Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 926 - 925: Non-Directional Thought Currents

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

He didn’t think that different gods would have different "inclinations," nor did he know how to predict a god’s tendencies from the "trends of thought" direction; he didn’t think that certain changes in human society would have such a direct impact on corresponding gods, nor did he expect that some "gods with weak tolerance" would react so strongly...

At this moment, he even doubted whether his development plans were too advanced or touched fields that shouldn’t be touched.

Yet another voice in his heart was making a sober judgment: the desire of mortals to pursue a better life is not the original sin; he knew since long ago that gods would gradually fall into madness due to the development of mortal civilization, and now this influence was finally beginning to manifest before him.

Looking back carefully at all that Cecil Clan had experienced in its rise, he realized that those development plans actually had no choice—without everything that happened, Cecil Clan would have been wiped out before its rise, the southern borders would face heavy casualties at the first breach of the great walls, the weak Anzu Kingdom would be unable to repair the breach at the edge of the Gondor wasteland, the ensuing civil war and the subsequent divine disaster would completely destroy Anzu, followed closely by Typhon’s annexation war...

By then, human efficiency in slaughter might even surpass that of a divine disaster.

But he still shook his head and couldn’t help but lament: "I didn’t expect that our unconscious actions would lead the War God to madness..."

The next second, he heard Amon’s voice sounding in his mind with a gentle chuckle: "Ah... Despite all this indeed being related to you, you might also overestimate the impact of what you’ve done within these few short years on a god.

"The situation with the War God rapidly deteriorating should indeed be a recent event, but it’s not just being driven mad by the ’war’ you just mentioned—at most, you only pushed slightly at the edge of the cliff, accelerating insignificantly overall. According to my understanding... or perhaps guess, the madness of the War God overpowering its rationality should have begun a long time ago."

Gawain’s expression changed instantly, he heard that this God of Yore seemed to possess some insider knowledge, and immediately followed up with a question: "Why do you say that?"

"I mentioned before, the inclination of the War God determines it as one of the gods most prone to madness, and you mortals... you mortals are indeed too good at changing, especially adept at modifying your bottom lines in the face of war. Ever since you started throwing stones at each other, the ’agreements’ you invited the War God to witness have surpassed anything any other god has witnessed, yet the agreements you have torn apart through various excuses and machinations, or even without seeking any excuse, are countless..."

Amon spoke unhurriedly, like a cold observer judging the script on the mortal stage, lacking disdain but also not sparing any comfort—

"Merchants in front of benefits at least require a semblance of honesty, but kings and leaders can exhaustively scheme to break agreements—yes, they invited the War God to witness those contracts, but even before the prayers, they had already devised suitable ways to breach them, making everything appear fair and reasonable, even capable of deceiving and moving themselves...

"So, concerning war, mortals are almost ’schizophrenic’—thus, the War God too is schizophrenic, even if not initially, it will swiftly slide into this abyss."

Gawain couldn’t help but exchange glances with Veronica, and they both saw a complex expression in each other’s eyes.

"As a member of the mortals, I don’t seem to have much to argue about," Veronica said softly, "Indeed, most of the Mortal Races are filled with contradictions and flaws."

"Yes, hence the civilization of mortals is also filled with contradictions and flaws, as are the gods whom mortals believe in. It’s a closed ring, and we, all mortals and gods, exist within this ring," Amon said calmly, "But I can still see places that shine—at least in any era, under any circumstances, there are ’people’ attempting to break this ring, sometimes it’s mortals, sometimes it’s gods, which illustrates we are at least unwilling to accept all this."

Gawain looked at Amon with a pensive expression, and at this moment he suddenly realized that this "God of Nature" was more human-like than the last time he saw him, which inexplicably elicited a thought: the growth of human nature.

Perhaps, after experiencing a long pseudo-death spanning three thousand years and the "changes" recently, the wait of this God of Yore was finally nearing the time when it would bear fruit, shedding the final bindings of its divine nature, and human nature was burgeoning forth, no longer gifted to it by the myriad mortal aspirations but truly Amon’s own "human nature"...

Has Amon himself noticed this change?

Speculations arose in Gawain’s mind, but he eventually said nothing, only shaking his head slightly: "Let’s return to the matter of the Goddess of Magic... Amon, do you know where she is now?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot be of help in this regard," Amon said, "The shadow realm is a place more complex than you imagine, it doesn’t have contiguous space in the conventional sense, deeper than here it appears chaotic and disorderly, every mind advancing towards the deepest part will take a different path, so except for the Goddess of Magic herself, no one can know where she is or track her."

"Is the shadow realm really like this?" Gawain remarked in surprise, then frowned, "So, can we abandon the idea of finding the Goddess of Magic..."

"Why are you so determined to find her?" Amon asked, "Did her escape cause great damage to you or your kingdom? Or do you want to gain something from a god who has left its divine position?"

As he spoke, this God of Yore paused and suddenly chuckled: "Ah, you seem to always engage with matters relating to gods, hold many legacies and even remains related to gods... Could it be you have some hobby in collecting such things?"

"No... certainly not," Gawain felt some embarrassment, having already experienced Amon’s occasional "sense of humor," but even still hadn’t quite adapted to it, "It’s just that when a god has done something so significant right under my nose, I can’t help but be a little concerned."

"Then control your curiosity—I suggest you temporarily stop paying attention to this matter," Amon advised seriously, reining in the amusement in his tone, "You won’t be able to find her, and in the short term, she won’t interact with mortals again. I know your defied Plan, and in terms of the results, rendering a god ’harmless’ should meet your expectations, so you should let Milmina properly complete her isolation and self-purification... that’s the safest approach."

"Actually, I’ve thought about that too... I accepted your suggestion," Gawain considered and nodded, "But how long will this isolation purification take for her? Could it be like you, requiring at least three thousand years?"

He indeed knew these gods’ sense of time—almost on par with his time consciousness when he was a satellite spirit, so he wanted to inquire in advance, to see if this matter needs tracking. If the Goddess of Magic plans the same as Amon, to find a place to sleep for three thousand years... then after going back, he could essentially brush this matter aside, and at most, inscribe some message on a solid rock or Mithril Plate placed on a mountain, hoping some valiant hero or archaeologist thousands of years later might see it and go find the coffin board of the Goddess of Magic to see if she’s revived...

Alternatively, there was a second scheme, which was for him to live as hard as possible, strive to remain in office three thousand years later, and then wait for the Goddess of Magic to crawl out from some shadow realm fissure, go over to her and say: Lady, do you guess whether the era has changed...

Of course, all of this presupposes that mortal civilization can withstand the chaotic wave and then the black trap, otherwise everything would be mere fantasy.

"I can’t give you an answer, but I guess it won’t take long, not even in mortal terms," Amon’s voice suddenly came through, interrupting Gawain’s thoughts. "She... although it seems she’s taken a path similar to mine, her escape was evidently more successful and thorough. The aura I sensed from her is almost completely devoid of divinity. I don’t know how she achieved this, but she clearly paid a heavy price..."

Listening to Amon’s revelations, Gawain suddenly thought of the Goddess of Magic’s "escape route" this time—

She entered the Magic Web, then risked being captured by Nariteer and ventured deeper into the neural network. According to Duvalt’s later report, she even lingered for some time at the chaotic border region of the neural network, which is precisely because of this final "lingering" that she fell into Nariteer’s web, nearly failing to escape...

As a god determined to break free from the cycle, who has been plotting for so long, she couldn’t possibly carry out any pointless actions during her plan.

Which means the Magic Web and neural network, particularly the "unconscious zone" at the edge of the network... are key to the Goddess of Magic’s ability to successfully break the chains!

Veronica Moen, standing next to him, evidently thought of the same thing as Gawain; she became similarly pensive, and the change in their expression did not escape Amon’s keen eyes.

"It looks like you have some ideas?" Amon was somewhat curious, "Could you share them with me?"

Gawain looked at Amon, hesitated briefly, then nodded.

"We’ve created something known as a ’neural network,’" he said, "It’s made up of many active human brain nodes, operating through human thought, and at the network’s border is a layer known as..."

Before he could finish, he suddenly heard Amon’s voice echo in his mind: "Bias-free thoughts?!"

Gawain looked at Amon in surprise, his eyes slightly widening.

"I see... I see... A thrilling and intricate idea... First restore oneself to the original state of birth, then wash away those bindings..." Amon, seemingly stirred, began to mutter to himself, "Truly worthy of a God in the realm of magic—so rash... yet so lucky..."

The Giant Stag God was so agitated that the originally constant glimmers on his body suddenly accelerated their flow, a slight trembling appeared at the tips of his limbs, showing signs of movement in the body that had been still for three thousand years, yet in the next moment, all tremors abruptly stopped: those layered restraints ultimately held him tightly.

Gawain was surprised that Amon instantly understood the characteristics of the neural network’s border zone, and even "bias-free thoughts," which was far more accurate than Cecil Clan’s technicians’ "unconscious zone," and aligned better with the role it played during the prior "howling incident."

He instantly realized many things and instinctively spoke: "You mean the Goddess of Magic washed away her divinity by immersing herself in chaotic human thoughts, cutting off the ’chains’?"

"It should be so... most likely that’s it," Amon snapped back from his self-talk, "It’s an effective idea..."

Veronica Moen couldn’t help but step forward, speaking urgently: "Then this method could be used on other gods..."

"The premise is that it can be used on other gods," Amon seemed to have calmed down from his excitement, his tone also brought Gawain and Veronica swiftly back to their senses, "Not every god can enter the Magic Web—the gods born of magic number only Milmina. Moreover, even if you find a way to practically apply ’bias-free thoughts’... it likely wouldn’t have any effect on other gods."

Gawain understood the first part of Amon’s statement and agreed profoundly, but he was somewhat puzzled by the latter: "Why wouldn’t it work?"

"First, I want to ask, what is the scale of this ’neural network’ you mentioned? How many consciousness nodes are supporting its operation?"

Gawain thought about it and candidly replied: "It’s actually still in its infancy... although we are striving to expand, currently its peak operating nodes only number in the tens of thousands..."

"That’s the crux of the matter—any god, the human thoughts corresponding to them, cannot be matched by a network of merely tens of thousands of nodes."

Veronica Moen frowned, "Then why can the Goddess of Magic?"

"I guess, she must have ’starved’ herself for a long time..." Amon said leisurely.

Gawain: "..."

He associated to the unique aspect of the Goddess of Magic Milmina, to this god’s ’habit’ of never responding to prayers, never performing miracles, and only minimally answering calls.

As far as he knew, the goddess had been this way for thousands of years.

He shook his head, muttering to himself: "Alright, seems she really has ’starved’ for a long time..."