Sword of Dawn

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Margarita felt that her thoughts could no longer keep up with the vegetative person in front of her. When she asked the question again, her head was dizzy: "How did you think of building a brain for yourself?"

Bertila thought about it seriously this time, and patiently explained to the other party: "After becoming a plant, I found that my way of thinking is also moving closer to the direction of plants every day. Recently, I even resembled a real tree. Standing here, I don't want to do anything except bask in the sun and bear fruit and shake the leaves in the wind... I am worried about this situation, so I built a brain for myself to help stabilize my consciousness as a "human being" I know, but as for the improvement of logical thinking ability and associative ability brought about by this brain... it is actually an unexpected gain."

Margarita's staring eyes finally returned to their original state slowly. She glanced at the former Dean of the Death of Everything in front of her with a strange expression, and suddenly felt that communicating with a plant was really too strenuous...

Chapter 0936 Obituaries

A large-scale magic net covered the entire empire. Information circulated on this net, and energy flowed within this net. The originally loose and isolated human society had never been connected so tightly and efficiently that even It is something that happened in a distant foreign land, and it can also span the distance of thousands of mountains and rivers in an instant.

Green, the tower keeper, was sitting in his workshop in a loose shirt.The double-thickened windows block the cold wind whistling outside the tower, and the heating system inside the tower makes the room as warm as the afternoon at the transition of spring and summer.The not-too-big room seemed quite quiet, except for the occasional buzzing or clicking sound when some machinery and equipment were running, the only thing that could be heard was the sizzling sound of the food being heated on the nearby heating table.

Above the small magic net terminal in front of Green, a big boy with freckles is emerging in the holographic projection, speaking with a burst of excitement: "...the neural network course is very interesting, Magnum Sir is actually a very interesting teacher, although he has a loud voice, but I recently discovered that he is not as rigid as other teachers..."

"Are you getting used to it over there?" Green couldn't help smiling, "Aren't the things in the imperial capital very expensive? Is the money you brought enough?"

"You ask this every time—it's enough, so don't worry about it," Storm in the holographic projection showed a helpless expression on his face, "There are shops and canteens in the college area that are specially open to students and teachers. It’s cheaper in the countryside, and I even found a part-time job that doesn’t affect my studies, helping out in the school’s laboratory, earning three pounds a week.”

"Oh...that's good..." Green nodded and said—he actually couldn't imagine life in the college, let alone what kind of "job" it was for students to help in the school's laboratory. In the elated expression and the description of the other party, he can still feel a sense of contentment and happiness.

"Ah, I won't tell you--the time is almost up, and I have classes to attend later."

"Okay, okay, take care of yourself over there, don't conflict with your classmates..."

The holographic projection disappeared, and the runes on the base of the magic net terminal dimmed one by one. Green blinked, shook his head with a smile, and stood up from behind the table.

Sending the eldest son to Imperial College seems to be a very correct choice. Storm is still very progressive in a place far away from home, which makes the tower keeper who was born as a scribe unable to bear some pride and anticipation.

It seemed that there was going to be a decent and promising person in the family—so thought the tower keeper.

In a good mood, he walked to the heating table not far away, ready to pick up the heated food, but just as he got up and took three or five steps, a crisp bell sounded suddenly from behind, and the magic net terminal on the table was turned on again. Once brightened.

This kind of "ringtone" is only available after the technicians have upgraded the equipment here in recent weeks. The magic technicians of the imperial capital have made some improvements to the magic net terminal, replacing the unattractive buzz with a louder ringtone. Buzzing sound, in Green's view, this improvement is very effective - the ringtone is obviously more penetrating than the buzzing sound, and now even if he stays in the next room, he will not miss important information.

The tower keeper turned his head and saw that the magic net terminal had started by itself, and the holographic projection above the terminal showed the rotating emblem of the Imperial Network Control Center. Connected by itself, showing the emblem of the control center, which means that the information that came later was directly broadcast by the entire network from the headquarters of the imperial capital. This kind of information is usually a big deal!

After a few seconds of ringing, a message from the headquarters of the Imperial Capital was sent, and the printing device on the desktop connected to the magic network terminal immediately started up by itself, accompanied by the sound of gear bearings rotating and the sound of paper rubbing in the machine, Green watched the sophisticated device spit out a document quickly.

He stepped forward and pulled the paper cutter of the printing equipment, cutting the document from the continuous paper roll, and then his eyes fell on the ink that had solidified and cooled, and the words at the beginning of the document came into view:

"From the Cecil Empire Magic Network Communications Administration - forwarded to all levels of hubs throughout the empire - all levels of hubs keep files - the following text:

"We hereby release the investigation results of the Imperial Mages Association, Extraordinary Administration, Royal Magic Consultant and Theological Management Office on the recent 'Magic Goddess Stop Feedback' incident..."

Green couldn't help blinking when he saw this—the Goddess of Magic stopped giving feedback, and he's heard about it. Although he himself is not a mage and doesn't believe in the Goddess of Magic, he has been in this Luan hub for a long time. He may be the most well-informed person at work within a radius of a hundred miles. Many recent information transcripts have mentioned this matter. There are also many mages discussing the mysterious "disappearance" of the goddess of magic in the magic network communication. , it's really hard not to pay attention.

As far as he knows, this event has even alarmed His Majesty the Emperor, as well as the university scholars and great magicians in the imperial capital. An emergency investigation team has even been set up there to investigate the matter. The members of the investigative team were announced, and the composition of the members was luxurious—the three major consuls of the empire were among them, and several great magicians who were famous in the Ansu era were also on the list. The Patriarch Wright of the Church of the Holy Light, the living saint Veronica Moen, and even the emperor himself appeared on the list of the investigation team as a supervisor...

It can be said that, except for the founding of the country, Green has never seen so many awesome names appearing in the same place in his life - he believes that even the most ignorant rural women will be surprised when they see that list. Stand in awe and immediately realize how credible and dependable the team tasked with investigating the gods is.

Now this incomparably luxurious investigation team has completed the investigation?The reason why the goddess of magic suddenly stopped feedback was found?

Green, an ordinary person who doesn't believe in the goddess of magic, could not restrain his curiosity. He hurriedly looked down, but when he saw the follow-up text, his eyes froze for a moment:

"...It is with a heavy heart that we announce to the whole society that our respectable, great goddess of magic, Ms. Mirmina, who once guided and protected all spellcasters in the mortal world, has unfortunately passed away recently..."

……

Through the magic net, through this communication network that keeps everyone together, the information spreads rapidly across the entire land, from Luan City to Winterhold, from Shilin City to Changfeng, from communication towers to one by one Information stations, from the terminals of the magic net broadcasting to the communication rooms of newspapers in various places... The whole territory broadcasting from the magic net communication management bureau of the imperial capital is repeated again and again.

At the Paramel Observatory, Morgan Hugo suddenly stood up from behind the desk. The venerable old mage stared, his beard trembling slightly, and a piece of paper that had just been spit out from the printing device was quietly Lying quietly on the table in front of him, the text on it is clearly legible:

"...Ms. Mirmina is a respectable guide and protector. During the long years of human civilization, she has conscientiously assumed and fulfilled her priestly duties and responsibilities. She guided us through the darkness of the early civilization. Ignorant, who protected the frail mortals through the long nights of early civilization...

"... Ms. Mirmina's life was a glorious life, a life of love, a life of greatness, and a life full of battles. She is not only a mentor, but also a warrior who leads mortal civilization to overcome obstacles. He has the courage to fight of……"

The black writing on the paper was imprinted in the eyes of Morgan Hugo. The old mage completely lost his sharp thinking and decent demeanor for a while. He didn't know what expression he should make now, and he didn't even know what to do in his mind. What to think - just like the vast majority of mortals, he never thought that one day he would face the fall of a god, let alone that the news of the fall of a god would appear in front of him in this form, the thing was unimaginable The extent was beyond the comprehension of human intelligence, so that the old mage didn't even realize that this "obituary" itself was extremely weird.

With a bang, the door of the room was pushed open. Morgan Hugo raised his head in a daze, but saw another high-ranking mage wearing a robe standing there—that was Pala The No. [-] head of the Meier Observatory was a trustworthy friend he had summoned from the Saint-Sunil Astrological Association, and at this moment the gray-haired mage was staring like a ghost from a nightmare. A person who woke up was standing there in a daze and amazement.

"Morgan!" The mage standing at the door finally shouted loudly, "My God, did you see the news broadcast on the magic net today?!"

"I see... I still have a printed document here, which was printed by the device itself..." Morgan pointed drowsily at the paper on the table, "Benjamin, are we dreaming? The Goddess of Magic... Fallen?!"

"Goddess of magic..." The great magician called Benjamin took a breath, and then quickly walked to Morgan's desk. He saw the printout that still smelled of ink, and his face It was a mixture of several expressions, "...a minute ago I thought I was dreaming, but...damn...Morgan, we..."

He reached out and grabbed the printout, mumbled for a few seconds before reorganizing his words: "Morgan, is this credible? Is this news credible?"

"This is from the imperial capital. It bears the signature and seal of His Majesty the Emperor, as well as the seals of the three grand consuls..." Morgan Hugo finally woke up from his daze. He looked at Benjamin's hand with a complicated expression. printout, "At least the document itself is absolutely true, and the message on it..."

Benjamin shook his head: "I haven't received feedback from the goddess of magic for many days. Although I seldom prayed before, I can at least tell what the feedback from the goddess feels like."

Morgan opened his mouth, but didn't say what he originally wanted to say. He looked at the printout again, and saw the sincere and touching condolences on it, and finally a strange feeling appeared in his heart: "This is a A eulogy written by humans to the gods... Benjamin, I always think it's weird, mourning the gods... Can you imagine? Tribute to the gods..."

"But how can I write condolences?" Benjamin raised his eyes, raised the paper in his hand with a wry smile, "How would you ask His Majesty the Emperor to write? He has exhausted the words of grief and praise..."

Yes, a letter of condolence written by a human being to a god is indeed extremely weird, so weird that it should never have appeared in this world at all, but as Benjamin said—if you don’t write it like this, how else can you write it Woolen cloth?

If the gods have really fallen, then humans can only mourn in this way, Morgan thought. He felt that the reason why he thought these eulogies were weird was because...in his limited life, he had never experienced The fall of the gods.

Now, he might really have to experience it once.

On the printout in Benjamin's hand, the words at the end are clear and sharp: "...we deeply mourn Ms. Mirmina, the goddess of magic, and feel sorry for her loss. A god who is so dedicated is worthy of all mortals, at least all human beings. Memorial, in order to express the condolences and remembrance of Mirmina, the goddess of magic, after joint research and decision by Emperor Gawain Cecil, the Supreme Government Office of the Empire, and the Theological Management Office of the Empire, a "God Funeral" will be held on the 45th of this month And commemorative activities, national sirens, bells and horns will be sounded on that day, and a grand send-off ceremony will be performed by the Imperial Dragoons...

"His Majesty the Emperor hereby calls, and hopes that all spellcasters across the country will observe a moment of silence that day to express our condolences..."

Morgan Hugo closed his eyes. Although he was not a devout believer of the goddess of magic—or almost everyone is not a devout believer of the goddess of magic—the sincere words in this memorial speech still deeply It touched his heart deeply. He seemed to feel the sadness of His Majesty the Emperor when he wrote these words, and was deeply infected by the emotions conveyed from the words.

And as for the strange wording and sentence construction in the eulogy and the weirdness of the draft itself...it doesn't seem so important at the moment.

How else can I write it?Nobody has ever experienced anything like this...

……

"This news will soon spread throughout the country..."

Windsor Mapel sighed softly, and glanced at the original manuscript in front of her, with an expression of sadness and joy on her face.

Daniel sat opposite her. The old mage's face was as cold and slightly gloomy as ever: "In fact, it has been sent to the whole country through the communication tower network, but the newspapers and announcements at the end will delay a little time. But this has little effect , the mages have the vast majority of communication resources, and they will be the first to receive the news."

"Next... we are going to seriously prepare for the 'funeral'," Windsor nodded and said, "This is the first joint operation between us and the Cecilians, and we cooperated in such a short time for preparation , Your Majesty hopes that we will go all out and not make any mistakes in front of the Cecils."

"Of course, we will not disappoint His Majesty's expectations." Daniel seemed to have an imperceptible smile on the corner of his mouth, but the smile was fleeting, "Then I will leave first—the 'International Funeral Committee' is still waiting for me .”

Windsor got up and saw the old mage left the room and disappeared into the depths of the corridor. Then she looked away, as if talking to herself, and whispered as if looking for evidence again: "Goddess of magic..."

There is no feedback in the spiritual world, and the end of prayer is empty.

Windsor did not receive a response in the end—probably the goddess of magic was indeed dead.

Chapter 0937 Funeral

The goddess of magic probably really won't come back.

Victor woke up from deep meditation and saw the familiar magic laboratory in front of him. There were spread out books and organized rune stones neatly placed on the table not far away, and the copper cauldron beside it was floating There was a faint lavender smoke, and the smell of incense was constantly escaping from it.

There are still some light and chaotic impressions in his mind, which are the "revelation" brought about by deep meditation, and there may be a little bit of "shadow" similar to the mixture of dreams and illusions.He shook his head, pushing the moot impressions out of his head: In those impressions, there was no feedback from the Goddess of Magic.

Victor exhaled lightly, and felt that his spirit had completely recovered—as an old mage who was no longer young, his energy was not as good as before. He did several magic experiments in a row or performed high-intensity calculations for several hours It is necessary to use deep meditation to recover, but he feels that he is still far from "retirement". In terms of the lifespan of a high-level extraordinary person, he may still be loyal to the Wilder family for half a century, and he uses The wisdom and experience accumulated over most of my life, as well as the accurate judgment of things and changes in times, are the keys to ensuring that I have a chance to continue my allegiance.

The old mage who served as a high-level consultant in Winter Castle left his laboratory. He came to the corridor outside and saw the attendants polishing those beautiful crystal windows. The snow-capped mountains outside the window were shining in the clear sky. The ground became clearer and sharper, and there were soldiers and battle mages standing guard meticulously at the corner of the corridor, looking energetic and dignified.

The hostess is not in the castle. She took a passenger aircraft (reformed based on dragoon technology) to the imperial capital a few days ago, and participated in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of the goddess of magic as a member of the "investigation team". During the days when the master is away, Cold Winter Castle still has to maintain an orderly operation, which is the main job of Victor and several other consultants and housekeepers.

But in fact, this kind of work was not originally theirs. When Ms. Maggie was still in the castle, if the hostess went out occasionally and didn't take her with her, then the head maid would be responsible for managing everything in the castle.This may sound strange to outsiders. It should be difficult for them to imagine how a "maid"—even the head maid—has the qualifications and ability to manage such a castle and command a large number of mages and noble knights in the castle. And only those who really live in this castle will understand the ability and... fighting power of the head maid.

But Ms. Maggie has not returned to the North for a long time, and she seems to be working directly for the royal family because she is busy completing another task assigned by the hostess.

A high-ranking attendant in a blue and white blouse hurriedly walked through the corridor. When he passed in front of Victor, the old mage stopped him: "How is the preparation for the ceremony in the castle?"

"Master Victor," the attendant stopped and saluted the great magician, "the castle is ready—the horns have been polished, the guards have changed into ceremonial attire, and everyone, including the painter and the kitchen maid We've all been notified to be in place, we're just waiting for the bell to ring."

Victor nodded: "Very well, well done—keep busy."

The high-ranking attendant left, and the old mage thought for a moment, then sensed the location of the others, got up and flew across the corridor, and came straight to a terrace at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the castle.

Several people have already gathered here, and they seem to be discussing and waiting for something. A translucent breeze shield covers this open semi-circular terrace, blocking the cold wind from the mountains in the north. , making this terrace as comfortable and pleasant as the interior space.

The old mage controlled the flying technique and landed smoothly on the terrace. A middle-aged mage wearing a light blue robe greeted him immediately: "Master Victor, have you finished your meditation?"

"The meditation is over," Victor nodded, and asked casually, "Is there any new news from the mistress?"

"There was a communication about half an hour ago," the middle-aged mage nodded and replied, "Let's just follow the procedures issued by the 'International Funeral Committee' and pay attention to order and personnel safety. There is no other order."

The hostess' order still continues the previous content, and it seems that this matter will not change in any way today-the goddess of magic will probably really not come back.

"Is Sheriff Buddymore responsible for the order in the city?" Victor asked casually, looking at the other person on the terrace.

"Yes," said the middle-aged lady in a black conservative coat with a gold spade on the collar, "security teams have been deployed in all the viewing areas, and medical personnel have been deployed throughout the city. At present, almost all the citizens who participated in the ceremony have gathered in several squares and two open spaces outside the city—places that cannot be seen by other patrols, I will keep an eye on them with the eyes of a mage.”

Victor nodded, feeling a little more at ease in his heart.

Today, a special funeral will be held, and mortals will bury a god, but for most ordinary people in the city, the goddess of magic is a god who has nothing to do with them, except for the amazing gimmick of "gods fall" In addition to attracting enough attention and shock, most of the people who gathered today were actually watching the excitement, but precisely because they are citizens watching the excitement...maintaining order is a particularly important job.

There were too many people, and "Fall of the Gods" really attracted too many people, and this made Victor, a mage, feel even more uncomfortable.

He looked at the middle-aged mage wearing a light blue robe, as if he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, a melodious bell sounded from the direction of the main castle building suddenly interrupted his movements.

The sound of the bell was melodious and low, with a slow and solemn rhythm. The heavy blunt sound produced by the metal impact penetrated the air, rippling around the center of Winter Castle, and while the castle bell was ringing, the sound below Several clock towers in the city also began to operate almost simultaneously, and the mechanical synchronization device drove them precisely, and the solemn bells enveloped the entire city in an instant.

Immediately afterwards, the magic net terminals inside and outside the castle were activated at the same time, and a deep and solemn voice came from the magic devices located in the cold winter courtyard, the meeting hall, and the city square on time: "All attention, the silence begins."

Everyone on the terrace closed their mouths at the same time, and began to mourn in silence according to the procedure. The whole city became extremely quiet in an instant, only the sound of the bell seemed to have not dissipated, echoing unreally in people's ears.

After 3 minutes, the moment of silence ended. Victor heard a loud horn sound suddenly coming from the direction of the city wall. He subconsciously raised his head. After a while, he saw several small blacks rising suddenly from the direction of the southwest city wall. Shadows, those black shadows took off from the city wall, getting closer and closer, gradually revealing a clear outline like an inverted cone, they passed the main body of the castle with a low buzzing sound, and then moved towards the direction of the city He flew away, circled over the city, returned to the castle, and continued to accelerate towards the frozen mountains in the distance.

That was the dragoon squad under Winter Castle. They were carrying the "relic ashes" of the goddess of magic. According to the procedure, they were going to sprinkle the ashes on the mountains in the north before the sun went down.

In such a chain of processes, Victor finally really felt a little sad—although, like most mages, he was only a shallow believer of the goddess of magic, but a shallow believer is still a believer after all, and at this moment he finally had some understanding of what happened. He felt a sense of reality, although it felt a bit weird, but he really realized...the goddess of magic really can't come back.

In the funeral, in the hearts of everyone involved, the goddess left like a human being, and really couldn't come back.

……

The Dragoon Squadron flew over the city at low altitude, and the humming sound came from the sky. After the aircraft carrying the "relic ash" accelerated and flew towards the direction of the Whitewater River, the broadcasts set up in various places in the city A low, solemn voice came from the device, and a tribute to the goddess of magic, Mirmina, began to play.

Amber took a step forward and opened the window of the study, allowing the sounds from the outside to enter the room more clearly—those sounds echoed among the tall buildings in Cecil City, and by the time they entered here, they had already been layer upon layer. There is a touch of unreal, like a large-scale chant-like texture.

Gao Wen stood behind the window, calmly watching the clear and vast blue sky outside.

The three Grand Consuls, Hetty, Victoria, and Baldwin, stood beside Gao Wen. They listened to the movement outside and looked at each other with strange expressions after all.

"The funeral seems to be going well..." Hetty twitched the corners of her lips, and said to Gawain, "There have been reports of dragoons taking off from various places."

"The 'ashes' are sprinkled on the mountains and the earth, and the soul of the goddess returns to this world..." Bai Dewen said in a low voice, "This symbolic meaning...is really extraordinary."

"Professional," Amber, who returned from the window, commented next to her, "Very professional."

Gao Wen actually thought it was quite weird, but he still maintained the majestic ancestor's persona, nodded slightly and said: "We have established a very professional committee, just for the sense of ceremony at this moment."

"A god 'died' like a mortal at a funeral, the more solemn the sense of ritual at this time, the more irrefutable his 'death'," Hetty said, but then whispered in a strange tone Get up, "But... In another sense, the Goddess of Magic is still 'alive' after all... Is it a bit awkward for us to do this..."

"It's a bit inappropriate?" Gawain glanced at Heidi, smiled and shook his head, "But isn't Ms. Mirmina's biggest wish just to destroy her own god position—we are doing her a big favor, believe me , that 'goddess' definitely has no objections, maybe she still wants to thank us."

"...To be honest, I even suspect that she secretly watched her funeral throughout the whole process," Amber muttered beside her, "After all, she took the initiative to hide, and she wasn't imprisoned in the Shadow Realm anymore. No one will know if it slips out."

"That's not what we care about." Gao Wen said casually.

While they were talking, the eulogy broadcast that resounded throughout the city gradually came to an end. In the eloquent narration of the announcer, the meaningful life of Ms. Mirmina, the loving, great, and wise goddess of magic, was summarized. Cecil's royal family and the Supreme Government Office made an attributive term for this god, and affirmed his outstanding contribution in the development of mortal civilization. The basic summary is——

Proposed by the Government Affairs Office, discussed by the three consuls, and approved by the emperor himself, Ms. Mirmina, the goddess of magic, lived a life of selfless dedication, love and generosity, and a life of active struggle. The people of Cecil and the world All mortals who have been blessed by the goddess of magic will always remember him and wish him well.

And soon the news came from the dragoon formations all over the place that they had successfully completed their mission.

Under the watchful eyes of as many witnesses as possible, the pilots of the empire carried out the largest joint flight mission in history, and scattered the "ashes" of the goddess of magic... on the land that he once sheltered and loved deeply soil of.

Very evenly sprinkled.

"I really didn't expect you to write such... a eulogy." Victoria looked at Gao Wen, with no expression on his frozen face, but his tone was obviously a bit weird, "I didn't even expect you to use such a eulogy." There are so many words of praise to describe a god... To be honest, it is an honor for anyone to be able to receive such a 'funeral'."

"Giving honor to the dead is the least stingy act. I can generously leave all the praises in the world to the goddess of magic, because she is already 'dead', not to mention that the more sincere our memorial ceremony is, the more she will die It’s more like a person,” Gao Wen said with a half-smile, “and the eulogy is not for the dead—it’s for the living.”

"I don't know what's going on with Typhon," Baldwin said suddenly, "I hope those Typhon people don't make trouble."

"I trust them on this point," Gao Wen said, "Maybe they don't have magic net communication and dragoon aircraft, but they have communication towers all over the country and there are two or three times more griffins and mages than our dragoons." Troops, and in the matter of 'making a big scene', an old empire is by no means worse than young Cecil. They will also have a grand funeral there."

While talking, he glanced at the mechanical clock hanging on the wall not far away, and then nodded to the three grand consuls in front of him: "It's almost time, it seems that this 'funeral' has successfully ended, let's talk Let's talk about something else."

He left the window and went back behind the desk, but when he just sat down and was about to start a conversation, his gaze froze for a moment.

Above the wooden desk, the free arcane energy in the air focused out of thin air, and was rapidly leaving scorched dents on the table. The lines of the dents extended rapidly, and gradually spelled out eye-catching words——

"thank you--"

Gao Wen: "..."