On the afternoon of the second day, Gawain summoned Hetty, Kamel, and other key high-level personnel to officially announce the current status of the Goddess of Magic, as well as various information obtained from the giant deer Amorn, in a closed-door meeting.

Double-layered crystal windows block out the howling wind outside the house, leaving only the cool sunlight slanting into the room, and the atmosphere in the small meeting room with strict protection measures looks more solemn than ever.

Gawain sat at the top of the long table, Hetty sat to his right, amber dissolved into the air as always, and on the left side of the table was the Magic Net Terminal, and the figures of the two archons, Victoria Wilder and Berdwin Franklin, were emerging above the crystal array.

"It looks like the goddess of magic is really not coming back...... Although Mirmina is still there, the goddess of magic has 'fallen' from the priesthood," Victoria broke the silence, "After the fall of the white star, the world has once again experienced the fall of the gods firsthand. ”

"Unlike the one three thousand years ago, the belief in the Goddess of Magic does not have that much influence on society, and his 'departure' will not affect the existing mage system," Pittman said, "I have discussed with His Highness Hetty yesterday, and we should be able to get through this turmoil relatively easily." ”

"The premise is to act as soon as possible," Hetty took over the topic and looked up at Gawain, who was sitting next to him, "Ancestor, a few hours after the feedback from the Goddess of Magic disappeared, a mage noticed the anomaly and reported it to the local government office, and now the reports are increasing all over the country. They are still patiently waiting for the imperial capital to respond, but the news will soon spread among the people. ”

For a long time, mages have been the upper echelons of human society, and their deep-rooted influence in society has not disappeared with the drastic social changes in this country, and if this part of the group is not stable, it will become a big problem.

In their case, relying on saturated entertainment media to occupy the public's attention, relying on some public opinion control to control the situation and other means of limited effect, and may even lead to the opposite effect - after all, the gods that people believe in are gone, and it is obviously not so appropriate for you to play movies all over the world to help the fun......

"First of all, let's announce the news of the fall of the goddess of magic according to the original plan, this matter cannot be hidden, and the more it is concealed, the more it will cause backlash and chaos," Gawain nodded, and said unhurriedly, "The reason for the fall of the gods does not need to be officially explained, and it should not be explained clearly. After that, we will have a national, large-scale, and extremely solemn public event. ”

The high-ranking members of the empire in the conference room and on the communication line may not have reacted for a while, and Berdwin Franklin, who was connecting, couldn't help but speak curiously: "Public event? ”

"The whole country mourns the death of the goddess of magic, and I will personally write a message of condolences as the ruler of the empire, and then you Victoria will take the lead and lead the most prestigious mages to summarize the life of remembering the goddess of magic's dedication to the people, and finally, we will set up a finishing link for the ceremony, get some holy relics, symbolic relics and the like, burn them to ashes, and then carry them into the air by the imperial dragoons, and sprinkle them on the rivers, lakes and seas - may he rest in peace."

Gawain's deep and serious voice fell, and everyone in the conference room looked at each other for a while, obviously they hadn't kept up with Gawain's train of thought until now, especially Hetty's expression of disbelief - she was often exposed to disobedience plans, and naturally knew that in the long run, all gods were destined to turn from protectors of civilization to enemies of civilization, and what her ancestors had been doing all this time was to confront those gods who were gradually falling into madness, so a huge "mourning" project seemed strange and unreasonable to her.

The Grand Duke of Bai Dewen in the connection said with a little hesitation and thought: "Is it to give the mages of the whole country a catharsis point and calm their emotions......

"Not only that," Veronica, who was sitting opposite Gawain and holding a platinum scepter in her hand, suddenly spoke, with a somewhat abrupt expression on her face, apparently vaguely understanding Gawain's intentions, "I see what you mean, Your Majesty, you need to make this matter a 'conclusion'." ”

"It's called 'closing the coffin'," Gawain couldn't help but smile when he saw that almost everyone at the scene showed thoughtful expressions after Veronica spoke, "The goddess of magic is 'dead', no matter what the reason is, whether he is a god or something else, no matter what he has done and what he has influenced, in short, he is dead, this god no longer exists, the source of faith is gone, and we will mourn him with deep sorrow - mages can grieve, they can remember, but no matter what, Everyone will know clearly and unequivocally that there is no longer a goddess of magic in the world.

"This mourning must be as solemn as possible, it must be wide enough, the scale must be large enough, the formation of a global consensus, the formation of public opinion, so that those who do not want to accept it must also accept, so that those who have the heart to question can not find the object and reason to question.

"Of course, what Duke Badwin said is also right, this is also an 'explanation' to the mages across the country, so that they can have a chance to vent their emotions. We need to channel their emotions to mourning, so that they don't have time to think about anything else. ”

Gao Wen's voice fell, and everyone felt a sudden realization after being stunned, after all, this idea itself is not too unimaginable, using activities such as funerals to attract attention and characterize events is a more routine operation, the key is that the matter of "holding a funeral for God" is so unbelievable that no one has considered it in this direction at all.

After thinking about it for a while, Hetty couldn't help but raise her head again, and looked at Gawain with a strange expression: "Do this...... Is it really okay? ”

"Believe me, there's no better way to do it," Gawain smiled and nodded at the always worried "Grand Butler Cecil", "This will be our first funeral for the gods, and if it succeeds in guiding, transitioning, and solidifying the role I expected, then this funeral will be a reference for the future." ”

Future references...... As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Heti and the others in the conference room suddenly became more strange than before, but as a group of people who had witnessed two divine disasters with Gawain and even seen the "Pseudo-God Bones" with their own eyes, they knew that behind these words was probably the inevitable situation in the future.

As long as civilization is advancing, as long as the cruel rules of this world are still working, there will be other gods falling, and after each god falls...... Gawain Cecil the Great will bury them in a grand manner.

Even Amber, who was in a state of stealth and observing the meeting, couldn't help but show her figure, looked at Gawain twice, and sighed slightly in her heart - the coffin was closed...... That's a fitting phrase.

It is worthy of the person who once uncovered the coffin.

Gawain waited for the people in the conference room to finish digesting the previous topic, and Hettie, who was on the side, also completed the record of the meeting proceedings, and then cleared his throat and said, "Next, we should discuss the issue of Typhon's side." ”

"There's also a god of war over there who may have gone mad," Veronica said with a nonchalant expression, "If this is a valuable observation sample in an academic sense, we can intuitively understand the characteristics of the gods that gradually manifested themselves after they fell into madness and the subsequent series of effects on the present world." ”

"But it's not just an academic question," Gawain said, "and it's time for us to write a letter to Rosetta Augustus—the 'anomalous change' of the goddess of magic, Mirmina, might be a good place to start......"

……

The mist shrouded Typhon's imperial capital, and the faint sunlight filtered through the clouds and mist, creating a mood of dusk in the fog in the city below, and in this autumn season, the courtyards and open-air corridors of the obsidian palace also began to blow a cold wind, only in the royal gardens protected by the greenhouse barrier, the greenery and warmth were still there.

Matilda Augustus stepped into the royal gardens in the atrium of the Obsidian Palace, and the warm air rushed over her, quickly dispelling the chill that she had brought back from outside. She walked along the cobbled path deeper into the garden, and in the dim light of the approaching dusk, she saw her eloquent father standing under an orchid-leaved pine, as if watching the flowerbed beneath his feet.

It was a flower garden that was not growing well.

"Father," Matilda stood a few meters behind Rosetta and bowed her head, "I'm back from the Great Chapel. ”

Rosetta didn't look back, just hummed lightly and asked casually, "Did Malm Dunit receive you in the inner sanctuary?" ”

"Yes," Matilda nodded, "and still according to ceremonial specifications and procedures. ”

"At least on the surface, everything looks fine, doesn't it?" Rosetta nodded, still not taking her eyes off the nursery, "Tell me what you've seen, we urgently need to know what's going on in the Great Sanctuary right now. ”

"I asked the Pope directly about the recent rumors about the Church in various places - because these rumors have already spread, and it would be abnormal not to ask," Matilda replied with a nod, "His Majesty Malm did not answer or explain directly, only that someone was maliciously attacking the Church of the God of War, and the Great Church has launched an investigation into the diocese where the rumors appeared...... This is a response that is appropriate to who he is and what the situation was at the time.

"The Pope himself didn't look out of the ordinary, and our conversation was normal, but I had a distinctly strange feeling in the Great Chapel...... Atmosphere.

"There was an atmosphere of tension and oppression that hung over the Great Chapel, and although every priest I met seemed fine, it was there, and even in empty places. It feels like ...... The tense and oppressive aura emanated from the Great Chapel itself.

"I spoke unobtrusively with some of the priests, and the ordinary priests in the Great Sanctuary were obviously aware of the rumors in various places, and their answers were no different from those of His Majesty Malm. But there's one thing that I find strange...... Some of the clerics replied to me with a feeling of emotion, as if they had been offended in some way—but I was sure there was nothing wrong with my words and actions, and I used very calm, even biased, Church of War words in response to the rumors. ”

Matilda's latter point of anomaly sounded like an unimportant detail, but Rosetta looked back with a serious expression on her face: "Do you think there is something in the 'excitement' of those priests...... Something else? ”

"It's just a vague feeling," Matilda said, "their emotions come very suddenly, and they all have nervous and slightly dazed apologies afterwards, and I can always feel the gaze of non-existent wandering around me when I talk to them, and the priests' voices are sometimes suddenly hoarse...... I felt as if their emotions were influenced by some external factor that made me uncomfortable. ”

"What else do you see?" Rosetta frowned, "Did you find anything about the Great Sanctuary itself?" ”

“…… Some of the corridors in the Great Sanctuary are a little dark," Matilda said in a tone of uncertainty after a moment's thought, "I don't know if it's my delusion, there are countless candles in the Great Chapel, and there are new magic crystal lamps illuminated, but I always feel that it is very dark - a kind of 'darkness' that does not affect the vision, as if it were psychological. I checked with the attendants, and it seemed that I was the only one who had this feeling, and no one else was aware of the anomaly. ”

Rosetta's brow furrowed slightly, and he stared at his daughter for a long time.

Due to the influence of a curse that originated two centuries ago, the members of the House of Augustus ...... They are a bit different from ordinary people in terms of "perception", especially in certain areas involving gods, they can often see and hear things that ordinary people can't detect, and it is for this reason that he asked Matilda to check on the situation of the Great Temple.

Matilda herself is obviously well aware of this.

But the young imperial pearl was not as "experienced" as her father - she only observed those details, but did not dare to make terrible conclusions like Rosetta Augustus.

"Father," she couldn't help but speak, "what do you think ......?"

"The influence of the Church of the God of War in Typhon...... Rooted," Rosetta broke the silence suddenly, saying something that seemed inexplicable to Matilda, "like an ancient tree that has taken root for thousands of years, its roots have become a part of the whole land, and everything that grows on this land is more or less affected by it. ”

Matilda opened her mouth to ask something, but suddenly she heard undisguised footsteps coming from the side, and the black-haired maid had stepped into the garden at some point, and by the time the footsteps sounded, she was already ten meters away.

"Diana," Rosetta said, looking at the other man, "what have the wanderers found?" ”

"The priests who had the accident may have had a very blasphemous and distorted death, so the bodies were disposed of secretly and quickly, and several witnesses have been controlled by the local church, and the loiterers have tried to confirm the status of those witnesses, and have confirmed that at least four of the priests are crazy from mental pollution," Diana, the head maid, reported in a calm and flat tone, "In addition, it has been confirmed that some local churches have reduced the size of their weekly prayer meetings and closed some of the church's facilities in the name of church renovations— The order came from the Great Church, was personally ordered by Malm Dunit and did not go through the College of Cardinals. The fact that the Pope himself instructed such a thing is in itself an anomaly. ”

Matilda listened to Diana's report, and suddenly couldn't help but widen her eyes-

The Church of the God of War has always operated independently and in a closed manner, and the imperial power has no way to deal with them, but when will it ...... The Wanderer's agents belonging to the royal family have been able to investigate the secrets of the Church to such an extent?