The streams of light of various colors receded like the tide, and the figures of the archbishops disappeared into the air one after another in the magnificent circular hall.
Daniel, who had just finished the meeting of the Supreme Bishops, stood up and bowed slightly to Selena Geerfen, who was still there. "Then, I will go and check the situation of the subconscious stabilization barrier, Archbishop Selena."
"Thank you, Archbishop Daniel." Selena nodded slightly. "Your security team is very important to us now."
After a flash of light, Daniel also left the hall. In the large indoor space, only Selena Geerfen, who was standing quietly, and a cluster of starlight floating above the round table, with a mixture of dark purple and silver light spots, and the outline around it fluctuated.
After a long silence, a long sigh suddenly came from the cluster of starlight. "Selena, today's situation reminds me of seven hundred years ago."
"The situation is really bad, Your Holiness," Selena said softly. "Even … worse than seven hundred years ago."
"The Druil have failed, the people of the deep sea have been lost in the deep sea, and the path we have been guarding seems to be facing a desperate situation." Pope Meghul III's voice rang quietly. "Perhaps in the end, we will have to completely give up the entire mental network, and even pay with the lives of hundreds of our compatriots. But compared to these losses, what makes me most regretful is that our seven hundred years of efforts seem to be …"
"Your Holiness, it's still too early to say this," Selena suddenly interrupted Megall III. "We haven't reached the point where we have to make a choice yet. The thing in Sandbox No. 1 … at least for now, it's still being closely guarded by us."
"But it is already consciously trying to escape. It has realized where the boundary of the cage is. Next, it will seek to break through the boundary at all costs. If it leaves Sandbox No.1, it will be able to enter the mental network, and with the help of the mental network, it will be able to enter reality through its compatriots living in the real world. By then, I am afraid we will really have to call it 'it'. "
Selena was silent, but she recalled her experience in the Phantom Town and the 'extra' who almost returned to the City of Dreams with the exploration team.
Although Phantom Town was just an "overflow projection" and not the main body of Sandbox No. 1, now that the pollution had gradually spread, the things in the projection wanted to enter the mental network. It was one of the attempts of the "things" in Sandbox No. 1 to break out of the cage.
She couldn't help but clench her fists tightly. She couldn't help but recall the darkest and most despairing days seven hundred years ago.
The corruption that originated from God had taken away thousands of minds. Even the staunchest priests and believers had fallen into madness overnight. The Lord that they once deeply revered had turned into an indescribable monster. The Church that they lived in was torn apart. Their compatriots were lost and depraved in the madness …
Those who remained sober paid an unimaginable price to rebuild the order. It took hundreds of years for the surviving compatriots to recover their vitality step by step. Just because of the slim hope that was almost self-deceiving, these survivors who wandered on the border between reason and madness made a paranoid plan and stubbornly walked until today.
Then, all the paths were cut off in just two or three years. Seven hundred years of persistence and the slim hope were finally proved to be nothing more than the blind and arrogant delusion of the mortals.
All the efforts were just to pave the way for God.
But … was "trying to survive" really just a delusion?
Selina raised her head and looked at the wriggling cluster of starlight in the air. She said calmly, "Perhaps we've taken the wrong path, but that doesn't mean that the right path doesn't exist. At the end of the day, we've only tried three paths."
Meghul III's voice came. "What you said … reminds me of the last message that Franken sent me before he merged with the body of the false god."
"His Excellency …" Selena blinked. "What did he say?"
"He said, 'There are many paths. I'll try one of them. If it's not right, don't give up.'" Meghul III's voice was calm, but Selena heard a trace of emotion in it. "Now that I think about it, he may have vaguely noticed the hidden dangers of our three paths at that time. But it was too late for him to remind us, and it was difficult for us to try the other paths."
"The Druil tried to create a 'controlled god' with humanity. We tried to cut the chain from the depths of the soul. The children of the sea tried to upgrade the elements and merge with the remains of the Lord of Storms …" Selena said one by one. "Now it seems that we may have been too arrogant when we first discussed these three paths."
Megall III was silent for a long time before he said, "No matter what, since the path of severing the chains was chosen and opened by us, then we have to face everything, including making preparations to bury this path. This is … the responsibility of the pioneers."
"Yes, as you said."
"Take a rest. I have to think about the future of the church."
Selena lowered her head. In her perception, Meghul III's consciousness gradually left the place.
She maintained this posture for a long time. It was not until a few minutes later that her voice rang softly in the empty council hall. "… Pioneers …"
…
After the meeting, Heti did not communicate with anyone but returned to her office in the government office alone.
The entire third floor of the government office was very quiet. On the holiday of the tenth day of the week, most of the non-urgent affairs would be dealt with next week. The office of the Grand Governor would also be quiet.
The heater hummed slightly, and warm air blew out from the ventilation pipe in the corner of the room. The magic crystal lamp on the roof had been lit, and the bright light dispelled the darkness of the evening outside the window. Through the wide floor-to-ceiling window, she could see that the street opposite the square had been lit up with lights. The citizens who had enjoyed the leisure time on the day of rest were returning home under the lights, or going to the taverns, cafes, and chess rooms on the streets and alleys for small gatherings.
Looking at the citizens coming and going, and looking at the artificial lights in the capital far away from the darkness, Heti suddenly thought of the sentence she heard in the previous meeting.
It was not the gods who created mankind, but mankind who created the gods.
"Is the Goddess of Magic the same …"
Heti could not help but talk to herself. Her fingers gently outlined the four basic runes of wind, water, fire, and earth in the air. Then she clenched her fist, put it against her forehead, and softly recited the honorific name of the Goddess of Magic, Mirmina.
This was the standard procedure for the mages who believed in the Goddess of Magic to perform a simple prayer.
As a somewhat special god, the Goddess of Magic, Mirmina, did not have a formal church or clergy system. The mages, who wielded extraordinary power and lacked reverence for the gods, worshiped the Goddess of Magic more as a psychological sustenance or a respectable "origin of knowledge." However, this did not mean that the "divinity" of the Goddess of Magic was shaken or weakened in this world.
Gods were real. Even the mages who were passionate about exploring the truth of the world and believed that knowledge and wisdom could explain the operation of all things acknowledged this point. Therefore, they also undoubtedly believed that the Goddess of Magic was a real god.
It was just that their feelings for this god were perhaps more "rational" and "peaceful" compared to the feelings other believers had for the gods they believed in.
The mages were all shallow believers of the Goddess of Magic, Mirmina, but it was almost unheard of that there was a fanatic of the Goddess of Magic among the mages.
Heti, on the other hand, could be counted as one of the more devout mages who believed in the Goddess of Magic.
This point did not change even though she knew about the Disobedience Plan, even though she participated in and promoted many of the "secularization of Divine Right" projects of her ancestors.
Because in her mind, these things did not damage the light of the Goddess of Magic itself. The gods had always existed, and they had existed since ancient times. They were as natural as the stars in the sky and would not change because of the actions of mortals. Whether it was the secularization of Divine Right or the Divine Right Monarchization, they were just correcting the wrong behaviors of mortals in the process of faith. Even the more drastic Disobedience Plan was more like an attempt by mortals to get rid of the influence of the gods and find their own path.
It was all the business of mortals and had nothing to do with the gods. This was perhaps the way of thinking of most mages.
However, what she heard in the meeting today shook the foundation of the gods.
The results of the prayers to the Goddess of Magic were as usual. Heti could feel a mysterious and inexplicable power surging in a very distant dimension, but she could not hear any oracle from Mirmina, nor could she feel the arrival of divine spells.
Mirmina was the only god who almost never sent down oracles or even showed miracles and divine spells. If it were not for the most basic response to prayers to her, the mages would not even be sure that this god really existed.
"Goddess … you should be able to hear it, right?" In the brief calm after receiving the response after prayers, Heti whispered as if she was talking to herself, "Maybe you don't have time to respond to every voice, but you should be able to hear it …
"Are you really created by the collective thoughts of mortals … Are you an existence like the stars, or are you a collective illusion of us mortals …"
Mirmina, the Goddess of Magic, did not respond. Only the indescribable feeling of transcendence, holiness, and tranquility still floated in Heti's heart. But soon, this feeling of calmness caused by the response to prayers suddenly disappeared.
Heti heard a knock on the door behind her. "Heti, am I bothering you?"
Heti quickly turned around and saw Gwen standing at the door. She hurriedly saluted and said, "Ancestor, are you looking for me?"
"Nothing, I just saw that your door was not closed and there was light inside, so I came to have a look." Gwen walked into Heti's office and glanced at her casually. "I saw that you were praying just now?"
"I …" Heti opened her mouth, but after a little hesitation, she nodded gently. "I was praying to Mirmina, the Goddess of Magic."
"Ah, I remember you are a believer of Mirmina," Gwen said, not surprised. "Look at you, you are not very calm, right?"
"Sorry to have made you worry." Heti lowered her head. "Actually, I am fine."
"Unfortunately, I am not a believer of any god, so it is difficult for me to empathize with you at this time." Gwen gently patted Heti on the shoulder. "But I know that it is uncomfortable for anyone to suddenly have their beliefs that have accompanied them for decades suddenly challenged."
Heidi looked at Gawain and suddenly plucked up the courage to ask, "In your time, were there many people like you who didn't believe in any gods?"
"… More than you think," Gwen said slowly after a moment of silence. "But people who do not believe in gods are not necessarily people who have no faith."
Heti tilted her head slightly, a little thoughtful and a little emotional. "You always say a lot of things that are full of philosophy."
"Sometimes it is just the experience summed up by the predecessors." Gwen shook his head with a smile, then looked into Heti's eyes. "Can you get out of it by yourself?"
"Yes."
"That's good, but if you really encounter difficulties or can't get out of it, you can come to me at any time. We are family."
Heti looked at Gwen and suddenly laughed. "Of course, ancestor."
"It's a rest day today. Go back early," Gawain said. He glanced at the sky outside and said with a smile, "It's the last day of the year, so don't work overtime in the government office. I'll give you an extra day off tomorrow. Have a good rest. I'll arrange things here for you."
This time, Heti laughed from the bottom of her heart. "Yes, ancestor!"
The two of them left the room. In the large office, the light of the magic crystal lamp was silently extinguished. As darkness surged in, the light of the street lamps from the square outside also dimly shone into the room. The furnishings in the office were outlined in shadows.
In the silence, a little floating light suddenly appeared.
In the place where Heidi once sketched the four basic runes and prayed to the Goddess of Magic, a cluster of translucent brilliance was condensed abruptly and shattered soundlessly after a few seconds. The broken light flew across the room like fireflies and was gradually absorbed by the printing machines, magic Net units, and magic Net terminals installed everywhere in the room. Not the slightest trace of the light was left.
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