Chapter 768 Shaking

The streamers of various colors receded like a tide, and in the resplendent rotunda, the silhouettes of the archbishops disappeared into the air.

Daniel, who had attended the meeting of the Supreme Bishops' Conference, also stood up and bowed slightly to greet Selena Geer, who remained in place and did not leave: "Then, I will first check the situation of the Pan-consciousness Stability Barrier, Archbishop Selena. ."

"Thank you for your hard work, Archbishop Daniel," Selena nodded slightly. "Your security team is very important to us now."

After a flash of light, Daniel also left the hall. In the huge indoor space, only Selena Geer was standing quietly, and a group of people floating above the round table, mixed with dark purple background and silver-white light spots, A starlight aggregate with an indeterminate outline around it.

After a long silence, a long sigh suddenly came from the starlight aggregate: "Selena, today's situation reminds me of seven hundred years ago."

"The situation is really bad, Your Majesty the Pope," Selena said softly, "even worse than it was seven hundred years ago."

"The Druids have failed, the people of the deep sea have been lost in the deep sea, and the road we are sticking to seems to be facing a desperate situation," Pope Megall III's voice sounded quietly, "Maybe in the end we will have to Completely abandoning the entire spiritual network, and even paying hundreds of thousands of compatriots' lives for it, but compared to these losses, what I regret most is that our seven hundred years of hard work seems to be "

"Your Majesty, it's too early to say this," Selena suddenly interrupted Megall III, "We haven't come to a time when we have to make a decision, and the contents of Sandbox No. We are being held tightly."

"But it is already consciously trying to escape, it has realized where the boundaries of the cage are, and then it will do anything to break the boundaries. If it gets out of Sandbox 1, it can enter the psychic network, and With the help of the spiritual network, it can pass through those compatriots living in the real world, and come to the reality, and by then, I am afraid we will really call it Him."

Selena was silent, but she recalled her experience in the Phantom Town, and the "extra person" who almost returned to the Dream City with the exploration team.

Although Phantom Town is just an "overflow projection", not the body of Sandbox No. 1, but at a time when pollution has gradually spread, the things in the projection want to enter the spiritual network, and they themselves are the "things" in Sandbox No. 1. One of the attempts to break out of the cage.

She couldn't help clenching her fists a little harder, and couldn't help thinking of the darkest and desperate days seven hundred years ago.

The pollution from the gods has taken away thousands of minds, and the most determined priests and believers have also fallen into a frenzy overnight. The once deeply revered "Lord" has become an indescribable monster. My compatriots lost in the frenzy

Those who remained awake paid an unimaginable price to restore order, and it took hundreds of years for the surviving compatriots to recover step by step. And the survivors of the borderline of madness paranoid made plans, paranoid to this day.

Then, all the roads were cut off in just two or three years, and the seven hundred years of persistence and the faint hope finally proved to be nothing more than the blind and arrogant delusion of mortals.

All efforts are just paving the way for the gods.

But is "trying to survive" really just a delusion?

Selena raised her head, looked at the slowly wriggling starlight aggregate in mid-air, and said calmly, "Maybe our path is wrong, but that doesn't mean that the right path doesn't exist. In the final analysis, we also Only tried three paths."

The voice of Megall III came: "What you said reminded me of the last message Franken sent to me before he merged with the body of the false god."

"Your Excellency?" Selena blinked, "what did he say?"

"He said there are many roads, I'll try one of them, and if it's not right, don't give up," Megall III's voice was calm and indifferent, but Selena could hear a hint of emotion from it, "Think about it now. , he may have vaguely noticed that our three paths have hidden dangers at that time, but he was too late to remind us, and it is difficult for us to try other directions."

"Druids try to create a controlled god with humanity, we try to cut the chains from the depths of the soul, the people of the sea try the way of elemental ascension, and merge with the wreckage of the Lord of Storms" Selina one by one Said, "It now seems that we may have been too arrogant when we initially negotiated these three paths."

Megall III was silent for a long time before he said: "Anyway, since we chose and opened the road of cutting the chains, then we must face everything about it, including preparing to bury this road, That's the responsibility of the Blazers."

"Yes, as you said."

"Rest now, I have to think about the future of the cult."

Selena bowed her head, and in her perception, the consciousness of Megall III gradually moved away from this place.

She stayed in this position for a long time, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that her voice sounded softly in the empty chamber: "Pioneer?"

After the meeting, Hetty did not communicate with anyone, and returned to his office in the Government Affairs Hall alone.

The entire third floor of the government affairs hall is very quiet. On the rest day of the tenth week, most of the non-urgent matters will be left for next week, and the office of the chief consul will be very quiet.

The heater made a slight humming sound, and the warm air was blowing from the ventilation pipe in the corner of the room. The magic spar lamp on the roof was already lit, and the bright light dispelled the darkness of the dusk outside the window. From the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see that the lights on both sides of the street opposite the square are already bright. Citizens who have enjoyed their leisure time on the rest day are returning home under the lights, or going to the taverns, cafes, and chess and card rooms on the streets and alleys for small gatherings.

Looking at the citizens coming and going, looking at this imperial capital that was far away from the darkness in the artificial lights, Hetty suddenly thought of the words she heard at the previous meeting.

It was not the gods who created the human beings, but the human beings who created the gods.

"So is the goddess of magic?"

Heidi couldn't help muttering to herself, her fingers lightly sketched the four basic runes of wind, water, fire, and earth in the air, then she shook hands into a fist, pressed her fist to her forehead, and whispered magic The name of the goddess Mirmina.

This is the standard procedure for simple prayers by mages who believe in the goddess of magic.

As a special god, Miermina, the goddess of magic, does not have a formal church and priesthood system. The mages who are in charge of extraordinary power and lack awe of gods are more likely to regard the goddess of magic as a kind of psychological sustenance or worth The "origin of knowledge" is worshipped in awe, but this does not mean that the "divine nature" of the goddess of magic has been shaken and weakened in this world.

God is real, even the mages who are keen to explore the truth of the world and believe that knowledge and wisdom can explain the operation of all things, also recognize this, so they also believe that the goddess of magic is a real god.

It's just that their feelings for this god may be more "reasonable" and "peaceful" than other believers' feelings for the god they believe in.

The mages are all shallow followers of the goddess of magic Miermina, but it is almost never heard of the existence of mad followers of the goddess of magic among the mages.

And Heidi can be regarded as one of the more devout wizards who believe in the goddess of magic.

This point, even if she knew about the rebel plan, even though she participated in and promoted the many "theocracy secularization" projects of her ancestors, it did not change.

Because in her concept, none of these things will detract from the goddess of magic. The gods of light exist like that. They have existed since ancient times. They are like the stars in the sky. Regardless of the "secularization of divine authority" or "the divine authority of the emperor", they are only correcting the wrong behavior of mortals in the process of belief, even if the means of "disobedience plan" are more intense, it is more like mortals getting rid of the influence of gods , an attempt to get out of the way of self.

It's all mortal's own business, and it has nothing to do with gods. This may be the way of thinking of most mages.

However, what she heard at the meeting today shook the foundation of the gods.

The result of the prayer to the goddess of magic was the same as before. Heidi could feel a mysterious and inexplicable power surging in a very distant dimension, but he could not hear any instructions from Miermina, nor could he feel the arrival of divine magic. .

Miermina is the only god who almost never gives oracles, and never even shows miracles and magic. If it wasn't for her prayers to get the most basic feedback, the mages might not even be sure about this one. The gods still exist.

"Goddess, you should be able to hear it, right?" Hetty whispered in a voice that seemed to be talking to himself in the brief calm of getting feedback after the prayer, "Maybe you don't have time to respond to every voice, but you should also audible

"Are you really created by the collective thought of mortals, are you like a group of stars, or are you a collective illusion of us mortals?"

The goddess of magic Mirmina did not respond, only the indescribable feeling of transcendence, sacredness, and tranquility still floated in Heidi's heart, but soon, this feeling of tranquility caused by the feedback of prayers suddenly disappeared.

Hetty heard the sound of knocking on the door panel behind him: "Hetty, didn't I bother you?"

Heidi turned around quickly and saw Gao Wen standing at the door, she hurriedly saluted: "Ancestor, you have something to do with me"

"It's nothing, just to see that your door is not closed, and there is still light inside, so come and have a look," Gawain walked into Hetty's office and glanced at the latter casually, "I just saw you as if you were praying."

"I" Heidi opened his mouth, but nodded slightly after hesitating for a while, "I'm praying to the goddess of magic Mirmina."

"Ah, I remember that you are a follower of Miermina," Gawain said unsurprisingly, "Looking at your appearance, your mood is not calm, right?"

"I'm worried about you," Heidi lowered her head, "Actually, I'm fine."

"Unfortunately, I'm not a believer of any god, it's hard to empathize with you at this time," Gawain patted Heidi's shoulder lightly, "but I know that the concept that has accompanied me for decades is suddenly challenged to any It’s an uncomfortable thing for people.”

Hetty looked at Gawain, and suddenly asked boldly, "In your era, how many people did not believe in any gods like you?"

"It's more than you think," Gawain said slowly after a moment of silence, "but people who don't believe in gods are not necessarily people who don't believe in gods."

Heidi tilted her head slightly, thinking and feeling a little: "A lot of what you say is always full of philosophy."

"Sometimes it's just the experience summed up by the predecessors," Gawain shook his head with a smile, then looked into Heidi's eyes, "Can you come out on your own?"

"Yes."  "That's good, but if you really encounter difficulties or can't get out of the confusion, you can come to me at any time. We are family."  Hetty looked at Gawain and suddenly laughed: "Of course, Ancestor."    "Today is a rest day, go back early," Gao Wen hummed, glanced at the sky outside again, and said with a smile, "On the last day of this year, don't work overtime in the government affairs hall, I'll do it again tomorrow. I'll let you have an extra day off, take a good rest, and I'll help you arrange this." This time, Heidi smiled from the bottom of his heart: "Yes, Ancestor"    The two left the room, and in the huge office, The light of the magic spar lamp was silently extinguished, and at the same time as the darkness came, the light of the street lamps from the square and street outside also dimly shone into the room, and the furnishings in the office were outlined.   In the silence, a little floating light suddenly appeared. At the position where Hetty once sketched the four basic runes and prayed to the goddess of magic, a group of translucent glow suddenly condensed and shattered silently after maintaining for a few seconds. It flew through the room like a firefly, and was gradually absorbed by the printing machines, magic net units, and magic net terminals set up all over the room, leaving no traces left.