The impact of the battle of Winter Castle, the god-slaying feat of mankind, may be more far-reaching than imagined.
Gawain stared intently at the fragment of the god of war placed on the platform not far away. The fragment of the god of war was glowing with an iron-grey luster under the light of the laboratory. It looked like a piece of broken and twisted metal, but there was a kind of aura lingering on it that had yet to dissipate, as if it was alive.
This seemingly 'armor fragment' was actually the 'body structure' of the God of War itself.
Gods were a completely different existence from the material creatures in human cognition. Depending on the trend of thought during the formation of gods, they would take on various forms. The God of Nature, Amoun, was a holy deer with a body of flesh and blood. The Goddess of Magic was a phantom of a lady formed by arcane energy and clouds. The God of War was an armor made of steel and unknown substances. According to Veronica's description, the God of Holy Light was a huge crystal with an amorphous reflective surface that could change its optical properties at any time. These strange images reflected the depiction of the gods by the early mortals when they imagined them. This' depiction 'also became the source of the gods' power and was completely integrated with their 'mythological image'. Even after the gods died, this power would linger in their remains for a long time, and could even last for thousands of years.
The flesh and blood sample of Amoun that was sealed in the Disobedient Citadel had decayed for three thousand years. When it was excavated, it still had a fatal tendency of spiritual contamination.
However, these fragments from the God of War were completely 'harmless' now. Even the testers would not be harmed when they touched them without protection.
In deep thought, Gawain slowly said, "Apart from the changes observed here, are there any other developments?"
"Yes." Veronica nodded. "According to the confirmation of another experimental group, after the fall of the God of War, the original divine spells of the God of War had changed. The prayers were no longer answered, but the corresponding divine runes still work and can be manipulated and studied by ordinary people at will. Some of the 'taboo actions' that would cause the divine spells to go out of control or even backfire are no longer dangerous. We also got news from the tribal nation of Ogre that similar things have happened to some of the scattered sects of the God of War there. This proves that this change covers the whole world, which is in line with our initial expectations. "
"Yes. The lifting of the divine spell, the failure of the divine punishment, and the no longer answered prayers. These are all things we expected at the beginning. But we never thought that the remains of the gods would no longer contaminate the mortals," Gwen said slowly. "So, is this really breaking free from the shackles of the gods?"
Speaking of this, he could not help but think of the other two gods who had also 'fallen.' As if talking to himself, he said, "The God of Nature, Amoun, and the Goddess of Magic, Mirmina, have also 'fallen.' At least their divine positions have indeed disappeared. However, some of the 'relics' they left behind are still very spiritually polluting. What do you think is the reason behind this?"
"Perhaps the reason lies in the 'symbolic process.'" Veronica had obviously thought about this before Gwen came. She immediately voiced her thoughts. "The God of War was killed by the mortals, but the Goddess of Magic and the God of Nature broke away on their own. In this process, the believers of the latter have always maintained their faith. This is probably the key to the problem."
After her voice trailed off, Kamel continued, "On the battlefield of Winter Castle, the soldiers who participated in the battle not only defeated the crazy gods, but also defeated the mortals' instinctive reverence for the gods. Now it seems that this is a very critical 'factor.' Of course, most of the soldiers who participated in the battle at that time were mages and magic-powered soldiers who did not believe in the God of War. But perhaps compared to their specific beliefs, their identity as' mortals' is the key. "
"An element of 'opposing faith' is needed?" Gwen frowned deeply. What Kamel said was something that he had vaguely grasped before, but he had not seriously thought about it. "If it is as you said, then we may really be able to explain why what happened to the God of Nature and the Goddess of Magic is completely different from the God of War. When the two of them broke away from their divine positions, the mortals' thoughts and actions were not involved at all. Naturally, there was no process of opposing faith and defeating reverence."
Amber listened with her eyes wide open for a long time. She basically did not understand the part that involved the professional field, but the last part caught her. She was shocked. "Hey, do we have to drag Amoun and Mirmina out and kill them? That's not appropriate. They have taken the initiative to leave their divine positions, and Mirmina has hidden in a place where no one can find her. "
"Of course we won't do that." Gwen immediately waved his hand. "The two of them have broken away from their divine positions, and the shackles on mortals have disappeared. Whether it is the power of nature's divine spells or magic rituals, they are no longer restricted by divinity. This has already met our expectations. As for the contamination of some of their relics and remains, that is a secondary problem. At most, it is equivalent to a dangerous poison that needs to be treated with caution. We can't kill them for this reason. "
Veronica nodded, apparently agreeing with Gwen. "That's true. We are now just reverse-engineering the connection between mortal faith and spiritual contamination based on the contamination of the remains of the gods. But this spiritual contamination has nothing to do with the sanity of the gods. Amoun and Mirmina will not become 'mad gods' because of this. We don't have to worry in this regard. "
"And on the other hand, the contamination of Amoun and Mirmina's' divine products' is actually fading, but the rate of fading is much slower than the remains of the gods of war here," Kamel said as he pondered. "The contamination of Amoun's flesh and blood samples has mostly subsided compared to what I remember a thousand years ago. The recent fading is especially obvious. Although Mirmina did not leave any 'fragments' behind, Naretil had stripped a lot of 'ashes' from her, and the contamination of those ashes is also weakening. Generally speaking, this contamination can obviously fade on its own, but it will take a longer time. "
"Even if there is no process of 'resisting faith', with the disappearance of the God of Nature and the Goddess of Magic, and the gradual decline of their corresponding religions, the spiritual contamination they cause to mortals will gradually weaken …" Gwen scratched his chin as his thoughts gradually became clear. "So, this is essentially a process of the decline of faith, and the battle of Winter Fort was the most violent and extreme form of the decline of faith …"
Amber blinked and suddenly said, "As far as I know, Rosetta Augustus executed tens of thousands of priests of the gods of war on that day. He had obviously gotten this knowledge from the 'God's Eye' long ago."
Her expression was a little complicated when she said this. Obviously, even the head of intelligence, who often dealt with dark things, could not help but feel frightened when talking about Rosetta Augustus' bloody methods.
Of course, Gwen also knew what happened at the Typhon defense line during the battle of Winter Fort. Even if he did not know at that time, Amber later found out many shocking truths. As one of the witnesses of the battle, he had to admit that Rosetta Augustus's iron fist of execution at that time shocked him. But he also knew that such a way of dealing with things was not the norm. "What Rosetta did cannot be repeated … We have to find a more reliable and reasonable way to control the process of the decline of faith …"
Speaking of this, he could not help but look up at Veronica and said thoughtfully, "The gradual reform of the Church of Holy Light should provide a great reference."
"But just our technical reference is not enough," Veronica said softly. "We need more people and reliable data from other churches and different gods. There are too many gods in our world, and the faith of the Holy Light is just one of them."
Listening to Veronica's unhurried words, Hu Po subconsciously looked at Gawain. For some reason, she suddenly recalled the string of words she saw on Gawain's desk. It was the thing that she still couldn't understand.
The Theocratic Council.
Vaguely, she felt that the 'pioneer' in front of her, who always thought one step or even a few steps ahead of others, seemed to be thinking about this problem.
Gwen did not know what was going on in Amber's mind. His mind quickly shifted to another question. "Speaking of the test you conducted, the tester did not participate in the battle of Winter Fort, right?"
"Of course, he was a technician at the rear," Kamel said immediately. At the same time, he did not understand the intention of Gwen's question. "Why do you ask this?"
"The soldiers at the front line of Winter Fort destroyed the out-of-control God of War through direct combat, causing the largest decline in faith. A technician at the rear was no longer affected by the spiritual contamination of the God of War. At the same time, in the small church of the God of War far away in the tribal nation of Augre, the priests and believers who still believed in the God of War were also free from the influence of the Mind Steel Seal. They may not even know what happened at the front line of Winter Fort. Don't you think this reveals some problems?"
The ventilation system in the room hummed as fresh air from the surface slowly blew through the laboratory. Gwen's voice trailed off. Kamel, Veronica, and the rest fell into deep thought.
"We have indeed discussed this problem," Kamel was the first to break the silence. The light on the ancient magus fluctuated slightly, indicating that he was deep in thought. "As you said, although the battle of the God of War on the battlefield of Winter Fort was a magnificent feat, in the end, only a small portion of the mortals participated in the battle. In most parts of the world, most people may not even know that the God of War has fallen. They still maintain their instinctive reverence for the God of War. They have never thought and dared to imagine that relying on the power of mortals to kill the God of War was such a 'treacherous' thing …"
"These people obviously did not fight against faith, and the power of faith had never declined in them. However, with the end of the battle of Winter Fort, a technician far behind, who had never been on the battlefield, was' immune 'to the spiritual contamination of the God of War."
"Perhaps you are interested in some religious concepts," Veronica suddenly said. "Symbols and rituals."
"Symbols and rituals?" Gwen listened to the words of the Adoratrice and suddenly understood. "You mean, the battle of Winter Fort had a ritual effect, and in the process of fighting against the Gods, symbolic ritual behavior will have a huge impact?"
"Symbols and rituals are an important part of religion, and the Gods were born from the symbols and rituals conceived by mortals. So, it is natural that ritual behavior can have a huge impact on them," Veronica said seriously. "We can even boldly assume that perhaps on a battlefield against the Gods, as long as two or three people succeed in rebelling against the Gods, the whole group of mortals will be free from the Gods' shackles. This assumption may sound a bit far-fetched, but in terms of the principles of symbolism and rituals, it is plausible. "
Listening to Veronica's example, Gwen frowned at first, but he soon sorted out the key points. He sighed and shook his head. "If there is such a day, the success of the two or three people will depend on the push of countless people. After all, the power of the Gods is far superior to that of mortals, and our world is not so beautiful that we can rely on a few heroes on the battlefield to save everything."
Gwen's lamentation also triggered Kamel's thoughts. The great mage let out a trembling sigh. Veronica, on the other hand, had returned to her usual calm and tranquil expression. She looked at the samples of the God of War on the platform and said, "In any case, we still need more tests."
"That's right, more tests. No matter how logical what we've just discussed seems, we still lack evidence." Gawain nodded. "Let's expand the scope of the tests. First, let's make sure that all testers from different regions and identities are no longer affected by the mental pollution of the God of War. Then … expand the scope of the tests. Gather testers from other races and see if they are not affected by the mental pollution of the God of War."
"Other races?" Kamel asked, a little surprised. Obviously, he had never thought of this direction before. "You mean other races like the elves or dwarves?"
"Don't forget, they are also mortals. And they also believe in the God of War. Although they are independent of the human God of War, they all believe in the same god." Gwen nodded. "Now, what we need to verify is a very, very important concept. The souls of mortals are connected at the bottom of this world, and …"
"And?" Kamel asked curiously.
"And academically prove one thing: mortals are really a community of destiny."
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