Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 88: Mother Goddess Faith in the Dark Ages
Looking back now, it was a long, long time ago. If she hadn't set foot on this land again, if she hadn't come here again, maybe Remedios herself would have completely forgotten those past events.
That was after the disastrous conclusion of the final meeting at Dusk Keep, which effectively tore the Tribunal apart.
Before leaving Dusk Keep, Remedios rejected Byron Lionheart's invitation and the request of the Markarth Devout - although they had solved the Moon Realm Crisis together in the past and were willing to entrust their lives to each other's comrades. But Remedios was not interested in their plans and promises for the future, and she did not think they would succeed.
But she also didn't want to change the minds of her former comrades. After all, as a high elf, she was just an outsider to the continent of Vic.
Therefore, after disbanding her own "Sentinel" unit, she chose to travel around the continent of Vic again and become the free-spirited ranger again.
Only this time, she was alone.
She traveled around the continent of Vic for about ten years until she returned to Ava by boat because she did not want to be involved in the turmoil in the countries on the continent.
The memories of those ten years became blurred after nearly a thousand years. Recalling the experiences of those ten years, it was like looking at flowers in the fog, not quite real, like a dream. However, there were only two things that she still had some impression of.
Deep in the holy tomb of the Thorn City Cemetery, the desperate ruler of the Blackwater Kingdom tried to awaken the ancient Blackwater King to descend upon the world with the might of the Corrupted Moon Undead Tide. Remedios, who was traveling in Nakuland at the time, immediately rushed there after receiving a message for help from Blake, who had been missing for many years. But she was still a step too late - a step too late in every sense of the word.
When Remedios and another member of the Tribunal arrived at the scene, both Blake and Coles had already killed the budding crisis at the cost of their own lives. In the end, all they could do was to take care of the aftermath and carve tombstones for their two deceased friends.
Of course, it was not until many years later that she realized that the so-called crisis was just a trap set by Coles in order to be promoted to the Void King. But at that time, she had experienced a lot and lost a lot, and her heart was as cold as stone. Her dead emotions would no longer be touched by such things.
As for the other matter, it is inextricably linked to the current matter.
That was when she returned to Ravenwood after following the Path of Salvation that the Endwatch had taken. Neh, who had been missing for many years, took the initiative to find her.
"Help me..."
She still remembered that it was deep in the Ravenwood Forest, under a sparsely populated tree. The strongest frost magic caster in the entire Wick Continent at that time was so straightforward to her and Sibilla Hemer who was also invited.
No...it's more like he was begging than asking.
"Please help me get my breath back."
Remedios also remembered that it was the first time they saw Nehe's soul box - it had a simple shape and gave people a feeling of being trapped. Even Sibyl, who possessed the [Eye of God], could not see through the essence of the soul box.
Neh told them what happened in the past - the judge tried to deprive him of the power of death before leaving. He didn't understand why the only person in the world who could understand him would do such a thing. However, in order to repay the judge's past kindness, he was willing to try one last time.
Die after trying your best.
The judge didn't want to die, but he didn't want to continue living in such a morbid state. For this reason, he could only try his best to open up a path that could take into account the wishes of both of them.
After years of investigation and research, he planned to accomplish a feat that no one had ever achieved before, to create a true miracle comparable to resurrecting the dead - to transform himself from the dead back to the living.
This was something that was impossible to do under the framework of modern magic theory. Even though Neh's undead and frost magic had reached the pinnacle and his realm was no less than that of the Chief Judge when he left, he was unable to complete his reversal from death to life.
But outside of modern magic, he found a path that might lead to success.
That is to rely on the belief system of the forest elves to complete one's own reincarnation.
"The rebirth ceremony originated from the belief in the Mother Goddess during the Dark Ages."
After he revealed his plan, Remedios and Sibylla were stunned. They couldn't believe that Neh was a person who could come up with such a crazy plan.
In the stories passed down orally by the forest elves, there is a legend about a mother who ate a child that was accidentally killed by its father during a hunt, and then found herself pregnant again, and gave birth to her dead child seven months later.
This is a very narrow story, and in the story, it focuses more on the first half of the story, in which the father mistakenly killed his son during hunting. This story is only circulated within the ancient families of several hereditary Oak Council members as a fable to warn future generations to be careful of hunting clans.
But using this strange story as a clue to trace back to its source, Neh went all the way back to its possible origins and launched years of secret investigation. Finally, following the guidance of ancient documents, he discovered an ancient god belief that had existed for thousands of years.
It is the image of a terrifying earth mother goddess who constantly devours her own children - she symbolizes the primitive impulse of all things to return to the mother's body, and the mother's endless desire to control her offspring.
And appetite...
Childbirth and feeding, birth and return.
They are cause and effect, and mirror images of each other.
According to Nih's speculation, the "holy communion ceremony" handed down by the forest elves is most likely the remaining trace of this belief - in order to maintain such a vivid mother image to a certain extent so that it will not be completely forgotten by the forest elves.
And this image of the Earth Mother is probably the dark side of the Holy Spirit "Mother" that the Second Order has been searching for for hundreds of years in vain.
The Seven Holy Spirits system has developed to this day. After integrating almost all the mainstream beliefs of the entire Vic Continent, each Holy Spirit has more or less a dark side that symbolizes "evil" - "Father" has the side of a tyrant who is tyrannical and arrogant, "Lady" has the side of a goddess who symbolizes jealousy and promiscuity, and "Child" has the image of a prank god formed by the interweaving of innocence and cruelty...
But the only thing that the church has not been able to find for many years is the crazy and destructive dark side of the Holy Spirit "Mother". The Second Order even believed that this was because of the "Mother's" kind nature, so apart from over-indulgence, it could not cause much negative impact on the world.
But she actually exists.
Even the belief in the "Mother Earth Goddess" has never been lost, but has always been hidden in the darkness of the history of the forest elves.
"After all, once faith is lost, it can no longer be called faith."
Neh said so.
The concept of a deity includes the believer, just as the concept of a mother includes the child.
"The necromancer society that transformed me into a lich is actually the believers of the Earth Mother Goddess. And behind them are several ancient families at the top of the Holy Tree City government. If you look through their family histories, you'll find that in almost every generation there are 'unlucky people' who die in 'accidents' and whose bodies need to be eaten."
And that is their heritage.
This is what Nehe said to Remedios and the others.
"So what do you need us to help you with? Do you want to work together to completely eradicate that sect?"
Remedios asked eagerly.
"No…I need to be the new leader of that sect."
But Neh answered like this.
"Their efficiency is too low. They have not been able to awaken the Mother Earth Goddess for so many years. If I accept your help, I believe I can do it in less than a year.
"After awakening the Mother Goddess, I will feed my already rotten and smelly soul to the insane and terrifying mother. Let me merge with the mother again, and finally give birth to a new life."
He arranged the ritual magic based on the legend. If the resonance was successful, he would be able to be reborn into the world after being swallowed by his mother, just like the child who was accidentally killed by his father in the legend.
"Using a legend that is barely circulated as a prototype, they want to accomplish the highest level of miracle of 'rebirth'. In my opinion, the success rate of the whole thing is not much higher than zero."
This is what Sibyl, who was well versed in all kinds of ritual magic, said at the time.
"It doesn't matter. If after I have done everything I can, the final result is still death, then this eternal sleep will be the peace I am pursuing."
This is what Neh replied at the time.
"I've done this much. Even if the Chief Judge comes back in the future, he won't have any reason to blame me for anything, right?"
