457 The Heart of Faith (1/2)
”Such a good student, Douglas.”
When the small firework died out, Fernando said a bit sarcastically.
Douglas seemed to have aged in seconds. With the bitter smile on his face, he said, ”ever since Brook became a grand arcanist based on the electromagnetism theory and the wave theory, I noticed that Artil started behaving strangely. He was prone to exaggerate things, and often said that the reason why there were currently unexplorable and unexplainable questions was that we had not found the Origin. I first thought that it was because Brook's achievement was too much for him to take. But then I started feeling suspicious… and I did find some clues later…”
He released a gentle sigh and continued. ”… Then he seemed to become aware of it. He came to me and confessed that he was trying to take advantage of the Church to get rid of Brook instead of actually believing in the God of Truth, and that the more the Church had trusted him, the more useful it would be for the Congress. Artil has been my student for more than a hundred years; I watched him grow up from a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid. I thought I knew him well, so I didn't invade his mind. I chose to trust him at the time being and tested him with other methods…
”Artil behaved well when we launched the artificial planet and when the electron was discovered. Also, he had always been strongly against the wave theory in the past years, so I lowered my alert… I didn't expect this…”
Norman and Luciana finally realized that Artil was a spy of the Church. It was the holy light that killed him, not head explosion! But Artil cast magic, not divine spells!
”Unless a demiplane was formed based on his cognitive world, there was no way for us to track if his part of his cognitive world demonstrates divine creation,” said Fernando rather seriously. While the sorcerers' power grew when they got closer to the truth of the world, the clergy's power came from their faith. Once their faith became unstable, they would lose all their power or even be devoured by the holy light. Therefore, the Congress was unable to send any higher-rank spies into the Church.
Lucien nodded thoughtfully. After integrating the Light of Faith into his cognitive world, although Artil was not able to cast divine spells, he more or less believed in the existence and power of the God of Truth. Therefore, when his faith was shaken, the holy light burst out when his cognitive world collapsed and devoured him before his head exploded, which was a sharp contrast to the old mage from before, who believed in the God of Truth but whose head exploded. Lucien guessed that this depended on which side played a more dominant role in the cognitive world.
In this case, it seemed that the power of Sard, and the power of the North Church's pope and the Saints, as well as that of the heretics of the Saint Truth that Lucien once met, did still come from their faith.
It seemed that as long as they still had faith in the God of Truth, no matter how their understanding of the doctrine and cognition changed, they were still able to use divine spells without being devoured by the holy light.
But Sard and the heretics didn't seem to be that devoted to the God of Truth either… Lucien rubbed his chin in confusion.
”In fact, I also suspected him… but I put the thought aside seeing that he was fine after Evans's Miracle Experiment,” Norman recalled. ”… He had two friends in the Affair Committee; they could influence many things indirectly.”
A veteran senior-rank sorcerer like Artil, although bad-tempered, still had quite a few friends.
”I'll have Vicente investigate them,” said Douglas briefly.
Meanwhile, Lucien started analyzing the constitution of Artil's cognitive world. ”He did not see Miracle Experiment with his own eyes, and he had been mentally prepared by convincing himself that the experiment could not completely deny Creationism, but simply offered another possibility. Also, there was no following theory coming up to further support the experiment. However, New Alchemy is based on a complete and reasonable theoretical system. Once the neutron is discovered, following the system, creating spells that could overtake the throne of creation will become possible and practical. It's too much for him.”
”So, in his cognitive world, the God of Truth should be the origin of the universe and the initial creator.” Fernando drew the conclusion and then turned to Douglas. ”I was about to ask you how we can use New Alchemy to give a good strike to the Church, but here we got a spy first.”
”If we wait until when the neutron is found and when the new spells for permanently changing matters are created to publish New Alchemy, at least one or two saint cardinals will fall. But now because of Artil's death, the Church will soon find this out. When they are mentally prepared, we'll miss the chance.” Douglas regained his usual calmness, but the loving smile on his face had disappeared.
There were horrible storms in Fernando's red eyes. ”You investigated him before, right? So you should know how he reached out to the Church. Seize this opportunity, and give the Church a good lesson.”
”To make it a harsh lesson, just the New Alchemy without experiments as proof might not be enough. I'll have Atlant join us here to come up with a plan and create the most powerful atmosphere for mental hint.” Douglas slightly nodded and gestured Norman and Luciana to remain his office for a while.
...
In the headquarter of the Will of Elements, the royal magic tower of Holm.
Raventi just received a thick pile of paper and a thin piece of secret message.
”New Alchemy? Lucien Evans?” Raventi slightly frowned when seeing such a brief and general title.
But he knew that Lucien was always being very cautious and precise, so there must be a reason why he chose the title. He put the question aside and started reading the paper.
The school of Element and Alchemy were always closely interrelated with each other. Therefore, the Holm Crown prize was also the highest award shared by the two schools. The four arcana review members from the Will of Elements were also authorities in the field of Alchemy.
As soon as he started reading, Raventi sunk into Lucien's paper deeper and deeper. His brows twitched and his hands were slightly trembling as if he was truly an old man.
After a long time, he seemed to be a bit out of control and roared in a low voice to himself. ”So, this is the deep-hiding secret behind matters!?”
His sight became blurry. In the vagueness, there seemed to be a white-haired old man who was so thin that pretty much only bones were left lying on a bed in the magic robe of element. His soul was severely damaged by the failure of the lich-transforming rite and was near collapsing, however, his voice was full of great passion and solemnity.
”Raventi, do you know what it means – the word 'Alchemy'?”
”It means our dream – to master the secret of matters!”
”Take my place, carry the dream on!”
Raventi closed his eyes and murmured, ”Sir, can you see this? New Alchemy!”
Lost in this atmosphere, Raventi took a long time to calm down. Then he picked up the secret message.
”Artil is a spy from the Church? He's devoured by holy light after reading New Alchemy?” Raventi's brows knitted together.
He finished reading the message and called the student waiting outside in.
”Go and check who is close to Artil.” Raventi gave the order.
”Why?” His student confused.
Raventi repeated the message to his student and asked solemnly, ”understand?”
”Yes.” His student was just about to turn around, but he suddenly thought of something and asked, ”Sir, shall we keep the message a secret?”
”The message can be revealed. Accessing the message doesn't require a high level of authority.” Raventi recalled the notes behind the message.
When the student left, Raventi headed for the lab. He had to verify Lucien's experiment first before writing the review.
Mr. Raventi had always been a cautious and conscientious arcanist.
...
In a demiplane, another member from the school of Alchemy whose name was Prado waited beside the desk full of respect.
It seemed that the black-haired, black-eyed man who always had a cunning smile on his face had fallen asleep. Sitting behind the desk, he did not open his eyes even when a doll puppet that had the appearance of a blonde little girl walked in to bring him tea.
After a long time, Klaus sighed. ”Finally… I see this alive with my own eyes.”
Looking at the delicate expressionless doll, and then turning to look at the bright blue sky outside of the window, he let out a burst of low laughter.