The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 409 Miracle Guidance Ritual
Divine revelation?
The way the people present looked at Wick changed; their eyes held both expectation and fear.

Over the past decade or so, they have held many meetings and discussed how to trigger miracles, but in each discussion, they have intentionally or unintentionally avoided the word "god".

They both hoped that the gods would once again favor this land, yet they feared that their expectations would be dashed and their dreams would be shattered.

After all, gods haven't appeared in the Kingdom of Mikel for far too long.

Now that Wick has brought up the word "god" and even said that he has received divine revelation, it's clear that Wick is serious this time.

But matters concerning the divine will not be of any use simply because mortals are earnest.

Wick understood what everyone was thinking, because for most of the years he had thought the same way.

“A few days ago, I went back to the capital to see my friends there one last time. As former believers, we had a final prayer, and during the prayer, more than twenty people, including myself, received divine revelation.”

"The gods told us that they wanted to return to this world, but due to the decline of faith, our faith could not support them in sending down miracles."

"Therefore, he needs us to hold a ceremony for him. As long as the ceremony can be completed, he will perform a great miracle comparable to the first miracle, and may even arrange for a god to descend in person."

Han, who was drinking water, choked on Wick's words and began to cough violently while holding onto the table.

His face was flushed from coughing, and the sound of his coughing echoed in the empty temple, as if making the entire building tremble.

Several elderly people couldn't help but glance sideways, fearing that Han Er might not catch his breath and pass out.

The coughing continued for two or three minutes before stopping. He patted his chest to catch his breath and apologized to Wick.

"I'm sorry, this news is so shocking, I'm a little taken aback."

Wick shook his head and said, "It's my fault. We're all getting on in years. We should have given you some time to adjust."

"It just happened so suddenly that I couldn't wait any longer and told you all about it directly."

Hanl lowered his head and wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, while concealing the complex expression on his face.

Before they parted, Wu Changgang told him that the extraordinary would not disappear easily, and that the believers of the gods were the sparks of the extraordinary rekindling. As a result, he ran into them as soon as he stepped out the door. It was as if what he said came true.

As he composed himself and adjusted his expression, Wick continued to talk about his plans.

"The ceremony will be held in Selina, but I am not the one who initiated it. I bet you would never guess who it is."

Wick's words piqued everyone's interest, and they began to speculate about who had initiated the ceremony.

Located in the capital, known to Wick, and connected to religious beliefs.

Their guesses pointed to the president of the Royal City branch of the Spirit Medicine Cult, the Extraordinary Alliance, or some nobles who had once possessed extraordinary power.

Faced with everyone's speculation, Wick wore a mysterious smile and kept shaking his head in denial.

Seeing that no one could guess the outcome, he slowly said:
"The initiator was the president of the Mathematics Association, Thompson."

hiss~
The people in the room gasped at the same time. Even if they had to guess a hundred times, they would never have guessed that Thompson was the initiator.

"Why would the president of the mathematics association initiate a miracle ritual?"

Unlike other people who turned their backs on their beliefs, the Mathematical Society had been questioning the existence of God for thirty years, before the miracles ceased.

However, at that time, the Mathematical Association was insignificant in the Kingdom of Mikel. The major churches were all preoccupied with how to induce miracles and had no time to pay attention to them.

When Eileen shattered the first miracle, and people began to doubt miracles and gods because the miracles were no longer available, the Mathematics Association, which had previously questioned the existence of gods, became people's "new faith".

Riding the wave of skepticism surrounding the miracle, the Mathematics Association quickly rose to become the most prestigious organization in the Kingdom of Mikel, leading the kingdom's development.

In particular, the president of the Mathematical Society, Thompson, has a very wide range of research areas and has made achievements in many fields outside of mathematics.

Many inventions that amazed Hanl and were considered to have propelled the development of the Mikel Kingdom came from Thompson.

It could even be said that Hanl's belief that the absence of superhumans was better for the Mikel Kingdom was largely due to Thompson.

Compared to the others, Hanl felt a sense of absurdity in addition to surprise when he heard the name.

It's ironic that the guy who made him determined to guard the tomb of the Extraordinary is now going to dig the Extraordinary out of his coffin himself.

Seeing everyone's surprise, Wick said, "Actually, it's quite easy to understand."

"In mathematics and various research fields, Thompson has gone further than anyone else. The higher one stands, the more one can recognize one's own limits."

"The deeper his study of mathematics went, the more problems stumped him. He found that the patterns he had previously summarized would contradict themselves in the face of new problems."

"He could not believe that contradictory rules could be perfectly combined. After trying countless methods and failing to make his theory self-consistent, he began to believe that there was a god in the world who used His power to forcibly combine these contradictory rules."

After hearing this, everyone fell silent. Their silence was not due to thinking, but simply because they could not understand.

He couldn't understand the math, nor could he understand what Wick was saying.

Wick realized that discussing Thompson's emotional journey with the others present was somewhat unnecessary, so he sighed and said:

"You can understand it as him encountering a problem that only a god can solve, so he chooses to believe in the existence of a god."

A look of realization dawned on everyone's faces; now they understood.

A problem that only gods can solve—isn't that a miracle?

Wick didn't explain, and continued:
"Thompson had begun collecting information some time ago in an attempt to prove the authenticity of the miracle. After receiving divine revelation on the night of the final prayer, he became even more convinced of the existence of God and planned this ritual."

"With Thompson as the initiator and several extraordinary individuals from the capital cooperating, they will transport a large number of believers and tourists to Serina under the pretext of academic and historical research. They are expected to arrive in seven to ten days."

"If we can make good use of the faith of these people and bring down miracles from the gods, and then have them return to the capital as witnesses to these miracles and spread their stories of what they saw in Serina, the restoration of Serina's glory will be just around the corner."

After Wick finished speaking, everyone in the room became excited. They rubbed their hands together, eager for the group of believers from the capital to arrive that very night.

Han was the only one who couldn't be happy. He asked:

“Archbishop Wick, what do we need to do to trigger a miracle after those believers arrive?”

Wick said, "We just need to gather the believers, and once they arrive in the Holy City, the gods will naturally bestow new revelations."

Everyone's attention was completely drawn to Wick's plan, and they were eager to return to reunite the believers, having no intention of continuing the meeting.

Seeing this, Wick arranged for a carriage to take everyone back.

Hanl dismounted from the carriage and, with the help of the coachman, returned to the Church of Everlasting Light.

He gazed at the statue of Eileen inside the church, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

What should he do?

The question is whether to prevent the miracle from being released, or, like Thompson, welcome its return.

Should he tell Wu Chang and Eileen about Wick's divine revelation?

After much deliberation, he decided not to tell Wu Chang about it for the time being.

Wu Chang promised him that he would not allow the miracle to repeat itself, largely because of the ruin of Serena and the decline of the extraordinary.

He also remembered that when Wu Chang and Eileen first left the plane, the survivors who witnessed the miracle of the falling moon were all goddesses who had shattered the falling moon with their pure faith.

They didn't know Eileen's name, nor did they know what to name the sect they were forming for her.

Suddenly one day, all the believers of Eileen simultaneously felt the call of the gods and knew that Eileen's name was the Light of Eternity, and that the sect that believed in Eileen should be called the Eternal Light Sect. This is how the formal Eternal Light Sect came into being.

Eileen needs faith; if she didn't, there would be no need to create a religion through divine revelation.

If a large number of believers flood into Serina, and other gods also have their eyes on this place, he worries that Wu Chang might strike first, send down miracles, and seize the faith.

Hanl snapped out of his daze and stretched his legs, which ached from standing for so long.

He planned to handle the matter himself first, and if he was sure he couldn't stop Wick, he would then inform Wu Chang before Wick succeeded.

If the extraordinary are destined to revive, he would prefer Eileen to become the faith of the Kingdom of Mikel rather than an unknown alien god.

First, gather the believers and see what Wick is up to.

Seven days have passed in the blink of an eye. Today marks the tenth day since Wu Chang and Eileen returned to the Midnight Graveyard dimension.

Inside the inner world hall, three layers of white paper covered with runes had been laid out on the floor. Wu Chang had previously simply lacked interest in mysticism, but when he truly wanted to study it, with his mastery of mysticism and the blessing of the Eye of Breaking the Law, coupled with his 196 points of inspiration, his research progress was far faster than he had imagined.

After replicating Xavier's mystical powerhouse runes, he mastered all the knowledge within them in less than two days.

Having mastered Xavier's research on mysticism, his mystical power increased significantly, making it much easier to study the mystical arrays used by Lyman.

We spent two days reproducing the image and two days studying it.

Last night, he had completely mastered the array used by Lyman when he possessed the esoteric master, and attempted to use mysticism to reproduce the esoteric master's array.

Just now, in the early morning of the tenth day after entering the plane, he completed the reproduction of the ability used by Lyman.

He further expanded the inner world within the building, adding a separate space for experimenting with abilities.

As he channeled energy into "Mystical Mastery," the mystical power within him was activated, and countless mystical runes composed of pale purple energy spread out from him.

He expanded the runes to a radius of three meters, then stopped expanding outwards and instead gathered them upwards, forming a semi-circular space similar to a spatial domain.

Within the semi-circular space, the entire area was his magic circle. He didn't need to condense any mystical runes; as long as he had a thought, the corresponding attack would appear in the air.

"ice!"

As he gave the command, a cold wind rose in the space, and the temperature dropped sharply, just like when Leng Shan used the power of the source.

"Light!"

The space changes from cold to warm in an instant.

"Demon-Slaying Crossbow Bolts".

The warmth and light vanished, and dozens of tiny demon-slaying crossbow bolts appeared behind Wu Chang, each bolt carrying magic power that could directly attack the source of existence.

This is the basic application method of his mystical space at this stage. All the root forces related to mysticism can be simulated by his ability.

The only drawback is that the simulated source power must be something he has personally witnessed, and it can only be a pure elemental ability.

The source of Phantom's speed, the source of God's Tongue's gourmet food, and the source of Sword Star's swordsmanship cannot be simulated by the power of mystical sources.

Even if he can simulate power, he can only simulate one ability at a time.

In addition to basic application methods, he also learned an extreme use method from Lyman.

He stretched out his right hand, clenched his fist tightly, and the mystical runes in the domain ignited, the violent mystical energy filling all the space within the domain.

Within the occult array, not only is spatial magic rendered ineffective, but even the escape items from the Abyss game's dungeons become unusable under the raging occult power.

Lyman originally intended to use this tactic to self-destruct with him.

Using the extreme and violent power of the source to forcibly seal the space within the domain, this advanced method of using the source power was something Wu Chang could not comprehend on his own in a short time unless he had witnessed Lyman using it firsthand.

Not only did he bestow authority and divine power, but he also personally demonstrated how to use the power of origin.

What is a one-stop service? This is a one-stop service!

Wu Chang waved his hand to dispel the mystical field that was about to self-destruct and came to Eileen's side.

In ten days, Eileen also completed the basic communication with the Eternal Lake. When using the Sword of Honor and Order, she was able to merge her own power of order with the power of order in the Eternal Lake, increasing the effect of her skills.

Moreover, she has some insights into the effect of "slaying those who disrupt order while repairing some of the damaged order," but unfortunately, she has not had the opportunity to try it out yet.

Eileen looked at Wu Chang and said, "You look very tired."

Wu Chang yawned. Ten consecutive days of high-intensity, sleepless simulations had taken a huge toll on his mental and physical strength, and even he couldn't keep going.

He rubbed his eyes and said, "All I want to do right now is get a good night's sleep."

Eileen looked at Wu Chang, wanting to do something for him, but the exhaustion in her heart could not be healed by light magic.

After a brief hesitation, she said, "I've heard that lap pillows can relieve fatigue, but I'm not sure if they work."

“Effective!” Wu Chang replied without hesitation.

It's obvious that Eileen must have learned this knowledge from watching Sakurajima's anime.

Regarding this kind of misleading and useless knowledge that is entirely designed to satisfy the fantasies of otaku, Wu Chang only has four words to say: It's useful, so come more of it.

He rested his head on Eileen's lap and slowly drifted off to sleep as she gently stroked his head. When he woke up, it was already dark.

This sleep was very long, lasting from the early hours of the morning until evening.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he met Eileen's gaze.

Eileen asked, "Has the fatigue eased?"

Wu Chang gave a thumbs up, "Of course!"

He reluctantly sat up, recalling the sensations he had felt earlier, and wondered if he should go back to sleep.

Eileen suddenly said, "Han came by once at noon and left some things outside."

"He seemed preoccupied when he left these things. Do you want to see what he left behind?"

Rewinding to noon, while Wu Chang was immersed in a sweet dream brought on by his lap pillow, Han Er, who had left Wu Chang food and a note, boarded Wick's carriage and headed to the Church of the Elixir.

The believers from the capital of the Kingdom of Mikel will arrive in Serina this afternoon. They must prepare in advance for the midnight guiding ceremony.

As with previous meetings, the five survivors who had witnessed the miracle sat in the church hall, discussing their next move.

Unlike before, perhaps because a miracle was about to occur, Wick, who looked so old that he seemed on the verge of death, showed a kind of excitement as if he were about to die.

He addressed the five men in a resounding voice:

"Everyone has witnessed the decline of Serina over the years."

"No matter what happens, I will not leave Serena. Even if it means selling off a large amount of my property, I will protect the last embers of the Serena faith."

"In many people's eyes, I'm crazy."

Wick's voice grew louder, emitting a deep growl:
“My family, my friends, my servants, and even some people in the United Council all think I’m crazy!”

Everyone present quickly offered words of comfort and pledged their loyalty.

“Archbishop Wick, please don’t think that way. We are all old guys who have witnessed miracles. No one will doubt your piety.”

"Yes, those who think you're crazy are just too shallow."

"Archbishop Wick, don't take those people to heart. When God returns, He will punish those who have turned their backs on their faith!"

Even Hanl joined in with a few words of advice, saying:
"Gods can hear our prayers, so why argue with the unbelievers?"

Although Hanl did not support Wick's approach of wanting to completely bury the supernatural power, he had great respect for Wick.

This wasn't because of the monthly religious support money Wick gave him, but because he saw in Wick a steadfast commitment to his faith that had lasted for thirty years.

That kind of purity and steadfastness only existed in an era before miracles disappeared.

Wick coughed heavily twice, then struggled to open his droopy eyelids and said forcefully:
"I'm not doubting you. I'm saying this simply to let you know that I'm not crazy!"

"I've persevered all this time, waiting for an opportunity, and now, that opportunity has arrived!"

As Wick's voice rang out, the temperature inside the temple began to rise. Hanl turned around in the direction of the heat and discovered that a huge brazier had been placed in the center of the temple sometime earlier.

No one lit the fire, yet the flames in the brazier ignited on their own.

In the flickering flames, Hanl could vaguely see an eye.

The eye formed by flames was a symbol that all five people present were very familiar with.

It represents the light of the soul of the creator god. Before the miracles disappeared, a religion called the Soul Light Cult used it as its symbol.

(End of this chapter)