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Chapter 453: The Strike

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Sir…" Diana's voice was weak and remote, as if she was trapped in an endless nightmare.

Manuel's yellowish-brown eyes were filled with agony and terror, as this was totally out of his expectation. After three years of foreshadowing, the worst scenario he thought of was that Lauren's cognitive world became broken and solidified. As a ninth-circle archmage, Lauren could transfer to a lich or extend his life in some other ways after he reached his life limit of around three hundred years old, and there was still a slight chance that he could reconstruct his cognitive world in the future… However, what was in front of him now was the death image of this ninth-circle archmage.

"No! It can't be like this!" Christal burst out a bitter cry, his grey hair now looking completely messy, his wrinkled face distorted and hideous. "… He's still alive! Mr. Lauren used Life Harbor, right?"

As a ninth-circle archmage, Lauren was capable of taking precautions against unexpected deaths. Although Life Harbor did not work as well as a lich's phylactery, it was enough for handling most situations.

Diana buried her face in her hands and murmured with great sorrow, "Life Harbor won't work… He's gone. Even a lich's phylactery is useless against the complete destruction of the cognitive world…"

Currently, powerful sorcerers could divide their soul and life force into pieces and save them in a phylactery or hide them with spells. As long as the pieces were kept intact, they would never die completely. However, the cognitive world was something even more elusive than the soul. It took root in a sorcerer's consciousness and could not be attacked by magic or divine power. Therefore, the cognitive world could not be divided either. Once a sorcerer's cognitive world collapsed, a true death ensued.

A legendary sorcerer's demiplane was, in fact, a projection of the meditation world in the true world reflecting his or her cognitive world, and the change in their cognitive worlds would be reflected in the demiplanes. However, it was not vice versa. A demiplane destroyed by an enemy would not do any damage to a legendary sorcerer's cognitive world.

Also, if one built a subversive theory in an illusion spell to make his or her enemies' cognitive world collapse and their heads exploded, this would not kill them in reality. It would, at most, cause them to feel very dizzy and confused for a while. Currently, the only person who could kill by projecting the cognitive world collapsion in an illusion spell to the reality was the King of Nightmare.

There was only one situation that a sorcerer could come back to life after cognitive world collapsion — the cognitive world was not fully destroyed. When a sorcerer was more or less mentally prepared or had been unconsciously influenced by the subversive findings, the situation of their cognitive world would then fall between being solidified and destroyed. In this case, the sorcerer would have the chance to transfer their souls to somewhere else before their head exploded, and the blow would be neutralized by the explosion of the head. Yet to those who did not have a phylactery or other ways for revival, this meant the total loss of their cognitive world.

"Who did this to him?! Lucien Evans?" Christal yelled madly. "It must be Lucien Evans! He killed Mr. Lauren to stop the experiment!"

He dashed to the operation desk, stepping on the floor of brain juices and blood.

Manuel and Diana were in such a great shock and sorrow that they did not realize what was about to happen to Christal. They blankly watched Christal pick up and read the experiment notebook, blankly watched him stare at the magic circle with his eyes wide open.

"It is fake! It must be!" Christal had gone crazy. He turned on the magic circle and started verifying the last set of data.

Fake… Manuel was lost. After a while, he suddenly realized what was going on. Casting a spell, Manuel tried to stop Christal.

"Stop it!" He cried.

Before his voice faded in the air, warm drops of blood and brain tissues fell on his face. The smell of blood went all the way up his nostrils.

"Ahhhh!!!" Diana the fifth-circle sorcerer screamed like a helpless little girl.

Christal's headless body fell to the ground with a loud thump.

"Another…" Manuel could not respond to the scene. He wondered if he needed to consult a psychologist.

The fifth popular programme of the channel Truth of the World was called Chicken Soup for the Soul, which was designed for caring about sorcerers' mental health, while, without a doubt, Allyn's Past Week was the no. 1.

Manuel forced himself to calm down. He could guess and had accepted the result. Walking to the operation desk, he picked up the notebook soaked in blood and brain tissues.

Manuel cleaned it up with magic while trying his best not to vomit. Then he carefully read the record and released a long sigh.

"So… the hypothesis is correct, isn't it?" After she finally recovered partially, Diana aked in great sorrow.

Manuel nodded, having no idea how to respond to the result. "Yes, it has basically proved the light quantum hypothesis."

He should feel encouraged by the result, as all his effort of gradually shifting his belief in the past three years had paid off and he could possibly reach the eighth circle within five years. However, the two headless bodies on the ground covered with blood and brain were dragging down his heart.

"So this will be Mr. Lauren's last paper… Shall we publish it for him?" Overwhelmed, Diana was not thinking in a logical manner anymore. Somehow, she asked this question.

Manuel nodded. "We will. But we'll say that our teacher's experiment result has proved the hypothesis and he also accepted it. His death was an unfortunate accident. We must protect his reputation. After all, His Excellency Mr. Brook is also doing the same experiment, so we can't hide it from people…"

"What about Mr. Brook? Will he be alright?" Diana asked, terrified.

She didn't even ask how many arcanists would actually believe that Lauren died in an accident.

Manuel suddenly felt very insecure again. "We must go back to Allyn immediately and send him the experiment report. Hope that he hasn't started the experiment. If Mr. Brook also… this will become a disaster…"

"So shall we… for our teacher… Lucien Evans…?" Diana said ambiguously.

Manuel knew what Diana was trying to indicate. He put on a bitter smile and shook his head. "If Christal was still alive, he would definitely seek for revenge. After all, he was the one receiving the most attention from our teacher. I do hate Lucien Evans for what happened, but honestly speaking, I don't think this is his fault. He neither designed nor carried out the experiment. Perhaps in the future I would oppose his theories or proposals because of what happened today, but there is no reason for me to take direct revenge on him."

What was more important was that Manuel had already changed his side and warned his teacher.

Diana nodded. She shared the same thought with Manuel, but also had her own concern:

Lucien Evans was currently a level-six arcanist and sixth-circle sorcerer. It was said that he had almost nine thousand arcana credits due to the introduction of Influence Factor, thus he was going to reach level seven in less than two years. Also, those who were standing behind Lucien Evans were at least senior-rank sorcerers, including his condisciples Thompson and Chloe, as well as the Lord of Storm! There was no way that a level-four arcanist and fifth-circle sorcerer like her could seek revenge.

…

Having no idea that Lauren had fallen, Lucien was enjoying black tea as well as the crispy spring morning.

Sensing that someone was approaching, Lucien slowly turned around and saw Sprint push open the lab door and walk in.

"Morning, Sprint. That's early." Lucien smiled.

Sprint was startled, for as a second-circle sorcerer, he did not sense his teacher's presence at all. Was it because Mr. Evans had progressed further again?

"I have been coming early recently… Got some work to do in the lab," answered Sprint honestly. Lucien was currently the only person he felt a bit afraid of, since he had not met the Lord of Storm yet.

Lucien nodded slightly, and walked away from the window with the teacup in his hand. "Jerome's achievement motivated you, didn't it? Good. It's good to apply your pride to things like these."

Sprint did not want to admit, instead, he looked around and saw the pile of parchment. "Sir, are you turning in papers again?"

"Just one. I'll wait for a few more days," said Lucien peacefully.

"Why? The next issue of Arcana is about to come out," asked Sprint. He believed that the paper was about something big, since he saw how hard his teacher had worked in the past days.

Lucien shook his head and smiled. "A few more days."

Before Sprint could say anything, the gate of the lab opened again. The students Annick, Heidi, Katrina, Layria, and Chely filed in, and were all surprised when seeing their teacher and Sprint.

Lucien nodded in satisfaction. As a teacher, he was happy to see his students working hard.

It had been three years. Chely had become a real sorcerer last year, and the rest of the students had reached the second circle. Among them, Annick was the leading one. He had come close to middle-rank. Keeping up with the most advanced arcana theories had benefited them a lot.

…

On the Solar Islands, the arcanists including Blake were gathered in the hall to listen to Truth of the World. They always enjoyed discussing with each other while listening.

Today should be the releasing day of the latest issue of Arcana and the other journals. The programme of the channel, Watching Magic, which was broadcast at nine in the morning, was going to briefly introduce the important papers on the journals.

This programme did not mean much to sorcerers in Allyn and Rentato. However, for them who lived remotely from the big cities, they really appreciated this first-hand update.

The sorcerers on the Solar Islands were particularly big fans of the programme. On the islands, soon after the last issue of Arcana and the other journals arrived, the next issue was already available in Allyn. The programme helped them pick out the most important papers, thus their time was greatly saved.

"Welcome to Watching Magic. I'm your old friend, Eagle."

The gentle and rich male voice came out from the radio. "Now with me are the latest issue of the ten journals. I'll start with this month's Arcana, the one that everyone has been waiting for so long so badly. I know that, including me, we have all been waiting for His Excellency Mr. Brook's and Mr. Lauren's experiment results. Will this month's Arcana tell us the answer?"

Blake silently clenched his fists.

The other arcanists were also very nervous and excited. Today might be the day of overthrowing the light quantum hypothesis and defending the wave theory of light.

"Alright… I do see two papers here — one from Mr. Brook and the other from Mr. Lauren. Let's take a look at Mr. Brook's paper first."

The short silence became burning to the arcanists present.

A few seconds later, Eagle finally started reading, but his tone was a bit hesitant. "… I did the experiment to fight against the light quantum hypothesis. However, the result and the experiment image perfected matched the features of the light quanta. I have to admit that my effort for denying the hypothesis turned out to be, at this stage, the evidence supporting it."

Blake abruptly lifted his head out of the astonishment. His head buzzed. Since he was listening to the radio, instead of reading the paper on his own, and also, most importantly, his meditation world had changed gradually in the past several years, his soul only suffered some slight damage. Two trails of blood came out from his nose.

However, as soon as he looked up, sticky blood and tissues splashed onto his face, covering his eyes and mouth. The smell of blood went all the way up to his brain, and all he could see had been covered with this thick red and white.

"… Sonia's head exploded…!"

He heard other arcanists' dazed and terrified voice.

Something fell down to the ground.

Head? It took Blake a second to comprehend the situation, and then his stomach started churning. Hurriedly turned aside, he puked badly.

Somehow, when Blake was puking, he also felt a bit lucky — Fortunately, there was only one whose head exploded after hearing the result.

Chapter 454: Gloating

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the magic tower of the Congress' headquarter in Allyn.

The always young and vigorous Rachel had put on a dark magic robe, which revealed her heavy mood. She had been waiting for the final result of the experiments conducted by His Excellency Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren, wondering what the results would be and if they could deny Lucien's light quantum hypothesis.

Affected by her best friend Samantha, Rachel's cognitive world had changed a lot in the past three years. She was no longer a solid supporter of the wave theory of light, instead, she was now even leaning towards Lucien Evans' hypothesis. However, all the knowledge that she had acquired since she was an apprentice, together with the classic double-slit interference image as well as the Brook bright spot, all reminded her that light displayed the nature of the wave.

Maybe just like Lucien said, they should go up to a higher level to examine the stalemate between the wave and the particle theory. Rachel thought to herself before stepping on the stairs. Taking back her right foot, she quickly turned around and headed for the exchange office. Although in her teacher's office, she would get to read the latest issue of Arcana half an hour later, Rachel could not wait any longer.

Her pace was slightly faster than usual. When she came close to the exchange office, Rachel saw it was crowded with people. She was not surprised — Everyone was waiting for the experiment result of the wave and particle war. Normally, there wasn't such a big crowd waiting for Arcana, as most arcanists below senior-rank could not understand all the articles on it.

Rachel forced her way into the crowd, trying to reach one of the desks in the corner surrounded by slightly less people. What made her feel strange was that the crowd was rather quiet. Strangely quiet.

"What happened?" Rachel wondered. Driven by curiosity, Rachel cast a couple of spells on herself and pushed herself to the exchange desk surrounded by most people.

"Ah!… " The short scream stopped abruptly.

Rachel saw an incomplete body, head exploded… red blood, white brain tissues, and the latest issue of Arcana lying open on the floor.

Many arcanists in the crowd had killed someone in the past, however, the scene was still too much for them. After all, in the recent hundred years, head-exploding was just a remote story told by seniors. Only some middle-rank and senior-rank sorcerers from the Will of Elements and the Hand of Paleness had witnessed it once. On the contrary, pastors or cardinals turning into a holy light torch or fireworks could be seen every once in a while.

Those low-rank sorcerers and apprentices who hadn't been sent out on missions before were even more frightened. Murmuring the terrifying name and the title, Headcrusher, their faces had turned pale as if their heads were tightly grasped in the claws of a devil lord.

Rachel wondered if more arcanists would come to her and her teacher for illusionary therapy for curing mental trauma in the future; After all, Chicken Soup for the Soul was popular among arcanists… She had no idea why the thought came to her at this depressing moment.

The scene was not the major cause of the stressful and terrifying atmosphere, instead, it was because of the journal lying open on the floor. On the page shown, there were several lines of bold letters,

"… I did the experiment for fighting against the light quantum hypothesis. However, the result and the experiment image perfected matched the features of the light quanta. So I have to admit that my effort for denying the hypothesis turned out to be, at this stage, the evidence supporting it…"

"— Edwyn Brook, grand arcanist, level four in the legendary class 'the Emperor of Control.'"

Rachel removed her eyesight from the page and turned to look up at the ceiling. She did not know what to say — Since she became a student of the magic school, the wave theory was one of the most fundamental beliefs introduced by her teachers. In her mind, the wave theory of light was like a giant tower, standing straight up on the solid ground just like the other theoretical systems put forward by His Excellency Mr. Douglas and Mr. Brook.

She felt that the world had become strange to her.

The rare sentimental feeling seized Rachel's heart. Silently, she retreated herself from the crowd and then went to the Arcana Review Board. Knocking at the door of her teacher's office, Rachel felt that she was like a child seeking her mother's comfort.

"Come in." Isabella's voice came from behind the door.

Hearing her teacher's voice, Rachel suddenly woke up from her dreamlike wandering and found herself in the wrong place. She was supposed to go to the Brain and Hormone Research Center beside the Atom Institution to wait for her teacher. Also, Ms. Isabella wasn't supposed to be in her office this early.

Carefully pushing open the door, Rachel saw that her teacher's magic robe had turned into a long black dress. On Isabella's chest, there was a small white flower.

"Who is it…?" Rachel asked carefully.

"Lauren, Christal…" Isabella said the names sorrowfully. She had known those stubborn mages for quite some years.

"Mr. Lauren…?" Rachel recalled the look of the tall and thin elder man. But what left her with the deepest impression about him was the row of badges in front of his chest, indicating the great honor that belonged him.

Isabella nodded, her eyes glistening. "Yes, an archmage has fallen. An archmage who once won the highest honor in the school of Electromagnetism, Light-darkness, and Thermodynamics has fallen. He was eliminated by the development of arcana and magic…"

"…" Rachel suddenly understood the cruelty of the world.

In front of her student, Isabella forced a smile on her face to cheer her up. "Don't be afraid. Don't get lost. This is not something abnormal. When I was young, every once in a while, some particle theory supporters' head would explode. This is why there are now so few arcanists supporting the particle theory right now. You should feel lucky, Rachel, so should I, for we had the past three years to get prepared. The committee members who reviewed the papers of Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren thus survived. They just need a few months to have their soul recover from the trauma."

"I understand." When she was in school, Rachel read about this piece of history. During that period of time, His Excellency Mr. Brook's outstanding talent was glowing and he managed to overthrow the particle theory of light. Stepping on blood and exploded heads, he finally ascended to the throne of grand arcanist and became the second top legendary in the congress. It was said that a close friend of Mr. Douglas, who was a member of the Highest Council and also a legendary archmage at that time, fell together with his demiplane.

But reading history from books and seeing it with her own eyes were two completely different stories. Rachel's heart was still palpitating from the horrible scene.

Seeing that her student's face still looked pale, Isabella walked to Rachel and gently stroked her hair, like a mom comforting her daughter. "An era of progress is coming. In the past several decades when Mr. Brook brought the huge revolution to the Congress, we saw new leaders entering the stage — The two grand arcanists, Hellen and Vicente, as well as the other four legendary sorcerers. The power of the Congress of Magic almost doubled. Now we have more archmages and senior-rank mages than ever before. When I was young, the Congress only had about twenty archmages, but now we have sixty-two… sixty-one."

"This is our chance," said Isabella, "keep it in mind. We shall never become blindly obsessed with our belief nor lose our faith. We must believe in facts."

…

In the Radiance Church in Holm.

"Lauren, Lightning of Destruction, ranking no. 76 on the Cleansing List." Vaharall read the list with a big smile on his face, "Christal, Bloody Thunder, no. 269 on the Cleansing List… Oh, I wish that I could give Mr. Lucien Evans, our Professor, a Night Angel badge, in order to honor his great contribution to eliminating the vicious sorcerers!"

After spending a long time in Holm, Vaharall had learned the standard Holm Crown prize awarding speech and turned it into a joke.

Stone, the divine knight, also laughed hard. "An archmage, three senior-rank sorcerers, twenty-seven middle-rank sorcerers… not to mention those whose cognitive worlds have gone broken and solidified! If Lucien Evans is willing to become a night watcher, he would definitely be in top five because of these numbers!"

There were only three legendaries in the Inquisition, and one of them was an ancient sorcerer who had converted, therefore, he was also in the ranking of the night watchers. The ancient sorcerer once killed a legendary ranking in the top 30 on the Cleansing List, and thus became the top night watcher. Although there were many senior-ranks in the team, no more than ten had reached the power of the ninth circle, even few had ever cleansed a level-nine arcanist and ninth-circle sorcerer like Lauren.

Philibell could not hold back his smile as well. This was the most wonderful news to him in the past ten years. To them, it did not matter at all whether light was wave or particle. There were pastors devoured by the holy light before when Brook proved that light was a type of electromagnetic wave, but it was because of the fact that the finding had deprived the divinity of light. As for the light quantum hypothesis, they were totally fine with it.

Rubbing his thick white beard, Philibell grinned.

"What a pity that Evans failed to explode Brook's head, or the Pope would have to give him the title of Saint. You two remember the time when some were saying that we should directly call Brook a Saint? Compared with Brook, Lucien Evans is still a bit behind, isn't he?"

Hearing the comment, Vaharall and Stone burst out loud laughter, gloating over their enemy's loss.

"It is said that Brook was also badly hurt by this. I wonder how does his cognitive world look like right now. If his cognitive world has gone broken and solidified, I have to say that this is the perfect arrangement of the God of Truth. So many years ago, he took away countless pastors' faithful hearts and destroyed many sorcerers' cognitive worlds. What goes around comes around," said Philibell piously. He deeply believed in the existence of the God of Truth, more faithfully now than ever before.

"Only Truth lives forever." Vaharall and Stone drew a cross in front of their chest together.

Then the three exchanged a look with each other and smiled again.

Philibell said humorously, "shall we pray for 'Saint' Lucien Evans? Let's pray for his safety so he can carry on his glorious mission serving the Lord?"

…

"New… Al-che-my?" Fernando stressed each syllable of the title of Lucien's new paper. His scarlet eyes stared at the calm and composed Lucien alertly.

Chapter 455: Creation and Destruction

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Today, Lucien felt totally relaxed standing in front of Fernando.

"Sir, this paper is about the microworld. Using a new particle found inside the atom and two recently discovered elements, I further improved your atom structure model and applied it to describing alchemical reactions and explaining ionization and valence. As this study looks into the secret behind the transformation of matters, perhaps it can fulfill the shared dream of the generations of alchemists. So I named this new theoretical system 'New Alchemy.'"

"A new particle found inside an atom and two new elements?" The look on Fernando eased a bit. He asked casually as he started reading the paper.

After the belief that atom was indivisible had been discarded, the exploration of the inner structure of the atom had stepped into a brand new realm. Fernando felt a bit more relaxed since the paper in his hands was certainly not going to destroy any sorcerer's cognitive world, as no one was using the brand new theories to construct his or her meditation environment.

When Lucien first appeared in his office with the new paper, Fernando had to admit that he was quite worried. The aftermath of the experimental verification of the light quantum hypothesis was not over yet, and Allyn could not bear to see more sorcerers' head explode.

Personally speaking, Fernando, also found the bloody scene quite thrilling to some degree. However, it would definitely scare away the younger generation from joining the Congress to pursue their magic dream. That would be bad, as, despite the improvement of the theory system, reduction in the subsequent generation's population would impact the Congress' strength.

"I was inspired by your experiment, Sir, the one using helium atomic beams to bombard a thin foil of metal. So I turned to bombard gases and knocked out hydrogen nucleus from nitrogen. The nucleus carries one unit of positive charge, so I believe that a new particle has been found. Then, the discovery of the positive ray confirmed my belief. As for the two new elements, I found their traces when analyzing the radioactive substance, based on the experiment that you temporarily put aside."

Seeing the look on Fernando's face softened, Lucien knew what Fernando was thinking. He could not help but slightly shake his head, as the realm they were stepping into now was going to be even more subversive and incredible than ever before. The knowledge they were going to obtain would overturn most sorcerers' macro-cognition and ontology.

Fernando had finished reading the part on the discovery of the proton. He commented. "If it wasn't because of your light quantum hypothesis, Hathaway and I would continue the study of the radioactive substance, and perhaps we would have already discovered the elements…"

Again, he perfectly saved his praise to his student.

Fernando kept reading and quickly browsed the data of the two newly-discovered elements. He started frowning again. "Your research data is saying that the two elements come from the decay of the previous element. This is one step into the Gods' zone. No wonder you call it New Alchemy."

"In fact, combining this with the finding of the proton, a theoretical system explaining the transformation of matter can probably be built," said Lucien with the same calm look on his face.

Fernando suddenly looked up at Lucien, his scarlet eyes filled with fine lightning. His great power enveloped Lucien.

"You know what you're talking about?"

Lucien was being careful with his words, using 'probably' to soften his tone. However, Fernando had directly caught the point — His student just claimed that a theoretical system had been built!

If he could call it a system, it would not only consist of one or two hypotheses!

"I do," replied Lucien.

Fernando kept on asking. "Do you understand that you are heading into the forbidden zone, trying to take over the Gods' power of creating the universe for human beings?"

"I do," answered Lucien determinedly.

Fernando asked one more time, "Then do you understand what this means?"

"I do. It will change the time. And it means the title of grand arcanist." Lucien answered while looking directly into Fernando's eyes. "… But the system is still on the theoretical level. Currently, the magic circles and alchemical techniques are not qualified for carrying out specific experiments. It will take a long time to verify the system."

Fernando closed his eyes for a while as if he was taking a break. Then he picked up Lucien's paper and continued to read. He did not make any further comment again until he saw Lucien's prediction of the existence of the neutron.

"Reasonable…" The Lord of Storm slightly nodded. "… So this is the reason behind the differences between the elements. The periodicity can also be explained. With the theoretical guidance and the method of particle bombardment, it will be just a matter of time for the neutron to be found."

"So Sir, you do believe that particle bombardment can be a regular technique, right?" Asked Lucien expectedly.

Fernando was a bit amused and cast a glance at his student. "You have believed it for quite a long time, haven't you. Aren't you adding these kinds of magic circles to your magic tower? Adding these magic circles is very time-consuming."

"Sir, you've been there?" Lucien was a bit surprised. He did not expect that his teacher would pay a visit to his magic tower under construction.

"Two silver hollow metal semi-rings engraved with magic circles. And a feeling hard to describe…" Fernando would not admit that he was secretly paying close attention to his student, and he roughly described the underground part of Lucien's magic tower. "… I roughly know what you are trying to do."

"A cyclotron. It accelerates charged particles outwards from the center along a spiral path, so cyclotron beams can be used to better bombard other atoms… " Lucien briefly introduced his concept. "Theoretically speaking, the acceleration is limitless. But due to many factors, there is indeed a range. But the result will already be much better than before."

The many factors that Lucien ambiguously mentioned were in fact relativistic effects.

"Limitless… bombardment… I feel that you're destroying the world…" Fernando repeated the keywords and rubbed his brows. "… But this isn't bad. I think I'll get one as well."

Fernando was also a fanatic when it came to doing experiments.

"When I reach the legendary level and own my demiplane, I want to have a Large Collider!" In front of his teacher, Lucien did not need to hide his passion and dream.

There was a smile on Fernando's face for a second, and then he went back on reading the paper. Based on the atom model and the theory of decay, the following sections of the paper were very logical, thus they were totally within Fernando's expectation. Finally, when he saw the part in which Lucien introduced the quantum theory into the understanding of electron orbits, he pressed his lips against each other into a line and then said, "before the light quantum hypothesis was proved, I would scold you for this. But now even light's quantization has been proven, the quantization of electron orbit seems acceptable."

Lucien grinned. This was the chance that he had been waiting for.

"But it is still hard to believe that electrons are also doing space jumps and skipping the areas in between… Is it because they have special properties?" Fernando was using his own understanding to explain the transition of electrons.

In Lucien's expectation, Fernando would give him a good lesson after reading this part on the quantum jump, since the discontinuous transition indeed seemed to be absurd. However, he forgot that space jump worked in this world, which made the concept more acceptable by sorcerers.

So Lucien answered in a low voice. "Currently there's no idea why it works like this. Though it is a logical conclusion following quantization."

Fernando did not make any further comments on the following predictions made by Lucien. He kept reading until he finished the last part on explaining alchemical reactions using atomic electron transition and describing ionization and valence. He put down the paper and said to Lucien rather seriously,

"There are still contradictions between your new alchemy system and the classic electromagnetism theory. Perhaps further improvements are needed. But I currently do agree with you on the structure of the atomic nucleus and the transformation of matters, and on the extranuclear electrons and alchemical reactions."

"Ever since human beings acquired magic, the history of alchemy also started…" Fernando took a pause. "… But you are the first one pointing out what alchemy is!"

Fernando rarely spoke so highly of Lucien, and this praise made Lucien's face flush.

However, Lucien had to say that the Congress's progress in the school of Alchemy was rather imbalanced. The arcanists were reaching the level of matter transformation, yet on the other hand, the research on the structure and the synthesis of organics was still in its infancy.

"Because of your theory, the school of Alchemy is now included in the school of Element. If Hathaway could accept, assimilate, and further improve your theory, she will become a top legendary in a few years." Fernando said a bit emotionally.

Lucien cared more about his own teacher. "Then what about you, Sir?"

"Me? I am shifting between too many interests, so my promotion has always been relatively slow. The atomic structure and matter transformation do not have much to do with my legendary class, unless they are related to studies on energy blast or high temperature. If they do, I can go up further and become a top legendary." Fernando treated this topic as one of his jokes, as he knew it well the result of focusing on too many fields and always being distracted.

Lucien nodded, but made no comment.

Fernando stared deeply into Lucien's eyes and said, "when this theoretical system is fully developed, you should be able to obtain the magic pattern for creating your own legendary class through the interaction between your cognitive world and the real world. Because of the nature of your theoretical system, when you become a top legendary or a demigod, you should be able to directly manipulate the particles and energy and turn them into various matters. Your title can be 'the Creator'."

"It's such a provocative title to the Church." Lucien smiled.

If he could manipulate the particles and energy, Lucien thought to himself, he would be able to make use of the power of fusion reactions. Then his title should not be 'the Creator', instead, he should be called 'the Lord of Destruction'.

Creation and destruction were two sides of the same coin in the sense of the particle world.

Fernando found Lucien's response funny. "So your New Alchemy system isn't something provocative to the Church?"

Before Lucien could say anything, Fernando grabbed the paper on the desk and said to him, "Let's go and find Douglas. We'll have a plan to give the Church a good strike. They've been enjoying themselves for too long recently."

Chapter 456: The Mad Dog

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In Douglas's magic tower in his demiplane.

The latest issue of Arcana beside him, Artil burst out loud laughter. "It's been proven! I knew it! What a pity that I wasn't there in Brook's lab and missed the chance to see the look on his face! He must be beyond desperate! I'd be laughing in my sleep now if his cognitive world had exploded just like that idiot Lauren!"

Joy. Wild joy. Artil could not hold it back.

Fed up with Artil's crazy spirit, Norman coughed a bit and secretly thought to himself that Artil indeed deserved the title of the Mad Dog — that was how the other arcanists called Artil.

Norman's face was a bit pale from the injury in his soul. Using Douglas' lab, he just verified the conclusion published in the journal.

To find the mysterious dimension, the legendaries in the congress had gone all out. Very frequently, they had to leave Allyn for the exploration. Therefore, although Douglas was also paying lots of attention to the verification of the light quantum hypothesis, his progress in improving the magic circles was slower than that of Lauren. However, after the design of the experiment was published in Arcana, it only took him half an hour to finish the improvement.

Luciana was in a very good mood as well. After the suppression of all these years had been released, she did share the same wild joy with Artil. However, she was definitely much more restrained. "Lucien Evans is indeed the most promising one of the younger generation to become the next grand arcanist. His hypothesis derives from the perspective which was ignored by all our particle theory supporters. I'm starting to appreciate the light quantum theory now. Maybe the form of the world is actually discontinuous…"

"If it is discontinuous, then what about calculus?!" scolded Artil. The fact that he had paid Lucien the fifty-thousand arcana points did not mean that he had fully accepted the hypothesis. In his eyes, Lucien's hypothesis was just another variation of the particle theory, and it had nothing to do with if the world was continuous or not.

"There must be something wrong with the hypothesis! It has to be changed! I'd say the same thing even if Lucien Evans was standing right in front of me!" said Artil.

By the way, Lucien had used the fifty-thousand arcana points to pay off his debt with the Lord of Storm.

Luciana was just expressing her happiness, and she used 'maybe' before her ideas. However, it still triggered Artil's anger. Luciana felt offended and her lips moved silently in the shape of the words,

"Mad Dog."

Artil did not care about Norman and Luciana's attitude at all. He picked up a piece of information and read it, then let out a satisfied and vicious laugh. "Lauren, Christal… An archmage, three senior-rank mages, twenty-seven middle-rank sorcerers, and more whose cognitive worlds have gone broken and solidified. Those bloody wave theory supporters finally got what they deserve! When they were showing off their victory years ago, had they ever imagined today's situation? When Brook reached his throne of grand arcanist stepping on blood and brains, had he ever thought of his miserable ending?"

His hatred was even stronger than what Luciana and Norman imagined. Luciana frowned. Although she was also a supporter of the particle theory, she still thought that Artil's hatred was too much — Lauren and the others were all sorcerers of the Congress, one shouldn't act such happy and thrilled to their death.

Norman looked quite pissed. When he was just about to refute Artil's words, the look on his face suddenly changed to respect.

"Sir."

Douglas had walked down the stairs. Slightly frowning, he said to Artil. "Mind your manner, Artil. There are still phenomena, including the classic double-slit interference image, that cannot be explained by the light quantum hypothesis. We have to remain careful and humble all the time. All the sorcerers who died are our companions. We do have disagreements, but we still share the same goal — to strengthen the Congress of Magic."

"Yes, Sir…" Artil held back his joy. "Lucien Evans is the one who made this happen; too bad he couldn't carry out the accurate experiment three years ago. I wonder how he's feeling right now, and what he is working on."

"I heard that Lucien Evans is working on particle bombardment following his teacher, the Lord of Storm," answered Norman. As a member of the Affair Committee in charge of the Magic Engineering Department, he knew that the department was sending senior-rank sorcerers to Lucien's Atom Institution to improve the facilities.

Douglas nodded. "Fernando has taken Lucien here. Artil, if you really want to know, you could directly ask them. Norman, if you don't feel comfortable seeing Lucien, you can go back. Don't force yourself to do it."

Norman was a bit discouraged. "No matter what I think, the experiment result speaks the loudest."

"Great. I was about to thank him and have a conversation with him in person." Luciana, on the other hand, was surprised and delighted.

She was working on improving her own meditation method using the light quantum hypothesis, and she had many questions to ask. Some of the questions she could talk to Douglas, but the rest would be most efficiently solved if she could directly talk to Lucien.

Artil was also excited. "I have to ask him if he still has other experiment clues for completely destroying the wave theory!"

— And send most sorcerers in the Congress who were above middle-rank to death?

Casting an angry glance at Artil, Luciana hoped that Artil knew what he was trying to encourage.

After a few minutes, Lucien, who was wearing the black double-breasted suit and his monocle, walked into the small living room following the Lord of Storm.

"Got something new again?" Douglas saw the thick pile of parchment in Fernando's hand.

The paper rose up in the air and flew to Douglas.

"Lucien's 'New Alchemy'. Take a look at it yourself," said Fernando.

Fernando's scarlet eyes looked around. Artil, Norman, and Luciana all took a step back spontaneously from his vigor. With the Lord of Storm present, they dared not to pry into the paper using their spiritual power.

Seeing that Fernando was being unusually serious, Douglas started reading the paper attentively,

As he read further, Douglas's mouth slightly opened and raised his right hand, as if he was about to make some strong comments. But he held himself back and kept reading.

Time went by. And it had been two hours.

Douglas's students just waited there. They dared not to talk or even use Telepathic Bond. Douglas should not be disturbed at this moment — They knew it very well.

Before the fall of the ancient Magic Empire, Douglas had already become an archmage. He was deeply influenced by the Empire's tradition in the relation between students and teachers — although Douglas was indeed kind and patient to his students, his students had to be deferential to him as well.

Douglas finally put down the paper on the walnut table, and then he closed his eyes. In the following half-hour, he was quiet and seemed to be simulating something in his own cognitive world.

Finally, Douglas opened his eyes and said to them rather seriously,

"The Church has always been accusing us of profaning the divinity of God, of attempting to step into the forbidden realm that only belonged to God. However, we are all aware of the fact that we do not deserve such high comments from our enemy. We have just peeled off some holy wrappings on the outside, but are still far away from that realm. But now, it will be different. The theoretical system in Lucien's paper has brought us right to the gate of the forbidden realm, and what is needed for pushing open the gate is the experimental proof. Finally, we won't let the Church down anymore.

"But we can only fully rely on the theoretical system until the experiment's proof is available. Lucien, your theoretical system can only be verified until the neutron is found, until how an element is changed by bombardment is proved, and until all your predictions come true. All the grand arcanists after me have gone through this after their theoretical systems first came out."

The title, grand arcanist, only emerged after Douglas's theoretical system was widely accepted.

When he was talking to Lucien, Douglas seemed to be a bit excited.

Finally, they had approached the truth of the world, the secrets behind magic!

The power of creation had always been the ultimate pursuit among all sorcerers! They were now much closer to the dream than ever before!

If human beings could do the same thing as Gods could, then what was the meaning of having Gods?

"What? Grand arcanist? The forbidden realm of God?" Asked Artil hurriedly.

After looking at Fernando and saw him slightly nodding, Douglas allowed the finding in the paper to be revealed to the students present. After all, the paper was going to be submitted very soon.

"Lucien's new theoretical system, New Alchemy, will be able to give us insight into the secret of matters and hand us the power of creating. It's going to be a theoretical system capable of changing the era," said Fernando.

"… What?" Norman could not believe what he just heard.

Luciana's spirit had been lifted again after the long wait. She looked at her teacher and the paper on the table and then turned to look at Lucien. She wondered if another grand arcanist was about to appear — a twenty-something-years-old grand arcanist.

Seeing the elegant, well-mannered young man standing in front of him, she could not imagine a man like this just claimed that he had mastered the secret of creating the universe.

She suddenly understood how the pastors in the Church felt. There was no way that they could accept the fact that there was no difference between God and human beings.

Artil shook his head fiercely. "This is impossible! Nobody can step into God's realm! Impossible!" He was even more agitated than when he attacked the wave theory supporters.

As if he had gone mad, Artil suddenly made a rush for the paper beside Douglas and picked it up.

Fernando was just about to stop him, but saw Douglas slightly frowning and shaking his head, so he decided to remain silent and watch.

Lucien felt that he had grasped something.

"Proton… Neutron… Electron… Nonsense! How dare you make such a claim without any experiment support?" Artil turned to Lucien and asked furiously with a completely distorted look on his face.

Lucien answered calmly. "If you don't believe in the existence of proton, I can go to the lab and prove it to you on the spot. As for the prediction of the neutron, it's based on atomic weight, proton mass, and electronic mass. It makes sense logically."

"Then let's go to the lab!" Artil grabbed the paper and started heading for the lab, and he saw Lucien followed him behind at a leisurely pace.

Nodded in confidence, Lucien said, "no problem. I'll show you two experiments. Also, we should be able to locate the trace of the new element in the radioactive substance now."

He was referring to the fifth-circle spell for collecting small amount of elements put forward by Hathaway.

Norman and Luciana had no idea what was going on. Why was Artil acting so weird? Why would he hate Lucien so much for this? Was it because that he hate someone who could receive the title of grand arcanist at so young an age, someone just like Brook?

"It must be a fake experiment… It must be…"

As Artil saw Lucien's attitude and knew that the design of the paper was reliable and the data was persuasive, the look on his face was replaced by perplexity. "How's this possible? This is… God's realm…"

Lucien then saw a beam of bright light burst out from Artil's body and devoured him.

Before the power of the light could spread out, Douglas's magic shield had stopped it.

The scene of the light spots slowly falling down was as beautiful as a dream. Watching it, Lucien knew that his sense had been correct.

Artil was not mad. He was not really a 'Mad Dog'.

"No wonder he was continuously challenging the wave theory…"

"If he had believed in the particle theory that bad, his head would have exploded years ago…"

Chapter 457: The Heart of Faith

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Such a good student, Douglas."

When the small firework died out, Fernando said a bit sarcastically.

Douglas seemed to have aged in seconds. With the bitter smile on his face, he said, "ever since Brook became a grand arcanist based on the electromagnetism theory and the wave theory, I noticed that Artil started behaving strangely. He was prone to exaggerate things, and often said that the reason why there were currently unexplorable and unexplainable questions was that we had not found the Origin. I first thought that it was because Brook's achievement was too much for him to take. But then I started feeling suspicious… and I did find some clues later…"

He released a gentle sigh and continued. "… Then he seemed to become aware of it. He came to me and confessed that he was trying to take advantage of the Church to get rid of Brook instead of actually believing in the God of Truth, and that the more the Church had trusted him, the more useful it would be for the Congress. Artil has been my student for more than a hundred years; I watched him grow up from a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid. I thought I knew him well, so I didn't invade his mind. I chose to trust him at the time being and tested him with other methods…

"Artil behaved well when we launched the artificial planet and when the electron was discovered. Also, he had always been strongly against the wave theory in the past years, so I lowered my alert… I didn't expect this…"

Norman and Luciana finally realized that Artil was a spy of the Church. It was the holy light that killed him, not head explosion! But Artil cast magic, not divine spells!

"Unless a demiplane was formed based on his cognitive world, there was no way for us to track if his part of his cognitive world demonstrates divine creation," said Fernando rather seriously. While the sorcerers' power grew when they got closer to the truth of the world, the clergy's power came from their faith. Once their faith became unstable, they would lose all their power or even be devoured by the holy light. Therefore, the Congress was unable to send any higher-rank spies into the Church.

Lucien nodded thoughtfully. After integrating the Light of Faith into his cognitive world, although Artil was not able to cast divine spells, he more or less believed in the existence and power of the God of Truth. Therefore, when his faith was shaken, the holy light burst out when his cognitive world collapsed and devoured him before his head exploded, which was a sharp contrast to the old mage from before, who believed in the God of Truth but whose head exploded. Lucien guessed that this depended on which side played a more dominant role in the cognitive world.

In this case, it seemed that the power of Sard, and the power of the North Church's pope and the Saints, as well as that of the heretics of the Saint Truth that Lucien once met, did still come from their faith.

It seemed that as long as they still had faith in the God of Truth, no matter how their understanding of the doctrine and cognition changed, they were still able to use divine spells without being devoured by the holy light.

But Sard and the heretics didn't seem to be that devoted to the God of Truth either… Lucien rubbed his chin in confusion.

"In fact, I also suspected him… but I put the thought aside seeing that he was fine after Evans's Miracle Experiment," Norman recalled. "… He had two friends in the Affair Committee; they could influence many things indirectly."

A veteran senior-rank sorcerer like Artil, although bad-tempered, still had quite a few friends.

"I'll have Vicente investigate them," said Douglas briefly.

Meanwhile, Lucien started analyzing the constitution of Artil's cognitive world. "He did not see Miracle Experiment with his own eyes, and he had been mentally prepared by convincing himself that the experiment could not completely deny Creationism, but simply offered another possibility. Also, there was no following theory coming up to further support the experiment. However, New Alchemy is based on a complete and reasonable theoretical system. Once the neutron is discovered, following the system, creating spells that could overtake the throne of creation will become possible and practical. It's too much for him."

"So, in his cognitive world, the God of Truth should be the origin of the universe and the initial creator." Fernando drew the conclusion and then turned to Douglas. "I was about to ask you how we can use New Alchemy to give a good strike to the Church, but here we got a spy first."

"If we wait until when the neutron is found and when the new spells for permanently changing matters are created to publish New Alchemy, at least one or two saint cardinals will fall. But now because of Artil's death, the Church will soon find this out. When they are mentally prepared, we'll miss the chance." Douglas regained his usual calmness, but the loving smile on his face had disappeared.

There were horrible storms in Fernando's red eyes. "You investigated him before, right? So you should know how he reached out to the Church. Seize this opportunity, and give the Church a good lesson."

"To make it a harsh lesson, just the New Alchemy without experiments as proof might not be enough. I'll have Atlant join us here to come up with a plan and create the most powerful atmosphere for mental hint." Douglas slightly nodded and gestured Norman and Luciana to remain his office for a while.

…

In the headquarter of the Will of Elements, the royal magic tower of Holm.

Raventi just received a thick pile of paper and a thin piece of secret message.

"New Alchemy? Lucien Evans?" Raventi slightly frowned when seeing such a brief and general title.

But he knew that Lucien was always being very cautious and precise, so there must be a reason why he chose the title. He put the question aside and started reading the paper.

The school of Element and Alchemy were always closely interrelated with each other. Therefore, the Holm Crown prize was also the highest award shared by the two schools. The four arcana review members from the Will of Elements were also authorities in the field of Alchemy.

As soon as he started reading, Raventi sunk into Lucien's paper deeper and deeper. His brows twitched and his hands were slightly trembling as if he was truly an old man.

After a long time, he seemed to be a bit out of control and roared in a low voice to himself. "So, this is the deep-hiding secret behind matters!?"

His sight became blurry. In the vagueness, there seemed to be a white-haired old man who was so thin that pretty much only bones were left lying on a bed in the magic robe of element. His soul was severely damaged by the failure of the lich-transforming rite and was near collapsing, however, his voice was full of great passion and solemnity.

"Raventi, do you know what it means – the word 'Alchemy'?"

"It means our dream – to master the secret of matters!"

"Take my place, carry the dream on!"

Raventi closed his eyes and murmured, "Sir, can you see this? New Alchemy!"

Lost in this atmosphere, Raventi took a long time to calm down. Then he picked up the secret message.

"Artil is a spy from the Church? He's devoured by holy light after reading New Alchemy?" Raventi's brows knitted together.

He finished reading the message and called the student waiting outside in.

"Go and check who is close to Artil." Raventi gave the order.

"Why?" His student confused.

Raventi repeated the message to his student and asked solemnly, "understand?"

"Yes." His student was just about to turn around, but he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Sir, shall we keep the message a secret?"

"The message can be revealed. Accessing the message doesn't require a high level of authority." Raventi recalled the notes behind the message.

When the student left, Raventi headed for the lab. He had to verify Lucien's experiment first before writing the review.

Mr. Raventi had always been a cautious and conscientious arcanist.

…

In a demiplane, another member from the school of Alchemy whose name was Prado waited beside the desk full of respect.

It seemed that the black-haired, black-eyed man who always had a cunning smile on his face had fallen asleep. Sitting behind the desk, he did not open his eyes even when a doll puppet that had the appearance of a blonde little girl walked in to bring him tea.

After a long time, Klaus sighed. "Finally… I see this alive with my own eyes."

Looking at the delicate expressionless doll, and then turning to look at the bright blue sky outside of the window, he let out a burst of low laughter.

"Such a wonderful world."

"New Alchemy. How far could it go?"

…

In the Radiance Church in Holm.

Philibell had just finished his daily prayers when he saw the cardinal directly rushing in.

"Message! Archangel level!" Cried the cardinal before Philibell could scold him for being so reckless.

Archangel level? Philibell was rather surprised. He wondered if Douglas had reached an even higher level, or if the sorcerers had made any new major discoveries that lead them into the realm of God.

Philibell had lots of questions in his mind. Knowing the importance of the message, he took over the thick pile of parchment and asked the cardinal to invite Stone here.

"Archmage level… from Artil, as expected… important material attached, contains curses…"

Philibell checked the file carefully and noticed that indeed there was cursing power emitting from a small pouch tied to the file. Thus, he trusted the message even more.

"Philibell, what is it?" asked Vaharall. He was right in the church, so it was easy for him to came quickly after receiving the message via the divine circle.

Seeing that there were two legendaries here as his witnesses, Philibell opened the file and started reading the thick pile of paper.

Seeing the complicated magic spells and arcana symbols, Vaharall looked away and waited for Philibell's summary. Meanwhile, it seemed a bit weird to him to have the entire paper sent to the Church. In most cases, an important piece of paper should be summarized first before being sent. How could the entire file all belong to the archangel level?

As he read further, Philibell's body started trembling out of anger, and his eyes were written with fury. Skipping some parts, he directly jumped to the most important section.

"… In the radioactive substance, I have found the trace of the new element, which perfectly matches what I expected: In the process of radioactive decay, energy and matter are released from helium atomic nucleus and thus new elements are formed…"

There was a line of words here: "See attached material. Important."

Philibell quickly opened the black pouch and saw a piece of ore marked with magic symbols. It was red, but with the emission of the faint rays in three colors – black, white, and green – part of the ore stone turned blue, and then dark radiant green.

The tiny traces of the new element within was amplified by magic, while the magic waves had been hidden by the cursing power.

This was a real piece of ore stone from nature, except that its changing process was presented by the magic tags.

"This is an element turning into another through decay…" Philibell could not help reading further, as if he had been possessed,

"… Since human beings acquired magic, the dream of turning elements into gold has always been there. This is not merely our pursuit of wealth, but the longing for the truth of the world, as we always wish to master the secret of matter transmutation!"

"… However, for thousands of years in the past, there was not a single alchemical reaction which had successfully transmuted a substance fundamentally without relying on a permanent magic circle… In front of the gate of the forbidden zone belonging only to gods, we human beings could not march further…"

Recalling the atom structure put forward by Lucien Evans and how he described the decaying process, Philibell felt that his brain was seized by panic. The answer had emerged in his mind…

"… But now, after discovering the inner structure of the atom, by studying the nature of decay, we can find the path for fundamentally changing matters and substances and creating new elements! Following my theory, although the product might not be worth the cost, we can finally take over the power once exclusively owned by god! Now we see the deepest secrets hiding behind substances, and we are on the way to achieve the shared dream of generations of sorcerers!"

Philibell's head buzzed as if someone just hammered his head. Driven by great fury and hatred, the everlasting peace in his mind was gone.

"How dare these filthy sorcerers to pretend to the throne of creation! How dare you, Lucien Evans!" Roared Philibell.

This was no longer a groundless accusation, but solid evidence. In the upcoming future, Lucien Evans would step into the forbidden realm once only controlled by God!

Before he could say more, several cardinals rushed in, with messages in their hands.

"Your Excellency, Artil has been devoured by the holy light because of New Alchemy!"

"Your Excellency! Confirmed! Artil's faith was shaken; holy light outburst!"

They had no idea that Artil was a spy before this, but now they had all realized what was going on.

The messages arrived just in time. Philibell got a bit confused and helpless – He thought that the finding still needed to wait until the discovery of neutron to be proved.

His eyesight fell on the bottom line of the message. The words had turned scarlet under the rays.

"Artil has been devoured by holy light. What about you?"

The red ore stone in his left hand was still emitting rays; it was still turning into a blue new element.

Philibell heard his heart thumping. Voice and sound faded away from him. He simply could not look away from the red decaying stone, and he even used divine power to verify it.

It turned out that the decaying process was indeed real, the same with the existence of the new element. Lucien Evans's description was correct. If the process could be controlled or even reversed, the changing of matter could no more be a secret which once only belonged to God.

Fear and panic possessed him. Philibell could not help murmuring to himself.

"The Lord is still almighty! The Lord is still the origin of the universe. But… but if an ordinary human being can do the same thing as God can do, then…"

Vaharall's eyes suddenly opened big. He sensed the danger a second before it arrived.

Outside the Radiance Church, people walking by were shocked to a powerful, majestic light pillar soar into the air and everything within the range vapored. Then, quickly, the divine circles outside of the church were activated and counteracted the power of the light pillar.

Standing far away from the church, after seeing how the central part of the building was ruined and the clergies who screamed bitterly in the holy light, Douglas sighed. "It has been hundreds of years; we never did any damage to the building. But today we almost completely tore it down."

"But it looks like Philibell is not as devoted as he claimed." With his eyes closed, Atlant the Eye of Curse said to Douglas, Fernando, and Lucien.

In the air, Vaharall looked down at the church which had been severely damaged and the clergies who did not manage to escape, he felt the anger burning his guts, but at the same time, he also felt lucky that he could not understand the paper.

"Philibell, are you alright?" Varahall asked Philibell, who was kneeling on the ground in the center of the huge hole, as if he was making a confession.

"My faith was shaken…" said Philibell bitterly; his grand cardinal robe had been torn into pieces. "… Not only can I never reach the next level, but my power has even receded by one level."

Chapter 458: The Angry Pope

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Finishing the experiment together with his teacher, Prado relaxed down as he looked and saw the dreamlike sunset glow. He felt more satisfied than ever, as he had clearly identified the next step he was going to take in the research — find neutron to support Lucien Evans' matter transmutation theory.

He used to think that he would never reach the legendary realm and become an "Excellency" like his teacher, but now the New Alchemy had brought him hope!

With a big smile on his face mixed with excitement and joy, Prado picked up the quill-pen.

"Please first allow me, as an alchemist, to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Lucien Evans, the author of the paper. He has made generations of alchemists' dream come true!

"Starting from fact, Mr. Lucien Evans has made a comprehensive but detailed description of the inner structure of the atom and its properties. He then built a theoretical system that could thoroughly explain alchemical reactions, ionization, valence, periodicity of elements, and spectra lines patterns of elements. This theoretical system also elaborates the nature of elements. Furthermore, based on the new element found in the radioactive substance, Mr. Lucien Evans has reasonably explained how matters transmutate and predicted several methods of transforming matter.

"If Mr. Lucien Evans' theoretical system is proved, it will become the greatest research achievement since that of Her Excellency Hathaway. His theoretical system is powerful enough to change the era!

"As an alchemist, I'd say that this theoretical theory will become the code for the school of Element and Alchemy. The glory of this achievement is greater than ever.

"However, since the final establishment of the theoretical system still requires solid experiment support, so far I cannot directly send all these compliments to Mr. Evans, nor the title of grand arcanist.

"Based on what we have so far, I can say that this theoretical system explaining the school of Element and Alchemy is groundbreaking, innovative, extremely important, universally applicable, and is greatly worth discussing. Five-thousand arcana credits and one-hundred-thousand arcana points are suggested to be given as a reward."

When he put down the quill-pen, Prado was still in the excitement.

He looked out at the dimming night sky, and he knew that tomorrow when the sun rises, it would be a glorious bright day.

...

Thanks to the divine circle God's Guard designed for defense against the grand arcanists, the periphery of the Radiance Church was left intact.

However, as Stone the Four-winged Knight rushed here and saw the shocking scene, the look on his face became extremely distorted with great hatred and sorrow — All the cardinals and bishops in the central part of the Church, who either lived here or were on duty, were all dead.

Stone's vision became blurred, as if the blood of the clergy had covered his eyes. The loss was too much for him to bear.

To stand against the Congress of Magic which growing stronger day by day, the parish of Holm was the center of the surrounding four districts Colette, Brianne, Calais, and the coastal area of the northland. Thus a great number of cardinals were gathered here, most of them in the Radiance Church.

"So far, it is estimated that at least three level-nine red robe cardinals, fifteen red robes of lower ranks, and almost a hundred cardinals were martyred…" Vaharall's coarse and miserable voice seemed to be directly blown out from hell. Yet he could not let the sorrow and angry completely seize his mind right now, as he still had to turn on the divine circles to prepare against the possible upcoming attack from the Congress of Magic.

"Lucien Evans!" Recalling that he had just gloated over Lucien's kill record, Stone could no longer hold back his anger..

Great shame!

He had known from Vaharall that it was Lucien Evans who caused this. Such a scale of loss was even rare during the War of Dawn and the war against the North heresies. Although the South Church claimed that the number of their middle-ranks and senior-ranks was equal to that of the Congress and the North Church added together, due to the vastness of their realm, they were still in trouble regathering enough pastors and cardinals in a short period of time.

However, what pained him the most was the degradation of Philibell's power! This was their greatest loss!

"Also, Douglas, Fernando, Atlant…" Philibell knew the legendary sorcerers very well. Lucien Evans was not alone.

Douglas was Artil's teacher, and Fernando was Lucien's. And the way they did this was of the typical style of Atlant.

Philibell seemed to have aged within seconds. "I've sent the message to His Holiness the Pope. War is inevitable. Lucien Evans must die."

Lucien Evans must die now. It would be too late when he became a grand arcanist and legendary sorcerer.

Given New Alchemy enough time, the future of Lucien Evans would be out of their control!

"We'll wait for His Holiness's command." Stone tried his best to restrain his fury.

Philibell added despiritedly. "I'm not able to lead the Holm parish anymore. I've applied to His Holiness to send a more powerful grand cardinal here."

"Philibell…" Vaharall knew how this felt.

The sky dimmed. The night fell much earlier than expected.

...

Using the magic circle improved by the Will of Elements, the rigorous Raventi did two separate experiments to confirm the existence of proton, while the discovery of the new element was much easier.

Picking up the quill-pen, Raventi recalled the time he first saw Lucien, who was wearing a black double-breasted suit and standing quietly among the low-rank sorcerers. Except that he was better-looking and more well-mannered than his peers, there was nothing else that made him different from the others. Raventi had never imagined that this young man would have made such amazing progress within just a few years. Now, he was very promising to become the eighth grand arcanist in the Congress, when he was only around thirty.

His Excellency, Lucien Evans, the Creator.

"The scarlet moon… The tide of the time…" Raventi murmured to himself silently.

Then he started writing the review comment. To him, a level-nine arcanist and a ninth-circle sorcerer, New Alchemy showed him the hope of reaching the legendary level!

"Although the Introduction of the quantum theory into the atom structure model still requires more experiments as verification, it is, without doubt, a paper to which all sorcerers in the school Element and Alchemy have to bow. It is the Code of Element and Alchemy.

"As long as the neutron can be found, and that the artificially created matter can permanently exist outside of the permanency magic circle, Lucien Evans's New Alchemy will be able to shift the direction of elemental and alchemical magic development and change the time. Perhaps the theoretical system is still not perfect, but so far it is definitely reasonable and logical.

"Lucien Evans has combined the many alchemical reactions together and offer them a shared explanation derived from his theoretical system.

"So far my review comment has to be made based on the current experimental results. Therefore, I'd say that this is a groundbreaking, extremely important, and universally applicable theory worth broad discussing. Six-thousand arcana credits and one-hundred-thousand arcana points are suggested to be given to Lucien Evans as a reward.

"This is an epic step into the exclusive realm of gods of us sorcerers. Now, we are only one step away from accessing the throne of creation."

The darkness of the night outside the window was thick and dense.

...

In the Bright Hall, Holy City Lance.

The members of the Grand Cardinal group were silently waiting for the arrival of the pope.

Suddenly, the space was filled up with tyrannical, divine, and bright power. The superior power made them lower their heads.

"Lucien Evans stole the Lord's power with his New Alchemy. Severe punishment he deserves! And the Congress of Magic!" the Pope, Benedict II, strode out of the divine circle holding his scepter high. There was a distinct rage in his voice.

The members had never seen the pope this furious. They quickly exchanged a look between each other.

Stealing the power of the Lord and profaning the glory of divinity, these charges were indeed very bad, but Lucien Evans was not the first sorcerer who did those. Douglas, Brook, and the rest of the grand arcanists… they all more or less deserved similar charges, but the Pope had treated their issues calmly. What was the difference this time?

Was it because this theoretical system could really change matters freely that it even made the Pope uneasy?

His white hair neatly combed backward, Benedict II gave the top command. "I declare war against the Congress of Magic. The five parishes — Holm, Colette, Brianne, and the Northland along the coast — will be leading. Support will be given. And the Parish of Holm will be in charge.

"Philibell is injured. Someone must take the role in the Radiance Church in Rentato. A Saint."

After a short period of silence, Sard stood out and said, "Your Holiness. I wish to take the role of the Grand Cardinal of Holm and lead the five parishes."

Although he looked just like an ordinary old man, Sard had reached the third rank of Saint Cardinal two years ago and had been given the title, Saint.

"Your devotion makes you glow, and the Blessing will always be with you. When the war begins, we shall all join," the Pope nodded.

Then the Pope started drawing the plan for the upcoming war, with Sard giving advice.

No one dared to say a word against the decision of the furious Pope. The plan was drawn fluently.

Then the Pope said to them, "the top thirty night watchers shall all see eliminating Lucien Evans as their top priority once they are available. Lucien Evans now ranks no. 19 on the Cleansing List.

"I have one thing to clear up," said the Pope all of a sudden, "Lucien Evans was once a Seraph beside the Lord, thus he owned the incomparable talent in music and wisdom. But he was lured and betrayed the Lord. He stole the power of creating from the Lord and fell to the ground.

"He is the Primordial Demon, and also a Fallen Angel!"

The grand cardinals and the leaders of the Inquisitions all understood the Pope's words immediately. The Pope was saying so for solidifying the followers' belief — Human beings could never be as powerful as God; Lucien Evans was able to do so because he was a thief who stole the Lord's power.

Ranking no. 19 on the Cleansing List, the name Lucien Evans, the Fallen Angel, was even above many legendaries!

The Pope raised the scepter high and was about to declare the start of the war. However, at this time, Benedict II suddenly looked up at the sky and then, it felt that the entire world trembled a bit.

Standing among the stars in the sky, seeing the blurry scenes of the foreign dimension in front of his eyes, Oliver grinned to Hathaway.

"Here it is."

Chapter 459: The Start of the Chaos

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the Bright Hall, the Holy City Lance.

The entire world trembled a bit. All the cardinals present felt it. In the clear blue sky, there was a blurry image of a brand new world, so strange and so familiar at the same time.

It was the dimension that they had been seeking for in the past three years, where Alterna and the mysterious existence fell.

"Someone found it," Squinting his eyes, another Saint, Anasta, broke the solid silence in the Bright Hall. "This world seems to be quite special; its revelation made too big a stir, so now we can also precisely locate it… it's another fair competition."

All of them turned to look at the Pope, waiting for his further decision. Should they stick to the war plan, or switch their focus to the newly-found dimension, to finding the injured Alterna and the mysterious existence?

Except for the two Grand Cardinals, who looked rather calm and indifferent, the rest of them all looked a bit excited. For them, the choice would definitely be the latter!

Was Lucien Evans important? Of course. This was not the first time that Lucien Evans brought disaster to the Church, and they all knew it well that Lucien Evans was very likely to become the next grand arcanist and legendary mage in his thirties or forties. If they simply left Lucien Evans alone, he would quickly grow into a huge threat to the Church.

However, compared to the secrets hiding behind Alterna and the mysterious existence, Lucien's importance paled. If they could catch Alterna and the mysterious existence and find out their secrets, the gain would be immeasurable for the Church, for the Pope, and for everyone!

All the previous popes wished to be immortal like Alterna, just like the saying —"eternal is the Silver Moon, eternal is the Moon God." However, because their power came from the God of Truth, they could not prolong their years using magic and potions, thus five-hundred years was their limit. Also, after becoming the pope, their bodies aged even faster from bearing the power of God, even though they were already Saints before ascending to the throne.

The Grand Cardinal group's members could easily notice that the popes never lived long, but they did not know the reasons behind. The most reasonable guess was that a human being's body and soul ascending to demigod level would have to bear unrepairable damages.

Therefore, knowing the secrets of the real demigods could for sure prolong the Pope's life span.

As for the grand cardinals, knowing even the smallest piece of secret would greatly benefit them. They would see much bigger hope in ascending or even becoming demigods, Saints, or Angels on the Ground to enjoy immortality.

With such power, the entire Church would be invincible!

Under the burning gazes, the Pope released a sigh and said calmly, "eliminating Lucien Evans, the Fallen Angel, was what we were planning on. However, now the Lord has decided to send us to an even more dangerous and challenging task. This is our honor and pleasure. Sard, you will still lead the parish of Holm, as well as the entire five parishes to stand against the Congress of Magic. Before this ends, no spare support can be sent to you. This is a tough situation."

"Your command is the will of the Lord. Only truth lives forever," answered Sard without any personal emotions.

However, in other grand cardinals' eyes, he was of extremely bad luck.

Being the leader of the five major parishes and ranking only below the Pope in the Church was once the ultimate pursuit among all the powerful characters in the Church. However, the Congress of Magic had become much more powerful than ever, and thus the role had now become a very risky one. What was more important was that Sard was going to miss the chance heading for the dimension to look for Alterna and the mysterious existence. But since Sard did not say anything, they were also glad to have fewer competitors.

"Anasta and Maria, you two shall come with me." Benedict II commanded calmly.

Maria was another Saint, and just like Anasta, he was fully trusted by Benedict II.

Different from the constitution of the North Church, in the South Church, the Pope had unparalleled authority and power. No one dared to stand out and speak against the Pope. What surprised them even more was that the Pope was going to join in the exploration of the dimension! Ever since the division of the Church, His Holiness had never stepped out of the Holy City.

The Pope has put an even heavier emphasis on this than they expected.

"Arzaro, Varantine, Bellia…" The Pope picked another five members from the Grand Cardinal group, who were either saint cardinals or legendary knights. "… should also come along with me."

This arrangement had made the most from what the Church had right now. The Church had so many enemies that the Pope had to be very cautious all the time in case they would launch a strike when the Church was unprepared, although the Pope believed that their enemies would also choose to focus on chasing after the newly-found dimension.

Also, this time the Pope would join in person, and he is confident in himself.

After the arrangement, the Pope said to them, "get the senior-ranks, top two hundred night watchers, radiant knights and above to prepare themselves. We know nothing about the dimension yet. Maybe it's as broad as the Star Tomb, then we'll need stronger support.

"As for the punishment that Lucien Evans deserves, two or three top night watchers should still bear the mission in mind."

The Pope still insisted on killing Lucien as soon as possible even now.

"As command, Your Holiness," answered the members in chorus, as they drew a cross in front of their chests,

"Only Truth lives forever!"

…

In the boundless starry sky, Oliver shrugged at ease and said, "there's something wrong with this dimension. The stir we made was too loud to avoid the attention. The North and the South Church may already be on their way now. I'll get in there first. You go back and tell the president all the information we collected. Let him make the plan and gather everyone else."

"I see." Hathaway did not waste her words. Turning around, she did an elegant Space Jump using her demiplane — Element Paradise. A few hours earlier, she received Fernando's secret message and was informed about Lucien's New Alchemy. Therefore, she resisted the temptation of exploring deeper into this dimension, and instead, applied to guard Allyn in the next five-year period, in order to assimilate and further improve the theoretical system.

After Hathaway left, Oliver released a sigh,

"Here starts the chaos."

…

On the Night Highland, in a busy city.

The buildings in this city carried the style of ancient times. Some were heavy solid stone huts from of the Age of Steam, while some were green treehouses left from the time when elves were still ruling this territory. However, most houses and buildings in the city had pointy tips and looked grayish, which was typical of the ancient Magic Empire. This city was a place where most races in this world gathered together, including human beings of different ethnicities, werewolves, beautiful elves, pale vampires, scaly Kuo-toans, and so on.

All of a sudden, the space and the living creatures cracked like a mirror. The image of the two human beings having a heated conversation in the corner broke into small pieces, together with the buildings and the entire city.

On the empty land, a black castle emerged. In the castle, the lid of a huge coffin opened fiercely, and a man in his thirties wearing a black evening suit and a cloak that was black on the outside and red in the inside flew out. His eyes were scarlet, creepy but enchanting.

"Finally…"

In the next second, Dracula had vanished.

On the Night Highland, the several vampire princes all responded in the same way. They had all set out, leaving their territories behind exposed to possible attacks — There was nothing more important than the Primordial Ancestor.

In San Ivansburg, in Antiffler, in the Dark Mountain Range… Countless legendaries looked up at the sky simultaneously and immediately set off for that dimension, with or without companies. No one could resist the temptation, not even the arrogant Rudolf II or the mysterious Pope of the North.

…

"We are heading for the dimension — Douglas, I, Vicente, Hellen, Atlant, Hull-Chulia, Chelsea, Davy… Eleven legendaries in total to support Oliver," said Fernando who just directly showed up in the Atom Institution. "You stay in Allyn. Don't fool around. If you have to, use your Transformation Mask."

If Lucien had not made such a mess and thus became the most hateful one in the eyes of the Church, Fernando would bring him and his other students together with him, so they could gain experience by exploring the dimension under his protection. However, now the dimension would soon be turned into the battlefield among the legendaries. Lucien should not take such a risk.

In case the Church would launch a sudden attack, the Congress also saved six legendaries to help Hathaway safeguard Allyn, including Brook, who was still recovering from the damage in his cognitive world.

Although Lucien was, of course, very curious and he did long for the power hiding in that dimension, he had not lost his reason to greed. Joining the battlefield of the legendaries as a sixth-circle sorcerer would be directly courting death. He had better just stay here and hope that the Congress could bring back some pieces, so he apply to research on them in the future as a grand arcanist. With the credits he just earned from the light quantum hypothesis and New Alchemy, Lucien was now already a level-seven arcanist. Expecting more citation credits coming up, plus the Influence Factor, Lucien believed that he could become reach level eight in a few years.

"Yes, Sir. I'll be cautious," said Lucien like a deferential, good student.

Meanwhile, his brain was spinning fast — Seizing the chance, he could bring out the dwarves from the Night Highland once his magic tower was ready.

This was the best chance ever!

Chapter 460: Lucien's Magic Tower

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

A few days later.

The tall silver-gray tower reached all the way up into the cloud, featuring its elegant curves and lines. Compared to the many other magic towers owned by the senior-ranks, which more or less looked gloomy, Lucien's magic tower was a good match to the starry sky and had some kind of unique taste in it.

"Hmm… A musician's fantastic magic tower," commented Rock, who was still quite whimsical even though he was already a third circle sorcerer now after the several years.

As an expert in Astrology, Lucien had to observe the stars, so a tall magic tower made sense. However, it seemed that the color and the shape of this magic tower were almost too unique and eye-catching to match Lucien's even-temperedness. However, considering the fact that Lucien was also a musician, the guests present all accepted the design.

Louise fancied the design of the magic tower quite a lot. It suited her taste much better than the traditional, gloomy-looking towers and castles. She smiled and said to Lucien, "Mr. Evans, you also have a very good taste in architecture. I'd appreciate it a lot if you can offer me some opinions for my villa's reconstruction in the future."

Although Lucien had told her multiple times that she could just call him by his name, Louise was still being the same respectful. After becoming the host Nightingale of the radio programme, Louise made quite a lot as a second-circle sorcerer. Therefore, she bought herself a garden villa in Allyn where property price was rising day by day.

"Did you name it, Evans?" Asked Samantha casually with the same indifferent look on her face.

Normally speaking, a sorcerer would not bother naming their magic tower. A name was usually saved for the demiplane. But Lucien was not only a sorcerer, but also a artist.

Lucien grinned as he stepped on the stairs. "I call it Babel."

"Babel…?" Lazar and the students repeated the syllables confusedly. They had never heard the word before.

K was about to ask, but stopped himself when he saw the mysterious smile on Lucien's face, knowing that this was probably Lucien's little secret.

"Welcome back, my Lord. Welcome, distinguished guests. I'm Pinocchio. The brave, loyal, and honest Pinocchio." The silvery voice of the alchemical life rang.

Lucien pointed at the gradually opening silver-gray metal gate and said, "this is Pinocchio, the tower guard."

The guests greeted the tower guard although they had no idea what did such a name mean. Through the gate, they entered the hall, in which there was a metal sculpture of a huge wheel in the center.

"The Wheel of History. That's what the sculpture is called." Introduced Lucien.

Rock first burst out laughing. "Ambitious, Lucien, ambitious! But I'm sure the last thing you lack is ambition. A future grand arcanist who put forward New Alchemy will never lack ambition. No matter it is the Church in the South or North, they'll be completely crashed by the wheel of history!"

"Despite bendings and windings, history keeps progressing," said Lucien in a good mood.

The magic tower would be his first real home in this world. Here, with the magic tower, Lucien would be able to protect himself against the attack of a ninth-circle.

Samantha nodded lightly. "Your mind is sober. New Alchemy did not lead you to arrogance."

Although the special supplement New Alchemy of this month's Arcana had not yet been published, most sorcerers present had enough background and had thus already read this era-changing paper.

After reading the paper, the younger generation, including Samantha, Rachel, Larry, and Ulysses, held deep admiration for Lucien, but also felt a bit depressed. Before New Alchemy came out, Lucien was a leading rival of his peers, and chasing him up was a shared goal among the younger arcanists. The goal was almost unrealizable, but it was there. However, now they had realized that Lucien was no longer one of them. Lucien should be in the team of the legendaries, standing beside those including Douglas, Brook, Hathaway, and Klaus. They were too far behind to catch up.

This caused the feeling of helplessness among them.

"Underestimating your enemies is underestimating your own life." Lucien looked at Samantha and said with a smile, "I'm not as talented as you all think. Like I said before, the study of the atom is such a brand new field in which even the smallest finding can lead to the discovery of a much bigger secret. In this field, there is so far no authority and no difference between us. When conditions are ready, we can all find something amazing. I just took a step ahead, and it does not mean that no one can catch me up. Being young and open-minded is the most valuable thing."

Samantha looked into Lucien's serene eyes and knew that he meant it, instead of just being humble out of courtesy. She put on a sincere smile and said, "What a pity… I'm good at the school of Element."

The rest of the guests, including Larry, K, and Lazar, nodded thoughtfully. They knew what Lucien just said was true.

Lucien pointed up at the sky and said, "the macroworld is as important."

"Sir, can we take a visit to your lab?" Before Samantha could respond, Heidi asked curiously.

Lucien nodded and then led them to the elevator and then to the underground level. On their way, they walked past the spare energy room, the binding rooms, the underground magic garden, and arrived at the vast lab.

Most of the magic circles and alchemical facilities in this spacious lab were easily recognized by the sorcerers present. However, they had no clue what the two metal halves placed in the high-magnetic, vacuum magic circle in the middle of the lab were.

The two silver halves engraved with magic patterns somehow resembled the style of the magic tower.

"This is a cyclotron for accelerating charged particles. If any of you want one, my design plan is available in the Exchange Zone." Lucien briefly introduced how the machine worked to them, which was a smart and secret way of luring his friends.

Although the Congress did help Lucien out to some degree with this far-beyond-budget magic tower by selling the materials to Lucien at much lower prices, Lucien still had used up all of his savings in the past three years to improve his magic tower to an even higher standard to prepare for the future upgrades, so he was now in great need of extra arcana points.

Lucien was impressed by his own pace of progressing. Although he had made quite a fortune from the projects and papers, he was still far from being rich compared to those senior-rank sorcerers who had lived over a hundred years and thus had enough time for accumulating wealth. Lucien found his budget beyond tight, especially that he was seeking for the best materials for everything.

"What's this then?" Asked Larry, pointing at the sealed box connected to the transmitting part on the top, on which there were many thermodynamic magic circles.

"It is a cloud chamber, for assisting alchemical experiments," answered Lucien.

"Cloud chamber? For what?" K asked.

"When it is turned on," Lucien smiled and explained, "it is filled with supersaturated vapor. When an energetic charged particle passes, it will be ionized, leaving a mist-like trail of ionized gas particles looking in the form of droplets. So we can observe and record the trace of a particle better."

"I can't believe I never thought of it!" exclaimed Ulysses, who specialized in the school of Thermodynamics. The observation of particles in the microworld had always been a big problem in their study. While lots of sorcerers were still working on improving amplification facilities, Lucien had solved the problem using vapor.

Louise and Heidi said simultaneously, "san we take a look?"

Lucien nodded and turned the cyclotron on.

In the box, elegant mist-like trails suddenly appeared against the dark background. The beauty of the curves was stunning.

The lab, for a while, became silent.

...

After taking the tour in the lab, Lucien led the guests to the banquet hall. When the senior-ranks including Raventi, Gaston, and Isabella arrived, the banquet began.

In the cheerful atmosphere, Lucien presented eight pieces of piano bagatelle, and he also played the violin, impressing all the guests present.

When the performance part ended, the guests started talking to each other casually. Seeing the scene, Lucien suddenly felt a bit lonely. He knew that he was missing his friends and family in Aalto.

Lucien found a chance and snuck out of the hall and came to the balcony. Then he cast Electromagnetism Messaging.

"Hey, good evening, Lucien. Congratulations on your magic tower." Natasha's cheerful voice soon came.

Lucien also grinned. "Good afternoon, I'm celebrating."

"What a pity I can't be there. But still, congratulations, the Fallen Angel." Natasha joked, "His Holiness is creative when creating these titles."

Lucien replied seriously, "I'm only studying the particles in the microworld for the sake of arcana. But I think the experiment results show that the God of Truth has already handed human beings and nature the power of creation as a gift after the world was first created, and now the God of Truth only serves as spiritual guidance."

For the sweet future, Lucien had been working on gradually shifting Natasha's religious belief.

"So you're saying… God is in our hearts, and the Church has been lying to us?" Natasha didn't seem to be bothered. As long as Lucien was not indicating anything profane, she was fine with it.

Lucien answered decisively, "of course. Ms. Meredith was also a good person, right?"

Natasha giggled. "Alright, this isn't my point. The thing is that when the Church started calling you the Fallen Angel, I began picturing you in an angel costume, you know, like the one in an opera. It'd be even better if you are equipped with a pair of wings."

"I remember the costume for angels is usually genderless…" Lucien knew what Natasha was thinking.

Natasha burst out laughing, but with a hint of guiltiness. "Yeah… yeah… By the way, why the signal wasn't as good when I called Granny Hathaway?"

"The communication satellites still need further improvements. Mr. Douglas has been working on this in recent years," answered Lucien.

As a result, the plan of having satellite constellations was falling behind.

Natasha said thoughtfully, "but the quality of our conversation is… You know what's wrong, right?"

Lucien chuckled but said nothing.

Natasha knew when to stop asking questions. Then she released a gentle sigh. "The mysterious dimension has been found, and my mentor has set off to follow the Pope in there. Every time when I think of the battlefield there, my blood runs fast and I feel beyond thrilled. But I know I am not ready yet. However, His Holiness has also asked all the radiant knights and above to get prepared as the reserve force. If there's something wierd with the dimension, we will join in.

"If the day comes, I'll lead the nobles in Violet into the dimension."

Facing such a situation, the royal house must send a representative to be the leader. It would be either the Duke or Natasha, otherwise, the others would not obey heartily.

"I'd like to go, too." Lucien said implicitly. The words he omitted were "with you".

Natasha laughed, "Come on. None of the legendary sorcerers would pick on me, but you're different. The entire Church wants you to die. You're such a troublemaker!"

Their conversation did not last long, as Lucien could not just leave his guests alone. After knowing from Natasha how John and his family were doing, he had to end the call.

Turning around, Lucien saw Samantha looking at him from a distance with a plate on her hand. On the plate was steamed fish, a dish improved by Lucien that was favored by all the guests.

"I didn't hear anything, but I can tell it from your face. Besides magic and arcana, some space in your heart is still saved for that lady." Samantha sighed out of disappointment and then turned around without hesitation.

In the Congress of Magic, there were much more sorcerers who were single. Although they did pursue marriage just like common people, longevity made many of them lose their beloved ones. Also, some were deprived of desires, mostly the liches, so they chose to become single again. Rarely were there couples who both had the power to live very long.

Among them, the grand arcanists had the lowest rate of marriage — Douglas, Fernando, Hathaway, and Hellen were all single; Vicente Miranda's wife had passed away a long time ago, and rumors said that until today, his biggest dream was to truly bring his wife back to life. Brook's wife fell in the assassination of the Church; Oliver was the only one among them who had a sweet family.

...

In the underground caves of the Night Highland.

Augustus the Elder was praying to the God of Steam attentively.

It had been a few years, and the Night Highland was getting more and more dangerous. The dwarves were still waiting for the guidance from their god.