Chapter 927 — It Has Already Begun
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
"Do you know of the 'Black Pit'?" Gao Yang gathered his thoughts and asked again. "I mean the phenomenon in which civilizations on this planet suddenly perish once they develop to a certain level..."
This time, Amorn was silent for even longer, and at last he sighed. "I do not know the term 'Black Pit,' but I know the phenomenon you speak of. I cannot answer you in much detail... because this question already points directly at the gods."
"So the 'Black Pit' really is caused by the gods," Gao Yang said, having already drawn his answer from the other's attitude. Certain guesses in his mind rapidly linked together. "Is it because mortal civilization developing to a certain level drives all gods insane? Or is it a backlash from the gods' and humanity's failed attempt to break free of the 'chains'?"
"I can answer neither," Amorn said slowly, and then his tone suddenly turned serious. "But I can give you a piece of advice."
"What kind of advice?" Virodai could not help asking from the side.
"If you wish to avoid stepping into that 'Black Pit'... defy them early."
Gao Yang and Virodai looked at each other at once.
To hear the words "defy them early" from the mouth of a former god was truly a rather bizarre thing.
Virodai instinctively asked, "What does that mean?"
"As time passes, as mortals continue to develop, the gods will grow ever stronger, and in the end stronger than you can imagine," Amorn said. "For you now, opposing a single god already requires the full strength of a nation, and even then you must use clever methods and rely on a certain amount of luck. But do you know how simple it was in more ancient times—when humans had just learned to use fire to drive off wild beasts—to kill a 'God of Nature' like me?"
Virodai opened her mouth but could not form words, and Amorn answered his own question before she could:
"In those days, all it took was a few sufficiently large clubs and sharp spears—at most, a few more oil-soaked stones set alight."
After the shock, Gao Yang and Virodai both fell silent at the same moment, though their thoughts surged and churned like a tide.
He thought of the God of War, who seemed already to have begun sliding into madness, and of the other gods, who for now appeared to have kept their reason but might lose it at any moment, no one knew when.
"...It seems we will have to replan a great many things," he could not help murmuring.
Virodai, meanwhile, turned a rather complicated and strange look on Amorn: "As a former god, do you truly feel nothing about the mortals' plan of defiance..."
"That too is part of the natural order," Amorn said, gentle and unhurried. "Not everything ends perfectly. When survival itself becomes the problem, we sometimes have no choice but to treat every means as a fallback—such is the law of nature. It is neither gentle nor cruel, and it knows nothing of good or evil. It simply runs, and ignores your wishes."
"But we may also hope for a better way to break the deadlock," Gao Yang said. "You succeeded, and so did the Goddess of Magic. You say none of it can be repeated, but what we are doing now is precisely taking what the world has always regarded as miracles and reproducing them at the technical level—I have always believed that development can solve the vast majority of problems."
"Then I wish you success in advance," Amorn said, a smile entering his tone. "Only you must hurry. None of us—gods included—have time to spare."
"Of course," Gao Yang nodded. "It began the moment I decided to restart the Defiance Project. It cannot be stopped now, so all we can do is keep walking."
Then he and Virodai took their leave—not for want of further questions, but because they had already lingered here far too long. Amorn's divinity was not yet fully purified, and prolonged conversation in this place still carried a certain risk.
And besides, there was a great deal waiting to be arranged in the world outside.