Chapter 874 — The Sirens' Endeavor
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The struggle that had dragged on for centuries finally drew its curtain with the transformation of the last human into a naga—an ending that surpassed the expectations of every human, and of the sirens as well.
In the end, the bizarre phenomenon of "naga" was an inexplicable accident for everyone concerned; humans could not comprehend its workings, and neither could the sirens.
Deep in the ocean, a streamlined deep-sea shuttle glided silently over the seabed. Pythia stood by the viewport, her gaze sweeping across the pitch-black, abyssal waters and the rugged, uneven seafloor outside. Amid the dim light and shadow, several makeshift settlements could be seen; the newly transformed nagas were resting on this calm stretch of seabed, and everywhere in the settlements were sirens tending to their "new friends."
"I'm afraid it will take us a very long time to slowly study the 'naga,'" the Siren Queen said softly. "What an incredible phenomenon... A species, a species with no biological connection whatsoever to the sirens, has undergone such a tremendous change, and that change is clearly related to us... This world truly is full of secrets, Rosalia."
Rosalia, the deep-sea handmaiden, floated beside Pythia and gave a gentle nod. "As you say, Your Majesty."
Pythia gave a soft murmur of acknowledgment and asked casually, "Have the witches and deepwater technicians reached any conclusions?"
"No substantive progress as yet. Only, after questioning many nagas who had regained their senses and consulting human books on religion, the witches have some conjectures—they believe this change may be related to the long-standing 'spiritual faith' of these humans who call themselves the Stormborn."
"Oh? Tell me in detail."
"These 'Stormborn' worship a deity called the Lord of Storms—obviously, our 'big squid.' According to the materials shared by our Cecil allies, human faith generates a force connection, and that connection points toward a specific deity. Yet the Stormborn's deity perished many years ago, and we sirens... most likely already occupy that deity's original position. So all along, what the human storm worshippers of this era have been believing in... is probably us—or, strictly speaking, the 'sirens' as a whole."
"Eva, is it..." Pythia murmured thoughtfully, slowly folding her arms across her chest. "That is rather astonishing. Judging by the timeline, we began excavating the big squid many seasons of civilization ago—meaning those Stormborn attached their faith to our species at the very birth of their religion... and yet we did nothing at all, and knew nothing of it."
"That is one of the subjects the witches are studying," Rosalia nodded. "Human 'faith' seems to be something that operates automatically, and it originally arose from awe toward natural phenomena or particular natural objects. Strictly speaking, the earliest storm faith should not have been directed at any deity, but at the ocean itself—an awe of the sea. In that case, according to intelligence shared by the Cecil allies, humans ought to have shaped a new 'Storm God' out of their faith, but that process was accidentally interrupted by us—our excavation trapped an ancient deity in a state between life and death, and occupied its place. Add to that our substantive control over vast stretches of ocean, and human faith began to point toward the 'actual masters of the sea.' This process... happened naturally."
"Will this 'pointing' have any effect on the sirens?"
"It cannot yet be determined. The human 'concept of religion' is something rather hard for us to grasp," Rosalia shook her head. "But judging from the current situation, this 'pointing' has persisted for many, many years—perhaps even land-dwellers in earlier seasons of civilization who revered the sea directed their faith at the sirens—yet it has never had any effect on us. So this 'pointing' is most likely harmless."