Since the beginning of winter, Oldenheim had experienced two consecutive major drops in temperature. The continuous drop in temperature made the city lose its autumn color. A layer of yellow and gray covered the streets and alleys. The fog, as usual, shrouded the city on the plains. Looking down from the high tower of Obsidian Palace, the rows of roofs and towers of different heights once again became silhouettes and islands in the sea of fog, with a kind of unreal haze.
Rosetta Augustus stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the study, looking in the direction of the church area for a long time without saying a word. The religious building with an iron-gray spire also looked at him in silence.
The emblem of the God of War that once flew above the church had now been replaced by the flag of the Typhon Empire. Although the church reliefs inlaid on the outer walls of the church were still there, they seemed to have lost their mysterious and lofty aura. In the "perspective" that ordinary people could not perceive, the transcendent and holy aura that once filled the magnificent building had disappeared. Now, what it could bring to the world was pure spiritual comfort and architectural aesthetic value.
In the square in front of the cathedral, the visiting citizens were walking through the fog in twos and threes and up the long steps. The Royal Guards stood on both sides of the steps in front of the cathedral, silently watching all the movements around the square. The new "church tour guides" greeted the crowd in front of the main entrance. These smiling people had the decorations of the Church of the Old God of War hanging on their bodies. They had "scenic guide" signs on their chests and waved eye-catching red or yellow flags in their hands. Every time a new group of visitors came, they would begin to explain the murals and reliefs on the walls, and introduce the candlesticks and sculptures distributed in the prayer hall.
From the religious legends behind these things to the symbolic meaning they produced in the church activities, from the history of the Church of the God of War to the secrets surrounding these things.
Those who stood up to resist such "rebellious acts" were already dead. The ordinary believers did not have the determination and awareness to fight against the change of customs. Most of the remaining people who could not accept the changes could only sigh at the past at home, curse the "fallen era" in the tavern, or cry in the security punishment room.
There was no need for the rulers of the Empire to care about these small issues. They were the bits and pieces left behind by the passage of time, and would gradually fade away sooner or later.
Rosetta Augustus retracted his gaze and returned to his desk. Princess Mathilda, who was dressed in a long black dress with a golden chain dangling from her hair, stood by the side. Seeing that the Emperor had returned to his senses, the Crown Prince continued to report what he was about to say. "… Currently, the remnants of the Church of the God of War have been completely dismantled and cleaned up. The churches, properties, and businesses left behind have all been returned to the country. More than half of the churches have been closed down or used for other purposes. However, according to your instructions, a portion of the churches with historical significance or local influence have been reopened to the public as cultural facilities for the local residents …
"A series of new propaganda and popular materials about the history and unofficial history of the Church of the God of War have been promoted throughout the country. They will work together with the reopened churches. Currently, the results of the pilot projects in Orlandale and Tarunkins are very satisfactory. However, the pilot projects in Duvoson and Enkidok counties have encountered greater resistance. The faith of the local people is stable. It will take some time for the new policies to be effective …"
"The people of Typhon have revered the God of War for hundreds of years. It has become a part of many people's living habits," Rosetta said faintly. "But the fierce confrontation phase is over. We can't treat the people as the enemy. Gentle guidance always requires some patience. Don't worry, Mathilda. The full impact has begun. The people of the old era will eventually grow old, and their next generation will inevitably grow up in an environment after the change of customs. In the minds of the new generation, the 'Church of the God of War' is an established fact of history. "
He looked up through the wide crystal glass window and once again fell on the spire of the Church of the God of War. "When people get used to the half-price tickets to the church and the paid photo in front of the altar, everything will no longer be a problem."
"The 'desacralization' that Emperor Gwen Cecil mentioned …" Mathilda could not help but look thoughtful. There was a trace of admiration in the depths of her eyes. "Admission to the church is by ticket, photos with the altar and statues as a souvenir, specialty snacks and handicrafts sold in the assembly square … When it comes to eliminating the influence of the Church of the God of War, Hadilon and I only thought of demolishing the church and dismissing the clergy. We never thought that things could be done this way …"
"In a sense, Gwen Cecil is our teacher. He personally showed us how to make a sacred thing secular, and in the process, made it easier for most ordinary people to accept the change," Rosetta said calmly. "Not everyone is well-versed in the canon and a fanatic who clings to dogma. Most ordinary people can't tell the 'meaning' behind the change, and these ordinary people are the main body of the ideology."
"Ordinary people are the main body of the ideology …" Mathilda said softly in thought. Rosetta, who was in front of her, fell into a moment of silence. After a few minutes, the ruler of Typhon suddenly said, "There are some new discoveries about the 'Door' plan."
"New discoveries?" Mathilda looked up curiously. She didn't know why her father would suddenly mention this in front of her.
Rosetta looked into Mathilda's eyes and said in a low voice, "They saw Malcolm Dunnett's soul there."
Mathilda's eyes widened in an instant. The huge shock made her unable to control her emotions like she had been taught. But soon, she forced herself to control the changes in her expression and suppressed the shock in her eyes.
Seeing the change in his daughter's expression, Rosetta nodded slightly and then said, "He has woken up and now seems to have become a part of the God of War's kingdom. No matter what happened in the past, he will not return to this world."
Mathilda nodded thoughtfully and then asked curiously, "What are Windsor and Master Daniel doing now?"
"They are continuing to dig deeper into the secrets of our world."
…
Digging deeper into the secrets of this world was the common wish of every scholar walking on the frontier of knowledge. However, to dig out the "truth" hidden behind the complicated phenomena, theories, and conjectures, sometimes it required more than hard work. Sometimes, luck and opportunity had a more profound impact on the turning point of history.
Kamel floated in the center of the vast arena, watching the technicians nervously assembling and debugging the equipment needed for the experiment. He could not help but feel a lot of emotions.
He had been waiting for this opportunity for many years. If counting the years spent by the pioneers of the Silver Empire who studied the mysteries of magic, the mortals had been waiting for this opportunity for even half a century. However, no one would have thought that all this would come true here.
Exploring one of the most fundamental mysteries of the world, an experiment at the forefront of the field of magic research, the most suitable test site for it was actually in the God of War's Divine Kingdom. Using a popular saying in the Imperial Capital, this was simply a setting that "even Mr. Firm wouldn't dare to use".
Windsor Mappel stood beside Kamel, staring at the special equipment transported from the Cecil research camp with rapt attention. She knew that the Cecil people had an experiment project to explore the nature of magic, and in the more in-depth technical exchanges recently, she had also learned the specific content of the experiment project, but after all, witnessing it with her own eyes was a different experience after all.
She watched the Cecil people in white short robes put some kind of precision-cut rectangular box on the stable test bench, and then placed a silver-white alloy sheet in front of the box. A powerful arcane energy source was installed at the end of the box, and around the energy source, there were complicated stabilizing and shielding components. The "style" of these things was completely different from the items she used in her daily experiments, but she could feel the familiar seriousness and solemnity from them.
Even if she was not sure about the result of the experiment, she knew that the designer and the participant of all this must be someone worthy of respect.
"This is the purest arcane energy source we can create at present." Kamel raised his hand and pointed at the cylindrical device at the end of the rectangular box. The runes on the surface of the device were gradually turning from dim to bright, and there was a runic chain at the end of the device. The end of the chain was now on the test bench, and it was not connected to anything yet. "Input stable magic power from the end, and the energy source will filter and integrate it internally. The thirty-six layers of ruby lattice will ensure that the final focus on the crystal column is the arcane jet without any interference. Its purity can exceed the three energy towers around the Contract Castle, and the output power is close to the tolerance limit of the polarized ferrite crystal column.
"The arcane jet will enter the box, and there is a blocking plate made of anti-magic material in the box. The blocking plate has precisely cut slits and two layers of polarized sapphire lenses, which can ensure that only the filtered arcane ray can be shot out from the front of the box. After this layer of processing, the arcane ray will almost no longer react with anything in the air, so it will become invisible and will not be interfered with by other things … until it bombards the 'screen'.
"The silver-white sheet contains mithril, and it will very sensitively leave traces of magic 'bombardment'. Theoretically speaking, if magic power is not a wave but some kind of special 'substance', then the rays will only leave two clear traces on the thin plate. But if magic power is a wave, then … "
Windsor didn't wait for Carmel to finish before taking the initiative to speak. "Like two ripples spreading in a pool of water, the two beams of energy that shoot out from the slit will interfere with each other during the transmission process. In the end, what appears on the thin plate … should be stripes formed by interference."
"… Today, we have a lot of indirect evidence and theoretical speculation to support this conjecture," Kamel said, nodding slightly. "But what researchers need is not only these conjectures, but also irrefutable proof. The limitation of the environment has made us stop at the last 'verification' step for many years, until today …"
He raised his head, and his eyes that were filled with arcane light slowly swept across the vast space. The simple and magnificent circular arena came into view, and the layers of ring-shaped stands extended upward in his field of vision. The stands were lined with empty seats, and a huge throne stood at the end of the arena. The phantom of a giant clad in iron-gray armor sat on the throne. The hollow helmet was slightly lowered, as if there was an illusory gaze watching the center of the arena, watching the few bold mortals who wanted to seek the truth.
Kamel had the illusion that he was being watched by countless eyes, but this illusion only made him chuckle.
He turned his head to look at the side of the experiment bench, where a magic net terminal was running quietly. The terminal projected a holographic projection from afar, and a tall, mature, beautiful Silver Elf was standing in the projection, watching the scene in the experiment field.
"I wish I could be there," Master Astromancer Velania said with some regret. "Unfortunately, I am far away at the southernmost tip of the continent."
"With the help of modern equipment, you can still see all of this, Madam Velania." Kamel could not help but laugh. "And the divine kingdom of the God of War is here, and it will not run away for at least a few decades. And we have more conjectures that can be tested in this special experiment space. What you have missed is only the 'first round'."
"… I am beginning to feel more and more regretful." Velania sighed on the other side of the holographic projection. "Master Kamel, let's begin."
Kamel nodded and ordered the assistant beside him. "Activate the shield."
An assistant immediately stepped forward and activated the shielding device around the platform. A few runes set on the edge of the platform lit up, and the crystals inlaid around the runes began to release a stable light. The shielding device of course was not to block the magic background interference in the environment (first of all, the interference was not blocked by the current technology, and secondly, there was no such interference in the divine kingdom of the God of War). Its real purpose was to prevent the magic released by the site's communication devices, recording devices, and the like from affecting the accuracy of the observation results.
After the shielding device was activated, the energy source was activated.
Kamel looked at the platform and the runic chain that extended out from the end of the arcane energy source.
In his original plan, he needed a powerful magic storage device to provide magic power for this set of experimental devices. For example, he was now dragging the "charger" behind him.
But now they had a better choice … a more powerful and reliable source of magic power.
A hand reached out from the side, grabbed the runic chain, and curiously fiddled with the metal hinge at the end of the chain.
The three-meter-tall Mirmina bent slightly as she studied the experiment device in front of her with a smile. As the legendary 'goddess of magic', she was now like every other mortal present, full of the desire to explore and learn.
"I just have to inject magic into it, right?" She raised her head and looked at Carmel with a smile on her face.
"Yes." Kamel nodded slightly. "But be careful not to burn the device. It can't withstand your full power."
"Don't worry." Mirmina held the runic chain with one hand and gave a thumbs up with the other. At this moment, she did not look like a god at all, but she was closer to the real 'mystery of magic' than she had been in the past thousands of years. "No one knows how to control the flow of magic power better than I do."
As her voice trailed off, the silver runic chain in her hand began to glow with light blue runes.
The device was activated.
A low hum came from the arcane energy source, and the primordial magic power injected into it began to rapidly transform into pure experimental energy. Everyone held their breath at this moment and fixed their eyes on the alloy plate at the end of the device.
There was no earth-shattering movement, no dazzling light and shadow, and no more twists and turns, more thrills, and more fog.
The truth was quietly unveiling its veil.
Interference fringes of light and dark appeared in front of everyone.
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