

…

Fifty years later.

Exactly one hundred years since the descent of the Mother Goddess of Creation’s oracle.

Western Continent, Holy Elven City.

Upon the mighty Divine Tree of the elves—those two green fruits, which had grown for a full century—were finally ready to ripen!