The liquid in the oak cup rippled slightly, reflecting the magnificent dome of the temple hall and the pale golden light that wandered between the columns and paintings. Gawain held the oak cup with a thoughtful expression on his face. There was no smile, and the "god" sitting opposite him also smiled after a few seconds.
"Wonderful," He said with a smile, "You scared me."
"Because you scared me too," Gawain said frankly, "Especially when After seeing the 'truth' over Tallond."
Then he paused and continued: "Actually, even if I get to this point, I can't guarantee that my card will be good. It must be effective - I can only prepare everything, but there are always variables in the world that humans cannot prepare for. For example... I wasn't sure how much of a deterrent those falling impacts would be to you, and I wasn't sure whether you would. The ability to directly read the memory and tamper with the instructions I issued... The only thing I rely on is that a 'god' like you cannot directly interfere with the legacy of the sailor, cannot intercept or tamper with my instructions, and now the result is It looks like the situation is not bad."
As he said this, he reached out his hand and took a rather delicate-looking snack from the table and put it into his mouth.
Slightly sweet, not greasy, and has a unique fragrance.
"Indeed... Even if I know your arrangement, I can't do anything to the legacy of the sailor... You are gambling, but the gamble is right," Dragon God also picked up the Taking a shallow sip of the teacup in front of her, she looked at Gawain and said like an ordinary friend talking, "To ensure mutual destruction, even if one party is extinct, it can still ensure that the revenge method can take effect automatically. Amazing train of thought - you see, those dark cultists are actually right to be afraid of you. There is a very terrible mind underneath your glorious heroic image. I would make a bold guess - this terrible thinking habit has nothing to do with your true nature. "Absolutely," Gawain said casually, "but I still feel that the conditions in this world are much worse than my hometown."
"If possible, I really want to see what the real hometown of your 'outside wanderer' looks like," the Dragon God sighed, but then shook his head, "Well, that's not important, the important thing is - If everything really comes to that, will you really choose to destroy Tallond? You should realize by now how destructive those 'abandoned satellites' can be after they crash. They are enough to destroy and pollute a country, and in this country, Many members...actually have a good relationship with you."
"So I'm glad that it's just a deterrent after all," Gawain said calmly.
"...Not bad," Dragon God looked at Gawain steadily for several seconds before slowly saying, "Keep this vigilance and decisive mentality, if you have to deal with gods in the future , then this kind of mentality is essential."
Gao Wen didn't speak for a while. He sorted out his sentences before suddenly looking up.To the other party: "Were the dragons who fought against the 'gods' in the center of the Eternal Storm not vigilant and decisive enough?"
"They..." The Dragon God seemed to hesitate for a moment, with a complicated look in his eyes, " They are good and have done a good job...it's just a pity that they were a step too late. They had a chance to succeed, but the belief of the entire civilization has become too strong to the point of being unable to confront them head-on. In this case, they acted rashly. The act of confrontation caused all the gods to descend and lose control at the same time..."
"All the gods descended and lost control at the same time?" Gawain immediately frowned, "Then how did these 'all the gods' become? You, the 'gods'? Why did they... merge into you?"
When he asked these questions, he felt very strange, because the person he was asking was the "gods" in the past. "God" was the original target of the Dragon Clan's disobedience and the biggest shadow and source of terror in the sky over Tallond. However, he had a feeling that the Dragon God would definitely answer him. These seemingly rebellious questions would even be answered by Him. Long awaited.
"...This is the result after a mortal attempts to break free from the chain," Dragon God said in a deep voice, his eyes became extremely serious, and even a little burning, "Remember, never forget Remember - no matter what kind of mortal race they are, they only have one chance. If they fail, they will face the same results as the dragon race. When the order of faith completely collapses, the relationship between gods and humans has passed the extreme value of contradiction, and the chain will be broken. If you still fail to break free in the end, something like this will happen -
"The gods will merge into one, and the 'gods' will become the ultimate shackles.
"This 'gods' will be in the name of civilization, with all the history, culture, worship and fear of civilization as the skeleton, and with the minds of all members of the civilization as the source of power. How strong is the overall strength of the civilization? , the gods are so powerful."
...
The terrifying roars and nightmarish roars woke up many dragons living in the upper area, even An, who had just fallen asleep. Speaker Dar was also awakened by the unusual movement outside the hall.
This awe-inspiring ancient dragon raised his head from his "throne" entwined with countless pipes and cables. Hearing the faint sound of thunder and storm still coming, his nerves The sensing terminal echoed with many anxious inquiries and exclamations from his fellow racers. Driven by his uneasiness, he immediately called out: "Omega! What happened outside?"
Omega's interactive interface quickly lit up. , accompanied by a mechanically synthesized voice: "The external monitor is being transferred... It is an energy storm, which is taking shape above the upper temple, and the energy level is still increasing."
Then, in front of Andal, A clear surveillance image appeared on the surface of the largest crystal curtain. He saw the splendid upper temple appearing in the curtain. The temple was surrounded by a more powerful pale golden halo than before, and a terrifying cyclone unexpectedly appeared. Hanging upside down in the sky above the temple - the cyclone is filled with scarlet fire and lightning, and its scale may even be larger than the entire temple.The mountain peak is even bigger. It rotates and spreads, constantly making deafening roars and whistling sounds, and it is expanding every minute!
Why does this terrible natural phenomenon occur in Tallond? ! How could such a thing appear in this land protected by gods! ?
"Omega!" Speaker Andal immediately shouted, "Why is the weather controller not responding?"
"The weather controller is operating normally, and this phenomenon is outside the alert list... ..." Omega responded quickly, but then its report was interrupted, "Special contact - Chancellor Andal, High Priest Herago wants to speak to you."
"He. Lagor?" Andal was stunned for a moment, then responded, "Connected." The next second, the Omega interactive interface located on the side of the hall was replaced by Herago's serious face. The face replaced him, and Andal turned his head: "Heragor, over there in the upper temple..."
"Everything is normal, nothing happened," the Dragon Priest on the interface showed no expression. He said quietly, "Just tell everyone, just feel at ease."
The mechanical prosthetic eye in Speaker Andal's eye socket shimmered, and the mechanically controlled telescopic structure moved slightly unconsciously: "Heragor , you..."
"Our Lord is receiving guests," the dragon priest said slightly indifferently, "Your Excellency Speaker, nothing happened - don't worry about the cyclone, it will disappear, There will still be clear skies in Tallond tomorrow."
After saying this, Herago hung up the communication unilaterally without waiting for Andal's answer. After a brief noise scene. , Omega's interactive interface reappeared on the crystal curtain on one side of the hall.
"Speaker Andal," Omega's voice woke Andal from his brief daze, "Do you need to issue a disaster avoidance order?"
"...No, it's not necessary. ," Andal took a deep breath and shook his head slowly, "Let me tell you, this is a temporary adjustment by the weather controller - there is no danger, nothing happened."
"Yes, Speaker. Your Excellency."
...
"I seem to hear something moving outside." Gawain put down the cup and frowned slightly as he looked towards the end of the hall, where there was an open balcony. , however, probably due to the angle, he couldn't see much scenery from here.
“Don’t worry about it,” the god sitting opposite him said calmly, “It’s just a little bit of wind noise.”
“Okay, wind noise, the wind in Tallond is always very strong. Big," Gawain glanced at the "god" and shook his head indifferently. Then his expression became serious again, and he returned to the previous topic that shocked him so much that he almost couldn't hold the cup, "The gods... ...In other words, as long as the "disobedience" fails, the gods will definitely merge into one and become "gods"? How does this process happen? "
"You? I really like to investigate the principles," Dragon God smiled and shook his head."It's a pity that I can't give you the answer..."
Gawain stared at the other party: "Is it because I don't know, or because I can't tell?"
"I don't know, and I can't." "Say," Dragon God said, "Although I am the result of the fusion of 'gods', I don't know how it all happened, and I believe that the truth behind this process has exceeded the 'limit' of our communication - —Even between you and me, there is some knowledge that cannot be easily communicated."
"Okay, I understand," Gawain nodded with some regret, and then he looked at the hall thoughtfully. At the entrance, he looked at where Heragore was theoretically staying, "What about Heragore? You know... I once saw a dragon in human form in the center of the eternal storm. I believe that is Herago. Can you satisfy my curiosity about this?"
The Dragon God fell silent.
Just when Gawain thought that this question was too sensitive and the other party would not answer, he heard the other party's voice suddenly ring out: "Since you have seen it, you should be able to tell that he once stood In the center of that battlefield, leading the dragons to rise up against the out-of-control gods... It's ironic, isn't it? Now he is the highest-ranking priest in Tallond, serving the only and highest god in Tallond."
Gawain frowned again. He looked at the Dragon God and said in a low voice: "So is this some kind of 'punishment'? Is it a censure from the gods? Or... simple evil Fun'?"
Dragon God shook his head: "No, it's a deal"
"Mortals choose to surrender. , God ends the judgment," Dragon God said calmly, "This transaction requires a 'symbol', and Herago is this symbol."
"That's it?"
"Just that. That's it."
"Okay, I understand." Gawain nodded, indicating that the topic could end here.
"Maybe we should talk about some lighter topics," Dragon God suddenly smiled, and his tone became as if he was talking about the weather and daily life, "You and your friends have already visited Tallond. Three days - I believe you have seen a lot. Now, I want to hear your opinion."
"What do I think of Tallond?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "You want to. Listen to the truth? ”
“If I want, I can hear countless gorgeous and sweet lies - I want to listen to the truth and listen to the heartfelt evaluation of you, the ‘outlander’.”< /p>
Gawain looked into the other person's eyes, and in those perfect eyes that transcended mortals, he saw peace and nothingness.
"Deformed," he said, "prosperous but sickly, advanced yet decadent, with no life under the noisy and prosperous surface."
The Dragon God nodded: "Poignant and direct "This is what I see," Gawain said. "How many years has Tallond been stagnant?"Year? A million years? Perhaps only such a long period of stasis could explain what I saw. At first glance, I saw how prosperous and advanced it was. Frankly speaking, it even scared me. I almost thought it was an advanced society that only appeared in fantasy - but as I saw its interior, I became more and more aware of it. The more dark and desolate things appear in front of my eyes...
"Tallond is already dead, dead in the technological framework that has been developed to the limit, dead in the social structure as rigid as stone, dead in the In this... shelter you call the 'Cradle of Eternity'. Frankly speaking, when I look at Tallond, I even feel like I'm looking at a ruin - a ruin that is running on its own."< /p>
At the end of his speech, Gawain couldn't help but sigh: "This country is called the country of dragons, but dragons seem to have become the least needed thing here - whether it is the lower tower The citizens of Errond, or the so-called upper-class citizens, have actually been decoupled from the development of civilization. This is the fact I saw."
After hesitating again and again, he finally did not realize what he was thinking." Say the words "the final stage of capitalism".
After all, although Tallond's situation looked very similar to what he knew at that stage, he knew that the two were still fundamentally different-leading Tallond to develop into what it is today. The situation is more complicated.
One of the reasons is even sitting in front of me at the moment.
The Dragon God was silent for a long time this time, even to the point where Gawain began to worry whether he would throw a cup to call for the five hundred swordsmen to come in, but in the end he spoke, with a cry After sighing, he showed a relieved expression: "To be able to make such an evaluation, you have really looked at it seriously."
"So, I am particularly curious now -" Gawain said in a deep voice Said, "What exactly is the chain between gods and humans? How does it work, and how does it trap mortals and gods? Where is its power reflected? If we want to break free from it... …Where should we start, which is the 'right' way?"