The solemn and majestic bells echoed in the sanctuary, and a low resonance sounded in the Ares Cathedral under the steel dome. Matilda got up from the bench and said to the old pope in front of her: "The bells are ringing. , it's time for me to return to Obsidian Palace. If you are still interested in my experience in Cecil, I can tell you more next time."
"I'm looking forward to it," Malm said. · Dunit has a peaceful and loving smile on his face. This gentle temperament makes him hardly look like a battle priest who serves the God of War and has charged on the battlefield. Only his burly and strong body and a hint of sharpness in his eyes still make him look like a war priest. Silently proving that the old man still has strength and his authority over the church, "Bring me my greetings to Rosetta - he has not been to the Cathedral of the God of War for a long time."
Matilda lowered her head slightly: "...I will."
No matter how the Augustus family kept a respectful distance from gods and the church, they regularly contacted church representatives After all, setting foot in the church is a responsibility that the royal family must bear. This kind of thing must be done to show the nobles and people below.
Taking the accompanying attendants and guards, Matilda left this magnificent palace.
There is a long corridor from the inner sanctuary to the exit.
The God of War sect uses "iron" as the symbol of the sacred metal. Black steel frames and classical iron sculptures decorate the corridor leading to the outside of the church, and countless candlelights in the niches illuminate it. In this place, between the pillars and the narrow windows, scripture cloths depicting various war scenes or sacred sayings hang from the roof and decorate the walls on both sides.
As Matilda walked along this long corridor, the flickering candlelight in the alcove seemed flickering in her sight. As she approached the exit of the church, she couldn't help but let go a little. She slowed down her pace, and a figure with black hair, dark eyes, dignified and soft appearance, wearing a maid's dress, naturally came to her side in the next second.
This figure was one of several maids following Matilda. However, until she stood up, no one noticed her presence. Even when she came to the princess, no one noticed her presence. People saw clearly how she passed over the positions of other maids and attendants and quietly appeared next to Matilda.
"Ms. Diana," Matilda said softly to the black-haired maid who came to her, "have you ever felt that... there is a strange... atmosphere in the Great Chapel today?"
"I didn't feel it, Your Highness," the black-haired maid kept walking at the same speed as Matilda and whispered in reply, "Did you notice anything?"< /p>
"...No, it's probably because I haven't been here for a long time. The relatively heavy decoration style here makes me a little uncomfortable." Matilda shook her head and then changed the topic, " It seems that Pope Malm has also noticed the recent changes in Aldernan, and fresh air has been blown into the cathedral."
Diana spoke softly: "Your Majesty Malm.Although he does not pay attention to the secular world, he has never been a conservative and stubborn person. When new things appear in his sight, he is also willing to learn about them. "
As a "maid", her tone was still quite indifferent when talking about the Pope.
Matilda nodded slightly, seeming to approve of Diana's Judging, she then quickened her pace slightly and led her followers quickly through the long corridor.
The candlelight in the alcove was shining. There was no wind in the corridor, but all the candlelight was there. Swaying gently in different directions, as if the invisible wind is swirling in a dimension that humans cannot perceive, disturbing the silence of this sanctuary.
...
Malm· Dunit completed another brief prayer. He opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, reached for the herbal wine served by the attendant, and took a small sip in a measured manner.
The spicy, sweet and bitter taste of the herbal wine spread in his throat, stimulating the old man's spirit. He quietly waited for the boosting feeling to ferment in his body, and at the same time asked casually: "Her Royal Highness the Princess and her entourage have left. ? "
A deacon wearing a dark black priest's robe stood beside the Pope and respectfully reported: "They have left the cathedral, Your Majesty. "
"Well," Malm nodded, "Then let's continue discussing the festival later. "
"Your Majesty, do you..." The aide glanced at the old pope with some worry and said hesitantly, "Do you need a rest today? You've had a lot of receptions today, and it's easy to lose your energy at times like this. "
"I'm not that fragile yet," Malm shook his head, "and the test sent by the Lord cannot be avoided, especially before and after the annual festival. ”
As he spoke, the old pope crossed an Moving with power that mortals cannot detect, some kind of sacred and vast but indescribable "breath" is lingering in this sanctuary. Malm can vaguely detect its vague ripples, and he knows that it is the god's. The power is fluctuating between the world and the kingdom of God.
The God of War is a god that is very "close" to humans, even closer to humans than the Holy Light, which is always known as gentle and righteous. This may be because of it. It is a race that is naturally keen on war. It may also be because the God of War pays more attention to the mortal world than other gods. In any case, the impact of this "closeness" is far-reaching.
It is the God of War. The priests have brought more powerful and easy-to-obtain magical arts, and they have also made it easier for the power of the gods to have some kind of "interpenetration" with the real world, and this "penetration" that occurs at the boundary of the real world has periodic ups and downs - now , a new round of infiltration is approaching, and in this great temple closest to the will of the gods, certain signs have begun to appear.
This is normal for the senior God of War priests. , no matter how correctA common natural phenomenon.
It’s just that this year’s penetration… seems to be stronger than in previous years.
"Your Majesty," the deacon's voice came from the side, interrupting the Pope's thinking, "Recently, more and more clergy have heard noises during prayers, either in the cathedral or in the church. This situation is especially serious when approaching the Great Temple."
"The Lord is approaching the world periodically," Malm said solemnly. "The human mind cannot fully understand the words of the gods, so those who are beyond us. The knowledge of thinking becomes a noise similar to noise. This is a normal thing - let the priests remain pious and synchronize the body and mind with the teachings of the gods. This allows us to understand the will of the gods more effectively. 'Noise' The situation will be reduced a lot."
The deacon bowed his head deeply and replied respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty."
The deacon was quiet for a few seconds. Finally, he couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, the 'resonance' this time seems to be extremely strong. Is this a sign that the gods are about to issue a decree?"
Malm glanced at the deacon and lowered his eyelids. Crossing his hands in front of him: "Don't speculate on the Lord's will, just fulfill our responsibilities as clergy respectfully."
After accepting the teaching, the deacon immediately lowered his eyelids, crossed his hands in front of him, and devoutly The ground chanted prayers dedicated to the gods in a low voice. His voice was low and steady, and the sacred words flowed between his lips and tongue, but Pope Malm on the side suddenly frowned - he suddenly heard several strange mumblings between the deacon's words, which seemed to be mixed in with human voices. There was a strange echo, as if a heterogeneous throat was uttering a whisper that humans could not utter. However, the noise lasted very briefly. The deacon's brief prayer ended in the next second. The pious priest opened his eyes, and in his eyes It was calm and clear, and nothing unusual could be seen.
He seemed to have no idea what had just happened.
Malm Dunit withdrew his gaze towards the deacon and calmed down the extraordinary power that had just been mobilized in his body. He said calmly: "Gather the bishops together and let's discuss the ceremony. "
......
The Guardian's Shield lay quietly on the table, the ancient Cecil emblem solidifying into a rusty and blurred patch on the shield, Gawain His fingers slowly brushed over the weathered and corroded metal surface, but Amber's voice came from beside him: "By the way, you have been staring at this shield in your spare time these days - do you think of those days? Are you stuck in memories? Can't help but sigh about life? This is a sign of old age..." Gawain looked back at the shame of the empire who was openly skipping work next to him. One glance: "Are you running around during working hours just to come to my place to ask for a beating?"
Amber immediately waved his hand: "I'm not just running around - I'm here to report business to you."< /p>
Gawain put aside his concern for the Guardian Shield for the time being, frowned slightly and looked at the half-elf in front of him: "What's the business?"
Amber stepped forward.With one step, Gao Wen casually took out some folded documents from his arms and placed them on Gao Wen's desk: "I have organized them all."
Gao Wen opened the papers with the marks of the internal security department and looked at He quickly scanned the printed text. After seeing the content clearly, he raised his eyebrows and smiled: "So, our Phantom Shadow drama is very popular among the citizens of Aldernan." Welcome? ”
“After solving the initial promotion problems, this novelty has easily captured the appetite of the public - even a very simple plot can make the audience addicted, and The Phantom Theater itself also caters to the psychology of the citizens of Aldernan," Amber said casually. "Its tickets are not expensive, but it does require a little extra money. Decent citizens need to enjoy this kind of cheap and trendy entertainment. The investment proves that one has the ability to 'enjoy life', and at the same time, the Magic Shadow Theater is also a 'theater', which makes it a 'symbol' for the common people of Typhon to show their improved taste in life.
"Of course. These reasons are secondary. The main attraction of the Demon Shadow drama is that it is 'interesting' - on this invisible battlefield, 'interesting' is definitely the most powerful weapon I have ever seen. "
Gawain listened to Amber's sane analysis and couldn't help but smile and glance at the half-elf - in the past two years, her growth has become more and more obvious.
"This is a good thing, our first stage is succeeding," Gawain smiled and nodded, casually placing the documents on the table, "What we have to do after that will be much simpler and clearer.
"Produce a large number of new demon dramas quickly and in mass production. The production does not have to be sophisticated, but it must be interesting enough. This can attract more Typhonians to pay attention; there is no need to directly promote Sisi. In order to avoid arousing Aldernan's alertness and resistance, but to frequently strengthen Cecil's advanced impression in the magic drama...
"Increase investment in overseas newspapers and magazines, recruit Some locals create some 'academic authorities' - they don't have to be real authorities, but as long as there are enough newspapers and magazines announcing that they are authorities, there will naturally be enough Typhonians who believe this..."
Gawain talked about his ideas one by one, talking about his plan to disintegrate the cohesive consciousness of the Typhon people and shake the foundation of Typhon society. Amber listened carefully in front of him, and waited until he finally spoke. After falling, Amber couldn't help but sigh: "To be honest, I think this is something more terrifying than the killing on the battlefield..."
Gawain glanced at her: "Why so think? "
"The killing on the battlefield will only make the soldiers fall, but the weapons you are making will make an entire country fall," Amber curled his lips, "And the latter will not even fall down until they fall. Wouldn't realize it. "
After two seconds of silence, Gawain said: "You wouldn't have thought of such far-reaching things before. "
"I would not have been exposed to such profound things before," Amber shruggedShoulder, "If I become cunning and treacherous, you must have brought me out."
Gawain listened to Amber's careless teasing, but he was not angry at all. He just remained silent thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Sometimes I feel that my methods are quite unreasonable, but we are facing a Typhon who wants to take a bite at any time... I am really a little afraid of such a person with evil intentions. It's an old empire, so we can only keep increasing the dose of 'poison'," he said, shaking his head and ignoring the topic, "Let's not talk about it anymore. I'm going to try something next, and I need you to watch over me. "
Amber suddenly smiled: "Hey, I'm good at this, and it's protecting... Wait, isn't the Eternal Sleeper's spiritual network now nationalized, so there's no need to risk infiltrating it?"
Gawain knew that the other party had misunderstood what he meant, so he couldn't help but smile and wave his hand, then he tapped his fingers on the Guardian Shield on the table: "It's not about sneaking into the network - I want to try to communicate with him. This shield 'communicates'."
As soon as Amber heard this, he looked at Gawain with a strange look: "...You want to communicate with a shield? I think you have been recently. What's wrong with staring at this shield every day, and you always say it's fine? Have you recalled too many things in the past recently, which caused..."
Gao Wen looked at Amber quietly and knocked again. Knocking the shield on the table: "I don't mind slapping you against the wall with this."
Amber immediately shrank his neck and glanced at the legendary shield - it was obviously better than the Trail Blazers The sword is much wider. If you slap yourself on the wall, it will be embedded very evenly. Let alone picking it, I'm afraid it won't come off with a brush...
"Isn't this just a joke?" She rubbed her neck and said, "Don't always be so cruel..."
Gawain ignored the whisper behind the shame of the empire in front of him, and he focused again on the guardian in front of him. On the shield.
After a few days of hesitation and weighing, he finally decided... to try to get in touch with the "starry sky heritage" in front of him according to the method he used to get in touch with the Eternal Slate.