Game Transmigration: Saving the World Again 1000 Years Later

249 Holy Tree Matriarch Temple

7,800 naturally grown wooden stairs coiled up the thick trunk of the World Tree—it was more like a mountain path than a ladder to the crown.

William had been here before.

Or rather, he had fought here.

Years ago, the impact of the Seven Calamities had made the World Shell protecting Currere fragile. The Moon Realm Void Sovereigns had torn through the veil and projected Their strength into Currere.

Most of the locations where the Moon Realm rifts were created had a mystical connection with the corresponding Void Sovereigns in the Moon Realm. And one of them, the Lady of Starvation, Camilla, had established a connection between the Lake of Entropy and Currere by corrupting Ravenwood Forest, the richest source of life force on the Vic Continent.

The main plot of the Ravenwood map in-game was to remove the corruptive curse and expel the pollution of the Moon Realm. Camilla’s plan had been to completely corrupt the World Tree and turn it into a breeding ground for corruptive force, allowing her to cross the barrier of the World Shell and enter Currere.

Camilla was the one closest to entering Currere, second only to the three Void Sovereigns who successfully entered in the Waning Moon ending.

But Her plan was ultimately stopped by the Doomsday Watchers, led by William and his Judges, and aided by two powerful deities—the World Tree’s will, Matriarch and the common master of the Wilderness Spirits, Father of the Wilderness.

The Doomsday Watchers ran errands throughout the Ravenwood area, uniting the disunited Forest Elf tribes and summoning the two gods believed in by the Forest Elves. They withstood the corrosion from the Lake of Entropy at the critical moment and bought time for William and the others to defeat Camilla’s Void Incarnation and seal the Moon Realm rift.

In a sense, it was impressive that these two deities could withstand a Void Sovereign’s direct attack, making William’s hope of forming an alliance with the Forest Elves even stronger.

William never thought the Forest Elves would offer him military support. Their strange tradition dictated that war was too cruel for their race.

But as the Moon Realm threatened Currere, William knew he needed all the high-end combat power he could get. Even though the Void Sovereigns were in disarray, William couldn’t rely on Their internal strife to defeat Them.

He knew it was a dangerous gamble to pin his hopes on the enemy’s mistakes.

But the Forest Elves’ beliefs in the Matriarch and the Father of the Wilderness were a mystery.

The scholars of the Holy Spirits Church believed that the Matriarch and the Father of the Wild were one in the same, reflected in countless myths and legends throughout the Vic Continent. They were seen as mere reflections of mortals’ incomplete memories of the Creation Holy Spirit. The Matriarch, symbolizing the will of the World Tree, was believed to be a fragment of the Holy Spirit, the Mother. As for the Father of the Wild, symbolizing royalty and hunting, it was thought to be a mixture of the prototypes of Father and Youth.

This was an authoritative official statement, but William didn’t buy it.

He believed that the Father of the Wild was more like the God King in Blackwater mythology, Oka. An Authority holder who used ceremonial magic to imitate myths and legends in order to gain powerful strength. After all, every Father of the Wild had to hold a divine marriage ritual with the World Tree to gain strength. This was in line with the principle of imitating past myths and legends when an Authority holder was born and gaining strength from resonance.

However, the Matriarch was different.

It had no personalized manifestation of divinity, no spokesperson to represent its power, and didn’t make decisions on its own. From these points, compared to gods, the Matriarch was more like a running program.

William guessed that this was a driver that controlled the power released by the World Tree.

His guess wasn’t groundless.

A key piece of evidence was that the Forest Elf ancestors were colonists from Ava State. If the Matriarch was really a vague memory of people’s creation from the Holy Spirit, then as foreigners, the Forest Elves wouldn’t have any original collective memories of the Matriarch faith.

Before the Holy Spirits Church appeared, myths and legends were extremely geographically localized. Early magic, or what should be called witchcraft, that was based on myths would greatly weaken or even completely lose its effectiveness after leaving the range of its caster’s culture.

Therefore, the Forest Elf ancestors from Ava State relied on collective memories to mold the Matriarch into a god. This was almost impossible in current theory.

William didn’t give a second thought to the origins of Matriarch. As long as She wasn’t from the Moon Realm and didn’t pose a threat to him in the future, he was content.

But what truly concerned him was how to harness Matriarch’s power to resist the Moon Realm.

Negotiations were out of the question since the other party had no personality. Matriarch was nothing more than a powerful, empty force controlled by the Forest Druid class.

But if he controlled the Forest Elf episcopate, he could indirectly control this force.

In the past, there had always been a deep-seated conflict between Ravenwood’s clergy system and the tribal warrior class. They could only maintain a fragile relationship through the divine marriage ritual.

Even after over a thousand years, this contradiction had presumably not changed much.

So, after gaining a rough understanding of the Holy Tree Duke’s governance level through the Wild Hunt, William began to consider collaborating with the episcopate that believed in Matriarch.

But he still had his doubts, wondering if these clergymen were even more inhumane.

“However… the current Holy Tree Duke is actually a woman. Doesn’t this mean that the Father of the Wild ritual has been abolished?”

William pondered as he climbed the 7,800 steps to the Cenmu Gate. He knew if he didn’t want to draw attention, he could have flown up with Morph spells.

Back to the main topic… The idea of a woman inheriting the power of the Father of the Wild through ceremonial magic was impossible.

So, what gave her the right to sit firmly in the position of Holy Tree Duke? The Forest Elves, although not advocating endless killings, were a race that believed in survival of the fittest.

Among the Forest Elves, it was impossible for the weak to win over the masses. Strength was the foundation of everything among them.

Why…

As he reached the entrance of the Cenmu Gate, a possibility dawned on William.

Could it be that the true backer behind the Holy Tree Duke is the Riel Empire?

William remembered Wild Hunt’s words, they were sent out to search for anti-imperialists. This made him even more certain.

With a sigh of relief, William muttered to himself, “If that’s the case, it’ll be much easier…”

If the Holy Tree Duke was a staunch empire supporter, it would be best for him.

The other party lacked strength and didn’t have any ethical considerations. He could seize power and help someone obedient rise to the throne, without having to negotiate with a weak and unethical opposing party.

He would take Emerald Province under his control, just as he had done with the Blackwater Province.

He knew that if it came down to it, he could deal with the empire’s expeditionary army against Ava State once and for all. After all, Emerald Province was the true rear of the expeditionary army, and it was deeply strategic.

And if he could take down Emerald Province, the expeditionary army’s war with Ava State would never even spread to that state.

With the resources of two provinces and an alliance with Ava State, he could even attempt to challenge the empire.

William pushed open the white door with excitement coursing through his veins.

But first, he needed to establish contact with the episcopate that believed in Matriarch and determine if they were a powerful faction worthy of his support.

As he thought this, a female Forest Elf who looked like a maid was waiting on the other side of the door. She bowed respectfully to him and said, “Matriarch’s listener learned of your arrival not long ago. He has been waiting for you in the temple.”

William was stunned for a moment before becoming vigilant.

He had done a good job keeping this trip to Emerald Province a secret, so how did anyone in Holy Tree City know he was coming?

Could it be that this was what she said to everyone who came on a pilgrimage?

...

But before he could ask, the other party continued, “The Matriarch told us that you saved Ava State not long ago in the Moon Realm. Therefore, please save Ravenwood, which is already in a huge crisis.”