The streamers of various colors receded like tides. In the splendid rotunda, a figure of an archbishop disappeared into the air.

Daniel, who had attended the meeting of the Supreme Bishops ’Conference, also stood up and bowed slightly to Selena Gell, who still stayed there:" Then, let me check the situation of the pan-conscious stability barrier, Selina. archbishop."

"Tough work for you, Archbishop Daniel," Selena nodded slightly. "Your security team is very important to us now."

After the streamer flashed, Daniel also left the hall. In the large indoor space, only the quietly standing Selena Girfen was left, and a ball floating on the round table was mixed with dark purple background and silvery white dots. , Starlight polymer with surrounding contours fluctuating.

After a long silence, a long sigh suddenly came from the starlight polymer: "Selena, today's situation reminds me of 700 years ago."

"The situation is really bad, under the pope," Selena said softly, "even ... worse than seven hundred years ago."

"The druids have failed, the people of the deep sea have been lost in the deep sea, and this path we are holding on seems to be facing extinction," Pope Megur III's voice sounded quietly, "Maybe eventually we will have to Abandoning the entire psychic network altogether, and even paying hundreds or thousands of compatriots' lives ... But compared to these losses, what I regret most is that our 700 years of hard work seems ... "

"Under the Pope, it's too early to say these things," Selena interrupted Megur III suddenly. "We haven't reached the time when we have to make a choice, what's in the sandbox ... at least now And we are being held tightly. "

"But it is already consciously trying to escape, it has realized where the boundary of the cage is, and then it will at all costs seek to break through the boundary. If it leaves the sandbox number one, it can enter the mental network, and With the help of the spiritual network, it can come to life through fellow people who live in the real world. At that time, I am afraid we will really call it 'He'. "

Selina was silent, but she remembered her experience in Phantom Town, and the "extra person" who almost returned to the dream city with the exploration team.

Although the phantom town is just a "spill projection", not the body of Sandbox No. 1, at the moment when pollution has gradually spread, things in the projection want to enter the spiritual network, which is itself the "thing" in Sandbox No. 1. One of the attempts to break through the cage.

She couldn't help but clenched her fists harder, and couldn't help thinking of the darkest and hopeless days of seven hundred years ago.

Thousands of minds have been deprived of pollution by the gods, and the most determined priests and believers have fallen into madness overnight. The once deeply revered "Lord" has become an unnamed monster, and the church inhabited has been divided. Fellows lost and fallen in the fury ...

The sober people paid an unimaginable price to rebuild order. It took hundreds of years for the surviving compatriots to restore their vitality step by step, only because of that little hope, even near the hope of self-deception. And the survivors of the mad border made a paranoid plan, and paranoid to this day.

Then, all the roads were cut off in just two or three years, and the 700 years of persistence and that faint hope finally proved to be nothing more than mortal delusions.

Every effort is just paving the way for the gods.

But ... Is the "survival" really just a delusion?

Selina looked up, looked at the slowly creeping starlight polymer in midair, and said calmly, "Maybe we went the wrong way, but that doesn't mean that the right path doesn't exist. In the final analysis, we also Only three paths have been tried. "

The voice of Mergol III came: "What you said ... reminds me of Franken's last message to me before he merged with the body of the false god."

"Her Excellency ..." Selina blinked. "What did he say?"

"He said," There are many roads. I'll try one of them. If it's wrong, don't give up. "" The voice of Meghal III was calm and indifferent, but Selena heard a bit of feeling from it. "Now If you think about it, at that time, he may have noticed that all three of our roads have hidden dangers, but it is too late for him to make a reminder, and it is difficult for us to try other directions. "

"Druids try to create a human 'Controlled God', we try to cut the chains from the depths of the soul, the people of the sea try to upgrade the elements, and merge with the wreckage of the Lord of the Storm ..." Sai Linna said one by one, "Now it seems that when we first discussed these three paths, we might have been too arrogant."

Meghal III was silent for a long time before he said, "Anyway, since the road to cut off the chain was chosen and opened by us, we must face all of it, including preparing for the road of burial. This is ... the responsibility of the pioneers. "

"Yes, as you said."

"Let's rest, I have to think about the future of the church."

Selina lowered her head, and in her perception, Mergoll III's consciousness gradually moved away from the place.

She held this position for a long time, and it wasn't until a few minutes before her voice sounded softly in the empty chamber: "... A Pioneer ..."

...

After the meeting, Hetty didn't talk to anyone, and returned to her office in the Office of Government alone.

The entire third floor of the Office of Government Affairs is very quiet. On the rest of the week, most of the non-urgent affairs will be handled next week, and the office of the Archon will also be quiet quietly.

The warm air device emits a slight buzzing sound, the warm air blows from the ventilation ducts in the corner of the room, the magic lamp on the roof is already lit, and the bright light dissipates the gloom outside the window at dusk, and the line of sight is seen through the large Floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the starting point lights on both sides of the street opposite the square. Citizens who have enjoyed their leisure time are returning home under the lights, or go to the taverns, cafes, chess and card rooms at the end of the street.

Looking at the citizens who came and went, watching this imperial capital far away from the darkness in the artificial lights, Herti suddenly thought of the words heard in the previous meeting-

It is not the gods who created mankind, it is mankind who created gods.

"So is the magic goddess ..."

Hitty couldn't help talking to herself. She drew four basic runes of wind, water, fire, and earth in her fingers in the air. Then she shook hands into fists, pressed her fists against her forehead, and chanted magically. The honorable name of the goddess Milmina.

This is the standard procedure for simple prayers for wizards who believe in the goddess of magic.

As a somewhat special god, the magic goddess Milmina does not have a formal church and priesthood system. The mages who have superpowers and lack reverence for the gods more often regard the magic goddess as a psychological sustenance or worthy. Awe of the "origin of knowledge" to worship, but this does not mean that the "divine" of the magic goddess has been shaken and weakened in this world.

God is real. Even mages who are keen to explore the truths of the world and believe that knowledge and wisdom can explain the operation of all things, they also recognize this, so they undoubtedly believe that the goddess of magic is a real god.

It is just that their feelings for this deity may be "sane" and "peaceful" compared with the feelings of other believers for the deities they believe in.

The mages are all shallow believers in the magic goddess Milmina, but they have almost never heard of the fanatics of the magic goddess.

And Hetty ... can be counted as a more devout one of the wizards who believe in the goddess of magic.

In this regard, even if she knew the rebellious plan, even if she participated in and promoted many "theocratic secularization" projects of the ancestors.

Because in her concept, these things are not detrimental to the light of the magic goddess itself. The gods have existed that way. Since ancient times, ancient times have existed forever. They are as natural as the stars in the sky, not because of mortals. The behavior has changed, regardless of "the secularization of theocracy" or "principalization of theocracy", it is only correcting the wrong behavior in the belief process of mortals. Even the more intense "rebellion plan" is more like mortals get rid of An attempt by gods to influence themselves.

It's all mortal's own business, and has nothing to do with God-this is probably the way most wizards think.

However, what she heard at the meeting today shakes the foundation of the gods.

As a result of praying to the magic goddess, Herti can feel the mysterious force surging in a very distant dimension, but she can't hear any sign from Milmina, and she can't feel the advent of divine magic. .

Milmina is the only deity who almost never drops or even shows miracles and divine magic. If it were not for her prayers to get the most basic feedback, the mages might not even be sure The gods still exist.

"Goddess ... should you be able to hear it?" In the brief calm of getting feedback after praying, Hetty whispered in a tone that seemed to herself, "Maybe you don't have time to respond to every voice, but You should also hear ...

"Are you really created by the collective thoughts of mortals ... are you like a star, or are we mortals' collective illusions ..."

The magic goddess Milmina did not respond. Only the indescribable feeling of transcendence, sacredness, and tranquility still floated in the heart of Herti, but soon, the sense of calmness caused by the feedback of prayer suddenly disappeared.

Hetty heard the sound of slamming the door behind her, "Herty, didn't I disturb you?"

Hitty quickly turned around and saw Gao Wen standing at the door. She hurriedly saluted: "Ancestors-are you asking me for something?"

"It's nothing, just to see if your door is closed and there are lights in it, just come over and look at it," Govin walked into Herty's office and glanced at the latter casually. "I just saw you as if you were praying?"

"I ..." Hetty opened her mouth, but nodded slightly after hesitating. "I'm praying to the magical goddess Milmina."

"Ah, I remember you are a follower of Milmina," Gao Wen said without surprise. "Looking at you, isn't you feeling calm?"

"It worries you," Hitty lowered her head. "Actually I'm fine."

"Unfortunately, I am not a believer of any god. At this time, it is difficult to empathize with you," Gao Wen patted Herty's shoulder gently. "But I know that the ideas that have accompanied me for decades have suddenly been challenged. It's an uncomfortable thing for everyone. "

Hetty looked at Gao Wen, and suddenly asked boldly, "How were people who did not believe in any **** like you in your day?"

"... more than you think," Gao Wen said slowly after a moment of silence, "but people who don't believe in gods are not necessarily people who don't."

Hetty tilted her head slightly, with some thought and emotion: "A lot of what you say is always full of philosophy."

"Sometimes it's just the experience of previous generations," Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, then looked at Herty's eyes. "Can you come out yourself?"

"can."

"That's good, but if you really encounter difficulties or can't get out of the confusion, you can always come to me-we are family."

Hetty looked at Gao Wen, and suddenly laughed: "That's right, ancestors."

"Today is a rest day, let's go back earlier," Gao Wen said with a glance, and looked at the outside sky with a smile. "On the last day of this year, don't work overtime in the Office of Government Affairs. I will ask you again tomorrow. Take a day off and take a good rest-I will arrange things for you here. "

This time, Hetty smiled especially from her heart: "Yes, ancestor!"

The two left the room. In the large office, the light of the magic crystal lamp went out silently, and as the darkness poured in, the lights of the street lights from the outside square and the street dimly shone into the room, sketching the office furnishings. The shadow of the movie is awesome.

In a silence, a little bit of light suddenly appeared.

At the location where Hetty once outlined the four basic runes and prayed to the magic goddess, a group of translucent glow suddenly condensed and remained silent for a few seconds, and the broken lights were as if the stars were broken. The stream flew across the room, and was gradually absorbed by printers, magic net units, and magic net terminals installed throughout the room, leaving no traces.