There was a long silence between Bertila and Gawain.
The first person to break the silence was Gawain.
Because he was not sure whether the woman in front of him who had turned into a semi-vegetable would have the same patience as a plant - if she didn't talk all day, he wouldn't be able to accompany her all day.
"Now that I've finished talking about my business, it's time to talk about you." He said in a low voice.
"Us? As you can see, we are just a group of pathetic losers now," the roots behind Bertila squirmed, and his voice seemed to be mixed with the rustling sound of friction, "But I see You have built barracks around Solin Castle and are gradually recovering the land... Then this war must have decided the final winner."
"Can you 'see' the situation outside? "Gawain raised his eyebrows, and was even more curious about Bertila's current state, "This is... very interesting."
"I can see that it is very broad, and it is an unprecedented broadening of horizons. But I can't move, and I can't see what I look like now," Bertila said slowly, "What...do I look like now?"
"...a tree, a tree. The huge plant that covers half of the Thorin area is still growing slowly," Gawain said calmly. "If you are really curious, I can send someone to take photos of your current situation from a distance. "Bring it to you."
"...I would like to express my gratitude in advance," Bertila suddenly moved the roots surrounding him, as if he had made up his mind or suddenly figured out something. , "Outlander, I still don't know your nature, but I have become like this, and it doesn't matter whether I choose or not. The path we are taking has been proven wrong. If our failure can leave you with If you have some experience, just ask."
Gao Wen glanced at the other party in surprise, then thought about it: "You should know about the 'Disobedience Plan', right?"
Bertira's expression suddenly changed: "...Why do you know?!"
But then she showed a sudden expression: "Ah, that's right, wanderer from outside the territory...you I have been observing the world, of course you know, what you just said..."
"Don't get me wrong, this has nothing to do with whether I am an outsider or not," Gawain frowned and said solemnly He said to the other party, "Don't be immersed in the fantasy of shouldering a mission alone or saving the world. You have become like this, and you should at least wake up. When you are paranoidly executing those shameful and extreme plans, the world There are still people who promote this world openly."
Bertila frowned, and after a moment, the squirming of the vines and roots behind her gradually calmed down: "Arrogance should be our fault. The first mistake."
"You have indeed made many mistakes, but I will not discuss this with you now," Gawain said. "As for the 'disobedience plan' you implemented, who in the end told you about it? for youof? How many have you mastered? Is the inheritor still alive? How long did it take for you to implement it? "
Faced with this series of questions, Bertila closed his eyes slightly and whispered: "How long has it been implemented... We have started to implement this plan not long after the birth of the Death Council of All Things." Yes, for nearly seven hundred years, we have been the continuation of the disobedient plan! "
Facing Gawain's slightly surprised expression, she continued quietly: "You know the ceremony on the Peak of the Ancestors back then, right? "
"I know," Gawain nodded, "You once wrote a letter to me, mentioning that you were going to the Peak of the Ancestors to participate in a ceremony to communicate with the gods. "
Bertila immediately stared at him: "My letter was written to Gawain Cecil. "
Gawain smiled and pointed to his head: "I know, but this memory is here - Bertila, whether you admit it or not, I have inherited Gawain· Cecil's memory, I know most of what he went through, and I know the part about you. Maybe you still think of me as an extraterrestrial wanderer who steals bodies, but in a sense, I am now Gawain Cecil. Er, and in this life, I will live with this identity. ”
Bertira looked at Gawain steadily. A large number of vines and roots were slowly shaking or squirming behind her. No one knew what she was thinking at this moment, but Gawain It seemed that a glimmer of light flashed through the other party's dull eyes, and then she continued the topic: "...On the Peak of the Ancestors, the Holy Spirit Druid Priest, the Pope of the Church of Dreams, and the Pope of the Church of Storms. A joint ceremony was held and the Dream Pope Megall III was successfully transported to the Kingdom of God..."
Gawain knew this part. He nodded: "After that, the three major dark sects All the members went crazy...what happened? ”
Bertira closed her eyes and her body trembled slightly. It seems that even today, seven hundred years later, recalling what happened at that time is still a torture of fear for her, Gawain I heard her say in an almost dreamy voice: "Megor III entered the realm of the Kingdom of God, where his soul was almost completely torn apart, but compared with the truth he witnessed, the tearing of the soul was nothing at all. What: He saw the Kingdom of God and the palaces of the gods, and around those illusory and gorgeous palaces was an extremely vast and chaotic void space. Countless broken ruins and corpses of gods floated around the Kingdom of God, in deathly silence. Circling in the center...
"The broken ruins and the corpses of the gods seemed to have been floating for a long time, and there were obvious differences between them. It seemed that they were not destroyed at the same time, but had experienced rounds after rounds. Rebirth and death. Megall III was almost half crazy when he looked directly at the ruins and corpses, but what was even more terrifying was the scene he witnessed afterwards:
“He saw the gate of the Kingdom of God. Opening it, the figure of the god flashed inside... In that extremely brief sighting, the huge knowledge and truth destroyedWith all the mental defenses of Megall III, he almost immediately fell into madness——
“The Druid Archbishop and the Storm Pope who jointly held the ceremony discovered the anomaly in time, and they tried to put Megall III Pulled back to the real world, but this move made the three of them mentally connected... They shared the perception." Listening to Bertila's description of what happened, Gawain seemed to be calm. Maintaining calmness and composure, huge waves have already set off in their hearts——
In the ceremony on the Peak of the Ancestors seven hundred years ago, the three church leaders indeed witnessed the ruins after the fall of the gods, but the specific details The situation was even weirder and crazier than he imagined!
Beyond the kingdom of the gods are surrounded by countless ruins and countless corpses, and that is not a situation that can be caused by just one round of destruction - Gawain knew that the god-killing fleet in ancient times destroyed everyone. God's battle, but if Bertila's information is true, then the battle report Gawain heard in the Eternal Slate is probably just a link in the countless destructive reincarnations of the gods.
If the ancient god-killing fleet destroyed the gods once, what caused the countless other destructions?
Are the reincarnations of the gods and their kingdoms related to the demonic tide in this world? Is it related to the destruction of human civilization?
The surviving gods and their kingdoms are located in the center of the ruins, surrounded by countless wreckage. Is it possible that each new round of gods is born from the "cemetery of the gods"? Or... the scene surrounded by ruins corresponds to the demonic tide and reincarnation of civilization in the mortal world, and has a deeper symbolic meaning?
Countless speculations and associations were rising and falling in Gawain's mind like a tide, but it was obvious that he could not get the answers to these questions from Bertila. He could only temporarily file these questions in his memory and start to pay attention to others. One thing:
The original three church leaders were distorted after being exposed to divine knowledge after sharing their senses. So why did other ordinary believers go crazy?
He raised his question, and Bertila sighed slightly: "Faith connects us all."
Gawain's expression suddenly froze.
"Belief in the gods is a chain. It took us many years to understand this - praying to the same object of worship, following the same precepts and codes, building body and mind according to the scriptures, seeking personal happiness The closeness and unity of 'spiritual talent' and the 'divine nature' of gods is the foundation of all beliefs and divine arts. Mortals follow these behaviors to obtain the blessings of divine arts, but at the same time they lock their souls in the same root. On the chain, this chain is the 'bridge between God and man', and the stronger the belief, the stronger the chain is and the more powerful it can transmit."
Bertila spoke slowly, his tone unprecedentedly heavy and serious.
“It is precisely for this reason that when the huge knowledge involving gods poured into the minds of the three church leaders, they, as the initial link in this chain,This knowledge was spread to the lower reaches of the chain in an instant...
"The shallowest believers on the edge may not be affected, because their beliefs are not firm enough, and there is still a certain distance between their hearts and gods, but all who can Priests who use divine magic are undoubtedly a link in this chain. Regardless of whether they are at the Peak of the Ancestors or not, they cannot escape the impact of this terrible knowledge.
"The final result is: the chain. Everyone on the planet has been affected. ”
Gawain took a breath.
Belief will lead to the establishment of an invisible connection between mortals who hold the same belief. This is important information that has never been mastered before!
Is this connection related to the spiritual seal?
Bertila’s description is full of metaphors and mystical vocabulary, which is determined by her personal knowledge and worldview. But in Gawain's case, all this can be summed up in two sentences:
The leaders of the three dark sects looked directly at the secrets of the gods seven hundred years ago.
Three. All the devout members of the sect conducted a nationwide sancheck at that moment.
This terrible collective sancheck had an obvious result: all of them failed.
But maybe it was because of the number. The huge number of middle- and lower-level priests shared the pressure of that spiritual shock. It may also be that the three church leaders at that time disconnected from the Kingdom of God in time. This collective sancheck failure did not lead to the most terrible consequences-three Although this dark sect was instantly blackened, there was no horrific incident in which a large number of members were directly twisted into monsters. After a brief period of frantic behavior, they even "awakened" from the madness and reorganized themselves into the Society for the Death of All Things. The three new sects, the Eternal Sleepers and the Sons of Storm, even conducted a lot of research and tried to carry out rebellious plans...
But if you think about it carefully, after experiencing that impact, they really "awakened" Are you done?
Gawain looked at Bertila quietly in front of him
She stood quietly between the roots and vines, with no look of madness in her eyes. , she seems to be rational - but look at the vines around her, look at the slowly squirming roots, think about how these roots penetrate the layers of palaces and crypts, think about the huge To giant trees beyond imagination...nothing is normal.
Perhaps, this symbolizes the essence of the three dark sects: the insiders who have returned from madness, who think they have woken up. His heart was imprisoned in a crazy shell.
After showing up, he was a dangerous lunatic.
“After the Summit of the Ancestors, we experienced great chaos. and losses, a large number of members rushed into the wasteland of Gondor, and many of the remaining members harmed themselves, committed suicide, or fell into permanent madness and could not wake up. The members who barely maintained their sanity went into hiding - in the chaotic situation at that time, there was nothing left to do. It was easy to hide under the circumstances - and a few years later, the madness caused by the mental shock graduallyGradually weakened, we regained our strength in secret...
"We know that the truth we have is so shocking that even if we just say half a word, it will lead to attacks from almost all orthodox sects, and even more It is possible to attract the attention of the gods behind them, so we chose to fall into the darkness and find a way to break the situation..."
At this point, Bertila shook his head and showed a hint of self-mockery: "Now calm down and look back. Think about it, our original purpose was really not that complicated. It was the long time and long-term paranoia that made everything deviate from the track, and more importantly, the rebellious plan...
"The person who brought the rebellious plan , are two elf druids, they are a pair of sisters, named Fierna White Frost and Leerna White Frost respectively. ”