Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1103: Chapter 1102: Theocracy Authority Council

In this double-bound cage, both gods and humans are victims of the cold natural laws, which is not just Gawain’s assessment of the situation, but a consensus reached by all participants in the defied Plan who are privy to the whole truth. Even the former high-ranking Defier members Kamel and Veronica/Ophelia have now agreed with Gawain’s perspective.

To the representatives present, their greatest concern wasn’t the nature of this issue, but rather the fact that the once supreme gods have turned into the "victims" of something—this monumental shift in understanding rendered everyone’s expressions complex. The mindset nurtured since birth made them instinctively find such a notion somewhat absurd, yet the undeniable reality forces them to acknowledge the facts laid before them.

"Alright, the gods are victims... I don’t think anyone ever thought of this theory, but since it’s a fact, we must acknowledge it," Ambassador Paladin Glintrock from Forge City stood up, his voice deep and powerful, akin to the sound of a rolling boulder emanating from a cave, "Then what can we mortals do? If this is a paradoxical cycle even the gods can’t escape..."

"The gods are self-saving; we certainly need to save ourselves too," Gawain calmly replied, "We’re faced with a path of no choices, standing before the natural laws, there is no option for surrender or detour. The cold laws don’t heed the individual will of mortals—either solve this problem, or everyone will perish, including even the gods who shelter this world, they will also die.

"These occurrences aren’t unheard of. The records of dragons can testify, civilizations that perished during progress are like blades of grass in the wind, unable to endure one after another.

"Therefore, we need to self-rescue, and this is essentially a self-rescue effort by mortals and gods working together—although due to certain factors we cannot directly communicate with the gods or act in coordination with them, since we’ve mastered certain laws, this ’self-rescue’ theoretically is feasible."

"The collaborative self-rescue of mortals and gods..." Under the banner symbolizing Talronde, Melita Ponia instinctively raised her head, looking somewhat astonished at Gawain who was speaking with a solemn posture, and unconsciously repeated his conclusion—this was the most daring, even audacious statement she’d ever heard from a mortal’s mouth throughout her lengthy memory, yet this audacious statement almost lightning-like illuminated her heart. She suddenly thought of the scene during her last summoning by the Dragon God, remembering the gentle gaze of that deity upon her; she felt she understood some things, but the feeling soon flowed away like water.

"Collaborative self-rescue..." Emperor Rosetta Augustus muttered a few words softly, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, but soon gradually relaxed, a faint smile appearing on his face. He tapped the stone table before him, seemingly glad, murmuring to himself, "True to your form, you truly dare to speak out..."

"How do we self-rescue?" The leader of the Northern City-States Union broke the silence, this towering man fixed his gaze on Gawain’s eyes, "Have you already conceived a concrete plan?"

"The connection between gods and humans is based on ’thought movements,’ which form a long-term subconscious influence. We can’t abruptly sever it, nor can we perform ’local cuts’ with the implementation power of a few strong nations. The most prudent and feasible approach would be to promote a controlled ’thought release’ movement across the world, conducting comprehensive, orderly, prudent ’loosening,’" Gawain nodded in response, "Based on this, I propose establishing a specialized organization, namely the ’God Rights Council.’

"The God Rights Council can be seen as the spiritual continuation of the Gondor era’s defied Plan, but the specific operational mode and means will be adapted to modern context. The fundamental objective of the God Rights Council is to mitigate the potential danger of ’Divine Disasters.’ The initial plan includes the following departments: Theological Research Institute, theocracy Arbitration Court, theocracy Planning Agency, Divine Disaster Response Agency...

"The Theological Research Institute serves as the primary technical department with various Divine Analysis Laboratories, theological knowledge bases, divine material repositories under its jurisdiction, tasked with analyzing all knowledge related to the gods, including their birth, operation, demise, loss of control mechanisms, establishing a complete set of system tools from theory to technology that is comprehensible, accessible, and applicable to mortals;

"The theocracy Arbitration Court interfaces with specific churches, responsible for ensuring the order within each religion is controlled, guaranteeing the thorough execution of a series of plans formulated by the theocracy Planning Agency, judging orthodox and heretical actions, legal and illegal gods. Depending on national circumstances, arbitration courts might function as secret departments, but irrespective of the form, they must efficiently fulfill their roles...

"The theocracy Planning Agency is responsible for devising a series of plans to ’adjust’ thought movements and theocracy, with its members being all of you present, and it has additional seats reserved for future leaders of various religious churches—this is a point I must emphasize. We do not aim to oppose or eliminate any legitimate, beneficial church, nor to annihilate the gods behind them, this is a collective self-rescue, so those willing to collaborate within the religious leadership are our natural allies. We must strive to secure the proactive support of various religions, make them aware of the severity of the issue...

"Of course, if someone is unwilling to support, then we’ll have to find a way to make them willing—involving the life and death of all mortals, unfortunately, some things cannot be negotiated.

"The Divine Disaster Response Agency is an incredibly crucial ’disaster response unit,’ directly applying the cutting-edge technologies from the Theological Research Institute to combat gods showing tendencies of losing control or those already beginning to lose control. This is the second point I need to stress: although gods are ’victims’ like us, this is limited to gods before losing control, once gods lose control, their actions are no longer governed by their subjective consciousness. They evolve into unconscious natural disasters, akin to tsunamis and earthquakes—we must decisively eliminate such disasters...just as Emperor Augustus and I did at Winterhold Fort Battlefield, as the Dragonkin did in Talronde..."

Gawain slowly unveiled his plan, each word backed by countless contributions—from the research group led by Kamel, to the data accumulated by Veronica over seven hundred years of continuous observation, to lessons amassed by the Oblivion Association and Eternal Sleepers, Sons of the Storm along erroneous paths, even the knowledge the Augustus Clan "stole" over two hundred years at the cost of generational lives, and tracing back over a thousand years to the very first Defiers... Across this arduous quest spanning ten centuries, the scattered fragments accumulated by mortals were finally melding and taking shape, echoing inside the Oath Stone Circle.

The gray elf leader from the tribal country of Augari stood up, this petite lady carelessly stepped onto her chair: "Currently, are there any clear proposals regarding the control over thought movements, specific actions for interfering with divine operations?"

"Yes, according to the information currently at our disposal, guiding the general populace in cultural, ideological, religious activity domains is practically viable," Gawain nodded, "Specifically including extensive educational dissemination, reducing the populace’s habitual reliance on gods, reinterpreting theological classics, diminishing public blind faith..."

Gawain patiently explained, and as he spoke, nearby Emperor Rosetta Augustus and Queen Belsetia were also gradually nodding: they were not strangers to what Gawain was discussing at this moment.

"I have one more question," after Gawain finished explaining, Venna Baizhi remained standing, her expression becoming more solemn, "Once this series of measures takes effect, once we weaken the connection between the populace and the gods from multiple facets...how will the gods be affected? In losing so much faith support, will they truly not perish?"

Faced with the gray elf leader’s inquiry, Gawain’s expression became solemn.

He wasn’t surprised by this doubt—the tribal country of Augari has always been a nation that highly values tradition, and they have unique belief activities that deeply influence their society. Among the towering mountains of the tribal country, many different races believe in various gods, including several of the main deities of the continent as well as their own wilderness deities. The people of this country have a deep connection with their gods, different from those of other places, so the gray elf leader will undoubtedly have some doubts facing Gawain’s series of "theocracy reform plans".

"They will not perish—I can guarantee that," Gawain said solemnly to Venna Baizhi, looking into her eyes, "Unless in the early stages where thoughts aren’t fully formed and the spiritual body is unstable, a normal deity, which has accepted long-term worship from believers and can deliver miracles, will not perish after the chains of faith are broken. Once they are formed, they establish a stable self-cycle, and their power is controlled without continuous dissipation. Even if the faith connection is interrupted, they will only stop growing or undergo some degree of decline—this is better than descending into madness or a godly apocalypse."

Venna Baizhi couldn’t help but ask: "Has this been confirmed?"

Confirmed... what counts as confirmation... Anyway, the big white deer in the backyard has been surfing the internet joyfully every day, more energetic by the day. According to a report from a few days ago, there might even be a goddess sneaking internet access in the backyard—that funeral for that sister was half a year ago, and now she competes for the remote with the God of Nature every day, not looking like she’s going to die...

However, such evidence obviously cannot be disclosed at this moment. Even though it’s all true, revealing it would quickly reduce the seriousness of the entire meeting and even the credibility of all previous data. Gawain could only think about it, maintaining a solemn expression on his face: "There is observable evidence, but at this stage, it cannot be made public."

Venna Baizhi looked at Gawain, letting out a gentle sigh after a few seconds and relaxing her expression as she sat back down in her chair: "I understand. But I hope to find more empirical evidence in the shared material later."

Gawain nodded, his gaze sweeping across the entire room: "The significance of the theocracy Authority Council is no less than that of our newly established Commonwealth Alliance. It requires close cooperation from all member states, the sharing of knowledge and technology, investment from all countries, and the establishment of a united front equivalent to a ’joint surveillance circle’. However, unlike establishing the circumcontinental route, we are unlikely to see immediate economic or political benefits—of course, those benefits will appear sooner or later, but this is not the fundamental purpose of the theocracy Authority Council.

"The greatest benefit it brings us is ’survival’ itself.

"Making a decision is not easy. Next, everyone will have ample opportunity to speak, whether in favor, against, or with questions. Everyone can speak freely. I only wish for one thing: under the solemn flags of each country, let us not hold anything back."

...

In the chaotic and gloomy defied Fortress Courtyard, the light and shadow cast by the Magic Web Terminal reflected off the faint white radiance of Amoen, the Giant Stag, creating a realm that wasn’t bright but was reassuring in this dark and somber place.

Enveloped in a cloud of Magic Power, the Goddess of Magic watched intently the magical shadow drama on the holographic projection until the music started and the credits rolled. She couldn’t help but mutter softly: "Why does the mage apprentice have to die in the end... the scriptwriter is really heartless..."

Next to her, Amoen, with eyes closed in meditation, ignored this former deity who had just binge-watched four magical shadow dramas. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and casually remarked: "What do you think they’re discussing now?"

The Goddess of Magic didn’t react at first: "They? Who? Those craftsmen from the last drama?"

"...Pull your mind out from the magical shadow dramas, lady. They’re about to rot away," Amoen sighed, "I meant that meeting—aren’t you curious about what topics they’ll discuss in the end?"

The Goddess of Magic turned her head, her eyes filled with arcane light slightly narrowed, and after a moment, she chuckled lightly: "You’ve been away from the material world for three thousand years and still can’t move on from the children?"

"Elves can live a long time; some children might still be alive... but this world has changed into a form they can no longer adapt to, and after this meeting, its changes will accelerate," Amoen said slowly, his gaze falling on the Goddess of Magic, "Have you really let go of it all without care? Even if most of the world is just your superficial believers and general followers..."

"I’m not concerned. They killed off the mage apprentice... my poor Ravencrest..."

"...Don’t blame the scriptwriters; it’s based on a true story. You should read the preface synopsis."

"I know, which makes me even more upset..."

The courtyard fell silent for a moment, with a few seconds of quiet before Amoen’s voice broke the silence: "Actually, I’ve always wanted to say, haven’t you noticed your humanity... ’awakening’ more rapidly recently? You now think almost like a mortal, your emotions so vivid. While this may be a good thing, it’s... not the pace you initially expected."