Chapter 104 : Source, Foundation, Present World
Chapter 104: Source, Foundation, Present World
"All power has a source." Oscar said.
He cleared the space inside the Church and poured mercury from the bottle in his hand.
Mercury was a high-quality magical conductor.
"Just like a magician’s power comes from magic."
"A knight’s power comes from within themselves."
"The power of relics comes from the gods."
"A scholar’s ritual power comes from ancient history."
"And the Church’s power comes from that ‘Lord’ whose existence remains uncertain."
The mercury, as if guided, formed three circular magic arrays on the ground—one large and two smaller ones.
"However, I find magic to be the most miraculous. It is one of the foundational forces constructing this world." Oscar said.
"Over the many years I’ve studied magic, though I still haven’t found its end, I believe it can be called the power of the soul."
"At the very least, the soul is also a conduit for magic."
Nyx sat nearby, watching Oscar’s actions. When he heard Oscar express his understanding of magic, his expression subtly changed.
"The closer you get to the foundation of the world, the more dangerous it becomes."
"Especially magic—its dangers have already been proven."
He spoke to Oscar.
"It’s only proven to be dangerous, not fully understood. That remains unknown. And aren’t scholars supposed to explore the unknown?" Oscar replied indifferently.
"Yes, to explore the unknown, but not to stubbornly pursue a power that we clearly aren’t meant to touch." Nyx said.
"In the end, our exploration is for the future, not to satisfy curiosity."
He paused, then spoke with a weight in his voice.
"Have you already been tainted by the magician’s curse?"
"Only magicians are so obsessed with these sources."
Oscar didn’t turn back. He only said, "The noble’s curse, the knight’s curse, the scholar’s curse, the magician’s curse—must they truly be curses?"
"The noble’s obsession with bloodlines, the knight’s obsession with loyalty, the scholar’s obsession with exploration, the magician’s obsession with mystery."
"I think, rather than calling them curses, it’s more accurate to call them a form of self-liberation after becoming their respective roles."
"If the noble’s bloodline is no longer pure, can they still be called a noble?"
"If a knight is no longer loyal, would they still be conferred knighthood by the nobles?"
"If a scholar loses the spirit of exploration, can new scholars still be born?"
"If a magician no longer clings to mystery, where would their power come from?"
"In the end, this too is the greed within people’s hearts."
"As a Priest, you should be able to understand this."
"This is original sin."
As he finished, Oscar laughed.
"But now isn’t the time to discuss these so-called curses."
"I’ve already constructed the ritual of Source, Foundation, and Present World. It’s time to see whether through the ritual, I can steal the power of that ‘Lord’."
As he spoke, Oscar turned to look at Nyx and pointed to the cross on the Lord’s Throne.
"If you don’t mind, let me use that as the source." he said.
"That would be blasphemy." Nyx shook his head. "Use this instead."
He took off the cross hanging around his neck and tossed it to Oscar.
"It’s just ordinary wood." Oscar said after catching it and feeling its material.
"That too is ordinary wood."
"Fine. As long as it’s related, it’ll do." Oscar didn’t question further and placed the small cross inside the largest magic array.
Originally, he had intended to use the cross on the Lord’s Throne.
"As for the foundation, I’ll use this Divine Word Manuscript." Oscar placed the Divine Word Manuscript in one of the smaller magic arrays.
"You should have a copy, right?"
"Of course I do." Nyx replied.
"Good." Oscar said, placing the raw materials Nyx had prepared into the last small magic array.
"Everything is ready." Oscar stood up and even walked to the side of the large array so Nyx could see it clearly.
"Lastly, I’ll use magic to simulate the connection between these three elements."
"Though I don’t know what the Church calls this power, I believe I can start with magic..."
Nyx did not respond. He only watched the ritual arrays.
Oscar didn’t mind and began channeling magic.
The mercury arrays glowed faintly. The Divine Word Manuscript simulating the foundation flipped rapidly, finally stopping on the page to be recited.
"The foundation has successfully activated." A smile appeared on Oscar’s face.
"Magic truly is the most mysterious power." he said.
"It can even simulate the Church’s unknown power."
"Next, I just need to link the activated foundation with the ‘Lord’ serving as the source."
As he spoke, several thread-like lines extended from the small array containing the Divine Word Manuscript, weaving toward the large array.
"Hahaha, it worked..." Oscar laughed aloud.
Then, his body fell straight backward. His eyes closed, but a smile remained on his face.
In that instant, Nyx felt as though he heard the sound of a horn.
The sound seemed to carry power, leaving him dazed. When he regained clarity, he felt an abnormal fatigue in his body.
"…Oscar, perhaps you should stop. I feel like…" Before he finished, he saw Oscar had fallen into a slumber, still smiling.
Nyx fell silent, his hands trembling slightly.
He had certainly seen the Mystery that Knight Wolf brought back.
And during the previous Lord’s reign, he had conversed with scholars serving Baron Sacker.
So he knew this Mystery was related to sleep.
Moreover, he knew that Knight Wolf had taken that Mystery to the Great Church.
He believed that even if the Bishop of the Great Church couldn’t tame the Mystery, he would at least prevent its continued spread and contamination.
However, seeing Oscar now, this was no mere taming of a Mystery.
Yet it had only been two days since Knight Wolf visited the Bishop.
Nyx felt that, even as a Priest, he had still underestimated the power of the ‘Lord’ of the Church of the Sanctuary.
...
Church of the Sanctuary, Great Church, in the kitchen where the Church distributed the Sacrament.
It was already the third day since Knight Wolf’s visit.
Corleon had a visitor early that morning.
"The Sacrament you provided tastes truly excellent." Administrator Piero said with a warm smile.
Naturally it was good—some meat from the Birdcage had been added to it.
"This is the Lord’s Mercy." Corleon said.
"Indeed, I can feel the Lord’s Mercy." Administrator Piero nodded in full agreement.
"Would you like to enter the Church to offer a prayer?" Corleon asked.
"Please forgive me. My duties are quite pressing today, so I’m unable to enter the Church for prayer." Piero bowed deeply.
Of course he didn’t dare go in.
Who knew what was inside the Church?
Until he found out, he would only dare remain outside.
"In fact, I came today to discuss a few matters with you." he said.