The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 47, Section 45: The Crow Queen's Ceremony to Become a God

"come in."

After receiving Erian's permission, Gutt, the chief of the Plastination School, entered through the door.

Although 10 years have passed, Gutt, a ninth-ringed mage who can slow down aging, has not shown any signs of aging.

He was still a handsome man with eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

"Is there anything you need from me, our Chief of Energy Management?" El-An said with a smile.

—Although Gut still holds the title of "Chief of the School of Energy Conversion," the concept of "chief of the school" has faded considerably with the passage of time, becoming more of an honorary title inherited from the old era.

The Imperial Council, originally composed of eight chiefs, was greatly expanded under Elion's initiative, becoming the Eldoron New Magic Council, which consisted of dozens of high-level spellcasters and absorbed many spellcasters from the surface world.

Even Elian's disciple, the warlock Grete, has a seat in the council!
"It's nothing important, we just wanted to chat..."

Gutt paused halfway through his sentence, as if he was preparing something.

He looked directly at Elian at the dark wooden table, and as if summoning his courage, he let out the words he had held back for so many years:

“Your Majesty Elion, I must admit…”

"Your reforms are correct."

Gutt tilted his head and looked through the large glass window at the mages coming and going on the street below the palace.

Pay special attention to those surface mages who are young in appearance and dress in an unconventional style.

"These mages from the surface of the earth are indeed very talented, beyond my imagination."

"Almost every one of them is very talented, and it's hard to imagine how much potential they have in the future."

"Although I'm a little reluctant to admit it, just as Your Majesty said to me before: we mages high in the heavens are actually not special."

"Ordinary people on Earth, once they receive education, can also produce equally outstanding, or even more outstanding, talents!"

Elian smiled and said:

"This is a result of widespread education and the examination-based selection system."

"These mages today are the best of the best, selected from countless villages and towns on Earth."

Only the most outstanding graduates of elementary magic schools can be admitted to intermediate magic schools. Only the most outstanding graduates of intermediate magic schools can be admitted to advanced magic schools.

"Compared to the past, the academic cliques and family inheritance in Eldoron Floating City are a more efficient talent selection model."

"And the human race is the one with the most astonishing learning and growth rate among all races."

Gute nodded and smiled in agreement with Elian's words.

If, when the assassination attempt failed, Gutt merely succumbed to El-Erian's power, benevolence, and charisma, and was willing to pledge allegiance to El-Erian personally.

But now, having witnessed the results of this great reform firsthand, he has completely accepted El-Erian's reforms!

“If this continues, one day, the great Eldoron, the land of mankind, may surpass the elven kingdom of the West!” Gutt said.

As a human supremacist, he was thrilled just thinking about this possibility.

But the next second, Gutt shrugged helplessly:

"But it's a pity, there are still elven gods above the Elven Royal Court. Those annoying pointy-eared demon gods."

At this point, Guter remembered something else.

"By the way, Your Majesty, ever since you told me 10 years ago that you hoped I could become the guardian god of Eldoron, I have been exploring and researching ways for mortals to ascend to godhood, but I have made no progress."

“I used to think that gods were just more powerful mages, but after several years of research, I’ve found that it’s not that simple.”

"The gods seem to be a more special and unique kind of beings, with too many mysteries to be solved."

El-Erian smiled faintly:
"There's no need to focus too much on this for now. Just focus on doing your own thing first."

“I can assure you that it is indeed possible for mortals to ascend to godhood. But this is an extremely difficult and risky undertaking that requires the right timing, location, and people.”

"It's far too early to be thinking about that now."

Elion knew that even he himself did not possess divinity; he was merely a novice legendary mage with unpredictable methods.

As the former leader of the gods and the god of time and magic, he will surely reclaim his throne when the time is right!

In his previous life, Elion followed the path of "establishing great achievements" and "mastering domains" to become a god. He spent thousands of years exploring the limits of magic, spreading magic, and touching the origin of the concept of "magic" in the universe before successfully ascending to godhood.

This step can indeed be copied.

But it's too slow.

Reborn into this world, he hopes to compress the time needed to ascend to the throne of gods to within a thousand years, or even within 500 years.

As the ruler of Eldoron, taking the path of "becoming a god through faith" is also an option.

But this path is too unstable.

After all, throughout history, the vast majority of idols, leaders, and monarchs who were worshipped by millions of people did not become gods.

Becoming a god is not that simple.

This path is best used as a supplementary one.

In other words, they first become gods through other means, and then use the power of the empire's faith to further maintain and strengthen their divinity and consolidate the "human" divine office.

In Elian's memory, there exists a third, even simpler shortcut to godhood:

Just grab it!
After defeating a god, one can use a lost ritual to directly seize its divine power and usurp its divine position.

—The ascension ritual used by the goddess of death, later known as the Raven Queen, when she usurped the throne of the god of death, Naraku, was in Elian's mind!

The only problem is:
Where can one find a relatively weak god who lacks allies, defeat him with the help of possibly opposing gods, and plunder his divinity?
After all, many gods have their own allies and are not alone.

Eliminating one of them would inevitably anger the other gods.

This is the trouble with worldly wisdom and cunning. To kill one god, you have to wipe out the entire opposing pantheon.

Elion is also considering this, and has several preliminary chosen ones.

For example, the "worm god" Caevous, who will only appear in the future.

For example, in the steel city on the second level of the Nine Hells, in the area called "God Street," there are those weak and incompetent gods.

Regarding specific goals, El-Erian plans to proceed step by step, focusing currently on national development.

The stronger Eldoron becomes, the more options it has.

Killing a god is ultimately a very troublesome matter.

The right time and place are indispensable.

Bringing his wandering thoughts back, Elion was just about to discuss Eldoron's future development with Gutt when he heard a knock on the door:

"Your Majesty El-Erian"

“A high-ranking mage from outside Eldoron wishes to visit you.”

"She claims to be from a human settlement outside of Eldoron!"

A high-ranking human mage from outside Eldoron?

Upon hearing this word, Guter was visibly taken aback.

Are there any other human settlements besides Eldoron?

Gutt was clearly surprised and instinctively looked at Elian beside him—the most knowledgeable mage in his mind.

“Yes, there are.” Elian explained.

"Centuries ago, humans appeared simultaneously in various parts of the continent."

"However, apart from Eldoron, the human settlements in other places are very small. Some are just primitive tribes."

"Furthermore, as far as I know, the human settlements outside of Eldoron do not practice arcane magic."

Huh? You don't know magic?

Guter became increasingly confused as he listened.

So where did this high-ranking human mage from outside Eldoron come from?
“There’s no need to be so confused,” Elian said.

"I'll go see that mage lady who claims to be from outside Eldoron right now."

(End of this chapter)