At the Battle of Winterfort, the impact of humanity’s god-killing feat... may be more profound than imagined.
Gawain stared deeply at the fragment of the God of War placed on the platform not far away. This fragment of the god was glowing with an iron-gray luster under the illumination of the laboratory light. It looked like just a piece of debris. The broken and twisted metal, yet there is a life-like aura lingering on it that has not dissipated yet.
What looks like "armor fragments" are actually the "body structure" of the God of War himself.
Gods are a kind of existence that is completely different from the material creatures in human cognition. According to the different ideological tendencies in the process of forming gods, they will also show various postures - nature The god Amorn is a holy giant deer with flesh and blood, the goddess of magic is a female phantom formed by arcane energy and clouds, and the god of war is an armor made of steel and unknown substances. According to Veronica's According to the description, the form of the God of Holy Light is a huge crystal with an amorphous reflective surface that can change its optical properties at any time. These strange images reflect the descriptions made by the first mortals when they imagined these gods, and this "depiction" also became the source of the gods' power, completely integrated with their "mythical image", even after their death, this power They will also stay in their wreckage for a long time, even for thousands of years.
The flesh and blood samples from Amorn that were originally sealed in the Disobedience Fortress had experienced a long period of decay for three thousand years, and when they were unearthed, they still had a tendency to cause fatal mental contamination.
However, these fragments from the God of War... are completely "harmless" at this moment, and even the tester will not suffer any damage from unprotected contact.
In deep thought, Gawain slowly said: "Besides the changes observed here, is there any other progress?"
"Yes," Veronica clicked He nodded, "According to the confirmation of another experimental team, after the death of the God of War, the original God of War magic has changed, and the prayer rituals are no longer responded to, but the corresponding magic runes left behind can still function, and can They have been manipulated and studied at will by ordinary people. Some of the 'forbidden actions' that once caused the magic to go out of control and even backfire are no longer dangerous. In addition, we also received news from the Ogure Tribal Nation and some scattered God of War sects there. Something similar happened, which proves that this change covers the whole world, which is consistent with our initial expectations."
"Yes...the magic is lifted, the punishment is invalid, and the prayer ceremony is no longer available. Get a response... These are what we expected at the beginning, but the debris left by the gods no longer pollutes mortals is a phenomenon we have never thought of," Gawain said slowly, "So this is the real escape from the gods. Shackles..."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of the other two gods who had also "fallen", and said as if talking to himself: "Amorn, the God of Nature, and The goddess of magic Myrmina has also 'fallen', at least their status as gods is indeedhave disappeared, but some of the 'relics' they left behind are still highly spiritually polluting. What do you think is the reason behind this? "
"Perhaps the reason lies in the 'symbolic process'," Veronica had obviously thought about this issue before Gawain came, and she immediately expressed her thoughts, "The God of War is Killed by mortal hands, the goddess of magic and the god of nature separated on their own - during this process of separation, the believers of the latter have always maintained their faith, which is probably the key to the problem. "
After her words fell, Kamel continued to say from the side: "On the battlefield of Winterfort, the soldiers who participated in the battle not only defeated the crazy gods, but also defeated the mortals' hatred of the gods. Reverence instinct - now it seems that this is a very critical 'factor'. Of course, most of the people who participated in the war at that time were mages or magic soldiers who did not believe in the God of War, but perhaps their 'mortal' status was more important than their specific beliefs. "
"Do you need an element of 'confrontation of faith'?" Gawain frowned deeply. What Kamel said was that he had vaguely caught it before, but he did not think about it seriously. direction, "If it is indeed what you said, then we may really be able to explain why what happens to the God of Nature and the Goddess of Magic is completely different from that of the God of War - when the two of them leave the gods, the thoughts of mortals and Action is not involved at all, and naturally there is no process of confronting faith and overcoming awe. "
Hubo listened for a long time with her eyes wide open. In fact, she basically didn't understand the part involving the professional field. However, she came to the last part and was shocked: " Hey, is it possible that we have to drag out Amorn and Mirmina and kill them again? Isn't this appropriate? They have already voluntarily left the throne of God, and Myrmena has hidden herself in a place where no one can find her..."
"Of course we won't do this," Gawain said immediately He waved his hand and said, "The two of them have broken away from the divine status, and their restraints on mortals have also disappeared. Whether it is the power of natural magic or magical rituals, they are no longer restricted by divinity. This has met our expectations. As for the contamination of some of their relics, heritage remains, etc., that is a minor issue. At most, they are equivalent to poisonous and dangerous goods that need to be treated with caution - we cannot take action against them for this reason. "
Veronica nodded beside her, obviously agreeing with Gawain's statement: "That's true. We are now only inferring the connection between mortal faith and spiritual pollution based on the polluting changes in the remains of gods. However, this kind of spiritual pollution has nothing to do with the sanity of gods, and Amorn and Myrmina will not become 'mad gods' because of this. ', we don't have to worry about this. "
"And on the other hand, the pollution carried by Amorn and Myrmina's 'divine products' is actually fading, but its fading speed is much slower than those here. It’s just the remains of the God of War,” Kamel said while thinking, “Amorn’s flesh and blood sampleCompared with what I remembered a thousand years ago, most of the pollution it carried has faded away. The fading has been particularly obvious in recent times. Although Myrmena did not leave any 'fragments' behind, Naritiel had once obtained it from her. A lot of 'ashes' are peeled off, and the pollution of those ashes is also weakened. Generally speaking, these contaminations can obviously subside on their own, but they just take longer. "
"Even if there is no process of 'confronting faith', as the gods of nature and goddess of magic disappear and their corresponding religions gradually decline, will the spiritual pollution they cause to mortals gradually weaken? ..." Gawain touched his chin, his thoughts gradually becoming clearer, "So, this is essentially a process of faith decline, and the battle in Winterfort was the most violent and extreme form of faith decline..."
Amber blinked and suddenly said: "As far as I know, Rosetta Augustus executed tens of thousands of Ares priests on that day - he obviously had long since removed from the 'Eye of God' Got this knowledge everywhere. ”
She looked a little complicated when she said this. Obviously, even the intelligence chief who often dealt with dark things, when talking about Rosetta Augustus’s bloody methods, I can't help but feel frightened.
Of course Gawain also knew what happened on the Typhon defense line during the decisive battle in Winterfort - even if he didn't know it at the time, Amber also investigated it later. There were many shocking truths. As one of the witnesses of the decisive battle that day, he had to admit that he was shocked by the iron-fisted execution shown by Rosetta Augustus at that time, but he also knew that this was the case. The handling method must not be regarded as the norm: "What Rosetta did cannot be repeated... After all, we still have to find a more reliable and reasonable way to control this process of 'faith decay'..."
Having said this, he couldn't help but look up at Veronica and said thoughtfully: "The gradual reforms carried out by the Holy Light Church should provide a great reference. "
"But just having our technical reference is not enough," Veronica said softly, "This also requires the cooperation of more people and a wider range of people, as well as people from other churches and from Reliable data on different gods - There are so many gods in our world, and the belief in the Holy Light is just one of them. "
Listening to what Veronica said unhurriedly, Amber looked at Gawain subconsciously. Somehow, she suddenly recalled what she had just seen on the other party's desk. That string of words, that thing she still hasn't understood yet -
The Theocratic Council
Vaguely, she feels that the one in front of her always thinks more than others. The "pioneer" who took one step or even several steps seemed to be thinking about this issue.
Gawain didn't know what was going on in Amber's head. His thoughts changed quickly. I started to pay attention to another question: "Speaking of the tests you conducted - the testers should not have participated in the battle of Winterfort.Fight? "
"Of course, he is a rear technician," Kamel said immediately, and at the same time he did not understand the intention of Gawain's question, "Why did you ask this? "
"The soldiers on the front line of Winterfort eliminated the out-of-control God of War through frontal combat, resulting in the largest decline of faith, and a technician far behind was no longer affected by the spirit of the God of War. Pollution, at the same time, in the small God of War Church far away in the Augure Tribal Nation, those priests and believers who still believe in the God of War are also freed from the influence of the spiritual seal - they may not even know what is happening on the front line of Winterfort What happened? Don’t you think this also reveals some problems? ”
The ventilation device in the room was humming, and the fresh air from the surface slowly blew through the laboratory. Gawain’s words had already fallen, and Kamel, Veronica and others were doing their own things. Lost in thought
"We did discuss this issue," Kamel took the lead to break the silence. The light on the ancient magister's body undulated slightly, showing that he was thinking, "As you said. It is said that although the God-killing battle on the battlefield of Winterhold was a feat, in the final analysis, only a small part of the mortals participated in the battle. In most places in this world, most people may not even know that the God of War has already Even after their death, they still maintained their instinct of reverence for the God of War. They had never thought about it, nor dared to imagine such a 'treasonous' thing as killing a god with the power of a mortal...
"These people, they obviously They have never fought against faith, and the power of faith has never faded in them. However, with the end of the Battle of Winterhold, a technician far behind who has never been on the battlefield can be 'immune' to the attacks from the God of War. Spiritually polluted..."
"Perhaps you will be interested in some religious concepts," Veronica suddenly said, "namely, 'symbols' and 'rituals.'"
< p> "Symbols and rituals?" Gawain suddenly realized something in his heart after listening to the words of the saintly princess, "You mean, the battle in Winter Castle had a ritual effect - and in the process of fighting against the gods "Symbols and rituals are an important part of religion, and gods are born from the 'symbols' conceived by mortals and from time to time." "Rituals", then in turn, it is natural that ritual behaviors can have a huge effect on them," Veronica said seriously, "We can even boldly assume-perhaps on some battlefield against the gods. As long as two or three people successfully rebel against the gods, the entire mortal group will be freed from the shackles of the gods. This hypothesis may sound a bit fanciful, but from the perspective of symbols and rituals, it is possible. Established..."Listening to the example given by Veronica, Gawain frowned at first, but he quickly sorted out the key to it, and shook his head with a sigh: "If one day comes, the success of two or three people will probably also depend onPromoted by countless people - in the final analysis, the power of gods is far superior to that of mortals, and our world is not so beautiful that everything can be saved by relying on a few heroes who break through on the battlefield. ”
Gawain’s emotion also touched Kamel’s thoughts. The great mage let out a trembling sigh, while Veronica beside her returned to her usual calm and calm state. With an expression on her face, she looked at the God of War samples on the platform and said, "Anyway, we still need more tests. "
"Yes, more testing - no matter how logical the things we just discussed seem to be, in the final analysis, there is still a lack of key evidence," Gao Wen nodded, "Expand the scope of testing. Well, first confirm whether the testers in various regions and identities are no longer affected by the mental pollution of the God of War, and then... expand the race, gather testers from other races, and see if they are not affected by the mental pollution of the God of War. . ”
“Other races? Kamel asked in surprise, obviously he had never thought about this direction before, "Are you talking about foreign races like elves or dwarves?" "
"Don't forget, they are also mortals - and they also believe in the God of War. Although they are independent from the human Church of the God of War, they all believe in the same god," Gawain nodded and said, "What we want to verify now is a very, very important concept...whether the souls of mortals are connected at the bottom of this world, and..."
"And? Kamel asked curiously.
"And academically confirm one thing: mortals are really a community of destiny." ”