A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 289 The War and Descent of the Gods in the Painting

At the end of Harold Avenue, the Upside-Down Church, like a ballerina, rises from its highest spire, the entire building inverted. Its base clings firmly to the dome of the cavernous space, like a giant, white stalactite.

"How do we get up there?" The dwarf strained his neck, as if there was no way to climb to the entrance.

Freddie pointed to the spire window, where a dilapidated wooden plank ladder window drooped down from above.

It was clearly too heavy for four people, even though Little Coal Ball was barely half an adult. Just to be safe, Rorschach cast [Levitation] on everyone, and they floated, using their hands to pull themselves up along the rope.

Rorschach suddenly wondered if spacewalking felt like this.

Contrary to Rorschach's expectations, the interior lacked any anti-gravity or inversion. The clock was tilted to one side, broken and rusted. Fortunately, the spiral staircase inside the spire was a single-level structure, meaning its base was now flipped up for people to walk on.

There were clearly people here; an oil lamp hung from the top of the tower (originally the base), burning and emitting a pleasant aroma of oil.

Singrev twitched his large nose: "It's whale oil. And it's high-quality stuff, otherwise it would smell awful." His hometown is full of whale-derived products, so he has a lot to say about it.

"Won't the door be quite a distance from the current floor when it opens? Be careful not to fall flat on your face." When they climbed to the main structure and were about to leave the clock tower, the poet remembered that the ceiling used to be the current floor and reminded them.

However, he was overthinking it. There was a wooden ramp right outside the door, and he carefully stepped on it to land smoothly.

The church rooms and corridors were complex, but the rest of the room was dark except for one path lit by identical oil lamps, which seemed to be guiding visitors.

"It's eerie, just like the tombs I've explored before."

Indeed, the atmosphere was similar to that of a tomb raider. From Rorschach's perspective with his Darkvision, he saw that the unlit areas were extremely dilapidated, with the remains of wooden furniture and lamps scattered all over the ground. This meant that the church was likely originally normal, but after being suddenly turned upside down, all the furnishings were destroyed. There were also piles of excrement, and when a gust of wind blew by, a foul stench wafted through the air.

"This is their territory," Little Coal Ball announced after communicating with his "subordinates," implying that the accumulated droppings came from bats.

They followed the path indicated by the oil lamp, with Singhlev, being more cautious, walking in front. He kept his gun at the ready, and whenever they encountered a door, he would press the muzzle of his gun against it to open it, so that if anything dirty happened, it would be shot hot immediately.

Freddie, however, believed he didn't need to follow the same path as Singhlev. His theory was that anyone who could stay in a haunted place like the Upside-Down Church couldn't be a normal person, and firearms were probably useless there. He found the exploding doll more terrifying and insisted on using the fire poker as a walking stick.

"There's a painting! We've arrived at the main hall!" The poet was delighted to see the art, even though it was trampled underfoot by them.

Fortunately, the ceiling inside the church is not a vault, which shows that Istani has its own architectural style, but what remains unchanged is the frescoes to be painted on the ceiling of the main hall.

The place where they stood was depicted as a lush island, and the main characters were elves. They were dressed simply, and their decorations were mostly natural elements such as grass, leaves, and flowers. Among them was a tall and beautiful elf, who propped her head up with one hand, half-sitting and half-lying in the canopy of a giant tree, receiving the worship of the other elves.

Humans also live on this land, and their clothes are simpler than those of the elves. There are scenes of elves sharing food with humans, suggesting a good relationship.

As they walked, the scene depicted in the oil painting changed. A wooden boat with upturned corners docked, and a short, humanoid creature dressed in animal skins charged towards the settlement, brandishing axes and hammers, raising thick smoke wherever it went. However, the smoke and fire did not reach the giant tree. At this moment, the worshipped elf closed his eyes, seemingly dozing, and could not hear the cries of the people below.

"Looks like the dwarves are the villains here, aren't they?" Freddy, always eager for drama, whistled at Singlev. "Maybe your ancestors are even in there."

Singhlev was completely unconcerned: "Anyway, we love peace now. The recent war was to fight you Istany people for fishing grounds. We didn't even want the land, and in the end, we didn't even fight." This embarrassing incident involving the royal navy obviously didn't make the news, and Freddy just thought Singhlev was talking nonsense.

The images of the two sides in the war change in the picture. They evolve from wearing coarse cloth clothes and animal skins to wearing armor, and swords, shields and bows and arrows come onto the stage. You can also see dwarves pulling out strange creations, while the elves wave branches and summon giant trees. There are also large animals such as bears joining the battle, and there are even flying dragons with reins in the sky.

Still asleep, still asleep. By this time, the giant tree had grown so tall that it pierced the clouds, and the great elf seemed to be lying on the clouds, unable to see below.

The smoke of battle continued to rise, but the enemy had changed. Some humans, clad in better armor, joined the ranks, along with cavalrymen wielding lances in one hand and scriptures in the other, their armor gleaming with gold. The human ranks were primarily composed of soldiers from the old empire and members of the Church of Light and Order, while at the rear were groups of scantily clad human slaves, and mixed in with those carrying staffs and dressed in bizarre costumes.

"Look who's here!" Now the dwarf got his revenge, asking the poet a question he already knew the answer to.

Freddy shook his head: "Maybe my ancestors were pure Istanya natives."

The oil painting tells a strong story, and even the taciturn Little Coal Ball can understand it. Of course, she doesn't know that the people in the yellow and white paint around her represent the Church of Order.

The fallen furniture and broken chandelier were moved aside, and the group wondered what would happen next.

A grand battle unfolded, with an exceptionally large and sublime elf fighting against a giant of similar size, whose features were indistinct, only a blurry outline visible. Between them stood a slightly smaller woman with antlers and a melancholy expression. The elf did not attack either side. At their feet, countless tiny figures were also fighting, and others were performing sacrifices; offerings and the blood of warriors flowed across the earth.

There were also many unidentified winged creatures, some wielding heavenly fire and others controlling lightning, slaughtering dragons and other flying beasts in the sky.

The sky and earth were ablaze. Countless trees, their sides facing the Great Elf, grew wildly and twisted, while the sides within the gaze of the Lord of Order were engulfed in flames, their ends reduced to black charcoal. The earth cracked open, rivers surged, and the entire island was destroyed.

"This is painted so crudely." Singrev scoffed. The dwarf had already left the painting, and now he could comment without restraint. If the previous scenes were highly skilled realism, this one was a disastrous abstraction.

"Because it depicts a war of gods." Rorschach could easily guess that the giant golden man was the Lord of Order, and his opponent was probably Sylvanas, the chief god of the elves. Sylvanas was handsome, even in anger, he was charming, but his methods and tactics of attack were far inferior to those of the Lord of Order. It seems that after becoming a god, this guy ignored the elves below him, until the Lord of Order and the terrifying upright apes landed on the island and raided it.

As is well-known in history, the Lord of Order and His human empire triumph. Sylvanas reluctantly ascends to the clouds, while the Stag-Headed Goddess, who had not participated in the battle, is pierced by a spear of light, just as Rorschach saw in Delyuaz's dream.

The original forests and meadows have been transformed into towns, where the conquerors reside in grand and magnificent palaces, and the cathedral of the Lord of Order has risen from the ground.

The whips fell heavily on the conquered. These included not only elves and natives, but also human slaves who had migrated to the area.

They felt pain and despair. Strange altars began to be built in the seaside villages, and a new, great being descended upon the dark, murky sea.

(End of this chapter)