The Grand Cathedral of Light in Holm. Philibert, Baha'u'llah, and Stone stood in the courtyard, jolted from their prayers, staring blankly at the projected image of Heavenly Mountain that had "descended" — at the night sky transformed into a milky ocean of sacred light.
"The Divine Descent… His Holiness the Pope actually used the Divine Descent!"
"The newly born star was created by heretics? No — by blasphemous, evil mages!"
"It can actually orbit the world like a real star… No wonder His Holiness had to use the Divine Descent…"
Their expressions shifted repeatedly — awe, reverence, joy, but also doubt, confusion, and anger.
Ever since the Crimson Moon incident, the Southern Church had once again shifted its focus, its main forces concentrated on searching for the unknown extradimensional space while also pursuing the exploration of the black, white, and gray frozen phantoms. Penitent leader Valenshir had returned to the Holy City of Rance, and Baha'u'llah was about to follow, leaving only Stone to lead the Grail Knights stationed in Lentat, working together with Philibert and the cardinals of the four dioceses — Briana, Gale, Colette, and the Northern Coastal Corridor — to guard against the Magic Parliament.
Thus, the plan for all-out war against the Magic Parliament, which had been in preparation for one to two years, was suspended and shifted to an active strategic defensive posture. For the Church, there was nothing more valuable or worthy of attention than finding the wounded and fallen Silver Moon Etna and the mysterious existence! They also believed that the Magic Parliament felt the same way and would not have much energy to do anything harmful to the Church.
"The radiance of God is everywhere, reaching all things, merciful to the world, savior of the people," Philibert murmured in prayer.
Baha'u'llah drew a cross over his chest and praised sincerely: "His Holiness the Pope is truly God's representative on earth — exceedingly decisive. Had it been me, I would have hesitated for a long time. To let that symbol of the evil mages continue to exist, to let more people see it and have their faith in the Lord shaken…"
Even without the Divine Descent, the Pope remained one of the strongest beings, half a step beyond the peak of the legendary realm. He was still someone who could intimidate all enemies. But the most powerful of the Church's Divine Arts, the one closest to the God of Truth — the "Divine Descent" — could not be used for five years, and this would certainly embolden many enemies. This would have a considerable negative impact on the search for Silver Moon Etna, which was why Baha'u'llah had said he would have hesitated for a long time, unable to make a decisive move quickly enough to prevent the Church's foundation from suffering an even more severe blow.
And now, under the sacred, solemn, and terrifying Divine Descent, all evil existences had been reduced to ashes. Even if the Magic Parliament publicized the achievement of the artificial planet, they would only be met with ridicule. Any entity that dared trespass into God's forbidden domain would surely feel the wrath of the divine. Only the God of Truth could create worlds and planets. Even if others managed to build one, it could not exist for long.
"Something this dangerous — the sooner it's shot down, the better." Holy Knight Stone nodded in strong agreement. Not to mention its role in undermining the foundations of faith — merely thinking that an artificial planet forged by mages was ceaselessly orbiting in the sky above them, gazing down upon them, sent a chill down his spine. Although this world had no concept of "air superiority" yet, any powerful being capable of flight understood the importance of aerial capability in combat. Apart from indoor combat locations like ruins and churches, even a Sky Knight who was gravely injured and could only perform at the level of an ordinary Great Knight could still, through sheer flight, exhaust and kill more than ten Great Knights who lacked any means of long-range attack. Therefore, a planet in near-orbit that they would need considerable time to forcibly reach by flight — if equipped with powerful reconnaissance and strike capabilities — would be a nightmare for the Church! Would they have to keep their defensive arrays activated at all times?
Philibert finished his prayer. His face seemed to have aged slightly, his expression tinged with fatigue and bewilderment: "This time, the Magic Parliament must have deliberately revealed the artificial planet. Otherwise, we wouldn't have discovered it so quickly. If in the future these planets were fitted with magic circles for invisibility, direction changes, or even spatial jumps, things would become far more troublesome."
"We must improve certain Divine Arts as quickly as possible, so that beyond the Divine Descent, we have other means of conducting ultra-long-range strikes."
"We also need Divine Arts or artifacts capable of monitoring artificial planets, to relay information the instant one launches an attack, so we can activate our magic circles in time."
"We need to steal the Magic Parliament's documents on the artificial planet project and create similar products. Only an artificial planet also in near-orbit could counter another artificial planet in the shortest time — and its additional uses should go without saying, shouldn't they?"
"We should also deploy spatial teleportation arrays in near-orbit, so that Holy Spirit Priests and Holy Knights can arrive in the shortest time without additional preparation."
"Identify the person behind the artificial planet project, and under favorable conditions, purify and destroy him. But I consider this unlikely — anyone capable of completing such a project must be a legendary mage."
One suggestion after another made Stone frown slightly. This form of warfare seemed to have undergone a radical transformation from the past.
…………
Bathed in the milky sacred light, within Duke Paphos's villa — brilliant and resplendent as a crystal palace — James and Duke Russell of Wolfburg stood quietly behind the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"The power of God is truly vast and boundless, so overwhelming that resistance is impossible — one can only bow in reverence." James, with his gleaming bald head and fierce features, let out a complex sigh as he watched the gradually receding "ocean of sacred light."
Beside him, Russell, holding a wine glass, had already lowered his head, gazing intently at the crimson wine, seemingly unable to look directly at the projection of Heavenly Mountain: "Since the Church first stepped onto the stage of history, the Divine Descent has been used only eight times. Six of those times coincided with the fall of a powerhouse standing at the world's pinnacle: the Magic Parliament's last Regent, 'Starshine'; the legendary peak mage 'Death Lord'; the vampire prince Abel; the ancient time dragon Aphra; the false god of the Sun Church; and the Earth Mother 'God.' Only the Silver Moon Goddess Etna and the Lord of Hell Ferrantes were able to retreat after being wounded."
"I never expected that this time, facing this newly born star, the Pope would go straight to the Divine Descent…"
"A newly born star. Heh, not necessarily…" James, as the leading figure of the pro-Magic Parliament liberal faction, had access to more channels than Russell. He had heard vague rumors that Speaker Douglas was preparing some grand plan. So when he saw the star appear in the nearby sky and witnessed the Church's extreme reaction, he could more or less deduce that the "newly born star" was Douglas's handiwork.
Russell turned to James in surprise: "What? It's not a star?"
"Very likely — I mean, possibly. This is an artificial planet crafted by Lord Douglas. Otherwise, why would a star suddenly be born? I hope he doesn't fall to the Divine Descent…" James said, a mix of excitement and worry in his voice. If the Magic Parliament's Speaker fell, it would be a fatal blow to the Parliament. Although there were Grand Archanists like Brook, and the Parliament wouldn't be destroyed because of it, the Grand Archanists and legendary mages, each with their own factions and agendas, would be difficult for the two Grand Archanists — Storm Lord and the Annihilating Hand — to keep in line. An organization rife with internal strife would undoubtedly decline over time, which was no good news for the liberal faction.
"A-A-Artificial planet?" Sky Knight Russell stammered. This was nothing like creating a demiplane. This was directly creating a planet resembling a small world within the Prime Material Plane — and according to Douglas's theory, the current Prime Material Plane was itself nothing more than a rather large planet!
James's face flickered between light and shadow under the lamplight: "That's right. The Magic Parliament is more potential and more dangerous than we imagined. Perhaps in the future, our cooperation partner will become 'God'…"
"Only Truth endures forever…" Russell, who still harbored a thin thread of faith, drew a cross over his chest.
…………
The thirty-third floor of the Alinor Magic Tower.
"Master, you… you faced the Divine Descent head-on?" Luciana asked in disbelief.
Every mage knew all too well the terror of the Divine Descent. Could it be that Master had already reached the level of the Silver Moon Goddess Etna?
Douglas waved his hand with a chuckle: "Not head-on. The target of the Pope's Divine Descent was 'Antiphler One' — he had no idea it was me who launched it and provided the initial velocity. So I merely experienced it from nearby, without standing at the epicenter of the Divine Descent's impact. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it back."
Mentioning this, Douglas showed no trace of dejection. Recognizing the gap between himself and the Divine Descent, and experiencing its operation at close range, would be of immense benefit to his future development.
"Once I've digested this experience, I'll write you all a letter to share my findings." Douglas nodded gently toward Fernando, Lucian, Altair, and the others.
Beyond the students he regularly instructed and shared his world-exploration findings with, he wrote to others to express gratitude: the swift completion of the artificial planet's forging, the determination of its orbit and speed — none of it would have been possible without the help of the Storm Lord and the Seer. And without Lucian, there would have been no artificial planet project at all.
Lucian spoke words of thanks, though a sense of wistfulness stirred within him. Was the first artificial planet project really over just like that? It had come so quickly and ended just as quickly, foiling his plan — full of dramatic flair — to name this experiment the "Star Wars" project and conduct a countdown to "launch."
"Master, the artificial planet experiment succeeded! Your theory has been powerfully proven! Those stubborn fools will never be able to question it again!" Altair said, his expression excited, his lips trembling slightly.
Although Douglas's theoretical framework had already taken root in the heart of every Archanist, there was no shortage of nitpickers in the world. Especially after Douglas's experiments, built upon this framework, proved that the speed of light did not vary with direction, that the aether did not exist, and that the wave theory of light had fundamental problems — these voices of doubt had only grown louder.
Norman and Luciana were equally excited. Regardless, Douglas's theoretical framework, long overshadowed by the inability to locate planets, had finally received validation from another angle through the artificial planet.
"This was only a preliminary proof — 'Antiphler One' was destroyed by the Divine Descent before it could complete a single full orbit. Now we'll have to see what 'Antiphler Two' can do. Of course, it certainly won't be so conspicuous this time — it will complete its orbit quietly." Douglas replied with a chuckle. Though he called it only a preliminary proof, a hint of confidence and exuberance involuntarily leaked through his words.
Saying this, his expression took on a tone of wonder: "Having my theoretical framework proven has only deepened my reverence for the unknown truth. How exactly did the primordial gravitational system take shape? Why did such a state come to exist?"
Fernando curled his lip — here came the million questions again…
Lucian seized the opportunity to address Douglas, Fernando, and Begner: "Mr. Speaker, Master, Mr. Seer, I just verified 'Antiphler One's' signal feedback capability — it was crystal clear! If we forge signal-receiving and relay magic circles within the artificial planet, it will significantly expand the range of the electromagnetic messaging spell. After all, the sky is always more conducive to electromagnetic wave propagation than the complex ground below, free from all manner of obstructions. This way, even from Alinor, we could communicate directly with the Dark Mountains — making it even simpler and faster than teleporting there for a conversation!"
"Furthermore, research into the artificial planet's reconnaissance, targeting, and strike capabilities should be moved up on the agenda. We need different types of artificial planets!"
Douglas smiled and nodded: "A fascinating suggestion. Smooth communication will inevitably bring revolutionary changes to society. However, the cost is far too high, and the required alchemical components are at least fifth-rank — not something ordinary low-to-mid-tier mages can use. For now, it can only remain limited to the upper echelons. It won't be widespread until further simplified."
Influenced by the "Golden Kela," mages increasingly used the word "widespread" when discussing alchemical products.
"On that note, I have a comprehensive plan ready," Lucian said with a prepared smile. Since he himself couldn't yet "launch" satellites, he needed to secure the cooperation of his teacher and the Speaker!
Fernando let out a snort of amusement — his student certainly hadn't proposed the artificial planet project without ulterior motives.