Sword of Dawn

"No mental damage?" Gawain didn't seem to feel the impact from his back, he stared at Kamel, "Is this conclusion reliable?"

"Reliable, we conducted a direct and rigorous test," Kamel said seriously with a blue face, "This includes personnel testing - the tester directly touched the sample under close observation, and nothing happened.

"Of course, we have done a good job of protection - Naritil entangled the tester's mind with spider silk. Once the spiritual pollution occurs, the tester will be 'pulled' back instantly and undergo purification and healing."

"Have you even tested this..." Gawain finally recovered from his astonishment. He listened to Kamel's narration in disbelief, but his eyes fell on the platform closest to him—— Between the well-protected rune pillar and the energy barrier, there lay a piece of armor fragments flowing with iron-gray brilliance. Since the God of War was originally huge, it is impossible to see which part of the armor this fragment once belonged to, but there is only one point. To be sure, this thing...was once enough to drive the most determined warrior to madness when placed in the presence of mortals.

Originally, when he entered the laboratory, he saw the fragment and placed it directly on the stage, and the people around him seemed unaffected. At that time, he thought it was the various protective systems in the laboratory and Naretti at the scene. It's working, but now it seems... that's not the case.

The wreckage was rendered harmless.

So, what exactly has changed on these shards?

"After the God of War fell, did the remaining fragments lose their 'divinity'?" Gao Wen whispered to himself, "Because the fall was so complete, the remaining fragments became mortal things?"

"We also speculate that these fragments have changed, but Naritil doesn't think so," Veronica's voice came from the side, "She used spider silk to 'prey' before the fall of God of War, and at that time Memorizing the aura of the God of War, she analyzed the remaining aura on these fragments just now, and confirmed that except for some weakening and dissipation, the nature of the two auras has not changed qualitatively. Miss Till also helped Confirmed..."

Gawain knew how Tire helped to confirm without the need for others to explain, but he still couldn't help asking: "Is Tire's inspection reliable?"

"I think it can be trusted." I don't know if it's an illusion, but Veronica, who has always been calm and calm, hesitated a little at the moment, "Although she'consumed' a lot of samples, she is indeed an expert in this area. "

"...I see." Gao Wen rubbed the center of his brows, "In short, the power of the gods remaining on these fragments has not declined, and theoretically the spiritual pollution they carry has not disappeared, but now these pollutions have lost their effect on mortals. So it's not these fragments that have changed, but..."

Having said that, he subconsciously stopped.

It's not that he can't come to a conclusion, but that the conclusion that comes to his mind at the moment is a bit bizarre, and even challenges the three views.

But behind him, Amber, who was rubbing his nose and swaying over, obviously didn't think too much, the half-elf almost subconsciously said: "These fragments haven't changed, so can it be human beings who have changed..."

The entire laboratory fell silent, and Amber, who was rubbing her nose, immediately felt the change in the atmosphere. She stopped, looked around in fear, and finally landed on Gao Wen: "I just said something casually." Just say it, you don’t have to take it seriously if you say it casually..."

"No," Veronica shook her head, and said slowly in a deep tone, "What we speculate...is exactly that."

Hu Po's eyes widened, and she was stunned for a long time: "...Mom?"

"This is not the final conclusion, everything still needs more testing and analysis," Kamel couldn't help but said, the arcane light on his body was also a little flickering, "Yes, more testing and analysis... this The significance of the conclusion is too great, we must design a more careful..."

"We can verify it carefully, and it is not too much to verify it a hundred times, but before that, we can indeed make a bold guess," Veronica interrupted Kamel, holding the finger of the platinum scepter With a little force, his fingertips turned white, "Perhaps... our battle on the battlefield of Winterhold had an impact far beyond the simple loss of a god."

Chapter 1038 The power of symbols and rituals?

The impact of the battle of Winterhold, the god-killing feat of mankind...maybe more far-reaching than imagined.

Gawain stared deeply at the fragment of the God of War placed on the platform not far away. This sample of the remains from the god was glowing iron-gray under the light of the laboratory lights. It looked like a piece of broken and twisted metal, but it was There is a breath of life that has not dissipated until now.

This seemingly "armor fragment" is actually the "body structure" of the God of War itself.

Gods are a kind of existence that is completely different from the material creatures in human cognition. According to the different tendencies of thoughts in the process of forming gods, they will also show various postures—Amorne, the god of nature, has flesh and blood. The holy deer with the body of God, the Goddess of Magic is a female phantom formed by arcane energy and clouds, the God of War is an armor made of steel and unknown substances, and according to Veronica's description, the God of Holy Light The form is a huge crystal with an amorphous reflective surface that changes optical properties at any time.These grotesque images reflect the depictions made by the first mortals when they imagined these gods, and this "picture" became the source of power of the gods, fully integrated with their "mythical image", even after their death, this power They will also stay in their wreckage for a long time, even for tens of thousands of years.

The flesh and blood samples from Amorn that were sealed in the Fortress of Disobedience at the beginning had undergone 3000 years of long decay, and when they were unearthed, they still had the tendency of fatal spiritual pollution.

However, these fragments from the God of War... are completely "harmless" at this moment, and even the tester will not suffer any damage if he touches it without protection.

In deep thought, Gao Wen said slowly: "Apart from the changes observed here, is there any other progress?"

"Yes," Veronica nodded, "According to another experimental team's confirmation, after the fall of the God of War, the original Divine Art of the God of War has changed, and the prayer ceremony is no longer answered, but the remaining corresponding divine arts Runes can still function, and can be manipulated and researched by ordinary people at will. Some 'forbidden actions' that once caused divine magic to get out of control or even backlash are no longer dangerous. In addition, we also got news from the Ogure Tribal State , Similar things have happened to some scattered God of War sects over there, which proves that this kind of change covers the whole world, which is in line with our initial expectations."

"That's right... Divine spells are lifted, divine punishment is ineffective, and prayer ceremonies are no longer answered... These are all things we expected at the beginning, but the wreckage left by the gods no longer pollutes mortals is a phenomenon that we have never imagined "Gao Wen said slowly, "So this is really breaking free from the shackles of the gods..."

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: "Amorne, the god of nature, and Mirmina, the goddess of magic, have also 'fallen', At least their gods have indeed disappeared, but some of the 'relics' they left behind are still very 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 was killed by mortals himself, and The Goddess of Magic and the God of Nature broke away on their own—during the process of breaking away, the believers of the latter have always maintained their beliefs, and this is probably the crux of the problem.”

After her words fell, Kamel went on to say: "On the battlefield of Winterhold, the soldiers who participated in the battle not only defeated the crazy gods, but also defeated the mortal instinct of awe of the gods-now it seems that this It 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 is the key compared to their specific beliefs."

"Do you need an element of 'anti-faith'?" Gawain frowned deeply. What Kamel said was that he had vaguely grasped it before, but didn't seriously think about it. "If it is true What you said, then maybe we can really explain why what happened 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 left the gods, mortal thoughts and actions did not participate at all, so naturally There is no process of fighting belief, of overcoming awe."

Amber listened for a long time with wide-eyed eyes, and she basically didn't understand the part involving the professional field, but she was able to react to the last part, and was immediately taken aback: "Hey, maybe we still have to put Ah Moen and Mirmina came out to kill again? This is inappropriate, they have already left the god seat on their own initiative, and Mirmina is hiding in a place where no one can find it..."

"Of course we won't do that," Gawain waved his hand immediately, "The two of them have left the position of the gods, and the shackles on mortals have also disappeared, whether it is the power of natural magic or magical rituals, they are no longer restricted by the gods. , This has met our expectations. As for some of their relics, heritage remains and other things that are slightly polluting, that is a secondary issue, at most it is equivalent to poisonous and dangerous goods that need to be treated with caution-we cannot The reason is to shoot at them."

Veronica nodded at the side, obviously agreeing with Gao Wen's statement: "Indeed. We are only deducing the connection between mortal beliefs and spiritual pollution based on the pollution changes of the remains of gods, but this spirit Pollution has nothing to do with the sanity of the gods, and Amorn and Mirmina will not become 'mad gods' because of this, so we don't have to worry about it."

"And on the other hand, the pollution carried by the 'divine product' of Amorn and Mirmina is actually fading, but the speed of fading is much slower than the wreckage of these war gods here," Kamel said. While thinking about it, he said, "Compared to what I remember 1000 years ago, the pollution carried by Amorn's flesh and blood sample has faded by more than half, especially recently. Although Mirmina did not leave any fragments ', but Naritil once stripped many 'ashes' from her body, and the pollution of those ashes is also weakening. Generally speaking, these pollutions can obviously subside on their own, but it will take longer."

"Even if there is no process of 'resisting belief', as the gods of nature and goddesses of magic disappear, and the corresponding religions gradually decline, will the spiritual pollution they cause to mortals gradually weaken..." Gao Wen stroked his chin , The thoughts gradually became clear, "So, this is essentially a process of faith decline, and the battle at Winterhold was the most severe and extreme form of faith decline..."

Amber blinked, and suddenly said: "As far as I know, Rosetta Augustus executed tens of thousands of God of War priests on that day - he obviously got this from the 'God's Eye' a long time ago." knowledge about it.”

When she said this, she looked a little complicated. Obviously, even the intelligence chief who often deals with dark things couldn't help but feel frightened when talking about Rosetta Augustus' bloody wrists .

Of course Gao Wen also knew what happened on Typhon's defense line during the decisive battle of Winterhold - even if he didn't know it at the time, Amber also investigated many shocking truths afterward.As one of the witnesses of the decisive battle that day, he had to admit that he was shocked by the iron-handed execution that Rosetta Augustus showed at that time, but he also knew that such a way of handling must not be regarded as normal: "What Rosetta did can't be repeated... After all, we still need to find a more reliable and reasonable way to control this process of 'faith decay'..."

Having said that, he couldn't help but looked up at Veronica, and said thoughtfully: "The gradual reforms carried out by the Church of the Holy Light 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 on a larger scale, as well as reliable data from other churches and from different gods—our There are too many gods in this world, and the belief in the Holy Light is just one of them."

Hearing what Veronica said unhurriedly, Amber subconsciously looked at Gao Wen. For some reason, she suddenly recalled the string of words she saw on the other party's desk just now. Things I still don't understand-

Theocracy.

Vaguely, she felt that the "pioneer" in front of her, who always thought one step or even several steps ahead of others, seemed to be thinking about this issue.

Gao Wen didn't know what was going on in Amber's head, his thoughts shifted quickly, and at this time he began to pay attention to another question: "Speaking of the tests you conducted - the testers probably didn't participate in the Winterhold fight?"

"Of course, he's a rear technician," Kamel said immediately, and at the same time he didn't understand the meaning of Gao Wen's question, "Why do you ask this?"

"The soldiers on the front line of Winterhold eliminated the out-of-control God of War through frontal combat, which led to the largest decline in faith, and a technician far behind was no longer polluted by the spirit of the God of War. In the small Church of the God of War in the Ogure tribal country, those priests and believers who still believe in the God of War have also escaped the influence of the spiritual seal—they don’t even know what happened on the front line of Winterhold, don’t you think that? Does it also reveal some problems?"

The ventilation device in the room was humming, and the fresh air from the surface slowly blew across the laboratory. Gawain's voice had fallen, and Kamel, Veronica and the others were each lost in thought.

"We have indeed discussed this issue," Kamel took the lead to break the silence. The light on the ancient magister's body fluctuated slightly, showing that he was thinking, "As you said, the battle of killing gods on the battlefield of Winterhold Although it is a feat, in the final analysis, only a small part of mortals participated in the battle. In most parts of this world, most people may not even know that the God of War has fallen, and they still maintain the instinct of awe of the God of War , I have never thought about, and I dare not imagine, such a "rebellious" thing like killing gods by relying on the power of mortals...

"These people, they have obviously never fought against faith, and the power of faith has never waned on them. However, with the end of the Battle of Winterhold, a technician far behind who has never been on the battlefield can 'Immunity' from God of War's spirit tainted..."

"Perhaps you are interested in certain religious concepts," Veronica said suddenly, "that is 'symbol' and 'ceremony'."

"Symbols and rituals?" Gawain suddenly understood what the saintess princess said, "You mean, the Battle of Winterhold had a ritual effect—and in the process of fighting against the gods, A symbolic ritual act that can have a very large impact?"

"Symbols and rituals are an important part of religion, and gods are born in the 'symbols' and 'ceremonies' conceived by mortals, so in turn, it is only natural that ritual behavior can have a huge effect on them, "Veronica said very seriously, "We can even boldly assume that—maybe on a certain battlefield against the gods, as long as two or three people successfully resist the gods, the entire mortal group will be separated The bondage of the gods. This hypothesis may sound a bit fanciful, but from the perspective of symbols and ritual principles, it can be established..."

Listening to Veronica's example, Gao Wen frowned first, but he quickly sorted out the key points, and shook his head with exclamation: "If there is such a day, the success of two or three people I’m afraid it will depend on the promotion of countless people—in the final analysis, the power of gods far exceeds that of mortals, and our world is not so good that we can rely on a few heroes who break through the battlefield to save everything.”

Gawain's emotion also touched Kamel's thoughts. The great magister sighed tremblingly in his body, and Veronica on the side returned to her usual calm expression. She looked at the platform. Looking at the God of War samples on the Internet, he said, "In any case, we need more tests."

"That's right, more tests—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. Whether the testers of this identity are no longer affected by the spiritual pollution of the God of War, and then...expand the race and gather testers of other races to see if they are also not affected by the spiritual pollution of the God of War. "

"Other races?" Kamel asked in surprise, apparently he hadn't thought about this direction at all before, "You mean alien races like elves or dwarves?"

"Don't forget, they are also mortals—and they also have the God of War belief. Although they are independent from the Human God of War church, they all believe in the same god," Gao Wen nodded and said, "What we want to verify now is that A very, very important concept...whether the souls of mortals are connected at the bottom of this world, and..."

"And?" Kamel asked curiously.

"And to prove one thing academically: mortals are really a community of destiny."

Chapter 1039 The Fire Thief

Kamel is a very pure scholar. Compared with the intricate forces between modern human nations and alien kingdoms, he is better at analyzing data in the laboratory that would make ordinary people dizzy at a glance—but Even so, after hearing Gao Wen's words, he also realized that these tests had not only academic significance, but also political considerations.

Cecil is working to promote a new international relationship, an order that spans all races on the continent and includes all mortal species. There is a common interest appeal during the worldwide disaster, and there is a chain of life and death that advances and retreats together. At this stage, this is more of a political call put forward by Gao Wen-but if someone can prove in the laboratory that all mortal races There is a certain "synchronism" of the soul in front of the gods, and it can be proved that the fluctuations of the gods can affect all intelligent creatures in the world regardless of race and time and space distance, then the concept of this "community" is not just a political call .

To be honest, Kamel is not interested in politics.

But he was still happy to help Gao Wen establish the new order that the latter expected—as a rebel, that was the bright future that he and his compatriots imagined thousands of years ago.

Mortals are united to face the world crisis together, and survive tenaciously in the disasters and tides of the gods.

"I understand," the ancient great magister bent slightly, and there was a crisp sound when the rune armor pieces collided, "We will complete these tests as soon as possible and produce detailed and reliable evidence."

Gawain nodded, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Also, prepare for me, I'm going to the courtyard of the Rebellious Fortress."

"You want to see Amon?" Veronica immediately responded, "Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No, I'll go by myself this time," Gawain shook his head. "Just talk to him—the God of War has fallen. I'm curious if he can perceive anything, or have any opinions on this matter."

"Understood," Veronica bowed her head and replied, "Then I'll go check the situation of the portal."

……

A broken world that is deeper and darker than the Shadow Realm, located in the courtyard of the rebellious fortress in the Shadow Realm, a holy white deer that is as big as a hill lies quietly as usual among the floating gravel and criss-crossing ancient relics. The radiance undulates around him like a tulle, without any change for thousands of years.

This almost stagnant "dead silence" lasted for an unknown amount of time, and Amorn suddenly opened his eyes.

The pair of eyes that looked like light-cast crystals looked towards the entrance of the courtyard. A special "human" was walking towards him. Spread out: "Gao Wen Cecil... Long time no see. Welcome to my small courtyard—sorry for the inconvenience, I can't get up to entertain you."

"Your sense of humor is as good as ever," Gao Wen smiled, and came to an appropriate distance in front of Amorn, "Is everything all right here?"

Amorn's voice sounded directly in his mind: "Except for not being able to take a walk, everything is fine-quiet, peaceful, and not being disturbed by endless mortal thoughts, which is considered a good idea." s holiday."

"That's good," Gawain smiled, and then cut straight to the point, "Then I'll explain why I'm here—the God of War has fallen, and it happened a few days ago."

Amorn fell silent for a moment.

After a full minute, the former god broke the silence with a sigh: "Is that so... well, it might be a good ending."

"Didn't you sense it?" Gawain looked at the other party curiously. "This incident has caused a lot of commotion. I think its influence is enough to penetrate the barriers of the Shadow Realm and the Shadow Realm."

"I did feel some fluctuations a few days ago, but I didn't expect that it was caused by the fall of the God of War...Although you once told me that He was on the verge of losing control, and there would be a battle between mortals and God of War sooner or later, but said To be honest, I really didn't expect you to achieve such a feat like this," Amoen said slowly, "Looking at you, this thing went well?"

"We paid a great price, many people died, and the consumption of resources was countless," Gao Wen shook his head, "I don't know if this is considered 'smooth'."

"Ah, this has gone quite smoothly, the emperor of mankind, you have defeated a god head-on," Amon's tone seemed to have a hint of approval from the bottom of his heart, "Be proud, this is something to be proud of. But I guess you didn't come to me today just to tell me about it?"

"Indeed, there is another thing," Gawain nodded. "After the fall of the God of War, we found that the remains of his body... no longer cause spiritual pollution to mortals."

Amoen seemed to be stunned for two seconds, and then said with a trace of surprise: "You mean that the fragments of God of War have lost their spiritual pollution?"

"No, it's not that those fragments have lost their pollution, but that mortals are no longer affected by them," Gao Wen immediately corrected, "The fragments of the God of War have not changed in nature, but the mortals themselves have changed. essential difference."

Amoen fell silent again. He seemed to be thinking seriously, and he spoke again half a minute later: "You mean, through a real act of 'killing the gods', mortals are now completely free from the influence of God of War, not only Gained the freedom to use divine spells, words and deeds, and even mental resistance against the relics of the God of War—and this 'effect' didn't just happen to those soldiers who participated in the battle, but to everyone?"

"Yes, although we can't test everyone in the world, we speculate that this change occurs in all people, and may even include races other than humans."

"...I want to hear your more detailed opinions," Amon stared at Gawain, his tone becoming more serious than ever, "What have you discovered, what are your speculations, and what are you going to verify?" What—if you don't mind, tell me all about it."

This is exactly the purpose of Gao Wen's coming here, so he readily agreed to Amon's request. In the next few 10 minutes, he told the other party in detail about the various phenomena that the current technicians have discovered in the laboratory, and the The information collected from various news channels, as well as the guesses of Kamel and others.

During the whole narration process, Amon was extremely quiet, and didn't even intervene. It wasn't until Gawain finally finished speaking that he let out a long and meaningful sigh.

After a few seconds, the former god broke the silence: "It seems that there was a small loophole in my original plan, and there was a missing link for mortals to 'hands-on', so...you are planning to take advantage of my absence?" Can't resist, organize people to come in and 'kill' me again?"

"Ahem..." Gawain coughed dryly, for a moment he couldn't be sure whether Amoen's words were from the heart or from the former god's unique sense of humor, "Of course not. ,You think too much."

Then he paused, and explained to Amorn what he had explained to Amber in the laboratory before, and for the purpose of reassuring the other party, he also emphasized at the end: "... Overall In terms of human beings, our main purpose is to allow the mortal race to survive in this world. Even if the rebellion plan is restarted, we don't actually have any subjective hostility towards the gods—but we will not take extreme measures whenever we have a choice. s method."

Speaking of this, he glanced at Amoen who was listening quietly, and after a little hesitation, he said something he had been thinking about recently: "In fact, I think there must be something else between mortals and gods." There is a way to go—a third way besides the confrontation between life and death and complete isolation, I have considered this issue once, and now I am more and more convinced of it.”

"Too ideal and optimistic," Amon finally said, "but you don't seem to come up with this idea out of blind optimism or some kind of naive idea."

"I have my ideas," Gawain looked at the "God of Nature" with a serious expression, "I firmly believe in one thing—since the existence of gods is the result of the natural laws of this world, then this 'natural law' It can be mastered and controlled. It’s just time. Now we can’t find the third way, it’s just because we don’t know enough about the mysteries of time, but if we give up exploring because we can’t find the way for a while, then our essence There is no difference between those who go to heaven and those who turn to the gods for help when they encounter difficulties."

"Fearless..." Amorn sighed, "You remind me of those people who first walked out of the cave, those who held up branches to catch fire from lightning strikes... A fearless fire stealer should have such qualities, But I have to warn you - more people will die before the first flames burn than the lucky ones who steal the fire."

Gao Wen nodded solemnly: "Thank you, I will keep your reminder in mind."

"Since you have reached this point, let me offer some more suggestions." After a moment of silence, Amon said suddenly, "I think you came today mainly to listen to my 'suggestions'?"

Gao Wen's expression immediately became serious: "All ears."

"I don't know exactly how you intend to 'control' the laws of the gods' operation, but I hope you can keep in mind that no matter which gods they are, they are firmly limited by the laws of the gods at the beginning of their birth. The 'rules' are limited by the initial 'shaping' of them by mortal thoughts. Even when they are on the verge of madness, or even already crazy, their actions actually follow these 'initial dogmas'.

"On this basis, I have two suggestions: First, what you do should be cautious, but you can also be bold, as long as you strictly comply with the most critical parts of those 'rules', you don't actually have to worry about the gods getting out of control ——Everyone in the world thinks that the gods are irritable and will be punished if they make a mistake, but in fact... Regardless of "anger" or "joy", the "emotions" of the gods can't guide their own actions at all , they can only act in accordance with the rules.

"No matter how angry a god is, it can't punish a believer who hasn't violated the original dogma. No matter how happy a god is, it can't bless a mortal who doesn't believe in him at will. It's just a bug.

"Second, I suggest that you and your scholars study the oldest and most primitive religious books, summarize a god's 'law' from the source of belief, and sort out the changing process of these laws according to historical development, and It's not about directly imposing modern classics that have undergone countless repairs and polishes.

"Many times, the modern classics and the most primitive religious texts seem to describe the same thing, but due to the subtle adjustments intentionally or unintentionally by the annotators, the corresponding teachings have actually undergone subtle deviations—these subtle deviations If it’s not handled properly, there will be big problems.”

Gao Wen clenched his fist subconsciously - this was the first time that Amonn made such a specific "suggestion" to him that even involved actual operation!

Obviously, the restraints of the "God of Nature" have been 'loosened' again, and this change is most likely related to the battle on the front line of Winterhold.

His trip was not in vain.

After firmly remembering Amon's reminder, he breathed a long sigh of relief, with a sincere smile on his face: "Thank you very much for your suggestions - I will definitely put them into practice."

Then he took out the mechanical watch he was carrying and glanced at the time on it, and took a half step back: "I've been here for too long, and it's time to leave. Finally, thank you again."

"It's not necessary to thank you, after all, it's hard for me to meet such an interesting conversation partner as you," Amoen seemed to have a hint of a smile in his tone, "If you really want to express your gratitude, I have something I want to ask you for help."

"Ask me to help?" Gao Wen was stunned for a moment, and his gaze fell on the criss-crossing restraints around the other party involuntarily, "Let's talk about it first, if you want me to help you undo these..."

"Don't worry, I know my situation - I haven't been 'harmless' yet, it's normal for you to have concerns, so I don't ask you to help me untie me," Amoen took the initiative without waiting for Gawain to finish speaking He said, "It's just... It's really boring to lie here for such a long time. I want to find some fun."