"Mother Goddess, Themis, Athena, Medusa, activate the Great Barrier and fully seal off the Sea of Oceanus. You must suppress the spread of the Tide of Void and cut off the angelic army's path north!"
Above the sea, Samael looked at the restless angelic army on the horizon, his eyes flickering darkly, and issued the order in a low voice.
Led by the Mother Goddess and the Three Goddesses, the gods of Areopagus immediately accepted the command with solemn expressions and stirred their divine might.
[Nega-Genesis] and [Stellar Tribunal] condensed one after another over the sea and sky, overlapping as they covered the Greek front.
At present, the twelve Spears of the End that had supported the World Wall and resisted the erosion of the Tide of Void and the Gates of Heaven had all been used to seal the Harvest Star, Velber.
Although they had bought three days, Gaia, the Star Spirit, had also fallen into slumber, and the World Wall's defensive line had been broken.
In order to awaken Velber, once the angelic army failed to break through the spear cage, they would inevitably bring the Tide of Void with them and launch a full-scale erosion of every major Age of Gods, accelerating the harvesting of spirit particles to supply power to the Harvest Star.
"Zeus, light the Sacred Flame of Olympus and call on ordinary people without combat power to evacuate inland!"
"Odin, order Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Open the Nine Realms and take them in!"
The Ancient Serpent then turned toward the two God Kings and spoke solemnly.
Zeus and Odin exchanged a glance, nodded, and began making preparations.
With the World Wall gone, the Great Barrier of Areopagus could not cover the entire land or maintain itself forever. That meant there was no longer any place on human soil that was absolutely safe. At any moment, the Gates of Heaven and the angelic army could erode it and descend.
And this operation was not simply meant to protect the weak.
Humanity was the most perfect flock of lambs. The spirituality that came from the planet's Greater Source could accelerate Velber's awakening.
To prevent more people from having their spirit particles harvested and their souls transformed into members of the angelic army, the best solution was undoubtedly to move as many humans unable to protect themselves as possible into divine realms with complete defensive systems.
At present, the Ages of Gods of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Maya, and India were too ancient, and most of their connections to the surface were extremely faint. Only the Scandinavian Age of Gods was comparatively young.
Moreover, Scandinavia was vast and sparsely populated. The Nine Realms covered an enormous area, more than enough to gather these refugees from the front line.
Of course, aside from preserving as much living strength as possible, Samael had another plan.
"Odin, I remember that the World Tree supports the Nine Realms, and each has a branch from the main trunk, correct? Even from thousands of miles away, those branches can still resonate with the World Tree and radiate power back and forth."
"That's right!"
"Good. Aside from the one in Asgard, give me the other eight!"
After obtaining the authority, Samael decisively turned to look behind him.
"Now, the branches of the World Tree need to be taken to their respective regions. Use them to establish great altars and connect them to the main body of the World Tree. Ere, Ishtar, the two of you will go to Mesopotamia!"
"No problem!"
The two goddesses nodded seriously and readily accepted.
"Uh, wait. Bring Enkidu and Gilgamesh too."
The Ancient Serpent seemed to remember something and coughed lightly before adding, his gaze somewhat evasive.
He could hardly tell them that their luck was too unreliable, so he would feel safer choosing a few more people.
"Nero, Penthesilea, you two notify Rome. Kuku, Jaguar, take a trip to the Americas..."
"Got it!"
"Tamamo-no-Mae, you have a share too. Take it with you and go to China."
When it came to serious business, the fox spirit put away her coquettish manner and nodded solemnly.
Then, on a sudden thought, Samael tapped his head and asked about China's current dynasty and ruler.
When he heard the words "Great Qin" and "Ying Zheng" from Tamamo-no-Mae, the Ancient Serpent's face stiffened, his expression turning subtle.
Soon after, however, he learned the reason from Tamamo-no-Mae.
Because the Age of Gods had never declined, it seemed that His Majesty Qin Shi Huang had really found the elixir of immortality.
Great Qin had already continued under his rule for a very long time.
Of course, the culprit responsible for the chaos of time and the prolonging of the Age of Gods was undoubtedly standing right here.
Samael guiltily rubbed the side of his nose, shifted his gaze aside, and continued issuing orders.
"Rama, Karna, contact the Indian gods first. Vritra, was it? Take your people and coordinate Persia."
"Tch, does this thing really work? You saved me, but I never said I'd trust you."
The proud Serpent Demon snorted, though her hand unconsciously snatched up the peculiar branch of the World Tree.
"You're planning to...?"
Rama looked at the strange branch in his hand, gleaming like light, jade, gold, and stone. Remembering what Samael had just mentioned, his gaze fell on the Star Spirit sleeping in the Ancient Serpent's arms, and realization seemed to dawn on him.
"Union of All Gods!"
Samael answered frankly, his gaze deep and distant. While everyone fell into brief shock, the Ancient Serpent laid out his entire plan.
Now that Velber's main body had descended, Egypt had become a land of nothingness, the Egyptian gods had been wiped out, the seventh-rank Velber vanguard had appeared, and Gaia, the Earth Spirit, had fallen asleep, this Ragnarok and apocalyptic judgment was no longer a catastrophe that one, or even several, Ages of Gods could solve.
Therefore, Samael intended to bring Gaia to Scandinavia, where Ether was abundant, and use the resonance between the World Tree's branches, leaves, and main trunk to establish a global great altar. Through it, they would gather divinity and spirit particles to awaken this Earth Spirit as soon as possible.
If the sacrifices of Areopagus and Olympus alone could not allow Gaia to face Velber, then gathering the power of all the major pantheons still existing on earth might offer them a chance to fight their way out of this dead end.
The reason he had chosen the branches of the World Tree was that worship of the earth and of trees was nearly universal across the major Ages of Gods.
China had the Jianmu that connected heaven and earth. India had the Bodhi tree of "one flower, one world." Greece had the golden apple tree that represented the authority of the earth. Rome had the giant tree transformed from the Spear of Nation Building. All of these possessed similar traits, connecting to the world while representing vitality and nurturing.
If the branches of the World Tree could be integrated into the sacred trees of the major Ages of Gods and used to establish great altars, then each major Age of Gods could use that medium to resonate with the ley lines, channel divinity into the Inner Sea of the Planet, and provide Gaia with enough nourishment to let her develop as fully as possible.
In addition, because the twelve Spears of the End had been pulled out, the surface would inevitably be eroded by Velber.
Rather than splitting their forces and fighting separately, it would be better to abandon some remote, uncivilized edges. With the World Tree as the core, they could concentrate their strength to defend the important foundations of each civilization and open pathways between them, forming one complete defensive system.
At that time, with the World Tree as the foundation, the isolated islands of civilization floating in the Sea of Chaos would become like fruits on its branches, completing the convergence of the civilization belts.
And once the fruits shattered, decay returning to the roots would be the natural order. The scattered spirit particles would inevitably return to the World Tree first, becoming nourishment for Gaia, accelerating her growth and awakening, while also doing as much as possible to prevent the angelic army from expanding.
For the next three days, every civilization and every pantheon would gather together and make their final effort to resist this catastrophe.
Around the World Tree, a battle of offense and defense would begin.