After hearing Harold's report, Augustus continued his prayer. He wouldn't have interrupted the tribute to the God of Steam, the Master of Life and Death, or the Dazzling Morning Star unless it was something important.
After a few minutes, Augustus stood up agilely and covered his eyes with his right hand. "Steam Above!"
It was a symbolic gesture that he designed after witnessing the explosion of 'Eternal Blaze' in Renstadt and considering the view of 'Atlantis' in the Godly Kingdom in his dream. It was exactly like the cross of the Saint Truth!
"The Kingdom of Dwarfs?" Augustus finished his prayer and asked in confusion.
His face was red, and his body was healthy. He was wearing a silver armor that was specially made. Every part of the armor was connected by complicated mechanical arts, which was full of complicated, delicate, and cold beauty. It was also the outfit of the God of Steam that he specially designed.
As the leader of the dwarfs, Augustus was the honorary manager of many alchemical workshops. He did not have to do any hard work, which was a sharp contrast to the miserable situation on the Night Highland. He was very grateful for it and spent most of his time preaching and praising the God of Steam.
Because his life in Renstadt was not closed, Augustus had basically learned the situation on the continent. He knew that the dwarfs who survived at the beginning had gathered in the northwest of the Dark Mountain Range and reestablished a kingdom named 'Dumute'. In the language of the dwarfs, 'Dumute' meant 'glory', but they worshipped Okun, the God of Valiance, and Heit, the God of Craftsmen, not the God of Steam, the Master of Life and Death, or the great being whose name must not be called.
Therefore, Augustus couldn't help but feel puzzled after hearing that the messenger of the God of Steam had come to the Kingdom of Dwarfs.
Harold scratched his head. "I find it weird, too. The Lord has never sent an oracle to ask us to go to Dumute. They don't worship the great Lord, either …"
Although it was weird, it concerned the Lord. He had to be prudent and did not dare to deal with it on his own.
Augustus tidied up his armor, picked up the steam hammer, and said, "Bring him to me."
Harold turned around and left. It didn't take long for him to return with a dwarf in leather armor.
This dwarf had a signature golden beard on his face, making it impossible to judge his age from his appearance.
His manners and words were rather polite. "Honorable elder of the Night Tribe, I am Ham from Dumute. I am a Temple Warrior who serves the great God of Steam. A while ago, I received the Lord's oracle to reach out to you in Renstadt so that you can truly be embraced by the Lord."
"The God of Steam?" Augustus expressed his confusion with a half-truth.
Ham nodded solemnly. "Yes. A while ago, the great Lord Heit announced his real identity. As it turned out, he was not only the God of Craftsmen but also the God of Steam who had been watching over the dwarfs for generations. However, he only walked on the ground as a clone because of his sleep and tests …"
He spoke frankly about what happened in the Dwarven Kingdom. "… The Twilight of the Gods is about to arrive, so the Lord has awakened from his slumber and descended once again. Because of this, you have been freed from the Night Highland …"
"The God of Craftsmen …" Augustus repeated the name.
Seeing that he and Harold did not show any obvious resistance, Ham said solemnly, "The Lord hopes that you can spread his glory in the Kingdom of Holm and let the world praise his name."
While talking, he took out a statue of a dwarf from his storage bag. It was holding a hammer, and its hair and beard were all standing. Vague fire surrounded it, giving the feeling of holiness and vastness.
"You must be wondering why the pastors and bishops of the Saint Truth can perform divine powers but you can't. That's because you've just passed the Lord's test! If you enshrine the Lord's statue on the altar and worship according to the ritual day and night, the devout will soon be blessed with divine powers, just like me! " Ham took out the ritual book and spoke aloud. In the meantime, he stepped forward, and the ivory light on his body glowed. It was so sacred that everybody couldn't help but worship him.
He was a 'saint samurai', a 'priest of a false god' who was more inclined to melee combat. Therefore, he could perform the spell 'Grace of God'.
"Divine powers …" Harold and Augustus both had uncanny brilliance in their eyes. The fact that the God of Steam did not grant them divine powers was their greatest concern.
Seeing how they looked, Ham laughed aloud and gave the statue and the ritual book to Augustus. "From now on, we will be praying together!"
After seeing Ham off, Harold walked back. Looking at Augustus who was in a daze, he asked, "Chief Elder, do you believe what he said?"
"No." Augustus's eyes were gloomy. "We are the dwarves who left the Night Highland under the grace of the great God of Steam. We are his children. Even if there is an oracle, it can't be delivered to us by a foreign dwarf. The Lord must've given us the oracle directly!"
The incident made him feel that his position as the Chief Elder was threatened. He had always been the spokesperson of the God of Steam on the ground, but he had never received an oracle and had to wait for the notification from a common saint samurai dwarf!
Therefore, after thinking for a moment, he firmly rejected the possibility that the God of Craftsmen was the God of Steam's incarnation, unless the Lord directly hinted to him!
After all, until then, he would not waver at all and fully express his devotion. If a being was recognized as the great God of Steam by words and divine powers, all the false gods would be dazzling morning stars!
Harold had similar thoughts, but he was not so determined. "Then, the divine powers …"
If the God of Steam never granted them divine powers, some of the other dwarves would certainly be attracted to them. Also, he was quite interested in divine powers himself.
"Divine powers? Can regular divine powers be compared to Eternal Blaze and Atlantis? Can they be compared to the burst guns that we usually make? " Although Augustus was tempted by the divine power too, he was not intimidated at all. "The Lord's oracle asked us to build Atlantis on the ground, and the development of Rentato happened to fit the vision that we saw and was moving in that direction. As for Dumute, I believe that you know from your files that everything in that place is underdeveloped and in violation of Atlantis!"
"By the time we can build weapons of Eternal Blaze, divine powers will be nothing at all!"
Harold nodded heavily. "The life in Renstadt has always been my dream. I feel that my every effort brings me closer to Atlantis!"
It would be even better if there were divine powers!
"Chief Elder, what about us?" He looked at where Ham left just now.
Augustus shook his head. "It's fine if we wait for the oracle without acknowledging Ham, but we cannot deal with him recklessly. What if this is a test from the Lord? We have to find a way to stop him from reaching other dwarves … "
"But what can we do …" Harold said in distress.
… …
In Allyn …
After pushing open the secret gate that led to the core of the City in the Sky, Lucien and his teacher Fernando walked in, ready to observe the operation of the fission reactor and discover the possible problems.
"… It is unreasonable to introduce one's consciousness into the microscopic domain. The observer effect is more likely to be a reaction caused by the measurement. It is not as subjective as you described." In the quiet channel, Fernando mentioned Lucien's weird explanation about microscopic particles again. "Hypotheses that are not based on mathematics are all empty talk."
He believed in the idea, but because of the limitation of mathematics, he could not find a good explanation to refute Lucien, or he would've roared.
Lucien smiled. "However, whatever the explanation is, there must be a place for magic. I believe that the mysteries of magic must lie in the microscopic domain."
Fernando rather agreed with that. If there was no place for magic in the most weird microscopic domain, it would be even less possible in other domains. "It's not a bad idea to explain spiritual power and the power of faith as special electromagnetic waves, but the problem is, why can godhood be condensed when special electromagnetic waves are gathered? Can magic be performed because of that? "
In this conversation, the atmosphere between the two of them was not as aggressive as before.
After opening another gate that had complicated magic patterns, Lucien saw the fission reactor inside. Different from the fission reactor on Earth, because of magic, a lot of components were missing in the reactor. It was even directly transformed from nuclear energy into different kinds of energy. It did not look as gargantuan as before, but rather mysterious, delicate, and simple.
Streaks of milky white or flashing electric energy flowed through different channels into various parts of the Sky City, serving as backup energy to maintain its operation. In this room that was dozens of meters wide, the flickering light caused by them dyed everything with a vast and mysterious color.
At the center of the room were silver and black magic circles that connected into a complicated fission reactor.
"Everything looks normal." Lucien walked closer to the center of the room and looked around.
Suddenly, a row of red lights on the wall were all illuminated, and a terrifying air was emitted from the center of the fission reactor.
"Danger! The magic circles are out of control! Activate the level-one defense! "
Prospell's voice suddenly echoed.
Complicated magic patterns glowed. The defense of Allyn completely blocked the place where the reactor was and activated the strongest defense!
Because teleportation was forbidden in this place, Lucien could only seize the time to perform 'Space Staff'.
The ripples were glittering. The space and time around Lucien overlapped, making him and Fernando seem to be in a different world.
Rumble!
An intense explosion took place at the center of the reactor. Dazzling light burst out, and the super high temperature melted everything that it could. Then, the terrifying storm of energy blew against the space-time barrier and gradually disappeared into the different worlds.
After the explosion, Lucien opened his eyes, only to discover that only a few layers of the space-time barrier were broken. It was not a big deal.
"What went wrong …" Fernando looked at the magic circles that had disappeared at the center in confusion. Looking at the obvious traces of melting, he began to consider the design of the reactor.
Lucien was slightly nervous just now. It was not until he experienced a reactor explosion in person that he realized that this was not Earth, and a reactor explosion might not cause any damage.
Fernando enhanced himself with magic and walked out of the space-time barrier. Exposed to the spreading radiation, he examined the remaining traces carefully.
"There are too many curses here. They must be cleaned up," he said casually.
"Yes, clean them with Eternal Blaze," Lucien replied casually, too. Then, he saw his teacher's eyes that were glaring at him.
… …
Staying in a room of a small hotel, Ham paced up and down in satisfaction. The 'God of Steam' hadn't granted his believers any divine powers yet. It seemed that his mission could be accomplished easily! Even if the elder had other plans, he could still make him a figurehead!
Dum, dum, dum. Somebody knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Asked Ham warily, while he examined with the few divine powers that he knew.
"Sir, please open the door. Your roasted fish with honey is here." A male voice came from outside.
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