I became a vampire princess and then a dragon girl?

"Is there something special about me?"

After thinking for a while, Eve folded her hands, looked at the afterimage in front of her seriously and asked.

"Or what secret does the dragon bloodline in me hold?"

"……Feel sorry."

After a moment of silence, the afterimage only managed to squeeze out this sentence as an answer.

"All right…"

Seeing this, Eve sighed helplessly and slumped down on the table.

Well, this is another taboo topic.

Although the other party did not directly answer her question, it seems that the dragon bloodline and the gods seem to have a close relationship. Maybe this is why she can easily get along with various gods?

"Then is there anything else you can say..."

Lying weakly on the table, Eve looked up at the afterimage opposite her and asked helplessly.

"For example, about this wonderland? Can you tell me something about it? I'm not saying it yet, am I?"

"That's no problem. What does Eve want to hear about?"

It seemed that because the topic between the two of them was finally no longer in the restricted area, Canying was obviously relieved.

"For example, the exclusive place just now? How did those scenes appear?"

"Exclusive place? Ah, is that what they call this place outside now?"

After a moment of hesitation, Afterying finally understood what Eve was talking about, and then began to explain.

"Those places are formed based on the moments that left a deep impression on visitors and when major changes occurred. I can't see the interior of the scenes, and my responsibility is to provide them with rewards."

"By the way, how was the harvest over there, Tina?"

When Eve heard the other party say that he was responsible for distributing rewards, she asked casually.

"M... ahem, Tina gained both creation magic and destruction magic, both very powerful spells."

As if she almost let the cat out of the bag, Canying coughed twice before answering Eve's question. After that, as if to divert Eve's attention, she continued speaking quickly.

"Eve can learn some destruction magic, but you can't learn creation magic. Tina can learn all the magic you obtained."

"Hmm...I see."

Eve responded to the afterimage perfunctorily, but she felt a little confused.

After all, judging from Afterimage's reaction, she seemed to have known Istina for a long time? Or even seemed very familiar with her?

Well, this time, not only did he fail to uncover his own secret, but he also accidentally discovered that Istina also had some secrets.

Unfortunately, the other party has kept his mouth shut and is even trying to stop me from finding out more about this matter.

What confused Eve even more was the situation regarding Istina. She herself was still okay, but she was a reincarnation of a soul from another world, and had a mysterious dragon bloodline, so she was definitely not ordinary.

But Istina is just an ordinary human. When she was a hero, she could only use some healing magic. Her fighting ability only developed after she became his follower. How did she get involved with these gods?

It’s annoying, and the questions are getting more and more...

§222 The Reason for the End of the Age of Mythology

After learning that everything was going well on Istina's side and that she had also gained a lot, Eve relaxed a lot and tried to ask about the gods again.

After all, this is a rare opportunity. Although it is very difficult, she still wants to try to get something out of the other party.

"By the way, besides racial gods, are there any other types of gods? There are no records of these in the outside world. Can you tell me about them?"

Gently shaking the tea in the cup, Eve thought carefully and then asked the question.

This issue probably won't touch the other party's limits, but it's teetering on the edge.

"Um...ok."

This time, facing Eve's question, Canying stared at the exquisite teacup in his hand, frowned and hesitated for a long time before speaking.

"Gods other than me can be roughly divided into two categories: racial gods and conceptual gods. Racial gods can be seen as beings born from the consciousness of all members of a race. The purpose of their actions is to ensure the continuation of the race. Conceptual gods, on the other hand, are consciousnesses born from various concepts themselves, such as the God of Time, the Sun God, and the God of War. All of these conceptual gods were wiped out at the end of the mythological era."

"Total annihilation? Are the Concept Gods so weak?"

Hearing this, Eve asked curiously,

How could there be a total annihilation of the entire army? According to Afterimage's description, only one racial god would be born in each race, so at most there could only be so many.

There are less than ten races still existing on the continent today, and even so, there are at least two racial gods still alive. How much more powerful must the concept gods be?

"Do not."

After saying this, the afterimage shook his head.

"At that time, the conceptual gods were much stronger than the racial gods in terms of both numbers and power, but they violated the rules they were supposed to abide by, which ultimately led to the end of the mythological era."

Having said this, Canying suddenly raised his head, looked at Eve and asked back.

"Eve, what do you think the lives of those beings in the mythological age were like?"

"What does it look like? Is it any different from now?"

Eve frowned slightly, a little confused as to why the other party suddenly asked her this.

"It's different. During the early days of the mythological era, the world was indeed beautiful. Concept gods and racial gods worked together, and everything seemed to be thriving."

As he spoke, the afterimage raised his head slightly, as if casting his gaze back to that distant era.

"But as time passed, the Concept Gods gradually became capricious. At first, they simply demanded service, but later they began to expand their domains. The clashes between the Concept Gods also led to countless disasters that occurred constantly in every corner of the world. The surviving beings could only build shelters to try to avoid the endless natural disasters. From then on, the racial gods and the Concept Gods became polar opposites. However, due to their vastly inferior numbers and power, the racial gods could only barely maintain the continuation of their races, and were completely unable to compete with the Concept Gods."

Recounting the past that had long since vanished into time, the afterimage of the God of Creation spoke with an extremely melancholy tone.

"But the collision between the conceptual gods ultimately led to the beginning of the end of the Mythological Age. Eventually, all the conceptual gods perished, and many of the racial gods also died at that time. The Mythological Age came to an end."

"Can't you stop this?"

Frowning, Eve expressed her doubts.

Since the other party is the creator god who created the entire world, he must also have very powerful powers.

From her words, it's clear that she also hated it. So why didn't she intervene to stop it? Instead, she allowed the clash of conceptual gods to take place, ultimately leading to the end of the mythological era.

“…Eve, what do you think I am?”

Facing Eve's question, the afterimage of the God of Creation suddenly raised his head, stared straight into Eve's eyes, and asked such a nonsensical question.

Although her face could not be seen clearly due to the obstruction of light, it was not difficult to feel the helplessness and unwillingness in her eyes.

"What is it? The afterimage of the God of Creation?"

Although she didn't understand why the other party asked this, Eve still answered her question.

"Yes, I am the God of Creation."

Emphasizing the word "create", Afterying continued.

"All I can do is create the world. After this world is born, all I can do is end. After that, I can only watch this world quietly until it is destroyed again and I will create it again."

With a helpless sigh, Afterying continued.

"The actions of conceptual gods are, to a certain extent, limited by the concepts themselves. The same is true for me, so all I can do is create and watch over this world forever, but..."

When he spoke of the last afterimage, his tone suddenly became a little melancholy.

"'I' finally gave up..."

"give up?"

This time, facing Eve's question, the afterimage just shook his head silently, and no longer had the intention to explain.

After a long time, after seeming to have sorted himself out, the afterimage continued.

"Unlike the conceptual gods, the racial gods have few restrictions on their actions. Their primary focus is ensuring the continuation of their race. As a trade-off for their unrestricted actions, their power is also weaker than the conceptual gods. Their abilities are also focused on preserving their race, so that when their race faces an existential crisis, they can sacrifice themselves to overcome it. For example, the Elf God, who has frequent contact with Eve, can transform herself into the World Tree to prevent the elves from being unable to reproduce if the World Tree is destroyed."

"Is this so..."

Although she knew that the other party was just giving a random example, Eve still felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about the day when Melchis might sacrifice herself to become the World Tree.

"call--"

Shaking her head and adjusting her mood, Eve then asked

"Then how did the Age of Mythology end? Why did more racial gods survive?"

"..."

"…All right."

Looking at the silent afterimage, Eve shrugged helplessly, knowing that she had touched the restricted area again.

It seems that her secret is closely related to the event that led to the end of the mythological era.

Regardless of whether she would continue the investigation after this, she at least had a general direction.

Although there is very little information available, even if I really want to investigate it, it will take a lot of effort.

§223 Beyond Wonderland

Inside the World Tree Royal Court.

At this time, it has been almost a week since Eve and Istina entered the wonderland together. Due to the strange time difference between the Creation Courtyard and the outside world, it is impossible to tell from the outside what they are doing at this moment, and there is no way to know how long it will take for them to leave the wonderland.

As for Melsis, who was left alone outside, she was taken care of by the Mother of Elves in recent days, which made many white elves marvel and speculate about her identity in private.

As the festival drew closer, the World Tree Royal Court began to welcome guests other than the elves, a rare arrival. Among them were ordinary travelers and some traveling merchants. As for the invited guests from various races, they would arrive later.

However, because the followers of the Demon God will attack the World Tree Royal Court before and after the festival, the elves have become much stricter in checking the identities of the visitors this time.

And for the sake of the guests' safety and to guard against possible devil believers who might sneak in, the area where guests can move freely this time is much smaller than in the past.

In these areas, the elves also quietly arranged large-scale teleportation magic so that they could immediately transfer the guests away in the event of an accident to avoid the possibility of them being affected.

Although there haven't been many changes on the surface around the World Tree Royal Court, the intensity of secret patrols has more than doubled to ensure that any movement will not be missed.

The Beast King Bestia and the Blood Queen Elizabeth had already quietly arrived at the World Tree Royal Court alone with a small number of elite troops to prepare for any eventuality. They had already replaced their clan members with substitutes to confuse the Demon God's believers.

If nothing unexpected happens before the ceremony, they will attend the visiting ceremony in person.

As for unexpected situations...I guess no one would bother to take care of these trivial matters.

The biggest problem at the moment is that they have not yet found out the specific time of the Demon God's followers' actions. This time, the Demon God's followers did a perfect job of keeping the secret, so they were completely unable to find out the specific situation.

After all, it is impossible for Elizabeth and Bestia to stay in the elves for a long time. One of them has her own race to manage, and the other is the main force on the Far Western Front. Neither of them can leave for a long time.

At the moment, the three of them are discussing the possible time and method of action of the Demon God's followers.

There was no dispute among the three about the defensive method. After all, according to the usual style of the Demon God's followers, they would definitely attack head-on. If the commander had some brains, he would have added a team of people responsible for sneak attacks, but that was it. It couldn't be more complicated.

Regarding the sneak attack, Melceris said that she could avoid it by using blood defense magic that only white elves could use, so all they needed to focus on were the demon followers who were responsible for the frontal attack.

Perhaps it is because the worship of the Demon God once overwhelmed all life on the entire continent with absolute military force, the Demon God's believers often do not use those messy strategies when launching attacks. They just highlight the gap in the fighting power of both sides and then start pushing each other, rejecting all fancy tricks.

If you can push it through, then congratulations, you have blocked the attack of the demon's followers.

If you can't push it off, then just leave a will and go to bed. In the worst case scenario, you may not even be able to die in peace.

However, the three of them now had a slight dispute over the specific time of the demon's followers' attack.

Among them, Elizabeth and Merceris believed that the followers of the Demon God would attack at the opening of the festival because they wanted to use this opportunity to announce the news of the return of the Demon God's will to all races in the world, and the guests of various races at the festival just met all the conditions.

But the Beast King Bestia said that the Demon God's followers would attack on the eve of the festival, and even now this place was in a state where it could be attacked at any time. When asked the reason, it was intuition, but this guy's intuition was accurate. Although it is said that women's sixth sense is accurate, this guy's beast intuition is also not bad at all. He had said many things correctly in the past, which made it impossible for the two to easily ignore his opinions.

For a while, the discussion was at a stalemate.

The main reason is that the consumption of those defensive magics is too high and cannot be activated for a long time, otherwise there would not be so many problems.

A large part of the World Tree Royal Court's defense system relies on this giant tree that the World Tree catalyzed to protect itself. Once it is activated, it is unbreakable. Even if one of the three of them wants to destroy it head-on, it will take some effort.

The only problem is that it takes time to unlock this thing.