Chapter 769 — Tremors

The gods truly exist. Even the mages, who were devoted to investigating the truths of the world and believed that knowledge and wisdom could explain the workings of all things, acknowledged this—and so they unquestionably believed the Goddess of Magic to be a true deity.

It was only that their feelings toward this deity, compared with the feelings of other worshippers toward the gods they believed in, perhaps appeared somewhat more "rational," somewhat more "temperate."

All mages were shallow believers in Milmina, Goddess of Magic, yet one almost never heard of a fanatic among the mages devoted to the Goddess of Magic.

And Hedy... could, for the time being, be counted as one of the more devout among the mages who revered the Goddess of Magic.

This had not changed even though she knew of the Defiance Plan, even though she took part in and advanced many of her ancestors' projects of "secularizing divine authority."

For in her conception, none of these things detracted from the radiance of the Goddess of Magic herself. The gods simply existed as they were, existing since ancient times, enduring from eternity to eternity, as natural as the stars in the sky, unchanged by the deeds of mortals. Whether "secularizing divine authority" or "making divine authority a gift of the sovereign," these were merely correcting erroneous practices in the course of mortal worship; even the more drastic "Defiance Plan" was more like an attempt by mortals to free themselves from the influence of the gods and walk their own path.

It was all a matter for mortals themselves, having nothing to do with the gods—this was perhaps the mode of thinking of most mages.

Yet what she had heard at the meeting today shook the very foundations of the gods.

The result of her prayers to the Goddess of Magic was the same as ever. Hedy could sense some mysterious power stirring in a dimension unimaginably far away, yet she could hear no oracle from Myrmina, nor feel any divine art descend upon her.

Myrmina was the only deity who almost never delivered an oracle, who never even displayed miracles or divine arts. Were it not for the most basic response her prayers still received, mages would likely not even dare to be certain that this goddess truly existed.

"Goddess... you must be able to hear me, yes?" In the brief calm that followed the feedback of her prayer, Hedy murmured in a tone as though speaking to herself, "Perhaps you have no time to answer every voice, but you must be able to hear them too..."

"Were you truly created by the collective thought of mortals... Are you a being like the stars, or merely a collective hallucination of us mortals..."

The Goddess of Magic Myrmina gave no response at all; only that indescribable sense of transcendence, sanctity, and serenity still drifted in the depths of Hedy's heart. Yet very soon, this calm born of her prayer's feedback vanished all at once.

Hedy heard a knock on the door panel behind her: "Hedy, am I interrupting?"

Hedy turned around at once and saw Gao Yang standing at the doorway; she hurried to bow. "Progenitor, you were looking for me?"

"Not really. I just saw your door open and the light on inside, so I came to take a look," Gao Yang said as he stepped into Hedy's office, glancing at her casually. "Just now you seemed to be praying?"

"I..." Hedy opened her mouth, but after a moment's hesitation she gave a slight nod. "I was praying to the Goddess of Magic, Myrmina."

"Ah, I remember you are a follower of Myrmina," Gao Yang said, unsurprised. "From the look of you, your heart isn't quite at peace, is it?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you," Hedy lowered her head. "I'm actually all right."

"A pity I am not a follower of any deity, so it's hard for me to truly share your feelings at a time like this," Gao Yang patted Hedy lightly on the shoulder. "But I know that having beliefs held for decades suddenly challenged is an uncomfortable thing for anyone."

Hedy looked at Gao Yang, and suddenly mustered the courage to ask: "In your era, were there many people like you who believed in no deity at all?"

"...More than you might imagine," Gao Yang said slowly after a moment of silence. "But those who do not believe in deities are not necessarily people without faith."

Hedy tilted her head slightly, thoughtful and a little moved. "So many of the things you say are always full of philosophy."

"Sometimes they are merely lessons summed up by those who came before," Gao Yang shook his head, then looked into Hedy's eyes. "Can you walk out of this on your own?"

"I can."

"Good. But if you truly run into difficulty, or a confusion you cannot walk out of, you may come to me at any time. We are family."

Hedy looked at Gao Yang and suddenly broke into a smile. "Of course, Progenitor."

"Today is a rest day, so go back early," Gao Yang said with an "mm," glanced at the sky outside, and smiled. "It's the last day of the year, so don't work overtime at the government hall. Tomorrow I'll grant you one extra day of leave—rest well. As for matters here, I'll arrange them for you."

This time, Hedy's smile came especially from the bottom of her heart. "Yes, Progenitor!"

The two left the room. In the vast office, the light of the magic crystal lamps went out without a sound; as darkness surged in, the light of the streetlamps from the plaza and streets outside also filtered hazily into the room, tracing the outlines of the office furnishings in vague, shadowy shapes.

In the silence, motes of floating light suddenly appeared.

At the spot where Hedy had once traced the four basic runes and prayed to the Goddess of Magic, a mass of translucent radiance abruptly condensed, and after lasting a few seconds it shattered without a sound. The scattered fragments of light flew through the room like fireflies, and were gradually absorbed by the printing machines, arcane net units, and arcane net terminals set up throughout the room, leaving not a trace behind.