007CCG Chapter 501
Dark clouds churned across the vast sky, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, carrying an atmosphere of both unrest and oppression.
Yet, the petitioners ¹ within the divine kingdom seemed utterly accustomed to it.
They merely bowed their heads in reverence, whispering silent prayers…
The weather in a divine kingdom often reflected the mood of its deity and without a doubt, their Divine Father was once again enraged.
Generally, when a true god is angered, the heavens and earth change its color to reflect their mood.
Though many petitioners still trembled in fear beneath the weight of such sights, most had grown used to it…@@novelbin@@
After all, in the past year or two, their Divine Father’s bouts of fury had only grown more frequent.
If one is made to endure a god’s anger day after day, even the most devout believer will eventually grow numb to it.༺⟐༻
Uller was furious.
He had already found it intolerable that his divine incarnation had been vanquished by lowly mortals. But today, he had suffered an even greater humiliation.
Once again, it was those strange elves—the ones who had pledged themselves to that evil god, Eve.
But this time… Her followers had dared to desecrate his sanctified statue!
How many years had it been?
Uller could no longer recall the last time he had been treated with such blatant disrespect.
A god’s statue, enshrined by their believers, was the very embodiment of their public image. As such, defiling it was tantamount to slapping the god which represented it across their face!
Worse yet, these statues were mystically linked to him so any action taken against one was something Uller could directly perceive.
Hence, situations wherein he had been sitting in his divine kingdom, listening to the devoted chants of his believers and basking in the flow of their faith whilst reveling in divine bliss—only to be rudely interrupted, and when he checked who dared to disturb him…be met with a spit to the face. ṚŊo͍ʙĘ
Or worse, a stream of urine.
Or, most unforgivably, a heap of filth.
It was beyond infuriating.
Unacceptable.
Utterly unacceptable!
Blasphemous beyond measure!
Of course, in the long history of conflicts between deitys, there had been occasions where fanatics of opposing gods had done such vile things before…
But typically, such blasphemers would be struck down instantly by divine judgment.
It was an unspoken rule among them, the gods.
Any mortal who dared to desecrate a god’s image could be struck down on the spot, without consequence or hesitation.
And yet, this was where the real problem lay.
For ordinary mortals, once divine judgment was passed, their fate was already sealed.
But these strange elves?
Even when he smite them down with his divine fury, they returned again and again, as if death itself had no hold on them.
Uller had his suspicions about how they managed such feats.
After all…that evil elven god has in her possession the Scepter of Life and was rumored to be a subordinate of the Goddess of Death. So in theory, resurrecting her followers was within their power.
Which was absolutely disgusting.
It meant that his divine judgment basically achieved nothing at all. At most, it merely drained some of the elves Patron Deity’s divine power to revive them.
But what was even more infuriating?
Those same individuals, the very same ones who have committed the blasphemy beforehand kept coming back, over and over with smug grins on their faces.
Mocking him.
Taunting him.
This was no mere act of desecration—it was open, blatant provocation! A challenge hurled directly at his divine authority, as if they reveled in testing the limits of his wrath.
Uller was on the verge of exploding from sheer rage due to those elven heretics.
He couldn’t fathom what madness had taken hold of them. What drove them to such relentless harassment? What blasphemous force compelled them to defile his statues with such shameless audacity?
Alas, his confusion did not last long.
Because soon, he realized something far more outrageous.
These vile elves weren’t desecrating his statue simply for the sake of angering him.
No.
They were using the divine punishment he had woven into his sanctified statues… as a weapon.
—Against his own believers.
A single elf would commit such profane acts of blasphemy but alongside them, a whole group of his orc believers would be dragged down along with them.
And with that realization, Uller’s fury soared to an entirely new heights.
Such mockery…
To think that these wretched elves were exploiting his own divine judgment, twisting it into a weapon against his own believers…
No, this was not just blasphemy.
This was an insult of the highest order!
Like most gods, his divine judgment was indiscriminate, affecting all within its range.
It was the harshest form of punishment, designed to instill absolute dread, ensuring that no one would dare defy a god’s divine authority.
Moreover, such holy statues were typically kept under the vigilant watch of devoted believers.
So for one to be desecrated despite such precautions—
It was not merely the blasphemer alon who bore the weight of this sin.
Those entrusted with its protection also had failed in their sacred duty, allowing such sacrilege to unfold under their watchful eyes.
Thus, they too must suffer the same fate.
Which was precisely the problem.
The orcs were the only sentient race in the Desert of Death, and most of them were hardly the sharpest minds to begin with.
As believers of Uller, they had little reason to guard their enshrined statues too closely. After all, who would have expected a group of maniacs with no regard for their own lives to suddenly storm in and commit acts of blasphemy?
And not just any blasphemy—the acts they committed were the worst kinds possible.
Each time, these elves came up with new and ever more disgraceful ways to defile the statues, hardly repeating the same method twice.
Which brings up another point.
Divine punishment comes in varying degrees, corresponding to the severity of the desecration.
Hurling insults at a god in front of their statue is a form of blasphemy.
Doing so and then urinating on the statue is an even greater offense.
And if one were to hurl insults, urinate, and then smear filth upon the statue all at the same time then—
That would be the gravest of all.
The greater the blasphemy, the harsher the divine punishment would become.
And what made these elves truly infuriating was that without exception, they always chose the most shameless acts possible.
Urinating, smearing filth, and even smashing the statues had become their standard practice.
Worse still, some of them had gone so far as to bring goblins along, using mind-control magic to force them to do unspeakable acts before the statue.
Unforgivable.
Absolutely unforgivable!
Such sacrilege was not just as an offense to a god—even to ordinary orcs, such an act would be unendurable!
Faced with such profane blasphemy, Uller could not restrain himself, despite knowing that his own followers were nearby.
To not unleash the most severe divine punishment would be an even greater disgrace to his public image!
Of course, he had considered modifying his punishment, changing it from an indiscriminate, area-wide judgment to a precise, targeted strike against the desecrator alone.
Yet, each time the thought surfaced, his pride swiftly smothered it.
An area-wide punishment was the long-standing tradition amongst the gods.
So to change such an old established practice just to deal with these elves?
That would be tantamount to him admitting defeat.
And beyond that, the very fact that the elves had been able to desecrate his statue in the first place was already the failure of his own believers.
However, despite his mounting fury, Uller maintained a sliver of rationality.
Through his divine court, he swiftly issued an oracle: Every orc tribe was to guard their enshrined statues with unwavering vigilance.
Those wicked elves must be prevented from defiling them at all costs!
As for the punishment itself?
It would remain unchanged.
No, it must remain unchanged.
It absolutely cannot be changed!
Because this, too, was a matter of his pride and public image.
This was a matter of principle!
To lessen the severity of his divine punishment, merely because of a few insolent elves? To shift from an all-encompassing, indiscriminate judgment to a precise, single targeted strike?
That would mean lowering himself to their level—acknowledging them as worthy of such special treatment.
And who was he?
He was Uller!
A god exalted above all, a being of absolute authority!
To change his divine punishment just for the sake of those vile, depraved creatures?
Hah, the very thought was repulsive.
That would be no different from yielding to them, from admitting that their actions had forced his hand.
Yield? To them?
Never.
Not now. Not ever!
That was something Uller would never accept.
༺⟐༻
Of course, if Evé were made aware of Uller’s thoughts, she would not be able to help but laugh in ridicule.
If she were in his place, she wouldn’t hesitate to modify the punishment immediately—switching it from an indiscriminate attack to a precise, single-targeted strike.
After all, stubbornness is not pride.
It is arrogance.
And the lofty gods of this universe had spent far too long atop their thrones.
They had become too complacent, accustomed to their arrogance.
But such arrogance towards the weak… always leads to one’s downfall.
A thousand years ago, the Elvenkind fell.
And ten thousand years before that, the dragons and titans too have fallen.
Even the ancient gods…
Were they not undone by their own arrogance?
But, of course, this was merely Eve’s opinion.
Regardless, Uller’s new oracle had swiftly taken its effect.
With his decree to protect his enshrined statues at all costs, the players soon found doing Demacia’s Divine Punishment Meta growing increasingly difficult.
Outside a mid-sized orc settlement, a player stared at the heavily guarded tent with a helpless expression.
“Damn…another orc patrol blocking the way. How are they reacting this fast?”
“Yeah, every single tribe on the minimap is now on high alert. I even heard the First Legion ran into a freakin’ Gold-rank guard personally watching over a statue. That’s just ridiculous…”
“Wait… you think the devs saw what we were doing and decided to crank up the difficulty?” someone mused. “This kinda feels like a forced balance patch.”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” another player shook their head. “Based on Elven Kingdom’s mechanics, it’s way more likely the main AI running the game just finally caught on to us.”
“Damn… it figured it out way too fast. I wasn’t even done having fun!”
A collective sigh swept through the group.
The players had already experienced the sweet taste of success with the “Divine Punishment Meta,” using it to devastate medium and large orc tribes with remarkable success.
After all, desecrating a god’s statue was bound to alert the tribe’s leadership, luring out their strongest warriors, which in turn, making it easy for them to eliminate high-value targets in one fell swoop.
But when the orcs prepared countermeasures in advance, things got exponentially harder.
The players still didn’t realize that Uller himself had issued a divine oracle.
To them, it just seemed like the orcs had finally wised up after being harassed one too many times.
Even the slowest among them would eventually recognize a pattern, and so, tribe after tribe began reinforcing their enshrined statue defenses in recent days.
Small tribes weren’t much of a concern.
No matter how well they guarded their statues, they were still no match for the major guilds.
But the medium and large tribes?
That was a different story.
With greater numbers and powerful warriors stationed within them, these tribes were now nearly impossible to breach.
And these weren’t just any normal guard either. Some of them had been strong enough to ignore Lionheart King Imsh’s invasion of the Elven Forest.
Some were monstrous entities with truly terrifying levels of power.
And once those beings set their minds on protecting a statue…
The players had no chance but to abandon the current popular meta.
Meanwhile, Eve, who had been observing the tug-of-war between the players and orcs, could only shake her head slightly.
“While Divine Punishment Meta is certainly a clever trick, it’s ultimately flawed since its success hinges entirely on Uller’s passivity. If he ever decides to intervene and tweak the mechanics of his own divine punishment, then without a doubt, the players relying on this meta will be doomed to fail.”
“But even without altering his punishment mechanics, simply ordering his minions to strengthen their defenses has already made a massive difference.”
For a moment, it seemed like the Divine Punishment Meta was on the verge of becoming obsolete.
The players were dejected.
Even Eve herself had all but declared the current meta dead.
But just then…
The infamous creator of the meta himself, Demacia, made another forum post.
The title?
“My Thoughts on using Divine Punishment Meta Despite the Heightened Defense of the Orcs.”
“Oh another post from this rascal?”
Eve’s curiosity was piqued.
She opened the thread and began reading.
༺⟐༻
“Hey everyone, it’s your boy Demacia! I’m back everyone!”
“Judging from the title, you probably already know what I’m going to talk about. That’s right—it’s time to revisit our beloved Divine Punishment Meta!”
“As you all know, I originally discovered this strategy by experimenting with divine punishment mechanics, and it’s been wildly successful so far. However… the main AI overseeing Elven Kingdom is clearly way ahead of us. It hasn’t even been that long, but most of the orcs have already wised up, and now each tribes are heavily guarding their statues.”
“This, as you all know, has become a real headache.”
“But in my opinion, there’s still a way around it! And the answer… lies with the small tribes!”
“We all know that medium and large tribes have too many Orcs. If they’re cautious enough, we simply cannot break through.”
“But those small tribes…?”
“They’re a different story.”
“No matter how well they guard their statues, their numbers and power are limited. If we coordinate, we can overwhelm them easily.”
“So here’s my new plan…”
“We use the ‘Small-for-Large’ strategy!”
“What does that mean? In simple terms—
“We raid small tribes, steal their statues, and store them in secret.
“Then, when we’re ready to attack medium and large tribes, we trigger divine punishment by desecrating these stolen statues near their territory!”
“Now, you guys might be thinking—‘But small tribe statues don’t have strong divine punishments, right?’”
“That’s true! But through careful research, I’ve discovered that divine punishment isn’t just based on tribe size alone but rather, the method of desecration is also a factor.”
“And so, I present to you… the ultimate desecration meta!”
“It’s a bit… underhanded. But I guarantee you guys, this revised meta will work every single time!”
“All you need is a mage with mind-control magic.”
“Then, capture a goblin.”
“When desecrating a statue, bring the goblin along and use mind-control to make it do… unspeakable things before the statue.”
“Trust me. I’ve tested this countless times.”
“This method of desecration is by far the most effective one I’ve found so far.”
“You can also curse and mock Uller while the goblin did its thing and I guarantee you, even the smallest tribe’s statue will trigger a strong divine judgment!”
“Hehehehe. Those medium and large tribes can defend their statues all they want but they can’t stop divine punishment from outside their walls!”
“And if we ever get the chance, we can use the stolen statues from small tribes to sow chaos in medium or large tribes, or even seriously injure the guards protecting their statues. Then, we seize the opportunity to steal the statues from the medium or large tribes… That’s when we hit the real motherlode, guys!”
“But heads up, before you take a small tribe’s statue, treat it with the utmost respect. Don’t let Uller catch on. And watch out for any orc priests. If they spotted you and manage to pray before you grab the statue, you’ll trigger divine punishment on the spot.”
“But if everything goes smoothly…Heh.”
“Even the most heavily guarded statues in medium and large tribes won’t be able to withstand divine wrath raining down upon them from above…”
༺⟐༻
The post ended there.
And upon finishing it, Evé couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“This guy… is truly shameless.”
But shameless or not, Demacia’s post revitalized the Divine Punishment Meta.
Suddenly, in the following days, raiding small tribes for their enshrined statues have became the hottest new activity among the players.
Even Evé herself found the whole situation absurdly amusing.
And as for Demacia’s infamous revised desecration meta?
While widely mocked for its sheer depravity, it also became the most popular concurrent meta because it simply worked.
After all, goblins were universally despised in Seigües. Heck, even the kind and peace-loving native elves used their name as a slur.
Therefore, to force these widely hated goblins to perform obscene acts of deprivation on a god’s statue?
Only Demacia could have devised something so vile.
With this new meta in play, the Desert of Death was plunged into utter chaos once more.
Thunderous booms of divine punishment shook the desert, one after another, like a relentless drumbeat of destruction. Each explosion marked another medium or large tribe struck by calamity.
For a brief, glorious moment, the players reveled in their unchecked rampage.
But their fun didn’t last long…
Because after only a few days, the players abandoned the Divine Punishment Meta altogether.
Why?
Because Uller finally had enough.
He altered the mechanics of his divine punishment.
No longer was it a massive, indiscriminate area-wide judgment.
Now, it was a precise, single-targeted strike.
¹ In case anyone forgotten it, petitioners (D&D term) are the souls of mortals brought to their Deity’s divine kingdom after death.
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