Chapter 468: Environmental Change, Holy Kingdom of Light

"Can the mages guide these void energies back into the Void?"

A scholar from the Sky Mechanical City posed this question to his peers. The reason this massive void anomaly had gone undetected until now was that it existed entirely within this region; the surrounding environment had not undergone any gradual process of change.

Although they knew the Utopia organization had caused some form of fusion between the nearby Void and the material world, they had largely assumed this peculiar environment was merely a byproduct of Utopia's presence.

Yet now, even though Utopia had fully retreated into the Void, this anomalous region remained within the material world. Clearly, such a phenomenon was not intended to be temporary.

"No. What mages can do is guide the overflowing void energy back into the Void, but they cannot force the material world to invade the void realm in reverse. However, according to the mages' current investigation, this anomalous region is, without a doubt, 'normal'."

"The environment of this area has been permanently altered. This environment, with its higher concentration of void energy compared to the surrounding regions, is stable and capable of long-term existence. The material world will not reject these void energies because, in essence, they exist in a state of fusion."

The response from the Sky Mechanical City reached the scholar, informing him that the mages lacked the ability to eliminate this void anomaly because, fundamentally, it was entirely "normal."

"The anomaly of these void energies is not one-sided. In fact, the mages examined the shallow layers of the Void here. Within the Void, the energy concentration should have been far higher than in this range, but within the mages' limited scope of observation, the void energy here has already converged to a level similar to that of the external region."

More analytical results were relayed to the scholar. Naturally, this information would not be analyzed by him alone; these findings regarding Utopia's actions would be distributed to all the academic societies atop the Sky Mechanical City and the Five-Race Alliance, leaving it to these entities to speculate on Utopia's motives.

"It has influenced not only the material world but also the void realm. Such a bidirectional capacity for transformation is surely beyond what our mages can currently achieve. Aside from the power of gods, the only precedent would be that 'Morning Star,' wouldn't it?"

"But whether it is the power of gods or the 'Morning Star'—a thing that changed the entire world—neither is easily achieved. Utopia would never pointlessly create this 'wedge' driven between the material world and the Void."

"In the absence of further intelligence, we might as well make a bold assumption: Utopia's goal is to reshape the environment and create these 'nodes.' As for their purpose, that is a question we must accelerate our research to answer."

This information was quickly accepted, summarized after rapid discussion, and finally fed back, leading to a preliminary inference regarding Utopia's motives and goals based on this phenomenon.

The uniqueness of these "nodes" and the ability to observe the Void on a larger scale were the problems the Five-Race Alliance had to solve at this stage. At that moment, scholars atop the Sky Mechanical City and within the Five-Race Alliance began working tirelessly on void research, never more desperate to understand this realm that had existed for who knows how many years.

"The only good news is the latest intelligence from the Nightfall Church. The god of night they worship can warn us of Utopia's appearance in advance. Although the lead time is very short, it is certainly better than nothing."

The scholars exchanged current intelligence, realizing that only this information from the Nightfall Church could be considered good; everything else was either bad news or remained entirely unresolved.

"We cannot simply sit and wait for Utopia to appear and attack us from who knows where. They are the ones setting the questions, and as the ones answering, we must take the initiative to solve them. We do have certain means to deal with the Void's sudden invasion of the material world; we must extend these measures across the continent as much as possible."

"Also, during the final stage of infiltrating the Void, Utopia launched a large-scale mental attack. For some reason, mental defenses were useless against it. It was only the intervention of the Church of the Light that helped the mages withstand the assault."

"We need to collect more information about this special mental attack from those who have endured it. If we have no means of countering it, this will likely become a grave threat."

"Understood. There is simply too much to handle at once. It is truly a mess."

"There is no other way. If the enemy never appears, that would be best, but if they do emerge, we must eliminate them at any cost. At least for now, it is only a nuisance; we have not yet reached a point where there is no hope of a solution."

"True."

……

On the continent, in the regions inhabited by human kingdoms, the Church of the Light's theocracy, a white-haired young man walked through the kingdom where the faith in the God of Light was most prevalent.

"Truly prosperous. It is far better than most kingdoms of this era. Is it because of the protection of that god's power? I suppose so. After all, this was the one who, driven by an astonishing number of prayers, once charged into the depths of the Void to slaughter two dozen void evil gods."

He cast his gaze casually over the various sights along the streets of the theocracy, slightly altering his facial features; the white-haired youth did not worry that anyone would discover or recognize him.

Seemingly without any particular purpose, he walked aimlessly, observing everything in this theocracy of the God of Light, occasionally pulling out a few copper coins to buy fruit from a street vendor and chewing on it.

In reality, from the simple perspective of observing its exterior, the theocracy of the God of Light was not much different from other kingdoms. The lifestyle of the residents here followed the same simple and ordinary routine, merely with the addition of prayers and praises to the God of Light.

Even within the theocracy of the God of Light, there were actually quite a few non-believers, and even "heretics" who worshipped other gods. But it mattered not; these two facts did not cause them to be ostracized by others in the kingdom. "Do not force others to believe," and "Do not rely excessively on the gods," were rules written into the scriptures of the Church of the Light.

They developed magitech alchemy as they should, researched the Void as they should, and the number of academies and the like had not diminished because of the presence of the Church of the Light. The prosperity of the theocracy stemmed primarily from the protection of the Church of the Light's formidable power and the enlightened laws established by the Church as the kingdom's leaders.

The only slight issue might be that the Church of the Light was quite strict regarding petty crimes like thievery, which other kingdoms often ignored. The magistrates were all believers of the God of Light, and living in a kingdom filled with such believers, it was basically impossible to escape their eyes.

This made the overall atmosphere of the theocracy seem a bit "stifling" at times, as residents had to consider their actions, but compared to the astonishingly low crime rate, it was hardly a problem at all.

The white-haired youth finished the fruit in his hand and tossed the core into a trash can by the roadside. As he withdrew his hand, his fingers brushed through the empty air, moving slightly as if touching invisible threads. Indeed, his perception had delved into the Void, sensing those threads known as "faith"—abilities he had long since lost.

"Hmm, it is indeed His theocracy. So many wills connected to Him; no wonder He is so powerful."

Nodding, he had followed these threads extending from the wills of the residents of the theocracy to see that massive and powerful entity: a giant sphere of light, shining with brilliant radiance, casting its light in all directions without being blinding.

"It is completely different from back then. Having changed your form, you no longer appear in the world in the image of a 'person.' For you, while this form may lose many things, it must be far more stable."

His self-muttered words carried a touch of sentiment. The sphere of light before him bore no resemblance to the God of Light he had once known.

"Only a greater tide of consciousness can protect a soul from being crushed and swept away by the tide of consciousness. Are we destined to stand on opposite sides after all? There is no help for it; the paths we chose were different from the very beginning."

His mental energy pulsed. The white-haired youth flipped an object in the Void, playing with it idly, while a helpless smile appeared on his face, and he shook his head slightly.

"Sir, do you need any help?"

A questioning voice came. A paladin in heavy armor walked by, having noticed the white-haired youth leaning against a magic crystal streetlamp, shaking his head with a look of melancholy. As a magistrate, the knight inquired if the stranger needed assistance.

"Not at all. I was merely visiting an old friend. Things have changed, people have changed, and I was overcome by a moment of sentiment, that is all. Thank you for your concern. I think living in such a kingdom is quite a fortunate thing."

The white-haired youth offered a bright smile, indicating he was just visiting an old friend and that his melancholy stemmed from that, so the knight need not trouble himself. At the same time, he spoke of the virtues of the theocracy of the God of Light compared to other kingdoms.

"I am glad you are well. Indeed, I feel very fortunate to live in such a kingdom. This is a realm we have built together through our shared efforts. I can see the future direction of the kingdom, and I believe we can do even better. Praise the God of Light."

The knight replied, his tone naturally cheerful, filled with satisfaction for his life and anticipation for the future, responding to the white-haired youth and finally expressing praise for the God of Light.

"Praise the God of Light."

The white-haired youth performed the same gesture of praise to the God of Light, standard and practiced.