A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 552 The Local Faction and the Spaceship Faction

The destruction of Oward not only attracted widespread attention from ordinary people, but also prompted the Arcane Senate to hold countless special meetings.

Ground-to-Air Communication System - Senate Dedicated Line:

The white sphere representing the Tower of Light flickered, its brightness and size changing.

"The Church has confirmed that the unusual daylight was indeed the result of interference from the God of Light and Order. The power of Mother Earth enters an active period in the depths of winter, especially on the day of the disaster, when the God of Order used his power to suppress Mother Earth."

Feuerbach had always disliked gods, especially the Lord of Order: "Could it be those charlatans taking credit for it?"

The orb of light replied, "It can be basically confirmed that what the Church of Order said is true. It is said that the power of God descended through the Eternal City, which directly caused the Pope to bear too much divine power and die prematurely."

This is truly explosive news, but there's something even more shocking: "The College of Cardinals is currently engaged in fierce infighting before electing a new pope. Besides the rivalry between the peninsula's native faction and other regional factions, the biggest problem is the Valois Papacy, which is vying for supremacy with the Eternal City."

"There are cardinals who hope that the former bishop of Vincent de la Plessy in Vincent will be able to participate in the College of Cardinals election, thereby ending the schism in the Church."

The light from the orb focused on the phantom of Cano, then swept over Christian, the chief of the Storm Tower: "Sir in Valois, could you please convey the invitation to Mr. Deplesi for the priests of the Eternal City? At least six cardinals have pledged their support for him."

What's this? The church is splitting up, and they need us, the elders of the Arcane, to relay their message? To tell Deplesi—"If you return to the Eternal City, you will not lose your papacy?" Rorschach felt there was a lot of nonsense going on.

After discussing the church's affairs, it was Rorschach's turn to reflect on his actions. He realized he should have first ascertained the extent of the disaster and whether there were any survivors. "I deeply realize that my behavior was reckless and impulsive, and that I failed to properly understand the danger and complexity of the situation."

Kano was the only one listening attentively. He was a little annoyed to find that his two good apprentices had almost been blown to smithereens by the super-good apprentice's super explosion.

But the other mages were more concerned: "Mr. Rorschach, the Senate will accept your review, but could you please provide a more detailed report on the final explosion?"

So you've all got your eyes on magic now?

Rorschach nodded: "I will. It's a chain spell, the core of which is my self-created [Microscopic Decomposition Spell]. In short, this spell has already been made public to everyone by uploading it to the spell cloud."

The other mages were startled. But they hadn't logged in yet, otherwise they would have discovered that this spell required an extremely high amount of 100,000 points to exchange for, and the only way to obtain six-figure points was to upload a ninth-ring or higher spell that wasn't recorded in the Tree of Spells, and more than one at that.

It's roughly equivalent to saying, "Want my spells? Go earn points! I've uploaded all the spells in the world!"

It's a pity that Rorschach didn't usher in the era of cloud storage VIPs with speed limits through his mother's death.

After indulging in the magic, the elders returned to their seriousness: "Besides Overward being the focus that day, various disasters occurred all over the world. We have to face a common problem and prepare for the worst—the end of the world."

"Isn't it a bit late to start preparing now?" Cano refrained from spitting out a retort.

When Valois was in trouble, no one else reacted much. Even when Storm City in Istani was in turmoil, it was still not taken seriously enough. It wasn't until the whole world showed signs of collapse that everyone finally mustered up the energy to hold a meeting here to discuss the matter.

As the elders discussed countermeasures, a voice suddenly broke out: "Why not relocate to another dimension for refuge?"

This is the chief of the Dark Tower. The black sphere zooms in and out just like the white sphere when it speaks: "The prime plane is a plane surrounded by gods, blessed and cursed. It is indeed the center of the world and the hub of all realms, but it is also the center of disaster, isn't it?"

"Especially when interpreting the articles and doctrines of the underground cult, it is clear that the power of Mother Earth is manifested in the material plane, and that the earth beneath our feet is resurrected. So why can't we just walk away?"

The Storm Tower chief seriously considered the feasibility: "We are already carrying out the Starship program, and it is not impossible for a large-scale expedition to the Astral Plane now."

After breaking through the transmutation dust layer, the ability to leave the prime material plane is no longer from 0 to 1, but directly to at least 100.

For mages, as long as they can withstand harsh environments like laminar flow and ensure their spells don't fail, they can carry a lot of weight into the sky and can also expand and compress space. In addition, with shield and force field type magic, long-term, large-scale astral travel is entirely feasible.

"In the past, the gods were active in the astral and symbolic planes. For us, leaving the material plane was like feeding them fish. Now, the greatest threat comes from beneath our feet, with only a bunch of dead things imprisoning us above us. But now we have successfully broken through."

"Think about it carefully, without the constraints of gods, we can completely conquer other planes, even break through this universe, go to the realm beyond the realm, and completely get away from the threat of any mother goddess."

Some mages, however, cannot accept this idea at all. For example, in the Forest Tower, Kober emphasized that even with spatial magic, it is impossible to replicate or move the entire ecosystem with current technology. Their home is always the prime material plane.

What are the local faction and the spaceship faction? Rorschach felt like he'd wandered into the wrong movie set.

The chief of the Dark Tower warned, "Perhaps it's not just the Earth Mother Goddess, but many more gods are awakening. If we don't seize this window of opportunity, and if there are powerful enemies both beneath the earth and above the sky, we'll be trapped in the middle and truly doomed, just like the sauce in Rorschach bread."

"If you're not from anywhere else, how come this thing and that name have spread to other mage towers?" Rorschach wanted to complain but couldn't bring himself to do so on such a serious topic, and he felt terrible holding it in.

Ultimately, the Senate opted for a compromise—to suppress the activities of the Mother Earth's followers with all its might and to accelerate the progress of the Starship program.

"There's one more thing," the leader of the Dark Tower added before the meeting adjourned, unusually talkative today for some reason: "Remember to investigate your tower members and guild members. If the gods become active again, there might be spellcasters bowing to them, perhaps even among us."

Having already helped two laid-off gods find new jobs, Rorschach didn't feel targeted at all. He requested a private conversation with Kano: "What does 'Master of the Last Dark Tower' mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing, he was just trying to disgust someone." Although he couldn't see Kano's expression on the other end of the communicator, he could imagine it was full of mockery: "Don't you think one of us knows a lot about the church's inner workings? The Tower of Light, the Tower of Light, where is it most likely to be?"

The great bell of the Eternal City rang three times. It was past noon, so it should be exactly three o'clock in the afternoon.

In the Sistine Chapel, a church where the College of Cardinals often held meetings, there were many rooms, some of which were chapels reserved for important figures, while the purpose of some rooms was no longer known.

An elderly man emerged from an unnamed room and strolled through the labyrinthine corridors of the St. Sistine Chapel.

"We've finally found you! The other cardinals are all waiting for you." The young priest, who was in charge of notifying the archbishops of the meeting, had to sprint across the expensive carpet to catch up with the old man.

"Please convey my message: my opinion remains unchanged: the College of Cardinals' election is only meaningful if Duplessie is present. Vignon is still illuminated by the glory of the Lord of Order; they have not forsaken God, nor has God forsaken them. So who is wrong?"

After speaking, the old man continued walking down the corridor. The priest wanted to chase after him to offer further advice, but found that he couldn't catch up with him no matter what he did. The old man's pace was not fast, but in the blink of an eye, he disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

The cardinals' red robes were quite similar to those of the archmage.

(End of this chapter)