Sword of Dawn

Page 439

"Did you see it with your own eyes?" Gao Wen couldn't help but confirm, "She actually passed by you?!"

"I actually saw it with my own eyes, and if I'm not wrong, it should be the goddess of magic...Mirmina, I remember that name. Her form has very obvious mystical symbolic elements, and the breath released from her body also points to A spell system created by mortals. It's just that she looks a little weak, even... seems to be weaker than when I first came to 'here'," Amoen said unhurriedly, and finally Asked, "So, what happened?"

"...She may be your imitator," Gao Wen hesitated for a few seconds, and finally said with a sigh, "I don't know whether I should tell you the details, but there is one thing you can know now— There should be no Goddess of Magic in the world, at least for the time being. Mirmina has left her position, and I suspect that her current state is not much different from yours."

Amoen fell silent for a while, and he couldn't see his mood at the moment from his appearance, but Gawain felt that he caught a trace of shock in the eyes of the other party - the change of the goddess of magic obviously made this ancient "God of Nature "All shocked!

After several seconds of silence, Amoen's voice sounded again: "There really is such a day... unexpectedly..."

Before Gao Wen and Veronica could speak, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and said in a self-deprecating tone: "You said that her current state is not too different from mine, but I don't agree with that—— She ran past me quickly, do you think I can do this in my current state?"

Veronica subconsciously glanced at Amorn's body, and what caught her eyes were the countless metal wreckage, fixed bolts, and restraint locks. These layers of confinement made Amorn unable to even move her limbs. Impossible, let alone running all the way from the Neural Network to the Shadow Realm like a free goddess of magic...

Gawain somehow thought of Naritil in his mind, and thought of the upper-level narrator's obsession with "legs". He glanced at Amoen, and his heart burst into words——

You eight-legged and four-legged ones can't even run without legs...

Chapter 0924 God's Tendency

It took Gao Wen a lot of effort to suppress the rambunctious words in his head, and he was very glad that he didn't bring Amber with him this time - otherwise, the half-elf would definitely figure out how many things he didn't know from the change in his face, and then Several exaggerated versions of "Emperor Gawain Cecil's Sacred Words" will appear in the next issue of "Emperor's Holy Words" which is circulated secretly...

He shook his head, looked at the God of Nature in front of him, and the latter let out a chuckle: "Obviously, you don't intend to help me get rid of these restrictions."

"We've already discussed this issue," Gawain replied indifferently, "I'm more concerned about what you said just now, you said 'there is such a day'—could it be said that what you want to do to the goddess of magic is too late?" Expected?"

Amorn responded frankly: "...I didn't expect the details, but I know that there must be other gods trying to break this cycle like me, and the most likely to take action among all the gods... is the goddess of magic."

"Why do you say that?" Gawain frowned, "And you said before that there is no communication between gods under normal circumstances, and you don't know much about other gods?"

"Due to the shackles of the field of belief and the trend of thought, it is true that the gods cannot communicate with each other, and I don't know what other gods are thinking and planning..." Amon's tone seemed to have a smile suddenly, "But It does not affect my inference of other gods' tendencies based on certain laws..."

Gao Wen immediately noticed a certain key word mentioned by the other party, but before he could ask, Amon suddenly asked a question: "Do you know how and why 'magic' was born?"

Veronica on the side was a little surprised why a god of nature would suddenly ask this question, but she still answered after a little thought: "Magic originally originated from mortals' understanding of certain natural monsters and supernatural beings in nature. Imitation and summary of phenomena—although many scholars and believers in later generations attribute magic to mysterious races or gods like giant dragons, most real magicians do not agree with those statements.

"As for the purpose of magic... of course it is to survive in the cruel natural environment."

"Yes, in order to survive in the cruel natural environment, mortals began to absorb wisdom from nature, steal power from nature, and turned those thunder, lightning, wind, frost, rain and snow, which were once considered miracles, into the hands of mortals. and use it to fight against the harsh environment... This is the birth of magic," Amon said slowly, "so, this is also the birth of the goddess of magic."

Gao Wen's mind suddenly became bright, and he already understood what Amorn wanted to say.

"Magic is the embodiment of human rebellion, learning, desire to survive, and fearlessness in the face of natural power," Amon's voice was low and melodious, "Therefore, the goddess of magic has a strong learning ability, and she will surpass all God is keenly aware of the changing laws of things, and he will not succumb to those parts that are not good for him. He will be the first to wake up and try to control his own destiny, just like the sages of mortals try to control those dangerous things Thunder and fire, he desires to survive more than any god, and can do a lot of bold things in order to survive... Sometimes, it even seems reckless.

"The irony is that all of his acts of resistance are actually the result of his own 'operating laws', and the irony of irony is that Mirmina acted recklessly according to the laws, but achieved success, at least to a certain extent... If all the evidence is true, then the 'he' is now a 'she'."

Gawain listened intently to the key information revealed by Amon. He felt that his thinking was clear, and many things that he had never thought of before were now suddenly explained. It also made him speculate on the nature of other gods for the first time. With clear, quantifiable ideas.

Veronica next to him also frowned subconsciously, with a dazed look on her face: "Gods are born from the tide of thought...so you can think about it this way!"

Then she suddenly remembered something, and suddenly turned her gaze to Amoen: "Is it okay for you to tell us these 'knowledge' directly?"

"If it was not long ago, if I told you this, you would be polluted by the 'truth from magic'," Amon said lightly, "but now, this level of knowledge has no effect."

"Not long ago..." Gao Wen suddenly showed a trace of doubt, and many guesses emerged in his heart, "Why do you say that?"

"The mortal world is moving forward with a bang, and many things are changing rapidly... But for me, there is only one direction of change worthy of attention..." The smile in Amorn's words became more and more obvious, "Druid General education and the "Township Apothecary's Handbook" are really good things...Even seven or eight-year-old children know where alchemy potions come from."

The remaining "divinity" entangled in Amorn is loosening!

Gao Wen instantly realized what the changes that had happened to the former "God of Nature" meant, and guessed the reason behind these changes. He stared and looked up and down with three-pointed astonishment and seven-pointed inquiring eyes. The giant deer repeated it several times, as if confirming the authenticity of the other party's words, and at the same time couldn't help but ask again: "You mean, you have now further cast off the identity of 'God'?"

During the fall of the White Star 3000 years ago, although Amoen successfully escaped from the position of "God of Nature" by feigning death, and even destroyed the position of God of Nature, Gao Wen could clearly see that his "departure" was actually Incomplete, he still possesses many remaining characteristics of gods, such as polluted flesh and blood, body that cannot be seen directly, words and knowledge that are fatal to ordinary people, etc. Naritil can be used as the best reference in this regard: Also the "God of the Past", Naritil experienced another death after the separation of divinity and humanity. In addition to the foundation of her original trend of thought - all sandbox residents died out, she herself recreated it through Gawain's memory. The plastic has achieved a complete regeneration and transformation, and now it has completely lost those "god's limitations".

Naritil can appear directly in front of any neural network user, but now Amorn is still imprisoned in the deepest part of the Shadow Realm.

Naritil's "success" is obviously irreproducible to the gods of this world, but now it seems that Amoen has found a complete liberation path from another direction - the starting point of this liberation path Right here in Cecil's New Order.

To be honest, Gao Wen was not completely unaware of all this. After he knew the fact that "gods were born from the trend of thought", he and his technical experts have been working against it to break the situation. Many people in the Cecil Empire In addition to the necessary social needs behind the religious reform and the new education system, in fact, a large part of it also carries the shadow of research related to the rebellious plan. He just didn't expect...

All this really took effect, and it took effect right under his nose—although the object of the effect was a "old god" who had left the position of god and was constantly fading his divinity.

"In a sense, I'm one step closer to 'freedom'," Amon's voice sounded in Gao Wen's mind, "I can clearly feel the change."

"I remember that you were still under restraint when you came here last time," Veronica said suddenly, "At that time, our druid general education course had been promoted for a while... so where is the change? node happened?"

When she said these words, she had clearly adopted the tone of a researcher.

"It's hard for me to give an accurate time node or a reference value for the 'sudden change' of the state," Amon replied patiently, "This is a vague process, and I think we may never be able to summarize the changes in the trend of thought In addition, I hope you will not be blindly optimistic - the changes in me are not that great, and just a few years of education and knowledge popularization cannot change the thinking of mortal groups, let alone Reversing the trend of thought that has been formed for tens of thousands of years, it can at most have a certain impact on the gods on the surface, and it will affect the "god" like me who has broken away from the gods and no longer has divine supplements. If it's a godsend to normality ... it's hard for me to say whether this wide-ranging, rapid, violent change is good or bad."

Gao Wen felt that Amon's words were a bit abstract and awkward, but it was not unintelligible. He heard a trace of worry from the other party's last words, and immediately asked, "What do you mean by your last sentence?"

"Remember what I mentioned just now, that the Goddess of Magic possesses traits such as 'rebelliousness, learning, desire to survive'?"

Gawain nodded: "Of course I remember."

"Different gods are born from different trends of thought, so they also have different characteristics. I call them 'inclinations'-the Goddess of Magic tends to learn and adapt to survival, and the Holy Light should tend to protect and save. The three gods should be inclined towards harvest and abundance. Different gods have different inclinations, which means...their adaptability and possible responses to sudden changes in human thoughts may be completely different.

"Goddess of Magic faced with the magical technology you developed, she quickly learned and began to find content that is beneficial to her own survival and continuation, but if she is a god who tends to preserve and maintain the inherent order, she..."

Amoen paused here, and then continued with a serious tone: "He may be driven crazy by these sudden changes."

The voice in his mind fell, but Gao Wen felt a huge wave in his heart. He suddenly realized that he might have overlooked something all this time, and subconsciously looked at Veronica next to him, but saw that the other party also Also cast a complicated line of sight.

They looked at each other.

"...Ah, it seems that something has happened somewhere out of my 'line of sight'..." Amorn obviously noticed the reaction of Gawain and Veronica, his voice came faintly, "What happened?" What's wrong?"

"...The state of God of War is not right," Gawain did not hide, "His priests have begun to die strangely."

"...God of War...I'm not surprised," the strange thing is that Amon's tone was not much surprised, as if he had guessed that the goddess of magic would be the first to take self-help action, and he seemed to have expected it at this time The God of War will have a situation, "When the critical point comes, He is indeed one of the gods most likely to have an accident."

Gao Wen subconsciously asked: "Is this also because of God of War's 'inclination'?"

"The God of War, closely related to the concept of war, was born out of mortals' awe of war and the artificial constraints on the war order.

"War is the most extreme and cruel method that mortals use to seek benefits. Since its birth, it has been direct killing and plundering. No matter how many glamorous decorations and excuses are added, war is bound to be accompanied by bloodshed and killing. Huge profit plunder, this is the basic concept of war recognized by mankind during the birth of the God of War.

"At the same time, human beings are also full of fear and vigilance when using the terrible weapon 'war', so human beings add many preconditions and mutually recognized 'rules' to war, such as the name of declaring war, such as The 'bottom line agreement' of truce and exchange of prisoners, such as the distribution of spoils and the way of evaluating meritorious service - although sometimes kings and lords do not implement these agreements at all, they will change their bottom line a little bit for the benefit, but they will at least Express respect for the war agreement in public, and most people also believe that there is an order in the war.

"They implemented this 'war contract spirit' into their beliefs, believing that the God of War is the god who witnessed a series of war treaties and conventions, and they have believed in this for thousands of years.

"Therefore, God of War's tendency is to maintain the basic definition of war, and he has a strong 'contract tendency'. He is a stubborn and rigid god, and he only allows war to be carried out according to a certain template—even the form of war Change is required, and this change must also be based on a long period of time and a series of ritual agreements.

"Based on the above 'inclinations', God of War has the worst ability to accept 'changes', and the possible response to changes will be the most extreme and the closest to losing control."

Amon finished his patient explanation, and then he paused for a few seconds before breaking the silence again: "So, what did you do?"

"...a kind of war without bloodshed and no killing. Most of the participants have smiles on their faces. There is no public declaration of war or truce, only a series of business contracts and exchange of benefits." Gao Wen didn't know how he was feeling now, He has a complicated expression and a serious tone, "This kind of 'war' is spreading all over the world, and the speed of its spread is far faster than the education and popularization project of the Cecil Empire - after all, interests can produce the greatest impetus to human beings, and this new type of 'war' The benefits are too great..."

Amorn fell silent for half a minute.

In the end, even Veronica couldn't help but take the initiative to speak: "So..."

"You guys are forcing him to die..." Amoen finally broke the silence, "Although I have never communicated with the God of War, I just need to speculate...the brain of the God of War... how can he accept it? These?"

I don't know if it was an illusion, but Gao Wen felt that what Amoen almost blurted out was "How can God of War's brain accept these"-this is obviously not a very elegant and stable statement.

Chapter 0925

Gawain never thought that the reason for the first problem with the God of War belief system would eventually point to the "economic war" between Cecil and Typhon, and on this basis, many things exceeded his expectations——

He didn't think that different gods would have different "inclinations", let alone how to predict the inclination of gods from the direction of "ideology"; he didn't think that some changes in human society would have such a direct influence on the corresponding gods , and I never thought that some "weak tolerance" gods would have such a big reaction...

At this moment, he actually doubted whether his development plans were too advanced, or whether he had set foot in fields that he shouldn't have set foot in.

But there is another voice in his heart making a clear judgment: the desire of mortals to pursue a better life itself is definitely not an original sin, and the fact that gods will gradually fall into madness due to the development of mortal civilization has long been known to him. I see, now it's just that the influence is finally starting to show in front of his eyes.

Looking back and sorting out everything that Cecil experienced along the way, he realized that those development plans had no choice at all—if there were no such things, then Cecil would have been wiped out before his rise, and the southern border would be in a state of grandeur. There were heavy casualties when the wall leaked for the first time, and the weak Ansu Kingdom was unable to repair the leaks on the edge of the Gondor wasteland. The civil war and subsequent divine disasters would completely destroy Anzu, and Typhon's annexation wars...

By that time, the killing efficiency of humans may even be far better than a divine disaster.

But he still shook his head, and couldn't help sighing: "I didn't expect that our unconscious actions would cause God of War to go crazy..."

The next second, he heard Amoen's voice in his mind, with a gentle chuckle: "Ah...Although all this is indeed related to you, you may have overestimated the time you spent in this short period of time. The impact of what you do in a few years on a god.

"The rapid deterioration of God of War's situation should indeed be a recent thing, but he is not only driven crazy by the kind of 'war' you just mentioned-at best, you just pushed a little on the edge of the cliff and conducted a general From the looks of it, it’s just an insignificant acceleration. As far as I know...or guess, God of War’s madness overwhelmed reason should have started a long time ago.”

Gao Wen's expression changed instantly. He heard that the old god in front of him seemed to have something inside, and immediately asked, "Why do you say that?"

"As I said, God of War's inclination determines that he is one of the gods who are most likely to go crazy, and you mortals...you mortals are really too good at changing, especially too good at changing your bottom line in the face of war. From When you started throwing stones at each other, you asked God of War to witness more "promises" than any gods witnessed. However, you tore up countless agreements through various excuses and tricks, even without excuses... ..."

Amoen spoke unhurriedly, as if an indifferent bystander was judging the script on the stage of the world, there was no disgust in his tone, but he didn't defend and explain in the slightest—

"Businessmen still need to be honest in the face of interests, but kings and lords can try their best to break the contract-yes, they asked the God of War to witness those contracts, but they thought of the appropriate way to break the contract long before praying, so that everything It all looks fair and reasonable, and you can even deceive and move yourself...

"So, mortals are almost 'schizoid' when it comes to war—then God of War is also schizophrenic. Even if he wasn't at the beginning, he would quickly slide into this abyss."

Gawain couldn't help but exchanged glances with Veronica, and they both saw complicated expressions in each other's eyes.

"As a member of mortals, I don't seem to have anything to justify," Veronica said softly, "The mortal race...is indeed mostly full of contradictions and flaws."

"Yes, so the civilization of mortals is also full of contradictions and flaws, and the gods that mortals believe in are also full of contradictions and flaws. This is a closed loop, and all of us and gods are in this loop," Amon said calmly , "But I can still see a bright spot in it - at least in any era, in any situation, there are 'people' trying to break the ring, sometimes mortals, sometimes gods, which shows that we at least have no Willing to accept it all."

Gawain stared at Amoen with a thoughtful expression. At this moment, he suddenly realized that this "God of Nature" was closer to people than when he saw it last time, which made him pop up inexplicably. One thought: the growth of humanity.

Perhaps, after 3000 years of suspended animation and recent "changes", the waiting of the former god is finally coming to bear fruit. He is shedding the last shackles of divinity, and humanity is growing, and this is not the case. Then there is the human nature that countless mortal thoughts converged on him and was endowed with, but it is the "human nature" that truly belongs to Amoen...

Has Amon noticed this change?

There were some guesses in Gao Wen's mind, but he didn't say anything in the end, he just shook his head slightly: "Let's go back to the Goddess of Magic... Amon, do you know her... where is she now? "

"Unfortunately, I can't help you in this regard," Amon said, "The Realm of Shadow is a more complicated place than you imagined. It doesn't have a continuous space in the conventional sense. It's a little deeper than here. It will appear disorderly and chaotic, and every mind going to the deepest part will take a different path, so except for the goddess of magic herself, no one will know where she has gone, and it is impossible to track her."

"The Shadow Realm still has such a nature?" Gao Wen said in surprise, then he frowned, "So, we can give up the idea of ​​finding the goddess of magic..."

"Why are you so obsessed with finding her?" Amoen asked rhetorically, "Did her escape cause great damage to you or your country? Or do you want to get something from a god who has left his position? "

Saying that, the old god paused, and suddenly chuckled: "Ah, you seem to have been in contact with things related to gods, and you also hold a lot of inheritance and even remains related to gods... Could it be that you are here? Do you have any collecting hobbies?"

"No...of course not," Gawain was a little embarrassed. He had seen Amon's occasional "sense of humor" last time, but until now he was not very used to it, "It's just that It is a god who has done such a big thing under my nose, so I will inevitably be a little concerned."

"Then control your curiosity—I suggest that you stop paying attention to this matter for the time being," Amon restrained the smile in his tone, and advised quite seriously, "You can't find her Yes, she will not have any contact with mortals in the short term. I know your disobedience plan. In terms of the result, making a god 'harmless' should also meet your expectations, so you should let Mirmi Na has done her isolation and self-purification properly... that's the safest thing to do."

"Actually, I thought so too...I accept your suggestion," Gao Wen thought for a while, then nodded, "But how long will she have to be isolated and purified like this? Could it be at least 3000 years like you?"

He knows the time concept of these gods - basically the same as his time concept when he was a satellite spirit, so he should inquire in advance at this time to see if this matter needs to be followed up. Moen also finds a place to sleep for 3000 years before talking about it... Then he can almost forget about this matter after he returns, and at most find a stronger stone or something like a mithril board to write something on it Leave a message and put it on the mountain, hoping that some brave man or archaeologist will see it thousands of years later, and then look for the coffin board of the goddess of magic to see if she is alive...

Of course, there is a second plan, that is, he works hard by himself, trying to remain in power after 3000 years, and then waits for the goddess of magic to emerge from a gap in the shadow world, and then go to her and say: ma'am, guess what? Times have changed...

Of course, the premise of all this is that the mortal civilization has overcome the evil tide and the black trap, otherwise everything is a fantasy.

"I can't give you the answer, but I guess it won't take long, and it may not even take long in the eyes of you mortals." Amoen's voice suddenly came, interrupting Gawain's thinking, "She …Although it seems that she has taken a similar path to me, her break-away action is obviously more successful and thorough than mine. The breath I sensed on her has almost completely washed away the divinity, and I don’t know how she did it but she obviously paid a high price..."

Listening to the information revealed by Amon, Gao Wen suddenly thought of the "escape route" of the goddess of magic this time——

She entered the magic net, and then took the risk of being captured by Naritil to sneak into the deeper neural network. According to Duwart's later report, she also wandered around the chaotic area at the boundary of the neural network for a while, and also It was precisely because of the last "wandering" that she fell into Naritil's spider web and almost failed to escape...

As a god who wants to break free from the cycle and has been planning for a long time, it is impossible for her to do useless things when carrying out the plan.

That is to say, the magic net and the neural network, especially the "unconscious area" at the edge of the neural network... are very important to the goddess of magic, and some of their properties are the key to her being able to break free from the chain!

Veronica on the side obviously thought of the same thing as Gawain, and she also became thoughtful, and the changes in her and Gawain's expressions did not escape Amon's keen eyes.

"It seems that you have some ideas?" Amon was a little curious, "Can you tell me?"

Gawain looked at Amon, and nodded after a short hesitation.

"We built what we call a 'neural network,'" he said, "which is made up of a large number of active human brain nodes, relying on human thinking to operate, and in the border area of ​​​​the network is a layer called ..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard Amoen's voice in his mind: "Non-inclined trend of thought?!"

Gawain looked at Amorn unexpectedly, his eyes widened slightly.

"So that's it...that's it...thrilling and subtle thinking... First restore yourself to the posture you were born in, and then wash off those constraints..." Amoen seemed to be greatly stimulated, and he started talking to himself , "As expected of a god in the field of magic, so reckless...but so lucky..."

The giant deer god was so excited that the originally constant gleams on his body suddenly sped up, and a slight tremor appeared at the end of his limbs. This body that had been static for 3000 years unexpectedly had There was a slight sign of activity, but in the next second, all the tremors stopped abruptly: the layers of restraints still trapped him firmly after all.

Gao Wen was amazed that Amorn thought of the characteristics of the neural network boundary area in an instant, and even the summary of "non-inclined trend of thought" was far more accurate than the "unconscious area" proposed by Cecil's technicians. , but also fit the role it played in the previous "howling incident".

He thought of many things in an instant, and subconsciously said: "You mean, the goddess of magic washed away her divinity and cut off the 'chain' by 'immersing' herself in the chaotic human thoughts?"

"It should be like this...it is very likely to be like this," Amon reacted from talking to himself, "this is an effective idea..."

Veronica couldn't help taking a step forward, and said in a hasty tone: "Then use this method on other gods..."

"The premise is that it can be used on other gods." Amoen seemed to have calmed down from the excitement, and his tone made Gawain and Veronica quickly calm down. "Not every god can enter the magic net." ——The only god born based on magic is Mirmina. And even if you think of a way to put the 'non-inclined trend of thought' into practical use...it probably won't have any effect on other gods."

Gao Wen understood the first half of Amon's words and took it for granted, but was a little puzzled by the latter: "Why didn't it work?"

"I would like to ask first, how large is the 'neural network' you mentioned? How many consciousnesses are there to support its operation?"

Gao Wen thought about it for a while, and confessed frankly: "It's actually still in its infancy... Although we are working hard to promote it, its current peak operating nodes are only tens of thousands..."

"This is the key point - for any god, the scale of the mortal thoughts behind him is not comparable to tens of thousands of nodes."