The knight in the abyss

Chapter 726 Soul and Divine Power

"Is there anything special about death?" Lancelot immediately asked, "I thought the core of divine power was faith?"

"It's belief, but do you understand how belief is transformed into divine power?" Star Strike asked in an unfathomable tone, "Let me give you a reminder that only mortal beliefs are useful to gods. Creatures may serve the gods, but their beliefs mean little to the gods."

"Because...soul?" Lancelot frowned, "Tijana introduced to me earlier that only mortals have the duality of soul and body..."

"That's right, it's the soul. Ah, this ale is really good, can you fill it up again?"

"...Are you sure? This is already the sixth cup tonight."

"No problem, I'm just a sword, and I won't get drunk..."

"Okay...to continue the topic just now, of course faith belongs to the soul and has nothing to do with the body, but just because you agree with a certain god in concept, can the power of this god become stronger?"

"Of course not. You should all know that after the death of their devout believers, the gods will take their souls to their own kingdom of God, right?"

"Of course." Lancelot nodded, "It is said that those believers will become petitioners and enjoy bliss in the Kingdom of God...but only the most devout believers can enjoy this honor."

"See how you understand it, because only if one is devout enough to worship a certain god and truly agrees with the ideas it represents, will this mortal soul feel that the kingdom of God is a pleasant place." Aramir said Said, “To give a simple example, Lovita, the Goddess of Abuse, believes that suffering is the most comprehensive test, it can enhance mental toughness, and bring true joy to those who survive the suffering. Her divine kingdom is a dark place. The dungeon is full of instruments of torture with iron hooks, thorns, spikes, and irons, all kinds of tricks, and most of them are self-help. If there is even the slightest doubt about Lovita's teachings, that is to say, the brain is not bad People who lost their lives would obviously think that place is really terrible, but for believers who abuse the goddess, it is their paradise, and they can't wait to shout Lovita's name all the time, and then give themselves another whip……"

"Such a god...does it really have believers?" Lancelot's expression seemed to be that he knew that some people like to eat cockroaches.

"Of course." The elf priest chuckled and shook his head, "Don't underestimate the... free will of mortals."

"That's why there are so many gods." The sword of the former king's wife continued, "As for the petitioners in the Kingdom of God, I think you all know that they will eventually fight with their gods." Integrate into one, which is where the name 'Prayer' comes from..."

"You mean to say that the real source of divine power is actually through the fusion of souls?" Lancelot's expression changed suddenly, "It sounds...it seems a bit..."

"Disturbing? Creepy?" Star Strike flickered a few times, causing the water level in the cup to drop a lot again. "You actually got the cause and effect wrong. It is this fusion of souls with a common tendency, from which It was only then that the first gods of faith were born, and those natural gods, such as the goddess of magic Mystra, the goddess of the night Shar, the goddess of the moon Su Lun, and the Lord of the End of All Things Jergal, their birth has nothing to do with the beliefs of mortals... ..."

"But they also have worshipers?" Karaline asked strangely, "And Selûne, which is what you call Su Lun, has gradually declined in power over the past few centuries due to the reduction of believers, and is not even strong now. Divine power..."

"Are you sure?" Star Strike asked suspiciously, "How do mortals know the power level of a certain god?"

"Through his... power displayed in the mortal world?"

"According to this standard, Amn, the father god of giants, is probably about to die out? Most people's estimates of the power of gods are inaccurate. There is no doubt about it. Unless you are also a divine power, don't make random decisions. It is neither reasonable nor necessary to speculate that one god is weaker than the other. But there is an answer to your first question: although the natural gods do not originate in faith, they have no essential relationship with the god of faith. The difference is that you can also increase your strength by fusing souls, and to be honest, this method is really easy to use. Therefore, the natural gods have also begun to perform miracles among mortals, inspiring some mortals who satisfy them Become your own priest to promote your beliefs. This also led to some interesting phenomena, such as the gods of nature began to become more and more 'human', remember Aurul? As the god of winter, he I was so surprised when I first heard the news that I had a daughter with that brash Solem... but this is one of the influences of merging the souls of mortal believers."

"Hearing what you said, I probably understand." Lancelot nodded, "The gods only accept the most devout believers to go to their kingdom of God, because only the souls that are 'pure' to them can be integrated. , won't it have a major impact on their personalities?"

"Yes, forcibly merging souls that are too different from your own may lead to very serious consequences. There have been gods who have tried this in history-the result was that they had to divide themselves into two to barely maintain their own existence. Back to the beginning Topic: What role does death play in this system?"

"I think you drank a little too much." Zariel Sword said a little uneasy, "The things you said tonight are already on the verge of blasphemy..."

"First, I'm speaking the truth. Which god am I blaspheming? The god of lies? Well, why is it empty again... Ah, thank you, sir. Second, I don't think there's anything evil in it, sir. Some gods don't intentionally 'harvest' souls, that's what demons do, they just try to influence a soul's behavior and ideas in the world, there are indeed good and bad, but every mortal has a choice Freedom, isn't it?"

"But do they really understand the cost of being wrong?"

"Ah...here it is again." Starstrike's tone sounded a little cynical, and he was indeed a little drunk. "I heard similar arguments that made my ears callused. The gods of the order camp think that they should directly help mortals." Excluding those wrong options, the gods of the chaotic camp believe that mortals should be taught how to make the right choices; Is the most precious thing in the soul. From what I have learned so far, hundreds of centuries have passed, this debate is still unresolved, and I bet that in a few hundred centuries, when mortals are about to perish , there is still no conclusion."

(I want to emphasize that most of the content in this chapter is the author's personal setting, which is different from the official setting and does not hold anywhere outside this book)
　Thanks to Nanshan Yueyue and Old Onion Knight for their monthly votes!The things in this chapter are actually some settings that I thought of to justify myself. According to the official statement, after the catastrophe of the saints, God AO has changed the rules to directly link the divine power with the number of believers, but I personally don’t agree with this explanation. I'm too satisfied, there are too many illogical places, so I made this one out, but it's just for my own use, please don't bring the settings of this book to other works.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)