"Ahhh, it hurts so much!!!"
The elven guards of the capital heard the screams and rushed out to see what was happening.
"My King, what happened?!"
The elves who burst into the hall froze, faces pale, as they saw their king—Decem Hougan—his limbs severed by Kiana Kaslana.
They had never seen their ruler in such a pitiful state—maimed, bleeding, powerless.
He was their Elf King, the strongest among elves.
How could this have happened?
"Is it done?"
Iron Maiden descended from above.
"All done. Easier than I expected."
Kiana Kaslana grasped the silver spear impaling Decem Hougan and lifted it slightly.
The Elf King's body rose, hanging limply in midair.
"Kill... kill them!!" Decem Hougan roared furiously, ordering his guards to attack.
Iron Maiden's lips curved into a cold smile as she watched the surrounding elves raise their weapons.
With a single swing of her black scythe, a gleam of cold light flashed.
Slash!
Several male elves who had charged forward were cleaved cleanly in half, blood splattering across the ground.
Iron Maiden swept her gaze across the room, speaking in a calm, indifferent tone: "Your king has already been captured alive. Do you truly think yourselves stronger than him? Do you believe you can save him from us? Or is he really worth dying for?"
"Don't worry. We're not from the Theocracy. We were simply commissioned by an elf to end the reign of this arrogant, foolish king—and bring peace back to your people."
She gestured toward the elf girl they had brought along, pushing her forward.
"She will be your new Elf Queen."
The elf girl trembled slightly, but when she remembered her mission—the future of her race—she straightened her back.
"That's right! Lady Iron Maiden and Lady Kiana are the goddesses who came to save us!" she declared loudly.
"..."
The surrounding elves exchanged uncertain glances, then one by one lowered their heads and dropped their weapons.
Anyone strong enough to defeat their king could easily slaughter them or escape unharmed.
There was no reason to lie.
As long as they weren't from the Theocracy, the elves could accept them.
"Wise choice," Iron Maiden said with a satisfied smile.
By installing an obedient puppet queen, they could pacify the elven population and minimize resistance.
The purpose was simple—elves lived scattered across countless villages. If word spread that their king had been captured by Theocracy forces, the scattered settlements would panic and flee, making them difficult to control.
Capturing Decem Hougan alive and proclaiming a new Elf Queen allowed Iron Maiden and Kiana Kaslana to naturally become the de facto guardian deities of the Elf Country.
All of Decem Hougan's loyalists and children were captured and given 'special treatment' by Iron Maiden.
Inside a massive tree hollow transformed into a magical treehouse—
Iron Maiden reclined leisurely as elven maidens attended to her, then asked casually, "What about the Theocracy? Did they agree to release all the captured elves?"
"You already know the answer to that," Kiana Kaslana said with a cold snort. "They only agreed to release a small number."
"Same on my side," Iron Maiden sighed. "They say the war's over, but there are still plenty of humans attacking elven villages in secret, kidnapping them to sell as slaves."
She shook her head and let out a weary sigh. "We'll have to deal with them ourselves."
The trade in elven slaves involved too many interests within the Theocracy. No amount of diplomacy would make them give it up.
That was just human nature—words were useless.
Only action worked.
"Then we'll go together," Kiana Kaslana said, rising and taking a crystal glass of wine from an elven servant's tray, sipping it lightly.
"Mhm."
Iron Maiden crossed her legs elegantly, exuding an air of lazy nobility.
To settle matters with both the Theocracy and the elves in one decisive stroke—was hardly difficult for them.
To further improve their reputation among the elves, Iron Maiden chose to rescue the captives in batches from the Theocracy—starting with the unharmed female elves.
The two personally traveled to each Theocracy city, solving problems through force.
Every battle ended the same way: Iron Maiden and Kiana Kaslana utterly crushed the Theocracy's forces.
Certain Death and most of the Six Scripture members were defeated—half of them left powerless.
Within the elven race, the pair's status continued to rise.
After multiple devastating losses and heavy casualties, the Theocracy's leadership finally compromised—abolishing the slave system and agreeing to release all elves.
However, despite their official stance, centuries of hatred between the Theocracy and the Elf Country could not be erased overnight.
In secret, some still hid elves or even killed their captives to avoid freeing them.
Naturally, Kiana Kaslana would not tolerate that. To set an example, she executed a wide purge—slaughtering those involved to serve as a warning.
After that, most people within the Theocracy behaved much more obediently.
Meanwhile, the Theocracy's upper echelon received intelligence about the other Celestial Gods appearing across the continent.
In the Kingdom and Empire, the royal families and nobles—deemed unattractive or corrupt—had been executed. Cannibalistic humans, demi-humans, and heteromorphs were killed on sight.
Across six nations, beastmen who invaded the Dragon Kingdom, and ogres, minotaurs, and trolls who enslaved or ate humans, were being systematically exterminated—cities wiped out one after another.
By comparison, the two operating in the Elf Country were considered the gentlest of all. At least they hadn't massacred the entire Theocracy's high command—though many had indeed perished.
Now, more and more Celestial Avatars continued to descend into this world—and they grew stronger with each new arrival.
Their physical and magical resistance was so high that they were essentially humanoid Dragon Kings.
In the Argland Council State, the Platinum Dragon Lord, guardian of the Eight Greed Kings' artifact weapons, grew deeply troubled upon learning of these player-like beings appearing endlessly in this world.
One or two, he could still plan to kill.
But this many—
How could anyone possibly prepare for that?
Even if they turned against one another, he feared their battles would tear the world itself apart.
Armed with their weapons, they were beyond powerful—boasting extreme physical and magical resistance, and even fields that rendered nearby spellcasters unable to use magic.
Through the World Observation Origin Magic, the Platinum Dragon Lord secretly monitored and gathered intelligence on these player-descended avatars.
But these avatars were not their true selves—they had no souls. Destroying them achieved nothing.
To truly drive them out, he would have to sever the connection between this world and theirs.
After observing for some time, he discovered that their reliance on force was not out of malice—but rather out of simplicity.
They simply found violence to be the fastest solution to any problem.