Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 201 Decay Period (6k)

For the first time in his life, Palansi was in a wheelchair.

The next morning, he, the "strongest saint in the empire" who was fully equipped and back to his peak, was pushed out of the ward by a young knight who was hundreds of years younger than him.

The warm sunlight shining on his body almost made his face turn red.

This harmonious scene is like a granddaughter pushing her disabled grandfather out to bask in the sun. It is quiet and peaceful, and there is even an atmosphere of a happy family reunion.

However, they are neither grandfather nor grandson, and he has never had any difficulty walking. In his current state, he can put on his armor and pick up the holy sword to fight another rebellion war.

Don't be anxious, Palansi, calm down, Palansi!

Your current setting is an elderly person.

Palansi was trying to calm himself down. He saw many familiar figures in the hospital and took the initiative to bring up an irrelevant topic, "These doctors should be pastors of the Church of Life, right?"

Having not returned to the empire for hundreds of years, he has become increasingly confused about the changes in this kingdom.

In his original plan, with the failure of the rebellion, all church priests would be liquidated. If the ruler was more merciful, they would be exiled from the empire. If the ruler was more cruel, he would settle the score later, accuse all members of the Church of Life, and burn them at the stake - just as Pope Julius had done in the past.

Therefore, during this trip to the imperial capital, smoothing things over became one of Palansi's jobs.

But now the situation of the priests seems to be that they can live well without his help, and they have become a respected profession throughout the empire.

It is no longer submission through the stamp of thought, but respect from the heart.

Bi'an nodded and introduced, "Well, this is the surgery department. The priest's blessing is very suitable for treating trauma or fractures."

"surgical?"

This was another term that Palansi had never heard of.

"This is a point that Lao Sen raised during a conversation. After communicating with the doctors at the Imperial Capital Hospital, they believed that the refinement of medical disciplines would be more conducive to the development of the medical system. Currently, surgery refers to skin injuries in the traditional sense, while internal medicine mostly refers to diseases that require diagnosis to be understood."

Bi'an knew nothing about medicine, and she was surprised that Ethan even had knowledge of this field.

She always felt that maybe Ethan had to spend twice as much time as others every day to build up such a huge knowledge base. "Old Ethan also discussed with the pastor of the Life Church and learned that the pastor's blessing can only cure the diseases they know about. However, the Life Church has now established a medical society. In time, they will definitely be able to use the blessing to treat internal medicine diseases."

It's Ethan again!

Palansi had heard too many rumors about Ethan. He later learned that the mechanical creation that made him fly was called a motorcycle, which was also Ethan's invention.

As a Nestheril Templar, he couldn't help but think that if this technology could be popularized on a large scale, the "sky" would no longer be the limit for dragon tamers, and the knights' mobility and coordination would reach unprecedented heights.

What surprised him even more was that only two months had passed since the turmoil in the imperial capital, and this declining empire seemed to be back on track and full of vitality.

While Palansi was lost in thought, the other side pushed him into the hospital's nutrition canteen.

The young knight smiled and said, "You have been injured. Drink more bone soup today."

"……Um."

Palansi felt as if he had really become an old man. Even the bowl of bone soup was carried for him by Bi'an, for fear that he would get scalded.

This was not the situation he had imagined at all!
As the "strongest saint in the empire", his "greeting" when meeting Winter will tear the heaven and earth apart. Both sides will feel each other's strength in the brief confrontation. That is the friendship between the strong. Then they will return to the imperial capital and find a tavern to drink and chat.

Not like now!
Palansi met Lindong again in the restaurant. This time, Lindong brought him a fruit basket to visit and comfort him, and asked about his injuries as soon as they met.

Lin Dong respects him now, but that is respect for the elderly, mixed with guilt for the victims of the traffic accident.

Combined with the little trick where Bi'an took the fruit basket and started peeling oranges for him, Palansi suddenly felt like he had aged two hundred years.

It turns out that the Imperial City is safer than he thought, but it is also full of... shame.

Ethan is here too.

After returning home last night, Ethan had an in-depth communication with the Wind Element - after leaving the motorcycle, the Wind Element returned to the appearance of a literary girl, speaking in a light voice and taking the initiative to admit her mistakes, but on the other hand, the Wind Element was the first one to take the initiative to hit others when he did not issue an attack command.

He always felt that there was something strange about this reflection.

The Wind Element, in her literary girl state, was very soft-spoken and willing to listen to anything you said. However, when faced with crucial questions, she fell strangely into silence.

When Ethan asked her if she would create someone else next time, the blue-haired girl lowered her head, her golden eyes looking at the ground, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

The Wind Element did not answer this question in the end. The only information he got was that when racing, the Wind Element did not like anyone blocking in front of her.

Ethan came to the conclusion that she would kill anyone who stood in her way.

This means that current motorcycle technology still has defects and cannot be popularized on a large scale, otherwise it is very likely to turn normal racing competitions into violent motorcycle races.

Ethan temporarily put aside the wind element's little quirk and asked, "Mr. Palansi, what brings you here from afar this time?"

It is not a common phenomenon for the "strongest person in the history of the empire" who has been dead for hundreds of years to return to the imperial capital.

Palansi was speechless for a moment.

But even though the situation of the conversation was completely different from what he had imagined, he still said frankly, "My mission this time is to introduce you and Miss Winter to become members of the organization."

He specifically included Ethan in the list.

"Is it an organization like a senior citizen party?"

Ethan only needed one sentence to make Palansi almost have a cerebral hemorrhage. He took a deep breath and said, "Servants of God, this is our identity."

Palansi couldn't help but recall the scene of his first interaction with the servants of God.

At that time, all the remnants of the old era were purified by the Knights Templar, Henry I established an empire, everything was thriving, but he was old and left the Templar, returned to his hometown, quietly waiting for the end of their era, until one night, a man who called himself the Servant of God broke into his mansion silently.

407 years.

This is the number given to him by the God Servant.

The empire will be destroyed after 407 years.

And now, Henry VI died of illness in the 406th year of the establishment of the empire.

"This is the period of decay that every civilization will go through."

"Decay period?"

"You should have noticed that there are almost no detailed records about other eras in the Empire's library. If we take the founding of the Empire by Henry I as the benchmark, then it is the sixth era experienced by mankind."

Palansi paused for a moment and said, "This is the 406th year since the founding of the empire. According to our prediction, in the next year, the scarlet plague will spread in the imperial capital, and the royal bloodline will be forced to migrate to other cities. During this period, the evil god's followers will instigate rebellions in various places, and then the empire will enter a century-long period of decay."

Now, the predicted results have been changed.

Today's empire is like a carriage that is about to fall apart at any time, but is glued together again by another unexpected force.

Ethan just nodded without refutation.

Palansi is even older than the empire itself.

The elderly have their own advantages. Although they are fragile and have difficulty walking, they know a lot of things, including many fragments that have never been recorded in history.

"To put it simply, the duty of the God-Servants is to secretly help humans go through the most dangerous period of decay and reach the moment when a new civilization is born. This is also... the hope of the Righteous God."

One night more than 400 years ago, Palansi heard similar words in his own home.

"But things are getting better now, aren't they?"

The other side spoke up.

She vaguely remembered that before they set out for the imperial capital, Rowena had performed a divination, and the result of the divination... was not ideal.

She witnessed the destruction of the imperial capital from the divination crystal ball, and saw that the residents of the imperial capital were transformed by the plague into distorted creations in the style of Lao Ba's art.

Normally, her divination results were quite accurate, and the effects that appeared in the crystal ball would definitely happen. But this time, the "future" was rewritten.

Palansi activated the holy seal, and the silver-white light formed several barriers, covering several people.

What he is going to say next cannot be heard by outsiders.

"The first era is called the Age of Enlightenment."

The silver-white light spots split from his palms floated onto the dining table and gathered into one magnificent building after another at a speed visible to the naked eye. At this moment, the dining table was a microcosm of this continent. Along with Palansi's low voice, they seemed to be experiencing the process of the rise and fall of civilization.

"That was the end of the existence of the True Gods. Humans established an organization called the 'Academy'. At that time, the academy's research was not limited to elemental magic, but included all the paths known to humans. People at that time believed that knowledge and wisdom were the most precious treasures they could create."

As Palansi changed the subject, thunderous sounds rang in the ears of several people, and the buildings constructed by silver-white light were instantly destroyed by lightning and collapsed in front of their eyes. "In the 387th year after the establishment of the 'Academy', the sixth dean heard an echo from another plane, which promised him more knowledge and more wisdom. In the 388th year, this powerful elemental shaper excitedly announced his discovery to the people. As a result, people fell into a disease called 'magic addiction'. They fell into madness and created many spells that they could not even control. In order to suppress the spread of 'magic addiction', the dean destroyed the magic network of the academy, which almost instantly cut off the connection between different places..."

"This is what was mentioned in 'The Disaster of Devil Addiction'."

Winter said that she had read this forbidden book in the library of the academy, "Destroying the magic network not only failed to curb the spread of 'magic addiction', but also caused the academy to lose control of the situation in various places. Many cities were destroyed by forbidden spells."

She was personally disappointed with the book.

Because strictly speaking, it is a history book that tells the story of the college's rise and fall. The sixth dean was regarded as a sinner of the college and was expelled from the college.

But she didn't go to look up history at that time, but wanted to learn the spells mentioned in the book that could easily destroy a city's taboos, but all the spells were lost with the end of the First Age. Ethan asked, "What happened next?"

This was the history of the Elemental Shapers after all, and he had never heard Winter mention this before.

"Later, it was nothing more than eliminating those extraordinary people who were addicted to magic. It took about several decades. After that, elemental shapers and magicians became the rats crossing the street. When the Second Age came, all research related to magic was banned for a long time. The academy also declined during that period."

Winter shrugged. That happened thousands of years ago.

Later, the elemental shaper lived in seclusion in the academy and rarely communicated with the outside world. She felt that this was not a bad thing.

"370 to 420 years, this is the cycle of each civilization."

Palansi said, “When every civilization is approaching its end, there will be unpredictable disasters. The empire has entered the countdown.”

This is also the reason why the servants of the gods condoned Turzan's behavior. In the eyes of many people, this was accelerating the process of the empire entering a period of decay.

No era can escape this cycle. Even if they seem to be thriving at the end, disasters will come from the sky and accelerate their demise.

However, if they follow the established trajectory, they will be able to take more initiative during the period of decline and help humans transition to the birth of the next civilization more quickly.

Palansi looked directly at Ethan and said, "Excuse me, what you did may not be a good thing."

With Turzan's death, the future of the empire is moving in a direction they cannot predict. "This means that we can no longer predict the coming disaster."

If the empire does not perish at the hands of the followers of the evil god and war, other disasters will occur that will hasten its demise and be even more destructive.

In Palansi's view, today's empire is like a runaway carriage. No one can predict where it will go and how it will eventually be shattered.

"But it is still possible to save it, provided that it is returned to its rightful place. I can only reveal this to you. If you still want to know about other eras, you must become a member of the God Servants."

This is where the name of the God Servant comes from.

They abandoned their past honor, identity and name just to fulfill the will of the Righteous God.

Humanity is moving forward along the trajectory set by the Righteous God, and destruction and rebirth are part of it.

"I generally understand."

Ethan carefully considered the information brought by Palansi. "We can assume that there is a certain will in this world that only allows a civilization to exist for about 400 years."

"Although it sounds a bit cruel, it has always been a double-edged sword."

Palansi said, “Before the decline of a civilization, if a civilization is close to destruction, a miracle will come to help it overcome the difficulties.”

He was surprised at the sharpness of Ethan's thinking. It took the servants of God a long time to glimpse the existence of this will, and until now they have different interpretations of this will.

Some people believe that it comes from this world itself, while others believe that this is the trajectory set by the right and middle gods for this world before their demise.

Miracles and disasters are part of it.

Palansi increasingly hopes that Ethan will become a member of the God's Servant, and he is trying his best to persuade him with a gentle attitude.

Of course, another reason was that those wind elements that came from nowhere were too ferocious. From the moment he was sent flying, it meant that they no longer had the possibility to take coercive measures.

"You don't have to rush to answer me. We don't necessarily have to become enemies."

As a Knight of the Round Table who had made great military achievements, when had Palansi ever been so humble?
His best communication strategy was to go out and speak with swords and fists if negotiations failed, even when facing Henry I and Hillman, the first archbishop of the empire.

But now he is like an old man, so old that he may not be able to withstand a punch from Ethan.

As we all know, wind element is not Ethan's specialty.

The people of the empire all praised the fire magic that was as dazzling as the sun. It was hard for Palansi to imagine what would happen if he was hit by the fire magic.

Thinking of this, he took a sip of the almost cold bone soup in front of everyone, silently emphasizing his identity to Ethan.

He is an elderly person.

Beating elderly people is immoral.

And now, he hoped that Ethan was a wise and reasonable man.

"Mr. Palansi, the information you brought is very valuable. I do not deny your views on the period of civilization decay."

Ethan spoke up.

He has never been the type of person who argues, and he is usually cautious about things he doesn't understand. Recently, he has become more and more aware that this is a world where magic and evil gods coexist, and much of his knowledge and common sense based on modern society may be invalid.

If the first five eras all followed the law of decay, then why was the Empire so lucky to escape this cycle?

While talking, he was also thinking about this question.

Hearing this, Palansi was delighted and blurted out, "So, are you willing to accept my invitation?"

Ethan looks like a gentle man, and he praises Ethan in his heart - when he was Ethan's age, he was a reckless man who only knew how to fight and kill, and had no ability to think flexibly.

If his identities and positions were reversed, he would probably beat the other party out immediately after hearing these vague words about the decay period.

"Having said that, Mr. Palansi, what do you think is the sign of the end of a civilization?"

Mr. Palansi was stunned for a moment, then replied, "A disaster that swept across the entire continent, resulting in a large number of casualties. In the dark ages, they struggled to reorganize, thus giving birth to a new civilization."

These are phenomena that the servants of the gods have observed from past history.

What they have to do is to shorten the cycle of decline as much as possible, especially to preserve the saints and other living forces that may touch the gods.

Every saint is an important soldier when the day of destruction comes.

Palansi added, "For the empire, the followers of the evil god will have the upper hand in the next period of time. An unprecedented civil war will break out in the empire. The hatred and grudges left over from the old times will be washed away by the war, and the remaining people will establish a new kingdom on this land."

This is what they had initially predicted.

The cycle is approximately between 10 and 20 years, which is the shortest dark period during the change of eras.

Ethan said, "What you are referring to is the change in political structure, and perhaps also involves changes in the civilization power system."

"You're right!"

Palansi's eyes lit up.

Ethan then asked, "So, what do you think of the empire today?"

The Empire Today?
Palansi fell into deep thought.

He had to admit that during his journey, the empire had undergone tremendous changes from what he remembered. Everything he saw was new, and it was a scene that they had not been able to predict.

Even the political structure...

Palansi was suddenly stunned, and his hands and feet became cold in an instant. He had never felt so terrified as he did at that moment.

In the past, the empire was firmly in the hands of the royal family, and the Henry family dominated the direction of civilization.

The king was the symbol of supremacy, and both the Temple of Netheril and the Church of Life were merely tools to assist the royal power. It was not until the 404th year of the empire that the outbreak of the War of the Fall seriously injured Henry VI, and with Turzaan's mediation, that the church began to gain the upper hand for the first time.

However, now the power of the new cabinet is above that of the royal power.

In Palansi's view, although the royal family and aristocratic bloodlines have not been abolished, their influence on politics is gradually fading.

Henry VI's three successors did not seem to object to these changes.

So……

What about the power system?
The Church of Life has become an important medical force in the Empire, and the Knights of the Temple of Netheril are no longer the only organization of the Kingdom's Army. With the birth of technologies such as motorcycles, the way knights fight in the future will undergo earth-shaking changes, and may even evolve into a new system completely.

And these are the changes that have taken place in the past two months.

Even the decay period matches!
At this moment, Palansi finally understood the source of the abnormal feeling along the way.

This is indeed the territory of the Empire and it still retains the name of the Empire, but it seems to have silently become something else.

"According to the standards of the God Servant, this civilization is probably on the verge of death."

Ethan's words hit Palansi like a hammer.

The decay period has already arrived - in a way they never expected!
In their understanding, the only thing that can push civilization to destruction and lead to a change of era is "disaster."

Palansi's pupils shrank.

At this moment, "disaster" appeared before him in the form of a concrete human image.

"Mr. Palansi, you are right. We may not become enemies."

Palansi heard the echo of "disaster" and extended an invitation to them.

——"You possess very important knowledge. How about becoming our ally?"

(End of this chapter)