There was a moment of silence in the garden.

Now Gawain knew why Belsetia had pulled the unrelated people back.

"You're surprised," the Silver Empress looked at Gawain, who was sitting across from her, "and it looks like that's not the answer you want to hear." ”

"No, this answer is actually good news in a sense - but I was very surprised," Gawain exhaled softly, pondering the meaning behind Belsetia's answer as he calmed his mind, "Can you tell me more about it?" The details of the activities of those occult groups, what kind of gods did they communicate, and what kind of phenomena did they cause? ”

"Of course," Belsetia smiled, and then as if caught up in a distant memory, she thought as she said slowly in a low voice, "It all started with the fall of the white star...... As you know, in the fall of the white star, the druids lost the gods they had believed in for generations, and the original church community gradually degenerated into various academic institutions and supernatural concludes, a process that is simply summed up in the history books as a 'difficult transition' - but in reality the elves struggled to accept this fact far more than the history books made a light statement.

"Humans and other races with a shorter lifespan should not be able to understand all this - Uncle Gawain, I'm just telling the truth, because for humans, no matter how difficult and painful things are, it only takes a little time to forget and get used to them, sometimes it only takes a generation or two, sometimes even one generation can't be used, but for elves, our lives are two or three thousand years long or even longer, so even now there are still druids from the time of the fall of the white star alive in the world, and the long life makes us remember those difficult things for a long time, And for some devout ministers...... Even as centuries passed, they could not accept the fall of the gods.

"Some die-hard Druid Esoteric Cults were born in this context – the original Holy Spirit Druids are always considered to be the most staunch 'primitive believers', but in fact the Druid Esoteric Cults that are not recognized by history are. Most of them were high-ranking priests and ascetics in the 'God Dynasty', and their belief in the gods had become their basic way of thinking and the meaning of their lives. In the aftermath of the fall of the White Star, the Church of the Primordial Gods of Nature was in chaos and faced a doomed schism, a group of ultra-religious people who took with them vast numbers of sacred texts and scattered into the depths of the forest in order to protect their sacred heritage, and in the centuries that followed, they formed several major occult groups. ”

Hearing this, Gao Wen couldn't help but interject: "What was the Elf Royal Court doing at that time?" ”

"Dealing with our own chaos," said Belsetia, "you probably can't imagine how deeply the belief in the gods of nature had an impact on elven society more than three thousand years ago—it was a quagmire deeper than the human gods, so when it suddenly disappeared, the chaos it caused immediately took all the energy of the elven court, and the druid occults took root in the mountains and forests with little control...... Began to try to restore their former glory by various means.

"At that time, although many druids had seen the fall of the white star in their visions, and many people speculated that it meant the 'death' of the god of nature, there were still those who believed that the god of nature had only temporarily severed contact with mortals, that it was some kind of test from the gods, and that it was a new 'revelation' - they used various reasons to explain the desperate situation, and at the same time, driven by these reasons, those occult groups continued to explore new prayer rituals and build new belief systems, Even revising the church scriptures of yesteryear to explain the situation at hand.

"This went on for centuries - for the first few hundred years, they were just petty fights, and they didn't even arouse the alarm of the royal court because they were too low-key, and we only thought that they were hermit groups in the forest because they couldn't stand the blow of the gods' departure, but as time went on, things gradually changed.

"Some of the esoteric cults reunited to form the larger 'Jungle Cults' because they could not support them on their own, and their exploration of the esoteric rituals became more and more in-depth and dangerous, and eventually, disturbing visions began to appear in the forest, with elves reporting seeing mind-mindful apparitions near the 'Hermit's Settlement', hearing whispers in their heads, and even seeing huge, never-before-seen creatures emerge from the forest.

"The first thing that alerted the Elven Court was a report from the forest ranger back then. A forest hunter strayed into the stronghold of the Esoteric Druids, where he saw thousands of people gathered for the ceremony, including the inhabitants of nearby villages and even travelers who had disappeared on the way, and he saw the Esoteric Druids carving some kind of giant animal into the wall as an idolatry, and seeing it as the new incarnation of the god of nature—after a disturbingly long ceremony, the Ranger Hunter saw the creature on the stone wall come down from the stone and begin to accept the offerings and prayers of the devotees. ”

Gao Wen held his breath and heard this word for word, and finally couldn't help asking, "Then ...... At that time, the Elven Royal Court destroyed this secret cult organization? ”

"Yes, and little is known about it," Belsetia said calmly, "it is undoubtedly a heretical sect, and the 'gods' they communicate and summon are dangerous and unknown, and it is impossible for the royal court to allow such a dangerous factor to continue to develop, so the empress at that time, that is, my grandmother, immediately gave the order - all the main members of the secret cult were captured, and the shallow believers scattered, after a long interrogation, The royal court discovered that the core members had been completely influenced by the fanatical and distorted belief in the gods of nature, and even tried to proselytize among the soldiers in charge of the guards, so they were executed, leaving none behind.

"Disturbingly, after destroying this secret cult, the royal court sent several men to search their former stronghold, trying to find the whereabouts of the 'god', but only to find the shattered and collapsed relief frescoes and many unexplained ashes, the 'god' disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"After that, something like this happened several times, from my grandmother all the way to my father, to my generation...... Five centuries ago, I personally ordered the destruction of the last esoteric group, and since then no new esoteric cults or 'gods' have emerged, and the forest has returned to calm - but I am still not sure if this dangerous organization has really been completely and permanently wiped out. They always seem to have a knack for resurrection, and they can always find a new hiding place in the vast jungle. ”

When Belsetia's account came to an end, she looked at Gawain with calm eyes, and Gawain's mind fluctuated.

He digested the astonishing information that the Silver Empress had told him, and at the same time couldn't help but think of many things.

The first thing that came to his mind was the "gods" that disappeared with the extermination of the secret cult, and the "products of the current of thought" born from collective worship and strict rituals dissipated like a dream, which made him can't help but think of a piece of information that the giant deer Ammon had revealed to him:

The first gods were extremely weak, and perhaps a few large enough clubs and sharp spears could destroy them......

And the second thing he thought of was that Ammon's decision to fake his death for 3,000 years was really correct - the long life span of the elves really led to their different "attachment" from humans, and dozens of centuries have passed, and the "memory" of the god of nature has not been broken, which is really an amazing thing, if Ammon did not choose to fake his death, then maybe he would really be forcibly reconnected by those "loyal believers......

In addition, the information brought by Belsetia has also been confirmed by many of the results of the disobedience plan, and many of Gawain's conjectures about the mechanism of the gods have also been confirmed, all of which are extremely rewarding!

"Looks like you have a lot more to ask me," the Silver Empress smiled, "and while this is beyond our Q&A exchange, I'm still happy to continue answering." ”

Gawain then asked, "After dealing with those secret cult groups so many times, does the Elven Royal Court still define those secret cults as simple 'heretical cults'?" ”

"Of course, they are undoubtedly heretical," the Silver Empress replied in a calm tone, "Please don't forget that I am the High Priestess of the Druid Orthodox Church, so in my eyes those occults that attempt to establish the 'New Belief in the Gods of Nature' are necessarily hereticals......"

Gawain looked into the other party's eyes: "At the same time, you are still the Silver Empress, the ruler of an empire, so those secret sects must not only be heretics, but also heretics. ”

The Silver Empress was stunned for a moment, and sighed slightly: "Uncle Gawain, after so many years, you still speak so ruthlessly." ”

"I've been sleeping for over seven hundred years, and not too much time has passed for me - and even after seven hundred years, the rules of this world haven't changed much," Gawain said, shaking his head, "What those occult groups are doing is undoubtedly a great threat, not only to other druid factions, but also to the imperial order, and I have experienced this very well. And for the **** Silver Empire, this threat is even more deadly - the god of nature has fallen, and the royal family, who has lost the support of the gods, is of course impossible to sit idly by and watch a group of uncontrolled druids really create a new god to come out......"

The Silver Empress frowned slightly: "So, what they created is really a 'god'......"

"If the theoretical model I know is correct, it should be some kind of rudimentary form, or an earlier psychological phantom created by group thought, which is in the process of being transformed into the real world, but due to the small number of believers and the short time, the process has been greatly lengthened, and this gives you the opportunity to interrupt it," Gawain nodded, and then wondered, "You still didn't realize that those were really 'gods'?" No formal research has been conducted either? ”

"There are speculations, but no one dares to draw conclusions," the Silver Empress said calmly, "After coming into contact with the first secret sect, the elven royal court was vaguely aware of the danger and sensitivity of this matter, so for thousands of years, only members of the royal family knew the complete information about those secret sects, and the relevant research was also carried out in secret under strict secrecy, outsiders only knew that the royal court had sent troops to exterminate the cult groups in the forest several times, but no one knew what we had eliminated at the same time - even so, We also only think of those mysterious beings as similar to evil gods or 'transgressive spirits', and the research is based on that, and since those 'spirits' always dissipate quickly, we have made little progress in our internal research, and in recent centuries it has been almost none. ”

Gawain was a little stunned, and he couldn't help but feel regret, because the Silver Empire was so close to the truth, they even came into contact with the terrible truth behind the gods before the Gondor Empire - but in the end they were hovering on the edge of the truth, never crossing the threshold of "disobedience", if they were a little bolder, if they hadn't hid these secrets so deeply and for so long, if they had participated in the disobedience of humanity in the days of Gondor...... Could the world be any different today?

But he soon dispelled these meaningless assumptions, because none of this was possible, even if he could go back in time—

The Silver Empire is a **** country, even if their original state religion beliefs have existed in name only, the special identity of its rulers and the complex and incomprehensible political structure also determine that they cannot go far on this road, and even if they don't consider this...... Under normal circumstances, if it were not for the opportunity to get a lot of information from the gods themselves, who would have imagined that the gods were born from the "current of thought"?

The elves can only regard the "spirits" created by those secret cults as evil gods or "transgressive spirits" whose bodies are unknown.

Thinking of this, Gao Wen suddenly had a new question: "I am suddenly a little curious, after so many years, the Elven Royal Court has dealt with those secret sects so many times, even if the progress of related research is slow, but you have not considered it yourself...... Do you 'make' a god like them, or try to communicate with the god of nature? The Silver Empress and the Silver Emperor are the High Priests of the Druid Orthodox Church, so in a sense, the divine right also affects your legitimacy, if you have a real god behind you......"

"We didn't do it for the simple reason that Gawain finished speaking," the Silver Empress shook her head with a smile without waiting for Gawain to finish, "It was only after the gods left that we suddenly realized that there was no god standing behind us, and we could be orthodox. ”

“…… I understand. Gao Wen was stunned for a moment, and then said in a deep voice.

Then he couldn't help laughing, "Who would have thought that as the high priestess of the druids, the Silver Empress is actually the one who doesn't want the god of nature to return. ”

"You're wrong," the Silver Empress shook her head, "Actually, it's not me who wants the gods of nature to return the most, but the leaders of the occults who have actually summoned the 'gods' only to find out that those 'gods' are not the gods of nature. They are fanatical and religious at all times, and the 'gods' they have summoned are the new incarnations of the god of nature, Ammon, but when we bring them to the temple of Ammon to enforce their judgments, they end up feeling nervous and terrified—a sad twist that will never be forgotten once seen. ”

Gao Wen chewed on the other party's words carefully, and fell into thought in silence, while the Silver Empress, who was sitting opposite him, smiled and gently pushed the black tea in front of Gao Wen forward a little.

"Uncle Gawain, the tea is cold."