Belsetia stared fixedly at the god in front of her, at the vast forests and fertile valleys that until three thousand years ago had sheltered the silver elves, and was regarded as the supreme being by the druids, she never imagined that she would one day stand in front of him like this, calmly facing each other, looking directly at him—as a druid priestess who had renounced her faith, she had come closer to the god of nature than any pious priestess.

And at this distance, she could see far more than those devout believers, and even more than the ancient priests who had lived for more than three thousand years.

There is some irony in this: those who do not believe in Him see Him, and those who are ungodly understand Him.

It reminded her of what her father had said many years ago when he abdicated and transferred the authority of the Throne and the title of High Priest of the Druids to her:

"You're the first leader of the empire who hasn't been blindfolded by piety, and your eyes may be able to see a little farther than all of us."

"I see," Belsetia said solemnly, bowing her head, "I will do your bidding—of course, no one will know that you are still alive. ”

Amon hummed, followed by a moment of silence, and finally his gaze fell on Belsetia again, with a hint of anticipation in the holy light: "Do what you have to do, Silver Empress." ”

Belsetia bowed respectfully, then took a step back and came to Gawain's side, who nodded to the two former gods on the scene: "Then I'll send her back first, and then we'll talk later." ”

The visitor departed, and the courtyard shrouded in darkness and chaos returned to its calm, and the two former gods seemed to have their own thoughts, and were silent for several minutes, and finally it was Mirmina who broke the silence first: "I thought you would mention the grandmother of the 'Empress' - that was the last chief priestess when you left three thousand years ago, and after seeing the old man rarely, shouldn't you talk about the past?" ”

"I did think about finding out how Costina Morningstar spent her last days at first, but after hearing about how the Silver Elves live now, I realized that the past is over," Amone said in a low voice, "and even without asking, I can now guess what Costina went through...... She had been my reverent priestess and one of the closest mortals to me, but she laid the groundwork for the secularization of the Elven Court, suppressed the activities of the fundamentalists, and allowed Belsetia's father to grow up uninfluenced by fundamentalist ideas...... For a devout priest, every decision she made in her later years was painful.

"Therefore, I do not need to, nor should I inquire about her old age from the mouths of her descendants—there are some things that need not be mentioned repeatedly."

"Well, sometimes you seem sluggish, but sometimes you think about it and you hit the nail on the head," Mirmina sighed, "but that's fine, it's good for you and the elves." ”

As she spoke, the goddess of magic turned her gaze to the magic net terminal not far away, and the projection crystal above the device brightened, and a clear hologram appeared above the device: "What do you want to see?" I'm not going to rob you today. ”

"Find the 'Sounds of the Forest' channel, I haven't heard the elves singing in a long time."

……

Gawain and Belsetia walked side by side in the corridors of the upper part of the Fortress of Disobedience, in this area that was gradually approaching the surface, the air flowing from the ventilation holes seemed to be fresh and dry, and the bright and constant light from the magic crystal sconces on both sides exuded a warm texture, which gradually calmed down Belsetia's still somewhat turbulent thoughts.

"You seem to be preoccupied," Gawain's voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Belsetia's thoughts, "what are you thinking?" ”

"I'm just wondering how far you've come down this path," the Silver Empress paused, her gaze looking into the distance, the wide and bright corridors stretching out in her vision, the crystallization of the wisdom of the legacy of the ancient Gondor Empire and the modern heirs condensed before her eyes, the laboratories and busy staff reminding the elven ruler of how many secrets were working in the depths of this facility, "I thought you only had some secret knowledge of the gods, At most, some ancient heritage resembling eternal tablets has been excavated, and the framework of the 'Theocratic Council' has been developed on this basis...... I thought I was bold enough to speculate, but everything here was completely beyond my prediction.

"Disobedience plans, fortresses in the Shadow Realm, relics of the gods, even the gods themselves, and more than one...... No wonder you come up with so many things that are ahead of your time, it turns out that you have come so far on this path. ”

Gawain laughed: "A few secret knowledge and ancient legacies alone are not enough for me to formulate the framework of the Theocracy Council, your previous speculation is indeed too conservative. But then again, is that really all you think about? ”

Belsetia fell silent, her mind conjured up the most horrific scene not long ago, the metal remains that had pinned the god of nature to the earth, the scarred and shocking image of the gods, and after this picture, she thought of the fall of the god of war, the battle of the end of Tarlund, and after half a minute of silence, she finally said what she really thought: "...... There was never a savior, right? ”

Gawain nodded: "We can only rely on ourselves - we and our gods can only be our own saviors. ”

Belsetia didn't make a sound, just turned around and walked forward silently, Gawain didn't make a sound, just walked quietly beside the silver empress, and the two walked a long way, until they were close to the exit of the disobedient fortress, Belsetia suddenly said, "When can you arrange for me to go to the Thorin Giant Tree?" ”

"Anytime – if you're pressed for time, we'll be there tomorrow. There are now air flights between Cecil City and Fort Solin, which can be returned in one day. ”

"Tomorrow then," Besselia nodded, "I haven't seen Berthira in a long time, and I don't know how much she remembers back then." By the way, does she know your ...... 'identity'? ”

"Yes," Gawain said casually, "she's known about the 'Extraterritorial Wanderer' for a long time, and I think I'm considered 'half Gawain Brother' in her mind—just like I'm 'half Gawain Uncle' with you." ”

Perhaps remembering something from the past, Belsetia couldn't help but smile, and then she shook her head, as if talking to herself, "Seven hundred years have passed, and we are still on the same road after all, but that's fine." ”

……

In the Cathedral of Light near the center of Cecil City, Veronica finished a long meditation session, she slowly opened her eyes, and saw that the soft light in her field of vision flowed like water, and these flowing holy lights gradually converged to her side, forming a constant and stable "force field", and then the casual clothes stopped obediently.

“…… The further improvement of efficiency means that the 'interception' and 'redirection' of the God of Light are proceeding smoothly, and the effect is obvious, and no signs of backlash have been found, which is a good phenomenon. ”

Veronica muttered a few words as if to herself, and at the same time stood up from the cushion, she glanced at the empty prayer room, heard some movement in the corridor outside, arranged the slightly crumpled nun robes, and left the room with the platinum scepter in her hand, and came to the corridor leading to the inner area of the church.

Not far away, several craftsmen in overalls were busy moving some equipment and new furniture into a vacant room, two technicians in researcher's white robes were standing at the doorway of the room, chatting with Wright in their regular clothes, and a young squire with a hammer and nails in his hands, nailing the new door plate to the doorframe on one side with a solemn face.

Veronica walked to that side, her gaze falling on the door sign that the young squire had just nailed, and on the dark black wooden board were two rows of clear and sharp words: the headquarters of the Church of Light; Theological knowledge base.

In the corner of the door is the emblem of the Theocratic Council: an unfolded book with an eye above it, and two crossed daggers between the eyes and the book—they symbolize the liberation of theocracy, the return of knowledge and reason, and the necessary means and determination to break the chains.

"Veronica," Wright noticed the figure coming this way, and the burly church leader immediately turned his head with an imposing smile on his face, "Come and see the new facilities of the Church - this is the office of the Theocratic Council in the church, and then we will set up a special research group to study the earliest versions of the Holy Light scriptures, and summarize all the historical materials about the Holy Light Church. This kind of thing should be of great help. ”

"Good day, Patriarch," Veronica greeted with a smile and stood at the door of the room, she saw that there were many bookshelves, long tables, chairs, and platforms for the magic web terminal in the spacious space, and on the wall in the deepest part of the room hung a large logo of the Theocracy Council, and her gaze couldn't help but linger on the sign for a long time before she withdrew her gaze and nodded lightly to Wright on the side, "Of course, I'm happy to help." ”

The age of disobedience is over, the leader of the disobedient from the ancient age of Gondor sighed softly in his heart.

Seven hundred years ago, she hid underground, she couldn't see the flag of the Gondor Empire falling, and today, seven hundred years later, wandering in the human world, she didn't see the official end of the disobedience plan, but standing here, watching the emblem of the Theocratical Council hang in front of her eyes, she still couldn't help but think of this sentence - the era of disobedience is over.

But she didn't regret it, because it wasn't the end of extinction—a new flag was raised, and a new group of brave men were looking for a brighter future.

The new Theocratical Council will take up the legacy of the disobedience plan, building on the legacy of those who have gone further and seen more broadly. If the disobedient plans of the Gondor era were the hasty hysterical revolt of a group of desperate people suddenly confronted with the dark truth, the current Theocracy is a deliberate undertaking that began after taking over the legacy.

It's going to be more rational, more rigorous, more broadly supported – and more likely to succeed.

Veronica's only regret is that too many people don't live to see this day coming, including the former rebels, as well as the copies of Ophelia that have been consumed in iterations and uploads.

Wright's voice sounded from the side, waking Veronica from her momentary distraction: "By the way, are you going to go to the church for the episcopal meeting later?" ”

"I'm going to meet Your Majesty today," Veronica shook her head, "I'm sorry, you have to go yourself." ”

"Oh, it's okay, I'll just go myself," Wright laughed, the kind of smile that seemed rough but was actually sincere that would make people involuntarily relieve stress (and occasionally bring another layer of nervousness to unfamiliar people, of course), "You seem to be a little preoccupied these days - I'll take care of it from the church, you better go about your own business." ”

Veronica immediately subconsciously frowned: Has her emotions been leaked to the point that she will be detected by the outside world? It seems that the personality model still needs to be adjusted......

……

After returning Belsetia to the Autumn Palace, Gawain returned to his study, and when he pushed the door in, he saw a figure already standing in the room, as if he had been waiting for him for a long time: Veronica in a white gold scepter and wearing a nun's robe.

There were very few people who were qualified to enter their study without notice, and this leader of the disobedient from the days of Gondor was one of them.

"Veronica?" Gawain looked at this "holy princess" with a holy temperament and a gentle smile all the time, "Do you have something to look for me?" ”

"Your Majesty," Veronica turned to Gawain, her always breezy countenance with a rare hint of solemnity, "I want to talk to you about the Gondor wasteland. ”

Gao Wen was walking to the back chair behind his desk, and when he heard this, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and he heard something unusual in the other party's tone: "Gondor wasteland? Why all of a sudden? ”

"I suspect that there is a force at work in the depths of the Gondor wasteland—and they are a threat to the outside world."

Gawain's expression became serious: "A force? What kind of power? ”

"Do you remember the information mentioned in the Dossier of the Society of the End of All Things that was found in the Thorin Palace?" Veronica looked into Gawain's eyes, "It mentioned that there are two forces that belong to the Society of the End of All Things that are active in the world, one part is carrying out the 'False God Body' project in the human world outside the Great Wall, and the other part is hiding in the Gondor wasteland, carrying out seemingly marginal activities such as intelligence gathering and data assistance......"

"Of course I know," Gawain nodded immediately, in fact, even without mentioning the files found in the Horin Underground Palace, he knew that the wasteland contained a part of the "remnants" of the Society of the End of All Things, and he himself had even dealt with this force personally, and had learned a lot of information about them from Bertila, "As far as I know...... This part of the cultists hiding in the wasteland is very secretive, even the cultists outside are not sure what these 'compatriots' are doing, the empire has also tried to take some measures, but due to the barrier of the wasteland polluted area, even if we know their existence, there is nothing we can do about them for a while. ”

"You should probably figure it out." Veronica said solemnly.