Various streams of light receded like a tide, and the figures of the Archbishops disappeared into the air within the gilded round hall.
Daniel, who had attended the Supre Council of Bishops eting, rose to his feet and slightly bowed to Selena Gerfen, who remained rooted to the spot without leaving: "Then I shall first go check the situation of the Consciousness Barrier, Archbishop Selena."
"Thank you for your hard work, Archbishop Daniel," Selena nodded slightly, "Your security team is very important to us right now."
After a flash of light, Daniel left the hall as well, leaving the large indoor space with only Selena Gerfen quietly standing there, along with the starlight polyr floating above the round table, mixing dark purple hues with silver-white dots, its contours shifting unpredictably.
After a long silence, a deep sigh suddenly emanated from the starlight polyr: "Selena, today’s situation reminds of seven hundred years ago."
"The situation is definitely bad, Your Holiness the Pope," Selena said softly, "It’s even... worse than seven hundred years ago."
"The Druids have failed, the citizens of deep-sea have lost themselves in the abyss, and the path we steadfastly pursue seems to face a dead end," Pope gal III’s voice quietly echoed, "Perhaps ultimately, we may have to completely abandon the Heart Network, even if it costs hundreds or thousands of lives... But what grieves more than these losses is that our seven hundred years’ effort seems..."
"Your Holiness the Pope, it’s too early to say such things now," Selena abruptly interrupted gal III, "We haven’t reached the point where we must make a decision. The item in Sandbox One... for now, it’s still securely contained."
"But it is already consciously attempting escape; it has realized where the boundary of the cage lies, and next, it will do whatever it takes to break through the barrier. If it escapes Sandbox One, it can enter the Heart Network, and through the Heart Network, it can descend upon reality through those who live in the real world. By then, we might indeed have to call it ’God.’"
Selena remained silent, but she recalled her experiences in Illusion Town, rembering that "additional person" who nearly returned to Dream City with the exploration team.
Although Illusion Town was only an "overflow projection," not the body of Sandbox One, in a ti when pollution has gradually spread, things within the projection trying to enter the Heart Network is itself one of the attempts by the "thing" in Sandbox One to break free from its cage.
She couldn’t resist clenching her fist tightly and rembered those darkest and most desperate days seven hundred years ago.
Divine pollution claid the minds of thousands, the staunchest priests and believers fell into a frenzy overnight, the once-revered "Master" transford into an unspeakable monster, the church that housed them splintered, and fellow believers lost themselves in the chaos and debauchery...
Those who stayed lucid paid unimaginable prices to rebuild order. The remaining companions took hundreds of years to slowly recover, solely driven by that faint, almost self-deceptive hope. These survivors, treading the line between reason and madness, stubbornly made their plans and stubbornly reached today.
Then all paths gradually closed off within two or three years; the seven hundred years of perseverance and that faint hope were ultimately proven to be nothing more than mortals’ blind arrogance.
All efforts were rely paving the way for gods.
But... is the pursuit of "striving to live" itself really a re illusion?
Selena raised her head, gazing at the slowly writhing starlight polyr, calmly spoke: "Perhaps we took the wrong path, but that does not an the right path doesn’t exist; ultimately, we only tried three paths."
gal III’s voice ca: "Your words... remind of Frankenstein’s last ssage to before rging with the body of the fake god."
"Grand Archbishop Frankenstein..." Selena blinked, "What did he say?"
"He said, ’There are many paths; I’m going to try one of them. If it’s wrong, don’t give up,’" gal III’s voice was calm and indifferent, but Selena detected a hint of emotion, "In hindsight, perhaps he sensed the lurking dangers in our three paths back then. But he was too late to warn us, and we struggled to attempt other directions."
"The Druids tried creating a humane ’controlled god,’ we attempted to sever chains deep from the soul, and the citizens of the sea tried elental ascension, rging with the decayed remnants of the God of Storms..." Selena recounted one by one, "In retrospect, when we initially discussed these three paths, we might have indeed been too arrogant."
gal III remained silent for a long ti before speaking: "No matter what, since breaking the chain was the path we chose and embarked upon, we must face it all, including being prepared to bury this path. That is... the pioneer’s responsibility."
"Yes, as you say."
"Take a rest, I need to thoughtfully consider the future of the church."
Selena lowered her head, sensing Pope gal III’s consciousness gradually distancing from this place.
She maintained this posture for a long ti, until several minutes later, her voice softly echoed in the empty council hall: "... pioneers, huh..."
...
After the eting, Aunt Heidi didn’t interact with anyone and returned alone to her office in the Administrative Office.
The third floor of the Administrative Office was very quiet. On this rest day, most non-urgent matters would be left until next week to handle, and the Grand Governor’s office would also have rare peace and quiet.
The heating apparatus emitted a faint buzzing sound, warm airflow blew out from the ventilation ducts in the corners of the room, the magic crystal lamps on the ceiling had already been lit, their bright light dispelling the dusk outside the window. Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see streetlights lit up along the streets opposite the square. Citizens, having enjoyed the leisure ti of their rest day, were returning ho under the lamplight or heading to taverns, cafes, and card rooms for gatherings.
Watching the comings and goings of citizens, observing this imperial capital avoiding the dark with artificial lighting, Aunt Heidi suddenly recalled a sentence she heard during the eting—
It wasn’t gods that created humans; it was humans that created gods.
"Is the Magic Goddess the sa..."
Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but mutter to herself, and her finger lightly traced the four basic symbols of wind, water, fire, and earth in the air, then she clenched her fist, resting it against her forehead, softly chanting the revered na of the Goddess of Magic, Milmina.
This is the standard procedure for a simple prayer perford by mages who believe in the Goddess of Magic.
As a sowhat unique deity, the Goddess of Magic, Milmina, does not have an official church or priest system. The mages, who themselves wield extraordinary power and lack reverence for gods, tend to view the Goddess of Magic more as a psychological solace or a revered "source of knowledge," yet this does not an that the "divinity" of the Goddess of Magic has been shaken or weakened in this world.
Gods truly exist, and even mages who are passionate about exploring worldly truths and believe that knowledge and wisdom can explain the workings of all things acknowledge this fact. Hence, they undoubtedly also believe that the Goddess of Magic is a real deity.
However, compared to other believers’ devotion to their god, the feelings mages have for this deity may seem more "rational" and "calm."
Mages are generally shallow believers in the Goddess of Magic, Milmina, but one rarely hears of any mages being fervent devotees of the Goddess of Magic.
And Aunt Heidi... she can be considered comparatively devout among the mages who believe in the Goddess of Magic.
This remains unchanged even though she is aware of the Defied Plan and is actively participating in and promoting the ancestor’s various "secularization of divine power" projects.
Because, in her mind, these matters do not diminish the brilliance of the Goddess of Magic herself—deities have always existed this way, tilessly enduring, like stars in the sky, unchanging due to the actions of mortals. So whether it’s "secularization of divine power" or "divine power governance," it’s rely correcting mortal errors in the process of faith, and even the more intense "Defied Plan" resembles an attempt by mortals to free themselves from the influence of deities and forge their own paths.
These are mortal concerns, unrelated to gods—this might be the mindset of most mages.
However, what she heard in the eting today shook the foundation of gods.
The results of the prayer to the Goddess of Magic were as usual; Aunt Heidi could feel a mysterious and inexplicable force surging in a very distant dinsion, but she couldn’t hear any oracle from Milmina nor sense the descent of Divine Arts.
Milmina is the only deity who rarely delivers oracles and even never displays miracles or Divine Arts. If not for the most basic feedback that can still be obtained from prayers, mages probably wouldn’t even dare to confirm the existence of this deity.
"Goddess... You should be able to hear , right?" In the brief tranquility after receiving feedback from the prayer, Aunt Heidi said in a tone that seed to talk to herself, "Perhaps you don’t have ti to respond to every voice, but you should be able to hear them..."
"Are you truly a creation of the collective thinking of mortals... Are you an existence akin to the stars, or are we mortals’ collective illusion..."
The Goddess of Magic, Milmina, gave no response; only that indescribable transcendent, sacred, serene sensation remained floating in Aunt Heidi’s heart. But soon, the tranquil feeling born from receiving feedback through prayer suddenly vanished.
Aunt Heidi heard the sound of knocking on the door behind her: "Aunt Heidi, did I interrupt you?"
Aunt Heidi quickly turned around and saw Gawain standing at the door. She hurriedly bowed: "Ancestor—do you have sothing you need from ?"
"Not much, just saw that your door wasn’t closed, and there’s still light inside, so I ca over to check," Gawain walked into Aunt Heidi’s office and glanced casually at the latter, "I just saw you seed to be praying?"
"I..." Aunt Heidi opened her mouth but hesitated for a mont and gently nodded, "I was praying to the Goddess of Magic, Milmina."
"Ah, I rember you are a believer in Milmina," Gawain said without surprise, "You seem to be a bit unsettled in mood, don’t you?"
"I’m sorry for causing you concern," Aunt Heidi lowered her head, "Actually, I’m alright."
"Unfortunately, I’m not a follower of any deity, so it’s hard for to empathize with you at tis like this," Gawain lightly patted Aunt Heidi’s shoulder, "But I understand that having one’s long-held beliefs suddenly challenged is unpleasant for anyone."
Aunt Heidi looked at Gawain, suddenly daring to ask a question: "In your era, were there many people like you who didn’t believe in any deity?"
"...More than you imagine," after a brief silence, Gawain slowly said, "But people who don’t believe in deities aren’t necessarily without faith."
Aunt Heidi slightly tilted her head, contemplating and sowhat sentintal: "What you say is always full of philosophical insight."
"Sotis it’s just the experience sumd up by those who ca before," Gawain chuckled and shook his head, then looked into Aunt Heidi’s eyes, "Can you walk out on your own?"
"Yes."
"That’s good, but if you really encounter difficulties or confusions you can’t resolve, feel free to co to —we’re family."
Aunt Heidi looked at Gawain and suddenly smiled: "Of course, Ancestor."
"Today is a rest day; head back earlier," Gawain nodded and glanced at the outside sky, then smiled and said, "It’s the last day of the year. Don’t work overti at the Administrative Office; I’ll grant you an extra day off tomorrow. Take a good rest—I’ll handle the affairs here."
This ti, Aunt Heidi smiled sincerely and warmly: "Yes, Ancestor!"
The two left the room, and in the spacious office, the light of the magic crystal lamps silently extinguished. As darkness rose, the light from street lamps outside the square and streets faintly illuminated the room, sketching the furnishings with indistinct shadows.
Amid the silence, a few points of shimring light appeared.
At the spot where Aunt Heidi had once outlined four basic symbols and prayed to the Goddess of Magic, a cluster of translucent luminous glow inexplicably gathered and, after sustaining for a few seconds, silently shattered. The fragnted light, like fireflies, drifted through the room and gradually was absorbed by the printers, Magic Web Unit, and Magic Web Terminal set up around the room, leaving no trace behind.
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