In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

“I knew you’d react like this.” Merlin shrugged. “But I also think this plan is unreliable. In my opinion, it’s just an excuse those old guys came up with to get things going.”

“Are there any other ways besides this?” Yanan asked.

“Yes.” Merlin actually nodded. “Since you’re unwilling to rewrite the rules, then you’ll have to create them yourself.”

Yanan rolled his eyes: "If I could do something like that, would I need to discuss it with you here?"

Creating rules is almost no different from creating a new world.

Although he possesses the second divine key, the Thousand Worlds One Vehicle, he can only create a world bubble at most. Compared to a truly perfect world, it is no exaggeration to say that they are worlds apart.

"I know this is somewhat unrealistic, but that's the reality. If Britain is to continue, there are only these two paths to follow. Otherwise, the gods wouldn't have disappeared so easily," Merlin said.

After they finished speaking, they both fell silent.

After a long pause, Yanan said, "If we really can't find a way to continue Britain in this world, then I'll have to look in other worlds."

Merlin stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Is this why you let Lily take over the government affairs?"

Yanan nodded.

In fact, he had considered this situation a long time ago, which is why he sent Lily to kill Vortigern, in order to establish enough prestige in the minds of the people.

After the war ended, Anaen consciously let Artoria take over political affairs. Although she was a little inexperienced at first, Artoria had a strong learning ability and good comprehension. In addition, Anaen personally guided her, which made her progress very quickly.

Even by Anan's standards, Artoria can now be considered a qualified queen.

With prestige established and sufficient experience gained, all that remains is for Artoria to ascend the throne and be crowned queen.

Then he can go to other worlds in peace and find a way to ensure the continuation of Britain.

Having made up his mind, Yanan stopped worrying about it and started talking to Merlin about other things.

hum-

Suddenly, a strange wave swept across, and Yanan instantly grasped the source of the wave.

"The Holy Church?"

He looked at the distant cathedral with its pointed spire, then turned to Merlin: "What happened over there?"

Merlin's eyes flashed with a slightly hazy light, and after a moment, his expression suddenly became a little strange: "I...can't see."

"Can't see it?" Anahn was taken aback, his brows furrowing slightly. "Could something have happened to the Holy Grail again?"

Merlin's clairvoyance can see the present, with the only exception being matters related to the Holy Grail.

Coincidentally, the Holy Grail is currently kept in the church.

When it comes to this miraculous relic, Anahn never dares to be careless in the slightest. His figure immediately disappeared from the spot and then appeared inside the Holy Church.

Because it was a weekday, the church was empty and very quiet.

Anan's gaze passed over the long benches on either side and landed on the altar at the front, where a tall, elderly man dressed in clergy robes stood with an unremarkable golden cup in front of him.

"Archbishop Cantrepo, why are you taking the Holy Grail out?" Anahn asked, puzzled. He remembered that when he gave the Holy Grail to Cantrepo, he specifically instructed him to keep it at the very bottom of the church and never take it out casually.

Neither Cantrepp's personal character nor his piety as a believer would warrant such a casual act of displaying the Holy Grail.

"You've finally arrived."

Cantreber spoke calmly, slowly turning around to look at Yanan.

His eyes were filled with a vast, all-encompassing chaos.

Anan's consciousness exploded instantly, countless images flashing through his mind: some were the vast and boundless cosmos, some were crowds kneeling on the ground in devout prayer, some were naked men nailed to crosses...

An unimaginable amount of information flooded into Yanan's mind in an instant. He gritted his teeth and, with the last bit of clarity in his mind, connected with the Void Treasury and poured all of this information into it.

"Hmm?" Cantreble raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of interest appearing on his face. "Interesting."

Yanan took a few deep breaths, rubbed his still throbbing temples, and looked at the archbishop in front of him with a solemn expression: "You are not Cantreber, who are you?"

Although that's what he said, deep down, Yanan had already pretty much guessed who the other person was.

The Holy Grail, the church, the believers, and those fleeting images just now—these obvious hints have almost completely revealed the other party's identity.

But why... is this guy here?

"Cantreber" said calmly, "I have many identities. You can call me the Omniscient and Omnipotent Lord, or you can call me Yahweh, or—"

"God."

Chapter 75 The Truth of "Collapse"

“You may call me the all-knowing and all-powerful Lord, or you may call me Yahweh, or you may call me God.”

Hearing this, even though he had prepared himself mentally, Yanan's heart still skipped a beat.

Although the existence of God is not explicitly stated in the Type-Moon universe, traces of this powerful figure can still be gleaned through some overt and covert clues—such as the Holy Grail and King Solomon's Ten Commandments.

If we follow the standards of Type-Moon, the true God is probably on the same level as an enlightened being who has transcended worldly concerns. Even compared to the legendary Bodhisattva who controls three thousand worlds, his power would not be inferior in the slightest.

Yanan never expected that such an important figure would arrive here so quietly.

Did he come for the Holy Grail?

"I have no interest in the Holy Grail." As if seeing through Anahn's thoughts, "Cantreber" said calmly, "I have come here to fulfill the contract I made with you before."

"A contract?" Yanan looked bewildered. He couldn't recall ever making a contract with God.

"A despicable thief forcibly stole the power of my vessel. Although it was merely a provocation from a mere ant, it still displeased me greatly. Therefore, I chose you to help me reclaim my vessel. This is the content of the contract." "Cantreber" spoke calmly, his eyes swirling with endless chaos, where countless worlds shattered, perished, and were reborn.

Anan then realized that God was referring to Vortigern and the Holy Grail.

Although Vortigern obtained the Holy Grail, he did not gain its recognition. He forcibly connected himself with the Holy Grail through the power of magic, which is why he was qualified to use it.

It's like someone accidentally lost their phone, and another person found it. But because the phone has a password, the finder can't use it, so they hire a hacker to hack the phone and then use it themselves.

For the owner, this is certainly something that is unbearable under any circumstances.

That's why God chose Anahn to reclaim the Holy Grail.

“May I ask when this contract was established?” Yanan asked.

"The contract was established the moment you left the Land of Shadows," Cantreber said calmly.

"So early?" A hint of surprise appeared in Yanan's eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "So that's why you sent down the revelation back then, making Archbishop Cantreber stand on my side?"

Cantreber remained silent, clearly acknowledging his statement.

When Anahn pulled the sword out of the stone, before he had even revealed his true identity, the Archbishop of Cantrepo showed him great trust and said that it was a revelation from God.

At the time, he was somewhat puzzled and did not understand why God would give such a revelation.

Only now has he finally learned the truth—it turns out that he had been under the attention of this big shot since that time.

"But why don't you do it yourself?" he asked, puzzled.

"...Everything in the world has its destiny. The arising and ceasing of things, the blooming and withering of flowers—these are all predetermined. But at my level, if I were to interfere arbitrarily, it would be easy to derail these things from their original course, and might even lead them into an abyss of destruction," Cantreble said.

Yanan's gaze turned strange. Although these words seemed reasonable at first glance, upon closer inspection, wasn't this just an excuse to slack off?

As expected of a slacker on par with the Awakener... Yanan muttered to himself before casually asking, "Then why did you choose me?"

“Of course, because you’re special.” “Cantreber” smiled slightly. “A visitor from another dimension.”

Boom!

As if a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind, Yanan involun involun took a step back, his pupils suddenly shrinking to the size of pinholes.

He has always had two major secrets: the Key of God and the ability to travel through time and be reborn.

He never mentioned these two secrets to anyone, not even his closest family, friends, or lovers.

And now, this God who descended out of nowhere has revealed his greatest secret in one breath.

How could he not be shocked?

After a long while, Anaen gradually came to her senses and, recalling what God had just said, she suddenly realized a problem.

"You just said...another dimension? Why not another world?"

Cantreber patiently explained, “World and dimension are two different concepts. A dimension can encompass countless worlds, and different dimensions have different underlying rules. Just like in our dimension, the underlying rule is ‘magic,’ which also has another name—the Root.”

The Root... Anan felt a jolt in his heart. In the worldview of Type-Moon, the Root is a supreme power, just like its name suggests, representing the source of everything in the world.

This power is so great that it cannot be described as a ceiling; a backdrop would be a more fitting description.

"As long as the worlds are governed by the same set of underlying rules, even if their development trajectories are vastly different, they can only be called other worlds or parallel worlds. But if they are governed by different underlying rules, even if their development trajectories are exactly the same, they are undoubtedly other dimensions."

He glanced at Yanan and continued, "I can tell that the world you were in before and the world you are in now are not based on the same set of underlying rules. Even the strange weapons you have should be products of that set of underlying rules."

Anan nodded thoughtfully. According to the other party, there are different underlying rules between dimensions. The underlying rule of the Type-Moon world is "magic", so the underlying rule of the Honkai world should be "Honkai energy".

"Now all my secrets are gone..." He chuckled bitterly to himself.

"For certain beings who possess special abilities, crossing between parallel worlds at will is unaffected because these worlds all use the same underlying rules, allowing them to adapt perfectly wherever they go. But dimensions are different. The barriers between different dimensions are unimaginably strong. Even if one successfully crosses them, they will be targeted and obliterated by the underlying rules. Furthermore, since our power is built upon the corresponding underlying rules, once we arrive in another dimension, we will immediately become rootless duckweed. Even I would find it difficult to survive in that situation," said Cantreber.

Even God cannot cross into other dimensions... Anan frowned slightly: "Then why am I still standing here perfectly fine?"

“I don’t know,” Cantreber said frankly.

“…” Anan looked at the other person speechlessly, “Didn’t you say you were an all-knowing and all-powerful lord?”

Cantreber wasn't angry. Instead, he continued to explain, "The so-called omniscience and omnipotence are always relative. There was once a demigod king on this planet who also possessed omniscience and omnipotence, but his abilities were limited to this planet. If it involved things outside the planet, he couldn't see anything."

"Similarly, my omniscience and omnipotence are also limited in scope. They can only involve things within this dimension. I don't know about things outside this dimension."

"What if one day, the Root suddenly sets its sights on me?" Yanan asked somewhat nervously. He didn't believe that with his current strength, he could survive being targeted by the Root.

"Cantreber" said calmly, "When did you start to have the illusion that you weren't being targeted by the Root?"

"!!!"

Yanan felt a chill run down his spine, a strong sense of disgust rising within him, and a strange feeling that the whole world loathed him.

“Don’t be so nervous. The Root won’t attack you so easily. You fear it, and it fears you just as much,” Cantreber said with a slight smile.

Anan paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Is it because of the other dimension behind me?"

Cantreber nodded slightly: "For some reasons I'm not entirely sure about, the Root seems to have missed the best opportunity to eliminate you, resulting in you now having established a stable connection with this dimension. This also means that the other dimension behind you may use you as a springboard to launch an invasion into this dimension."

"However, no one knows what the trigger will be, so you don't need to worry about the root cause targeting you unless it is already prepared to start a war."

"At the same time, just to be on the safe side, the source also blocked the connection between your weapons and that dimension, transforming them into something that conforms to the underlying rules of this dimension. I'm sure you've already discovered this."