A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 551 Surviving a Great Calamity Means Enhancement

The sorcerer monk did not die; on the contrary, he obtained what he wanted. Although the Mother Goddess remained blind and not fully awakened, the power emanating from her sensed Rorschach's intentions.

Ultimately, it accepted Gregory, who had leaped into the mutated black sphere; this brave child deserved his mother's love. All the power corrupted by the Mother Goddess that could be preserved was poured into the acolyte, and the remaining energy was constricted in an attempt to protect Hench, who had been forced in.

Gregory emerged from the "alchemy furnace" looking much larger. His body had been reshaped and was in a state of violent equilibrium. If assessed using Rorschach's medical knowledge from his previous life, he would have been found to be in a state of severe cancer. However, these genetic and cellular mutations did not affect him.

This is a consequence of the Big Bang, but also a wonderful state that allows one to approach the Earth Mother, gain power, and receive her attention. In short, for Gregory, it's clearly a positive buff. Now, this demonic monk has become the most powerful gracious recipient of divine favor in the world.

Gregory, having survived, immediately left with Hench.

Because of Rorschach's clone exploding, his soul returning to the border, and dealing with Richard's affairs, Gregory had already made his escape by the time Rorschach's main body and the surrounding archmages entered the explosion zone. However, conversely, the demon monk also didn't realize that such a tremendous explosion was not a self-destruction of the main body; he also thought Rorschach was dead.

Upon seeing the sorcerer monk again, the emperor still showed no kindness, coldly staring at the visitor.

Stop.

"Stop!"

The first voice came from William, and the second from the guards who spoke in their own voice. Thus Gregory was silenced and stopped outside the main hall.

The monk didn't take it to heart. He bowed very earnestly to the young man on the throne: "Your Majesty, you are truly a monarch with a heart as vast as the sea. Please forgive my rudeness last time."

The Second Emperor snorted coldly: "But you, you dare to show your face again." As soon as the emperor said this, the guards surrounding Gregory immediately moved their bayonets closer to the monk.

"I have simply come as promised to answer your questions. As for the truth or falsehood, I trust that a wise ruler like you can make your own judgment."

These words struck a chord with William, and his expression softened: "Was the final destruction related to the mage?"

Gregory grinned. "No. It's all the power of the Mother Goddess."

"Did you destroy the entire city?"

"No, it's General Iltsov. He's from the North and has barbarian guards. In recent years, with the Mother Goddess's return, they've discovered the true deity to which the ancient beliefs passed down from their ancestors truly point."

"In order to defend the city, the general chose to pray to the Great Mother, but he did not know how to restrain himself and asked for too much."

"If it were merely to save Oward from the Valois, perhaps none of your people would have been sacrificed. Unfortunately, he wanted too much: power, status, and immortality."

He fulfilled his duties as a monk by speaking loudly outside the hall, a conversation that could be heard throughout the palace. Fortunately, by this time, Wilhelm II had already driven away all those he distrusted.

Finally, the conversation returned to how this could compensate for Wilhelm II's physical shortcomings. Here, the proud emperor rebuked Gregory for the second time: "Enough! I hate these fallacies and heresies."

The emperor waved his hand: "I just want to know if this flawed ritual can be performed again by the empire's enemies?"

Gregory hadn't expected this line of thinking: "It's hard to say. The power of the Great Mother is all-encompassing, and the consequences of a wrong ritual will be unpredictable. But it certainly can, Your Majesty."

The emperor's courtier was startled: "Your Majesty, we have learned the truth of the matter from various sources, and it is time to stop here." He said to Gregory's face, "The Mother Goddess and her followers are enemies of the empire and enemies of civilization. Look at the disasters they will bring! I beg Your Majesty not to associate with such people anymore."

"To your courtiers, allow me to speak boldly." Gregory bowed again to the emperor: "The gods of old have vanished, the Lord of Order is silent, and the old empire has crumbled."

"Your Majesty's new empire is right and great in breaking superstitions, recognizing the changes of the times and expelling the church, but only if the gods are truly far removed from the world."

"Now that the Mother Goddess has returned, why can't the Empire adapt to the times and change again? Blindly being hostile is not a wise choice. On the contrary, saying that the Mother Goddess is evil is just propaganda by enemy countries and magic guilds. They are afraid that another country will receive the protection of the gods, and that your country, like the old empire, will have the support of powerful gods and sweep across the entire continent."

The emperor's close advisors immediately retorted, "You're talking nonsense! Killing tens of thousands of people—isn't that evil enough?"

"Your Majesty, how can there be such fools around you, judging gods by the standards of mortals?" Gregory asked, his expression showing doubt and surprise, before shouting to the people in the main hall:

"When God unleashes His wrath and destroys a city, it is merely a trivial matter of His power."

"It is common knowledge that God, who claims to be the Lord of Light and Order, sent down heavenly fire to destroy cities and turned the guilty and the innocent into pillars of salt in the past. But His protected people have won one victory after another. His believers regard these things as miracles to be proud of, record them, sing praises to Him, and worship Him."

"The ancient god of the sky and thunder was licentious and capricious. His followers and those who sang myths argued: 'That's how gods are when they come out of nature! Gods are like the sky, with rain and storms, sunshine and thunder.' These singers, poets and playwrights who yearned for the ancient times were able to forgive Him and glorify Him."

"Now, a true god, about to descend upon the world, has begun to display his power, yet you fool, misled by enemies and spellcasters, by those who hate God, dare to slander and belittle Him!"

When Gregory rebuked him, he was furious, his greasy, dark curly hair standing on end. He spoke with righteous indignation and displayed an imposing manner, which made the courtiers who had been admonishing Wilhelm II weak and forced them to take their leave.

"I apologize, Your Majesty, please forgive my defeat." Gregory also stopped his disheveled appearance and feigned an apology to the emperor again.

The emperor stared at the monk for a while, then suddenly said, "Come in."

The empire is currently experiencing its most difficult winter in recent years.

The mages of the Forest Tower received reports from Rorschach and others, including themselves, that traces of cult activities were found throughout the Empire, particularly in the use of methods akin to contamination to increase crop yields.

Because the Imperial Army requisitioned grain, these contaminated grains were collected on a large scale. The mages quickly implemented screening and purification measures, attempting to reduce the risk through various methods.

During this period, some grain was inevitably "decontaminated," and the empire's solution was to requisition grain from production areas where no contamination was detected.

Immediately, discontent arose in the countryside, and life became difficult for urban residents as well. Oward's disappearance caused widespread panic, and the stock market and other markets suffered heavy losses in the ensuing shock.

Media outlets unearthed fragments of the truth behind the Oward disaster, bringing unprecedented attention to the Earth Mother and her followers within the Empire and linking it to the attacks on the Imperial Parliament and the Imperial Palace several years prior. News from Byrne revealed to the Imperial populace that this evil god and her followers had also been active in Valois and Istani, where they had all suffered harm.

There have been numerous calls among the empires to end the war with the Republic and to focus their efforts as soon as possible on postwar reconstruction and addressing the threat of cult worship.

However, the motion submitted by Parliament was rejected by the Royal Palace.

(End of this chapter)