Chapter 460 — The Mind Brand Phenomenon

"It is only a Holy Light spell," Wright said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I promise."

Amber pursed her lips: "Fine, I will try."

This was likely the strangest experience of this half-elf lady's life. She who always styled herself Chosen of the Night and was thoroughly averse to the Holy Light actually had a chance to release a Holy Light spell with her own power, and deep down she was rather eager to try; so though her face showed great reluctance, she took a firm grip on the rune plate and began injecting mana into the copper substrate along its edge.

The pale golden lines on the plate brightened at once, and the runes lit one after another—yet just as a wisp of pure white radiance was about to gather within those runes, it scattered of its own accord into nothing.

"Hey, I did not break it—" Amber hurriedly tossed the plate back to Wright. "This thing seems to be defective."

"In fact there is nothing wrong with it." Wright smiled wryly, casually injecting mana into the plate again, and in almost an instant a mass of pure Holy Light condensed upon it: a complete, fully formed Holy Light spell.

Emily, floating nearby, gave a delighted cry, darted forward to scoop up the Holy Light, and flew off a short way to gnaw on it: this was her "biscuit."

"Uh..." Amber stared dumbfounded at Emily, then turned back to Wright. "That Holy Light just now... you are sure you did not cast it yourself and then pretend the plate was not broken?"

"The Holy Light truly was released by the rune plate," Wright said earnestly. "I do not lie."

Amber took exception to that at once: "Then why does it not work when I do it..."

"Because of the Mind Brand," Wright said. "There is a Mind Brand of the God of Holy Light in your heart."

"...Do not be ridiculous, how could I have any such thing!!" Amber was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand vigorously, half angry and half amused. "I do not believe in the God of Holy Light. Not one bit!"

"We once reasoned that the Mind Brand is born with every mortal at birth; whether or not you believe in the corresponding god, whether or not you even know that god exists, the brand is stamped from the beginning deep in the soul of every mortal," Gao Yang said, looking at Amber with an utterly grave expression—just moments before, he had for the first time seen with his own eyes the Mind Brand take effect, and it had set off a great wave in his heart, yet he still analyzed calmly. "And now it seems the Mind Brand is not the same as so-called 'reverence' or 'thought interference.' This thing... is more troublesome than we imagined."

"Yes. After the Holy Light plate was made, we observed the Mind Brand phenomenon through it—neither Lady Hedy, nor Miss Rebecca, nor any mage, knight, or runesmith in the domain could drive this rune plate at all, because... the Mind Brand exists deep in every person's soul. So far there are only two exceptions: myself, and Master Kamael."

"I... what the—" Amber's eyes flew wide, and she gasped in disbelief. "I've been... since the very moment I was born... locked in chains by this thing?! And I never felt a thing!"

"The horror of it is precisely that it cannot be felt. It hides deeper than the subconscious; it strips you of a particular 'freedom' without your ever noticing, and you may believe you do not believe in the God of Holy Light, that you are not bound by Him—but in the deepest recesses of your mind... by instinct you hold that 'the Holy Light belongs to God.'" Gao Yang drew a long, deep breath. "Every last one of them is its prisoner."