Chapter 262: Allow Me to Introduce to You Our Heavenly Father and Savior, K

The spirit light released from the tip of the staff traversed the battlefield's clamor in an instant, striking the hill giant in the rear with precision.

Just like an energy beam.

Only similar in form, yet it brought no direct substantive harm, even if it struck the target directly.

However, the massive hill giant still seemed to suffer some formless impact, its charging steps halting abruptly.

The giant club in its hand flew out of its grip like an out-of-control cannonball.

The Magic User waved his staff gently, and a formless force field seized that giant club in an instant.

Immediately after, he acted like a conductor, waving the "baton" in his hand straight down—

That giant club seemed to be gripped by a formless giant's hand, suddenly swinging in mid-air, tracing an arc with an exaggerated trajectory!

Bang!

That dull sound was yet so clear.

"..."

"..."

For a moment, it seemed as if all movement had stopped.

The giant club fell to the ground, stained with obvious fresh blood and grayish-white pulp.

The hill giant swayed a few times, its forehead splitting open, yet it was as if a condiment shop had been opened—salty, sour, spicy, everything spilled out.

Its massive body teetered, finally toppling over in a heap, kicking up a cloud of dust on the ground.

"..."

"..."

A stretch of dead silence.

Afterward, the Mors People's tense emotions gradually relaxed, their exhausted bodies and taut nerves gaining a brief liberation.

They sat down on the spot one after another, heedless of appearances; some propped themselves on their knees, some sat directly on the ground, just breathing in the air in great gulps, panting sounds rising and falling.

That desperate flight just now had truly thoroughly exhausted everyone's physical fitness and potential, forcing them to nearly exhaust every last shred of their bodies' strength to barely hold on until now.

After all, not a single one of them is a pure warrior, plus they've all been washed clean...

Right now it's just Level 1 account status; whether attributes or skills, all are abnormally low, not yet recovered...

So the scene just now was still quite perilous.

But no matter how you put it, at least they've now escaped with their lives, and what's most reassuring is that young Wizard standing there, very understanding.

Like he's very patiently waiting for them to catch their breath, not rushing to question anything.

This attitude is itself a very friendly signal release.

………………

Not long after.

Just like that, after catching their breath for a while, the several adventurers of the suspected protagonist group finally recovered.

The leader Tafu wearily raised his head, looking at that Wizard not far away with a bitter smile:

"It really is... many thanks. If not for you, we'd probably all be flattened today..."

"No need for formalities, away from home we rely on friends. But how did you provoke that big fellow?" The Magic User laughed heartily, waving a hand, looking like he didn't mind at all.

As a Spellcaster, what he's displaying now is undoubtedly a very amiable, easy-to-talk-to personality type.

This made the Mors People feel even more at ease, all of them breathing a sigh of relief in their hearts to some degree.

"Didn't pay attention..."

Tafu's face showed a wretched expression: "That area clearly had no traces of hill giant activity, so we weren't on guard, and we just ran headlong into one."

"Oh, so that's it. Then you really are quite unlucky..."

Xia Zhi nodded in understanding, casting a sympathetic gaze at their group:

"Probably the Weave's stagnation, the influence caused by magic's failure. Many creatures' activity patterns may undergo certain changes from now on..."

Roughly like how the moon not only influences tides, but also influences creatures' physiological cycles.

He didn't believe a phenomenon like the Weave, which permeates every aspect of people's lives, once suddenly severed and isolated, would have absolutely no other effects.

"W-wait—"

Gale's body seemed to be pulled up by a formless force, suddenly rising from the ground, his expression extremely uneasy.

Don't know if he was frightened by those alarmist words, or hadn't fully recovered from the high-intensity physical exertion just now.

In short, Xia Zhi's words just now were like a dark curse, making him unable to calm down. He almost forgot etiquette existed, forgot self-introduction and thanks, just subconsciously pressing the question:

"Y-you just said, the Weave, what happened to the Weave—?!"

"It stagnated. You seem to be a Wizard too, how come you didn't even perceive this?" Xia Zhi looked at him with a smile, saying it in a lighthearted tone.

"Right now the Weave can no longer be used normally..."

"All normal spellcasting phenomena have been prohibited..."

"All this even happened this morning. You didn't know?"

He spoke these words so lightly, from what seemed like a third-party perspective, as if it didn't concern him; hearing them, the adventurer team across from him felt it was undoubtedly like rolling thunder.

Among them, Gale's reaction was the most intuitive; he simply couldn't accept it, his face like he'd seen the End of the World.

But this isn't his fault either; not to mention anything else—

Just the matter of "Internet Disconnection" itself is already terrifying enough; even modern people can't stand it.

Those Wizards would definitely all go crazy; ultimately they're not much different from shut-ins, their net addiction is severe too.

"Impossible... this is impossible..."

"Wait! You just cast a spell, didn't you?"

The Deepwater City genius Wizard, amid the chaos, suddenly seized the key point, subconsciously looking at his peer before him; although that spell was very subtle, it was ultimately a kind of spell.

And the fact that the other party could successfully cast a spell, doesn't that also explain a lot of problems?

Moreover, I was worried at first, but it was only after seeing the other party successfully cast a spell that I let out a breath of relief, right?

"I said, normal spellcasting phenomena are all banned..." Xia Zhi spoke unhurriedly, his tone lighthearted, "And I——am abnormal."

He spoke these words with a smile, as if narrating a trivial matter.

This reason was powerful enough to make one unable to refute.

"... Is it because of the staff?!"

Tafu hesitated for a moment, looking at the wood-grain staff in the other party's hand. Could it be that this is a magic equipment that has memorized spells at work?

"Of course not. Spellcasting phenomena are comprehensively banned; magic items are no exception. They couldn't possibly be more flexible than a Magic User possessing subjective agency, right?"

Xia Zhi still wore a frank and open expression, explaining quite kindly: "So it's all the same. The main thing is still me myself... hmm, rather special."

"How are you special?"

Gale wore a look of reckless abandon: "You wouldn't be saying you're actually the Goddess of Magic's Chosen, possessing Silver Fire or something... huh, wait..."

Originally just a casual remark, but as he spoke further, the Deepwater City genius Mage suddenly became somewhat suspicious.

Could it be that after giving up on himself, his lover quickly switched to another pretty boy?

This person couldn't be the one Mystra specially sent over to wait here and mock him, right?

He subconsciously raised his head, carefully observing the face of the young Mage opposite. He didn't know if it was the psychological influence of suspecting the neighbor of stealing the axe, but the more he looked, the more alarmed he felt.

This is bad, this is bad!

Before he hadn't looked closely; now that he looked closely, he suddenly discovered this face of the other party was too foul—even a Goddess would like him...

Even younger than himself. If he were also a magic genius, the kind who advanced to Legendary Mage at twenty-something, then his own competitiveness was truly worrying...

Fortunately, the genius Mage's delusions didn't last long before being directly interrupted——

"What is Silver Fire? I've never heard of it." The youth seemed to question back with some doubt, but without waiting for an answer, he casually shook his head.

"Forget it, let's not mind this for now. But on this point you guys guessed right. My special situation is indeed due to a Divine Spirit's favor."

Speaking here, the youth paused slightly, then immediately revealed a very professional business smile:

"Everyone, please allow me to introduce to you our Heavenly Father and Savior Cth——Cthulhu, 'Lord of the Intelligent Chain'!"

"..."

"..."

Another bout of strange silence.

The air was quiet; the scene was somewhat awkward for a time.

After half a moment, Cleric Shadowheart hesitantly spoke up, breaking the silence: "Sorry, I'm not too familiar with this Divine Spirit you speak of..."

"Never heard of it? That's fine, really fine. Then I can tell you about it now."

The youth smiled, affirming Cleric Shadowheart's question.

"'Lord of the Intelligent Chain' Cthulhu is the great Divine Spirit we believe in——"

"Beyond mortal sight, it is He who, with wondrous conception and exquisite design, invisibly connects every living being and the myriad mechanical phenomena——"

"He is the Intelligence Weaver, and the guide of metal and current. He lurks within every circuit, interpreting the beauty of technology with infinite transformations——"

Just like a dedicated missionary, he spread his arms as if giving a speech, speaking incessantly, his words brimming with praise.

"W-wait, you seem to have misunderstood..."

Cold sweat appeared on Shadowheart's forehead. She hurriedly spoke to stop the other party's proselytizing: "What I meant by not too familiar is that I've never heard of there being such a Divine Spirit..."

Speaking here, she paused for half a moment, opening her mouth.

Then she seemed to feel it would be impolite, so she hesitated and didn't speak her inner thoughts bluntly.

But the youth smiled faintly, as if seeing through her thoughts, and spoke unhurriedly: "I understand, I understand. It's normal for you to have doubts in your hearts, but our Divine Spirit does indeed exist..."

"Just like 'Guardian of the Mechanical Heart' Saiknos, the existence controlling all things amidst metal and current..."

"And like 'Lord of Machinery' Aelsorian, dominating countless ceaselessly turning gears and circuits with infinite wisdom..."

"And like Skeldweiss, revered as 'Lord of Optoelectronics', lurking between radio waves, controlling the hidden power of the mechanical heartbeat..."

As if to strengthen persuasiveness and credibility, using multiple parallelisms in one breath, the Mage categorically reached a conclusion at the end——

"The great Divine Spirit we believe in, just like Them, are all 'the true rulers of the Seventh Kingdom'—a facet and incarnation, a loving family!"

"..."

"..."

At this moment, everyone was undoubtedly stunned.

After all, merely blending a bit of Charm Power into words and deeds could make all persuasion, expectation, and other negotiation dice take the highest result. This was indeed persuasive enough.

At least in this moment, even the most resourceful and erudite Deepwater City Mage Gale subconsciously felt the youth's words were credible.

After all, the examples listed in that speech sounded impressively vague, yet one could faintly sense they were indeed a pantheon of the same art style...

Although there was just no impression of them at all...

Wait——

As if suddenly reacting, Gale's eyes widened slightly:

"Hold on, you——you wouldn't be from another world, right? Different from the Crystal Sphere System Faerûn belongs to?"

(Chapter End)