Same melody, two very different styles.

What Talos heard when he was in Birlingham was a magnificent epic, imposing, but now the music box was coming out of a beautiful serenade, with a little lingering.

A few minutes later, as the last note faded and Truth Enlightenment ended again, Talos still standing still, seemingly no different from what he had just been.

Talos raised his hands, palms to the backs of his hands, and shook his head in anticipation from the bald and stocky archmages.

"This is impossible, even the semi-awakened should have received the glorious awakening of the truth after listening to the Enlightenment of Truth twice. ”

Death or awakening are the only two endings that have been met after listening to the Sonata of Truth, and this has been the case for many years, and there has not been a third anomaly.

Relying on the Sonata of Truth, the Illuminati were able to find new members in a simple, brutal and efficient manner across the material planes.

In view of the prophecy from the mouth of the Chief Bishop of Truth at the time of departure, and the fact that Humpty Dumpty Mage could not determine who was the key figure between Norman and Talos, he chose to take out the music box to double confirm rather than kill Talos directly with a spell.

After thinking for a while, Humpty Dumpty decided to ask in a different way: "Didn't you have any associations when you heard The Enlightenment of Truth, about the nature of the world, about belief in gods, or anything else?"

The negative words came to his lips, but before they could be transformed into real voices through his will, Talos replied in a ghostly manner: "I don't know, I only see the glory of the first birth and the magnificence of the end, as if it were the melody that runs through the fate of the world." ”

"That's right, everything and the world, that's it. Humpty Dumpty mage laughed, and the already tense atmosphere suddenly lightened, "Come, Norman, describe your situation to our friends. ”

"No problem. Norman nodded, his expression not excited, nor cold, nor did he ask Talos whether his nephew Richard was alive or dead.

"I have to say, it was a magical journey. After listening to "The Enlightenment of Truth", I saw for the first time the light called "Truth", which is brilliant and vast, stretching across the void and guiding the future. Through it, I witnessed the birth and growth of the gods from the perspective of a bystander, an incredible history. ”

"They draw strength from what they claim to be miracles by temporarily surpassing ordinary people by preaching doctrines that are fit for their priesthood. The funny thing is that while they are growing with the help of the faith of sentient beings, they are also raising sentencing beings in captivity. ”

"Because of the priesthood and faith, the war broke out again and again among the gods. In order to avoid the risks brought about by the Divine War and reduce the probability of its fall, they chose to transfer the contradiction to the main material plane, using the church and the kingdom as pawns to play the game, bringing suffering and trauma to the world. ”

"They are not gods, but parasites of the world, tumors, the root of all evil, and stumbling blocks that prevent us from saving the world with the truth!"

Talos looked calm and uttered a large number of blasphemous remarks that would have been overwhelmed by the excitement and anger of any priest who heard them—though the ideas themselves made Talos feel so fresh and curious, and even had the urge to study them carefully.

If he remembers correctly, Richard mentioned that the Parker family had always believed in the goddess of wealth, and later the gods of order and knighthood became the family's second faith.

There is no doubt that just half an hour ago, the High Blood Knight was a devout disciple, but now he has not only abandoned his past beliefs, but also denounced the Goddess of Wealth and the God of Order and Knights as disgusting and pathetic worms that inhabit the world.

If Talos wants to say, even if Richard is standing here, he must dare to say that the middle-aged man in front of him is his uncle.

The extreme change in attitude, and the overly mechanistic and absolute mode of cognition displayed by Norman himself in his description of the Enlightenment, sent shudders to Talos.

It is like a song "Enlightenment of Truth", which is less than five minutes of music, completely destroys the beliefs, cognitions, and three views formed by a middle-aged person in the past thirty or forty years, and completes a reconstruction of certain values and missions engraved with specific values.

So, is it still the ego?

Humpty Dumpty mage didn't notice Talos's anomaly, maybe he found it but didn't care at all, and after Norman finished his description, he applauded softly: "Lo and behold, Norman has completed the truth enlightenment and realized that the essence of the gods is actually a parasite of the world. Next, Norman will join us in the struggle against the gods with the goal of saving the world. ”

"Including death?" Talos blurted out.

Humpty Dumpty mage froze for a moment, his expression looking like he had been punched just as he was about to gain mastery.

But after realizing that the question was being asked by a Naga who had not yet fully awakened, but who was most likely related to the prophecy, he forced himself to replace his disdainful sneer with an explanation.

"Well, let's put it in words that we can all understand: from the moment they are born, they live in a cage created by the gods, and they need not only to provide faith for the maintenance and growth of the gods at all times, but also to rejoice in the pleasing of the gods, to be angry at the wrath of the gods, and even to give their lives for the ridiculous glory and teachings of the gods. ”

"Their existence has no value, except to make the enemy stronger. Death is not pain for them, but relief, no longer having to live in misery, and for us, it is the destruction of the soil on which the enemy depends, and weakens the enemy's strength. ”

"The souls of all creatures who die in the Sonata of Truth do not go to the kingdom of the gods to become invokers, but completely dissipate and return to the world, so the Sonata of Truth is sometimes called the Requiem for Truth. ”

Talos's eyes stared at the Humpty Dumpty Mage without blinking, but his mind drifted as he remembered the two Assassins who had just died in the Seven Days Bible, their souls not returning to the world, and had become the fuel for soul fire like any of the creatures he had killed before.

Humpty Dumpty mage opened his arms to Talos and smiled sincerely, "Join us, the Sonata of Truth tells me that you were born to be one of us. Your talent and future should not be wasted in the Naga kingdom or bound to the main physical plane, you will become a fighter against the gods, that is your innate responsibility and mission. ”

"—One day in the future, in the outer planes, we will drive the gods off their thrones and have a great judgment like never before!"