The Battle of Wintercastle, the impact of humanity's god-killing feat...... Perhaps more far-reaching than you think.

Gawain stared deeply at the fragment of the god of war placed on the platform not far away, the sample of the wreckage from the god was glowing with an iron-gray sheen in the light of the laboratory light, it looked like a broken and twisted piece of metal, but there was an aura that had not dissipated and seemed to be alive that had not dissipated until now.

This thing that seems to be a "fragment of armor" is actually the "body structure" of the god of war itself.

The gods are a very different kind of beings from the material creatures in human cognition, and they will also take on a variety of postures according to the ideological tendencies in the formation of the gods—Amon, the god of nature, is a holy giant deer with flesh and blood, the goddess of magic is a lady phantom formed by arcane energy and clouds, the god of war is an armor made of steel and unknown matter, and according to Veronica, the form of the god of light is a giant crystal with an amorphous reflective surface that changes optical properties at any time. These bizarre images reflect the depictions of the gods imagined by the first mortals, and this "depiction" became a source of power for the gods, completely integrated with their "mythical figures", and even after their deaths, this power remained in their remains for a long time, even for thousands of years.

The flesh and blood samples from Amon, which were originally sealed in the fortress of disobedience, have undergone a long decay of three thousand years, and when they are excavated, they still have a tendency to be fatally polluted.

However, these fragments from the God of War ...... It is completely "harmless" at the moment, and even the subject will not suffer any damage if he or she makes unprotected contact.

In contemplation, Gawain said slowly, "Is there any progress other than the changes observed here?" ”

"Yes," Veronica nodded, "According to the confirmation of another experimental team, after the fall of the God of War, the original God of War magic has changed, and the prayer ritual is no longer answered, but the corresponding magic runes left behind can still play a role, and can be manipulated and studied by ordinary people at will." Some of the 'forbidden moves' that once caused the magic to get out of control or even backfire are no longer dangerous. In addition, we have received news from the Oguray tribe that something similar has happened to some of the scattered Ares sects there, which proves that this change is covering the whole world, and is in line with what we expected at the beginning. ”

"yes...... The ban on divine magic is lifted, the divine punishment is invalidated, and prayer rituals are no longer answered...... These were all things we had expected at first, but the fact that the remains of the gods no longer polluted mortals was something we never imagined," Gawain said slowly, "So this is the real break free from the shackles of the gods......

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of the other two gods who had also "fallen", and said as if talking to himself: "Amon, the god of nature, and Mirmina, the goddess of magic, have also 'fallen', at least their divine positions have indeed disappeared, but some of the 'relics' they left behind are still very spiritually polluting, what do you think is the reason behind this?" ”

"Perhaps, the reason lies in the 'symbolic process,'" Veronica had apparently thought about before Gawain arrived, and she immediately spoke her mind, "The god of war was killed by the hands of mortals, while the goddess of magic and the god of nature broke away on their own - in this process of detachment, the followers of the latter have maintained their faith unbroken, and this is probably the crux of the matter." ”

After her words fell, Kamel continued, "On the battlefield of Winter Castle, the soldiers who participated in the battle defeated not only the mad gods, but also the mortal instinct to fear the gods, which now seems to be a very crucial 'factor'. Of course, most of the people who participated in the war at that time were mages or magic soldiers who did not believe in the god of war themselves, but perhaps their 'mortal' status was the key more than their specific beliefs. ”

"Do you need an element of 'anti-faith'," Gawain's brow furrowed deeply, what Kamel said was a direction he had vaguely grasped before, but had not seriously thought about, "If it is indeed what you say, then we may really be able to explain why what happened to the god of nature and the goddess of magic is very different from the god of war - when the two of them are separated from the gods, the thoughts and actions of mortals are completely uninvolved, and naturally there is no process of opposing faith and overcoming awe." ”

Amber listened to it for a long time with wide eyes, and she basically didn't understand the part involving the professional field, but she reacted to the last part, so she was taken aback: "Hey, is it possible that we have to pull Amon and Mirmina out and kill them again?" It's not appropriate, they've already left the throne of their own accord, and Mirmina is hiding somewhere no one can find it......"

"Of course we won't do that," Gawain immediately waved his hand, "the two of them have been separated from the divine position, and the restraint on mortals has disappeared, and the power of both natural magic and magic rituals is no longer subject to divine constraints, which has met our expectations." As for some of their relics, legacy, remains and the like, it's a little bit contaminated, and at best it's a poisonous hazard that needs to be treated with caution – and we can't just do it to them for that reason. ”

Veronica nodded beside her, apparently agreeing with Gawain's statement, "That's true. We are now only extrapolating the connection between mortal faith and spiritual pollution based on the polluting changes in the remains of the gods, but this spiritual pollution has nothing to do with the sanity of the gods, and Amon and Mirmina will not become 'mad gods' because of this, and we need not worry about this regard. ”

"And on the other hand, the contamination carried by the 'divine products' of Ammon and Mirmina is actually fading, but it is fading much slower than the remains of the god of war here," Kamel said as he pondered, "The contamination carried by Ammon's flesh and blood samples has mostly faded compared to what I remember a thousand years ago, and the recent period has been especially noticeable, although Mirmina has left no 'fragments', but Naretil has stripped a lot from her." Ashes', and those ashes are also becoming less polluting. In general, it is clear that the contamination will subside on its own, albeit over a longer period of time. ”

"Even if there is no process of 'confronting faith', as the gods of nature and the goddess of magic disappear and their corresponding religions gradually decline, will the spiritual pollution they cause to mortals gradually wane......" Gawain touched his chin, his thoughts gradually cleared, "So, this is essentially a process of faith decline, and the battle of Winterhold is the most violent and extreme form of faith decline......"

Amber blinked, and suddenly said, "As far as I know, Rosetta Augustus executed tens of thousands of God of War Priests that day—he apparently had already received this knowledge from that 'Vision'. ”

Her expression was a little complicated as she said this, and it was clear that even the intelligence chief, who often dealt with dark things, couldn't help but be horrified when she talked about Rosetta Augustus's bloody tricks.

Gawain certainly knew what had happened on the Typhon Line during the Armageddon in Winterhold - and even if he didn't know it at the time, Amber had found out a number of shocking truths since then. As one of the witnesses of the decisive battle, he had to admit that he was shocked by the iron-fisted execution shown by Rosetta Augustus at that time, but he also knew that such a treatment must not be regarded as the norm: "What Rosetta did cannot be repeated...... After all, we still have to find a more reliable and reasonable way to control this process of 'faith decay'......"

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but glance up at Veronica and said thoughtfully, "The gradual reform carried out by the Holy Light Church should provide a great reference. ”

"But it's not enough to have our technical references," Veronica said softly, "and it will require the cooperation of a larger population, as well as reliable data from other churches and different gods—there are so many gods in our world, and the belief in the Light is just one of them." ”

Listening to Veronica's unhurried words, Amber subconsciously looked at Gawain, and somehow, in her mind, she suddenly recalled the string of words she had just seen on the other party's desk, something she hadn't understood yet-

Theocratic Council.

Vaguely, she felt that the "pioneer" in front of her, who always thought one step or even several steps more than others, seemed to be thinking about this aspect.

Gawain didn't know what Amber was thinking, his mind shifted quickly, and he was already focusing on another question: "Speaking of the tests you ran - the testers probably didn't participate in the battle of Winterhold, right?" ”

"Of course, he's a rear technician," Carmel said immediately, a little ununderstanding the purpose of Gawain's question, "why do you ask this?" ”

"The warriors on the front lines of Winterhold have eliminated the out-of-control god of war through frontal combat, leading to the largest decline of faith, and a technician far behind has been detached from the spirit of the god of war, and at the same time, in the small church of the god of war in the Oguray tribal state, the priests and believers who still believe in the god of war have also been freed from the influence of the Psychic Seal—they don't even know what is happening on the front lines of Winterhold, don't you think that reveals something wrong?"

The ventilation devices in the room hummed, fresh air from the surface slowly blew through the lab, and Gawain's voice had fallen, and the others of Carmel and Veronica were lost in thought.

"We did discuss this as well," Kamel was the first to break the silence, the light on the ancient magister rising and falling slightly, indicating that he was thinking, "As you said, although the battle of killing gods on the battlefield of Winter Keep is a feat, but in the end, the people involved in the battle are only a small part of the mortals, and in most parts of this world, most people may not even know that the god of war has fallen, and they still maintain their instinct of awe for the god of war, and they never thought about it, I don't dare to imagine such a 'great rebellion' as relying on the power of mortals to kill gods......

"These people, they obviously have not fought against faith, and the power of faith has never waned in them, but with the end of the battle of Winter Castle, a technician who is far behind and has never been on the battlefield at all, can be 'immune' to the spiritual pollution from the god of war......"

"Maybe you're interested in certain religious concepts," Veronica said suddenly, "'symbols' and 'rituals.'" ”

"Symbolism and ritual?" Gawain listened to the words of the Holy Princess, and suddenly realized in his heart, "You mean that the battle of Wintercastle had a ritual effect—and in the process of fighting against the gods, symbolic ritual acts can have a very huge impact?" ”

"Symbols and rituals are an important part of religion, and the gods are born in the 'symbols' and 'rituals' conceived by mortals, so it is only natural that ritualistic acts can have a great effect on them," Veronica said seriously, "We can even venture to assume that perhaps in some battle against the gods, as long as two or three people succeed in rebelling against the gods, the entire mortal community will be freed from the shackles of the gods." This hypothesis may sound fantastical, but it is valid from the principle of symbolism and ritual......"

Listening to the example given by Veronica, Gawain frowned at first, but he quickly sorted out the key to this, and shook his head with a sigh: "If there is really such a day, the success of those two or three people will probably depend on the promotion of countless people - in the final analysis, the power of the gods is far superior to mortals, and our world is not good enough to rely on a few heroes who can break through on the battlefield to save everything." ”

Gawain's emotion also touched Carmel's thoughts, and the archmage let out a trembling sigh in his body, and Veronica on the side returned to her usual calm and calm expression, she looked at the samples of the god of war on the platform, and said, "Anyway, we need more tests." ”

"That's right, more tests - no matter how logical the things we just discussed, there is still a lack of key empirical evidence in the end," Gawain nodded, "Let's expand the scope of testing, first confirm that the testers in all regions and various identities are no longer affected by the spirit pollution of the god of war, and then ...... Expand the race and call testers from other races to see if they are also unaffected by the spirit of the god of war. ”

"Other races?" Kamal asked, a little surprised, apparently he hadn't thought of this direction before, "You mean an alien race like elves or dwarves?" ”

"Don't forget, they're mortals too—and they also have the God of War Cult, which is separate from the human Church of War, but they all believe in the same god," Gawain nodded, "What we're going to test now is a very, very important concept...... The soul of a mortal is connected at the bottom of this world, and ......"

"And?" Kamel asked curiously.

"And to academically confirm one thing: mortals are really a community of destiny."