Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 927 - 926: It Has Already Begun

The "success" of the Goddess of Magic, Milmina, seems difficult to replicate, at least from Amon’s perspective.

However, for Gawain, this event still provided him with an idea— the "non-inclined ideologies" created by the neural network might be an unprecedentedly effective "purification method" for gods born from ideologies.

Of course, the current neural network is still very weak, with a peak size of just tens of thousands of nodes, completely incomparable to any current established religion. But in Cecil, such "Mage industrial products" as neural networks have one major characteristic, which is an extremely fast development speed—even if its scale is insufficient now, in a year or two... eventually, its scale will reach a point where it can challenge any world theocracy.

He did not explain these details to the God of Yore before him; he deemed it unnecessary.

Amon, however, was clearly still mulling over the escape of the Goddess of Magic. With some lament, he broke the silence: "I think there may be more than one god who has thought of similar ’escape plans.’ In fact... my ’attempt’ three thousand years ago might have inspired some gods, but in the end, only the Goddess of Magic succeeded in such a plan, which is actually determined by her ’inclination.’ She was born from the shallow belief of mages. From the inception of this belief system, mages only regarded her as some kind of ’explanation’ and ’faith.’ Mages have always admired solving problems with their own wisdom and power, rather than seeking the benevolence and salvation of gods, which allowed Milmina to have the opportunity to ’ignore’ the prayers of believers.

"For the average god, it is very difficult to completely ’ignore’ the prayers of believers. They must respond to some extent..."

Gawain soon understood the meaning behind Amon’s words.

Because every god in this world is born from the prayers of mortals, mortals "create" those deities in order to alleviate their anxiety and fear, and to seek an extraordinary entity capable of responding to them. Thus, for the gods born under this ideology, "response" is one of their inherent attributes; they cannot refuse the prayers and appeals from the real world.

However, the Goddess of Magic is different—mages conceived of the existence of the "Goddess of Magic" not to seek power or guidance, but because during academic research they discovered that some principles or formulas lacked a part of key "elements." In the situation where academic direction temporarily could not solve the problem, they decided to "define" these inexplicable things as a source. Over time and with changes in collective ideas, this source gradually deviated from its initial concept and became a god used to explain all black boxes. However, the essence of the Goddess of Magic never changed:

"She" is the common "Condition X" in a pile of unsolvable formulas and flawed theories among mages. The attitude and expectation for this god among mages can be summarized in one sentence: You stay here, do not move, I will somehow fill in the equations that follow...

Such weak constraints naturally gave the Goddess of Magic the space for free maneuver, and with lengthy self-isolation and an ambitious escape plan, she gave the believers in the world this response: Get lost, whoever wants to stay, let them stay, I’m leaving anyway!

Gawain shook his head, marveling both at how the seemingly high and mighty gods are shackled like mortals, and at the capricious and decisive escape behavior of the Goddess of Magic, unsure how long the ensuing chaos will last.

Finally, he restrained his unconnected thoughts and suddenly looked at Amon.

"With your current self... you should be able to tell us more ’knowledge,’ right?"

"Not everything," Amon slowly responded, "you should understand that I have not completely broken free—divine corruption still exists, so if your questions pertain too much to fields not yet explored by humanity, or steer too much towards the divine, then I still cannot provide an answer."

"That’s enough for me," Gawain nodded, then organized his thoughts and asked him the question that had been on his mind since the last conversation with Amon, "I want to know the root of the chaotic wave... you once said the occurrence of the chaotic wave is unrelated to gods; it is essentially a natural phenomenon. So, what exactly is the principle behind this natural phenomenon?"

Amon was silent for a moment, then a pleasant voice echoed in the minds of Gawain and Veronica, "You are not yet equipped to resolve its source, because its source... comes from the sun above your heads."

"It truly comes from the sun?!" Veronica suddenly broke the silence and asked urgently.

"Ah, it seems you have already taken note of some evidence."

"When the chaotic wave occurred seven hundred years ago, there were records of anomalies in the sun. When residual waves in the Gondor wasteland acted up, there were always corresponding anomalies in the sun," Veronica said solemnly. "We have always suspected a connection between the chaotic wave and some operational cycle of the sun, yet never thought... its source comes directly from the sun?!"

Standing aside, Gawain suddenly thought of another issue—the "sun" in this world is not a star in a galaxy, it is merely a gas giant!

If this gas giant can cause chaotic waves, then what of the true star "Ao" in this galaxy?

Could there be some resemblance or material connection between the gas giant and the star in this world? If both of these celestial bodies can cause chaotic waves, then... could this explain the source of magical power?

"Will chaotic waves occur on a planet directly revolving around ’Ao’?" Lost in thought, Gawain straightforwardly asked.

"...No mortal has ever considered the relationship between celestial bodies and chaotic waves from this perspective; your insight surpasses the knowledge realm of ordinary mortals," Amon’s gaze fell on Gawain, and soon he let out a soft laugh. "But no matter, this question can indeed be answered...

"It will. ’Ao’ will also trigger chaotic waves; any world illuminated by a star or phantom planet will experience chaotic waves."

"Phantom planet?" Gawain, regardless of his surprise, immediately seized upon the unfamiliar term in Amon’s words.

"Their structure is similar to that of stars, with similar material compositions, yet they fail to gather into ’fire’ like stars. The light and heat they emit are as dim as candlelight in the starry sky, but at a close enough range, their satellites can still sprout life under this weak candlelight—you perceive the ’sun’ as a phantom planet."

Gawain showed a sudden realization—the so-called phantom planet is what the gods refer to as a "gas giant," effectively revealing that this world does not hold the concept of "gas giants."

Additionally, Amon’s response divulged very critical information: planets under the illumination of either stars or "phantom planets" will periodically encounter chaotic waves.

This information, corresponding to what he previously assumed—the presence of chaotic waves on other planets—explained the source further, meanwhile igniting a sudden thought for Gawain—if the sun causes chaotic waves, would blocking sunlight during the chaotic wave cycle be effective?

Yet, this thought merely flickered before he dismissed it, for one simple reason—when the chaotic wave abruptly erupted seven hundred years ago, it happened during the deep night of the Gondor Empire...

The sun initiated the chaotic wave, yet the medium was not sunlight.

"Do you know about the ’Black Pit’?" Gawain organized his thoughts and continued asking, "It refers to the phenomenon where civilizations on this planet suddenly collapse whenever they reach a certain level of development..."

This time, Amon remained silent for a longer period and finally sighed, "I don’t know the term ’Black Pit,’ but I understand the phenomenon you’re describing. I cannot answer much... because this question directly pertains to the gods."

"So, the ’Black Pit’ is indeed caused by divine influence," Gawain had already gleaned the answer from the other’s attitude, and his heart rapidly connected some speculations, "Is it because mortal civilization develops to a certain extent, causing all gods to go mad? Or is it due to the gods and humans attempting to break free from the ’chains,’ leading to backlash?"

"I can’t answer you," Amon said slowly, his tone suddenly becoming serious, "but I can offer you a piece of advice."

"What kind of advice?" Veronica couldn’t help but ask.

"If you want to avoid stepping into that ’Black Pit’... defy it early."

Both Gawain and Veronica looked at each other in surprise.

To hear the phrase "defy it early" from the mouth of a former god was indeed a rather strange thing.

Veronica instinctively asked, "What does that mean?"

"As time progresses and mortals continue to develop, the gods will grow stronger and ultimately become unimaginably powerful," Amon said, "For you now, challenging a god requires all of a nation’s efforts, clever methods, and a stroke of luck; but do you know how easy it was to kill a ’God of Nature’ like me when humans first learned to use fire to drive away beasts?"

Veronica opened her mouth but failed to find words, and Amon gave the answer himself:

"Back then, it only required a few large sticks and sharp spears—maybe with a few burning oil-stone pieces."

After their shock, Gawain and Veronica simultaneously fell silent, their thoughts surging like waves.

He thought of the War God, who seemed to be starting to lose sanity, and those gods who were perhaps maintaining reason for now but could lose control at any time.

"...Looks like we need to replan a lot of things," he couldn’t help but murmur.

Veronica cast a somewhat complex and peculiar look at Amon, "As a former god, you’re truly supportive of the mortals’ defied plan..."

"This is also part of the natural law," Amon gently and slowly said, "Not everything will have a perfect ending; when survival becomes challenging, sometimes we have to consider all means as alternative options—the natural law is like that, neither gentle nor cruel, indifferent to morals, it simply runs, ignoring your wishes."

"But we can also hope for better methods to break the cycle," Gawain said, "You succeeded, the Goddess of Magic succeeded too, although you say that such breakthroughs are unreplicable, yet what we are doing now is replicating the miraculous things technically that were once viewed as mirages by the world—I firmly believe that development can solve most problems."

"Then I wish you success," Amon’s tone carried a smile, "It’s just that you have to hurry, the time for all of us—and the gods—is running out."

"Certainly," Gawain nodded, "From the moment I decided to restart the defied Plan, everything had begun, destined not to stop, so we must proceed."

Then he and Veronica bid farewell and left—not because they didn’t have more questions, but because they had lingered here too long, Amon’s divine nature hadn’t completely been purified, and the prolonged conversation still posed a certain risk.

Besides, the world outside had a wealth of matters awaiting arrangement.

The gloomy and chaotic courtyard fell silent again, with only the enormous Giant Stag quietly lying there on the fragmented ground.

"Has it begun..." In the silence, Amon softly muttered to himself, "Unfortunately, what you said wasn’t quite accurate... In fact, this all began when mortals first decided to step out of their caves."

Then he sank into a long silence, until some ten minutes later, he lightly sighed.

"...What exactly did Milmina say to me before she left?"

...

Upon returning to Cecil Castle, Gawain didn’t rest but directly went to the Imperial Computing Center’s main control room—Kamel and Jenni were there.

The large control room was brightly lit, and numerous technicians were checking the neural network that had just weathered a storm at various equipment stations. Several Immersion Capsules were set up in a corner of the room, all activated, with several technicians, who were once Eternal Sleepers’ bishops, lying in them—they now have specific titles called "Node Scholars."

Kamel, busy at a large terminal, was the first to notice Gawain and Veronica’s arrival and immediately stepped forward to greet them, "Sire, Princess Veronica."

—Even though Anzu no longer existed, Veronica Moen still retained her princess title according to tradition, hence the "Princess" appellation. Of course, from the Holy Light Church’s perspective, she could also be called "Saint Princess," but that’s not within Kamel’s habitual vocabulary.

"We’ve learned many things from Amon—though we’ll discuss those later," Gawain nodded to Kamel and also acknowledged the greeting from Jenni nearby, "For now, let’s check the network status."

"Everything has stabilized; we successfully remotely activated a subsidiary station of St. Soniel earlier, and the neural network and Magic Web are running at expected efficiency," Kamel immediately replied, "Miss Jenni and I are in the process of transmitting the standard template of the Mind Protection Rune to all nodes, and we happen to have some updates to report on this."