Chapter 1038 — Far-Reaching Consequences

The rectangular experimental hall was brightly lit, all manner of magitech devices humming and running throughout the room, and at its center stood several neatly arranged platforms, each bearing a fragment of the remains recovered from the War God — some were iron-gray shards of armor, some were tangled, growing clumps of dark-red fiber, some were stones that looked as though they had been thoroughly soaked and corroded by blood; whatever they were, all of them gave off intense magical fluctuations and an arresting aura.

Around each platform stood four metal cylinders carved all over with intricate runes, and between the cylinders floated a thick layer of magical radiance, serving to isolate the dangerous samples inside from the outside world.

A dozen or so researchers bustled about, recording the magical fluctuations emitted by the remains and the various changes they exhibited over time; every face bore an expression both grave and faintly excited. Kamael, the director of this laboratory, drifted back and forth among the researchers, directing and overseeing the operations on site, while Verodai, platinum scepter in hand, stood somewhat farther off; the radiance around this saintly princess rippled faintly, and her expression had already sunk into deep thought.

It was at this moment that Gao Yang and Amber entered the room.

Verodai sensed Gao Yang's aura at once; she started from her reverie and turned to come over. "Your Majesty, you've come."

"Yes, I came to take a look at the situation." As he spoke, Gao Yang first raised his head and swept his gaze over the whole scene — besides the technicians busy at work, he also immediately noticed certain extraordinary "presences":

On the ceiling of the laboratory, faint, hazy lines crept out of the air, weaving together above the entire room into something like a spiderweb. This nearly transparent web sheltered everything here, and at its center Gao Yang could dimly make out a languid white spider lying upon it.

It was the "Upper Narrator," shrunk to who knew how many times her original size — she looked rather bored, or perhaps she had already fallen asleep.

"When technicians need to come into direct contact with divine relics, Naretiel provides protection and contamination warnings on site," Verodai noted Gao Yang's gaze and explained at once from beside him. "It's one of the experimental procedures Kamael designed; practice has proven it very effective."

"Mm." Gao Yang nodded, and as he stepped forward he said, "Tell me the situation — what have you found?"

"In short..." Kamael drifted over from the side, bowing slightly before Gao Yang, a humming sound coming from within his body, "we've discovered that these remains... now cause no mental harm whatsoever to mortals."

Gao Yang's stride halted midway, and he seemed to freeze on the spot.

Behind him, Amber, who had been walking head-down, ran straight into his back — with a yelp she bounced back nearly a meter.

"No mental harm whatsoever?" Gao Yang seemed not to feel the impact against his back; he stared wide-eyed at Kamael. "Is that conclusion reliable?"

"Reliable. We conducted direct and rigorous tests," Kamael said gravely, his face glowing blue. "These included human tests — the test subjects came into direct contact with the samples under strict observation, and nothing happened at all."

"Of course, we took protective measures — Naretiel bound the test subjects' minds with spider silk, so that if mental contamination occurred, the subject would be instantly 'pulled' back and subjected to purification and healing."

"You even tested that..." Gao Yang finally recovered from his astonishment. He listened to Kamael's account in disbelief, yet his gaze involuntarily fell upon the platform nearest to him — between the tightly warded rune pillars and the energy barrier lay a piece of armor fragment quietly, rippling with iron-gray luster. Because the War God's original body had been so immense, it was now impossible to tell which part of the armor this fragment had once belonged to, but one thing was certain: this thing... had once been enough, merely placed before a mortal, to drive even the most iron-willed warrior into madness.

Originally, when he had entered the laboratory and seen the fragment lying right there on the platform, with everyone around seemingly unaffected, he had assumed it was the laboratory's various protective systems and Naretiel's presence on site doing their work — but now it seemed... that was not the case.

The remains had been rendered harmless.

So what exactly had changed in these fragments?

"After the God of War fell, did all the fragments He left behind lose their 'divinity'?" Gao Yang murmured to himself. "Because the fall was so complete, the fragments that remained turned into ordinary matter?"

"We also surmised that these fragments had undergone some change, but Naretir does not agree," Verodai's voice came from beside him. "Before the God of War fell, she had used her spider silk to 'feed' upon Him, and in doing so memorized His aura. Just now she analyzed the aura lingering on these fragments and confirmed that, apart from some weakening and dissipation, the essential nature of the two auras has not changed in character. Miss Tyr also helped confirm this point..."

No one needed to explain to Gao Yang how Tyr had helped confirm it, but he could not resist asking: "Is Tyr's examination reliable?"

"I believe it can be trusted," Verodai said; whether it was an illusion or not, her voice, usually so calm and unruffled, now carried a trace of hesitation. "Although she 'consumed' a very large quantity of samples, she is genuinely an expert in this field."

"...I understand," Gao Yang said, kneading his brow. "In short, the divine power lingering on these fragments has not diminished, and in theory the mental corruption they carry has not disappeared either — yet now that corruption has no effect on mortals. So it is not the fragments that have changed, but rather..."

Here he stopped instinctively.

It was not that he could not articulate the conclusion; it was that the conclusion surfacing in his mind at this moment was truly bizarre, even somewhat challenging to one's worldview.

But behind him, Amber, who was rubbing her nose as she shuffled over, had clearly not thought that far. The half-elf spoke almost instinctively: "If the fragments haven't changed, then what else could have changed — surely not humans..."

The whole laboratory fell silent, and Amber, still rubbing her nose, sensed the shift in atmosphere at once. Her hand stopped, and she cast a rather frightened look around the room, her gaze finally settling on Gao Yang: "I was just talking off the top of my head — just off the top of my head, you don't have to take it seriously..."

"No," Verodai shook her head, her tone deep as she spoke slowly, "what we speculated... is precisely that."

Amber's eyes went wide, and she stood frozen for a long while: "...Mother of mercy?"

"This is not a final conclusion; everything still requires more testing and analysis," Camille could not help saying from the side, the arcane glow about his person flickering somewhat unsteadily. "Yes, more testing and analysis... The implications of this conclusion are too momentous; we must design more meticulous..."

"We can verify it carefully — a hundred verifications would not be excessive — but before that, we can indeed make a bold conjecture," Verodai said, cutting Camille off. Her fingers tightened slightly on the platinum scepter, the tips going white. "Perhaps... our battle on the Winterhold battlefield produced consequences far beyond the fall of a single god."

(Why are so many people going to watch the first season of the Abnormal Creature Log animation... that wasn't made by the production team the readers reorganized...)